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jammin'
July 03, 2017
After a moderately stressful work week (the moreso, for being shortened by a day), I welcomed the weekend somewhat. We didn't do anything spectacular; I did the usual laundry and chores, we did some grocery shopping, and Spouse mowed the back yard. Very basic and blah.
Even the cooking was kind of slack--heat & eat frozen BBQ chicken wings with deli salads on Saturday night, Sunday breakfast was SPAM & eggs, frozen hash brown patties, & toast, and Sunday night was a leftover baked penne from the freezer, with some leftover hamburger buns turned into garlic bread.
I did make mocktails on Saturday (and again on Sunday); I copied the Nojito drink I had on the ship. Lemon, lime, mint, grapefruit, and seltzer water (with a little simple syrup)...they came out sooo yummy! Not exactly lo-cal, but very delicious and refreshing.
Another out-of-the-ordinary thing I did was on Sunday; since Fresh Thyme had some sensational cherries on sale for $1.88/lb, I picked up a bag, then got out the cherry pitter and made a small batch of cherry freezer jam (just over four half-pint jars; about half a standard batch.) I don't like a summer to pass by without making at least a little jam; it must be my grandma coming out in me.
But since it is freezer jam, and a small batch, it only took me a little over an hour to get it done, even with the pitting. So much easier (and cooler!) when it is a saucepan and a freezer, instead of a cast iron pot and a canning kettle!
I'm looking forward to some nice, fresh homemade jam on my toast tomorrow--since it is a holiday, I will probably have some breakfast.
Truth to tell, it probably would have been a better idea to un-freeze, re-cook, and sweeten up the LAST batch of freezer jam I made, because it is still sitting downstairs in the freezer from last summer, and I don't use it because it came out too sour. I may still do that pretty soon--why waste it?
I got outside a little bit on Sunday afternoon, as well. Cleaned up my flower garden and planted some pretty pink vincas in the new planter Dad made me. I got everything done and cleaned up, watered it all thoroughly, and got inside about 5 minutes before we got hit with a GULLY-WASHER of a rainstorm. I hven't been back out there, because I have a terrible feeling that my new plantings got drowned out.
INSERT FIREWORKS RANT HERE
Fireworks:
Full of toxins and heavy metals, making them serious air, ground and water pollutants.
A killer of birds.
The cause of serious, even deadly, emotional distress for children, veterans, pets and wildlife.
A danger to life, limb, health, hearing, and property.
A major UNNECESSARY civic expense for many cash-strapped communities.
I find it ridiculous, and frankly outrageous, that in this day and age, we are still setting off high explosives to celebrate July 4th.
But then, there isn't a lot about contemporary American life that I don't find outrageous and ridiculous at this point, I guess.
Due to the horrible, awful, disgusting people who live near me, we had to contend with the horrible racket of fireworks for pretty much all of the weekend where it wasn't pouring rain. And I assure you, these are not the "string of black cats" we used to light as kids--these are gigantic, thunderous BOOMING mortar shells. Where the hell are people getting these things?
The dog was a wreck, of course, and I wasn't much better, because it went on far into the night, with no regard for any poor slob (like me) who had to get up on Monday morning and go to work.
Yes, work. My office did NOT make this a four-day weekend, but I am the only one of my team who actually showed up to the office today. Between vacation days, "working from home", and regular days off, the entire team contrived to be elsewhere. Not to mention about 60% of the other employees, and 75% of the commuters! I was worn out from lack of sleep, and it was a long and tedious day--but you know what? It was also effing glorious.
Reading: "The Rising Tide" (1915), by Margaret Deland
Listening: Marcy Playground, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers,
The Shins, Gin Blossoms.
Inked Up: The Conklin Duragraph fine/ Pelikan Brilliant Brown,
the Bexley 10th Anni Italic/Noodler's Black Swan in Australian Roses, Lamy
Safari Fine/Iroshizuku Tsutsuji, and Parker IM Premium medium/Pelikan
Brilliant Red. It is as I suspected; with the converter and a decent ink, the
Parker is a vastly improved instrument. A medium-running-to-fine nib,
smooth as silk and with a good, even flow. (However, I still dislike the
brushed metal grip.)
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