Wednesday, May 17, 2023

Take a number

Last Friday through Monday it hit 90° or above and didn't cool off much at night, breaking all kinds of weather records here. We employed open windows, ceiling fans, ice water, fresh strawberries (Rick bought a flat of local berries; heaven!) . . . and all of us continued to work (except on the blessed rest day). I finally utilized the heat pump A/C to keep the house at 80° on Monday; don't ask me why I didn't do it sooner. Yesterday 'moderated' into the 80s, but today nearly reached 90° again. Where can we file a complaint???

Since it cooled off nicely Monday night, I actually used the oven yesterday. Not for lunch; I made myself a big salad with arugula from my deck pot;

but for supper I made a loaded baked frittata and a rhubarb/strawberry custard 'pie' (no top crust, and I cheated on the bottom crust with a large flour tortilla!). This got rave reviews; NO one complained!

As I said in the last post, I rooed Blaise on Friday, then rooed/sheared Bree on Sunday. Yesterday I sheared Bernadette and fully intended to shear Bette today, but decided a long overdue newsletter had to be tackled so Bette is still sweltering. On top of that, I found a foxtail awn on one of the lambs Monday, so no more pasture time. No more bottles, either; I used up the last of the milk replacer earlier this week. Not that Blaise's twins need it anymore; the supplemental feeding did its job and Bijou and Bauble are as fat and sassy as the rest of the lambs (their mom Blaise, however, is too thin). They miss it, though. Trust me; the shepherd is not a popular figure right now. The ewes and lambs are wondering where can they file a complaint!
sweet Bauble after one of her last bottles





Bree at last rib, mid-side; luscious!
Blackjack shimmied through the gate to be near mom while I rooed her




I'm not sure why Bernadette's belly is so big!
I had no complaints about Mothers Day. Rick made us a wonderful breakfast (my choice; I didn't want to go out), Brian gave me a very sweet card and two kinds of chocolate – and then weed-whacked for hours as the other part of my gift! While he did that and I did laundry and rooed Bree, Rick worked on the riding lawnmower and old tractor. He finally got the mower working enough – barely – to mow the lawn, and then brought a ladder in to change the battery in a chirping smoke detector and vacuum out the air intake vents high in ceiling and wall of our vaulted great room. Nothing warms my heart better than everyone pitching in to accomplish a bunch of work around the place! (I'm trying to be patient about the untouched garden plot....)
the old Kubota is still sitting in our driveway in pieces


Late Mothers Day afternoon, the first of our bearded iris opened:

I had noticed the large number of buds on the iris in the island bed,

but that one in the actual iris bed took me by surprise. Two days later, two more varieties added their beauty:

They are blooming later than usual because of our long, cool, wet spring. Ahhh; that kind of weather sounds so refreshing right now!

That's it for now from . . .

11 comments:

A :-) said...

I love Iris. I don't have any, but I love them. I should probably see about getting some. So glad your men are doing a lot of work around your place. That's a good division of labor! And yay for a lovely Mother's Day! :-)

Michelle said...

Iris are one of my all-time favorites – and the deer ignore them! The 'all hands on deck' isn't very common, but SO appreciated when it happens.

Donna said...

It seems like you have been hotter than we have. Plus we cool off at night. I love that dinner you made. I will try that trick for using a tortilla for a bottom crust. It sounds like you ahd a nice Mother's Day.

Michelle said...

Donna, we USUALLY cool off at night, so feel especially tormented when it doesn't! I'm afraid this much hotter weather is becoming our new normal with global climate change.... I'm definitely using the tortilla trick again and yes, I had a nice Mothers Day. 😊

Tim B. Inman said...

Whoever said, "Everybody complains about the weather, but nobody does anything about it" might have thought it was funny. But for me, high temps - expected or not - are never welcomed! I just hold my nose and turn on the AC. At least it does help things grow. Cheers from Oakdale Farm

thecrazysheeplady said...

A tortilla?!? I'm going to have to try that. Beautiful fine wool fleeces :-).

Claire MW said...

That pie looks scrumptious, and what a grand idea to use a tortilla for the crust!

Michelle said...

I think garden vegetables are the only things that like hot weather, Tim. And since I don't have a garden in (yet, or again?) except for the tomato, sugar pod peas and arugula in a deck pot, it can just stay COOL!

Sara and Claire, the tortilla was a little hard to cut, but tasted fine and kept the filling together so I'll call it a win!

Mokihana said...

I'm so glad our 90+ degree weather is done for now. Your irises are so lovely, and it sounds like you really did have a wonderful Mother's Day!

Retired Knitter said...

Beautiful shots of the flowers.

Jeanne said...

I guess I didn't find this blogpost right away, so I'm behind.
I love your irises! My grandmother had a bed of lovely ones in front of her little house. Hers were the first I had ever seen. I was nine years old when we moved to that area. My mother only had glads.

I'm so glad you had such a nice Mother's Day.

Your frittata and rhubarb/strawberry custard pie both look delicious, and so does your salad!

Take care and enjoy Memorial weekend.