Saturday, May 7, 2022

Stormy weaaaaatherrrr

 This is where we are at the moment

Rain coming in all directions, trees whipping back and forth.

So when the weather gets wild, the wild make soup.

Here's the stock simmering


And a sheet of cauliflower, onions, red and white, and garlic, ready to roast before adding in to make a spicy, creamy  curried soup.


There will be home made curry powder, salt, added turmeric, curry leaves, cumin and a  black pepper mix which includes cinnamon.


Meanwhile the visiting orchid, whose owner may or may not be back tomorrow, storm will probably change that, took her weekly brief dunk and drain.


Working backwards, yesterday I noticed a couple of birds checking the empty feeder, and since I'm out of suet blocks but want to encourage them to nest close by, I made a home version.

The peanut butter has been here for ages, just in case anyone suddenly wants some or I get so desperate I even eat it myself, and I crushed a few walnuts.



Spread on both sides of a bit of plastic canvas, enclosed it in a feeder for the dining pleasure of wrens and maybe woodpeckers.

And of course, you knew this all along, see who found it first


Well, I don't regret the peanut butter, but I wish the birds had a look in. The chief squirrel is a smart guy. I saw him checking the window in case I was about to run out and shout at him, before leaping up to the feeder.

And yesterday, after a lovely knitting group, complete with great idea sharing,  the Misfits box arrived, and you've already seen the next steps for some of the food.



I really like Turkish dried apricots, and now figs. They're a lot juicier than the American style, which I think is because they dry then pit, and the other method is pit then dry, which I think makes them leathery.

Anyway my breakfast is often a half wholewheat pita, stuffed with either apricots or, today, figs. Easy to assemble with half open eyes. 

The apples are my new favorite, Envy. They're small, crisp and sweet and very good. I don't like tart apples at all except for cooking.  Pink Lady, and all the ones with crisp in the name, all give me pains in the face when I bite in, ew. But Fuji, Gala and now Envy, are definitely for eating raw.

This is the end of your morning ag report.

The Downton Abbey movie was so fun, I'm planning to go Wednesday afternoons to catch other movies. 

This month the theme is country houses, and next week is The Remains of the Day. I've seen all the May offerings before but they're good enough to see again. And I'm promised snacks! Personal service.

Fight on! I donated yesterday to my NJ gotv group to enable another volunteer to pick up where I left off when my printer broke down. 

Someone else can now be helped finance the printing and mailing of registration applications for mail in voting, and be in touch with registered voters who haven't been voting in NJ districts. I directed mine to young POC. 

There are no funds for this, so volunteers have to finance it themselves. I can do it up to a point, but my budget's small, living as I do on a modest fixed income. Doing me bit! My little light.

Photo by AC

Remember Ukraine.





14 comments:

  1. Squirrels really are smart and funny creatures. Honestly, I don't mind feeding some of them.
    We had storms yesterday too! And it's so much cooler today. I love it!
    I'm sure your soup was delicious.
    You sure are a good lady.

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  2. Your squirrel picture made me lol.
    Sunny weather here in Vermont for a few days, chilly spring air.

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  3. I don't mind Pink Lady and Honey Crisp apples but you're right, they are tarter than others. Very firm to bite too.

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  4. Aw, pink ladies are my favourite!
    That cauli soup sounds good. On an episode of Queer Eye I was watching this week he roasted thick slices of cauli, like steaks. It looked good too.
    I'd never thought of using peanut butter like that.
    Stay safe in the storm.

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  5. Storms here earlier now thundering again...the boy is home from second overnight at cat hospital, hope you enjoy that soup!

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  6. Mary, I don't begrudged squirrels the food, but dread their getting into our house again, after damage and endless problems a few years back.

    E, good wishes to the boy. You're a great human to him.

    Liz if you try that cauliflower steak idea, it needs a ton of help from spices. It's good, in fact roast cauliflower is a great way to cook it. I haven't gone back to cauliflower cheese for years.

    This is a dull endless storm, and roads open and closed with wires and trees blown down.

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  7. I bet the soup is good! I also cannot eat tart apples. I stopped eating them raw. Nice acrobatic move, squirrel. :)

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  8. You’ve been busy as usual. I hope there’s no damage from that storm! Stay safe, Boud.

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  9. The squirrels will always get to the food before the birds and they are very creative at getting to hard-to-reach places. I had a squirrel friend that would visit me for treats for almost two years then the other squirrels chased him off. I can't eat the tart apples raw either and usually love the Red Delicious. The Envy does sound good!

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  10. Happy Mother's Day to you too Bonnie!

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  11. We have a book called 'Outwitting Squirrels' by Bill Adler 101 cunning stratagems to reduce dramatically the egregious misappropriation of seed from your birdgeeder by squirrels.
    The conclusion we reached at the end of it is "you can't win".
    I, the Tigger, hate squirrels most of all. They really wind me up. xxx Mr T

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  12. That book could be classified under Fantasy.

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  13. PB can be useful. We once attracted chickadees with PB and apple slices and maybe gaudy Christmas ornaments too.

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