Musings

Look, I’m not pointing fingers at anyone, but when I shuffle off this mortal coil, I’m pretty sure Blue Bell ice cream will have something to do with it.

Their Banana Fudge variety is delicious. It’s even better with chocolate sauce, sliced banana, and slivered almonds.

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The puppy is approximately 1/3 bigger than she was the day we picked her up.

Luckily for Sophie, she and the puppy have figured out how to wrestle. When Maggie passes Sophie up size-wise, in about 3 to 4 weeks by my calculations, hopefully enough boundaries will have been created to prevent snortal combat from turning into dachshund bowling.

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The mower was picked up by the dealership on Friday. I should know whether or not it can be fixed in a week or so. In the event that it cannot be salvaged, the next mower will be fully selected for my use. The current model is zero-turn, but has a steering wheel. This slows things down a bit, but would be easier for Irish Woman or the Young Prince to use. Any replacement will be a skid steer, and I shall drive it like I stole it.

Speaking of the Young Prince, the weather gods have smiled upon him this week. It’s been hot and dry, so the grass has grown at a reduced rate.

Unfortunately for him, that doesn’t mean it hasn’t grown at all. Tomorrow and Tuesday, which happen to be the last days of his summer vacation, he shall be using the $30 push mower his mother bought when we moved to mow the entirety of the lawn. It’s not self propelled, and has a rather small footprint, which is why it’s great for doing edges and corners of the yard where the rider doesn’t do well. I’m curious to see how it does on the yard in general.

Out of a concern for his safety and the continuance of his mother’s bloodline, I have encouraged him to get out early and mow as much as he could before Kentucky gets as hot and humid as Satan’s posterior crevice. I hope he takes that advice. Should he fail to do so, he will be laboring under the hot sun all day on Tuesday to complete his task before he has to get ready for school on Wednesday.

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Summer canning season is in full swing.

While Irish Woman and the Young Prince were in Florida, I bought a bushel of Georgia peaches and made a couple batches of peach jam and peach sauce. I picked up a half bushel of local peaches this weekend, so Irish Woman will be canning them this week.

Cucumbers are doing very well this year, so we’ve got several batches of dill pickles, some of them with chilis in them for a little extra kick. Irish Woman has made a batch of bread and butter pickles, and will be trying her hand at sweet pickles in the near future. Since I consider any pickles that require sugar to be an abomination in the eyes of the Lord, I shall not be partaking.

I went out to one of the local farms and got four bushels of canning tomatoes yesterday. So far, I’ve made a batch each of spaghetti and chili sauce. The Young Prince wants to try making pizza sauce, so that will get done when he’s not mowing lawns over the next couple of days. When that’s done, I’ll either make more pre-made sauce or make a batch of crushed tomatoes.

The zucchini is being very prolific this year, so I think I’m going to run what we don’t eat fresh through the food processor and freeze it. Zucchini bread and other treats can be quite tasty, and it’ll give us some free nutrition in the winter.