Double Rainbow

The less obvious rainbow is above the more prominent one.  This photo, taken in the country would have been so much nicer--no man made foreground.

The weather today was funny. Rain would come from seemingly nowhere, fall straight down for three minutes, no wind, no warning. Then, it would stop after three minutes and the sky would be clear. It is not obvious in the pictures, but straight above me and behind me the sky is clear and there is brilliant sunshine.

This actual sight was more spectacular than the photos.

Today, we had the only rainfall so far from Isaac. The clouds on the leading edge of this "storm" were tall, fluffy,. and magnificent.

I was outside a store where there was lots of talk about the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I wish.

Do you love rainbows? I am not talking rainbows, kittens, and lollipops!

Good Links

This is a short but sweet list. Enjoy

Using a watch to determine North and South I am still confused.

Another about food safety:
http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2011/10/part-7-coverups-arent-sustainable/

Why I am afraid of my never-used, four-year-old mandoline.

This bird knows how to use bread as bait to catch a fish instead of just eating the bread. 

Sluggy's Boring Box Giveaway

Just go here to enter her exciting contest. Follow along as she fills a box for the winner. And, tell her I sent you. I won't get any extra credit, so this is not self-serving. Okay, yes it is self-serving....I want her to know I sent you and I will be her most favoritist blogger friend...lol...you KNOW I am kidding.

The # 10 Can and A STORY

 image from Honeyville Grains

On our group offering free items, a woman wanted to offer #10 metal stuff full of food. You know that I replied. I waited until exbf got to me and we started. He was bf at the time.

was Copied.)  At  least, I Had written tHe post. Grrrr  THe Cap started working on tHis paragrapH.(I wrote tHe first two statements witHout some letters working, like tHe letter between b and d in tHe alpHabet. Plus, tHe H only works as it is written. It is really Hard to write witHout proper use of use at all of some letters. I Had to rewrite tHe first two sentenCes after tHe piCture

I got the directions and we started out sort of late in the day. It got later faster than I thought it would. Plus, he did not follow the directions well. I made mistakes in interpreting them. However, he still made mistakes separate from mine. We argued a bit. He became frustrated but patient. He was still trying to impress me, I guess.

Mind you, these were country directions: when you get past the third stand of trees...; turn on the only paved road and.....; go over two big hills and when you get to the third hill...; turn left when you get to the biggest barn...when you pass the old Baptist church....you get the idea. I like road signs, church names and I don't like to figure out what counts as a big curve when the road is full of curves, just a curvy road in general. Stand of trees? Give me a break. There are trees all over, and I am just trying to hold it between the ditches.

We got to the end of the road and I told him to turn in the driveway. Only, it was not a driveway. It was dusk, almost dark, and it was just a yard. I ordered him to back out, and to spite me he just kept going. He was going to drive across the yard to the driveway and drive out. Okey dokey! Soon, we were mired up to the axle.

Luckily, the homeowners came home because they saw us in their yard. There were three pickup trucks! They were pretty rough looking and I was afraid. These guys were nice as could be. They tried to tell exbf how to get the car out. Finally, one of the guys got in, put the automatic transmission in some appropriate gear and we roared right out of the mire.

They directed us to the right house. The freecycler told me her house was low, below the road. Good Grief! She was in a hollow, about 70 feet or more almost straight down. We were going to have to climb a fence and try to walk down. I told her we would pass on the food since I had knee problems and he needed a hip replacement, that we were sorry.

She was so nice and brought up a dozen #10 cans. I was happy as a pig in mud. Exbf was not happy at all, just grim, but not yelling or fussing.

Exbf drove me twenty miles back up the interstate to home and then turned right around and drove 75 miles back to his home. I did not mean to be so much trouble. I just hauled the cans in and went to bed.

Back to the woman who gave me these. She was talking to us, telling us that the cans had been stored in the shed for so many years that she decided to get rid of all of them. I worried about storing the #10 cans in a metal shed that sits in the sun all summer in the South and in the winters where it freezes often enough but not for long freezes. I really worried.

I gave exbf a can of apples that I opened and put into a couple of gallon bags.  He brought them back last year, saying he did not like them. The hens got those. All the rest happened about five years ago.

All the cans were canned at the LDS place near here, well, in Nashville. The expiration dates were about five years prior to our having received them. Between the bad expiration date and the storage conditions, I worried more.

Several weeks after receiving these #10 cans, I had exbf to open one that was mightily bulging. I handed him the can and can opener and asked him to go outdoors and open it. He insisted he was going to open it right in the kitchen. We argued. It was sort of loud. He assured me a bulging can would not explode all over.

Finally, when I told him "never mind," he went outdoors. I followed him shortly, just in time to see canned peanut butter or butter, forget which, explode all over him and the great outdoors! There hung a yellow haze around the yard for hours. He was covered from head to foot. mostly from hair to waist. He had set it on a retaining wall in the back yard, making the can chest high. Only his glasses saved him from being blasted in the eyes.

The blasted wall remained yellow for days. I think the blast drovc the powder so hard that a hose would not clean it, not that he tried hard.



Nothing was edible in any of the cans. Store your #10 cans properly and don't mess with bulging cans and please watch the expiration dates!

Your turn

Have you ever had any powdered food stored in #10 cans explode in your face? Even worse, has it exploded indoors? Were you laughing too?

Wacky Cake Recipe

The story goes that Wacky Cake came into being during World War II, when home bakers wanted to make dessert without breaking into precious rations. A combination of cheaper ingredients – vinegar, vanilla, oil, and water – was used in place of milk and eggs, which not only created a moist, chocolaty cake, but reduced the overall price drastically. Even today, Wacky Cake costs a little over a dollar to make, and is just ever-so-slightly more complicated than using a boxed mix.

Incidentally, Wacky Cake is also excellent for vegetarians, vegans, and kids with dairy allergies. Top it with a little powdered sugar, and you're good to go.

Read more: http://www.grandparents.com/gp/content/food/recipes/article/wacky-cake-chocolate-recipe.html#ixzz24kRK6nYt

If the economy continues on its downward course, this might be a good recipe to have. If I had a limited number of eggs, I would want them for breakfast, not chocolate cake!

Does this sound like a water cake recipe? I don't feel like getting up to get mine.

Your turn
Have you made a wacky cake or a water cake? Have you tried many Depression era recipes that have substitutions or leave out items we expect in our food?

Pears! Pears! Everywhere!

three in the fruit picker

with the fruit picker, I can reach fruit

17' from the ground

 

waaay over my head, the size of softballs

 

second tree, hanging in bunches like bananas 3' from ground

rotting on the ground with fire ants

 

first wagonful

 

second wagonful

 

Total--100lbs

 

Do you know what kind of pears these are? The woman said someone told her they were Asian pears. I don't really know pears. 

 

Remember now the tornado tore up the pear tree within a few blocks of my house? Well, I have found a tree about ten miles from me, too far to visit often and on property of people I must ask for permission to pick. 

 

I advertised for these and a total stranger offered these. She had her husband set up two ladders for me, not knowing I am in no condition for climbing, and that I had a fruit picker that allows me to reach 17' above the ground.

 

The husband took loppers and cut the branches that were laden with fruit like bananas in a bunch. He was going to trim them anyway, he said. Both husband and wife helped me carry the bags to the car. Otherwise, I would have not gotten this many.  Actually, I probably only picked one bag of pears. I have to go slowly and be careful when I bend. This man and woman were very fast. So, I called a halt when I realized they were really working hard to help me. Plus, I could barely walk. Or stand.

 

Now, I have my work cut out for me. I wish I had an apple parer that pares, cores, and slices. Does anyone know the best kind to get? These will be dehydrated, made into pear preserves, and pear sauce (like applesauce).

 

I hate pears!

 

But, I love pear preserves. I don't need the sugar. Pear sauce is not so sugary. And, I will see if I can tolerate dried pears. I asked two friends if they would like pears? Half a dozen? So, a dozen pears are gone from the bags. Exbf will take home a dozen or more if he wants them. He will. He likes pears.

 

Oh, I like store-bought canned pears. I wonder if home-canned pears are as good as store-canned pears. Has anyone eaten home-canned pears? I am the only one in the family who does not love a juicy fresh pears. These are hard as rocks, so I don't know if they are canning stage or not. I certainly will not let a raw piece pass through my lips!

 

I was bitten by one fire ant.

 

Now I am hunting free figs and apples!

 

How about you?

Do you like pears? Pear preserve? Pear sauce? Dehydrated pears? Do you have free pears in your yard?

 

"Just Something to Do"

Finally, after going over several times a day and banging on front and back door, calling into the backyard, and ringing the door bell at least 12 times each trip, I made contact with owners of BlackShe and BlackHe. I parked in front of the house to go up to the door and saw a truck I wanted to photograph.

Oops! The pickup truck belonging to the woman's son was backing out, so I flagged him down? Yes, they were his chickens. No, I did not know they could fly. No, I had not missed them. Hmmm, you think he really cares for them? I don't.

"Why do you have the chickens?" Now, I expected one of several answers:
I am going to fight them.
I am going to sell them.
I am going to breed them and sell chicks.
I just love chickens.

The answer to why do you have the chickens was, "Just something to do." This was accompanied by a weak,  meaningless shrug.

I asked him if he would cut their wings. He said he did not know how. I asked him if I could. He shrugged and said, "I guess so." Cutting a wing would make them vulnerable since they have no secure place to live.

"Are you not afraid a raccoon will get them?" He looked surprised and said he did not think raccoons would come in this far. We are blocks from dense woodsey areas, a half mile from forests.

It was such a fruitless conversation, but one that needed to occur.

The mother works nights and sleeps days, so this must be her day off because she is gone.NOW, I need to catch her today.

"Just Something to Do." The mother told me she throws food out to them everyday. So, it sounds like this is something he is not doing.

Mark's comment, "There goes the neighborhood." is so appropriate when I was talking about BlackShe and BlackHe, but not for the reason it could appear to be. Anyway, I thought it was funny what he said.

My Buff Orphington's are already named, but I cannot get the lady to let me come out or for her to deliver like she said she would when she is coming into town and is going to be two houses down. sigh

Did you ever get an animal/s for 'just something to do?'