the remaking of a kitchen

the garden is growing nicely. my first red pepper is ripe and is so pretty. i also picked a cucumber and some tomatoes. actually the haul from the tomato plants is much smaller today than the usual quart i have been picking. we had a nice rain last night.......more than a half inch and that certainly pleases all the plants, vegetables, ornamentals and flowers alike.
the little baggies hold the juliette tomatoes i dried in the oven yesterday....i had two cake racks full of half tomatoes and ended up with about one and a half cup of dried. the dried ones have such a wonderfully pungent taste. i could eat them easily as is. i will freeze them and use them in soups and pasta sauces during the winter.

Labels: dried tomatoes, juliettes, rain, red peppers, tomatoes and cukes

rain all day yesterday, enough to use windshield wipers and the defroster in the car. gloomy to the max. today well, it's snowing! a reminder that we cannot forget winter is going to remain for a number of weeks, possibly months!
yesterday i met up with friends for lunch at the st paul grill. lovely atmosphere, seating at a round table by the window looking out on rice park. a delightful visit with friends, some new found, others i have known for some years. it's lovely to get to know them better and value them for all that. 5 of us are artists, the other is certainly a supporter and appreciator of all things art. it's a treat to meet each month for lunch and then to sit and visit for another couple of hours.
i believe i forgot to mention that the food was delicious and the service attentive but not intrusive. a glass of prosecco and a chocolate dessert may have helped!!

Labels: friendship, lunch, rain, snow, st paul grill

we had a heckuva storm last night. really big sky show of lightning and amazing booming thunder to follow. the talking heads were going crazy with excitement and dire predictions. we were incredibly lucky......no downed trees or limbs, no power outage, no flooded basement. AND my baby maple was a star and made it thru with flying colors. we did mention that jewlee would have loved the storm.....she was wishing for thunder boomers and lightning when she was here, and we are sorry to have disappointed her. she missed a doozey.
when i drove to the y for body flow (i am so dedicated to this) i saw a utility truck about 2 blocks from us and about half a tree lying into the street. there were other downed trees and branches on the way....again we lucked out. the current forecast is doubtful for rain this evening, but a good chance of more storms breaking out wednesday night.
i heard that the southdale parking lot flooded last evening, and east i-494 was closed at hwy 100 due to deep water at portland ave. tv showed a car with water above the tires, and then a major jam behind.....hundreds of cars, unable to go forward, and then it was all the cars behind them. eek we really need the rain, but egads.
i picked 5 cukes today.....4 of them bigger than i planned-to-let-them-grow size. i guess the rain is sending them into overdrive.
yesterday i trimmed dead stuff off the trees around the shed and removed all the volunteers that shouldn't have been there. there is still more to do, but it looks considerably better. there are a few trees that need to meet up with a saw.....the loppers, at least under my control just wouldn't do the trick! i filled a large garbage bag with all the trimmings, so i am feeling virtuous!

Labels: cukes and onions, rain, storm