September~

 It's September~

Can you believe it?

September is that nondescript month without a season.

It makes up for it with all its activities.

For me, it's a time to preserve.

The gardens are growing in full force since the Heat Dome dispersed.

I've done pretty well this year so far.

The heat made things a little wonky, but it all somehow works out.

Now I'm down to tomatoes.

I was completely out of sauce and down to 5 jars of diced.

That's only 2-3 meals of diced for us depending upon what's cookin'.

I did not photoshop this pix.  They really look like that 😂

So I am trying to get them canned up while I can.

I have reusable lids so am getting used to those on things 

that only require water bath canning just in case of operator error.

During the 2 months of triple digit weather,

anything outside wilted about as quickly as the sun rose.

By the time the weather broke, most flowers at the markets 

were marked down for quick sale.

I happened upon some of them and rescued them from their

garbage bin destiny.

They have thanked me in the most generous way.

Their blooms are beautiful and though my little area

is still a work in progress, it is a welcome spot.

And I am thankful I was able to have a few flowers

to brighten the area even if a little later than usual.

My bean wall took forever to get going but now is going crazy.

The bean blossoms are usually white and some have been, 

but we are also seeing these beautiful spice colored flowers.

I think I have 3 different kinds of beans in here due to

them being eaten in the spring.

I have potatoes to dig and will be rearranging the raised beds 

before next year.

I have another idea for next year (heehee, go ahead and shake your head.)

And lastly, I started this post the beginning of the month,

but we've been hoppin'.

Hubby had a goal of 60 gallons of salsa this year.

We have currently made 99 quarts.

I had to chime in and tell him he can't hog all the tomatoes.

I still need more sauce.

Our pepper plants are going like gang-busters also,

and he doesn't want them "to go to waste."

I told him we could freeze some poppers to use some up.

I will get this posted and hopefully be able to put together

a more reasonable post soon.

Hope each of you is enjoying the turning of the leaves.

The Elephant in the Room

 Hello dear friends,

It's been a couple months since I last posted.

First, I will say that I received my new laundry basket and love it!

On the way to Portland

Secondly, I have just had a sour feeling in my gut.

I'm not talking about eating something odd.

The way people have been interacting towards each other

nearly makes me ill.

Not necessarily here on the blog

which is something I've strived to prevent,

but without you all being "grown ups" about things

it would not be possible and I thank you kindly.

Before I get to my point,

I'd like to share a bit of a story.

The gal who has been my best friend for over 20 years and I

haven't spoken since January.

We have laughed and cried and watched each other's family grow.

We've shared struggles and accomplishments as good friends do.

We don't share the same political views which hadn't been an issue

for about 19+ years.

Over the past couple years in particular,

I've strived to avoid any topic I thought might get political.

That alone, the not being able to discuss things was a red flag.

The last time we spoke,

I began telling her about driving a 1 ton duely pick-up pulling a 20' trailer 

full of metal through Portland, OR which I referred to as Looneyville.

I still call it that actually.

They drive like lunatics!

I had completely forgotten about the rioting going on,

but I was quickly reminded and got to listen to about a 15 min. spiel.

I didn't really respond, but when she finished, I continued about driving.

I don't know how she felt when I didn't "jump in" and argue.

That was the last time we spoke.

I miss my friend.

I know in her heart, she is a good person,

but she takes in a lot of media, and it shows.

And now back to the  point.

We are being pushed to conform.

Being pushed to conform creates division.

I really don't care which side you want to take.

And I do not want to try to force you to accept my views.

Grandma Donna did a post and mentioned people feeling

"the need to be right."

I really think she hit the nail on the head.

I tend to withdraw and pull away when something is being forced upon me.

I don't want to just dis media,

but it's not healthy or usually very accurate.

What you state as fact could very well be fiction,

but we like to believe or back up what we think it should be.

I am no exception to that other than I purposely limit any exposure to media

and when I want information, I try to go directly to the source 

rather than a reporter.

Even that can be difficult to do.

It is fine if we believe pro, con, yes, no, up, or down, whatever.

But we don't even have to share our opinion let alone

try to force someone else to accept it as right.

I want to say that one part again:

we don't even have to share our opinion.

In an age that seems eager to take surveys of our opinions,

that might sound like a foreign thought, but you really don't have to share it.

There are so many much more pleasant things we could talk about.

I got some flowers on the close-out shelf 

that have turned around and are gorgeous!

The full moon was so bright the other night,

it was still light at nighttime.

Our "Heat Dome" finally broke, and we have normal temperatures

so my tomatoes are finally producing - yay!

I just did 12 pints of diced and 3 half-pints of sauce.

You see?

It's okay~

We can still be kind.

We can still experience joy.

It's good to laugh.

Don't be afraid to give a loved one a hug.

Don't be afraid.

And lastly, I'd like to share a little reminder.

I learned this when I was knee high to a grasshopper

and I'm sure you know it too.

It's called The Golden Rule.

"Do unto others as you would have others do unto you."

At one point I wanted a banner of that over our door.

I still like the idea.

If I've seemed a little absent lately,

now you know why.

I've not made it around to very many blogs lately.

I will try, but sometimes we need to listen to what's inside of us

for a little while and get back to peace within.

I hope this day is good to you 

and that you are surrounded by people and things you love.

By the way,

Blogger is telling me this is my 400th post.

That is thanks to each of you.

Thank you.

Those Useful Things

 Y'all already know I'm nuts right?

I purposely try to give thanks when I meet 

a real, genuine, kind, and 

normal (by my standards whatever that might be) person.

This week, I met one of those people.

Some time back, I really worked on getting plastics out of our house.

There were some things that were easier than others.

One of the challenging things was to find a good laundry basket.

I did find one about a year ago, but it was expensive.

It was expensive enough that I went home and stewed on it

for a week or two before finally deciding to buy it.

I am hoping it lasts the rest of my life. 

I love my laundry basket!

Now how many people can really say that?  

As I said, I've used it for about a year.

It seems just as sturdy as the day I purchased it

and shows no signs of wear.

This was important to me if I was spending money on a basket.

We have a small area for laundry right inside our back entrance

so there's not a lot of extra room.

The basket sits on the washer 

and acts as our hamper during the week.

Laundry day, I set it on the floor to sort loads.

Then as each load is done, I take it out to the summer kitchen

where I have the clothes line set up.

We have so much wind here, 

it's almost impossible to hang clothes outside.

They get dirtier than before washing.

So I do the next best thing under the circumstances.

To haul the wet clothes out to the summer kitchen,

I use a slightly smaller basket that is. . . . 

plastic :-(

As far as plastic baskets go, it is a good shape and size

but it stands out in our home like you wouldn't believe.

I recently contacted the maker of my basket to inquire

if she would be willing to make me another one only slightly smaller so it will fit right inside the one I have.

She said she would and asked if I could bring my basket by

so that she could make sure it would fit as she was making it.

We made the necessary arrangements,

 and I dropped it off at her home.

I had never met her in person.

It took about a half an hour for me to simply drop off a basket.

She is a delightful person.

Isn't it funny how when we meet some people,

there is little to say and much silence.

Then with other people, it seems like there should be a pot of tea

so the conversation can keep going.

She was one of the later, and I was ever so grateful to meet her.

And aside from her genuine character,

she has a fabulous skill.

It will be a couple weeks before I get to use both of my baskets

to do the laundry.

Doesn't that sound silly~

to be anxious to use laundry baskets.

Well, that is my kind of excitement.

I truly appreciate quality items and even if a purchase is difficult

to bite off from a financial perspective,

not only not regretting a purchase but also being glad of it

is even better.  

And I'm learning more and more

quality people tend to make quality items.

Perhaps that's part of the draw.

That's all I really have for today.

I just wanted to share the appreciation of something good.

I hope each of you finds a bit of goodness today.

Other Ways

 So you might have figured out by now that I'm just not normal.

I'm getting more and more okay with that

the more I see what so called normal is.

                       I spoke a few posts back about a master list I keep

of things I'm continually on the lookout for.

Well this week, I got to mark another thing off the list.

This is about a 1940 model wringer washer that works!

Now I already had a wringer washer, but it didn't have a lid

and the head no longer swiveled.

Since I actually want to use it, not having a lid meant 

it wasn't okay to use in the house.

The water would splash all over.

Other than that, it works great, and I have used it a handful of times.

When we moved to the house we are in,

there was a new washer and dryer already in the house

so we intended on leaving our old washer and dryer up the river.

After using the new set a couple of times, we put it in the basement

and brought our old set from the mountain.

The new washer only put about 4" of water in the bottom

and the clothes came out in knots and dirtier looking than when they went in.

The dryer wasn't much better.

I use our old set and will until it dies at which time it will not be replaced.

I seldom use the dryer.

I do use it when crazy happens in life, and I just need to get laundry done,

but that isn't the norm and even in those circumstances, I could hang the clothes

and deal with the inconvenience.

The washer on the other hand, I use regularly (of course).

When the ol' trusty Kenmore dies, I don't want to be stuck

depending on a newer model.

                One thing I've strived for over the past however many years

is to replace newer inferior products with old dependable items.

Like I said, I had an old wringer that would work,

but if I had to use it regularly, it would be a little less than ideal.

That's why I was looking for an upgrade.

                        It's sure interesting how things work out sometimes.

Most of the old wringers I've seen that are in working order

have been selling for hundreds of dollars.

I had mentioned to a friend that I was looking for one.

This past week she let me know of one on FB marketplace.

I'm not on FB so it took a little coordinating,

but the end result is a couple days ago, this darling gem came home with me

for a very reasonable price.

It was funny when I went to look at it, the fella had it handy to look at.

It was in a little "town" of a couple hundred people out in the middle of nowhere.

There was an outlet right there, and I asked if I could plug it in.

He looked a little startled and asked, "Are you going to use it?"

I grinned ear to ear and replied, "Yep."

He looked amazed.

We plugged it in, and it worked fine so we loaded it up and I paid him.

Now whenever our washer gives out, we will be okay.

You'll laugh, but I refer to that as insurance & investment.

This is the kind of insurance I believe in.

I also see it as investing since I should never have to buy another washer.

These are work-horses, they last, and are repairable if they do breakdown.

If only I could find clothes and shoes that would last as long.

  

I was by myself so couldn't really get a picture while putting the clothes

through the wringer.

We get our work clothes really dirty

 so I was curious to see if they would get cleaner with this washer.

They do appear to be cleaner which is great.

The wringer didn't seem to get as much of the water out

as the spin cycle of the Kenmore, but that could be partially

due to operator inefficiency.

It had been a long time since I used a wringer for laundry.

So they did take a little longer to dry, but that wasn't a big deal to me.

Like I said, I will continue to do laundry with our "regular" washer,

but I really like knowing that I have a back up

and that it really wasn't that big of a deal to use it.

I used it outside and don't have it set up in an optimal situation,

but it was only a test run.

If I was going to use it regularly,

I would have it set up so that filling it with water and draining it

were easier.

The other note is that I did a full load of laundry.

The basin looks so much smaller and is easier to reach 

because of the shape, but I fit just as many clothes in it

as in the large capacity Kenmore washer.

I guess other than letting you know I'm a little goofy,

I'd like to encourage you to think outside of the box a little

when it comes to things we do as part of our routine

without giving much thought to what goes into it.