Friday, August 31, 2012

No Rain Yet and other Ramblings!

This is day 144 of the drought in my part of the country.  The weatherman assured local viewers this morning that remnants of Hurricane Isaac would definitely bring us some much needed rain.  We did get less than a tenth of an inch of rain this morning here at Patchwork Acres, but nothing since.  The sun has popped out occasionally, but not for long.

I didn't go one of my farmers markets to sell soaps today because of the rain prediction; plus, I had sourdough bread rising and needed to get it in the oven past the time I should have been on the road.  When we woke up this morning, it was so sticky, humid due to the tropical air moving into our area.   I was going to wrap soaps for a custom order, but the soaps are too damp from the humidity.  I decided it was too uncomfortable to make soap, as well.   It's not so humid now and there is a nice breeze blowing, so it's bearable here in the house.  We turned off the A/C several weeks ago when it cooled down a bit and the humidity dropped.  I don't plan to turn it back on until next year, if possible.  I like having the windows open to smell the fresh air.  Plus, it saves on our electric bill if the air conditioner isn't running.

Because of the drought, my garden---which started out with so much promise---is rather sad looking right now.  I have gotten enough tomatoes to can a few and have some to eat.  Both the sweet and hot peppers aren't producing like normal and they are smaller than they should be.  The habanaros haven't set any fruit at all yet.  Some of my vegetables didn't even germinate.  I have been watering as needed so everything doesn't completely die, but even so, rainwater would be much better for the plants.  My plan is to do some cleaning (weeds still grow in a drought!) in my garden next week and start my Fall garden even though I'll have to water....unless we get that rain that's been predicted.  I want to plant lettuce, spinach, squash, peas, and green beans.

Even though it's been so hot and dry, our goats are still producing a lot of milk, enough for my family  and several customers.  I made mozzarella cheese a week or so ago, and we quickly ate it.  I like to make it and put it in the freezer for when I make home-made pizza.  Anyway, our buck was checking out one of the does yesterday.  And depending on when he does "his job", we could be expecting baby goats near the end of January or first part of February.

So I've had a bit of a lazy day, hoping for the rain to come, knitting with a new yarn, checking email and Facebook, and baking my sourdough bread.  The computer control on my oven went out a while back, so I wasn't able to bake for a few months; but my husband installed a new one.  The oven now bakes a little hotter than it did before, so my sourdough bread is a bit darker than I would usually bake it because I forgot to set the timer for a few less minutes than the recipe called for.  I am sampling it right now and it still tastes good.

I mentioned that I was knitting today.  I have a new yarn from Knit Picks called Chroma.  I bought the fingering weight yarn in the color, "Prism."  I love how the colors subtly change from one to another.  I'm knitting myself a pair of socks with this yarn.  I didn't pay attention when I bought it and didn't know until I started knitting that the yarn was a single ply, rather than a 2 or 3 ply sock yarn.  But that's okay; it's knitting up just fine.  I'm halfway finished with the first sock----working on the gusset, then on to the foot and toe.

First Friday is coming up next week at the art studio where I am a member.  First Fridays are always fun.  I get to see the other artists in our studio, plus the other studios in our building, and get to see all the folks who stop by the look at the artwork.

Well, it's time to get started on supper tonight.  We are eating leftovers of one of my favorite dishes to make.  It's called Chalupa Grande and it's basically pork cooked with pinto beans, spices, onions, garlic, onion, and green chilies.  It can be served on rice or in a flour tortilla with cheese, salsa, and/or hot sauce made by one of our market vendors.

Maybe I won't take so long between posts.  That's always been hard for me to do with our dial up internet, but broadband is supposed to be here soon!!!  Until next time.