Heat Wave

The heat wave continued through the first of the week, bringing us more uncomfortable weather, but I needed it for more ripe tomatoes so I tried not to complain.  Today, it's supposed to be the last of hot day.  I guess we'll see.  It was so hot some schools without AC let out again early and will again today. 

Hubby has to work in rooms with hot machines, and yesterday, he almost got sick twice.  I told him to request an ice jacket (vest filled with ice) today.  Some machines can be from 130° up to 700-800°F.  He is requesting those jobs be delayed by a day today.  He was so sick when he got home, all he could eat was the blueberry bread I made.  So glad I made it.

Our daughter's school has AC, but the school buses do not.  We are not used to having heat waves in fall, and she has a black school uniform (pants).  No time to change to shorts on the way home either.  She came home miserable too and went straight to the couch.

Update on our Moroccan Creole garlic - horrible harvest.  The cloves are the smallest of all small.  Too small to plant, so it won't be continued here unless I purchase some for fall planting.

On a "happy" note, the heirloom green bell peppers are starting to produce a few.  We got more rain with the heat, so I am anticipating some going in the freezer.

This weeks breakfast was created with garden bell peppers, garden potatoes, a few hot peppers, onion, sausage and eggs.

I pickled some hot banana peppers.  Per Hubby's request, they were cut in larger pieces and with seeds.

I was low on certain baking ingredients, so I went fishing online for a blueberry cake/bread that didn't have butter.  I made AllRecipes blueberry bread I recipe, adding a bit more blueberries and added cinnamon and nutmeg. 

Your probably wondering how all this cooking and baking can be done when the heat index is 101°F?  I would have felt horrible if I didn't have a treat for my husband and daughter to come home to, or a meal.

I finished another Harley Davidson inspired lapghan.  It's up for sale.   

Tiger stole my chair.  

Dinner last night - baked lemon pepper/garlic flounder (homemade lemon pepper), with pearl couscous (zucchini, onion, basil and tomatoes from the garden).  It was very good, but not something for Hubby. It's packed in his lunch today, but he may not be able to eat it with the heat.  These were perfect to cook together.  Other than cooking the veggies before, the fish and couscous only took 10 minutes to make.

Random Tidbits ~ Struggles

I hope your labor day weekend was fantastic.  Ours was hot, productive, and yet fun.  We didn't go camping, but Hubby and I stole off on a one day motorcycle ride.  Our first motorcycle show/stampede about an hour away. But oh,it was hot. Too hot.  We were so ready to be home sweet home.

I made a batch of black bean hummus to go with those homemade einkorn chips.  Yum!  No tahini either.  I even added a garden jalapeno to it.  Oh, and I seeded it and got about 100 seeds saved from one.  I plan on saving more.  I also saved hot banana pepper seeds and green bell pepper seeds.

...made an einkorn pumpkin spice bundt cake since I had more pumpkin puree thawed.  Very good too!  Recipe is online.

Almost had ground hog for dinner.  Almost.  It was headed straight towards the garden (not that it would have gotten much), but still.  It ran off in the opposite direction just as my hand went on the door knob.

I got some good news regarding the soap saver bags that I took to a historical museum gift shop - 4 sold!  A check is coming my way.  So happy about it, so I plan on making more soon.

Also, I found out about an upcoming farmer's market event in the "Big City" and guess what?  There is no set-up fee.  I have registered and I'm just awaiting their email to confirm it.  It's in September so people may be thinking "fall" and my scarves and lapghans will sell.  I hope to make a trip to the "Big City" and look for more white mugs for mug/coaster sets to make too.  I need to look through my yarn stash as well.

Just when I was ready to start yanking those tomato plants the weather turned on us.  It was back up in the high 90's over the weekend (with more thunderstorms), so I let them sit to see if we'll get more tomatoes.  The beets are not getting big either, so I sure hope the rain helps.

It's been one heck of a year this year.  Not only did one plum tree die, but the other one did too.  Cherry tree has been dead for a year, and not been replaced.  Deer have practically ruined one of my elderberry trees, and now my green apple tree is practically dead (fungus).  The peach tree now has a bit of fungus, so those were sprayed and hopefully regain full health.  We also noticed an infestation of tent caterpillars, so we headed to town for a same spray that will take care of that.

Oh, and all those apples are gone.  Poof!  Either deer, raccoons or squirrels got them, so baffles will need put up before next season.

We got the go kart (aka dune buggy) out and worked on her, but she's not running just yet.  She'll need a few new parts, 
then it's Ba ha time.  We actually got it to start, but it won't idle, so yeah, new parts and she'll be zooming around the homestead.

I found the best deal I could on hot banana peppers.  It was a 30 minute drive, but we got a peck of peppers for $8.00.  

16 1/2 glorious pints of hot pepper mustard were canned, even though it was another hot weekend.  How hot?  Heat index of 99°F.  It'll stay hot for the next few days, so I'm praying we have lots of tomatoes.