Cousins, Cuisine, and Cicadas

That's quite a combination isn't it?

Cousins from Missouri visited Sunday night and Monday morning . Their visits are a blessing, and always too short. We were treated to a fantastic slide show of their recent trip to Wales, along with all the good fellowship. A good start to the week.

Cuisine...well, we are making an effort to clean up our nutrition. Now is a really great time to do that with all the fresh produce available. This is lunch today...I didn't get breakfast because of the vitamin/ medication schedule conflicting with work and all. I'm sure I won't waste away, but it isn't good to skip meals and I don't make a habit of it. What I have on this plate is steamed onions and zucchini lightly seasoned and buttered, caprise salad (tomatoes, basil, mozerella cheese, and garlic, topped with olive oil. And meat.

Cicadas. "...potatoes and this peach..." I say he mumbles in his beard. He says I don't hear well. What ever it is, our efforts at communication sometimes approaches the laughable. Hubby standing outside the soap shop, speaking what I thought I heard. I had to get up and go see what he was talking about. A peach sits on top of a post. ( No potato, but Cicada sounds like potato when one mumbles into a beard...honest) On the side of the post is the newly shed outer skin, you scientists can tell me later the technical term for this, and on the peach a fresh cicada. I suppose the creature that lived in that shell is the nymph stage. I'll have to do a little research. Last week we were introduced to Cicada Enemy # 1 and I have to admit it's high on my list of Avoid At All Costs too. A very large Cicada Killing Wasp. As a side note, the bug book says this family of wasps can deliver a severe sting. What do you call what a yellow jacket delivers???? That's plenty severe enough and I was recently reminded of that potential as I did get stung walking to the mailbox, stung twice in fact, by a disgruntled wasp. I duck, weave and bend navigating through the yard as these huge insects stalk their prey. I feel like maybe a sandwich board stating "NOT a Cicada" might be in order. Tom did spray around a nest he found, and also around a number of sand wasp holes too...they are in the same family, and the same comment applies about the "severe sting". Here are two very dead, very pickled samples of these hearty stinging pests. In the air they must stretch that fusilage somehow, because they look a lot bigger in action! They don't look very threatening all stretched out there do they?

I'm in the soapshop still making an effort to get things caught up. Cutting, shaping and wrapping soap ... none of them are my favorite tasks. But if one makes many soap logs, one must be responsible to take care of those ... so, that's what I'm doing so I can make more soap again in the near future. Even with all that I've made lately, there are a couple that I am out of .... always need more. The plight of an addicted soapmaker. :-(

And in a couple hours I will have some willing Summer Kitchen assistants. ( I hope) Kristie and grandchildren will arrive and the plan is to pick green beans and can them. And prepare cucumbers for making relish. We shall see how that all goes. Sloppy joes for supper and that is the next thing on my agenda. The making of them so we have quick and easy access when hunger strikes.

My goal this week is to try really hard NOT to run full tilt. Tom gave me my gamma globulin shot Sunday, or was it yesterday? He did such a good job, it was so little trauma, I can't even remember. We are quite a pair...I do not like being on the receiving end of that needle, and he dislikes even more being on the administering end. The last 2 shots have not had any effect. We are wondering if I'm just pushing too much and hindering the good it could do. It's going to be a mighty hard task to ease back, with a tree full of peaches, pears, bean, cucumbers and apples all coming on at the same time.

So, if/ when you pray for us, pray for wisdom to do things in the right order, and as it needs to be done, not to take on more than is sensible (a challenge for me, the All or Nothing Queen!), and maintain a right focus. Tom has secured the help of two able bodied, willing young men to help with the porch demolition tomorrow. Which means my participation will be to cheer them on and take pictures maybe. Tom has gone well above and beyond the call of duty to help me and tries to find good solutions to getting things done with minimal energy expenditure. He is a good guy. A Keeper, for sure.

So, Hopefully this week I'll have more pictorial documentation of the House Project, as we get it underway again. Stay tuned.....