The Beat Goes On, 7-28-2019

Thoughts and Quotes: Henry Van Dyke said, "Be glad of life, because it gives you the chance to love and to work and to play and to look up at the stars." And I add, "and the chance to practice patience in the midst of ongoing problems."

Turns out my rain sensor had not been discarded, but only pushed over to dangle from the roof. Watersmith adjusted it, cleaned it, said he'd be back to install it when the lightning was over, but it would work fine. It did. One time. Now I'm waiting to hear when he'll be back.

Painters were supposed to be here on Tuesday at 10:30, called and postponed to 2:30. I called them at 3:20 to see what was going on. They had just finished and would be on their way. That would mean they'd be here by 4:00 and estimated that the job would take four hours, so they'd be finished by 8:00? No, they had a meeting at 6:00. I told them we need to do this job all at one time, finished, complete, end of story. They won't be back until Friday. 

I will not have an August like my July has been. Period. The end. Do you hear me, Universe?! I've had it!!!

Teaching and Learning: When the school supplies appear at Walmart, I get that yearning to go back to school. So I'm going, but right here at my desk in my own office, with my own music playing, and on my own time.

You can go, too, if you like. To see free online courses at Hillsdale College, click HERE. I'm taking Constitution 101 and WWII.

If you want to go to culinary classes, click HERE. These classes are not free, but the chef is very smart and very entertaining. No boredom here.

And have you been confused about Omar Ilmar's marriages? This is why I love Glenn Beck. He's a master teacher. Click HERE.

Thrifting: If you're going to school, you need notebooks, right? So off to the thrift store where I found my notebooks for 50 cents each and also these goodies:

Two snack plates for 75 cents each 

A sweet little trivet for $1 (could also be used for a serving dish)

A fruit trivet for .38 cents (bargain tag color day)

Two pillar candles for 50 cents each (Christmas room bargains)

And my best find of the day - $1.75 (also from the Christmas Room). Snowflakes on the top and the pedestal.

Tasting: Rib dinner at Jim and Becky's on Saturday. Yum! It's usually on 4th of July, but they were attending a family reunion this year - Becky's family.

My plate

Then we had homemade vanilla ice cream with the peach pie I took.

Now let me tell you my peach story. Remember the almost case of peaches Bill brought over? They were already ripe, so had to be dealt with right away. I had all kinds of wonderful ideas, but with the ongoing saga of shingles (mine) and shingles (roof), I decided to just use an idea from the internet where you make up pie fillings and freeze them in pie plates, pop them out, and store them for baking later. So I fixed six plus a deepdish peach and blueberry.

My pie was really runny, but I'd baked it that morning of the lunch, and put it in a covered carrier and drove an hour with it in my trunk, so I thought maybe it didn't have time to set properly.

No. I was having lunch with Bill and Will on Tuesday, so I baked another pie on Monday so it would have plenty of time to set. Not only was it runny, but the crust became soggy, even though the pie looked great.

So now, I'll thaw two pie filings, put them in a 13 x 9 and make cobbler. Maybe I'll have better luck. I'll also throw in a little dry tapioca to help set the filling.

And while we're on Tasting, let me tell you about my strawberry jam. I've always used liquid Certo pectin for strawberry freezer jam, and it's always pretty runny (seems to be a theme for me these days).  Anyway, this time I tried Sure-Jell powdered pectin, and it works a lot better. I bought the pink box which is the less sugar option, and made one recipe. For the second recipe, I added an additional cup of sugar and used my immersion blender to puree the strawberries a little more than just mashing them with my potato masher. Better.

The instructions are a little drawn out on the recipe in the Sure-Jell box, but here's my abbreviated version:

Wash and remove stems from four 1-lb containers of strawberries.

Crush Strawberries and set aside.

Mix 3 or 4 cups of sugar (see note), a package of SureJell pectin and 1 cup of water in a saucepan.

Stir constantly over medium heat until it comes to a boil and boil one minute (keep stirring).

Add stawberries after removing from heat.

Stir constantly one more minute.

Pour into plastic containers or glass jars with lids. 

Leave ar room temperature up to 24 hours until set. This also gives you a chance to admire your beautiful work.

Store in freezer up to one year. Thaw in refrigerator before using. Of course, you'll want to put one in the refrigerator instead of the freezer so you can have it on your morning toast the next day.

Note: Do not use fewer than 3 cups of sugar or jam won't set properly. The instructions in the box also have a version to make with Splenda.

Tales: I finished a book recommended by Bev and really enjoyed it. I think you would, too. Check your library or your library consortium.

Tips: If you have leftover beef roast, just cut it up, put it in a pot with potatoes, onions, and water. Then add whatever you have in the refrigerator and simmer. This time I added a can of mushroom soup, corn, and at the end when almost ready, some zucchini. Salt and pepper and it's good to go. You can add other herbs or spices, but I'm rather a purist.

Not much time to do more than mess up, clean up, move things around. My house looks as if I'm moving, with everything from the family room moved to the living room or the dining room table; pitchers and soup tureens from the cabinet top are on the breakfast room table. This, too, shall pass. I just keeping repeating that over and over. The only item on my summer bucket list which I do faithfully is the Sunday afternoon nap. Blog posts will be short for awhile and maybe even a few skipped weeks. 

HOPE ALL IS WELL IN YOUR LIFE

ENJOY EVERY DAY

MAKE IT COUNT

MAKE A NOTE, TAKE A PHOTO SO YOU'LL REMEMBER IT

KEEP SMILING

THANK YOU FOR SHARING MY LIFE