Even though the temperatures feel like fall is on the way a look out on the back deck shows no changes.  Every thing is still green but some leaves are beginning to fall.  Wes, Deb, and David all worked on the tractor/mower situation but we had to take it in to be repaired this week. I got it back today and mowed all but a little bit in the back of the lot.  It looks pretty good now. 

A call from Dr. Fortin office yesterday gave me a November 21st surgery date.  So that gives me time to get Jay’ s surgeries out of the way, practice being one footed, and get a handle on what supplies we will need.  If the Doctor gets a cancellation I could be moved up to an earlier date.  Otherwise I guess I will be in the hospital part of the day on Thanksgiving—No cooking for me.  My daughter-in-law Deb has volunteered to take care of feeding us on Christmas Eve—usually my job. 

So I just stand on the deck or sit in the swing trying to figure out how all this will come down.  I’m not going to worry because it has to be done.  Until then we will continue to crochet, read, and visit with you!

As most of you know Jay and I live in a dome home.  At the top of it there is a cupola with five windows in it.  As it warms up in the spring we open these windows to allow the temperature inside to cool a little.  They stay open all summer long and are not closed until fall.  As the nights these last few days have been edging into the low 60s and 50s we have had to do something about the windows because the furnace wants to kick on. I could turn off the furnace but it won’t be long before these old butts are going to need the warmth.

Next to close these five windows we have to go to the second floor loft.  I have a telescoping pole with a type of cup on the end that fits over the handles on the windows.  I reach up fit the cup over the handle and turn it until the window is shut.  After closing all five windows I change the direction of the fan to blow down.  This will bring the heat back down into the lower level of the house.

Now as September winds down we will remove the two air conditioners and store them in the basement until next year.  Thus the signs of summer are disappearing for another year!

Cyn and David came up yesterday so the girls could bake and David could try to fix the mower deck for the lawn mower. 
Cyn and I made seven loaves of zucchini bread and four assorted pans of Chocolate Zucchini cake out of two very large zucchini to share and take some to her work.  Visit Cindyisms to see some of the results. 

David however was not as fortunate.  The tractor spark plug is fowling out and the mower deck belt is not catching right yet so I guess the grass will continue to flourish a little longer until we can get it fix.  I swear for what it has cost us the last couple of years we could have bought a goat!

David did however move the swing closer to the dome so Brandy and I can still swing if I end up with my foot in a cast. She is not too sure she likes it there and it is not as attractive as over by the trees.  But it will allow me to hobble out and swing with her if the need arises.  Thank you David.

Haven’t heard anything yet from either my personal physician or the surgeon so I don’t know if or when it is a go.  I sure would like to get started because time wise recovery will run into winter and that ain’t good.

Tomorrow my good friend Darlene’s husband, Michael, has surgery to correct a hernia.  We are all hoping for a speedy recovery for him. 

My brother Daniel is still having problems with his surgery and is anemic which has doctors still trying to find the solution.

Jay’s blood sugar is running lower and the new fistula is working very well so far.

My goodness I sound like a report from “General Hospital”  don’t I .  Enough of this gloomy shit and on to lighter thought. 

I received my handmade dishcloth from Mrs. Dof Saturday so I have to send a big thank you to her for finding them.  Also Grammie Pammie gave me two booklets on how to knit and crochet my own so I had better be looking those over.  Thank you Pammie. 

The weather here is gorgeous with cool evenings for sleeping and pleasant temps in the daytime.  No need for air conditioning or sweaters to be comfortable.  I wish it could be like this all year.  (Well actually I don’t because I would miss my snow.) 

Take it easy my friends here and in England and never fear ‘Underdog Is Here’! ( If you don’t know that last character I’ll have to research him for you!) 

The last of the produce for canning came in today. 

10 pounds of Concord grapes to prep for jelly and preserves.

Results were nine Spice Grape Jelly and 12 Cinnamon Grape Preserves.  Such fun squeezing the seed and pulp out of the skin of 16 cups of grapes.
Sure glad that is done!

With this work this evening I close the canning kitchen for another year—-unless something real exciting pops up! 

Cyn and David are coming up tomorrow and David is going to try to tighten the belts on the lawn mower so I can mow again.  When Cyn called I told her to be ready to bake because we have two large zucchinis, two packages of walnuts, two jars of Maraschino cherries, and a couple cartons of eggs for a repeat on the bread baking.  I’m not sure is the Chocolate Zucchini cake get make this time—we will see!. 

I’m eating a dish of Ice cream as I type and Brandy looks up every time I put the spoon down.  Guess I gotta share again. 

Have a Good Sunday everyone! 

I gotta be getting too old to breathe!  Phyllis, my neighbor, gave me four big red tomatoes—bigger than my fist, and four green bell peppers last night and I agonized over them spoiling before I could use them.  I have probably a pound of green peppers in my freezer so that was out.  My hubby suggested salsa and I thought of a chutney but both would have involved buying more ingredients and I was trying to use up what I had. 

I finally pulled out the Good Housekeeping cook book and searched through it.  I decided on a Tomato Herb Soup and Stuffed Green Peppers.  I now have four meals of soup and eight peppers with extra stuffing freezing in the fridge.  When they are solid we will seal them in Food Saver bags and take them to the freezer in the basement. 

There is a good chance that my foot surgery will be soon so I have been taking stock of my duties around here and how I can set them up to do with only one foot.  Where to put Brandy’s outside leash so I can let her out without going out.  Where I need to put the inside bird seed so I can feed them and how am I going to feed and water Brandy and Molly.  Phyllis said she would pick up things from the store for me.  Jay can take Your Ride to most of his appointments and those out of the county we will have to call on the kids for help.  Oh well we can do this if it is necessary! 

Take care and stay well!

The Visiting Nurse said today was Good Neighbor Day and she brought us this lovely rose. 

This was just the thing to kick start the pears thing.

At about 2 pm with not quite a half a bushel I started peeling and setting up the equipment to can.  With every thing ready to go I worked until about 4:00.
Then Brandy came to get me for my break. (she does that every time I been busy for a while and at 4 she thinks it is time to swing).  Today I was close to getting all the pears peeled so I sent her out with Jay.  Sometime around 4:30 I thought I had better check on them.  A glance out the door told me to grab the camera. 

You see Brandy is so used to swinging with me that she sat patiently waiting for Dad to wake up and bring her in. 

Well I finished up with 15 pints of Cinnamon Peaches this after noon.

All in all a good afternoon’s work.

But what did I do this morning you ask?  Actually I caught up reading three days of newspapers because we had been at two doctor’s offices and Grammie Pammie’s house for a visit yesterday. 

Also when I went out with Brandy this morning this was the sight that greeted me.

And this

And this

And finally this

I do so love those little birds!

Saturday I checked the pears and found they still weren’t ready for canning so I took the four pounds of apples left over from the chutney/applesauce project and started making apple pie filling with Clear Jell.  I thought I smelled an apple pie baking as I filled the jars for canning.  I came up with four pints.

That finished I picked up the crochet hook again. I had finished a complete afghan ( I posted a picture earlier) and was working on the 7 inch squares again.
We will be down in Grammie Pammie’s area on Tuesday.  We have appointments with Dr. Webb in Southfield to have the stitches taken out of Jay’s arm in the morning.  Then my appointment in Royal Oak with Dr. Fortin about my feet is in the early afternoon.  I wanted to take what I had finished to her.

You are looking at 37 squares.  Now I think I’ll stow the yarn away for a while.  At least until my hands start itching to pick up the hook again.