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| The First Peach - Top |
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| The First Peach - Bottom |
This morning, when I went out to water the back garden, I saw that a peach had fallen from the tree. It was about two inches in diameter, slightly misshapen, and, although it had a nice color, it was still quite hard and under-ripe. Not quite sure how or why it fell. I had a choice to make - do I keep it to ripen in a brown paper bag or do I eat it as it was? In the end, I decided to eat it as it was, because eating under-ripe fruit is nothing new to me. In fact, eating under-ripe, sour fruit with a mixture of salt and chili powder used to be a treat when I was a child! The peach was crunchy, a little sour and a little sweet. In fact, it was just right! I am considering this as the first peach of the season because all the other peaches that were thinned out or had fallen were too small and immature to be considered edible.
I spent a quiet day, today. Barb's news about her daughter Whitney's passing made me feel pensive. I'm coming up on the five year anniversary of my own cancer diagnosis and the possibility of it returning is something I think of quite often.
I made a couple of changes to my meal plan, today, and had tuna salad sandwiches for brunch, instead of the French toast, because Susan had mentioned tuna salad sandwiches in her comment on my meal plan post and that made me want tuna salad! Later, for dinner, instead of making coconut roti, I had frozen parathas with fish curry, as it was easier and quicker! I think I can make a whole week's worth of meals, now, based on the meals I planned to make and didn't! LOL.
I did a few house keeping tasks, watered the few indoor plants, cooked a fish curry, etc., and watched news. I also finished knitting another hat:
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| Hat No. 3 |
Today, I am grateful for:
- The first peach from the tree
- The rest of the peaches remaining on the tree!
- Bird song in the garden- Chatting with my daughter
- A quiet sort of day
Today's joyful activity was enjoying the first peach!
Plans for tomorrow include vacuuming, which I should have done yesterday, but, didn't!
How was your Thursday? What are your plans for Friday?
I like the hat. I think it's my favourite so far.
ReplyDeleteWhen you reach the five year anniversary will your regular checkups stop? That's what happened for my sister.
It seems that I will have to spend some time today writing a reference for one of the boys who used to be in the band. Actually he's all grown up so I should say young man. Anyway he's now finished Uni and has applied for a job so put my name down to provide a character reference for him. I suppose I'd better get on with it!
Thank you, Eileen.
DeleteI am not quite sure what happens with the check ups. Currently, I have them every 3 month; well, at least, until the Covid-19 popped up and I had to postpone the April check up until July. Maybe, after 5 years, I might have to have the check ups every 6 months because I have an injection to increase my bone density every 6 months (I've chemo-related osteoporosis), and then, I suppose, eventually, it will be an annual check up?
I hope the reference writing went well. I'm sure the young man will appreciate you doing that for him and best wishes to him with his job hunt.
How lovely that you are able to grow your own peaches! They must taste all the better just because they are from your garden.
ReplyDeleteMy Mum has just passed her five year anniversary. I am so thankful she is still with us and in good health. For a while there I thought we wouldn't have her around much longer. I am so glad to have been able to spend these extra years with her - though I don't get to see her as often as I would like and am not sure I shall see her at all this year.
Home grown peaches are the best! This is really the first crop from this new peach tree, as, last year, all the fruit dropped while they were still quite small.
DeleteMy best wishes to your Mum! I have heard that the 5 year anniversary is a mile stone. I didn't even dare to hope for 5 years, at the beginning, and I am so very grateful that I have been granted this extra time! I consider every day I wake up alive to be a blessing, no matter what the day turns out to be. I hope you will be able to see your Mum, perhaps a little later this year than in previous summers, but, if not, this year, then, hopefully, next year. (((HUGS)))
Well the new hat shows me that without knowing all those fancy stitches you seem to know by heart, I can use colour instead to bring in pattern. I guess I will have to get on the "Youtube machine" to find out how to bring in different coloured yarn into my work. Very beautiful hat, Bless. These will be so appreciated.
ReplyDeleteHow exciting to have already had the first peach from your little tree. I hope the rest of them ripen fully on the tree for all those jars of jam you plan to make. I like my fruit to be over ripe. I know. I'm weird. I would only eat freckled bananas and almost mushy fruit. To each, his own.
Thank you, Susan. I'm sure you'll find many tutorials online. It's not too complicated, really. You just tie on a ball of yarn in a different color at the beginning of a row and "carry" both strands of yarn on the wrong side, knitting with whichever color as you go. The easiest way to start would be to knit stripes. Then, progress to little checks like I did.
DeleteI was very happy to eat that first peach! But, yes, let's hope the rest of the fruit will remain on the tree and fully ripen for the canning and jam-making I plan to do! My daughter, too, likes the very ripe bananas, while I prefer them to be a little under-ripe! :)
The peach may not quite ripe, but it sure is pretty. :)
ReplyDeleteIt does look pretty, doesn't it? It's a peach called Eva's Pride.
DeleteNow you've mentioned tuna and now I want it too - lunch plans!
ReplyDeleteI like how you have a thankful list - I will do that too.
I just heard the blue jay couple out at the feeder - they come together now.
LOL, Debbie, I hope you enjoy having some tuna salad for your lunch, too. :)
DeleteI find that keeping a daily gratitude/thankful list is helpful. I like to focus on the positive things rather than the negative. I hope that you find it helpful, too.
Oh, maybe you have a nesting pair of blue jays! How exciting!
Hope you are having a good day, Debbie. Take care.
so many thanks to you and your lovely readers for the post and comments yesterday- Paige and Dana looked at the pics over and over always saying 'oh, look at our sweet Whitney'- how kind everyone is- we will muddle through ... as I said, there really isn't a plan b for doing otherwise- Whitney is gone, but we love has none the less, and we will hope we can follow the example she set for all of us-
ReplyDeleteHope you are thinking about biting into a yummy peach- I did manage to locate a large patch of blackberries at the back of the pasture here- today I plan to strip those bushes (and to heck with thorns, critters, etc that get in my way)- we may soon have pie and jam-
Fondest wishes as always-
Barb
Barb, I hope the post and comments offered you some measure of comfort. Yes, there really isn't a Plan B for doing anything other than muddling through, is there? Whitney will continue to live in your heart and thoughts and you will feel her presence, no matter what. (((HUGS)))
DeleteOoh! Blackberries! Be careful with the thorns and critters (wear a long sleeved shirt so you don't get too scratched up!) but, pick enough to enjoy a slice of pie for me, too! :)
You are eating peaches from your own peach tree. How exciting.
ReplyDeleteI like the touch of blue you added to this hat.
For knitting I am working on a shawl but mainly I am crocheting baby blankets.
I now have quite a few for donation when I am able to drop them off again.
Tuna salad sandwiches are always good!
Yes, it has been many years since I last enjoyed a peach from my own tree! I can't quite remember when the other peach tree died, but, it has been several years and the replacement peach tree I planted died during the recent drought. I am so happy to see that this tree is having a good crop, this year, and hopeful that they will remain on the tree to ripen long enough to make some jam and to can. :)
DeleteThank you; I thought the hat could do with a little additional color. You make the most beautiful baby blankets and I know they will all be appreciated by the donation center.
The very first time I had tuna salad sandwiches, I didn't much care for them! I was in college and a friend made them for lunch, one day. It took some experimenting over the years (Miracle Whip instead of mayonnaise, for example), but, now, tuna salad is a favorite. :)
A peach tree....how wonderful. We can't grow them in this country (except in a heated greenhouse).
ReplyDeleteI have high hopes for this peach tree, Eloise. The other one I had died and the replacement one died, too! This is the newest replacement tree! Last year, its first crop all dropped while the fruit was still forming. This year, I had some concern about a leaf drop and bacterial leaf spots, but, so far, the fruits are coming along, nicely! :)
DeleteI wish I had not read tuna. I am not a huge tuna salad person but all of a sudden I want some. Nah, gotta eat the leftovers first! Maybe next week.
ReplyDeleteIf you ate it it is technically the first peach of the season. You must not have bandit squirrels who steal, eat and run!
Ha, ha, tuna salad has that effect of making one want some, doesn't it? Susan has a lot to answer for! :D
DeleteNo, nary a squirrel in my yard, thanks to the garden cats, I think! I wish there were some because I love to watch them. But, I haven't seen any in my yard in years! Last time I had peaches, it was the birds who stole and ate and flew! I decorated the tree with pie pans and tin foil and CDs, but, still, nothing seemed to deter them!
The peach looks very good.
ReplyDeleteI remember eating underripe mangoes with salt and chili powder. 😊
It tasted pretty good, too, even though it was not ripe.
DeleteGreen mangoes either with salt and chili powder, or even better, made into mango pickle - yum! My daughter, too, loves mango pickle!
How sad about Whitney. That's interesting that you put salt on the under ripe peach. My neighbor did that with some of the blood oranges that I gave to her. Your hat is so pretty! You are wise to always look on the bright side.
ReplyDeleteYes, it is very sad about Whitney, isn't it?
DeleteSalt counteracts the acidity in fruit. :)
Thank you; the hat, along with some others that I am knitting, will be donated to the cancer center. I am currently knitting with the leftover yarn that I have and my daughter has told me to help myself to her yarn stash, too!
That's what I try to do, Stephenie, to look on the bright side, be positive, count my blessings. It's what I choose to do. :)
I suspect your peach tree will do well this year after losing fruit last year, because it has had an extra year to develop and grow strong. That peach certainly looks good. I will eat them slightly unripe and crisp because when they are overripe they are messy. Decades ago I remember giant peaches in Europe, one was too much for one person!
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to see the next hat design!
We are having lots of lovely rain this afternoon and I had a serious nap on the bed, largely because I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't get back to sleep. The heat and humidity are draining, too, but it is cooling down now. I did get some things done this morning.
Yes, it has had an extra year to put its energy into growing, instead of trying to form fruit, last year. We also had more rain, this year and I have been watering it like crazy! I am now thinking of getting a nectarine tree, this fall!
DeleteThe next hat will be simple stripes. :)
Oh, it sounds like you really needed that nap! I hope the rain helps to cool things down, a little bit. We dipped down to the 70s, today, due to a marine layer! The weekend, too, is supposed to be cool.
That hat color is just stunning. We recently had our first peaches of the year. We are not lucky enough to have a tree in the back year, and the ones I choose from the grocery were a little under-ripe. Our solution is to halve them and put them on the grill - they soften and get gloriously juicy.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Susanne. The grilled peaches sound great! :)
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