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| Grapes from S's Friend's Garden |
Neighbor S called me this afternoon to ask if I'd like to have some grapes from her friend's garden, they are sweet but have seeds in them. I said I'd love to have some. She brought me a bag of them; I tried a few and they are delicious. I saved some of the seeds to see if I can get them to grow! S is very considerate of the fact that I am still being very careful, so we were both wearing our masks even though we usually meet outside, at the door step. Today, however, I invited her in to take a look at the loquat seedlings she had given me (from her aunt's garden) earlier in the summer; they are growing in pots in the back yard and I led her through the house to the back yard. The loquat seedlings are growing well and should be big enough to plant in the ground, next year, I think.
I went to bed around 3:30 a.m., last night/this morning and woke up once at 9:00 a.m., turned off the porch lights, fed the cats (Dancer and Mama Cat), considered getting up for the day, but, decided to go back to bed, instead! LOL. It was late morning when I woke up for the second time!
It was a sunny day with an afternoon high of 80F. It was in the mid 70s outside when I woke up for the 2nd time and 64F inside the house! When I mentioned it to my daughter, she said it was colder inside my house than it was outside in Berkeley (65F)! LOL. I opened the windows and drapes and managed to warm up the house to 68F, before I closed the windows in the evening. It felt warm enough inside the house to be without a sweater for a couple of hours in the afternoon and then, I put on my sweater, again! LOL!
Today, was laundry day! I know I usually do laundry on Mondays, but, I am planning to go for my Covid booster on Monday and I am not going to do any housework after that! I refuse! LOL! I did a load of laundry including my bed sheets, first, and then, another load with the family room sofa dust sheets and the crocheted blanket/throw that I have on the sofa. I put the spare set of dust sheets on the sofas and I remade my bed with flannel sheets! I added another blanket to the quilts on the bed and, I should be nice and warm at night, I think. Later, I put away the dried laundry, chatted with friend R, and spoke with cousin V and sympathized with her husband on his sister's death.
Brunch was the leftover stir-fried spaghetti pasta. Dinner was ground turkey keema curry and rice:
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| Ground Turkey Keema Curry and Rice |
There's leftover curry and rice for tomorrow's dinner, as well.
Daughter did some shopping, today, including her grocery shopping for the week. This is her drawing for Saturday:
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| Prompt: Uh-oh ("Based on a personal experience") |
Today, I am grateful for:
- Being able to sleep in!
- A warm, sunny day
- Working appliances
- Flannel sheets
I hope your Covid booster goes well and you don't have any nasty side effects.
ReplyDeleteI do hope you are successful in saving the seeds from the grapes and growing your own... that's an exciting project. Have you worked out the best place to have a grape vine growing in your garden?
I did the same as you this morning and opted to stay in bed rather than get up, although not too bad in terms of time as our clocks went back last night. I was too tired after the trip home from London so decided that catching up on sleep was my best option. I'll be doing all the laundry and getting back into the swing of things tomorrow. Today is for rest and updating my family about the results from the hospital. xx
Thank you, Eileen; keeping my fingers crossed that the booster side effects will be mild!
DeleteI have no idea if the grape seeds will germinate or not, but, I want to try! I've already killed several grape vines that I've purchased and planted in previous years! Not sure if the seeds will do any better! But, IF they germinate and IF they grow, then, I'll plant them in pots for now and figure out a place to grow them in the garden, later! We could probably rig up a trellis at the very back of the back yard. :)
Sleeping in and resting sounds like the best thing to do after your trip to London and back. I'm sure your family will be happy to know the results from the eye hospital visit. :)
We're spoiled these days with all of the seedless grapes in the stores. I've never grown grapes before, but my brother-in-law grows several kinds. Good luck with your booster shot. I didn't have too many problems - just some achiness.
ReplyDeleteI haven't had much success growing grape vines that I've bought from nurseries, so I don't know why I think that I'll have better luck with growing them from seed, but, who knows? It'll be fun to try! Even if I don't get fruit from it, grape leaves are edible, too, aren't they? :D
DeleteThank you! Glad to hear that you didn't have many side effects from your booster; I'm hoping it'll be the same for me, too! :)
Your daughter's drawing really captures the feeling of panic when a key seems to have gone missing! Always a relief if it turns up at the bottom of the purse.
ReplyDeleteWe get rather spoiled with seedless grapes but your sweet ones from S will give you a chance to grow your own. We often buy grapes from California.
This morning there was a heavy mist but the sun burned it off. Most of the leaves are down except for the beech and oak trees. The latter are particularly attractive with a variety of subtle reds and bronzes, and I love the beeches because the leaves brighten up the yard all winter!
One does feel a sense of panic when the key is missing, doesn't one? Daughter once dropped her house keys when she went to a restaurant with neighbor S's daughter, once (in the days before Covid) and realized it only when she got home - fortunately, I was home and opened the door for her. She called the restaurant and they had found the keys and kept them for her; we went back the next day and collected them!
DeleteI haven't had much luck growing grapevines I've bought as plants, so I don't know why I think I can grow them from seeds, but, it'll be a fun experiment. Apparently, one has to keep them in the fridge for a few months to trick them into thinking it's winter, so, we'll see what happens!
I love how you always find something beautiful about nature, no matter what the season, Bushlady. It's another summer like day, here, sunny, with an afternoon high of 85F according to the forecast (it's 83F at 3:30 p.m., I doubt if it will go up any higher). There is a cooling trend, next week, though.
Your daughter's drawing made me smile. I think we've all been in that position :)
ReplyDeleteYes, we have! :D
DeleteI wonder if your grape seeds will grown. I hope so especially because they are delicious. You are working towards a very nice assortment of fruit in your garden.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you were able to go back to sleep. You must have felt very rested when you got up for the day.
Your daughter's drawing is fabulous. We've all probably had that exact "uh oh" moment.
I wonder, too, Debra. We shall have to wait and see. Also, there is the fact that many seed-grown plants don't bear true to the parent plant! I might end up with some really sour grapes, in more ways than one! :D
DeleteI guess I needed that extra sleep. I really need to bring my bed time forwards; maybe the time change will help!
Thank you; it's a drawing we can all identify with, isn't it? :D
Your daughter is amazingly talented and flannel sheets are awesome!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lyssa. :)
DeleteI once was given lots and lots of grapes which looked just like that! Mum ate them, pips and all, but I decided to use for jelly (couldn't bear to throw them away, and there were far, far too many to eat). It took me many hours to strip them all from the vines and wash them. That was three years ago and I still have juice from that crop in the freezer. (If only I knew how to make wine!)
ReplyDeleteMuch luck with your farming exploits!
I did think about making grape jam with them, but, decided to just eat them, instead. Maybe you can make some grape jelly with the frozen juice.
DeleteThanks! My farming will be limited by the availability of water, but, it'll be fun to see what happens! The last time I looked, I have some papaya seeds sprouting!
Yes, that is the intention. I made masses of jelly that year, then I used another three (UK) pints of frozen juice last year, and as I say, there is still at least one more big tub in the freezer. I will think twice before accepting any grapes in future! Had I used all that extra juice for wine I am sure there would have been lots of takers and it would all be gone by now!
DeleteI don't know much about making wine, but, I believe you need the whole grape, with the peel on, to make wine, not just the juice (microbes on the peel help to ferment the grapes). :D
DeleteYes, that is correct. If I had made wine (which was never a serious prospect) I would have done it immediately and wouldn't have frozen any juice. The reason I referred to the juice in my response was because it seemed as if you believed I might actually be planning to use the stuff in the freezer for wine. Really, it was just a quip.
DeleteI thought you weren't serious about the wine making, but, didn't want to assume anything! I always get into trouble when I make assumptions! :D
DeleteHha! I should clarify when I said "lots and lots", it was four or five bin liners-full. If I had had equipment and experience it would definitely have been worth making a batch of wine. Probably it's quite interesting to do, but that's a job for someone else. I gave away as much of the fruit as I could, and any normal person would have simply binned the surplus but I just can't bear waste, hence the stripping, washing, boiling, straining, freezing ... and still talking about it four years later! (On the plus side, I have found a couple of recipes that seem popular so at least I have a use for the stuff!) PS. I checked back and it was 2018 so four years is correct rather than three. (I'm still traumatised though!)
DeleteOh, my! That was a lot of grapes! I'm glad you saved the grapes, though, without letting them go to waste (or composted them). Maybe you could start having a glass of grape juice with your meals a few times a week to use up the rest of the juice, you don't want to make jelly. I gave M some of the grapes, today, and he ate them, seeds and all, just as your mother did!
DeleteI can relate to the Uh-oh! Those grapes do look tasty.
ReplyDeleteI think we've all experience that uh-oh moment! LOL. The grapes are good, but, not exactly what one would eat in company unless one is in a spitting seeds competition! LOL.
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