Hot Days Ahead

This old house needs a paint job and some other improvements but even in its current worn-out state, has a bit of charm.

Temperatures have been very high here, but the humidity is what determines whether or not I can think or concentrate on necessary tasks. Right now the humidity is very, very high, and at the end of the day I never feel I have done much. Regular housekeeping has kept my time so filled up that I still have not unpacked my suitcase from my trip to Australia, and I have been home for two weeks.

The lawn looks so dry and there is a rain storm coming.

I would like to report on the double-cream I was trying to make with the farmer's milk I bought from the farm just across the field from here. I let the cream set in a deep bowl with a lid, and each day I pulled aside a part of the heavy cream to pour off the liquid that had drained out of it. I did this for 2 days til no liquid was left. The result was as close to the double-cream as I experienced in Victoria. Still, the Victorian double-cream was smooth and shiny and had the texture of natural sour cream, shiny and thick without the whipped-cream look and was not grainy or bubbly in appearance. It was like the soft, spreadable cream cheese except that it did not harden when refrigerated and did not turn liquid when being used unless it was applied to a hot muffin.

The new cherry tree yielded a bowl of cherries that were so tasty,

 

and I found Pink Lady apples at our Safeway store. Victorians told me the Pink Lady originated in Australia, and often a Victorian friend of rellie would place a Pink Lady in the palm of my hand as a gift. These apples are pinker looking at the farm markets before they are shined, and worthy of having their portrait painted.

I have made progress using up my fabric, and this is one of the pieces I washed and hung outside to dry. It is all cotton, and has a texture somewhat like linen; from Walmart. This is the fabric I hope to use for a sewing tutorial in the future--shortly, I hope. Since it has a denim quality it might make a pretty denim style jacket and skirt, or a dress with jacket. I will be sure and label it as a tutorial when I get it posted, so that those who want to learn to sew can make something easy.

I have been enjoying the paintings of Dorothy Dent. She has instruction books here

http://www.ddent.com/Class%20Project%20Packets%20pg%207.html. Above is one of her paintings. I like the way she managed to make the sunlight on the house boards and the rose bush.

In spite of the demands on my time, I am trying to make a new habit of doing something creative every day and something social each day. Today I began a sketch of the apple and went to the grocery store. The grocery store is one of my social centers because all the staff has seen me there often for the last couple of decades.

There is a week of very hot days ahead but I am trying to keep my mind off it and not move around too quickly. My suggestion for housework on a hot day is to clean the fridge and the freezer, and that way, you will also get a nice cool blast of air in the kitchen. Make sandwiches in the evening to prevent having to heat anything in the kitchen, and also cut down on dishwashing on such hot days. If you have a large family, those evening meals can be labor-intensive, plus the washing of pots and pans in a hot kitchen, so sandwich and salads make sense in hot weather.

 

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