Waffling

I waffled after supper last night.  Had to try out the new waffle maker, didn't I?  I whipped up a batch of waffle batter and got to waffling.  It took a few tries (and a few messes) to get the quantity of batter in the maker so it spread to the edges and didn't ooze out making said messes.  If I'd done better at filling the squares the last two waffles probably would have been full instead of partial, but I cooled them, wrapped them in the lovely green Reynolds Wrap, and froze them overnight.  This morning I slid them into a couple freezer bags and then put half of the burritos, half of the waffles, and half of the fruit pops downstairs in the freezer.



Oh, I didn't show you the fruit pops?  You know I'm a fruit-aholic, right?  I love fresh fruit and fruit in almost any form, so I was trolling through the books on my Kindle and came upon a couple of ice pop recipe books I'd forgotten about.  When I was in Walmart the other day I bought a store-brand bag of frozen sweet cherries (they're prepitted, it was a no-brainer) and a quart of fresh strawberries so I whipped up a batch of cherry pops (the dark red ones) and strawberry pops (the pink ones).  Then, realizing that two pops molds take up lots of freezer room, I carefully extracted half of each and swapped them so there are 4 of each flavor in each mold.  That meant I can stash half of them downstairs and make room upstairs.  (brilliant, if I do say so myself)


This morning as I finished breakfast and reading the paper a few big raindrops fell making splorts and bubbles in the birdbath; I was lucky enough to catch one of each in a single shot.  And even in the rain a Goldfinch came for some nyjer seed.  I'm a big fan of the high contrast and sharp lines between the colors.







Durwood and I conferred, tomorrow the tomato gets it.  We're going to pick it and share it tomorrow.  I hope it tastes as good as it looks.  None of the others are turning pink yet but a few are a pale yellow-green so soon.

July 28--Skip Brown, West Virginia Morning Biking.  In the dawn blue light, Sarah and Skip pedaled up the road that carved a sinuous path through the hills.  They crested a rise just as the sun peeked over the horizon.  They stopped to catch their breath and watched the mist rise like wraiths into the warming day.  West Virginia was a constant surprise.  Neither one of them had anticipated its beauty or the gracious friendliness of the people.  Sarah smiled to see the long downhill ahead.  Her legs already ached and they had barely begun the day's ride.

I got a nice surprise when I got to work yesterday.  Over the weekend Mrs. Boss sold all three of our high-pressure steel SCUBA tanks and for almost full asking price.  That'll cover my weekend away and even help with any shortfall in my stash for my week at The Clearing at the end of September.  We decided that it was foolish to store those tanks when, if I want to go diving (which I won't because I'm not going to risk my ankle on slippery rocks and uneven entries), I can use a tank from the dive shop.  Thanks everso, Mrs. Boss.  Time to head out.  Later, dudes & dudettes.
--Barbara