Sunday, June 19, 2011

There'll Be No Yard Work Today

Guess we can scratch weed whipping and grass cutting off the list for today.

You can't see the rain coming down in the picture but it's been falling since I got up at 4:45. (No, not intentionally but rather because of a mosquito in the bedroom intent on draining all the blood from my body. Grrr.)

We need the rain, and this will certainly keep us from having to put the sprinkler in the strawberry patch today as planned. I've been worried about those little berries being able to grow properly and plump up without enough moisture.

It was a stroke of genius that I went outside late last night to cut rhubarb for a pie today. If I had waited until this morning, I would either have had to suit up in full rain gear . . . or wimp out and make a blueberry or raspberry pie from frozen berries.

As it turned out, I had my rhubarb pie in the over at 5:20 a.m.

It burbled over only a little bit in the oven. (Remind me to clean that off before I light the oven again.)

The wild lupines are in full bloom right now. They frequently grow near the ditches on the sides of the roads up here and create huge waves of gorgeous color as you drive along. It's almost breath-taking when you come upon a stand of them that seems to go on forever. We have a nice bunch of them getting bigger each year back by our wood cutting area. I love to pick them for bouquets in the house. Only problem is they don't last very long and drop their little petals all over the place if I forget to throw them out soon enough.

I had a day of outside work planned for today, but obviously with the rain I now have to switch horses. If I had planned an inside day for today, I'd be just fine. But because I now have to restructure my day, I'm thrown for a loop and can't seem to get my body in gear. You guessed it; I don't like or adapt well to change. Does this make me like an old plow horse who is told where to go and unquestioningly plods along with blinders on? Nay, I say. Nay. (Get it? Nay? Neigh? Oh, well.)

13 comments:

Amy Dingmann said...

Nay indeed! I don't like change either. At all! Hope your day is productive nonetheless. :)

judy said...

Rain rain go away-my grass needs cutting every other day [ but it doesn't really get cut that often.] I love that hanging pot area [ plus the added touch of fresh picked wild flowers ]Are you changing out that area in the kitchen in your re-do decor.?

Erin said...

You clean your oven???? LOL, that's one area my OCD doesn't seem to stretch to! The pie looks amazing, as do the Lupines. I heard this morning you were in for some weather today, hope it doesn't make the bugs worse. Please give Papa Pea a big hug from us and wish him a Happy Father's Day! Chicken Mama is a lucky "little girl"!

The Apple Pie Gal said...

Oh but ya gotta love the rain! Glad you are getting some! My gosh, if you had that pie in the oven that early, I'd say you are off to a very productive start!

Mama Pea said...

Mama Tea - Someone once told me that not liking change means you tend to want to keep control over everything. Yeah? So what's wrong with that?? ;o}

judy - Yep, the kitchen area will be expanded to the whole room. Right now the room functions as kitchen and living room both. I love my pot hanging rack but that will have to go in the remodeling. The pots and pans should be handier down where I can reach them without straining my garters. (It's heck being short!)

Erin - No, I never said I actually CLEAN my oven but I do shovel out the debris in the bottom every now and then. ;o}

The same "Happy Father's Day" and a hug back at Loch and Finn's wonderful daddy. I love the way he shows his boys affection . . . not all little guys get that from their dad.

APG - I do, I do love the rain 'cause we need it! There's a small fire burning in the BWCA so this rain should help contain that.

Papa Pea wanted a slice of the rhubarb pie after his eggs at breakfast but I told him he had to hold off until dessert at lunch! (Gosh, seeing as how's it's Father's Day maybe I should have let him have it when he wanted it!?)

Jane @ Hard Work Homestead said...

So that is what is falling from the sky! Good thing you told me that was rain, I forgot what that looked like. But just 10 miles south of me they seem to get it all the time. How did I get on this sh$t list? Anyway, the pie looks wonderful. Breakfast pie is a wonderful idea. Right up there with breakfast hot fudge sunday ;)

Patty said...

That pie looks delicious! I should make one for Dan. Maybe. But that would mean making pie crust which, as much as I hate to admit it, I don't like to do.
A rhubarb crisp would be great though! Happy Father's Day to Papa Pea. Have an awesome day!

becky3086 said...

We have had some welcome rain lately...well...it would have been welcome if it hadn't knocked trees onto the power lines and then knocked out the power again a few days later. Not to mention it is in the upper 90's and supposed to be in the hundreds next week.

Dirt Lover said...

So much rain this year! All our lakes and reservoirs are full and we still have the snow pack that will be melting. It's been a long time since we've seen that! Now the weeds in between my raised beds are so high, I could cut and bale them!
~~Lori

Leigh said...

Oh that pie looks so good! My rhubarb bit the dust this year. I planted it last spring and nurtured it all last summer, but I think the heat did it in this year. :(

I don't switch gears all that easily either. But for rain, well, I'd try to manage. :)

Mama Pea said...

Jane - I have found "in my old age" (or something) that if I eat a sugar-loaded breakfast I don't feel well at all! Guess my metabolism can't take the shock of the sugar rush. So I have sworn off hot fudge sundaes for breakfast. Rats.

Patty - I don't like to make pie crusts either. That's why I make a big batch of them (using a pound of butter and a pound of lard) and then freeze the crusts in balls that roll out to one crust. (See? There's a method to my madness!)

becky3086 - Yikes, rain with a storm that knocks over trees and takes out the power doesn't sound like a welcome rain to me!

Lori - Yup, although we still could use more rain, hubby and I worked on the lawn cutting and weed whipping today until the on and off rain drops got more on than off and had to come in. Now only half the lawn looks like a hay field.

Leigh - I know rhubarb is more of a northern crop. It doesn't like hot weather . . . also requires a lot of moisture. Sorry yours went belly up!

kelly said...

HA! You say "weed whipping" too! I now live in FL and my gardener guy laughed so hard when I said that... I guess it's a Minnesota thing!

Mama Pea said...

kelly - What?? Weed whacking? Weed cutting? I think our weed whipping is absolutely the right term!! :o}