a little of this & that…

 93

It was 93 one day this past week - and while I am certainly not wanting to wish away time, I have had it with this hot, humid, muggy, awful summer weather. To paraphrase a movie title:  it’s been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad summer!

A photo taken at 7:00 AM   - doesn’t the morning just look like it’s going to be a scorcher? (No filters, I promise.)

While I sat in the milkhouse yesterday, waiting for customers, I tried to keep the baked goods looking as fresh as possible with the door open and fans blowing air…warm air, but still air was moving.

I brought in a few flowers hoping they would make the surroundings a bit cheerier as I slowly melted in my rocking chair.

A quick trip to the farmers’ market and I found some of the best, sweetest, absolutely perfect in every way corn. They had it packed in ice, which I thought was a terrific idea! Here's my secret to cooking what I think is perfect corn every time, and it's quick & easy. Let water come to a boil in a stockpot, add ears of cleaned corn, when the water returns to a boil: turn off the heat, cover the stockpot, and wait 5 minutes. (Slather with butter, salt & pepper...but that's just how I like it!)

I love an enamel-topped table - and when I saw this one was FREE, well, my daughter and I were off to rescue it. (I had just seen a very similar one in an antique shop for $100!)

She had some rusty spots, which came off with a little elbow grease and several coatings of Bar Keepers Friend cleanser. The wood was also very dry, I’m not sure where she’s been stored (outside maybe?), so I gently dusted her off, washed her down, then gave her a coating of wax to help protect the wood. She was perfect outside the milk house for displaying oodles of cookbooks I’m selling...the deep clean continues. If you're a lover of Gooseberry Patch books, let me know...I was generously given a copy of each book I helped to write and I have stacks/loads/heaps of them...I'm happy to send you all you'd like!

And this picture has no significance other than it made us laugh! We thought it was so funny that for a bag not marked "limited edition" or special in any other way, these M&M's missed out on all the other colors we usually find!

We’ve turned basil into pesto,

dahlias are blooming, 

and my giant cupboard is ready to pick up! I can’t wait to get her here - I’m thankful to the gal who found her in a dusty corner and saw she needed some TLC. And for her to have some old hinges and a keyhole cover from this old house makes my heart happy. An antique knob was added as well - now - to make the trip and carefully load her, bring her home, up 4 steps, and finally through the double doors - fingers crossed! 

Sending you good wishes for the rest of the weekend, and for the week to come - may it be cooler!