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Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Too Hopeful? More Baking, Gorgeous Sunset

On Wednesday, Apr.26th I was happy to see blue sky out my westerly bedroom window. It was about 7:30, which surprised me that I slept in so long, so I got up not to miss another minute of a sunny day. Bill and Clemson were up and already settled downstairs. “Your tea is ready” said my sweetie. Nice sounds to wake up to.

The joy for the bright day was short-lived, however, when I saw clouds creeping up from the east and slowly spreading across the sky. I try not to let the weather get to me and usually it doesn’t. How it affects my feelings is when I believe the guessers from the previous day telling me “21C and full sun”. I count on that and then have the letdown when it doesn’t come to fruition. Darn!

I was trying to capture the pink pond weeds

Okay, the bright side is that I am on the right side of this wonderful earth and there was 'no tag on my big toe when I woke up'. One of my father-in-law's recent one-liners.  We will make the best of this day. I told Bill yesterday that I had a couple more recipes to try IF the day turned out to be a dud, so guess what I’ll start with?

I sat down with my tea and noticed the warm 10C for the day’s start up. Hmm, not too bad at all in comparison to the latest overnight temps. It is slowly warming up. I read blog posts from yesterday and left some comments when moved to do so.
These little weeds are so interesting
When I walked outside to the Restroom it was nice to hear the birds and a squawk from Gabe. The Snipe (if that is what it is) was circling as well although I couldn’t see him. Looking up at the bird, his white underbelly is lost in the clouds.
My hostas are starting to pop up, finally!
Yesterday, in the town mail box I had a notice from one of Mom’s life insurance providers to confirm that she still requires their premium so I filled that out (it is a yearly confirmation) and Clemmy and I walked it down to the mail box.
Notice the 2 lard packages - The Morrell brand, bought in the US does not spoil us
with the measurements on the lid. funny how disappointing that is!

I'm so glad I have my island
I love it when the postage is paid like that. I haven’t gotten back into the routine of having stamps on hand yet. I popped the flag up and once again felt the satisfaction that comes with having a mailbox at the end of the lane.
Cherry and butter tarts
I didn't have dates for the butter tarts so added raisins for Bill instead

Corn Muffins
Every once in a while, as I’m inside baking I feel the gusts of wind. I believe they got up to 26 mph and didn’t seem to let up all day. It was nice though to open the door around 1:30 when the temperatures soared and the sun started making brief appearances.
Bill up on the hill with his cargo trailer
Bill was involved with his planes and cargo trailer, there is some major renovating going on out there. I went for a couple of walks down the lane, one with Clemson and one where I thought he was following me but got sidetracked. More mail today and my letter got picked up.
Our energetic pooch taking a break
I made up a batch of Corn Muffins first and fresh out of the oven, took Bill a warm one with butter. They smelled so good and he confirmed the taste was just as good.  Once I cleaned up from those I got into the more time consuming job of making pastry.
And Chippy makes an appearance
Butter Tarts and Cherry Tarts were on the agenda. Most of my prep time took place in the morning so when the sun came out, I asked Bill if we should unplug and take advantage of some free solar power. That would mean not using the convection oven until later this evening. I think he was anxious for the goodies and suggested I continue and finish all the baking.
A path for the kayak one day
The indoor temperature rose to 26C but Bill was still surprised when I changed into shorts. He had been outside and wasn’t quite feeling the same heat I was. By suppertime, I had tried a few more times to get out and enjoy the day. No matter how many times I went out, once to sit in my chair in the sun with my book, I was chased back inside because the wind was so strong.
For dinner, I cooked inside. We had Tilapia fried with lemon & pepper seasoning and a nice salad on the side. The loins were huge and turned out very well. Yummy. Dishes took longer than usual because of all the muffin tins and baking dishes.
The sun is playing games again tonight, coming out full midafternoon, just in time to disappear in the west. Once more Clemson and I walked down the lane way, to burn off supper or maybe prepare for dessert. Hmm.
Jet contrails coming directly from the sun
I hope your day has been a great one. It was great to have you along today whether your weather was conducive to in or out of doors.

Good night
And this evenings sky made up for the late sunshine today
I love reading your comments if you choose to leave one.

12 comments:

  1. Wow, you have a lot of energy, there is no way I could bake like that. I'm just too lazy! Sounds like a great day!! As long as you wake up breathing it's a good day regardless of weather. ~laugh~ It will soon be nice enough to start and end the day in shorts. Even if you do have to change a couple of times throughout the day at least you're changing into and out of short and long pants, not long johns, ski pants and mittens.

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    1. Ha ha, some days I get the bursts of energy, depending on the weather as to whether it is inside or outside. :) Yes, soon hoping for a shorts day all day!

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  2. I was wondering when you were going to kayak that pond. Take your book out and sit and read and once you are part of the environment you will see more critters and what they are up to. I use the same lard, but didn't know I was missing out on the quantity scale. Now I feel cheated. :O) Yum on the baking, I miss a lot of that kind of stuff because of my corn allergy stuff. Darn.

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    1. Yes, I agree! We are waiting for the wind to die down and that doesn't happen too often up here on the Ridge. We need to get out there before the weeds grow too high. LOL Sorry about the lard, it is a no brainer for me, a Canadian, who needs specific guidelines sometimes. :) You could eat the cherry tarts, no?

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  3. Looks like a wonderful day again the sunshine was nice and shorts here for a while as well.You sure have been baking up a storm, I don't bother much anymore just because we don't usually eat those things.
    Nice sunset there, not so much here with all the trees to the west of us.

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    1. I love to bake almost as much as you love to cook (something I don't). Once in a while we have cravings for baked goods. :) The sky was beautiful last night, hoping for more sun today.

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  4. Your baking looks awesome! I like to do the same thing on a dreary day.

    Got a chuckle from your father-in-laws's comment. I knew someone that used to say....."as long as the groundhog is not delivering your mail, you're okay!"
    Karen

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    1. thank you, I'll have to pass that comment on to Dad. :) That is a good one!

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  5. Your baking made my mouth water. I used to bake a lot, got out of the habit but I found my way around it...bake sales!!! Almost every weekend a church in our area has a rummage sale with a bake sale. I feel good about helping their cause while keeping my kitchen clean. And if i am vigilant about dividing and freezing I dont eat too much sugar.

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    1. Nice that you support the local vendors. I love to bake and am careful how often I do it. Bill and I go for long periods without desserts and then get a craving. I use the sugar replacement Stevia when I can get away with it. :)

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  6. Yesterday my day was an inside day all day with temperatures as high as 105 F.
    This is just a start of our summer temperatures. We live in Deep South Texas in the Rio Grande Valley.

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    1. Wow, now that is a totally different reason for staying indoors!!

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