Outside My Window ~ 7.3.11

Outside my window…is a very warm and partly cloudy Sunday afternoon.  At around 12:15 today, we are at 85°F with humidity at 63% and little or no breeze.  I was outside for a little while this morning and I can attest to the fact that it is muggy and warm.  Our forecast high of 90°F and sunshine is making the tourists that traveled to our shores quite happy.  Nothing ruins a beach vacation like cloudy and rainy weather.  There is a good chance of thunderstorms this afternoon and evening that will either turn the entire place into a giant steam bath or cool us off a bit.  I hope it is the latter.

I am glad…for a long weekend.  I worked last Sunday for 8 hours and then a full 40 hour schedule at work (with the exception of a half day Wednesday to take care of my daughters car issues)…I was tired by the time Friday evening rolled around.  I’m enjoying this time off…very much.

I am thinking…I would like to wish you all a happy and safe 4th of July.  Fireworks and celebrations…cookouts with hotdogs and hamburgers, family and friends…it’s all good ~ enjoy yourselves but stay safe please.  🙂

From my kitchen…is my recipe for Dried Berry Granola.  It was very tasty…but I made a couple of changes since I made my first batch.  The recipe you are able to download is with those changes.  I’m also making a knock off of Hagen Das Pineapple/Coconut Ice Cream using a recipe that does not require an ice cream maker.  And a loaf of oatmeal bread is on the schedule as well.  I made a loaf of this not so long ago and it was amazing…wonderful chew and an excellent crust.  I would like to share that recipe as well however I’m curious….are all bread makers alike?  In other words, mine requires you to add the ingredients in a specific order…are they all like this?  Also, do they all come in different sized loaves….would it be helpful to provide ingredients and portions for a specific size?  I started to do a recipe for the Rosemary/Olive Oil loaf and realized some machines may be different.

I am working on…or I should say I have finished working on my gardens.  I pulled a few weeds….harvested some more fresh basil….watered the tomato plants that are growing taller than me….and cut a lot of lavender from my plant.  I had a wonderful crop this year, much more than last year….and I hear it continues to increase as time goes by.  I’m going to try a lavender honey butter and a lavender simple syrup recipe soon…plus a few more recipes I have run across.  I will share the recipes with you at a later date. 

I am hearing…the ticking of my many clocks….the hum of the ceiling fan….a “Twilight Zone” marathon on the SyFy Channel.  I love these old black and white shows…I grew up with them back in the day.  The original show ran from 1959 to 1964…it was one of many shows my brother and I looked forward to watching on Friday nights when we were much younger.   When I watch them now, it brings back lots of memories from my childhood ~ not too mention a few laughs as to how Mr. Serling envisioned life would be in the “future”.  My daughters are less enthusiastic of the program and dread these marathons.  🙂 

Plans for the week include…the day off on Monday….working from home on Thursday….dealing with the insurance company regarding my daughter’s car at some point….celebrating my sister’s and step-father’s birthdays.

One of life’s little pleasures…watching this Brown Thrasher trying to teach a little one to fly yesterday evening.  They were in the yard beneath the crepe myrtles and it was a little too close to dusk to capture it on my camera…just to sit and watch was wonderful.  The older bird would flap its wings and jump into the air, the little one would follow suit…but wasn’t doing very well.  There was more hopping around the yard with these little wing flutter ballets here and there than actual flying…it was hilarious to watch.

From my camera…the jasmine bush by my front door is blooming again for the second time this season….I received a thanks from a grateful mallard after I chased a cat away from her….and my lavender harvest…