All Things 10/1/2022

Yesterday, all my coffee felt so far away…
but now today is Saturday,
a different day,
my body is fully caffinate*

*not a real word, but it rhymes?

I’m only on a three day streak of blogging but I like it. I like it a lot. HWMMS said “brain dump” and yep, it sure is. But this kind of a brain dump is better for me than loading my brain with news that I wish I could dump but have ZERO control over, right?

Our brains are NOT wired for this much (horrible) information being blasted at all hours. Video, sound, words. Truth. Lies. Opinions. Constant.

But when I tune out, I feel guilty…

I’ll file that under things I need to talk to my therapist about. Ha. And yep, I actually SCHEDULED an appointment with her this afternoon and crossed one of those appointments off the list!

Starting October off with a good vibe!

Here’s a picture of the veggies from the garden the last two days. I have many winter squashes and countless herbs and flowers and greens and dried beans and eggplant to harvest still – fingers crossed we get a few days of no rain so I can get out there. Although…

I think the rain is the reason why I found WINE CAP MUSHROOMS again.  Ah ha! Since they didn’t fruit last year I figured I’d never see them again. Surprise! There’s a WHOLE bunch of  Turkey Tail out there I need to harvest but — well, I haven’t yet. Blame it on the rain?

So what did I actually accomplish this morning other than drinking coffee before heading into work? Well, well – I made butter.

Yes, butter. And technically, buttermilk too. (Ah, remembering the days of Grandma Butter & Auntie Herb) 

BUTTER (along with many other food items) is getting increasingly expensive. I checked out the price of heavy cream vs. a pound of butter and it was comparable in price, why not? When including the added cups of buttermilk you get it’s actually cheaper. I mean I was planning on taking butter and melting it and adding herbs from the garden to preserve, I might as well skip the melting step right?

Mmmm. Butter. And Buttermilk. 2 pounds and 2 cups.

How does one make homemade butter? Well…take room temp heavy cream and put it in the mixer on medium speed – for 20ish minutes – gotta watch once it is thick whipping cream consistency because once it turns solid IT TURNS SOLID QUICKLY and buttermilk will fly out of the bowl. Drain the buttermilk and rinse the butter with water.

I need to actually go IN to grocery stores to try to find heavy cream on discount before the sell by date nears – I’ve become quite addicted to the online pickup option so I miss out on those random deals.

The other thing I accomplished – PLANTS!!! My friend Heather was getting rid of some of her (many, many, many) houseplants and asked if I would want them? Um, YES PLEASE AND THANK YOU. The plants have been hanging in the garage all week waiting for me…

All the ones on the floor – are my new babies! 7 new friends for my darn cats to bother. Seriously, I moved the spider plants from the porch to the floor and went back to grab the others and Mimi Cat was already in for a snack. I really need to hang all the spider plants for this reason…this will be a Winter project.

My houseplant total — is now at — 88. That’s the main floor (foyer, dining room & kitchen) Not including the 12 plants in the pool room and the many propagating ones on the balcony. The number keeps decreasing despite getting more plants because I’ve been combining them to larger pots. Many of the succulents are now 3-6 plants per pot but I only count them as one. Also, MIMI EATS MY SPIDER PLANTS.

Um, I just googled CATS AND SPIDER PLANTS and read this line – “the Spider Plant attracts cats in part because it is mildly hallucinogenic.” Well, well now Mimi.

My MoonWife Cat (real person friend Cat not kitty cat Cat) and her mom also gifted me with no longer want them at their house anymore plants a few weeks ago. I took one giant assortment pot and made that one into several individuals.

With friends like this, I might make it to my 100 plant goal without buying any on my own.

Um, who am I kidding.

I LOVE ALL THE PLANTS.