it was oppressive and bearing down on us and the humidity was through the roof! we kept asking ourselves "where did the ocean go"? it is never usually this hot and muggy at this time of year. we were also suffering from 10 million black fly bites. oh how i hate those little things. but there is no i am putting on a pile of deet (the only thing that works on them) when it is that muggy outside.
i know that for some of you in the states, and some of the areas of the maritimes got belted by Hurricane Arthur. and i am very sorry. but what is now called Tropical Storm Arthur saved the day. it swept up the west side of the island and sucked all that humidity and mugginess out. today was windy as crap but that heavy weight of muggy fog was finally lifted. this evening, we should get some heavy winds and rain - but nothing like some places are getting belted with.
for the past few days when we couldn't bear the mugginess or the black flies, we came in and made some fermented food which we always like to have on hand. here's some of my awesome new kimchi (recipe on our recipe blog), some yummy dill-pickles and some yummy turnip and carrot kimchi.
as you can see, we made the pickles a few days ago and have been eating them non-stop - they are the best instant dill pickles ever! the next day we made the fabulous kimchi with cabbage and had been taking bites of that to try and kickstart us out of the mugginess and bug bites. today we made the turnip and carrot kimchi, we will let it ferment for a day or two.
now for anyone like my friend Dani, or any others of you who have cholesterol problems - skip this next pic! this is lobster and bacon spaghetti made with a very light cream sauce. oh it was to die for! we made quite a large pot of it, each had 2 servings and then wished we had made more - bahahahahah! but we're bad like that.
to try to make up for our cravings for more of our supper, i made lobster rolls with the remaining lobster and that seemed to help. man, it's awesome to live in a lobster and crab-fishing village! and our next-door neighbour e cooked those lobsters to absolute perfection which is a rare skill.
her husband gets lobster for us regularly! he is also the guy who made me my beautiful Christmas wreath last year. i put it at our front door and said that i would not take it down until every pine needle fell off. well, not a single pine needle has fallen off and it went from green, to brownish, to brown - and now it's orange!!!!! have a look!
i loooooooove that wreath!
anyway, our dearest brother and sister were down for a few days this past week, and jamie got to see them for a few mins on a couple of days - i didn't get the chance to see them at all because i thought they were staying longer and that we could go see them "tomorrow". but they decided to leave early and i missed getting to see them. now i won't see them until the middle of august. dang!
jam was doing some yard work and a pile of weeding today because the mugginess had broken, the wind was whipping around meaning no black flies, and he accidentally weeded this little rose guy.
i am hoping to try and save him. if i can get him to root, i will put him in a pot and keep him in the house until next year.
hey kids - how about my first radish harvest of the year - woohoo - happy dancing!!! we'll be eating these babies raw with a little salt, adding them to salads over the next day or two and then they'll be gone! we love radishes!
but hopefully soon i will get a glut of them and then it's pickled radishes people - yummeh!
since i somehow missed both Canada Day and Independence Day - to all of our canadian readers, i hope that you had a wonderful Canada Day! and to all our american readers, i hope that you had a wonderful Independence Day! and to everyone everywhere - i hope you have had a wonderful week!
I'm glad to see the left over hurricane missed you guys. It missed me by 100 miles so all I had was sunny sky's and light winds, pretty much a normal day. Like the radish's, wish I had any luck growing them. I think the ground is to warm here. I'm going to try again this fall.
ReplyDeleteMike, buddy - i'm glad the hurricane missed you, too! i guess we were both lucky! as for the radishes - ya, try planting them the fall in a bed of something that you harvested. radishes don't need too much love but they do like good soil. good luck buddy and let us know when you plant them and if you get a glut of them i have a ton of recipes for you! much love buddy! xoxo
DeleteThe storm helped us out here, as well. Hot today, but not muggy. I went for a drive in the morning, through the mountains. Later we went into town but now we are in for the day, or at least until the sun sets. Too hot out there.
ReplyDeleteYou could go down and swim if the flies didn't bite you up so bad!
Harry - i am glad that the storm helped you, too. we've had several days where it is just too muggy and too many black flies that we've had to stay indoors most of the day. it was awful. we were dieing to go for a dip but the black flies and deer flies are even worse at the river. we have gotten one dip in and are planning to try for one tomorrow. much love to you and yours always my friend! xoxox
Deleteglad your safe. We are going to see fireworks tonight in a another town. If its too much bs finding a place to park we are coming right back home.
ReplyDeletethanks buddy! i hope that you were able to find a parking spot and i hope that you all enjoyed your celebrations! much love to you and yours and give that little Sammy a big kiss for me! xoxoxo
DeleteWe are known in my area for humidity, I despise it. It saps all the energy out of a person. Pickled radishes? Do tell....
ReplyDeleteMy hubs surprised me today after work, we road the bike to west Virginia Blackwater falls are spending the night, and hiking and riding tomorrow.
Radishes look yummy
oh lw - humidity does me right in! i was in maryland one year from may to august and i thought i was going to die! the humidity was unbearable! oh what a sweet treat to go on a ride and have a little vacation - it must have meant the world to you! i am so glad he did that! much love to you, always! xoxoxo
DeleteSweet Kymber,
ReplyDeleteThe humidity is from Arthur, OMG......I that type of humidity just sucks the life out of you.......
I'm looking forward to trying your kimchi recipe soon :-)
The wreath your friend made for you is beautiful, I would keep it up on the door too!!!! This orange color is gorgeous and not one needle has dropped....sweet!!!
I'm so sorry to hear you missed your sister and brothers visit, maybe next time they can stay longer.
Will the rose root again? It's a pretty rose, and would look nice in a pot inside till next season.
Now that's what I call a harvest of radish, do they vary in temperature when eating based on color?
Give a big hug to Jam.
Sending love to the both of you.
Your Friend,
Sandy
Sweet Sandy - that humidity DID suck the life right out of us! i love that wreath, too, and it just keeps changing colours - it's amazing! nope, not a single needle has fallen and he put the bows and the pine cones on in such a way that they aren't ever going to fall off. i told my friend that i would keep my wreath at the door right up until i get my next one, which will be in december. i'll probably have to tell him not to make me a new one as that one will probably still be there - bahahahahah!
Deletethe next time my brother and sister visit - jam and i have a plan. we are kidnapping them and taking them here. and no one else is allowed to visit. we are hogging them all to ourselves.
Sandy, the little rose is dieing. arghghgh. i hoped i could try to get it to throw out some roots but it is not working. i wanted to save that little guy so much!
the radishes i planted are called "easter egg" radishes. they come out red, pink, light purple, dark purple and white - they are delicious! i also planted french breakfast radishes that are soooo spicey they will blow your head off. they aren't ready for harvesting yet. i also planted a new radish that i have never grown before called "watermelon radish" - apparently they look like watermelons. i can't wait to harvest those!
jam said to give you a big hug back! i'm starting to wonder why i never get a hug - bahahahahah! he says that you like him more than me which is why he always gets the hug - bahahahaah! and he says that you fish better than me. which is actually true!
much love to you and your BDMan, Tank and my little favourite Beans! love you Sandy! xoxoxo
We are getting 100 degree F. weather so summer is here in the high desert. Thankfully very little humidity and my little A/C unit makes it cool enough to sleep.
ReplyDeleteDid the 3rd of July Party to celebrate Idaho's Statehood and while the Amber Lager was popular many missed the K&J porter I did last year. I got to show off my edible gardens up front and my pain relief salve and dry skin oil were popular. Does your comfrey salve come out with that dark color because of the ingredients? I have just started making salves but I am using essential oil and they don't seem to affect the color of the salve.
jamie - i am glad that the little A/C is working and that you have little humidity - small blessings eh? it sounds like you had a great 3rd of July and did well showing off all that you are doing. i don't mean you are "showing off" i mean, just showing. oh heck you know what i mean.
Deleteas for the comfrey salve - i made it over 3 days. i chopped up about 30 really green and healthy leaves, melted unpasteurized coconut oil (much more expensive than regular coconut oil but so worth the money!). once the coconut oil just started to bubble a little, i took it completely off the heat and added the comfrey leaves. i put a lid on the pot and left it for an hour. then i heated the pot back up until the oil started to bubble. then i removed from the heat again with the lid on. i did this 5-6 times a day for 3 days. you'll know that your salve is ready when the comfrey leaves are really crisp. then i strained the oil and comfrey leaves using a colander with cheesecloth over a bowl. once it drained i squeezed the cheesecloth to get all of the oil out of the dried up comfrey leaves. i then reheated the oil and added about 1/3 cup of 100% pure organic beeswax (also expensive but well worth the money!). i heated the oil until the beeswax melted stirring constantly because you don't want the oil to come to a boil. i removed it from the heat and tested it by taking a spoon of it and setting it aside. it set on the spoon in about 15 mins and i knew i had the right consistency. the consistency was solid, but soft at the same time if you know what i mean. it is a really great ointment-like consistency. anyway, if you have any more questions - just yell! much love to you, my friend! xoxo
kymber, I use a small crock-pot on low to melt the Coconut oil and the beeswax and I have no problems with boiling though it takes about 45 min.-1 hour to melt the beeswax. We have a local bee keeper that sells his beeswax in bulk and then I clean it using a double boiler and a colander. I'm adding some cheese cloth on the next batch just to get a few finer particles. I use 8 oz. of coconut oil by weight and 1 oz. of beeswax by weight for my salve then add the essential oils. If I use a liquid oil like Rice Bran oil I add 1.5 oz. of beeswax, the salve is a bit harder but holds up better in the heat. I use about 12 drops each of Eucalyptus, Camphor, Peppermint and Lavender and it is a good pain relief salve but it works super good on cramps of all sorts. I have terrible menstrual cramps that send to bed and eating ibuprofen like M & M's. I used this salve on my lower back and the cramps were gone in about 5 minutes.
DeleteI am so glad that the Hurricane Arthur only did positive things for you ! The power is still out at our place in NS.
ReplyDeleteJane - we have been watching the reports of outages that Nova Scotia Power has been updating regularly. we have many friends on the mainland without power and we feel badly for them, however, one thing i can say about NS Power is that they are really on the ball and keep people updated regularly. we can't believe the service that they provide - it's better than when we were in ottawa if you can believe that! much love to you and all of yours, Jane, always! xoxoxo
DeleteWe hear that we did lose power later and that this storm caused the largest number of outages throughout Nova Scotia ever recorded !
DeleteAgree with you completely about Nova Scotia Power. They even call us in Virginia when the power will be out for 15 minutes for planned repairs ! No one in Virginia would ever do that, and we lose power HERE a lot more and pay a lot more money !
Love to you and yours !
Ooooooooh, I can taste that lobster... (sob) Thanks for the kimchi recipe - I'm headed over there right now...
ReplyDeleteoh Dani - i wish i could get you some lobster! but try the kimchi - i think you'll love it! much love hon, to you and all of yours! xoxoxo
DeleteI hope the storm doesn't do more than a bit of dampness for you all. Stay safe!
ReplyDeleteB - we didn't get much rain, just a lot of wind. it's still pretty windy but we prefer that to a horrible storm! and we were prepared as we had a lot of advance notice. but we kind of got off scott-free in comparison to other places! much love to you, partner in grime and little abby! xoxox
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