Straight from a King movie

 Stephen King, it is.

Sometimes I feel a bit isolated from the rest of the world.

Sometimes it is difficult to tell if the rest of the world even exists.

Some strange creatures in this realm.

He was HUGE. Didn't want to put my shoe next to him for scale - he might have eaten it.

The big sky.

Once it got a bit brighter and warmer - zebras were back!

I haven't shown my veggie garden here.

This picture is from July. Putting continers on top of spruce logs has been working - only few snails and I' able to keep up on getting rid of snails trying to climb up to the plants. I've got several zucchinies, a lot of mint and lemon balm and some other herbs.

I have another setting under our balcony, there's running beans. I've got handful of beans already.

I know I can't feed my family with these kind of settings, but I ran out of ideas in the spring. Now I get at least some veggies to harvest.

Birthday cake

 Another birthday, another cake.

I don't use any ready mixes for baking - they are not very common here, so they are expensive - and the truth is I bake much tastier cakes by myself.

Its starts with and empty spring form, which is buttered and coated with bread crumbs. I remember the clinking sound my granmother's ring made whes she was breading cake forms. I don't use rings, but I was so happy one time when I had my ring and I managed to make the excact sound!

Butter and breadcrumbs prevent batter to stick the form. You can use margarine and semolina, or even flour (I use flour when I'm baking gluten free cakes). People usually say baking is so difficult, you have to measure everything to carefully and stick to the receipe. Sometimes, maybe, when you are trying something new to you?

I'm measuring ingredients to my cake with coca-cola glasses. Equal amount of eggs, sugar and plain flour (all purpose, I suppose - I just use the cheapest wheat flour I can get). 

They are even. Maybe?

Then you have to whisk your eggs and sugar. I use electric hand mixer, but I know people who does this by hand whisk. Not me, too much effort. What ever suits you. Foam have to be stiff and fluffy and very pale - I really tried to take a picture, but this was all I got:

I was trying to demonstrate the thickness of batter - you should be able to draw 8 on it.

Then you "carefuly fold flour sifted flour to the batter". Or then you just pour the flour from the glass to the batter and whisk it lightly with a ball whisk. Like I do. Pour batter to the form:

I have a large spring form and used 7 small eggs - cake needs room to expand while it is baking. There are several way testing if the cake is ready - I use dry spaghetti. If batter doesn't stick to the spaghetti, it's done.

Next part is the most difficult for me - cutting the cake in three layers. I always make a mess, so no picture.

We eat strawberry-mixed berry- cake with vanilla cream filling and caramel on top. I've made this cake maybe a hundred times and it always looks a bit lopsided:

So, architects cover their mistakes with virginia creeper, doctors with soil and I use whipped cream!

This was very delicious and it was also eaten in two days by six people.

I got apples!

 

I got apples!

One of the people in my volunteering work/communal society messaged me if I needed apples, Well, I don't, but my mother does. Thank you! So I went to pick a bag of apples - they are already fallen to the ground, so snails and deers have been nibbling them. But if you got a knife, then you can have a nice decent amount of diced apples to make apple sauce. And by the look of this apple, this year's apple sauce would be wonderful pink one! These apples are red inside, too.

I'm going to have a very nice breakfast, too. Croissants (got "free" as rejects of lefovers), some micro greens (free again), own baby salad leaves and these apples. Yum!

There was a storm all night, and it seems to continue all day. 'Suma can't go for a walk, because she's made of sugar.

All the way to the autunm

 It is almost the end of August. Basically my season - foraging, harvesting, receiving unwanted apples...

I have three freezers. They are full to the brim. I really had to check several times that I can close my big chest freezer properly, it is more than full. I have this nagging feeling something is going to happen - not maybe the doom and gloom all the fearmongers are preaching, but something.

Of course it could be just as simple as several appliances breaking at the same time - my washing machine is already working overtime, electric stove is already half broken.

Btw - my pantry/larder shelves are full, too. Only thing I'm low is popcorn!

I'm using it all, food is not just sitting on shelves getting dusty. But I feel no matter what I cook I end up more stuff on the fridge! Today I tackled many many containers fo leftovers. I made pasta carbonara'ish meal few days ago. I cooked way too much spaghetti (I mean it couldn't fit to my largest pan!). I had some spicy sausages hb couldn't eat (he can't take the heat anymore), a carton of milk has best before date 17th July (it is supposed to keep few days past the bbd, but five weeks is a bit more than few days), last three eggs from a carton(bbf date 12th July). We don't eat casseroles often, os is not keen on them, and I don't want to make several dishes all the time. And some grated cheese on top of everything.

It was surprisingly good, even os ate. Hb vas at his uncle's , so I didn't have to worry he can't eat.

I use plastic containers. I'm really clumsy, I was reminded why I can't use glass containers (even if it is safer because glass don't produce micro plastics) . I dropped a BIG tub of dahl straight from the fride to the floor. And that plastic container broke. If it would have been made of glass, I would've end up with a huge mess with glass shards mixed with spicy lentil stew... Now I managed to save most of the dahl, because the container didn't shatter completely. Next day I dropped coleslaw container, it didn't broke, but a glass one would've.

That is also the reason I do not want/I can not have a ceramic stove top. I drop heavy and hard objects all the time. My cast iron stove plates can hadle that. (This is something I've lived with all my life, maybe it's somekind of ADHD trait in my AS, I try to be very alert but things happen- All. The. Time.)

It's raining. We've having all rain Ireland didn't have, all rain Spain didn't have, even all rain Luxembourg didn't have! This has been miserable summer, but I think we're got the good side of this summer this time.