Salmon soup

I bought a Lidl's 2€ boxes of past their best veggies. It had a bunch of dill in it, wilted as they are in those boxes. I just cut the stems and submerged tips in to ice cold water for a while. Tadaah! I had fresh dill. I don't usually use dill in cooking, because hb hates it. It was in fridge for several days smelling wonderful. D got an urge to have fish soup! I had bought yellow stickered  gravad lax for 1,5€, it wasn't much (150g) but I knew it was enough.

Had some old potatoes ( made mashed potatoes, you can't make mash with new spuds). They were on sale for 0,19€/kg, it was a shame I couldn't buy much... anyway. With 2 carrots, six potatoes, handful of peas and that gravad lax I made a very nice salmon soup. First I boiled peeled and diced potatoes and sliced carrots in mushroom salt seasoned water with some black pepper. Then I added fresh peas, the lax cut into small cubes and a cup of cream into a pot. It needed only few minutes to cook, and some more salt (using gravad lax you need to taste soup before adding any). Me and D shredded some dill in to our plates, hb ate as it was.

With some sourdough rye bread it was  delicious! I don't often make any fish soups, because none of boys eat it.

There were two bunches of sad and wilted salad in that box, too. I just picked all bad/brown/slimey leaves and submerged what was left in cold water. After a hour or so I got two perky bunches of crunchy salad! I'm quite convinced most people who bought those boxes just tossed away those salads,  which is a pity. With so little effort I got plenty of green to eat for three days, and now I don't have to buy any, because garden produces enough for us.

Heat is on

Most of Northern hemisphere is having a heat wave. If not, they are having floods. We are now on the heat cycle of it. My veggie patch is in dire need of weeding, but I can't do it. If I do weeding, my plants will suffer a heathstroke and they will die.

I'm watering, twice a day. I have finally - finally! - planted all my pumpkins and zucchinies and pickling cucumbers and they need constant watering. I don't water potatoes, but everything else.  I weeded one strawberry box and it was a mistake, now those plants are drying. But the box  was full of nettles... I need to replant more strawberries when I find some morsel of motivation.

Because of this heat I don't take 'Sumawalks at all, we wander aimlessly in near by woods which offer some shadow. 'Suma doesn't seem to mind.

I got an invitation to a hen party ( and to the wedding, too). I've never been in one! And the wedding, we realised it's the first time D will attend one, she's been in dozens of funerals, but never in a wedding! When I was a kid and a teenager, there were at least one wedding per summer, and not a one funeral per three years. Now it is complete opposite, well, the last 1,5 years funerals have been a small affair, but if it were normal times we would have attented at least three funerals (hb's old aunts and uncles have died during this coronatime, of old age, not on cancer or corona or whatever, and hb's old neighbour passed away, too). 

The hen party will be a small and quiet affair. We'll be having some western riding lessons, and nice evening with a small group of bride's friends, we'll be having sauna (bridal sauna), some good food and some bubbly. I'm suprised I'm actually looking forward to it!

I'm off for 4 weeks

 And it is lovely! I got everything done before last two days, so I managed to actually work shorter days.  It's been hot and hotter, and I'm happy we still have the swimming pool. My boss was a bit bored about it, every Teams begun with a question "So you were swimming right?"

Kids are bored, we've had major mosquito attack and outside was a no go zone for two weeks, now we have huge horse flies. Ah the wonders of nature!

Poor 'Suma, look at her head!

Gardening has been slow, because it's been so hot and windy. And thundery. We've had more thunderstorms this June than during all summer ever before. My polytunnel has bravely kept it's stand, it got a bit ripped, but I need a new cover anyway, it's fragile and disintegrating. It's plastic, it will not last forever.

Last summer was misery for my corn, but this year seems so much mire promising. I have more than 20 healthy plants! I did plant some bean seedlings between cornplants, and few courgettes/pumpkins, I hope that three sisters really benefit each others.

There are garlics at the end of this frame. I cut scapes already, I don't remember they have been this early before.

Old man has been splitting wood in out back yard and I've been stacking. 

This might be enough for the winter,  we still have some logs stacked at the wood store left. 

These are huge, there were six these massive ones. They are so big they can't be split by splitting maschine, they just don't fit in it. So old man has old time tools, hammer, wedges and an axe.

He agreed it was enough for one day, and I bet mum agreed on that.

So far I've picked rocket from the polytunnel. And three strawberries. There is salad leaves ready to be harvested. I'm bad at growing strawberries, but there's a plenty of runners this summer, too. So we'll have strawberries next summer, too.

Being prepared

 On Friday morning, while I was on 'Sumawalk, old man called, he was going to come to our house and cut the water off. In an half an hour. Yikes!

I mean, I needed a dip in the pool after the walk,  so I needed to hurry. I still had a good fifteen minute walk back home...

At home, after a swim,  I took all buckets and my BIG pans  and filled them with tap water. I filled my kettle and few empty Cola bottles. When old man and hb say water will be back by Saturday afternoon, I think maybe late on Monday. So I made sure I had enough water for four days.

Then I had my breakfast and logged  to my laptop.

Our water boiler in old, from '82 or '84, and it's been on it's last legs since... Last century? We ordered a new one, and a new water pump, too. So this water being cut off wasn't unexpected, but as always  you never know what will happen...

So, it's Monday and by noon we had running water! My quess was perfect.

It's not the drinking water which runs out, it's the toilet. Doing dishes takes a LOT of wayer, too. And washing yourself, too.

But, it's summer, and we have an outhouse. A working, clean composting toilet. We have a swimming pool. So when kids got fed up with outhouse loo, they just took a bucket of water from the pool anf flushed toilet with that. If you feel dirty, take a swim. Or a bucket of water and some soap. Maybe not the easiest way, but bulletproof.

And now? I'm going to fill dish washer and do a load of laundry in washing machine. Aaah the bliss of working domestic appliances!

Why bother?

As a gardener someone might feel the same. I mean why bother to sow, plant, weed, water, tend.. When it's going to be ruined every year. At least for different reasons.

I had 6 rows of peas and sugar snap peas. Pidgeons ate them, there's only tiny holes left. I managed to sow two long rows of beets, and soon after there was first proper thunder storm. I guess there's going to grow some nice beet seedlings among hay around my plot.

Aaaaaargh!

Worn out

I'm tired. I was at the office today.  I took my car to garage, it's MOT time again. The garage is 2km from my office and 12km from home - it was easy to decide which way to walk after dropping the car in the morning... and it was after my morning 'Sumawalk ( an hour walk). But most tasking was to actually to meet people and converse with them! So odd feeling doing that, I even ate my lunch with someone, not alone like I've done for the last 15 months.

'Suma wasn't happy for me being away all day,  but she wasn't alone, only ys is at school, others are homeschooling until end of term. None of them isn't doing anything useful anymore, tomorrow they are having picnic. Kids take their phones or laptops outside with their favourite eats and a glass of bubbly (most will have a glass of Coke or lemonade,  some will have sparkling water) and thry toast to summer, together and apart. A bit sad, but that's how it is now.

This, too, shall pass.

A bit more summerlike

Rain is on pause. Now ot feels like summer, and wr haven't have freezing temps at nights for over two weeks.

Potatoes have sprouted as well as broad beans, pumpkins, zucchinies, beans and pickling cucumbers. I got 10 tomato plants from old man and my mother and my chillies and papricas are still alive. Nice!

Lawn is been cut once (hb got stuck in a mud three times) and needs another cut. Baby boy has been out and about every day in and around our yard.  Cranes have two chicks.

I have been editing two video lectures for an online course. I hate looking at myself, and looking AND listening at the same time was a bit too much. I've been on telly once and I still feel nauseous about it. But I got it done and now I feel free!

I have no idea how other people do it, how they can film themselves and put it on their blog or YouTube channel.

There's much to do, but now that I got rid of those stupid videos I  feel like I have all time in the world. D and sys are home schooling again, there is Delta variant causing trouble now (Indian variant). Got my first jab, hb got his two days later, my brother got his yesterday and sister is getting hers on friday. 

There is light at the end of the tunnel. I just hope it's not a train coming...