This summer

Is an odd one. No frosts in  the spring, no rain in June and a heatwave running from June to The mid July. Now we have had several very cold nights. Last night was worst so far, 5C. It is July! Luckily temperatures didn't drop below freezing, that would have been a bit too much!

We've been splitting and cutting wood, 3/8 stacks done. It's just so freaking hot during daytime, should be doing perhaps at night but hb has so poor vision in dim light that it's impossible.

And still no rain.

No rain means no mushrooms, no juicy berries but constant forest fire danger. And we do live in  the middle of the woods... We still have water in the well, but this is happening like every other summer (no rain) so I've started to gather up ideas how to collect water during wet seasons. Australian have several solutions, but problem is they don't have to mind water freezing. Digging a pond might sound like a good idea, but it's not reliable one in the end. Old man thinks we have to get bore well, he wants to have one for heating purposes, one for the mansion for drinking water, and once the company is here it might just as well drill a home for us, too. It's just is't so expensive I can't afford it, something between 10 000€- 15 000€ minimum!

Oh well. It might happen anyway.

The hottest summer

I think we are having the hottest and driest summer ever. We had some rain roughly a week ago (for an hour or so, light drizzle), and before that it was two weeks without rain. June is supposed to be wettest of our summer months, and yes, it did rain at least in four days in June vs one day in July so far. 

But the heat! Our temps have been over 25C since Midsummer, 3 and half weeks, and no cooler weather is promised. Nights are warm, over 20C, which means house doesn't get any cooler during the night. We have our cooler, but it isn't meant to cool down this much. There's no night mist, I need to water my plants every day. But I just can't water potatoes. They have stopped growing and are drying. But at least there's some potatoes, and they  will keep nicely underground. It's not like they will rotten! More likely they'll bake...

But the soul is rock hard. Clay keeps moisture for a very long time, but not for ever! I dug first potatoes today, and it was hard work. I ended up breaking several spuds just because I had to use my hoe as an axe to get through hard dry clay!!! Potatoes are small, but at least I don't have to scrub them much, just to blow dust away before boiling!

Lidl's veggie box

Local Lidl sells past best before products (vegetables and fruits) in 2€ boxes, I think this is all over Europe thing?

I don't usually shop at Lidl, their range is just not for our family. I mean if we could eat ready made meals, there would be a lot of cheap and affordable stuff! My shopping is usually done at lunchtime or early afternoon,  and 2€ boxes are available in the mornings. When on rare occasion I'm nearby in the morning, I'll take a look.

Last Friday I was lucky, there were two identical boxes left! I bought only one, not wanting to be greedy.

I think contents were much much more worth than 2 euros I paid! I've already mentioned dill and lettuces. So 1 bunch of dill and purple seedless grapes, 2 bunches of seriously wilted lettuce, 12 mushrooms, about one kilo of new potatoes, 3 apricots, nectarines and oranges, and one huge apple and three  normal ones.

Some grapes were moldy, and some lettuce went to compost, too. One spud was spoiled, and that's it! Everything else was,  if not fine but at least edible.  I've made fruit salad twice and have still two apples and an orange left, lettuce is eaten, and potatoes were part of our lunch today. Os ate fried mushrooms while others had sausages.

Tomorrow D is having a meeting with school nurse, so I quess I'll pop at Lidl to find out if I'm lucky again.

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!