The Flies Didn't Drown - They Froze to Death

This will be my fourth year going

to South Umpqua Memorial Pool for

water fitness.  

I remember the temperature of

the water being opposite of the

air temperature in the

past two years. 

But this year has been like

river water regardless of

whether the air has been

warm or not.  

The last few times I've attended, I

never did manage to warm up - except

for yesterday. 

And that was when

I got out.

Yesterday was the first day this

year that I saw bugs in the water -

all tiny corpses floating around.

The Secret is to Bake With Cold Filling Inside

            At the top of our back hill is the cherry tree belonging to our backyard neighbors. I don't know if Bill and Cheryl planted the tree, or if it was already there when they moved in. Bill likes cherries.  Cheryl does not. 

            They told us that we could come to pick cherries whenever we wanted.

            Jenna's Easter bucket holds exactly 18 cups of cherries - though we hadn't figured that out until later. I did not get any pictures of Jenna and Roland picking them. 

            I hadn't considered posting about this at the time.

            Roland wanted to make a pie, and thus we cut or pulled cherries apart in order to get the pits out.  And Roland started on the filling (I personally would have waited until the following morning as it was quite late at night when he started) but put the filling in a container to put in the fridge and work on the pie the next day.

            The next day Roland decided that we needed an actual cheery picker and we made our purchase and picked more cherries and he made filling for another pie. 

He poured his new filling into a pie shell and suggested that we just freeze the pie filling in the fridge.  I would have rather frozen the new creation as I had used an overly large container for the first but did not wish to transfer . . . and since we had to pour out the hot mixture anyway . . . but I talked him into making two pies.  

            He put the hot pie filling into a new glass plate that we had purchased.  It almost looked lost compared to the other which was in a smaller tin and looked like pink jelly compared to the rich whole cherries.  We latticed the hot batch and covered the other.  The hot batch leaked in the oven, not because it was latticed.  I figured out that the hot had been overheated which is why it boiled over. 

            We had intended to give the other away, but part of the crust burned.  Perhaps it's only my imagination, but the one we baked using the cold feeling tastes better to me than the first. 

            We gave approximately eight cups to our neighbors who have let us pick apples and we put the remainder in the freezer.  Each bag is filled with three cups and we will need two bags for each pie.  Currently, we have enough cherries for four pies.

It's Going To Be A Scorcher Today

            I noticed when Jenna left for school on overly foggy mornings, she would return with the sun blazing in the sky.  The foggier it is in the morning, the hotter it seems to be with the afternoon sun. 

     The above picture was taken last year - I can't even see the mountains or trees right now.

          

            I think the sun will be blazing down by 2:00 this afternoon and may not cool off until after 10:00.  But you never know.

            We had wind, rain, sunshine, A/C, open doors, blankets, and shivers alternating all within the same hour.  Jenna took these amazing pictures with her tablet 

Salt and Pepper Shakers

       Roland and I decided that we needed to replace our disappearing salt and pepper shakers for something that would be easier to fill and easier to spot.  I think the ones we ended up with will get lost in the shuffle as the ones we have currently, but they will be easier to fill.

       I was reminded of how many sets of salt and pepper shakers my brother and I had given to my mom over the years.  So many times her birthday would fall during our family vacation - or shortly thereafter.  Patrick and I would pick out gifts from the souvenir shop of wherever we happened to be.  I don't recall all the sets we gave her except for ones that were shaped like feet.  I don't recall ever having used them.  Mom said she did not need the constant reminder of how out of shape she felt.

Falling Apart . . . Too Sore To Be Dead

I'm sore

I don't know why

I'm feeling muscles that

I didn't know I had

They're crying, "You

never pay attention to us.

We want to be known!"

And I say, "Not if you're

going to treat me with such

disrespect that I can't get

comfortable.  I don't remember

ever feeling so sore.  Why are

you so against me?"

I don't even know where the

sores came from.  I felt

fine when I left the

pool yesterday.  The pain didn't

start until I stood in line to

get my lunch.  Maybe I just

slept on it wrong.  Maybe

my body just wanted to stay

in the water and was

slow about realizing that

it had been out for some time.

I'm not a graceful ager.  I

hate it.

Living in South Umpqua

        I'm guessing that Tri City gets its name from being in the middle of three other cities.  Myrtle Creek is north of Tri City, Canyonville is to the south and Riddle is to the west.  Though Tri City has its own fire department and water and sanitation source, it does not have its own post office but shares a zip code with Myrtle Creek. 

http://www.myrtlecreekchamber.com/aboutarea.html

        The communities seem supportive of one another and don't have rival cities - which is good.  I enjoy the comradery of living here.

        Though I've written several posts about the libraries here, I'm afraid I haven't done much with them since last summer.  Riddle has full support from their city and has decided to go independent.  Myrtle Creek doesn't have the same city support - pretty much the opposite, and so the system joined forces with Douglas County who is still trying to get back of their (our?) feet.

       Myrtle Creek does a summer program for youth - but interest is only to a certain age.  Teenagers may find more programs geared to their level at the Riddle library - which is where I took Jenna and her friend yesterday.  They are creating a float for the parade that will be held on the 30th of this month.  The librarian wanted to know if Jenna would dress up and ride on the float.  Of course, she will.  Jenna loves to dress up.  You don't have to ask her twice.  She plans on dressing as Little Red Riding Hood.  Tall Red Riding Hood is more like it.

http://www.bookeinstein.com/

        Every time I do something (or we do something) for Riddle, I feel like I'm betraying Myrtle Creek.  Then again, Myrtle Creek doesn't have a teenage program.  The meetings take place on Monday at 5:30 which overall just hasn't been a good time for me.  The few times I have been able to attend, the meeting gets canceled for whatever reason.

        I have already agreed to be Myrtle Creek's story lady.  I forgot to ask what day of the week.  I hope not on Wednesdays. 

Wearing a Winter Coat to Kick off the Summer is so Wrong

       Jenna had planned to kick off her summer by going to the beach.  The temperature had dropped on her last day of school.  It’s been cooler at the beach and raining as well.  The weather has challenged her plans as the temperature has dropped all over the state.  It's also been raining.

      

           Jenna enjoys the rain and thinks she'd be okay at the beach in the rain.  But I don't wish to drive an hour and a half in the rain to go to a cold wet beach.  I will have to take her later. Poor baby.

       She and a friend kicked their summer off at our house playing games.  They would like to go see "The Incredibles" next week.  The theatre is much closer to us than the beach.