Cooler Weather

Last night we went to bed in a very warm bedroom.  Our bedroom is in the top floor of our house, and so the warm air rises and just hangs there heavy.  If we're not running the air-conditioner, we put a fan in the window to keep the air circulating.  This morning we awakened to our usual Portland gloom.  It was foggy in the valley, and the clouds didn't burn off until after noon.  That was okay.  We've had several hot days in a row, and so it was nice to see some cooler weather.

Our neighbor is gone for the week, and so we're watering some of their landscaping.  It was my day to take a turn at it, but I first took the opportunity to walk around our own property to see what's up.  Two of the dahlias have bloomed.

Two more are not far behind.  I believe they will be yellow ones like the one above.  Our neighbors gave us the yellow bulbs a few years ago, and they are always the most reliable of the bulbs we have planted.  I love the dahlias.  You get a lot of flower for your effort with dahlias.

Then there is this scrawny little guy.  This is our poor little apple tree, which was planted seven years ago--the same time as the plum tree and the cherry trees.  Those trees are thriving, but this apple tree (which is supposed to bear five different kinds of apples) has never done much.  It keeps pressing on, however, and so we keep hoping it will do something with its life eventually.  It's sort of like a teenager trying to decide whether to go to college, and what to study.

So a couple of weeks ago, I was showing Erik some things in the yard, and I was complaining about the scrawny apple tree, threatening to dig it up, when lo and behold what should I see?  Apples!  It had about seven apples on the one branch that actually has some foliage. Now that was something.

It only has two apples now.  I'm not sure what happened to the other five, but I suspect it probably shed them.  It's little limbs are so tiny, I think seven apples would have probably been too heavy for it.  I don't suppose I'll be making any pies with these apples.  Unless they are small pies.  Very small pies.  Like, ramekin sized, and only one.  Anyway, it's something.

But the most exciting thing in the garden right now is this artichoke plant that Erik and Mae gave us a couple of years ago.  It is a permanent resident in the patch of ground we laughingly call our vegetable garden.  Actually, we don't laugh.  We are bitter about it. Nevertheless, the artichoke plant now has seven artichokes on it.  Very cool.  It is a perennial and I'm absolutely amazed that it continues to survive our cold winters.

The largest are about the size of tennis balls, and so it remains to be seen whether these will actually mature into something edible.  And let me tell you, these are some wicked thorny critters.

So after watering the neighbor's yard, I came back and built a cherry pie.  Pie crust and I have a love hate relationship.  I love pie crust when it goes together right, and conversely, I hate it when it doesn't.  For whatever reason, this crust was dry and crumbly and it fought me every step of the way.  Also, I didn't really have enough cherries, and so I ended up adding some frozen blueberries to it to stretch them out a little.  I think one would call that a Bumbleberry Pie.  (Googling "bumbleberry" right now.)  Don't you love the internet?

bumbleberry  (ˈbʌmb ə lˌbərɪ) — n

( Canadian ) a mixture of berries used in pie fillings and in preserves

Sometimes my vast knowledge of useless information amazes me.

Anyway, my pie fought me every step of the way on all levels.  I suppose more beautiful pies have been created, but none with any more determination.

You can be sure that we will eat it with gusto and lots of vanilla ice cream.  And it will be good, so sayeth the cook.