Tomatoes Get their Way

Today is the first day I've had to do my own thing in almost a week. I thought I might spend the day sewing, but no dice. The tomatoes had other plans for me.  These are the previously-picked ones I cut up for salsa.

These are the ones I picked this morning:

This morning's tomatoes will have their way another day. And there are lots more coming. I only picked the ripest of the ripe ones. The rest are still clinging to the vine. It's a little like the quilts that I take right to the brink of finish, but then hold off while I get the to-be-quilted stack of quilts down to a dull roar.

The salsa is quicker to make than the pasta sauce because I don't peel or seed the tomatoes. I just core them if they need it, chunk them up, and toss them into the soup.

Usually I can cut up jalapeno peppers with no ill effects (as long as I remember not to rub my eyes). Today's jalapenos were fresh from the grocery store, and that may have made the difference. My hands were burning for hours afterward. From now on, I'll wear gloves when I cut them. I went online to find remedies for the burning. Mike suggested baking soda in water. That worked for about five minutes. Other remedies included shampoo, vinegar, Vaseline, aloe...I tried all of these. Nothing worked for longer than a few minutes, and the burning returned. It's been about two hours now, and the burning has stopped, but I think my eyes will still thank me to keep my fingers off.

Updated to say that I'll be linking this post to:

So, although today's sewing was kind of shot for the day, I will have time the next two days...unless the plums decide they want to have their way too. I'm checking them every day now, and they are very close. The ones in direct sunlight are the closest.

The ones deeper inside the foliage are still pretty green. 

I believe it is a matter of days now (rather than weeks) that I'll be in the kitchen making plum chutney. 

When we arrived home from our camping trip yesterday, I found the plate I purchased back in July from the Latimer quilt and textile museum. If you read my post from back then, you may recall we saw the exhibit from the Zimbabwe Artist's Project. I knew the plate was scheduled to be delivered in September, but we were planning to be in Colorado during the month of September. I called the museum and asked them if they could delay the shipping on my piece. Instead, they shipped it right away. Here is a picture of the artist who created my piece.

And here is the square wooden plate that I purchased. I liked it for its colors and its story.

When I opened the box, I was delighted to find the story depicted in the art in the artist's own hand-writing and taped to the back of the plate.

What fun to read it! I'm hoping you can see this and scroll back and forth to see how she painted the various activities of "Village Life". Unless you're more observant than I am, you might get stuck on #2. I was trying to find the bucket of water that Mrs. Moyo is carrying. Her hands seem to be empty. Then I realized she was carrying it on her head. Doh! Ethnic art. You gotta love it. Maybe you don't, but I do.

So with the time I have left in the day, I need to water the flower pots, feed the birds, clean the hummingbird feeders (because no self-respecting hummingbird is going to drink the sugar water in those feeders), and generally clean things up. I did a little housework this morning, but the day's activities have the place looking like a cyclone hit. 

Later this week I'm seeing the surgeon about my knee. I can't decide which of these two possibilities scares me most at this point: (1) having her say she wants to do a knee replacement right away, or (2) having her say a knee replacement won't help me. Because the knee is hurting worse every day. I have a golden rule about surgery: don't have it until you're ready to get on your knees and beg for it. And these days, I can't even get on my knees. All I can do is beg.

And with that I'm off. It was a busy day, but it paves the way for at least two days of sewing. I hope I can finish quilting the True Hope quilt in that amount of time. What's on your agenda for the week?