Busy Weekend Ahead

It's that final push before a trip to get everything done. It's the part I dislike most about traveling. We're always so busy before we leave, and then it's a relief to get under way. As I've said many times, camping is forced relaxation. There simply isn't that much to do once we get going. The push ahead of time can be exhausting. We're taking the smaller truck camper for this trip, and so there isn't as much to do since there isn't as much room. We simply can't take as much stuff.

So there wasn't much time for sewing yesterday. I did get a start on the final block for the Appalachian Memories quilt:

I had to make a short trip to the grocery store yesterday. When I got home, we had some lunch, and then we both took short naps. Afterward, I had some cooking to do, which involved making a trip outside to pick some fruit. I've been checking the corn every day lately, hoping some will be ready before we leave. While there, I noticed that the one hold-out of the sunflowers had bloomed. I believe this one is called Floristan.

I think of all the sunflowers that have bloomed this year, the next one is my favorite. It's a tawny orange. The bees like it. As I'm looking at this photo, I think I'll make a trip out there this morning when the light is better and see if I can get a better picture of it.

Here's another. 

Also, I noticed this white guy in the bee garden. I posted a pink one a few days ago. It's about the size of a petunia, but it sure looks like a hibiscus.

More cornflowers have bloomed too.

But I was on the hunt for apples and plums. I picked these for our dessert last night.

I was making a Magic Apple Plum Cobbler. This is the simplest dessert to make. You first melt some butter in the same dish it's baked in. I like using my 8 x 8 baking dish since it fits in my toaster oven. Then you mix up the cake batter, which has just five ingredients. Then you spread the fruit over the top of the batter. My fruit was small, and so I used an extra apple and an extra plum.

After that, you sprinkle a little more sugar and cinnamon over the top, and then pop it into the oven.

Forty minutes later...mmm, mmm, mmm. For all its simplicity, it's an amazingly delicious dessert. We like adding a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Smitty would like to know when I'm going to do something for him.

While I was waiting for the cobbler to bake, I was out watering the flower pots. While I was watering the mint, I noticed this cabbage white butterfly flitting around. I let the water run for about a minute, and the butterfly stayed the whole time, seemingly unbothered by running water. Later, I went out to get more mint for the dish I was making. I took at least half a dozen pictures of him, but I never was able to get one in focus.

Instead, I swiped this one off the internet so you could get a better look. We often see these in our garden.

Meanwhile, Smitty was exhausted waiting for me to meet his needs. He decided to take a nap and hope for a better life ahead.

So it's going to be another day in the kitchen. I'm making a few dishes ahead to take along on our trip. Also, I decided to make one more batch of tomato-jalapeno jam. It doesn't take too long, and I have a lot of tomatoes from our greenhouse I want to use. When those things are done, I should have some time for sewing...unless I feel lazy, in which case, I might take a nap. One never knows. Lazy? Busy? They are equal in weight. We'll see when the day ends.