A Good Day Goes Bad

Good morning, my friends. We've managed to get through another week. Just as I wrote that word "week," I remembered something I heard on the radio yesterday as I was driving to the salon for my pedicure. An author was being interviewed, and the two speakers acknowledged that humans have an average life span of just 4,000 weeks. This assumes that a person will live to be 77.9 years of age. Of course, some live longer, and some live less long. Just now I used a pencil and paper to figure which week I'm in right now. (I know! Real math! Using my brain!) If I'm figuring right, I'm in the 3,570th week of my allotted 4,000 weeks. Yeesh. I probably didn't need to know that. Perhaps I can figure out a way to unknow it. 

Let's talk about something else. I'm sorry I brought it up. Let's move along. I had some time to work on my slow-stitching before it was time to go yesterday. Now I've filled my hoop. Except for his right arm, the scarecrow is completely stitched now.

Here's a handy household tip. Are you looking for a way to store your cats when they're not in use? I suggest this shelving unit. 

Of course, flat surfaces work well too. 

So I went for my pedicure. It was the one part of the day that went right. Along the way I picked up some jalapeno peppers and a couple of extra tomatoes for the Tomato Jalapeno Jam. When I got home, it was my first task. My yield was five half-pints. I'll probably make another batch as my tomato harvest allows.

And that was when the day took a turn. First, I misread the recipe. I read to add three diced jalapeno peppers to the mix. (I remove the ribs and seeds, which is where the "hot" of a jalapeno pepper resides.) Then, after I had everything thrown in the skillet, I realized I was supposed to add three tablespoons of jalapeno. I added more than twice that much. It wouldn't be a problem, except the peppers are low acid, and so I worried about the pH of my mixture. The recipe also called for the zest and juice of a single lemon. For safety, I decided to add an additional quarter cup of bottled lemon juice (bottled because of its acid level consistency). There was already 3/4 cup of apple cider vinegar in the mix, and so I feel confident the extra lemon juice put it over the safe acid level. It still tasted fine.

Then, as if that weren't enough to ruin a canner's day, as I was filling the last jar, I lifted my heavy skillet over the top of the jar, but not quite high enough. Can you see it coming? I hit the partially filled jar with the edge of the skillet and knocked it off the counter. Yikes! What a mess! The only good thing I can say about this is that the jar was only about one-quarter cup full. Oh yes, and I didn't break the jar. Still, I think I mopped the floor half a dozen times trying to get the sticky up. Sigh. Oh well. I'm happy with my five half-pints of this delicious concoction. So I shook all that off and moved along.

From there, I wanted to check on the garden, harvest the ever-present zucchini, and look for any new sunflowers. As I passed through the gate...OH NO! 

Do you see the green bean vines on the right side of the image above? They've been chewed off at ground level. I noticed one of them had been broken off the other day. I didn't give it much thought, aside from trying to figure out how to disentangle the dead vine from the live ones. Now, I'm certain some critter is doing this. Good grief. This is so discouraging.

Mike and I surveyed the damage together. You can't see it in the picture above, but there was some digging in the center area of my bean teepee. We believe this is the work of squirrels. They've also chewed off one of the vines on the left. Apparently, it had only just happened because the leaves on the left were wilted, but not dry yet. So, we set a trap there. I'm hopeful we can catch this scoundrel before he does any more damage. The beans are only just now starting to produce. After losing all the beets and carrots to gophers, it would be a sad thing to lose the green beans too. As I've said, a vegetable garden is a labor of love, and so this is all very disheartening.

Oh well...nothing to do but shake it off again. Let's check on the sunflowers. This one called Procut White Nite is almost open. This is the first year I've been able to grow one of these to blooming stage, although it is my third try. And, yes, squirrels are to blame for previous years' failures.

This next one is called Floristan. Cool, huh? It's one of my favorites.

There are many more coming. I'll keep showing them as they show themselves.

It was late in the day by then, but I wanted to get at least a little bit of sewing done. I decided to put in an hour's work on Tiny House #29...this one:

And because I really needed something else to ruin my day, Big Bertha was up to her old tricks. When I turned her on...

Well...I said a bad word here. And then I said more bad words because I know what to do to get rid of this error code. As the insruction says, I have to "release threader then restart machine." And, well, that's all fine and dandy, except I went through this process no less than fifteen times trying to get the machine so I could actually sew. I like my machine, but this bug-a-boo has been with it since the very first time I turned it on, right out of the box. I've had it in for service multiple times. There is a sensor that acts up and will probably need replacing eventually. But I just had Big Bertha in for maintenance earlier this year, and so I'm hoping I can stave off this repair until the next time she needs a maintenance call. As for yesterday's sewing, this was the last thing I needed during an already iffy day.

So a good part of my hour was taken up messing with the machine, but I still managed to get three sections finished.

I'll pick it up there today. Also, the new prompt for the art quilt group has been selected: Circles and Squares. I'm pretty sure I know what I want to do. We're taking off on a trip in early September, and so I'll need to get to work on mine right away if I'm to have it finished by the November 1st reveal.

All right, so let's talk about my ongoing series, "Ways to do Battle with the Z Force." This was last night's dinner. Fortunately, it was easy to make. This is a Grilled Zucchini Sub with Fresh Mozzarella and Olivada. A nice light meal on a warm summer day. 

Okay, well, I thought I could link to the recipe online, but it seems I can't. I'll give it to you right here.

Grilled Zucchini Subs with Fresh Mozzarella and Olivada

Recipe from Food and Wine

Makes 8 sandwiches

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups pitted green olives, such as Spanish olives (6 ounces)

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

1 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground pepper

8 hero rolls, split

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

4 medium zucchini (about 1/2 pound each), sliced 1/4 inch thick

3/4 pound fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced

2 large tomatoes, cored and thinly sliced

32 small basil leaves

Directions:

In a food processor, pulse the olives with the garlic and lemon zest until the olives are finely chopped. Add 1/4 cup of the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Spread the olivada on the cut sides of the rolls.

In a small bowl, whisk the vinegar with the oregano and 1/2 cup of the olive oil. Season the dressing with salt and pepper.

Preheat a grill pan. In a large bowl, toss the zucchini with the remaining 1/4 cup of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill the zucchini slices over high heat for about 5 minutes, turning once, until tender and lightly charred.

Mound the zucchini onto the rolls and drizzle with a little of the dressing. Top with the mozzarella, tomatoes and basil and drizzle with more of the dressing. Close the subs and serve right away.

* * * * *

Okay, so that was the end of a frustrating day. Let's hope today goes better. I'll start by making yet another zucchini recipe. This one will go into the slow cooker. Also, this morning, I'll hoe the garden. It shouldn't take me very long. After that I'll get some sewing done. Fingers crossed for a day with less frustration.

How are things going at your end?