Corn Festival Weekend

When you leave town to avoid the annual Corn Festival, and you go to a rummage sale and see an ear of corn sun catcher (half off twenty five cents!)  . . . well, you just have to have it. When I checked out the lady at the table asked me "Ohhhhh . . . you must like cactus!" I assured her that I do! LOL  It was cute.

 You've heard of man hands? Well . . . Midge has man paws.

A photo of Joe and John from the reunion. I am cleaning pics off my camera. Can you tell?

Isis, the dainty little lady, relaxing.

Boss is retiring. Friday is his last day. I keep making jokes about how I should have worked for a younger lawyer. I really should have though.

Kay :)

September

Been pretty quiet around these parts. What has been happening . . . ?

John had the fam over for dinner today. Fried fish, zucchini, green tomatoes and home baked bread, with compound butter and a delicious tartar sauce. A Mallaney summer meal we all enjoy.  Zucchini Chocolate Sheet Cake for dessert. Yummers. Had a most pleasant time. John's kitties are looking lovely, and they are buddies again. I took Route 23 through Ottawa on the way home. Mom asked in the car, as we were passing between Streator and Grand Ridge, "Is that some sort of irrigation system out there in the field?" My response . .  "All I see out there is a train Mom." LOLOL   In her defense it was just sitting there, and you couldn't see the track. Still amused me though. I think Joe even chuckled. Mom is going to call to get her eye check-up on Monday, or so she claims! LOL  She wasn't too amused when I pointed out another irrigation system on the train tracks in Seneca! Haha.

I am still going to the Y. Not as often as I should. Why I do not know . . .

Last weekend John and I took our annual trip to the Dane County Farmer's Market in Madison. My favorite day trip. Insert blog posts from previous years here. Had a great time. Always do. Even the clouds were super cool, it was a lovely drive.

I had a good giggle on the way to John's last weekend. First of all I was in perfect tune. My voice sounded great. It was kind of like that Friends episode where Phoebe has the cold, my voice didn't even sound like mine! Of course I only sound that good when I'm in the car, alone. I could sing any song that afternoon, I was rocking them all! The weather was glorious, perfect even. I had the windows down, music was loud. I was going through all the CDs in my case in my car. At random. I happened to see myself in the mirror while I was at a stop sign out near BFE Kinsman. I was jamming to "Seduce Me Tonight" (the best song) from that famous Flashdance soundtrack. Windows had been down, my hair was crazy, it was standing straight up at the temples where it is graying the most.  It was pretty sunny, and I don't have any contacts in the correct prescription since I had the oooold cataract done, so I popped on those huge old people sun goggles they gave me for after the procedure right over my specs. It is good to laugh out loud when you are by yourself!  I may never have such a cool moment again. I can only hope. I took out Flashdance and popped in Footloose and jammed my ass off all the way over to Streator. It was a perfect start to a great weekend. The end.

Good news! The stand that sells my favorite Rhubarb Oatmeal Breakfast bars was back! I actually bought some rhubarb and we tried a new recipe for Rhubarb Oatmeal Bars  . . . which I highly recommend. These bars were spectacular. Alas they did not last long . . .

http://www.cooks.com/recipe/yy40l9q7/rhubarb-oatmeal-bars.html

I've had zucchini out the wazoo this summer! It has been great to have plenty to share and to cook. And I love how they sneak up on you. No zucchini one night, then the next night a 15 incher! Mother Nature. Gotta love her. Zucchini Black Walnut muffins, Zucchini Chocolate Sheet Cake, zucchini in fried rice, zucchini in scrambled eggs, sauteed with tomatoes and garlic, zucchini in stew, zucchini zucchini zucchini! It's always tasty. And now a new savory recipe. I give this one 5 stars, it had so much flavor. Definitely a keeper. And it could almost be like fast food, if you use a can of black beans and a lovely microwave pouch of quinoa with garlic that you find on clearance at Aldi. I used fresh corn, but I think some nice canned or frozen corn would be fine too. That cilantro lime dressing and a sprinkle of feta . . . genius! It was so fun to try it at John's house too, so I could use his razzle dazzle vita-mix for the dressing. I pretended that I was on Chopped. Hera and Isis kept a close eye on me. Hera and Isis get me. They really do.

 http://dishingupthedirt.com/uncategorized/spicy-corn-and-black-bean-stuffed-zucchini/

A beautiful super old puzzle we found thrifting last weekend. Love it. I wonder how many times it has been worked over the years? And by whom . . . ?  A real bargain at .49, a treasure even.

Hera looking sassy, and Isis using Hera's tail for  a disguise.

This next week looks like highs in the 70s and lows in the 40s-50s. Feels like camping weather to me. Tearing up the garden stuff and pulling down morning glories, fall is coming. I will miss all the goldfinch and hummingbirds and butterflies and morning glories and zucchini and tomatoes and sitting in rocking chair on the patio with my kitties. It was a great summer and it went too fast. I guess the older you get the faster they go.

Kay :)