Greetings Forum Friends.
Happy my 70<sup>th</sup> Birthday.
In previous years we would go to an apple orchard with the small grandchildren and enjoy a lovely Autumn day picking apples and the activities geared for them. People grow. This year, we went to a concert, a local Chamber Orchestra because the grandkids had free tickets, and then out to dinner. No more corn dogs and caramel apples. Now it is French onion soup, scallops, lemon chicken piccata, and steak for costs over $200. I still had candles in my purse from the youngest’s birthday on the fourth, so that went on a piece of cake. It was a warm and sunny day in multiple respects.
My birthday present was a new pair of binoculars. Hubby played 20 Questions with me, but he was the one at a loss because I had guessed a few days earlier. It was more like 75 questions and I was enjoying his answers until he gave one that I could not rearrange and gave it away. We went to Cabela’s and found a good pair for $500. I had been hoping to find something lightweight, small, and 10-power, but that was not to be. I could not keep the lightweight 10-power ones stable. I have a shake. A mild form of what Katharine Hepburn had. It is not noticeable to me in my hands yet, just my head nods; but it was evident when I used the binoculars. The pair I ended up with was heavier than my original pair just for that reason – stability. Hubby was a professional research biologist and birder and he carries a very expensive, lightweight Leica pair since he would spend literally days in the field. We both enjoy bird watching, and I should be better at it now with the new binoculars and even better – I can focus.
FOCUS: I also learned how to set the binoculars. This was the big thing – the ability to set it for my eyes! After all these years neither one of us knew this. My left eye is 20/50; it is pretty bad while my right eye is pretty normal. I am really off kilter. I must take off my glasses to use the binoculars. The diopter that you can use to adjust for vision is always on the right lens, so, that does not work for me. The salesman had me cover my right eye and focus with the large focus ring so I could see as best as possible with the left eye. With that in focus, only THEN do you turn the diopter on the right lens for a clear picture. After than, you can use the regular main focus for zooming in and out. My new pair lets in more light, too. The old ones are 8×24 and the new ones are 8×42. Now the older pair can stay in the car bag.
I commend the salesman. This is obviously a commissioned area, and while he showed us options at both edges of our range, he graciously accepted the fact that the more expensive ones just did not work for me.
Locovore: For my birthday, my daughter gave me two cookbooks that she purchased at a local Indian Reservation’s Museum. These are books by Natives using indigenous ingredients – spices and greens, fruits and vegetables, plus locally harvested animals. She knows that I like to learn about and use local plants and love cooking. We often have “sumac-ade” or salads with weeds from our woods or yard – purslane, wood sorrel, lamb’s quarters, etc, and the family trusts me. The middle grandson is usually complimenting my dinners as interesting and still eating them. They are not afraid to try new things – good for them! With these two books, I can be more local, specific, and safe in my recipes. More targeted. One has stories and history, “Original Local Indigenous foods, stories and recipes from the upper Midwest, by Heid Edrich. The other book, “The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen” by Sean Sherman with Beth Dooley, does a bit more explaining of ingredients. I don’t normally sit to read cookbooks, but I will these. And, I promised to make an indigenous dish for Thanksgiving.
This should be interesting. Hopefully I can create a summer pantry right at the edge of our lawn. One that most people would not see. I have told Hubby that when it is time to sell this place, we will need to be creative with our advertising. We will be selling a life-style and appreciation of local foods, with a large organic garden, and not just a house. Definitely to preppers/homesteaders.
Hubby finished my strawberry bed frame. Since it was raining today, it will be perfect soil tomorrow to dig out the strawberry runners that have settled in the grass surrounding their current bed. Then cover the new transplants, with leaves I suppose, and we should have a good crop of strawberries next Spring. Little by little we expand.
Cauliflower! I found one. I had asked the difference between the Brussel Srpout plants and the Cauliflower plants. I still don’t really know the visual difference, except that now I can see the little spouts on some. And I found ONE cauliflower growing on the others; it is well hidden underneath those huge leaves. Hopefully, more will grow before we get to November’s hard frosts.
Hubby was excited to know that we were eating the leaves from the B.Sprouts; otherwise, to just eat the small “fruit” is such a waste of plant, garden space, and effort. Like raising a goose just for the liver for Pate. I have used the leaves in stir fries, and soup. Some leaves are now blanched and frozen and I will harvest more from the Broccoli, and the Cauliflower. Perhaps that will encourage more “fruiting” of the heads.
Besides reading the indigenous cookbooks, I want to learn more about herbal medicine this winter. There are some free online classes. As biologists, I know that we cannot treat many things. But for the ones we can – colds, etc., I am ready to learn.
Isaac Asimov said, “Education isn’t something you can finish.”
There are so many things to learn about, I have a long way yet to go.