Tomatoes

My cherry tomatoes that I have had a couple salads that I could add a few rip to is turning very red lately.   

And my bargain plant that has bloomed to a huge plant....  

Something to think about during the heat wave...

You can save money by buying CFL bulbs....





Check out more money saving ideas at energysavers.gov

Yummy...

I just got a ice cream maker at my local Target for a song! So I made some Strawberry sorbet.

The recipe as in the ice cream maker booklet (hey I googled ice cream machine recipes and found this same recipe over and over!!)



Strawberry Sorbet

2 2/3 cups  strawberries, pureed
1/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup water
2 teaspoons lemon juice

Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat and
simmer until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and cool completely (1– 2 hours).
Combine with pureed strawberries and lemon juice.
Pour into canister and freeze .

I thought I might make some and freeze it in the popsicle mold.  But when it came out if the machine it wasn't very solid, kinda soft.  Very yummy but soft.... next day after I put the left overs in the freezer it was solid.  Guess I did find a homemade frozen fruit bar!! LOL! Mine will not have all those preservatives and artificial coloring.  Just fruit and  water.  You can also use juice for the sugar water. Add more or less to the taste of the fruit.  The sweeter the fruit the less the sugar!

Plus I have been making more and more smoothies.  Sometimes make too much.  I got the idea to freeze them in the popsicle mold.... That has become my "dessert" after work... Yea one got a little too stubborn and stayed in the mold.... that's ok it will be the last one eaten!! Rawww!   I also have frozen my left over milk shakes.... very yummy!!

Next is gelato!!

OMG it is hot!!

So ya the mid west is getting hit by a heat wave. The humility is high and it is sticky!  I really hate running the air conditioner but I forgot to turn it on the one day and the poor cats threw up everywhere, including my bed  Yuck and of course it was one of those late nights that I was crawling in to bed almost dead on my feet just to have to change the sheets....


I have it set at 77 degrees   So most of the time I turn it off after I get home from work and get the fans in the windows and get fresh air in the house!

But when I come home this little window unit doesn't cool off the whole house, just the living room.  so all the fur babies are in the room.... Most of the time it is the little guy by the air conditioner, with Miss pet me pet me on the couch and psycho on the love seat to the right..... I get home to lazy kitties laying all over the living room.... I leave the back door open and the one pictured Miss pet me pet me loves to go out in the mud room and watch everything outside... Psycho girl loves the kitchen window open.

So now it's in the nineties and it's storming nice for a quiet evening off... Oh well laundry can hang up in the  other room..,

Poison!!

Argggg!!
I had long sleeved shirt on. I washed minute after weeding; not once, but 4 times with Fels-Naptha soap and pour some alcohol over my arms.   I still got the rash of h#ll! I have gotten this rash 3 years straight.... It's painfull with a burning feeling all over my inner arms....

Ok so maybe I should have done this years ago but this year I got some herbicide spray to help kill it???

 I did cut that plant from near the roots before gathering the cut plant into bags..... waiting 5 days till the leaves are wilting and dying.....

Wearing gardening gloves and wearing long sleeves and I still get the rash.... so I got the spray and it still lives.... OMG. It won't go away.....

You know I know what poison ivy looks like... I camp you know.... OMG I thought I knew what poison oak looked like.... I think that is what I might be fighting with.....

But I found out that cutting doesn't stop the oil (urushiol), it will stay even after the plant is dying, and it is in all parts of the d@mn plant..... the leaves, the stems, the hairy crap the plant uses on my house to cling to it and the even roots.... Which I found out is the best way to remove the plant, by diggin up the roots.... the rash takes a couple more days for me which could be because I am getting older but then it can take up to 15 days for some people. but then waking up with half my arm blistered looking feeling like someone poured hot water over it was how I found my rash.....

I also broke down and started to take some antihistamine pills. I am using a cream with calamine lotion in it and I really don't want to inch; it burns and hurts....

But I guess I know now that this what ever poison bush, climbing ivy type horrible stuff is totally got me in pain I will wear some Long washing dishes plastic gloves next year when I need to weed the flower bed!

And to think I have only been dealing with this for 3 days and it seems like a week... It will dry up and I will have my arms back with out the burning feeling.....  off to take a oatmeal bath.......

               

Caution

You tell her Ken!

Poor Barbie she get so many people in a frenzy over her body shape that it isn't healthy for our young girls to compare themselves to. But this time it's her packaging that has Greenpeace and Ken upset.



People flooded Barbies facebook page with comments, Mattel had to block comments.
Ken got his own facebook page

BUT they did listen.

Quote from a press release: "Mattel announced the company is developing a sustainable procurement policy for all of Mattel's product lines which will address the important issue of deforestation. The policy will include requirements for packaging suppliers to commit to sustainable forestry management practices. In addition to addressing current concerns about packaging sourcing, Mattel's policy will also cover other wood-based products in its toy lines, such as paper, books and accessories."

Love can change the world.... And supposedly Ken is taking Barbie on a special date... Maybe to the beautiful rain forest to say hey sweetheart this is what you saved....