Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Let It Rain


I could not remember if have used this song title before but since it is a Clapton song that really doesn't matter. Nor the literal hundreds of songs dealing with rain. Clapton is king and so worth repeating. I have not posted a photo of Grendal cat in some time so I thought I would put one up. You non-cat people out there just chill. She is a sweetheart and does her best to keep me company. Yesterday, after I got back home from work, the rain was so heavy on the roof and I was sleepy from getting up so early. Me and Toxicat (as Allen calls her) piled up on the couch and snoozed for a couple of hours! Grendal just loves to sit or lay in front of the door and watch the rain. Sometimes, I will even sit with her for awhile. The two foot eaves on the house protect all the openings, unless it is a blowing rain, so I can open the door and windows to enjoy the cool air without worrying about water coming in. It is very nice but I have to say, just an accident. I didn't realize that would be one of the benefits when I designed the overhangs. I have enjoyed the solitude of the past couple of days; it has been very relaxing. I have tried to get some stuff done. To be somewhat productive.

My garden has just gone to hell basically. The raccoons got into the corn but I just let them have it. It was so pitiful it didn't matter. The rain has all the plants just laying over on the ground right now. Most of my tomato plants have burned up or been eaten. I still have a few that are doing OK. It is really frustrating to me that I don't have time to take care of anything. The pepper plants however are still doing well. My paprika experiment is going pretty good. I have harvested about 2 dozen peppers. They have a structure like a bell pepper, just smaller, like a little pumpkin. I am trying to dry them now but they seem to just sit there. Their skin is so thick I have no idea how long this is going to take but everything I have read says to just let them air dry like you would any pepper. Then you store them in a jar or whatever and grind them as you need them. The other red peppers there are some I got from Seeds of Change. They are aci sivri, an old Turkish pepper that can be mild or very hot. They look like a very large cayenne as they get up to about 8" long. Supposedly fairly rare. The green ones are just some banana peppers and some dried peas in the bowl. I have gotten a lot of okra and green beans but I don't think this garden did as well as last year. I have pickled some of the okra with the banana peppers and hope to put up a few more pints before it's all done. I'm going to try to redo and plant some stuff for fall if I can get the time.

This is one of the little bowls I threw yesterday. I also threw some mugs and a big platter and some soup bowls to replace all the ones that Allen has broken. I have not been able to trim anything because the rain has got it so humid here that nothing is drying. Maybe this weekend I can finish these pieces up. While I was throwing I thought how cool it would be if I could get some video of me making a pot and post that. I can usually throw a bowl in just a couple of minutes so that would not be too long. If I can figure out how to do that and get some help maybe I will.

*Eric Clapton

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very nice little bowl! This is Allen, aka the bowl breaker!! (Annie might have broken a bowl or two herself)

MamaHen said...

Yeah, I broke ONE, you smarty pants! :D

Aunty Belle said...

Ok, I'se appropriately envious of yore undertakin's. Wow. The garden, the pottery...

Howdy do. I'se Aunty Belle who found ya through Pure Florida.

I'se feelin' a mite chatty, so reckon ya' will smile to know mah garden is dyin' too--jes' cvain't manage all that heat. But I did save some seeds, and have already started some Black Prince tomatoes and yellow pear (cherry type) tomatoes in seedlin' trays. Rest of the fall prep will have to wait--we's still in high 90s.

Enjoyin' lookin' around in yore blog. North Bama is real a fine patch of the planet.

Tossing Pebbles in the Stream said...

Enjoy your rainy days. Hurricane Gustaf cound be bringing you more.

I wish i could make my own replacement bowls. Unfortuately, it is the Dollar Store for me.

Anonymous said...

Had to comment on picture of grendal. LOve the kitty!
Real neat work on the bowls. That's one thing i have never tried before.
Our garden has struggled this year as well. We were wet and cold then hot and dry. not so good for lots of plants. Each year seems better for certain types of plants. This year was the the year of the zucchini at our house. Boy was it ever!!! It's always a nice to get something out of the garden though. Be it ever so humble.
I related to your previous post on people overspending and believing that can not do with out taj mahi houses and tanks to drive. We have got away from our roots of survival and needs and moved to the philosophy of "kings". unfortunely the price of the kingdom is too much. We are constantly bombarded with message of success and failure based on the consumerism we engage in instead of personal growth and adventure.
Stay the path!

MamaHen said...

Hey Everybody! Sorry it has taken me so long to reply; rough week at work.

Hello aunty belle! Thanks for stopping by and I hope you'll keep coming to visit. Don't be envious! Ha! It's killing me to try to do all this stuff. I think it is time to just mow my garden down and start over.

Hey Philip! Yeah, I think we may get quite a bit from Gustav!

Hey Tammy! My squash died almost immediately; I got one yellow squash and it was no good. I just didn't have time for mine. Yes, Americans are programmed just to want, want, want for no particular reason other than just to have stuff. And for what? Grendal doesn't like her photo taken but I'll try to get some more. :D

Anonymous said...

Beautiful bowl, I wish I had the space and the talent for my own pottery.

Regarding drying your paprika; have you considered a ristra? You tie all of your peppers together using heavy string, then hang in some unobtrusive corner until dried. They do this all the time in New Mexico and it improves the air circulation around the drying peppers while looking pretty.

Images of ristra's hanging on the front porch are big childhood memories for me.

This link has a pretty good how-to http://www.g6csy.net/chile/drying.html

MamaHen said...

Hey Maya! I have read about drying peppers that way and will try that with these since they are taking so long. It would get them up out of the way! I think I could hang them in the pantry and they would be OK there. thanks so much for the link!

Anonymous said...

with your thicker peppers put some slits in them with a razor blade it helps them dry faster and keep them from rotting I've always strung them up too.

We make gobs of chili powder every year we string up everything we can't eat let it dry then grind em all to gather sweet and hot peppers together.

MamaHen said...

Hey Anon! Thanks for the info! I will certainly try that.