Road Kill Cafe

We have been enjoying some very nice weather lately, but could really do with some rain. Until the last couple of days the temperatures have been in the 80’s, but the 90’s are here again. The full days of sunshine are nice, but I would gladly trade one for some clouds and rain. The garden and the yard could do with a good rain. Fortunately there is a chance of showers in the forecast for the next few days.

I made a batch of soap a few days ago and am impatiently waiting for it to dry enough to get it out of its’ mold. Unfortunately there has been rather high humidity, so that means it will take a bit longer for the soap to dry. This batch is an olive oil castille, a really mild soap when finished. It is also more liquid at the pour and hense takes longer to dry. I need to remember to get another stick blender to use just for soap making. Using this really makes the stirring process for most soaps much quicker and lessens the time spent stirring after the lye mixture is added to the fats. I have another soap recipe that I want to make, but really want to get the stick blender first.

The humming birds are back in full force. I think we have about 4 or 5 that are competing for the feeder. They are so funny to watch as they play king of the feeder and try to chase the others off. As quickly as the level goes down in the feeder I am sure that each one is getting their share and they seem to change being the top bird frequently.

Hunter is having a good time playing outside. As a true testament to how much time he spends outside, he has a really good tan. Although sometimes I wonder, especially before his bath, just how much is tan and how much is dirt. He has discovered that it is great fun to take his evening bath in the rinse tub on the back porch. He likes the fact that no one gets upset with how much he splashes. So the rinse tub does dual duty, one for rinsing the laundry done in the wringer washer and also as his personal outdoor bath tub.

I spent the entire day yesterday weeding in the garden. Most things have been coming along quite nicely, but were in need of some rain. We had wonderful rain showers last Friday. I had things just spring up, including the weeds.

Since I did not have a garden last year, my garden space was taken over by very large and invasive weeds. I have been out on a regular basis hoping to keep them in check, but with the needed rain they came up in full force. It was a long battle yesterday but I liberated most of the garden. There is still a bit left to do, but the area that is done looks wonderful.

Today I need to go out and mow. This has already been made much easier since Mr.B did a mass weed eating yesterday. So now it will only take a couple of hours mowing and the yard will look good too. I am really enjoying all the time that I am spending outside among the green and growing things.

Saturday evening Jeff2, Mr.B, Hunter and I went to the local county fair. It held a myriad of delights, especially for a 4 year old. Although we never did discover where the exhibits were hidden, we spent a fun evening at the fair.

Hunter was throughly entranced by the mid-way. He had a great time playing games, winning some prizes and of course going on the rides. His favorite one was called Raiders, loosely based on the Indiana Jones movies, where he had to climb a rope ladder, navigate a maze, walk across suspended pathways and finally go down a long enclosed slide. He drug his daddy, Mr.B, onto this at least 10 times and Jeff2 once.

We all went on the bumper cars, Hunter did not like them. He said they were “too rough”. Mostly because he was just the right height to constantly bump his lower lip just about every time he and Mr.B got bumped. So we decided that once was enough for that ride.

After some initial trepidation we got him on the carousel. He had a great time going around and around while his horse went up and down. He loved the fact that his horse went up so high and then would come down again and would make faces at grandpa every time he came into view.

We also watched some of the tractor pull. Hunter liked the noise the tractors made when they revved up to pull the skid. But he was easily distracted by the sights and sounds of the mid-way. He was so intent on getting his full enjoyment from the rides that he didn’t even want to stop to get something to eat.

Despite the fact that it was a very warm evening, a great time was had by all. I got much enjoyment just from watching Hunters delight at the fair. Even though he was tired, he did not want to go home, but reluctantly finally agreed that he was tired. I am sure that night his dreams were filled with flashing lights, rope ladders, slides, thunderous roars from souped up tractor engines and cotton candy.

I woke up yesterday to discover that it was June, when only the day before it was the never ending month of May. It seemed to me that May lasted for, well, longer than it should have. I am not prepared for June. I had a list of projects that I wanted to have done by June. They are not all done, due to that fact that May just seemed to stretch on forever and I got lost in the endlessness.

At least the garden is in and doing well. I am even managing to keep well ahead of the weeds, so far. I am hoping to have a good harvest. I did a heavy weeding yesterday and am really glad that I did since we had thundershowers in the evening and again during the night. We are supposed to have sunny and warm weather today. All good things for the garden.

Hunter is really enjoying the warmer weather. He is ecstatic with being able to spend so much time playing outside. He is already sporting a tan along with bumps and bruises from over-enthusiastic rough and tumble little boy adventures. But he is having a marvelous time and I usually have to bribe him with a bath to get him to come inside well after dinner. I am glad that he loves playing outside instead of wanting to watch TV.