Change of Season

It's in the low 70s and muggy, but I know that fall is on its way, replacing the gross, humid, and hot weather we've had for weeks now.  I think there will still be some warm days, but nothing like the 103F heat index we've been having--and the three early dismissal days we had to go with them.  The harder part was that our AC gave up in the middle of it, making for some uncomfortable time but Mama climbed up in the attic and fixed it enough to get us through.

Then last night there was a storm that ended the heat.  My paternal grandfather used to say, for Texas, that the first general rain after August 15 broke the back of summer.  I'm not sure if it's that early anymore, but we had a huge general rain here that dropped the temperatures more than 15 degrees in a matter of minutes.  Bud and I marveled at the noise; Sis was at the farm, safe and helping to comfort the horses.  Mama was commuting home.  It was almost deafening!  We watched both the lightning and Lightning Tracker, which showed bolts hitting almost on top of us, behind the houses in the cul-de-sac and throughout town.

It's cooler today, low 70s, and humid, but delightful after the last few weeks.  I've even broken out my yarn and am starting a new blanket, using a waffle stitch, which is new to me.  It's a raffle prize for a fun run in memory of a teacher from Newtown. 

Waffle Stitch Blanket (using American crochet terms)

I Hook

Worsted yarn

dc: double crochet

fpdc: front post double crochet (yo, insert front to back around whole stitch, pull through, yo, pull through 2 on hook, yo, pull through rest on hook)

Chain 137 (or any multiple of 3+2)

ROW 1: dc in 3^rd chain from hook and all the way across. Ch 1 and turn.

ROW 2: dc in first stitch. *fpdc, dcI in next 2 st * until last stitch.  Work FPDC in last stitch and dc in ch.  Ch 1 and turn. 

ROW 3: dc in first stich.  *dc, fpdc in next 2 st* repeat to last two stitches. Work dc in last two stitches.  Ch 1 and turn. 

Repeat ROWS 2 and 3 until blanket is desired length. Be sure to end on a row 2 for a neat edge.

Here Comes the Rain Again

It's wet up here.  It's been hot most days, for us, and wetter than usual.  It's not many inches total but some impressive downpours off and on, with a few instances of great thunder and lightning.  In fact, last week or so, there was one of the best instances of thunder and lightning I've ever seen in Connecticut.  And today, not far away, there was an F-0 tornado!  No one was hurt, but some trees went down.

I'm liking the weather--even if 86F and 100% humidity is kinda nasty--but then I get to sit inside with AC.  But with the grey days and the earlier sunset, I can almost sense fall coming.   We had also done a little bit of late-summer planting on Monday evening of a bunch of purple coneflower plants, aka echinacea.  This rain is great for all of those plants.  I'd been seeing the purple coneflowers all over the place--in many yards, in the garden of a local restaurant, even at the Highline two weeks ago--and so when they appeared at a local store, I snatched them up.  Now I just need some black-eyed susans to go with them, since I see the two plants together most of the time.

And then we'll need more rain!

Rain

Mercy, it's raining a lot today, for Connecticut.

Heading to church this morning, there were white caps on the river, which was 2 feet above normal, if not more.  It was obviously quite high, especially considering the rain only came in overnight.

And the wind!  We didn't see any trees down, though we heard some did go down, but we saw lots of little branches and leaves strewn about.  And one branch actually blew horizontally across the highway in front of us!

There wasn't too much puddling on the roads, though, and we never hydroplaned.  But it was threatening nonetheless.

So, after church, we went for a pancake breakfast!  It's a new-to-us place not far from church, quite crowded today--I guess everyone else had the same lazy-morning feeling.  We enjoyed delicious lemon ricotta pancakes, a kielbasa burrito, a "cowboy" omelet, corned beef hash, smoked bacon.  Yum, yum, yum.  And while we ate, the rain slowed.

It continued off and on, and is raining again now.

If it had been snow, it would have been a blizzard, with considerable accumulation, I'm sure.

Not yet.

Rainy-Day Recipes

It's cold and wet and windy here--perfect fall weather for staying indoors with my crochet, cats, and cuppa.  I was inspired to make "Snickerdoodle Cake" yesterday when it was damp and chilly; today I'm making beef stew in the slow cooker with beef, carrots, potatoes, red pepper, cabbage, and green onions (also red wine vinegar and some WT Rancher's Steak Rub and Garlic Grapeseed oil; it's low FODMAPs.)  Because Sis's Girl Scout movie night was cancelled, we'll stay home and watch something together.  I even promised them hot chocolate when they got off the bus!  It's just that kind of day.


Cinnamon Bars aka Snickerdoodle Cake

2  cups flour                         2  teaspoons ground cinnamon                         1  teaspoon baking powder                         1/4  teaspoon baking soda                         2  cups packed brown sugar                         2/3 cup butter                         2  eggs                         2  teaspoons vanilla                         1/4 cup sugar                         1  teaspoon ground cinnamon                          1  tablespoon butter, melted

First, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan cook and stir brown sugar and the 2/3 cup butter over medium heat until butter is melted and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat; cool slightly.

Line a 9x9x2-inch baking pan with foil extending the foil over edges of pan. Grease foil; set pan aside. 

In a medium bowl stir together flour, the 2 teaspoons cinnamon, the baking powder, and baking soda; set aside. 

 Now that sugar/butter mixture is cooler, stir eggs and vanilla. Stir in flour mixture until combined.

Pour batter into the prepared baking pan, spreading evenly. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool slightly in pan on a wire rack.

In a small bowl stir together granulated sugar and the 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Brush warm bars with the 1 tablespoon melted butter and sprinkle with the cinnamon-sugar; cool completely. Using the edges of the foil, lift uncut bars from pan. Cut into bars.

Better Homes and Gardens 100 Best Cookies (2015)

Trick or Treats

We beat the forecast and got our holiday in before the rain!

The kids were actually ready to go trick-or-treating as soon as they got off the bus at 4 p.m., but we managed to wait until 6 p.m.  They were in costume by 5:30, though, as soon as we finished dinner.  Sis was Legolas, with bow, cape, and Elven pin, but no long blonde wig.  Bud was Frodo, also with cape, pin, and a sword.  Yep, it was Lord of the Rings year.

While Mama and I were getting our acts together, they did go to the two next door neighbors.  And then we all headed out in the car.  See, for the last several years, we have started off our evening with visits to friends further away, including the pre-school director, their 1st and 2nd-grade teacher, and my friend Mama Teacher.  This year, Mama Teacher was at the movies, but we did see the former two, which is always special.

It was dark by the time we got home and they hit the sidewalk running while I took up my usual spot on the bench in the front yard, ready to pass out candy (none of this waiting inside for the doorbell to ring; I like to watch everyone coming and going, socializing with the neighbors, etc.)  Mama went with the kids but followed along behind.

Especially because, at first, they were with Neighbor Boy.  Soon, they switched to the little girl on their bus (the younger one, not the one in their class) and her family, along with Mama--everybody seems to have enjoyed that more.  The little girl was Cinderella; her sister, a pirate with squeaky shoes.

Believe it or not, we only had one Elsa (so, the Frozen drinking game wouldn't have worked here!)  We had an adorable dad dressed as a pirate with his little girl as his sidekick parrot--she did a great squawk.  There were also a Maleficent, Daniel Tiger, several random superheroes, and one teenager dressed up as the Tardis with a Bad Wolf cap!

But the rain started by 8 pm, putting a damper on both our kids' and others' trick or treating.  Soon, Sis and Bud were splayed out on the enclosed porch sorting their candy, swapping for favorites, and discarding the unwanteds in the buy-back box. (Sis likes plain Hersheys and also Kit Kats; Bud likes Crunch bars and chewy sweet things.) Then, turning off the porch lights, we headed inside to watch our traditional "Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" and "The Simpson's The Raven" and "Garfield's Halloween Special."

I had posted on FB earlier in the evening that we had non-food treats and had hung the poster with the teal pumpkin which indicated as much in our window.  But we had no takers looking for allergy-free treats.  That is until a friend on FB posted late wondering if we were still open so her allergic son could have a non-food treat.  We turned the lights back on and waited.  A few minutes later the kid, with his mom and dad in tow in the rain, showed up and we gave him two bottles of bubbles.  He was excited and so were we.

And that was pretty much it--we ate more candy (I got all the peanut stuff!) and finished our shows and were actually in bed at a decent hour, another happy Halloween, albeit a wet one, duly celebrated.

Rain, Rain

There is an amazingly dramatic thunderstorm raging outside, with more thunder and lightning then we've seen here in CT for years.  It reminds me of Houston, except tomorrow we will have cooler temperatures.

Now, without being ungrateful, I would only say that its timing was off.  Two months plus of very little rain and the deluge had to start in the middle of our welcome-back Brownie campfire?  Just as we were making s'mores?  I'd watched the radar all day and thought we were clear, but drumbeats of thunder punctuated the sharing circle as we told of summer vacations, saw a banana/bandana skit, and Sis and I sang "The Beaver Song" together, but the drizzle held off for almost an hour.  Until marshmallows.  Oh, well, the girls loved it.  And fortunately we had somewhere safe inside to be.

Where we then sang several verses of "If All The Raindrops Were Lemon Drops and Gumdrops" from our new songbook!