I Am Ignoring The Weather And Pretending It's Fall

My God, will this summer never end?!  I am ready for it to be gone.  Seriously. Now.  While the nights have been dipping into the 40's, the days are still in the upper 70's.  This is completely ruining my plans to make comfort food suitable for Fall.  Eating lasagna, soups, and casseroles just cannot be done when it's still grilling weather.  

I have given up on checking the weather forecast, since we have had the same exact weather every day for 2 weeks.  I feel like I've been transplanted to another state and no longer live in Iowa.  

Fingers crossed the temps dip later this week.  I have plans to make some "stoups" I found on this blog: Kalyn's Kitchen.  Sausage, kale, and bean stew?  Yum.  Red beans and rice?  Oh yes.  And neither are things Bud will eat, so my plans to package and freeze portions for lunch will come to fruition.  If only I can cook in my kitchen without breaking out in a sweat from having the stove and oven on.  And let's not forget, I'm still wanting to make more muffins!  It's just so much easier to make these things when it's gloomy, cool, and damp outside.  It makes the nesting feeling that much more "nestier".  

I haven't talked about my garden much at all.  That's because it tanked this summer, and not much happened.  Now I'm in the process of cutting things back and so looking forward to leaves all over the yard (not!).  Time to take down the patio furniture, put away the yard ornaments, and hang up those Halloween skeletons!  

Are you looking forward to Fall?  What's your favorite Fall dish to make?

Good Things Tuesday- September 25th

Another sun-shiny Tuesday here in Iowa.  Another day to remind myself of all the good things, big and small, which put a smile on my face and keep me moving forward:

1.  Blankets.  Not quite ready for flannel sheets, but another blanket on the bed is perfect this time of year.  Lets me keep the window open at night without freezing.

2.  Apples.  Crunchy Granny Smiths are my favorite.  Tart, slightly sweet, and they make excellent additions to muffins--or lunch at work.

3.  Two-for-One vitamin sales at CVS.  

4.  Salted Caramel anything.  

5.  Wall calendars.  I love 'em.  All the new 2013 calendars are in stock at my bookstore, and I am having a hard time picking out which one I want for home.  Love to hang it up and makes notes I can see every time I'm in the kitchen.  And I get a little bit of changeable art every month.

6.  Sitting in a friend's backyard and sipping box wine on a lovely Fall day.  No plans, no rush.  Just chat.  Dreaming out loud.

7.  Templeton Rye Whiskey on ice, sitting on the back patio, smelling the warm vanilla notes and relaxing. 

My Plans for the Week Ahead--Probably Won't Stay This Way!

Flowers from my garden taken through a kaleidoscope 

Well, C-Joy in all her motherhood "got it togetherness" has already begun getting organized for the holidays.  Alas, with no child, or husband, I find my getting organized for the upcoming holidays less stressful than she has it.    Although, as one of those lucky retail managers C-Joy mentions, it means working 6 days a week and being exhausted and decidedly non-holidayish.  But, her blog has started me thinking about what I can do now, before the craziness begins, to keep the house and yard from becoming a ginormous mess.  It's amazing what one person can do to a house!

I am already finding some things hard to plan for, since Bud has begun his deer hunting season, and my schedule at work now includes working mid-shifts.  Both can play havoc with planning dinner, a night with friends, time with Bud,  or even my beloved and oh-so-necessary reading time.  Did I mention running?  Still have that half-marathon yet to go in October, and a family wedding weekend at the end of this month.

So starting tomorrow (working 11-7:30 today-uggh), I am making a list of must do this week stuff.  Top of the list:  mowing the yard.  I think it's been two weeks.  Luckily, the cooler weather has slowed down the rate of growth for the grass.  I'm also going to tackle some yard clean up--cutting down dead flowers and attempting to clean up the garage.  I think a bike ride will be in order, too.  And, dare I say, a trial run?  The leg still twinges, so I'm going to take it slow and with no hills.  Having fellow co-workers who also run, but have not this past week, has kinda made me forget a bit about it.  I think that's probably a good thing for my mental game!  Still working on getting all the books in my house up and on bookshelves.  It's harder than I thought.  And maybe, just maybe, a trial run at a cheese souffle this week.

Have a grand week everyone!