Corn Detasseling

 Here we are at the end of July!  My daughter gets married in another month and I am stressing!  She has orchestrated most of her wedding but still stressful as a parent too.

I just learned about corn detasseling thanks to a post by Caitlin'nMegan who mentioned the term in one of their stories.  It made me curious to learn more.  Here is a short documentary I found explaining the process, I thought it was well done.

The corn tassel is at the top of the corn plant.  It is male.  The corn silks that sit at the  top of the ear of corn is female.  Male tassel fertilizes female silks and you get corn seed.  Removing or detasseling the corn is a method of controlled pollination.  They use machines to detassel as well as employ workers.

We take so much for granted just buying ears of corn don't we.  It is interesting to know how the plant reproduces and the industry behind it.

New Soaps

 I got these new soaps on sale at the mall recently.  I can't wait to try them.  It says they are triple milled and the coconut and chia and coconut oil and goat's milk ingredients look interesting.  

Friday Art - Raven

 This is a Raven ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2") that I had posted last year.  It is based on a photo I saw at the Canadian Wildlife Federation website.

Linking to Nicole's Friday Face Off and Gillena's Art For Fun Fridays.

Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date - The First Thing You See Today

 Welcome to Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date.  The theme is 'The First Thing  You See Today'.  I chose to draw my 2 phones that sit at my end table (ACEO 2 1/2" x 3 1/2").  It is the first thing I see in the mornings.  I keep my older phone beside the newer one as it works better for sending blogger comments these days, go figure.

I baked some fish the other day, Buffalo Carp,  400F for 20 minutes.  It was good!  Just add your favourite seasonings and some olive oil.  I used fresh oregano in particular.

Wednesday Memes

 I got the one above from Valerie.

Nature's Way

 My sister has ducks visit her pool every summer, often to nest in the nearby bushes.  They are a problem, hard to get rid of them in a good way.  Recently she noticed a nest of eggs and was worried about them hatching.  But shortly after that she suspects a raccoon may have destroyed the eggs.  Nature has its way.

Reading to Shelter Dogs

 I recently learned from Sandra's blog that reading to shelter dogs is a good thing. Have you heard about this?  It can lower their stress and improve their adoption chances.

Son K and I didn't get covid, I had mentioned last week about it running through our family.  We have tested negative a couple of times since husband M tested negative himself.

We saw the new Elvis movie.  It is more of a biography.  We enjoyed it very much.  I felt like clapping at the end.  It is not an entertaining movie, quite serious but gripping.  It moved along at a good pace.  We never realized the important black influence on Elvis' music at a time when there was so much racism in the US (as there still is today).

I remember when we entered the movie theatre we went to a kiosk to scan and print our tickets. There often are no people at a counter to do this for you anymore. Husband M helped an older couple (like us, maybe even a bit older) find where to point their phones on the machines to scan and print their tickets.  They thanked him and he told them he just found out how to do it the last time he was there.  Times are changing so quickly.

Cute

 My sister caught this photo of a squirrel taking off with one of her garden tomatoes.  Cute to us, annoying to her!

Make your own Teriyaki Sauce

I recently made my own teriyaki sauce.  It is simple, only 4 ingredients in this recipe.  This link explains the golden ratio 2:2:2:1.  Mix the ingredients together and reduce the sauce to 70%.

Do you think you might try it too?  I also always have a store bought bottle.

Teriyaki Sauce:

2 tbs soy sauce

2 tbs mirin

2 tbs sake for cooking (I probably used drinking sake)

1 tbs white sugar

 Mix the ingredients together and reduce the sauce to 70%, it takes about 5 minutes.

Friday Art - Irrawaddy Dolphin

 This is an Irrawaddy Dolphin ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2") that I had posted last year.  It is based on a photo I saw on The World Wildlife Website.

Linking to Nicole's Friday Face Off and Gillena's Art For Fun Fridays.

Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date - A Poem and baked shrimp

Welcome to Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date's 'A Poem' theme.  I am showing a poppy ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2").  The poem I had in mind was 'In Flander's Fields' by John McCrae.

I am not one for poetry, but happy to come up with something for the theme today!  I do enjoy quotes though.

I decided to bake some shrimp the other day.  400F for 6-8 mins depending on the size of the shrimp. It is so much easier than sauteing them in a pan.  Just add your favourite seasonings and some olive oil.

Wednesday Memes

 

Coleus plant cuttings and comments going to spam folder

 I took some cuttings from my now large coleus plant and hopefully they will develop a good root system in 3 or 4 weeks.  The plan is to pot them up and give them to willing friends.

I have noticed many of my comments are going into my spam folder as soon as I approve them.  Something to look out for, be careful everyone.  I now remember Jan commenting on this issue.  I found close to 400 comments for the past few months have been going to my spam folder. I had to publish them all yesterday.

A Free Sample!

 

I was happy to receive this box of goldfish crackers in the mail, a free sample!  They are extra large, very crunchy and good!

Covid covid covid

 Covid is rampant around here.  It started when daughter L got it from a wedding she attended.  Shortly after her fiance got it from her.  Then husband M got it from the fiance.  They have all been mild cases.  Son K and I are hoping to be spared, we will know soon enough.  

Then we heard that  a few friends got Covid within the same week that husband M got it (not from us).  The result is many spouses including myself have been sleeping in separate rooms and masking up in the house.  It is difficult!

We had to miss a family Christening, that was disappointing.

The toilet paper roll

 This is interesting!  Thoughts?

Friday Art - Valerie's Rooster

 I am showing Valerie's Rooster, a piece I did last year based on a photo Valerie took.  Valerie is taking July off blogging as she deals with some health issues.  It is an ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2").

And this is a landscape I did based on a photo that appeared in my screensaver that I liked.  I didn't get a chance to see its location.

Linking to Nicole's Friday Face Off and Gillena's Art For Fun Friday.

Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date- Scratch Drawing

 Welcome to Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date's 'Scratch Drawing' theme.  I did a moon silhouette complete with wolf ACEO(2 1/2" x 3 1/2") using a white acrylic pen to 'scratch' out my drawing.  Thanks to Rain for always bringing us out of our comfort zones to try new ways of doing art.  I had never heard of scratch drawings before this.

And for the dinner date I am sharing my Tomatoes Vinaigrette.  I mix 1/4c rice vinegar, 1 tsp white sugar, 1/4 tsp salt with a couple of sliced tomatoes and that's it!  I used the same recipe for sliced cucumbers and I have a Japanese cucumber salad!

Wednesday Memes

 

A larger pot

 We received this coleus plant as a gift a few months ago.  At the time is was in a small pot.  It grew quickly and I realized we needed to repot it.  At Walmart I saw the 2 potential new pots pictured above.  The pretty patterned ceramic one was $20.  The inexpensive plastic one was under $5 including the saucer.  I decided on the inexpensive container and here you have it!  If it continues to grow (live) I may have to prune it or get a larger pot!

Moisturizing Cream and a Major Service Disruption

 I got this Cerave moisturizing cream from Costco for $19.99.  My sister recommends it as her dermatologist did too.  Apparently creams are more moisturizing than lotions because they don't have the added water that lotions do.  She says this one doesn't feel greasy and my other sister says it is good for face and body.

Early this past Saturday morning we woke up to no internet, cell phone, or TV.  Our major service provider had a disruption!  It was fixed by Sunday afternoon but this was a nationwide outage that hit the news.

On Saturday a lot of businesses were relying on cash only transactions.  My local bank uses another cell phone provider, as does Whole Foods.  They were functioning normally.

A friend told me they simply went to bed at 9 pm on Saturday night as there was nothing to do! 

How do you think you would fare without internet, phone, or TV?

How do you like your steak

 This is a handy chart on steak doneness.  I like mine medium rare but medium is also fine.  Some restaurants vary in how they handle medium rare, once I got one that was pretty much rare. 

How do you like your steak if you are a meat eater?   

Types of Mushrooms

 This is a very informative chart on the types of mushrooms.  White button and cremini seem to be very common at the grocery store.  I have been roasting them recently.

Friday Art - Landscape

 I did a landscape for Friday Art. It is inspired by an image that came up on my screensaver,  of Madeira Island Portugal.  It is an ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2").  Linking to Gillena's Art For Fun Fridays.

Showing a portrait of one of my great nieces I did a few years ago for Nicole's Friday Face Off.

Rain's Thursday Art Date - Playing Hooky

 Welcome to Rain's Thursday Art Date's 'Playing Hooky' theme.  The 'gone fishing' idea immediately came to mind.  Here is my ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2") in permanent marker.

Wednesday Memes