Remember…Eagles may soar, but weasels don’t get sucked into jet engines!
New puzzle day! I sneaked up on the box, ripped open the impenetrable plastic wrapping, and liberally sprinkled the contents onto the dining room table. Our hearts and minds will be busy for a week now!
Before going outside, we called Aunt Kaye and she is NOT doing well…sadly she is saying things like “The end is near” and “I am tired of living”. This is definitely not her normal behavior so we are thinking another quick road trip is in the offing soon…right after the aneurism surgery.
I worked in the yard putting some fertilizer on the three tress down our driveway…the lime, plum and kumquat trees are really beginning to bloom so a shot in the dirt is required. I had to bring out the rototiller as the ground underneath was pretty hard so I loosened it up before putting in the dry fertilizer.
While standing there admiring my work, the UPS man showed up…we are getting to know each other quite well these days…thank you Amazon! I got more fertilizer and 1500 feet of twine nicely boxed up!
Before 
After
Did You Know? Jute is a long, soft, shiny vegetable fiber that can be spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced primarily from plants in the genus Corchorus, which is part of the family Malvaceae. The primary source of the fiber is Corchorus olitorius, but it is considered inferior to Corchorus capsularis. “Jute” is the name of the plant or fiber used to make burlap, hessian or gunny cloth.
Jute is one of the most affordable natural fibers, and second only to cotton in the amount produced and variety of uses. Jute fibers are composed primarily of the plant materials cellulose and lignin. It falls into the bast fiber category (fiber collected from bast, the phloem of the plant, sometimes called the “skin”) along with kenaf, industrial hemp, flax (linen), ramie, etc. The industrial term for jute fiber is raw jute. The fibers are off-white to brown, and 1–4 metres (3–13 feet) long. Jute is also called the golden fiber for its color and high cash value.
Lunch time and we are finishing off our leftovers…Sue keeps doing the Mexican and I do the Indian! Sunday will be the last day….unless we go out for lunch!
Enough of the gardening, I came inside and we watched S.H.I.E.L.D. until 4:00 PM when it was time to hit the showers and get ready for the evening’s entertainment.
Brian and Jan invited us over as they were unsure of their real estate visit situation. So with the Branders, we had a super evening planned. We arrived a little too early as traffic was nil so we stopped at the Orange County Mining Company situated high upon the side of a hill! We had a drink…and they didn’t even ask for my ID!
We had a glass of nice wine and discussed the day…funny, after 30 years of marriage and 40 years of knowing each other, we think the same thoughts and start and finish each other sentences!
After the quick drink we went to the hillside abode of the Finch’s..an amazing very modern home situated on the side of a hill…in fact, on stilts! The outdoor patio is about 50 feet above the ground below!
We arrived along with the Brander’s and enjoyed a delightful three hours of conversation punctuated with a lot of laughing and giggling! Somehow we got onto the conversation of butter beans? Do NOT ask how as I have no recollection but I ended up ordering a can for Brian and Jan and it is being shipped to them as we read!
Did You Know? Raw Lima beans contain linamarin, which releases hydrogen cyanide, although the varieties grown in the U.S. contain only trace amounts. Nevertheless, Lima beans should never be eaten raw.
We departed the mountain side at 9:30 PM and traversed the treacherous winding mountain road for hours until reaching the bottom and safety. Zipping back home via the ol’ 22, we arrived about 20 minutes later.
On with the oven, off with the clothes, on with the TV…we be home!
