The Friday Five point five- Currently edition

Linking up with Jenn for Currently

Loving, Beginning, Ending, Picking, Posting

Loving- the weather

While we're definitely in need of rain (may come tomorrow!), the temperature every day for the past ten days or so has been so nice and it's looking like that will continue for the next week. It did get into the 80's today (that's the highest it's been in a while) but we shouldn't be in the 80's again until... dare I dream- next summer? 

Getting updates from Abby about Tennessee. She is busy but she likes to be busy so it's all good. She did get to take advantage of the long weekend and she and some friends hiked at Smokey Mountain National Park. Being (relatively) near such awe inspiring beauty was one thing that drew her to TN.

Getting produce from the garden and then using the produce to make good things

(And having a little photo shoot with the produce. Is it even a hobby if you can't show the world/brag about it?)

I added carrots to the tomatoes (both from the garden) and onions (not from the garden) that were sauteeing on the stove for a tri- veggie marinara sauce

I didn't pulse the carrots enough and there are definitely small carrot pieces visible in the end result. I've dubbed this carro-maro (short for carrot marina)

A true (my) garden salad- the lettuce, carrots (the small pieces here that look like shredded cheddar cheese) and tomato are all from the garden. 

Of course I added cheese and dressing to the salad- paired with a homemade calzone- this was probably my favorite meal this week.

Beginning- to decorate for fall. It seems a little early? But I do like to enjoy the decor since I'm doing the work of getting everything out. I plan to do less Halloween decorating and more pumpkin/fall. That's a bit of a deviation from prior years but I'm ready for some changes. I'll probably still do orange lights outside and place the blow up Great Pumpkin in the window- a few years ago when I didn't have the lights up by October, some of the neighbor kids asked me if I planned on putting them up and told me how much they liked seeing the lights (they're all teens now and likely don't care but maybe they do like to see the Halloween light continuity from year to year? I'll put the lights up and say it's for them 😉)

Beginning to get late summer produce from the garden- I planted sweet potato slips in the garden for the first time and how fun was it to "play" in the dirt by digging in it and finding some sweet potatoes! Sweet potatoes take around 100 days for maturity which is why I began to dig for them in September. 

My first sweet potato sighting! So exciting!!

For certain the above picture represents the apex of my excitement. Once I unearthed the sweet potatoes, I realized that I didn't have the bumper crop I was hoping for.

This looks vaguely like a mess a dog left but these are actually sweet potatoes. (That "the pile" is in the grass likely doesn't help 😏) (Carrots are on the right hand side of the picture)

Picking- I picked a few carrots- I have probably thirty more carrot plants, but the ground was so dry that each carrot I dug up took about five minutes. I'll wait until we get some rain and the ground is softer to get more.

Ending- the garden season is winding down. Oh, there will still be produce until the first freeze which is usually in mid-October but most of the plants are definitely past their summer prime. In these plants, you can see plenty of brown and yellow leaves

I am also enjoying the cessation of not being able to make certain meals for dinner because a certain someone who is pretty fussy is not eating dinners at the house anymore :). From a pot roast to shredded chicken taco meat, I have loved making easy meals this week that everyone who currently lives at home likes. Last week it was chili as well as pizza from a place that la petite fussy one doesn't care for and this week, the aforementioned roast and chicken. I miss her like crazy but making easy, tasty meals for non fussy eaters is really nice!

Posting- well, nothing to traditional social media sites like Facebook or IG. It is kind of odd- I joined FB for Marketplace. I guess FB decided to let everyone who has me in their contact list  know that I'm on FB? I got a request from a lady whom I used to know and see pretty often when we both attended the same church. She lives in a neighboring town and I've not seen her now in several years. She's exactly the sort of person I would envision following or friending if that's why I joined FB. But it's not. I have no desire to post or follow people or have them follow me.  So I'm going to ignore the request. Hopefully she sees that I'm not active on FB- like it's not a diss to her- I don't follow or like anybody on FB? 

I did rejoin Snapchat so I can snap the girls (and possibly the link up hostess with the mostess!) Snapchat is so goofy and fun. And I know that I feel like I lose a few IQ points every time I search for the right filter. Ay-yi-ay- I'm self aware enough to know I'm contributing to the dumification of civilization. But I'm also vain and I look cute with the glittery blue lips and eyeshadow filter...so...

Edited to add- I wrote most of this post on Tuesday so some of it is old news! We did end up getting rain on Wednesday (soooo needed) and the extended forecast has now changed and we do have days in the upcoming week projected to be in the 80's. Oh well, we'll get that fall weather soon I'm sure.

It's been a very low key week and I'm not complaining. I didn't leave the house two days in a row. It was great. I got a lot done and I love being at home so it definitely worked out. An appointment for an oil change on Thursday  disrupted my hermitting for the week. On one of the days that I was home, I almost had a sub job. I saw it on the site the evening before and was about to select it but someone beat me to it. Ah, well, I tried!