Summer Doldrums…

There’s something about this time of year that just gets to me.  I’m already a slow-moving person, but when it gets hot and humid, I definitely slow to a bare crawl.  This year it has had a detrimental effect on my picture taking and, consequently, my blog. I think summer always slows down my picture taking unless we’re traveling, but this year it has been worse than usual for some reason.

It's been like this for me for as long as I can remember.  I just really don’t like summer.

  I suppose there are those of you out there who could never understand the way I feel, but searching around on the interweb, I found that there are more people out there like me, albeit not that many. But it's a real condition called Summer SAD (Seasonal AffectiveDisorder) .  While I don’t think I suffer from it in a full-blown way, I do find it much harder to sleep.  The sun rises and so do I, like it or not.  Yes, we need room darkening shades.  I know, I know.   There are always too many blankets or sheets and not enough air.  I toss and turn and turn and toss.  I just can't get comfortable.

Summer is rather overwhelming to me in a social way as well.  Well, I've always been socially awkward so the parties and get togethers that seem to happen more frequently in the summer cause me a fair bit of anxiety.

The truth is that I completely and thoroughly hate the heat and humidity.  To me, the best day of the year is that first day I have to put on a sweatshirt in the morning and wear it all day.  It’s feels weird to me that when people describe paradise, they always seem to be talking about someplace in the tropics, sun-drenched, sand covered and sweat producing, while I always dream of places north.  I most definitely feel like a fish out of water this time of year or maybe a polar bear out of the Arctic.

  Oh, well, what can I do?  I have no control over it.

I decided that what I needed to do today is make the most of what is good about summertime, besides baseball, that is. Summertime is colorful and I do love color.  So I went out and took a tour of our yard and came back with these.

I did manage to accomplish something this summer and it is colorful.  Thanks to The Crochet Crowd for the free pattern.  This was easier than it looks and so much fun to create.  I love the pattern.  I think another one may be in my future even though I'm not sure what I'll do with it.

One thing that is very special about today, in particular, is that it is my very colorful daughter Carrie’s birthday.  My due date with her was June 21, but she waited until July 13 to be born, which was a Friday with a full moon, of course.  And yes, it was the hottest summer ever.  Of course, it’s always the hottest summer ever when one is greatly pregnant.  But I hit the jackpot with Number One.  She’s a wonderful, big hearted, quirky, intelligent and beautiful person.  Happy birthday, Number One!

Here's a photo of Carrie and her brother Evan (Number Two) taken in 1990.  Number Two isn't so bad either, by the way.

And here's how she looks these days.  Yes, that's a spider web in her hair.  I told you she was quirky.

Friday the 13th fence…

Here’s my fence for Friday’s Fences.  Perhaps it seems kind of apropos, it being Friday the 13th, that it is a fence that must have been around something back in the day but now is just standing there with nothing to do.  What happened to the farm that went with it?

I also want to take a minute to wish my beautiful daughter Carrie happy 28^th birthday.  It was on a Friday the 13^th 28 years ago that she was born.  Never mind that she was due on June 21.  She had to wait until the proper time.  Since then, Friday the 13^th has been a special and happy day for me.  Happy birthday, Carrie!  I am so proud that you are the generous, kind, loving and creative person you have become.

Carrie these days.

Carrie a few years ago.  She was precocious but she really couldn't read yet.  At least I don't think she could.

Linking to Friday's Fences.

Making the most of getting older…

I had a wonderful birthday this year.  It was on Monday after the family reunion festivities were officially over so we slept in a bit and then decided to go out for Cincinnati Chili.  I may have left the Cincinnati area to live in another part of the country but I have never left behind my love for Cincinnati Chili.

Here’s what makes chili Cincinnati Chili:  You start with a spicy (not hot, just spicy) chili spooned over spaghetti noodles and topped with shredded cheddar cheese.  That’s a 3-way.  Then the fun begins.  You can add red kidney beans or onions.  That makes a 4-way.  If you add both, you get a 5-way.  It is served with oyster crackers and lots of hot sauce.  I’ll put the recipe I use when I make it at home at the end of this post in case you want to try it.

The definitive Cincinnati Chili is had at one of the many Skyline Chili restaurants around there.  But there are other Cincinnati Chili restaurants around that are good.  We discovered Blue Ash Chili while watching Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.  It is worth a trip to Blue Ash to check this place out.  What I like is that I can get a 4-way without onions but with jalapeno caps.  I’m in heaven.  Love those jalapenos.  And if you have the chili with beans, onions and jalapeno caps, you get a 6-way.

After our lunch, Greg took us to the Blue Ash Rec Center where there is a replica of the Crosley Field scoreboard.  Crosley Field is where the Cincinnati Reds played baseball when I was a kid.  We went to quite a few games there over the years but I was lucky to attend the last game they played in Crosley with my parents and a couple of siblings on June 24, 1970.   The Reds won 5-4.  Johnny Bench and Lee May hit back to back home runs in that game.  After the game, a helicopter came down and home plate was transferred by air  from Crosley over to Riverfront Stadium where the Reds played from 1970 until 2002.  

Then instead of birthday cake, I got a scoop of Graeter’s black raspberry chip ice cream.  Oh, boy, it can’t be beat!  Best ice cream on earth.  Ask Oprah. 

But to top it off, we went to dinner that night to the Olive Garden to celebrate my mother’s birthday, which is the day after mine and I got to have dinner with 18 of my family.  It ended with Greg, my cousin Ken and my nephew Neil all singing happy birthday to my mother and me.  It made getting older not so bad…at least for the day.

CINCINNATI CHILI

2 pounds ground beef

1 quart water

2 medium sized onions, grated

2 8-ounce cans tomato sauce

5 whole allspice

½ teaspoon red pepper

1 teaspoon ground cumin seed

4 tablespoons chili powder

½ ounce bitter chocolate

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons vinegar

1 large bay leaf

5 whole cloves

2 teaspoons Worcestershire

1 ½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Add ground beef to water in 4 quart pot, stir until beef separates to a fine texture.  Boil slowly for half an hour. 
2. Add all other ingredients.  Stir to blend, bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer uncovered for about 3 hours.  Last hour, pot may be covered after desired consistency is reached.
3. Remove bay leaf.
4. Chili should be refrigerated overnight so that fat can be lifted from top before reheating.  Not necessary if using extra lean beef.

Serve it in one of the following traditional styles:

Chili Plain

Chili and Spaghetti

3 way – chili, spaghetti, and shredded cheddar cheese

4 way -  chili, spaghetti, cheddar and onion or beans

5 way – chili, spaghetti, cheddar, onion and beans

Coney Island – a frankfurter in a bun topped with chili, cheese and onions or any of the above ingredients.

There is nothing in any of these combinations that an antacid can’t remedy!