We Are Community for the week of Sept. 14th, 2020, by Joyce Steiner

 

My Admiral Fitzroy Storm Glass is mostly full of thready, flaky crystals.  I noticed this because it has been largely inactive for a while.  According to the flyer with the storm glass this could mean windy weather, snow and frost may be coming.  Hope it is just getting in practice for later in the year and is not a true prediction for today.

Just in case you think that big brother is not watching-customers in the store this week noted that I had fruit jars for sale.  They asked if I also had lids as they had been trying to buy them and could not find any for sale or they were extremely expensive.  Within a few minutes, I had three pop up ads on my phone for reasonably priced jar lids!

When the going gets tough, I sometimes go to the Mississippi River and just sit on the bank for a while.  Spent several hours there last Sunday.  It is so calm, serene and beautiful.  There are still some water lilies blooming and every so often a large fish jumps or rolls over in the water.  Never fails to lift my mood.

Since Monday was Labor Day, I decided to check out both Argyle and Colchester to see if there was anyone in either place.  There was not.  I know that Colchester had several things going on on Saturday but I am in my store on Saturday.  Missing my antique shows.

We had 2 ½ inches of rain of Monday night.  There was a lot of lightening with it.  Not a fan of storms and I do not sleep well through them.  Certainly wish we could send some of our rain to the West Coast.  They need it so badly and 5 inches in five days is probably more than we need right now in our area.

As I was driving to Macomb on Wednesday,  noticed an eagle just north of Colmar.  So love having them in our area.  In the winter months, one often flies over the antique store most every day.

One of my peach trees decided that its limbs were just too heavy to support any more and they cracked and split.  I had no choice but to cut them off as the tree is close to my house.  I piled the limbs near the road as I have no way to carry them off.  A young couple stopped by the store and asked if they could cut them up and carry them off.  That was an easy question to answer.  Thanks so much.  We need to help each other whenever possible.

Thursday I put photos of some stoneware on face book on the Collectors of Illinois Pottery and Stoneware site.  By the weekend, I had sold all I put on and a few more pieces too.  The internet is an interesting selling tool and well as just interesting!  Whenever I have a question, like what is a 1978 stamp worth, Google seems to know the answer but then who am I to argue with Google.

Friday was the anniversary of 9-11.  It is such a sad day for us all.  I will always remember that Ben was in St. Louis and called  me and told me to turn on the TV.  He then came home.  Watched in horror at the unfolding events.  A friend posted photos of the attack taken from his apartment.  Cannot even imagine being so close to the actual carnage.

My tomatoes and egg plant are producing fruit so decided to use some of them to make eggplant moussaka.  Really good.  If you would like to try it -thinly slice two eggplant and bake at 375 for 20 minutes.  In a skillet cook a pound of ground turkey and a large chopped onionin in a bit of olive oil.  Add 1 teaspoon of allspice, a pint of tomatoes, a half cup of water, a tablespoon or more of minced garlic and salt and pepper to your taste.  Cook until thickened.  For the topping, add 3 tablespoons of butter to a skillet and then add the same amount of flour to make a paste, add 2 cups of milk and cook until thick,.  Layer the eggplant and the meat sauce in a dish.  Cover with the white sauce and sprinkle a generous amount of parmesan cheese and a bit of ground nutmeg on top of the white sauce.  Bake at 375 until the top is nicely browned- about 20 minutes.  I loved this and will make it again.  I increased the amount of white sauce in this recipe because I thought it needed more.  Hope you enjoy this.

If you are a bit like me, you may be afraid during storms, you may be sad at not seeing friends and family, you may be tired of the political divide, you may be sad to see the flower season rapidly coming to an end, you may have lost loved ones or have friends and family that need prayers.  Sometimes it is difficult to remember that “this is a day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it”.  Scatter Kindness.

Posted in Plymouth News