Just another Saturday....

...in over warm July heat and after a wind storm that snapped large trees like twigs in TN and North Georgia this past Thursday, leaving 30,000 out of power that evening. We were taking the dogs for a walk, when suddenly a dark cloud and strong, high winds began jerking the trees so hard that Zeno raised his hackles and kept looking skyward. (Karma never noticed, I am sad but obligated to report!) As Z and I raced home with dry leaves and dust whirling in our eyes, we heard a loud pop and I saw a large tree snap off in our back yard, breaking its fall to the ground by resting on a tree on the other side of our fence. With limbs falling everywhere, and Karma ensconced indoors, Brent, Z and I took refuge on the back porch. We watched a huge tree come up from it's roots, crashing to the ground in a neighbor's yard. Our tree finally gave way from its perch and plummeted through our fence. Humming birds continued to flit easily to the feeders despite the storm. All others were eerily quiet. And suddenly, in less than an a hour, it was gone. Gradually, the Katydids and birds regained their voice and Brent was out with a flash light and hammer to rig the fence so that Z would not escape until real repairs could be made.

And after a Friday of errands, so began our Saturday of repairs. While B worked on the fence, I picked up limbs and had other adventures, that began with Mr. Turtle.  As I was gathering gloves and clippers from the garage, I noticed a strange bumping sound. On closer investigation, a rotating brown ball almost gave me a heart attack! Mr. Turtle, apparently thinking our garage was a shortcut to cooler lands, tried to walk straight through, and on encountering the back wall, viewed it only as a small boulder to crawl over. The wall bested him, and he was writhing (rolling?) madly on his back in a desperate attempt to right himself.  After my fright, I rescued him...placing him in a newly watered hosta bed so he could cool off and regain his dignity at the same time.

By the time I had picked up limbs from every corner of our less than one acre lot, I felt very much like landed gentry with my endless property...albeit sans serfs who should be gathering broken branches in my stead!!!  So a cooling, yet genteel lunch was definitely in order. Pictured above, is my take on salad nicoise. Normally, it is a composed salad of tuna, boiled egg, new potatoes, blanched green beans, tomatoes and red onion, on a bed of lettuce, topped with nicoise olives, anchovies, and capers...all drizzled with a French vinaigrette. Instead, I used poached salmon, caramelized onions, fresh cucumbers and tomatoes, boiled eggs and blanched green beans with kalamata olives over a bed of mixed greens with a vinaigrette dressing...not a bad way to lighten a hot, work day!!!! Later, we had bell peppers stuffed with seasoned ground beef, lemon/oregano roasted potatoes, a green salad with fresh peaches and berries for supper.  If you work like peasants, you may as well eat like kings!
Enjoy your day - c