Inside The Perimeter

Happy Friday!

Wordle: three, my starter was DITCH

Volunteering at Trees Atlanta again this morning. If I have any energy afterwards I will continue to clean up Wee Little Farm. Yesterday I saw a hawk snacking on something in WLF, and when it flew away it took its prey with it.

Wordle: three, my starter was PECAN

Wordle: four, my starter was DAILY. Another disappointing effort.

Wordle: four, my starter was SPADE

Wordle: four, my starter was SWEAR

I’m making a big decision for Wee Little Farm today. I’m frustrated as fuck with my continued failure to germinate seeds and grow them to transplant size, so I’m taking the Fall off from growing. I will grow cover crops and garlic in WLF, but that’s it. Before seed starting season next year I will tidy up what’s in the yard, compost everything, clean and sanitize all of my seedling trays, and plan for a more successful 2027. I was also disappointed to find a caterpillar in the ripening tomato on one of my plants at UFO. I’m really starting to debate to benefit of having this bed; I have until February to decide.

Bummer to see all the good rain go north of WLF… again. It rained for about five minutes here.

I’m going to go silent for a while. I need a break from everything.

Wordle: three, my starter was BOUND

It’s been a bad week for my left foot. Just as the gout cleared, Captain Clumsy walked to the car barefoot and managed to kick the corner of a brick wall. At least I know why this smaller toe hurts and is bruised.

My mushroom logs have sprouting mushrooms, unfortunately they are not the mushrooms whose spores I used to inoculate the logs. Chalk that up as another failed experiment in Wee Little Farm this year.

I’ve discovered that watching restaurant-related television shows can be an exercise in frustration (hey look, at least I’m getting exercise!) because often times the places highlighted are no longer in business. I was watching a show from 2023 about Greenville, SC and saw an ice cream truck called “Honest Scoop” which is/was owned and operated by former world class cyclist Christian Van de Velde’s wife. However, I cannot seem to locate it on Google Maps. Honest Scoop has a website, and an Instagram account, but nothing seems to be up to date?

Wordle: three, my starter was YODEL

Spent all of yesterday organizing and cleaning The ITP Estate and Week Little Farm.

This is certainly an interesting turn of events. It appears that Bundesliga games will be streamed on Peacock, with the caveat being that the broadcasts are in Spanish. It’s the World Cup all over again! Because the ESPN broadcasts were in English I never improved my German by watching Bundesliga games, perhaps I will start learning Spanish since there will be no English audio/subtitles? 🙂

From Amazon I ordered and received a new HVAC filter this week. How exciting!!! It’s amazing how expensive they are, $58 “on sale”, but they are necessary, especially since my HVAC cranks through summer. I justify purchasing from Amazon because I convert all my financial kickbacks — credit card points, Upside, Seated, Fetch, etc — into Amazon gift cards for the purchase of items.

The yellow band on my 55″ tv is getting larger, and thus more noticeable. I have three options:

1. keep using it, even though it’s not ideal
2. stop watching (this) tv and do other things
3. buy a new tv (waiting for a sale, or Black Friday)

The best answer is probably is a combination of all three…

Wordle: five, my starter was DAIRY. I should quit playing Wordle.

On Sunday I took a trip down to Fayetteville. I wanted to buy something at Harbor Freight, and visit Awkward Brewing as well. As I have done many times I drove past the Fun Spot America amusement park, only this time was different. I found out afterward that this park closed permanently on August 2nd. This location had been open for 36 years. Dangen!

Yesterday’s brutal heat fried my otherwise good looking, and just getting ready to flower, green beans. In the morning the plants were okay. In the late afternoon the plants were desiccated. At Wee Little Farm it rained 0.5” overnight, so at least that will help a little.

My frustration with the group politics at UFO continues. I understood why no one showed up for the Work Day I led last Saturday, in fact I couldn’t have cared less. However, when I asked for a compost order I was told someone needed to be around for delivery; I volunteered three days to be that person. No order was placed. When someone asked to place an order last week, the response was essentially “Consider it done!”.

Wordle: five, my starter was SCALP. I talked myself out a much better starter today, another disappointment…

I given them shit for losing, so kudos to Atlanta United for winning Saturday. That being said, they remain in last place.

I checked on my fermenting pickles on Friday and was aghast. There is a white coating on the top of the fluid. Now I have to figure out if it is Kahm yeast, which is non-toxic and can be washed off, or mold, which is not desired and will render the entire batch as inedible and needing to be discarded. Obviously I’m hoping for the former, and it being white instead of blue, red, or black is good, but it’s scary looking in any case.

The ITP Estate’s HVAC worked overtime this weekend pulling about three gallons of moisture out of the air on Saturday, and another three gallons on Sunday. Considering I used eleven gallons last week to water parts of Wee Little Farm, this collection is beneficial even if it requires electricity to generate it.

On Saturday morning I awoke with a hurting big left toe. I didn’t kick anything, nor did I stub my toe, so I don’t think it’s fractured/broken. I don’t think that I was bitten/stung by anything overnight. Gout? Other than eating ice cream I purchased on Friday it’s not like I’ve changed my diet recently. Who knows? I do know that it hurt all day Saturday, to the point where I left my volunteer shift at UFO early. It also helped me decide to not see any live music Saturday night since I didn’t want to be on my feet. I was hoping my toe would return to normal by yesterday morning, but since you are reading this sentence you know that it didn’t. In fact it has gotten more swollen.

At least I made waffles for breakfast yesterday, this time using the recipe from the book “When Southern Women Cook”.

Here are the cookbook recipes that I have prepared this year, in the order in which they were prepared:

• “Beefy Noodle Skillet” from “Ramen Noodle Recipes”
• “Hoisin-Glazed Baby Back Ribs” from “Milk Street Instant Pot” by Christopher Kimball
• “Chicken and Smoked Sausage Gumbo” from “Louisiana Real & Rustic” by Emeril Lagasse
• “Drunken Noodles with Chicken” from “The Complete Cooking for Two” by America’s Test Kitchen
• “Ham and Bean Soup” from “‘I Love My Instant Pot’ Affordable Meals” by Aileen Clark
• “Crisp-Crusted, Feather Light-Raised Waffles” from “CookWise” by Shirley O. Corriher
• “Cheesy Italian Noodle Bake” from “Ramen Noodle Recipes”
• “Basic Yeast Bread” from “Irish Food & Cooking” by Bidet White Lennon & Georgina Campbell
• “Cajun Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya” from “The Essential Instant Pot Cookbook” by Coco Morante
• “Red Beans and Rice” from “Louisiana Real & Rustic” by Emeril Lagasse
• “Andouille and Chicken Jambalaya” from “Louisiana Real & Rustic” by Emeril Lagasse
• “Shrimp and Ham Jambalaya” from “Louisiana Real & Rustic” by Emeril Lagasse
• “Quick Yeasted Waffles” from “When Southern Women Cook” by America’s Test Kitchen

My only failure has been to not make tasting notes for each recipe.

Wordle: three, my starter was SWEAR