Jamie was pleased that you guys went to listen to his music. He was disappointed that more people didn't respond though. He said,"Why is it so hard just to get people to go listen?" I told him that there may have been more on here who did go to his site and listen, but they just didn't post that they did. Anyway, thanks to those who did.

Yesterday was our 14th day in a row of 100-degrees F or higher, and it topped out at 110-degrees F yesterday. Thankfully we'll have highs in the low 90's this week, and a much needed break from the extreme heat.... But the humidity will be higher and I always think that is worse at any temperature than dry heat. I get up at 3:30 a.m. each morning so I can get everything I need done before 9:00 a.m. when the heat really sets in. The gardening is done by 7:00 or 8:00. I love being at home, so cabin fever or getting bored doesn't fit my personality. I've been spending the hot afternoons making Wonder Ovens (aka Wonder Box - a form of thermal cooking) for Christmas (see link below). Your recipe for homemade mayonnaise made me think of my mother. I don't think my parents bought a jar of mayonnaise until I was a teen in the late 60's - it was always homemade. If you ever are concerned with using raw eggs, you can pasteurize it/them first by bringing the egg/s to 140-degrees F in a pan of hot water, and maintain the temperature for 3-1/2 minutes. Place in cold water to stop the cooking process. It's enough heat to pasteurize the egg, but not enough to completely cook it so you can still use it "raw". Lots of raw whole foods these days (but that's normal all year round) - especially with the garden producing. Cooling fruit or homemade fruit sorbet for dessert. Lots of homemade sprouts to use in wraps and on sandwiches now that it's gotten too hot to grow fresh greens. I also have a lot of pre-cooked meat, soup and chili in the freezer in user-friendly amounts we use when it's hot (cook once, eat twice - or more). Frozen seasoned steak strips or chicken for hearty dinner salads or a head start on a stir-fry, or quick Mexican entrees. Pulled pork has all kinds of uses.... I portion it in snack-bags and then vacuum-seal it in a FoodSaver bag. Add some bbq sauce and a homemade burger bun from the freezer and top it with shredded cabbage (also from the garden). I baked some new (homegrown) potatoes in the Solar Oven the other day, reheated some chili (formerly frozen) in the Solar Oven as well, to top the baked potatoes for a quick meal along with sliced fresh vegetables from the garden. Chili also makes a quick Taco Salad. -Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: Wonder Box

Yes I dread winter every year but get use to it we have all feb and most of march yet to worry about here last year we got like 20" of snow one week only to get the following week another 20"so dont get excited yet too early. When we bought our farm we got a blizzard in march 93.looking out window today everythings covered in ice,Im not going out for anything I fell Wed leaving for dialysis,gonna break my neck yet accident a month ago,fell now geeze

OMG Camp, I can see this graphically in detail. Bummer. Bamboo broke my opal, not my teeth. Wintertime is not a time for me to staY inside. We have a different kind of winter. No bugs and no snakes and no 100º+ so heavy garden chores are much more pleasant. It is time to do my woods restoration.. That means chainsawing thinning out of control Mountain ash Juniper. Creation of slash berms on slopes, wildlife piles, protect young red oak, madrone and escarpment cherry trees. clean out catalog nests in bird boxes. take photos and create a long report for the county to keep my tax exempt. I have been working on it for 4 days. Tomorrow I need to complete the report and get it to my overlords. I live in fear till it is done. I did get some seeds planted the other day.