THE HEAT IS ON

 Here in the United States of America the July 4th weekend is in full swing.

Even with the temperature soaring.

Depending on whose website you check, our temperature is supposed to peak today at anywhere from 95 to 102 and it's supposed to reach 113 in not-too-far-away Phoenix.

For those of you in the rest of the world on the Celsius scale that's 35 to 45 degrees.

Maybe I should just think in Celsius.

It seems much cooler.

Anyway if you're anywhere where the mercury is rising beyond comfort take the advice of the experts.

And to keep my mind off the heat I've been writing poems.

Here's one of them.

Roses is red,

Violets is purple.

My darlin's sweet,

Just like maple syrup'l.

Hmmm, maybe that's why my Canadian friends sent me south.

If you're here in the U S of A, stay cool, hydrated, safe and sane as we celebrate our nation's independence.

In the rest of the world, just ignore we rowdies and do whatever you like.

TO OUR NORTHERN NEIGHBORS

 Happy Canada Day!

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

Well, gosh, how are you all doing?

I hope your week has been better than mine.

Except in the food department.

I can't complain about the food department.

The mercury is set to climb into the high 90's for a few days.

Just in time for the Fourth of July celebrations.

Kinda makes one wish he lived in England.

But you don't want to hear all that so let's get on with the business of the day.

And those are the jokes, folks.

Have yourselves a wonderful weekend and ALWAYS remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

(. . . oh, oh . . .)

AN IDLE THOUGHT

4:20 p.m. today

 Prescott Valley, Arizona - 89 degrees F.

Phoenix, Arizona - 104 degrees F.

THE NEXT DESSERT

So I said to my lovely wife this morning "I just ate my last piece of the Blueberry Kuchen."

Then to wipe that sorrowful look off her face I added "I saved the crunchy corner piece for you."

That made her happy.

A little later I was picking up her scraped clean plate and she asked "how many blueberries did you have left over?"

I guessed about a cup and a half and showed them to her and she immediately said "A clafoutis!"

Yikes, I thought, back to the kitchen again?

But I dug up my recipe for a clafoutis with any kind of fruit and soon had it into the oven.

Here's what made SWMBO happy when it came out.

Oh, I know what you're thinking.

It looks like a blueberry pizza!

But it's actually in a glass pie dish and it's deeper than a simple pizza.

See?

It's another blast to your (actually her) sweet tooth!

GARDENING STILL LIFE

 

The tomato plants await fresh water.

The Monja and the Blue Cat keep watchful eyes on the scene.

Heat, serenity, an Arizona summer.

KUCHEN!

 Very early (6:30 a.m.) this morning I began quietly assembling the ingredients and tools to make a blueberry kuchen (coffeecake).

You may ask why in tarnation I was at it so early.

And I would explain.

Yesterday evening I told my beloved wife that I was going to make the kuchen the next day.

"Oh", she said, "will it be for breakfast?"

"No", said I, "it would be for after breakfast.

So then I spent half the night worrying about the sad look that came over SWMBO's face.

And so I was hard at it at 6:30 this morning, even before she had wakened.

First, of course, I had to feed Sweetie-Pie (the cat) who begins demanding her breakfast at 5 a.m.

Now you'd think a pet cat, having filled her belly, would go lie down somewhere and take a nap.

But no, she is SWMBO's cat and once she is fed she thinks her lady should be awake and so she goes in and sits on her bed and stares intently at her, willing her to rise from the Arms of Morpheus.

Now the mistress is awake and aware of the pesky cat but is pretending to be asleep until said cat reaches out with one tiny paw and taps gently twice on SWMBO's mouth.

And that's all it takes.

So the two of them come into the kitchen where I'm trying to be quiet and SWMBO says "My, aren't you being ambitious!"

And so I turn on ALL of the lights and get on with my baking project making as much noise as I want.

Now I wasn't satisfied with the look of the blueberry kuchen but the taste of it was "ta die for"!

And where the sugar had hardened around the edges it became a crispy treat that both of us enjoyed.

So, here it is, the Early Sunday Morning Blueberry Kuchen, Catalyst Version.