Okay, so first of all, tree climbing in pines means sap everywhere. Hands, feet, hair, clothes, forehead, cheeks, arms, belly.
I've ruled it out for now. However, here's a handy tip if you ever, like I, have children with sap all over their hair: Crisco. Yes. It sounds disgusting. Frankly, it kind of is disgusting. But just trust me: smooth a tiny bit of shortening into the sappy hair and comb it gently out.
Then wash the hair with dishsoap before actually showering with real shampoo.
It works. I promise.
Besides removing a whole lot of sap, this week I frozen several gallons of fresh and roasted peppers. I read that you can freeze whole peppers raw, and since the internet was the source of the sap tip AND the peppers tip, I assume the peppers have to come out fine. Of course the texture won't hold but since they're spicy peppers I wouldn't eat them raw anyways. Actually, I did eat a bite raw as I chopped them -with my bare hands- before I remembered that I was dealing with chili peppers. While putting a nibble into my mouth, I must have also touched my chapped lips with my fingers, and then in response to the burning, I seem to have rubbed my hands all over my face, which subsequently burst into flames.
Not really. But while I like spicy foods, this pain was extreme. Meanwhile, Jesse took a bite, chewed and swallowed and looked at me like I had lost my mind as I flew around the kitchen yelping and in search of some remedy to chill the burning. I honestly thought I must be going into anaphylactic shock as an allergic reaction because there was no other explanation that could enter my mind at that moment for the intense pain I was suffering (not even the obvious explanation of touching my burning face with my chili pepper hands).
We had to leave the house 10 minutes later, and by the time we arrived at our destination, I wasn't sweating anymore and I could feel my tongue and face again. All was well. Needless to say, I plan to use more caution when using the rest of the chilis.
This weekend is green-tomato time, where I pull a hundred tomatoes off the vine and leave them in boxes scattered around the house to ripen. I'd like to say they are in a logical place like a root cellar or a garage, but since we don't have either of those really, there will be boxes in closets and crawl spaces and in the laundry room until we slowly eat through them until January. It's a relief by the time they're all ripe and eaten, because I get my house back from the garden produce. Maybe there's a better way, but I don't have time to think of it.
Millie's ankle is healing and she will be in the cast for just four more weeks. Five weeks for a fractured ankle? Children are amazing. She is cranky and pretty unpleasant, truth be told, but after a week of mostly immobility, she is now navigating the stairs carefully and can join her sisters wherever they are indoors. She can't climb trees with them thank heaveans (see above regarding sap) but the weather is cooling off enough and the season is changing so that they are turning toward indoor afternoon activities more often. Legos and puzzles have been our lifeline this week!
We are finishing our seventh week of school tomorrow, or what I call "Term 1A," which just means the first chunk of time before our first Break Week. OH BREAK WEEK I'M DYING FOR YOU! I can't wait. Maybe I'll get a few minutes to catch up on housework! Plan ahead for the next half term until Christmas. I usually do six weeks and then a break week and now I remember why: week seven everyone is CRANKY (including me) and ready for a breather. We do work pretty hard on our school weeks and the break is well earned. I don't have time to write about it now but I switched to using a Loop Schedule for many of our scheduled subjects this year and love it. I feel way less stressed about staying on a schedule and trust that we will just get everything done - and we are staying right on track in spite of a half week off in September for vacation and a little spotty week last week with Millie's ankle. Feel free to leave a comment if you want me to write more about our loop schedule, or just say hello!
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I am really happy to be back to writing - my amazing husband forces me to take the night off on Thursdays when possible so that I have time to write or work on my shop or do whatever my soul requires.
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