Movie list, county fair dilemma, and maple French toast bagels

Welcome to the month of June. I'm only seven days late acknowledging it! The garden has been in for a few weeks, thanks to my dad, and I've yet to post pictures. I need to start that this weekend so that I can have a record of this year's successes and compare them to past years - when did things bloom, when did the first zinnia pop open, when did the first tomato ripen. You get the idea. Believe me when I say that it really does vary quite a lot season to season.

How did it get to be the middle of the year already? This is the first time in years that I can recall that my summer scary movie list is not yet even compiled. In fact, it's only raced through my brain a couple of times since May. That's so unlike me! I've got to pull something together this weekend. June weather is generally still fairly pleasant, but by the time July and August get here and the heat sets in, it will be that "stay inside or you'll melt" time of year. The movie list becomes the activity of choice.

The Fourth of July will be here soon, and with that same month comes our local fair. Every year since 2020, it's been a quandary: do we go, or do we avoid crowds for one more year? In 2020, if I recall correctly, I did not have to end up deciding. They canceled the fair. We were in full-on pandemic by then. We are not in full-blown pandemic around here at the moment, but cases are definitely on the rise and hospital beds are getting Covid occupants again. 

It's hard to know what to do. We'll watch the numbers and make our decision accordingly. There are a handful of people I know who went to our local Iris Festival last month and tested positive for Covid shortly thereafter. While they are not 100 percent sure that's where they picked it up, as they pointed out, that was the only change in a routine they've kept for over two years and never had Covid up until then. So who knows? We'll see what it looks like and take it from there.

This morning's breakfast is a maple French toast bagel topped with real butter. Have to include the ever-present strong coffee, flavored with sweet Italian cream. It's so good, this introduction to the coming season of Autumn. I never tire of maple anything. It's that comfort food flavor that never gets old. Funny how some flavors taste like every stage of life. Orange and grape Nehis? That's my childhood. Dark chocolate covered orange citrus peel? That was a teenage years discovery. Warm, sweet, strong coffee? That's my late teens and early 20s. I could summon a list of food memories that goes on for days with threads of flavors that all my life stages have in common. Maple is one of those  all life stages flavors.

Then there's Iris. The ultimate foster fail, she was a very tiny baby who was too young to go to the humane society just yet. She needed to get well (had a tiny cold) and to grow a bit more. Yours truly volunteered to foster her. The rest is history. Lord help me, I stink at fostering anything. But here she is, this precious baby, who has taken over the border collie. She has claimed Lacey as her own, and they are inseparable, especially during the morning hours when they play for what feels like a million hours on end. Iris is adorable, one of the cutest babies I've ever seen, but Iris is also a real pistol. She has the energy of a thousand cats, and pretty much does what she wants. She is incredibly sweet, though. As she gets older, she'll be a beautiful cat with a wonderful personality. In the meantime, the word "exhausted" comes to mind. 

We have apples again this year! I am so glad to see them. Last year, we had a very late hard freeze for three nights in a row. It killed every fruit bud on every tree and we got zero fruits last year. This year, we are loaded up. We did have a later hard freeze again, but it was only one night this time around. Things survived it a bit better. Garden items that should be ready to eat for the first time by the end of this week include zucchini and yellow squash. How time flies! 

Storms roll in today and tomorrow. Silver lining is that we won't have to water the garden and potted plants, but I do miss the sun when it hides for a couple of days. It is what it is, and how can you let the weather get you down when you're fully stocked on Dukes mayo and the garden is starting to produce?! 

Blessings to you on this seventh day of June 2022. Now excuse me while I go chase summer before it gets away from me. I have a scary movie list to compile and a few day trips to plan with my sweetheart!