Cool & Rainy . . . What's That?

It's hard to believe in this first week of autumn that we have weather in the high 90s and then today it will be about 70° and it is supposed to maybe rain . . . I actually can not remember the last time that it rained here. I know that is hard to believe for other parts of the country, but maybe, just maybe it will actually rain some here today.

And that's not all -- it is supposed to maybe rain in a couple of other days this coming week. Maybe the vineyards will appear as above and we'll see umbrellas out not just shielding us from the sun.

It did feel colder this morning and the newspaper was delivered in a rubber-banded bag -- so that pretty much ensures it . . . we'll see.

So, how to warm up?

This past week I received a great DIY kit (thank you, Lisa/Bob). It reminded me of a chemistry set from my younger days. But this set included everything that I needed to make my own "hot sauce". And I did.

It took about an hour to complete the mildest of the offered chiles and recipes yielding the two bottles above -- about a cup's worth -- and a small amount I put into a dish. The two chiles in this recipe were some chipotles and some pasillas.

The process includes soaking the dried chiles and then adding a spice blend that smelled like cumin and then adding vinegar and cooking for a bit. After all was softened up and warm, I blended it with my hand-held blender.

It turned out very tasty and not too hot for me. For Gail, that was a different matter, she tasted it on the end of a spoon and liked the taste and then the kick arrived . . .

I have grown to like hot sauce a lot. Growing up we never experienced hot sauce. The kit has what I would describe as dangerously hot chiles -- I'll be conservative with those. I remember several years ago using a small bit of a "scotch bonnet" in something and when I tasted it, I could not stop the burn.

So, if it gets cooler and rainier, the hot sauce will play nicely into keeping warm -- just thinking about it warms me up.

While I was preparing the hot sauce, Gail was working on her latest needlepoint.

This pic shows her just after she tasted the hot sauce and before the kick arrived . . .

Gail has enjoyed working on her needlepoint when she feels up to it. She has two pieces finished so far this year and a few more planned.


*** Breaking News *** As I am writing this a fine watery mist is coming down, so the predictions are true -- we are getting some precipitation -- I hope it keeps up. If only last year at this time we had received some precip . . .

The other activity this week included the puzzle to the right.

Both of us enjoyed working this for the last several days and yesterday evening, just before dinner, we completed it.

It was challenging at times but always engaging. There is a sense of accomplishment coupled with completing it. Gail now thinks she wants to leave it up for a while to just admire it.

But, eventually, we will pack it back up to work another time. After all, we have more puzzles to complete that are enticing us as they sit in their sealed boxes. What a nice pass time.

Something else I received this week appears to the left. It is a small device with which I can scan various types of film -- such as slides, super 8 movies and/or other negatives.

Then I can produce picture prints from those. In my early trials I see that there is a huge learning curve to get things done correctly.

Partly the learning curve comes from very poor instructions included with the kit and just my inability to grasp some of the instructions -- but I'm getting there.

So far I have succeeded in making prints of two slides and a print from one Super 8 film. I have a ton of Super 8 movies to work with as long as they hold out enough quality.

And Gail has a ton of 35 mm slides to use. The interesting fact about the two slides that I was able to actually print is that Gail is not sure if the girl in the pic is her or not -- and since I did not know her when the pictures were taken -- I'm not sure either -- maybe yes, maybe not, we'll hopefully find out.

The tricky thing is to be able to squeeze in the time needed to do this activity as it does take time. And I would really like to do it. So many things to do, so little time . . .

And another activity that I need to squeeze more time into is -- researching my DNA matches.

Just this week, I poured over 125 pages (each containing 50 names) of DNA matches -- that is over 6000 just from AncestryDNA.

Then there are the matches from FTDNA, 23& Me and MyHeritage . . . I need to employ help . . .

And again, speaking of DNA, our friends at "Pickles":

I'm sure a lot of families -- including this one -- can identify with the above sentiment . . .

And that is a bit of our week, hope to see you all "in a few"! 👨👩