from Shirley's cottage

Summer's end

Summer’s end
It never fails. You wait for something, like summer to come, and before you know it, it’s gone and you wonder what happened.
This year was no different. The difference was Mother Nature decided to blind-side Lady Summer with some crazy weather. It started out kind of chilly. Had we known what the heat and humidity was going to be, we might have welcomed a little summer chill.
When the day after day of heat and high humidity did not end, air conditioning was a lot more comfortable. I only have a window air conditioner, but it is really cools, and fast. I can attest to how good it is by my recent utility bill.
If you could be on or in the water and having summer fun, it was probably fine. But for us grown-ups, a lot of summer "fun" is mowing, weeding, watering the garden, taking out garbage, and other interesting outdoor things.
I like to go to the flea market at the speedway. And farmer’s markets; Deerfield, Lake Mills, and any others I see along my work route. I avoid them all in the heat..
I dislike real hot and humid weather intensely. I come by it naturally. I think it started the day I was born. My mom said (a million times) it was so hot the July day I was born (a million years ago) that an egg was fried on the sidewalk outside the old St. Anthony’s Hospital.
Air conditioning has spoiled me. We went a lot of years without air conditioning. Now, I’m so spoiled I don’t want to break a sweat.
When we got a little relief from the heat, the floods came. It didn’t rain for forty days and forty nights, but it sure seemed like it.
I don’t pay much attention to the weather man. My husband was a weather junkie. And so is my son. I finally did pay attention when my rowboat sunk, the pier was under water, and you had to step up three feet to get on the pontoon.
Not to mention sloshing through the flooded yards.
I don’t know about you, but it made for a very quiet summer’s end. The lake is brown, things that shouldn’t be floating are, and things that should be floating are sunk.
The no-wake made for the most quiet Labor Day in memory. But even in adversity, some people are happy.
I did go down to the pier with my coffee, and climbed up onto the pontoon. Fishing boats dotted the scene as the sun came out. These were the happy ones. Happy fishing, guys and gals. No wake, all day long.
Labor Day we had planned a belated birthday for my grandson. Teddy was 21 in August.
A 21st birthday should be special.
We decided to postpone it until this week-end, in hopes the lake would be back to normal. I’m not even going to watch the weather report. We are extending the summer.
For three weeks I have been planning to make my mom’s orange spaghetti and Texas Sheet Cake. Maybe this week-end it will happen.
The salad is always either tossed or seven-layer salad, both very good. But I wanted to try something different. I went looking and came up with this one. A while back, a co-worker asked me to repeat this one. Now is a good time.
Corn, Avocado and Tomato Salad from Paula Deen and Friends
you will need:
2 cups corn on the cob, cut off, or 16oz frozen corn
1 avocado, diced into ½ inch pieces
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
½ cup red onion, finely diced
Dressing:
2 T olive oil
1 T fresh lime juice
½ t lime zest
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1/4 t salt
1/8 t pepper
Combine corn, avocado, and tomatoes in a large glass bowl
Whisk dressing, and toss into salad
Enjoy