Hiya Rural Sprout Readers,
As my close family and friends will attest, I’m always happy to be the butt of the joke.
I’m prone to gloriously graceless feats of stumbling over my own feet or even nothing at all. I’m quite absent-minded and will forget where I set my favorite tin of lip balm or a great idea mere seconds after having it.
I have learned, over time, to work with my flaws rather than against them. I thrive on routine. Everything has its place where it (generally) gets put once I’m finished using it, so I don’t misplace it. And I always buy tins of lip balm in threes.
That being said, I still manage to have the most brilliant misadventures, which I don’t mind sharing with a friendly audience. (I have a strong suspicion of people who are unable to laugh at themselves.) And when you’re as naturally awkward as I am, it would be a crime not to share.
After this past week’s mishap, I just had to share it with you too, dear readers.
As most of you know, I take many of the photos in the pieces I write for Rural Sprout. I especially love photographing the food for the recipes and cooking tutorials I write here.
Well, I’m working on a particularly fun piece currently, which has required quite a bit of whipping up things and snapping photos of them. I went to grab my camera off my desk the other morning to shoot the next batch.
Only my camera wasn’t there.
Okay, well, I must have left it on the end table in the living room after I photographed that particularly lovely hibiscus bloom the other day.
Nope, not there either.
Did I do something as crazy as put it back in my camera bag? I never do that; I’m always using it. Ah well, better check there too.
Drat. No luck.
Ah-ha! Yes, it’s probably in the car.
I always take it with me when I go mushroom hunting. After a quick jog downstairs and a thorough search of the car, my heart plummeted to my feet. Could it have been stolen from my car? No, that’s just silly.
This is about the time my heart started to beat a little faster. While I don’t have an overly expensive camera, it would still be upsetting to have to replace it were it stolen, or more likely, lost.
Where is this blasted camera?
I ran back upstairs and began a thorough combing of my entire apartment. And I do mean thorough.
I even looked in my chest freezer, having remembered that I shot photos of frozen blueberries recently, and hey, I wouldn’t put it past myself to set my camera in the freezer basket and forget about it.
Folks, I spent an hour and a half searching and re-searching every inch of my 1100 square foot apartment. I looked in places I knew I had looked only moments before because “You never know!”
I sent frantic texts to everyone I had been in contact with that week, asking if I had left my camera at their place.
No, no, sorry, it’s not here. Not here either, Trace.
I even had nightmarish visions of driving off somewhere with my camera skittering off the roof of my car, bouncing down the road, my lens exploding into expensive pavement glitter behind me while I sang along to Ella Fitzgerald completely oblivious.
I was standing in my kitchen, frustrated to the point of tears, wondering how quickly I could get a new camera shipped when I saw it.
I just looked up, and there it was.
I’m pretty sure the upstairs neighbors heard me laughing. The tears were pouring down my cheeks; I was laughing so hard. I can’t tell you how many times I walked right by it in that hour and a half of searching. It was right there, in my little photography studio corner, sitting smugly on it's tripod the whole time.
It was at this point that I thought, “I think I need a vacation."
So, that’s currently what I’m doing; I’m heading out on vacation. Granted, by the time you read this, I’ll be heading back home, hopefully, refreshed and sunburn-free.
With all the great veg popping up in the garden and all the fresh fruit in season, I thought I would take a different approach to your suggested articles this week. Of course, you can always head over to the website to read all the new pieces that hit the blog this week. (And there were quite a few!)
But I got to thinking the other day about all the tasty recipes we have from our writers at Rural Sprout, so here are a few of my favorites to help you use up your summer harvest.
Preserving Delicious Peach Chutney – Easy Canning Recipe
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Did somebody say chutney? I'm there with a box of crackers! If you're a regular jam canner, but you haven't dabbled in chutney yet, I highly suggest Cheryl's peach chutney for testing the waters.
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How to Make 5 Minute Fridge Pickles
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Everyone loves a good fridge pickle recipe, and Meredith's is great! Get slicing and you'll be snacking on crispy dill pickles in days.
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Homemade Ground Cherry Jam – No Pectin Required
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I just finished off my last jar of ground cherry jam the other day. Fingers crossed my ground cherry has a bumper crop this year! This is one jam that's worth the effort even for one jar.
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Homemade Beet Wine – A Country Wine Recipe You’ve Got To Try
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Start a batch now, and come February it will be ready to drink. Let a few bottles age for a year or two for an impressive "dry red" that will keep dinner guests guessing what grape they're drinking.
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The Best Ever Wild Fermented Salsa Recipe Without Whey
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I've you've never had fermented salsa before, you're in for a fizzy treat. It's my favorite salsa.
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That's all for this week, Rural Sprout Readers.
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