The wonderful thing about problems is that you get to solve them. Something goes wrong. You worry on it. You find a pathway to the solution. You fix it or you live with it. But it becomes familiar. The next time it goes wrong, you panic less because you have already found the pathway to the solution. Each problem becomes a challenge. Less of a disaster. 
So when TonTon got skunked AGAIN at 4 am yesterday morning, I just put the pillow over my nose and thought. Fine. I know how to clean him now. No worries. And from now on he is not allowed outside until it is light. 
Then when I got to the barn with my clean dog by 6am and the milking machine pump did not work again. I did not panic, I had encountered this one before too. I practiced my hand milking then I put Daisy back out into the yards with some extra placatory hay, reached for the phone and called the nice man with the blue pump, then milked her fully when he came. Then I called John to bring home the stuff he needed to clean my pump out again. And hoped that he would fix one of the trucks soon so that I could pick up the emergency pump myself next time. 
When the wind hit gale force and the temperatures were over the expected high of 103, I thought fine I have closed all the windows already, the fans are on, I have done the best I can. The Old Codger and I ate a good brunch to fortify ourselves for the day, finishing with icecream. Then with him calling orders from his porch I found an old tin rubbish bin lid which we turned upside down under a tree and filled with water for his ‘critters’. Should have done that weeks ago he said, then back to his chair he went to watch the Olympics.
Back home I worked outside in small hits. Drunk lots of water. Wore my hat which Ton practiced retrieving when the wind blew it off my head. And slowly achieved what I could.
A bucket of freshly picked tomatoes was peeled, chopped, cooked, blended with the stick blender that I love, then put into the crockpot to cook down. 
I did not get to the pickles but that was OK. Then the Tall Teenager called, he was staying over with his grandmother for the night so dinner could be simple. And the clean up fast. I hung the evenings load of washing on the line. Got the sprinkler in place for the early morning watering, spent an hour struggling with the internet then hit the sack with my book.
But I had forgotton something. I had forgotton to turn off the crock pot. After a while, sometime in the night, it must have switched itself to the lowest setting and look!
Beautiful thick sauce. Almost a paste. Overnight it reduced by half in the crock pot with the lid off. So you see? Even my mistakes were good ones yesterday.
Good morning. It is still dark so TonTon is sat on the floor next to me, clean, but with his legs crossed waiting patiently for the skunk visitors to be Far Away! We have put water plates on the outskirts of the property and I have begun to slowly move the usual garden water containers into gardens further from the house. I will move them further away from the bedroom steps each day and retrain the skunks away from my windows. This is my naive plan anyway.
It is thundering outside and as the light rises, a dark cloudy sky is being revealed. So at the very least it will be a cooler day. With any luck and a strong string we may be able to pull a little rain over here!
Have a lovely day.
celi
On this day a year ago.. I shared my bread non-recipe and was working on weaning lambs. I am enjoying these glimpses a year ago too.
The Kitchen's Garden 
71 responses to “Plain Sailing”
you may not like this remark because you are such a busy lady, but there are many times after i read your blogs, that i wish i was able to get outside and work and be so busy with my day that i collaspe into bed at night. i am limited on what i can do daily. it is according to how Al feels
I don’t mind what you write at all terry. I do understand that feeling from when i had little children and babies and was incredibly limited, I longed to just garden until i dropped.. it must be terribly frustrating for you.. hope Al is having a ‘good’ day today.. c
today is not a good day, but maybe tomorrow????
I love your days. Even the hard ones! I’m glad the Old Codger seems to be feeling well.
You would think the skunks would be afraid of TonTon but I guess his sweet personality precedes him! Ha!
I love my crockpot and my mom bought me an emulsion blender (stick blender) last year for Christmas. How did I ever live without it? Have a great day ~ April
We are such a pair.. yesterday i started the tomatoes on the stove then transferred the sauce to the crock pot once it had been blended,, today i am doing both stages in the crockpot! slow learner!!! but you know – less dishes = happy celi!! c
Mistakes are opportunities 🙂 That sauce looks totally gorgeous.
It is! This one will go in the fridge, we eat so much of it.. but i am determined to start getting some into the cellar! Morning kate..c
Good morning 🙂
That is a mighty luscious looking sauce – good morning to you.
It is great! And a wonderful healthy good morning to you too.. c
Celi, you are having such a positive affect on the world and the universe is sure to give back in kind! I am curious….what are you reading?
Good Morning Diane! There you are! i am reading The Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.. one of my favourtie novellas by an extraordinary story teller. I have read it many times AND because I usually have two books going at the same time my light reading is The Return of Captain John Emmett by Elizabeth Speller and it is a great story, very well written. hope your day is rocking along! c
Thank you for recommendations. Request filed at local library. I too have 2-3 books going at one time! Peace for this day to you, d.
Good Morning, Celi! We are having a bit of rain here and there, but mostly in the mountains. I’ll take it. Your garden is much further along than ours in our Zone 6 setting. My tomatoes are green, but not even a tinge of color showing up. I can hardly wait. Nothing better than fresh tomatoes.
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
http://deltacountyhistoricalsociety.wordpress.com
morning Linda, we are zone 5 but John did sow these bloody tomatoes at christmas time.. it has certainly paid off this year! Huge crop coming in, but just a bucket a day so I am not making sauce all day and all night!! well actually i am but in small quantities!! ha ha .. c
Charlotte showering on tip toes is a blinding shot. I can’t believe the high winds to go with the soaring temperatures – just unimaginable to me who has never visited the prairies ( funny that “praire” is the word the local farmers use for a field here). The sauce looks perfect, better than any I’ve made mostly because there are no damn tomatoes owing to all the rain earlier this summer.
how absolutely boring not to have lots of summer tomatoes, though those white fleshed peaches in your window this morning look very tempting.. Charlotte loves the water in her face, Sheila not so much. She is always slightly behind Charlotte.. those little pigs are funny! c
Those wonderful tomatoes!
With the litte sun we had, ours are still small green marbles. I water them every day, but they need some sun too. Let’s see if this week (summer has finally arrived, although people are complaining again) will do the trick, but I’d guess one week is not enough.
Oh NO! well i hope your summer comes soon.. you need a good warm soak in the sun .. c
what a spendid way to make sauce. i have had a slow cooker for quite a while and until recently, i only used it once. i am using it more and more in this heat. i posted a batavian beef stew recipe today which i made in it the other day. though i am picking a couple dozen tomatoes each day, i am eating them so fast i don’t have enough for sauce. i will be trying this as soon as i can though.
Good morning.. I had better popover and see how you made that stew.. it sounds great! c
Skunk Training,my way is Canned Cat food. Place it where you want them. I love my critters but not in my house when I open my door… Love your attitude makes me smile. Hey from Alabama.
Mary what an excellent idea, i am glad you have led your skunks away from the doors, it give me hope! Hullo out there in alabama! c
Oh how I envy you your tomatoes. It has been such a dismal rainy spring and summer here my tomato plant just sulk. Tomato sauce, such as yours, put away is like money in the bank. Just know you have it makes you feel incredibly wealthy – and not in a monetary way. I shall be happy to be able to pick my tomatoes, sprinkle them with a little Malden salt, and eat them over the kitchen sink. Come on Sun. Virgina
I agree virginia. Just a little salt and it is a taste sensation. Eating fresh, just picked tomatoes is glorious! i never tire of it. We don’t buy tomatoes all winter, we just wait for the good home grown ones! c
How you manage to do everything yet still be so cool is beyond me! Any person that can handle a skunk time and time again is awesome 🙂
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
What a day! It’s time that Ton Ton learnt to roll in the mud with the pigs and then bath himself under the hose. It beats me how the Olympics can be on when the opening ceremony is tomorrow… however, they do seem to have started a few days ago. I’ve been in town to day and out east yesterday and today – London is very quiet – I have a feeling it might stay that way, it’s too hot for anything else 😉
I hope that your skunks are better learners than our are. They don’t go for the water, but the compost pile. 103?! Oh my. Be safe, please!
Hope you’ve been blessed with rain. Finally we had rain here! Have a good day, Celi!