So much for feeling a bit cocky about how well we’ve adapted to cooking and washing up outside! Saturday, September 7th, the rain started. In dribs and drabs the first few days. Still Manageable. We brought washed items inside to dry rather than leaving them on the outdoor table.
Tuesday was another matter. Late afternoon, an unexpected heavy rain and thunderstorm rolled through around 5pm. Our pup, Nina, is terrified of loud noises. Fireworks, gun shots and thunder will cause her to find the nearest dark space in which to hide. Jillian brought the kids over to play around 4 on Tuesday. The storm rolled in around 5 as we were getting them ready to pack up and leave. It was really coming down. Sheets of rain. Wind. Thunder. Biggest storm I’ve seen in a long time. We accidentally left the front door open because as Jill was leaving Nina ran out the front door and tried to get in her car. You could see it on Nina’s face. It was as if she was saying please get me out of here. Anywhere but here. We also had the garage door open. When Nina ran to the car, Tygh came to rescue her and brought her into the garage, leaving the front door ajar.
Jill left with the kids and we were preoccupied with checking our overflowing gutters and making sure there were no leaks in the attic. We noticed about 10 minutes later that we didn’t know where Nina was. It was with both panic and dread that Tygh and I ran out into the storm looking for her after we discovered the open door in the living room. We went separate directions calling for her and feeling more and more sick with each passing moment. There was a lot of traffic on our street at that time. The high school across our street had a steady stream of traffic into and out of it. As I was making my way back to the house, soaking wet and feeling like we’d never find our sweet girl, I looked up to see Tygh carrying Nina back home from across our busy street. Both soaking wet. Nina panting and terrified. Here’s a shot of her exiting the house, courtesy of our security camera. We discovered this shot the next morning.
The rest of this week has brought a steady stream of rain. We need it. I’m glad for the rain. It just makes being without a place to cook and wash dishes a little bit harder.
Before the rain set in last Saturday, Tygh harvested as many poblano and anaheim peppers as he could. He spent the afternoon roasting them on our large propane burner.
While he was roasting peppers, I made a massive amount of salsa. Because rain was in the forecast, we picked as many tomatoes as we could to try to use them before the rain split them and beat them into pulp.
Walker Salsa
3-5 pounds of home-grown tomatoes
1-2 garlic cloves
1 to 1.5 onions
a nice bunch of cilantro
2-3 jalapenos
1 anaheim
juice from 2 limes
a little salt and pepper
Put it all in the Cuisinart and blend away. Add more peppers if you like more heat. All the ingredients can be adjusted to your own taste. Delicious!