My cherry tomatoes aren’t supplying as many tomatoes lately. Maybe the heat has slowed them down. I know it’s slowed me down.
My Shasta daisies never set blooms after I cut the dead blooms off.
I read that many plants will simply shut down when it’s really hot. Hopefully they’ll start blooming again come fall.
I have some recent finds I found online that I want to share with you.
Clever Pet Brush:
One is this pet brush I’m thinking about buying to brush Ivy with. It has a very clever way to dispose of the hair.
It is currently $15.99 at Amazon.com.
Also I was browsing Pinterest the other day and came across this photo of marinated tomatoes.
Marinated Tomatoes:
The recipe sounds delicious especially on these hot summer days.
Here is where you go to get the recipe. The photo alone makes me salivate.
I’m thinking cooking beans and cornbread with these tomatoes and slicing up a cucumber.
Cucumber Salad:
If you want to go a step further, there’s this recipe for cucumber salad.
It’s easy and has the addition of onions for extra flavor.
I just love cold foods from the refrigerator when it’s hot outside.
Glass Storage Container Set:
And lastly, I use these every day and love them. It’s the Glasslock 18-Piece Assorted Oven Safe Container Set.
I bought mine back in 2016 from Amazon. I accidentally broke the biggest round one when I was attempting to get it out of the refrigerator a few months ago.
You click it closed on all four sides to make sure your food has no way of spilling out.
Oftentimes I store cooked food in a big one. Then when I eat it again I store the leftovers in a smaller one to take up less room in my refrigerator.
Pricing:
They were $25.99 when I bought them, and are $39.99 now. So that’s quite a price increase.
I Googled around to other stores looking for them for you and they’re kind of pricey everywhere. Sure beats plastic though.
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I use the Furminator on my short haired cat and am always amazed at how much hair comes out. This year I started saving the hair and put around the base of some plants the rabbits are eating – like my new rose bush. I’m not sure if it really works or not so I am saving her hair in a baggie just in case. Those rabbits and I are at war this year.
I use the Furminator brush on my cats. They both love it. It is the best brush I’ve ever used as far as actually working to really remove cat hair because it gets the undercoat, too. Thing is, it removes SO much cat hair that I have to brush my cats outside! Otherwise, there’s fur flying all over the living room. In the winter, I brush them in the basement where I don’t mind as much if I can’t get every last cat hair with the vacuum.
Those marinated tomatoes look sooo good! I just bought three huge tomatoes from the farm stand, so I’ll be making this recipe. I make that cucumber one every summer too, though since we don’t eat white sugar anymore (unless once in blue moon in a baked good), I use organic stevia for sweetener instead. I have a ton of my own cherry tomatoes and I’ve been making caprese salad.
Like you, we can – and do – sometimes just eat fresh vegetables for dinner in the summer. There’s nothing better than a plate of fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, maybe some green beans, corn on the cob…and yes, cornbread would go very well with all of that, too. That’s my kind of summer dinner!
We have mostly glass storage containers; got rid of most of our plastic ones. We got most of our containers from TJ Maxx. They have really good prices on glass storage containers.
Brenda,
heat definitely stresses our plants and trees. I live in the Pacific Northwest and we will be getting a few days of hot weather. Our meteorologist said yesterday that this July had 15 days of cooler than average by 5 to 7 degrees. It’s the 38th coldest summer on record so far! Tomorrow might break a heat record, it’s supposed to hit 86 . We are in the middle of cutting hay and fluffing and turning the rows. Tomorrow we will start baling… of course it has to be hot!
I’m inspired by your cold tomato recipe. I love cold cucumbers with red or white onion marinated in vinegar. I have been topping a lot of my veggies with Italian Balsamic vinegar; it has a lovely flavor.
Keep Ivy Lou brushed, it will keep hairballs to a minimum. I’m going to look at a brush like that for my pup, even though she has a shortish coat; cause she is in full shed mode! I brush all my cats regularly, but they’re fussy about bristles in the brushes; they can’t be metal. I try once in awhile to use a brush like that and they growl! Oh well…
Susan
Ivy actually seems to like those kind of bristles. She has never had a hair ball.
My daughter has one of those dog hair brushes and loves it. Seems to work well!! The food ideas sound yummy!!
The picture of the cucumber salad made salivate! The tomatoes also look very good!
Brenda if you go to glasslockusa.com it is the website for the company that makes those containers. You can buy individual containers.
Thanks! I’ll check it out.
Thanks for the recipes, Brenda. Will definitely try these!
I have the Shasta you pictured. Last year they bloomed nonstop, this year they did not. After all deadheading it was several weeks before new blooms were coming. The same is true of other plants. Our patience is being tried in so many ways this summer, but hope springs eternal!
I have some refrigerator dishes similar to those and find a great satisfaction in reducing my use of plastic. Food isn’t supposed to be stored forever, anyway. Leftovers should be eaten within a couple of days or the results are containers of mold and/or dried up awfulness and a waste of money.
We make these marinated tomatoes a lot! So yummy with crusty bread!
I have the pet brush you like. It works great on my dogs, but my cats hate it. I think it is just too big. If they had it in a smaller size, maybe the cats would adjust to it better. If Ivy is one to lay around and let you brush her, it may well work for her. Being able to push a button and have the brush tines retract and make getting the fur off is wonderful.
I have several cat rescues and the shedding this summer has been overwhelming! I find a dampened sponge will help pull up the cat hair on furniture so you can ball it up and swipe it off with your hands. Sometimes I use the sticky side of duct tape for the sides and top of the backs of upholstered furniture to get off what the vacuum can’t. This has also been a banner year for hairballs, so brushing is important. I just need to find something my cats will tolerate.
Your comments were so helpful to me, thanks. I have always had short hair cats in the past. No brushing, no hair balls. After years of no cat a stray came to my door in March. No success finding owner, and believe me I tried! So, long haired kitty, hairballs, and she does not like to be held, and is just beginning to tolerate stroking. So, I considered the brush Brenda is considering, and decided against it. Chose another smaller one. Also, your comment about extreme shedding seems true. I get enough hair after every new vac to make a new 🐱. A sweet baby, but lots of firsts, the heat cycle before I could get her spayed was the BEST.😁 again, thanks for all the valuable info. Brenda’s friends are the best!
Target has a smaller version, my cat and my daughters both enjoy getting brushed with it,also has the button to get the hair off and it’s 6.99,so a little cheaper than Amazon.
I got some storage bowls very similar to those at TJ Maxx a few years ago and I still love them. Thing is… I won’t be going inside a store any time soon. But, you’re right, they do work very well and, like you, I do prefer glass over plastic.
A yummy cucumber salad in the summer so so good. I made one today to have with some steaks I am throwing on the grill later. Happy Saturday.
Kris