This 'n' that...

Look what I ate for breakfast this morning!  The breakfast of champions -- tomato sandwiches!  Make a piece of toast, smear it with mayo, add sliced tomatoes, salt and pepper.  Eat.  Tomatoes have begun to ripen and I want to eat them for breakfast, lunch, and supper.  Question:  Are my sister and I the only ones who start getting canker sores when we feast heartily on tomatoes?  One more related tomato tidbit...if you like homegrown tomatoes like I do, then you must like this song.

 While I was out washing windows this afternoon, I spied this little fella.  He (or she) is a black & yellow argiope spider, sometimes called a scribbler spider because the zig-zag silk thread in the middle of the web  looks a little like scribbling.  Isn't it beautiful? 

Here he is again from a little different angle.  The web is nearly invisible except for that scribble in the middle.

This flower is called a Gayfeather.  It blooms in the late summer in my garden.  Out on the prairie we have a version of it growing wild called Dotted Gayfeather and is always abuzz with butterflies and bees.

I've been sprinkling the lawn like crazy since I have the water pumped up from the stock pond just over the fence from our house.  It's really going rank now though.  It smells so bad when I water, but it's wet and the grass doesn't mind the stink at all.  I never did get to go swimming at the swimming hole this summer.  It was too chilly when it was fresh and now it's nice and warm, but the water is raunchy. 

Sue follows me wherever I go.  She loves me so much and sniffs up and down along my leg whenever we are out walking together.  She looks so pretty right now with her fine slick summer coat.  I was really taking a picture of the flowers, but the camera had its eye on her, I guess.  I'm glad because I like this picture.  Do you see the hay bale in the background?  The hay is cut around our house now and I am hoping that the grasshoppers will continue to stay away.  We waited as long as we could so as to protect the yard, flowers, and gardens from hoppers.  I did spray for them too, which helped I think.

And now for a recipe that I wanted to share.  The barbecue sauce for those country pork ribs I made this weekend  is The Best Ever Stuff and ought to be shared.  I found the recipe a few years ago in an OOP cookbook called  Hearth and Home by Karey Swan.  It'll work beautifully on any meat or if you like, suck it off your fingers.

Sauce-Painted Spareribs
1 c. ketchup
1/4 c. lemon juice
2 T. brown sugar
1 T. soy sauce
1 T. horseradish & mustard (half of each)
1 T grated onion
1 1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
1/4 t. either tobasco sauce or cayenne pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
*1/4 t. each of oregano, marjoram, and/or thyme

Simmer all together over low heat at least 10 minutes.  Improves with age so store some for later use in the fridge.  *I omitted the herbs in my recipe.