waiting

Mother's health has gone dramatically downhill in the past 2 days. She was taken to the hospital yesterday because she hadn't kept anything down for 18 hours. They have put her on an IV and given her pain meds so she can finally sleep and be comfortable.

Tim has changed his leave and plane reservation yet again (I really hate the word non-refundable) and will arrive here this weekend. Both he and my family agree that it would be dangerous and foolhardy for me to throw the children in the car and attempt to drive back alone, especially on Labor Day weekend. The New Jersey Turnpike already gives me nightmares and unexpected things can happen - last year we were stuck for over 2 hours with no water and no bathrooms in the heat because an oil tanker tipped over. We will pack everything up and prepare to leave, but if Mother stabilizes then we can slow the pace and let Tim enjoy a bit of his leave.

My mind is racing with figuring out what needs to be done and who has to be called to get everything squared away. The tenant moves in October 1 so the house has to be empty and clean. The fields need to be mowed, the boat and mower winterized, and lots of details taken care of. Today is officially purge day, so whatever that is not valuable enough to pay to store or take back to NC is going to the dump (the politically correct title is Transfer Station). That brown lumpy sofa bed that no longer opens? Dump. The high chair that smells no matter how many times I scrub? Dump. The enormous basket full of Lincoln Logs no one plays with? Thrift store. The 6 quarts of wild blueberries I stored in the freezer, thinking we would have another month to eat them? I made Blueberry Cake, which is wonderful warm with vanilla ice cream. It tastes like a large blueberry muffin.

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup shortening
1 tsp vanilla
2 beaten eggs
1/3 cup milk
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 egg whites
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup wild blueberries (if fresh mix with bit of flour)

Cream the sugar and shortening. Beat in the vanilla, eggs, and milk. Sift (but I don't) the dry ingredients and beat in. Beat the egg whites and sugar and fold into the mix. Add the blueberries and pour in a greased and floured 9x9 cake pan. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Anyone have any great blueberry recipes to share?

6 quarts is a lot of tiny blueberries.