"Miss You Mondays": Thunderstorms

Last night it hailed so hard that it woke me up. It was so much, so fast that I thought we were in the middle of a storm. And I have to admit, I was excited by that thought.

You see, most people outside of England think of it as a cold and eternally rainy place. Am I right? That was my impression of it before coming here.

But now that I am here, I can tell you that the rain I expected almost never comes. I have seen more snow and more hail in England than I have seen rain. Instead, England seems to just have this sort of permanent, silent “wetness” that clings to everything. It does rain. But I have only seen it three times since I have been here.

Back home, this time of year brings about days and days of storms. Thunderstorms and tornadoes. Most people would cringe at this. It’s not a heart-warming thought. I have seen terrible damage done by these storms.

But I miss it. I miss the smell of the coming rain on the air and the calm before the storm.  I miss the pounding of the rain on the roof. I miss the steady claps of thunder and flashes of light. There is a comfort and an excitement in those things that I don’t get with English rains. One of my favorite things to do before a Spring storm was to open up all the doors and windows and let the wind and the rainy smell flow into the house through the screens. The rain would sound as though it was in the house.

Can’t do that here. There aren’t screens on the doors or windows. And there hasn’t been any thunderstorms.

Sweet Relief

Quote of the Day: "He covers the sky with clouds; He supplies the earth with rain and makes grass grow on the hills." Psalm 147:8

This time of year, with the weather we have been having, our move to England cannot get here soon enough! We have had 100+ degree weather for 14 days and 26 days with no rain. Unlike the UK, who, according to The Weather Channel, has been having much more tolerable weather (temperatures in the 60s and 70s and plenty of rain. I'm so jealous!)

For the past three days, the weather has teased and taunted us with heat relief, but just wouldn't give it to us. It has been cloudy. It has been humid (extremely). It has thundered and sprinkled. On the first day that we were teased with rain, the storm clouds went all around us but we didn't get a drop. Even though it was "cooler" that day (93 degrees, because it was cloudy), it was incredibly humid so you hardly noticed the temperature difference. The next day, it was the same temperature and cloudy sky, and even some parts of the state, including towns not 20 miles from my home got a few short showers. It skipped us. But today, finally, we got rain!

The kids have even been looking for rain. It's a pretty desperate situation when children even want it to rain. They wanted it to rain so badly before the 4th of July so that they could do fireworks. Better late than never!
It thundered and lightninged and poured for all of ten minutes.  But we are so happy it finally rained! (Now, if you walk outside, it feels like a sauna!)

Rain always puts me in a "cold weather mood." And I love cold weather. (Which is great since I'm moving to a very cold and wet place, right?) It makes me want to get into pajamas, brew some hot chocolate, and cuddle under a soft blanket with my honey. As soon as the thunder clapped, it was as if my comfy sweat pants were calling my name. And comfort food seemed to be the perfect dinner menu so I decided to make good ol' Southern Red Beans and Cornbread with Fried Squash.

Now with this Southern Comfort Food, we had to have dessert. I had some plums that were on the verge of going bad so they inspired the perfect Southern dessert: cobbler!

I used this recipe from my favorite "go-to" website for recipes. I tweaked it a little by substituting 5 of the peaches for plums and adding a pie crust layer for the bottom of the cobbler (using my grandma's pie crust recipe, one of my most treasured possessions). I also added almonds to the crumble on top. My hubby, Matthew, likes nuts in his desserts.

I am like most people and want vanilla ice cream with my cobbler. I came across a recipe for homemade ice cream in this month's Women's Day magazine. This recipe is perfect because it does not require an ice cream maker (which I do not have, but hope to remedy that soon.) And it was so easy! Only three ingredients. Three simple steps. And it tastes divine.

I will say this about the ice cream, though: it does not melt into liquid like regular, churned ice cream. When it begins to melt, it takes on a texture more like whipped cream or Cool Whip instead of turning to liquid. Apart from that, it was the perfect substitute and I can't image an easier way to make ice cream.