New recipe tried - Kidney bean salad with Lemon (recipe is free online at A Virtual Vegan). I did make slight changes to the recipe.
What I did. . .
Instead of cane sugar, I used a Tbsp. of lemon infused honey.
I used a full organic English cucumber.
I used both fresh parsley and cilantro (had some that needed used up, as it's not garden season and I have to buy it).
I used red onion.
I chilled the salad for a few hours before serving.
We added crumbled feta to the salad when I served it. Yum!
Rain is here again. It's due to come down off and on later and even tomorrow morning. Our evenings will start dipping into the 30's (hopefully no hard freeze). Thankfully, my three cilantro plants, that came up by themselves, from last year's seeds, are still thriving in the herb garden.
I haven't had time to porch sit, so I have not smelled the lilacs wafting through the country air. I noticed a bit late this season, but they also bloomed early.
A few years ago, a pine tree died and fell down, breaking off half of our lilac bush. It's still blooming, but barely.
Lilacs smell so wonderful. I remember, as a young teen, my Grandma bringing cuttings from her lilac bush.
You can make a lot of things with lilacs, but I have yet to try any recipes. You can make syrups, infused sugars, jelly, teas, tinctures, and even body care. Do you make anything with lilac blooms?
There is a possibility to plant another lilac this spring, but the rain is still an issue.
I had "plans" to do some weeding, but we are saturated here still. Rain is not ending today again either. I think we may even see rain a bit Thursday, but hopefully not.
The rain is giving us chickweed, and we are enjoying pesto. I mixed other greens in this batch too.
I unfolded each piece of gauze to prepare and make the poultices for my toe area.
(looks like ants are chewing holes in the leaves)
I harvested some comfrey from our "weed" garden, to make poultices. I only had 2 x 2 gauze, but it worked for my toe. I used my new smaller food processor this time, and it worked great (comfrey leaves, a bit of water, and flour {can use arrowroot, or whatever for a thickener}).
The plant is springing up pretty well, and was large enough to get enough leaves cut for the poultices. I used a freshly made poultice right away, and froze two more. The frozen ones work to also reduce the swelling.
I also used my homemade comfrey salve, and the bruising is very quickly healing, and pain was gone after day one of poultices. Thankfully, it was a sprain and not a break.
A strong thunderstorm, with rain and wind, moved into our area last night. Only about half the mowing was completed before the rain arrived. I have yet to harvest more dandelions due to the abundance of rain. The last dandelions all went to seed very quickly.
I'm hoping we will get more chickweed, as I have yet to weed three more flower beds (actually four, but we have a plan to work on that one this year). Anyway, I typically pull the chickweed to save, as I weed the flower beds this time of year.
Our cold weather apparently does not want to leave yet. We will be dipping to the 30's for three or four nights. I'm just hoping it's not a hard freeze.
The abundance of rain is a problem for our vegetable gardens. One, it's too wet to even walk in, which means zero tilling or weed pulling to prepare the beds, and two, we've not been able to even obtain tomato plants this spring (yet). I do not start my own tomato plants, because we plant so many (and indoor space is limited to start every single plant).
Rain is in the forecast yet this morning, and more tomorrow.
Do you ever notice how it's hard to be around people who are negative about "Monday" and the start of the week?
Monday gets a bad name all around. I used to tackle so much around the house, but I have since then created a cleaning/housework schedule, and it's been working out fantastically. Monday's are not bombarded with overwhelming to-do lists any longer.
My husband had a recent conversation about how his co-workers complain on and on about "Monday" and how terrible it is. Is it?
Every year I look forward to learn something new. A new trail to walk, new herbal remedy to make, new handiwork to learn, or just about anything. It's not only rewarding in most cases, but fun.
My "firsts" this month:
-dehydrating wild violets, and leaves
-dehydrating dandelion flowers
-read a new author, picked up another at the library (yet to read - gulp!)
-reading a new devotional
-learned the words to a song, and inadvertently learned words (memorized) to two other songs.
-went to our first Bingo "purse" raffle (had fishing poles for the men) and fundraiser benefit.
-saw Moe Bandy in concert (now 82 years old).
-walked one out of 15 new walking trails (new to us).
(possible new salves using the above dehydrated items later).
Today I am joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom (will link up when she posts).
Hard to believe I was picking dandelions, wild violets and even chickweed a few days ago.
We've been seeing a lot of lily of the valley, wild geraniums, and mayapples on our trail walks.
Planted rosemary and spearmint. Weeded another smaller rose bed, and asparagus patch. Planted 9 more Mary Washington asparagus starts, and dug a tree out of the berry bush area. Trimmed two rose bushes, and weeded half the herb garden.
The Weather . . .
Last week started with hard freeze warnings. 31°F with a windchill of 27°F. We will get thunderstorms again tonight and possible 50 mph winds.
Right now I am . . .
Sipping coffee and writing this post fairly quickly.
How I am feeling . . .
Tired of the weather fluctuation, but otherwise revived over the weekend. We found another trail walk and loved it. (In our new personal challenge) One walking trail visited, and 14 more to go on our list. Despite a sprained toe, walking was fine (more on that in another post).
On the breakfast plate . . .
Eggs, and real Canadian bacon.
On the menu . . .
-crock pot Four Beans and Sausage
-leftovers, Kidney bean salad (new recipe
- not sure on the rest just yet
On my reading pile . . .
I'll have to get back my current/finished books. Forgot to take photos. However......
Finished this one. First time to read this author. I laughed to my husband, as I only had this book, and realized it is part of a series. Sigh. I had no intentions of buying more books. I liked this book.
On my TV . . .
Elvis movies - King Creole, Blue Hawaii
Doc - Netflix
Sarah's Oil, Netflix
Looking around the house . . .
-Good! Took a trunk full of clothing to donate. Clothes that were too big, not worn, etc. Decluttered more areas and re-organized.
To-do list . . .
-make breakfast -laundry
-make tick repellant oil
-dehydrate all of the volunteer herbs I yanked (anything growing in areas where it spread)
-Weed the rest of the herb garden, and flower beds (maybe)
-I'll be honest, I have yet to figure out the to-do's for the week. The weather may change my list.
What I am creating . . .
I finished the purple/white shell stitch blanket. Delivered four crocheted baby blankets to an area pregnancy center.
Sharing . . .
Salve with wild violets, comfrey and plantain.
Watching videos like these to possibly start learning to quilt (small things right now ha ha!)
I purchased a travel tumbler with tea infuser. I randomly chose one based on reviews. It can become frustrating, when you cannot find one person who drinks herbal teas/medicinal herbal teas. If we like it, I'll post an update on it. By the way, there are several options to buy one, with several sizes too.
Something new I learned from a book:
-I can brew my herbal tea, cool it, and freeze it in freezer safe vessels. Pack them for a picnic or travel and it will keep food cold, then thaw for enjoying. Another perfect idea to travel with your brewed herbal iced tea.
-I once watched an "expert" on a video (maybe youtube, not sure) say brewed teas were only good for 48 hours. I'm reading in a book that brewed teas, cooled for iced tea, are good for up to 4 days. Anyone know the actual truth to either of these findings?
I've been busy dehydrating dandelion flowers. I, apparently, need to dehydrate more. They shrink up to about nothing when they are completely dry. First time to dehydrate dandelion flowers (for a future salve and whatever else I decide).
In the past, we have made dandelion flower bread, which is delicious by the way. It's time consuming, so I have yet to make it this spring. We do not make dandelion jelly anymore. We tend to made reduced sugar jams now. It does make a nice gift for others though.
I've also been working on starting tinctures for the season, using seasonal spring goodies.
I'm hoping the spring rains will provide us with chickweed, cleavers, plantain, and mullein.
The rain has been continuing, and my boots sunk every step into the garden recently. I have already had to cut the flower buds off my rhubarb, and boy is the garden saturated.
Comfrey is up nicely, as well as lemon balm, in my new "weed" garden. No sign of anything else (possibly did not survive the move last year).
The clothesline has been being used in full force, but on days in between the rainfall. Very thankful to have use of it, and it saves us on our electric bill (which is the highest in the area). Not to mention, that it smells good too.
Time has been getting away from me this month, but I hope to keep you all entertained. My husband finally sorted a huge pile of his clothing, and the donation pile has increased. I told my husband the other day, that I do not know how anyone who works full time, has time to do their housework. I am constantly racing the clock to keep bathrooms cleaned, laundry washed (on the line, back down and folded and put away), homemade meals prepared (not to mention all the dishes), errands, shopping, appts, and the like, all in the mix of it. I'm working on creating a "schedule" to give myself more grace with free time. We (ha ha!) shall see if I am successful.
I can say, I'm the queen of sticky notes right now. Staying on task is happening. I have also purchased a new devotional that I love. It's short and to the point, but if I remember, I'll take a photo of it to share. I might have a handiwork update too, but it's been less and less in my days, as the weather is taking us outdoors much more often.
In working on my home "apothecary" clean up, and re-organization, I found one lonely jar of dehydrated, wild picked stinging nettles. I decided to grind them, and create a homemade herbal seasoning.
To the seasonning, I brought in some dandelion greens and dehydrated those, and ground them as well. I added that to the nettles, and added homemade garlic powder.
Finally, I will be adding parsley and salt to the mix and using that for meals.
I did not measure anything. I just sort of eye-balled the amount I ground in even amounts, and in actuality, the salt could be left out. I tend to salt lastly.
It's my little herb seasoning experiment. If we like the flavors, we may be trying it with more options - mint, thyme, rosemary, lemon balm, ginger etc.
The rain continues here, and it's hit or miss with picking more wild violets, wild violet leaves and dandelions.
We had a really bad storm come through the area early evening, and of course we needed to run to town for errands (chicken feed etc.). Thankfully, the storm tapered off, but the flooding is a problem.
Dehydrated some wild violets and leaves. However, my 15+ year old smaller dehydrator (for small batch) died on me. Good thing I did not turn it on when I ran out for errands. Sheesh. Any who, I'm already on the job for looking for a new smaller one. I use it often for herb seasonings and small batch items like the violets.
I have also been out in the flower beds, and they are filled with purple dead nettle. I have chickweed too. Hm. Lots of ideas are spinning away.
Ordered a bunch of recipe books from the library (again). I will never learn, ha ha! I'm on the hunt for a specific recipe we would like to have for grill out meals.
Picked the first of our spring asparagus, and boy it feels so refreshing to get something from the garden again.
Tulips are not the only spring life coming to life right now. Although most people would yank these and toss them (as weeds), I see cleavers, purple dead nettle and some chickweed.
The spring herbs and flowers are working my creative mind. I've been dehydrating, infusing and such. I'm also doing more reading (herbal books). There is much to learn yet. I am learning of two new salves I may make and try, and have been learning more with creative herbal seasoning mixes.
I keep forgetting to get a photo of the purple shell blanket progress, but it's the slowest going project yet. The photo is an earlier photo of the beginning of the blanket.
It's not time consuming because of the stitch, but because the weather outside is nicer (so much we can do now, and jobs to work on), and I am spending a lot less time with the crochet hook.
The yarn was in the mass amount of yarn given to me last year. I know the variegated yarn in this blanket is discontinued, so I dug through the stash she gave me, and came up with a rotation to use up 4 of the colors (using up all of the variegated, and darker purple I added in with a few rows). I am using the shell stitch and a "J" hook for the blanket. It's a bit too large and thick for a baby blanket, so I will donate this one to an area assisted living facility per a request. I'll get a finished photo as soon as it's finished.
We are getting more 80 degree days, but we are also getting more rain. Our tornado warning alarm went off due to an area spotted tornado last night. We are getting more rain, which will put a damper in my herb collecting, garden clean up, and garden prep work.
Brisk 14°F and high of 38°F. I used my clothesline yesterday, but the wind was crazy.
We are seeing wild ramps on our walks lately.
Planted: Mullein (very hard to seed start, so we shall see)
Harvested: Green onions, Yarrow
Purchased: Flower seeds
A small, removeable fence has been placed around the "weed" and herb garden. Thankfully, I had the fencing, and did not have to purchase any. Hopefully, it will keep the rabbits out of it, but I have seen a chipmunk who runs among the outdoors.
Ordered a few books and DVD's from the library inter-loan program. Just doing my part to keep the library open, but also to use the free resources.
Speaking of resources, you never know what freebie you can utilize, and one fell right into my lap last week. More on that later.
Finished this book. As a result, I learned a few new fun facts. Like the fact that Elvis sang with Kitty White in a duet to make a movie. You never know what you'll learn in any non-fiction book.
I am 3 granny squares behind on my crochet book blanket. Lacking the crochet mojo. It could be that, I have been making blankets all winter and I am burned out. Seriously burned out, so my attention will be elsewhere for a bit.
We finally found some organic buckwheat honey. I also picked up some lemon infused honey for summer salad dressings. They had so many different honey options, but many I can make myself.
We ended March with a high 77°F with an evening of thunderstorms. We started April with temperatures in the low 30's, with a lot more rain.
I've started my infused oil with horsetail. I'm reading through my herbal books, watching Youtube videos and the like. It's an herb/weed new to use. I did not buy my horsetail online. I purchased at an herbal health store. However, the one store nearest us, does not carry it, and another apothecary does not grow it or carry it (40 minute drive).
We are very limited to access to stores or apothecaries with medicinal herbs, tea herbs, and the like. It's frustrating, but in some cases, forces me to simply grow some of them myself. It is depressing to not have any like-minded folks in our lives. Most people we talk to about it, just laugh and act like it's all a waste of time or a joke.
Speaking of Youtube, I'm watching several videos on spring wild violets right now (tinctures, teas, lemonades, and so forth). I'm watching them in between moments of sit time or coffee time. I did learn something about which type of alcohol to make a tincture with one specific wild plant.
By the way, I used my homemade goldenrod tincture 3 days in a row recently, due to bad sinus pressure. It worked great to drain the sinuses and the pressure. I also used my mullein tincture once). My research, by reading books borrowed from the library, and books I own, state that goldenrod is great for treating sinus infections (or sinus issues).
Ended March with harvesting more green onions in the herb garden. It feels so good to get outside and do this again, especially after a very, very long winter.
Baking and cooking from scratch, as well as the dish washing, drying and putting away take a good chunk of my daily time. I am still using up the blueberries we froze last summer (Einkorn flour pancakes - upper photo), and I mixed another batch of black bean and corn "salsa" for any meal or in between meals. I like to have a healthy go-to light meal on hand each week. Or for those moments of needed a quick snack to eat before a hike/walk or when needed..
Our daffodils are mostly up now, and the hyacinths are right behind. Not the best photo, but it was raining out and dark. It's so nice to see the flowers in bloom again.
Speaking of spring colors, I have one more lap afghan on the hooks in the colorway of purples and white. I'll try and get a photo for you. It will be the last blanket of the season, of this size. It's been a very slow going crochet project, with spring weather here now (spending much more time out of the house).
Before the rain, we hiked a new-to-us trail, and we loved it. A little background info on these hikes/walks. It's all part of my physical therapy, and also for my husband's. We don't have the liberty to walk on the road where we live, so as a bonus, we get to travel for our walks, and locate new and more interesting places.
One of our area libraries started a seed library. It's not the first one to come across, but it is nice to see more libraries offering this to patrons. I have not visited this one yet, so I do not know if they are organic/heirloom varieties of seeds.
