Weeds, Ticks, Mosquitoes! Oh my....

Now that we are getting a load of rain, there has been no time to keep up with the weeds in the gardens.  They are full of ticks now, so repairing the weed whacker is on top of the to-do list.  I went out to check tomatoes and got attacked by ticks.  Literally.  I forgot to put my tick oil on.  

Anyway, the tomatoes are just now starting to turn in color.  Nothing ready to harvest, but turning red anyway.

(Hot peppers are so far doing the best)

Green beans and zucchini are a joke this year.  I don't know if I planted too late or it's just this darn weather.  So frustrating.  The rain could change that, but....

The rabbits tore my greens to shreds, so fencing is the only way if I plant next year.  I have no idea if the potatoes have made it, due to the massive weeds in that bed as well.

Well shoot, I thought the year started great this year, but now I need to find zucchini and green beans to stock up.  Sheesh.

Also, I planted 6 cherry bomb pepper plants ( that I started from seed) and was devastated to see one eaten to the quick.  What eats hot pepper plants?   I have no idea, other than grasshoppers.  So sad and so frustrating.

I planted one single grow bag of carrots this year and the buggers are leaving it alone for some reason.  I guess that is good news, other than I didn't plant enough to freeze.

My husband brought home one lonely yellow squash.  Co-workers often bring in extra veggies.   I sliced it and it's now blanched and in the freezer.

I am writing out another list for the next trip out.  I plan on stopping at some produce stands as well.  Gosh, I am way behind on winter stock up, but gaining.

I totally forgot I had this photo on my camera. I saw this crawling up the side of the house when I was taking laundry out to the clothesline.  According to my research, it's not something you want to touch.  I have never seen this here before.  Crazy.

Kitchen-ness and other ramblings

I ran out of time in the kitchen, so I finally finished up with what I brought home from the grocery store.

Put a head of cauliflower in the freezer, 

...as well as some broccoli (all organic of course).

Froze a bit of diced celery as well, and....

Last year I hosted an online pampered chef party to help out a friend.  I got these for free.  The rubber white tubing is used to shell the garlic clove (works great), and the other slices it.  These made my life so much easier when making garlic powder.  Note:  I didn't know until I had the party, but all of their stuff is made in China, so you may want to check for USA products online.  Anyway, it was so much easier filling a 9 tray dehydrator of sliced garlic.

...filled the dehydrator with garlic to grind into garlic powder.

I boiled more eggs for egg salad.  It's a great meal for our very hot days here.  My husband works outside and next to very hot equipment and doesn't want to eat "hot" food when he gets home.

There are items I am still not able to find in stores, but I'm constantly checking other resources.  

Tidbits

I put more stuff by the road and it was all gone by evening.  I'm so glad that someone can use it or scrap it, and it's out of the garage.

We hit a whopping heat index of 102°F yesterday.  Hot and very very humid.  

Prices are soaring.  Daughter K bought a 2 1/2 oz. bag of cotton candy last week at the fair and it cost her $7.00!!  Outrageous.

I made a trip to the "Big City" and restocked groceries and other items.  We ran out of trash bags while cleaning the garage last weekend.

I froze 2 bunches of organic asparagus, 2 bunches or organic dandelion greens, and a few organic red bell peppers.  These are not items I have from my garden, so I am stocking up when I see them available.  

Thunderstorms continued through out the evening and may continue into today.  They say we'll have higher temperatures tomorrow.  It will either make or break the garden this year.
 

Extreme Heat ~ Rain ~ Rhubarb Vodka

Whoops!  Yesterday morning I overslept.  First time in years.  Not sure if it was the extreme heat we had or what, but I felt terrible that I did.  I am always up making coffee, feeding the cats, packing my husband's breakfast and lunch.  There has been a lot on our minds though. 

The ladies cooled off the best they could with chipped ice.  I left the coop open when we finally got a down pour, so they could get wet and cool their hot feathery bodies off.

Although I will now be behind in weeding, I am so happy for the rain.  The funny thing is, is that we both said if it's a rotten year we'd not plant a garden next year.  In fear of a rotten year (3 years in a row), we really cut back on what we planted too.  Now I regret not planting my popcorn, peas, spaghetti squash etc.  Well, I'll be over those regrets, as soon as I visit Farmer's markets and re-stock.  

I finally got rhubarb vodka in the making.  We like this better than strawberry, but both are good.

I finally found organic broccoli and asparagus!  I blanched both and got them in the freezer.

More photos of my snapdragons.  My lens kept steaming up, it was that humid.

Another Re-Stock ~ Chicken Freezer Treats ~ New Recipe Tried and other random tidbits

 

Although on the "rainy day" list, I got a batch of meatballs restocked and in the freezer.  I like to do this early in the year, before the freezer is too full to put trays of them in there to freeze.

To help cool off the ladies, I filled a muffin pan with veggies and water and froze them for some delicious freezer treats.

Our internet has been working, but it's slower now.  I hope they get all the bugs out soon.  Several people are having issues.

More stores and restaurants have been closing numerous day.  They cannot hire enough employees, as no one wants to work.

We tried another new recipe - Slow Cooker Jalapeno Dip.  I used frozen jalapenos from the garden (vs. canned as the recipe called for).  

How did it taste?  Very good!  You can control the amount of heat by the amount of jalapenos too.  When I freeze my jalapenos, I leave the seeds in.  We topped this dip with freshly diced green onions.

Freezing Strawberries and other Tidbits

 

I finished freezing the strawberries. I may have more to freeze, but the chickens got the sweet tops I took off.

The oregano that was dehydrating is all in a jar for cooking. I cleaned out one freezer, took notes on what needs rotated out and got my grocery list written down.  I have one container of cottage cheese and one of sour cream, so those were taken out and thawed to make Salmon Romanoff.

We eat way less pasta than we used to eat. It's mostly been a meat and vegetable lately.

I have a large cast iron pot that I badly need to re-season, but it's too hot to do that right now.  I'll wait for a cooler day for that job.  The black layer is peeling off, and according to instructions from the company who makes them, states to re-season a couple of times and the pot will be restored.

We are seeing more deer and rabbits this year.

New blooms in the flower bed.

My snapdragons are about to snap open.  I sure hope I have some pretty colors. It's been years since I have had snapdragons.  

The ladies were treated with ice chips in the heat.  Again, awful photo.  On my phone it looks great, not transferred to computer for some reason.  I guess I will start using my camera.

My husband put gas in the truck and it was $3.15/gallon, but with our grocery store points he was able to save $.70/gallon thankfully.  Prices are up on just about anything right now.  I'm trying to limit trips to town to avoid expensive fill-ups.  It's not like I'm lacking in a to-do list.

Pie Pumpkins ~ Interesting Tidbit ~ Stocking up and Preparedness

(2018 photo, the last time we grew them on the homestead)

There was a point when organic butter at the grocery store became horribly high priced.  It's still high, but I try to stock up when they have coupons or a sale.

However, I learned something new!  I have not tried it yet, but I have pie pumpkins planted this year.  

There are concerns all over this country dealing with certain foods, shortages, price hikes and the like.  

Most people are aware you can substitute unsweetened applesauce for oil when baking, but this next tidbit is new to me.

You can substitute pumpkin puree for oil or butter when baking, using 1 to 1 ratio.  Meaning if your recipe calls for 1 cup oil, use 1 cup pumpkin puree.

At harvest time, I roast the pumpkins (cut in half as shown in the photo), and let them cool down.  I scrape out the pumpkin, puree it in the food processor and freeze it in freezer containers.

Of course there are many other uses for pumpkin puree, and we even make a macaroni dish with pumpkin and sage.  

I hope you enjoyed this tidbit, and I hope to learn of many more as our country attempts to heal all the massive damage that was done to it.

Providing we have a  nice garden year and a nice harvest, we'll have them this year.  

My blogger "featured post" gadget is not working.  I will only pick up most recent posts, so that's frustrating.  I'm trying to update it. 

Putting Up ~ Winter Blues ~ Ideas to Revitalizing and Energizing Yourself

I grated and froze some romano cheese.  I am constantly putting up as we take something out of the freezer.  The way this world is being run, I'm working on preparedness constantly.

I am cleaning out one binder I had on my bookshelf with writing prompts.  I have no idea why I saved this one, but I am sharing considering the lack of sunshine this winter.   I have no idea where it was from, but I am sure I've had it for over 15 years.  

I never thought that putting in new flooring would lead to all of this other purging, but I'm glad it's happening.  I have more binders to clean out.

Also, in my binder, I have a list of 83 ways to revitalize and energize yourself.  I'll try and lit 5 each day until I reach 83.  

1. Listen to the voice in your body

2. Make a list of your present goals

3. Write a diary or a journal

4. Analyze your successes

5. Get feedback from others on how they see you.

Ha ha, we warmed up.  Yep.  "Feels like" 11° and 17°F this morning.  Stay warm and have a fantastic weekend.

Scrap Fabric Cards ~ Red Onions and other Tidbits

 

Here are the scrap fabric cards I am making.  I made heart ones to gift my Mom.  I'm considering making other ones for a few other people, but gifts won't be exchanged with either side of the family this year.  I may work on them for next Christmas though.  A great way to use up scrap fabric, and I am so blessed for the people who send me their scraps too.  I don't sew a lot, so what I get is a blessing for crafting/gifting.  I have a how-to on my S.C.R.A.P. blogspot too.  Gosh, I just realized I haven't posted anything on there for a good long time.  I just may get something posted soon.

Pinto beans were soaked for soup beans and fried cabbage today.  It was suitable for our current weather.  Brr.

Red onions made their way to the dehydrator.  I sometimes get into a situation during winter when I need red onions and have no vehicle or the weather is too bad to travel to the store.  Who wants to go out for one red onion in winter anyway?  It'll come in handy.

I went out to see what I could pull from the garden on Saturday and ended up bringing in (oh my heart sings) a bit of chard and collards.  I got those blanched and in the freezer.

I pulled the last of the green pepper plants and found this out there.

We sent our  21 year old to the store for a few items.  Not long after she called.  The brake line went out in her car.  My husband drove there, they switched vehicles and he drove it home.  She was too frazzled to shop, so she returned home too. No word on my car being done either.  First thing to do today is fix her car, then we start on outdoor work.

Later, she took the truck to the store and brought me this home.  It is so cute.  It lights up and blinks.  It was $2 at the Dollar General.  It's a small decoration and adorable.

Tiger ~ Broccoli ~ New Cookbook

 Little story about Tiger the cat....

He sleeps all day, alone, in the utility room.  He's not been happy with the 2 dogs, rabbit and cat that moved back in last March.  He always looks sad and lonely. 

Lately, I've been taking him into our bedroom and he soaks up the love, massages my arm to thank me, and is in pure joy.  Of course I have to let him out before I retire for the night, but he has really been getting some one on one touchy lovey time.

Yesterday, I opened it to head to the kitchen and start working in there.  That little stinker flew in the bedroom like he owned the place.  He went right under the bed of all places.  Later one daughter, and myself, tried to find him.  No cat to be seen and not anywhere in the house.  I was stumped.

Then later....

I noticed a lump under the bed quilt.  Ha ha ha!  He crawled under there and got his little cozy spot, so I left him there, and just kept checking the bedroom.  Poor guy just needed some attention and love.

I finally found organic broccoli, so that was blanched and put in the freezer.  I cannot find organic cauliflower, so I may be changing my tune in how big the garden is next year.  Something else I cannot find on shelves (or online where I typically get other items), is organic pumpkin puree.  I will most likely plant pumpkins next year too.

I strained a tincture, and have two more to strain today for winter prep for medicinals.  I need to strain a jar of homemade vanilla extract as well today.

I bought myself a early Christmas present.  I have yet to look all through it, but a looking forward to this cookbook.  I pre-ordered it, and I'm glad I did.  People ordering it now are having to wait 2-3 months to get their order.

Yesterday we warmed up to 77 degrees.  Later today, we are to get rain again.  I have yet to get to the garden to finish getting it ready it for winter.  Our weather will go cold again after this.  There is much to do yet to prep for winter.

I'm contemplating a new Christmas Eve tradition in our home this year.  It's just 4 of us, so it wouldn't be that expensive.  I may do it a bit different than the idea was presented, but still a good idea.  I'll be sharing later if I do.

This and That

I had so much mundane tasks to do Monday, the onions never made their way to the dehydrator.

 Tuesday they finally got into the dehydrator.  

My yarn totes are made their way back to my bedroom closet sadly.  They were headed upstairs until one daughter moved back in last March.  I can't live with my office full of totes, so I'm making room (again) back in the closet. Then I can use my office once again.

I made 3 new recipes.  We loved the rosemary walnuts and the Southern sausage enchiladas with sausage gravy.  We will be cutting the Kamut granola bars and tasting them today.  All recipes are online.  I am thinking of trying a new recipe for dinner tonight.  The breakfast dish I made a few changes - left the seeds in the jalapeno, and I used butter (vs the grease left from the sausage) to make the gravy.  The original photo of the breakfast dish makes it look like you have lots of ooey gravy, but you don't.  It tasted great though.

Rosemary Walnuts  -  Sara Moulton online

Southern Sausage breakfast dish - online with Spicy Southern Kitchen

Kamut granola bars - online at the Kamut direct site.

I'm slowly cleaning the fridge again.  One shelf a day.  It's been crazy lately with trying to keep things stocked up for whatever happens in this crazy year.

 

Happy Homemaker Monday

Over the weekend we got in a motorcycle ride.  We had to put all of our leather on, as it was chilly, but may be the last ride we get this year.

I put together this patriotic set and it sold the same day.  The person who purchased it paid well more than asking, including shipping.  I was overwhelmed with her generosity.  I sent a separate thank you card (homemade), with a personal receipt and note and a granny square patriotic keyfob and chain.  I'm now working on another set as well as other stuff to restock. 

I now have a list of restocking to do.  That was my last homemade card of that kind and granny keyfob's which are great to tuck in as an extra.

We went to town to stock up other supplies, like chicken food.  We don't know what is going to happen, and if no shutdowns happen, at least we have more than enough for winter.  Don't forget to stock up on your oil for your oil lamps.  We now have large containers/totes to stock up cat food/dog food/etc.  I have storage bins to hold 6 bags of chicken feed as well.

Outside Christmas lights are up.  I finally got them up early prior to cold nasty weather arriving.  I'm working on the master bath Christmas decor now.  I'm trying to decide if I want to purchase a new taller tree or use the shorter one I already have.  I'm leaning more on keeping the one I have, because we don't know what will happen to the economy in the next few weeks or even months in our State.

I'm joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom today.

The weather . . .

49°/46° Windy, Rain, Cloudy.

How I am feeling this morning. . .

Good.  I actually overslept until 6:30am, but my husband had no breakfast to pack and packed his own lunch.  

On my mind . . .

Oh man.  A lot of stuff right now.  Just trying to plow through one day at a time.  My car is not done yet either.

On the breakfast plate. . .

Sweet potato/egg scramble with dandelion greens, coffee.

Right now I am . . .

Drinking a hot cup of organic coffee, finishing this up and posting.  Looking around the kitchen to decide what will go in the breakfast scramble.

On my reading pile . . .

On today's to-do list . . .

-dehydrate diced onions (stocking up)

-make a breakfast scramble for the week

-dishes

-clean master bath

-laundry

-vacuum

-not sure what else since I slept in so late (6:30am is late for me lately)

On my tv . . .

Good Witch

On the menu this week . . .

-sheet pan dinner

-breakfast for dinner, a new recipe to try

-chicken teriyaki over homemade vegetable fried rice or chicken tetrazzini

-soup beans, fried cabbage and buttermilk cornbread

(not in an particular order, and I may even change it as the week goes)

From the camera . . .

Sunrise Sunday morning before the clouds moved in and rain arrived.  

Looking around the house . . .

One kitchen table went from having tomatoes all over it to sweet potatoes.  I'll get them in the bin in a few days.

New recipe I tried last week or want to try . . .

Kamut granola bars.  Remember when I asked if you had recipes using kamut flakes?  Well I found one online.  We also want to try a new recipe for Chicken Tetrazzini.  I think I made something similar to another recipe but used cashews, but I made Rosemary walnuts.  It was on a cooking show, recommending recipes for gifting.  I won't be gifting this year, but want to try it out and put the recipe in my "Christmas" binder.  Be sure to visit my blog to see if we tried them and what we think.

To relax I will . . .

Crochet.  Maybe write (but I get sick of writing about the pandemic already and whatnot).  Maybe read for something different.

Something I want to share . . .

Nothing today.

On my prayer list . . .

My dad (he's scheduled for surgery Nov.11th),  Our state (our Governor is doing everything in is over used power to disrupt the election and to kill our economy).  His mandates and restrictions are out of control and make zero sense.  My family.  If the Governor shuts us down again, I know one that will be out of a job (again), and they are all at risk to get sick with a mask mandate, forcing healthy people to wear them all day at work, then shopping if they need to shop.  The only person I knew recently with the virus wore a mask at work full time. They all look so utterly exhausted, and one moves furniture and another climbs ladders. Our country.