Happy Homemaker Monday

I'm joining Sandra for Happy Homemaker Monday at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.  Hubby and I had a very productive weekend, had some fun, and some rest time.  He even made cookies yesterday (what a man!).  It's back to work this week, and I hope the wind dries up that veggie garden.  It's soaked to the rims today.


On the breakfast plate. . .

Freshly picked red raspberries and. . .

 Leftovers from Sunday - pumpkin waffles (homegrown pumpkin), homemade sausage patties, fried homegrown potatoes with green onions.

Right now I am. . .
 - writing out a grocery list, brewing a quart of tea infusion




The weather outside . . .

  Much colder than yesterday.  Yesterday, we enjoyed breakfast on the porch, then simply relaxed most of the afternoon.  A few home repairs were completed too.  After the rain stopped on Sunday, cold air moved in and the wind picked up.  Today the wind is down, but cold, cold, cold.  Woke up to a chilly 43°F.


Looking around the house . . .

 Hubby attemped to pick pears, but the rain fell again, and he only brought in 6.  However, they are huge!

Currently reading . . .
 going through old magazines, purging them


On the TV today. . . 
 netflix, anything we stumble upon at bedtime


The menu this week . . .
Monday: Michigan Salmon patties, veggie
Tuesday-Sunday:  

Breakfast meals:  Pear Pancake, Pumpkin waffles, egg/greens scramble, burritos

Meal ideas are cabbage/sausage/potato soup, stuffed shells, more hummus for snacking, possibly meatballs and potatoes, bluegill for sure,  maybe a pasta dish of some sort


On the to-do list . . . the all-week list

-exercise 
-laundry
-vacuum carpets
-dust
-crack walnuts(we were gifted a new bag this fall again)
-muck chicken coop
-drain and flip all rain barrels
-dump porch pots and put away hanging baskets
-herb garden work
-dig potatoes, pull garden
-repot two herbs 
-dig glady bulbs
-put more porch furniture in storage
-work on barn wood, remove nails, saw and stack
-split wood for winter
-bake cookies 
-bake English muffins
-start fermenting sauerkraut
-sort bills
-pick up printer ink 
-check library return dates/pick ups
-make some calls
-computer work, get some things printed
-file a few more newly tried recipes
-write
-pick more pears
-continue deep clean 
-wash winter gloves/mittens/hats/scarves and spider proof the drawer they are in 
(crossing off as I complete and as the week goes by)


If I have a few minutes to myelf today I will . . .
 Crochet, and check supplies for a handmade Christmas gift idea.


New recipe I tired or want to try. . .
  Carrot tart, pumpkin pasta, pumpkin stuffed shells, millet stuffed peppers 


One of my simple pleasures. . .
 Send a positive text to Hubby while he is hard at work.



What I am creating, crocheting, sewing, or knitting . . .

 This week it's a sewing project.  The longer, antique patterned fabric has left the closet and will be made into a tablecloth.

From my camera . . .

This morning's sunrise

And!  Yesterday's rainbow's.  Now one but two of them in the same day.

Something I found interesting. . .

. . . that swapping dry sherry for whiskey in a recipe I use, made it taste even better.

Bible verse, Devotional . . . 

Proverbs 17:7(NIV)

⁷ Eloquent lips are unsuited to a godless fool—
    how much worse lying lips to a ruler!

Weekend Work ~ Pumpkin, Potatoes and Pears

The previous rain left things very wet outside, so the inside got the attention it needed all day Friday.

I roasted 1 larger pie pumpkin for making a batch of pumpkin butter. I put 2 cups in the fridge, and the rest went into the freezer.

I roasted 6 more pumpkins for pumpkin puree, and have one very tiny one went to the porch for fall decor.  The puree will be used for pumpkin pancakes/waffles, pumpkin muffins and bread, pumpkin hummus, pumpkin steel cut oats, pumpkin-sage macaroni, pumpkin pie . . .just anything.

I roasted more whiskey-bacon pumpkin seeds as well.  They are so good.  I updated over on the recipe post.  I doubled the amount of pumpkin seeds.

(Saturday sunrise, just before we enjoyed our breakfast on the porch)

Saturday the weather warmed back up, so I high-tailed it to the tomato patch and starting yanking those pesky stakes and tomato plants (which surprisingly, some were still green and alive).

 What we started with. No kidding.  See the red tomatoes on the ground?  The chickens got a treat.  Foxtail as tall as the stakes....

Me singing to the old McDonald's song:

Foxtail up my nose,
Rotten tomatoes between my toes,
And don't forget that pokey thistle,
It's will make you want to whistle (ha ha, NOT!).

. . .in progress, as we took a break.  We had to dig around the stakes, and then get them out with the spade shovel.  Even though it was still a bit wet out there, I broke two trying to pull them out by hand.

Those are my feet, hanging off the truck tailgate, as we took a break to sip ice water.  When we had the entire tomato patch (2nd garden area) pulled, we had to hose off the mud.

 One more section successfully pulled for winter.  Oh what a good feeling that was.  I was so happy to have Hubby's help too.  There is much more to pull.  Hubby was all for leaving it until spring, but I had to remind him why we must not get lazy.  The rotten plants will attract animals, bugs, cause problems with bugs, etc. And the weeds absolutely must go before the snow flies, to avoid any more weed seeds from setting.

As for the potato and pear part of this post?  Well, it won't be happening.  It's raining this morning.

There is nothing more "fueling" for me than my first morning cup of java.  See those two pumpkins?  That's today's "to-do" on this fine rainy day.  The very last two to roast.

The potatoes sitting behind them?  They will be part of our humdinger breakfast this morning.

I had plans to dig up more potatoes and walk out to the "upper 40" fruit tree area, and pick pears.  If the rain stops early, I may still pick them, but it'll have to dry up a bit before I can dig potatoes.

Breakfast is typically, and traditionally more loaded on the weekends, especially Sundays (or before a big work day).  I saved some freshly made pumpkin puree for pumpkin waffles, adding homemade sausage patties, and home grown potatoes sliced and fried with onion.  Mmm.  Mmm. Good.  The only thing missing will be homemade bread of some sort (slacking in that department).  

 The weekend, so far, has not gone by without some porch time and handiwork time.  I took time for some R & R, and sipped herbal teas.  The weekend did not go by without a motorcycle ride or two either.  The rain today is a bit of a happy moment, although thwarts the removal of the garden.  It forces me to take a day off and rest up and stay healthy, so I am looking at it with a positive attitude.

First thing on my agenda, before tackling a delicious breakfast, is brew a quart of nettle tea.  It'll steep for 4 hours or more, and then Hubby and I will be sipping it (hopefully on the porch).  We'll be "refueled" for getting back at it on Monday.