Weekend of Work

Can't purge books?  I found a sure fire way to do it, that's for sure.  Just empty the bookshelves completely, remove the shelves, dust, and start sorting through the books.  A rainy day helps too.

Oh my.  I must have been one crazy Christmas lady back in the day.  I think I purged over 200 Christmas related books.  I had everything the Christmas Almanac, to the Treasury, kids books to Christmas related novels.  Yeah...my purge continues as I sort through them. I even had a book with Christmas recipes, crafts and traditions for around the world, ha ha!

I actually found one that is now on the "read it" list right now.

I bought it at a library book sale, and apparantly forgot I even had it.

One book went to a family member on Hubby's side.

Yeah, I was a crazy Christmas lady.  I ordered this book way back in the day, and never used it.  It has recipes too.  (this is only one double wide book shelf, not including my homesteading bookshelf and my "study" bookshelves)

We loaded the car to the hilt, and headed to the other "Big City" to drop it all off at the thrift store.  What a good feeling that was. 

There are a few more things to do in the living room, and I'll be moving onto the next.  It's looking pretty nice and much more "livable" now that the dogs are not eating my sofa cushions.  Next year we'll replace the couch.

Sunday, Hubby helped me recover (weed) the sweet potatoes.  They look pretty good too, thankfully.  We did that early in the morning, so we took the rest of the day off. Hubby did a few small "fix it's" around the house too.

After delivering a birthday cake and ice cream to my step daughter, we high tailed it back for a ride with with a friend, and when we got back the kids showed up to raid the refrigerator (they looked like animals that hadn't eaten in weeks).   As we were all on the front porch friends stopped in, so it was a fun day even after garden work.

Rain is in the forecast today as well.  We'll see if they are correct.  It was still a tad bit wet on Sunday, so I'm hoping we get more rain.  It sure makes weeding go much faster.

Last night Hubby showed Youngest how to pop home grown popcorn.  She was a happy gal.  She needed a snack, and what's not better than home grown popcorn?

Coffee and a Day of No Weeding ~ Dehydrating Miner's Lettuce

Thursday evening, to honor my hard work in the garden, Hubby surprised me by not working overtime.  He took me on a ride on the Harley, ate at our favorite steak house (which has special motorcycle parking), and ended the evening with adult beverages on the porch.

Friday I piddle-dinked around, sucked down coffee, moaned and groaned, complained, let out heavy sighs, wished I drank the beer and not the Crown Royal the night before, and contemplated.  I won.  Even though we have weeds to pull, I decided I didn't want to poke my eye out bending over the 4 foot grass and weeding the sweet potatoes.  Hubby volunteered to weed wack it down to where I could easily see the roots, so I took the day off, in hopes for rain.    There was a 50% chance of rain at 10am, and that motivated my decision (although I'm out there at 7am and done by 10am). By the way, the rain arrived, and may arrive again today.

Oh, I had inside work to do, like make a batch of turkey-zucchini meatballs (recipe to come soon) and get them in the freezer.  

I placed an order to restock my dry beans, brazil nuts and other organic items I cannot buy in stores.  Of course, right after I placed the order, I remember one item I forgot.

I had carpets to clean and spot clean, and books to dust and get back on the book shelf.  I have a HUGE load of stuff to take to the thrift store, and lapghans to crochet (for sale).  I now have 4 lapghans on my hook. Yes 4.  I'm a crazy crochet lady lately.  

Why 4?  Well, when I start them, they are just perfect in hot weather on the porch, but when I get about 1/4 of them done, they become indoor projects, with good ol' air conditioning, and a good movie to watch.

We've been visiting our 19 year's place of business, where she just became the Assistant Manager (movie rental business).  We are so proud of her. Although this business is highly unlikely to stay open much longer, she'll have this experience on her resume and higher pay.


Miner's Lettuce was new to the homestead this year.  In looking to winter food stock and preparedness, I decided to dehydrate some of it.

I am grinding up into a powder.  I will be adding it to my breakfast smoothies (or lunch), to soups, stews, eggs, pasta, and what ever else comes to mind.