Random Tidbits

The kale in the garden was a complete fail.  No harvest.  What didn't get eaten up by bugs was fried in this years drought.

Collards don't look good, but there is hope for the chard.  Have no idea on the root veggies yet.  The turnips I did pull were small.

Tried a new recipe - frozen peanut butter pie!  Delicious.  Hubby was happy to have a cold dessert after a long hot day.

By the way, we got rain last night.  Not a lot, but more than the last time.

Almost stepped on this guy yesterday.  They day before that I almost stepped on a snake.

Made a batch of homemade Kahlua.  I gifted this one year for Christmas.  Recipe is online and easy to find. I won't be gifting this batch.  Once it's done, strained and re-bottled, I'll be trying a new recipe with it.

Made myself my first mint julep.  Very refreshing.

Made my Mom's Dried Beef casserole for dinner last night. I needed something easy. Recipe is on my blog.  Another recipe I am scanning for the girls for their Recipe Boxes I'll gift.

I'm finally back to deep cleaning my utility room.  As soon as the rain passes, I'll be washing up winter coats, quilts, blankets, and comforters (before outside drying becomes more difficult).

I'm thrilled I don't have to water the gardens this morning.  It gives me more time to deep clean today and tomorrow.  Maybe.  Just maybe.  I'll get a teensy bit of crochet time in today.

I marinated chicken last night (another recipe to pass on to the girls), with homegrown jalapenos and garlic.  I have a very easy dinner again tonight.  Honey Jalapeno Chicken on the counter top grill, and a side of hopefully garden veggie.  I guess we'll see what's out there this morning.

Feverfew ~ Catnip ~ Canned Hot Pepper Jelly

The rain went right off the radar on Tuesday.  Not a drop.  Rain on the radar on Wed. went right off the radar as well.  Sigh.  I had to pick and choose what would be watered, considering the well isn't getting filled up.

I finally got some feverfew put into the dehydrator for winter tea if needed.  I'm hoping if we get rain, I can dehydrate more (it's in a pot vs. the ground).

Once that was dried I loaded it up with catnip.  I make catnip tincture as an ingredient for my bug off spray.  I will also make some catnip pillows for our cats and Mom's cats if I have enough for both.  I want to make my tincture with fresh catnip.

We love hot pepper jelly (now that I know how to really make it hot).  We love it as a go-to snack for gatherings or snacking.  It's great with cream cheese on a cracker.  I couldn't find hot cherry peppers, and did not grow them this year.  I used habanero, serrano, hot banana, hungarian wax, and jalapeno.  We'll taste this in a few weeks to see if it's a good as last years.

The sunrise is quickly moving to the south.  Sigh.  I'm not even ready to pull root veggies (if they even survived this drought).  Just another sign we need to start winter prep.

I overslept again.  Gonna down some nettle/oat straw infusion later, but first I have some work to do.  I forgot to marinate chicken, so dinner is a change of plans, but I need to stick to my list today.  I totally missed some things yesterday.  It's gonna be a very hot above 90 degree day.  Praying we get rain.