Herbs, Weeds, and Garden/Organic Dinner

I had to quit in the garden early today - bad headache.  I did manage to pick all the ripe tomatoes, a whatever else was ripe.  I noticed some very large melons out there too.

My 12 year-old daughter helped me weed one section of an herb garden that was badly over run with thistle.  We filled the cart with weeds.

I spent most of the day with herbs.  I had dried rosemary, dill seed, and lemon verbena, so the kids helped put that in jars.  I cut more thyme and oregano to dry.  I also brought in parsley seeds.  

Dinner is an all garden/organic dinner tonight.  I am pan frying one kohlrabi, along with a lot of red potatoes, then adding onion, green pepper and a handful of broccoli.  After that, I will pour scrambled fresh eggs into the mix, in the same pan, and scramble that all together.

As a side, I am frying up organic bacon we bought on our organic farm tour, and making braised cucumbers with some of the ones I picked today.  I know braised cucumbers would be a better side with fish or other meat, but we are having it anyway.   Yum!

This will be our first organic bacon.  Our plan is to continue buying organic, and avoid chemicals, food contaminations, and offer our bodies the correct fats that we need.  Bacon is a treat for us.


Maybe later this week or next week, I can make an angel food cake and homemade noodles.  I have another dentist (cleaning) appointment on Friday, so I never know what I will have time for.

 

Docters and Dentists & Preparing For Another Recession

I nearly crocheted an entire dishcloth yesterday.  The dentist office was so full, that people were standing throughout our visit.  My body is getting sore from all this "sitting" time.  My kids told me I should just stand up and stretch and do exercises, and not worry about if people think I'm on drugs. Ha ha ha!

My son had to drive my older daughter to the doctor.  She came home very sick and very sleepy.  They gave her a Tdap shot to protect her from many  possible, deadly illnesses.  However, she just started her job, and guess how many side effects this one single shot has?

RISKS AND SIDE EFFECTS
Tdap may cause the following mild side effects, which usually last only a few days:

• Body aches
• Chills
• Fever
• Headache
• Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea
• Rash
• Redness or swelling at the injection site
• Soreness at the injection site

She had a horse riding lesson, and today, she has to work both at her job and at the stable.  This will be interesting, as she was so nauseated, that she had to pull off the road last night.  She does not even take over the counter medications such as pain relievers, so you can imagine how sick she felt.  She and I are alike that way.  We don't do well at all with medications.  Migraines are about the only thing I can't take medications for.  Even when I gave birth the the kids, I went without pain shots, epidurals, etc. Medications just make us more sick.

If you are watching the news lately, have you been preparing yourself for another recession?  How about paying gas prices up to $8.00/gallon?  We are still preparing and still searching for a goat in milk.  We can't pay $6.19/gallon for organic milk, and the cheap stuff has nothing in it that is good for our bodies.  Having goat milk or investing in a cow would really be a safe move right now.  However, all this money that is going to doctors and dentists, is really draining us financially.  I horse could get us to town for emergencies when we can't pay the higher gas prices that may arrive sooner than we want.

Speaking of doctors......ugh.

My son, after they pulled in from the doctor, went out to check on the goats.  As he came back he accidentally stuck his hand with a nail in the barn.  How? I have no idea.   I joked that I need to drive the entire family up and get them all a tetanus shot. 

Bathroom Bling

Every bathroom needs some "bling."

 On a recent trip to the "big" city for appointments, I stopped at Hobby Lobby in search for #80 tatting thread.  They did have it, but only in white.  However, I always take a stroll down the clearance or marked down aisle.  

I found this really neat, slightly imperfect, glass plate.  It was $4.99, marked down to $.99.  It is now a soap dish for my master bathroom sink.  It holds a nail scrubber, which every farmgirl needs, along with homemade soap. 

I took a shelf that we still had in our garage, and put it up in my master bathroom.  On it, is an  antique serving tray, glass flower vase with real, fresh cut flowers, a replicated antique clock, and a vintage hankie.   I am still working on the rest of the bathroom.  I did locate 3 rugs that look exactly like the rug that were in the cabin we stayed at, this past spring.  I loved them and they too, accent the bathroom.

I know these won't last forever, but for now, they are "bling" in my own bathroom.  I've had to wash them several times already, and I don't dry them in the dryer.  Hopefully, they will last long enough for me to get rag rugs made.

Tiger Gets A Treat, Another Crazy Busy Day, & School Starting

Last night, some very naughty teens were not getting to bed.  During that time, a very tiny cricket had made it's way into my bathroom, and was singing in a magnified chirp.  It was loud.  It was also, along with the kids, keeping me from getting sleep.

After a trip to the front room, and another scolding, I returned to my bedroom.  There at floor of the master bathroom door was Tiger.  Tiger is my youngest daughter's orange tiger cat.  
He had captured that noisy critter, and silenced it.  This may sound harsh, but all I could think, was "good kitty."  I never heard that cricket again.  It was tiny too.  Only about 1/2 inch long or so.  But he/she could sure make noise.  Tiger is getting extra treats today.

This is what I woke up to this morning.  Although I had the stinkin' urge to take my "sick" bell, and ring it loudly this morning (all over the house), I got side tracked.  The trash was not put out.  Hmph.  So....outside I went.


I have not had my morning coffee or Devotions on my porch for a while now.  The garden is keeping me very very busy. 

I put the trash out and went straight for the porch.  There I read my morning devotions, sipping hot coffee and swatting mosquitoes.

Every once in a while, the sun would show itself.  It sure felt good to take a moment to spend time with God.  

As for the "crazy" part of today, one daughter gets a tetanus shot, one goes to the dentist, and my bathroom needs a super cleaning.  In between all that running, laundry, and housework, I need to shred zucchini for the freezer, and make more salsa.  I put it off yesterday, since I made more zucchini pancakes (which we topped with my homemade blueberry syrup- yum!).  Trips to town are about 50 minutes round trip, so you can see my stress on time limits.


The kids are already "stressing" about school starting.  I heard my 9 year-old kissing her cat and telling him she will miss him every day.  Another one was talking about the bus rides, if they will get upper or lower lockers, what teachers they will get and so forth.  They are now asking for an all-nighter to finish off the last days of "freedom."  I will have to think on that.


Speaking of vegetables in our pancakes, I am going to be working on creating a Tomato Pancake.  I found a few recipes on-line, but they don't have good reviews.  Somewhere in my schedule, I will be working on that too.


Note:  The "sick" bell I have, is a wooden handled bell, somewhat of what a teacher would have on her desk (back in the day).  I give it to my kids when they are sick, so they can ring it when they need me, if I am in another room.

Hope Chests ~ Flour Sack Towels

Despite the garden keeping me extremely busy this year,

Sunday Salsa

After I canned another quart of fridge pickles, I realized I forgot to check the garden.  I came in with enough tomatoes,  fresh picked green pepper, onion, and cayenne pepper. We will be enjoying our first quart of salsa tonight.  Yum!  However, I am looking at about 5 more zucchini now.  I think I will freeze all but two, and make a batch of pancakes tomorrow.  I can freeze them with liners in between, and the kids can simply take them out when school starts, for a healthy breakfast.  Hopefully, we will still have some of the blueberry syrup to go with them.

It's another typical Sunday around here.  More yard work, mowing, trimming, and my clotheslines are filled to the max.  With all this gardening, canning, and cooking, I have neglected to get the towels washed.  Now I need to wait for it to dry, to hang even more out.  I hate to do that kind of work on a Sunday, but we have more dental appointments starting tomorrow.  Those trips to town always waste my day away, and my chores, and the garden get behind.

The girls are out in the barn trying to figure out a way to repair, and put together, a temporary horse stall before winter.  


I guess I will be buying supplies to build a dog house type shelter for our billy goat.  That way he won't be near the fencing.  We did find a free 4 month old female goat, but the owner wants herd shares (milk, and first pick of the first baby goats).  That is way too much to ask for.  Especially, when we need her for milk for ourselves (and we have a large family).  We will continue to search for another female.

Blooming Sunflowers

First one to bloom.

 When we first moved here, we explored the barns.  I found this water trough, with a rusted out bottom.  We pulled it out of the barn and put it in front of this barn.  The horse shoe shaped drive is in front of it.

I thought it would make a nice flower "pot" for sunflowers, with the bright yellow against the red barn.  Just don't look at all those tall weeds around the bottom.  We need to borrow the trimmer again, and trim around all of our barns already.  I can't let the goats trim them, or I will lose my garden, herbs, and my sunflowers.  

I also read that I can cover the heads of my sunflowers with cheese cloth, to prevent the birds eating them, while they dry.  The sunflowers we planted are edible.