We Were Gifted and More Repairs

Co-workers of my husband's, have gifted us with garlic (homegrown), and jalapeno peppers.  We made 3 quarts of hot salsa with both of those.  We plan to plant some of the garlic very soon also.

We were also gifted some sweet corn.  We cooked it last night and the leftover was cut off and added to crock pot Spanish Rice (also made with fresh garden goodies and my very own tomato sauce).

Repairs and repairs.  They don't seem to stop, so I want to learn how to fix them myself.

Recently, one of the head lights in my van went out.  I told my husband, but he's been busy every night with more urgent repairs, that it didn't get replaced.  One night he was driving to a nearby town, he was stopped by the police. 

The next day he bought a new headlight, and I asked for him to teach me how to change it.   He showed me how, and I helped.  Next on the list is how to repair my windshield wiper spray nozzle.  It's not spraying out on the driver's side and it's driving me nuts. 

Oh, and as for playing hookie, I did get 500 words written.  It's not a lot, but it's more than any other day lately.  I also took a short trip to buy a few more flour sack towels.  I found some on sale for $2.70 (for a pack of 3).  They are not perfect in any way, but that's why I like to embroider on them.  

Power Outage

A bad storm cut our power off last night about 11pm.  Even though I reported it, it was off until about 9:15am this morning.

We were actually more calm then ever this time.  I mean, we have been through it so many times, including 2 times during the summer.  We are becoming pros at handling it. 

We keep large plastic cat litter jugs filled with water.  Those are used to flush toilets.  We keep 2 extra jugs of water just for the dogs, and other drinking water that we had to use to water the goats and chickens.   I used our bottled drinking water to give to the barn cats this morning also.

We were very well prepared for no lights.  With camping equipment we had several lanterns and flashlights.  We also have candles and oil lamps.  We have a string of battery operated camping lights that we used in the bathroom so the kids could get ready for school.

The main issue with the power out, is that when it does go out, we can't do anything.  Really.

Without electricity our water pump can't run the water up from the well, we can't heat water for washing, cleaning or cooking.  It's just a big pain in the rump.  

It's a good thing we have a grill now.  We can cook on that, possibly heat water, and maybe even make coffee.  Since it rained, our fire ring is soaking wet, so heating coffee over it this morning wasn't a real good idea.

The worst part of the power going out, is that we don't have a generator yet.  With my freezer packed full of garden goodies and meat, we stand the chance of loosing our food storage.  I certainly can't wait to get the root cellar or the generator.  It would give us peace of mind.

I have to admit, that I was kind of excited (outside of worry about food in the freezer) about getting a day "off."  I was just getting ready to grab paper and pen to start writing a short story.  That is about the time the power came back on.  I looked at my son and said, "can we just pretend it didn't come on?" 

It is so quiet right now.  I can hear both roosters crowing, a few hens laying eggs, crickets chirping, birds, one of the cats purring, a dog's tummy rumbling (he gets petrified during storms), and cars passing the house.  

I think I will get a pot of good coffee brewing and take my notebook and pen to the front porch.  I'm playing hookie today.  Okay, so maybe after I get dinner in the crockpot.

Signatures, Tomatoes and Zucchini

If I got paid for every time I signed my name yesterday (and the day before), I'd be rich.  School papers are not our favorite thing around here.  I was sat down, while my tomato sauce reduced, and a pen was placed in my hand.

"Sign this Mom," they all said.


You can definitely tell school started around here.  My e-mail inbox fills up daily with stuff from scholastic, Market Day, school newsletters (to save on school paper), and many other e-mails.  Pretty soon the fundraisers will start flowing in, and I'll start to hear "Mom I need $$ for this and that."

Last year, about this time, we were winding down with the garden goodies.  We made lot of salsa, but never canned anything.  I did freeze many tomatoes, but last year we had mostly Romas.  This year, I have many larger types of tomatoes. 

Yesterday my sauce took about 25 pounds of Romas, and that is about 125 of them.  Today I cut up and froze 3 very full quart bags of tomatoes.

My goal is to can them vs. freeze them, on account of our expensive electric here.  I was very pleased with the seasoned tomato sauce I canned.  It has so much more flavor in it, and by canning it myself, has no BPA or other unwanted chemicals.

I canned more zucchini relish and still had some zucchini left over.  I decided to make some healthier school lunch snacks and after school snacks.  They are already getting some delicious garden fresh watermelon.

Yum!

Kids Say the Funniest Things ~ Now the Pressure is On

My kids, especially my 9 year-old daughter, say the funniest things. 

For example, we went went camping last weekend, I noticed my camping tote was a mess.  In fact, we were missing important items such as our lanterns.  The older girls held a backyard camp-out earlier in the summer, and used my camping supplies.  I had mentioned that they need to learn to put things back or simply stay out of it, when my 9 year-old said this:

"Hey Mom, just put a sign on it that says Mom's reusable panty liners."

It just made me crack up laughing.  I did get a sample from Naturally Cozy, and they all ran when I opened the package.  You never know if the economy will be worse next year, so I wanted to be prepared for anything.

Anyway, aside from that funny story, she told me something after she got off the school bus.  She told me how the kids went around and talked about their family.  She boasted about having 25 animals around here, and proudly told me this:

"Hey Mom, you know when they came around and asked about our families?  I told them that Dad worked at ....and you were a writer!  I told the class that you were going to get published one of these days."

Ugh.  Now the pressure is on more than ever.  99% of my day is taking care of the family, processing and weeding the garden, regular housework, errands, and so much more.  I've tried to sit and write, but setting up my "writing space" has been the only accomplishment this summer.  


As for the number 25, in how many animals, it's about to go up one notch if she gets her birthday request - a turtle.

First Day of School

It was a happy/sad day today.  The kids were up very early and pretty excited about going back to school.  Me on the other hand, was a bit down.  


I did have a lot to keep me busy.  If fact, my first canned tomato sauce is still reducing.  In between cutting up all those roma tomatoes and onions, I pulled 2 watermelons from the garden and cut them up.  I also pulled about 5 more zucchini.  I think I will put the relish canning and tomato freezing jobs off until tomorrow.  Five loads of laundry wore me out, on top of all the other work around here.  


I never got my "porch time" as my Dad surprised us with a visit.  The kids were very excited and can't wait to show him the goats.

First Camping Trip 2011 ~ Camping With Chopsticks

Our garden blessings went camping this year.  I was much smarter this time in packing our food.  Instead of putting a carton of eggs in my cooler, I cracked them, whisked them, and poured them into recycled glass peanut butter jars (canning jars would work too).  In the cooler it went.  We also took homemade Queen Anne's Lace jelly and peanut butter.

I also chopped all the veggies and packed them separate for our first grilled stir fry and rice campfire dinner.  The only thing I need to change on that part, is to pack them in glass jars. Our cooler smelled like onions, because I used a ziploc bag - blech.


I pre-cooked our brown rice, and it heated up nicely on our campfire griddle pan. 

Served with chopsticks

Breakfast was easier with the eggs pre-cracked and whisked.  Instead of buying main stream frozen potatoes, I pulled a bag from our freezer that contained garden potatoes.  I also pre-cut garden green peppers and onions to mix with either the potatoes or the eggs. 


Our hike was cut short this season.  We hiked at warp speed, there and back, to avoid getting eaten alive by mosquitoes. Boy are the mosquitoes are bad here this year.

We were lucky to borrow a pop-up camper, and booked a non-electric site.  The first night we had family fun by playing tether ball at the campground, followed by board games in the camper.  Other campers were smart, and had packed tents with all side netting, for a more comfortable night outside.


We discovered, that in our nook of a camp site, there were wild blackberry bushes behind us.  We enjoyed nibbling on those yummy berries, and made note of the site in our camping journal.

The first morning there, my 9 year-old woke up with a migraine.  She first thought it was a sinus headache, but even after laying down in the camper, got sick.  I'm so glad we had an emergency kit, had ice cold water to make a compress with, and extra bedding.  Poor thing.  I felt so bad for her.  After she felt better, she was like new again.  I'm sure it was lack of sleep combined with lack of water.  We brought several gallons of drinking water, but she was busy playing with a school friend that happened to be camping at the same campground.  After that, we encouraged her to drink plenty of water throughout the day.  It was pretty hot and humid.


Since we had a thunderstorm the last night at the campground, we set the camper back up at home to dry out.  We cleaned off all the mildew from last season, and the kids had one more night sleeping in it.

One last night before school starts this season.

Each year we go camping, I buy us new bandannas of a different color.  Last year it was bright pink, and this year it was a blue/green blend.  We love to use them for our hair while camping, or get it wet to cool off our necks.


There were many tent campers, and a few that brought movie players, but the campground held a "movie night" just for us.  They have an outdoor amphitheater and played Open Season 3.

Outside of the outdoor movie, we played with campground equipment, brought horse shoes to play, board games, and also took the one hike.  We planned on fishing, but forgot to grab the poles.


We made a small effort to "glamp" this year, and my husband like the nice touches.  

The table cover is actually a used pillow sham, with the backing gently removed (and saved for another project).  It is topped with a hankie I bought at a goodwill in Amish country.  The blue pot was also a good buy at a Goodwill store.   With the pot, I also got a spoon and 4 bowls - perfect for camping.  The silver coffee pot, we use to pour water with, is from Freecycle.  

This was a poor attempt to "glamp" up our camper windows.  If I can locate a nice, lace, used, valance, it would create a much better look.

Instead of sleeping bags, we took our bedding from home for the camper beds.

When I cleaned a few days ago, I found my cute small signs, one of which we took camping.

On one our trips to use the porta-potty, we spotted this guy crawling up, and going after a fly. 

Hiatus Happenings

While away, I finished another shawl for one of the kids. . . 

I watched another sunrise . . . 

The kids practiced folding napkins . . .

I got a good start on setting up and organizing my writing nook (yep, that's a dish drainer and that's a Christmas album in the very back)  . . .

Here is a close up of the frame that my youngest daughter gave me for my writing area . . .

 (Be Joyful and Happy)

I finally got around to cutting 2 pillow cases and a sheet into strips, and sewed them together for rag balls (future rag rug).  The pillow cases were over 20 years old and worn very thin.  The colors are barely visible . . .

I practiced a new knitted square.  I really did too.  I kept taking it out and knitting it over and over.  Tip:  Never try a new pattern when kids are in the same room (ha ha ha ha!)

(Seed Stitch)

 And I finally took a few of the kids camping . . .

 Look for an update on our camping trip in a day or so.