Unwanted Guests

Sometimes walking a dog (or two, or three) can take me to areas of the property I haven't been to for a few days. 

I was out walking King yesterday, and he kept pulling me (bad habit of his) to the walnut tree.  I thought, "okay, maybe your scent will keep the squirrel out of my fruit trees."

So we walked directly over to the black walnut tree.

Random Tidbits

It's been a whirlwind of routine changes.  Hubby was switched to nights (temporarily) and is home sleeping all morning now.  I have to change my work load, and we have to be very very quiet. 

I have to take my laundry out the front door and around the house, so I don't wake him up, going in and out the door.  

Also, I have to have dinner done by 4pm.  That is impossible.  So....each dinner (done by 8pm now) is Hubby's next day meal to take to work.  Adjustments made.

This basket of goodies was from day two of picking green beans (and peas and cucumbers).  Today is day three.  I'm thrilled to be filling my freezer once again.  And of course we ate a lot at dinner the other night.  I also cooked peas one night.  Oh my gosh they smelled so good when I boiled them!  I have had to buy these in stores for two years now, and am so thankful for this bounty.

Garden ~ Herb Garden

The zucchini is doing well, and cucumbers are just now starting to come in.  Our hot peppers and green bell peppers are behind, and we do not have any broccoli yet (oddly, it's usually the first).  I'll be out picking peas, and maybe green beans today.  It all depends on how well this last small bit of rain did.

Picked our first cucumber this year.  Delicious!  We only had one ripe one, so I am hoping we get many at once to can pickles.

Zucchini Salsa ~ "Million Dollar" Salsa

What did I do with all that zucchini?  First, I canned zucchini salsa.  We love this stuff. 

I pre-plan and order my organic/non-gmo vinegar over winter, so I have it when canning season starts.  The recipe calls for 2 cups of it.  This is not sold in stores anywhere here.  Hopefully, with my suggestion, one store will start selling it.
 

Here is the, very late, and promised "how-to" in a sort of quick fashionable way. 

Over the years, I have made several different types of salsa.    We even had a "salsa party" to try them all.   And out of all the ones I canned, zucchini was not one of them.

All recipes were for canned salsa too, not freezer salsas.  I canned zucchini a few years later.  Out of all the recipes I tried, the most liked here, is zucchini salsa.

It's not a Ball recipe, but I have seen several similar variations to the one I make, found online as well. 

A mini-break

Last night I enlisted the help of two kiddos.  I invested in a second hand chopper, but realize now, that I should have purchased another cutting board too.

Anyway, one kiddo chopped the onions.  Another chopped up the bell peppers and hot peppers.

I chopped 12 cups of zucchini.  I'll have more details on this tomorrow.  It had to sit in the fridge overnight before canning today.

My ladies and Sparta got the end treats and seeds from the zucchini.  Kind of a nice treat on a very hot day.

My break yesterday?

Garden Goodies!

In my best sing-song voice, with "Welcome back, welcome back, wellll-coooome-baaack!" 

The zucchini exploded while we were gone.  I got a handful of shell peas, but their vines are loaded for a good harvest I believe.

My first day back to "reality" was a busy one.  Hubby texted me "you ok?"  He had not heard a peep from me all day.  I was so durn busy.

Island Trip

The camping trip was not the end of Hubby's vacation.  He planned out the entire week, and made sure we had a few nights to ourselves. 

Sort of.

He took me to the island.  The Yurts were booked, so this time he got us a very nice Bed and Breakfast to stay at.

We actually got the chance to see the sunset on the island this trip.  It happens on the west of the island where there is just one marina and restaurant/pub.  You can see all the people that walk all the way out and get photos of it.