Rain ~ Cold Temps

Rain moved in yesterday as predicted. Our temperature is to drop considerably tonight.  They say the rain will go on for 36 hours.

I went from "I'll just clean the hallway" (where people just drop stuff on the floor coming in and the boot pile is a mess), to "I think I should make...." and here is what got done . . .

Homemade English Muffins were made.

Einkorn Peanut Butter Cookies were made.

Einkorn pizza dough was made for the freezer.

I would have made pie crust crumbles, but I need to get some flour.  It remains on the re-stock it list.

I got zero cleaning done, other than dishes.  Our 20 year-old daughter came out for dinner, and helped with making it.  I was totally excited she wanted to help.  Although I told my husband he would only get homemade corn dogs once a year, he got them.  I told them no "french fries" though.  They got oven roasted potato wedges and they were fantastic.  I used a recipe online (Tasty) with homemade garlic powder, Parmesan cheese, etc.

Update on our SIL - he's still in ICU due to experiencing Afib.  

Fall Colors ~ Tomatoes are Out!

We are seeing some beautiful fall colors right now.  Yesterday, we were blessed with another dry, but cooler and cloudy day.  Dry is the key word.  I put on snow boots (still can't get my ankle in my muck books, and high tailed it out to pull tomato stakes.  Rain arrives today, and for about 24 hours straight.  Inside work resumes today.

Yesterday I finally (finally, as my family patiently waited), got homemade (organic) sausage put into a dandelion/egg/jalapeno/potato and egg scramble.

Speaking of potatoes, I pulled the sweet potatoes from my grow pot.  They are pretty long, but only the diameter of about a quarter or less.  They needed a longer growing season.    I'm saving them for another breakfast.

The tomato stakes and wimpy tomato plants have been yanked.  I was utterly and fantastically surprised to see jalapenos.  I'm not sure how hot they are, but we are about to find out.  Yum.  I was just pleased to make a bit of progress in the deconstruction of the garden.

Whiskey - Bacon Roasted Pumpkin Seeds.  Oh so good.  I sure missed them, but now it's the season, we are enjoying (just not homegrown this year).

We have a stray young cat coming around.  It responds to "kitty, kitty, kitty" and came somewhat close to the house.  It also comes to the cat food bowl.  I'm trying to get close so we can give it a safe place this winter, but it's slow going.

We tasted "Cowboy Beans" and they are somewhat like Four Beans and Sausage.  Similar taste, just different beans and meat.  It was good, but nothing to rave about, but a good hearty one pot everything meal. 

We have decided to put getting a rescue puppy/dog on hold until next year.  I need my leg healed first.  Medical bills are rolling in, and will roll in more if the surgery is approved.

Tuesday Tidbits ~ Homemade Croutons

I had my first yarn stolen by Romeo.  Sigh.  Goodbye Blue Hawaii crochet thread, and hardly used.  A chair was left out and not pushed in and in a millisecond, he was up on the chair and out with the yarn.

Got three sticky notes taken down and off the to-do list.  Woohoo for that.  Propane is on the way.

I got one of our 3 porches cleaned up.  Flower pots dumped, coolers put away, and other misc. items.  One down, two to go.  I do need to re-do the outdoor winter cat house.  It needs cleaned out and re-packed with straw.

Homemade Croutons
6 slices organic whole wheat bread (or baked bread)
2 tsp. homemade Italian Seasoning
1 tsp. homemade garlic powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup organic olive oil

Preheat oven to 350°F.  I like to put everything in a bowl and toss as I drizzle the oil, but you could also do it all on the baking dish.  Bake 14-16 minutes or until crisp enough.  

Freeze until needed.  We add these to soups and salads

Tip:  I used these for "bread crumbs" in recipes.  I bring them to room temperature, from the freezer, and grind them up in my food processor.

Tip:  Too lazy to bake bread?  Or no time?  Look for day old marked down organic bread at the grocery store.  I got one loaf for $1.29 and sometimes they are $.99.  I was able to get two batches from one loaf.  The last few pieces were tossed to the chickens.

We were very blessed with sunny weather yesterday, and a high of 67°F.  I took advantage of it and cleaned the side door porch completely off.

Guess what I saw on the front porch?

A wheel bug.  Apparently, after asking what it was, I found out it's a wheel bug.  It was put to it's death quickly.  I am told they come form TX via semi shipments etc.  Lovely.  We had our share of semi's this summer with another highway closed.  It's back open, but now I'm wondering how many more I have around the front porch.  I read it's bite is nasty and worse than a bee.  Can anyone verify this?  I have never seen this bug in the entire time we've lived here.

I called the surgeon's office finally.  They re-sent the "under the knife" procedure to the insurance now.  Not what I wanted but I will update once insurance takes their good ol' time answering this request. 

Update:  Our son-in-law is now in ICU.  I will update as we get them.  Thank you for good thoughts, vibes and prayers.

Happy Homemaker Monday

It's now cold weather handiwork, winter coat weather, but more so hurry-up-and-get-it-done outdoor work weather. 

A recent conversation on the porch with Hubby got us talking.  We talked about what we would never do again as a homesteader - deal with black walnuts.  

The other day workers were going up and down the country highway, and cutting back trees near the power lines.  Our black walnut tree is one of them.  I looked out the window and saw the guy on the ground throwing black walnuts at the guy in the bucket.  It gave me a chuckle.  I thought to myself, his hands are gonna be black when they drive off.

I then remember my hands after peeling those walnuts.  Yeah, with two pairs of gloves, my hands burned for days after that.  The tree is getting old, so it may become firewood.  Who knows.

Another thing I won't do ever again - buy straight run chickens. 

We have a plethora of grasshoppers. I mean a plethora, so much that when I took the dog out in slippers I felt something up in my jeans near my thigh.  I shook my pants twice and out popped a grasshopper at my ankle (but it was in panic mode as you know I was bitten by a spider - note to self - boots on always).  There was some chicken free-ranging going on to reduce the bug population.

You never know what works for your homestead unless you at least try it, so there are no regrets of trying.  I still would like to raise either angora goats or alpaca in the future, but who knows.

We canceled our camping trip that was for last weekend.  The weather went to a low of 37° one night and 90% chance of rain all day Sat.  It wouldn't be fun to camp and not cook over a campfire (we do all our meals over the campfire).  I was okay with that.  It would not have been fun to put down the camper in the rain either.

I started more deep cleaning again.  Let's hope I get it done this time, and before the holidays. 

I got a bag of clothes and hangers donated to a church, and passed down some tops and shoes to Youngest Daughter.  

Today I'm joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom. 



On the breakfast plate . . .
Have no idea yet.  It's 6:04am right now.


The weather outside is  . . .
Should be 65°F and sunny


As I look out my window . . .
It's pitch dark out right now.



Right now I am . . .
Drinking coffee in my PJ's and trying to wake up


As I look around the house . . .

This arrived!  Thank you so much Rebecca!  Can't wait to use it too.



On the to-do list . . .
-laundry
-make a 2nd batch of homemade croutons
-make homemade sausage
-continue to deep clean bedroom/bedroom closet
-continue to deep clean hallway
-re pot a houseplant
-clean off driveway side porch
-make a trip to the post office
-go to the library
-purge Halloween totes



On the menu . . .
Homemade Corn dogs, and (gulp) homemade fries
Sausage sandwiches with home canned cabbage/beet relish
Cowboy Beans (Crock pot)
Mama Pea's Lentil Burgers
Leftovers in there somewhere....

Snack:  Hummus and Einkorn Chips

Breakfast:  Homemade English Muffins or Bagels, Homemade Sausage for patties



Currently reading . . .
Nothing right now, just blogs right now when I can


On the TV . . .
We finished Goliath, so we are looking for a new series to watch.


What I am creating . . .
I finally had time to dig through my yarn stash.  I am making a scarf for a daughter (had the colors wrong, but now they are correct).  I also got an order for an XL hot pad, so that's started.  

I also got more netting cut, so I'll have yellow dish scrubbies soon too.  I'm looking for more fall craft shows, now that the November show has been canceled (due to it being the same day as the OH/MI game.


New recipe I tried or want to try . . .
Cowboy Beans, Crock Sausage/Pasta Dinner, Baked Spaghetti, Taco Dip


Favorite photo from the camera . . .

Prayers . . .
Our son-in-law (married to our daughter who just lost their infant son) who is having open heart surgery today, myself (leg, insurance denied the easier procedure), our daughter and grand niece who lost their babies, a friend's mother, our older two daughter's (they seemed to have left the universe), and other personal requests

Weather ~ Memory Lane

We woke up to extreme wind outside.  The rain has stopped, but it's too dark to see if we got damage to the trees or barns (or house for that matter).  

Romeo is up crying on a squeaker toy this morning.  He misses his Mom again.  She went to an overnight Halloween party.  I wish I could film him, but when I get to a point to film him, he stops.  Poor guy.

As I sit here, waiting on the sun to rise to go outside, I went through some old photos on the computer.

Remember when I made these?  April 7, 2016.  2016??? I haven't made bagels since then.  They are somewhat "tricky" to make, or time consuming, but good.  I think they will be on the list this next week if I have time. 

I love going through old photos, and speaking of that, does anyone know how and where a person can get a (mine) blog published into a book.  I'd like to have it done.  

Weekend Work

Friday morning I realized I was completely out of onions, so dinner plans changed quickly, but easily.  I grabbed a container of frozen french onion soup, a bag of homegrown frozen carrots, some corn off the cob frozen corn, and a handful of homegrown potatoes - a last minute version of potato/carrot and corn chowder.  Believe it or not, it was delicious with some added milk and a dab of shredded cheese at the end.

The weather went pretty cold last night, and rain and wind will kick up today.  Again, we are glad we canceled our last camping trip.  It would not have been fun putting our pop-up down in the rain, wind and cold.  Sad we couldn't take off, but we took last weekend off.

I spent most of my day in my office (kitchen) area.  It was a paperwork day for sure.  Boy, am I the queen of sticky notes.  I finally devised a sticky note station, which is a string tacked under a cabinet and the notes are held on with mini clothespins.  It's all nice and tidy, expect for some papers that need shredded today.  It feels so good to finally see it in order now.  I am storing my mini clothespins in a small spice jar.  I even updated my canning journal, filed patterns and other paperwork. I still need to purge the filing cabinet, but I'm saving that for a snow day this winter.

Although we really need to be outside working, the weather is forcing us indoors, which is also badly needed (still, even though I've been cleaning).  I'm hoping for a few breaks in the rain, to put items back in their rightful places in the barns this morning.

The sunrise this morning started out beautiful before turning to clouds.  We have 100% chance of rain, and flood warnings.

This and That

Okay, what's your "go-to" crock pot dish for a Thanksgiving meal?  I need two sides to take to a gig on the day after Thanksgiving and someone is already bringing green bean casserole.  I love to bring BBQ green beans, but that would be a lot of green beans then.  Hm.  Any ideas?  Glazed carrots?  I don't want to do mac n' cheese.

Has anyone bought and used the crochet hooks that light up?  I have read reviews that some give you a headache from the light.  I would love to buy some, but I though I'd ask here and see if any of you who crochet uses them.

Short post today.