It Rained! At war with a raccoon!

It's been a very rough week.  Some days are just trying to do something to stay busy, others are tough as h-e-double hockey sticks.

I hadn't washed dishes since last Friday, so we are taking turns on the rounds to catch up.  Movement helps.

Project supplies arrived, so there is more that can keep me occupied, other than the garden.  The chicken coop needs mucked as well.

Picked another round of beans - almost 2#

Black beans are finally climbing and the blossoms are on.  We got rain, but not enough.  Just enough to give them a dose of goodness.  Many people who are watering with city water are losing their gardens in this drought.

On another note, I have been trying to order a replacement part for my sauce maker since last fall.  I pulled up their site, and it's still out of stock.  I emailed them, and guess what?  They asked for my address and shipped me one FREE!  How awesome is that?


My side bar bible verse has been changed.  It's our daughter's boyfriend's favorite verse.  

Despite the drought, and with diligent watering, my tomatoes look good.  So good, we needed to buy more tomato stakes, as some stakes were broken and shorter.  I needed 25 new stakes and could only find 17, so we'll just do with what we have and deal with it.

It's everything under the ground I'm worried about right now.

Another raccoon tore another hole in my coop and this time killed a hen.  I'm so mad right now.  I re-set the trap.  Please pray I can summon the energy and time to build my new coop and right away.  I wish I could have a coop building party and feed the crew, but family hasn't been around at all.  The boys are adding an addition to one of their houses too, and are pretty busy.

Green Beans ~ House is a Hot Mess and other Ramblings

This was supposed to be last Saturday's post....

Yesterday's pickings.  The beans are from the first planting, second planting are loaded with blossoms.  Praying for more rain.  I only picked one hot banana pepper.  There are more on the plants but need to plump up before I pick them.

What is your preferred way to can green beans?  Raw pack or hot pack?  I think I will can the next picking to save room in the freezer.

I watered and watered, and then went back to weed.  The garden is full of weeds, but plants look great so far.  We need a good soaking rain to get things flowing out there.

Speaking of a hot mess, my house is a hot mess.  That happens when garden work takes over. I'm not stressing over it, and I'm putting the girls to work when they can.  One daughter works a lot, so that leaves one.

What's your favorite way to use turnips?  How do you store them as well (I don't have a root cellar nor basement)?


I have some Kamut flakes I need to use up.  What's your favorite way to use them (other than granola)?

Well, it was a raccoon in the coop this time.  I caught it.  Lets hope that was the end of that.  So tired of re-wiring the coop.  Pray we get the time to build a new coop and soon.  All chickens are accounted for.  He must have been after the eggs.  Urgh. I sort of had a feeling it was a raccoon, based on how things were knocked all over in my barn the last few days.  Now to go hunt for some spare chicken wire.  There will be zero chicken wire on my new coop.  I have found two locations nearby that have free sheds or small shed like buildings.  Not sure what route we'll take yet.  We have some things to get done this weekend and next.  

Bell Peppers ~ Drought Conditions

My bell peppers are starting to come on.  I just hope I am watering enough to plump them up in size.  It's still a drought at our homestead (even though surrounding areas are getting rain).

The trees are starting to lose their leaves, and my berry bushes look terrible.

We spent most of the day with our daughter's boyfriend's family.  We took them dinner and went to the funeral home with them.  Long day, but I know they appreciated us being there.

It's another hot day here. 

Nothing

I have a nothing new post today.  Strange.  I'm always so pumped to get something posted, but not today.  So much on my mind right now.

We got spit on yesterday.  The storm came through and it literally sprinkled for less than a minute.  I am so sad on top of everything else.  We are in drought conditions and now I am worried about the garden.

Hubby is out watering flowers.  When he's done I'll start on the garden.  My root veggies are not getting what they need.  I can't remember a year like this.  Ever.

We had visitors all day yesterday, and even had a meal delivered.  Our daughter is not okay.  Youngest.  We are doing our best to keep her around someone.  She is not allowed to drive herself anywhere right now either.  She is having the most horrible time right now.

Ramblings

Update:  no funeral.  He was a tissue donor and will be cremated.  There will be a backyard church service, and a celebration of life later.  Thank you for all your kind words.  My stomach is pretty upset, so homemade ginger ale is brewing on the stove top right now.

Our yard.  It's so dry here, but Queen Anne's Lace is growing all over it.   There is a possibility of rain later today.

Something fun for me.  I wanted them for stitch markers, but the coffee cup one and camper are a bit to heavy (larger than I though).  I will find a use for them though.

My morning visitor, but I didn't get too close either.  

Not sure if I updated on this, but I got the raccoon that was terrorizing my chickens.

With Sad News.....

While we were planning our youngest daughter's grad party (for today), which would have also been her prom combined (just got her a prom dress yesterday), God had other plans.

Her love of her life and his best friend were killed in an accident last night about 7pm.  The jeep malfunctioned and they rolled in a ditch then hit a tree.  Both did not survive.

He was her rock. Her everything.  When I say everything I mean everything.  He was like our son.  We were helping him get a vehicle.  His best friend treated us like his parents.  My heart breaks for both families and our daughter.

It feels so unreal.  Party of course was canceled, and we'll be taking food to her boyfriend's parents house later today.

I will not be posting for a few days as we get through this.  I don't know how long this will take, as it feels like a bad dream...a nightmare.  So unfair.  They would have married and had kids.  I cry just looking at the shoe pile and not seeing his shoes there, so I can't imagine what the families are going through.  Nor what our daughter is feeling right now.

My heart breaks....

Blueberries ~ When it's too hot to eat a hot meal ~ Tidbits

I wasn't sure I'd even get blueberries this year, as it was a dry spring.  Strawberry season was short too.

However, I was on top of it, and brought home 10# of blueberries.  We cannot grow them here, so I'm tickled pink we can re-stock them.

I made this the other day.  It's a side dish, but I made it a "main" dish for a hot day.  It has black beans in it, so that counts as a protein.  So good too.  It's Tex Mex Pasta and the recipe is online at Spruce Eats.  You can utilize your garden goodies for this recipe.  Oh, I forgot to add the fresh cilantro from the herb garden.  Will add that today too.

Do you know what these are?  Hard to see in the bag, but Hubby surprised me.  French waffles.  A country nearby town had a food truck.  Woohoo!  We helped someone out financially, and filled my tummy with some yummy fair food (I know it's not healthy, but it's once a year ha ha!).

Got up early (again) and watched the sunrise.  We have some patchy fog here and the heat returns today.  We didn't get that much rain yesterday.  As my Mom said, "we got spit on" basically.

I have much to do today.  First water, then weed, and a lot of other stuff today.  Have a great weekend!