Happy Homemaker Monday

I took this photo Sunday morning.  The clouds looked like mountains.  I'm up super early to try and get more cleaning done, as the tomatoes are starting to turn red even more, so that means canning resumes very soon.

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

I'll link up when she posts.  I have a lot to clean this morning.

The weather outside is . . .
84°F/62° sunny

How I am feeling this morning . . . 
Mad. Mad as a hornet. I'm about to charge my 21 year old rent.  I told her to get all of her stuff out of my living room, for the last 5 days now.  She did not.  Hubby and I moved it all to one of the barns after doing yard work all day long.  Guess what I woke up to at 4am in my living room???  Yep.   I am the maddest most angriest mother on earth right now.  Guess who is going to get her up ASAP and move it to her room herself before she leaves for work?  Oh, this Bear is not letting her take the zen out of my home any longer.  She moved a huge heavy tote of hay back in for her rabbit.  It has no business being in the house in the first place. Lack of respect hurts me the most.  I feel like a rubber band about to snap.

We got the burn pile burned down.  The fire dept. didn't come out and put it out either (they have been doing this to people if the burn is more than 3 feet).  

My step-daughter came out with the grands and they helped weed the rose bed and my herb garden (which needs finished today).  By the way, I have more green onion than I thought, but the thyme, parsley, and cilantro died.  We had so much fun watching the grandkids.  They had a blast with a mud puddle and our sprinkler.  We spoiled them with peanut butter sandwiches and ice cream.

On my mind . . .
Just getting the house in order by tonight.  


On the breakfast plate . . .
A bottle of wine sounds about right.  Kidding.  Probably quick toast and coffee.  


On my reading pile . . .
No time to read or just plain exhausted.  Oh and there is this....ordered books from the library.  They are in and I have no vehicle to pick them up.  Sigh....


On my TV . . .
Heart of Dixie

On the menu . . .
Grilled honey jalapeno chicken, have no idea on sides
-no idea for the rest of the week yet.


From the camera . . .

Looking around the house . . .
The tomatoes are rolling in.  One kitchen table is filled.  I have a list for the day, and the living room is first, and making sure the wood stove is cleaned up for winter.  Oh yeah, we haven't even started to split wood, but it's on the non-canning day weekend days list.


New recipe I tried . . .
Well the lemon zucchini bars were a fail (didn't turn out like the photo, and the family didn't scarf them up which tells me a no-go).  The caramel corn was a hit and I want to make it again.  I have a new recipe I want to try, but need a new pa to try it (needed the pan anyway).  It won't be happening until later mid-week or even later.


To relax I will . . . 
Bwahahaahahahahahaha!  Not happening until Thursday or later.  Maybe.


Something I want to share . . 
Nothing at the moment.

On my prayer list . . .
Us, myself as I know I'm at my exhaustion level again, but will dose up with nettle tea.  Personal requests, and of course our country and for the virus to vanish.

Random Tidbits

The kale in the garden was a complete fail.  No harvest.  What didn't get eaten up by bugs was fried in this years drought.

Collards don't look good, but there is hope for the chard.  Have no idea on the root veggies yet.  The turnips I did pull were small.

Tried a new recipe - frozen peanut butter pie!  Delicious.  Hubby was happy to have a cold dessert after a long hot day.

By the way, we got rain last night.  Not a lot, but more than the last time.

Almost stepped on this guy yesterday.  They day before that I almost stepped on a snake.

Made a batch of homemade Kahlua.  I gifted this one year for Christmas.  Recipe is online and easy to find. I won't be gifting this batch.  Once it's done, strained and re-bottled, I'll be trying a new recipe with it.

Made myself my first mint julep.  Very refreshing.

Made my Mom's Dried Beef casserole for dinner last night. I needed something easy. Recipe is on my blog.  Another recipe I am scanning for the girls for their Recipe Boxes I'll gift.

I'm finally back to deep cleaning my utility room.  As soon as the rain passes, I'll be washing up winter coats, quilts, blankets, and comforters (before outside drying becomes more difficult).

I'm thrilled I don't have to water the gardens this morning.  It gives me more time to deep clean today and tomorrow.  Maybe.  Just maybe.  I'll get a teensy bit of crochet time in today.

I marinated chicken last night (another recipe to pass on to the girls), with homegrown jalapenos and garlic.  I have a very easy dinner again tonight.  Honey Jalapeno Chicken on the counter top grill, and a side of hopefully garden veggie.  I guess we'll see what's out there this morning.

Feverfew ~ Catnip ~ Canned Hot Pepper Jelly

The rain went right off the radar on Tuesday.  Not a drop.  Rain on the radar on Wed. went right off the radar as well.  Sigh.  I had to pick and choose what would be watered, considering the well isn't getting filled up.

I finally got some feverfew put into the dehydrator for winter tea if needed.  I'm hoping if we get rain, I can dehydrate more (it's in a pot vs. the ground).

Once that was dried I loaded it up with catnip.  I make catnip tincture as an ingredient for my bug off spray.  I will also make some catnip pillows for our cats and Mom's cats if I have enough for both.  I want to make my tincture with fresh catnip.

We love hot pepper jelly (now that I know how to really make it hot).  We love it as a go-to snack for gatherings or snacking.  It's great with cream cheese on a cracker.  I couldn't find hot cherry peppers, and did not grow them this year.  I used habanero, serrano, hot banana, hungarian wax, and jalapeno.  We'll taste this in a few weeks to see if it's a good as last years.

The sunrise is quickly moving to the south.  Sigh.  I'm not even ready to pull root veggies (if they even survived this drought).  Just another sign we need to start winter prep.

I overslept again.  Gonna down some nettle/oat straw infusion later, but first I have some work to do.  I forgot to marinate chicken, so dinner is a change of plans, but I need to stick to my list today.  I totally missed some things yesterday.  It's gonna be a very hot above 90 degree day.  Praying we get rain.

Canning

Got another batch of Cowboy canned.

Canned a batch of taco sauce.  Makes my heart sing.  Haven't been able to do this for the last two years.  I you can with anything (tomato) sauce related, you know they are long days.  The end result is so delicious.  I can it in 4 oz. jars because that is enough for one meal for all of us and nothing is wasted or needs used up.  I can only fit 11 of them in the canner, so I put the remaining 1/2 pint in the fridge.  We'll be eating tacos or taco salad this week. Taco sauce from the store has corn syrup, corn starch (all gmo), and other preservatives.  So worth the time to can.  I'm hoping the other tomatoes ripen together so I can do tomato sauce next.

I didn't have time to bake a breakfast for a grab-n-go for all of us either.  I was so exhausted I overslept this morning.  I wasn't even up to kiss my husband before he left for work this morning.  I'm taking the day off today.  We expect rain anyway.  We did get a short shower of rain yesterday thankfully.  I was literally so exhausted I crocheted 6 sc and put it away last night.

See ya' in a few days.  Hopefully super powered from a day of rest.  Not sure if I will fall plant green beans.  I'm exhausted.  I do miss the taste of them already, but we have a 3-4 day window to get them in the ground before the temps lower.  Not sure fall planting will happen this year.

Happy Homemaker Monday

Daughter got the job!  She starts today!

Friday I needed to do some watering.  I also brought in more green bell peppers, and couldn't believe the size of this one.  Too bad I don't have a lot ready at once, because I would have stuffed and froze this one too.  

I spent the day freezing bell peppers, hot banana peppers, zucchini, and figuring out if I will be canning pickles yet or not.  I brought in more cucumbers. I filled my small dehydrator with comfrey and baked Lemon Zucchini bars too.

Guess who snagged some Einkorn flour?  Yep.  Limit of 2, but I'm on the list when it's restocked.

Saturday we rode the motorcycle all day and relaxed in the evening.  We took our youngest daughter, and she said it was just what she needed.  

My spring chicks are starting to lay.

Sunday, we planned another bike ride, but our radio stopped working, so it's torn apart and awaiting a new party.  I went to the garden and pulled all the bean plants.  Making our year end harvest at 15# and 4 oz.  Not the best, way better than last year, but we battled a drought this year.

Hubby went to help one of our biker friends put on a new fuel pump, so he had a working vehicle to head to work today.

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



The weather outside is . . .
Muggy, hot in the 90's as it has the last 3 days

On my mind . . .
Not much.



On the breakfast plate . . .
Coffee, have no idea what I can bake yet.


On the reading pile . . .
Nothing.  Not it the mood yet.  It's still better to have books on hand when I am in the mood than not to have a book when I am in the mood.


On the TV . . .
The Lost Husband on Netflix


On the menu . . .
I'll be back if I come up with a menu.  Have no idea.


From the camera . . .

Looking around the house . . .
I need to put last night's dishes away.  I was too tired yesterday.


Chore I am not looking forward to this week . . . 
The start of ripping out my herb garden, laying down cardboard and re-starting a new one.  It needs to rain first.


To relax this week I will . . .
Work on Christmas ornaments maybe.  


On my prayer list . . .
Youngest, this country, our President, our biker friend and his family, and personal requests.

Random Tidbits

Photos of the sky before the sunrise this morning.

Well, we are not camping tonight.  Not at all this weekend.  I had to cancel.  We decided that the return of the awful heat would make us miserable.  We cook all meals over a campfire, and it would awful to do in 89-90 degree weather.

Yeah, I am bummed.  I was looking forward to unplugging and it won't happen.  Not anyone's fault but the weatherman.  The weather up until now was absolute perfect camping weather.

I got my dentist visit done.  So, first I went and got my crown glued back on, second, I went back the next day for a cleaning, so that's done before winter.  All the hoop-la they say about going to the dentist on social media is false.  I just had to wear a mask until they worked on me and wear it out.  That's it.  Other than they don't rinse as much due to the splatter of water, but they have face shields on etc.  Such a different world right now.  I took my crochet work with me, and finished another jar opener.  Then I drove over to my younger brother's house where Mom was babysitting the grandkids.  I gave them 3 cucumbers.  Apparently, my niece and nephew LOVE cucumbers.

On a good note, our youngest has an interview today with a different salon.  I think she is looking forward to it and she will be able to actually cut hair if she is hired.

The garden has been so-so.  The yellow squash is finally coming on, but plants are small.  The tomatoes are turning red, but the leaves are already turning brown. 

As for flowers, the zinnias haven't even bloomed and it's the end of August.  Despite watering, it's been a rough year.

I'm not sure if I will can pickles this year.  We don't really eat them that often (sliced pickles).

The chickens are doing well in the new coop, and no one has flown the coop since the last incident.  No raccoon sightings either.

There has been discussion about the new engine for my car.  It's been a slow process, but nothing is cheap.

I hope your weekend unplugs you somehow.  I will have to find another way now.

Christmas Planning ~ Free Printable ~ Other Ramblings

It's official.  The last breakfast casserole is our new Christmas morning breakfast now.  I will make it a few more times and add greens, ground mustard and possible half spicy sausage to try it that way.  It's going in my "Christmas" Binder.  

The honey roasted caramel corn is definitely in the recipe box and will be in the treat list for the holidays.  

I found a free printable online at the Homestead Hustle, it's called Product Pricing Worksheet.  It's great to keep track of cost and sale price for homemade or homegrown items you sell.

I bought myself a few new stitch markers.  So adorable!

My fall center piece made from a free metal strainer, and decor from the dollar store (bought by one of my girls).

Made a cucumber/tomato salad.

Picked another 1 1/2 cups blackberries to freeze.

Froze a quart bag of diced green bell peppers.