Happy Homemaker Monday

My husband had to work all weekend, but we managed to get to the gathering regarding the loss of one daughter's boyfriend a year ago.  Oh my, we love those families/friends.  It was a good turn out, including classmates of his and daughter E's.  So many good laughs and good times and even tears, but so thankful we all got together.

Something I learned (although some of you may already know this). . .

I have never cooked with flank steak before (believe it or not).  I bought some last week and sliced it and grilled it for philly's sandwiches.  What did I learn?  Well, I was watching America's Test Kitchen (love that show) and watched them prepare a recipe using flank steak.

What did I learn?  I learned it has little fat and you must pound it before cooking, to tenderize it.  I literally did not know this until I watched the show.  

I will be buying flank steak again and giving it a try the right way. Ha ha!  It always makes me excited to cook when I learn something new.

I made a double batch of homemade taco seasoning.

I made a comfrey salve.

Today I am joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

The weather outside is  . . .

86°F/66°F, sunny

Heating up and we are finally drying out!  

How I am feeling . . .

Rested.  Ready to take on the week.  

On the breakfast plate . . .

Coconut flour waffles, bacon, coffee

Looking around the house . . .

I have some boxes I need to take upstairs for Daughter E, for her big move coming up, but the kitchen is almost pristine.  I spent quite a bit of time cleaning yesterday while my husband worked (really stinks because weather was great on Sunday for outdoor work, bike ride, cards on the porch).

On my reading pile . . .

Nothing last week.

On  my TV . . .

Finally finished the entire season of Heartland.  Ending wasn't exciting either.

On the menu . . .

-Baked walleye, steamed broccoli
-Meatballs with homemade teriyaki sauce, asparagus

-something on the grill 

-have no idea

-leftovers

From the camera. . . 

The rain brought us some new blooms, and one glady finally bloomed.

I am thankful for . . .

A few dry days to allow the garden to recover, and give me time to do more weeding (not to mention get the grass mowed). I had more handiwork time over the weekend, which was a nice change (everything outside this weekend was soaked and road still flooded).

I am hoping to . . .

Get to the "Big City" to get errands done this week.  Maybe.  Nothing I need is an emergency, but needed.  The list is growing.

On my prayer list . . .

No personal requests, this country could always use prayer though.

Rainy Cleaning Indoor Day

I dug in my heals and got to cleaning Friday morning, but boy oh' boy did I keep getting side tracked.

I left dishes to soak, went to toss bedding in the washer, started to pick up the bedroom (camping clothes etc) and forgot about the dishes. 

Put biker boots in the closet and saw the bag of netting I needed to cut.  You get the picture, ha ha!

I got back to dishes and something caught my eye (or thoughts) I need to get my salve made.

Well, that didn't happen.

We woke up to rain again, and the road is starting to flood.  We had lots of rain yesterday and no time for it to dry up.

I've managed to write out some shopping lists for the first dry day we have.  I need twine to tie up tomatoes (again), and some items to do a complete cleaning on the pop up camper (more on that later).

Today is the day Daughter E's boyfriend and best friend were killed in a car accident one year ago.  The family is hosting a backyard get together, so both families can be with one another.  I sure hope the rain stops by then, but it's iffy.

I'll leave you with a photo of Daughter E's cat Tiger.  She plans to take him when she moves.  I on other hand have begged her not too.  He's old and would be better off in the home he knows.  We'll see what she decides.

Rosemary ~ More radishes ~ This and That ~ Something I Learned

 

A bit of rosemary made it's way to the dehydrator.

I picked more radishes.  Enough to make dip again, but this time I used garlic powder (garlic scape season is pretty much done).

Although hot and humid, and a complete soaking muddy mess, I managed to free the bean plants from their blood sucking weeds.  What a job on such a hot day, but I beat the rain in the process thankfully.

We are now under a flash flood alert with rain all day today and tomorrow.

Daughter E is leaving the salon she is working for, and moving up to a salon that does hair color/highlights etc.  Risky move (requires booth rent), as she is also getting her apartment next month.  We hope she does very well.  

Something I learned - one of the large flea markets located in Amish country in Ohio are closing their doors the end of October 2021.  Holmes County flea market sold their building.  Sad to hear, as it was one of the main reasons to visit the area.  The Walnut Creek Flea market however has stated they are expanding.

Rain ~ Garden

 

How most days have been lately.  Rain.

It's been nice not having to water, and all is doing great other than the rabbits eating my sweet potato tops off.  The weeds are out of control.  We need some dry days so I can get in it and weed.  Oddly, it looks like it could rain this morning, and when I checked the forecast it said high of 89 degrees and sun all day.  Hm.  I guess I will find out soon enough this morning.  It's been very humid here too.

We are once again having problems with our internet.  We had to call and have them "ping" our address (again).  Now my husband wants to look into Dish.  The only other option out here in the country, but we'll see how the rest of the week is.

Rain ~ Pest Control and other chit chat

The weather was not wrong this week.  We are getting rain off and on, but so much on that the weeds will be an issue.  

I ordered a very large container of cayenne pepper.  I can't keep up with the rabbits and the snakes are out of control.  I'll be giving it a try to deter both from the garden.  The snakes keep other pests out, but they also keep me out of the garden ha ha!

It paid to open every envelope that I had in my old small lock box.  I have now purged that mess of paperwork.  I found an autograph I got as a young child, while in FL at an old motel visiting my Aunt.  It's from Norm Crosby.  Mom saved it and gave it too me years ago and I have uncovered it again.  Not sure what I will do with it ha ha!  Anyway, glad I got that old mess of paperwork gone.

We went and looked at a hard sided camper last night.  It doesn't have a slide out, but has a shower, toilet and hot water.

New Recipe Tried ~ Campfire Beer Cheese ~ Question and Tidbits

Campfire Beer Cheese

2 - 8 oz. blocks of organic (or homemade) cream cheese
3 cups organic shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup beer (I used Wicked Easy, what I had on hand)

1/2 cup buffalo sauce (or homemade)

1/4 cup organic ranch dressing

1/4 cup organic blue cheese crumbles

Melt all ingredients over a campfire in a cast iron skillet.  Top with chopped homegrown chives and serve with veggies, organic tortilla chips or homemade soft pretzels.

Note:  I made this in my crockpot to give it a taste test before making it during a camping trip and it worked great.  It only took a few hours.  Leftovers reheated nicely too.

What is your favorite way(s) to use pickled carrots?

I'm wondering if those last few cold spells killed my red raspberry blossoms - zero berries.  However, the blackberries are doing great.  Squash blossoms are on!

Happy Homemaker Monday

We got our first camping trip in this year.  We haven't camped since 2019.

Although we decided (and a good decision) to pack up early before the rain hit, we had a wonderful time.

I'm definitely going to be working on new campfire recipes for future trips.  We needed a dose of nature.

Yesterday, my husband and I took Mom lunch and had a nice time catching up.  

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

The weather . . .

Rain.  Lots of rain. Not sure why the photo is so blurry, but you can see the rain in the forecast anyway.

How I am feeling . . .

Sad to not be on our weekend vacation, but ready to tackle the housework I guess.

On the breakfast plate . . .

Blueberry pancakes, sausage and coffee.

Looking around the house . . .

It's a mess.  I have camping stuff to put away, tidy the kitchen, sweep and mop it, do some dishes, empty dishwasher, do laundry, purge a small lock box, purge a filing cabinet, get Daughter K to clean her stuff off one table, purge one box of binders, 

On my reading pile . . .

Nothing this week.  I loved being able to get my dose with nature and play cards.  My husband said it's the most time he's spent outside (aside from garden/yard work).

On my TV . . .

Heartland

 On the menu . . .

-pumpkin/sage macaroni, veggie
-grilled philly's

-baked walleye, steamed broccoli

-grilled BBQ chicken, corn on the cob, asparagus and baked beans

-leftovers

From the camera . . .

English muffin pizzas (camping trip), using home canned pizza sauce.  Yum!

I am thankful for . . .

Getting the chance to go camping, for a day with visiting Mom, for the rain (giving the garden a good soak and me getting the time to get caught up inside), my front porch and so much more.

I am hoping to . . .

Well, for starters, we hope to have time to go check out a few more campgrounds in the next few weeks.  I'm hoping for a few dry days to pop up the camper, and give it a good cleaning.

On my prayer list . . .

No special requests, but we are still having concerns with Daughter E (she is moving out next month).