A day in photographs. . .a barter

 Well, some of my day anyway.....morning starts with coffee.

Folded Saturday's towels I forgot about.  My "linen" closet is a vintage laundry basket.

Harvesting Black Walnuts

 Yesterday's sunrise.  Just beautiful!

I took some time to pick up two five gallon buckets of our black walnuts.  They have pretty much fallen in the last few days here.  In fact, they were falling on me as I picked them up.  Black walnuts contain more protein than English walnuts and have a stronger flavor.

The hulling and rinsing process is underway, but these will need to dry in the sun.  (click on "read more" to see the remainder of the post).

Sawdust up my nose. . .

The Hubs and I split more wood, and have a pile we still need to stack today.

 

We used a wedge and sledge on about three of these huge pieces, then split them up.  We got our work out for a day.   They look small in the photo, but they are about 3-4 feet wide and larger.   And guess what we found under the  stumps?

Sage Honey ~ Tidbits

I started two jars of sage honey.  This year was a good year for my sage, so I'm drying more for tea and cooking as well.

I filled each jar about half way with snipped, fresh sage.  Then filled the jars with honey.  You can use a spoon to move the sage around to release air bubbles, but I let mine sit a few minutes, and the bubbles released on their own.  The honey level lowered of course, so I then added more honey.

Back to the Garden and other happenings

I'm back to gutting the garden, but will leave the greens in for a while yet.   It was a toss - clean the coop or head to the garden.  Tough decision.  School was delayed, and eventually closed (again) for fog.  I sure hope we don't run out of our snow days before the snow even arrives.

Instead of work, aside from laundry, I ended up "playing" first.

Fascinating Tidbits ~ Garlic Butter

I threw in "Fascinating" for extra thrill today, ha ha!  It's not really that interesting.

Gladys were all pulled for winter.  The bulbs have grown bigger over the years, and have outgrown their box.  They won't survive the winter here outside.

Fall Blooms ~ Tidbits

The white mums I planted a few years back, are blooming now.  These were table decorations at my younger brother's wedding, and I have two that stayed alive and continue to bloom.  They add a color in the flower beds that I did not have before.

This past cold spell kind of took a toll on my zinnias.  They don't look like they'll be blooming for much longer, but boy have we enjoyed them.  We are already talking about where to put in new flower beds to add more color here.

Weekend Updates

It rained all day Saturday, but we split wood inside the barn.  I also tackled cleaning the last window blind, and Hubby helped.  We managed to get one air conditioner in storage, and a few windows washed on the inside as well.  It was cold, but I was not going to fire up the wood stove.  No way.  I need the chimney swept first.  We hunkered down with flannel pants/pajamas, and lots of blankets instead.

I've been stocking up more herbs, and getting more medicinal herbs put into jars as well.   I started a jar of plantain/comfrey oil that I'll eventually use to make a salve, and I got a batch of elixir made.

Wicked Weather

I spent the day doing some more stocking up, and got homemade condensed mushroom soup in the freezer.  I need several more made, so each trip to town, I pick up shallots and mushrooms.  I managed to get three article drafts done too, which was a huge relief to get back into my writing.

Hot chocolate is finally restocked for this cold spell were are currently in.  The weather is very fall-like, with a mix of storm-i-ness.  The wind is wicked due to the coastal storms.  I hope everyone is hunkered down and safe.

Brrrr! ~ Tidbits

Where did "Fall" go?  It went from summer straight to too cold.  Brr!  Hot chocolate weather is here now.

Yesterday flew by quickly, and I didn't get much done as planned.  Unfortunately, a senior at the school our kids attend, was killed in a tragic car accident.  Upon the start of school, the student was announced missing, and his car located in a ditch.  After school started, they located his body.  I had to go pick up one daughter, who was very emotional.  When I got there, the entire school was in tears, adults, teachers, kids....very emotional day.  Students were not allowed to drive home in the cars they drove to school with.  Parents had to pick them up.  Homecoming dance is postponed.  Just a very sad, emotional day for the his family, school and local community.

Recycling the barn siding.....

 A while back, I ordered a few stencils to paint signs for your home.  I'm painting sayings on the old barn siding we removed from the big barn.  The stencil above was a free sample, and I'm glad I had a sample to practice with.  Rough barn wood is not easy to paint.  I'm so glad I got the stencils vs. trying to freehand them as well.

This one had a few nails at the end, and even gently giggling the nails loose, they both broke.  It left the sharp end on the other side, so those had to be removed.  Just old stuff to work with.

Random Tidbits

It rained most of the day yesterday, so the last few outdoor jobs I needed to work on, were put to a halt.   I ended up spending most of my day at the computer.

The Garden Plan ~ Tidbits ~ Prayer Request

This is bounty we got from the popcorn patch.   Two ears.  Last year we got 4 quarts off the cob, so you can see how bad a year it was this year.

Happy Homemaker Monday

I'm joining Happy Homemaker Monday today.

Homemade Vapo-Rub

Sharing this recipe again, as we move into "flu" season here.

Random Tidbits

Well, well, well....car repairs loom over us once again.   Our college daughter who is 2 1/2 hours away, drove home with car problems.

I guess it's time to go car shopping, unless Hub-ster the mechanic can pull miracles today.

Dehydrating Garlic

It's that time of year again, when I dehydrate my home grown garlic.

Tidbits ~ Freezing Celery vs. Dehydrating ~ From Pile to File Recipe

Yesterday's sunrise.

I came across some broad leaf plantain in my flower garden yesterday.  You know me.  I had to stop weeding, pick some leaves, and prepare them for drying.

My Achy Bones.....

We had so much fog yesterday morning, that our kid's school actually closed.  This worries me as we tend to run out of snow days, and end up having school run into summer.

Feeling Thankful

I'm down to two large bowls of home grown potatoes.  It's disheartening to see such a terrible garden year, but in other areas of work we are getting more done than I ever expected.

Today I am thankful for:

Random Tidbits

......things that make me smile.

One Big Job

I took this photo back in March of this year, in hopes to locate a barn salvage person or company.  

This challenge is one of our big jobs on the "to-do" list right now.

Well, the first two did not want the barn - not old enough, not "enough wood" to mess with.  Not long ago few men stopped in after the corner collapsed in a rain storm.  We talked, Hubby got in touch with them.

Homemade Fire Cider ~ Winter Illness Preventative

I decided to leave a few cayenne, jalapeno and our only hot banana pepper plant in the garden a bit longer.

I wanted the peppers to make more ground cayenne powder and also use the jalapenos for making our very first Fire Cider.

....from the handiwork journal

. . . still working on the scrap crochet blanket.  I had plans to donate it, but Hubby and one daughter are fighting over who will get it.  We'll see.  This is my project to unwind on cooler evenings here. Right now it's 55 inches wide by 42 inches long.

Random Tidbits ~ Camper Everything ~ More Cleaning

Yesterday's chores were still getting worked on when the kids got home from school.  I had to get everything washed and on the line as rain (storms) are expected today.  

I got all the rugs washed and dried too.  Speaking of rugs, our 18 year-old daughter took the peach colored (crocheted in cotton yarn) rug for her dorm.  I just read somewhere that they cannot have rubber backed rugs, so that worked out nicely.  So, if you kiddo is heading to college, a handmade crocheted rug would come in handy for her/him.  The ones you see on my clothesline are from old sheets, old jeans, and scrap cotton yarn.  They all wash up nicely too.

 

I forgot to dump my ice trays and bag it, so I could freeze all the organic collards I had yesterday.  I managed to get half of them froze.  I have more to freeze today.

Homemade Peppermint Hot Chocolate

With cooler weather coming upon us, the kids have been hankering a fall weather beverage.  A nice hot cup of hot chocolate sounded good.  This time we made a mint hot chocolate.

I simply place the peppermint leaves into my tea infuser, then pour boiling water in it.  Close the top, and steep about 3-4 minutes.  You can use fresh or dried leaves.

Homemade Flour Tortillas with Lard ~ From Pile to File ~ Fire Powder

I mentioned a while back that I would try another tortilla recipe, but this time I used lard.  I forgot I even had the recipe until I was looking for my whole wheat pancake recipe one day.  Tip:  Tortilla presses are more for corn tortillas (or masa), so you'll need a rolling pin for this recipe.

This recipe got all thumbs up from the family.  The tortillas are softer and we all like these better than the tortillas I have been making with organic canola oil.

Chickens ~ Garden

Yesterday I decided to let the chickens have free run of the entire property.  They were so excited.   I needed them to chow down on some grasshoppers, and other over loaded bugs in the garden.  One went missing so I hope she found her way back to the barn last night.

Random Tidbits ~ German Potato Salad

My ladies have been slacking in the egg production department lately.  Considering the amount of feathers out in the run, I'm guessing they are molting.

The weather is now cooling down at night, but the forecast for the end of the week is in the upper 80's again.  

 I'm so glad I got my garlic planted this past weekend.  One more thing off my list.

Wood splitting has resumed.  Thank goodness.  

I was getting worried.  Although the dead trees are still standing (patience is a difficult thing). We need about six more good Saturdays to finish it up.