Friday already ??

This week flew by.  Partly because I spent my Thursday driving back and forth to see my new great nephew and his folks about an hour and a half away. He's 8 weeks old now and absolutely precious. Holding his head up and smiling and just a wonderful big baby boy.  I made a tied fleece crib quilt for him and tried to get one finished for his big sister Moriah, but my hands hurt too much from doing the first one. I told her I would get it finished and mail it to her. She is probably more excited about getting mail than she is even about the blanket (which will have princesses on it).  lol  My nephew told me last night that she went around all day telling everyone that HER aunt is making HER a blankie of her very own. lol  She is 4.

  I also had to work a sleepover shift in the middle of the week. That was 15 hours, home for 7 and back for 5 more.  I was exhausted.  Anyway, I'm glad to get a chance this morning to get around and read some blogs and post a little too.

  We lost a chicken last night. One of the Buff Orpingtons was pulled through the fence and demolished. Spine, pelvis, feet were left. It was a horrible mess.  What upsets me most is that last night in the middle of the World series game, I thought I heard something out there and muted the tv and strained to listen, but thought I was hearing things.  sigh....It's not the first chicken we've lost, and probably won't be the last. Part of the heartbreak of homesteading is losing animals in one form or another..such is life.

   I'm in the middle of chores...laundry, housecleaning and need to make a grocery run for a few staples like oatmeal and butter and brown sugar. The Irishman has a dentist appointment for a root canal this afternoon, so it looks like soup for supper tonight.  Hard telling what it's going to be like, they may do everything at once or they may do it in 2 appointments. Because of our dental network, he has to drive an hour away to do it.  It's ridiculous. 

  I'm moving slow...it got down to freezing last night and is supposed to hit 37 tonight. Then it swings into a warm-up again and night temps will be up in the 50's. The Irishman is out there cleaning up more garden spots, pulled out the last of the bell peppers.  The tomatoes are still showing and flowering, but the 'maters are small and most are green, though I brought in about 5 ripe ones (smallish) the day before yesterday.  Guess I'll go check the washer and think about some lunch for him before he leaves. Another day in the life of the hapless housewife...

  Been a "tough times at money high" these past few weeks. Property taxes, roof repairs, dental work and an outrageous electric bill from October.  Sigh...still, all in all, we manage to squeak through from one month to the next and I am grateful that we do it.  This is a time in history where lots of people are in a bad way, again.  I'm reading Independence Days, and she was talking about the progression of things through the Great Depression, and how, contrary to what most of us believe, it didn't happen over night. And that worries me, since the book was written in 2008 and so far, she's been spot on. And the Republicans have killed another jobs bill. And the world sits and watches and wonders.  And Quaddafhi has been killed. Or Gadhafi. Or Kaddafi.  How DO you spell that man's name? Everywhere I look, it seems to be spelled differently. I just read an article about the 7 weirdest things about him, one was that he had a huge crush on Condi Rice, and that she went to visit him in 2008 and he gave her like 200,000 dollars worth of gifts and kept a photo album of pictures of her. Now, baby...THAT is weird.  And the GOP is pissed that the Dems want to keep the Bush tax cuts only for people making under 200K a year and none with higher incomes.  And there's a baby girl missing in Kansas City. And I am ready to hunt down and kill whichever cat keeps peeing in my laundry room on the new floor.  And the earth moves around the sun. And so it goes.

    Well, another Friday lunch over with, tuna fish sandwiches with fresh ripe sliced tomatoes on the side. O.M.G.  Were they ever good.  I will miss summer with it's bounty and fresh smelled grass smells and flowers blooming everywhere. I'm going to take a little drive today, just me and Roxie, and the way home I will stop for some groceries.  I'll take in some fall colours and I'll mourn the passing of the season of play and move into the season of hunker-down.  I'll keep my fingers crossed that we don't have to pay more than $400.oo for this root canal and  that things will continue on the way they are supposed to...me in the thick of it, working and playing, living and loving.  Trying to keep my place in the balance...and being ever grateful for the things I have and more compassionate to those who don't have what I do. 

  To have the chance to live with a giving heart, a sunny countenance and the love of family and friends.  To be able to make my way in this mine field of a world and still see the beauty of it.  To live well,  love much and laugh often. 

  Namaste.

A new week...ready--set--GOOooooo!!!!!!!!!!!

  Feeling a little old today, lol.  But grateful to be on this side of the dirt and still having fun.

*************************

  I've been out in the garden, pulling up the parsley plants by the roots to hang in the back pantry to dry. Also pulled 2 large brown grocery bags  of basil (2 whole plants of one type) and a lot of small branches and tons of leaves from the rest.  We have some cold weather heading our way this week and I'm trying to NOT leave everything until the last minute.  Still need to get the heat lamp connected in the henhouse, the covers for the beans and peas at the ready, and the last of the green tomatoes picked. The turnips are looking really good, as is the kale. I picked another mess of young green beans today. This cold snap is only supposed to last a couple of days, and then back up to 50 degrees at night. At least that's what they're saying...

  I've been busy in the kitchen all morning, making spaghetti sauce and Italian bread for supper.  The bread is in the pan and will go in the oven in about an hour or so. Cutting it way too close for my liking. I haven't cooked the pasta yet, but will do that in a bit.  I may go to MissB's an hour late today.  There's salad left from last night's meatloaf supper, so that will round it out and make a nice meal.  The house smells like basil and oregano and yeast...mmmmm.....(Of course, my hands smell like basil...lol)

   Had a nice chat with someone today who's going through some personal stuff...--aren't we all? lol  Another friend is marking the anniversary of her son's suicide, and every year, my heart goes out to her.  I cannot imagine that anguish and hope I never have to know that kind of emotional and psychic pain.  I started my morning holding her in my heart and envisioning her surrounded by love and healing light.

   I was thinking today that I have so much to be truly grateful about in my life...when I'm having a rough day, I try to make a list of 10 things in my life I am grateful. That helps to pivot the feelings of powerlessness and loss.  It changes my perspective to focus on what I do have, rather than what I don't have. Today on my Facebook page, someone posted a thing that said:  Don't dwell on those who held you down. Cherish those who lift you up.

  I like it. No reason to waste my time in the negative hallways of this life. What is--IS.  Making the best of what I have, making the most of what timeI have left.  DAMN!  If only I'd known this when I was 17....lol

  Our St. Louis Cardinals are in the World Series.  They won Game 5 last night against the Milwaukee Brewers and that was that. It was hard watching those guys from the losing team...the disappointment on their faces almost made me cry.  But then, I changed my mind about it.  The team, and their manager and coaches all just walked off the field to their dressing rooms. Nobody came over and congratulated the winning team and I got a little fired up.  What has happened to sportsmanship? The Irishman says he's not sure professional teams do that anymore.  I say bullsh*t.  It's inexcusable.  

  And that's about the extent of the news from here.  Except that I had my panties in a wad yesterday because the man who lives behind me, across the pond, was shooting shotguns for over 3 hours, terrifying me and all my animals.  I was livid.  Patrick says he thinks that he shoots clays over the pond. That was supposed to make me feel better??? That puts it even MORE in the direction of my house. I despise guns. 

  I've heated up the last of the lentil soup from last week and am having that for lunch.  Hope you have something good too.

    Namaste.

A slow Saturday

  I liked this, and cannot remember where it came from. The hidden mysteries of the internet...lol

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  I cannot believe it is mid October already.  The leaves are falling so fast suddenly that I can't keep my porch swept. And both porches come directly into the house, so that means I can't keep my floors clean either. Sigh...the trials and tribulations of the modern day house frau...

  My husband has gone Trout  Fishing in America today (sorry--couldn't help it.  :)   Ah, my misspent youth...San Francisco,  City Lights, Richard Brautigan.)  At any rate, one of the local state park lakes stocks it with trout on October 12th and then opens it for a mad day of trout fishing for the weekend.  Apparently these illegal immigrant trout cannot really live in this lake for some reason, so they bus them in and  it's an executionary free-for-all. But the men get all riled up about it, and grab their gear and go. Reminds me (again--misspent youth) of opening day of salmon season on the wild and beautiful Klamath River, where the city men come and line up, shoulder to shoulder, at the mouth of the Klamath to fish their brains out for a day or so.  It's apparently a short, white-man window.  The Klamath Indians can fish whenever : Yuroks, Pomos, Hoopas and Karoks.  It must drive them mad. All the garbage you KNOW those men leave behind, and just the matter of having to tolerate them in general. However. That said, I'm sure they make a lot of money off them while they're there, and that is probably some small solace.

  Do I sound snarky today?  I probably am. I went to the movies (the little retro Canna Theater in Gillespie, IL...where 5 dollars gets you admission, popcorn AND a drink!) and saw The Help.  It was wonderful and horrible and always always...those subjects make me gnash my teeth and bellow like a mad cow.  It reminded me of my ex-husband and his college friends making a trip from California to Jackson, Mississippi when Medgar Evers was murdered, and so (naturally) I dreamt of him all night. (the ex, not ME).  They marched with Dr. King and did all kinds of wonderfully scary stuff, registering black voters, sitting in coloreds only sections, all that stuff that we used to be wont to do when we were young  idealists.  When I first met him (he's 10 years older than I am)  I was mesmerized by his stories and his values and his sense of social justice.  I was crazy about him.  I still am.

 Anyway.  The movie made me laugh and cry and be ashamed and be proud. Can't ask for much more than that from a movie....entertaining from start to finish.  Now I have to buy the book.  lol

  It has been busy around here the past few days. My bouncing baby boy came on Thursday and ripped out the decomposing parquet floor in my laundry room, and the sub-floor as well. He replaced it all with new wood and new vinyl and is coming back Monday to cut out and replace a panel of sheet rock on the wall so I can finish painting the room. He had to move the washer and dryer out of there, which was a helluva job that he pulled off with panache. He's really something, that kid. He's going to bring new trim to put around the baseboard and door too. I found a piece of vinyl that was a cream and coffee colored medium brown with a diamond design. I went paint hunting (in my garage) to see what I had as I didn't want to spend more money on paint if I didn't have to. I found about a quarter of a bucket of a peachy tan, a third of a bucket of a Killz buttercup yellow, and almost a full bucket of my Tuscany brown that I used on the doors in my living room. So, of course, I mixed the yellow and the tan together and put the Tuscany in a ladle full at a time, until it achieved a rich caramel color that went well with the vinyl.  My husband just watched and kept shaking his head....This room is going to look great once it's all finished. 

  I'm finishing up laundry this morning. I got all my stuff and recipes sent off to the publisher of the booklet for my soup workshop. I was supposed to go to a book club this morning, but it ain't happening. maybe next time.  I've got some leftover pork roast from Thursday night that I'm going to shred and some homemade bbq sauce that I'm going to soak it in, and we're gonna have some bbq sandwiches on homemade hamburger buns for lunch. Well, I am anyway. They might be his supper. Whatever. God only knows how Trout Fishing in America is going... hopefully we'll wind up with some lovely fish for the freezer. He had to buy an extra 6 dollar trout stamp to fish this...he'd better make it pay for itself.  LOL

  Yesterday he celebrated 31 years of living a clean and sober life.  He was only 20 when he was tossed into a rehab from the Marine base. (You do the math).  He wanted Mexican for supper and a movie, so we went. We try to make Friday a kind of a date night...our hours conflict a lot and it's nice.  I love this man. I am blessed.

   Okay-the dryer stopped and I ate a bowl of oatmeal with raisins and a spoonful of peanut butter in it, and I've had some coffee and I guess it's time to get dressed.  Woke up to about 40 degrees this morning...I guess autumn is really here.. At last.  

    Have a great weekend. Choose Love.

Namaste.

 

A soft rain...

That's what I woke up to this morning.  A soaking gentle rain that is giving my yard and plants a much needed drink. I'm thinking of taking my camera outside and shooting some damp shots. lol

  Something in me has a really strong connection to the poetry of Hafiz and Rumi. It's something old and mysterious, this connection, and makes me wonder about possible incarnations. The simple joy of the Divine Love reaches out to me through them both. I need that. Every single day.

  I've been making soups all week, trying out and tweaking new recipes. It's been great fun. Yesterday I made hamburger buns too. I finally made the Indian Cabbage Soup and it is NOT for the faint of heart and palate.  The first three ingredients are 2 onions, 4 cloves of garlic and a pound of cabbage. YIKES. I liked it, but wouldn't want more than one bowl of it, ever. And that's the bottom line for me...am I going to like it enough to be able to eat the majority of it soon enough?  So...today I am thinking about something as innocuous as a cream of potato soup, perhaps as anathema to the onions, garlic and cabbage. lol I do have some lovely Yukon Gold potatoes on the counter, beckoning...

   Just made myself a nice bowl of oatmeal...with added pecans and raisins and dried cranberries. Yum. My stomach was growling.  I worked late last night and didn't have any supper. So I stopped on my way home and got a soft taco (bad choice) and ate it in the car.  This morning I had 2 cups of coffee and suddenly, it was time to eat! lol

  Rambling about the house...sounds like the rain may have stopped. I am going out to check on my chickens in a minute...they are moulting something fierce and not laying well at all.  OR something is stealing eggs. Last night after I went around picking up the dog and cat food bowls that sit outside (we are having a visiting raccoon that is eating the food), I stepped out into the mudroom to make sure that door was closed, and I ran straight into a giant Rocky Raccoon trying to get the lid off the dog food container. He had gotten a box of suet blocks down from the shelf and torn into one of those too.  I screeched and he screeched and he went one way and I went the other.  I guess we're going to have to get a trap and catch and release him out by the reservoir or somewhere. He is HUGE. (probably all that cat and dog food he's eating).

  I don't seem to have much energy or motivation today. Thank goodness I'm off tomorrow, and have breakfast plans with a friend. I may try to go see my new great nephew in the afternoon. It's over an hour drive, but I haven't seen him yet and he's changing  every day. He's becoming...lol

   Already thinking about taking a nap. Must be all these negative ions. Couple of phone calls this morning, couple of  small errands and then I'm off to MissB's, where the world changes every minute and there is no memory of  of anything except childhood and the immediate present.  Probably we could all take a lesson from that.  My son thinks that Altzheimers may be a portal back to our beginnings. hmmm...perhaps it is, in the early and middle stages.

  Life is good.


Namaste.

Cornbread, butterbeans, and you across the table...

Just lyrics to one of my favorite songs by the Carolina Chocolate drops. This trio is AWESOME. If you've never heard of them, check 'em out : http://www.carolinachocolatedrops.com/   They have recently added a fourth member it looks like.  We saw them at the St Louis Art Museum last year and have 2 of their cds.

  Just having a lazy Sunday morning at home, alone. I made some chicken and dumplings and baked a couple of biscuits and had some biscuits and gravy for breakfast. Artery hardening, fattening, lovely comfort food. Ahhhh.....chicken and dumplings for supper.  Perfect.

  To let you know about the balance in my life though (snicker)  I did have a lovely vegan lentil soup yesterday for 2 meals, with homemade flax seed bread.  Just sayin'....

  The weather has been absolutely gorgeous and we're putting much of the garden to bed for the winter.  I ate 3 edible pea pods today, and saw a few green beans. I still have the odd tomato ripening here and there and quite a few green ones on the vines as well. The turnips are flourishing and the kale as well. Autumn. A nice time to garden (for some things).

  The boyo came by a few days ago and cleaned out the gutters for me.  The roofing endeavor has been put on hold.  We have a lot of things that need doing and spending several thousand dollars on a roof is maybe not the highest priority right now. Boyo went up and looked and said there were a few places that needed shoring up and some flashing that needs replaced.  Himself agreed that it could probably do for now with patching it. They have to get up there and tear off some shingles and see.

  I pulled the big muscle, lattisimus dorsi, I think it's called, in my back last Tuesday, I think I said. On Thursday morning I twisted again, moving the water bath canner to the sink and nearly screamed in agony. Pulled it even worse and could barely breathe. I stopped in at our little clinic, and the good doc gave me a shot of Torodol for the pain and a scrip for anti-inflammatories and a muscle relaxer. It was really painful and today it is better. Been sleeping a lot and taking it easy. I only take the muscle relaxer at night, as it knocks me out. lol I'm such a wuss....

  It was a lovely weekend, all in all. The Irishman and I went to see Real Steel, the new Hugh Jackman movie. It was really good.  I did some laundry (in 2 days) and hung it on the line to dry and just took it down today.  Carefully. Doing things very carefully. lol

  I might go have a short nap before leaving for MissB's house today.  I'm really tired a lot, and have started taking my B complex again.  I don't know if part of it might be the residual effects of the muscle relaxer?  The doc wrote m,e an order for an MRI of the darn knee, and says I should go to a pain management place. I may have to...he also asked if I'd had a flu shot yet, and I replied "Not since 1978..." He looked at me skeptically and said we can do it here. I said No thanks, and he muttered "Chicken" at me as he walked out the door.  I'll have to remember NOT to go see him if I get the flu again this year.  lmao

  Hope everyone has a grand and peaceful Sunday. Our St. Louis Cardinals have shown their stuff and are playing again tonight. Might just be on their way to the world series...got a wild card opportunity or something and have been doing great.

Namaste.

A loaf of bread, a bowl of apples and thee...

This is what I've been doing lately...making the recipe for healthy bread in 5 minutes a day, from Hertzberger and someone. lol Zoe someone. Ahhh..of course, it ISN'T 5 minutes a day, but it sure is easier than traditional and extremely good.  I think the 5 minutes refers to the original mixing up time, since it's no-knead.  

This is the loaf after rising on the cornmeal coated glazed stone. I put some wheat germ in the dough this time.  I also added rosemary and garlic to this loaf. 

  You mix the dough, let it set at room temperature from 2-20 hours and either hack off a chunk and bake a loaf, or put all of it into the fridge in a covered (but not airtight) container. It's better the longer it's in the fridge, and the shelf life of the dough itself is about 2 weeks. It's a little sourdoughy. It is REALLY good.

And here is the (ahem!) finished loaf.  The boyo was here and had to have a slice while it was still hot, with butter, of course. lol  But it's a beautiful rustic loaf, all crispy and chewy and cracked. And it tastes like heaven.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Woke up to a cold morning...and it's about 42 now. I've been up for almost 3 hours already, and I promise, I didn't mean to be up this early. Apparently the Irishman had a bad morning and so will we all.  lol At any rate I was up, so I came out, cleaned up the mess he left and got my coffee. I need to make some, as I just reheated the last of yesterdays coffee. But now I'm thinking maybe I need a nice hot cup of tea....

  I pulled a muscle in my back yesterday and it hurts like hell. I was just hanging a shower curtain...arms up over my head for too long and twisted, I guess.  It's better this morning because I put a pain patch on last night before bed. I'm not debilitated, just annoyed. For a while last night, it hurt to breathe, as it's that long muscle in the back.

 I was given the opportunity to share my experience strength and hope last night at a meeting/potluck. It  is always good for me to remember where I came from and be grateful that I am where I am. Afterwards a guy smelling like booze came up to me and said he didn't think anybody ever was like him, but everything I said hiot home with him. He said he is in and out and in and out and just can't quite stay here....when I got out to my car, I cried. For him and for me.

 That, my friends, is HOW it works.

 I am going to make an Indian cabbage soup today I think. I have the cabbage and all the Indian spices for it. It sounds good on paper, so we shall see. I also need to clean out my fridge, as the mysteries there continue to evolve.

  There are a ton of little things to do today and I need to accomplish at least some of them. I can feel myself settling into the seasonal hibernation, which (for someone like me) means I will do different things at a different pace and still not accomplish all I hope to. lol

  And that will be alright. 

  I love the calm of autumn that follows the frenetic summer. I love hunkering down and settling in and all the coziness of the cool weather. 

Until about February, and then I am sick to death of it.  LOL

 The dogs are already starting to not want to stay out in the mornings. It's still warm in the afternoons, it was 80 yesterday.  It's supposed to be 82 today.  They do stay out once it's around 11AM though. So I guess it's all good.  They're all in this room with me right now. Roxie just kicked Jinga the cat out of her bed. Bella is sleeping with the tip of her muzzle on the top of my foot. Molly is lying in the patch of sun coming through the curtains...and Caylee the snow dog, is still outside. That little dog LOVES cool weather and especially cold cold snow. Can't hardly make her come in.

  Guess I've wasted enough time in here. Soups on!!!!!!  (Or will be in a bit).

  Have a grand Tuesday, y'all.....

Namaste.

It's here....autumn has arrived

 Leaves of red and gold are showing up all over the ground, the morning temps are in the low 40's and nobody wants to go out in the chill to potty in the dog world here. You practically have to pick them up and throw them out the door. (Once you get them out from under the blankets and throws and pillows they're snuggled under).

  We slept late this morning and the Irishman went rushing out the door with a scone and an apple to try to make it to his morning meeting. I, on the other hand, have had a leisurely cup of cheerios and am on my first cup of coffee. When I finish here,  I am going to start some artisan bread dough. We are out of bread. I made one loaf on Friday and we ate the whole thing with our dinner of spaghetti carbonara. Actually, we ate  a slice earlier when it came out of the oven with butter. Then we finished it off.  In all fairness (to us)  they are small round loaves. And RIDICULOUSLY  delicious.  This time, I am going to make the Hertzberg 5 minutes a day kind, which  will give me dough in the fridge so I can bake some up on the (relatively) spur of the moment. I think it makes about 5 loaves all in all, but I'm not sure. I'll report back.  lol

  Yesterday was the canning workshop. It went from 1-5 and was a lot of fun. There were 9 registrants and we canned a quart or two of green beans each.  I spent a lot of the time talking about food preservation and why it's so important, what's happening in the world today regarding food supplies and problems, and just what I do, old country girl that I am. We talked alot about food safety. We started with the canning beans because of the time constraints and went on to freezing and dehydrating and even found time to take a 15 minute walk around the community gardens. They were a great bunch and really helped make it go well. AND--all nine said they were registering (and bringing a friend) for the Harvest Soup workshop next month.  I'll be doing that one on Nov. 5th. So it felt like a real success (to me, anyway) and no canners blew up and no one died .  LOL   I took samples of my canned goods with me, pictures that I downloaded off my kitchen blog, a recipe for salsa, both my dehydrators and a stack of my most used (and new favorite) books  on food preserving.  I took both my pressure and water bath canners, and talked a lot about the value of both. I talked about building a pantry in your home, and the importance of rotation and stock-taking inventories, and about the trial and errors of learning what things to grow that your family will actually eat and how to figure out about incorporating all your pantry ingredients into your daily meals.

  I was really tired by the time I got home.

 My big plan this morning is to get the bread dough started, get the laundry started , and clean up the living room a little. I need to strip the bed too and change the sheets. And that is probably all I will get done today before heading off to visit MissB and spend the afternoon chatting about days gone by and how different this world we live in is from when she was a girl, back in the 1930's and '40s...

 Miss Roxie DOES NOT like this seasons changing thing at all. She's all snuggled up in her little felt bed right here at my feet...wanting to know why the house is so cold. I haven't got the heart to tell her I don't want to turn the furnace on yet this year...besides, it's only 63 in here. Much warmer than outside. And once I turn the oven on it will be toasty in no time.

 Tomorrow night my meeting is having a potluck and speaker and I am the speaker. I asked my relief if she'd come in early so I can go and she said she would. So, I will be there for supper and then to share a little of what it was like, what happened, and what it's like now.  And mostly about the miracles of not dying from a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body. That a wretch like me could have this life, full of doxies and neighbors and canning workshops and family...a miracle indeed.

  Okay. I'd best get a move on if I'm going to accomplish anything today. Some cat threw up on the loveseat in the night, so that means I have to strip it off and wash that cover too. Sigh...the gifts just keep on comin'...lol

  Sauntering off into a beautiful fall Sunday...maybe I'll throw a peach crisp into the oven...doesn't THAT sound good???

Namaste.