The last week or two has had temperatures back in the high 90's around here. It's been miserable. But--sunny. So tomatoes started ripening at a pace as yet unseen in 2013. lol As you can imagine, it's been a crazy September around these parts as I've spent days and days canning and dehydrating tomatoes in all their forms. Sauce, salsa, okra-tomatoes-onions (one of my favorite things to heat up and eat when I can't think of anything else for lunch. I only canned a dozen or so jars of that, since I'm really the only fan here. The other night I was up until 1 canning quarts of sauce because I had to neighbor-sit the next day and would be gone all day. I canned more diced. I may can some whole tomatoes today, since I have about 15 pounds of Romas in there and they need to be preserved. I've dried at least another 15 pounds already. There won't be a tomato shortage in this house come winter. lol Or a sweet relish shortage either. lol I harvested about 2 dozen good looking butternut squash yesterday morning. But today is only supposed to be in the mid 80's and down to the 70's from then on. We'll see.
The sweet potatoes we planted in the winter box (I don't know what else to call that thing. It was supposed to be a covered box to try to grow lettuce or spinach in winter, to start seedlings in, etc. But himself built it like 3 ft. high and it never quite worked out as intended. So, after planting my sweet potato bed this year I still had about 9 plants left with no room and had the bright idea of having him fill that box with compost and leaf mold. He did, and I planted those sweet 'taters in it, along with a couple of Roma plants that I had no room for (after I had planted a tomato bed, planted 5 more plants in a flower bed in front of the deck, between the hostas, and STILL had 2 more plants. lol--himself said--just put them in the compost pile--I must have looked stricken, because he added, or anywhere you can find a hole!) LOL So, into the sweet 'tater box they went, in one corner. They have grown like crazy...who knew sweet potatoes would be a companion plant to tomatoes ?? Not me, for sure. But those 2 little tomatoes have produced more and better tomatoes than any of the others. Live and learn. Anyway, I accidentally uncovered a sweet potato in there digging around for tomatoes and it looks like there's going to be a good crop there. It's getting close to time to harvest the big bed too, I suspect. My friend Cathy, the Sweet Potato Queen, who grows like 3 acres of them every year and sells them up north in Minnesota, has said hers are ready to harvest. Of course, she probably planted at the end of March, and mine weren't planted until May. So, maybe not quite yet. We'll see.
I am behind on everything...correspondence, emails, housekeeping... I keep telling myself that I have all winter to catch up. But the rush at summers end is always so time consuming, it's hard to remember that. I've been freezing a lot of bell peppers, and still have lots out there. I harvested the sage and put it to dry in the back pantry in a paper bag. I have friends who save me their paper bags with handles, and I use them to dry things like that by putting the uprooted plants (or the leaves and flowers in the case of anise hyssop and a couple of other things like that) into the bags, hanging the handles of the bag over a clotheshanger, and hanging it up in the back pantry/closet on the clothes rod. In fact, when I put the sage in there, I realized that I hadn't yet emptied the bags from last year--parsley, sage, fennel, onion flowers for seed, and feverfew are some of the things in there. I still have some other herbs to dry, but they are fine for now and I think I'll wait until the tomatoes are finished before I worry about them. Sigh... I've been trying to save more seed this year too, and there are flats of waxed paper covered with seeds drying all over the kitchen and spare room. It's a circus around here, I'll tell you...
Well, I better get moving. I need to go down and visit a friend in the hospital this morning. She had to have a complete hysterectomy and is as discombobulated mentally over it as she is physically. Naturally. And I've been through it too, so I can hold her hand and tell her it will all be alright. I'll stop and get her some flowers or something on the way...
Speaking of flowers---my wisteria is blooming !!! It is the one growing all over the arbor:
Only 1 clump of flowers that I can see so far, but still--it's the first time it's flowered. I excitedly told my neighbor yesterday (she has wisteria everywhere on her property), and she said--wisteria bloom in spring. I said, I don't care, mine doesn't. lol Anyway, thought I'd share that little joy with you. There are other new tendrils sticking out all over, that look like the one this bloomed on, so maybe there will be more. I pruned that wisteria within an inch of it's life last year (or was it spring this year?) anyway... I seriously cut it back to about 2 ft high all around the arbor. Maybe if I prune it like that this fall, it'll flower in spring. Who knows...the mysteries of life. Also, the little griddle I was hoping to get?? I got the last one, and it seemed like a good one so I bought it. $14.99 I used it last night to grill some New York strip steaks for supper, and it worked like a charm. here it is:
It measures almost 18x9 and fits my 2 gas burners perfectly. The other side is smooth, for pancakes or sandwiches . SCORE! It's a good heavy cast iron too...
Alright. I am off to get on with my day (if Facebook still won't load, lol) I have lots of small things to try to accomplish today, hospital visit, picking up chicken feed, finishing up the tomatoes, reading the selected magazine stuff for tonights discussion group, and figuring out what to make the Irishman for supper. Something he can eat on the way to La Vista while I drive.
Another day in the life of a tree hugging dirt worshipper.
Namaste.
Okay. so the plan was, I would begin my Wednesday of food preservation really early this morning. Get a few things done. Then interrupt it about 10:30 and get showered and dressed and go meet a woman struggling to get her sobriety and her life back, and go to a meeting at noon.
Right. I didn't even get out of bed this morning until almost 8:30. I was so tired yesterday that, even though I needed a nap and didn't take one, I was sacked out by 11:30 last night. That's early for me, although I have been trying to rewire my sleeping habits, and go to bed by 12:30 instead of 2. Still...I got up finally and thank goodness the boy had been up early and put the chickens out. I had breakfast by 9 and even made some coffee. Had a hard time shaking the sleep from my brain. I came in here and got on Facebook with my breakfast, and subsequently with my coffee and didn't do a damn thing about preserving any food. sigh...
While I was in the shower, the woman called and is waiting at a counselling office for an assessment and isn't going to make it. Of course, I'm all shiny and clean and dressed. AND, I called my sister, who lives down there too (down there being a 30 minute trip one way) and said I would drop by and see her later this afternoon when I was all finished. She was excited about my visit, and has her new grandson...and I do want to see him...so I can't really just cancel the trip. I need to pay the water bill (which is on the way down there) and I need to go to the market for a couple of things. Consequently...nothing's getting done today, unless I get in there right now (in my clean clothes) and start that tomato and edamame mess. Which, as you can see, isn't going to happen, because I've found yet another way to distract myself by blogging instead.
I'm hopeless. I'm a prisoner of my lists and plans (not really so much) and blah, blah, blah.
The temps have retreated into the mid to high 80's around these parts. It's pleasant. It's actually only 77 right now and it's almost noon. They've predicted? forecast? 87 for a high today, but there's not that much time left. Still no rain. Nary a drop. I need to get out there and water this evening I guess. At least the new beans and the beets. I think I have reached that apex of apathy where the garden is concerned. I'm tired of canning and drying and freezing. I'm tired of watering. I've completely stopped weeding, except for the stuff I pull up deliberately to feed the chickens. But, I tell myself, it IS September and the stuff is winding down. Sort of. lol
I'm going to Aldi's to buy myself a present today. They have a cast iron griddle which fits over your stove burners that I want. I've wanted one for a long time, just not enough to shell out 30 dollars for one (thrifty bitch). Ahem. But this one is half that, and if it seems like a decent heavy one, I'm buying it. They have some nice fruits on sale- nectarines, plums and cantaloupes and apples- so I'll pick up some of those. I also need lemon juice, as I'm going through tons of it canning and making flavored water drinks for the Irishman. I drink it a little, but lemon water makes me pee like a racehorse for some reason, and I have enough problems with THAT. I basically stick with local spring water, which hydrates me nicely. I save my vinegar jugs for use as water jugs--much heavier and better than the old gallon milk jugs that I used to beg people to save for me, since we don't drink milk, and certainly NEVER gallons of it. lol Since I started using so much vinegar (pickling, fabric softener, cleaning products) I buy it by the case from Pappy's Market and have lots of bottles. Win/Win.
Well...time for me to eat a snack. Probably sliced turkey from the breasts I cooked and sliced and froze with some cucumber spears. I am down 14 pounds. It's not hard eating according to this plan, except on Wed/Thurs. This is the day that's most like the Atkins diet and I hate it. Too much protein. But at least I can eat all the (certain) vegetables I can stuff in my gullet. lol Mostly no tomatoes or sweet potatoes, and I love both of those. But any and all greens, green beans, mushrooms, peppers, onions, broccoli...it's not SO depriving. It just kinda feels like it. LOL 14 pounds in 2 months is a very reasonable weight loss. Right ?
Time to get a move on, change myself to fit the new plans and write a check to the water company. Believe me, after 5 years of having to haul water, I don't resent this particular bill ONE BIT. On the other hand, my car insurance just went up over 18 dollars a month, and I am calling them to find out why. The letter said ..."after a policy review..." WTH ? Moneychangers.
Enjoy the beautiful weather--assuming you're having some. I'm going to...
Namaste.
Here it goes...rushing off towards September, knocking things over in it's wake. We are having July weather here, the heat index was in triple digits again today. Too hot to breathe. Life sucking heat. Yuck.
And I feel crazy. All the gardn stuff is coming in at once. The quality is so-so...thanks weird weather ! It got cool and cloudy when it needed to be hot and sunny. And then it stayed that way for too long. Now it should be cooling some, and instead it's a hundred degrees and no rain for weeks and the garden is about to go up in flames. And part of me (that DISTURBED part) hopes it does and that I have a camera with me. Even though I don't have nearly enough food put by. Even though I'm dancing as fast as I can.
I dehydrated tomatoes and okra today. Yesterday I picked about a bushel of edamame pods --the rest dried up and will be saved for seed for next year. I guess. A bushel of edamame pods isn't nearly as much as I would like to have...it may turn into 3-4 quart bags tops. I'd much rather have 15-20 bags, as usual. SInce I blogged last (I think) I have canned diced tomatoes, tomato sauce and sweet relish. There are ugly giant green beans out there that are good for nothing. I don't even want to pick them. It's been so hot you can't be out in it for more than about 15 minutes at a time. It makes for some tedious gardening. The chickens are sufering, even though they have shade and 3 waterers...they are panting like they want to lay down and die, and I know just how they feel, because the heat does that to me too. Egg production has been off this whole season. This is turning into one of those years that make you glad you have overcanned and dried and frozen the past couple of years. You know (fingers crossed) you aren't going to starve, but you may wind up eating some (cough) interesting meals. I'll be glad when it's over.
It's a holiday weekend. We are talking of a possible picnic on Monday, IF it cools off. If not, I'm content to stay home with the drapes closed. Watch movies. Eat like a pig. I'm trying to stay close to my food plan, but some days (like last night) I ate too late and we went to a Mexican place and I had a couple of tortilla chips (corn is a no-no) and a dab of sour cream (dairy is a no-no) and a shrimp quesadilla with some cheese sauce (more dairy--eek! and the flour tortilla (wheat is a no-no). Sigh...but it was surely tasty. I got on the scale this morning and I did indeed gain back a pound. I haven't been eating ENOUGH either--this weather makes it really hard to eat. This too shall pass, I'm sure. Today I bought some protein powder packets to add to smoothies or juices. That will help. Bought a couple of different ones to try before I buy a big expensive container.I ate a snack this morning between breakfast and lunch, but then I didn't eat another one like I'm supposed to. Had a nice veggie stir-fry over rice for supper, with a reasonable piece of broiled salmon on the side. I'm still not hungry, and need to have a snack. Maybe I can choke down a few almonds....
My nephew and his girlfriend dropped by unexpectedly tonight, with his newest adopted sister. His mother is a child hoarder. Her youngest one is grown now, so she adopted 2 more. A very sweet girl and we had a delightful; visit. My house, of course, was a mess. But--so were they. They had been out at a local lake swimming all day and I felt loved by his wanting to stop in and see his old auntie. Warmed my mean old heart...
I finally found those goofy light bulbs for my kitchen ceiling light. They're a halogen bulb and a little expensive, but the damned thing kept burning out bulbs one at a time until there was only 1 left, and I couldn't see well enough to do anything in the kitchen. I feel like I have died and gone to a well lit heaven now. LOL I bought that light on a clearance sale, and I was afraid I was going to have to buy a whole new fixture. Had pretty much decided to just go back to another fluorescent, as much as I dislike them, because it was easier and cheaper. Problem solved.
Okay. I need to get to bed at a reasonable hour tonight. I'm finishing up my almonds. I'll drink the rest of my water and mosey off in that direction.
Happy Labor Day Weekend, folks.
Namaste.
I have a big grey cat, a Russian Blue.
He has allergies. Or SOMETHING. And he sneezes continually when he's in the house. Nasty sneezes. Snotty hurling sneezes. It's disgusting. And the stuff is stronger than Liquid Nails once it dries, and you can't get it off. I can hear him sneezing in the other room...ggrrrrrrrr...
But he's a sweet guy, other than that. The only male in a house full of female pets. And this morning, he knocked the bejeezus out of the Jack Russell Terrorist. Because he could. She was racing around after her ball, and got a little too close to HIS coffee table that he was lounging on. BOOM ! Nailed her. She jumped and yelped and cut a wide swath around him for the rest of the day. He knows how to get results, that cat.
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I am winding down from a long day of accomplishing nothing. I had a list--such a beautiful list !! It had about 14 things on it, and I got about 2 of them done. I made hummus. I picked grape leaves to stuff for the vegetarian potluck we went to tonight. It took me the better part of the day to make that stuff. And the dolma was not that good. The grape leaves were bitter. The filling, though chock full of exotic spices like, fennel and cardamom and coriander, tasted bland to me. The hummus, on the other hand, was stellar.
You win some, you lose some.
Tomorrow I have laundry to wash and hang outside. I have tomatoes and okra to dehydrate. I have edamame to harvest. I have spinach and chard to plant. (I planted beets yesterday). I have a husband with 4 days off IN A ROW. It should be interesting.
I have had another little round of gastric distress this morning after eating a steak yesterday. I think red meat is back off the docket for me. This has been yucky...nothing like the food poisoning, but uncomfortable enough to make me say--I don't need that. Blech.
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I learned about something today in discussion group, (we're reading the fall issue of YES! magazine). Something I had never heard of that is apparently going on behind closed doors...it's called TPP Trans pacific partnership Word needs to get out about this travesty before it gets signed into law. It will be the downfall of American Industry, particularly manufacturing. It's been described as NAFTA on steroids. This is one of those things that needs to be brought to the attention of the people in our country. Please check it out....
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Have you ever read YES! magazine ?? It's remarkable. Here's a link to check it out:
http://www.yesmagazine.org/ I'm in love with this publication. One of those once in a lifetime publications that makes you sit up and take notice, and start paying attention.
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Okay--it's after midnight and I need to be in bed. I wanted to stop in and say hey before it got to be 2 weeks since I posted again, lol. I really do have lots to tell you, but I'm awfully tired tonight.
I'll be back....
Namaste.
Heavens to Mercatroid ...
Somewhere, last Sunday, either at the AA picnic or at the little restaurant the Irishman and I ate a late supper, I got food poisoning.
Yup~~food poisoning. Monday evening I started crashing, feeling feverish and weak and exhausted. Went to bed at 10 o'clock and slept until 9:30 the next morning. Got up feeling pretty yucky, and by about 11:30 the gates of hell opened and the abdominal cramping started and the rest, as they say, is history. For 3 days I was a prisoner of the bed and bathroom. When I wasn't on the toilet, I was either sleeping or trying to get to the toilet. Unsuccessfully, often. It was a nightmare. My poor husband, kept saying maybe we should go to the ER ?? And I kept saying, I can't leave the house...and would double up in pain and cry, or fly to the toilet.
3 days. I thought I was gonna die.
But--here I am, not dead. The crisis has passed and I told himself that I am never leaving my house again. lol
By Friday, I was feeling better, although still a little weak (I had lost 6 pounds in 3 days). I have to say, I did a good job of working very hard to keep myself hydrated. It's probably all that saved me. lol Looking around my kitchen, I almost started to cry. Overripe vegetables, rotting vegetables that should have been canned days ago...and I had a big stockpot full of diced tomatoes and onions that were the beginnings of a salsa canning fest in the fridge. I was afraid to check them. It had taken a lot of work, chopping all those tomatoes and onions, and I had decided to stop Monday afternoon late because I was feeling so tired. So I stuck them in the fridge to finish on Tuesday morning. Right.
Miraculously, they were still okay. So on Friday, I limped around the kitchen and finished chopping peppers and cilantro and parsley and canned 24 jars of salsa. In between, I would lie on the couch and rest up.
I kinda took Saturday off, and went to do a little spreading some money around at the Green Earth market and picked up some organics that I needed, went to an 11 AM meeting where I got to socialize with some people I really like, and then came home and puttered around in the garden. I picked another half bushel of green beans to add to the ones already sitting on the counter that the Irishman had picked while I was sick. He and I watched a movie and snapped and trimmed beans on Saturday night (do we know how to live or what ??) lol Today, I canned 12 quarts of beans.
I have about 25 pounds of tomatoes in the kitchen to can tomorrow, as well as about 15 cucumbers to grind up and make relish with. I think I'm going to just peel and dice the tomatoes. Thought about canning marinara, (and still may at a later date) but I'm thinking just the diced ones will be good for now.
I actually got my kitchen cleaned up. That made me feel a lot better. lol Then I went to the garden tonight and picked bell peppers and carrots and okra. Filled up the island again, but that's okay. I'll get that okra in the dehydrator tomorrow. Get those bell peppers sliced and in freezer bags. And do up them 'maters. And life will be good.
Tonight I made a vegan coconut ice cream that was really tasty. Very simple recipe and only 4 ingredients. Easy Peasey. No ice cream maker required, but I have to tell you, I was salivating over the electric ones that make about a quart on Amazon...especially the Cuisanart one. lol We had baked chicken breasts, half a sweet potato with cinnamon, and green beans, fresh from the garden for supper. Watched The Man Who Wasn't There (we're big BBT fans) and had a small bowl of the ice cream with some strawberries from the freezer on top. Mmmmm....
So--barring any unforeseen circumstances (like the Bubonic Plague or something), life on Honeysuckle Hill should be getting back to normal. I'll have to water in the morning, as we still have gotten no rain. The okra loves this hot dry weather (oh yeah--it has gotten hot again too) and the plants are 7-8 feet tall. The butternut needs harvesting. Harvested the cabbages the other day too.
That's it for me tonight kiddos....
Namaste.
It started out like this...
But then it turned into this:
Peach pie filling. 7 quarts of it. I also canned peach salsa (10 jars) and plain old sliced peaches (14 jars) in a light syrup.
I still have 1 peck left to do, but I've decided to just freeze them, because I'm sick and tired of the canner mess right now. lol
The peaches are gorgeous this year. Lucky us.
I'm pooped. I was so tired last night that I slept until almost 9 o'clock this morning. Standing at the sink peeling and slicing those peaches is really hard on me, but there's no way around it. They are so messy, you can't do it anywhere else. I have a tall stool, and I sit on it now and again, but it's bad too, just in a different way, lol.
I've also dried Roma tomatoes, okra and cucumbers since I was here last. And there are green beans ready to can and to pick...and oh my !! Too much !! Too Much !! lol (And all at once, which is the worst part.) And it all just wears me out.
On a bright note, my darling son got my old riding mower repaired and back in service today. Woo Hoo. And it only cost a new battery (that he bought) and one new tire (that I bought). I'm blessed. NO more having to walk around behind that push mower. Even with the self-propelled thing, it was an ordeal for me. Of course you can't get everything with the rider, but you can sure get a lot done in a short time. And the weedeater might take care of the rest.
We have an AA annual picnic tomorrow...haven't decided if I'm going or not, as I can't eat most of the stuff there. Either way, I have to make a dish for the Irishman to take...maybe a dessert? Or a pasta salad or something. I don't know...but I guess I'd better figure it out as I only have tomorrow morning to do it in. lol The local District provides the meat (bbq) and drinks and everyone brings a dish. I usually have a good time there, but I am just really nor in the mood this year. Maybe I'll feel different in the morning...
Alright. I know some of you are saying --where's the PORN ?? I came here for the PORN !!
This was in our backyard today...
Can you just see her rolling here eyes, and saying ..."WHAT are you doing ?? Get off me!"
Alrighty...time for bed....
Namaste.
Can't believe I haven't posted in a week....but lots going on this time of year, and this year even more. I have been working on menus and recipes for the Earth Literacy Retreat that started yesterday, and trying to decide if I can actually fit any of the programs in. Not looking too good, but who knows ? Last night was the opening ceremony and I attended that, after serving supper to 13 people ON TIME. lol I didn't get home til after 10. Slept this morning until 7:30 and am up and at it again. The only thing I'm doing at home today for the supper tonight is making a dessert...watermelon mint sorbet. Yesterday I made a big batch of Gazpacho. It was so good that they begged me to leave the leftovers so they could have it with their lunch today. I was a tiny bit nervous about cooking for these people I don't know, but it all turned out well and they are all lovely. We have 1 from Canada, 2 from So. CA, 1 from Mexico, 1 from Oklahoma, 1 from Massachusetts, 2 from Missouri, 2 from Illinois, 1 from Seattle and 1 from Uruguay. .. and I can't remember where else.
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Lordy !! It's another week later still !!! Yikes, the time has gotten away from me.
The week long retreat was wonderful, even though I wound up not taking the thing itself. It was too much to try to do with all the cooking. Had I planned simpler meals, perhaps I could have worked it out, but I don't think so. Too much to do here at home every day to be able to spend that much time there...
The overwhelming gratitude and praise from these people for the meals I prepared really floored me. I made some new friends and the people that organize the thing have asked me to please do it again next year, that this was the best it has ever been. All in all, good ego strokes for me...
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The garden is limping along. The weather has been so strange. It LOOKS good--all lush and green still. I have a counter full of odds and ends sitting here...cucumbers, tomatoes, okra, cabbage, squash...and this after noon I will get the dehydrators out and start drying some stuff. This morning it is 55 degrees and chilly out there. Destined to hit about 70. We have had no hot/sunny days that are so necessary for the tomatoes and okra, but the cabbages are flourishing. The butternuts are looking pretty good too...we have about 2 dozen of them out there, which is a pretty nice crop. Raccoons or something are eating my tomatoes. Not a lot of them, but they're just starting to ripen... The edamame is looking so-so....soybeans need hot dry weather too. We have lots of pods, but I don't know that they are fully developed...we'll see. We dug about 3/4 of the potatoes and got an okay haul from that, about 2 bushel. The sweet potatoes are looking good, so we'll see. The lettuce hasn't performed nearly as well this year as it did last year, maybe because of where I planted it, but I don't know. We still have a little that we're eating...the chard was miserable and the kale was okay. Goofy goofy year, all in all.
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Monday I started Round 2 of the diet. Can't believe I made it through the whole 28 days, it seemed to go really fast. I lost 10 pounds and some inches...don't know how much, because I didn't measure myself when I started like I was supposed to. But yesterday I wore pants I haven't been able to get into. And most of my clothes feel looser. SO--this time I measured and am trying to be a lot more strict with myself. It got hard that last week, because I was eating stuff not on the plan (even though it was mostly all very healthy stuff) because I had to eat with them when I cooked. The cooking was all vegetarian and all (or almost all) organic. And, I made a fresh peach and blueberry pie that I HAD to taste...it was magnificent !! Here it is:
It had a butter pastry crust. The little Sufi Dancers on top are supposed to be angels (for some reason I couldn't find my start shaped cookie cutter). But it got a good laugh when I said they were Sufi dancers, lol.
Maybe this is a better picture, the crust really wasn't dark at all...
No, not much better. But trust me that it was grand . lol
Okay, I have to run, sitting with my neighbor today, and we are going down to the river town where they grow lots of peaches around here, because the realtors are coming to show their house. We will have lunch at one of the fish places and get peaches and have a nice little outing. He loves to go places...and she hasn't had the chance to get down there and get some peaches. So....I'm out of here, but will be back soon.
Namaste, y'all !!
