2022 October

 Its a beautiful day today. We pulled the garden out yesterday.  Today I picked up the supplies for canning another batch of salsa.

I got real inspired to cook. I made pickled Beets from our garden.  3 lbs of Beets makes 4 small 

Jars. I made a batch of salsa. That may be the end of my canning for this season.  With my jam and sweet pickles, my cupboard is full.

It's cool enough for stews and soups. I got ham with bone in at Walmart. I cooked it this afternoon.  I made scalloped potato for supper 😋 it is so good.  I made a ham and potato soup for tomorrow. 

The trees are in colour. It is so nice out that I'm going to have a bonfire. 

Potluck

 https://www.allrecipes.com/ 

Fresh cherry cobbler 

Tonight I went to a Freezer party. Everyone brought something out of the freezer. I baked two loaves of cheese bread that were in the freezer.  I had a container of sour cherries from Deb B cherry tree. I made cherry cobbler from allrecipes.  I used gluten-free flour. It turned out so good. I added strawberries to the cherries for sweetness. 

The party was very fun and the cobbler and cheese bread were a big hit. Definitely going to make that recipe again. 

Canning pickles

 Yesterday the neighbor Grace called and asked me if we wanted cucumbers.  I sent Emily and Ashley over and they picked about 50 cucumbers.  Today I'm making bread and butter pickles. I really do like canning.

Not only do I get to store the fresh veggies from

 our garden but also Leslie gave me her classico Spaghetti sauce glass jars so I am using those up.  Recycling ♻️  The traditional Mason jar lids and rings fit right on top.  I got 15 jars of bread and butter pickles.  Yum

Our summer 2022

Lettuce 

Radishes 

Carrots

Peppers 

Hot peppers 

Potatoes 

Rhubarb 

Onions 

Cherry tomatoes 

Tomatoes 

Beets

Cucumbers 

Trip to Nashville 

Where has the summer gone?

 Tonight supper.

Are garden has been so fun. Huge Beets, huge basil, great potatoes crop. We collected 9 cucumbers and small carrots. Even small to medium size onions.  We have enjoyed farm fresh eggs from Karolina. Our own beef.  There was a large stretch of dry weather at the start of August but this week has been rain rain rain. I can't complain.  My garden is happy again. There's even Cantaloupe growing from seeds I planted that I scooped out of a Cantaloupe I bought at No frills in May!. 

March break 2022 starts

 My day at home are my favorite.  I'm so happy in the morning thinking about all the things I will get done. Different projects I have started and cleaning jobs I have put off. I'm going to bake something yummy and make a few casseroles for this week.  It's going to be great.  

I get up at 5 or 5:15 and go to the barn at 5:30. Benny gets up with me but if it's raining or windy we won't go outside.  He sees me off though. If he goes to the barn he is tied up so he doesn't spook the cows.

I feed the calves milk and hay. I feed the cows grain and wet hay. 

The cats are around my feet meowing. They want pets but mostly food and milk. We have 6 cats under 1 year old and old mother cats. They named and spoiled with beds and toys and cat treats.

One cat rides around on my head. She repeatedly jumps on my coat,  arm or shoulder when she gets anywhere near me. 

The last chore for me is running the gutter.  I shovel 💩poo to get it safely out to the manure pit. This is necessary so the shit pump doesn't plug with straw.

In the house I take the dog out and start the coffee and run the dishwasher.  I usually have to clean the kitchen because I didn't do it the night before.  I definitely stop working by 7pm.  Any messes after that are dealt with the next day.

I have my shower, change my clothes and sometimes have a nap.  Not today 😁.  Kids are up and I can think of a million jobs for them.

I read about an organization 'little dresses for Africa ' they make dresses and sanitary pads for girls who are going to school. The pads are made with 3 layers of batting.  I have a garbage bag of small pieces of batting perfect for this. And my girls are perfect for cutting them out. March break project underway. 

My regular sewing machine is getting oiled and cleaned this week so I'm going try out this old bessy. A $20.00 find at the thrift store. I'm zigzag around the outside of this pads. Great way to clean up some scraps. After breakfast (which Gary cooks on the weekend) and some house cleaning jobs,  the girls can go back to rotting they brains on the computers.  In the afternoon we go to the barn at 3pm. 

It's a beautiful snowy day. The girls will go outside later I'm sure. The dog has to be walked and maybe I can talk Emily into cross country skiing.  Maybe Nanny Lois will come for supper.  It's a good life.

 

Harvest Canning

 

I did some canning yesterday with my friend Natalie.  She is new to canning and wanted to make some if my homade salsa. She brought all her veggies and canning equipment. We canned 31 250ml of salsa. It was absolutely delicious. 

I asked her to help me can pickled Beets. It was new to me but our Beets this year are huge and Gary likes picked Beets. 

We used this recipe 

We doubled the recipe for pickling brine. Definitely needed to be doubled.  In the canning bath one jar broke. I did not fully submerged it in the water so maybe that's why. Or cuz it was an older glass jar. We got 4 jars done. I might try another batch after I dig up all my Beets.