Good Morning Everyone,
Well, I finally caught this little guy. This possum has been around here for a few months and I finally caught it. It wasn't a happy camper either, when I took the photo, it was growling and hissing and have general ill will towards me. I will take it this morning down the road from my house to an area that has a creek and pastures and he is big enough to live on its own. Glenda, yours is bigger than mine, LOL. If you check out Glenda's blog at Living and Gardening in the Ozarks, you will find she trapped a possum that I'll bet was getting in the corn.
Well, that is it for this morning's frivolities, I will water a little, and then I have got to get to this house and all the work that is in here, AFTER I take this little guy back out into the wild, first.
Have a great day,
Hugs
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Tarragon harvest
D and I just got done with stripping Tarragon leaves that I dried. I dried the entire Tarragon bush, and cut it clear back, it may sprout a few more but with the heat, I really doubt it. I hung this Tarragon under my carport and it took about a week to dry, it really helped with the very hot air we have. So now I have Tarragon in the freezer for winter for my fish and chicken recipes.
I like my herbs dry but not to the point where they do not have their green color. This Tarragon is just right for me.
Take care all and I will see what else I can come up with. I need to pick Basil, so I may do this and process this and post photos.
Take care and don't get too hot in the garden.
Hugs
I like my herbs dry but not to the point where they do not have their green color. This Tarragon is just right for me.
Take care all and I will see what else I can come up with. I need to pick Basil, so I may do this and process this and post photos.
Take care and don't get too hot in the garden.
Hugs
Monday, July 18, 2011
Look Ma! I didn't blow up the house
Good Morning Everyone!
I hope that all of you had a wonderful, productive weekend. From the blogs I am reading, it looks like summer is in full swing with drought, and hot and everyone trying to keep everything going. First its cold now hot, go figure.
Well, with the encouragement from several "mommy" bloggers I have, I took the big step and bought a small 6 qt pressure cooker, and about a week later, I bought a larger 16 qt pressure canner.
They are both Presto brand, and I have used the small 6 qt for several things to ease into using this "scary" equipment, or so I thought.
I did potatoes for potato salad Sunday afternoon, wow, just a few minutes and done! No heating up the kitchen or anything. And I DIDN'T BLOW UP THE HOUSE.
I think that in a earlier blog posting I mentioned that when I was in Jr high, in home ec class, I put a very large commercial canner lid into the ceiling tiles of the school kitchen. I should mention that it wasn't all me that did it, but a general fear of the canner in general, in which I was the one put into the position of handling it as I was the only one in my class that had any knowledge of canners simply because I helped my grandmother can, but I was not an experienced helpmate, I was just learning too, but you know 13-14 yr old girls, no one wanted to touch it, so I was the sacrificial lamb so to speak, and since then, I have been so terrified of them. And this school canner was an antiquated one at that, what do you expect in 1973.
I bought the 16 qt canner through Amazon, for 64.76 + the 12.00 shipping. My Ace Hardware had the same thing for 114.00 without tax which is 7%. So I did save some money. And Amazon had it here in 5 days by FedEx so I was pleased.
I am planning here in a few days to fire it up and give it a test run to check pressure, and then I am planning Zucchini, as I have it running out of my ears now, and then sometime next month, I am going to get some of my beef from the processor in a small town about 60 miles from me. I am just ordering ground beef, and meats I can use for stew and soup and a few briskets, and that is about all I use. I am not a big steak fan, I usually grill small steaks on the Holidays and birthdays, but that is as far as I go with beef. I really do not need a whole beef or half beef, but feel I buy what I use and I don't waste anything. And I am going to can a lot of this beef for Mexican cooking and stews and such. I don't have a lot of freezer space but I will put some in the freezer and can the rest.
I will be making taco/enchilada fillings mostly, and some seasoned ground beef for some other recipes, and then seasoned stew beef for soups and stews.
The garden is doing ok, it is so blasted hot now, it hit 99 here yesterday, (Sunday) but the heat index was in the 105 to 108's which is pretty hot for us here, I know my southern readers get it worse, so I do all of my work in the am, mowing and watering and then I work in the house in the afternoon. That is about it.
My cucumbers are slow, I am getting a few but nothing major. I am slowing getting tomatoes but nothing to toot my horn over either, but the plants are really loaded, and so are the cucumbers, so if they do grow, I will have them coming out of my ears also.
Just a recap of the neighbors from hell update, the one NFH to the north has been kicked out, the NFH to the back of us has been kicked out, but the b**** next to me is still here. Damn! I am hoping as all of us are, that she will move as her b**** sister who was in the north trailer who is now gone, she will follow her, so we are keeping our fingers crossed. I will keep you all posted.
Other than just trying to stay above water to pay bills and keep everything going, everything is fine, I quess. I lost 2 chef clients, as they were having problems too, so my extra money was cut off somewhat. I am somewhat depressed, with all that has been going on, it seems the budget crisis, and just things at home, just trying to keep a roof over your head, it takes all of your energy, and with it being so hot, it makes it worse. I keep the tv off quite a bit, as I am so very tired of hearing the political crap you hear, it just wears you out. Its the same, day after day. I am trying to keep my parents calm, as they are so worried about their social security, I have no answers. I guess, just stand fast, and damn the torpedoes and full speed ahead.
Well, I had better get outside, I need to mow real quick and then water a little and then I am done. Then I will move in the house and put potato salad and slice some zucchini to get them ready to process in a few days.
I wish everyone a wonderful week, hang in there, and I will post later if I can.
Hugs to all
I hope that all of you had a wonderful, productive weekend. From the blogs I am reading, it looks like summer is in full swing with drought, and hot and everyone trying to keep everything going. First its cold now hot, go figure.
Well, with the encouragement from several "mommy" bloggers I have, I took the big step and bought a small 6 qt pressure cooker, and about a week later, I bought a larger 16 qt pressure canner.
They are both Presto brand, and I have used the small 6 qt for several things to ease into using this "scary" equipment, or so I thought.
I did potatoes for potato salad Sunday afternoon, wow, just a few minutes and done! No heating up the kitchen or anything. And I DIDN'T BLOW UP THE HOUSE.
I think that in a earlier blog posting I mentioned that when I was in Jr high, in home ec class, I put a very large commercial canner lid into the ceiling tiles of the school kitchen. I should mention that it wasn't all me that did it, but a general fear of the canner in general, in which I was the one put into the position of handling it as I was the only one in my class that had any knowledge of canners simply because I helped my grandmother can, but I was not an experienced helpmate, I was just learning too, but you know 13-14 yr old girls, no one wanted to touch it, so I was the sacrificial lamb so to speak, and since then, I have been so terrified of them. And this school canner was an antiquated one at that, what do you expect in 1973.
I bought the 16 qt canner through Amazon, for 64.76 + the 12.00 shipping. My Ace Hardware had the same thing for 114.00 without tax which is 7%. So I did save some money. And Amazon had it here in 5 days by FedEx so I was pleased.
I am planning here in a few days to fire it up and give it a test run to check pressure, and then I am planning Zucchini, as I have it running out of my ears now, and then sometime next month, I am going to get some of my beef from the processor in a small town about 60 miles from me. I am just ordering ground beef, and meats I can use for stew and soup and a few briskets, and that is about all I use. I am not a big steak fan, I usually grill small steaks on the Holidays and birthdays, but that is as far as I go with beef. I really do not need a whole beef or half beef, but feel I buy what I use and I don't waste anything. And I am going to can a lot of this beef for Mexican cooking and stews and such. I don't have a lot of freezer space but I will put some in the freezer and can the rest.
I will be making taco/enchilada fillings mostly, and some seasoned ground beef for some other recipes, and then seasoned stew beef for soups and stews.
The garden is doing ok, it is so blasted hot now, it hit 99 here yesterday, (Sunday) but the heat index was in the 105 to 108's which is pretty hot for us here, I know my southern readers get it worse, so I do all of my work in the am, mowing and watering and then I work in the house in the afternoon. That is about it.
My cucumbers are slow, I am getting a few but nothing major. I am slowing getting tomatoes but nothing to toot my horn over either, but the plants are really loaded, and so are the cucumbers, so if they do grow, I will have them coming out of my ears also.
Just a recap of the neighbors from hell update, the one NFH to the north has been kicked out, the NFH to the back of us has been kicked out, but the b**** next to me is still here. Damn! I am hoping as all of us are, that she will move as her b**** sister who was in the north trailer who is now gone, she will follow her, so we are keeping our fingers crossed. I will keep you all posted.
Other than just trying to stay above water to pay bills and keep everything going, everything is fine, I quess. I lost 2 chef clients, as they were having problems too, so my extra money was cut off somewhat. I am somewhat depressed, with all that has been going on, it seems the budget crisis, and just things at home, just trying to keep a roof over your head, it takes all of your energy, and with it being so hot, it makes it worse. I keep the tv off quite a bit, as I am so very tired of hearing the political crap you hear, it just wears you out. Its the same, day after day. I am trying to keep my parents calm, as they are so worried about their social security, I have no answers. I guess, just stand fast, and damn the torpedoes and full speed ahead.
Well, I had better get outside, I need to mow real quick and then water a little and then I am done. Then I will move in the house and put potato salad and slice some zucchini to get them ready to process in a few days.
I wish everyone a wonderful week, hang in there, and I will post later if I can.
Hugs to all
Monday, July 11, 2011
A Hod Pog of going's on
Good Morning Everyone,
I hope that all of you are doing well, and surviving the gardening and heat blues. I am reading from other's blogs that the heat is on, and everyone is dealing with it as best as they can.
We are now in the heat too, we are also starting the July monsoon season, where we get almost daily thunderstorms in the late afternoon and evenings. These come up from the southwest from Colorado. Some have been a little monstrous but we only had one hail storm and thankfully, it did not damage my garden too much, as the fence and the closeness of the other trailers saved the garden by deflecting the hail stones, which were about the size of a quarter and then pea and marble sized stones. I just trimmed off the damaged leaves and used my worm compost tea and some organic liquid fertilizer to snap some of the plants out of shock. Everything seems to be doing fine. We now have the heat to deal with.
It has been ok around here, we had a neighbor from hell problem very early Saturday morning, the house neighbors called the law around 2 am, which I did not hear anything, which is shocking, but I was very tired and slept through THAT little skirmish, but then, I got up around 4 am, because I hurt somewhat, so I was up and then all hell broke loose again from the same B**** that lives next to me, and she was starting more problems with the B**** sister who lives in the trailer to the north of me about 2 doors away. They were all out in front of my trailer and so I called the law and the dispatcher, with a little humor, told me this was the second time they were called and that the cop that patrols our area at night will not be happy going back there. By the time everything was calmed down, it was a little past 5 am, and I was not a happy camper and neither was the house neighbors. I wish they would all move.....
I have been busy drying cilantro and then yesterday (Sunday), I cut some of my french Tarragon and am drying this under my carport for a few days.
I also changed my kitchen around to accommodate the canning later on,. First, trailers are not laid out well in the first place, especially the kitchen, but I moved my frigs to the south wall, and then I have my work table in the middle to handle canning. I moved my baker's shelf where the one frig was and I like it. I can move around and not stumble into everything.
I am going to try, if everything is quiet this week, to wash down my cupboards and go through some things and throw stuff out or to the Goodwill. I am running out of room. I just cleaned out the cupboards last winter, seems stuff just multiplies.
We have started the trips to the pain specialist for D for his spine problems. They are doing injections in specific spots in the vertebrae to control pain. The meds that they give him do no good anymore, and I am not a fan of meds anyway, so this is the last option for now. I talked to the Doctor and he does not have anything good to say about the prognosis, as almost 2 1/2 yrs ago, he asked for MRI's and an appointment with his neurosurgeon, only to be denied, and now the nerve damage and spine damage is beyond repair and with D's age, it is a last option and a permanent one, in which D would have the problems I have with spine surgery. The injections also only last about 4 days for pain control, so it's not a fix either. This is what work comp does to someone in our state, which is nothing, and then ruins the health of the employee and then there is nothing that can be done. Or should I say, this is what happens when the employer does not HAVE work comp in the first place. It is a mess.
I need to schedule my doctor's appointments also, I have had some issues with my parents, and I also lost a very beloved kitty over the Forth of July weekend. Her name was Runt, and she was 21 yrs old. She put up a good fight, but I am sure that she had liver cancer and finally I had to take her to my vet to peacefully send her to heaven. She was a very small, kitty, and was very sick when I got her at about 6 wks old. She had a very bad bout with a bacterial diarrhea and since that, she always had digestive problems which I controlled with enzymes and probiotics. I do not think that I did too bad of a job to get Runt to 21. She was a very sweet and yet grumpy kitty. I will miss her terribly.
Other than that, that is about all that is going on. I also forgot to mention, that I got 3 cucumbers and a tomato, Yay! And they sure were tasty! Had them for dinner last night. Everything is very slow though but it is coming along.
Well, I need to get going this morning, before it gets too hot. We are supposed to have storms also, so I need to mow and trim some more. I trimmed the garden yesterday so I could take photos of it, and I didn't want all of you to see the crappy weeds I had in my garden, it looked like a poop hole. The weeds got away from me.
Anyway, enjoy your week and take care all.
Hugs
I hope that all of you are doing well, and surviving the gardening and heat blues. I am reading from other's blogs that the heat is on, and everyone is dealing with it as best as they can.
We are now in the heat too, we are also starting the July monsoon season, where we get almost daily thunderstorms in the late afternoon and evenings. These come up from the southwest from Colorado. Some have been a little monstrous but we only had one hail storm and thankfully, it did not damage my garden too much, as the fence and the closeness of the other trailers saved the garden by deflecting the hail stones, which were about the size of a quarter and then pea and marble sized stones. I just trimmed off the damaged leaves and used my worm compost tea and some organic liquid fertilizer to snap some of the plants out of shock. Everything seems to be doing fine. We now have the heat to deal with.
It has been ok around here, we had a neighbor from hell problem very early Saturday morning, the house neighbors called the law around 2 am, which I did not hear anything, which is shocking, but I was very tired and slept through THAT little skirmish, but then, I got up around 4 am, because I hurt somewhat, so I was up and then all hell broke loose again from the same B**** that lives next to me, and she was starting more problems with the B**** sister who lives in the trailer to the north of me about 2 doors away. They were all out in front of my trailer and so I called the law and the dispatcher, with a little humor, told me this was the second time they were called and that the cop that patrols our area at night will not be happy going back there. By the time everything was calmed down, it was a little past 5 am, and I was not a happy camper and neither was the house neighbors. I wish they would all move.....
I have been busy drying cilantro and then yesterday (Sunday), I cut some of my french Tarragon and am drying this under my carport for a few days.
I also changed my kitchen around to accommodate the canning later on,. First, trailers are not laid out well in the first place, especially the kitchen, but I moved my frigs to the south wall, and then I have my work table in the middle to handle canning. I moved my baker's shelf where the one frig was and I like it. I can move around and not stumble into everything.
I am going to try, if everything is quiet this week, to wash down my cupboards and go through some things and throw stuff out or to the Goodwill. I am running out of room. I just cleaned out the cupboards last winter, seems stuff just multiplies.
We have started the trips to the pain specialist for D for his spine problems. They are doing injections in specific spots in the vertebrae to control pain. The meds that they give him do no good anymore, and I am not a fan of meds anyway, so this is the last option for now. I talked to the Doctor and he does not have anything good to say about the prognosis, as almost 2 1/2 yrs ago, he asked for MRI's and an appointment with his neurosurgeon, only to be denied, and now the nerve damage and spine damage is beyond repair and with D's age, it is a last option and a permanent one, in which D would have the problems I have with spine surgery. The injections also only last about 4 days for pain control, so it's not a fix either. This is what work comp does to someone in our state, which is nothing, and then ruins the health of the employee and then there is nothing that can be done. Or should I say, this is what happens when the employer does not HAVE work comp in the first place. It is a mess.
I need to schedule my doctor's appointments also, I have had some issues with my parents, and I also lost a very beloved kitty over the Forth of July weekend. Her name was Runt, and she was 21 yrs old. She put up a good fight, but I am sure that she had liver cancer and finally I had to take her to my vet to peacefully send her to heaven. She was a very small, kitty, and was very sick when I got her at about 6 wks old. She had a very bad bout with a bacterial diarrhea and since that, she always had digestive problems which I controlled with enzymes and probiotics. I do not think that I did too bad of a job to get Runt to 21. She was a very sweet and yet grumpy kitty. I will miss her terribly.
Other than that, that is about all that is going on. I also forgot to mention, that I got 3 cucumbers and a tomato, Yay! And they sure were tasty! Had them for dinner last night. Everything is very slow though but it is coming along.
Well, I need to get going this morning, before it gets too hot. We are supposed to have storms also, so I need to mow and trim some more. I trimmed the garden yesterday so I could take photos of it, and I didn't want all of you to see the crappy weeds I had in my garden, it looked like a poop hole. The weeds got away from me.
Anyway, enjoy your week and take care all.
Hugs
Monday, July 4, 2011
Happy 4th of July Everyone
I just wanted to stop and wish everyone in the US a wonderful 4th of July holiday. I am sorry that I haven't posted for a while but I have been really tied up with elder care, doctor appointment for D and myself and the garden and home details which never quit.
I will post sometime this week, with photos of the garden progress.
I also wanted to say that I too, and having major problems with Blogger in posting comments on other reader's blogs. I have been unable to get it worked out nor have I been able to get a hold of anyone at Blogger. So if you have not see me, it is because of this glitch that Blogger is having. It burns me up totally as I have wanted to comment and I have been unable to.
If I want to comment, I will email.
Have a wonderful day.
Hugs
I will post sometime this week, with photos of the garden progress.
I also wanted to say that I too, and having major problems with Blogger in posting comments on other reader's blogs. I have been unable to get it worked out nor have I been able to get a hold of anyone at Blogger. So if you have not see me, it is because of this glitch that Blogger is having. It burns me up totally as I have wanted to comment and I have been unable to.
If I want to comment, I will email.
Have a wonderful day.
Hugs
Monday, June 20, 2011
Wet Monday
Good Morning or Afternoon, everyone, whichever it may be.
Well, its wet here, we had some pretty nasty storms roll through last night, one was just 14 miles south of us with baseball sized hail which I was praying it would not move north to us, but it did go east and pounded everyone down that end of the state. As of this morning, it was still making its way across Nebraska, pounding and dumping inches of rain, especially where they do not need it with the Missouri flooding. We do not need pails of rain either, though we need rain, we are in bad flooding from the North Platte river and its pretty wet and full of mosquitoes, you don't spend too much rime outside unless you want to be carried off by biting bugs, or use tons of poison spray on you, or get West Nile virus.
Since its pretty wet out, I cannot get out in the garden to prune some tomatoes back. So I am inside today running the dehydrator to dry some cilantro for my salsa later this year. I buy cilantro from the grocery whenever they get it in, which is few and far between, so when the grocery gets it in, I grab what I can and wash it in baking soda and rinse and then cut the stems off, and place in my racks. I save the stems and dry those and then run them through a coffee grinder to make a powder to put some in my salsa to add more flavor to the salsa or my homemade taco sauce or enchilada sauce.
I will try to set up a recipe section when I get closer for my sauce recipes, my sauces are not hot, but they do pack flavor from the garden salsa peppers I use and the cilantro. You do not need too much cilantro in a quart of salsa, as it packs a punch in flavor. I would grow cilantro myself, but with my garden reduced in size this year, I cannot use the south side, but next year, I hope that I can. I will grow in containers and then cover them with netting to keep the caterpillars out of the dill and cilantro as they love to eat everything down to the roots. Til then, I am forced to buy from the grocery. Even the farmer's market vendors don't grow it. Too much work.
Really other than that, not too much going on. Pretty quiet, shocking, isn't it! Especially in my neighborhood.
I am just working around the house, it seems pretty erratic, I'm in one room and work for a little while, then I get bored and then move to another room and work there for about an hour, then go outside and work there for a while then come in and start back with the beginning room I was on. I do get things done, but its pretty ADD.
Well, I think that I will go and have some lunch, I fixed colored pasta yesterday, and mixed salad shrimps and the fake crab into a seafood pasta salad, so that is on the menu then I have to run my mom around for a few errands this afternoon, so I will get all of this done, and then find something else to get into trouble with, lol.
Take care everyone and have a great week in what ever you are planning to do.
Hugs.
Well, its wet here, we had some pretty nasty storms roll through last night, one was just 14 miles south of us with baseball sized hail which I was praying it would not move north to us, but it did go east and pounded everyone down that end of the state. As of this morning, it was still making its way across Nebraska, pounding and dumping inches of rain, especially where they do not need it with the Missouri flooding. We do not need pails of rain either, though we need rain, we are in bad flooding from the North Platte river and its pretty wet and full of mosquitoes, you don't spend too much rime outside unless you want to be carried off by biting bugs, or use tons of poison spray on you, or get West Nile virus.
Since its pretty wet out, I cannot get out in the garden to prune some tomatoes back. So I am inside today running the dehydrator to dry some cilantro for my salsa later this year. I buy cilantro from the grocery whenever they get it in, which is few and far between, so when the grocery gets it in, I grab what I can and wash it in baking soda and rinse and then cut the stems off, and place in my racks. I save the stems and dry those and then run them through a coffee grinder to make a powder to put some in my salsa to add more flavor to the salsa or my homemade taco sauce or enchilada sauce.
I will try to set up a recipe section when I get closer for my sauce recipes, my sauces are not hot, but they do pack flavor from the garden salsa peppers I use and the cilantro. You do not need too much cilantro in a quart of salsa, as it packs a punch in flavor. I would grow cilantro myself, but with my garden reduced in size this year, I cannot use the south side, but next year, I hope that I can. I will grow in containers and then cover them with netting to keep the caterpillars out of the dill and cilantro as they love to eat everything down to the roots. Til then, I am forced to buy from the grocery. Even the farmer's market vendors don't grow it. Too much work.
Really other than that, not too much going on. Pretty quiet, shocking, isn't it! Especially in my neighborhood.
I am just working around the house, it seems pretty erratic, I'm in one room and work for a little while, then I get bored and then move to another room and work there for about an hour, then go outside and work there for a while then come in and start back with the beginning room I was on. I do get things done, but its pretty ADD.
Well, I think that I will go and have some lunch, I fixed colored pasta yesterday, and mixed salad shrimps and the fake crab into a seafood pasta salad, so that is on the menu then I have to run my mom around for a few errands this afternoon, so I will get all of this done, and then find something else to get into trouble with, lol.
Take care everyone and have a great week in what ever you are planning to do.
Hugs.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Garden photos posted
I just posted the progress of the June garden. It seems to be chugging along despite the cold, rainy and general miserable weather we had just a few weeks ago. It did help when I covered most of my tomatoes and cucumbers with greenhouse plastic, and put empty milk jugs filled with water around the plants which seems to help maintain heat, which I still have them around the plants and I think that I will just keep them around for a while.
Well, I am off to bake a angel food cake and later I will put a whole chicken in for dinner and leftovers. yummm.
So, the getto garden is taking off.
Hugs
Well, I am off to bake a angel food cake and later I will put a whole chicken in for dinner and leftovers. yummm.
So, the getto garden is taking off.
Hugs
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