Saturday, October 1, 2011

Welcoming October and snippets of goings-on

Good Afternoon Everyone,

Well, it has been pretty busy here doing things that need to be done before we get cold weather or worse yet, SNOW, like we did a few years ago in October, being hit with three blizzards in the month. D and I cleared out the garden, I still have some hot peppers hanging on, I cover them when it may get cold and unwrap them when the sun warms up.  I got my shallots, walking onions and garlic planted in my bucket brigade, been digging up nasty weeds and sand burrs and just general out side house work that needs to get done.  Glenda, for your inspiration, the carport painted.  We won't get to the porch until next year, as there are some major repairs that need to be done and not enough money, so till then, the cover goes up  around the porch and also the carport to keep the snow from blowing around the patio area.
I haven't even started in cleaning the house, or anything.  Since I broke my knee, I have been limited as to what I could do, and on top of things, I had a shingles attack in of all places, on my left hand,  Oh, it is so very painful, and having your hands in water or cleaning water, is out of the question until it heals up, which will be a few weeks, so I bought a pair of latex gloves and cotton gloves to wear to protect the skin until it heals.

Yesterday,  as I was going home from the grocery store, I stopped by our local nursery, and they were having a 50% off trees, shrubs and plants sale.  I shouldn't have, but I bought 3 trees!  The two on the south side of the house are a Honey Locust, and to the back, a Ornamental Pear.  In the front, this tree is a WinterBerry. 
We desperately need shade on the south side and front, and I had been looking for trees that would fit.  Well, I found them and at a good price.  The WinterBerry is a very hardy tree that gets around 15-20 ft tall and about that in width.  This will be to cut the horrid summer sun from shining in the front window, which is my bedroom and without the Morning Glories in the front, that room will get around 130-150 degrees in that room, even with the air going.  So I am anxious about this WinterBerry growing.  The nursery man told me WinterBerry is very hardy in our zone, which is 5, truthfully, we are between zone 4 and 5 so I was glad to find a hardy tree for our zone, which the tree is hardy to -40* below zero.  The other south trees are hardy in our zone, and are drought tolerant.   So, yesterday, after I got home, D and I fired up the dually and went and picked the trees up and then spent the afternoon, digging holes, which I will tell you, by the time we finished late in the afternoon, we were both pooped totally.  I am not young anymore to dig holes, but I am sure proud of the trees.  I hope that they will do well.

I had several questions about the pepper spread and what you put it on.  My grandmother made it for crackers, as she made her own cracker recipes.  This is good on a hardy whole grain cracker or rye cracker.  I suppose you could use this on just about anything that all of you would desire.  Be a child again, just do it and let me know what you use it on. 

Really, other than that, that is about all that is going on.  Still quiet here, and I am sure enjoying it too.
Well, I need to run a few errands today, so I will catch everyone later and have a great weekend, all!

Hugs

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

General Goings-on and This n' That

Good Morning Everyone,

I thought I would post because you'd think that I dropped off the face of the earth or floated into the ozone layer, I am sure some people around here wish I would do so.

We have had a few busy weeks here.  My parents furnace quit and D has been trying to find a gas valve for a 26 year old furnace, which we finally did, and sometime this week, he has to put it in.  My parents, like everyone else, cannot afford a heat tech's services, around here, it is almost unaffordable, but all that needs to be done is put the valve in, and hook everything up, and no tech.  D is pretty handy, but we both have been snarling at each other lately, as he gets in my way in the kitchen and I am territorial in the kitchen, especially when I am canning or cooking, and I know that some of you know what I am talking about.  I do not like someone hanging over my shoulder asking what I am doing, and I lose my train of thought or it derails completely and I have a melt down, in which I start snarling and yapping.

We also have been painting the carport.  The owner, for some odd reason, wanted the all the carports painted, (hint, maybe he's wanting to sell it!, I have been told this), but he hired a tweeker, (a druggy) and my insurance lady specifically told me not to let this guy paint, as the owner, who does not carry a stitch of insurance on anything, to touch anything.  She told me that if he fell on my place, I would be responsible for his work comp and the owner would probably pull a fast one on me and take my home away from me, which should tell all of you how much this man is hated in town.
I bought the paint early this spring when it went on sale, it was oil based barn and fence paint. We were going to paint this spring, but the weather was horrid for anything outside and then it got hot too fast and so we waited to paint til last week, the weather was nice, warm and the only thing I had to do was paint the supports and wasps.  I did the lower parts and D did the higher parts of the carport  as I am still crippling around with the knee, and it hurt but it had to get done.  Now it is done and looks good, and it will last as it is oil based.  The owner bought acrylic latex based interior paint and the rest of the carports look like crap, since he hired a tweeker, oh and by the way, this tweeker only got $10 a carport, this is what this guy pays in wages to whoever he hires.

I have been having a lot of pain lately in my spine and now the knee.  I think that when I took the tumble off the porch, I threw something out of order.  I still have things to do around the house, but not everything gets done.  It really PO's me, to tell you the truth.  Lately, I wish I could fly away somewhere, to get away from everything, but I can't. 

Several people asked about my pepper recipe.  I will try to post that this week.  All it is it roasted red and orange peppers, I threw in a few green ones, some onion, and garlic, and a little bit of canola oil  and roasted it in the oven and then the last half hour, I put them under the broiler.  I was going to do them in the big grill I have, but that was when I broke my knee, so I didn't do it.  It turned out good, I thought.  I haven't tried any of the jars yet.  I got 12 8 oz. jars of peppers.  You can see from the photo of the peppers in the oven in the roaster.  After I roasted them, I pulsed them through the food processor, and then placed them in my large crock pot to heat and not burn, then placed them in jars and processed them for 30 minutes in the pressure canner under 10 # of pressure.

Really other than that, that is about all that is going on here.  So far, it has been pleasantly quiet here.  The new people who moved in the open rentals are quiet, the ones next to me are  great, a little scary to look at with the tattoos and rings, looking like a fishing lure, but they are nice, quiet, and pleasant, which is fine.  They are also plant lovers so, everything in the world is ok at this moment.

Well, I will take my leave of you all.  I will try to post more.  I still have to tackle the garden, and clean up the tomato vines, I still have tomatoes coming in, so these I will freeze and I will process those later in the year.  I planted garlic and shallots last week in between the painting, and other stuff going on.  I surprised I can still think and function!

Take care all.
Hugs