Yo Yo Syndrome

Life's ups and downs provide windows of opportunity to determine your values and goals. Think of using all obstacles as stepping stones to build the life you want." Marsha Sinetar

Recently we have been having lots of life's ups and downs. You already know about the hit and run.(DOWN) Then we were told he had insurance so we filed a claim. (UP) Then we received a letter from his insurance company stating his insurance was cancelled on 8/27/08.(DOWN)

Friday I had go buy feed and travel into town. The man said he would get the day off and come with me. I was looking forward to a day with the man (UP) His boss decided he didn't need the day off so I went alone (DOWN) The man called me from work to tell me somebody offered to trade their truck for ours. (UP) Ours -2003 Dodge Ram 1500 4x4 short bed with 100,000 miles but damaged. His a 2001 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 single cab 8 foot bed not a 4x4 with 200,000 and a rebuilt engine. He had the time and money to play with fixing it but we didn’t. We traded him as we do need a truck, the kids are old enough that they don’t come with us all the time so we don’t need the quad cab. The longer bed gives us more room to haul and it has a class 5 hitch for towing.

Saturday we transferred the tags and we were mobile again (UP) Oh, yes I put collision on it! We came home and stopped at the mail box to get the mail. There was a notice to go to the Post Office to get a certified letter. The letter stated the man (as in my man) was the cause of the accident for being parked on the side of the road and was being fined $74. (DOWN) He was parked on the side of the road with his headlights, four way flashers, and bed light on a mile long straight away. As a volunteer file police he was standing and directing traffic and had to dive into the canal to stop from getting run over but he is at fault?!? So we are going to fight it and go to court.

#1 daughter had come down to help paint (UP) so we got a third coat on the kitchen. It is red red! Actually the top right corner is closest to the color. I had used the flash so it looks brighter than it really is.We were going to paint more but had to go back into town.

I had promised #2 daughter that I would take her and two friends to see High School Musical 3 when it came out. #2 son opted out! I messed up and didn't buy a ticket to Saw5 so the man slept thru HSM3. After the movie #2 went home with the friends leaving the man and I alone. We did a little shopping and went to the Chinese resteraunt. (UP) Yup just the two of us...doesn't happen often and we enjoyed every last minute of it.

Sunday we went to visit a friend and left the keys in the truck…it automatically locks. (DOWN) After the husbands tried to open it with no success we called the garage and luckily found the owner working. Ten minutes later he was leaving and our truck was unlocked.(UP) We drove home to can the sauerkraut and we meet D and were reimbursed for the tow fees.(UP)

We canned 1/2 pints, pints, and quarts and ended up with a total of 19 quarts from 30 lbs of cabbage. (UP) A friend's friend decided she didn't want chickens anymore so delivered a RI Red hen and rooster. We had dispensed with our attack rooster so the little nephews didn't get hurt and the bobcat got a hen so this was a welcome addition. (UP)

Monday I was determined to finish the Dana Marr shawl I have been working on. I did! (UP) I suck at blocking and couldn't find the wires (DOWN). I roughly got it stretched and found that when the needle came unscrewed and the stitches fell off that I didn't fix it as well as I thought I had (DOWN) It is still pretty and it is done so I can move on to other things (UP) #2 daughter was talking about stockings for Christmas so maybe I will start making some of them.

Today we woke to our first school closing. (UP or DOWN only time will tell) #2 daughter is upset since she had planned to dine out with her Spanish class. The electricity has gone off and on three times now. #1 son called and he has 6 inches whereas we only have slush but it is to continue today and tonight. It was just getting to the point where I could see up into the woods. The last leaves are sure to come down now! Or branches...guess I better go make sure there is oil in the lantern and kero in the heaters.

Oh, in case you weren't counting there were more ups than downs which as Martha would say is a "good thing"!

Shorter days

As the days grow short,

some faces grow long.

But not mine.

Every autumn,

when the wind turns cold

and darkness comes early,

I am suddenly happy.

It's time to start making soup again.

~Leslie Newman

I made Chili for dinner last night. But #1 Daughter wants us to can some soup for her. I have to get moving on that because after the soup and the sauerkraut we will jar next weekend, we will be done canning for the year.

When Saturday dawned at 27 degrees and Sunday came in at 25, (it is 23 now...we are on a downward trend) I decided that was enough and I could harvest the horseradish. I made 8 1/2 pints of Audrey's Horseradish Sauce on Sunday.

For shits and giggles and because #1 daughter bought me an awesome little scale, I decided to keep track of what we canned this year and it is as follows...

Horseradish sauce 8 ½ pints
BBQ Sauce 4 (½ pints)
Elderberry Jelly 11 pints
Rhubarb Relish 8 ½ pints
Blackberry Jam 8 ¼ pint
Strawberry/Rhubarb Jam 9 pints
Strawberry Jam 3 ½ pints
Currant Jelly 7 pints
Black Raspberry Jam 8 pints
Blackberry picked over 100 pounds of berries
made Topping/Pie Filling 43 pints
Brandy 2 quarts
Froze 12 pounds

Zucchini froze 38 pounds, cubed, sliced and grated

B&B Pickles 30 pints 4 quarts

Green Beans froze 11 pounds

Salsa 34 ½ pints

Tomato Soup 22 pints

Apple Currant Jelly 11 pints
Apple Blackberry Jelly 16 pints
Chili sauce 7 pints
Onion Relish 5 ½ pints
Pickled Hot peppers 11 ½ quarts
Tomatoes 22 ½ quarts
Hot pepper butter 17 (1/2 pints)

AppleSauce w/redhots 10 ½ quarts
Apple Butter 25 ½ pints
Apple Pie Filling 35 quarts

Along with this there is dehydrated apples, frozen gallon jugs and canned apple cider, blackberry juice, frozen broccoli, berries, peppers, celery which I didn't measure, 2 steer, 2 pigs, 1 lamb, 30 chickens and 2 turkeys. Now I am waiting on the can-can sales for things like corn which we never seem to grow enough of to can and peas. The potatoes are in the well house, the nuts, squash and pumpkins in the root cellar. The cupboard empties quickly at Christmas time when we make up baskets to give to friends and neighbors but it looks really good right now.

I have hung some of the sunflowers up on the fence and put out a suet cake and the wrens and tufted titmouse are daily visitors. The deer is under the apple tree nightly eating the peels from what I dehydrated that day. And if the dogs reaction is any guess the bear was here Saturday night and last night. We left the door open to let him go do his business...both nights he came running in, hid under the bed and started barking! Brave dog! My brother saw one mama and cub not far from here which he said had a very brown muzzle. Since most of the leaves are off the tree's maybe I will get to see her while looking up into the woods.

I started washing the sheeps fleece and can't wait until it is all clean. I want to spin some of the black. The two black fleece are different and Toupee's neck is turning gray (I am not upset by this!!!!) This is a crappy picture but the camera's batteries died so it was this or nothing. On the left is Toupee and Sable on the right. Sable's is a tighter crimp shorter fleece where as Toupee's is longer and more open. And yes even though they don't look it in this pic they are black. In other fiber news...I am still knitting the lace shawl from HMG. I am on row 102...only 58 more to go. I need to finish this so I can move on. The soup might have to be put on hold until this is done!

Nice & Cheap

The nice guy always finishes last OR why cheap can be expensive.

Last week was another busy week and I was also preparing for a craft fair. Friday night we went out to dinner with #1 son and his girlfriend. After dinner we went to pick up a cartridge to finish printing somethings for the craft fair. We got home about 11:30, up at 6 and while I sat at the show, the man went to get more hay, feed, drop #2 son off at a b-day party, and to Home Depot. I made some money but spent some too on things like soap from Simpler Thymes as the local farmers market was closing. Then we had to pick #2 son up at 11 PM. ..another late night.

Sunday dawned bright and early and we were off again as the butcher called to say the meat was ready. A friend (we will call her D) called and wanted #2 daughter to babysit at 1 PM while she took a motorcycle ride with her husband(who we will call R).

The man left for the meat, I cut & glued the tile for the backsplash, grouted the stove area, and cut the tiles for around the toilet and by the door in the bathroom. The kids got dropped off and the man comes home and we go to work rearranging food in freezers until we have it all in.

D & R drive up the road to drop off D (she left her vehicle here) and R leaves to head home. She gathers up her kids and leaves. Within minutes she returns. I thought she forgot something but her husband broke down 1 1/2 miles up the road. The man follows her and they put the motorcycle in the back of our truck. They are just about ready to leave and a couple of cars come down the road. The man waves them around except the last one doesn't go around. The man has to jump out of the way to stop from getting hurt when the van hit our truck. The police are called and D leans on the van drivers window to tell him to turn off the vehicle as he is leaking something and the police are on their way. The man states "Oh I can't be here, I have no insurance" steps on the gas and almost runs her over and leaves.

The police are notified that he has fled the scene but say they can't make it right away and since nobody is hurt it is okay to tow the vehicle. My friend calls her AAA as my friendly neighborhood towtruck driver is not available until midnight and we can't leave the vehicle where it is that long. AAA states it will be approximately one hour so D & R leave to take their kids home as there is school on Monday. R says he will be back to meet AAA.

The police call and say they are able to come now and meet them there. The man leaves home to meet the police, AAA shows up and since R wasn't there says we have to pay $175.00 to tow it 1 1/2 miles down the road. The man comes home to get the checkbook, returns to the accident scene and pays the driver. R shows up and the driver and R argue if AAA covers this tow. The towtruck driver refuses to move our truck unless he keeps the check. It is now 1:30 in the morning so he kept the check and towed the truck.

Monday dawns early. The man leaves for work (in my mother's car as mine is in the garage) and sees the van driver going to work. He tells me to call the police and tell them where he works. I do and later in the day he is seen driving home so the police did nothing. Our insurance won't cover as I took collision off and the UIM only covers bodily injury. During the day, I find out where the van driver lives and call the police again. I have to leave a message for the officer that arrived at the scene to tell him this new information. We go to pick up my car and talk to the man at the garage about the truck and he says the frame where the door hinge is located is bent so would have to be cut and welded and he has not even had time to look at the A frame...(my tire is at a 45 degree angle) and the windshield is cracked. But basically he thinks the truck is done.

So Tuesday finds me with a 2003 Dodge 1500 quadcab paperweight....and even the price of scrap has gone down. I don't know if the police went to get the van driver but I am about sick of having to do all the work for them. I can sue the van driver but I would be dead before I collected any money as he only works off the books. D says that she called AAA and we should not have had to pay the tow truckdriver (no duh!) and she is waiting on them to call her back. Town gossip says the van driver had a suspended license which has now expired. He is a drunk and was drunk when he hit our vehicle.

So helping someone cost me a truck. I will take part of the blame as I should not have taken collision off last year eventhough the truck was payed for. I had paid for it for two years after it was paid off and decided to keep that $1500 - 2000 a year for myself. Of course hindsight now states that the $1500 -2000 that I saved this past year will not buy me a replacement vehicle. Being cheap didn't pay off. Being nice didn't pay off. I am so POed at all involved (self included)that I have a migraine and have been popping Tylenol like pez.

I would love to walk down (1 mile) and kick this van driver in the gonads just so I could vent some. I know myself enough to know I would enjoy it too much and wouldn't stop with one kick. I bet the police would show up then!

On a lighter note, when the man called me from work at lunch yesterday, I told him I took out steaks for him for dinner. He asked what kind. I told him t-bone. He said "oh you had to pick t-bone" I asked why and he said T-bone like my truck was t-boned and started laughing. He has an odd sense of humor.

And on the plus side. Nobody was hurt (but I did have insurance for that!) I do have some hay stored. I don't need as much feed since I only have the sheep and chickens now. When I do need more feed, it will fit in the trunk of my car. I have already picked up my meat which wouldn't have fit in the trunk of my car. Things could be worse I guess, but I don't want to find out.

First Frost

"The grim frost is at hand, when apples will fall thick, almost thunderous, on the hardened earth."- D. H. Lawrence

It got a little nippy last night. The temps were 30.7 when I woke up.The sun was just melting the last vestiges of our first frost from the grass at 10 AM when I went to my mothers.

I stripped the squatter’s right apple tree on Sunday so no apples will be falling. I stored some of the apples and have some here to dehydrate and bake with. The apples had already started falling heavily which is what spurred me on to get them before they all fell and bruised. The horseradish should be ready now –maybe tomorrow I will tackle that. The sauerkraut has approximately two more weeks and then canning will be done for another year.

Archery hunting season started here on Saturday so we did not get to walk the upper ridge. Instead we spent the weekend buying more feed, hay and groceries, picking up #2 son’s .22, moving all of mom’s outside furniture into the garage, digging more potatoes and sorting the first ones dug. And before we knew it the weekend was over.

In fiber news, HMG released a shawl pattern on Saturday. It is on Ravelry here… http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/dana-marr-shawl. I am using lace weight and have 50 of 160 rows done. This has me glued but I only work on it during spare moments while the kids are in school. I learned my lesson after having to tink a row back.

We have also done some shopping for the house, more grout, tiles for the back splash, switch covers, lights and stove pipe to hook up the stove to the triplewall pipe. However, dentist and doctor appointments, drives to boy scouts and fire department meetings have kept us from putting it all to use. If we want to be in before the snow flies we had best get motivated.

Autumn mosaic

"Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all."- Stanley Horowitz I put the chickens and ducks in the garden for their own protection. Before I did so I harvested the last goodies it had to offer. One of those goodies was a sweet potato…yes one. When the slips came in we were having a lot of rain and the garden was too wet to get into. By the time I got to planting them I was down to four slips. The plants gave small tubers but only the one worth eating. I made it my lunch and it was good. I pulled the turnips, parsnips, carrots, dug some potatoes, got a rutabaga and made a pot of beef stew using these root veges. A loaf of homemade bread made a great meal yesterday when high temps were only 54 with lots of wind. The wind however did make it a great day for catching up on the laundry. And that same wind brought down a lot of apples from my squatter’s right tree and my black walnut tree. Today Mom and I dug one row of potatoes and spread them out in the garage to dry before storing them. On the walk home, I gathered up my stash of butternuts. I had been picking them up and piling them on top of a stump….a squirrel decided I didn’t need nuts so he absconded with some. I noticed my pile dwindling and decided I better grab them while there was still some to grab! While I am outside, I am amazed at the myriad of colors. In Spring I look for the first green blade of grass and then green is the dominant color all summer. But autumn brings a different color with each turn. I think its God’s way of giving us a good dose of color to get us threw winter when it is only white, gray and brown. It is like he takes his palette and dumps all the colors down on the leaves. Right now we are supposedly at 40-70% in color. This poor forsythia doesn't know what season it is!I will take it for as long as it lasts and then when they have fallen I can look up into the woods and see the deer and turkeys walk the lower ridge line. This weekend, #1 daughter and Sir T are coming down to walk the higher ridge to get a look at falls splendor from the top of the mountain. I have recharged the batteries in the camera, so I am ready.

I love Fall!

"I love fall! Fall is exciting.

It's apples and cider.

It's an airborne spider.

It's pumpkins in bins.

It's burrs on dog's chins.

It's wind blowing leaves.

It's chilly red knees.

It's nuts on the ground.

It's a crisp dry sound.

It's green leaves turning

And the smell of them burning.

It's clouds in the sky.

It's fall. That's why...

I love fall."- Author Unknown

Spring and Fall are my favorite seasons. Summer and Winter are too hot or too cold..like the Three Bears, Spring and Fall are "just right". It doesn't drain you as quickly so you are able to get more done.

This weekend we cleaned up inside the house and laid the tile behind and under where the woodstove will go, did more spackling, installed a kitchen counter top and tiled it.

Monday I painted the kitchen and dining rooom, painted the cabinets, grouted the countertop tile, and laid the tile in the bathroom.

Tuesday's plan was to finally finish off all those apples by making apple cider. I had a 55 gallon drum of apples still left. As I was setting up, the chickens started squaking. I looked over and they were running so I assumed the fox was there. I go running and see a bobcat take one of my chickens out. He turns around with my chicken in his mouth and wants to run toward the woods, see's me and takes off around the front of my greenhouse and goes up the side, behind the blackberry patch and was gone leaving a trail of feathers behind. He is big...thanks to all that free white meat the neighbor and I are feeding him. I honestly don't know who was more surprised....him to see me or me to see a bobcat when I was expecting a fox. It took the mind a couple of seconds to even realize what it was. So I have to get whatever I left in the garden out and let the chickens and ducks go in there in hopes that it will be a deterrent.

I started doing the cider but then we lost power for a couple of hours which left me with no water for washing the apples, so I went looking to see where the bobcat had gone so I could have someone set a trap. I followed one patch of feather's after another and then as soon as it got to the woods...nothing. I walked the lower ridge line and never saw a feather. What I did see was the witch hazel blooming, and the fact that there is not a nut to be found. There were lots of empty shells and husks but no nuts. I came out of the woods and finished making the cider. I got 15 gallons and aching shoulders from cranking. I froze eight gallons and canned 7 before saying "Uncle".

In fiber I have not been spinning but I have been knitting up a storm. I had joined a Yahoo Holiday Mystery Group too late to participate last year but this year they are doing it again. They give free patterns twice a week. I have done the washcloth, the Gansey hat and I am doing the mystery gift. We are on clue 3 of 7. I have also been making stockings in hopes of selling some from my cousins table at the craft fair on October 11.

Today should be an easy day, the garden, laundry, house cleaning and a dentist appointment for #2 son. That means guilt free knitting while he is in there! And tonight we grout the bathroom floor.

An Orchard of Apples

A seed hidden in the heart of an apple is an orchard invisible. ~Welsh Proverb

When #2 son comes home from school one of his jobs recently is to take the days worth of apple skins and cores up into the woods to share with the deer and other animals. Maybe some time in the future an orchard might grow from these scraps. And I feel like we have peeled an orchards worth of apples this week. Even with a Dr's appointment and sitting at a friends house while an electrician did some work we still did an amazing amount of apples. We got 10 1/2 quarts of applesauce with red hots (a fav of #1 daughter's), 25 pints of apple butter and 35 quarts of apple pie filling...and there are still apples left which have to be made into cider. The equipment is all set up but the kids and I haven't found the time yet.

Last night #1 daughter came down to help do some work in the house today. We ended up making more apple pie filling instead of laying bathroom tile because the man was afraid the cool damp weather was not conducive to this. So he is getting heat in the house tonight. Tomorrow #1 daughter and #1 son are going to help, so we can lay the tile in the bathroom, tiles behind and under the woodstove and prime the walls in the kitchen and living room. I am looking forward to having all my children working together. Sounds like the start to a beautiful weekend.

11:44 AM

"Autumn begins with a subtle change in the light, with skies a deeper blue, and nights that become suddenly clear and chilled. The season comes full with the first frost, the disappearance of migrant birds, and the harvesting of the season's last crops."- Glenn Wolff and Jerry Dennis

Autumn begins today at 11:44 AM. Autumn brings a calmness usually which I am looking forward too.

I haven’t seen any geese flying south yet but the birds are starting to come to the empty feeders, hoping to find something. They won't as I don't wish to be a bear magnet. The harvesting of the season’s last crops is done except for potatoes and horseradish.

Friday I cut down all the corn and fed it to the pigs and steer. I cut down this year’s bearing canes on three of the blackberry plants to give the sheep a treat. The zucchini is still producing so I left that. I pulled the small cabbages that I didn’t use for sauerkraut and put them in the root cellar. The peppers have flowers on them so I left them too. I don't know why, they won't produce before frost.

Saturday we worked on the house and then made a trip to Home Depot. I am playing with designs for tile behind the woodstove when I should just be slapping some up there. The paint primer should go on this week if all goes as planned. (Murphy’s law says it won’t but one can always hope)

Yesterday we went to a friends and picked apples, like this years berries, the apples were abundant. She said to come get more when we are done with these. The bed of the truck is covered in apples, so I don’t think I will need more!
After apple picking we loaded the steers and pigs on to the trailer and watched them drive away. This years pigs are leaving a month early but I needed to get rid of the steers now so the pigs had to go to so I didn’t have two transport bills. Which brings to mind, that I need my own trailer to transport animals. While loading was going on #2 daughter found a walking stick. I haven’t seen one for years so it was nice to know they are still around. Today I should start digging potatoes but my shoulders hurt from picking, so I am not even going into the garden. I am heading to Mom’s kitchen to lean over pots of applesauce and apple butter. Tomorrow we will make apple pie filling. After school for the next couple of days, the kids and I will make cider. (They don't know that yet!)

Soon things will calm down. The jobs won't lessen but the need for things to be done immediately (like before it rots) won't be there, which I think is what was overwhelming me. So Welcome Autumn.

Summers End

“Decide what you want, decide what you are willing to exchange for it. Establish your priorities and go to work.” ~ H.L. Hunt

Woke up this morning and it was 38.3 degrees. The last days of summer are going quickly or maybe I am hastening them along thinking the work will end if summer does. Foolish me!

Monday we worked all day on those garden huckleberries....and at the end of the day we only had 10 pints of pie filling. I woke up Tuesday morning and just couldn't fathom doing a whole days work for 10 pints of a non meal product. It was not a priority. So the balance of the berries ended up in the wheel barrow going to the pigs. We used or pawned off what we could of the pears, the pigs got the rest. The leftover crabapples from my brothers tree, well past their prime...to the pigs. Wanting to give them some roughage with their fruit, I pulled everything out of my garden by the greenhouse. The only thing left in there is turnips, parsnips, ground cherries, peppers and some sunflowers. All the cherry, grape and pear tomatoes went to work with the man to share with his fellow workers.

The decision was made to send the pigs and steers on their trip. It was scheduled for the 27th as I had feed for both to last until then. Today the steers got out. The man had to come home from work to help get them back in. Then the kids came home from school and the steers were in the neighbors yard. The kids and I were able to get them in. As we are walking up the driveway patting ourselves on our backs for having managed without the man, we started to smell something really bad...it was our dinner burning on the stove. The telephone will be busy today to move their trip forward to this weekend. It is either that or we will need to build a really big spit.

I realize everyone has their breaking point and I seem to have reached mine. With so many irons in the fire, one is eventually going to get burnt, I just wish it hadn't been my dinner. The overload is my own fault really. I over-estimate our stamina and under-estimate the quantity of the product and time needed to process.
So the plan for this weekend is to get some more irons out of the fire. We have to go to a friends to get apples for cider, sauce, butter and pie filling. That leaves the potatoes to dig and store, the large garden to clean up, horseradish to make after a frost, the freezers to clean and the sheep to shear.

So soon the list, along with the days, will be shorter. The bright side being my shelves and freezers will be full. It is then when I have time that I will be happy about all the work. It is then I will be happy with my decisions.

Rescue Me

With my deepest apologies to Aretha Franklin I offer my version of Rescue Me. If I added audio it would be even worse…trust me!

Rescue me
Oh take me out of here
Rescue me
I want an ice cold beer
'Coz I'm tired and so hot
If I plant another garden I should be shot

Come on and rescue me
From my own stupidity
Come on baby and rescue me
'Coz I’m canning way to much
No more tomatoes can I touch

Rescue me
Come on and take my arm
I really don’t need a farm
'Coz I'm crazy and losing it
Don’t have time to move more sh*t

Come on and rescue me
From my own stupidity
Come on baby and rescue me
'Coz I’m canning way to much
No more tomatoes can I touch
Rescue me

Rescue me
Oh take me out of here
Rescue me
I want an ice cold beer
'Coz I'm tired and so hot
If I plant another garden I should be shot

Come on and rescue me
Come on baby, save me baby, help me baby, save me baby
Can't you see I lost my sanity
Can't you see that I’m loony
Rescue me

Come on and take my arm
I really don’t need a farm
No more tomatoes, no more beans
No more glass canning jars to clean
take me baby out of here
for an ice cold beer
Can't you see that I'm tired

Chinese Fortune Cookie

"Vacation can wait. Stick to the project" ~ Chinese fortune cookie

We had Chinese for dinner Friday as I had seen enough of the kitchen. Saturday after helping a friend, I finally read my fortune cookie. "Vacation can wait. Stick to the project". I would have loved to have had a weekend away from canning but I guess it was not meant to be. So this morning I finished the second dish/wash cloth to a set, picked the rest of the garden huckleberries (47 pounds!!!), went to Mom's where we canned 11 1/2 quarts of tomatoes and 17-1/2 pints of hot pepper butter. We finished at 4 and cleaned up and I am done for the day.

After making 11 1/2 quarts of hot peppers and not making a dent in them, I had to find something else. I found hot pepper butter . I do NOT do hot peppers but the man loves them. I made 1/2 a batch to see how it was and he loved it as did the kids. They finally talked me into trying it and it has less heat than the Raspberry Chipotle Sauce I make so I made another batch. I ran the recipe up to Cyndy with a taste test and tried pawning some huckleberries off on her but didn't get away with it this time. I called another friend to pawn off some more hot peppers and I am waiting on her to call back. If she doesn't want them I will make poppers for the man to take to work for the guys. So I am taking a mini vacation until tomorrow when we tackle the huckleberries. October can not come soon enough for me as I want to be done with canning and time away from canning and the garden is a vacation. Oh and the next time we have Chinese I am not going to read the fortune.

Pickled Peppers

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked.
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
How many pickled peppers did Peter Piper pick?

Another ending is… Where are the pickles Peter Piper picked? I would have to answer, they are on my counter. I went to the Farmers Market again. I saw a container of hot peppers for $10. Well the man loves hot peppers, so I bought them to pickle some for him. I did not realize how many peppers were in that container. When they poured it into a paper bag the bag bulged all over. It was difficult to carry as if you pushed on the side they over flowed the top and went rolling. Of course there was no room on the top to hold the bag either. I gave one to the man who usually has no problems with hot and he was not able to keep it in his mouth! So I approached them with caution, gloves on. And to answer the how many…I pickled 11 ½ quarts and didn’t make a dent! I ran out of vinegar first.

Looking at the bag of peppers, having talked to Cyndy, knowing I was going to see her… a plan formed in my mind. I threw some in a bag, put in a pair of gloves and pawned some of my problems off on her! What are friends for? Of course, if I keep this up I may not have any! Last week I pawned elderberries and blackberries off on another friend!

So, I have come to the understanding that I should not go to the farmers market. I go, I see, I buy and pay for it later, along with unsuspecting others. It rates right up there with going to see animals or fiber. I have absolutely no self-control. And it doesn't matter if I don't bring money, my mother, kids or the man buy it so I have to stay away.

Now the man will enjoy them later, as will others. They do look very festive don’t they…kind of like, dare I say it... Christmas. Oh hell you knew I was going to have to go there….there is only 102 days! Which means we should all get those needles clicking!!! And even though I feel like I have been chained to the stove, I have been doing some fiber. I spun the jacob roving, and I have been knitting dish/wash clothes (2 of each). I finished my one valance...lots more to go but put on the back burner for now. I bought some kitchen towels to crochet. I was asked to share a table at a sale in October so I need to find things I have made and get away from the stove and get making more. And if I stay away from the farmers market and concentrate on my own garden produce I would get done faster and be able to get to clicking!

A Garden Experiment

The purpose of learning is growth, and our minds, unlike our bodies, can continue growing as we continue to live. ~Mortimer Adler

The seed catalogs come earlier and earlier each year. I hide them away until after Christmas. Then when the kids go back to school I start looking thru them. A long time ago Cyndy told me that seed orders should be in by Ground Hogs Day and I try to abide by that. So while snow and icy road were the norm, I was inside dreaming about warm weather and the garden. Maybe it was a fresh fruit deficiency or boredom with the usual that made me look at other fruits. I bought seed for Garden Huckleberry, Ground Cherry and Nanking Cherry plants.

As stated in an earlier posts , I weed wacked two cherry plants and I didn’t get many of the ground cherry. However I have saved gound cherry seed, so I can grow more of them as the kids love eating them right off the plant and I would like to try jam.

So that leaves us with the Garden Huckleberry, Solanum melanocerasum. When I first read about them in the seed catalog I went on line to research them. I found this site…. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1082/is_n1_v37/ai_13419793 And it stated: “ If you love a blueberries, you’ll love garden huckleberries too!”… Ok I love blueberries but I want to know more.

So I read on…”Garden huckleberries grow on annual plants that reach about 3 feet in height. The upright, rangy bushes thrive in just about any soil, producing heavy yields of large blue-black berries that taste wonderful in pastries, pies and preserves.” ….I liked the sounds of that, easy to grow, big yield. This plant was right up my alley of lacksadaisy gardening.

…”And they're easy to harvest -- no thorns to battle as in picking wild berries.”….I love the sound of that which is one reason I have thornless blackberries! I am not into pain.

…”The plants are rarely bothered by pests and diseases.”….Since I don’t use chemicals this was the clincher.

So I bought the seed and treated it like it’s relative the tomato. Where as I like to try new things, my mom is into the tried and true and these were not tried and true, so they went into my small garden instead of the larger shared one.

I planted 17 plants and gave some to Mary. They grew over 5 feet tall and were loaded with berries. Mary called to say “now what” and I said I don’t know I will find out. So in my usual style of jumping into hot water and then learning how to swim, I went off to find out what the hell to do with all these berries. The fact the birds wouldn't touch them now had me a little worried! They are after all part of the nightshade family and I had read that the leaves contain the alkaloid solanine, and should never be eaten.

I found this site http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/cornucop/msg121035583849.html. It says…”Place 8 cups of berries in a non-aluminum one gallon size pan and add enough water to not quite cover the fruit. As they begin to boil add a total of 1/3 cup of baking soda (a little at a time) and stir continuously. As you add baking soda, green foam will appear. After adding the baking soda, cook for 10 minutes at a low boil. The mixture will continue to foam quite a bit as the berries are cooking. After they have cooked for 10 minutes, drain this solution off and rinse with clean water. The berries will still be somewhat hard. Next return the pan of berries to the stove, add 1/3 cup water and ½ cup of lemon juice. Watch with amazement as the mixture changes from emerald green to a royal purple color.” Well, green foam doesn’t sound very appetizing but seeing it change color sounds cool. (insert mad scientist laugh).

So today was the day we had planned to get these out of the garden. I awoke to find out we were due for a severe thunderstorm with possible hail. I didn’t want the berries knocked off, so I got the kids on the bus, man off to work and hauled my ass out to the garden before the drops started. I got the berries off 1 ½ plants and by that time the thunder was no longer a distant rumble and self-preservation demanded I go inside.

You need to use garden clippers to clip each stem off the plant. So when I came inside I plucked each berry off the stem. Trust me there was no need to worry about the rain or hail knocking them off. Amazingly enough I got 9 cups from my quick picking, so it was time to experiment!

I washed, rinsed, added enough water to cover and put them on the heat. Soon the water started to turn purple. When it started to boil we added the baking soda and the water foamed neon green. This is not a good pic. This one shows the color better. We cooked it for 10 minutes and rinsed. Added some cornstarch, lemon, water and sugar and we had garden huckleberry (mock blueberry) pie filling. It doesn't taste exactly like blueberry like they say but it is not bad so I have to pick more and try jam, syrup and freezing them for muffins and pancakes. So far as a learning experiment it is something easy to grow and is something different to can. I will be planting them again next year.

Hubbard's cupboard

Old Mother Hubbard
Went to the cupboard,
To fetch her poor dog a bone.
But when she got there,
The cupboard was bare,
And so the poor dog had none.
~ Sarah Catherine Martin

We have been so busy stocking the cupboard so Old Mother Hubbard’s dog (along with us) has something to eat this winter that we have had little time for anything else.

Last Wednesday when the kids left for school, Mom and I picked up #1 Daughter, treated her to lunch then went to the Farmers Market. Thursday and Friday were spent picking 10.5 pounds of blackberries which we turned into more blackberry topping. We also picked, grated and froze 11.5 more pounds of zucchini. And we made two batches of chili sauce, three batches of salsa, two batches of bread & butter pickles and froze 2 gallons of crushed tomatoes. We took the chickens and turkeys to the butcher and picked them up the next day. The man and I also hauled all the squash into the root cellar before the rains from Hanna came.

Saturday, we took a much needed break and went to the Endless Mt. Fiber Fest. I got to spin on Grace’s double flyer wheel, but not successfully! I liked that and a production wheel she had for sale.
The man said he would buy one but I need my house done before I need another wheel. We visited with some fiber on the foot.#2 son treated me to an ounce of dyed silk roving and an ounce of mohair blend called Falling Leaves. I picked up ½ lb of jacob roving and two skeins of Happy Feet sock yarn. We had lunch and came home. I spent the rest of the afternoon spinning and relaxing. I finished knitting the valance….now the man thinks I should make them for every window in the house. I think the man should learn to knit!

Today we went grocery shopping, stopped and picked elderberries on the way home. Once home we picked, washed, boiled and strained three gallons of elderberry juice. We froze it to make jelly at a later date. While we were processing them, the man went and picked some more elderberries, which we will do tomorrow. We picked more blackberries with one friend and when she left another stopped in to see if I wanted canning jars. YES!!!! I have to meet her tomorrow after 2:30 to get them.

Also tomorrow we have to finish the elderberries, do two more batches of salsa, a batch of bbq sauce and finish the tomatoes by crushing and freezing them. The cabbage will be made into sauerkraut this week, the garden huckleberries into jam and pie filling, and basil into pesto. Next week will be spent digging the potatoes and then I will be done for a while. After the first frost there will be applesauce, cider and horseradish sauce. Then there will be hibernation...I am so looking forward to it.

Back to School and Birthdays too

The best teachers teach from the heart, not from the book. ~Author UnknownThe kids returned to school today. I hope they get teachers like the above but sadly our district makes the teachers teach to pass the PSSA's. Even some of the teachers hate it as they feel they are trying to teach the kids to read without teaching them their ABC's just to pass a test. I have had some teachers give out their home telephone number so if the kids had problems they could call. I was impressed by the dedication but would not think of bothering them while they are home with their family. My kids are so backwards. The one that cares about school has to work hard for every grade she gets and the one that hates school get A's without much effort. Last year he started to take that for granted so he has been forewarned.

Along with the return to school, today also marks #1 Daughter's 25th birthday! Born at home in a small house in VA, weighing 5 lbs. 2 oz, she came into the world screaming. She is still a tiny little thing and still screaming! She is so full of energy that you get exhausted just being with her!

So today while the younger two are in school and elder son at work, Mom and I are going to take the old girl out to lunch for her birthday and give her the rest of her b-day presents. Then we are going to the farmer's market to pick up some produce for some marathon canning.

At least that is the plan right now. I have been sick off and on since Friday afternoon so these plans might change. Wish us luck!