I couldn't stay away

Put off thy cares with thy clothes; so shall thy rest strengthen thy labor, and so thy labor sweeten thy rest. ~ Francis Quarles

Last night we went back out to sit and look at the moon. Of course this morning we missed the eclipse as I was too tired to get up before 6. We did get to see a rerun of it on the morning news....yeah I know, not the same.

As I am watching my friends kids for the week I had extra hands to run around doing little errands. After a morning of cutting the broom corn, pulling some plants, and getting a cabbage and digging potatoes to go with the ham for dinner, I decided we needed to take a rest.

We got into bathing suits. I may be putting of my cares but there is NO way I was putting off my clothes....some things you just do not need to see in the light of day. But I digress, we packed some PB&J sandwiches and kool aid and off we went to the river. While wading in to get use to the water they noticed mussels on the riverbed. In a matter of minutes we had.... When we left they went back into the river because I told them they had to eat them if thye came home with us. They decided a ham dinner was more appetizing. When we came home we found out that the lines on the shell tell how old they are, like counting a tree's rings. We also found out that a large population indicates a healthy body of water and that the United States has 300 different kinds of mussels.

A little work, a little play and a biology lesson all in one day, not bad!

My Bout With Genius

Genius is 99 percent perspiration and 1 percent inspiration.- Thomas Edison

After sweating my butt off for days canning those tomatoes (promised photo of more salsa below)

Yesterday I had a moment of clarity....a rarity I know! I took all of these that I just picked pulled out the squeezo (a miracle tool) and pulped those babies. Filled up two gallon bags and threw them in the freezer to deal with at my own convenience. After I cleaned up the mess I took the rest of the day off. #2 daughter and I went school shopping (Have I ever said how much I hate to shop?) and we finished everything but sneakers and a couple of more pairs of pants for #2 son. I didn't even cook dinner just stopped at McDonalds.
While talking to Cyndy late last night she told me to go look at the moon. The picture does not due it justice. I could have sat out there all night it was so beautiful. Which might have been a good thing seeing as I couldn't get the larger turkeys in and one of them didn't make it thru the night....I am thinking coyote or fox.

While I was facing the masses in the stores, the man was facing this...A sincere Thank You to those involved in getting him there. The man needed the break, he works so hard and does so little that is just for him. He came home ecstatic and went to work, tired but still smiling. What more can you ask for?

Summer Swimming

"...Do not fear to put thy feet

Naked in the river sweet;

Think not leech, or newt, or toad,

Will bite thy foot when thou hast trod;

Nor let the water rising high

As thou wad'st in, make thee cry

And sob; but ever live with me,

And not a wave shall trouble thee." John Fletcher

Rain on Wednesday, a guilt-free knitting Thursday, and Friday was payday, as in you need to pay for not getting into the garden sooner! There were berries (nephews dumped them -lets move on) broccoli (freezer), beans (some freezer some pigs) and tomatoes. So I took some of theseand made two batches of salsa...the 1/2 full jar comes home

and a batch of chili sauce.

I finished in time to tell the man we were having pizza for dinner. Today dawned humid....air you can wear...

after making two more batches of salsa (Sis pic's will come as proof later) it was off to the river. We have not had time to go swimming this year and we should have taken the time. We felt great afterwards and were able to enjoy the rest of the day. I even got in some spinning before the mosquito's drove us indoors. The man took #2 son out on the boat for some night fishing. #2 daughter and I are relaxing and watching Disney.

Tomorrow we will go forth and can some more...we haven't finished the tomatoes yet and I am sure there are more where they came from.

Another Day

The ideals which have lighted my way, and time after time have given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been Kindness, Beauty, and Truth. Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)

Saturday we went to the steak bake for my friend whose son was lost in Iraq. The proceeds helped fund the scholarship in his name. It was bittersweet. It was great to see how many people showed up to support this cause, yet sad that they had too. The mom was a wreck not knowing if anyone was going to show up because they forgot him already and then flipping to worrying if they had enough to feed everyone! It was suppose to end at 6 but everyone stayed to eat more and talk until after 11 PM.

Sunday Mom and I were able to get two batches of salsa and half a batch of polish ketchup canned. She had made 8 pints pickles while I was helping a friend move on Friday and at some point we made 7 pints of pickle relish.Sunday night Farmer Dave called and said he had some fleeces and to come get them. I know there is Jacob, Icelandic, Shetland and Cheviot. He can't remember what else. Wednesday night the man is going to help him shear someone else's animals and I will be getting 6 or 8 dorset fleece and an alpaca. I need to spin faster.

Yesterday I had a Dr's appt and found out I have to have physical therapy three times a week which is going to seriously cut into the gardening/canning time but the waiting time may open up more knitting time! On the way home I stopped at the feed store and when home i was able to get three gallons of tomatoes froze. Then we went to pick up the bottom cabinets for the kitchen. The friend I am helping move bought new ones for her house and was getting rid of the old ones...I got them. We passed the inspection and now the wiring needs to get done....all the stuff is there, breaker box, breakers, wire, boxes nailed in place etc....now the wire just needs to be run.

Today it is raining and I made sweet potato muffins and turkey alphabet soup. I hope to make zucchini chocolate chip cookies later. I grated up two gallon bags of zucchini to freeze. Then I sliced, blanched and froze slices of zucchini. I am catching up so when the rains stops and I can get in the garden I wont be freaking again.

Now I am going to make a pot of coffee for when the man gets home and then I am going to sit on my butt and enjoy the evening.

Anxiety

“True happiness is... to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future.” ~Seneca quote (Roman philosopher)

I guess I am still anxious, twisted up, blooming out of seasonand feel like things are looming over me. I need to step back and stop looking at things as black and white and start realizing there are alot of gray area's. So today I am stepping back from my problems and duties and I am going to go to a steak bake to help support a scholarship fund for a fallen soldier. Nothing like a reality check to make you start getting your things in order and approach them head on. Regroup, Reorganize, Remember, Rejoice in what we have, Return to work another day

Idleness

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time. - John LubbockMom came home sick from work today so I couldn't do any canning at her house where all the supplies are stored. I was able to blanch and freeze some broccoli here at home but then I ran out of freezer bags. The beans I sorted thru and some went to the pigs and the rest I cooked for dinner. So what do you do when you aren't able to can or freeze things....you lay outside and do nothing. At this point in the gardening season I don't care about the weeds, everything was pretty much caught up on yesterday so far as picking. I didn't want to read a book, spin or knit. I just laid back, dozed a little and enjoyed the peace. Got up long enough to go into the garden and grab a red cabbage and dig a couple of potatoes. Made the man s & s cabbage, pork, potatoes and green beans for dinner.
Now to clean up the dishes and then maybe I will feel like some fiber arts and maybe I won't...maybe I will just lay around tonight too.

The first canning of the season

Gardening is a matter of your enthusiasm holding up until your back gets used to it.- Anonymous

In the spring I always plant way too much. I am so eager to harvest something...anything! Then when it all starts coming in at once I ask myself what drugs I was on when I planted it all!

The first jam (blackberry) just got made and the first salsa. Some for us and some will become gifts. #1 daughter took some home with her already!

I have more broccoli and beans that the man and I picked tonight that I need to blanch and freeze tomorrow. And I still need to dig the potatoes. My back better be ready!

Living in the garden

In order to live off a garden, you practically have to live in it. ~Frank McKinney Hubbard

Oh how true! When not in the garden picking, we are in the house washing, cutting, grating, blanching and freezing. Tomorrow we will be making salsa and blackberry jam.

It is raining so I can't get into the garden today which is bad as I have alot to do in there. It rained earlier in the week which took a day away, Wednesday I had the housecleaning job and then we took the kids and Mom to the County Fair. Thursday I took Mom to all the Drs. appts and then we installed a ramp for her to get in and out of the house easier. I know there are beans, cucumbers, broccoli, berries and tomatoes to pick and the potatoes need to be dug. I guess it will be tomorrow or Sunday.

But going back to the fair thing....this won a first prize ribbon. I don't now who did it as it sat up to high to see but he is so cute I had to take a picture.

And to continue in the fiber arts, I have been busy this morning. I finished sewing together the BSJ. I need to find some buttons for it but other than that it is done.Yesterday, I knit the cat's paw print scarf found here.... http://www.straw.com/cpy/patterns/scarves/kidm-catspaw-scarf.html . That will be a Christmas present for #1 daughter, her cat (my grandkitten) walks all over her so I thought it appropriate.

I sewed the seams on a baby sweater I was working on two years ago when I went to the MD S&W and I got rid of all the strings on my socks. Just in time too seeing as how it is only 54 degrees and these will be on my feet when I leave to go to spinning. Not the best pics as it is a rainy day but you get the jist.

Fallen Leaf

A fallen leaf is nothing more than a summer’s wave goodbye.– Author Unknown

Last week I was at Cyndy's and she said "Did you see the goldenrod blooming?" I said "Shhhhhhh!" Goldenrod is an indicator plant meaing it indicates the end of the growing season in our area. It is a turning point. I told her I didn't want to hear it as that same day I was walking down the road and saw this....

Then I turned on the computer and the Old Farmer's Almanac said "If the first week in August is unusually warm, the winter will be white and long." It has been in the 90's and is suppose to be the same this coming week. I sent an email to Cyndy with this tidbit of folklore and she writes back "Shhhhhhhh!"

Then while driving into town I saw this...

and this.....
I found myself driving down the road looking at leaves, trying to determine how many more had changed color. It finally dawned on me that I was missing the now worrying about tomorrow. I still have lots of summer to enjoy. So let the leaves fall when or where ever they may. I haven't canned my first tomatoes yet!

Tomatoes

It's difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while eating a homegrown tomato. - Lewis Grizzard

We all know the first tomatoes out of the garden got eaten in a matter of moments. Once everyone stops gobbling them up as soon as they are picked or once the garden starts giving you more than little ones you get to make a tomato sandwich.

Toast, mayonaise, thick tomato slices, fresh ground black pepper and a small shake of salt. All is right in my world no matter what. Each bite a delight to the taste buds, while the mind wanders to thoughts of happiness. Yes I know my mind wanders without the tomato sandwich....work with me here people, work with me! Where was I? Oh yes, the sheer joy, the bliss of it. In that brief time you can forget a multitude of things. But then while you are swallowing the last vestiges of heaven on earth, as you are licking the juices of the tomatoes and crumbs from your finger tips reality comes crashing down and you remember....that your son just came riding home on this....a 2002 Kawasaki ZX9R Ninja and then he tells you, he bought it, insured it, had it delivered to a friends and is driving it without a permit because he couldn't wait until he got one! And that it can go 180 mph...WHY???

I need another tomato sandwich ASAP!!!

August

August, the eighth month of the current Gregorian calendar and the third month of Summer’s rule, derives its name from Augustus (Augustus Caesar)

August is a big month around here, all the good family members were born this month (just kidding sis! aka the only one that isn't) And since the gladiolus is the flower of August I present....

I haven't grown any for the past two years. I picked up an assorted package at Walmart and I even though I didn't plant them all I am happy with the colors I got.

In fiber news one sock is done and I am at row 63 on the BSJ. Here's to hoping the month goes slow and that lot's of things get accomplished in a stress-free enviroment! One can dream!

Summer's Time

Louis E. Boone~ I am definitely going to take a course on time management... just as soon as I can work it into my schedule.

Oh, were does one start...
My younger two came home from their dads on Friday. And....my son moved home yesterday!!! I missed him something awful and I am so glad he is home…he will of course be driving me crazy in about a week. He seems to have missed me too because he actually walked into a knitting store and brought me home treasures! He brought me a skein of Jitterbug in Toscana colorway

(absolutely gorgeous and I will start a pair of socks from it today) and a skein of Trekking Pro Natura color #1606 The Trekking is wool and bamboo which I have never knit with before so it was hard deciding which to start first. He also bought me a leaflet on how to make Embellished I-cord chokers (his girlfriend loved them). He went to Angelwing Needle Arts in Southport, NC and said the lady helped him out and talked to him for an hour about home and me spinning and knitting. I emailed her to thank her for taking the time as he was feeling homesick and being around the fiber made him feel closer to home….and I made out pretty damn good too!

I also got a new book in the mail from Knit Picks… I have read so much about the Baby Surprise Jacket that I had to try it. I mentioned it to Cyndy who said she was getting the book from the library so we are off and running with this project. At first I was just going to buy the pattern but I am so glad I bought the whole book. I love the little tidbits of her life and I am amazed at the ingenuity behind her patterns. I saw this site http://www.knitting-and.com/wiki/Baby_Surprise_Jacket and followed the directions for lengthening the sleeves. I am doing it all in white to figure out how it works before I decide how I want the stripes to come out.

My cousin goes home today. The whole month of July there was family at the mom’s. I realize it is not my house but I go to my mothers everyday. Although it is great to see them, it messes with routine. I go to mom’s to check on her and end up on the internet showing them something. I go to give a tour of the house and we just continue talking until hours have gone by which seriously cuts into the spinning/knitting time( I'm really not complaining). Which brings me around to the Tour de Fleece which ends today. I should never have signed up for it knowing that I had the family reunion, company and the garden coming in. I was only able to spin up 735 yards of two ply yarn. I didn’t spin every day and felt guilty…I hate guilt. In future I need to remember to realistically check my schedule before signing up for anything.

I emailed the seed company which I talked about in the previous post and they called and left a message. I need to get back to them so they can help identify the other beans.

I have already bought some school supplies/clothes which is making the youngers cringe as the summer is going so fast.

I walked thru the garden this AM, picked some more zuchini and have to return to pick more broccoli and beans. And so I must start managing my time by getting off the net and back into the garden!

Garden Surprises

If there's one thing I can say about my garden, it can always surprise me. - David Hobson, The Mad Gardener

Yesterday I went out into the garden and look what I found....

The very first tomatoes out of the garden which were quickly disposed of! These are Reisentraube plants which Cyndy gave me. Soon we will have more than we can eat, I hope.

I planted some kolrabi and turnip seeds and weeded the carrots, radish and kale while the ground was wet and letting me take them out without a struggle. When the small garden had dried enough that I could get to them I went to check the beans. This year I planted Cherokee Wax Beans to use as a dry bean. Now I have been watching them and some of the flowers were purple and some white. Now I have to say these are verrrry prolific this year but (you know there is always a but) here is what I am getting....

Some of the beans look like regular green beans, some look like the yellow wax bean which is the Cherokee Wax, and some of them are flat green beans. These are the only beans in that garden. The other garden is 200+ yards away. So I go on the internet to read more about this bean and here is what I get-

58 days. Phaseolus vulgaris. Bush type plant produces excellent yields of 6" long yellow wax beans. Beans are black.

Tasty, string less 6 inch pods are light yellow in color and straight. Upright plants are productive even in adverse weather.

Phaseolus vugaris 18-24 in. Tender and stringless in all stages. Good soup bean. Vines bear straight, flat, 6-7 inch deep- golden-yellow pods. (shows dried inside beans as red)

CHEROKEE WAX hardy 1 ½ foot plants will reliably produce a stringless crop of oval, golden yellow beans. A vigorous, heavy yielding variety.

There seems to be some discrepancy in the color of the dried bean (black or red). All say the plants are 1 1/2 - 2 feet tall (some of mine are vining to 6 feet). But they all say 6 inch yellow pods so where are the green ones coming from. At first I thought maybe they started green and turned to yellow but no the small green are green and the small yellow are yellow. Now I bought these from a very reputable seed company and now I need to contact them and see if anybody else is having this problem.

In the larger garden I picked zucchini. I made some fried zucchini and froze some. I also got 1/2 a shopping bag of broccoli and 1/3 of a shopping bag of green beans which I have to process today. The cucumbers are right around the corner.

And I also was able to produce this yesterday, 175 yards of two ply finn. All in all a good day.