Falling

Once again, it's been awhile since I last posted.

I have cleaned all the plants out of the garden.  We still need to put leaves and then straw on for the winter.  I pickled the jalapenos, made some enchilada sauce out of the last of the tomatoes, and made a bunch of pesto out of the basil (I freeze this in ice cube trays and add them to hot pasta for a quick meal.)  JP ran out of his favorite sweet relish, and we were almost out of applesauce, but I had to buy produce to make those.

J came home from the city for a day in early October, so we used the tiny pumpkins that we grew in the garden to make mini Jack-o-Lanterns.

I also made a lego Jack-o-Lantern, complete with lights!

We have done some dressing up as well.  J won a costume contest dressed as "2D" from the band "Gorillaz."  I dressed as a Hockey Player to take my mom for testing at the hospital on Halloween day.  L and I dressed as "Lord Gray" for a "Clue" themed Murder Mystery Tea at the Tea Shoppe.

In the meantime, JP has finished working at the location that he has been for the past 7 or 8 years (I can't keep up!)  He will start his new position (which does not require the 45 min commute) in Dec.  My parents have just returned from a week long trip to TX to visit my brother.  They travelled separately - my mother by plane, and my dad by train...it's a long story!  My mother recently had an MRI of her brain as part of a dementia work up, and may have an aneurysm, she has another test scheduled this coming week to confirm.

It's almost Thanksgiving and I'm trying not to fall apart!

34

Once again it's been awhile...not too much is happening, but enough to make me feel busy ALL THE TIME.

We took our yearly vacation up to Presque Isle in Erie.  It is usually a pretty relaxing time - we hang out, play games, go to the beach, ride our bikes, etc.  What I DON'T do is cook!  This time we took in the new "Superman" movie on a super hot day (and discount day at the theater...gotta like that!) We also took a sunset cruise on the lake, which ended up being really enjoyable and beautiful.

We decided ahead of time that we would try to find some bulk peaches while we were up there to bring home and can, since I haven't been able to find any for the past 5 years.  We came home with 2 bushels full.

I worked for 3 evenings to can 40 quarts and freeze 3 gallons of sliced peaches.

While we were gone, the pullets and cockerels continued to grow.  I'm disappointed because we ended up with EIGHT young roosters and we only need ONE.

These young ones are proving to be a bit problematic.  I made them a small run so that they could scratch outside, but they didn't seem to like it, and only went as far as the "stoop" directly outside of their door.  While we were away on vacation, they started getting in with the old hens.  They also seemed to forget how to get back inside, and started perching for the night on top of a door on the hens' side.  I have pulled them off for several nights in a row and set them in front of their door to make them go in.  I finally took down the dividing fence to allow the young and old chickens to integrate, and they have done fine, although the young ones still can't manage to get back inside in the evening, although they go in and out all day long.  Sigh...bird brains!

I had some appointments north of us on the 1st Monday that we were home from vacation, and J suggested that I check out a coffee shop at the outlets not far away.  I was pleased to see this display of some of her work for sale! 

We have been working on the purchase of this used pop-up camper for about 6 weeks (the sellers ran into some problems with the paperwork.)  They pulled it down from Pittsburgh and we were able to finalize the sale last week.  I spent most of the day Saturday cleaning it from top to bottom, airing out the cushions, and laundering all of the cushion covers and curtains.  We are looking forward to some camping trips in the near future!

Last night L and I laid out on a blanket to watch the Perseid Meteor Shower.  We saw 7 or 8 in the 40 minutes or so that we were out!  We also witnessed this UFO that no one can explain.  It was too close and quiet and slow moving to be an airplane or helicopter.  Is it a drone?  Any ideas?

JP has worked 4 out of the last 5 days, including our 34th wedding anniversary on Sunday, and he is exhausted.  I have been busy taking the dog and both of my parents to their various appointments lately.  Stella is having a procedure tomorrow to remove a large skin tag from her eyelid, so the running around hasn't ended yet.  One of these days, we need to go shopping for a new car to replace my poor Subaru.  I think the 2 of us should go out for dinner as well, don't you?

In the meantime, the summer has sped by.  Kids are heading back to school soon, and it is amazing to think that this is the first Fall in 12 years that I don't have anyone going back to school!

Party Girl

 Another month has passed, and I have stayed busy with work - I picked up a few extra hours, since I don't need to be picking anyone up from the HS any longer.

The produce in the garden is keeping me busy as well.  I have frozen 2 recipes of pizza sauce, canned more crushed tomatoes, frozen tomatillos and okra, canned pickled red beets and dried SO MANY habanero peppers!

Tomatoes, jalapenos, habaneros, tomatillos, summer squash,
corn, turnip, okra, red beets, cucumbers and cantaloupes

About 3 dozen dried habaneros made about 2 1/2 cups

I've also stayed busy shuttling L back and forth from college.  She is VERY homesick, and school is about an hour away.  I got stuck in post-Steelers traffic last Sunday and it took me an hour and a half to go about 10 miles!

In my free time, I've been partying!  2 weeks ago, I went to a "Sound Bath" at the Yoga Studio affiliated with the Hospital that I work for.  The leader did some breathing and relaxation exercises with us for a few minutes and then played the crystal bowls for about 40 minutes.  It was SO relaxing!  The following day, JP & I tried out a Float Spa.  You are supposed to float, almost weightless in salt water for relaxation.  Neither of us found it to be that awesome or relaxing to be honest.

On Friday, I drove up to the Eden Hall campus of L's school, about 1 1/2 hours away.  It is Homecoming week, and they had a special event there.  L and her roommate took the shuttle from the main campus and met me there.  We walked around outside, and had delicious food, including pizza made in the outdoor bread oven.  After dinner, a Jackson Tribute band performed, and we saw a beautiful sunset over the farm.  It was nice!

Last night, the Library held a Great Gatsby fundraiser.  I dressed up in J's prom gown, which was 20's inspired and joined in!  They had a jazz band, a bar, lots of food, 20's style dance lessons, and an escape room.  I also won a basket full of goodies in the raffle!

I was just out picking veggies in the garden again, so I will have tomatillos, habaneros and tomatoes to deal with again tomorrow.  It is winding down though.  Every time I go out, I pull out a few dead plants.

It is truly Fall now, so I will need to think about getting some apples to make applesauce as well.

Enjoy your Fall and cherish your free time!

I Think It's Fall!

The temperatures have been nippy in the evenings for the past couple of weeks, and the leaves are falling from the trees...I think that means that Fall is here!

We have had some hustle and bustle going on up on the hill (and off it) in the past month.

L got her driver's license!

The dreaded minions of stink bugs are back - another sure sign of Fall...

...and the black walnuts have been pelting the barn and the chickens!  I picked up an entire trailer load of them from out of the chicken yard so that I wouldn't turn my ankles rolling around on them when I took out food and water for the hens!  They also did a number on the chickens' outdoor shelter!

I did some canning - these are kidney beans and black beans (I did not grow these, but they sure are nice to have in the pantry when I want to make a quick meal!)  And JP has been baking bread again.  (This one is from The Blue Zone Kitchen.  It is made of sourdough, whole wheat flour and semolina, and is very hardy and delicious.

The garden is basically done for the year.  This week I pulled out everything except the 2 cherry tomato plants (they still looked ok) and this watermelon...I don't think it's quite ripe yet.  And I've been bringing in and covering things outside little by little.

All of this (plus 2 more pumpkins) were from 2 
pumpkin plants and 1 squash plant!

This rose was left after I cut off the chard!

My dad had a minor stroke a couple of weeks back, and spent the better part of the week in the hospital.  He is home now and doing very well, but certainly gave me a scare!

J was home for her Fall Break last week - she came home on the train this time.  It was 2 1/2 hours late leaving Toledo in the wee hours of the morning last Friday, and got into Pittsburgh at 7:20 or so.  It was only 20 min late going back to school on Tuesday night.  She is taking an Art Installation class this semester, and worked on a project while she was here.  I'm not sure if she's titled it or not?

I am continuing to do my Fridge Facts every day:

Book Lover's Edition

Courage/Strength Edition

Harry Potter Edition

Lord of the Rings Edition

Napoleon Dynamite Edition

JP also had the idea to install this bulletin board in the kitchen so that we can all be cognizant of the fresh fruit and veg in the house that needs to be used...no more finding a soggy cucumber in the bottom of the veg drawer!!

Well, Happy Fall to you all!

If I Could Save Thyme in a Bottle...

 Oh wait, I did that!

I harvested, cleaned and dried a bunch of thyme from my herb garden, along with more oregano.  I also counted - I have frozen 15 pints of corn from our garden, canned a couple of jars of tomatoes, frozen 3 quarts of tomato soup and 4 quarts of asparagus soup, as well as 6 pints of pasta sauce and numerous gallons of blueberries.  I also canned blueberry jam and pears.  I didn't do all this in the past couple of weeks - this is the accumulation of the season's harvest so far.

Actually, all I accomplished over the past week was having surgery!  I woke up around 2 AM on Wednesday morning with severe belly pain that landed me in the local ER (for 30 hours) with a diagnosis of acute pancreatitis, got me an ambulance ride to the tertiary hospital north of us, and gallbladder surgery on Friday.  I'm still pretty sore and tired, but at least I'm home and have been able to eat (in all that time in the hospital - Wednesday at 3 AM until Saturday at 11 AM - I was only given one meal although I did get some jello and ginger ale the night before surgery) and actually get some uninterrupted sleep!  I actually also read 2 books and did 3 hours of continuing education while in the hospital - that's pretty good, right?

When I feel like I can lean over comfortably, I will have to go see what's left in the garden - I'm sure we have lost a bunch of over ripe tomatoes, but the chickens will enjoy them.

J and her friend are coming home from college for a long weekend starting Friday.  Here's looking forward to a pain-free weekend with them!

Back to School and Fall Begins

Last week L started back to school.  First day of school traffic up the quarter mile hill to the schools has always been nuts, but it was particularly bad this year (and even worse on the second day of school, believe it or not.)

1st day of 11th grade

In the days leading up to the start of school, I noticed a couple of ending-type things:

The beautiful end of a day...

The final bloom fell off my orchid

It is always bittersweet to end the summer and head back into the busy days of school.  Sadly, the first day of school brought the sad news that the Theater Director, as well as the Costumer resigned, leaving no one to direct the amazing musicals that our HS has become known for.  It was devastating for L and her theater-nerd friends.

The garden doesn't seem to recognize that summer is basically over.  I have to pick tomatoes about every other day.  I have made numerous pots of pasta sauce that are languishing in the freezer until I use it this winter.  Likewise, I have frozen several containers of (copycat) Panera Tomato Soup for later use, and also canned several jars of tomatoes.  It is not uncommon for me to have an open-faced tomato sandwich on toast daily as well.

I have frozen several pints of corn from the garden over the past couple of weeks also.  And I am just waiting for the perfect moment to pick this lovely watermelon,

I harvested my potatoes last weekend, hardly worth mentioning.

JP and I harvested the pears from our (not just) ornamental pear tree yesterday, and I spent several hours last night and today drying and canning them.  These are the most delicious little pears!

The pears I canned today came out bright pink when compared to last year's pears.  I googled "home canned pink pears" and discovered that the extra high heat with pressure canning (which I did today) makes a natural chemical turn pink, whereas the ones that I canned with the water bath method last year stayed nice and creamy white.

Go figure!