Monday, Monday

Our barn

I hope everyone had a good weekend. Summer has settled in nicely, with temps in the mid-to-high 80s. Fortunately, we've had a nice breeze that keeps things bearable. I know, those of you who live in the South would love to see 80s so you could put a sweater on! And that reminds me of the time we were driving back to Wisconsin from Houston, Texas in January. When we stopped in Oklahoma, everyone was wearing parkas and shivering. We were comfortable in T-shirts.

The little sweetie you see above, along with his parents, is moving in with us for a month while they wait for the closing on their house. They've bought a nice house with wonderful back and front yards, beautiful mature trees, at the edge of a little village not far away. For now, we'll be living together and I'll get to see those unbelievably bright blue eyes every day! And since he's just beginning to walk, it will be an exciting month!

Just thought I'd take a few pics of the flowers around the yard. My echinacea seem non existent this year, and the rudbeckia haven't started to bloom. But it's such a lovely time of year. It's what we long for in February - warm weather, sunny skies, beautiful field crops of corn and beans, a garden that's growing like crazy, and pretty flowers in the yard.

I got 16 pints of strawberry jam and a few gallon bags of strawberries in the freezer from this year's garden crop. This is just the beginning of the canning season. With three rows of green beans and way too many tomato plants, I should get a lot of beans and tomatoes canned this summer too. I love that project!  Does anyone else love canning, or is it just me? LOL


Have a wonderful Monday!

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This post might possibly be linked to one of more of the following:

Mosaic Monday and Amaze Me Monday and  Roses of Inspiration and  Treasure Box Tuesday and Tuesday with a Twist  and  Tweak it Tuesday  and  Good Fences and  Freedom Fridays  and  Saturday Critters and  Vintage Inspiration Friday  

Good Fences and an Early Anglophile Friday

Behind Richmond Castle

Some of you have already seen this photo of the River Swale behind Richmond Castle, North Yorkshire. I figured that a second look couldn't hurt, right? Besides, it's one of my favorite views.

Another favorite Richmond photo

BREAKING NEWS:

Our youngest son's wife is in labor with their first child right now, which is quite exciting. She's been in the hospital for 38 hours now. I'm expecting to meet that little boy child later today! Daddy has been sending me text updates.

Other, not so exciting news: I've been in the midst of canning green beans and freezing peaches. I plan to get a lug of peaches today at the local farmers' market and can them, if I can find some that can wait a few days before they need canning. I was hoping to can without any sweetener, but read that the sugar helps retain the texture, shape, and color of the peaches. Maybe I can use an extremely light sugar syrup. The home-canned peaches, SO much better than disgusting store-bought canned peaches, remind me of days past, when my mom canned peaches in the late summer. She would serve them as a dessert at Sunday dinner, always one peach half on a leaf of lettuce, topped with cottage cheese. I didn't eat the cottage cheese, but it probably was not a bad idea to offset the sugar in the peaches with the protein in the cottage cheese.

This weekend we'll be gone to a little grandson's birthday party. Friends will stay in our house and take care of the house and animals. It is wonderful to have someone we can trust to step in and take care of things while we're gone. I'm hoping to enlist them next spring for a longer trip, still in the hopeful planning stage.

Little Birthday Boy
4 years old next week

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A Hardy Folk, Skills from the 1930s, and a much-too-long post

Cyrus & Rhoda

c. 1930

I know. You thought that was Kevin and me, right?

 (Amazing how happy they look, even though they lived before the advent of Facebook or Twitter, isn't it! And they didn't have to worry about recharging their cell phones.)

Before I get into this post, I must say a huge thank you to all of you for your wonderful comments and well wishes! Hip replacement recovery can get reeeeeeeeeeeeeeally long, especially when you look out the window and see nothing but snow mountains and temps that are way below zero, day after long day. It also seems like things will never change, little progress is being made, even though I plugged faithfully through 45 minutes of physical therapy twice a day...boring...boring...boring...owie...owie...owie.

BUT, someone told me that after week FOUR, many people notice a huge difference. Guess what. I am one of those people! Monday was the four-week mark. I can now see that I won't be stuck forever doing a poor impression of the Dowager Countess (of Downton Abbey fame.)

i.dailymail.co.uk

Now on to the show:

I'm pretty sure that if I have the date wrong on that photo, Eric will let me know. And I probably do have it wrong, but if I call him, he'll tell me that he's already told me, so you know how it goes...The photo above was taken in Vernon County, WI. It's of Eric's mom and dad - my husband's great uncle and aunt. As you can see, Wisconsin had a goodly amount of snow that year too, although I suspect it was less than what we're getting this year.

 (Note the patched wheelbarrow, used to haul in wood)

We have mountains of snow. I am not exaggerating. Mountains. This is why December 30th turned out to be a great date for a total hip replacement. It's not like I want to be out in this weather anyway.

My main reason for posting the photo is that whenever I see it, I'm reminded of the hardy folk who lived before this current age of technology. Those were people who were accustomed to daily hard work - often without complaining, and often out in the cold of the long winter or blistering heat of the short summer. Hard work that involved working in the fields raising tobacco or hay, growing a large vegetable garden to feed their families, raising chickens for eggs and meat, caring for dairy and meat animals, including how to butcher a cow, how to can chicken and beef, how to do their own machine repairs, how to knit, sew, cook, clean, etc. etc. And in many cases, it was all done without electricity.

And they didn't have social media. They had neighborhoods. They had churches. They had extended family.

 My amazing personal chef!

I think I'm ready to get back in the kitchen, but he has been wonderful!

I admire those people. They knew how to do stuff. If the grid went down, well, it would hardly have affected them because most of them in my neck of the woods weren't on the grid at that time anyway.

But to the point of this post, I was wondering how we could manage now, if the grid should go down. I don't know if it will, but I do think it's a good idea to be prepared, rather than be taken totally by surprise. And I know that I don't like being totally dependent upon something that may disappear without any warning. Even something as simple as a snowstorm can down the power lines for days, weeks, etc.

So, I was trying to take inventory of my useful skills: I can cook, sew, read aloud to anyone who will listen, knit a bit, raise a garden, make soap, make cheese, pet the dog, can vegetables (it would be a long time before I'd want to can meat), build a fire, pet the cat, and plan a vacation. Surely there must be something else after all these years of living, but I can't think of it. And actually, it might not be a bad idea to take an assessment of what you and your friends can offer one another, should this ever happen. I don't have chickens, but I do make soap. I don't have a cow, but I know how to make cheese. So maybe we could barter a skill or product we do have for a skill or product we don't have. Does bartering seem silly to you? How about trading someone a useless piece of paper for their skill or product. That seems a lot sillier to me.

Anyway, I think it's worth thinking about and brushing up on some useful skills. That applies to us and the under-30 crowd. Who knows how to butcher? Who knows how to use a pressure canner? (Who's heard of a pressure canner??) Who even knows anything about raising a garden? Who knows how to build a fire? Who knows how to get the dog off the couch so I can lie down and rest?

Okay, I've reached my limit for being at the computer. But what are your thoughts on what you'd do if the grid went down? It could happen, and we'd be back living the life of Cyrus and Rhoda. Are you ready?

Picnic anyone?

And by the way, I can't get over our amazing Creator who made our bodies able to withstand trauma and then heal, as long as we don't put road blocks in the way. We're designed to heal - everything from a paper cut to a bone dislocated, cut off, replaced with metal parts, and stapled shut. Praise God! And praise God that there are people who want to do orthopedic surgery. I suspect they're the ones who got bored with regular carpentry and wanted to kick it up a notch. (I saw the tools they use!)

Here's a cute cartoon that both Eric and Bonnie sent me:

Okay, I warned you that it would be a long post!  It's great to be back in blogland, my friends! Hope you all have a great weekend.

P.S. I proofread this and I'll admit it's a strange, rambling, disjointed post. Sorry, but I've got to get that dog off the couch and lie down.

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Canning

What is more beautiful than a branch loaded with McIntosh apples!

Note to self: this photo taken August 29, 2011 

The McIntosh apple is sweet and crisp, but not hard like a Delicious. We have never ever sprayed this tree with insecticide or anything else, yet rarely, rarely have I found a wormy apple. It's a great eating apple, not a good keeper, not the best pie apple for those who like to see individual slices of apple in their pie because it bakes fast and becomes soft, but wonderful for applesauce, apple crisp, and dehydrated apple slices.

 

 McIntosh Apples

Canning season has begun. I love the abundance of fruits and vegetables from the garden. It still amazes me that a little seed put into the ground can grow into a huge plant that bears so much fruit. What a gracious and generous Creator!

Ye Olde McIntosh tree

Unfortunately, last year we didn't get a single apple from this tree because after the tree had flowered, we had a hard frost which killed all the blossoms. No blossoms, no fruit. :-(  This year, the tree more than made up for the loss of apples last year. It's loaded!

 Applesauce, September 2011

There's something so rewarding about seeing those jars of applesauce sitting on the shelves. But it's a long way from the McIntosh tree to the shelf. Each morning I pick the apples from the yard under the tree, and each day I either dehydrate those apples or sauce them. Canning is a messy process, especially for me, for I seem to make a huge mess in the kitchen when doing any project, involving the apple peeler, corer, slicer, food mill, pots on the stove, etc. etc.

 Kitchen utensils

I thought I had taken a photo of the kitchen when in the throes of canning. Evidently not. What you would have seen is just about every pot and pan I own, out on the kitchen counter. Misty would be lying at my feet, as would apple juice and a few errant apple peels. What you do see above are apples that I dehydrated, peaches that I made into peach jam (my first peach jam and good grief! is it delicious!), the apple peeler, corer, slicer (inexpensive - $19.00) and indispensable when canning or dehydrating apples, (If you're doing this the old fashioned way, stop! This little tool is worth its weight in...apples) fragrance and essential oils for the batch of soap I made yesterday.

The Baby Mac

We added another McIntosh tree this year. The nursery had them on sale and I thought it was about time that another tree share the responsibility of providing apples. After all, our other McIntosh is 22 years old. I asked the nursery lady if I should feed the tree, but she said no, just give it lots and lots of water. It's now in the ground and doing well. (I am happy to report).

 Tomatoes waiting to be canned

I planted Early Girl, Roma, and Beefsteak (the Early Girl are my favorite, about tennis ball size, uniform, a determinate tomato (which means it grows so long and stops, most of its fruit coming in about the same time - making it a nice tomato for canning). Of all the years I've been gardening, I'd never noticed the words 'determinate' or 'indeterminate' on a package of tomato seeds - until last year!

The Canning Dungeon
More tomatoes are in the canner, processing at 11 # pressure for 25 minutes. Meanwhile, I sit and work crosswords while waiting.

So today, I'll be canning more tomatoes and apples. Autumn has arrived in Wisconsin.

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Tomato Haiku

Raised from seed, every single one survived. How could I throw any away??

Looking hopeful

Hunter, Gatherer

Finishing ripening on the picnic table

Ready for the canner

Here we go again

All have sealed. Yea!!!

I think it was Kim's blog, Consider it Pure Joy , that used Haiku some months ago. It was so much fun. So, if you have any gardening Haiku of your own, be sure to share it in a comment!  We'd all love to read it! :-)

Here are a couple of my lame (trust me, I came up with even worse ones!) tomato Haiku offerings:

Tomato Canning

Pick them, cut them, put in jars

Shelves of gorgeous red

OR:

Plant with many hopes

Dreams of Deep red, seedy fruit

Reality: blight

This post is linked to Tempt My Tummy Tuesday

and Tasty Tuesday Parade of Foods

and Tuesdays at the Table

and Tuesday Tag-Along

 

Canning Green Beans

One of the many blessings of living in the country is having enough space to plant a large vegetable garden. While Angela was visiting, she got in on The Great Bean Canning Experiment. I call it an experiment, because you never know if all the jars are going to seal - or not.

A few baskets of beans and we were ready to go to the next step, snipping the ends. Angela washed the beans and snipped them. I cut them and got them ready for the canner.

I also washed out the inside of the canner and put in a couple quarts of water and a couple tablespoons of white vinegar. Then I turned the burner on medium and went back upstairs to sterilize the jars and get the rings and lids heated in water.

 I know it's a mess, but think of it as the look of progress.

And yes, that's an 8' x 10' map of the world on our kitchen wall. 
I remember telling the carpenters, 'I don't care how deep the pantry is, you just need to leave at least 10' for my map.'

Misty's favorite place to lie while I'm working in the kitchen is...yes, you guessed it...

I have an electric range in the basement, especially for the purpose of canning. I've heard from more than one source that ceramic stove tops (like mine, upstairs) can't take the prolonged heat of the canning project and are likely to crack.

Beans are put into sterilized jars, boiling water is poured over the beans, lids and rings are placed on and tightened, then the jars are carried to the basement and placed in the canner. Canner lid is secured and I wait while a steady stream of steam vents for 10 minutes.

Now I place the pressure regulator on and watch the gauge...pressure building...excitement building...pressure building...3 pounds...5 pounds...7 pounds...9 pounds...11 pounds. Set timer for 20 minutes (we're processing pints). Keep pressure at 11 pounds.

 

Drag out the crossword puzzle book and get busy. This is the longest 20 minutes ever!

Timer finally beeps. Turn stove off. LEAVE PRESSURE CANNER ALONE. Wait til pressure drops to ZERO, then take pressure regulator off, open canner, and carefully remove jars to a flat surface covered with a towel (I'm not sure why. I just do that.)  When they're cool, check to see that all the lids are slightly concave. That means they've sealed. If not, you have to get them into the refrig and plan on eating them in the next couple days. And there IS a limit to how many canned green beans I want to eat at once. Too bad they can't stay fresh on the vine in -40 degree temps.

When I canned 20 pints at a time, every jar sealed. The next time, I did only one layer of jars (10) and two didn't seal!  Who knows! Last night I canned 14 pints and all of them sealed!! Yea!

There's something very satisfying about preserving food, preparing ahead for the long, cold Wisconsin winter, knowing that when we run out of Ritter Sport Dark Chocolate with Hazelnut, there are always green beans in the basement. :-)

While Angela was visiting, these two were my helpers.
Yesterday, only Misty and Bridger were here to help.

Do you preserve food? Canning? Freezing? Smoking? Don't get funny here!  Dehydrating?

This post is linked to Tempt my Tummy Tuesday
and Tasty Tuesday Parade of Foods
and Tuesdays at the Table
and Tuesday Tag-Along