A friend of mine sent me this link today. I thought I'd share. After all the crap in the news lately, it is nice to finally see something good. I hope it brightens your day as much as it did mine. (I'll confess- I even got a little teary)
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Happy Summer!
It is the Summer Solstice today. Welcome Summer! Even though it feels like you have been here for a while. Our temps are back into the low 90's today (that's 33 C) and it has remained windy for the past several days. The combination of heat and wind has been brutal on the garden and on my fairly recently planted lilacs. I went out and gave the bushes a good drink as well as all my hanging baskets. We're forecast to (hopefully) get some rain this evening. Maybe I'll run out and water the garden some just to help insure that it will rain.
A deer grazes in the wetland- which isn't very wet this year.
A raccoon tumbles out of the willow trees.
Franz Joseph- our Hungarian Wax replacement for Eric the jalapeno is blooming
Even though we only had a brief shower last week, we had a lovely rainbow.
Strawberry jam glows in the sunlight
The catbird is singing on the line.
I was back at work (my paying job) today and boy, it was busy! And being shorted staffed, it doesn't show signs of letting up for the next month or so. I'm definitely earning my paycheck.
V took a break from wall reconstruction today (outside stuff is done but insulation and drywall is not) to do some work for his paying job. Of course, being self employed has it's bonuses, he can structure his day how he wants, but there are still deadlines to meet for his clients.
Now, I'll leave you with a few photos of summer here:
And the evenings are made for sitting on the deck and enjoying life.
Have a blessed summer!
Monday, June 18, 2012
What a difference a day makes
Whew! What a busy time! Of course, V has had the brunt of the hard work and I am just the helper, holder and gofur. But a lot has been accomplished. Behold!
On Sunday afternoon, V worked to remove the old drywall from the library room in the addition. The tiny bit of old insulation was removed along with the mouse nests in the wall (Eww!)
Finished with interior demolition, we stopped for the night.
You can see why we wanted to replace this window. It is fogged and parts of the frame are water damaged and rotting.
Of course, this morning, removing the siding to begin the rest of the work for installing the new window unveiled more problems. Evidently, according to one of the old owners, cutting corners was common. They pieced thing together from scraps rather than use a solid piece. There were gaps in the sheathing which allowed the mice to move freely from the attic into the walls. sigh...
And we seem to have picked the hottest, windiest day of the year to rip a hole in the side of the house! We had both a heat advisory and a wind advisory for the day.
Framing for the new window going in. V had to do quite a bit of work on the wall, both inside and out.
But the new window is installed. It provides so, so much more light. Next we will work on the North wall but not until we get the garbage barrels emptied! Tomorrow will see the siding going back up, the inside outlet and outdoor floodlights re-wired and maybe some insulation in the wall.
The outside will look so much nicer when the siding gets up again but the window will be fabulous. The window is on the West side of the house. In the winter, the extra light will be wonderful and we've got the big hackberry tree that shades the house in the summer.
Now, it's time to relax after a hard day. Tomorrow brings more.
And we seem to have picked the hottest, windiest day of the year to rip a hole in the side of the house! We had both a heat advisory and a wind advisory for the day.
Now, it's time to relax after a hard day. Tomorrow brings more.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Independence Days- catching up.
I realized that I haven't done an Independence Days update for a few weeks. Life has been a bit hectic and I keep forgetting about it. Not that we haven't been productive and working toward our goals but, sheesh, I'd like it to slow down a bit! Of course, I say that but I'm loving every minute of it!
Here goes the update. I think I'm about 2 weeks behind so I'm going to try to remember what has happened in the past two weeks.
Plant something- hmm, replanted my vining crops (melons, luffa and winter squash), fennel, dill and some more summer savory. I can't quite remember when I planted my bush beans and scarlet runners. They are just now coming up- I think it's been too dry for them. I finally started watering them and they've come up. But I'm still waiting for my melons to emerge.
Harvest something- eggs (lots and lots of eggs!), kale, the first kohlrabi, chard, lettuce, a very few strawberries that I was able to beat the chipmunks to and the very first raspberry of the year! I think I'm going to cut the first head of broccoli for dinner tonight.
Preserve something- made jam: strawberry and strawberry-kiwi.
Waste not- the usual recycling, composting and scraps to the chickens.
Want not- got some more ear corn from Dad for the chickens
Eat the food- eggs, salads, eating from the freezer as much as we can.
Build community food systems- took some eggs to work and worked a Craigslist swap- eggs for empty egg cartons. Not that I really needed any more egg cartons but I needed to get rid of some eggs and I figured that maybe I could line up a new customer.
Skill up- not much- I've been cruising on auto-pilot.
See, I've been busy at home. Plus work has been exceptionally busy and with family reunion thrown in last weekend I feel like I've been flying.
Here goes the update. I think I'm about 2 weeks behind so I'm going to try to remember what has happened in the past two weeks.
Plant something- hmm, replanted my vining crops (melons, luffa and winter squash), fennel, dill and some more summer savory. I can't quite remember when I planted my bush beans and scarlet runners. They are just now coming up- I think it's been too dry for them. I finally started watering them and they've come up. But I'm still waiting for my melons to emerge.
Harvest something- eggs (lots and lots of eggs!), kale, the first kohlrabi, chard, lettuce, a very few strawberries that I was able to beat the chipmunks to and the very first raspberry of the year! I think I'm going to cut the first head of broccoli for dinner tonight.
Preserve something- made jam: strawberry and strawberry-kiwi.
Waste not- the usual recycling, composting and scraps to the chickens.
Want not- got some more ear corn from Dad for the chickens
Eat the food- eggs, salads, eating from the freezer as much as we can.
Build community food systems- took some eggs to work and worked a Craigslist swap- eggs for empty egg cartons. Not that I really needed any more egg cartons but I needed to get rid of some eggs and I figured that maybe I could line up a new customer.
Skill up- not much- I've been cruising on auto-pilot.
See, I've been busy at home. Plus work has been exceptionally busy and with family reunion thrown in last weekend I feel like I've been flying.
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Jammin'
After a LOOOONG, stressful day at work today, I made some more strawberry jam tonight before dinner. Just plain strawberry jam this time- nothing fancy. I know a few people had asked about the strawberry-kiwi recipe I made on Thursday. It was really just something I made up on the spot. I've had strawberry-kiwi blends of other things that were really tasty so I thought I'd try it. All I did was substitute one cup of diced kiwi for a cup of the strawberries in my recipe. It really isn't that noticeable but I think it makes it a tiny bit more tart.
I use the jam recipe from the booklet I got at our local Amish bulk food store. I have been buying my pectin in bulk there, so it's kind of hard to translate if you're using the boxed kind. Basically, it's 5 cups of stemmed, cut and crushed strawberries and half a cup of pectin. Stir constantly and bring to a rolling boil for a full minute then add 7 cups of sugar, keep stirring and bring to a rolling boil for another minute. Then put it into sterilized jars and seal with hot lids and rings. (this makes about 8 cups of jam) I'm probably bad that I do the old fashioned processing (invert the jar for 5 minutes then turn it back right side up and wait for it to seal) rather than the hot water bath that the USDA recommends. But my grandmother and my mother did it this way and I've never had problems with the old way- so that's what I do.
NOTE: I ONLY USE THE FLIP THE JAR METHOD ON JAM AND JELLY. IT WOULD NOT BE SAFE TO USE ON ANYTHING ELSE. I'M NOT EVEN SURE I WOULD USE IT ON LOW/NO SUGAR JAM AS THE SUGAR CONTENT IS A PRESERVATIVE IN ITSELF WHICH MAKES THIS A SAFE METHOD. THANKS NANCY FOR MAKING ME REALIZE THAT SOMEONE INEXPERIENCED MAY TRY TO CAN SOMETHING ELSE THIS WAY AND HAVE A HORRIBLE DISASTER. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE USE APPROPRIATE CANNING METHODS TO STAY SAFE AND HEALTHY!!
The elderberries are blooming like mad along the fenceline so maybe this year I'll finally try to steal some from the birds and make some jelly later this summer. That's something I've never done- but we've got a large patch on the fence line by the road and lots just over the fence along the creek by the neighbor's hay field (and it's hay again this year- hurrah!). And no, I'm not ashamed to climb the fence and take the neighbor's elderberries. They grow like weeds around here.
And it's raining! Hurrah! Last night we had a shower roll through- we got less than 0.05 inches. But it clouded up and started raining early this evening. When I went out to close the chicken coop we had just over 0.3 inches and it was still raining... A lovely, gentle rain. The nasty storms passed South of us, which is just fine by me, even though they probably got more rain than we did. I was a bit disheartened that yesterday morning on the local news they were showing the drought intensity map for our area. sigh.... we're nearly 3 inches behind in rainfall this spring. This rain will help a little but not much. I'm worried about our well- our well isn't very deep (only about 85 feet) and we've been noticing that as the dry weather continues our water quality is dropping. We're getting much more iron and calcium in the water. The water, even with the softener cycling regularly- is leaving calcium spots on things. I was worried my lids wouldn't seal on my jam jars just because of the calcium deposit from having them in hot water to soften the seal. And when the water tastes like blood because of all the iron you know it's bad. I worry that if this dry weather continues that our well will run dry. We don't really want to have to afford to have a new well drilled. I'm not sure if we could make that happen if necessary.
Tomorrow we start replacing the West window in the addition. We are replacing the rotting old window with one much larger and more energy efficient. While we're at it , we will be removing all the old drywall from that exterior wall, insulating and putting up new. Later, we will replace the door on the North side of the addition with a large window as well. We have found that we never use that door and think we will like the additional light of a large window much better than this windowless door that we don't use. I think this is one of the last demolition projects we've got planned. When we finally get that door replaced, we will remove the rotting stairs that are there and I can work on the shade garden that will be in that Northwest corner between the main house and the addition. Currently that area is a huge mess of weeds. but we have blocks to put in a patio off the new deck stairs and I picked up a pair of lovely hydrangea bushes (on discount at the 'end of the season' sale) that will go in back there along with some ferns and a few other shade tolerant plants. That area gets a bit of sun around mid day but between house shade in the morning and tree shade in the afternoon it's pretty dark.
But, now, because it's getting late and we've got many, many tasks ahead tomorrow I'm going to sign off. I don't have to head back to work until Wednesday (I'm taking my comp from working today on Tuesday rather than Friday) so hopefully I can get a few things accomplished besides helping with a new window.
I use the jam recipe from the booklet I got at our local Amish bulk food store. I have been buying my pectin in bulk there, so it's kind of hard to translate if you're using the boxed kind. Basically, it's 5 cups of stemmed, cut and crushed strawberries and half a cup of pectin. Stir constantly and bring to a rolling boil for a full minute then add 7 cups of sugar, keep stirring and bring to a rolling boil for another minute. Then put it into sterilized jars and seal with hot lids and rings. (this makes about 8 cups of jam) I'm probably bad that I do the old fashioned processing (invert the jar for 5 minutes then turn it back right side up and wait for it to seal) rather than the hot water bath that the USDA recommends. But my grandmother and my mother did it this way and I've never had problems with the old way- so that's what I do.
NOTE: I ONLY USE THE FLIP THE JAR METHOD ON JAM AND JELLY. IT WOULD NOT BE SAFE TO USE ON ANYTHING ELSE. I'M NOT EVEN SURE I WOULD USE IT ON LOW/NO SUGAR JAM AS THE SUGAR CONTENT IS A PRESERVATIVE IN ITSELF WHICH MAKES THIS A SAFE METHOD. THANKS NANCY FOR MAKING ME REALIZE THAT SOMEONE INEXPERIENCED MAY TRY TO CAN SOMETHING ELSE THIS WAY AND HAVE A HORRIBLE DISASTER. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE USE APPROPRIATE CANNING METHODS TO STAY SAFE AND HEALTHY!!
The elderberries are blooming like mad along the fenceline so maybe this year I'll finally try to steal some from the birds and make some jelly later this summer. That's something I've never done- but we've got a large patch on the fence line by the road and lots just over the fence along the creek by the neighbor's hay field (and it's hay again this year- hurrah!). And no, I'm not ashamed to climb the fence and take the neighbor's elderberries. They grow like weeds around here.
And it's raining! Hurrah! Last night we had a shower roll through- we got less than 0.05 inches. But it clouded up and started raining early this evening. When I went out to close the chicken coop we had just over 0.3 inches and it was still raining... A lovely, gentle rain. The nasty storms passed South of us, which is just fine by me, even though they probably got more rain than we did. I was a bit disheartened that yesterday morning on the local news they were showing the drought intensity map for our area. sigh.... we're nearly 3 inches behind in rainfall this spring. This rain will help a little but not much. I'm worried about our well- our well isn't very deep (only about 85 feet) and we've been noticing that as the dry weather continues our water quality is dropping. We're getting much more iron and calcium in the water. The water, even with the softener cycling regularly- is leaving calcium spots on things. I was worried my lids wouldn't seal on my jam jars just because of the calcium deposit from having them in hot water to soften the seal. And when the water tastes like blood because of all the iron you know it's bad. I worry that if this dry weather continues that our well will run dry. We don't really want to have to afford to have a new well drilled. I'm not sure if we could make that happen if necessary.
Tomorrow we start replacing the West window in the addition. We are replacing the rotting old window with one much larger and more energy efficient. While we're at it , we will be removing all the old drywall from that exterior wall, insulating and putting up new. Later, we will replace the door on the North side of the addition with a large window as well. We have found that we never use that door and think we will like the additional light of a large window much better than this windowless door that we don't use. I think this is one of the last demolition projects we've got planned. When we finally get that door replaced, we will remove the rotting stairs that are there and I can work on the shade garden that will be in that Northwest corner between the main house and the addition. Currently that area is a huge mess of weeds. but we have blocks to put in a patio off the new deck stairs and I picked up a pair of lovely hydrangea bushes (on discount at the 'end of the season' sale) that will go in back there along with some ferns and a few other shade tolerant plants. That area gets a bit of sun around mid day but between house shade in the morning and tree shade in the afternoon it's pretty dark.
But, now, because it's getting late and we've got many, many tasks ahead tomorrow I'm going to sign off. I don't have to head back to work until Wednesday (I'm taking my comp from working today on Tuesday rather than Friday) so hopefully I can get a few things accomplished besides helping with a new window.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
First jam of the year
Mmm....
Strawberry/Kiwi Jam
After work today, V and I stopped at the grocery store. Two stores nearby each other are both having decent sales on fruit this week. So we got a few pounds of strawberries (at $.99/lb) and some kiwis (6 for $1.19) that became jam after dinner. Let me just say that it is delicious!
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
This and That
While things have been busy, I don't really feel like I've got much to write about.
The garden is growing but not much to report. The tomatoes seem to have grown about a foot over the weekend while I was gone and are blooming like mad. The peppers are blooming and I've finally got little broccoli heads forming in the plants. I replanted most of my vining crops due to a germination failure. I'm not sure if it has been too hot and dry or if there is something else going on. The one thing that germinated well, amazingly enough, was the ancient zucchini seed I planted. This is seed left over from 2008 or 2009- the little round ones- and every single seed I planted came up. The new stuff- Long Island Cheese Squash- had only one seed germinate. The new luffa seed had nothing. I also planted two kinds of melons from last years seeds and got no germination there either. I planted bush beans and scarlet runners (saved from last year) about a week and a half ago, so far I've got 2 beans up. sigh...
This evening V is off at the Coralville Public Library. He is the featured speaker/ local author at a summer reading program for teens. Show and tell with ghost stories is always fun. He will also be participating in the Iowa City Book Festival in mid-July. At least he no longer has law suit stuff hanging over his head so he isn't afraid to appear in public and talk about his book. I guess I never explained that whole situation- it wasn't something we talked about until it was wrapped up. Another local author who has written extensively about the Black Angel accused V of plagarism because V presented the same historical facts in the same order as he did (duh- I thought facts are facts and history is usually presented in chronological order!). He went so far as to involve a lawyer and make numerous legal threats. It was all unfounded and V was vindicated but it was still an expensive, stressful process that really turned V off promoting his book. This guy seems to think that he owns the facts surrounding this story and, I hear, has taken legal action against others who have written about the angel. Actually it strikes me as pretty sad that he seems to have so little else to hold onto.
I'm hoping for some sewing time soon. I'd like to finish Justine's quilt before she goes off to school. And I've got a shirt that I cut out that I'd like to be able to wear this summer sometime.
V and the children finally got the pool set up yesterday. Of course, it now presents a water hazard for the frisbee field. Just another challenge.
Back to gardening stuff, the raspberries are starting to ripen. The strawberries were a bust. A late frost got most of the blossoms and the few we did get were small due to lack of rain. That and I was fighting a losing battle with chipmunks over the ripening berries. But, I noticed in the grocery ad today that there is a big strawberry sale this week so I'm hoping to pick up some to make some jam. One store is also having kiwis at a decent price so I'm thinking strawberry/kiwi jam. Mmmm... I'd much prefer being able to make it from my own produce but this has been such a bad year that it's not going to happen. Maybe next year. Even with purchasing the ingredients it is still a cost saver and I much prefer homemade to store-bought jam anyday.
The garden is growing but not much to report. The tomatoes seem to have grown about a foot over the weekend while I was gone and are blooming like mad. The peppers are blooming and I've finally got little broccoli heads forming in the plants. I replanted most of my vining crops due to a germination failure. I'm not sure if it has been too hot and dry or if there is something else going on. The one thing that germinated well, amazingly enough, was the ancient zucchini seed I planted. This is seed left over from 2008 or 2009- the little round ones- and every single seed I planted came up. The new stuff- Long Island Cheese Squash- had only one seed germinate. The new luffa seed had nothing. I also planted two kinds of melons from last years seeds and got no germination there either. I planted bush beans and scarlet runners (saved from last year) about a week and a half ago, so far I've got 2 beans up. sigh...
This evening V is off at the Coralville Public Library. He is the featured speaker/ local author at a summer reading program for teens. Show and tell with ghost stories is always fun. He will also be participating in the Iowa City Book Festival in mid-July. At least he no longer has law suit stuff hanging over his head so he isn't afraid to appear in public and talk about his book. I guess I never explained that whole situation- it wasn't something we talked about until it was wrapped up. Another local author who has written extensively about the Black Angel accused V of plagarism because V presented the same historical facts in the same order as he did (duh- I thought facts are facts and history is usually presented in chronological order!). He went so far as to involve a lawyer and make numerous legal threats. It was all unfounded and V was vindicated but it was still an expensive, stressful process that really turned V off promoting his book. This guy seems to think that he owns the facts surrounding this story and, I hear, has taken legal action against others who have written about the angel. Actually it strikes me as pretty sad that he seems to have so little else to hold onto.
I'm hoping for some sewing time soon. I'd like to finish Justine's quilt before she goes off to school. And I've got a shirt that I cut out that I'd like to be able to wear this summer sometime.
V and the children finally got the pool set up yesterday. Of course, it now presents a water hazard for the frisbee field. Just another challenge.
Back to gardening stuff, the raspberries are starting to ripen. The strawberries were a bust. A late frost got most of the blossoms and the few we did get were small due to lack of rain. That and I was fighting a losing battle with chipmunks over the ripening berries. But, I noticed in the grocery ad today that there is a big strawberry sale this week so I'm hoping to pick up some to make some jam. One store is also having kiwis at a decent price so I'm thinking strawberry/kiwi jam. Mmmm... I'd much prefer being able to make it from my own produce but this has been such a bad year that it's not going to happen. Maybe next year. Even with purchasing the ingredients it is still a cost saver and I much prefer homemade to store-bought jam anyday.
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