Are We Done Yet?

Well the 'junk drawer' in the kitchen is done! Dumped everything out on the counter and sorted thru it. Added a silverware divider and small plastic containers to sort things into. Now if we can keep it that way. The recycle man came this morning and took my whole bin of magazines away. I am in mourning! Hubby said it weighed like 600 pounds! More straightening in the office because I can't find my box of checks for the business account and staples for the stapler. Very frustrating! UPDATE: found staples (they were behind the stapler) but no checks. Will have to call bank and order. I got a Shark steamer for my birthday and am going to try it out. If it works as well as I'm hoping, I'm dumping out all my cleaning chemicals! Besides vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, and baking soda I shouldn't need anything else! Trying to talk Hubby into taking me to Wallies in Post Falls. My little one by my house is all out of bins I need for the craft room. Don't think it's going to happen today tho. Hmm. Tomorrow is 75% off the dish room at the St. Vinnie's on the way. Back to it.

Ups and Downs of Cleaning

Day 10 of the Great Clean Up and still organizing and throwing away. Today was the dresser in the office that holds the pet supplies, candles, air fresheners, potpourri and wax melts. I ran out of bins to continue in the craft room, so I'm flitting around cleaning out various cupboards and drawers. Gotta keep going; garbage and recycle pickup is tomorrow! Anybody have any cupboards, dressers, armoires, etc. they need to get rid of? I'm looking for a Cheap way to add storage in the craft room.

Signs Christmas is over :(

I'm exhausted! The kids came over and we took away every sign that it was ever Christmas. So sad! But a clean slate and ideas for redecorating. But I miss the tree and laying in bed and seeing the lights on the greenhouse. And why doesn't the same amount of stuff fit back into the same amount of bins? And now it's all downstairs in the hall waiting to be stuffed in the back of the storage room for another year. And I need the space for all the stuff coming out of the craft room! Well, off to bed and back down to the craft room tomorrow!

The Great clean-Up continues

Day 7 of the CleanUP. Still binning up stuff in the craft room. Had it all out in the hall and other rooms, but couldn't get to the laundry room or the back bedroom for more bins, so it's all stacked back in the craft room. I wanted everything out so we could build cupboards and shelves. Oh well, we'll work around it. Ordered some space bags from Amazon for the bedding, curtains, tablecloths, etc. That will help tremendously for the limited space in the closet. Well, second load of bins are full, so just more organizing till I can get back to Walmart tomorrow for more.

Great Clean-Out/Up (or how I want 2015 to go)

DAY 3 of the GREAT CLEAN-OUT! Well, this morning saw me downstairs going thru the kitchenware shelves. Baking pans,Corningware, dutch ovens, old coffee makers, espresso makers, spatulas, serving utensils, Tupperware, platters, and various meat grinders and other small appliances. (still didn't find the jerky gun.) Brought the seed sprouter upstairs and started some sprouts for the chickens. Found the silverware pieces I was missing for Christmas, plus the turkey baster. I thought about getting started in the craft room, but it's way too overwhelming without some storage bins for fabrics and the like. We were supposed to go get some this morning but Hubby forgot his meds last night so under the weather today. Will try tomorrow. So instead I headed into our closet. Well, I am now the proud owner of 86 empty hangers. That's right. I am getting rid of 86 shirts! Either don't fit quite right, don't like, or have nothing to go with them. I'm at the age where I don't want to walk around sucking my tummy in. I want to be comfortable. Wonder if I can sneak Hubby's ratty undies and tshirts away without him noticing? Probably not so I'm off to work on the sock drawer. Toodles!

Fall is for nuts!

Fall is for nuts! Really. Fall is nut harvesting time. What did you think I meant?

Many happy memories surround this time of year and those tasty treats. My Dad lived in the Willamette Valley in Oregon and occasionally when visiting him, we would go get nuts. We especially liked the walnuts and filberts (hazelnuts). Nuts are harvested differently from tender fruits that bruise if they hit the ground. Not so nuts. The trees are shaken furiously by a machine that goes down each row. The nuts fall onto nets on the ground and are gathered up. Or another machine comes along and sweeps them up. We would go in after the harvest and pick up the strays for a lot cheaper price. Nothing wrong with them; they had just been left behind. When we got home we would lay them out in single layers on the back deck to dry, which could sometimes be quite a task as fall could be quite damp at times.

Dad loved inventions and had an impressive array of nutcrackers, some better suited for cracking then others. We would spend hours talking and cracking nuts, sifting through the shells for the nutmeats. Everyone always got bags of nut for Christmas, some still in the shell so Dad could include that years best nutcracker design! Back home, I would sell some at Farmers Market while more went into breads, fruitcakes, and cookies. Still more were sugared and spiced. I will share a quick and easy way to make a delicious snack. And maybe you too can start some memories of your own.

Take a large saucepan and to it add 1 cup of water, 1/2 cup of white sugar and about 1 T. of ground cinnamon. Stir well and bring to a gentle boil (kinda oxymoron don't you think)? To this add 2 cups of nuts. I use anything from almonds, filberts, pecans, walnuts. Whatever you have. Stir every once in a while and continue cooking until most of the water has evaporated. Then pour out onto a wax paper lined cookie sheet and spread in a single layer. As they cool and harden, break individual nuts apart from each other. I find using two forks for this works quite well. When they are completely dry, I put them into pretty gifts bags tied up with ribbon and a handmade gift tag. They go really well into gift baskets for friends, the mail lady or people at work. And the grandkids Christmas stockings, of course! If there are no nut trees where you live you can find them bulk at a grocery or fresh market. Sadly, as Dad has passed, I no longer make that trip to Oregon to be with him and to have adventures in the nut orchards. Just the memories to sustain me. And the nuts, of course!

Apple Butter tutorial. It's That Time of Year!

Since I am known at the Farmers Market for my jams and preserves, I get alot of questions about them. So I thought I should show some of my techniques. This is more for the newbie but you never know when an idea might work out for the best; even for us old-timers. Case in point. I have always made my butters on the stove. Cutting the apples and pears up and simmering with apple juice in stock pots till they are tender. Running them thru the Foley mill and then adding sugar and spices and either canning as applesauce or continuing to cook down into butters. Well, this time I decided to try it another way. I was pressed for time as I am racing against the weather to get all my plants inside and the decks cleaned off before the hard frosts that are on their way. I couldn't be inside stirring pots of apples and be outside hauling carts of plants and planters. So I went downstairs to the canning room and looked around. I couldn't put it in the electric roaster to cook down because I was using that for some butters already cooking. The crock pots weren't big enough to handle all the fruit. But I did have several turkey roasters that go in the oven. And I thought. If I could cook on top of the stove, why not in the oven? I put the oven to about 200 degrees F. and put the roasters in. I also added some cranberries to one of the batches. Then I went outside and got to work. When I got back inside after several hours of work, the house smelled yummy! Like a crisp Fall afternoon. I put those batches thru the Foley and into crockpots to begin the cooking down operation. And started the process in the oven all over again. If anyone is wondering, I use a mix of apples for my butters. I grow Delicious, Fuji, Gala, and Braeburns here. The lady down the road had a huge box of Granny Smiths she was giving away and I bought some Pippins, Cameos, and Honey Crisps from the orchard down the street. You can also add pears and as I mentioned earlier, I added cranberries to a batch. I make cranberry apple pie, so why not butter? Anyway, I digress. So apples bake quite well in the oven. In fact, I turned the oven down a smidge more and baked some thru the night. So to make apple butter, which is really what I started out to talk about. Take a mix of apples, cut them in quarters, leaving the peel, core and seeds in and add them to a pot, crockpot, roaster with apple juice, cider, or even water if that's all you have on hand. Just enough liquid to keep it from sticking and burning. Cook until very soft. Now I should again go back and say if you don't have a Foley or jelly strainer, you can peel and core and cook the apples that way. Then mash or use a blender. I like the extra nutrients and flavor you get with all the other stuff, plus it's alot easier. So keep an eye out at yard sales and invest in a Foley mill. Once you have the fruit cooked and smashed into pulp, you have some options. You can eat it that way, or you can add some ingredients to it. If I am making it for my family, I just add some cinnamon red hot candies to it for color and flavor. Then I can it or freeze it. Mom left me wonderful memories of frozen applesauce with ice crystals throughout. Nothing better! Or the kids eat it straight from the pot so you don't have to worry about any further steps! When I am making it to sell, I add white sugar, brown sugar, maple syrup, or Splenda, depending what kind I am making. I use cinnamon, cloves, even some nutmeg and cardamon, again depending on what I am making. This is now applesauce. If you want butter, begin the cooking down process. Depending on the size of the batch and what and where you are cooking it, this will take from an hour to several hours. When I do my electric roasters, they can simmer for days. The juicier the fruit and the amount of liquids you use all determine the length of time to cook down. For a butter, you want it thick. Thick enough to stay on the spoon. It will darken and smell heavenly! I usually reduce it by at least half. Stir it to make sure it doesn't burn. Trust me, if you scorch it, you will taste it! And that's alot of time and effort to have ruined. I hope thru all my wandering off subject, you decided to try your hand at this. It really is fun and there's no better aroma to scent a home. And think of the compliments you'll get when you offer someone some warm applesauce or butter from the pot! Or give as a gift. We are having our annual pumpkin carving party tomorrow and you better believe I'll have some in a crockpot for the kiddos! Have fun and Happy Fall Y'all!

I am certainly in a mood. I watched the last episode of Outlander night and I'm very upset. I can't wait until April for the new season. I just can't! They can't pull me into their story and then take it away like that! I belong in that story. I have never felt that strongly not even with Downtown Abbey. I should be living in that time, that moment. It takes me back to my younger years at boarding school where I immersed myself in historical romances. I could not get enough of them and indeed like the story behind Outlander, I was literally transported back to those times and places. It was such a rude awakening to have to come back to the present. Life was so much better in those stories. I never wanted to be the 'lady of the manor', but living the simple life of the village,in a simple cottage with gardens,meadows,and animals. Loving strongly with no pretense. Being myself and not living up to others expectations. Enjoying the simple things, working hard but proud of of what came of that hard work. I would be a healer, someone that people and animals came to for help. Perhaps a witch, wandering in the woods for herbs and weeds to distill into potions and poultices. A gypsy soul that could pick up and travel the lands. Wandering the moors, waysides, and beaches. I always loved to read. I would come alive in the pages of a book. I would feel the emotions of a well-written word. I would sigh, scream, sob. I could spend days reading and hate when it was finished. I devoured books. When I went to the library, I would typically bring back a bagful. Eagerly read them and go back for more. Reading came so easily. I would know how a sentence ended before I had read it. I could read almost as fast as I could turn the pages. It came easily to me. I gave up all that when I turned 40. I developed presbyopia, a disease that usually occurs beginning at around age 40, when people experience blurred near vision when reading, sewing or working at the computer. I strained to see the words and put complete sentences together. What had come so naturally to me, like breathing was now forced and uncomfortable. I got headaches as I squinted to see. Other hobbies I loved like sewing, cross stitch became unbearable. I struggled to use 'readers'. They were a necessary evil. I couldn't even see the computer at work or at home. And I was bitterly aware of giving up things I loved to do just because of aging. Nothing like reality bursting the bubbles of daydreams. Waking to a windy stormy morning. Even the chickens are reluctant to leave their cozy perches. But curiosity brings them out to see what goodies I have brought them this morning. Smokey, the coop kitty waits on the roof overhang for his plate of food. The dogs are lined up at the gate, barking excitedly to see him. Hoppy, the bunny happily scratches in the dirt and rubs his chin on branches and nestles the hens, looking for his favorites. I need to get busy. I have a vintage sale this weekend while Betsy does market for me. Last minute projects to complete. If the wind dies down and it gets drier, I have painting to do. A vanity needs a fresh look, table tops need their coats of urethane, and magnets need their topcoats. The canning ring pumpkins are strung and waiting for their paint or decoupage. I think I will bake some bread. While I wait for the storms to abate. While I dream of Outlander.

Fall is Here

Well, we've been busy working in the greenhouse. I don't know if I mentioned but we woke up one morning several weeks ago to it on fire! Damaged the front wall and side and burned tables and plants down that side. Melted lots of exhaust fans (we think this is what started it) and wiring, a huge shelf melted with all my fertilizers on it, pots, etc. The saving grace was after it burned thru the gas line, it also burned thru the water line so it was spraying water as it burned. Still haven't got the gas bill! I found it about 5 am when I went out to open the chickens so it must have been dark when it was going for no one called the fire dept. and there must have been alot of dark smelly smoke. So we are going thru all the plants, digging the soil out off the floor, replacing benches, plastic, mechanics, etc. Lots of extra work at a busy time of year anyway. And alot of expense right now isn't welcome with all my medical bills and the fact I can't work right now. But still very fortunate that no one was hurt and the fire was contained in a small area and was able to be put out quickly. Farmers Market is still going and busy with jam making. Tomatoes and peppers are really coming on in the garden as are cukes and squash. Really a bumper crop of everything this year! I've done a couple of vintage shows and have a couple more this fall before the Christmas craft shows start. I think I've found my niche in these shows. I love the people, the 'junk' and everything about it. And just the creative process in making something out of old, found objects. I love it! Got in a camping trip over Labor Day weekend. That was alot of fun and glad the whole family was there. And everything worked in the RV which was a plus! I realized how much I miss the sounds and smells of campfires and how more relaxed everyone is. I even enjoy washing dishes outside in a dishpan with water heated on the cook-stove. trying to get together an end of the year plant sale. Need to reduce the inventory just in case we don't get plastic on the greenhouse this winter. Plus with my feet, I don't know about keeping the nursery business going like it is. I can't keep up with all the work that goes into it and Hubby is slowing down quickly with his own health problems. Lots of ideas to mull over this winter. Our granddaughter Jessica turned 20 years old on Saturday. That really makes me feel old! And another school year has started. And Christmas just around the corner! Where has the time gone? I'm still trying to spring clean and haven't got all the summer projects completed. My computer is still acting up and haven't budgeted for a new one. Hard to use Pinterest because of it and I am going thru withdrawals! And trying to keep my laser printer in toner for my crafts is a nightmare. So I am way behind on posting pictures of the shows, etc. I've been told Etsy will be going thru some major changes so trying to get more 'face' time on Facebook. But I get stalled when I check in on all my fun auction groups and go shopping instead of advertising my wares! I guess if I could post pics better I could sell some of my stuff on them. Just can't take all the time sitting here when I should be canning or in the garden or getting more stuff made for Market on Saturday. If only I could clone myself! Speaking of sitting here; my canner load is just about done so will sign off for now. Hope everyone is having a great summer and got to relax with family and friends this year. And be prepared. We have a frost warning coming down for tonight and tomorrow night. Get the covers out!

Pondering Life At My Age and Happy Birthday Hoda!

I've been watching the celebration of Hoda (Today Show)turning 50 last week. She has been through and done so much! It made me think back on my own life. Have I done all I set out to accomplish? Am I better now for everything I've lived thru? What more do I need to do and get done? What direction am I heading towards? My career. Because of injuries and surgeries, I can no longer work in the field I have always worked in. Not really a career, more of a job to help support the family. My home business. I suddenly have a lot more time to invest in it. Need it more than ever now but not able to do as much physically as I need to help it thrive. And it's at the turning point of staying the same size or gearing up to the next level which means acquiring more land, opening a shop and hiring employees. I dreamed as a young married girl of writing. Books, poems,songs. It didn't matter. I guess I started by writing this blog. And I've posted some poems. Maybe I'll try e-books. I have children's stories squirreled away somewhere. I wanted a family of my own. As an adopted child, I always felt left out, sitting on the sidelines. The best moments of my life were holding my children and grandchildren for the first time. They were truly mine. From me, of me. They complete me. I want my children happy. I want everyone healthy. I want to spend more time with family. I want to enjoy the simple things. I want to make my life more simple. Things I never had enough time to savor; or forgot how to take time. Sunrises and sunsets. Lying in bed and listening to the birds singing in the garden. Dusk in a hammock after a hot summer day hearing the frogs and crickets and gazing at the stars. Holding hands after dinner with hubby. Rising early and taking an impromptu drive to the mountains or woods. I want to be a hippie again. Bake the bread, make soap and candles and cheese, yogurt and ice cream. Things I did newly married when money was scarce and I had all day in front of me. Get back to simpler times. I have wander lust for the first time since in 40 years. I want to devour the roadways and visit new places and old ones, forgotten. I want to wade in creeks meandering down mountainsides. I want to smell dark forests after a rainstorm. I want to hear the roar of the ocean and taste the salt on my skin. I can stop and put up my canopy along the road and sell my crafts. I can hunt for treasures. I can expand my horizons. Most importantly I want to feel I accomplished. I want inner peace. I don't want to look back and regret. Go forward! And here's to another fulfilling 50 years! Happy Birthday Hoda! Patti I just want to add that I am so saddened by the suicide of Robin Williams. He did not take the easy way out. The easy way is to take a pill, take a drink, cry yourself to sleep. Until the pain goes away. His pain never went away. Thank you Mr. Williams for helping us forget that pain, if just for a moment. If only we could have done the same for you.