The best $50 I ever made

This is actually yesterday's sunrise, not sunset!

The sky when from the picture above to the this picture in less than thirty minutes and started to rain a little bit while I was on scaffolding, taking some pictures of the new roofing.

It's kind of rare around here to see a sunrise that looks like it could be a sunset.

Here's a picture that my mom took of the potatoes I was digging Tuesday and Wednesday, before it started raining on Thursday morning.

These are Purple Vikings. This was one of the hills with some large potatoes in them. Most of the hills had a nice mix of medium and large ones, and some hills were one huge one, and ten the size of marbles.
I dug most of the five rows, and got paid $50, $10 a row. That should be about three bags of horse food...

Anyway, I finished them in early evening, and then it was hurry, take a shower, fix dinner, and then go to guitar class, so Mom and I didn't get them picked up that night. On Thursday morning before breakfast, we got the two "food" wheelbarrows and hurriedly picked up all the spuds before the rain came. We just got the last wheel borrow in the barn when it started to rain lightly.


This is one of the huge potatoes. Some of the larger have hollow heart, but not all of them, and I'm hoping these big ones don't.

A gathering of days

This is my favorite summer or hot weather snack. This would also be good as a desert, too. All you need is some yogurt, and thawed raspberries. If you do use fresh ones, crush them a little, so that you will get some juice without having to put sugar on them. Then mix it together, find a good book and curl up in your favorite spot!

As you know, we spent Saturday cleaning out the shed on the Horse Barn, that the milk cow's yearling calf will live in during the winter and early spring.


It was deep - up past my knee! I'd say that it was two and a half to almost three feet deep in some places. Despite that we finished just after quarter to six in the evening. It's amazing how tightly packed it gets in the corners. For the last three or hours of the cleaning, I took a pitchfork and dug out the corners and then forked it into the bucket.


Afterwards, my hands were so sore from the seven or eight water blisters that I got from not wearing gloves (I caught heck about that), that I could hardly type.

Then after that was done, Dad hauled a few bucket loads of sawdust and spread it in the shed for the first layer of bedding.


Yesterday afternoon, Dad started baling the "wet" hay. Despite being lighter than the previous bales, we got less by about twenty. I forgot until I heard it, how much I like the sound of the baler and how much I had missed it, though I am glad to be almost done with the hay. The picture above was not loaded last night, it's the last load we hauled from that field until now, we just never unloaded it.



When I was reviewing last night, the pictures I took yesterday, I was looking at that field and thinking how long ago that we cut it and how nicely the grass was coming back. We were done with it by the twenty-fourth of July. That seems so long ago, but it's really only a month a half or so.

Colors of Fall

Photo credit: M.O.H

"These are the days we will remember, These are the times that won't come again, The highest of flames become an ember, And you gotta live 'em while you can, These are the days we will remember." - These Are The Days, Keith Urban

It seems like fall is already already upon us, even thought it doesn't officially start until the twenty something of October. It's barely the fourth of September, and already the temperatures are dropping and the night air is turning sharp. The last four nights, we have had to light a fire in the furnace, using up some of the precious fire wood, just to stave off the chill.

You know it's getting cold when you can build a fire at six or so o'clock in the evening and the house doesn't get too hot. When I was writing this post down in a note pad because the computer was busy, I was sitting out on the steps in the sun, wearing my sweat shirt over a medium thin tee shirt and I didn't get too hot.

Every year, it's agonizing waiting for the raspberries, the blueberries, blackberries and the apples to be ready. In March or April, it always seems like the above mentioned gets ripe in late July, early August, when really, it's late August on.

This year because of the spring rains, everything is later. Our Transparent apples, they are the earliest in the orchard, are two or three weeks late. We just got them picked a couple days ago, so the others are going to be a few weeks behind them.

This morning I was looking at the chestnut trees and noticing how small their prickly burrs - that we cuss when we try to sit down under the tree - are, and how far they have to go before being ready. The blue jays are in a flurry of activity, with the filberts (hazel nuts) and the walnuts being ready.

Oh, I don't know if Mom mentioned this already, but on the twenty-eight or ninth of August, she saw a flock of geese flying south. They were really high, but still, the idea of them leaving so soon. At least the leaves aren't turning yet!

I'm not ready for summer to be over! Or for it to be pitch black when I get up, or when you constantly have to wear at least two shirts. Soon we will be in frenzy to get all the apples and pears picked up, the squash in to cure, the beans put in the green house to dry.

** Hay Update **

Finally got that troublesome hay raked today! If this spell of good weather that we have right now holds like the weathermen are predicting, we should be able to get it baled and in the barn before the next rain. *crosses fingers*

** Dial-up users beware**

**Dial-up users beware, this is kind of a big post**

This is our new cat that we got yesterday. . .No, Wednesday. She's very sweet and friendly and loves to sit in your lap and knead your legs.




Yesterday, after Mom picked the basil, I made pesto out of it. I got sixteen half pints last night, and it looks like I only used a third of the basil. I'm going to make more pesto out of it today, and some that basil will go for roasting the tomatoes that are going roasted in the next couple of days.

Pesto - basil or cilantro

4 cups basil, tightly packed. Depending on how strong you want it, you can pack it looser or tighter.
3/4 c. toasted pine nuts
2 -3 small or medium sized cloves of garlic, peeled.
2/3 c. Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste.
2/3 - 3/4 c. olive oil.

In your food processor, put in your basil, pine nuts, and the garlic, and grind until everything is finely chopped. You may need to scrape down the sides so that you get all the pine nuts. Then, put in the Parmesan cheese and salt and pepper to taste, and pulse a couple times until the cheese is mixed into the basil. Start you processor and pour the olive oil in, in a stream and and then stop the processor when the oil is thoroughly mixed. Four cups of basil will make 2 half pints.

Spoon it into jars and put a lid and stick it in the freezer before you eat it all.


Here's the basil, pine nuts and the garlic.


As you can see, I just added the cheese. I don't know if you can see it in this picture, but notice how small the basil is chopped. If it's much bigger than that, you will have too big of pieces if you put in on pasta or something like that.


Mmm, this looks so delicious! I could eat the whole thing!


That's one batch done.

Our reusable lids...


You can't see it here, but there are sixteen half pints.

My helper, who got to lick everything when I was done.

First broccoli and a summer treat

We picked our our first broccoli of the season this morning, woo hoo! As soon as the first heads are ready, it seems like we're flooded with broccoli, but then it doesn't amout to much after we've gotten it ready for the freezer. This morning, before it got too hot, I went out in the garden and cut the heads that were ready and of course, there was a dog lurking in the shade, patiently waiting for me to finish.

I cut the heads into smaller, bite sized pieces and then Mom will blanch it and then we'll put it in jars, and into the freezer.

The three quarters filled basket made almost two bowls worth of smaller pieces.

After I did the broccoli, I got the idea of making breaded and fried, stuffed squash/zucchini flowers. I got the idea from a Chefs Afield episode that I had seen a couple weeks ago. All you need is squash blossoms, some grated cheese, breading, and olive oil.

Pick as many flowers as you would like - the already pollinated ones work the best. Gently open the top of the flower, it's very delicate, and fill it almost full with water, and swish it around in a circle, still holding it upright, to rinse it. Dump the water out and run water over the flower and then shake it to get off the excess water. Stick them in the fridge if you aren't going to use them right away.

Breading:
3/4 c. flour (more if you're making more than six or seven).
Salt to taste.
Pepper to taste.

Mix together with a fork, or your fingers and set the bowl aside. Heat your pan to medium high, and put in a couple tablespoons of olive oil, or butter if you don't want to use olive oil.

Then, take some of the cheese that you grated, and stuff it into the flower, carefully, roll them in olive oil, and then in the breading. Do them all then put six or seven in your heated pan, depending on the size of the pan. Let them cook about forty-five seconds each side. Then lift them out - I find that tongs work the best - and place them on a platter and if you are worried about grease, put down a paper towel.

Cut the blossom ends off - they are terribly bitter - leave the blossom end on until right before you serve it, because if you take it off before you fry them, they will just fall apart.

This makes a great summer treat that is tasty, easy to make, and takes hardly an time at all!

My faithful companion who dutifully followed me to the garden and waited while I picked the broccoli and then watched, drooling, while cooked the squash blossoms. Thanks, Shan!