and the hits just keep on coming.....

It's mid December and that means it's cookie time but I am knee deep in seed catalogs.  I have a hard time switching gears.  Stacking the seed catalogs in the ever growing pile, I haul out the recipes for cookies.  I have so many recipes from years of baking cookies.  I have my Moms recipe box, my binder and my recipe box, put to shame by my Moms (the box in the middle).

The essential ingredients get this party started!  

Welcome to the Phat Shack. 

Pulled out the favorites and whittled the list down to the "must haves" "can't live without" cookies.  The list is still too long but I will try my best!  Start slow because cookies just don't show up here like they used to.  They can be frozen and quite a few cookies ship well..... that increases my list again.   Instead of spending hours in the kitchen I am opting to bake one recipe a day until Christmas Eve.  Pack them in containers and whisk them away to the freezer.  The freezer that is in my studio.  I will need to bury the cookies under the pesto and cauliflower.  

Start slow, go with the good old peanut butter cookies.  I bought "natural" peanut butter, the kind that separates in the jar because it's been sitting on the shelf or warehouse for years. Stirring a jar of separated peanut butter is like stirring up a bucket of asphalt driveway sealer.  Hey, I use my big drill for that mess so break out the hand mixer/immersion blender!  

The oil oozed out and down the sides of the jar, I lost my grip.  Oil and peanut butter were on the Tilt-O-Wheel at the county fair!  EJECT!  I was so panic stricken I pulled the plug out of the wall.   This added an extra hour of cleaning and laundry to making simple peanut butter cookies.  Kirby did the dance of happiness and couldn't believe his luck to be in the kitchen at exactly the right time for raining peanut butter!  Life is good if you're a dog here at Paine Falls.  

Slowly I got my groove back for making cookies and it was game on!  I had packages to get in the mail. 

I was moving at lightening speed and just like that the brown sugar hit the floor.  Pixie dust flew everywhere.  Under the wood stove, all over the floor, the carpets.  The velocity of the spillage was truly amazing.  Again Kirby had a ringside seat, although one lick and he retreated to the landing.  Brown sugar needs to be coated in butter to get him excited. 

The floors got washed again and the dog got another bath.  Alas the cookies were baked and sent off packed, bundled and shipped to the four directions! 

Snickerdoodles, Gingersnaps, Melt in Your Mouth Strudel, Russian Tea Cakes and Peanut Butter Cookies. 

Worried I might push myself into a diabetic coma I opted for car repair. That could turn me into an alcoholic.

Replaced both air filters (engine & cab), topped off all the fluid levels, filled the low tires and poked around trying to figure out why my engine light was on.  Ran up to Autozone and had a fresh faced, dirty handed kid plug the computer into the ailing van; it's free!  Well your thermostat is sending a bad signal, we can sell ya one.  Ya, let me go home and watch a couple YouTubes before I commit to that repair.  It's not that I didn't believe the fresh faced lad, eating a candy bar with black oily covered hands at 9:30 am, it's just better to get a second opinion.  I stopped by my favorite mechanic on my way home.  It's like stepping into Mordor from the Lord of the Rings.  His Dad owned the shop and now he owns the shop.  It's like stepping back in time to go visit my Dad at his shop when I was a wee tike.  The fumes of welding torches and diesel fuel transport me back to seeing my Dad's legs under a big garbage truck, while he talked to me.  Open flames, open pits of oozing iridescent fluids, car parts strewn on the counter and floor, I am very comfortable here.  This place is a close runner up to my kitchen after the peanut butter debacle.

The guy who works here is as honest as the day is long and he said; Let's go look at your van.  Yup, it's the thermostat and nope it's not a problem.  The computer sent a code from the thermostat back to the computer, the valve just didn't open fast enough so the engine light went on.  He re-set the computer and said if the engine light comes on again, call me and we can get you in right away, it's a three hour job.  I was charged nothing...... He gets cookies!  

After all this it was time to head to the river! 

I didn't catch a thing but I don't care.  Standing in a river on a December day the pixie dust, diesel fumes and Christmas crazy wash away.  I walk away with my head clean.  Three hours in ice cold water on sunny day is just the best cure for anything that ails the body.  The flicker and the kingfisher kicked up a fuss and I watched until the blue jays bombed in.   When I could no longer feel my feet it was time to head for home.  I miss having a dog to tag along on this trips so maybe that will be on my 2024 "to-do" list.  Kirby could use a buddy.  

Got home late and needed to make a butter run for tomorrows cookies.  Butch decided he wanted to tag along because he is looking for a light up wreath to hang on the front door.  He can't stop himself.  Fine, let's just make one stop so we decided on Sam's Club.  I hate that place!  The only thing that makes it tolerable is Scan & Go.  I don't need to talk to anyone and I can check myself out.  I can also buy giant bags of broccoli and almonds at a good price.  Other than that I don't buy much at that place.  Grabbed the butter and broccoli, Butch grabbed a rotisserie chicken.  Hey, are you hanging that on the front door?  Does it light up?    

Butch decided to make homemade broccoli salad for his sailing club Christmas party the next night.  The rotisserie chicken was sitting on the counter and the broccoli was dumped in the sink for washing and trimming.  I had roasted beets in the oven and left over baked potatoes, a salad was already made from last night.  Easy dinner right?  I’m peeling the beets and tossing them in a bowl when I hear this god awful sound and so much swearing.  He flipped a whole damn rotisserie chicken off the counter, bouncing off the dog, who thought it was manna from the heavens and plopped on the floor!  Grease flew everywhere!  My fast dinner ended up scrubbing down cabinets and floors, scooping grease off the floor with a spatula and trying to beat the dog to the carcass, yelling NO, NO BONES!!!!! I won and Kirby is passed out on the landing from doing cleanup on Aisle One.  I snatched that chicken off the floor so fast Kirby thought it had legs to run away!  I just mopped my floors this morning!!! After the snatch and grab off the floor I ran it under the faucet, patted dry and popped it in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes.  Ran in the basement, grabbed a jar of peach BBQ sauce and said, DINNER....... while Kirby was doing laps around the kitchen trying to figure out where the chicken went.  For a blind dog his nose is just amazing! 

 If I ever write a recipe book, I'm calling this bouncing chicken! 

Butch is doing laundry and cleaning up his broccoli salad stuff.  I'm washing down the cupboards and floors again.  I just took the last batch of pinwheel cookies out of the oven and headed to bed 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️  walking away, just walking away…..

I found this poor little guy on my walk this morning and wonder if he ate one too many cookies or just couldn't mop one more floor........ le sigh little one.  

God speed.. 

It's Dunderhead December........

 

The indoor pond.  Two years ago I invested .15 ea. for 5 goldfish.  They did great!  Last winter I brought them into the studio to live the cushy life in a 27 gallon black plastic storage container complete with pond plants, snacks and overhead lighting.  Unbeknownst to me, I also brought in tiny little pond snails that soon clogged the pump daily and covered the sides of the storage container.  

The fish didn't seem to mind.  Then merriment ensued and I found three fish had hurled themselves out of the container and onto the concrete floor, leaving me with two robust gold fish that seemed to get along just fine.  Spring arrived and they were unceremoniously dumped in the patio pond for another steamy summer.   They lived through the pond snakes, raccoons and me cooling my feet off on the hottest days.  They got bigger and bigger and I gave them names; Ralph and Ed (from the show The Honeymooners.... I am that old!)  They became part of my morning ritual: walk the dog, feed the dog, pick up dog poop, put the chicken feed out, visit with the chickens while I tossed them scratch grains, collect the trail cam video and feed the fish.  Then I could sit down, have coffee and watch the nightly carnage in the garden from my four legged neighbors off the trail cam footage.  

I did not have any trouble catching the fish in the pond last year, none, zero!  They didn't exactly jump into my bucket but it went pretty well.  This year they revolted!  And this year I had a coupon for nice glass aquarium we could put in the back room, an indoor pond.   I spent a rainy cold day on my hands and knees trying to catch two fish for over an hour and it was not going well!  I walked in the house defeated; fine, I'll just save my water hyacinths....... but the fish!  It's an ecosystem in that little pond.  I transferred 18 gallons of water to the tank and a few unfrozen plants.  I had coffee and realized, the indoor pond really needed a of couple fish.  The smart thing to do would be to trot back up to Pet Supplies and buy two more fish but then that would mean I would need to dig another pond because my two thug fish would eat them or chase them around the pond until that passed out and drown or offer them up to the raccoons.  I just needed to buck up and catch these fish!  I stood there looking at the two renegades swimming around flipping me the fin and then I had a moment of clarity; just empty the pond!  You have 250 gallons sitting in the rain barrels, it needs to be drained for winter storage, just drain all that rain water into the pond..... after you catch the fish!  Genius!  I thought I'd just pump out the water into the garden.  This will be a breeze.  Alas, it was so damn cold the hose was like moving concrete so I got the heat gun out and warmed it enough to bend it toward the garden.  But still so stiff I dismantled the waterfall to get to the hose.  So many rocks, so many big rocks but finally the pumping began.  It's a small pond but it's a deep pond.  I dug out this pond by hand and Rachael helped me haul and lay the stone.  I'm not sure how we did this because the pump was still pumping an hour later.  Well the hose had hose memory and was slowly recoiling and pumping half the water back in the pond.  Put a rock on the recalcitrant hose and went in for a re-fueling of caffeine and dry coat.  Came back out to the deep end still full of water and the pump sucking air at the other end.  Coffee down and start bailing.  I bailed and bailed and due to weather conditions I left my body and just aimlessly tossed water into the garden.  Out of the corner of my eye I saw a flash of gold and white.  RALPH, OMG,  so sorry!  Scooped him up from under the salvia and ran him in the house, plopping him in the tank.  He was a bit stunned but I was so happy!  One down and one to go.   I kept bailing, I bailed like a an idiot trying to put out a forest fire with a teaspoon of water and no large orange fish.

  I bailed all the way down to the muck at the bottom where I found my big frog wintering.  Oh so sorry!  At this point I realized I am no longer helping!  

I need a kayak to get across the patio.

I am now down to pond sludge and there is no big bright orange fish.  Is he wearing the cloak of invisibility?  Where is that stupid orange fish?  There is no water left in the pond, the frog looks pissed.  I scooped all the sludge and leaves out of the pond and took the offending ick back to the compost pile, where the chickens jumped on it!  Seriously Ick!  But nothing can go through dirt and debris like a chicken so I stood back and thought for sure they'd unearth Ed; I would jump in and save him just before a chicken decided Ed was lunch.  No fish.....   Back to the pond and ripped out all the salvia and alyssum, nothing.  OMG did he fall between the stones while I was madly bailing?  I disassembled the pond stones; outside and inside!  No fish!  I got the the squeegee and started moving water off the patio thinking I would see a gold flash.  No gold flash, no fish.....  By now I sat on the pile of cold stones and decided the I had failed the .15 fish from Pet Supplies and Ralph would just have a very lonely winter.  I looked around the patio and had so many tools out; a heat gun, rakes (yes, more than one) and buckets, it was carnage. By day three Ralph was doing just fine.  I sent off a prayer of Godspeed to the giant heavenly pond above and wished Ed well on his next journey while I apologized profusely.  I put the stones back, hooked up the pump, re-assembled the waterfall and drained the rain barrels into the pond.  I went in the warm house dejected, my hands were bruised, bleeding and cold, I dried off and warmed up with hot tea and a cookie. What a stupid day!  I had been out there from 10:30 am to 3:45 pm trying to catch a fish who clearly did not want to be caught..... fine!  But it had made me a little crazy as you can see by the last hour of the day.

Oh Dear! 

I'm making peace with this, have another cookie! 

 

Butch rolled in after dark (Noon around here these days or so it seems) and said I only see one fish in the pond.  WHAT?!!! I grabbed the flashlight and peered into the murky darkness of the pond and there at the bottom of the pond was that gold flash I had been looking for, everywhere!  ED LIVES!   Ok where the hell was he?  I took out big rocks, small rocks, muck, his buddy the frog!  Fine, I'll catch you tomorrow.  I was so happy!  I have been trying for a week to catch this stupid fish!  It has made me crazy! 

I have not put the interior rocks back and yet he still finds places to hide or squish into where I can't get to him.  I changed his name to Trump; he is orange, fat and slippery as hell!   So this fish might be wintering in the depths of pond, I might calling the pond Mar-a-lago, there is enough muck and sludge still remaining and apparently a few secret hiding places and I really don't care.  

Meanwhile speaking of big and fat and orange....... this showed up in the rain.  Rufus the neighborhood cat.  He has a lovely family but they needed to escape for a couple days, but the other neighbor takes really good care of him, lets him out, feeds him, spends time with his little brother and leaves the garage door cracked so he can get out of the rain and cold.  He has a very cushy life but he stands by my back door crying and I am such a push over and I am so allergic to cats but I just love them so I let him in.... 

it escalated quickly...... 

and then he found Ralph.....

and standing on your hind legs is just too hard so.......

and finally......

He departed shortly after a nap and a few more snuggles.  As he left I had the box of Kleenex under my arm and my red eyes were teary and itchy ..... see ya tomorrow Ru.  Took a shower, washed my clothes, washed down the chairs in the back room and vacuumed.  Ya, it was worth it 😁 

Its December, let the festivities begin! 

 

Poll Dancer or Pole Dancer?

 Oh lets start here first......

I'm a poll worker for the state of Ohio and yesterday was election day.  The poll I work at is in a small town, 10 minutes from my house.  A town you drive through to get somewhere else; the beach, a restaurant, a leg of the Buckeye Trail or boat storage/marina/yacht club.  They have one stop sign and a couple cops who watch it like a hawk!  It's a quiet town, nothing much goes on in this town; I love the post office because it's very small and during the holidays they put out homemade cookies or muffins.  There are two employees but they get you in and out the door, they smile the entire time and I love it!  So when I was assigned to the poll in this sleepy little town I was delighted!  This was my 4th election; the presidential election, a May election, a special election in August and the election yesterday.  I have been to every training session.  The last training session I walked away seriously thinking I did not want to work this election due to two issues on the ballot.  Issue One (abortion) and Issue Two (legalize marijuana).  Honestly the issues were not the issue; the way the issues were worded on the ballot was a big issue!  They were long, involved and very tricky with the wording.  If you did not pre-read the issues before you walked up to the voting machine there could be a few problems and there were! The machines would time out after 5 minutes if you didn't touch the screen or if you got frustrated and hit cancel, shutting the voting machine down.  Then you needed the secret code and had to get the ballot out of the machine.  And save that ballot because each ballot cost .30 per ballot and the BOE is on a very tight budget!  We were warned!  Of course people didn't read the issues pre-voting.  Ten minutes into our voting day 2 of our 4 machines shut down.  It was going to be a day!  

Money flooded in from outside and inside sources for both of these issues.  My house phone and cell phone rang constantly,  our mailbox was stuffed full, you couldn't get through anything broadcast or streamed without being bombarded by both sides of both issues.  

AND YET! There were still voters who stood at the ballot in agony, finally flagging down one of the poll workers; "Um what exactly does this say?"  (on both issues). "Sorry we can't help you with that, we can only help with the machines and checking you in.  The issues are posted over on the wall if you would like to go over read them."  Nope!  Not one person with questions took the time.  "Can I just leave it blank and vote against the road levy?"  Yes, you can.  (invisible head slap)  One guy showed up and wanted to vote for two mayors and just wouldn't take NO for an answer.  He like them both.  IT DOESN'T WORK LIKE THAT!  

Our day starts at 5:30 am, I get up at 4:30 am for chicken and dog duty and make gallons of coffee to last until 8:30 pm.  I pack a lunch, dinner, snacks and water.  I'm out the door and reporting for duty by 5:30 am.  We hang the signs, take the oath of office, turn on all the equipment, log security tags, cross check each other as there needs to be a Democrat and Republican doing each task, everything is checked and double checked.  If you have ever worried about the security of an election go spend some time as a poll worker.  

We keep the campaigners 100 feet away from the doors.  Yesterday we had an overly aggressive literature tyrant, who just would not back down after several encounters with our big burly poll rovers (guys who spend the day driving from poll to poll to make sure everything is moving along as it should).  Finally the Sheriff's dept. was called to action and the guy left but yelling; "I used to work for the board of elections and I am calling your supervisor!"   So much drama!!  Why didn't they just call the guy who was on the flyers, the guy running for township trustee and say: Hey, you have a jerk out here and here is what he's doing and wow is he costing you votes!  Hmmmmm....... would that work? 

The polls open at 6:30 am, there are alway the early birds who are knocking on the door at 5:45 am asking to vote.  Come back later.... and it's always a guy, why is that?  When the doors finally open at 6:30 am we had a line.  People headed to work, the place smells like soap and clean clothes.  People are patient and friendly.  Even when two of our machines went down 30 minutes into voting.  Our VLM (voting location manager) is awesome and got everything running again.  We only had 4 machines.  This group was mostly men.  At 8:00 am I looked up and we had a line of women, 100%!  They were all headed to work, chatting, reading the ballot samples, had their ID's out and voted quickly.  Not one machine timed out or canceled off.  Well Done.  10:30 am the brunch crowd shows up; white haired, retired, taking it slow and telling me; "Honey, I have all the time in the world".  Some funny and engaged, others lugging an oxygen tank and wheelchairs.  I thought somebody might have parked The Sunshine Bus Tour outside.  One grey haired guy with two canes, full of piss and vinegar just wanted to know where the voting machine was as he was only voting on Issue One (abortion). Seriously?  Sir you are 90 years old and you're worried about my uterus?  Could you even find one on an anatomical map?   The lunch crowd was dashing in on their lunch break.  The afternoon crowd was the best.  Again the grey haired regatta blew in but then we had a guy who reeked of pot and I was high just getting him to the voting machine.  You guessed it, I only wanna vote on one thing, will my ballot still count?  Yes, it will just hit print when you're finished.  He thanked me kindly and carried on.  Then there was the drunk guy who seemed fine but I don't think I'd light a match standing next to him.  He wife waited patiently for him at the door.  The grey haired gang of four, all wearing the T-shirt stating; "We the People...... are Pissed Off", alas they were friendly and jovial.  The woman who coughed the death cough from the time she walked in the door.  She coughed all over the machine, she coughed while I explained how the machine worked, she coughed while she put her ballot in the ballot box and just as her hand was on the door, she turned around and asked; "Does anyone have any hand sanitizer?"  Lady I am going to use it to bathe in and then hose down your voting machine!  The 3:30 - 6:30 pm crowd had come from work.  For the most part hard working people who do physical labor; men and woman.  Postal workers, UPS drivers, CarMax delivery guy, mechanics who didn't have time to wash up and they voted!  They stood in line and waited to vote.   We stayed busy the entire day.  The last guy came in with a broke ankle on a scooter at 7:26 pm and finished voting at 7:30 pm.  The VLM said: Lock the Door!  It was over, we made it.  We six woman looked at each other and said lets' pack this place up!  Our numbers need to tally out, provisional ballots counted and locked, machines broken down, signage pulled down and ready for the next election.  Everything sealed and tagged and logged by two people of opposing parties or an independent.  One gal counted the ballots 6 times and finally said; We can't do math after a day like this, I'm so tired!  But we made it work; everything was bagged, tagged, put away and loaded into the VLM's car and taken to the board of elections.  Someone from the opposing party must accompany the VLM to the Board of Elections and the was me.  Alas it was on my way home.   I ate my lunch and dinner salad at 9:00 pm and walked Kirby. Butch had been driving back and forth to take of Kirby so I could work the polls.  I watched the the results roll in....... Ohio you rocked it last night. 

I will forever remember the Mom's bringing in their daughters and showing them how to vote.  The little girls in pink tulle, twirling around their Mom while she voted wearing her Women Rights t-shirt.  The Dad who brought his teenage daughter in and voted and showed her how to vote because she would be voting in 4 years and explaining to her how important it was to vote.  The elderly who come out to vote because it's a social experience  This is America folks and it is important!  

To everyone who worked and everyone who voted....... I am humbled and thankful and tired today!  

and now back to my regularly scheduled pole work....... post hole digging fencing!

Canning season is a wrap for 2023!

 Well is it ever really over?  No sooner did I print out my master list than I realized I hadn't made enough jams or jellies, pickled carrots were missing and a new recipe for chicken pot pie filling.   But I am out of jars, but they are on sale at Walmart!  The majority of the work is done and I can fill in on rainy snowy days.  There are 30 pounds of strawberries, 10 pounds of rhubarb and 30 pounds of blueberries waiting for me in the freezer.  The garden is pretty much done.  The freezer is stocked, the shelves are groaning with overload and I just got back from an over due hike!   I am stupid happy at the moment!  I love food preservation, everything about it!  The gardening, the putting up everything in sight.  We get this over abundance of everything from May-June thru the end of Thanksgiving and I am here for the party!   

I bought new canning books this year, I attended a canning class in PA and learned about low temperature pasteurization for crunchy pickles and steam canning, I bought a steam canner.  I love the steam canner.  It's game changer!  It saves water and time!  Lugging that big pot of boiling water from the sink to the stove was no picnic! 

I had a bang'n pepper crop this year so I stuffed peppers and froze them.  I also bought a lot of chicken on sale.  I did the math.  This is the math they don't teach you in school.  Was I really saving money?  I already had the jars and most of the lids I would need this year.  Supplementing my garden produce from local farmers was a win and I love that relationship!  Who doesn't love a farmer?  I stayed out of the grocery stores all summer!  I didn't miss them. 

I did not need to buy any peppers this year, so I started stuffing.  I also chopped and froze in bags.

 

This was the left over stuffing mix that can go into acorn squash or zucchini or anything I feel like stuffing this winter.  

Chicken bought on sale from my favorite butcher in Middlefield. 

Stuffed peppers in the freezer waiting to be bagged and tagged.

stuffed with Italian sweet sausage, brown rice, mushrooms, a bit of cheese (from the Middlefield Coop and its grass fed!) and onions.

I bake them in 375F oven topped with canned pasta sauce I have stashed in the basement. 

Here is kitchen math!  $1.24 per person per meal for 20-21 meals. 

Winner winner chicken dinner! 

I currently stand at 476 jars in the basement and the pesto, tomato pesto, blueberry curd and garlic scape pesto in the freezer puts me in at over 500 jars.  That really should hold us for quite awhile!  

November 3rd, canning is over.  I also finished up my last show of the season and should be making a few pots but then this happened and yes I am so old ....... but after buying fishing licenses my entire life this was awesome! 

Yes, I am that old!  I finally have my lifetime fishing license! Pick up the gear and go!  I have a few other things I have been missing too so those pots are just going to have to wait.

Today I am walking down to the polls to vote as I will be working the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 7th.  We start at 5:30 am and close around 8:30 pm.  It's a very long day but we need people to work the polls and we sure need everybody to vote.  If you live in Ohio read the issues before you head to the polls because they sure didn't make it easy this time!  There are levies and school board candidates and new council people and charter amendments and and and.  Oh if you stand there reading this stuff at the voting machine, just a heads up, the machines shut off if you don't vote within 5 minutes.  Ya, I think this one might be a nightmare election in Ohio......   and don't get mad and storm off, your vote counts! 

Coming up for air.......

 

This year has just flown and wading through the golden leaves from the norway maple on the way out to check on the chickens this morning I am reminded, Fall has arrived.  Change is forever on the move here in Northeastern Ohio.  The weather patterns have been inconsistent but the last three days we have been living the dream of 70F degree days and gentle winds.  My biggest show of the year is over and I have had time to lick my wounds over this grueling 5 day show.  Time to fish again, time to hike again, time to just watch the leaves fall.  Time to realize I am slowing down...... I guess I have entered my Fall years too :) 

I am walking, wading and reflecting and deciding where my next steps will take me.  I made a list of the things I love and make me feel like I'm 12 years old again......  Oh glorious 12 years old!  

Time to take off your shoes, roll up your pant legs and wade the rocky bottom of the river, flipping small rocks over with your toes hoping something swims away.  Oh how I miss that 12 year old and now there is nobody to call you home before the street lights go on so you can stay as long as you want; until your feet are blue and toes are numb but still you stand in the river because there is just no better place and geese fly over so low the breeze caresses your top your head.  

I have been sitting at a wheel spinning pots for over 40 years and have missed so many Falls and late Summers as shows and galleries are relentless this time of year.  Not this year!  This year I am fishing, canning and gardening.  The house is winning and there are so many repairs that need addressed before the snow flies.  

I've been busy with shows this year and a trip to Alaska sparked my wild woman outside spirit!  Sleep in the back of pick up trucks, fish till you can't hold the rod and eat whatever your hand touches ( a cold reindeer sausage) in the cooler because you rolled in after dark, very hangry and very tired and you get up the next morning and can't wait to do it again!  

I didn't get to can any thing last year and the basement shelves looked like Old Mother Hubbard lived here.  Every jar was empty and the spiders had moved in.  In the past I did all the canning and still had time to do shows, I'm definitely slowing down and I'm not happy about it.  I'm making life decisions and realized I am on one hell of journey, an adventure to be sure.  I will not be potting as much but not closing up the studio.  Gardening more, fishing more, commenting under my breath on life's little observations and if I want to take day and just watch the river go by it just might happen.  

I miss glaze development.  How can you stand in a river, waist deep in crystal clear water, engrossed by the transparency and movement of water and the textures just beneath the surface and not want to race home and start tinkering with chemicals to capture the illusion of water on the surface of a pot.  That will never grow old for me.  

or this ......... how do I get this into a glaze? 

I have time to make cordage, and collect plant material again.  I am teaching a weaving class in February!  

The basement is full again!  More on that in another post but I am over the moon happy!  

I have had time to take canning classes on steam canners, gluten free bread baking and making cordage.  

I have time to write again too......... 

 

Summer living.........

 

The month of May was one long drought and a couple hard freezes but now it's mid July and my underwear has mildew.  You just don't get summer until you find yourself swearing and out of breath wrestling on a uni-boob sports bra.   I bend over in the garden and there is a rainbow over my butt..... it has been that wet.  It is still better than dragging a hose around everyday or watching plants die; I will take the rain!  

This small half acre has fed us beyond my wildest dreams.  There is cauliflower in the freezer!  

All those seeds started in the cold studio in February thrived for the most part.  We did have wild weather swings and so many plants couldn't decide what to do so they bolted, biennials should not be going to seed until next year.   Swiss Chard and Onions have bolted even though they were started from seed.  The plants are telling me they are stressed, especially the onions.  I grew a lot of storage onions, placed all over the yard.  The only place they didn't bolt was the back garden which is somewhat shady.  The onions in full sun bolted, even though watered and mulched.  Onions that bolt or go to seed do not store well.  What to do with 200 onions I cannot store?  Time to start canning stocks, dehydrating, canning with port wine reduction and making a puree with olive oil and tossing it in the freezer.  It's a lot of onions to deal with! 

I grew three varieties: Patterson (long term storage), Blush (long term storage) & Alisa Craig for grilling immediately.  Learn to punt! 

We have eaten so much cole slaw this year as the cabbage was stupendous!  Lesson learned from last year, use all the insect netting!  Cover everything!  It worked!  I planted three varieties: Savoy (crinkle leaved & huge), Little Tiara (small & compact), Red Dutch (large & later producer)  Hands down the Little Tiara is my favorite.  Small tight heads and super sweet.  You can plant quite a few in a very small space.  Red Dutch is having trouble forming heads but leaves have been good to stir fry.  The savoy is a winner and I plant it every year.   

I used strawberry plants to border the gardens and as a ground cover around the asparagus and blueberry plants.  All I can say is WOW!  We picked every day for two weeks.  The rains came, the nights cooled off and strawberries went into hyper berry season.  We picked over 30 pounds, freezing most.  The deer leave them alone, although not the chipmunks or the raccoons.  It was a fight early on when a family of raccoons descended on the berry patches and cleaned them out.  They rolled around in the beds smashing plants and berries.  When they used the backside of the pond (right next to the patio where I drink my morning coffee) as the woodland powder room it was game over.  Pooping on the top rocks as the water cascaded over the rocks and the Miller relocation van started rolling.  For eight straight nights the van drove into the night looking for just right place with water, woods and free range and they lived happily ever after.  The cats put out the word on the chipmunk condos, also living in the stones around the pond and Poof the chipmunks were gone.  Thank you neighborhood thug cats.  

Thankfully I only put in 4 swiss chard plants because who knew they would take over half a row. 

I have been planting swiss chard for as many years as I've had a garden and never liked the way my teeth would feel when I ate it.  Started doing a bit of digging around to understand why.  It's loaded with oxalate crystals or oxalic acid.  Hard on the kidneys but great for removing rust.  If you blanch swiss chard for 3 minutes it removes 72% of the oxalic acid from the swiss chard.  How am I this old and not know this?  The blanching water is brown!  I blanch the leaves first and then the stalks and no more gritty teeth!  Whoa, game changer!  This works on beet greens and spinach too!  I had been dehydrating all the green leafy tops of everything and dehydrating to make green power.   

Beets, pickled and roasted.  Green powder in the blender jar and bowl of pea pods.  Dinner is served! 

Cucumbers are just appearing, along with the striped cucumber beetle.  Stay tuned for that battle!