Nature’s Bouquet

Oct 022012
 

It was a beautiful Fall weekend in the Northwoods.  Just a week ago there was only a smattering of color change in the foliage, but cooler temperatures changed that really quick.

Since my assistance was not needed on the building of the shed on Saturday, I took the opportunity to capture the colors that Mother Nature was painting all around me.

And I must say, she is doing a mighty fine job.

Soon the lawn will be carpeted in a blanket of yellow, orange and red leaves that will crinkle under your footsteps (and elicit grumbling from Rick on cleaning it all up).

One thing that I really love about this time of year (besides the beautiful trees) is the sweet scent that surrounds me as I walk amongst the trees.

It’s as if I’m enveloped in one giant bouquet.

Despite the light frosts that cover the ground in the early morning hours, there are still a few wildflowers that refuse to give in to hibernation.

It’s as if they are shaking their proverbial fists at Fall and won’t go down without a fight, using every ounce of energy in these last few days of warmth to produce offspring.

Although I know that it’s only a matter of time before that fluffy white stuff arrives, I’m going to keep my thoughts positive and remember that spring is only 6 short months away.

 

 

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Admitting My Fears

Oct 012012
 

The shed took on a huge transformation this past weekend.

It all started with getting the area above the deck ready for the roof.  What seems to be such a simple task requires a lot of prep work.

And I’m so glad that our friend Willard came over to help out.  Since I’m scared to death of using the saws, Rick had someone on the ground doing the cutting so he could spend time framing things together.  Also, I was really feeling like crap from the cold left by my grandkids last weekend (they share!!) and had no energy whatsoever.

As long as I’m admitting my fears, I might as well admit to my fear of heights, which is the total opposite of my loving husband who seems quite at ease 12 feet above the ground.

Oh, he tried to get me up there, but I made it clear that I was perfectly happy with the safety of ground firmly under my feet.

Although I have to admit he did have a spectacular view.

Come Saturday afternoon, everything was ready to get the roof trusses set.

Sunday was another beautiful, sunny day.  I, on the other hand, was sicker than a dog.  I was running a fever, my body ached and I had about as much energy as a sloth, so Rick had to go it alone on the project.

Turns out there wasn’t much I could have done anyway, unless I wanted to get up on the planking and nail trusses (nice try).

If I’ve said it once I’ve said it a million times:  the man is an artist when it comes to construction!

How did I get so lucky?

 

I Was Only Helping Them Out

Sep 272012
 

I have a confession to make.  I wasn’t completely honest in yesterday’s post.

Yes, I did go out to the farm.

Yes, I did harvest some sunflowers.

Yes, the squirrels have started the war early by pilfering some of the sunflowers.

The one thing I neglected to tell you was that I came home with other stuff too.

I know, I know, I need more tomatoes like a whole in the head.  But it was only one more flat, and they’ll be really good dehydrated.

Now the potatoes, those are something new.  I knew the farm had a big crop and I really wanted to can some this year.  And by purchasing them (for little or nothing) I was helping them out!

So instead of spending time on stringing up the sunflowers, I canned 13 quarts of taters.

Now that I’ve gotten that out of my system, I can maybe try to refrain from getting any more produce from them when I go out there again this weekend for what I will from here on out refer to as “The Great Sunflower Watch”.

I just know you’re bubbling over with excitement!

 

Game On!

Sep 262012
 

I went to the farm on Monday to check out how the sunflowers are progressing.  Status:  not ready yet.  There are some big heads and it doesn’t look like the birds have been attacking them too much, but they just haven’t started to dry out yet.

I’m suspecting it’s because we’ve had some good stretches of rain for these past couple weeks, so the seeds are still white instead of that nice grey/black color they’ll become.  According to the weather gods, there’s no rain in sight for our parts until next week, and the temps will be cooler so that should help push them along a little bit *crosses fingers*.

But while ours aren’t ready yet, a neighbor garden has some that are and I have been given permission to take what I want.  So I did.

This is actually the 3 bucket I’ve harvested from her garden.  There are 2 different varieties but I don’t suspect the birds will care much this winter, just as long as they have something to munch on (and I’m saving money by not buying from the store).

Since I had other things on my “to-do” list, I decided to just leave them in the bucket for the night and string them up another day.  Not wanting the squirrels to start hauling away my bounty (which they did before… little bastards), I decided to put them in the garage.  At least that was my intent.

Somewhere between setting them down outside the garage to open up the door and actually setting them in the garage, I got distracted.

5 hours later my brain remembered that I may not have gotten the bucket into the safety of the garage.  And it was right.

But I was too late.  The little terrorists had already struck.  They pilfered at least one of the heads, and had started munching away on the others.

If this is their calling card of what to expect this winter, all I can say is Game On!

 

Little Pieces of Wonderfulness

Sep 252012
 

Many years ago when Rick & I bought our first house, I was able to have a real garden of my own.  It had perfect soil and I could grow whatever my little heart desired.

One thing that I had always wanted to grow was my own herbs.  I hated the fact that the stuff I bought in stores tasted slightly more than nothing, and the color always seemed to be “off.”  I wanted to be able to flavor my dishes with something more than salt, pepper and Lawry’s.

The only problem was, I needed a way to dry them.  I knew I could put them in the oven or hang them, but neither idea appealed to me.  So for Christmas one year my Mom bought me a Ronco Food Dehydrator.  The.  Best.  Present.  Ever.

Not only could I dry my oregano, chives and countless other herbs, but I could also make fresh apple and banana chips for the kids!  Heck, if I was really ambitious I could make jerky (although I’ve never been that ambitious… ever).

That silly electrical piece of plastic was another notch in my belt in food preservation.  And I worked the heck out of it!  Until we moved to the Northwoods where it remained in storage for years due to the worst soil conditions on the planet.

This year I decided to dust it off and put it to use for something I’ve never made in my life.

Dehydrated tomatoes.  I had seen a friend of mine post about doing this and thought “Why not? ”  After canning 80 pounds of the stuff, I was starting to get a little burnt out with all the prep-work.  Dehydrating them was less time consuming, and I wouldn’t be letting anything go to waste.

And the verdict?  Yummers!  What a flavor-packed piece of wonderfulness!  When Nichole tried some this past weekend she was really surprised at how great they tasted, and she came up with a fantastic idea for a new food product:  Chocolate covered tomatoes.

Because, naturally, everything is better with chocolate.

 

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