Cherry Jam Class

A few of our chapter farmgirls got together at MaryGail's home and made Cherry Jam. We started out pitting about 18 pounds of cherries, getting a few on the floor and staining our hands and clothing.  Don't know how I will get the color off my hands, but it does prove I worked hard helping make some 35 jars of jam. We made some with Agave (organic natural sweetener) and I could not tell the difference from the real sugar batch. It  was a bit of a job but one we will remember each time we open up a fresh new jar of our own homemade jam.

It took us a little over four hours to get it all cooked up and canned but well worth it. I have to say it was a lot more fun to do this with friends , not only having the company can make the time go faster but just the extra hands was a big help. We had a really fun time chatting and sharing and are looking forward to our next lesson which MaryGail will be showing how to can beets. That's one class I'll sit back and watch as I don't do beets. Now when this summer produces a bunch of tomatoes and peppers, I'm there for the salsa making.
Thanks gals for a great day and a lesson in canning cherry jam.

Colors of Nature

I just love it when my flowers are blooming. The smells in the air are so refreshing all I want to do is open all the windows and let them penetrate the house.

 I walked around my garden and snapped a few pics of what is in bloom right now.

 I really love my dianthus pinks (bottom) and the lavenders. They seem to put off the strongest fragrances. My roses are not in bloom yet. It has only been in the 80's for a couple of days now.

The speedwell is a new plant but I really like how it looks so I am hoping it will come back next year.

I have a lot of pink and purple flowers. I really love how some of them just flow so softly through the breeze. I have had a few butterfly visit already and I'm sure the hummingbirds will be back soon too.

These little pink flowers (right) are from a bulb I planted a couple of years ago in my ceramic frog. They pop back each spring.

Well I guess I will go and plant some more seeds to see what pops up later as the warm weather looks like it is finally here to stay for awhile. Hope you enjoyed my flowers as I have and happy gardening.

Color Me Happy

Well I have been doing a lot of thinking lately, probably not the kind I should be doing as I have been a bit down. So I decided I needed more color in my life to help brighten my spirits. I began by spending a fortune on paint and decided the hen coop had to be my first project. This is only because it is the first thing I see when I look out off my deck. Besides I figured they could use some cheering up too. Here is what it looked like.

This is the second look. And I say that because as I was painting the door, I was not pleased with the contrast so close to the window.

So I decided it needed the trim paint on the door as well. It is more appealing to my eyes anyway. Do you think this will get the hens to lay more eggs? Yeah, I doubt it too. I do like the way it all kind of blends into the surrounding scenery. My hubby did'nt even see it at first. Go figure.

Next I hope to put up a better fence around the coop. I'm thinking a white picket will do just fine. Today I am off to town. Need some dark purple to go with the light purple I have. I'm thinking I have a couple of chairs that could use a nice sprucing up as well.

Lord, don't stop me now. This is better than a coloring book and crayons. At least these colors will be seen more often and not closed away in a book.  With luck I won't need a therapist and I will again brighten each of my days.

A Victorian Tea Party

Let me tell you what a wonderful tea party I attended on Sunday the 13th. MaryGail and April (chicks in our chapter) opened their home and put on the most elegant, Victorian tea party I have ever been to. First off we had to come in our 'fancy' hats and aprons to help set the mood. The table was adorned with MaryGail's mom's beautiful laced tablecloth and napkins. There were beautiful china tea cups, MaryGail has been collecting for years,  and real silverware, candles and mouth watering foods.

We sat down and at each place setting was a gift of garden seeds for us to take home. We were then served by the ladies,  Oriental Chicken Salad placed in lettuce leafs, which I proudly had two and a half of. There was shrimp, stuffed creme cheese peppers, blueberry scones (to die for), cookies and muffins and a Victorian Tea that I just fell in love with that I just had to have the recipe for.

You can see how beautiful everything is. 

Along with this beautiful spread, we also had our monthly meeting and were suprised with four new gals that wanted to join us. We have such a diverse and wonderful group of ladies and I hope to continue to enjoy their company for many years to come.

Thanks to MaryGail (left) and April (right) this was a tea party I will not soon forget.

Working Ol' Hank

Between mowing and weed eating and watering, there is no time to sit idle. With warm weather and sunshine, I can keep myself pretty occupied outside. Just don't send any company my way or I'll have to go inside and clean up a bunch. I really don't like to clean house when I could be outside planting seeds and watching my things grow. (Hubby does'nt like it much either)

Since most of our driveway has somehow dissapeared, we had a load of gravel brought in to replenish it. So, guess what I did?  I put ol' Hank to work. At least I had fun playing with the bucket, pushing it into the pile of gravel and trying not to tip over. You really got to manuver the bucket just right to pick up a nice load, keep it in the bucket, and dump it in the right spot. I think I did okay. I managed to get quite a few piles placed around the drive, then thought I would try the scraper blade on the back of Hank to see what it could do.  Managed to scrape it off the drive easier than spreading it around. So I gave up on that one for now.

Figured I'd better leave some for hubby to do or he'll tell me I put it in the wrong spots.

So I parked ol' Hank and got out the hand shovel and wheel barrel and loaded several piles of gravel into the new dog kennel. Thought it would keep them from digging as well as getting muddy every day, but they still dig. I think they like this play yard a lot better as they have more room to run around (this is a before the gravel). I'm always afraid some big hawk will swoop down and get them as they are so small so prefer to keep them safe in their pen. They are close enough to watch mom in the garden so they know they are not alone. The only thing is, they will bark to come out so they can use the restroom. They refuse to poop in their play pen. 

Many of my flowers are starting to bloom and I put out a bunch more seeds today. We are suppose to get rain again for a couple of days , but so far only really windy. I just keep watering the beds to keep the seeds in one place. Has anyone ever grown Sweet Annie? I received some seeds from a farmgirl last summer, planted them and none came up. So I am trying again this year. The seeds alone smell wonderful so I sure hope the will come up this year. I would love to have wild flowers all over the places where I really don't want to look at dried up old weeds.

This here is Allium. I really should plant more of these. Isn't it pretty? I did plant six more plants of Pinks. I just love that they smell like carnations and come back each year. I have put out a lot more bulbs, and my daughter gave me a bunch of Tulips of beautiful red that I hope to see blooming out here next Spring. I am hoping to fill this here garden area with tons of flowers and herbs with hopes of having some for drying and making poupouri. It's just a matter of seeing what will keep coming back each year that the frost won't kill off.

Wow, the wind is really blowing hard outside today. Guess I better go and water down my seeds again.

Hard work pays off

You all know I have been needing to keep myself busy as to help me heal and here is part of that busy. You remember when I started, it was just a hill with weeds and not an easy task for mowing or weed eating. So for two days, I pulled weeds, and moved rock. With my daughter's help we got it cleared off enough to begin planting new shrub and flowers. With some soil amendments and a good compost (there were worms in the soil also), things should do okay. Especially since we have been having some good rains come our way. So here is what it looked like.

This is pretty compare to how it could get. But now it is starting to look the way I could picture it and I cannot wait until everything is really grown up. This is a night garden so everything is planted in the white or silver shades with evergreens. Bulbs have been planted over the entire hill also. Next year will really show what I've done. But you'll get the idea. The rocks are what I could roll or lift over, but I am waiting for Big Hank (tractor) to bring in some really big boulders. It will not only look nice but it will keep the soil and mulch from running off. Just at the flat top of this hill I'm thinking of putting down a slate patio to sit out on. When hubby retires, we are moving my stairway on the deck to this backside, and it will be much wider. Another project, another time. Anyway this is what keeps me going, no matter how much hand cream or gloves I use, you can always tell I'm digging in the dirt.

The Broken Chain

This poem was sent to me and I needed to share it with you.


                                           The Broken Chain

                              We little knew that morning that God
                                   Was going to call your name.
                               In life we loved you dearly,
                                     In death we do the same.
                               It broke our hearts to lose you,
                                    You did not go alone;
                               For part of us went with you,
                                  The day God called you home.
                                You left us peaceful memories,
                                   Your love is still our guide;
                               And though we can not see you,
                                   You are always at our side.
                                   Our family chain is broken,
                               And nothing seems the same;
                                 But as God calls us one by one,
                                   THE CHAIN will link again.

                                               

Eileen A. Conklin

1948-2010

To my sister ,

You were my mentor and my strength. I will miss you but will never forget you. Until we meet again my heart will be broken.

I have spent my days staying busy gardening until I am bone tired to just shower and fall into bed. Today I went to town to start getting back into my routine of life. I will continue to keep myself going and knowing through heartaches and sorrow I can watch life from beginning to end in my garden where this is the 'simplest of life's blessings.' "We must have faith that in all things there is a time and a season. It is a gentle and healing reminder that allows hope to be restored and joy to become renewed. " (quoted from MJ magazine)

Time of Sorrow

I have'nt been posting in awhile as I lost my oldest sister, Eileen, to cancer on May 19th and traveled to California to be with her family and attend her funeral. This happened fast and was totally unexpected so I am numb and unable to function at this momemt. I will be spending my time working hard in my yard and trying to get my heart and mind to rest. Will be posting when times are happier. Thanks to everyone who has sent me prayers and blessings.

God bless,
Gail

All the many things I have been up to

 I recently went over to Boise, Idaho and saw 'Sugarland' in concert. They put on such a wonderful show. I traveled through snow, hail, rain and wind to get there, but it was well worth the trip. I have not boogied so hard in a long time. Yep, that's me on the right. Quite tipsy and diggin' every minute of it. I wiggled and jiggled everything that would. The security kept trying to get me to stay in my seat but as you can see, I won. Had a few others join me after a bit, but I never stopped until the music was over. What an awesome show!

Since I have been back home I have been very busy with my new puppy I also brought back with me. (yeah, I'm a glutton for punishment) Her name is 'Pearl' and she is a mini Aussie. She is 6 weeks old and a little spitfire. She keeps me up through the night but Onyx is learning to enjoy having one of her own to play with. Now if she had come with potty training, it would have been so much nicer for me.

Can you see how cute she is? They play so well together. Something I did'nt think Onyx would do, but they get along really good so far. They are letting each one know who's boss.

We have had a couple of nice days of sun here lately so have begun to do some yard clean up. Since I could'nt find a big hunk of a man to help me out I bought a tractor instead to  help with the work around here.  I'm new to the tractor thing but will get the hang of it soon enough. Been practicing moving boulders and some compost about. I guess I'm turning into a real farmgirl after all. This here is my new ride. What do ya think? It's no man but it'll do what I ask of it.              

                                                 I've started to dig up the ground down the slope going to my chicken coop, to put in some posts for walking on. It helps to have better traction in winter and I could use all the help I can get to climb back up the darn thing. It may not look like much, but I'm not gettin' any younger. Hope to put in some landscape with retaining wall and plants so I can quit having to weed eat and mow down here. It is not real easy to do on a slope to begin with. I darn near have turned over my riding mower a few times. Besides, I want to put in a low maintance, drought resistant yard.

I hope to have this looking a lot prettier by the time this summer is over. It will probably take me that long to get it done. I have all the plans in my head, now just have to keep busy making them happen. No time to be idle, got too much on my plate and we have very short summers.

I've gone crazy for F's

FRIENDS

I've never had a lot of friends in my life until now. Karen, whom I met last July, sent me these wonderful dishcloths she made, in the mail the other day. I should have figured out she was up to something when she asked me what color my kitchen was, but I'm a little slow.  She sells these and many other items on her etsy shop http://www.kpaints.etsy.com/ . Check out all the pretty things she makes.

I had been looking at these, off and on, wondering if they would really work, they do! It is like having a scrubber, sponge and cleansing cloth all in one. Wait! That's what it is. I love how they work.  I even had to purchase some for my daughter, who never seems to have any cloths at all in her kitchen. I think she will love them as much as I do. 

These would make nice Mother's Day gifts too. (hint)

FABULOUS

Saturday I received my first Mail Art in the mail and it was from farmgirl 'grammygail' from the MJ site. Look at the work she put into it, isn't it pretty? This is really a great way to let your artsy side show and have fun making them too. Then you get to send them off to someone whose name was sent to you, you get a new name each month, and you receive from a different person as well. It will be fun to see all the different talents of many women around the country. And purhaps make some new friends along the way.

FUNNY

Our local group of Charming Chicks had a girls nite out last Friday nite. First we went to the El Palcio's restaraunt and had margaritas and lots of appetizers, listened to April (she's the one at the head of the table) tell us her horrow stories about camping and flying on planes. They were horrible to her, but had each of us in stitches. From being removed from the plane (first time flying) to having her campsite attacked by bears and her spending the nite in her truck. That gal's a hoot! I had'nt laughed so hard in a long time.

Then after taking a few pics of our evening, we walked, a bit tipsy you think? (Cheryl and myself)  to the Ross Ragland theatre across the street from El Palcio's (nice windy nite air) to watch the Diva Nation Four Bitchin Babes. These ladies can tell you a story of what being a woman is like, which is hilarious! They do so while playing guitar and piano.

This was a nite to remember with good friends, good food, and a whole lot of laughter. I hope there will be others.

So now that I have caught up on what has been keeping me busy, it is time to remember to "Live like there is no tomorrow, Laugh until you pee your pants, and Love with a big heart".  To my good friends now and to those I hope to meet, keep smiling. :)

Old fashioned candy

Old fashioned candy is not a thing of the past. At least not in my house. While out shopping, once again,  I happened upon these bags of '50's' candies in Ross. I'm not sure I know what each of these candies are or what they taste like, but look at the cute packages they came in. There are Mary Janes, candy necklaces, chick o stick, smarties, Tootsie roll, wax bottles (loved these), hot dog bubble gum, necco wafers, mike and ike, root beer floats, and just so many others.

Does'nt this just bring you back a little to being a kid? Me, I'd be looking for all the magazines from the neighborhood just for these candies. I would spend hours at a time pulling my red wagon and going door to door asking for old magazines. Then I would go home to cut out all the coupons then  rush off to the local store to cash them in for candy. I wonder if any one else did this.

It was just one of the many things we would do as kids. After the stores decided to take only the coupon for the item it showed, we started to collect pop bottles for the money. That was until my youngest sister decided she would rather turn over the wagon just so the bottles would break so she could eat the glass. Now that's another story.

So now that I am no longer clipping the coupons for candy, but still collecting coupons, to get a discount on my grocery bill , and I am saving my bottles and cans for coin , I have to do whatever I can to get the goodies I would love to have. lol  So I have entered into a giveaway, with beautiful things, at the Brambleberry Cottage. Now I am sharing this info with you. Check out what Liz is giving away, just tell her I sent you, and have a wonderful day. Don't forget to keep clipping those coupons.

Small pleasures and tastes of childhood

I just could'nt stay away from the antique and thrift stores any longer. It had only been two days but I was drawn back to find these great kitchen items. I am using the jar for my dish soap and the boxed can opens on top, just slide it, and I have my borax for scouring the counters and such inside. Aren't they great?

I'm not sure what the can had been used for before, but I would guess some type of laundry soap maybe. The glass jar is an old citrate of magnesia. My daughter found a great old lined wooden box for her laundry powder. Looked like some kind of cooler.

We just never know what we can use an item for so with eyes wide open we search the shelves until something pops out at us and we just have to have it.

My daughter recently found this great cookbook " ATaste of Georgia". I just had to borrow it. I have been so busy writing down many of the recipes. Recipes I remember having as a child. It is the type of recipes that you don't have to ask someone in the store what it is you are looking for to put into your recipe.  In other words, easy to find ingredients with fabulous results.

I'm not from the south and neither was my mom (Sweden), but we lived back in New York and then in Arizona and these recipes are just the way my mom cooked. She would call Swedish meatballs, 'shittabullas'. I spelled it the way it always sounded to me. lol   Here's a recipe you can try.

Swedish Cocktail Meatballs

1 pound ground beef

1/2 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs

1egg

2/3 cup milk

1 Tbsp. finely chopped onion

1 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

1/8 tsp. nutmeg

For the sauce: use 1 (12 oz) bottle chili sauce, 1 can beer, 1 (6 oz) jar sweet pickle relish.

Mix the first eight ingredients together and then form into small balls. Brown the meatballs well in cooking oil.

Mix all the sauce ingredients together, then add all the browned meatballs. Simmer on a low heat for approx. 30 minutes.

Bon' Appetite!

Something to smile about

I spent yesterday planting rhubarb and Shasta daisies that I got from my friend, Robin. I cleaned out the old strawberry bed to start a new one, and went riding around the countryside with my husband looking for a small tractor to purchase. It would sure make some of my work around here a lot easier.

This season I will be using my small watering trough I filled with dirt for some new strawberries this year. I bought 30 bags of potting soil at our local greenhouses in town for $2 a bag, so that I could fill raised beds for this season. I have lots of plans to redo my flower beds and garden beds and hope they cooperate with me this year and bring me lots of pretty flowers and vegetables.

These are the water tanks I will be using. They are just sitting around empty. Might as well make use of them and grow something that the rabbits won't be able to reach. Plus, it will be easier on this old back of mine too. Can't wait to see all my plants blooming in these.

Here is a picture of my raised bed area I built last summer and I  have started my radishes in already (which have come up) along with some pole beans. It is not very tall but will keep the soil in rather than wash it down hill.  It is suppose to rain today so I am keeping my fingers crossed so I won't have to go out and sprinkle my seeds.

I even took our old kitchen sink and buried it into the dirt to hopefully grow some vegetables in it as well. Oooh,  I just remembered we have an old toilet sitting around outside,  I just might have to find some trailing petunias to plant inside it. :)

Look at my daffodils, they're smiling. Aren't they pretty? The tulips actually had been eaten down by deer so I had covered them with straw, and they came back with some new blooms.

I was recently sent a picture of some pretty flowers from kpaints to cheer me up (we had gotten buried in 4 inches of snow that day). Now I can just keep on smiling cus' she sent the sunshine too! My flowers are finally in bloom and making me happy. Thanks, Karen. Spring is back!

What happened to Spring?

Can you believe this is what we had to wake up to this morning? THIS is why I need a revolving closet. It was'nt two days ago I was enjoying the 70 degree weather we had. I was getting ready to pull out the shorts! When the sun is hot, I can't be found in the house. I have been  busy cleaning up my garden of its weeds, planting seeds, broccoli plants, blueberries, blackberries, onions and lavender plants. I hope everything will be okay after this stuff. I know we need to build up our state's water supply, but come on, can't we be finished with this?

I'm not really complaining. (bah humbug) It is pretty to look at and fun to play in. It's just that I am so ready to see flowers and things in bloom and start getting fresh vegetables from my garden. I have planned already to go into town today to pick up some more top and garden soil for my raised beds, so when the snow melts I will be putting in more plants and seeds.
I am determined to have a Spring.

Like our realtor said when she sold us this property, "if you don't like the weather right now, just blink and it will change." Well I've been blinking all morning and so far nothing has changed. Oh well, it's off to town to make the most of my day. Hope everyone else is enjoying theirs. And for those of you who have flowers in bloom, please mail me the scents. :)