Tomatoes

Ugh. If I ever see another tomato.

Yesterday afternoon, I canned tomatoes. And then I canned tomatoes, and then, you guessed it, I canned tomatoes.

I'll love this in January, but right now? Not so much.

It's not that I don't enjoy the canning process, I really do, but it's work, and I'm kinda against manual labor of any kind.

And the greenhouse? Well, I finally got hubby on board, but it's gonna be a bit different than I had envisioned. That's ok, sometimes you gotta give up some floor space to get hubby interested in helping with this.

That's all I'm gonna say at this point, I don't want to jinx it, he's seriously interested, even busted out the tape measure and started tape measuring and all. Got a board out and put it in place "just to see".

So, that's the update on that little project.

Sunrise Circle Jacket is done. Well, the knitting is done. Still have to block it, sew it together, wash it and then sew on the buttons.

I'll take a picture when it's all done, other wise you wouldn't believe it.

My next project, a kind of "free form" wrap/cardigan I'm knitting in "colors of the forest". From dark browns to dark greens and sages (moss) with a hint of oranges, yellows and even some blues. So far I LOVE it.

We'll see. All I'm really using is measurements for this project, not really a pattern, and it's really gotten me thinking about opening up the knitting process.

Yesterday, hubby and I went on a road trip, scored some serious knitting time. And serious "alone" time. With a hurricane and her 2 year old tropical storm living with us, we don't get a lot of time to just talk. It was very nice. Saw some of the colors that are Autumn in Michigan, a lot of road kill, some deer, and even a few possums. Gotta get some of that to spin into yarn!

What's next? Still picking tomatoes, so is everyone else, and by now everyone is getting tired of them, so I'll take all I can get, and I'll put them into jars for spaghetti sauces, chili's and gouloshes in the winter.

Deer carrots are out in full force, you know the 50 lb or so bags you can get for little to nothing, and the only reason they didn't make the food grade cut is because they're bent or twisted? Yeah, I'll put them into jars too.

Sigh, then it's time to start hauling firewood up to the deck, cause any day now.........

In Which Cleaning Out The Barn is Crappy!

It was a nice weekend. Beautiful. The sun was warm, with a cool breeze and the barn, after a hot summer was getting a bit on the stinky side. Hubby was home (so he could start the skid-steer for me) and I had all afternoon on Saturday to clean out the barn.

Backtrack a bit here. It is in my nature to take the most disagreeable task and get it done first, then move up my list, so by the time I'm ready to quit, the only things left on my list are so easy and so neutral that it's easy to get them done.

That's how it's supposed to work.

Back to the barn.

Obviously, (or maybe not so much if this isn't something you do on a daily basis), one of the most disagreeable tasks in the Cleaning Out Of The Barn festival we do twice a year whether it needs it or not, is actually donning the muck books and getting into the calf pen. The calves themselves are fun. They are convinced that the only reason I'd actually be in the pen with them is to play. They're not small creatures. When they play, sometimes it hurts. Especially when you're old.

So, we're (me and the calves - not hubby), are up to our shins in calf doo doo, with a pitch fork and old gloves shoveling (or pitching) calf crap into the bucket of the skid steer (or bob cat - happy li'l bro?). This is enjoyable, some of the hardest work on the farm is enjoyable because it's soooo physical, and not mental at all and there are actually tangable results. The bob-cat can't get the crap out of there by itself, because it's all one big mat, someone has to break up the mat so the bob-cat can haul it away. So the machinery loosens it, and then I, with my pitchfork and playful calves, fork the broken up hay/doo doo, and other stuff they've drug in there, into the bucket of the bob cat.

This is enjoyable, for the first 10 minutes or so.

Then things start to hurt, and it starts to get annoying getting butted in the butt by the calves whose only mission in life is to play. And it is annoying when you hoist a pitchfork full of cow crap into the air and have it fall off the fork. And it's annoying when hubby is laughing at me. And it's really annoying when the skies cloud over and start to rain, which makes things get a bit slickery. This isn't like horse crap. Horse crap you can throw on the lawn, kick it around and eventually it goes away. This doesn't go away. And it's waaaay to hot to put it on the garden (hot being a chemical term in this application). This needs to be hauled a long way away from where human noses are, put into a pile and then let set to "cook" for a year or two, then it will be nice black dirt.

And once again, I swear that I'm going to do this every other day, or at least once a week, so I don't have to do a marathon session twice a year. But I won't. It will take me that long to quit hurting.

And I actually put it on my list to figure out how to make bio-fuel out of this stinky stuff.

On a side note. We got frost. I don't know when. I'm going with sometime last week, at night. But it killed my tomatoes. Grrrr. Usually I get a heads up on these things, that's how distracted I've been lately. Usually someone from Southern California will tell me we're expecting frost, I'll deny it, then I'll hear it on the news. That and I can usually feel it coming. Oh well, so much for the Over Wintering The Tomatoes And Peppers experiment. No reason now to hurry on the greenhouse. The lettuces still look good and the peppers that were covered by leaves... are still ok, but the tomatoes are gone. I have room in the house for the lettuces and the peppers, so I'll start hauling them in.

Tonight, I'll get all of my pots filled with dirt (for spring seed starting) and find a place in the barn for them. This serves two purposes, it gets all of the planting stuff off the deck to make room for the firewood, and I'll have my dirt already in the spring. It's hard to find dirt to start seeds in March or April when it's under 3 or 4 feet of snow and frozen under that. This way, I'll have it already in the pots, just bring it in, let it defrost and then plant away!

Oh, and, out wandering yesterday... I found a whole gob (lots and lots!!) of grapes. So I gathered them up and now have to figure out how to make wine. That will be an experiment, but look at it this way, the next time I have to do a marathon crap forking session, I can ease the aches and pains by getting smashed on a bit of home brew!

Life on the farm is never boring. But it's alllll good!

So I'll Sit Right Down

And have another beer in Mexico.....

Ok, I believe I'll do that. And in another universe somewhere that might actually work.

Just a few smatterings here (I like to use long technical words, it messes people up).

Have a loooonnnnggg weekend coming up, and I don't mean that in a good way. Saturday, I'm working. Gasp! What's that about. The only day it's not supposed to rain for the next quite a few.

Even up here the hurricanes have their way with the weather. I'm sure it's a drop in the bucket, but we still get the air pressure changes, the rain and I still feel the achy joints.

My personal opinion is that the high pressure systems that we normally get from Canada and the hurricane-isms that we are getting from the south are converging over the lakes and having a mighty melt-down. You can almost hear them arguing. Either that or it's the thunder.

So, maybe rethinking the Mexico thing, because of Ike and all.

Sunday, we'll be up on the roof (probably, depending on how much water-age is falling from the sky - steep angles and tin roofs combined with water-age makes for some interesting times, add a bit of thunder and lightening and it's just way more fun than I can deal with). And then..... after the roof is done, I can get hubby concentrating on my greenhouse.

Maybe.

He likes to think that he can take breaks and go fishing every now and then. And it is salmon fishing season, and we do like our salmon. Salmon patties are really yummy on a cold winter night. So I guess if he wants to go fishing it's ok with me.

But when he gets back, and the roof is done.....

The Mouth now has a boyfriend, which might seriously hamper her plans to move to Alaska in the spring. And I've been accused of being narrow minded, and not only that, but being narrow minded while in possession of a gun. I like to think I've always been fairly tolerant of all the idiots my girls have brought home. I haven't met him yet, so I don't know what kind of metal he's made from. But apparantly he's self sufficient, doesn't live with his mommy, and actually has a job. Don't laugh, that's a plus up here.

Hubby brought home a compound bow this past week.

He handed it to me.

He told me to pull it and see what I thought.

I did.

It was easy, a lot easier than I thought it would be. (45-55 lb)

I think he has plans to take me bow hunting this year.

Could be interesting.

I'm not real good with a bow. Add an arrow and things might get dangerous, but that's weeks away.

I'd rather use my .22

Well, that's about all that's happening in my neck of the woods. Still have more tomatoes to can, and a bunch of dirt to gather up. I like to start all of my seeds in the winter (feb. or so), and it's really really hard to find dirt to start them in, when you have to dig through 4 foot of snow, and then need a pick axe. It's lots better to gather up the dirt in the fall, when it's a bit warmer. I'll store it in buckets, and pots in the barn until it's time to plant stuff, then bring it in. Or, hopefully I'll have the greenhouse and I can do this all year round!

What fun!

Frost!

My brother from Southern California (where they really don't have any idea at all what frost in Sept. is all about) texts me yesterday and told me we were in for a frost.

Ahem. Excuse Me? Frost? I'm in denial. It's only mid-Sept. And you're in So. Cal!

Oh, yeah. It's mid-Sept. actually could happen any time.

But come on! I just put the garden in yesterday!

Ok, whatever you say, baby bro.

And I'm watching the news and weather and knitting last night (really cool pattern in blues, teals, greens, purples - caribbean colors...) and what do I see? Frost advisory! Geez! A girl can't catch a break.

So I scrambled outside, where it was actually starting to feel a bit "frosty" and covered up all of the tomatoes, peppers and lettuces I could get to and went inside feeling all good about myself. The baby snakes that I found under the tarps weren't feeling so good about themselves. Probably wishing they'd found something else to burrow under.

Here's the magic question:

Did it actually frost?

Remember Murphy?

Here's the answer:

Of course not. I covered everything. If I hadn't, then it would have frosted and possibly frozen, but it's all good. We were apparantly at dew point, so even a fraction of a temperature would have resulted in a smattering of the white stuff. But we're good now for another couple of days anyway.

Got BUNCHES of tomatoes picked and into the dehydrator. I put salt and basil or oregano on them, they are just yummy in the winter. And others with just salt. They're just as good, reconstituted in spaghetti sauce.. and they don't take up as much room as the canned variety does.

Not much hope for getting a lot done tonight, gotta work late, but maybe I'll finally get the greenhouse plans done and roped off. Also have to convince hubby to bring the bobcat/skidder (happy li'l bro?) over and while we're cleaning out the calf pen, he can scrape a few layers of soil and sod out of where I plan to pour cement.

This project just might happen!

Strawberry Jam and Pouring Cement

Got lots and lots of strawberry jam canned this weekend. Now I can expect my brothers to be knocking on my door. Pretty sad. Oh well, if they want to come all the way here to get yummy homemade strawberry jam, they will just have to put up with going for a bike ride!

Got more tomatoes canned. These will be yummy in spaghetti sauce, chili and goulosh in the middle of winter.

Got laundry all done and hung out. And it rained. Good thing hubby likes the smell of rained on laundry. Either that or he doesn't know where I keep the dryer and he's good with that!

Got BUNCHES of knitting done, not on my festival sweater, cause I well, lost the pattern and had to reorder it, but on a new pattern that I've had yarn for forever. It's done in blues, teals, greens and a touch of purple. Sunrise Circle jacket. Want to have it done for festival (in 3 weeks!) so I can find some really cool buttons to go with it.

Got NO cleaning done, but that's ok, I'm very ok with that.

Got the greenhouse plans moved up to the front burner, now to scrounge the materials that I need that I don't have.

#1 being enough cement to not only put the aquarium on, but the whole addition. That will be the biggest thing. I'm going to keep a running total on everything we spend on this, just to have an idea. People LOVE to hear about others' recycling and using up stuff, as long as it looks nice before, during and after. Usually not possible. If it was, there would be a long long line of people waiting to get on the "green" remodeling shows. Those people and sponsors usually have the money to make it look nice. I'll make it look nice, but just having the stuff to use laying around doesn't fare well in certain others' eyes.

Don't care!

Here's a rundown of what we'll need:

• I have the logs already (no cost, yet, will cost some for the gas for the sawmill to flatten the tops and bottoms).
• Already have most of the windows, still scrounging there.
• Already have the framing and roofing (all left over from other projects), will still need some nails and screws.
• And we have a door. (nice sliding glass door, scrounged from a neighbor!).
• Have the cement blocks already that we'll use for the "base of this project". Can't put the logs that close to the ground, they'll rot.
• And, we'll cover the blocks with leftover manufactured stone from other projects. If we don't have enough, I know how to split stone and lay it up with mortar, and we certainly have enough rocks in this gravel pit!
• Have the stain, sealer and chinking left over.
• The dirt for the greenhouse is free, we make it every day!
• And the lumber for the shelves and containers is already here, already sawed out, again, from another project.
• Oh, and the construction equipment to flatten out the floor? Done. Hubby's got all of that and he's itchin' to use it.
• Again, will take gas and diesel. That may end up being our biggest expense!
• We have the ability and materials to run electricity out there, and plumbing if I decide to do that.

I know we can't do this for totally "no cost" due to the fact that we'll need nails, screws, gas, and electricity, but we'll do it for a heck of alot less than most. If we have to buy anything major it will be the cement, and I'm willing to bet we can work out a deal there too. Have an old cement mixer that used to be my dad's and before that, my grandpa's. It's kind of a pain to use, but the history makes it worthwhile.

I LOVE scrounging, and the best scrounging sites in the world are your local freecycle groups. We have 6 of them here in an area that I would consider driving.

Now, gotta start scrounging again, but first, gotta go to the butcher's and pick up our fall beef. Yummy! I smell a pot roast tonight, with home made bread...

And What Did I See???

Went out to the barn and what did I see?

8 baby buk-buks staring back at me!!!

Well, in this picture you can only see one, but there were 8 (I think), with all the scurrying around, it was hard to get an accurate count. I had purposely left this hen alone, because it was just easier, she seemed to be a bit moody, when actually, she was broody ;-)

When I decided it was time to move her into the chicken pen with the rest of them, she growled at me! Then I found out why!

Now, I'll let her have free run of the barn and yard until her babies get a bit bigger, then I'll shoo them all into the pen.

I LOVE baby chickens!

I got quite a bit done in the "reclaiming the garden from the weeds" project and started, in earnest, ridding the world (or at least my world) of zucchini, one plant at a time. I didn't even plant this stuff! I planted a few seeds last year and got enough zucchini to feed the entire county for 10 years, I certainly didn't need to plant more this year, but it seems to be quite capable of rejuvenating itself. And while I was watching the beautiful Caribbean sunsets, and not my garden, it took over. And yes, it's taken me this long to get back to it. We also waged war on the burdock this weekend, they have a habit of taking over also.

Started haying for real Saturday. We had a straight shot of 4 good dry days, so we'll get as much done as possible. Last night it was still too wet to bale, (we did bale about 20 just to see) so we raked it, and I'm sure tonight, it will find it's way into the barn. I seem to have lost an incredible amount of muscle mass this past year, couldn't believe how heavy those bales that we did finish last night were, ugh, gonna be a long night.

But it's gotta get done, and during January, when it's 1000 degrees below zero, and the critters need extra hay to keep them warm, these days will be a nice memory.

Talked to hubby about our addition (no more critters, this is a small addition onto our house). He wants to enclose the fish tank, but yet keep it outside so if (when) it leaks again, the mess will be outside, so we're going to put an addition on that side of the house, and part of it will be for my greenhouse! Can you say vine ripened tomatoes all winter long????? yum! Rabbit food! And, since it will be off the corner of the house where the woodstove is, we can open a few windows and let the woodstove heat it also. We've already got one nice window (huge Anderson windows about 10x8 foot) scrounged for just this purpose. We have the logs for the outside, and we have extra lumber sawed out for the framing.

Another thing off the scrounge list? Hubby managed to procure enough tin to finish the roof! This was left over from another job one of his construction buddies did and he got it for pennies on the dollar. Not the right color, but the price was right, so as soon as we're done with this round of hay, guess what? Yup! Back up on the roof, that will be NICE to have that little job done!

Still looking for leftover eaves and downspouts at auctions... (hey, baby brother, you just put new siding on your house, got any leftovers? You can ship them to me with the fishies!). I want to collect rain and snowmelt off the roof of the barn, chicken coop and house for watering the critters and gardens, it seems a shame to let all of that water just soak into the ground, when we could be storing it for when we need it.

Lots of projects and where in the heck did July go???