Twin's Game

The weather was predicted to be clear skies and mid 90's.  The corporate Twin's tickets were available by random drawing.  It was going to be a day game which meant a day of vacation for the winner of the drawing.  ...works for me.  I put my name in and won.

So here I am with my sister at the game. We were in the shade from the beginning... THANK GOODNESS!  It is warm (I like it hot ) there are enough open seats that we can spread out every other seat.  A gentle breeze is blowing through the open air stadium cooling us off.  In the winter we call it wind chill. Does that qualify in the heat of the summer too?

My sister said that I create items for her bucket list then fulfill them...this is her first Twin's game at Target Field. 

Instructions on the side of the can

Dale came back from his nephews place with a few bags of extra food. (I am not too sure about that story.) Part of the food included a can of pumpkin and a graham cracker pie crust.

The conspiracy included Trisha baking a pie and dropping it off at his nephew's along with a cake that Dale is baking and a few other things.   If I take the back way, it isn't too far out of my way.

Pleading ignorance on how to bake a pumpkin pie, Dale asked me to bake it. (Don't be fooled! Dale is a excellent at cooking, baking and canning.)  I picked up the can, read off the ingrdients glanced over the top of my glasses with that "really??" look.  Then I sent him to the grocery store for the right pie crusts and a can of evaporated milk.  We had the rest of the supplies.

I followed the directions on the side of the can.

The final instruction says, "cool on wire rack for two hours."  LOL - really!?!? They cooled for twenty inutes. One went in the fridge for half an hour. Then I had a normal size slice and Dale ate nearly half the pie.  (We had part of a carton of whipping cream in the fridge. It got whipped up with vanilla and a couple tablespoons of powdered sugar.)  Mmmmm good.

Redneck Jewelry

You know that you are a redneck if...

...you wear a pencil with a pink eraser as a hair decoration.

...you wear a paperclip on the top of your ear as an earring.

Time to tease a co-worker!      :^)      She was working away from her desk for a time.  When she walked through my department, we noticed that she donning this wonderfully, beautiful jewelry. She had placed the paperclip on her ear so she would not forget it.  Ironically, she forgotten she'd stuck the pencil in her hair.

Little things

Sometimes it is the little things that mean a lot. I heard on the news that gas was going up again. Looking at my gas tank, I'd need gas Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning.  I made the decision to top off the tank. As I pulled into the gas station, I pulled up to the open pump to the right of the car. I got out and there was a hand-written sign announcing the printer didn't work.  Shoot, I knew that from last time I was here.

It had been long enough it should have been fixed.  But at least they had it labeled this time. "Do you want a receipt printed?" YES. Lol I figured I'd be sassy on a Monday morning. 

To my surprise....it printed!  I couldn't resist it and I took the receipt inside.  There were three employees in close range as I announced, "Believe it or not that pump actually printed a receipt!"

"Pump 4?"

"Yes."

(Hoots and hollars)

"It's a miracle."

"That hasn't printed in a year.  I hung up a sign and now it prints!"

Everyone laughed and everyone's day turned a little bit brighter.

Perfect end to a good day

Dale bought a piece of salmon the other day.  So I looked up recipes.  I found a marinade that called for 1 cup soy sauce, 2 TBSP brown sugar, 4-5 cloves garlic, 1 inch of ginger root shredded. Marinade in the fridge for 2 hours with the skin side up. Right before grilling brush both sides with extra virgin olive oil. 

We heated the grill up to about 360 degrees and placed the fish on skin side up for a minute and a half to get a good seer (top down) then turned the grill down and flipped the fish.  We decided next time at this point, we'd flip it onto aluminum foil. We cooked them about another 4 minutes.

I made garden fresh broccoli and sprinkled a mix of 5 white cheeses over the top.  It was a delicious meal. (Once you cut off the small charred pieces.

Continued Progress

A day of tedious work but very productive. I spent the day setting tiles along the back wall of the tub.

I am half done setting tiles.  Not sure if I will finish it this weekend or not.  I bought enough product to finish but it is looking like I will only need a small fraction of the second bag of thin set.  I don't want to waste it.  So I will return the large bag and get a smaller one in its place.

Once they are all set, the need to cure before I grout.  At the earliest, it will be two weeks before the shower is useable. 

Time for a rest

The weekend is here and even the dogs think it is time for a rest. But with three dogs in the bed, there isn't much room for people. That is why one comes  home with me.

Get the Lead Out....Update

I had my doctors appointment the other day.  I took the test on July 13th and the results came in.  Sometimes when you are detoxifying the readings will increase after the first round of treatments.  Mine did NOT increase.  In fact, they decreased by about 50%. 

That means my body is quickly re-balancing.  Yeah!  I can tell that the pain levels have decreased in severity and frequency over the past few months.  I am hopeful that soon it will be totally gone.  The next test is due about October 6th. Please keep me in your prayers.

Birthday Time

It gets more and more difficult every year to get together and celebrate birthdays. First of all what do you buy someone that not only doesn't need anything but returns things from your childhood evertime you see him?

Then I take him out for supper and he chooses the place that has a wild and crazy sale going on so it is packed wall to wall with chattering people.  Restraunts aren't known to have good accoustics and add to it the family hearing problem - there was a lot of "what?"

Happy (belated now) Birthday Dad!

Fun at the Beach

A pictures worth a thousand words. Enjoy the pictures!

Toss it already!




Go Sid!




Ready Set.....



GO!




Sid Wins!




Training time?




Yeah, it's blurry but look at thier feet LOL



A busy but relaxing Sunday

No pictures on the cell phone today. I was using the real camera. Mid-day we went to Dale's family reunion.  I only knew about 10 people there so I walked around taking pictures and watching people wonder who I was.  I did that at my 25th class reunion too. 

Since I graduated at the end of my Junior year, I didn't know a large amount of kids from the graduating class.  I ended up sitting at a table where kids from the Junior and Senior class married.  So everyone was trying to read my date's name tag.  They had forgotten that I graduated with them and assumed my boyfriend must have since everyone else at the table was HHS graduates.  It was very entertaining.

Today when we got back from the reunion, the dog sitter was gone with the dogs.  We went straight to the park. She had taken all three leaders with and was walking the dogs in the woods. The must have heard us pull up.  We were sitting at the picnic table quietly waiting. The dogs saw us before Anita did and the took off running. She had nearly two hundred pounds pulling her lightweight frame.

I yelled "let go!" but her instinct was to hold on. The finally pulled her down to the ground.  We spent at least an hour as we took turns tossing a stick into the water for the dogs to retrieve.  Just before we left the park a boat and a pontoon pulled up.  It was time for para-sailing.  I stayed (with my good camera) and took pictures for them.

It's a dog's life

We have Prince Sid visiting us for a short time.  He is a wonderful loving dog.  Unlike our girls he doesn't give "lick/kisses" he gives hugs.  His version of a hug is that he presses his head into your body, gently but firmly. As you pet him when he's hugging you, there is a soft rolling growl. He sounds like a big cat purring. 

He sits in the recliner and watches TV.  In this picture, he fell asleep while sitting up.  :^)

It's Friday!

And after adding lemon and lime juice to the salsa mix, the dogs and I went to the park to run until Dale got home from shopping.  There isn't anything more relaxing than walking in the park by the lake with the dogs. The waves softly splashing against the shore.

Have a great weekend!

Isn't this perfect?

Yesterday I wrote about a sea of green. After work today, I stopped by the park with Dale and the dogs. It was so windy! I was glad I was wearing my full length skirt, anything shorter would have ben disasterous!

The first thing I noticed as I drove up to the park was that the waves at the landing were rolling with a lot of white caps.  Then I saw three dobermans running towards me. (You can't help but smile at that sight.)

As I walked to the other section of the park, I couldn't help but think about the vine that is creating the "white cap" look over the shrubs and trees in the area.

Dale blanched and peeled tomatoes this morning. So after mixing five pounds of hamburger with seasoning and extruding it into jerky strips, I cut tomatoes and cilantro for salsa.  Dale chopped the rest of the ingredients.  Now I'm resting between batches of dishes. (We have a busy weekend scheduled.)

A sea of green

There is a wild vine that is seen frequently in the area (I've heard it called wild cucumber).  The light green flower that blooms in August is fairly basic.  But the way the vine takes over an area, it makes me think of the white foam crest of an ocean wave.  So many things in nature and in life have a special beauty.  But at the same time there is a danger.

This vine is so beautiful yet it can easily choke out the bushes and trees that it climbs over. A friend recenty borrowed me "The Bee Movie" probably because I eat so much honey.  In that movie, a bee does what he thinks is right without any foresight to the effect.  I love these vines and as my grandma used to teach that a weed is a flower out of place.  They are pretty but they gro without foresight and if nothing is done to control them, they'll choke out the bushes and trees.  Someone needs to keep balance.

A sign that summer is almost over

We had our last meal of sweet corn. The crops were so early that here in the middle of August the corn is starting to get tough.  It seems like an early end to the season.  Watching the weather closely, I can't help but wonder if the winter is going to be long and cold. 

Taking advantage of a cool day, Dale decided to make jerky. This started a few days ago when a friend showed up to give Dale some venison from a road kill deer.  Later that day another friend was visiting, we got talking about making jerky. She shared how she flavors ground beef or venison, uses an extruder to create a tube shape, rolls it flat and dries it.

While I was at work, Dale pulled out his meat grinder (I think it was his mom's or grandma's).  He ground up all the meat about 5 pounds. After work, I brought over my pasta maker and put on an attachment for a flat pasta (about 1/4 inch by an inch). Dale had bought a seasoning mix that he mixed in with the meat according to directions.  The pasta maker mixed it some more before we switched it over to extrude.  I was sad that it was venison. It looked good and I don't care for venison.

The Secret Village

At that special time of day when the sun shines through the trees if you are one of the lucky ones you will see the secret village.  It is a special place with teeny tiny houses for teeny tiny elves and fairies.

If you walk up quietly, more quietly than you've ever walked before, you may just see the wee little fairy resting in the sun. The truly special people will see the elves and fairies dancing in circles around their homes as they sparkle in the sunshine.

Sh.... I see them now. Sparkling in the sunshine like glitter sprinkled on the dew.  Their joy and laughter transforming the beautiful twinkles into the most dazzling spectacle.  Such a spectacular sight my eyes can barely take it in. 

Next time you see the secret village at the edge of the trees, quietly approach then carefully sit down and pray to see the elves and fairies dance. 

The Peaches are DONE!

7 half pints of peach/honey ginger jam. 24 peach muffins.   8 quarts and a pint of spiced peaches. 

The jam was easy I put peaches in the blender with the juice of 1 lemon. Then I added honey and fresh ground ginger and let it simmer. While that was simmering, I made the muffins.

Then Dale got home and brought the canner in for me. I canned the jam, warmed up and canned the Salsa. We canned 12 pints, ate about a pints worth and gave away about half a pint fresh salsa. It was time for the first batch of dishes.

We weighed a sample of peaches. The recipe said eight pounds would make 3 quarts.  Three peaches averaged a pound. The syrup called for 4 cups water, 1 cup sugar, 2 cups honey. I doubled the water and left the sweet the same.  It was more than enough syrup. In each jar was a fourth teaspoon whole cloves, half teaspoon whole allspice, a stick of cinnamon (until I ran out and had to use ground cinnamon.)

A long day; but, seeing the the pantry shelves full was so nice.  It reminded me of when I was 8-10 years old and my mother still canned.  We would take the jars downstairs, into the "root cellar".  It was a small closet size room that had a sand floor and A LOT of spiders. I don't like spiders. Canning saves money. Gee what a novel idea. 
.

Salsa

We spent the morning blanching tomatoes, cutting cilantra, onions, and garlic. I zested a lemon then squeezed the juice into the mix. I added some of pulp. The limes in the grocery didn't look good so I bought lime juice and added several tablespoons.  Then we cooked 4 cobs of corn and cut the corn off.  I added just a small amount of freshly ground peppercorn and ground sea salt. Dale grew habeneros last year and froze them. We took one out of the freezer and chopped it ONLY one for the entire batch.  (Yes, I'm a whimp. I like mild salsa.)

I can't tell you how much it made yet, because it is sitting in two bowls in the fridge.  We tasted some, it has just enough kick for us. Actually, we tasted it several times until it got to the kick and flavor that we wanted. 

We filled a pint jar to take to my aunt and uncles. We are going to the garlic festival this afternoon and they are watching the dogs for us.  Last minute change in plans. :^)

Sharing

We plant a HUGE garden and we share A LOT. I want to hear from people. I picked tomatoes with a friend on Sunday in my garden. Does that give them the right to come back on Wednesday and clean out the rest of the ripe tomatoes? 

I had two things planned for this weekend: peaches and salsa.  Now I have everything that I need for salsa except the tomatoes.

I planned on making my own salsa because I'm allergic to bell peppers and so many of the salsa recipes have bell pepper.

So the other half of the story, the other afternoon the friend stopped by and saw the tomatoes getting ripe. They couldn't find Dale so they picked them and put them in their spare fridge. Excuse me...telephones have answering machines! A neighbor told me who picked them; we called and they just stopped by to drop them off. Whew.

Pie, Ice cream, and an evening of work

I received an e-mail today (yesterday...this didn't publish for me last night) telling me more peaches were available. Since half of the peaches I picked up on Saturday had been eaten, I figured I'd better get another half bushel (box) to work up since I've been thinking peach jam sounds good.  A co-worker heard me order the extra box and asked me to pick her up a box too. 

My car smells so GOOD right now. :^)

Poor Dale woke up a 1 AM and could not get back to sleep.  I stayed at his place baking until 10:30 tonight. (And playing with the dogs. So hopefully they sleep through the night.)

I would share the recipes with you but the ice cream went like this....chop about 5 peaches into a blender (with skins), add some lemon juice and puree.  Add vanilla and a pint of heavy whipping cream. Pulse blender to mix. Sprinkle sugar on the top maybe 1/4 cup. Pulse blender to mix. Chunk up (in small pieces) about 3 more peaches.  Taste and tweek.  Put the mix into the ice cream maker until done.  Yes, it is official!  I threw the recipes out the window today.  I guess I've been watching too much chopped.

That is just Peachy....

The peaches came in on Saturday. They told us to leave them at room temperature for three to four days to let them ripen. Then if needed they can be stored in the fridge for two weeks. 

Oh are they juicy, sitting on top of a spot of whipped cream. 

Tomorrow evening I'm going to make peach ice cream and maybe a peach pie.  With only  half a bushel, I'm not sure if I will have enough to can.

So much to do and so little time.

The future...

In the last litter we kept a red/fawn puppy so when she is old enough we can breed her with a red/rust doberman.  We have started to look for a good stud.  This good looking male is a potential. We have such a large request for reds that we thought we'd look for a red/rust male.

A childhood memory

This has been a past time for fire fighters for a great many years.  When I was young, they took the heavy duty bouncy balls that we used to play on.  There was a built in hoop at the top that the kids could hang onto. It worked perfect to string through the wire.  Now, they have built a metal net around a much smaller ball.

Fire department competition. Best 2 out of 3.  All the area departments send teams to compete at Kraut N Wurst.

Kraut N Wurst Day

A city festival? I've always thought of it that way. But in truth, it is the fundraiser for the local volunteer fire department. There was a parade, games for the kids, "Little Miss" contest (for girls 6-7 years old), BINGO, a food court, a beer garden, evening music, and a TON of people.  Our little town more than doubles in population for the day.

We watched the parade. Sid and Duchess chose to  go inside and avoid the noise.  My Jenny, she just sat on the step - unimpressed.

Instead of hanging with the crowds in the park; we left town to pick up a box of peaches that arrived this morning and to pick up fresh sweet corn. The season looks like it may be a short one this year.