Advice?

I've listed my very first product for sale on ebay. Yup, this is my first time! Was pretty easy actually.

My parents have an antique business and I wanted to learn how to do it... so that I can help them get started.

Anyone got any sage advice?

Booo ya!

My littlest gremlin woke up bright and early this morning... ready for the Halloween Day to begin. He's going to be a gremlin and Matthew is going to be an army guy.

The elementary school costume parade is this afternoon. I'm in charge of bringing Aaron's gremlin/devil fork to complete his costume. It's so fun to see all the kiddos dressed up! Yes, I'll have my camera in hand for lots of pictures.

Oh... speaking of pictures... I attended a women's business expo on Saturday. The keynote speaker was Nancy Hill. She was wonderful! What an inspiration! She was the pioneer of the scrapbooking industry!

Have a fun Halloween!!!

Help!

Good morning!

I'm just back from a crisp walk to school with Aaron and my niece, Jennifer. I headed out in my winter jacket, hat, mittens, and scarf... but it really wasn't too bad out there. It's warmer than yesterday.

My niece had some allergy testing done the other day. Poor thing is allergic to Wheat, Corn, dogs & cats, dust.... and "soo ya". What the heck is "soo ya?" She said, you know... "soo ya sauce... and soo ya beans." Oh... SOY! OK!

She's so sad... that... they're will be no more pizza nights... no more bread...

Anyone out there got a good pizza crust recipe that uses grains other than wheat? Or even a good recipe for bread without wheat?

What NOT to do...

Filled up one sink with tomatoes, was soaking dishes in the other. Rinsed out a water bottle for Rich. Headed down to the house to have lunch with Rich.

Returned hmmm, maybe 1/2 hour later to the sound of running water.

Ummm...

Running water and pools of standing water in my kitchen...

Ummm...

Water running down the gas pipe into the basement bedroom... into Rich's dresser...

OK... I swear that I shut the water off before I left! Honest!
Turns out it was left running just a little bit.

Well, the floor got a good wash!

I sorted through my boxes of tomatoes yesterday. I filled up my two kitchen sinks with water and a squirt of Basic-H. Got them all cleaned up... Blended them up in my Vita Mix...

Several hours later, my stock pot was full with yummy sauce. Made some pizza for supper.

Canned 11 quarts of sauce last night.

Tonight is meatballs with pasta.

I have yet more tomaotes to process!

You know you're in the country when...

Your brother-in-law calls frantically looking for your husband needing help with a pig that just gave birth...

Black Angus cows appear in your back yard for an afternoon snack after getting out of their pasture...

You have so many tomatoes ripening tomatoes that your the making of tomato sauce becomes a weekly occurance!

Practice Your Flute!

The middle school requires that all the students participate in band and choir. My 6th grader is studying the flute.

Flutes are tiny instruments that fit perfectly in backpacks. They don't weigh too much or make loud head-splitting noises (most of the time, anyway).

"Matthew have you practiced your flute today?"

110 minutes each week is required... or you fail...

"Matthew, your recorder is not your flute... get back to practicing!"

Oh, there's my nephew Joe, who's in 8th grade practicing his saxophone, outside. He actually sounds pretty good!

And Matthew is coming right along... "Matthew, your practice time is not done..."

Green, Greenish-Redish, Red...

I started sorting though my multitude of tomatoes (boxes on boxes). I've been going to do this for a few days... maybe 7 or so... But today, I noticed a funky smell... so... the sorting took on a bit more priority(it wasn't even on my to do list for today!).

I can't believe how many beautiful ripe tomatoes I have. I'm in the process of making salsa for the first time. It's a messy job! Just got my tomatoes prepared. Lots of chopping and dicing of onions and peppers still to be done. But NOT tonight!!!

How can it be almost lunch time already?

Shoot I'd better get off the computer and get some stuff done like:
-folding laundry
-hanging the jeans out on the line
-washing yet... more... laundry...
-sweep the kitchen floor
-and vacuum the living room!

Well, I have gotten the dishes done... my least favorite task.

I came across this apple oatmeal bar recipe in my father-in-law's farm paper. It looks pretty good. But will it pass the kiddo test?

I've been wondering why I'm so tired today....
My little guy crawled into my bed at some time during the night saying that he had a nightmare. Poor guy!!!

I managed to get back to sleep when suddenly I was smacked in the face with his arm, ouch!
Then I got too hot... but couldn't get any covers off... I was surrounded!

Better go to bed earlier tonight!

Think that I'll put a roast in the crock pot for supper.

OK, I'm getting off now! I really am going to go take care of that laundry...

Service Engine Soon...

Oh man, just replaced the transmission in my van a couple months ago.... And yesterday that darn Service Engine Soon light came on.

OK, took it in because the oil needed to be changed anyway. I figured some sensor had gone as we've got 109K on our 1999 Dodge van. Well, yes indeed. The CO2 sensor went out... $233 for the repair.

I think that it's time for one of those new snazzy hybrid deals that gets a gazzillion miles per gallon.

Arrrggg...

Have I mentioned that tomatoes are taking over my house? I still have about 4 or so more plants covered up in my garden. Covered... and chock full of beautiful greenish tomatoes.

Yup... tomatoes under my kitchen table. Tomatoes in my front hall(boxes upon boxes)... We even have a tomato partition in the kitchen.

Problem... the tomatoes turn red... then need to be turned into something yummy... Will today be the day that ripe, red tomatoes turn into Salsa?

The rooster crowed...

Fall is pretty here. But I do miss the gorgeous color of fall in New England, but as I was walking around town after walking Aaron to school, I took note of the beauty around me.

The wide open countryside is dotted with the green of farm land, the yellow and orange of various trees... mostly cottonwood. The sweet smell of processing sugar beets lingering in the air... as I neared home a rooster was announcing the day.

I'd like to have some chickens in the near future. I know nothing about keeping chickens... but I think it would be such a great project for our family. I can see the boys selling fresh eggs. And I can see the chickens running around the yard.

What I can't see is... how my 2 mouser cats would react to chickens running around... cleaning the chicken coup... plucking feathers of older chickens whose day "has come."

There are a bunch of people around town who have chickens... I guess that I'll have to glean some info from them.

And then there were 3011!

Thanks everyone from Mel's awesome blog for coming by for a visit. We hit 3000 today!

It's a coolish, supposed to be in the 70's kinda day here in northern Wyoming. Just fed Rich and our helper Darryl. Had to heat up some soup to go with sandwiches to warm them up.

We pushed up 2 walls today, east and west... the long walls. I'll be posting pictures of our house progress in just a bit. We're almost there!

The kids are off from school today. Hunting holiday I think.... (I'm sure that this only happens in Wyoming!). Matthew's and his cousin are helping out at the hog farm today. Aaron got to go on a field trip to the corn maize in Billings, MT today.

The Check Engine Soon light came on in the van today. Shoot... we just put a new transmission in it... what now???? I hope that it's just some sensor that needs to be changed.

Anything yummy cooking at your house for supper?

A special thanks to all you of who came over from Mel's blog for a visit!

I'm pleased to report that my father-in-law was doing so much better yesterday! He seemed to enjoy having the boys there to visit. We may go back on Sunday afternoon.

It's a beautiful day here in cowboy country. I've been out in the garden picking more tomatoes. We've had the plants covered to protect them from frost during the night. I'm actually taking a break! Another 2-5 gallon buckets are filled and 2 big boxes. AND... there's still more plants covered up. I'll have to tackle that on Monday. Whew... Now... where to put them?

I started to clean out my wild flower spot too. Looks much better. Still have some pretty flowers blooming. They're yellow and orange. Sorry that I don't know their names.

Off to Billings...

Just got back from walking Aaron to school. Can't feel my face. Sure didn't feel that cold when we started out. Supposed to get up to 70 today.

The boys are out at 12:15 today. So, we're going to head up to Billings, Montana to visit Grandpa at the hospital(they've moved him from the stroke unit to the rehab floor-a very good sign!), then go get Halloween supplies. I'd love to go to the zoo too! Hmmm... we could do that first then visit Grandpa then go to Walmart....

Rich has had a helper the past couple days. Come on over to my house blog for more on that...

Has anyone seen the movie Flight Plan? Is it any good?

2900 visitors!

How long will it take to reach 3000?

Invite a friend to come by my 'kitchen table blog' for a visit. May even have some fresh zucchini bread to share!

Gathered up the pulled tomato plants this morning with my brother-in-law's help. Still some corn staulks left to pull.

Supposed to get warmer today than yesterday, although doesn't seem so this morning. I plan to get some more tomato plants pulled and fill another couple boxes with tomatoes.

I may be canning tomatoes all winter!!!! I have boxes and boxes of green tomatoes!!!

Once I pull all the plants, I'll get Rich to till the garden spot for me... or maybe I'll attempt to man that big tiller myself. We'll see! Sure is a strong one. I watched it pull my big strong brother-in-law around the yard this spring when we were getting ready to plant grass.

I'm planning my garden for next year. I would love to grow enough veggies and do enough canning so that I don't need to purchase veggies from the store. Oh man... they just taste soooo good!

Tonight I'm going to make some meatballs. Wanted some yesterday but didn't get far.

Well, I'm going to get back to work. A company that I work with just came out with this supplement for people who get sick every fall & winter. If that sounds like you.... you may want to check this stuff out!

The horses are back in the pasture. It's neat to see them running around. There are also 2 calves rooming around.

I was out in the garden for a bit this afternoon. We've had our tomato plants covered with old blankets. I picked a whole box of tomatoes. I try to get to one or more plants each day so that I can get them all picked before the real cold weather comes.

Got some tomato sauce simmering on the stove. We're having spaghetti and meatballs for supper tonight.

It's a beautiful sunny day here! Sure hope that we have enough more of these to get the our house enclosed.

Sad News....

My father-in-law had a stroke on Friday. Tests have revealed that he's also had several untreated heart attacks. He's still in the hospital. They're doing tests to see if he needs heart surgery.

So much to think about... Please keep us in your prayers. Thanks.

Canning Beets this morning...

My friend gave us 3 grocery bags full of red beets. I decided to tackle bag #1 this morning.

I had never canned beets before today. They sure make quite a red mess!!!

Just a few minutes ago, there was a knock at my front door. I said, "Oh NO! I'm not dressed!" I was still in my robe because I had started this beet job early this morning. Anyway, it was my mother-in-law bringing by part of her apple pie that she made yesterday. She has an apple tree in her pasture.

I'm waiting for batch #2 to come up to pressure...

I've found this really neat site for canning. It's especially good for us newbies. Here it is: http://www.paulnoll.com/Oregon/Canning/index.html

Burr....

Monday and Tuesday were rainy... snowy days. Good to have some sunshine

I've finally turned on the heat. It was so funny... Matthew was sitting on the couch on Monday when he asked, "What's that noise?" We were all quiet for a bit... When I said, "Matthew... that's the furnace running!"

We've a couple nights of frost. Note to myself: CLEAR OUT GARDEN BY 9/30, next year!
Lots of green tomatoes still on the plants. My father-in-law covered a whole bunch of plants on Monday evening, thankfully! I picked all the fruit off the ones that didn't get covered late yesterday.... that was about 5 gallons plus several boxes.

There's tomatoes that are ready to process. Got to sort through the boxes under my kitchen table according to almost ripeness.

My neighbor came over yesterday with 3 grocery sacks of beets. Better get those processed too! And she asked if I needed any canning jars! Well, I've been spending a small fortune on canning jars... so YES! THANK YOU VERY MUCH! WHATEVER YOU'D LIKE TO PART WITH, I'LL GLADY TAKE!

Lots of work processing garden yummies. But oh, how wonderful it's all going to be this winter! Shoot, I might end up with enough tomato sauce to last a couple years!

The sun is shining. Thanks Dad for sending some of sourthern New Hampshire sun and warmth. We got it.

More canning!

I have this wonderful tool for making tomato sauce! Last year, I did it the traditional way... that was a lot of work!

This year I invested in a Vita Mix. Oh my do I love this thing! Tomato sauce has become very easy! I wash up my tomatoes using this awesome cleaner stuff. Then plop as many tomatoes as I can into my Vita Mix. Whiz it up... dump it into a stock pot and make my sauce... or tomato soup or picante sauce...

So, I just finished canning 8 more quarts of tomato sauce.

I asked my son and niece to pick some tomatoes for me this morning but what ended up happening was that all the carrots got picked, and cukes, and corn. (NO TOMATOES, BY THE WAY!!!)

I'm almost finished canning lots of carrots too! 14 half pints and 2 quarts... really wanted to use pint jars... but had run out!

Guess that I'd better take a look at the corn next.