thursday morning and the knitting ain't easy

I ripped it a few times
and figured what I wanted
now the mitten should be done today

ditto the wristlet for the classes I am teaching in the fall
I got to finish the scarf off too


now
the soapies are in the mold
but the stick blender broke in the middle.....
it is brand new........ I got it first of may when colleen was here
so I can't return it
damn I hate walmart

they discountinued the brand I normally use
( I think it was a ge)

ok so I got to get yet another stick blender cause I am making all the soap to stock the web site
you folks want anything in particular.........or plan to order for the holidays
let me know NOW................

I made coffee soap yesterday......I will see how it looks when I turn it out of the mold later

lets see
the ladies and the cats are all doing well
I made and canned strawberry jam

Pieheart and I are to go blueberry picking this coming week..............
I am planning on drying them

I got the garden a bit more in
and got a tick AND got eatten by mosquitos

and got a gallon of deep woods off to go out there with on a daily basis.......

at least when they bite me, I can bite BACK
DIE YOU INGRATES..

ah...... but I am not bitter


ok
lets see ........the girls are not yet out in the chicken palace
I SWEAR they are going to go on strike.........AND IT'S ALL BERNIE's FAULT


yup yup

the gate is still too big......there's no roost
and NO chicken friendly and SAFE coop out there
he thinks they will willing go into a stuffy non ventilated dog house
ha
sure bernie.....

ok
anyone want to take a ride with me to philly after 1.16 a pound boneless skinless chicken breast?

let me know ok???


til next time

vi

you know who your friends are when......

you get a tick on your ass just past where you can reach to get it out yourself.....


and yes that happened to me in the past

this memory brought to you by the deer tick on my leg saturday
ewwwwwwwww
I am still phobic
stay tuned for other words of wisdom.......

vi

can we can chicken???

chicken has been on sale.
.39 a pound legs
1.30-1.79 a pound boneless breasts
1.29 a pound bone in breasts
soooooooooo
naturally I can't resist and I keep buying them
and they are going into jars
they will feed us through the winter
but I tell you...... they look a bit odd
and I am beginning to look alot like my girls.....

I made strawberry jam yesterday
I hate strawberries but bernie loves them and he loves strawberrie jam so I did it
and it turned out perfect

I can't wait for beef to be on sale....... I will be canning that like crazy as well.

now in garden news
we are getting there....slowly
don't ask

and in fiber news
I am doing my mitten sample for my mitten class.
then I will be doing the beaded wristlet

I have soap orders coming in
so I am also making soap in between

( note if you want to order soapies........better get it in NOW...... I am doing the fall scents like apple spice and pumpkin now.......as well as the coffee kitchen soap and a few other 'flavors)

now.........
have you all missed me???
hahahahaha

well you'd all better!!!

vi
submerged in canned chickens

worm barns.....and rainy days

it's been raining here.........a LOT
in fact the rhodo leaves are so moist that when the sun comes out they WILT!!!
so the last of the garden isn't in.....
but I am going to put in a worm barn

now
before you think I have completely lost it.....
( ok before you confirm that I have completely lost it)

I just want a place where the kitchen scraps are composted up faster then in the general heap....
so a worm barn it is

I need a lidded bottomless something or other......so the worms can come and go......
and I will add some shredded newspaper and some soil and kitchen scraps.....
and feed the wormies....

in turn they will feed my garden

and everyone will think I am totally nutso.....
hahahaha

well that's ok

me and my wormies understand.......
meanwhile it's raining
I go tomorrow to jersey to see a friend of mine
she's got canning jars for me
woo hoo
another 5 dozen

I am TRIPPING over them but that's ok
I am also filling them

in fiber news...........
I have to knit wristlets and mittens......
I am going to knit baby mittens as I don't have time for the others
these are for two new classes I am going to teach.......
cool huh?
hahhahaha

ok I got to go
I have to start my day

ttyl

vi

this and that

well my chicken palace is up..........
but are my girls in there NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
and where are the little princesses of chickendom????
where indeed you might ask
why still in the daylight basement!!!
and it is apparently agreeing with them as they all laid eggies today!
yeah for eggies from all 4 hens!!!
and they were all loud and proud about it
ever HEAR a loud and proud chicken after she laid an egg........
well lets put it this way..............
it scared the hell out of my soap customer today........and her son
hahahahaha
I know that one was dulcette................ she is ALWAYS the loudest!

( and they had salad for breakfast this morning........and a kiss on each beak!!!)

now I am so thankful for small things.......... in this heat thaddeaus is NOT tormenting the girls
the tables have turned actually
with the girls ganging up and beating the crap out of him last night
hahahaha
I shouldn't laugh but you should have SEEN the look on his face.............
I told him

'son, this is payback,.............. and payback is a bitch AND you been pretty rough on your sister and great grammie'

he had no comment but he was sucking his tail again

yup my rough tough little boy cat sucks his tail...................
oye
guess we will hold off on the tattoo and leather vest for him huh?

do NOT believe him when he tells you how tough and rough he is........... and remember no matter how macho that cat thinks he is.............. he is just a little boy when the girls gang up on him

( them girls take no prisions you see)

now I can't say I blame them
he is a PITA

he has to inspect their litter box out put....while they are still outputting it.......

they don't like that
( hell no one would like that)

he jumps on them while they are sleeping and starts to bite their toes.........
damn.........
someone bite MY toes when I am asleep I think I would have to just shoot them
( iffen I had a gun......... that is the little flaw in my plan........we don't own a gun.....I am afraid of them!)

our mornings are a stream of
"thaddeaus no............. thaddeaus stop that, ............... thaddeaus get OFFA there.......
thaddeaus leave her alone................ thaddeaus no............ thaddeaus stop that........."
well you get the picture
for a solid hour mostly every morning

I love that little guy but I think his sister and grammie are plotting his demise.................

oye
vi

Morning everyone

yes,sweetie, I AM making jam and preserves....... strawberrie is first.... want to come help pick?
I need 8-10 quarts! Pieheart and I have been talking about going together..we'll have a blast!
I am going to dry, can and root cellar as much as I can......
( SO SEND ME used CANNING JARS GUYS.....I need over 1500 of them! email me ok?)

Kim dear, I am probably going to get the vacuum sealer..
but maybe not for using with the freezer, as I am trying to get more food into 'not electric' dependant storage.

Last winter I accidently left the freezer door unlatched and it partly defrosted.
it scared me as we had our quarterly stock up of food in there.
so this year I am determined to make sure something like that, if it does happen, won't threaten what we stored.

now that bernie has been down at this new job over a year......I found their slow time is from the end of january to ( actually it is still slow) probably august

so I need to change the way we stock food
normally we restock 4 times a year.
that is the amount the freezer will hold ( which is why for all these years I did it that way)

now that we are going to have slow times for 8 months....... I have to make sure that I am stocking about a year or so worth.

it is a bit mind boggling

( yea that is an understatement)

do you know how much FOOD bernie can eat in a year?
oh man................

ok I learned to pressure can..... from the people on a great yahoo group that is for canning

And as an aside.. The Mormon's really do know what they are doing, if you need to learn to stock a years worth......... go and read their information. And they are nice folks

so this is where I'm at now.

I have put together a sort of rough plan that is an adaptation of how I normally stock our pantry.
I am adapting as much as possible to the whole canning thing.
which means figuring how certain parts of recipes we eat are silimar to other things.....
ie: I usually make and freeze about 20 pounds of mini meatballs to use later in a couple different ways.....
well I am going to can them..........with a slight variation.....
some will be in tomato sauce
some in red wine with mushrooms, garlic and onion....
that takes care of the two 'bases' for meatballs
and I will use them in at least 7 different ways........

I am doing the same with chicken

then as I make other things such as ham........I will can parts of that just like I would ordinarily freeze it

the garden is either going to be dried, root cellared or canned..
and in some cases all three
I intend on drying potatoes as well as root cellaring them and CANNING THEM

I will still use the freezer but not be as dependent on it for the bulk of my pantry anymore.

Ok today,
I have a customer coming for soap
and I have to go to town to the po and the pharmacy........
I teach tomorrow
( great class in beginners lace knitting)

I am hoping for some time out in the garden today...... but it looks like the rains aren't going to let me.
I wanted to get some beds fixed
I would also like to put in a small worm farm out there.
to directly compost the kitchen scraps. Kittchen scraps are taking alot of time out in the regular compost to decompose, as I don't have much green matter to put in there yet but the worms will have a blast getting to it in their own seperate sunk in the ground bin.

in house and trying to move news
well again the kitchen remodel is stalled.................. as is the siding and windows for the studio.
i know we will take a huge loss on the house if we try and sell like that
(it's also a buyers market right now..........so we wait)
I expect that if I am still here next year there is going to be a good reason that I am
sort of like the universe wants me to be here cause I am so ready to move

the chickens are well..................
I wish they could be out in their chicken palace.
the cats are well......... although thaddeaus was sneezing a bit this morning..........he does that in the rain.
The roos' are doing great and I do have pictures to post
little violet is growing well and sturdy

I am feeling better...... ( that damn fall down the stairs didn't help things however)
I am also due my period.......... so I hope I can say that in a few days......

I did learn a few things........
I need to eat yogurt EVERY day.......and take fiber with it...............( SO we've reached THAT stage have we..? where prunes are our friends?????)
I also learned that I need to take my thyroid meds daily................. amazing huh!
here I thought I could take them weekly .........( gees...................)
hahahahahah
oye
til next time

vi

how doth your garden grow?

my potatoes are up
last week frosts this week harvest
(of lettuce and spinach)
we are almost into the real gardening season here
I know other folks have thiers already going gangbusters
but we had to break new space and since I need actually help this year....I had to wait on bernie

ok what's new here is I learned to can
I never did that before
so I am canning everything in sight

I also went back to drying food again...now we will have a lot of dried veggies put by

the cats and the 'ladies' are all fine
bernie's fine
I pitched manure all day memorial day..... ( the things i do for the garden)
now
I need to decide
I am going to make at least one major appliance purchase this summer

should it be
a larger dehydrator? ( about 200. 00)
a vaccuum sealer? ( about 150 or so)
or a grain mill? (about 275)

what do you folks think?
any opinions?

in fiber news.......I just taught a class in beginning lace to some very nice ladies......
I hope they are knitting lace and enjoying it

I am also going to do a dyeing demo for my spin group


and we are to go strawberry picking........... I need at least 8 quarts


oh and I need canning jars folks.........USED are fine........ pints and quarts and half pints ...
( I figured out what I am going to need and it is more then impressive.......about 1500 assorted )

ohohoh

til next time

vi