Monday, June 28, 2021

A Thrifted Treasure & Putting Up the Harvest




Hello, friends.  I received a wonderful surprise last week.  All who attended the virtual meeting of our electric cooperative were entered in a drawing, and I won a $50 electric credit, which will go towards my next bill.  That's a welcome blessing.  I used a $10 credit on a purchase on Prime day.  I fertilized the cultivated blackberries, raspberries & blueberries with comfrey tea, as well as a number of other plants.  Golden paste was made for the pups.  I'd been wanting to do something for our Fedex guy, who we keep pretty busy picking up our orders.  I decided to make hummus, and gave him some with a bag of organic tortilla chips and a thank you note, a homemade version of the snacks I've seen people leave for their delivery people.   He'd said he'd never had hummus when I asked earlier, but would try it.  I hope he liked it.



I'm slowly decluttering as I come across things, and added seven things to the thrift store box.  While in town for groceries, I picked up two library books, including The Kitchen Front, which I've heard great things about.  I bought avocados for .49, a pineapple for $1.49, and picked up two bags of pecans after reading about the coming nut shortage.  I also made quick stops at two thrift stores.  Though I wasn't looking for a chair, when I spotted an antique banker's chair for $20, which was in great shape and still rolled very smoothly, I decided to take it home with me.  I may use it in the new workshop, but most likely, will put one of the studio chairs out there, and keep this one in the studio.  The dried lemon balm and spearmint were put in jars, and added to the pantry.  




The wild blackberries are coming in nicely.  Some years, we don't have rain at the critical time, and they just dry on the vine, but so far, we're getting adequate moisture.  I made a GF berry crostata, with our raspberries, blackberries and last year's frozen blueberries.   Honestly, I don't think I'd bother making another until I can use wheat flour and real butter again.  Another day, I canned blackberries in spiced brandy, with a few raspberries thrown in.   Another bucket of comfrey/nettle tea was made for the garden.  It was started a week or so ago, and had a bunch of banana peels added and some plantain.  The comfrey and nettles topped it up, and it will sit and work for a bit before being used as fertilizer.  A bouquet was cut for the house.  The first chanterelle of the year was harvested.  



I made my first loaf of GF bread, which was seriously unimpressive.  It actually didn't taste bad, but after baking it 30 mins longer than the recipe, it was still wet.   It wasn't ready in time to have with soup, as was planned.  J picked our first two ripe tomatoes.  I made vegetable soup, which used our canned tomatoes and squash, butter beans and cabbage, along with bought produce.  Saturday morning, J & I headed to the crawlspace, and hooked up all the ductwork for the new a/c system.  The a/c was working by the afternoon, just in time for hotter, more humid weather.  One of our neighbors came by, and brought us cucumbers, squash and a cabbage.  We enjoyed one of the cucumbers in a salad, along with one of our tomatoes.  A large bag of lambs quarter was frozen, which will be enough for 6 meals. Orders were cleaned and powder coated on Sunday.  Just as I was finishing up, a neighbor came and asked us over for homemade ice cream.  J & I were both sorry he had to tell him we're not eating dairy.  He showed up a few minutes later,  and asked if we'd come by for watermelon, which I thought was so kind of them.  They have a beautiful log cabin they made themselves from old tobacco barns, with a large porch overlooking a gorgeous creek with huge boulders, and 12 busy hummingbird feeders.  It was a most lovely way to spend a summer's evening.  Wishing you a week of seasonal pleasures of your own.


11 comments:

daisy g said...

That chair was a real bargain! It looks beautiful.

After attempting to make homemade gf bread, I gave up. Fortunately, we are able to purchase Deland Millet Bread, which comes from a bakery in Central Florida. We were thrilled when our local Publix started to carry it. It tastes like homemade white bread. My favorite is the Oatmeal variety.

I wouldn't say I'd rather have watermelon than homemade ice cream, but it sure can be a refreshing treat. Have you tried watermelon lemonade? It goes down easy this time of year. Recipe is on the blog if you're interested. I'm using honey now instead of sugar.

Enjoy your week. Grateful we both have air conditioning!

Laurie said...

That's helpful to know about your experience with gf bread, Daisy. I'll look for the bread you mentioned. I've only tried two of the store bought ones, but they both seemed quite dry. I haven't tried watermelon lemonade, but I have put it in the blender, and made juice with it, which is surprisingly good. Stay cool!

Mary, Windy Meadows Farm said...

It sounds like a good life...friendly neighbors, fresh fruit & veggies, and the chair is beautiful!

Laurie said...

Thank you. It is a good life! The neighbors are people we've just recently met, so it was a nice surprise how kindly they handled our quirks.

Jeannie said...

The coming nut shortage! Haven't heard that one yet. It seems everything is going to be in short supply soon.

Jeannie@GetMeToTheCountry

Laurie said...

Yes, they were talking about it on The Prudent Homemaker. A nut grower spoke with one of her followers in the grocery store, and told her to stock up now for the holidays, as there would be a shortage.

Jeannie said...

Thanks. I will stock up the next time I am at the store.
Jeannie

Michèle Hastings said...

I have a similar old chair that I use at my desk. It's very comfortable, but not quite as pretty as yours.
This is the first I hear of the nut shortage! I still have pecans in the freezer that came from our trees last fall. I hope we have another good year.

Laurie said...

If I remember, the nut shortage is due to the drought. Wishing you a bountiful pecan crop!

Jeannie said...

I stopped by Aldi today and loaded up on nuts. Thanks for the heads-up.
Jeannie

Laurie said...

Got mine there too!