A Little Getaway

Hello, friends.  I'm sorry for not putting a post up last week, but we were enjoying a little getaway.  My experience at the herbal conference two weeks ago exceeded my expectations.  The Square reader had some glitches, and with three of my sales, several minutes after the payment was approved, they canceled the payment due to a "problem they were having".  I did manage to run down one of the customers, and re-enter the payment.  After contacting Square about the other two, they did not make good on them, sad to say.  Other than that, it was a positive experience, and one I would do again.  I cut my toothpaste tube, to get the remainder, and got quite a few more brushings from it.  

The morning after the conference, we headed to the mountains.  We found a lovely log cabin rental, with a gurgling creek just beyond our porch, which soothed us while reading, and lulled us to sleep at night.  It was not a frugal choice, but it was the perfect peaceful, secluded place for us.  Before leaving town, I froze the tomatoes for future canning, gave pawpaws away to a couple of folks, froze shishito peppers we were gifted, and dehydrated eggplant.  Some of the eggplant was seasoned to make it into "eggplant bacon" in the dehydrator.  It turned out truly awful, and was used up in the chicken mash.  For the plain eggplant, there's a recipe I'm going to try for patties.   Chard was harvested, and brought with us, along with a jar of our lima beans, pesto and onions.  We ate all meals at our cabin, except for a dinner, when we met our niece.  

The black eyed susan vine has started blooming

We visited one thrift store, and the only thing purchased was a bag of cotton quilt batting, for $6.  It looks to be around $50 online.  We tried some discount grocery stores, and got a few things, including quarts of raw honey @ $10.99 & $11.99, a 10# bag of pasta for $4, and Pepperidge Farm bread BOGO.  On our way out of town, we dropped pawpaws off at a neighbor's, as he made it known they'd like more, and picked up library books.  When we returned Tuesday, we harvested eggplant, tomatoes, pawpaws and green beans.  Wanting something simple for dinner that night, J boiled eggs for egg salad, and I sauteed some cherry tomatoes, onions and garlic to have over pasta.  The early bands from Helene reached us Tuesday evening, and we lost power during a thunderstorm, for most of the night.  J started up the generator long enough for us to get our showers.  We've got one or two solar batteries that seem to be having problems, so it didn't kick in.  Two free Kindle books were read, over the next few days.

The day after we returned, I went to the DMV to renew my license, and spent most of the day waiting.  Happily, I passed my eye exam without problem.  The week earlier, I had an eye exam at an office, and passed at 20/20 there, but I do have some cataracts, and he suggested glasses.  I purchased an inexpensive pair on Zenni Optical.  I don't know how much I'll actually wear them, but I wanted to have them, in case I didn't pass at the DMV.  You may have read about the devastation the storm did to Western NC, as well as in other states.  My niece managed to find a route through SC, to get back to her parents home here.  The college she works at will be closed a minimum of two weeks.  I keep thinking how we just missed it.  We got our second Azure Standard order, which I picked up this time.  We got everything we asked for, except for rice.  I was able to can tomatoes again.  This time, I dehydrated the skins for us, and pulsed it in the Bullet, to make tomato powder.  Well, that's been some of the goings on the past two weeks.  I hope you've been faring well.  Stay safe, friends.  

Update- If you're looking for a way to help, here are two resources:

https://www.nctripping.com/help-western-nc/

https://docs.google.com/document/d/154hYrmMKWNKWIwcTkUP8GhcAn4z4LXnFr2AKMgv3Qik/edit?fbclid=IwY2xjawFoMBBleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHWLgEUVeqKcD37uR2Np0qN5nBGXZFkUU7fmUd8X29dbquBTlZMCV348z3w_aem_VXRIRFirSfDqRT4nKkcaSw&pli=1#heading=h.6uj98onhfl96

Biodiversity On The Homestead

Hello, friends.  While I was working my last Saturday at the pottery last week, J harvested the sweet potatoes.  As in previous years, some have been munched on, but we're happy with what we've got.  I never got around to braiding the garlic, so he cut off the stems and put them in storage, as he needed that shelf for the sweet potatoes to cure.  I was hoping he'd find more butternut squash or melons in the nearby patch, but not so far, as all we got was the one immature squash and one misshapen watermelon.  Hopefully, we'll have better luck with both next year.

I learned beauty berries were edible a couple of years ago, and have been munching a few during walks ever since.  To me, they have a slightly sweet, floral flavor.  I'd read about making jelly from them, and did that this week, which turned out a pretty color.  I wanted to do something with our ripe pears, and decided to make a pear pie.  Golden paste was made for the pups.  Laundry was dried on the line.  Thanks to reseeding, we've got some nice kale patches.  Two more people in the neighborhood wanted pawpaws, and I froze some more.  I saw a new method of prepping them, which I tried.  Though it's still time-consuming, I believe it did save a little time, and it's not quite as messy.  You freeze the pawpaws, let them thaw 20 minutes, peel them, then cut the seed and pulp apart.  

While heading to the chickens one day, I noticed a Pandora Sphinx caterpillar on a grape leaf, which was kind of wild looking.  I'm happy to see plenty of biodiversity here.  I have to renew my license this month, and am dreading going this week, as I expect they'll tell me I need glasses.  Since the last renewal, I began using readers, which are pretty much a necessity for me now.  Ah well, it's small stuff, and I'm so thankful to be as healthy as I am.  Speaking of which, the last cleanse moved me forward in getting eczema-free, so I'm in the midst of another.  I follow folks online who are doing this cleanse back to back for months, to fully heal other issues.  I'd miss cooked potatoes too much, and once it gets cooler, it's hard for me to do all raw foods.  Though I'm sure that could change, with more serious health issues.

This is the bouquet sent by my daughter in spirit.  Isn't it lovely?  I've been wrapping soap, and putting together Garden sets, getting ready for Friday's show.  J bought seedlings of cabbage, broccoli, collards and lettuce at the feed and seed store.  He tilled up a spot, and planted them all, plus seeds of winter greens mix.  Our green peas are doing well, and have lots of blooms on them.  While cleaning up the garden for the seedlings, he found another butternut squash, which made me happy.  When I went to gather eggs yesterday, I found a rat snake in the nest box, which required alerting my personal snake wrangler.  He's been doing it for years, so it doesn't phase him.  We then rehomed it.  Our little bit of excitement for the day.  Wishing you only good surprises this week.  

Skoolie Tank Progress

As in the last post, there's not a lot of photogenic things happening on the skoolie at the moment.  Joseph has been working lots of days on an away job.  Between being gone 9-10 hours a day, and doing hard labor all day, he doesn't have a lot left when he gets in.  However, he has continued to work on the tanks, as he can.  He's added the tank sensors.  Today, he finished the permanent install of the utility water and drinking water tanks.  Both are attached, but are bolted in place, in case he ever has the need to remove them.  The fill and vent piping is also connected between the drinking water tank and RV connection, on the side of the bus.  Next, he needs to finish water lines and install the two pumps, and propane piping.

I asked for a silverware holder for my birthday, which my sister gifted me.  It's the little things.

Garden Ups and Downs & Another Year Around The Sun

Hello, friends.  I hope you've had a good week.  For Labor Day, J cooked our dinner on the grill.  I prepped eggplant, potatoes, and mushrooms, and he added corn and pork.  We ate on our porch for the first time this summer, which was lovely.  I recently had my first shower of the year in our outdoor shower.  I forget how absolutely wonderful that is, and really should use it more often.  It's one of life's simple pleasures.  I blanched and froze lambs quarters.  J has had to fix more things on the homestead.  First, the pressure switch for our well went bad, which he got a part for, and replaced.  My steam mop had stopped steaming. He soaked parts in vinegar, and thinks he's got it working again.  Even though I only use rainwater in the steam mop, he thinks the tannins, which get through the initial three house filters, may have clogged it up. 

I was able to can a small amount of tomatoes, which was good.  After a lull, I've been working on soap, gearing up for the holiday season and upcoming show.  Daisy had asked for information on where I'll be vending, and I'll be at this herbal symposium in Pittsboro.  We're still awash in pawpaws, and shared them with several people throughout the week.  We received a bag of cucumbers from a neighbor, which was much appreciated.  All laundry was dried on the line.  I made golden paste for the pups.  This continues to be a most interesting year in the garden.  Now that the tomatoes have quit rotting, there's a new problem of many worms/caterpillars on them.  On Saturday, I picked off 42, of at least four types!  At least the chickens have been getting extra protein.

It's been a good eggplant year, however.  I made a pasta dish with caramelized onions and eggplant on my birthday, Wednesday.  Though it was a lowkey day, with J working, I gathered a bouquet, took a longer than usual walk, and made cookies.  Giving myself a little more than the usual down time was nice.  It was also nice the celebration continued, with flowers arriving from my daughter in spirit Thursday, time spent with my sister Friday, and time with friends at a winery on Sunday, so all the best things were enjoyed.  I've recently noticed what seems to be a decrease in pollinators in the garden.  I'm seeing some around it, mostly bumblebees on the morning glory and garlic chive blooms, but very little in the garden, and no honeybees, though we have two neighbors with hives about 1/2 mile away.  The tomatoes and eggplant are obviously getting pollinated, so hopefully it's nothing to worry about.  I'll keep my eye on it.  We were able to have the windows open a lot this week.  I hope the weather is lovely in your little spot in the world.

Things Don't Always Go According To Plan

Hello, friends.  Happy September!  Last week, I harvested tomatoes, eggplant, lambs quarter, figs, the last of the cabbage, pawpaws, basil, chard, apples and pears.  Pawpaws were shared with a neighbor, and more pulp was frozen.  Another day, pawpaws and a large grocery bag of basil were shared with my massage therapist.  She was so excited to receive them, she posted a photo on her IG account.  A new eggplant curry recipe was tried, but it didn't make the cut.  Basil was turned into pesto, and frozen.  The GFI outlet in the kitchen went bad.  Thankfully, J had one on hand, and replaced it.  During a pottery shop sitting day, I wrapped soap during down time, and prepped lots of paper to wrap future soap, as well as the thank you notes I include in each order.  

Library books were finished early in the week, and I began reading a free Kindle book, until the next round of books was picked up.  A bouquet was gathered for the house.  I took the mattress pad and pillow cover off the bed, and washed them, along with the shower curtain and liner, and dried all laundry on the line.  Lately, pretty much every morning, I find a toad or two under a leaky chicken waterer, when I'm opening up the coop for the day.  They always make me smile.  I finished up a batch of cashew parmesan, when making pesto, and made another double batch.  The switch on my bedside table lamp went bad.  J ordered a new one, and fixed it.  I'm happy to have a handy hubby!  In a few weeks, I'll be doing my first show in many years, at an herbal conference.  I've started cutting out fabric for therapy pillows.  I like to use two coordinating fabrics, a cotton, and a flannel for softness against the body.

As any gardener knows, and Jeannie recently mentioned, things don't always go to plan.  The cucumbers I've babied for months had their first blooms last week, then were mistakenly mowed.  The one remaining tromboncino vine is dying, despite my efforts in squashing bugs.  So, the skimpy cucumbers and 3 or 4 summer squash are all we get from the garden this year.   No tromboncino at all.  It appears we won't get any peppers from the plants I started.  I did find a small butternut squash on a dead vine.  I didn't see any others, but am hoping there are some among the vines.  But, the tomatoes seem to be doing better.  It won't be a stellar year, but I'm hoping I'll be able to put some more quarts on the shelf.  The peas, green beans and lima beans seem to be growing well.  A couple of YouTube accounts I follow have spoken about resting their gardens for a year.  J and I have begun throwing that possibility around, possibly in conjunction with a year in which we'll plan to travel more in our skoolie.  No decisions yet, but we're going to keep the idea in the back of our minds.  I hope you've been having an enjoyable Labor Day holiday weekend.