Autumn Succotash, Wonky Squash & Frugal Accomplishments

Hello, friends.  Last week, I didn't do a good job keeping up with what I did during the week, so let's see what I can remember.  I took a free mushroom class with a friend, which included a mushroom walk.  I learned quite a bit about one I'd been interested in, which grows in abundance in this area.  Afterwards, we had lunch.  I tried my first Banh Mi (vegetarian) sandwich, which was delicious.  We then stopped by a thrift store, but I didn't find anything I needed.

We often hear them on our land, but don't catch sight of the pileated woodpeckers very often.  One day, I happened to see one up high in a sourwood tree, eating the fruits.  It's not the best photo, but the best I could get of it.  I brought all the house plants indoors for the cold months, as it got down to 39 a couple of nights.  Due to a recent recommendation from Susun Weed, I gathered a jar of mint, covered it with local honey, and will let it sit 6 weeks.  Then, just put a generous spoonful with boiling water in a cup, and you've got quick and easy herb tea.  I thought it sounded like a great idea, don't you?

Our tea camellia is in flower, which makes lots of pollinators happy.  Laundry was hung on the line.  For a dinner, we had pasta with tromboncino squash, tomatoes and basil.  My music friend and I went to a concert in Raleigh over the weekend.  We went to a nearby store in search of a gift I wanted to get.  They had just sold out, but I found another similar item that will work, as well as a few more holiday gifts.  I received a 15% discount on my order for joining their mailing list.  At Marshall's, I bought a few household items, and some more gifts.  We took advantage of the free water and breakfast at our hotel before heading home.

We have some really unusual, well downright wonky, winter squash this year, which came up from the compost in the tomato barrels.  The thinking is they are some sort of cross.  Hopefully, they will be delicious.  Saturday night, I had a wonderful meal, including the most delicious autumn succotash.  I was hoping to use some of our winter squash this way, and was delighted to find the recipe.  I wasn't sure I'd like it when I ordered it, but the boiled peanuts still had crunch, and it was a great combination.  J, who is a boiled peanut fan, tells me green peanuts are in stores this time of year.  I'll be keeping my eye out for them.  After unpacking, I checked the garden, and gathered two eggplant, a cucumber, and several tomatoes.  I was a little discouraged that all the tomatoes were split from the overnight rain or had been chewed on by something, but J reminded me that harvesting tomatoes at all this time of year is a pretty good thing.  Wishing you a most bountiful week.

October Days & Frugal Accomplishments

Hello, friends.  Last week, I picked lima beans, peppers, eggplant, tomatoes, tromboncino squash, green beans and lettuce.  J cut more firewood after work one evening.  Some time back, I bought several pillows from thrift stores, intending to recover them.  This week, I got around to sewing the covers.  I had to piece together fabrics to make it work, but I'm happy with how they came out.  The fabrics were all on hand, including chenille a friend had given me, used for two of the backs.  The other fabrics were thrifted.  I turned one of the pillows around in the pic, to show the chenille.  It seemed a soft and appropriate fabric for a day bed.  They're simple envelope covers, made using these instructions.

I went with a friend to an antique mall where friends had booths, but bought nothing there except a locally made lip balm for J.  After that, we stopped at two thrift stores, where I purchased a cotton sheet ($2), two very thick, high quality like new cotton towels ($3.50 ea), a cashmere sweater ($3.99), and a fleece vest ($3.50).  I finally got around to planting some lettuce seed in the cold frame beds, though it may be too late for them to do well.  We're eating from the bought lettuce plants, though they've all bolted and are a bit bitter.  This is the first time we've had fall lettuce bolt, but then, it's been an unusual year.  I picked up two library books, and have been enjoying them.

October page from The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady

The rain water was low, so I went to the laundromat.  I brought some lima beans to shell while waiting there, and had a nice conversation with a gentlemen and a little girl.  I shared shelled beans with the man, and the little girl wanted some unshelled ones to take home.  Neither her mother or grandmother had gardens, but we talked about how she might plant them.  I brought the laundry home, and hung it on the line.  I've been dealing with a check engine light on my car for several weeks.  After I had them diagnose the code at the auto store, J suggested I run fuel cleaner, and then a tank of premium gas.  The light came back on, so he replaced the part the store suggested, which he found online for 1/4 of the cost the store was selling it for.  The light came back on, and another diagnosis gave the same code, so J suggested I change the gas cap, and after several days, the light came back on again, but then it quickly went off again, and stayed off through an entire tank of gas. Here's hoping it's fixed.

turmeric on the left, with Callie photobombing

One evening, J  & I transplanted some collards and cabbage we had grown from seed.  We also planted a bed of winter salad mix.  Soon, I need to harvest the turmeric, which I plan to use for dyeing fabric.  I prepared the last of the green beans (the rest are growing out for seed), a salad with our lettuce, cucumbers, and pepper, and made fritters with leftovers.  This time, I used the last of the eggplant spread, a squash, tomato, onion & basil dish, and lima beans which were mashed first.  They turned out pretty well.  I saw the last hummingbird on October 1, so believe they've flown for warmer climes.  A batch of yogurt was made.  After an appointment, I visited three thrift stores in that town.  A cashmere sweater and fleece vest were $6, a pair of pants for J was .50, and I found two vintage brown transferware plates to add to my fall dishes for $2 ea.  We've had too many commitments this fall to have a hayride, but these will be used for future hayride meals.

I stopped at a local garden center, and bought a dozen pansies.  A dinner of Pasta Norma was made, with our eggplant, tomatoes, garlic and herbs.  The chicken coop was cleaned, and mint was harvested to put in the coop.  The coop cleanings were put on a pile, and will be added to the garden in the future, once it's had time to break down some.  I planted the pansies, some next to the walk by the house, and others near where I park.  Most of the tomatoes being harvested are pretty small, but there were three that were of good size, so I made caprese salad, to go with the leftover Pasta Norma.  Did the usual composting, washing plastic bags for reuse, and shredding paper and cardboard to add to the compost. 

custom metal water filter stand to be secured in an RV

On Saturday afternoon, we headed out of town for J's 40th HS reunion.  Before we left, J finished up the last of three orders, and I cleaned and powder coated them.  One order was a custom stand, built for a couple that wanted to secure it in their RV.  There are tabs in the back, which are not visible in the pic.  We love working with customers on specialty items.  I had picked around 1/2 of a 5 gallon bucket of lima beans on Friday, and took them along to shell while we were on the road.  The reunion was 2 1/2 hours away and at night, so we booked a room at a B&B, which was lovely, and the innkeeper is interested in my soap for her B&B.  We arrived home to some blessed rain, which we're so thankful for.  The lettuce and winter greens are coming up nicely.  Soup was made with our tromboncino squash, tomatoes, garlic, basil and homemade broth.  Have a great week, friends.

Early October & Frugal Accomplishments

Hello, friends.  While at work on Monday, I shelled almost a 5 gallon bucket of lima beans.  The dried ones were laid in pans to finish drying before storing.  The fresh ones were blanched and frozen. With our water situation, I thought I was going to have to go to the laundromat to help conserve water.  Lo and behold, we got several showers.  Though the forecast only showed a 10-20% chance each day, I think our angels were looking out for us.  By Tuesday morning, our tanks were between 1/3 and 1/2 full.  So, laundry was thankfully done here, and hung on the line.  Scrap paper was used for notes and lists.

I harvested two pumpkins whose vines had died.  Cleaning the windows is on my list for fall chores. I got the first two windows in the kitchen cleaned. I forgot to mention that we saw Downton Abbey while on vacation.  I thought it was lovely, and J enjoyed it too.  We rarely go to movies, so seeing it on the big screen was pretty special.  While in another town for an appointment, I stopped at Trader Joe's and a natural food co-op.  I brought a cooler for the groceries.  At a thrift store, I picked up two cotton pillow cases for $1.  I harvested kale, and made a kale salad to go along with vegi sloppy joes.  We're still having summer temps, with highs several days in the mid 90's.  The sloppy joes were made for one of those nights.  Hummus and eggplant spread were made the next night, to have with pita bread, along with sliced cucumbers and tomatoes.

I thought I'd been doing a fairly good job of culling some of the small loofahs, so was surprised to see how many large ones there are.  I'm still hoping some of them will be mature before first frost.  A small butternut squash was harvested, and the remaining garlic harvest was cleaned.  Yogurt was made.  I made another batch of corn ice cubes for the chickens, for the days in the 90's.  Hopefully, they'll be the last ones needed this year.  Though the fruit is definitely winding down, I did manage to have a fruit salad using a pawpaw, a passionfruit, and a fig from here, along with a banana and pear.  I continue harvesting lots of dried lima beans.

A silly bluebird has been attacking various windows of the house for several months now.  I'm surprised it's still at it in October.  I've read it's a territorial thing, but would have thought that would be done for the year, no?  On Saturday, J & I worked on firewood, cutting up a tree that had fallen at our friends' home.  In between moving brush and throwing wood into the truck bed, while he was cutting, I shelled another round of lima beans and visited with my friend.  Shelling beans is so much more pleasurable while having a conversation with a friend.  Some of the shelled beans were left there.  I had a homegrown breakfast on Sunday, with eggs, tomatoes and garlic.  Fortification for the window cleaning planned.

While I washed all the windows, J washed the screens, and then rehung them.  That was a huge help.  I spoke about what I use to clean windows here.  Now I'm ready for the houseplant exodus back into the house, which will happen soon.  My music-loving friend and I are heading to a concert tonight.  The venue is a farm about an hour from here, one I've been wanting to check out for a few years.  I can't imagine a better way to spend an early fall evening.  Wishing you a week of good things.

Time at the Coast & Frugal Accomplishments

Hello, friends.  We left for a few days at the coast on Sunday.  It's our favorite place to stay, and we'd had to cancel the past two years, due to hurricanes, so we were very happy to be able to go this year.  There's a kitchenette, and we brought food from home.  All breakfasts, two dinners, and all but one lunch were eaten in our room.  We usually go to one nearby restaurant the night we arrive, but learned they have a BOGO entree a couple of nights later, so I cooked the first night, and we went there on the BOGO night.  I had requested Where The Crawdads Sing from the library, and read it while on vacation., as well as some favorite magazines I brought from home.

We visited several thrift shops while there.  J found several pairs of work pants, a fleece vest, 2 books, and a wool suit.  I found 3 canisters, which I'll turn into compost crocks for my shop, 2 fleece vests, a floral painting, and a nicer frame to use with the painting.  I saw that This Is Us was on NBC one night.  It's the one time we turned the TV on.  I skipped a few episodes watching this one, but they go back and forth in time so much, I don't think it much mattered.  We bought water and just a few groceries while there.  On the way there and back home, a 4 hr drive, we ate snacks I brought, except for a stop for frozen custard on the way home.  Some years ago, I was introduced to frozen custard, and consider it a real treat when I can have some.  We just got the custard, without any toppings, as that's what we like, so inexpensive enough.  It's not in my recommended diet, but I feel a treat now and then is acceptable.

At an antiques shop, I found a glass refrigerator dish for $10.  There were others more expensive in red and other collectible traits, but this one will work just as well.  I've almost totally replaced plastic with glass ones, and only use the plastic ones if there's no other choice.  We always look for driftwood sticks, and bring a couple home for the pups.  There were leftovers from dinners several nights, which were eaten for lunches, and one was brought home for dinner.  The night we got home, I fixed pasta with our tomatoes, garlic and herbs, and thought it was better than anything I'd had on vacation.  I don't want to cook every night of vacation, though, so I guess that's the trade off.  We got home, and unpacked everything, then I picked the gardens.  All that's left to do is the laundry.  While at the coast, I had a message asking me to work two days at one of the galleries, so it was straight back to work.  I enjoy being there, and appreciate the money, so the laundry can wait.  I brought some of the pasta leftovers for lunch at work the next day.

On Sunday, I picked a good amount of both dried and fresh lima beans, to shell at work on Monday.  I've done this before when I shop sit, and folks are often curious about what I'm doing.  It seems a good use of my time there.  I'm still seeing one or two hummingbirds at the feeder, so another batch of food was made.  We ran into town, and took advantage of 20% off the entire purchase at Big Lots, and a birthday coupon of $10 off $50 at Tractor Supply, stocking up on chicken feed and sunflower seeds for the birds.  I made bruschetta for the first time for dinner, with our tomatoes, basil and garlic, which we enjoyed.  I'll be taking some, along with other leftovers for lunch on Monday.  Though we've been in the 90's today, and have some even hotter temps forecast in the week ahead, I hope typical fall weather will soon be here.  Wishing you a most lovely week.

A Morning's Harvest & Frugal Accomplishments

morning harvest

Hello, friends.  The figs and pawpaws are dwindling, but I've been enjoying them several times a week in fruit salads.  I made an eggplant crumble, zucchini tots, and a pear blue cheese salad with our fruits and veggies.  Leftover eggplant went with chard and asian cukes another night.  It looks like they may be the last of the cucumbers, unless we get some rain.  The drought and hotter than usual temps are really taking a toll on things, despite watering as best we can.  Several jars of tomatoes and tomato juice were canned.  One of the jars didn't seal, so it went into the fridge, and we'll use it for pasta soon.  I applied Armor All to the trim of my car.  Many of the birthday flowers were still going strong early in the week.

I redeemed swagbucks for a $25 amazon GC, and made my daily goal several days.  It's working out just fine without running videos on their site.  Laundry was hung on the line several days.  While harvesting the garden, I've been seeing tree frogs and anole lizards among the leaves.  I've not had my camera, but they make me smile, keeping me company while I work.  The friends we introduced to pawpaws recently loved them so much, they're planning on planting a grove of them.  It's nice spreading appreciation for our native plants.  I made smoothies with homemade yogurt, and used 1/2 c of strawberry puree, along with a mix of raspberries and mulberries, both of which I found in the freezer when J did the repair.  I mended my massage chair cover.  The pups got a bath with homemade dog soap.

I ground up all the dried tomato skins and bits to make tomato powder.   The chicken coop was cleaned, and I put fresh mint and catnip in the nest boxes and on the floor.  The scent doesn't last long, but it helps a little while.  Plus herbs can help support their health and repel unwanted critters.  There were still hummingbirds at the feeders last week, so I made a small batch of food for them. I harvested the first of the fall kale, and will use it for kale salad.  With the drought, we've emptied our two large water tanks, and are now using our small reserve tank.  If that empties, it's back on well water, which neither of us wants to do.  There is no rain in the extended forecast, but we really hope that changes.  We've got a little adventure away planned, so that will cut down on the water used, and extend it a bit.  Wishing you a week of adventures, large or small!

A Doozy of a Day & Frugal Accomplishments

Hello friends.  I forgot to mention last week that friends that visited brought us large bags of tart dried cherries and dried cranberries.  They were put in jars to store in the pantry.  I cut up one of our peppers, and sauteed corn with it and a clove of garlic. Speaking of garlic, ours has been languishing on a table on the porch since harvest.  I'd been cleaning a few heads at a time as I needed them.  I finally got around to cutting the roots and cleaning the majority of them, before a blister caused me to stop. Seed was harvested from carrot plants.  I enjoyed an outdoor shower.  Though the days are remaining quite hot, the nights are cooling off enough to open up and let the cool air in.  Some nights, the temperature in the house only drops 1 degree, but having fresh air and not having to use the a/c is a definite plus.

I decided to try something new with the corn and pepper leftovers, leftover roasted potatoes and herbs, and a zucchini orzo dish.  I mixed them all together with an egg, some flour, cheddar cheese and garlic powder, and made fritters.  We had J's son for dinner, and we all agreed they were quite tasty.  I'll have to remember that when we have dribs and drabs of leftovers.  I had a frugal fail on Monday, when after hours of chopping the night before, and a few hours of simmering, I scorched a batch of pear preserves.  Bummer.  On Tuesday, I made pear sauce.  I'm used to eating unsweetened apple sauce, but this batch was pretty bland.  The next day, I added vanilla and lemon juice to another batch for more flavor.  For about half of the pears, I was able to use my apple peeler/corer, but the rest had spots that needed cutting out.  I'd read of people who steam them, and decided to try that, to take care of the problem of scorching.  It worked great.  The first day, I used the blender to turn them into sauce, which worked fine, though I did it in small batches, and poured them directly into the jars without tasting.  The next day, I sauced the whole batch in the pot with the immersion blender, then seasoned it before putting it in jars.  I'll do that again.  I've tackled all the pears, except for a handful, which we'll eat fresh.  Yay!

A book I requested from the library came in.  When I requested it, I was 9 in the queue, so had no idea when it would be available.  I won't be in town until next week, where the main library is, so asked them to send it to the local library.  They run couriers between the libraries daily, and it saved me a trip to town.  I save all our corks for the local orchid grower, and dropped them off while passing by on an errand.  Pasta Norma was made with our herbs and veggies.  I chopped and froze some of our sweet peppers.  I harvested cucumbers, pawpaws, eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, green beans, squash, figs, lettuce and lima beans.  Tomatoes were canned.  Our lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes were used in a salad, and homemade dressing made from pantry items.  I learned that our phone company began giving all customers free caller ID this month, so called and set that up.  We've gotten into the habit of often letting the phone ring, as so much of it is robocalls, so this will help.

 The requested book was picked up.  For a dinner, I made a tomato rice loaf and squash dish, using our vegetables and herbs.  A friend visited, and gifted me several books, a sweater, shawl and scarf.  I worked in the garden, cutting back dead leaves and vines of cucumbers, squash and tomatoes.  The heat and drought have taken their toll, as well as it being time for things to begin dwindling.  I hope the pruning will help things produce a bit longer.  I gathered more basil than needed for a recipe, so the extra chopped basil went into an ice cube tray, was covered with water, and frozen.  I made a batch of yogurt.  Eggs were boiled for us and the pups.  After working on firewood, J & I enjoyed a night out, meeting friends for dinner and a concert.  J worked on the refrigerator again, and so far, it looks like this time fixed it.  There was one day that was a real doozy, but we made it through intact.  Life is always interesting, that's for sure.  Wishing you good things in the week ahead.   

Early September & Frugal Accomplishments

loofah blossom

Hello friends.  Last week, I listed several things on ebay, a few of my friend's antiques and several pairs of my shoes.  On Labor Day, we worked on the solar hot water system.  There were some less fun portions of the job finished, such as spending time in the crawlspace to hook things up, and covering a tank with insulation batting, but we were able to start the system.  There are still some things to do, but it's far enough along that water is being heated, though not yet to the 150 degrees needed to move to our hot water tank.  J cut down some trees, and needs to cut some more which are shading it. One good thing that came from that is a good amount of usnea, which was on a dying tree.  I gathered enough to finish out one jar of tincture, and filled another 1/2 pint jar.  The trees will be used for firewood.

After a soap delivery, I went by a favorite thrift store, and found a canister, which I'll turn into a compost crock for my shop.  I also found a lovely floral painting for $10, which will be added to a gallery of floral paintings on the tall wall behind the couch.  I shelled all of last years hazelnuts, and for my birthday, we made my Mom's recipe for hazelnut gelato.  A beautiful birthday bouquet was sent by my daughter in spirit.  We attended an appreciation night for a group we support.  There was live music, local beverages, and delicious food by a kitchen that has just opened up there.  They use lots of local foods, and all of it is vegetarian.  On a recent night when J had been working on that site, he brought home a couple of their offerings for dinner.  Both were savory items in pastry.  Yum!

A batch of yogurt was made.  On Saturday morning, while J was working on our orders, I canned tomatoes and shelled beans.  When he was done with his part, I cleaned and painted them.  During a lull, I fertilized several things with fish emulsion, including all the house plants.  Holes were drilled in the canister lid, to turn it into a compost crock.  After some research, I was able to figure out how to watch This Is Us on our TV.  The sad part is NBC only gives you 3 show credits, and I used one to find out I had already seen that episode.  It's been 6 months or so, and I couldn't remember exactly where I was at.  Oh well.  I suppose after the credits are used up, they'll want payment.  Hopefully, I can find another way to view them.  I tried a new recipe, with tromboncino squash and orzo.  It was pretty good, though a little bland for our tastes.

Our orders were packed up on Sunday.  After friends visited, and pawpaws were shared, we headed to town to ship the orders and run a few errands.  When we picked up items to do an oil change on my car, we got a deal that gave us a free oil filter.  When we got back, I prepped 4 1/2 qts. of pear preserves, which will be canned on Monday.  I packed up an ebay sale.  In the garden last week, I harvested tromboncino squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, eggplant, a pepper, the last of the hazelnuts, pawpaws, a few leaves of lettuce, a butternut squash, basil, oregano and thyme.  I was happy to find  two monarch caterpillars on the milkweed.  I'm enjoying these late summer days, and wish you a lovely week ahead.