Mid-July On The Homestead

Hello, friends.  For the second year now, the squirrels have been pulling and eating the green hazelnuts off the tree, which means we'll have little to none when they should be ripe.  There are such an overabundance of squirrels here, it is a real challenge to harvest many fruits and nuts.  With several days of rain recently, many varieties of mushrooms have been popping up.  I was delighted to find many chanterelles, and gathered quite a few, though small ones.  Soon after this photo, the cinnabar chanterelles also began showing up.  They've been added to sloppy joes, pizza, and a veggie scramble.  My hemp purse finally bit the dust, with the strap breaking while I was in town.  I purchased another style from the same company, which in itself wasn't frugal, but the original was one I purchased for a field bag as a Hospice nurse, then used as my purse for many years.  When it began to have holes, I did some creative embroidery, which gave it another couple of years.  There were new holes, and the strap was frayed, so it was time for a new one.  Hopefully, this one will also last many years.  

While in town for an appointment, I dropped off soap at a gallery, and stopped at a thrift store, where I found two canisters for my shop, and a small stoneware bowl.  All were half off, so total spent was $6.  At the grocery store, I bought honeydews for $2.99 ea., organic nectarines 2#/$3.49.  Instead of $2.99, the organic celery was $2.69, which was a nice surprise, and instead of  $4.49, J's bread was $2.79, so I got two.  A $5 reward went towards my purchase.  I stopped by Dollar Tree for a few things, including some more lentils.  From the garden, cucumbers, lambs quarter, blueberries, onions, basil, and oregano  were harvested.  I've found a gluten-free pizza crust I've been enjoying, adding whatever vegetables are available and Miyoko's plant-based mozzarella.  It's so nice to have that pleasure again. It's not exactly the same as "real" pizza, but it works for me.  

When I recently glued one of my muck boots, I tried using the hot glue gun.  Sadly, that didn't last the morning.  So, this time, two part epoxy was used again, which lasted several weeks last time.  I went by a farmer's market, and bought organic tomatoes, yellow squash, and hand cream.  A woman there promised to bring me a roselle hibiscus next week, so I plan to go back.  When J picked up an item for the skoolie, the woman gave him a comforter to cushion it.  She then asked if he'd like the sheets that matched it, which had never been used.  They're queen sized, so I washed up the comforter, and we've bagged it all to donate.  I pulled a bag of our cow peas from the freezer for a dinner, made rice and a cucumber salad.  A simple summer meal.  Blueberries and blackberries from last year's garden were used to make a pie.  A blogger friend suggested Random Acts on the BYU channel, which I was happy to find I had access to, on our Roku TV, and have made a note of it.  

We're so excited our first tomatoes are starting to turn!  Soon...  All laundry was dried on the line.  Banana peels and aloe bits were blended, and used for fertilizer on our plums, and a few other plants.  I cleaned the chicken coop, and gathered spearmint to strew on the floor, and add to the nest boxes.  J cleaned up the garden, and planted seedlings of zucchini, tromboncino, butternut squash and eggplant.  These are all sturdy seedlings, so we hope we'll have better luck than the ones we tried earlier.  Hummus was made with our home canned beans for lunches.  My sister has rented a lake house for a few days, and I'll be heading there Monday to enjoy a relaxing day with her.  I hope you have a wonderful week!