Our weekend, planting , sewing, family and more

Saturday I spent  with the dog trying to get him to get used to people and being patient. It didn't always go well but he is getting there. I took him to town with me.  I popped in the Credit Union and made sure it was nice and cool for him while I was making my deposit. All car windows were half-way down.  I made my was to the line and heard him begin to howl.  I took a deep breath and pretended it wasn't my dog. Ugh

I cleaned out my bedroom closets and low and behold there really IS a floor in there!

I planted a few rows of flower seed. I hope they come up, our ground is hard, dry and clay but each year we work on it.

A nap was squeezed in.  There are days where my body just gives up after very full week. I really needed it.

Dude spent the afternoon as an episode of Caddy Shack.  He was after the prairie dogs that have invaded our land. I think the prairie dogs won this round.

Sunday
Began the morning putting split pea soup in the crockpot for this week's lunches. 

After chores and breakfast I call all my children and check in with them.  I was able to talk to all of them today!

We worked with Norman and his training.

And went for walks.

Alfalfa fields will probably be cut this week. 

We were surprised to see corn growing in the field next to us. 

We found a fresh fox hole. 

Came back and sewed while Dude ran to town.

I did get my little wall hanging just about finished. 

Then party time with the family.

Then home for evening chores and a beautiful sunset. 

Soup is ready for me to jar up and then to bed. 

peace 

Happy St Patrick's Day!

"Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me." - Lorica of St. Patrick
Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Here we have the smell of corn beef in the crock pot . But the Archdiocese of Denver has announced, unlike other dioceses across the nation, they will not grant dispensation to eat meat since today is Friday and Lent. We are not alone as the Archdiocese of Lincoln, Nebraska has also said ... Just say No to meat today.    So we will save it for tomorrow's breakfast of corn beef and hash along with corn beef sandwiches next week -I plan to stretch out my Irish Heritage Celebration as long as I can. But we will have split pea soup (hey, it's green) and Irish soda bread.

 We will be practicing a bit of an Irish Jig tonight whilst listening to a wee bit of the Orthodox Celts and on to Dropkick Murphys and so much more tonight. Yes, I am torturing my Viking husband with all manner of Irish music and dancing like a drunkard in River Dance - grin. 

Along the way I stopped to see my grandsons.... sons of the Irish Mafia... okay, not really. It's a family joke. I have four sons and they have always protected me. 

And just to make it interesting, I got a knock on the door to ask if I was missing a lamb. Thinking it was mine Dude, aka The Viking, rode off without looking in the barn. I drove behind him, yelling out the window... "did you look in the barn"... when I spotted it.  Dude kept on to town to report a missing lamb and I saw this rag-a-muffin lamb wandering in the wheat field. It was not mine but I sure wanted him.  But it was not to be. The county's animal control came to rescue him. 

I did make a few crafts but my grandson out did me with his.  He surprised me with a lucky garden. I absolutely love it. Perfect gift on such a holiday! 

And here is what I made... mini coffee cups, decorated and filled with chocolates.

Then out to the hen house. 

One of the eggs is beginning to crack...hopefully babies will be revealed soon. 

A lot of green is going on in the greenhouse. 

That's my day. 

May you always have walls for the winds,
a roof for the rain, tea beside the fire,
laughter to cheer you, those you love near you,
and all your heart might desire.

peace be with you

Busy Morning

I had alot to get done this morning so we could travel two hours away to see a granddaughter's volleyball game later in the day... you only live once, right?

So I got the canning gear out and got the jars to boiling. 

Next up, I needed to shred our zucchinis. It was cold and foggy this morning and only 32 degrees. Our furnace was turned on to take the chill out of the air. It hasn't been used for 6 months and it was not happy. At first we thought someone was loudly singing opera in the back mudroom. So, I tiptoed to the back of the house to find the furnace moaning. We turned it off and lit a fire in the wood stove. Thank goodness for preparing for winter.  The repair man came out and gave us the verdict, the furnace was old and dead. Hmmm. do we buy a log splitter or a new furnace? A lot to think about in the next few days. 

Anywhooo, I was glad I picked the zucchini the night before just in cased it froze. 

I picked six of them and they needed to be taken care of. 

So I shred it all to freeze. 

I was getting ready to make split pea soup so I threw a cup of zuc in it. Good stuff. 

Throw in the crock pot... 

a package of split peas

a couple of ham hocks

3 chopped carrots

2 chopped celery

a chopped small onion

3 chopped garlic cloves

a cup of shredded zucchini

5 cups of chicken broth 

a bay leaf

salt and pepper

Add all the ingredients, stir, set at 8hours and forget about it. 

Back to the zucchini....

I ended up with 25 - one cup bags to go into the freezer of zucchini.  These will go into breads, soups, chilis, eggs, whatever might sound good at the time.

Next up I wanted to try a new recipe I found at Canning Granny.  It is her Thai Dipping Sauce and it turned out fantastic! I was able to use some of the garlic we grew this year.

You can find the recipe HERE

You start with apple cider vinegar and sugar. 

Adding chopped garlic and 1/2 cup of hot pepper flakes... ohmy she did a great job writing this recipe. I LOVE it !  You can use it for spring rolls, egg rolls, rice, over fried cabbage, salads... the sky is the limit with this sauce.  

After canning and cleaning the kitchen we head to the volleyball game two hours away. 

We returned from our trip at 11pm dog-tired. It was great to have a hot crock of split pea soup ready for us! 

peace, health and happiness!