Recent Up To Dating

Right now I am slouched in a chair with a cat on my chest, while Alex showers and the dulcet tones of Bach's Toccata and Fugue ring through the house. I remarked to Alex today that I haven't posted a blog in weeks. Possibly even months now. He said it was because I didn't have anything to say. I disagreed. I have plenty to say, I just don't know how to say it anymore.

I've had a nice week of vacation and I still get Monday off before having to head back to work at the bank. We lost two more people, and then my boss underwent a surgery, so I had a period of 2 weeks where I earned plenty of overtime. I am grateful. I really am. I just have an odd way of showing it. I love the people who come it. I have trouble with the people who work there.

The garden is completely dead now, and I haven't had a single day where I have been able to go out and clean it up. This bothers me. On the days where I have time to do it, it's either raining cats and dogs, or it's freezing cold. We had our first snow on Thursday. I finally dug out all the remaining potatoes and they were an absolute success this year. I will most definitely continue to plant that same variety in the coming years. I retrieved about 6 dozen potatoes over the course of the summer and autumn, from 7 plants. And they made the most wonderful soup I have ever produced in my kitchen.

The Etsy store has enjoyed a nice holiday rush and I've introduced several new designs to the shop in the last few weeks. I even managed to get a box of business cards printed! Definitely keep checking the Facebook fan page for promotions, coupon codes and free shipping specials.

While antique hunting in New Buffalo, MI this week, my husband and I stumbled upon an old buffet and china cabinet set. How fortunate for us that the seller had her entire booth 50% off and was taking offers! We ended up paying a total of $106 for this new piece of furniture, which will be residing in my kitchen by Tuesday of next week. I won't call it beautiful just yet. At the moment, it's quite hideous. It was filthy, covered it grime, spilled God-knows-what dripping down it's cabinet doors, painted a lovely shade of baby pink with ancient country floral wallpaper pasted into the china cabinet, but by Golly, if nothing else, I have an eye for the POTENTIAL! I see a gorgeous piece of furniture for my kitchen as soon as I slap some new paint onto it! I spent the better part of this evening washing and scrubbing, dismantling and sanding. Now my fingers are torn apart from sanding grit, my lungs are full of paint particles and I am exhausted. I can't wait to get that baby into my kitchen and start filling her up with my things.

I spent 5 hours on Thursday turning roma tomatoes into sauce. It was rather disappointing work. I only managed to get 3 pints out of all that time! Talk about irritating! I made some beef jerky as well, and as I happen to have some frozen salmon in the freezer, I am giving some serious thought to trying fish jerky. Honestly, it sounds pretty disgusting and God knows what the kitchen will smell like afterwards, but I have heard my hunter friends say that it makes a great snack and has essential nutrients.

I have been recently addicted to The Walking Dead on AMC. It's messing with my brain a little bit though. Now, instead of simply preparing for the economic meltdown, I am also preparing for the zombie apocolypse. I'm not entirely sure that they are two different things. What I do know is that I really need to add more canned goods to the pantry and make even more serious efforts in next summers garden. My 40 tomatoe plants did not produce nearly as well as I had anticipated and I got a single serving of green beans from 6 plants. Not exactly thrilling I must admit, although my potatoes and corn were magnificent and I did get a nice crop of cucumbers. I plan to make much better use of trellises next year as well.

So there's the recent news. I will be posting pictures again fairly soon, as soon as the hard work for the new furniture is complete. I am giving serious consideration to returning to school. Not college though. I have decided college was utterly useless. I am considering trade school. Whether I take technical drafting again, start some agricultural studies, or learn carpentry, I see honing my skills and passions in the near future.

Growing Happiness

Take a deep breath with me, exhale slowly, smile and imagine everywhere you look there is food growing at marvelous paces. That has been my morning thus far. Happy. Peaceful. Full of growth.

I now have two places where I am utterly happy. The first is my beautiful garden.

The second....wait for it, cuz it's CRAZY...... is our church. When did that happen?! I don't know, and if you knew me during my teenage and college years, you remember that I hated church. I used to barf on purpose to get out of going to the church I went to as a kid. But now, I find peace in the walls of our sanctuary, beauty in the stained glass and the vaulted ceiling and rest in the presence of the Holy Spirit being there. And that is the difference. The church I went to as a youth had.....issues. The one we are in now has God - the real God. :)

Last week I finally went to the farmer's market to get strawberries. We've had a bad season for strawberries. It snowed until May for example. Our local UPick went out of business. Fortunately we live near the Indiana/Michigan border, and there are plenty of Michigan farmers willing to share their harvest. I bought a 'flat' which is about 8 pints and brought them home. Today, finally, I will be able to finish slicing and freezing them. Some for jam, some for just eating with sugar and cottage cheese, and some are also going to be made into strawberry-rhubarb pie for a beach party we'll be attending this weekend.

Today I have a massive to-do list, and yet, here I sit at the computer. It's my day off for the week, and I LOVE my days off. I get to do those things at home that I love to do. Cook, garden, crochet booties and fulfill orders from the Etsy shop , fill pages of blank journal with thoughts and ideas and rest up. Well, I did get the floors vacuumed, the sheets washed, the dishes washed and the bathrooms cleaned. From here on out it's just errand upon errand. And that's okay! Some of those errands include trips to friends' houses to drop off the tomato and pumpkin plants that I have excessive amounts of.  (Did you want a few??)

Did I mention that I have a little over 40 tomato plants and about 400 pumpkin and gourd starts?

I'm going out to finally purchase the food dehydrator that I promised myself 2 years ago when I started canning and preserving. Today's plan is to harvest chamomile and dill and get them dried and sealed up for later use. Especially the cham. That has been a staple in my tea chest for some time now.

Oh! Before I forget, Alex and I have accomplished something financially that we are quite proud of! We paid off 3 small credit cards! All were carrying balances between $100 and $400 - and we knocked them out. One more credit card to pay off for us, and we will officially be out of credit card debt. Then it's on to student loans. :)