Thanks!

I don't know about you all out there, but we had an excellent Thanksgiving.

The oldest daughter, her husband and the three granddaughters came up and stayed through the long weekend with us. They even brought their dog with them, which was a bit of a challenge. But, in the end neither of our cats were eaten, both of our dogs were unscathed and Grand Dog was his old goofy self, so things worked out well.

As part of our Thanksgiving we decided to use some of the foods that we had put-up during the summer. The green beans that we had canned tasted so much better than the canned store bought ones and the homemade jam we used for breakfast was also a huge hit. Things just taste so much better when they are homemade.

Each of the Granddaughters got the "go withs" for supper that they had requested: macaroni and cheese casserole for the middle one, homemade cheesecake for the oldest, and, believe it or not, Lucky Charms cereal for the youngest (I know, right?!). Hubby's 20 pound turkey was done to perfection and the collard greens were amazing. We ate like pigs without the troughs.

On Saturday, my Son In Law made me a big pot of his spaghetti sauce. Let me tell you, he makes a good sauce. He used some of the dehydrated mushrooms and basil that I had dried in October. I canned 5 quarts of sauce so that we could have some for later in the year.

Saturday night the guys went out in the boat flounder gigging. They managed to get a few, and we added them (the fish, not the guys) to our freezer.

Sunday came way too soon, and the kids packed up and headed home. And the house got way too quiet.

So, even though our Fall garden failed and the only herb I managed to plant this summer was basil, we were still able to enjoy for Thanksgiving some of the things that we had put up. Things not from our garden, but from supermarket sales on veggies and from local farmers markets. Our freezer is pretty much stocked with local shrimp we bought while they were running and with meats that we buy as we find sales at the grocery. I guess my point is, you don't have to have a huge garden to can stuff, or raise your own livestock to butcher and stock your freezer with. Check out your local farmers markets and grocery stores for sales. Do what you can with what is available to you. It may not be a big start, but it's a start.

Hope your Thanksgiving was filled with good food, family, and lots and lots of love.

Now, bring on Christmas!

Today Was a GOOD Day


Today was a good day. The stars aligned and all was right with the world. At least it was in my world.

It started earlier than usual. Old Pup got me up at 6:00 am instead of her usual 7:00(-ish). Both pups went outside then came in to an early breakfast (it was a good day for them too). Even though it rained just after I brought them inside, by 8:30 the sun was out and it was a beautiful fall Carolina morning = GOOD Day.

I had a list of things to do, and high on that list was our annual hunt for the elusive un-seasoned bread cubes I use to make our Thanksgiving dressing (No stuffing here, my forbearers were dead set against stuffing). Every year it gets harder and harder to find the darn things. What's up with that? Anyway, next came car insurance for our teen and tags for her car, both of which she was paying - SCORE! Somewhere in there I had bills to pay and a spring form pan to buy so oldest Granddaughter could have cheesecake for Thanksgiving.

We didn't get very far. Less than 3 miles from home, when I hit the stretch of road with the 55mph speed limit, it became apparent that something was wrong with the Jeepster. Try as it might it just couldn't shift into that final gear. Well crap. Carried it to Hubby, who determined that somehow the Overdrive button had gotten pushed (or un-pushed, which ever the case). Simple fix = GOOD Day.

Next came the insurance company and I've got to say it was painless. Nice Lady at the desk gave Our Youngest a great rate (did I mention she paid it herself?!) and we got a ginormous break because she is no longer on our policy = GOOD Day.

Tags were a breeze and there was NO LINE = GOOD Day.

Somewhere along the way, I received ABSOLUTELY THE MOST FANTASTIC NEWS EVER about a friend = GOOD Day.

Then I got to shop in my Most Happiest Place That Was Ever Created, Ross Dress For Less, where I not only found an awesome set of spring form pans, I was able to get a really cute sweater and top in my size = GOOD Day.

We ended our trip at Walmart. You know, I actually really like Walmart. Especially because they had my un-seasoned bread cubes = GOOD Day.

They also had a giant frozen turkey that called my name. I only hope I can find a pan big enough to roast the thing in.

GOOD DAY!

RIP Fall Garden

We are saddened to report that Fall Garden has passed away. At the time of his death, he (she?) was surrounded by a hoard of fire ants and pennywort. Fall Garden ultimately met his demise due to the 20+ inches of rain that pounded him relentlessly for 4 days earlier this month. He is survived by the only vegetable bed that made it: the asparagus.

Fall Garden was laid to rest this past Sunday, October 25th, when his caretakers took steps to eradicate the pennywort and fire ants that actually seemed to thrive despite the flooding. He will be sorely missed. The pennywort and the fire ants, not so much.

A memorial garden, the Summer Garden, will be planted in his memory in early Spring 2016.

Water Water Everywhere


Whew. This past week our coast has taken a beating. A storm system that pretty much stalled over us dumped about 15 inches of rain in 5 days here on our little island. To say we are practically floating would not be much of an overstatement. In some places roads were impassable and business' over in town had water damage. Our ponds were just about filled to capacity and several other mini-ponds sprang up on our place. But, the sun is shining this morning and things are starting to dry out a bit. Just in time for hurricane Joaquin to make an appearance later on this week and drop another (possible) 10" of rain on us. I'm telling you, we need to start building an ark!

Our garden took a beating too. Everything is pretty much water logged and beat down. Hopefully things will dry out a bit today while the sun is shining. With the hurricane coming up the coast and the potential of so much more rain, we are not holding out much hope that our fall garden will have a bumper crop of anything.

With the threat of our first hurricane of the season I got to thinking about what we should do to be prepared, not only for hurricanes but for any disaster that may come our way. The website www.Ready.gov has lots of information on just about any disaster we may face, it's worth checking out.

As for us, during hurricane season we make sure we:

1. Have plenty of candles, and just as important, matches or a lighter. Candles won't do you much good if you can't light them.

2. We like to use oil lamps also. They seem to throw off more light than candles and we have several of them. Don't forget to stock up on lamp oil also.

3. Have bottled water.

4. Have our prescription medicines filled and that we have enough to get us through at least 7 days.

5. Have plenty of snacks and easy to heat canned foods (soups, stews, etc.) on hand. We are lucky because we have a gas stove. If we loose electric we can always heat stuff up on the stove.

6. Have an old fashioned can opener (not electric). You're going to have to get those cans open somehow, right?

7. We are coffee drinkers. A couple of years ago, we bought a french press. If we loose electric, we can heat water on our gas stove and using the french press we can still have coffee. Coffee = happiness.

8. We make sure that our propane tank on our gas grill is filled, that way we will be able to grill/cook meals.

9. Don't forget your pets - make sure your fur babies have enough dog food and cat food to get by on for at least a week.

10. And speaking about your pets, make sure you have a copy of their current shot records on hand in case you need to evacuate. Most places that you may evacuate to require that your pets be current on at least their rabies shot.

11. We also make sure that we catch up on as much laundry as we can before a storm hits. That way if we are without power for an extended time, we can at least have clean under britches and clothes to wear.

12. We make sure to fill up our gas tanks on our cars also. That way if we have to get outta' Dodge, we won't have to wait in line to fill up.

Here's hoping that none of us ever be caught unprepared for any type of an emergency.

Stay safe and GET PREPARED!

This and That

Wow. Where did summer go? Today is the last official day of summer, tomorrow fall will make it's entrance, and, before you know it, winter will be here. Let that sink in for a moment.

All and all our fall garden is doing good. We could use a few days of rain, but things seem to be coming along. (See picture at bottom). Hopefully by next summer we will have water out by the garden so we won't have to dip from the pond during dry spells. Dipping from the pond pretty much is a chore.

As I write this, I have 5 trays of bananas in the dehydrator. I have no idea how they will turn out or what I will eventually use them for, but I will have them anyways. I hope to do apples next, now those I have plans for!

One evening a month, I head out to a local tea room, owned by my friend Libby, and meet up with 11 other ladies, most of which are fellow dingbatters. We are the local Bunco team and we call ourselves "The Mad Hatters". Bunco is a very hard game to describe but easy to pick up on once you sit in. It's kinda like dice on steroids and it's a pure blast, plus we get to eat a great meal and drink some delicious tea. Oh, and if you're lucky you get to win money. It's the social highlight of our calendar.

If anyone out there wants to learn more about herbal remedies or uses, I highly recommend Rosemary Gladstar's book "Medicinal Herbs, A Beginner's Guide". I can't wait till spring so I can get started planting my herb garden.

On a sad note, for the past couple of weeks the turtle we called "ET" had been missing. He was the first to come in the afternoons when we called, and would actually come part way out of the water to meet us. Over the weekend I found him dead up on the bank on the other side of the pond. Hubby buried him out under one of the cottonwoods. We have no idea what happened, but hubby said that his shell looked a bit deformed. Believe it or not, we miss him.

Well, guess I had better go get ready for my big evening out. Wish me luck - Mama needs a new pair of shoes!!!! LOL!

P.S. Is there anything sexier than a man tilling up a garden?

How Many Times Can I Use the Word "Dehydrating"?

My friend Donna, over at the OLD WAYS, NEW TIMES blog, has been telling me about how great her dehydrators are. She has three of them going practically round the clock and has been dehydrating just about everything she finds on sale at the markets. She is a dehydrating Queen, I tell ya!

Two days ago I was at our local market and they had a really good sale on sliced mushrooms. I stood there thinking, "These would be perfect for dehydrating". After much debate I ended up buying 5 pounds of them. The debating came about because, while they were perfect for dehydrating I didn't actually have a dehydrator yet. So, after I left there, I headed over to the BigK and luckily they had what I was looking for, plus it was on sale (SCORE!).

I have to say, so far I love the thing. For the past two days I have been sucking the moisture out of  mushrooms right and left! Out of the 5 pounds of mushrooms I have dehydrated and vacuum canned 5 pints, which should be enough to get us through the winter soup/stew season. The only downside so far is that hubby and daughter have discovered that they don't much like the smell of mushrooms being dehydrated. They are really glad that I am finished.

Today when we went over to town we stopped at the grocery store. They had an amazing sale on onions: four 3 pound bags for $5.00. You guessed it, I now have 12 pounds of onions to prepare and dry.

My husband and daughter's noses may never be the same again.

Donna, you have created a monster.

But What if They Don't Want to "Coexist"?

We have a big problem here on our little island. It's one that many of you may also be dealing with right now.

Coyotes

The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission has a lovely website, www.ncwildlife.org, which describes how to coexist with coyotes. According to the NCWRC website, coyotes are here in all 100 NC counties as a result of "Natural range expansion from neighboring states", and we should just learn to "coexist" with them because they really aren't that big of a deal. Yeah. Right.

Now, I knew that there were coyotes in our county. A friend of mine who lives "off island", about 15 minutes away, has lost her entire flock, including her turkeys and her guinea fowl to them. A local farmer over that way has had a time with them eating watermelons out of his field. But it never occurred to me that they could make their way over here - we are on an island for God's sake!

How did they get here? Some people say that they swam across from the mainland. Some locals even swear that they walk across the bridge at 2 in the morning (I haven't decided yet if they are kidding about the bridge or not). I guess it really doesn't matter at this point how they got here, what matters is that they are here now, and it sucks.

People on our island are starting to have chickens go missing. Cats are disappearing too. A neighbor of mine has been finding scat in her yard with fur in it - lovely.  I guess it doesn't matter much to a hungry coyote what he is eating. It sure matters to us though. People here on the island are getting worried.

So, what are our options? The NC Wildlife Resources Commission does have some good information on the website about things to do to prevent conflicts with coyotes and what to do if you have a problem with them. It's worth checking out. As for us, we haven't gotten our chickens yet (planning to in the spring), so we don't have that worry, yet. Our cats are kept indoors and we have become extra careful while walking the pups, especially at night when we take them out for their last walk before bed. They are kept on a leash and we constantly scan the yard with a flashlight. We are also keeping a loaded rifle by the door. Hopefully we won't have to use it, but if we have to, we will.  I repeat: this whole coyote thing sucks.

I think that I would be really happy if the varmints just ran right back over the bridge to where they came from. That would solve the problem for us here anyway.

NOT holding my breath on that though.

Yes, You Can Can!

If you like to can, it's a great time right now in Eastern Carolina. Last week the figs ripened, this week the pears and the wild scuppernong grapes. If you have never had wild scuppernong grapes you are missing out - they are the bomb! My pantry is starting to fill up with home grown, home canned fruits and veggies.

It's exciting, really. I'm glad I'm pushing myself to dust off the canning books and to get in the kitchen and do something really healthy for my family. Searching for canning recipes in some of my vintage canning books is really fun too. I love reading the old pamphlets and cookbooks. They have lots of great old recipes and good information in them that is still relevant today.

Since we didn't get into our place until late July, we didn't have a chance to put in a summer garden. We ended up buying corn from our local farmers market to can and to freeze. I also found a fantastic sale on carrots at our grocery store and we canned about 10 pounds of those too. So, just because you haven't actually grown anything yourself, you can always find vegetables at your local produce stand or market. You can can!

Anyway, I know that it may not seem like much, but it's a start until our fall garden comes in. And speaking of the fall garden - I really am going to need A LOT more canning jars!

Fall? Is That You?

I may have caught a glimpse of Fall yesterday morning when I took the pups for their morning walk around the pond. There was a light breeze and practically no humidity, and the sky had that Fall look about it. You know, when the angle of the sun has changed just a smidgen and the light looks different somehow than it does in the Summer sky.

It's hard to judge here on the Island about Fall. We have mostly water oaks and pine trees and it stays pretty green here year round, which means no Fall colors, which kinda sucks. I miss Fall colors.

Anyway, today that has all changed. It's 90 degrees and Mr. Humidity has taken up residence again. It's overcast and looks like we may get some rain. That's a good thing because it means we won't have to dip water from the pond for the garden. So, I guess Summer is not ready to give up quite yet. But if I were her I would keep an eye on my rear-view mirror, because I'm pretty sure Fall is sneaking in behind her.

How Does My Garden Grow?

For the past two weeks I've been after my husband to till up an area for a fall garden. Now, my poor husband has about a bazillion things on his to-do list, but this past Saturday, when I came home from my Day Job, he had tilled me up a nice big area for a garden.  I could hardly wait for Monday so Teen Daughter and I could hit the garden center for just a few plants to get us started. Only something happened when we got to the garden center. I didn't just buy a few. When I saw all those beautiful flats of vegetable plants, I may have gotten just a wee bit carried away. Let's just say that I was relieved that we could fit them all into the wayback of the Jeep. We had to fold down the back seats to do it, but they fit. To make matters worse, on our way home I realized that we had forgotten to buy kale (btw: kale is NOT a Yankee green!), so we stopped at Ace and I bought some of that too. 

Monday evening after supper, my husband and our daughter and I went out to our new garden and planted: 78 collard plants, 64 cabbages, 48 cauliflower plants, 48 broccoli, and 24 kale. THATS 262 PLANTS PEOPLE!

Yep, I would say that I got just a wee bit carried away.

Of Ponds and Turtles

When my husband and I first bought our 4 and 1/4 acres, before our house was set, we spent every spare moment we could on our land. Cutting grass, fishing in one of our 3 ponds, or just sitting in the shade and looking at OUR LAND, we enjoyed every moment we could here.

In that first month it became evident that our front pond had turtles. One turtle, in particular was humongous! Now in turtle, humongous = ancient and this guy had to be closing in on the 100 year mark. We promptly named him Abraham.

A month later, Hubby started the task of cleaning out the pond with a mini excavator. While the looks of the pond greatly improved, we were sad to note that Abraham seemed to have "flew the coop", so to speak. We figured that the noise had been too much and he had crawled on over to one of the other ponds or ditches in the area.

After what has seemed like an eternity, we have gotten settled into our house and are enjoying our little "farm-ette" to be. I have started buying cat food from our Dollar General (also known as the Down-East Walmart) to feed our large population of water turtles. The little shits have gotten pretty used to being fed and actually come when we call them. One that we named ET swims over to us and crawls up on the bank when he hears us. He loves tomatoes. The other day while Teen Daughter and I were feeding them she said, "Mom! What is that"? I looked over to where she was pointing and saw the LARGEST turtle head ever in the middle of the pond. As we watched he surfaced briefly and we caught a glimpse of his huge shell. "Well", I said. "It's either the Loch Ness Monster or Abraham is back".

Welcome back, Abraham. Welcome back.