Curtido-Fermented Salvadorian Sauerkraut

Curtido- Fermented Salvadorian Sauerkraut-
Thanks to Susan, for emailing me this recipe for Fermented Curtido . I saw it on her blog- E-i-e-i-omg and since I love slaw and spicy foods, it's a perfect combo! And it's fermented! I did a lot of very fine slicing, shredding and dicing. It smells amazing!!! I used 2 heads of cabbage, and it's amazing that it all fit in the jar. It's all the pounding...

Ah, just waiting to be yummy, under a dark towel..

Fun Fall DIY Entryway Projects, Weather Change

Photos from Apartmenttherapy

Fun Fall DIY Entryway Projects-
I stumbled onto this today DIY Home Decor Fall Projects with great ideas! Samples below, more on their website...

Change to "Hey Fall!"

Some paint on terracotta

Cute with the other fall items!

How cute are these? Adorable!!!

Weather Change-

Yesterday I noticed the temp had dropped from almost 95 degrees Thursday to 78. I also saw leaves blowing down the street, another sign of Autumn! It rained last night and is 55, with more rain on the way this next week. We're getting our new bed delivered today, and I'll be adding another blanket, and washing the stored flannel sheets in prep for colder weather. I'll buy more hot teas, get out some stored sweaters, caulk a bit and un-box the fall decor. I stumbled on to some favorite flannel blouses on eBay last night, now out of production. Come to Mama! Since our garden production was way down this year, we think due to not tilling first or lack of fertilizer, I'm ready to rip it all out. I won't for a while though, and we'll see when the first freeze comes...

Farmer's Almanac Long-Range Forecast Is Out- What's Coming For Your Winter?

From Farmer's Almanac

Farmer's Almanac Long-Range Forecast Is Out- What's Coming For Your Winter?-
I always find it fascinating to see their forecasts. Go here for the US and Canada forecasts-Almanac Weather Long-Range Interesting article here on how you can forecast the weather yourself- Almanac- Predicting Weather

We have a flash flood advisory up, hoping for rain today/tonight! Remnants of the Mexican hurricane...

Another Busy Week, Nectarine Pecan Cobbler Bread

Another Busy Week-
After a killer weekend last weekend canning and freezing nectarines, I was ready to crash. My back was killing me so I went to my miracle chiro/acupuncturist, Thursday, what a relief! All better. I had really thrown out my sacrum, oh joy. This weekend I'm relaxing more. Dave spread the compost today, I watered the garden and backyard, baked, and let the girls out. They do a great job digging it into the garden soil. Down to 3 hens since Ellie passed last week. Next spring I'll probably get 2 more chicks for 5 total. They're not quite laying but healthy and busy!

It's a bit cooler and not having to water quite so much. We had TERRIBLE smoky skies Wed./Thurs. blown in from S. Oregon/N. Cali. Just awful. Finally blew thru on Friday, blue skies again!!! About 82 today and clear, very nice. Putting out some fall decor tomorrow, what fun!

I sold 2 items on eBay with 3 more pending, if you're interested, they're women's warm winter goodies! L.L..Bean Women's Fleece Pullover   Eddie Bauer Women's Jacket   Women's LL Bean Parka

We bought a new mattress set today, what a process. We couldn't afford a Tempuredic but found another good foam bed, should help us sleep better. We had to do a lot of research but got a good deal. We both wake each other up with some leg movement, so this should calm that down, and ours was pretty saggy. It has a long warranty and should last. Bye, bye saggy bed next Saturday...

Back to work, things are much calmer. Thank god.

compost, what's that?

black gold

Gwyn says somethings down there!

yummy tidbits

"whatcha lookin at", Rosie looking at the camera, Pru is head down, she's shy :)

bugs in the turf too

Nectarine Pecan Cobbler Bread-
I had just a bit of nectarines left, so I searched for some recipes. I found this- Peach Pecan Cobbler Bread  Yummy! I love the chopped pecans and brown sugar on top. Wonderful and moist, and I had enough for 2 loaves, 1 to freeze...

My Little Sweetie's Gone

My Little Sweetie's Gone-
I lost my last older hen yesterday, Ellie. She was such a friendly, sweet and curious girl. Egg layer supreme, loved to be held and we'd visit. She had become sick a few months back, bounced back, but and then really went down on Sat. I brought her in Sunday, treated her, and she was gone yesterday afternoon. I had steeled myself for it. With a small flock you really get to know the personalities of your girls. She was inside, comfortable and had eaten a bit, but she went...

My favorite picture, napping on my shoulder-

Just a little puff ball :)

Big Nectarine Harvest and Preserving

Big Nectarine Harvest-
Here's how my weekend went.... Dave harvested all the nectarines, a big haul! I canned 19 Qts. and froze 15 gallons in ziploc bags. I am SO TIRED, but we got a lot of fruit!  I also made a huge, lasagna-pan-sized cobbler, yummy! Surprising considering we had a major pruning done of it. I'm off to bed early tonight! My back is sooooo sore....

Just part of the harvest, we had 3 coolers full and one laundry basket

cobbler/crumble

Great stuff, no flavor or yellowing

big one!

My outdoor steam canner set up, nice when it's only 78 degrees...

Selling Tech to Tots: The Downside

Selling Tech to Tots: The Downside-
There's LOTS of money to be made off uninformed people who thinking if a little technology is good for them, it's great for their young kids! I get so frustrated reading all the excuses people make for sticking their child in front of a screen. It's "educational" therefor it's ok. Parenting is exhausting no doubt, but that's what you signed up for. And there's things like babysitters, and child care swap friends! If you want an easy, restful life, don't have kids. Not everyone is cut out for it. I see first hand every day the trouble with getting kids hooked on devices. I had to explain to a 6th grader recently that ebook aren't always a good idea, that batteries can fail, wireless can fail, devices crash. She just didn't get it. With no power you just have an expensive piece of plastic, a nice paperweight. A Special Ed teacher told me years ago that the "baby Einstein" kids would probably all become ADHD over time. That was what the scientific research showed. Great. You want your kids to be smarter and you wind up with a damaged child. But someone made some $$$. 

I read a post recently that really brought together all the bad reasons why young kids shouldn't be using technology, or much of it at all. As a very busy Mom who worked full time and raised 3 very bright kids, and is VERY techy, I would say there's all kinds of problems there. Scientists have been warning for several years about the damage done to the wiring of young kid’s brains by putting them in front of TVs, Ipads, devices. Not to mention the radiation coming off the devices. 10 Reasons Why Devices Should Be Banned For Kids Under 12  by The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Canadian Society of Pediatrics. Educators are seeing this too (I’m one). Kids with no patience, glued to screens and not interacting with people, lack of social skills, etc. I read people are putting their kids in bed to chill with a device, never a good idea. No child should ever be alone with tech. As a tech support person I know that technology can fail, devices can overheat, stuff happens. Our Roku2 had to go back to the store a while back, as it was so hot it almost melted. Could have started a fire. Kids should be able to go relax or go to sleep with a night light, a book, a stuffed animal, and someone who loves them. Kids can do this really strange thing and go outside and run around! It doesn't take much to take 10 minutes and read a book to your child, sing to them and hold them to help them relax. Relaxing music is wonderful too- have them close their eyes and think about what the music would look like? Use their imagination! It’s just so much better to cuddle a person than a piece of plastic. They’ll have plenty of time to be techy later, and then they are all done with the cuddling stage. Good article here too- Lifeofdad.com

amen to that

Heading Into Fall, Independence Days, Setting Up An Outdoor TV Antenna, A Little Early Halloween For Work

     Herb fairy garden

Heading Into Fall-
This week has been the "get out the fleece jacket" time. Days are getting shorter and cooler. We had the highs in low 70's and hit high 40's at night. We'll be in the 80's this week, but then 50 at night. Not bad! I did some yard work this afternoon and it was only about 75. I love the fall, just waiting for things to keep ripening before a hard freeze. Sometimes that's October, but sometimes early November. Who knows? More of the garden in "high summer"-

a few raspberries on our new plants!

lemon cuke, finally, my fave!

my daughter's squash patch  

girls still growing, eggs next month, I hope!

my camera-shy barred rock :)

Independence Days-
I haven't done one of these for a bit, so here ya go!

1. Plant Something-

No fall gardens here, hot then straight to freezing. I may order some seeds for next year.

2. Harvest Something-

Various tomatoes, lemon cukes, yellow squash, pickling cukes, green beans, Italian kale (excellent!), herbs. 

3. Preserve/Store Something-

French nectarines are still a bit too firm and tangy, will wait another 1-2 weeks to harvest, then a canning and freezing frenzy! They are so good dead ripe :) No apples this year, and about 10 pears on our baby pear tree. I may buy some apples to can for applesauce. I make mine chunky with lots of spices. Great in the winter with pork or for breakfast. Buying summer grilling meat and freezing for winter.

4. Manage Reserves- Get a Good Deal/Barter/Stock Up/Prep-

Still stocking up the pantry on a regular basis. I bought some small, canned hams, for soups, etc. Still freezing local, artisan, organic breads from the outlet. We may do a pick-your-own apples, if it's not too far away.

5. Eat the Food- Try New Foods/Recipe-

Kale salads, fermented pickles. Using some of the meats in the freezer to make room for nectarines. Made some sausage with sauteed garden veggies, yummy!

6. Build Community Food Systems-

 Neighbor may have some rhubarb she gives us, the rural farmer's market is just too far away to buy much. The downtown version is too overpriced for me. 

7. Recycle/Re-Use-

Cleaned coop. spread shavings into the garden. Bought an old window for a chicken wire display. Will get it together in the next week. Bought a like-new used bathroom cabinet for $5.00 at the Habitat Store. Dave hung it today for me. Perfect for a little decor, with some beachy stuff leftover from our main bathroom remodel. I knew I'd find a spot for it somewhere...

 8. Skill Up-

 Learned how to install an antenna watching Dave.

9. Regenerate What is Lost/Salvage Something-

Dishwasher quit, so Dave pulled it, and did some diagnosing. We loaded it into the wagon and took it to a reliable repair guy we've used before. We think they can repair it. A new one would be several hundred dollars. I have told Dave to just use the extra space for shelves, but I think he's afraid he'd be doing dishes the rest of his life! :)

Setting Up An Outdoor TV Antenna-

We had been using Dish with HBO for a while. At one point we had cable, but then Dish was cheaper so we switched. Since we rarely go to movies it was good deal at the time. We started thinking about switching to Netflix, since there's so much more variety, and it's so much cheaper- $8.99 a month. ***Dish would be wise to come up with some GOOD packages that are cheaper. We had one up from the bottom, and the low price one was mostly junk channels. No History, A&e, TNT, etc.*** So... first we ditched HBO a few months ago, after the Game of Thrones finale :) We got Netflix after that, easy to install with our wireless and a Roku 2. We started looking around for an outdoor antenna and got this Antenna at Best Buy. Since we're in the middle of town we knew we'd get a strong signal. Long story short, Dave and I spent a lot of time (hours) trying to get a clear signal from the roof. We'd get some stations, but not others. FINALLY Dave realized he was trying to use the OLD cable. Off to the store. New cable. Problem solved! Clear as a bell!!! AND we gained 4 PBS channels instead of 1! Note to self- do a clean install with new cable, not 10-20 year old cable. It may LOOK ok, but it's the guts that count. Cancelled Dish, more $$$ in our pockets. And I LOVE Netflix, catching up on the old Haven episodes from the Syfy series, the only decent series left IMO.... 

Better shot of the antenna-

Better shot of the antenna

A Little Early Halloween For Work-

Being an elementary librarian I HAD to but this little guy for $5.00 online. Cute huh? I decided to buy these too for a couple bucks, 2 cute little burlap covered birds, great for fall!

time to dust I see :(