What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

There's more gardening, preserving, etc. going on here right now than quilting, so that's what you are going to see for a bit.

When you were little, did you sing the little ditty "beans, beans, musical fruit - the more you eat, the more you toot"?  That's what I've been singing all day.  Your welcome....again.

This year was new for me in that I tried some new beans.  I tried the Chinese Noodle Beans.  The finally came in like mad.  They are over a foot long and red in color.  We stir fried some with olive ...

 Do I have you singing that song in your head?  Your welcome....LOL

Having been in the food business for so long, I have been blessed to be exposed to some foods and spices that others have not.  There is also the curse about knowing too much about food production, but that isn't what this post is about.

You make deviled eggs.  You sprinkle the top with Paprika.  It's just for looks, right?  Well, there are those, my son in-law included, who are convinced it adds flavor.  Did you know there is such a thing as Smoked Paprika ...

I have IBD.  I know - TMI.  I struggle with 'intestinal health'.  Hubs was told at one point he was going to die within a year....here's the back story:

Hubs was at work and passed out, hitting his head.  He had just eaten a burger from a fast food restaurant.  He was taken to the hospital.  They did a series of tests on him and told him they wanted to put in a pacemaker.  He asked if there was something wrong with his heart.  The doctor said they didn't find anything wrong with his heart, but they couldn ...

Hubs has finally kicked it up a notch with his whoop-de-doo smoker.  His favorite thing to smoke is pork tenderloin and he is getting really good at it!  He was smoking a tenderloin the other day and had to run out for a bit with Welder Son.  As he is pulling out, he calls over to me and says something about a side dish.  Say what??  I thought he was on dinner duty.  I had been out harvesting tomatoes that morning, so I made my favorite salad....

All winter long I dream about a fresh Caprese Salad.  You know the ...

It's harvest season.  I've neglected you because I cannot neglect my harvest.  :)

I have pickled beets, onions, garlic and cucumbers.  I have canned green beans.  I have been seed saving.  I have been trying to preserve as much as possible.  I've even canned potatoes!

So, remember the potato experiment?  First - the castor bean plants.  I'm going to say that was a huge success.  While the chipmunks did get ALL of my garbanzo beans <<grumble grumble>>, they stayed away from my potatoes, as did the mice! I harvested the Yukon golds a few weeks ago, probably too ...

Every morning when I go out to the garden I give thanks.  I thank God for my peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, beans, pumpkins, flowers....I pray over my whole garden.  That's why I call it Coffee with Jesus.  Whether I am watering or just strolling, I give thanks.  I even give thanks for those pesky insects that I battle as a gardener.  Afterall, He had a reason to create them.  Sometimes, I think he created them to keep my humble, because my garden would be amazing without them! 

When my granddaughter (Puddin Pop) comes to visit, we talk about having a tea party with her 'dolls'.  She has Anna, Elsa and many other babies that she still likes to hang out with.  We finally got serious about it and decided we needed to have a tea party.  I invited one of her aunts, her cousin and her Momma and we set a date for our Tea Party.  It was today.

She loves the color pink, so 50 yards of toule later, we had our tent set up.  I set it up between two big trees so we would ...

Macedonian Neighbor's daughter came over yesterday to see my garden.  She was telling me about the 5 gallons of pickles she did this week and various other harvests.  I felt so incompetent.  My green beans have flowers but no beans.  My tomatoes are not ripe.  There I was, again comparing myself to another gardener.  Just stop.  My garden is fine, just not as far along....

We had a few pretty good storms come through this weekend, so I had to go out and check the damage.

The sunflowers out by the pumpkin patch held up pretty well.

A few years ago we bought grapes - Syrah grapes.  We planted them and walked away.  We mowed and weed whipped around them, but that was it.  Last year we finally put up the trellises.  We should have been harvesting grapes.  Homesteading got in the way.

That's the thing about homesteading.  There's always something to do.  There's always something that changes your priority list.  The grapes kept sliding down the list.  We were building chicken barns, goat barns, high tunnels, raised beds...the list just goes on and on.  This year we moved them up on the list ...

Last week was the anniversary of my paternal father's suicide.  It also would have been my step-dad's birthday.  It's always a tough week for me and especially my Momma.  When Pops was alive, I would always have to plan his birthday party as Momma just wasn't feeling it.  I never minded.  I'm usually pretty withdrawn, not in sadness but I get wrapped up in memories.  I was blessed to have a step-dad who loved me as much as, if not more than, any paternal father could  Today I again reflected on how happy he would ...

Did you know....Packed with essential nutrients, beetroots are a great source of fiber, folate (vitamin B9), manganese, potassium, iron, and vitamin C. Beetroots and beetroot juice have been associated with numerous health benefits, including improved blood flow, lower blood pressure, and increased exercise performance.  (This was taken from HealthOnline.)  They even contain moderate amounts of protein.

You know how there are foods that as a kid you just couldn't eat, and then as an adult you love them?  I have always loved pickled beets - even as a kid.  Growing beets is pretty much a given around here.  I ...

We got a nice little rain last night, so there was no need to water the garden.  Today, I just got to stroll.  A garden, whether flower or vegetable, always looks beautiful after a nice rain.  

For Father's Day we had a cookout to celebrate the Hubs.  Three of the six kids were able to come over.  I am very passionate about birthdays, Mother's Day and Father's Day.  Hubs does so much for us and has done so much for us that it is pretty important to me to make sure that he knows how much we ...

Remember the song from the 70s....Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme??  We can't grow Rosemary here as a perennial, but I've got the rest.  I harvested some sage, oregano and thyme to dehydrate.

For about a month (maybe longer) I have been needing to go to Lehman's.  Something has always come up and I haven't gotten to go.  Yesterday Hubs loaded me up and off we went.  We took the back roads up and back for a nice peaceful day.  I guess I should put a bit in here about us....we enjoy quiet.  It's not that we don't enjoy people, it's just that when we go somewhere like Gatlinburg or Amish country, we aren't in to the touristy things.  Gatlinburg finds us on the artisan trail ...

I have some Amish friends in Berlin, Ohio.  When the kids were younger, we used to take a weekend and camp on their farm.  There were 3 farm ponds for them to play in and it was a great getaway for us.  Sometimes my sister and her 3 kids would go with us.  Sometimes my almost brother and his 3 kids would go with us.  Sometimes it was both.  (Alvin even asked us once when it was ALL of us if my almost brother was Mormon to have 3 wives and 9 kids.  LOL)  We were awakened in the mornings ...

We try to take Sunday as a day of rest.  Grandpa & Granny never let us work in the garden on Sunday - especially planting.  They said "nothing good wood come of it".  So, we try not to.  It's hard for us.  Yesterday we kept talking about all the things we needed to do.  I knew we would fall into the trap of working, so I suggested we take a little drive.  I was antsy to get some work done and knew I didn't have the willpower to hold back.  I always feel that way after I have had a ...

Bear with me, I have a LOT of photos today, but the sun was shining during my little morning walk.

As I was pulling the pics off, these were still on from Monday.  Two of the grands came to see the baby bunnies - Stella and Luciano.  Visitation is done in the garage on a moving blanket to keep them from escaping and becoming wild bunnies.  LOL

I was patient.  I waited.  I was chomping at the bit to get the garden planted.  I am, however, so glad I waited because of this crazy weather we have had.  I would like to start off by saying how thankful and grateful I am that Hubs built me all these raised beds.  Had he not, we wouldn't be planting until June!  Our yard is still like a wet sponge.  There are still ponds everywhere and we still can't even mow.  It stresses me out to see how tall the grass is....but I digress.

Flats of flowers ...

I would be fibbing if I said we don't think about the grandkids when we consider adding new animals to the farm.  That is why I want some of these:

Thank you Google for the pic