Back in the Garden

Sunday was the first day I pulled weeds and even thinned carrots.  No problem one crutch and sometimes no crutch, I did it.  This made my day more beautiful than it already was.  Our garden is across the creek and out there no matter what way I look there is no visible buildings other than our barn.  I love that secluded feeling.  Of course the chickens, horses, occasional turkey and deer step from the woods.  They are very welcome.  Especially Sunday when mama doe brought her little one to explore.  Mama hen turkey had her little ones with her but the hay is too high, it's all we could do to see the hen's head sticking up until she brought them in the fresh mowed horse pasture.  She was teaching them to catch bugs.  So funny to watch the little ones darting around.  The hens  are always on alert for danger and with one warning puck they hurry off to the woods.

Mentioning hay, it's that time of the year and it looks like a good hay crop is in store as long as the weather stays clear, warm and low humidity.  We call it hay days..  We have been to Coudersport, Wellsville and even Buffalo, many fields are cut and ready for the baler.  Lucky for us we buy round bales that the tractor lifts and hauls.  Much better than throwing square hay bales by hand.  Have you ever smelled fresh cut hay?  If you like the smell of fresh cut grass this hay is just as nice.  We buy our round bales from our nephew Alan.  He puts in some good, dry hay.  That is important, being cut, dried and baled in a day or two time frame.  Farmers biggest fear, it gets rained on.  No good, cows will usually eat it but horses not so much and they can't take dusty hay.  The big excitement during hay season is guess how many bales Alan will get off his field.  I am predicting a record high this year, good looking field of orchard grass.

Later in the evening we went to the back field in search of wild strawberries!  While mowing yesterday I spotted some, of course I stopped to pick a few,  they are sweet and good size for wild berries.  I hope to get enough for one batch of jam.  They are so tasty compared to cultivated berries.  Both are delicious though.

We still have the ceiling to replace on the front porch from the winter winds that tore it down.  The materials are here and ready to go up.  Then I will paint the floor.  The hardest painting job is finished, the railing!  So many spindles.
My dad told Dick and I when we bought our first house, if you do one repair or upkeep job a year you will always be ahead and have a house in good shape.  Dick was 21 and I was 20 at the time with a 2 year old and newborn.  The house was the one we lived in until moving to Clara 15 years ago.  That first house cost $4,000.  Dad gave us $1,000 for the down payment and our house payment was $48.75 a month.  Dick was bringing home about $150 a week.  We had everything we needed which wasn't much.  One thing we did every spring was take the kids on vacation to Florida, income tax return and what extra we could save did the trip.  How about this, 2 weeks in Fl including 2 days at Disney and 10 days at the beach, plus food, gas and souvenirs cost $800 total.  Like Archie Bunker sang "those were the days".  Now our trips are to visit the boys and their families.  Every couple years we go on an adventure by ourselves unless we can find a couple friends.  John and Diane are usually up for the challenge and we work well together!

A one dish supper tonight.  We rode to Coudersport and picked up some Texas Gulf Shrimp, our favorite from the little store across from Charles Cole Hospital.  Caught and packaged in the USA.  I sauteed them in butter with seasoning and then added
1/2&1/2 and reduced it a little.  Dick had made whipped potatoes a couple nights ago and they are the best ever.  He won't tell me what he used in them, fine with me because he now is the official "whipped tater master".   For some reason I didn't think he could boil water, then the broken leg and he has shown his true talent.  At least for whipped potatoes.  So heat the leftover potatoes and top with shrimp and cream sauce, what a delicious  quick fix.  Of course I got this idea from my Charleston, SC friend.  She makes the best and puts it over a baked potato.  My shrimp and sauce was fixed a bit different but it was still good, just lacked the company of the "SC gal".

Fresh lime wedges and we are ready to enjoy!