Take a Walk With Me

Just a  tour of the barn, garden and the little walk we do at least 4 times a day.  We sure love it and if one of us doesn't say, wanna go to the garden the other does.  It is a huge part of our peace on earth.  Watching the change in the garden each day and always wondering will it produce.  Today while taking this video I was so happy to see pea blossoms on the peas!  Not there this morning, that is how fast it grows this time of year.  Just like our kids, a house with 3 and then "blink" they are gone to raise their own kids.  Full circle has almost come and gone for us and I must say it has been a hell of a ride.  Life is meant to be  the best you can make it, so just do it!

The video has poor color it really is a beautiful lush green but for some reason it looks rather washed out and gray.  I am not a photographer or video master so this is about it.  By the way if I sound out of breath towards the end........I was!  The first time on the tour I used my phone which has beautiful color but it will not download.  Second time with my laptop I didn't have the recorder on, so by the third time I was getting a little breathy...........kinda like how Marilyn Monroe would talk...just not as sexy looking!

The dogs have been stirred up over something by the little bridge.  Today Ellie was jumping in the air like a kangaroo and running back and forth towards the house.  Quincy ran out to save the day and they both went running to the little bridge.  Then the guy I live with came running to see what was going on.  It wasn't their usual chipmonk, squirrel or black bird bark.  We are thinking there is a Bobcat hanging around.  Dick saw one on the other side of the bridge early this morning.  For a couple days these two dogs have been on high alert so more than likely it's Bobcat.  Probably remembers all the chickens it took from us in years gone by.  This is the first year with no chickens,  the wild animals love fresh chicken meat.  I never penned the hens up because I am a let them roam and live free.  It was like watching a movie to see the chickens peck along and chase bugs.  Like the Randy Travis song, He'd sit in the shade and watch the chickens peck.  That song, I thought that he walked on water........was my oldest brother Bob.  We all thought he walked on water and he loved to sit in the shade and watch the chickens peck.  Always nice when writing this blog one thing leads to a beautiful memory of  so long ago.  The first time I heard the song was on the Army Base in Stuttgart, Germany.  We were getting ready to leave for home after visiting our son and he said, I got a song for you to listen to, it's Uncle Bob.  Well the tears flowed and we hugged to remember the guy that had also served in Germany during WWII.  Here's to you big brother, always in our hearts.  That wandering mind of mine, how do these fingers keep up on the keyboard!

Ok, what is a blog without a little food so here goes.
Chicken, black bean, cheese and green onion Empanadas with a mayonnaise, sour cream and homemade Chipotle Chili sauce mixed together.  Just mix the first four ingredients together, season with cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper.  Cut circles of pie crust, drop an amount of the filling, fold over and pinch together the edges to seal.  You can bake them, fry in oil or use the air fryer.  Your choice, my choice, we live in this great USA and we have a choice with our voice too :) They are very good, easy to take to a picnic and again you can dip them in anything you want, your choice :)

Empanadas and chipotle chili sauce.  Oh, and for cilantro lovers sprinkle some fresh leaves on top.  

Is It Just Me

Is it just me or do others think it is lush and very green this year.  Everytime I look at the hills, take a ride or walk around our property here in Clara I am amazed at the green, lush beauty of it all.  Everything looks like it grows inches overnight.  It is a beauty that only nature can provide.  When we get a little rain it almost looks tropical.  The wild apple trees are loaded with so many little apples.  Soon a few will start dropping to give room for the ones left to mature.  Nature knows it is the survival of the fittest and to provide that there will be healthy fruit some must be lost for the cause.  The blackberry and raspberry bushes are also loaded with young fruit.  Like the garden only nature can make sure it will be a good harvest year.  By the first of August we should be picking berries for the freezer.  Jams, jellies and deserts will be made in the down time of winter.  With the amount of food being provided for the animals and us it may be one of those cold winters with lots of snow.  Natures survival for life.  If there is going to be a hard winter there must be a bountiful amount of food for the wild animals and for us. 

August will be canning month at Cook'n by the Creek.  Green beans and garden peas should be first followed by beets, carrots, corn, peppers and tomatoes.  September will be dig potatoes, we are hoping for over 100 pounds to put in the cellar.  They are growing and look very healthy.  Rutabagas are looking good too.  This is our first year for them.  Honeynut squash is a first too.  We bought some from a big Mennonite farm near Penn Yan last fall and decided to plant them.  They are like a butternut, just sweeter and great texture.  They keep in the basement like potatoes.  During the winter we will be able to dig parsnips from the garden.  They actually have a better flavor after the cold freezing temperatures set in.  Kinda fun to dig them up for supper on a cold winter day.
Only time will tell how much and how good the garden harvest will be.

Most of Saturday was in the garden doing little things that needed done.  The tomatoes were staked and lower branches pruned.  Next we will prune off the suckers.  I watched a youtube on how to increase the number of tomatoes per plant.  The idea of trimming the lower branches made sense.  We have had trouble with them rotting.  This way no branches will touch the ground and allow for air flow to help keep moisture down,  Something else we snipped the center of the pepper plant, this is to allow more branching out rather than grow tall.  It is also saying more peppers per plant.  Everything we do from planting, name of seeds we planted, fertilizing and pruning we keep in a garden diary for next year's reference.  We use to say remember this or that, ha!   Now we write it down.  It does no good to tell one another to remind me or him........those days are long gone.  Kinda nice because now we don't blame each other for forgetting.  One less, I told you to remind me! 

The knit blanket and doily will be put in the mail tomorrow on it's way to Illinois for our great granddaughter.  You know the saying, it's the thought that counts.  My thought is someday this little girl will be a woman and say, my great grandmother from Pennsylvania made this for me when I was born.  That makes my heart happy. 

Tonight we are setting on the back deck enjoying 71 degrees and a breeze that just makes ya want to smile.  What a night!  Two doe just came out of the woods headed for the grandson's food plots he has been working on since spring sprung.  The fields look beautiful with clover, corn and a few pumpkins mixed in the corn.  It is nice to see the young taking an interest in the land and preserving it to help the wild life.  Now if those deer know the difference from food plots to our off limit gardens..........4 ft orange fence has been put around the big garden but that doesn't mean they won't take a flying leap if they smell all the goodies. 

Listen.   Everyone must be home for the night, no traffic.  Just an occasional bird calling.  The Orioles are busy getting their jelly fix for the night. 

I must mention a very special lady we got to visit with today at her granddaughter's birthday celebration.  Bea West, what a joy to set with and talk of years gone by.  Sharp and I was happy to ask her a couple questions of people that I wasn't quite sure of from my younger years.  You know like what was their father's name, etc.  On top of that her sense of humor is right up there.  She had me laughing and sometimes in amazement.  Her love for speed!  Her son tattled on her about driving fast.  Bea, Burdette and their family have given so much to our valley and a lively hood  for so many families.  Hard work, never give up and carry on is what their family is known for.  What a day it was.

Saturday night supper, hot dogs with onions and German Mustard.  A dish of butter beans, one of our favorite meals and usually on Saturday night.

Friday Night in Clara

Fish bites, homemade fries and coleslaw.

Fish bites?  Yes, we like bite size instead of the whole filet.  Of course the fish has to be Icelandic Haddock in the blue and green wrapper.  It has been around forever in our neck of the woods.  Some are labeled Icelandic but by looking at it in the store it definitely is not the pure white filet.  So as many things, the older we get the less we tend to change.  The filet is rinsed in very cold water, patted dry and cut into bite size pieces to be fried in about an inch of oil.  I would prefer lard but that is almost impossible to come by.  I still have a little stash in the freezer  tucked away for a special pie on a special occasion.  The french fries are cut thin (no thick fries here) covered in cold water for a few hours in the refrigerator.  About an hour before frying I drain them, pat dry and leave on a towel to warm up a bit for the oil.  Once the oil is hot enough I put the fries in until the foaming stops and the fries look limp with no color.  Out they come, drain and let the grease come up to temperature again.  In goes the fries and watch them turn golden brown and crisp.  This is called the double fry and works like a charm!  No greasy soggy fries, ever.  Coleslaw is 3 cups of  fine shredded cabbage, add 2 Tbsp of sugar and 2 Tbsp of cider vinegar, 1/2 tsp salt and pepper and enough mayonnaise to make a creamy slaw.  Another way I make it is leave out the cider vinegar and and add a 1/2 cup of crushed pineapple.  We like it both ways.  That my friends is usually our Friday night supper.

Rain moved in during the night and by this afternoon it is calling for severe thunderstorms.  The tomato plants need staked before the storm hits.  That will be the next thing on the agenda.  First was the husband rewiring a utility trailer that has been hodged  podged with wiring spliced and all colors.  Materials bought and soon we will see the lights :)  There is always little things to keep us busy through out the day around here in the summer.  Maybe that is why I like winter and all the snow.  Rest in the valley after a summer of doing and doing.  Not complaining, move it baby, the daylight will soon be less and less.

Yep, we are on the downhill slide for day light, warm summer nights, gardening and a cold Sangria on the deck.  A few things that are always in my freezer, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries and blueberries.  When the wine is not chilled just throw in a handful of berries, not watered down with ice and oh so good to eat when the glass is empty of wine.  I tried a new Sangria white wine this summer, Carlo Rossi!  Oh it is good, a couple different flavors, tonight  the pineapple Sangria.  The best part, $6. a bottle!  Usually my favorites are around 14 to 16 a bottle.  I am an expensive wine expert😂

Stay safe and vigilant.

Like Riding a Bike

I have been without a lap top since last December.  It was by choice and I really thought I could do everything I wanted on a tablet and my phone.  Apparently not with the ease of the laptop and typing with two hands as I learned in high school.  Yay for me I loved typing and still can hit the keys and fly through this blog.  Shame on me for struggling so long, that just shows how stubborn, bull headed or defiant I am.  That one finger or two finger key hit just isn't for me.  I had several blogs started and just couldn't finish them.  It was so time consuming and down right eating my nerves away.  For a couple months I have been looking and searching for a laptop that fit my needs and didn't feel like I was over spending my fun money.  This Acer fit the bill, but the real "seal the deal" was.....how do  all ten fingers fit on the keys to make it enjoyable and fast.  The fingers needed to be able to keep up with my mind.....always speeding along.  I went to Olean this morning, downed the mask and let the fingers be the final yay or nay.  Like riding a bike, once you learn you don't forget,same with the keyboard!  You know the Acer keyboard fit just fine because here I am with kazillions of stories, thoughts and memories to tell.  I have been reading past blogs and what I read on the most part I liked.  It is my own personal diary on my life and a few others.  Eventually I will print them all and "pass them on" to my children and grandchildren.  Why?  Do I really think that they are just waiting to read it all?  Not really but hoping somewhere through the years it will be important to read about what life was like from 1949 to the day it ends.  So far so good, 71 in a few weeks and still happy, healthy and going strong.  Maybe even with a song in my heart and a whole lot of love.

This will be more like an introductory of what has been going on since last November, just a little catch up.  We are going to be Great Grandparents.  The little girl will be born around my birthday the end of July.  Gage and Sammy Bryant live in Illinois.  With this crazy covid 19 it may be a while before we make the trip and get a little cuddling in.  I wish it could be sooner than later but she needs protected at all costs so we will be happy with pictures and face time.  In September Connor and Avery Bryant will have a baby boy.  Same, it will be pictures and face time. Would do nothing to get this little boy sick, so distance it will be.  Bart and Deb will be grandparents.  What an exciting time for this family!

The garden is in and by the looks the corn will be well over knee high by the 4th of July.  All farmers from years passed were happy to see it knee high by the 4th.  They knew it would be eared out and ready to harvest before the fall frosts hit.  As crazy as the weather has been the lush green hills and valleys are thriving.  So far a good year for the garden but you know that could change in a second.  Rain, wind, hail, lack of rain, little sunshine, bugs, deer, bear!  You name it,  that garden and success depends on so many things.

The Baltimore and Orchard Orioles have been plentiful this season.  They are eating about 10 ounces of grape jelly everyday.  The Rose Breasted Grossbeaks and little English Wrens are also helping eat with the jelly.  A 20 ounce jar every other day.  Then the oranges but they prefer the jelly.  Not so much work, just grab, eat, grab and go back to the nest.  We have around 6 males B. Orioles and 2 Orchard males.  How many for sure who knows!  I just know how many are waiting on the rope swing or porch rail to eat.  We have two feeding stations and both have waiting birds. No, they are not social distancing.  They even get a little feud going on if they get impatient.  This is our most enjoyed times of the day, breakfast and supper on the porch with a view and birds to entertain us and give us some beautiful listening music.  I don't know one bird call from another but the guy I live with..........he does so I do the google thing and say to him, what bird is that?

The Orioles, free loaders !

Enjoy your day, take time to be in the great outdoors, rest, close your eyes and think how lucky we are to live in our great Oswayo Valley.  We have so little to do here but so much to enjoy, and remember "Pass it On" .  The best things that can be given or received are free.