Another Day in the Wilds of Cook'n by the Creek

Let the garden suppers begin fixed so many different ways.  Tonight the garden supper was frying some sliced smoked kielbasa, adding some small tender potatoes dug today and of course green beans that had been cooked until tender, salt and pepper...........YUM it was so light and fresh.  On the side we had sliced cooked carrots with butter, salt and pepper.  Did I ever mention REAL butter?  Of course I did. 

Of course a rustic garden supper tastes better on a metal plate and use one of my mom's forks.  All in the presentation.  Sometimes!

The nights have turned cool but by 9 am in the morning it starts getting a little steamy.  Air gets shut off by 7 pm in the evening with a day or two of windows left open and a fairly cool breeze blowing in, those are my favorite days.  Over coffee we decide, what are we doing for the day.  It always revolves around the garden.  This day brings digging and canning carrots.  Last night we dug a shovel full to see if it is time.  Yes, it is. The beans are ready for the first picking also.  It will be a busy couple of weeks with the pressure canner dancing and ticking away.  The carrots take 25 minutes for pints and 30 for quarts.  It looks like we will have plenty.   Most of our vegetables provide for winter for soups, stews, eat with butter, salt and pepper or candied carrots.   Full circle.

Quincy and Ellie have been missing their walks around the property.  Last night they were ready when I said, wanna go for a walk.  They sure did!  They like to sniff and stick their head in the air trying to decide which way to run off and investigate.  They always come back after a few minutes for a treat and off they go again.  For us it is a time to relax and enjoy the beautiful green hills and views with no buildings to look at.  The grandson's crops are doing great.  Corn is tall and getting it's tops to be sent down to the corn silk for germination.  Pumpkins are vining out, clover looks healthy as does the radishes and turnips.  Those deer better be satisfied way up there and not venture down to our food garden.  I follow a young couple on youtube that has a place similar to ours only they are in Alaska.  Today I read her update and she is also saying their garden is full, lush and full of vegetables.  A bumper crop for them with extras.  That is ours, we are picking daily and putting it on the table out front.  Free for taking.

Beans, carrots and pickled beets ready for the shelves in the cellar.

Picking beans today went by so much faster than usual.  My niece and her granddaughter came up for the pick.  As usual we chatted and discussed picking,  canning and a few other things. Thank goodness we have the same beliefs on how to do things, right down to how to pick beans.....our way or no way!   In a couple days we will be right back at it.  I thought we would get rained off, a 20 minute sprinkle and the day was perfect for the garden.  I love sharing.

While I was in the garden the tall guy was planting apple trees that he raised from seed. He has so many started it is going to be weeks before they are all in the ground.  Someday someone that lives here will enjoy apples, maybe it will be  the wild animals.  Either one makes me smile.  It is worth watching something start from an apple I ate last winter, grow into a little sapling and then grow past the round tubes around them.  Some that were planted a couple  months ago are already 4' tall.  This is the year for growing and harvesting.  Wild raspberries are also beauties this year.  When mowing I ride by a bush, stop and pick a handful.  If you haven't had a wild raspberry or blackberry go for a ride or a walk, find them, pick a few to eat.  I guarantee you will be hooked on the flavor of wild vs tame.  What a life to be able to enjoy every little thing.  Just do it, get out in the wild open spaces, take long deep breaths, close your eyes and think.......this is peace on earth.

I don't even look for bugs on the berries, why ruin my enjoyment!

The Pea Shuckers

If the joy of harvest time from the garden isn't enough it was an added bonus, pleasure, joy, think back time shucking peas this morning.  We were out at the garden picking peas to can and freeze when the dogs started their alarm barking.  I could have cried when I looked up to see my niece coming.  She knew where to find us if not at the house.  You see, Pam and I go way back to the day she was born.  She is my brother's daughter and he just happened to be 25 years older than me.  I was born in July and 6 weeks later along came my niece in September.  My brother and his family lived across from us, the farm I grew up on.  We are more like sisters and maybe even better.  Good times, not so good times we have always been by each other's side.  Our personalities are about the same, we tend to both have a "Gross" attitude.  Perfect for this day and age.  Pam had come up to help pick or shuck!  I loved being with her and it sure made short order of getting 11 pints of peas shucked.  We talked, bitched and complained and laughed.  It took me back to our younger days of running around in our underwear on hot steamy summer days.  We lived where nobody but the mailman came by.  We would put our summer hats on, grab a little pail and head out to pick wild strawberries.  Once we had enough it was back to the swingset and eat our berries.  Life was simple pleasures that now makes me wonder how we were so satisfied to do so little compared to what kids do today.

Pam's house and our house overlooked the Oswayo Creek.  We could see our Uncle Orville's farm way down the road which was the original Horse Run Road until the new bridge and road was put in because  of the old road flooding all the time from heavy rains in the spring. The old road is now called Low St.  I don't particularly like that name.  Old Horse Run Rd is what I call it to this day.   Our parents would let us ride our bikes down the old road  past Uncle Orville's and back.  The best part Aunt Nina always had some kind of fresh baked cookies.  We just had to stop and say hi.  I am sure she knew exactly why we stopped by and like most good bakers she probably enjoyed the chance to share her specialties.  Hot summer days in the 1950s.  That is what we did.  The other memory I thought of was painting our nails.  Pam's mom used red nail polish.  We were not good at painting nails but we did our best and would head out to our neighbor's house, Laurabelle Karr.  I can still remember standing there showing her our nails and insisting she pick who had the prettiest nails.  Good grief, she tried everything to avoid the final choice.  Looking back she probably thought, what persistent  little brats and shuddered every time she saw us coming across the lawn.

Now here we are 70+ years into our life together.  We discuss old women things and remember the younger days with a few wrinkles, age spots, gray hair and a little arthritis setting in the hands that are proof we have survived many storms.  When we talk I look at her and see the little dark haired, brown eyed girl that kept me company through the years.  ❤

Speaking of peas, I was you know 🌱  We are having a bumper crop.  Moving the peas to the smaller garden near the barn where we could water them as needed proved to be the right choice.  We have already picked double what we have in past years.  2 gallon bags in the freezer and 8 pints canned.  I am guessing we will have that many and more in the next week.  It's pea picking, shucking, canning and freezing time.  In the next day or two it will be picking green beans, snapping and canning along with pickling beets.  We had almost two weeks of doing nothing at the garden.  Now back at it.  And I will have "a little help from my friend" and niece.  She has offered to come up, just give her a call.  You betcha!  Talking makes the time fly by.

15 pounds of peas picked by 7:45 am.

The 3 grandsons went home to MD yesterday.  I am going to miss them.  When they got here I told them, this is your vacation, enjoy the stay.  They really did.  From reading, playing video games, monopoly, mowing lawn, hiking, baking brownies, going to PA Grand Canyon, Kinzua Dam, and their all time favorite the Zippo in Bradford.  The oldest is now hooked on Zippo Lighters.  He bought his first one, the Ace of Spades.  I was told everytime I come up I want to go to Zippo.  He is saving his money for the next time.  Then of course.......Red and Trudys.  They have loved those hamburgers and shakes since the first time they went.  It is a tradition for our kids and their kids.

The Zippo in Bradford.  Worth the visit.  Loved all the WWII stories of soldiers and zippos.

They found the snake by the garden and killed it for me :)

PA Grand Canyon, Cooper, Cash and Jagger, The Bryant Boys💙💙💙

After the Rain

Rain has a way to cleanse the air and make me want to stand and take deep breaths.  It's a way to cleanse the body and mind which quite frequently needs to be done for me!  Time has a way of bringing worries and woes that need to be rided or thinned out to keep that smile on your face and song in your heart.  Today's rain brought strong breezes and cooler temperatures.  I even put on a sweatshirt, left the windows open and watched the shears blow and wave around.  My kind of afternoon and evening.  A perfect summer for me would be, go to the mountains and keep going up everytime the temperature got too warm.  Crazy huh?   I compared landscape pictures of last summer at this time and it was much more brown and yellow for the lawn and bushes.  So, what does it mean for a nice fall and winter?  I always seem to think of the next season to try and make a prediction for the up coming seasons.  Here it goes, fall will be exceptionally colorful with an Indian Summer to add to the beauty.  Winter will be cold enough for lots of fluffy white snow to do all we love to do outside.  That is my prediction (hope and wishing) .  Don't hold me to it, remember, nature is the boss!
Wednesday was one of those too hot for me days.  With all the garden and now porch work the crock pot and insta pot have been my best friends.  After working outside all morning and walking back in the house it was one of those awe moments.  It smelled so good.  I put a nice Smithfield ham in the crock pot, it made a rich broth.  The broth went into a large pot with carrots, cabbage, onions, potatoes and a bay leaf.  Even though the days are hot this winter meal hit the spot tonight with cornbread on the side.  Thank goodness for air conditioning.  While I was enjoying the smells of supper I thought of my mom and all the farm meals she cooked during the hot sweltering heat of summers on the farm.  During hay season, oat harvesting and putting silage in all day, milking morning and night and going in the house to make a sit down meat and potatoes dinner.  Always with biscuits or bread and homemade pies, cookies and cakes.  If I think making a dinner in air conditioning is a big deal then shame on me.  Mom's meals were the big deals.  She did have a pressure cooker which she used to cook roast beef, chicken, pork roast and meatloaf.  The cooker helped a great deal and within an hour the meat was done.  She also used a pressure canner.  I use both types too.  Makes canning a snap and the best roast beef.  Please, don't be afraid to try the pressure cooker or canner. 

Although it is only July 11th it is time to think of hunting licenses and doe permits.  You know you are from Potter County when your year is not complete without a purchase of a hunting license.  Back in the day when my dad, brothers and even my husband went hunting it was quite different, all they needed was a coat, hat, boots, rifle/shotgun and shells, knife and of course a hunting license too.  Now hunters take special scent blockers, special layers of clothing,  gloves, socks, high tech boots, fanny pack, back pack, hot seats, cameras, tree stands, huts, special knives, face masks, safety harness, calls, scopes with red dots, rangefinders, walkie talkies, cell phones, etc.  Now you know why the back pack 😉. Makes ya wonder how hunters ever killed an animal way back then.

 Today is Saturday and the porch floor is finished with two coats of Behr finish.   We used the same color and type on the Summer Place Cabin we built.  It has held up excellent and repels water.  Stands up in little water beads.  Just like it does right after an auto is waxed.  No peels or flaking either.  Hoping this is the last time we have to worry about the finish on the porch floors.  The last time I was refinishing floors was our downstairs, minus the bathroom, kitchen and bedroom.  I said never again...Technically this is not the inside house floor so never doesn't count, really?  Seriously, never will I do the inside floors again and never will I do the porches again.  You may wonder why we don't hire it done.   The reason is my Type A personality as my kids have told me I have.  If I hire it , what would I do?  Watch them work and get all frustrated because I don't like how they are doing it and just knowing I can do it better.  Even if I can't do it better I still think I can!  That is exactly how I am.  I can't watch anyone do something without wanting to take over.  So, as long as we are still willing and able we will do it MY way 😏.  Unless Mr. Big overrides my decisions then it is discussion time.  Which, we did have a couple discussions this week.

How about an apple strudel?  Not difficult at all.  Roll out a pie crust in a rectangular shape.  I use the dough for a double pie crust but you can also make two strudels by using half of the dough.  Slice apples in a bowl, add sugar, cinnamon, a pinch of salt and 2 TBSP of flour.  I sometimes add chopped walnuts and raisins.  Mix well and  spread over the center third of the pie crust.  Put a few tsps of butter on top of the apples.  Fold over one side of the crust and then the other.  Brush with milk and sprinkle sugar on.  Put strudel on baking sheet that has parchment paper.  Bake at 375 until golden brown.  You can serve warm or cold.  Sometimes when cool I dust the top with confectioners sugar.  We like Ice Cream with it but my favorite is with a wedge of sharp cheddar cheese.  A little German favorite from my mom.

Our 3 grandsons age 13, 11 and 9 are here for the week with me.  I am going to make farmers out of 2 and a baker out of 1.  We drove to Shamokin Dam yesterday and made the trade.  Our son, his wife and 4 year old daughter get gramps and I get the boys.  First time ever for them to stay away from their mom and dad.  So far so good.

Fast to learn and ready to mow lawns Tuesday.

My 1960s grandson, he plays the drums!

They found the snake living under a bale of hay by my garden.  They love snakes but for gramma they did away with it.

Had to stop on the way home to see the PA Grand Canyon.

Piddly Work

Give me the power equipment like the angle sander with the diamabrush.  This piddly scrapping and sanding is not for me!   3 hours of scraping under the porch rail and along the siding is about all I can stand.  Tomorrow will be sand it and then...........maybe..........Saturday the stain  will go on.  The hard part is getting out there early while the morning is still cool.  I tend to like to sit, drink my coffee, check the web,  knit a little and always enjoy the view.  Not happening the last three days with the 90 degree temperatures.  Once we start the back porch it will be late afternoon work since that is when the shade hits back there.  That will really blow my mind.  I like to get work down in the morning so in the afternoon we can relax or go somewhere.  Guess I am lucky if that is all I have to gripe about today.

It's summer squash season.  We picked the first two last night.  For supper I made something new.  No recipe, just a desperate woman with nothing planned.  I made pizza dough using 000 flour.  It is what the Italians use and is the best crust ever.  The flour is super fine and makes a dough easy to press.  Much to my surprise I found it at Walmart.  I cut up and fried bacon.  Drained the grease from the pan and left enough for the pizza dough to be pressed out on.  Layered the dough with fresh sliced summer squash, one sliced thin onion, bacon, and then mozzarella and swiss cheese on top.  Baked at 400 degrees until bottom was golden brown.  Once plated we put warm pizza sauce on top.  Mine also had hot pepper flakes sprinkled on because I like a "little" spice in my life!  It was great!  In fact it will be made frequently during squash season.

As you can see I used my cast iron frying pan.  It makes for a crispy bottom on the crust.  This is more like a deep dish pizza with a thin crust.  Can't say enough on how good it tasted. The swiss cheese gave a nice flavor.  Just right with nothing else on the side.  We have enough for each a slice for lunch tomorrow!  Free food :)  This reminds me of the summer tomato pie that will be made when the tomatoes ripen.  Right now they are just little green fruits.







The rain finally arrived just in time.  We had planned on watering flowers and gardens but now we can just take it easy.  I have been knitting and watching a few youtube blogs on tiny houses built on travel trailer frames.  Gathering info.

I always talk about my mom and all the wonderful things she could do and passed onto me at a very young age.  My dad was also helpful in teaching me things, just in a different way.  He was a gruff farmer that only told or explained something once so ya better listen.  Which I did because I was too scared to ask a second time.  Both my dad and Uncle Orville were good farmers and gardeners.  From them I learned  how deep, how close, how wide the rows should be apart and make sure to weed and hoe until the plants get big.  That is what we do.  Then he taught me about being thrifty and not wasting something that could be used again even if it meant a little more work.  For example, when we lived in our first home we lowered the ceilings.  I wanted new woodwork and dad said, no you can turn the boards over, sand them and they will look like new ones.  They did!  We have turned boards over many times in our remodeling or gathering boards that nobody else wants.  Dad also taught me how to dry wall and spackle. Although he really didn't show me specifically I watched him from the a very early age.  He was known for doing rounded archways and many people would hire him in the winters when farm work slowed down.  Being a daughter of parents 43 and 45 years old when I was born I watched and was always by their side.  Mom for cooking , sewing, knitting,embroidery,  canning, gardening and crocheting.  Dad for guys work.  Maybe that is why I like doing remodeling, using power tools, getting my hands dirty and brush hogging our fields.  It was my entertainment growing up on the farm watching and learning.  When I think back I can never remember mom and dad not busy, they were always working at the barn our house.  The only time they relaxed was after chores and supper, the evening was for reading  the news paper, a cup of tea, something sweet to eat and then off to bed.  Milking started by 5 am to get the milk cans in the cooler and cooled down before the milk truck came .  The milk truck would come mid day to pick up the last evenings and morning milk.  Everyday 7 days a week.  Got a little off track, this mind of mine can not stay focused on one thing at a time!!  Drywall is my least favorite thing to do.  Every time we have a project that requires drywall I say it is my last but then there is always the "next time".

Kim I have thought of you all day.  Blessings that you and Rod's day will end on a big happy note ❤

Never Satisfied

Never satisfied with the weather is what I am talking about.  Too dry, wet, cold, hot, windy and whatever else I can complain about.  Two things today that had me in a tizzy.....too hot and too dry!  The ground is cracked, hard and dusty.  I want at least two straight days of a soft gentle rain.  We hear thunder rumbling over the hills but nothing comes to Cook'n by the Creek.  It takes us two hours to water the big garden every two days using 4 barrels of water.  If I could just wake up in the night to the sound of rain and a cool breeze coming in the windows.  You know the kind of rain that cleanses the air and makes you want to take long deep breaths to relax the body and mind.  The only thing I don't like about rain is sometimes  the air smells like worms.  I doubt that will happen this summer if we do get rain.  There is not a worm to be found.  Usually when pulling weeds or digging in the flower beds or garden there are worms everywhere.  Especially under rocks.  Nothing.......so where are they?  Makes me wonder why.  Don't get me wrong, I am happy not to have them.  I don't like touching them.  About like my like for snakes, I have no like for them.  So far I have seen three snakes while mowing.  One I tried to run over screaming every time I did.  I don't think I got it but gave it 3 good tries.  The other went under a log near where I was mowing.  The other was on our bridge, it is dead :) So, if the count stays at three for the rest of the year I am going to be very happy.

The peas are showing good potential for a big crop this year!

One beautiful lonesome cloud went floating by.

While watering the garden this big cloud put on quite a show with it's ever changing formation.  I tried to find something it looked like but didn't.  Just itself but oh so pretty coming over the hill  before dark.  We also watched 7 deer coming to the food plots for their evening dinner.  They are a beautiful golden color this time of year.  During the winter they are a dull gray/brown.  Natures way of protecting them from predators and there are plenty of them around.  Growing up I can never remember hearing of coyotes or fishers.  Now they are plentiful and everywhere.  Even in the towns and cities coyotes are looking for food.  One thing I am happy to have that we never had around is the Bald Eagle.  We see them quite often on our little journeys for groceries in other towns.  Yesterday one flew over the garden and up the valley.  They are around here quite frequently.  I think because of the ponds people have near and also the Oswayo Creek to hunt for fish.  There is just something so breath taking and majestic when we see them.  

Almost dark and about finished watering the garden.

The sunset was giving us beautiful sky from all directions.

All the griping about the weather but it has provided days to work on the porch.  We finished up today with the diamabrush and power washed the porch and siding.  Tomorrow I will use paint stripper where we couldn't get close to the siding.  Then it is ready for the stain.  I doubt much will get done tomorrow since they are warning it will be 4 degrees warmer than today.  94 is just too hot.  Back to the basement to sew more face masks and also work on a blanket I am knitting for our great grandson.  Someone has suggested making something sweet.  I am thinking homemade fried cakes or a Boston Cream Pie.  I always wondered why they call it a Boston Cream Pie when it is actually a cake.  I googled that and now I know.  A Boston cream pie is an American dessert consisting of a yellow butter cake filled with custard or cream and topped with chocolate glaze. The dessert acquired its name when cakes and pies were cooked in the same pans, and the words were used interchangeably.

Instead of doing a 2 layer I did the sheet style and poked holes with the handle of a wooden spoon.  Spread the cream filling, it went down in the holes.  Used a ganache on top. 

Day 2 of the Diamabrush.  That was the easy part, now all the nooks and crannies which will be a big pain.

A Wild Hair

c

If you read the title and know the ending of the phrase you are probably over 40.  Some youngers might know too.  I heard that phrase many times in my 71 years.  With that being said, how did that pop in my mind?  It really didn't just pop in, it has been brewing for about 4 years.  I finally got brave or stupid to bring up the Wild Hair that has been brewing.  First of all when we built our house 22 years ago the decks were stained with a transparent shade of clay/gray color.  I loved it, every 3 years we used the same stuff.  Until the 3rd time which was definitely not a charm.  The place I always bought the finish from gave me the solid instead of transparent which might as well have been paint.  So from that point on we had to use it.  It peels, blisters and looks horrible after the winter hits it.  I started googling how to remove paint from a porch floor.  Not what I wanted to do from most of the videos.  They showed using paint remover, scrapping, more paint remover, scrapping until it was all removed and lastly sanding.  Then a video showed the "diamabrush,"  oh baby...... that is the ticket if it works.  Home Depot sells it as a special order item.  Now, do I order it and surprise the tall guy?  I am not completely foolish so I mentioned how much "we" hate scrapping and painting the porch and this is the year to do it.  Wait, look what I found on youtube.  He said order it and let's get it done.  Ordered, stain bought, paint bought for the rails and poles.  For the next couple months the porches will share morning and evenings with the garden needs.  Might as well have a little variety.  The beginning..............

Once he figured it out, my turn.  The intro was more like what he would say to his students at VoTech safety classes.  I wanted to say after a minute it is all beginning to sound like, blah blah blah.  But I put the look on my face that I was paying attention and finally he hands it over.  Nine boards later, shower and a tall glass of ice water here I am  typing away.  I counted the boards, 28 so we did about 1/3 before the sun came around to the front.  3 days and it should be ready for the stain.  If not, oh well!  One thing I have learned, never look at the big picture at least when taking on a restoration or building project.  That overwhelms us, keep it simple, like one board at a time.

9 boards down!  Done for the day.

This porch will be completely finished before starting the back one which has 49 boards and each board much longer.  I wasn't going to count them and then........I had to see the big picture for just a second.  Stay focused.

Let's talk food, Kale to be exact.  We have cooked it, added it to soups, used it raw in salads, put it in the freezer and the last big try, Kale chips.  Gahhhh they are nasty!  The only thing I liked about them was the Mexican lime and chile seasoning.  After 15 chips of trying to say not bad, pretty good I dumped them in garbage.  Never will I make them again.  You start with a couple pounds and end up with maybe 6 ounces, maybe!

6 trays ready for the oven.

End result, they are so crispy almost impossible to pick up without crushing to pieces..

Excitement on the nightly check of the garden...Yes!  Pea pods, won't be long now to pick, shuck and freeze.  The first batch goes to our friend over the hill and a pot of new potatoes and peas for us. 

What is Old?

Old is as old as your mind feels, old is as old as your face and body look, old is as weary as your body feels and old will show in your eyes.  Where it won't show is in your smile.  No matter how old a person gets a smile can melt away the years when someone looks at it.  Now at almost 71 everything adds up to old but trying to smile seems to take away the years.  Even if I have to dip back to the young at life and young at heart, search for a memory that makes me smile or feel deep down good in my heart.  The older I get the more dipping back comes into play.  The older most of us get is when we start looking back thinking those were the good old days and times.  They were, but.........every generation goes through the same feelings.  It is called.....yes....getting old.  Don't get me wrong, I am not setting here thinking it is the end because it is just the beginning.  The beginning of a new chapter to what will be.  If we are blessed there will be many chapters to start and hopefully finish.  A saying that I have never liked, life is too short to.......  To what?  Never quite figured out how much time is needed and I doubt anyone else has.  They may say the quote and finish it with what they believe.  Everyone has a different end to that saying.  I just can't come up with one for me.

Time and days continue to go at Cook'n by the Creek.  Every new blossom is a time  each plant is ready for.  It is time for our lilies to bloom and wow are they gorgeous this year.  We have pink and white, orange and a deep deep red.  How do you like that for telling what type they are?  Never keep the tag, we buy, plant and watch them bloom year after year.  As each one opens we announce the red lily is blooming or pink and white or orange.  The prettiest flowers that blossom around here will end with the lilies.  The others are nice just lack the wow to me.

Our temperatures are way to hot for us to enjoy the outdoors.  During the day we dash out for a quick chore, then back  to the air conditioning.  Have I ever mentioned how much I hate ac?  Well I do!  It means it is above 80  and that is too hot for us.  Have I ever mentioned how much I love winter and snow?  Of course I have.  Give me a warm toasty house for baking and winter soups.  A walk in the crisp air or snow shoeing, roasting hot dogs and a thermos of coffee.  Those days that light my candle, float my boat or whatever the saying.  Not hard to figure out what memories I am pulling up to put that smile on my face.  It's only July 4th, little early to be thinking about winter.  Canning and freezing the harvest comes next.  Never wish time away Cheryle Anne Gross as my mom would tell me.  Always wishing for something down the road a little farther.  The road ends here.

Sandy Bottom

Let's pull up a summer memory of growing up around Shinglehouse in the 1960s.  Teens, what do you do?  Ride bikes, hike, picnics or go to the local swimming hole in the Oswayo Creek. The creek looks much smaller than when I grew up on the farm with the Oswayo flowing through.  If you graduated from our school you will remember the line in our Alma Mater, The Oswayo Flows.   I don't want to leave out the carnival that came to town every summer.  It seemed huge to me and filled the Fire Hall parking lot.  That was a time to see many people from our area.  Sandy Bottom or Ten Foot, yep that is where it was happening during the summer for us teens.  All was nice until the boys decided to pull you in, dunk you or chase you with a mud dog.  Those mud dogs were slimy nasty looking things that lived in the creek banks and swam in the water.  They were not easy to catch but when one was it was game on.  Girls screaming, running, begging and boys chasing, laughing with that mean laugh and wouldn't give up until a girl ended up getting one thrown at her.  What fun, nightmare material but young innocent fun.  It was like magic, everyone knew when it was time to head home, long before supper and dark.  There was a rope that usually boys only would swing from.  I look back now and know why the girls were there, not to swim but to watch the boys.  They were darn skinny but cute as heck!  We knew everyone and where everyone lived.  I think I would be pretty accurate in going up and down the streets and naming who lived where.  Most of the family names that had been there since I can remember.  Now I barely know the names of people in Shinglehouse.  A few old name brands but not many.  Life was good on those shady cool streets, no worries on something bad happening, all parents kept a close watch on all the kids.

This is what Sandy Bottom looks like now.  Hard to believe it was much deeper and wider when we swam there.  No shrubs or brush along the banks either.  Only a few large trees and one that had the rope to swing from.  Sad little stream now hardly deep enough to wade in.

This is the bank we would set on and lay in the sun.  Trust me it was a wide open space way back in 1960 something.

New bridge and new guard rails.  I guess I will have to dig in my box of "old" pictures for a picture of the old bridge. 

As I am typing my grandson's wife just sent me a picture of an apple pie he baked today from scratch.  It looks beautiful and the best part is he said, he got his gramma's genes!  Yes he did.  How do I know for sure?  Because he is as particular about mowing his lawn as I am.  We discovered that a couple weeks ago!  Gage and Sammy live in Illinois and will have a baby daughter in July around my birthday!  It is tough living so far apart but knowing they are happy, healthy and starting a family makes the miles melt away.

If we could drive to Illinois for a piece of pie and a few hugs!

Whatcha Do'n July 3, 2020

This is the lifesaver we have, such a difference it the growth of the garden being able to water when needed.

Well, we are starting a youtube channel.  It will be the hubs and only because with the low end equipment I have it is the only way I can share a video when using his phone.   I can use mine but sometimes it isn't with me.  My tablet takes videos but the color quality isn't great.  So, that being said the videos will be coming from various sources.  After this video plays you will see others, they are the channels Dick watches.  Most are outdoor channels or tiny house living.  I love those tiny houses!  We have a frame from our Canadian friends camper.  You guessed it, we will soon start building a tiny house on wheels for the back property.  Watching and gathering is what we have been doing for the last two years.  We started buying lumber for it last year.  Hoping to start once the garden slows down.  For some reason we just can't set still at Cook'n by the Creek.  The new addition will be........simple living with a view.  Looking at compost toilets and water reserve tanks.  Simple living at the finest!

This is what we did early this morning.  Finished watering the garden.  The new water pump that can be run off the tractor battery is a life saver.  Fill the blue barrel and water away.  Of course someone has to be the hose handler (me) so it won't drag over the plants.  That is a job I "hate", so boring just standing there feeding more hose or pulling it back.   Along with the garden we water about 26 young apple trees.  All but 9 were started from seed under grow lights in the basement and moved to the green house, then planted with safety tubes around them.  All the seeds were from apples I ate during the winter!  Seeds were put in a wet paper towel and in the refrigerator until early spring.  9 were given to us by our grandson.  It will be interesting to see how they compare in survival and growth.  Which ones will dominate?

Depending on what time of the day we water or work in the garden as to the drink of choice.  I will let you decide what we drink and when.....I love this place!

Of course good ol' Genesee!

Or fresh ground Jamaican Me Crazy coffee!

Oh baby look what we will be eating soon, yellow summer squash!  Dipped in buttermilk, then flour, fry in about an inch of oil, drain and salt and pepper while still hot.  Almost a daily lunch here!

Knee high by the 4th of July 🎆

May your Fourth of July be filled with good times, memories of past celebrations and  remembering why we are able to celebrate Independence Day!   Salute to all that put forth and will continue this legacy for our great USA. 

Invasive?

That word is coming up quite frequently around here.  The beautiful bouquets of Wild Phlox I pick every spring and early summer turns out not to be Phlox!  I follow the Farmer's Almanac and they had an article with a picture of Dame's Rocket.  There I sat staring in a trance wondering why I had never heard this before.  They describe the Dames Rocket with 4 petals ranging in colors of pink white and purple.  Still not convinced as I kept reading they told that a true Wild Phlox has 5 petals.  The Dame's Rocket was brought over from Europe for decoration around houses because it spreads so fast.  Yes, it sure does.  Since we moved to Clara in 1999 I have watched them spread up and down the creek and along the fields in great abundance.  They are an invasive plant.  Do I care, no!  They are still beautiful and smell wonderful when the wind blows and carries the sweet scent through the air.  I will still pick beautiful bouquets of them to enjoy and smell in the house. 

Dame's Rocket in a Precious little cup my grandson Gage gave me 27 years ago.

The other invasive is a tree called Sumac.  This is a real pain in the behind!  My husband spends hours every summer cutting down the new shoots.  The roots run like a train track under the ground and all along tree shoots will come up.  As I type he is out there lobbing off at least 60 of the new ones.  They just spread all over in our pine stand that we thinned out for lumber.  Cherry trees are growing too.  We want them and not have the Sumac choke out the young ones.  So it has been an ongoing battle.  Sumac does have a couple benefits, one the birds will eat on the wild berries all winter long which is a good thing.  The other is my husband will boil his hunting traps in a liquid made from the the bark and red flowers in the fall just before trapping season.  So they can grow where we don't care, just not in with the cherry trees and blackberry bushes. 

It has been weeks I have been talking about the green lush fields and hills here in Clara.  Yesterday while taking our usual walk around the property I notice the fields are going the other way.  Not as green because the grasses are going to seed and turning a golden and brown hue.  Too soon to see the green giving way to other colors.  The hills are still full and green, they will be that way for a couple months.  I also noticed how big the garden plants are and filling in the space between each row.  No more roto tiling until we put the garden to rest for the winter.  This is a time I hate to see end, young garden plants giving way to harvest time.  It is so exciting watching each plant push up through the ground and grow ever so slowly until one day.........wow!  Look how big everything is.  That is where we are at right now.  I have been organizing the shelves in the basement getting ready to fill them with quart, pint and jelly jars.  Creature of habit, everything I do every year is the same. 

Check out the new invention my husband made me for yarn.  He has 3 more on the assembly line.  I usually wind my yarn into a ball for knitting.  Well it might take off and roll across the floor or I keep it in a container so it won't roll.  Then it hit me, what if I had something to wind it on that could set on the floor beside me or on the car floor.  Perfect, so far it is the best thing since ice cream🍧!  The most colors I knit with at one time are 4.  The next three will be on the same platform. This is a blanket for my great grandson that will arrive in September.   It is the little things that I love, simple solution to a very serious problem........if all were that easy.

One more thing that makes my life a little easier or fun.  When I was getting ready to make empanadas the other day I was dreading rolling the little circles of dough, because I hate cleaning up flour.  Thank goodness the mind was thinking how else to roll the dough.  I have a tortilla press!  Not knowing if it would work I thought, just one try, if not out comes the flour. It pressed a perfect circle at just the right thickness.  Now I will probably be making fry pies more often.  They are just little fruit filled circles folded in half, sealed and fried in oil.   Let cool, drizzle a glaze or sprinkle with confectioners sugar.  Kinda the grab and go pie!  Soon I will take some pictures of using the tortilla press making fry pies or tortillas and let you all see how great this $9.99 press works. 

Homemade corn tortillas are delicious and not hard to make!

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.