Harvest Time

Dave got back home safe and worn out from his travels last week.
Saturday the 25th we went up to our son in laws parents to visit and help them out with a roof problem, sure hope it holds until we can get back to do something better.
We had to take biddleput with us as her mom Kathy worked in the afternoon. She did not like K and C's littlest dog at all as it would jump on her, but she didn't mind the older one.
We stopped at Subway and shared a sandwich with Kaylee on the way home. 
There was a hawk pole sitting so we got a picture of him, there is usually about 7 of them sitting on poles looking for pray.

We were home around 5 pm and changed for working in the garden.
Kaylee had a ball throwing dirt and trying to help us dig potatoes. We got the second 50 foot row all dug up, one more to go.

After we all got showers and or bath in Kaylee's case.
I have clothes drying on the line and one more load to hang.

The chicken soup is all ready to have the chicken de-boned and a bit later I will get the noodles made for it.
Noodles
2cups flour
2 eggs -beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 to 4 tablespoons warm water.
Mix all ingredients well, let set 20 minutes.
Divide dough in half and roll 1/2 of it out on a floured surface.
Roll thin and flour the surface and fold over, with sharp knife cut noodles in strips the width you desire.
You can throw these in a boiling pot of water or broth right away or dry on a rack.
Here are a few pictures I took this afternoon after hanging clothes.

Hops

Pumpkin starting to turn

Bee loving the marigolds

Time Flies

Hard to believe this week is almost over.
Dave has been off to Milford OR at a meeting and will be home tonight at about 1 am if he is lucky and then takes off for Spokane around 12 pm on Saturday and won't be back until like 1 am again. He will be one tuckered out fella.
I just got finished packaging up a very large pack of Brats into smaller air tight packs on the Food saver.
I haven't canned up anything so far this week but the first batch of potatoes seems to be cured enough to bag up.
Yesterday morning when I went to give the cow some hay in the barn the sun had just reached the roof of the barn and the frost was melting and dripping off.  At least the frost level isn't down by the garden area yet.
It was 35 degrees when I got up with a very cool breeze out there.
I have had to get a fire going in our wood stove the last 3 days we had a couple of days off with some warmer weather. Another warm front is supposed to be coming in tomorrow and Saturday. Its 55 here today.
here is a sunset picture and if you look hard down in the middle bottom you can see a hawk sitting on the power pole.

Its Monday

It was a work weekend and a normal Monday.
Friday it was going to a new Doctors office and signing papers to get our records shipped over to the new guy.  He doesn't want to re-invent the wheel on all my health problems which is a great idea. 
Always a pain filling out all that paper work when you are new some where ack.
Friday we also picked up some lumber to rebuild sides on our wood/multi use trailer. Then picked up the trailer at our son Seth's house on the way out of town.
Our bank account was about empty so we will tighten the belt again with buyng nothing but fule for the vehicles for the next two weeks; but we had to have the lumber for the trailer or it is almost useless to haul wood, grain etc.
We unloaded the chicken grain and few odd groceries and it was around 7:30 when we finished the night chores.  Being in town sure wipes me out. 
The doc put me on a couple of new med.s for night time for my fibromyalgia to help with sleeping. One being a muscle relaxant.
Saturday morning we got up a bit late; the new meds had me on the groggy side and I decided I best take them at 6 or 7 pm from now on.  Help not be a medicine head all morning.
We got out to the garden to pull the beets, pick our few green beans off the plants that survived the strange summer and dig up one row of potatoes, they did better then we thought they were doing, YEAAA. But the voles have been feasting on the to.

96 lbs of potatoes

Beets, beans, cukes, spag. squash

I was a slow helper I tell you that with being a groggy head. 
Dave hit the squash vine so we got one of our spag. squash harvested.
After a short lunch break we started in on the trailer bed. I always get to be the holder while the screws get put in, go-fer and screw and nail older hander over.

Before

putting sides together on the ground

We still have some things to do on the enclosure and a back door/gate to build for it.
I have laundry washing and just came in from hanging a load.
Dishes washed, a batch of eggs washed and a x-rock chicken roasting for supper tonight. 
We are supposed to dig another row of potatoes tonight; guess we will see how that goes as Dave's neck was bothering him yesterday.
I have been working on my latest book the sequel to After The
Dying Time.
I have also started on a new book; couldn't help my self lol.

Catch up

I have been doing laundry and trying to make sure that's all caught up as we are supposed to have rain coming in and over this coming weekend with a cool front.
Have almost all of it folded except for some towels and the towels Kaylee unfolded for me lol.
We will be pulling beets and picking beans in the garden this weekend and that will be enough to do without having to worry about the laundry. As you have guessed I hate piles of dirty clothes; always have. 
I couldn't let that get out of hand when we had 6 to 10 children home and that stuck with me.
It is 8:10 PM and it started to rain a bit ago, yeaaaaaaaaaaa.
Took a few pictures tonight hope you enjoy them.

Turkey Time

Well Saturday September 11 started out for me at 6:30 AM. 
Dave got home at 12:30 AM from Spokane so I left him sleeping.
Kathy got up a couple minutes later to start getting ready for work and had to hurry as she had to be out the door at 7:30 and have Kaylee with her. Her sister Terra was babysitting as we were going to butcher the Turkeys. 
I looked out the window at the temperature gauge and it was 34 degrees. 
So wool soaks, sweat pants, fleece cap, long sleeved flannel shirt and winter coat went on. 
I collected car and truck keys as they were parked in the gravel driveway in front of the garage and needed to be moved.
I drove the truck up to in front of the wood shed and the car down closer to the house in the yard as Kathy would be taking it.
I gathered up the firebrick and stacked it around 20 feet from the front of the garage in the gravel, found the grate to lay over that; then got the big galvanized tub to sit on that. I had brought all four tubs down the night before so they would be one thing I wouldn't have to get in the morning.
Next I went after the wheel barrel and up to the wood shed to get firewood. Got some wood stacked under the tub and got a fire going.
It takes about 2 hours to get that much water to near boiling as we had decided to start butchering about 9. 
I went up to the barn and got the card table to lay butchering knives, towels, rags, knife sharpeners, butcher paper, tape and etc on.
Dave's co-worker was supposed to be here around then, three of the turkeys are theirs.
I went to garage to get the things I needed for a good hardy soup for our lunch (kind of a yak, vegetable, beet borscht) and get that going, then back out with knifes and other equipment to set out.
I got into the house as Kathy was leaving and helped put baby Kaylee's coat on her. 
Dave was just coming out of the bedroom so he didn't sleep in as much as I was hoping he would.
We took the truck up to the barn and backed it up to get the big eight foot table we made to do the bird cleaning and plucking on.  We set it up about ten feet form the fire and tub and put cinder blocks under the legs for the taller people lol.

Br hauling a turkey over

Chopping block

Dunking

  Plucking

Cleaned and getting wrapped in plastic wrap and butcher paper then weighed.

Clean up 2:30 pm

 We did break for lunch when the turkeys were all cleaned and sitting in very very cold water.  
The soup was good I had to keep coming in to stir it all morning even when it was simmering. We had good 12 grain bread with homemade raspberry and peach jams and yellow cake for desert.

By 3PM B was headed home with their turkeys and we took a shirt break before putting away all the table, tubs and other equipment and so on.
Then it was time for chores, Dave went up to the barn and got the tractor; it makes it so much easier to take the bags of grain to the chicken coop. 
While I went and got the clothes off the line.
Then he loaded wood into the back of the truck and backed it up tot he ramp/bridge to the house and hauled it by wheel barrow up the ramp and into the front porch. 
I got the wood that was in the front of the truck bed and stacked it by the tail gate so he could get it easily.
The wood rack is now 3/4's full and we will get more later on in the week.
He still had to prepare the lesson for his Sunday school class and unkink before bed.
I saw the weather report and we will have high day time temperatures in the low 70's this week they say.
Kaylee should be up from her nap anytime and Dave just went to take a short one. 
And not to forget a remembrance to all those who lost their lives nine years ago, may you be under the Lords care.
Until we meet again.

Canning

Dave is off to Spokane today; I sent him off with a very large bowl of tuna salad and homemade apple sauce to share. 
I am trying to get some canning done this afternoon.
Canning up some of the soup I made this week so Dave can throw a jar of it in his lunch box now and then. 
Also canning up extra tomatoes into sauce so they won't go to waste. 
All American 921 All-American 21-1/2-Quart Pressure Cooker/Canner 
We still have the beets to pull and can up but we got behind on the things that need done before the snow flies.
Tomorrow Dave is going to bring wood down to our homemade wood rack on the front enclosed porch as we are building at least one fire a day now to take the chill off the house. 
Not the clearest picture in the world of it.

He is still talking of getting a wood permit so we can go cut 8 cords of wood up in the forest. I am beginning to wonder when we will get that done, seems like winter is coming early. 
I hope we will be able to, getting a bit hard with just the 2 of us to do that these days and he does most of the work. But I guess we will push on anyway as normal.
We still need to bring the trailer home as it is at our son Seth's house and then build new sides on it before we haul wood on it.
While things are in the canner and little Kaylee isn't home I think I will bring my spinning wheel down from the loft as I need some more yarn spun up for things I would like to get knitted this fall.

Lendrum spinning wheel

Homemade collapsible drying rack

Scarf on knitting board for double sided scarf

These are the drop spindles I made. I try to keep in practice on one now and then.

The laundry is going and the soup is up to pressure in my American pressure canner.
So off to do a little spinning.

Some Rain

We are getting some rain this evening, we sure have needed it. Not raining hard but lightly at least.
I took some pictures going up to Spokane on the 6th of September, most of the wheat, lentil, garbanzo bean fields are cut or being cut.

Old broken barn

old water tower

Late start to the week

Today got to be Monday and Tuesday combined.
Washing and hanging clothes, vacuuming, straightening up and making some nice thick stew like soup for the week.
We went to Spokane Washington for the day yesterday left at 6:36 am and got home at 4:40 pm. Then it was time to do the chores and get the left front side gate back on its hinge pins, some how someone bumped it or something with a vehicle, maybe backing up and knocked it a screw and off the top pin.
We got that done and tightened all bolts and adjusted so both sides to match again and swing open and closed well again.
In the fall the cattle herds are brought down out of the mountain pastures and woods to take down to the lower pastures and the gates have to work well to keep them from coming down the driveway.
We will be pulling the beets and turn ups sometime this week and get those canned up and done with. 
And depending on how many cucumbers we have pickles made, bread and butter and kosher dills.
These are 2008's pickles I didn't get pictures of last years.

The soup is simmering and ready to eat, it has been cooking since around 11:30 am. 
It is a vegetable, beef, lentil and rice soup. I am trying to decide if I want or feel like making biscuits or not.

Some week

It has been a busy week with us as with some of you.

My moms (mom is 81) boyfriend just lost his aunt and an uncle yesterday and his dad is in the hospital not doing very good, they found him on the floor dehydrated and he won't eat or drink.

My sister in law Sandy Wierschke is going to be allowed to go to a rehabilitation center after her two skull surgeries which will be only 10 minutes from their home instead of 2 and 1/2 hours, which my brother has been driving twice a day sometimes and working in between. 

http://wcco.com/video/?id=52083@wcco.dayport.com

The new interview will be up soon this is the old one.

I still haven't heard back on our daughter Christine's husband is doing most likely waiting on tests.

Tuesday Kathy was in a car accident but just ended up wit lots of aches and pains later on in the day and next few.

The car doesn't look so good through.

I baked a cake Tuesday night for the Hydrant flushing crew, I had forgotten about having to make it that day until late.  One of the guys at work gave us a bear roast and bear stew meat.  We take in things like jam, pickles, pickled peppers cakes and etc.

Yellow Cake

Bake 40 minutes at 350 degrees or till done depending on your oven.

1/2 cup butter

1 1/2 cup sugar

mix well add

2 eggs

mix add

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup water

mix

3 teaspoons baking powder

3 cups flour, mixed alternately with:

1 1/2 cups milk

mix well

Pour into greased 9x13 cake pan

frost with butter cream icing or one you like.

 We are paying bills today;bleck. But at least we can. Then we will be headed off to town to get a little shopping done.