Here you can see DD18's kitten, Brantley, and Cooper like to pal around.
He knows he's cute!
Here we are making apple cider with some friends. I was able to put up 14 quarts with a gallon and a half to drink and share with others. Plus, I have two boxes of apples in the garage. Didn't I lament last fall on processing all those apples. Well, here I go again! This weekend, I dried two batches and canned up 3 quarts. I know, only 3 quarts, but it was today after I had already made salsa and was kinda beat. Plus, my back was complaining.
We have had the worst luck with our leaky skylights in the kitchen and bathroom. 2 weeks ago we had a doozy of a rainstorm so DH ordered tin and went to work Saturday pulling off the old tin and getting the new stuff on. Did I mention that when he started it was lightly snowing and water was coming off the roof? Yeah. Well, lucky for us it stopped so he could get his work done.
You'd never believe it, but moments after they finished, it started snowing! If that wasn't a sign.
We woke up to 5-6 inches of new snow this morning. It's not supposed to last though. Yesterday DH as busy changing tires on our daughter's cars. Just in time! I am without winter tires but hope I will be okay. I have a Subaru with new tires and a new set of tires and rims would run about $1,000 and we are not wanting to spend any money now if we don't have to. DH has my old Subaru and he has will be putting winter tires on it soon. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the roads won't be too bad this winter.
Here's my Veteran's Day work. I had a whole box of green tomatoes in the greenhouse and I am tired of waiting for them to ripen. What to do? Well, make Green Tomato Salsa, of course! Except, I have never made green tomato salsa before and didn't have a good recipe. I like salsa verde which is made with tomatillos, so I figured, how much different can a green tomato be? I found a Green Tomato Salsa Recipe that looked good. So, here it is. It made 8 pints with enough leftover to enjoy today. The only changes I made were that I used 2 large red peppers , 2 large onions, and substituted lemon juice for the vinegar. I have found that home canned salsa with vinegar has an unpleasant taste that our family does not like, and lemon juice is an acceptable acid substitute for vinegar. The salsa is very good with just enough heat and a slight tartness. Be sure to use the sugar to counter the tartness. The picture looks pasty and doesn't show the beautiful, bright shades of green. It is much prettier in real life.
I got ambitious. First, I had peeled apples for dehydrating which just takes minutes. Then I made the green tomato salsa. I had purposely left the bowl of water with the anti-browning treatment in it to use in case I was energetic and wanted to can some apples later. Yeoww!! I didn't realize how tired I was or how my back was aching, so after enough apples for 3 quarts I called it quits, and stopped there. Here are the apples
Back tracking to Halloween ( I have not been good about keeping up with my blog, as you know if you are a regular follower), our pumpkins did not last a week and a half this year because October was so warm.
Yes, that is a fence charger you see on the porch. Cooper loves to dig but DH took it down, and that wee bit of corner you can see in the lower right of the picture is routinely dug up, much to our dismay. When the charger is up and running, no digging, when the charger is unplugged and down, digging! We are open to suggestions that don't entail brute punishment. I would use his shock collar, but of course I would have to catch him in the act to use it and he's too smart for that!
Sorry to hear about your sky lights leaking, I had the same problem with sky lights when I had them. Good thing hubby was able to fix them just in time for your snow.
ReplyDeleteIt sure looks like you've been very busy canning and making apple cider. Cider, yum........
Hopefully Wesson's injury will heal fast enough for another play date :-)
Sandy,
DeleteI am so thankful my DH is so handy around the place. He is my MacGyver (remember that show?), and can fix anything. I am hoping to play the role of grandma with Wesson soon. I will post pics when we have a play date.
Sounds like a busy time. WE don't get snow, so I suppose that is something that you make sure and have certain things done before it falls.
ReplyDeleteDogs and cats. It's always fun to see how new animals stir the pot so to speak.
Hey, Steve,
DeleteYes, we have to make sure to have fuel treatment in the diesel and hoses emptied of water and put up. Not to mention getting the chicken barn ready (which we haven't done yet), the heaters for water etc. We love it, though. It is always an adventure around here. I forgot to mention our skunk issues. Maybe that will be another post. Thanks for reading.
That's a lot of work. Glad you are able to take care of it all, or as much as you can. Love the cat & dog pic. I bet that Cider is tasty.
ReplyDeleteDFW,
ReplyDeleteYes, we are busy working around the place... it is never ending. Pets give us a neutral ground in our lives sometimes, I think. And, yes, the cider is so tasty and delicious! What have you been up to?
Correct me if I am wrong, but is that image at the top located in Park City, UT? I lived there last year and miss it terribly. I work for a roofing contractor in Massachusetts now called Olympic. Love the green metal roofing you guys have done!
ReplyDeleteThat picture was taken in WA state. It is a lovely old barn, so I had to take the picture. How did we do on our roofing project? So far, no leaks! We just need to get the inside finished up and then she'll be done.
DeleteI've had my sky lights fail me like that before.. Its a crappy feeling knowing the person that build your home did it just a tad wrong, and it really effects you. Mine have always leaked since I moved in and got it fixed, it can be a pain but you can make it through. You should always check if you need home maintenance during the summer.
ReplyDelete-Adam Ahmed
Seriously, has there ever been a skylight in history that has not failed? And with metal roofing? In snow country where everything freezes and thaws all winter long? I wonder how tube lights fare.
DeleteI just recently found your blog and enjoyed reading.
ReplyDeleteThought I would pass along something regarding a digging dog. Our Black Lab Hoover was a digger as a pup. He especially liked to dig around the foundation of our house, mainly around my bedroom just about sunup on Saturday mornings. After about a month of this, one day while cleaning up his daily 'landmine' offerings, I had the idea to drop his poop in the holes he dug. Then added a shovel full of dirt and tamp it down. He didn't like that for some reason, and stopped digging around the foundation. He never dug around the house again. I don't know why, but it stopped him.
Lee
I may have to give your idea a try.
DeleteIt’s a good thing that DH was able to fix your leaky skylight before it snowed. Had you been any later, fixing that would have been more difficult and dangerous. Has it bothered you again during the remaining weeks of the winter season? It would be advisable to check it again once the weather is good, so you can reseal it again.
ReplyDeleteRegards,
Willie Norman