2009 August 26 — Patchwork Times by Judy Laquidara

Where Did I Go Wrong?

August 26, 2009 · by JudyL

If your children are considerate, sharing, selfless, appreciative . . don’t tell me about it. Don’t even talk to me. Seriously, I know Chad is a good kid, probably most of the selfishness is a product of his raising. An only child, you know!

I’ve found some land that I really want. I think I want every piece of land I find that has more than 10 acres. I want it much more than Vince wants it. What’s wrong with that guy? Just because he pays the bills, has to keep up the house and land, has to worry about whether we could sell this house . . I do understand all that but I still want the land.

This is the only thing working in my favor. The house is . . well, CJ put it best. “It’s dozable” as in a bull dozer can take care of it in short order.

I think Vince sees it all as a money pit; Chad sees it as duck hunting heaven.

Here’s a conversation Chad and I had today. Don’t forget we’ve just paid tuition, room and board and books. A big chunk of change!

Chad: What did you decide?
Me: Nothing yet. Cindy mentioned that once we get our house built, we could maybe renovate the old house and use it for quilt retreats.
Chad: Oh, I’m pretty good at sheetrock work and I can lay tile (like I believe that!).
Then he said: I’m not saying I would do it for free. There would be a price involved if you want my help!
Me: What the heck? You wouldn’t just help us fix it up for free?
Chad: No! What do you think. And, I think during hunting season, you should rent it out as a hunting camp.
Me: A hunting camp? With my longarm and all my stash in there . . a hunting camp?
Chad: Oh, mom . . I think I may end up with a 4.0 this semester. A 3.8 at the very worst!
Me: Chad . . you’ve been to school 2 days. You say this at the beginning of every semester. I hope you do end up with a 4.0. You can but you have to study.
Chad: Yep, that’s my goal.

So, in one conversation, he tells me:

He will help me but I have to pay him
My beloved quilt studio will be a hunting camp during hunting season
He’s going to have a 4.0 this semester

Vince thinks I have no grasp of reality! Maybe Chad is more like me than I thought!

· Filed Under: Family · 19 Comments

That’s a Big ‘un!

August 26, 2009 · by JudyL

Look at the size of that egg in the middle! As I was getting eggs yesterday morning, one of the Red Stars was just getting off the nest. I reached in and grabbed the egg and I could tell it was a monster. Ouch!!

Look at it in the carton with the other eggs. Too bad it wasn’t a green egg . . I could have named it “The Jolly Green Giant!”.

· Filed Under: Home & Garden · 13 Comments

Homemade Yogurt

August 26, 2009 · by JudyL

Can someone tell me why I can’t be content to buy my flour at the grocery store, to buy my eggs at the grocery store, to buy bread at the grocery store! No, I have to grind wheat to make flour, have chickens to get fresh eggs, bake all my own bread and I’ve be wanting to make yogurt. Oh, another thing . . please don’t mention to me that you’re doing something because you know I’ll want to do it too.

In fact, at lunch the other day Vince and I were talking about homemade yogurt:

Me: I read on someone’s blog that they got a cow . .
Vince: NO! NO! NO!
Me: . . to use fresh milk for their yogurt.
Vince: NO! NO! NO!
Me: They said it was so much better with fresh milk.
Vince: NO! NO! NO!

I think it may take me a while to convince him that I need a milk cow. It took me 3 years to convince him to let me get a dog (Speck) and 11-1/2 years to convince him to let me get chickens. Don’t hold your breath waiting for the cow. He did say that I might (there was a lot of emphasis on might) be able to get some goats.

Back to the yogurt . . For a while I’ve been wanting to make yogurt. Speck has yogurt with all his meals because he has so many tummy problems. The chickens get yogurt several times a week. They love it and it helps cool them down on a hot day and they need the calcium. And, I’ve read on several blogs about homemade yogurt. I even found a little yogurt making machine but you had to use a package of mix in it. I don’t do so well with storebought mixes for anything.

Stephanie O’Dea has a recipe on her blog so that’s what I tried. It’s so easy! And, so good! And to flavor it, I stirred in a bit of blackberry and peach pie filling in some of the containers. The chickens and Speck will get theirs plain and I saved out 1/2 cup of plain for the next batch of yogurt.

There it is in the crockpot . . all done! Tastes just exactly like storebought plain yogurt, only better!

There’s a little peach pie filling in the bottom of six containers.

Here ya go! 3 plain, 4 blackberry and 6 peach . . all from 1/2 gallon of milk that cost me $1.58 . . plus a little pie filling that I had canned. You can bet we won’t be buying any more storebought yogurt at our house!

· Filed Under: Cooking · 24 Comments

Nap Time

August 26, 2009 · by JudyL

Speaking of nap time . . a couple of nights ago I was just getting ready to go to bed. I’d turned out all the lights. It was about 11:30. Vince had been sleeping for an hour or so. As I walked down the hall, the phone rang. Our home phone NEVER rings. With Chad spending his first week back in the dorm, my heart skipped a few beats as I imagined the worst. Seems as though someone might have (or might not have) escaped from the jail and Vince needed to know. Don’t ask . . but Vince dealt with it and went right back to sleep. Me . . I heard every sound in this entire county for the whole night. Speck woke up at 4:30 wanting to go outside . . no way was I going out. I was even afraid to go out to tend to the chickens when it started getting daylight and asked Vince to get up and watch me. I’m such a chicken!