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Produce on the Grill

June 23, 2012 · by

My weekend resolution was that I was not canning one single thing til Monday.  I may pick and shell peas but they’ll go into the fridge til Monday.  I am not canning this weekend.  One reason is that my canner has been hijacked for another purpose this weekend.  Another reason is that there were some other things I wanted to make and with a kitchen the size of a small peanut, there’s only room for one project at a time.

I thought I explained to the garden that I didn’t want any produce this weekend but I guess it just didn’t comprehend what I was saying!Crying face

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Vince is the grill starter around here.  The new grill has a propane starter so I think from now on, I’ll just start it myself.  Do you ever think that your husband does things just to get out of having to do it again?  I asked him to put the charcoal on the grill and get it started.  He knew what I was going to grill.  Can you see how much little charcoal is on there?  He told me the grill was ready and I asked if there was a charcoal shortage.  Last time we were in Abilene, it was on sale at Lowe’s and I think we bought about 10 huge bags.  There was no way this was enough charcoal so he added more and re-lit it and then I got the show on the road.  I grilled all the eggplant I had picked this morning.  Some of those will go into Caponata.  Some will get frozen for the next time I want to make Caponata.

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Next went zucchini.  The zucchini are producing like . . well, zucchini!  See the nice hot coals after we added more charcoal?  Good help is sometimes hard to find!  We had grilled zucchini with our hamburgers.  Also on the grill are peppers.  I picked every pepper that was needing picking – there are ancho, poblano, pimento – everything went onto the grill, got roasted, the skins were peeled off, seeds were removed and they were frozen. 

I’m trying to talk Vince into picking our big watermelon.  I sure wish I could see for sure if it’s ripe.  I’m afraid if I leave it too long, it will rot or a critter will get it but if I pick it before it’s ripe . . that’s not good!  He said he would go out with me in a few minutes and thump it.  I keep thumping on the ones I know aren’t ready and then I thump the big one and I think it sounds ready . . but what do I know?

· Filed Under: Home & Garden · 6 Comments

A Knit Along

June 23, 2012 · by

Don’t even say what you’re thinking.  I’m thinking the exact same thing . . She doesn’t need another project!  She has too many projects to finish!  She has a garden!  She’s doing Camp Loopy!

WestSee . . I told you I’d thought of all the reasons why I shouldn’t join the knew Stephen West Knit Along.

His patterns are so popular.  I’ve wanted to make almost everything he’s done but I’ve never made any of his patterns because . . they require changing colors and I don’t know how to do that but I’m not going to learn any  younger, right? 

This new one starts July 13, smack dab in the middle of the the second Camp Loopy project but I’m still doing it.  The yarn will definitely come out of the stash.  I’ll go dig though the possibilities later today.  Of the yarns he’s suggested, the only thing I have is Wollmeise.  I’ve checked yardage and weights and Lorna’s Laces, Malabrigo Sock and Skein Top Draw should work too, although they will require a bit of a second skein for Color B.  Even Color A is cutting it close so I probably would only choose these if I had two skeins of both Colors A and B and I’m not sure I have that so I might have to break down and use some of that Wollmeise!

Anyone want to do this with me?

· Filed Under: Knitting & Weaving · 5 Comments

Always Being Watched

June 23, 2012 · by

The back vent opening in the chicken coop in MO was either higher on the coop or the roosts were lower but the chickens there couldn’t look out. 

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Can you see the little heads sticking up?  I walk out the door early in the morning to let them out, I look over their way and they’re watching for me.  We put them up at night and they hop right up on the highest roost and they’re looking out the vent opening, watching us.  Sometimes we sneak around to the front of the coop and they don’t hear us so we crack up seeing them all facing the back of the coop.  They’re looking for us and we’re watching them from the front.  Nope, doesn’t take much to entertain us.

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See Burt there in the middle.  He’s the big one . . the rooster.  He crowed that one morning and then went for days without crowing again but now he’s crowing every morning . . only til I get out there to let them out.  Once he’s out in the yard, I haven’t heard him crowing any more. 

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It’s quite different with my little rooster, Roscoe.  He has a temper and he definitely loves to crow.  He crows from about 5:30 a.m. til at least 10 a.m.  So far he isn’t very loud so he doesn’t bother us. We do think he’s going to be a chicken politician as he loves to hear himself crow!  Here he was already on the board where he likes to sleep, on the second floor of the coop, and I decided to pet him.   I’m not his favorite person and he did get quite vocal and angry with me.  Vince was on the other side of the house watering the fig trees and he came over to see what all the squawking was about.  Roscoe was ready for bed and didn’t appreciate me being out there.

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While Roscoe is sleeping on the second floor all by himself, the other four bantams are crammed into one egg box sleeping right next to each other.  The other two are in there but all we can see are Thelma and Otis.  A friend pointed out to me last night that Otis is a Sultan instead of a Silkie.  I’m glad to know that there’s a reason why he looks so funny.  Poor guy.  He’s such a sweet chicken but he surely isn’t going to win any beauty contests.

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There are 6 of these . . 3 roosters and 3 hens.  At least one of the roosters is going to have to go.  We may move one over to the other coop where now there are 13 hens and 1 rooster.  For now, all 6 of them sleep in one egg box.  They’re almost full size now and it has to be hot and crowded in that one egg box.  There are two roosts . . one downstairs and one upstairs, and why they’re not sleeping on those, I don’t know.

Chickens are funny.  We have so much fun watching them and apparently, at the least the ones in the big coop are having fun watching us.

· Filed Under: Home & Garden · 7 Comments

Camp Loopy Project 1 FINISHED!

June 23, 2012 · by

When this project started, I never believed I would have struggled to get it done on time but I did . . simply because so much of my time is spent out working in the garden or dealing with the produce from the garden.

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It’s pretty and I think Nicole will like it.  The yarn is Dream in Color Classy and the color is Flamingo Pie.  Nicole loves orange and when I ordered this yarn, we didn’t know if the baby would be a grandson or a granddaughter.  When the yarn arrived, it was quite a bit pinker than I had expected.  Flamingo should have been a hint since they’re mostly pink but it’s not a problem now that we think we know that the baby will be a granddaughter.

So, Camp Loopy Project 1, Pine Forest Baby Blanket, is done and Project 2 starts on June 27.  The baby blanket took about 650 yards and Project 2 had to use at least 800 yards.  The project I chose, Cranberry Capelet, uses about 950 yards, so I’d better find lots of knitting time if I’m going to get this one done on time.  The yarn I’m using is Cascade 220 Superwash.  The turtleneck concerns me a bit.  I’ve thought about doing something different for the neck but I think I’m going to make it exactly by the pattern because this one will probably be one I wear outside during the winter . . you know . . on those two days when it gets cold here!  If I like the pattern, I’ll probably make another one using a different yarn and maybe a different neck design.

Now . . I if I can just get those socks finished for the mechanic’s wife so I can get the quilt and socks in the mail to them!

· Filed Under: Knitting & Weaving · 2 Comments