Fallish Activities

I love the fall, it is my favorite season.  The cooler days and sunshine just make me smile.  Here are a few things we have been up to.

Outdoor birthday party

Visit to the Tyler Rose Garden.  I didn't

take any pictures of the roses though.

Trip to Galveston for the day to eat on the seawall, ride the ferry

and go to the Railroad Museum.  This ship was

a little to close in my opinion.

Here's a picture advertising 4-H

 

Anything outside is great this time of year. 

It won't be long until we light up the chiminea(spelling?)

and cook some campfire stew or just sit around and drink coffee.

I love sleeping with the window open in our bedroom.  I also

look forward to the lower electric bills.  I think if we had a fenced

in backyard I would set up our tent and sleep outside.

Fall is on the way

I love this time of year.  I always notice the shadows begin looking different in August.  It won't be long until fall comes, which is my favorite time of year.  I remember as a little girl going school clothes shopping.  We bought a lot of our clothes at Sears.  I remember all the different plaid dresses they always had.  I guess something about plaid fabric and school go together, at least back in the 60s.
I look forward to turning off the A/C and opening the windows.  Maybe we will even get a chance to go camping and sit around the campfire drinking coffee.  I told Greg if I had to I would go set up the tent myself and he was welcomed to join me.  Of course, that would be quite a show, me trying to set up the tent by myself.
I got my sewing machine out yesterday and did some mending.  I think today I will finish a skirt I started several years ago.  I also found two skirts I had cut out several years back.  One of them is a flannel and the other corduroy.  I love corduroy fabric, it is my favorite cold weather fabric.  One day I would like to make a quilt out of corduroy scraps I have and back it with flannel.  I saw one in Colorado in 1989 and have wanted to make one all of these years.  I think it would be very warm.
Fall always makes me want to sew and cook.

Well, I learned something new today and to think I went to college for this kind of stuff.  I had never considered what curry powder was, so I looked it up.  Here's what I found.
There is no single recipe for curry powder. It was invented by the British in India as a quick substitute for the thousands of different spice blends Indian cooks make for themselves. A basic curry powder includes black pepper, chili, coriander, cumin, ginger and turmeric in varying proportions; it often has fenugreek and oily spices such as cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and mace, and can include cassia leaves, curry leaves, mustard and poppy seeds too. To make your own, experiment until you find a mixture you like.

Cheese!

Fun in the fall.

A cupcake and a Super Hero

I love Sean's face.

Eating Thanksgiving lunch at school.

Little mama with her baby.

Queso Fresco Class

I am considering giving a class on making Queso Fresco "Fresh Cheese".  It appears to be quite simple, but I just wonder how the people in Newton would respond.  Here is the recipe.
*  To help prevent infection.....
1.  Boil all cheese-making equipment between uses
                                        or
     Soak all cheese-making equipment in a bleach-water solution for 2 minutes. (Bleach-water-add one tablespoon of bleach to one gallon of water.)
2.  For best-quality cheese, use new cheesecloth each time you make cheese. (Reuse cheesecloth only if it has been washed, then boiled, or soaked 2 minutes in bleach-water.)
SAFE  Queso Fresco Recipe

*  Place one tablet Junket Rennett into 1/2 cup cold tap water until dissolved.
*  Mix one quart cultured buttermilk with two quarts pasteurized milk.
    a.  Add 7 teaspoons white vinegar to the milk mixture.
    b.  Mix well.
    c.  Heat milk to 90*F.  Remove pan from the heat.
    d.  Add dissolved Rennet and mix for about 2 minutes.
*  Let stand for 30-40 minutes until curd is firm.
*  Cut curd into 1-inch cubes and let stand for about 5 minutes.
*  Heat curds and whey to 115*F(without stirring), remove pan from the heat, then let stand for 5 minutes.
*  Pour mix through cheesecloth and allow to drain for 5 minutes.
*  Form curd into a ball and twist the cheesecloth gently to squeeze out the whey.
*  Break up curds into a bowl and add 1 3/4 teaspoons of salt.
*  Mix in salt and let stand for 5 minutes, then squeeze again as before.
*  Form the cheese.  Romove from form.  Refrigerate.**

**Cheese made from this recipe can be safely stored in a refrigerator for no more than 1 week.
Recipe from a publication produced by the Pacific Northwest Extension.
 
I plan to try this recipe soon.  I'll let you know how it turns out.

A couple of weeks ago at school I was talking to my coworker.  I got to talking about hanging clothes out.  As we talked it came to her attention that I don't use a clothes dryer, microwave, dishwasher, or have television piped into our home.  At that time we had our internet turned off as well.  She couldn't believe it.   She said we needed to come into the 21st century.  I told her I would live without electricity if I could talk my husband into it, well, we would have to have one outlet for an A/C in the summer.  I guess I am a little strange for our high tech society.  I feel like I need to do as much for myself as I can and stay as active as possible.  I don't have a lot of time to exercise so I get it as I work. 
One of my coworker's students heard me say I didn't use a microwave and asked me how I cook.  What a sad state of affairs when our young people don't know how to cook except in a microwave.

Well, I got the job as Newton County Family and Consumer Science Extention Agent.  That is a long name.  My first day will be January 2.  We are already planning a County Food Show, for the 4-H kids, in January.  I am looking forward to getting started.  Here is the website, though there isn't a whole lot of local stuff on it.  http://newton.agrilife.org/

I haven't posted in a while and probably won't post for a while, either.  We decided to simplify and do away with internet at home.  I am hoping to be getting a new job as county extension agent, soon.  If I do I will probably have to have internet for my job and will begin posting again, then.

The strangest thing happened last night.  I got a call from Greg as I was coming home from class.  He asked why the little bench in front of our house was crushed and neatly stacked in a pile.  I had no idea, it was fine when I left home.  Evidently, someone pulled in the drive in front of our house and ran into the bench, crushing it and messing up the siding on the house.  We are hoping who ever did it will confess.  This is the second time our house has been run into by a car.  We don't live on a corner and to hit the house would take an effort.  Maybe someone came by to see us and accidently put it in drive instead of reverse.  It is a mystery.

Well, Greg and I had another first.  We were out riding around in the truck enjoying the wonderful weather.  We chose a road that we were unsure where it went.  When we finally figured it out Greg commented "I have never been on that road before".  As far as I remember I hadn't either.  It was the second of our firsts.

We have decided that part of our "No Big Vacation" summer will be "Firsts".  That is doing things together for the first time; things we have never done before, together.  So, this is the first of the firsts.

We made homemade ice cream for the first time!  When I bought an ice cream freezer, a year ago, I bought a hand cranked one.  I figured if we were going to make ice cream then we needed to work for it.  When I told several people about it they said that would be a lot of work.  It kind of put a damper on the ice cream making.  Just the other day Greg said "Let's make ice cream."  It wasn't hard work at all.  It only took 20 minutes and we had fun talking about when we used to make ice cream as kids. 
People, I guess, are so use to electric everything, that any little bit of exursion is "hard work".
Now, I need to get to thinking about what we will do next weekend for the first time.

June 24th was Greg's birthday, so on June 23th our friends cooked supper for him and brought it over.  After dinner we rode to the lake to watch the sun set and eat watermelon.

Greg and Toppy

 

Greg checking out the lake.

Greg's birthday present from God.



Our next outing was on Father's Day.  We took Greg's parents to Huntsville to visit Todd and Janice.  The only picture I took was of me and Greg at their chruch. 

The following weekend, I went to San Augustine to visit my parents.  Friday night I cooked supper for Dad for a late Father's Day gift.  Brad, Toni and Dawn came, too.  The following day we went to my dad's cousin's birthday party in Nacogdoches.  I saw my cousin Rhonda for the first time in about 38 years.  It was a very good day.

More later, our computer has gotten so slow I have to get up and do something else for a while.

We won't be taking any extended vacations this year, just short mini trips.  I will be taking more than Greg which bothers me a little bit, but that is the benefit of being a teacher.
Just after school was out, I went with my sister-in-law Janice to Fredericksburg.  We met our friend Jody their for the second annual Kindred Spirits Reunion.  Here are a few photos.

This is our tea party we set up in the backyard of the house in which we were staying.

Jody taught us to crochet dish clothes.  One thing marked off my "bucket list".

This is the front and back of our shirts.

We got pedicures.

My toes are the hot pink ones.  I'm not very daring, but I did choose hot pink instead of the usual rosy light burgundy color.

We did some shopping in downtown Fredericksburg, ate German, Italian and Mexican food, and did a lot, a lot of visiting.  We already have some interesting ideas for our next meet up.

https://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=406338629407341&set=a.398939423480595.86062.146108022097071&type=1&theater

Please click the link and like our picture.  We are trying to win a contest.  Thank you, Cathy

I have been going through a lot of old pictures and scanning them.  This past Sunday I went through a bunch at my mother-in-law's house.  I wanted some of my husband when he was younger and of his family.  My husband Greg is a twin and I have been having a lot of fun on Facebook, posting pictures and having friends that know him try and guess which one is Greg and which is his brother.  I have never really been able to tell in the older pictures.  When we were first married they both worked at the same place, were about the same size and had their hair about the same.  When I would go to the shop to see Greg, I would look at their work boots to make sure I was going up to the right one.  Greg had bought new boots when we first got married.  I must say I do know them apart now.

This one I am not sure about, but I think Greg is on the left.

This one Greg is on the left.

Here they don't look much alike.  They are on the backrow, Greg is on the right.

Here they are now Greg is on the right.

Bits of my weekend

It is nice to have a long weekend, I was able to get some things done as well as play around and do nothing.

Saturday, I was coming home from Jasper and looked into a field as I was passing and there was an Eagle.  It was just sitting in the field with some blackbirds.  I turned around and took some pictures.  I knew we had some up around the lake, but I never expected to see one sunning in a pasture just outside of town.





After two hurricanes blowing junk weed into our yard, a drought, and Greg and me working full time, our yard is a mess.  Not to mention Greg doesn't just dislike yard work he HATES it.  We have this vine stuff that grows on the ground and when it is mowed it burns your nose, eyes, and lungs.  I call it pepper weed. 

Greg wants to get Round Up and spray it to kill it, but I don't want all that poison in my yard.  So, I decided to get rid of it I was going to have to dig up each one and get the roots.  I started yesterday evening and worked on it some this morning.  I may go back out in a little while and get some more.
As I was digging I kept coming upon different things in the ground.  These are my treasures.

Now why did that picture come up sideways?  Oh well, I found several nails, part of an old coffee can, some broken glass and plate.  The clear bottle is an old Karo syrup bottle (it is stamped on the bottom)  it is broken a little at the mouth.  The little amber colored bottle is in perfect shape.  I have found different things in our yard every since we first moved here.  Our dog is always digging up something.  It is usually broken glass, but I have found several bottles in good condition and he once dug up an old roller skate.  There is an old house next door to ours.  Our lot used to be a part of their yard.  I figure the back part of our yard was where they dumped their trash.  I may just have to start and excavation project.  There is no telling what I may find.
Well, I really need to clean off my kitchen table, but I might just go watch an episode of the Walton's.  I love that show, it always makes me cry.  I have this gigantic ham in the oven; I don't know how Greg and I will ever eat it all.  We may be oinking before the week is up.

I went to a workshop today on backyard beekeeping.  How to build a Top Bar Hive.
 It was based on this book http://www.biobees.com/ .  It is less expensive and easier than a standard hive.  It doesn't produce enough honey for commercial purposes, but plenty for a family.  The main purpose is for pollination.  Greg said he would build one for me and I found out where I can get some bees. 
Before I got my chickens I checked with City Hall, I think I will just get the bees and not tell anyone.

Favorite Friday on Saturday

I thought the idea of Favorite Friday was a good idea, only I was so tired last night I didn't get it posted.  Also, I was trying to figure out how to watermark a photo.  I figured that, but when it posted on the blog the picture was sideways and I couldn't figure out how to turn it.  It was right on Picnik and where I saved it, but it was just wrong here.  Maybe it had something to do with the size.

Anyway,  one of my favorite things is collecting dishes.  I have had to slow down because of space, but when I found this plate at the Goodwill I couldn't leave it behind.  Several years ago, I bought I dinner plate with this same pattern; this is the small salad or dessert plate.  That's what I enjoy most; choose a pattern and as I am out and about at thrift stores, Goodwill, or flea markets find matching pieces.  It isn't any fun finding the whole set at one place (though that would probably save money in the long run), but finding one or two pieces at a time.  I first started doing this when I found a plate that matched some I remember my grandparents having.  I found a bunch of those then it moved to other patterns.

In my life this week

• At my job this week:  We had Professional Development in the morning and classes with our students in the afternoon.  I have thoroughly enjoyed the time with my coworkers and the workshops have been fairly interesting.
• Places I went:  Greg and I took several evening motorcycle rides because the weather has been so nice.  Tonight, we took it to the car wash and washed and shined the ole girl.
• My favorite thing:  I won two door prizes during our teachers meetings.  One was a gift card to Subway, which I wasted no time in using, and the other was a bag with a jump drive, pens and a note pad.
• I'm reading:  Alexandra Stoddards "Living a Beautiful Life"
• Link: http://www.alexandrastoddard.com/
• I saw:  One of my chickens found a big fat grub worm.  The others came over and were trying to get it from her.  Just like a bunch of kids.
• I cooked:  A big pot of vegetable beef soup and Greg had at least three bowls.  When he finished he told me he was sloshing.
• Grateful for:  Jesus who loves me and is always looking out for me and knows what is best.

I hope you have had a wonderful week, too.