Pumpkin MIA

(image by Mariquita Farm)

So my dearest friend Valerie asked me if  I've seen any

canned pumpkin at the grocery store lately?

I didn't notice, I told her. So the following week I went to the

market to get some canned pumpkin for a few

recipes and sure enough,

"item out of stock".

HMMMM, that's strange.

So we went to NYC this past weekend and I thought while I

was there I'd see if I could get some canned

pumpkin.

Went to Trader Joe's and they said it's not in season just

yet.

So we went to Stop 'N Shop in Queens, NY

the same thing

"item not in stock".

The very next morning it was on the News:

PUMPKIN SHORTAGE!

Oh no, you know what that means, when they come into the

stores, people will be stocking up on them,

and I will be one of those people!

So disappointing, I LOVE pumpkin, I love it in so many ways

and I can't have any of it right now!

Had I known that, I would of planted some in our

garden!



Is It Too Hot??!!

Aren't my tomatoes pretty?

I'm surprised

I have any with how hot and dry

we've been

here in the NE area, actually

I think the

majority of the east coast is

suffering.

We returned from our trip to TN

and the weather

there is the same as it is here in

PA!

Hot, Humid, Hazy and just

plain

MISERABLE!

But today I'm feeling miserable.

Thursday afternoon

I started to have a dry cough

that hurt, a little.

Then Friday morning I went to work

and started feeling

dizzy, sweaty, shaky, and very

tired.

I did my job and went to the grocery

store to get some

Chicken soup ingredients.

Came home,

finished my work online, and made

soup.

I've been on my couch ever

since.

Drinking green tea, watching Hallmark

movies, or TCM movies.

There is nothing worse then being sick when

its

a 100 degrees outside.

But I'm not sure what I have.

not sure what's going on,

my boss

thought maybe heat exhaustion

but I don't do

anything in this heat.

I

HATE

the heat so I stay inside

mostly.

I drink plenty of liquids.

I thought maybe

the flu,

but its not,

the headaches and dizziness

are not fun.

I'm still coughing, a dry cough

that hurts

what in the world do I have??

So I'm home today

feeling sorry

for myself, and at the same

time,

very frustrated.

Someone

shoot

me!

Hope your weekend is alot

better than

mine!

Summertime Fun!

(Isn't she lovely?)

This is one of many reasons

of why

I

LOVE

summer!

Seeing things come to life.

A week or so

ago I went out to my garden

and started

taking pictures. I try and

do this

every year.

Then I keep a journal

of what

NOT

to plant next year

or what to

do differently

next year.

Below are many of my

pride and

joys:

Since I've taken this picture

my veggies

have grown quite a bit and I've

been able to

make a delicious organic

salad

Its amazing how delicious

food tastes

when you grow it yourself.

I really enjoy

going out there and picking

part of our

meal.

I also have been able

to use some of

my homegrown Herbs

I marinated some chicken

with fresh

Rosemary

and then grilled it, MMMMM!!

Now on a

different story,

do you remember this?

After a terrible rainstorm my back

porch

looked like this the next morning.

Well

after some phone calls,

and insurance

calls,

we now have this

a new beautiful, sturdy, better quality

porch roof.

Not only is it pretty, but we gained more

space,

we can enclose it down the road,

you can walk on it,

the guy who

put it on demonstrated

that part for us....lol

but we hardly

payed

anything for it.

Insurance payed for the majority

of it.

How wonderful!

We also gained a new family!

Well, that

didn't last for long,

would you like to meet

Oscar?

Say hello Oscar, don't be shy

When I first saw him on our back

porch, I just

about screamed

because I thought

it was a rat!

It was so exciting for me,

because,

I am a City girl, and although

I've seened

more animals living here

than ever,

I've never seened a

baby possum.

But I have seened them as

adults and

honestly'

they

scare me

half to death.

So although Oscar was cute

he

HAD TO GO!!

So we trapped him in a

pet carrier,

drove him

to the woods

and set him free.

Now I have to explain first,

there was no

mama

around.

It turns out, my neighbors

down the driveway

found an

adult Possum

partly under their shed

and

wondered where it came

from.

It looked like it was

hit but didn't

die instantly so it

crawled down

to their shed

and try to crawl underneath

it but didn't make

it, and it

died.

How sad!

I did tear up as I was

telling

my DH about this.

I am an

animal lover

but I don't mess with wild animals

at all.

But then after Oscar was

taken to a new home,

two more appeared.

DARN!

So we trapped them

as well.

Then,

last thursday night,

Possum NO. 4

Oh my, what in the world!

How many

did she have??!!

While my DH was busy snapping

pictures, I was trying

 to lure

him into the carrier.

It worked!

We dropped him off, came home

and OMGosh!!

This insane.

Possum No. 5

No time for pictures,

need to trap

NOW!

Here's my DH taking

the last

one to

its new

home

When we took the first one

out here

I was actually emotional,

I felt so bad

but I knew we couldn't keep

it around

they get big and not so nice.

But by the time

No. 4 & 5

came around, I was getting

annoyed.

But they seemed ok

moving into

their

new home.

Whew!

I think that's done now.

Haven't seened

anymore

since that last one.

Adventures of

living in the

country!

We went to NYC to visit

my family

on Memorial weekend

and had a blast.

love walking around

the City(Manhattan)

and we

walked around

Jackson Heights, Queens

where

alot of the

Indians, from India

live.

That was so much fun.

But on our

way back home here to PA

it was bittersweet

as always.

I LOVE NYC but I don't

see

myself living there again

unless I

had to,

but it is still hard to leave

mainly

because I miss my parents

so much.

But I took some

pictures as we were driving on

the B'klyn Bridge

I really love taking pictures

of this

bridge.

It brings back many memories.

I've walked this

bridge

so many times.

But when

we got to the

Holland Tunnel

we got

pulled over by the Police.

Evidently,

you CANNOT

take pictures of the Tunnel.

He had me

delete that

picture and wanted to see

of what else

I took,

he saw the Bridge and

said that

was ok.'

Because of Terrorists

reasons,

no

pictures of the

Holland Tunnel.

That was new to me,

How embarrassing,

sorry

Officer.

Won't do that again.

So heads

up,

don't take pictures

of the

Holland Tunnel.

Well, there goes what I've

been up to

for the past few months.

Now its

cold and rainy

and I may

just do

some sewing today.

Why Are You Tormenting Me?

The weather is close to 70 today,

the sun shining,

the aroma in the air is the earth

waking up.

Tulips, daffodils and hyacinths are

coming alive!

There are small green things starting

to appear.

Fresh, green and soft.

My plants are coming alive, already!

They've been

hiding under the dead leaves all

winter and

they're playing peek-a-boo.

I like that game

with my flowers. Its so exciting

to see

them, peeking from under the

dead fall leaves.

I was able to do some yard cleaning

Monday.

I tried to be careful, not to do too

much.

But that sunshining on me was like

an addict getting

his fix. That's the only way I could

describe it.

If I had to run into the house, I

literally ran in

and out, because I needed more

of that warm

sun.

I planted some spring bulbs,

YES!

Spring Bulbs.

I read in a gardening magazine

that you can

do that and still get those

pretty spring flowers

I just hope I

did it at the right time, if not

then they'll

be there next year.

Now I'm anxious to get my veggie

garden going.

Anxious to do this very thing:
(click on image to enlarge)

Watching my hubby fighting with the

tiller,

getting the veggie garden ready.

Me planting

the small veggies with moms help

when she can

come down from NYC. She loves

to garden

but can't when you live in the

concrete jungle.

So she'll come down and get

dirty.

Then sitting back and watching

things grow.

I look forward to sitting on

my back porch

with coffee in the morning

when its

still cool, then tea or lemonade

in the afternoon

after working in the garden.

Do you long to

do the same thing?

Are you being tormented by

this gorgeous

weather?

Its hard not to get out there

and start

planting!

But take it from me,

don't do it!

Wait until the

right time, otherwise you'll

lose

everything.

I won't do that again!!

Getting Ready for Winter

I love kale, especially in soups. So I thought I'd try to grow it myself and see what happens. Well, it is beautiful. It's growing so beautifully. My mother-in-law came by sometime ago and picked some, she couldn't believe how pretty it was and that there weren't any worms on them. WORMS!!! Kale attracts WORMS??!! She told me it always did when her mom grew it. Had I known this I would not have grown kale. I'd grown broccoli once before, and I couldn't believe the worms it attracted, it grossed me out. UGH!! The white ugly fat worms that look slimy. After doing the broccoli that one summer, I swore I'd never do that again. I will buy broccoli from now on. Then she tells me Kale attracts worms, but for some reason my kale did not attract worms, thank goodness!!!!

I did some research online searching for the best way to freeze Kale. So I washed it well, let it soak, watched a few spiders appear in the water, they were small, good thing...LOL. So it said to add Kale to boiling water, let it cook for no more than two minutes.

Then add it to ice water to stop the cooking process.

The kale should have a bright green color and it did. It made the house smell good cooking it.

So before freezing it I wanted to dry it a little. So I place it on a clean towel...

And started to roll it...

I rolled all the way to the end.

And bagged it for the freezer. It made three good size bags, but I have more kale growing so I'll be doing this again.

You all saw that I made sauce a week ago, well, like I said, I may make another and I did. I had enough tomatoes to make two and a half pots this time.

As you can see, it made plenty. I counted this morning, I have 24 containers in my freezer of sauce. My husband asked me last night, "do you think we have more sauce here than we can eat?" I said" NO WAY!!", You can never have enough sauce. Last winter I ran out, so not this time.

This is my favorite Peach Pie recipe. It took me awhile to find one, and here it is. Its delicious, sweet and comforting. So this year I decided to buy local peaches and freeze them for the winter.

Aren't they pretty??

I have a friend who made and sold pies for a living and she told me I can either make up the pie, don't bake it though, and freeze it or I can make the filling and freeze that. So I chose to make the filling and prepare it so it'll be easy to thaw and then bake.

After tossing the dry ingredients in, the smell was wonderful and I didn't even bake it yet, temptation!!!

I bagged them and labeled them. I had enough peaches to make two pie fillings, thank goodness. I already have two bags in the freezer from two weeks ago, but I think I may make another batch. I'll be taking one of these with me to NYC when we leave in two weeks to visit family. We'll be going to an uncle's house for dinner, so I'll make a peach pie and either an apple pie or a cake, haven't decided. Jane's Sweets and Baking Journal blog (you can find her on the right side of my blog page) she has some yummy looking desserts on there, I may have to choose one of those to make as well. We'll see.
I have thoroughly enjoyed doing my kale, corn, sauce and peaches. It's alot of work, I was exhausted last night. On my feet all day, but I know when winter has arrived and I go into my freezer and see all my hard work, and cook all the yummy stuff and when we're sitting down eating, it will all be worth it. So satisfying.