She's mine & I shot her!

Since getting my CWP a few months back, I have been looking to acquire my own pistol. Greg has plenty to choose from but I wanted my own. My wrists aren't strong so I didn't think I could handle a glock or 9mm & I wanted something that I felt comfortable with, without too much kick.

Well he brought home a surprise for me last week!

My very own Ruger SR-22! We took her to the Country House this weekend & I got the chance to shoot this afternoon. On my first shot, I didn't have my left hand (thumb) back enough, so I got what I deserved, a slight scrape across the knuckle. Enough to make me remember that my left hand was there to support my right, not be involved in the actual firing. So I moved it down & continued to fire all 10 rounds in the magazine. She needs to be sighted in a bit but otherwise, I think I'm in love.

I already own a Ruger 10-22 rifle which I've shot a few times & feel very comfortable with.





This target pic is the first time I shot the rifle. Fired 30 rounds. The first shot is the upper & the next 29 are the big, bigger & bigger hole, in the middle. They called me "Dead Eye" all weekend after that.

Beginner's luck, hasn't happened again. But, you can call me Ruger Woman from here on out.





Fall garden & this week's bargain(s)

Well, as usual I hit a few Estate Sales this past week. I got a mini crock pot & coffee grinder. I will use the crock pot for cheese waxing when I make hard cheeses & the grinder for smelly things like dried onions, celery & garlic. I had stopped at another sale on my way home Friday & saw a potting bench that I thought I would like. But, they wanted $40 & weren't willing to come down yet.

I have been wanting one for quite some time. I could have asked my husband to make me one but he's got so much going on & it isn't a priority right now. To start plants, I usually pull out a garbage can & put a small plywood table top & have a small rolling shelf I put things that I reach for as I go along. The garbage can is just low enough that it strains my back. A full morning or afternoon of potting makes me reach for the Advil.

Anyway, I had to run to the grocery store this morning so I decided to run by the Estate Sale. The company that put this one on usually has everything 1/2 off on the last day. It was still there! So I got it for $20.

She isn't the prettiest thing in the world but it's the PERFECT height and will definitely work until I get a pretty wooden one in the distant future. Sure wish I had had this a few weeks ago when I started my fall sets.

Speaking of which, here's what I use to start my seeds:

Paper towel or toilet paper rolls cut in approximately 2" lengths. I use take out containers from fancy restaurants or Fresh Market to hold them. I put as many will fit without crowding, and then fill 3/4 w/potting soil. 

I then put seeds in & cover with more soil. I put the clear lid back, label on & place on the bottom shelf of my grow shelf that husband built me earlier this year. Once sprouted & after the 1st true leaves appear, I transplant to 4" pots that my FIL saves for me. I keep them on the grow shelf until they get a few more leaves & they start to look like they're true plants. I then start conditioning them by placing them outside each afternoon for about an hour.

I left them out for about 3 hours yesterday & about 4 today. Taking in & out is really a pain. So, I think I'm going to leave these on the patio table under the umbrella until ready to plant. They get a bit of morning & afternoon sun but are fairly shaded during the day.

Here's what I've got for my fall garden that I will plant in 2 weeks. Broccoli, Cauliflower, Brussel Sprouts, Romaine, Copenhagen Cabbage & Chinese Cabbage.



I've got waaay to many plants for my little city garden so I'll be giving most of these away. Plus I'm going to plant peas, beans, carrots & other lettuces directly from seed.

This will be my 1st fall garden ever! Wish me luck.



Lessons Learned

Well, I made it to the retreat & home again w/o incident. A good time was had by all.

I was a bit worried before I left for several reasons but one of the main ones is that I don't get along well with many women. The women I've met though this blog are the exception ... I guess it's because we are all discussing like minded goals & aspirations.

I do have close friends & family whom I love, & the women that I have come to know through this blog are amazing. So, I don't dislike women, I am just not drawn to them. My husband is my best friend & I wouldn't change that for the world.

Also, I am not a chit chatter, especially about mundane crap like shoes & purses & other silly things. I dress nice, when I have to, wear makeup, when I have to & mind my manners.

I also must mention that I don't have a whole lot of patience either. If someone annoys me I walk away rather than say something 'not nice'. And, I get annoyed easily, especially the older I get.

This past weekend was a test for me. There were 61 attendees at the retreat, 57 of them women plus an additional 10 or 12 instructors or moderators. The age range was 23 - 70, with the median age around 50. I was prepared to pretty much stay to myself if I found that I couldn't tolerate ... whatever. I was pleasantly surprised that for the most part, everyone attending was as focused as I was on learning the things that were being offered.

There were 4 or 5 younger women (age 23 - 27). Each had come with a mother, or were there w/a friend who had come with their mother. They were lovely young women & truly interested in all the activities. It was very refreshing & gives me hope about the future. They even put their iPhones down while eating & during conversations!

Yeah, there were a couple of Hazels in the crowd, but for the most part the others were easy to talk to & not overbearing with their opinions. I just steered clear of the Hazels. My cabin mates were an eclectic mix with great personalities to match. I even met a couple of women that I think will become long term friends, we had much in common.



Sleeping quarters

I guess what made me open up my mind while there, was the side conversations you would hear while going through the day. Simple things like, types of goats, whether you milked, types of chickens, cows, gardening topics, etc. Talk even turned to WTSHTF, how many months of food were stored, Bug Out Bags, etc. There was also conversations about concealed weapon permits & types of guns.  Hmmmm, I thought.

There was plenty of discussions about books, excercise routines, sewing & other things like that, as well. But it all seemed, to me anyway, that it was centered around one common goal & that was Self Sufficiency. By choice now & necessary when the time comes.

It was a bit surreal knowing you were pretty much surrounded with that many like minded strangers individuals in a foreign setting. It felt good.

I learned a LOT & what I liked about this specific retreat was that the classes were taught by real women. Some had been doing whatever they were teaching, for years while others were fairly new & were just good at it. Also, for the most part, it was hands on which is what I was looking for.

I helped make apple butter, biscuits & pie crust. I learned what I was doing wrong w/my biscuits (cutting them too thin). I hope to never buy another can of biscuits or pie crust again.

I have dabbled in dehydrating, water bath canning & pressure canning, but I needed to make sure I was doing it right by actually participating, while a knowledgable person looked on. So I took  dehydrating & pressure canning classes. I felt reassured & most certainly learned many new tips & techniques.

I took soft cheese & hard cheese making. I didn't learn much in the soft cheese class, as I had already made mozarella using the same recipe, but learned a lot in the hard cheese class. I plan on making Romano as soon as my husband builds me a cheese press.

I loved the bread making class & I hope to never buy dinner rolls again. Another goal is to cut down on the amount of bread we buy.

But, I think my favorite class of all was the Goat Husbandry class. The teacher, Shelley from Twiggity Dairy Goats, has been doing this for a couple of years & you could just feel her excitement & love of her goats. She & her husband brought 2 Nigerian kids, 1 adult kid & a Mini Lamancha. We loved them all. We learned how to select a good dairy goat, preventative maintenance, how to look for signs of trouble, how to administer shots, how to trim hooves & how to milk!! Shelley is an excellent speaker & you could really tell she loves what she does. They also brought Cheddar & Queso cheese as well as samples of milk to try. It was wonderful!

We ended with a party at the CITR farm on Sunday afternoon. I've been following this blog since the beginning of the year & it was nice to see all of the animals & understand the layout of the farm. There was a swap table, coffee roasting, yarn spinning & soap making demos, lots of food, hay rides & pony rides. The weather was perfect! With a glass of wine in hand it was a lovely way to spend the afternoon.

I had a great time & the lesson I learned was to keep an open mind, you never know who you might meet & what you might learn.

WV sunrise on my last morning

Summer Camp

Or maybe a bit of Fall Camp, for adults.

I am heading to WV this week for a retreat. I had been looking to attend the Heritage Harvest Festival in Monticello or the Mother Earth News fair in PA this month but ran across the retreat at CITR in WV this weekend. And, instead of sitting in lectures & listening to HOW to do stuff, I actually get to DO the stuff at this one! Cheese, bread, preserving & goats are what I've signed up for.

It starts on Thursday afternoon but I'm heading up on Wednesday due to trying to get out of our fair city to an obscure airport sometime takes ALL day. So I'll arrive in WV on Wednesday evening a & meander my way to Gandeeville, WV on Thursday morning. There's a couple of stops along the way that I am looking forward to.

Anybody else going?

Shade & Morning Glories

This past weekend was Labor Day 2012. And, labor we did! We have so few long weekends throughout the year (New Years, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving & Christmas). It takes a lot of planning to get soooo much done during those long weekends.

As I have posted before, our Country House property has NO shade in the "living" area of the property. The only shade is oaks & pecans along the fence line, way far away from the house & barns.

We purchased three big oak trees a couple of months back - over 15', to plant nearer the house area. They were waayyy reduced due to the 'top heaviness' of them. Brought them home to the City House & kept them alive for 2 months. Almost lost one. But did drastic surgery to help it along & it lived!

They survived the drive albiet a bit ragged to the County House over Labor Day weekend. It was hot & humid & a lot of hard work for two 50+ year olds. But, we got them planted! Thank goodness for a heavy duty auger & good shovels.

Husband augered & I dug dirt out of the holes w/a lot of his digging help. The trees were in 30 gallon pots. That's about a 40" wide x 24" deep hole, dug in clay soil (if you can call it that). Here's a couple of pictures of 2 of them:

This was hard work but very satisfying. We also got more newspaper & mulch around the fruit trees & willows. And, pulled about 150 bricks out of an old firepit that we are 'filling' in. Saved the dirt from the dugout trees to fill in that hole.

Overall, a very long two days & needless to say we were very tired. But, got all the hard work done Sat. & Sun.

I got up early on Mon. & walked around the property line. I found what I think are Morning Glories, with bees going crazy gathering pollen (husband was busy stalking a gator that had invaded the pond - hopefully he 'got' him). Anyway, the flowers & bees were lovely (not great pics but I'm just documenting anyway):

We decided to wait until winter to work on the raised garden beds. We are just too old to work w/blocks & leveling & such in the heat. We have 3 years to get them prepared anyway (actually 2 years & 8 months, but who's counting?)

Taking Stock

Or rather, making stock. I have made our stocks since forever (chicken, vegetable & beef & sometimes seafood). I save up cut off pieces of all the vegetables I use. I put them in a plastic bag & add to them until the door to our freezer is bulging & husband starts to complain that it will hardly close. I then will put them in a large stock pot & boil/simmer for several hours. If I have chicken bones, beef bones or shells from lobster or shrimp, I will add to the vegetables to make that appropriate stock. I then strain through a sieve & then again through a very thin cloth.

I used to freeze all that stock by putting in plastic containers or ice cube trays. But, that takes up a whole bunch of room in the freezer as well.

So, recently I had enough vegetables amassed to make it again. But, I still had a couple of containers in the freezer & didn't want to freeze this time, I wanted to can it! As some of you know, I have been looking to purchase a pressure canner. Well, I finally broke down & bought one!

It's an All American, the 921 model. Isn't she pretty? Expensive, so she better be pretty & she better work. But, I think the investment will be worth it, if for nothing but my piece of mind of a very sturdy piece of equipment. Plus, it's made in America!

We had a roasted chicken on Satuday night so I decided to make chicken stock. I got up Sunday morning & put everything on. While I was taking the vegetables out of the freezer I noticed a baggie full of london broil clippings I had saved the last time we made beef jerky. So, I decided to also made beef stock as well. I had two large pots of chicken stock & one large pot of beef stock. I let them all boil/simmer for about three hours. I strained them & put them back on to bring back up to simmer.

I had washed my jars & had them keeping warm & the lids were keeping warm in a pan on the stove. Everything was ready, I had read the directions at least 100 times. I was a nervous wreck!

So, I filled my jars & put them in the canner. Then I read the directions again. Started the canner & read the directions again. While it was heating up to be able to let it vent, before actually starting the pressure canning, I read the directions again. When it came time to put on the pressure gauge, I wasn't sure I could do it, I was still a nervous wreck. But, I got my courage up & put the gauge on. While waiting for it to come up to pressure, I read the directions again. I so wanted to make sure I hadn't missed a step! After the gauge started rattling I turned down the flame to low & kept an eye on it like a hawk. I had my stop watch to make sure it kept rattling every 1-4 times per minute, just like the directions said.

After 30 minutes I turned it off & waited about 20 minutes for the pressure to come down to 0, like the directions said. I was again nervous (actaully had never stopped being nervous) when it came time to remove the lid & inspect what was inside. Here's my bounty!

 

 

16 pints of chicken stock (only 1 didn't seal, I think I forgot to wipe the ring before placing the lid on that one). We have hard well water here in the city so I always get that film on the jars & lids. The regular jars in the back were on the top rack so very little film on them.

 

And, you know what? It worked like a charm just like the directions said.

 

Note: I put the rest of the chicken stock & beef stock in the fridge & canned it on Tuesday. I was too tired to do a 2nd batch the same day. When I canned on Tuesday, it was a breeze! In the future, I'll definitely make my recipe the day before actually canning.

Reflexion on Southern Funerals

Well, not just southern ones but primarily rural ones. I've been to plenty in the south rural areas. And, to a few out of state:

North Carolina .... MIL family members. But, those were also rural & I consider NC a southern state.

Chicago ... 3 close relatives. But, there were no processions to any of them as they were all cremated.

Pennsylvania ... A very close friend who happened to have also been my boss for 13 years. He was also cremated but the family had decided to bury his ashes in the same plot as his mother who had passed many years ago. 

I had lived through the births of his two beautiful children, his ugly divorce & his new found love (of his life). His new found love & I flew to PA for the funeral. She had also been through a terrible divorce & considered herself to be the luckiest person in the world to have found my friend. And, I agreed & believed they were meant to be together, unfortunatly that wasn't the case. I was in such a fog at that funeral that I noticed very little detail of the actual ceremonies or local customs so I don't know if rural PA shows the same respect that I have come to expect from my southern neighbors.

I went to a funeral of an Uncle today near our Country House. He had been married to my Dads sister, my Aunt, many years. She passed around 5 years ago. They had 2 very handsome & nice sons & beautiful grandchildren. He had heart problems & underwent open heart surgery last week & never recovered. He had met a new 'lady' friend recently.

What stuck with me was that the sons, who had to bury their last parent today, had accepted this lady as part of their & their Dads lives, even so 'soon' after their Mothers death. She was an active part of the rituals & they helped her, even through their own emotions, get through the day.

The pastor didn't even 'preach' to us too much. He just mentioned that we should each do our own 'due diligence' quoted from the book of Timothy I think. (I had actually forgotten that there was a book of Timothy - shame on me.) I thought this was appropriate, rather than the fire & brimstone that is sometimes forced upon those in attendance.

However, the thing that always strikes me, is the respect that rural people give to the dearly departed. Or, at least to the dearly departed family & friends attending the services.

In every rural funeral I have attended, the strangers coming in contact with the funeral procession to the graveyard, always pull to the side of the road, many with their flashers flashing. This happens no matter how long the procession is.

They are farm workers, with a lot to get done before the end of their day. Delivery drivers that are surely on a deadline. Mothers trying to get their kids to some appointment. Some people heading to lunch & some heading home. But, they always stop & pay their respects until the procession has passed. It's usually no more than 10 to 20 minutes. 10 or 20 minutes to some, is a lifetime, or so they think.

There were only about 75 cars in today's procession but not even one strangers car tried to continue on their way.

Yes, my husband & I have come across processions, and yes, we groan if we don't know who it is. But, we always stop until it is finished, out of respect. That's what we were taught to do.

Unfortunately, this doesn't happen in cities. Yes, I understand the logistics of highways & interstates. But, I don't understand the need for speed at times like this. Even on the side streets in cities, it is rare that people stop to pay their respects.

I've been to rural services with over 200 cars & still the strangers stay stopped.

For some reason, that small show of respect brings fresh tears to my eyes. And, proud to be a southern rural person who pays my own respect when necessary.

Tomato Paste, Sauce & fall seed starting (productive weekend!)

I stayed home alone this past weekend while husband went to the Country House to mow the grass. Couldn't see 'losing' another weekend driving 3 hours to sit on back porch, too hot to work on garden beds, & then turn around & drive home 3 hours the next day.

On Saturday morning I made my way around to estate sales in my area. Got an old fashioned dehydrator that I thought I would try out.

It was originally listed at $12 but was 50% off. It has 20 trays!

Came home before 10:00a & made more pepper jelly (no pic). This batch was much lighter in color & hotter than the 1st batch. Had about 1/2 c. left over which I promptly heated & poured over 1/2 block cream cheese & ate w/a few wheat thins for dinner. Delicious!

I also got my seeds planted for the fall garden (1st time). I am starting cauliflower, broccoli, brussel sprouts, regular cabbage, chinese cabbage & romaine lettuce. Plan to plant carrots & spinach directly.

I went to a local seed & feed store to buy my cauliflower seeds & decided to stop at the farmer's market. Bought a box of local tomatoes & cut up 1/2 the box before going to bed Saturday night.

Got up early Sunday & started cooking the tomatoes & making marinara  sauce. This took ALL DAY LONG, but damn if it isn't good (only 8 pints but it's very concentrated).

Decided to try Sci Fi's idea of tomato paste w/the skins & to use my 'new' dehydrator. Loaded the trays (8 in all) & dried for a couple of hours.

I found out that you really need to make sure there are no 'folds' on the skins as that takes a whole lot longer. Live & learn - my new motto.

I don't have a spice grinder at the City House but do have the Ninja which I used to cut up in pieces in order to store w/an oxygen pack until I have a grinder (searching on Craig's list & estate sales for one).

I got a pint jar full of tomato pieces which I will grind, once I get my grinder, to make paste. No more 2/3 can waste!

Isn't it pretty?

Thank you Sci Fi! I can't wait to turn this into paste.



The Project That Took Forever (it seemed)

The patio table & chairs. We always seem to start projects that take forever. Note: I don't like painting chairs w/slats.

We have a patio table set that was given to us by a dear Aunt. Well, she actually gave us money, rather than leaving it in her will & we bought the table & chairs. That was about 10 years ago. It's a hard wood but not teak. We've oiled it w/linseed oil a couple of times but it sits on our City House patio that gets direct summer sun. So, it was getting to be pretty dried out. The chairs & table base are in pretty good shape but the table top is suffering. We decided to paint the whole set & try to get a few more years out of the top.

First, we needed to pressure wash the patio, which we do every year. We always have to wait for the oak trees to finish dropping leaves & those little wormy things before putting patio plants back out & washing. Since we hadn't put the patio plants back out, it was a bit easier than in year's past.  This was done June 3rd. Note: It's now August & we still don't have the patio plants back out.

Here is a picture of the table before:

A couple of weeks later we started the process of painting the table & chairs.

First we have to prime:

We paint in a shaded area of our yard but it still gets hot. So, we broke out the fans to help keep us cool. This was on the 2nd coat two weeks later.

How redneck is that?

And here is the finished product (along w/ acorns already starting to drip in August - 2 months too soon):

We added a fancy umbrella we got on sale at World Market. We're taking bets that it lasts for 6 months, if we're lucky.

Here's to hoping for at least 2 more years on the table top. After that husband will build a new one to go on top. Oh joy, more priming & painting.



Jam, Jelly & Butter

I've taken a few canning classes at our local County Extension Office recently. The office is fairly close to our city Farmers Market which is a medium size market but has very few local farmers selling. Basically, most of the produce is from other countries & has about as much flavor as a cardbord box. However, there was an article in our local paper a few weeks ago about a lady who sells things that her family grows themselves. She's been selling at the market for over 50 years!

Anyway, I decided to stop by after my last canning class (peach jam). While looking for her stand I noticed a sign advertising produce from a town very near our Country House. They were selling peaches, peas & watermelons. The peaches were very ripe & the lady selling said they had to be used right away. I bought a box & brought them home. She was certainly right about the ripeness. They were very soft & I didn't think they would hold up to dehydrating very well. Since I didn't have any pectin I decided to make peach butter. Basically, you peal & chop them & cook with sugar very slowly until it's very thick. Then, process in a water bath. My box of peaches made 5 paltry pints but it's very tasty. I'll definitely make this again. Although, I think I'll cook in a crockpot the next time.

I read Sandy's blog post about watermelon jelly a couple of weeks ago & decided to give it a try. I must have done something wrong because it just won't 'set'. I even reprocessed one batch, adding more pectin, & it still won't jell. Oh well, I now have 12 1/2 pints of lovely watermelon juice. I need to find the blog post that I recently read, on watermelon spritzer's. Anyone know who's blog that was on?

Undaunted, I then decided to try Sci Fi Chick's pepper jelly recipe. We have a habanero plant that is about three years old. We don't eat many of them but my husband picks them & gives them away to his customers. When ripe they are a lovely orange color. I put on rubber gloves & picked a handful, cut off tops & scooped out the seeds. I also added some bell pepper from the garden. I processed & it came out great. Absolutely delicious!

Oh well, I'm off to the Ritz for a conference this afternoon, back on Tuesday. Yeah it's work but at least it's at a nice resort. Too bad it's going to rain the entire time, dang tropical disturbance.