This is sooooo cool! But then I am easily amused

Wow!  I didn't realize I had been away so long.  This time of year is kinda crazy at my house.  I have a long to do list that seems to get longer and longer.  My peach trees have baby peaches, my apple trees have blossoms, and I have planted in my garden: English peas, potatoes, tomato plants(60 of them), jalapeno pepper, sweet bell pepper, broccoli, lettuce,onions and spinach. Veggies still to plant are: corn, peanuts, green beans, lima beans, navy beans, and pinto beans.  Herbs I have planted are cilantro and parsley.  Herbs to plants are Thyme, Oregano, and Mint.  Thyme, Oregano and Mint are perennials and so once they are planted, all I will have to do is split them periodically.  The thyme and Oregano are also herbs that do double duty.  They are both for cooking and medicinal purposes.  For example Thyme is often used in cough medicine and has good antibacterial properties.  Oregano aids in digestion, and stimulates a weak appetite.  One herb I already have on hand is Lemon Balm.  It is also a perennial.  It has a wonderful lemony scent that seriously I will just go and smell it.  It is awesome.  It also has medicinal purposes such as: being a gentle sedative, stimulates the heart, can help dispel a headache or migraine.  In the summer(by the way this is the cool part) I make sun tea which I personally believe is far better tasting than brewed tea(just sayin).  Yesterday I put a few springs of lemon balm in my sun tea as it was steeping in the sun.  What I ended up with was an awesome tasting tea with just a hint of lemon.  Pretty nice when you think of  the cost for lemon juice.  See I told you I was easily amused.  You were warned.  For those of you of the bee keeping nature, Lemon Balm is also attractive to bees.  They love the little flowers.  I use it, along with marigolds to attract bees to my garden .
Today Rubic and I are off to a fair sort of thing that will illustrate forging weapons, displays of their use, etc.  It is in Blairsville.  So a bit far to go, but he is interested in that sort of thing.    Speaking of such we need to hi tail it out of here and I still need to get a shower.  Have a great day everyone!

MORNIN ALL!

So how is everyone?  Things are fine here for the most part.  There are always the things that can cause worry, frustration, etc, but we are also aware that we are blessed beyond measure.  My worries of the day don't hold a candle to those things others go through.
As always my to do list is a mile long and added to daily.  I like it though.  It keeps me busy and I like that.  Ahh for the days long ago when I was a teenie bopper and spent my days in my room usually reading something. I would go through a book a day almost.  Now to read for pleasure takes a couple of weeks.  In fact I have some over due library books.  Not good.  I should just by the books used and give myself time to read them.  Also I tend to spend time reading books on things like basic skills, gardening, cookbooks, etc. Some of my favorite books are Readers Digest "Back to Basics", "The More with Less Cookbook", Rodale's "Home Food Systems", and "Tomatoes love carrots".
It is a beautiful day in my neck of the woods.  Sunny with highs in the upper 70's.  My peas, onions, and lettuce are peeking out which pleases me greatly.  My tomato plants are growing bigger by the day.  I would put them in the ground now if I could, but I am nervous we might have another cold zap.  So they stay on my deck growing free of the garden til I feel comfortable planting them officially.  This is the first year I have had great success with my plants from seed.  Part of the reason for that success is a blessing by my daughter last week.  She had a pile of Terra Cotta  flower pots in a pile in her yard.  They were from a previous tenant.  A good many of them were broken, but a good many weren't.  It is kinda sad to see how someone didn't take care of their stuff. But then again I was probably the same way when I was younger. Terra Cotta pots are a good investment, and I hate to see them go to waste.  Anyway, my dd said I could have them and so I picked out the good ones brought them home and here is what I got

Pay no attention to my messy kitchen.  It was early morning and I hadn't gotten my day started yet. (smile)

Today's plan is to work on stripping, sanding and re-staining the deck floor of my back deck.  Once that is done we are planning on getting some good quality lattice and lattice caps to build panels to block the sun from coming in our sliding glass door.  That direct sunlight generates a lot of heat in these Ga summers.  Rubic will be helping me.  He is having a light day of home school today mainly due to the fact that he has already completed history for the year.  Now it is time to help mama.  I am really looking forward to getting the deck spruced up.  I really want to be able to use the deck a lot this year.  I love sitting out there and looking at the garden and fruit frees.  Yes I do sometimes just sit.  Usually when my Dh comes home.  I just try to be busy during the day.  If he is working away from home I can at least work at home.  That is the way it should be.
My latest project for rainy days is this piece of furniture:

I was my dad's dresser when he was a boy.  The mirror that matches isn't in this picture, but I do have it.  My fear is that I won't be able to stain this piece.  That was my main desire, but there are places here over the years the wood was bumped or otherwise distressed and the old paint is down in the bump or scratch.  I have sanded and sanded but it doesn't want to come out.  I also tried to use paint remover, but I guess it can't reach it.  Very frustrating, but even painted I believe it will be a beautiful piece. Anyway, this is the before pic and I will definitely post the after.
So I guess if I am going to accomplish anything I need to get to work.  Hope everyone has a great day!

Rainy days are made for beds and coffee

Totally raining today and I want nothing more than to climb in bed with a cup of coffee and do nothing except maybe nap or read my latest Ted Dekker book.  Can't do that ...yet.  I need to do laundry, clean my bathroom, make bread, hamburger buns, and pizza(for tonight's dinner).  My poor little tomato plants are freaking out.  I left them out last night in the rain on purpose cause I figured the rain would be beneficial and I felt they had hardened off well.  Weeeeelll not so sure about that one.  I brought them in about 5 am cause they were laying over a bit.  Not too bad, what do you think?  Have I done them in?

I have to say this pic was taken this morning and as of the writing of this blog entry @ 3 p.m they have perked up a considerable bit.  But!  Look at this pic of my baby jalapeno pepper plants.  They didn't seem to mind the weather at all!

Sorry, the pic is a little blurry.  I was in a hurry to get the pic done so I could get to other house work that was calling my name.
I have to say I am pleased with my progress so far garden wise.  I managed to get the yard cleaned up in the back and my Dh and my two Ds will be taking a load to the landfill tomorrow.  I have gotten beets, broccoli, onions, English peas, sugar snap peas, spinach and lettuce in the ground and they seem to be doing Okay.  My peach trees and blueberry bushes managed to survive the cold snap, but only because God saw fit to keep the temp above freezing.  Thank you Lord.

On another front I want to show you what I did with an old t shirt.  Now you have to understand that my crocheting abilities leave a lot to be desired, but here it is.(See above pic).  This used to be a t shirt and now it is a hot pad/pot holder for in my kitchen.  Next time I take down a worn out t shirt I will put in a how to pic.  At least I didn't throw it away.  Instead I have made it to be useful again.  Yay.  Although I can't take credit for this idea.  I got it from another blog.  I can't remember the name of the top of my head so I will post it for those interested next time.
So tomorrow is my weekend of work(for pay).  I hope every ones gardens or what ever you put your hand to is doing well.  Have a great weekend.

How to's on bread making w pics!

I will be the first to tell you I am no expert on bread making.  Over the years I have gotten "my hand" at bread making.  Which means I can now make it and it is good for sandwich bread.  Before it was good for toast, now I can use it whenever I need in.  In fact my youngest son prefers my bread to store bought(smile).  Some resources that helped me over the way are my sister, the "more with less cookbook", and www.thefamilyhomestead.com.  I have read many articles as well, but I can't remember them.  I will be able to impart to those of you interested, what I have learned so that maybe your first loaf of bread will also be good for sandwiches and not just toast(although the toast was awesome).  Here is my recipe for "wheat bread".

Wheat bread(1/2 white 1/2 wheat flour)

2 cups slightly warm water(about 105 degrees)
1 TBS yeast
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup olive oil(or oil of your choice)
2 tsp salt
5-6 cups of flour(1/2 and 1/2 or whatever you want)

 First of all you take your 2 cups of slightly warm water and your brown sugar and mix them together well.  It should look like the above pic.  Then sprinkle the yeast over the top of the water/sugar mixture.  The yeast will begin to foam a little like the pic below.

 Once the yeast foams well you can add your oil and salt.  Notice I added the oil first then I put the salt inside the blob of oil.  I personally like to keep the salt separate from the yeast until I begin to mix everything.

 Now add 2 cups of whole wheat flour or all purpose if you are making all white bread.  Mix it well with a whisk if you have it or a good spoon.  Then add another cup of all purpose flour and stir it in with a spoon.  If you were using a whisk, you need to switch totally to a spoon now or you end up with dough stuck in the whisk everywhere.

 Add another cup of all purpose flour.  You should be up to 4 cups of flour in the bowl.  Your dough should start to look like the pic below.

 Fill up your measuring cup again with another cup of flour.  Stir in as much as you can with a spoon and then dump it out onto the counter.  Now you are going to only use enough flour to keep the dough from sticking to your hands as you knead the dough.  Just sprinkle some on top.

 You will knead the dough by pushing the dough forward with the palms of your hands.  Turn it a little, fold it back towards you and push forward again.  If the dough gets sticky(and it will) add a little more flour.  You do not want to add too much flour.  I will set my kitchen timer for 12-15 minutes and knead no more than that.  Kneading activates the gluten in the bread.  You want to knead the dough until you start to see the dough tear a little.  You will also be able to test the dough by poking it with a floured finger.  If it bounces back well it is good to go.

 Place your dough into a greased bowl.  I use the bowl I mixed the dough in cause I hate to wash a lot of dishes.  Lol.  Turn it a bit to get a coating of oil/grease then cover it.  I use a plate to cover mine cause I don't want to use plastic wrap that I have to throw away.  Waste not! Let the dough rise only about 25-30 min.  No more or your bread will be dry and crumbly.

 When your dough is finished with its first rising, take it out, punch it down and knead it a bit more til it starts to feel "tight" again.  You know like it will tear again.  Cut the dough in half.  I usually cut mine unevenly cause I have a smaller loaf pan and a larger loaf pan.  So your eyes are not deceiving you.  Shape into loaves.  They don't have to be perfect.  Just tuck the ends underneath until it looks loaf like.  

 Cover your loaves and let them rise in a warm place until about 1 inch over the top of the pan. Again I used a wet cloth napkin to avoid plastic wrap.

 The pic below show what the risen dough should look like in the pan. Before you bake them.  I put my loaves into a cool oven while the oven preheats to help the loaves rise a little more.  bake in a 350 oven for about 15-20 min.

 When the bread comes out of the oven and while it is still hot, take a stick of butter or margarine and rub it over the top of the loaves.

 Then cover the loaves with a clean napkin or towel while they cool. Really don't want plastic here.  Let them cool about 10 min then remove them from their loaf pans and let them cool on a wire rack until completely cool.  Then put into a gallon size storage bag or other storage container.

Ahhh I love spring time.

Okay this fact would probably shock my parents, but one of my favorite things is to get totally dirty, sweaty and exhausted working out in the yard(and on my farmers tan)and then be able to get a hot shower and lay on the bed.  The only thing better is to be able to get into clean sheets as well;  Oooo, Oooo sheets dried on the clothes line( or for those of you of the environmental persuasion, a solar dryer).  Today I get to do that very thing.  My plan is to workout in the yard today. I did some work outside yesterday as well and had a great time.  While I work outside my tomato babies will play outside in the sun like they did yesterday.  I have a huge list of to do's outside.  Baking and housecleaning will wait until the rain comes tomorrow.  I am hopeful to plant my potatoes, onions, and beets today.  I also have my burn permit to burn a small amount of the cleared off stuff, but most of it will go into a wood chipper.  I want to get out to my pecan trees and go ahead and cut the bark where the kudzu strangled it.  Any more then that I will be thankful for accomplishing, but I am going to try to accomplish more.  So I am off to work outside.  You guys have a great day!

!@#$$%^& and an update

Hello all!  Before I begin my rant(well kind.  I am not nearly so frustrated as I was) I wanted to let you guys know I have fixed the two previous postings that had items missing.  What is she talking about?  Well you can find the first post http://frugalmavensdailyrave.blogspot.com/2011/11/apple-walnut-pancakes.html and this will now show you the actual recipe for the pancakes I made that day.  Please forgive me for not just re-naming this link, but I don't know how(smile).  Then the second problem post can be found http://frugalmavensdailyrave.blogspot.com/2011/12/soooooo.html.  I hope both of these links work.  Fingers crossed.

So now onto my rant.  Day before yesterday I spent a decent amount of time re-potting some tomato plants due to over crowding.  I finally got them done and had let them stay out of direct sun for the rest of the day to give them time to recover.  So yesterday morning I place them in front of  my bedroom window.  I have storm windows, and while I get good sunlight though them, the sunlight has a hard time reaching all of my plants.  Well I decided I would open the inside part of the storm window to allow my seedlings to get as close as possible to the sunlight.  I literally get them positioned and turn my back and the inside storm window comes loose from its latch and slams down onto my seedlings; sending seedlings, pots and potting soil flying.  It was a mess to be sure.  I was afraid I would lose them.  I did lose some of them, but managed to salvage about 2/3 of the seedlings.  So far.  It is a wait and see.  I re-potted them and have kept them out of the sun.  This morning will tell.  I plan on letting them sit in front of the window so we will see how they do.  I also canned some chicken and some stew meat, as well as baked my bread for the week.  Here is a pic:

I love how it all looks lined up on the counter.  Those are my little wrecked baby seedlings.  I have another flat that didn't suffer so.  Total tomato seedlings so far is 69.  Go ahead and laugh Daddy.  I need tomato sauce!  That takes a lot of tomatoes.  I also planted a few snow pea seedlings out in window boxes.  I am hopeful they do well also.  I am thinking not to many of those as they are better eaten fresh and not frozen.  I have 7 of those plants. Here are half of them:

There is such a long list of things to be done and it is hard to not feel overwhelmed, but I will just do as my mom always tells me "just do the next thing".  I will get done what I can get done.  Before I leave you guys I thought I would give you something to smile about.  I don't think I have posted this before, but if I have just over look me.  I think he wants in: OPEN, OPEN, OPEN

I know you aren't supposed to wish your life away...

BUT I AM SOOOO READY FOR SPRING!  Okay, i'm calm now.  I have a list of cool weather crops to get in the ground and other springy type things to do, but I can't get the ground to dry up enough.  Makes me a bit nervous then I get ansy.  I do have some things I am able to do now so that helps.  Last week I traded for some yard work.  This wonderful man cleared my back property. Here he is in the process:

That tree in front of him is my oldest peach tree.  Next to the peach tree is my thornless blackberry vines on a lattice.
I feel I have to show the process so here are more pics:

And more clearing:

To the left of that marvelous machine in the above picture you can catch a glance of my garden.  It isn't very pretty right now, but bear with me and by spring it will hopefully be wonderful.  So now that he is done clearing, I have this on my plate to somehow get rid of  this summer.  Ummm and it will probably take me the summer:

Behind this pile of wood, a little to the right of the center of the pile, you can see two seemingly young trees. They are pecan trees that were uncovered during this clearing process.  The wonderful gentleman told me I have given them their best chance just by uncovering them.  He said to just throw some fertilizer around the drip line and they would be fine.  They were strangled by kudzu, and so to help them come back strong, I need to also cut the bark where the kudzu was choking them and let them fill back out.  I love the fact that I have pecan trees.  I have been wanting them, but it takes so long for them to start producing and they are tough to plant just right.  Now I have them.  Thank you Lord!  Cause He is the one that planted them, not me.  Other trees uncovered were hickory, and tulip maple trees.  I have gone out and begun the process of cutting some of the wood pile.  Mainly I am cutting longer, straighter stakes for my garden.  I have to say one thing about these seed trees; they make awesome stakes. The diameter is about 2-2.5 in and the length is anywhere from 7-9 ft.  I have about 20ish so far.  I need plenty cause I am hoping to be able to use them for not only stakes, but make sort of a fence for my beans to climb on.  I have plans for a lot of climbers this year: green beans, navy beans, pinto beans, english peas, and cucumbers.  Then I have tomatoes to stake and peppers can always use support.  I have some cages and trellis already thanks to my mom and dad, but needed more and figured these trees could be put to use.  Waste not want not!  Today's plan it to re-pot some tomato seedlings, plant some lettuce and spinach in window boxes on my deck, general housekeeping, and make bread.  I love this time of year, and am anxious to get started.   So!  My todo list wont get ta done until I get up from here and get to work.  Hope everyone has a productive day!  God bless!