Menu Musings

I'm thinking of my menu for this coming week. It's a holiday week and we have company coming and I have to work all the days except the holiday, so....  (not to mention the need to use up some food in the fridge before I lose it.)

Monday
Breakfast:  Smoothie with frozen bananas, yogurt, strawberries, honey
Lunch:  Farmer-Roast beef sandwiches, yogurt, grapes & chips.  Extra water for the heat.
Me:  Leftover Mac & Cheese, mixed veggies and grapes.  Water!
Supper:  Grilled Salmon, rice, grilled veggies or heated, canned. Ice cream

Tuesday
Breakfast: Homemade "Instant" Oatmeal with craisins & pecans.
Lunch: Salmon soup for me; purchased "better" turkey pot pie for Farmer.
Company supper:  Spaghetti, garlic bread, salad, cookies

Wednesday
Happy Independence Day!  We'll eat breakfast in town.  Lunch is on your own.
Supper:  Grilled burgers & hot dogs, baked beans, chips, fruit kabobs w/ yogurt dip or ice cream

Thursday
Breakfast: Pancake cups with fruit
Lunch:  They are on their own, I'll have a purchased pasta thing or soup.
Supper:  Homemade chicken nuggets, oven fries, frozen mixed veggies, 3-2-1 cakes & ice cream

Friday
Breakfast: Eggs and Toast and fruit  or Cereal & fruit
Lunch: Leftovers for them or Pizza Rolls; Salad in a jar for me.
Supper:  Tacos or Nachos with all the fixin's, ice cream

Saturday
Breakfast: If they are still here, Waffles & Bacon, Fruit
Lunch:  Leftovers
Supper:  Kebobs or steaks  on the grill, veggies, grilled bread, brownies.


My goal this week is to not lose ANY food to spoilage this week.  And to get up and walk each day before work & while it's cool.  Oh dear......  Pray for me.  I so despise exercising in the heat/humidity.

Have a wonderful week contemplating our Freedom and the ONE who gave it to us.
Hugs
Kay

** And I'm proud to be an American,
where at least I know I'm free.
And I won't forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.
~Lee Greenwood

A little Thriftiness

Again... I love Thriftiness.  As in Shops and in finances.

We have been VERY thrifty here on the Prairie Farm.  It's as if the rest of the country's financial woes finally caught up with us here in the middle states.  Actually, it's just that we've had some major repair bills this past spring and Farmer-dear did not plant any winter wheat last fall, hence, no mid-summer cash flow.  We'll make up for it come fall and the extra corn & bean acres, but it's a bit of an adjustment right now. 

So seeing how the bank account is hurting a bit, we've been staying home more.  Eating "out" less (alot less) and conserving where we can.  It's good for our bank account and good for our waistlines. 

It is hard on my creativitiy, however.  I've been cooking some on the grill.  I refuse to use the oven when it's over 90° outside.  So it's been salads, sandwiches, fruit and stove-top meals.

I'm running out of hot-weather meal ideas.  We're getting tired of the same-old, same-old.  But thanks to my wise friend Penny-Ann Poundwise, and her great idea, I'll be perusing my old women's magazines for ideas.  Those ladies back in the early part of the 20th century fed their families every summer day WITHOUT air conditioning.  I'm pretty sure Mama 1930, didn't fire up the cobstove and make a roast when the heat of August was on. 

Other thriftiness.... made a quick stop at my Favorite Thrift Store yesterday.  And came home with 2 summer tops for me, a pretty pin to wear on my cardigans, 3 paperbacks to read on these hot afternoons, 2 canning jars (one is a half-gallon, which I hardly ever find!  Will use that for dry goods storage in the pantry) and 2 wine glasses with black stems (I only had 2 wine glasses, so not enough if we have company and serve wine).  Nothing over $3 and I silent-bid on a green pottery vintage vase in their display case.   Any one of these items would have easily cost $5 new. 

And while I love buying from the thrift store, I did buy 2 new books from Amazon.  Now... before you start scolding... I used some of the gift cards I "purchased" from my Swagbucks .  (Go HERE to read more about that or click on the swidget button at the bottom of the page for more information on Swagbucks.)  "Free" new books is alright with me!

Since I've been reading more these hot days, I've been using my library (LOVE my library) and reading from my personal library.  I have a few books to get rid of and so will be adding them to my Paper Back Swap account.  I may have to pay for shipping to whoever requests my books but any I request from someone else are FREE to me.  Can't beat that deal.

Final thrifty activity.... as I said, it's been HOT here.  Really hot.... and humid.  So I've been running the A/C.  We've been keeping it set at 77° when we're home and 82° when we are gone for the day.  I found that if I run the ceiling fans when we are in a room and the floor fan to help circulate the air and if I close off the laundry room and the bathroom on the south & southwest sides of the house And shut the shades when the sun shines in; it all makes a huge difference on how the cool the house stays.  

We're utilizing the pool we got for the grandgirlies and sleeping in the basement where it's naturally cool.

And speaking of naturally cool, we are having a mini-cool-down this morning, so I'm off to bake up some of the cookie dough balls I have in the freezer, so my Farmer can have a treat this afternoon.

Stay hydrated and remember to check on your pets and elderly neighbors.  September is coming!

Hugs!

Kay~

Garden Photos & a special note for my Mom

I'm behind in posting, but the kids were here and now I'm drowning in undone chores. Plus I have an ear that is plugged and hurts. And I want to sew. So these few photos of my garden will have to sustain you until I return.

And one more important item of note:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!
I hope it's as special as you are!
(hugs from your favorite daughter-- lol)

and now on to the photos...


The front of the Farm House, in early June. And if you look to where the blue 1/2-barrels are, there is a blue pool there now... 1/3 empty from last night's storms. **mad face**



But on a happier note... aren't my new hydrangeas, hosta and yellow day lily, lovely together.



I can never decide if I like hot pink, red or salmon-colored flowers the best.



And sometimes it's all about texture with color.




See... texture and color.... makes me swoon....



More texture & color.... or are they tiny fireworks?


All those little branches and puffs of flowers.... **happy sigh**



And then sometimes, it's all about the eating.... does it get any fresher than this???



This is the stuff my dreams are made of.... Parsley, rosemary (out of shot) and thyme... and BASIL!

How does Your garden grow, Puffins?

Until next time (please, pray for my ear)
K~

** "Love is to the heart what the summer is to the farmer's year - it brings to harvest all the loveliest flowers of the soul." ~Author Unknown

I meant to

I meant to blog today... actually I've meant to blog for several days now. But I want to take photos of my "bursting out all over" gardens! And I have to take photos in the mornings or by noon because in the late afternoon, my veggies are in the shade.

But today I cleaned and made a few phone calls and weeded and made an apple pie and then mowed and then it was cloudy and coming on dusk.

So... hopefully tomorrow or by the weekend.

Other "news":

Today is my baby's 26th birthday!


Yes, I had him when I was 3 years old. (lol) Seriously.... HAPPY BIRTHDAY Baby Boy! We are so proud of the young man you have grown to be. You make me smile constantly.


And...

I went antiquing on Saturday with BFF. I took photos of a display I'd like to implement into my porch decor, but they are on my phone yet. And I came home with "old iron" and a lamp and some smalls. I'll try to get those photos taken this week too.

I have plants to plant yet out in the gardens and I need to get more to fill my old enamelware and get those set out where I want them in the yard.

And....

The grandgirlies will be here in 10 days, for 2 weeks (Mommy & Daddy will join us after the 10th day of their visit.) Grammie has some cleaning and organizing and planning to do before the 19th!

So, while I'm not blogging, I'm not just sitting around, twiddling my thumbs. I'll be back soon with those photos and more ideas for using vintage stuff in my house.
Like this:



Until then, I remain, truly yours...

Hugs!
K~

** "I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read and all the friends I want to see." ~John Burroughs

Summer came in like a lion

I know, March is suppose to come in like a lion or lamb, but March weather doesn't usually bother me as much as HOT, Humid Summer weather. Yesterday it was 88° and HUMID. Same weather forecasted for today and 80s all week. It's still May. This does not bode well for the rest of the summer.

I went rummaging through the sheds and found an old window. It's in worse shape than I thought, but it may still work OR I'll find a picture frame at the thrift store and use that. I also found a base from our old porch posts. Love it! It'll be a base for a pot or just "art" on the porch.

Speaking of porch posts. I found one of the original ones in the barn. I had the Blue-eyed Farmer move it from the tumble-down barn to the feed barn where it will be more protected. Now what should I do with it?
One I idea I had, was to keep it and then when we redo the kitchen, use it as decorative legs on the island.
In the mean time, I could prop it up on the porch in the corner and hang something from it. I'll muse on that a while.

I spent a delightful day last Friday with my dear Friend "Belle" (not her real name) at the Barn Festival near Hastings. We didn't buy much but oh the inspiration.
One idea she came up with for my office sitting area, was to use two of the old shutters (again, found in the barn), connect them and set them in the corner behind my big chair. Then to hand a quilt over the edge and I thought a small wreath on the other one.

I'm feeling the urge to paint more furniture. I have an old wooden chair out by the wash-house that needs something. The gardening sign on it is looking sad and needs a facelift. Manuela from The Pleasures of Homemaking blog had a tutorial on painting signs. I need to think of what to paint on this one and get at it.
And then there is this photo:


It has me aching to start painting my wicker furniture and find that old cream can down by the cattle lot or some other galvanized piece. I love this scene and the little dining area beyond. Oh my..... (sorry I can't remember where I found the photo. my bad!)

Blue-eyed Farmer informed me that he is going to have to dig up the rain gutter tubing under my east flower bed. Which means the peonies and day lilies have to be moved from it. **sigh!**
They were finally getting established. But I don't like the make-shift guttering system we have down on the patio either. And this bed backs the northern retaining wall and it needs some dirt filled in behind, so I guess it's time to do it. I just need to find a place for these plants. If I knew this would be a quick job, I'd just pot them, but I have a feeling it'll take a while. And none of my emptier beds are really ready for new plants. I need to amend the soil in them.

While Miss Belle and I were in Hastings we found a quilt/scrapbooking/beading shop, The Calico Cottage. Fun for both of us! She found scrapbooking papers and embellishments and I found 3 small wall-hanging kits. I was "good" and did not buy any yardage. One of my kits was "Harmony" by McKenna Ryan. I can't wait to get the whole set. I have the perfect place for them, here in the office.

(Harmony is the lower left corner block with the 2 birds.)

I did spend a little time down in my quilt studio yesterday and completed another block for "Brenda's Roses" and made up some more HST for it. One good thing about repetative blocks, you get better at making them. I've been taking my time and trying to perfect my 1/4" seam and being willing to "frog-stitch" anything that is not "right." I do know that I really dislike bias edges! I have one fabric that stretches like the dickens! So I've had to press it into obedience. If that doesn't work, I'm getting out the spray starch! lol

Saturday I had more quilting fun at the International Quilt Studies Museum in Lincoln. I went with a group from my church (Thanks again Daphne!). We went to see this exhibit from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. I never would have expected to see Ohio Star blocks in a quilt from that area of the world. It was a very interesting exhibit and more so since my friends Daphne and Sylvana are from Pakistan and could add their experiences to the presentation.

So all in all, I've had a lot of fodder for my "Muse" this past weekend. This week I will let it all percolate while I mow and pull weeds and plant plants and do bookwork.

Hope your week is just as inspiring!

Hugs
K~

** "An idea not coupled with action will never get any bigger than the brain cell it occupied." ~Arnold H. Glasgow

Peaches & Tarte Tartins

I have wonderful, if sneaky, neighbors. One of them left these awesome, Nebraska-grown peaches on my front stoop. But no note, so I don't know who to thank. And I can't recipricate with anything yummy from my kitchen. People around here are like that... they like to gift and act innocent. Random Acts of Kindness sometime run amok out here on the prairie.


Yum... Peaches. One of my favorite summer pleasures. I love stone fruit. Peaches, necterines, plums, apricots. I eagerly await for July & August each year so I can indulge to the fullest on the fresh fruit. I don't get the same pleasure from canned or frozen.

While the best way to eat a juicy peach is to just wash and eat (over the sink), sometimes I like to find a new recipe. Just for the fun of it.

There are only the two of us here now and I'm slowly learning to cook/bake for two. Not 4-8 people....which is what you have to cook for when 3 of the people are growing or grown men.
And since, in our getting older state, we don't need a lot of extra calories, I made just 2 individual desserts from some yummy peaches earlier this month.

(sorry, can't remember which magazine I got this from. Either Gourmet or Bon Apetite)

The Players-- Puff Pastry, peaches, almond flavoring, brown sugar (because I was not going to make caramel on a weeknight... or any other night for that matter. I just wouldn't.) Just imagine the egg and butter here also, please....sheesh~
And please notice my favorite knife. I would grab that second if we had a fire. (not really, but I do love it!)
And those cute, cute, cute tart pans!

See! Cute!

(and sorry about the photo quality below. It was totally operator -error.)



Slice up 2 peaches and place in the cute tart pans. (I sprayed them with cooking spray because those little dimples are a pain to wash!)
Sprinkle with a little almond extract and top with brown sugar.


One sheet of puff pastry, thawed and cut into squares. (again, notice the awesome knife!)

Gently tuck the puff pastry around the peach slices and sugar. Brush with egg wash and bake according to the recipe directions.


After the time spent in the oven, they come out looking browned and crispy and smelling yummy!

And after a short cooling time and a dollop of whipped cream (oh... ok, Whipped Topping), they are savored and ooooooed and ahhhhhhed over by moi.

Silly Blue-eyed Farmer forewent eating his, for some unknown, ridiculous reason and being the wonderful wife I am, I saved it for him and then it got moldy. That won't happen again. Someone, but not necessarily me, will eat my creations!

That was then and now I have a large baking sheet of getting-ripe peaches with whit to plan new adventures.

And soon it will be Nebraska apple time!

Until next time,
Hugs!
Kay~

** “Life is better than death, I believe, if only because it is less boring and because it has fresh peaches in it." ~Thomas Walker

Wondering where I went?

I'm still here.... Just, not "here" here. It's summer. We've been busy!


I've had some company (wonderful, loved, special company).
My "twin from another mother" and dear, dear Friend, Lisa from PA came out for a 5-day visit. It was too short and we had so much fun just being here. She even put up with 2 weddings in one evening with us-- had to go to them. Bless her heart! We sewed and talked. We played on Facebook and talked. We went shopping and talked. We cooked and talked. I'm counting the time until she comes back.

Farmer-dear has decided just having a bad back isn't enough.... he had to add to it, not only weird statin-drug side effects but a cracked ankle too. **picture me banging my head against the wall**

The ankle is not horrible. After all, he did it back in May/June and we thought it was "just" sprained. The pain finally bothered him enough, he went to have x-rays. Which prompted the diagnoses of surgery and screws. Not going to happen in August! Not with an 8-week recovery timeframe and harvest around the corner. No, we'll wait until November when I'M super busy and then I can do all the chores alone. **picture some major face-pulling here!**

The statin was a suggestion from his doctor after his annual physical. Given his family history, and a slightly elevated cholesterol count, he was given a perscription and told they might have a side effect of leg pains. MIGHT?? 2 days of taking the drug and 5 nights of little to no sleep because of the pain. We finally figured out that if he drank sports drinks in the evening, it helped. I guess the drug affects the electrolyte level in your body. He will not be taking that drug anymore and we'll keep on our regiment of Fish Oil Pills and adding in oatmeal, more fruits and veggies and more fish/chicken/no meat meals. He is much better now but it was pretty bad while it lasted.


The tomatoes are coming on. :oD I'm enjoying every sweet, juicy bite and will be canning juice soon.

And it being August... that means the Blue-eyed One decides we must do some major farm project that either involves digging or painting or both. It's always hot, and sweaty and the flies eat me alive. This year we are doing 2 projects.


One is totally redoing the white board fence along our driveway.




I am painting the boards. I found that a 7" roller works really, really well for this. Unfortunately, we don't have enough tall stands for the boards so I'm in a stoop most of the time. My back & hips have been protesting over this.

The other project does not involve me, I hope! The Blue-eyed Farmer has demolished our feedbunk and is moving earth and will be redoing that.



I figure that is a 2-MAN job, not a one man, one woman job and DS2 will be called in as reinforcments.

And if all this was not enough, we had a mouse!!!! *Oh MY Stinking Gosh!!** In my pantry! I found "evidence" and discovered the little so and so had to taste alot of different foods. Taco seasoning, Crisco shortening sticks (?!), salt-water taffy, Ramen Noodles, Pasta, cereal, flour, etc... And crawled and pooped on every shelf, all the way to the top! We caught the little bugger, still alive and the cats finished the job. (And no, I did not feel badly for ending it that way! Go Cats Go!!)
So there was that big job of putting everything in bags or boxes in to jars, heavy tupperware or totes. And some in the freezer or an upper cupboard in the kitchen. And then washing/disinfecting everything.


So, as you can see, it has not been boring at all here on the Prairie Farm. I have plans for lunch with some favorite people in the next few weeks. I've been to the Cosmic Cow Quilt Store, the local Mall and some antique stores to indulge in the Retail Therapy.
Oh and the mowing continues. :op

I'll have photos soon of the new projects and of Lisa's visit and maybe some sewing projects I have in mind.

Until then, Stay Safe!
Hugs,
Kay~

** “I bet deep down you still wish your mom would take you clothes shopping every August for the new school year.” ~~Bridget Willard