Monday, May 22, 2017

This and That

It is a lovely day here in the north country.  Temperatures have risen enough so I could shut off the heat in my apartment and crack open a couple of windows.   Spent the morning getting caught up on the household stuff that the latest arthritis flare up prevented me from doing.  Dishes are washed, laundry is folded and put away and a pan of cornbread muffins are in the oven.

Duane and Lori were here this morning.  Duane wanted to borrow my large roaster pan for a beef roast he is cooking for supper.  He raided my shelves for a couple pints of baby carrots to go with the beef.  I am glad when my kids raid the shelves.  That's what all those jars of food are for.  And he will bring me a plate of food for my supper.  Pretty good trade, I'd say.  :)

I was reading the website for one of our local news sources when I saw this headline:
'An Undocumented Future:  Fear in The Immigrant Community.'
Basically the article tells of those illegals who are worried about deportation now that we have a president who seems to believe that laws should be enforced.  I can't really blame many of these people, especially those who have families here.  They were told for eight years that there would be no consequences for breaking our immigration laws.  I suspect they counted on the coronation of Hillary to continue that practice.  Well, surprise, surprise.  Now many are heading for Canada to avoid deportation here.  What a mess Obama created by refusing to enforce those laws.  And how terribly wrong he was to mess with the lives of those who believed him.

So I have goofed off long enough.  I am off to the kitchen to rid the freezer of a few more gallon bags of cranberries that, with any kind of luck, will be cranberry sauce and cranberry juice.  I am almost afraid to see what is lurking underneath all those berries.  :)

12 comments:

  1. Don't OVERdo it, there are consequences! - lol

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  2. I will behave, Gorges...I have had enough consequences lately to last me awhile. :)

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  3. Glad the weather is improving and that the flare up has subsided. We are supposed to be having the hottest day so far this year but then there is a 'special weather advisory' for tomorrow. Ahh the highs an lows of our weather.
    Have a good day and enjoy the roast beast dinner!

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  4. Jenn...Thankfully the flare ups are usually short lived. Sounds like the odd weather is not confined to the US. I had the roast beast dinner last evening and it was wonderful. Both my boys are excellent cooks. I can not claim credit however, because they didn't learn from me. I do, however, get to reap the benefits from time to time. This is one lucky Mom!!

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  5. Dinner sounds yummy. I'm with you, I'd make that trade any day as well...smile.
    Weather here has been glorious the last few days. Tonight a big wind storm is coming in - it's actually already started. It should drop the temps a bit but only for a day. Then a week of more sun and 'summer' temperatures. I watered every where today. I'm a bit tired but it's a good tired.
    Take good care of yourself & try not to over do.. cheers, SJ

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    1. SJ...Dinner was really good. Duane heaped my plate full so there was enough for two meals. Two meals I didn't have to cook. Life is good!!

      Glad you are finally getting some nice weather. The temps here are staying in the high 60's and low 70's with rain showers now and then. But in between raindrops the sun shines, so it is good. Glad you could get out to the garden again. Did you ever get anything going with the new gardening group?

      I don't know if you remember my sad attempt to grow herbs in pots on my windowsills - I killed them all. In my frustration with that, I had stuffed the pots, soil and all into a trash bag and hid it in the back of my closet. I found it this morning so I decided to try something fun. I cleaned the dead plants from the pots, worked up the soil in each and planted peas, yellow snap beans, cucumbers, sweet green peppers, cherry tomatoes, cantaloupe and zucchini. I have no expectations of actually getting fruit or vegetables from any of it, but it is fun to see if any of it will grow. Worst case, I will have some greenery on my windowsills.

      Sometimes the work can wait and we need to do something just for fun. :)

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  6. Vicki, I had an unexpected break from the internet and phone service for the last 5 days. I am kinda in the boonies, and it took that long for a repairman to show up to determine that a squirrel had done a number on the line coming in from the road. I would prefer the squirrel(s) find something else to knaw on! It will really take me some time to catch up on reading my blogs and favorite sites.
    While offline, I decided to tackle MY freezer. I had 21 homegrown chickens from last summer along with lots of frozen veggies from last year's garden. I have now canned 6 of the chubby chicks along with lots of good rich broth. I have a ways to go but am determined to empty the freezer so there will be room for the garden produce from this year's garden. I sure do hope you were able to take care of the cranberries too. Cranberries are so good for a person and delicious too.
    Take care and carry on...CW from Iowa

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    1. CW...Pesky squirrel!! They can really be destructive sometimes. Glad you got the problem fixed and are back with us. I remember how it was years ago when I lived in the boonies. To get to my house, you went to the end of the earth and came back about a half a mile. :) Took forever to get repairs like yours done and in the winter we were the last to get plowed out after a snowstorm. Still, I would rather be living there than here in the city.

      Wow! You have been busy. I love canning chicken. Not only because I like having the meat on hand, but that rich broth is a bonus. I have been known to buy three or four turkeys when they go on sale around Thanksgiving time and can them up. I still have a few quarts of broth left, but may need to do that again come fall. I look at the price of store bought broth and it makes no sense to me to buy it when I can make my own that tastes so much better.

      I have to admit to being a slacker. The cranberries are still in the freezer. I got sidetracked as I often do. (See my reply to SJ's comment above.) I did manage to find some bags of frozen pumpkin. They are thawed and are in a colander in the sink, draining off the excess water. In the morning I will spread the pumpkin out on the fruit roll up trays and dehydrate it. I have been wanting to try dehydrating pumpkin. From what I have seen, the dried pumpkin is ground into a powder and stored in a jar. To use it, just add water. Takes up less space that way. I found several quart bags of diced onions and a couple bags of diced carrots that are in the dehydrator now. So I guess I did make a little bit of progress on my freezer even if the berries wait until the weekend.

      That's my story and I'm sticking to it. :)

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  7. Good luck with your cranberries! I have a few frozen bags myself I should tend to.
    I canned a ton of carrots last summer and my boys adore them. So much more flavor than store bought canned carrots, which are gross in my opinion.

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    1. Lisa...I'm afraid I once again got sidetracked and the berries are still frozen. They have been in the freezer so long, I don't suppose another couple of days will matter much. :)

      I think I can more carrots than any other vegetable. They are a favorite of my family, too. And you are spot on about store bought canned carrots. I will take my home canned food over store bought every time.

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  8. Playing in the dirt is very good for the soul. At least that's my opinion. Good for you to get out those pots, soil and seeds.
    It's funny, I can't keep a house plant alive to save myself. But I love growing edibles.
    My newest garden here at my apartment complex has been really fun. My assigned group, three of us, planned out where we wanted to put our three beds. All the beds have had the sod removed. Two of the beds are planted. One side of the area has also had sod removed and several dozen multi-colored pansies transplanted. So far the idea of a kid zone has not materialized. Neither of them liked my idea to create a potato bed that we would all share in. That's ok, they may come around. Or not. The other two are very busy working, married and with young kids.
    The other area has four even bigger plots dug up or in the process. The most fun part for me is interacting with my neighbors.
    Very cool that you had enough dinner to not cook for two nights!! I went to our local natural food store and picked up both lunch and dinner for today. I'm wiped out - I took the dog into the vet and the highway there was a parking lot. What should have been a 25 minute trip took almost 2 hours. Good thing I always leave lots of time. I just love this vet but there aren't a lot of good options to get there. Take good care! SJ

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    1. SJ...My kids have stopped giving me house plants because they know I will likely murder them. :) I hope that by planting vegetables they will at least have a fighting chance at survival.

      So glad to hear that the gardens at your complex are working out for you. My gosh, but you will have a good sized garden when you add them all up. I guess not everyone has similar ideas about what to plant, but it would be a pretty dull world if we all were in lock-step. That is a great way to get to know your neighbors. Here, I think the only one interested in growing things is Duane and he and Lori have three tomato plants in pots on the deck.

      The kids spoil me. It was really nice to not have to cook two nights running. Trouble is, then I get lazy. I am seriously considering ordering a pizza for supper. Silly, isn't it, what with all the food in jars I have, but sometimes I guess a body just needs to indulge. I rarely order out. But I have a good excuse. My kitchen table at present is covered with lengths of fabric to be cut into little pieces to be sewn back together. That's the only excuse I can find, so I may just use it. :)

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