A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood

Hello readers! I hope your day is as beautiful as mine. We here in the Ohio Valley have been suffering along with millions of others the past few days with very hot temperatures and really high humidity to go alone with it. UGH!

Although while I am toasty warm in my home on a frigid winters night wishing for summer to come early, I think that is what I want, here we are in the more than toasty summer time and I am hoping for a cool-down.

Not that I want it to snow or anything, that would not be good. I would just like temps like we have today... (80) along with low humidity and a sunny breeze....all. year. long.

How's that for todays rant? haha, really I am enjoying the beautiful day we have today. It's not as hot and the humidity is a lil lower so I am much more comfortable. So on to other news.

In the garden yesterday I picked a huge bowl (the one I make cookie dough in) full of green beans! (when I took the pictures I just took pics of the tops of the plant, silly me, when I looked under the leaves I found gads of beans just waiting to be found and harvested.) I also found 6 nice sized cucumbers to go alone with the beans.

First harvest! YuMmY! I put the beans (after snapping the ends off and breaking them in two) into my crock pot along with about 1/2 lb. bacon, and a little water and set it on low, put the lid on and walked away for about 4 hours. Then when it started to smell really good I cut up some med. red taters into chunks and peeled and cut a good sized turnip and placed them in with the beans, of course I had to taste test them and they were wonderful, not quite done yet but very good! I let the whole mess cook for another couple of hours and wow! I have not had green beans that good in a long time! (truth be told probably not since my last garden).

I know that food is best just after being picked, even meat is best just after it is processed, and I don't mean by a commercial processor either. I love the taste of fresh fruits and veggies. I used to drive a truck pulling a refriderated trailer (reefer) cross country with produce and I loved to buy cases direct from the farmer, because they tasted and looked sooo much better than what I could get at my grocery. I know first hand how long it takes to get foods grown in California to the east coast, and how long they sit at the distribution center, how long they travel to the local grocery and then how long they sit there before being bought! If you figure up all the transit time and sitting time for produce it is no wonder people have forgotten what "real" food tastes like. The grower in California is only worried about growing modified foods that will travel and sit well so they arrive at the grocery where you shop looking like they came from the farm but having not worried at all about the taste, that has been modified right out of it!

I also made my own twisted version of cucumber kimchi by stripping some of the peel off of the cucumbers (they look striped when I am done) cutting off the ends, then dicing them into moderate sized chunks and stuffing them all into an old, washed and dried pickle jar, leaving just a small amount of room at the top to add a few more things.

 Then I cut up some green onion and toss them into the jar as well, add some roasted garlic and a dash of sugar and red pepper flakes to taste, then pour in about 1/4 cup of soy sauce. Place the lid tightly on the jar and shake it to stir the contents well. Place it into the fridge and try to leave it alone for a couple of days.

When it is ready the contents will have shrunk and your jar will only be about 2/3 full, but the flavor is out of this world. Crunchy, yet soft and a lil spicy. It is the ONLY spicy food I can eat. I have Crohns and most spicy food is not allowed because of what it does to me. For some reason the kimchi doesn't bother me and for that I am greatful.

I also am making a cucumber, onion and tomato salad for dinner tonight, sadly although I have gads of tomato's growing none of mine are ripe yet so the tomatos will have to come  from the farmers market, not my garden.

Other than taking care of the garden, and of course the house, not much is happening around here other than enjoying the day and trying to stay cool. I hope those of you still suffering in the blistering heat will catch a break soon, and everyone else I hope you're enjoying your day wherever you are!


Until next time,
 Deb~

Whew

Whew, it's been a very busy and exciting week around here! My son turned 12, I bought a new pool for him, a new (used) pickup for me and also a few odd's and end's that make the summer more fun!

The most fun and excitement of the week came when the local volunteer fire department came out to fill my son's pool. I decided to have it filled due to our well water being very hard and quite brownish looking even after chemicals and time (in the neighbors pool) so I called the local fire department and asked if they filled pools and found that indeed they would (for a fee of course) When they came out my son was pretty excited, and rushed out to the tanker and asked if he could help.

One of the firemen who came out said sure and proceeded to show him how to throw the hose to unroll it:

Unrolling the hose

Then once they got the hose unrolled one of the firemen held the end of the hose, while Bubba held it behind him, then the other fireman operated the pump and turned on the water to fill the pool;



Getting ready for the water...

Every boy's dream, to be a fireman...

Of course it wasn't long before all the excitement spread and the little fella that visits nearby had to come see what was going on, he got to help to!

the boys had a blast

It didn't take long to fill the pool, and the tanker held just enough at 2100 gal. Plus the firemen filled the tanker that morning so the water was already up to about 75 degrees! It was fun for all I think, the excitement of the boys spreading to all around. After the pool was full, the firemen showed Bubba how to roll the hose back up properly to put back on the truck;

this is how you roll it up....

A little more work than unrolling...

but in no time the job is done!

after the hose was back on the truck it was time for the firemen to leave, the boys, especialy my son, had a very exciting hour that will produce memories to last a lifetime, so a I want to mention a huge THANKS to the Albany, Indiana Volunteer Fire Department! They didn't have to do the things they did with the boys, but they did, and in doing so made one very special little fella a very happy kid (with a pretty happy Momma too).

Then later in the week, I found a old pickup in my price range, (not the one in the picture, mine is red) so we aren't transportaionless anymore! I have had lots of help for the last few months in that regard (the one in the picture! lol) and am glad now to be able to accomplish this task. It is an old truck, but it runs good. I don't need a beautiful truck, just a functional one, a work truck. One that can haul what we need hauled.

My project for the weekend is to build a sandbox for my son and my granddaughters to play in. I am going to get some 2x12's and a sheet of OSB board, a couple of hinges and a hook type clasp to hold it open and just build the frame on the ground and use the sheet of wood for the lid, luckily there is a quarry about 2 or 3 miles away where I can go and get a load of sand for them and I think it will wind up costing about as much as one of those tiny green turtles they sell at the big stores as sand boxes, but this one will have tons more room for the kids to play. My son is also requesting tonka type trucks for the sand box so he can build roads and places for his army men to play! I am sure the girls will have other interests!

Well, friends, what started out as a quick post while the kids were napping has turned out to be very long. I hope all of you are having a wonderful weekend, be careful and enjoy the festivities!

Until next time, Deb~