Grocery Report and a Recipe

 This week the grocery saga...we finally got Pretzel Buns!!  Yeah us! 

Philly Cheese Pretzel Buns

Brown a pound of hamburger

Add a cup of beef broth or beef stock

Add 2 Tablespoons A1 Steak Sauce

Simmer until the liquid is absorbed.

Spoon the mixture on pretzel buns cut in half and top with mozzarella cheese...put under the broiler until the cheese melts...Far Guy did that part because I have a reputation of burning stuff under the broiler. 

You can add onions to the meat mixture...we don't. 

Since it uses a full pound of hamburger we only use half the mixture and freeze the rest...all set for a quick supper some night when neither of us wants to cook.

Anyways...Groceries...no Windex or paper plates.  Far Guy found some at another store ordered them and went in and picked them up curbside. 

Such is grocery shopping in the pandemic times. 

Far Side

Perspective

 Sometimes you have the opportunity to photograph a sunflower field....and they are all facing the wrong way...your only way into the field with permission from the farmerlady...any other way into the field would involve parking on the shoulder of the 60 mph highway and walking through a ditch...no thanks...

Sometimes we just have to make do and look at things differently. 

The back of a sunflower is pretty in its own way.

A side view isn't half bad either. 

Yes I could have walked into the field...but there were probably bees and I did not want to break any of the stalks...I walked along the edge...and then ran into a huge area of Poison Ivy...Sunflowers from a different perspective would have to be enough for the day. 

The Sunflower field still made me smile!

Far Side

Jelly and Art

The last batch of Chokecherries yielded 12 jars of jelly...one did not seal...not sure why.  It is in the fridge for now. 

I am done until we pick the last of the berries.

I am having way to much fun with the new art supplies!  The new pan watercolors are marvelous!  I have been playing around with different colors on some wintery cards.. 

Far Guy started a new carving project...it keeps him busy out on the patio most of the day...he has birds that talk to him ...they answer each other back and forth.  The Mother Woodpeckers were feeding babies almost as big as they are...fun to watch them communicate...the babies are finally coming to the suet feeders by themselves instead of squawking for their mothers help.

Far Side

Yellow

The Gray-Headed Coneflower is in full bloom...it lends a sunny color to the wildgardens.  Some people call it a Yellow Coneflower.  It is Ratibida pinnata.

Twenty years ago I planted just a few of these plants...they reseed themselves. 

They are quite tall plants...the other day I watched a Goldfinch try to land on a bloom.

I washed the dining room window...it is that time of year when the little spiders go crazy with their webs and can spin their sticky webs overnight.   I took a broom outside and swept the webs away from the front of the house.  I suppose the kitchen window will drive me nuts someday soon. 

It was a quiet day...same old same old.  Stay safe...

Far Side

New Art Supplies

I have watercolor pencils and pens and a set of shimmery water colors but not a real set of various colors.

As long as you are ordering you may as well try a few other things too!   The Molotow mask marker is way cool...you put it on a card here and there... then watercolor over the top and rub the marker away and your white paper shows through...it looks like snow falling.  I  have tried every thing so far I really like the Tombow markers...they blend nicely.  I ordered an extra red and a grey marker...as I will probably use more of those colors on the Christmas Cards...I like that I could order specific colors.

I love all the watercolors! 

We had a very busy day yesterday, I did the usual laundry and then mowed the yard.  I had a bunch of lose ends to take care of and bills to pay...got it all done. 

Far Guy ordered a curb side pickup in town so we drove in and picked up his metal garbage cans...the squirrels or chipmunks have eaten several holes in his plastic bird seed can...one at the top and one at the bottom just like a drive through restaurant.  Well the restaurant is now closed!

My baby brother and his bride picked chokecherries so I washed and steamed them. 

As they were steaming I had play time with all my new art supplies! 

Far Side

More berries and a nut

Far Guy and I picked about two ice cream pails of chokecherries yesterday.  There will be one more picking later this week...some of the trees that don't get as much sunlight will be ready by then. 

I am not sure how many cups of juice we got yet as it is cooling...and thanks to Far Guy all the dishes are done and the kitchen cleaned up.  The juice will be jelly one day soon or frozen depending on the weather. 

Far Guy was wondering about these berries.   My baby brother has a whats this plant app on his phone...we just have a little book   Wild Berries and Fruit field guide for Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan.

This is an opposite leafed Dogwood, the berries are not edible when they turn color...birds and deer will eat them and leave the red stemlet that is pretty in the Fall.

We have lots of Hazel Brush...some of the fast growing branches make Hazelnuts. 

Most are being eaten by some kind of worm who likes the foliage and the nut.

So much for the Minnesota Horticulture lesson of the day. 

I completed another shawl and it is being blocked.  Another has been started.

All the Christmas Cards have been stamped...some new art supplies should arrive today...that is my reward for stamping them all!  I am trying some different water color "stuff" so we will see how it all works out. 

Stay safe! 

Far Side

Jelly

The Chokecherrys that we picked a few days ago are now jelly.  It was a cooler Saturday morning project.  I made three batches and it yielded 18 jars of jelly.  That was juice from about 2 1/2 ice cream buckets of berries....it was just a little over 10 1/2 cups of juice.

We will pick again today as many more chokecherries are ripe. 

These berries were bright red a few days ago. 

I have enough jars, sugar and pectin to do four more batches.  After that the juice will be frozen for use later in the winter.

My Recipe for Chokecherry Jelly

3 1/2 cups of chokecherry juice

1/2 cup of lemon juice

Add one package of pectin (Sure Jel)   

Heat and stir until the mixture boils and increases in volume...after that I stir about a minute.

Add 3 1/2 cups of sugar

Bring to boil  and boil for two minutes stirring constantly. 

Skim foam off the top. 

Pour into sterile jars, make sure the rim of the jar has no jelly on it, add a hot lid and a collar (ring) tighten up the collar on the lid but not too tight,  and put into a hot water bath with water covering the jars and boil for 5 plus minutes.

It has been my experience that one small batch at a time is the way to make jelly.  I enlist Far Guys help to put lids on the jars, then he lifts them into the hot water bath...he keeps the hot water bath going and the small pan with the hot lids ready for me.  AND gets something for me if I have forgotten it! 

I set out everything I will need...sugar is pre measured and in a bowl...bowls are set out for the skim and for a resting place for my measuring cup that I use to fill the jars. I usually cover the counter tops with towels...cause I am messy...the making jelly part took about two hours.  I wash my pan and all the utensils used after every batch.  Far Guy was a gem and helped with final clean up.

Far Side

Hello August

If you look at the brush in the woods, some leaves are turning yellow....mainly small popple trees.  The Goldenrod is blooming.   Goldenrod always means the end of summer.   August is the end of summer in Minnesota...no matter how long we want summer to last it will end.

My Yellow Gaillardia or Blanket Flower is in full bloom.   I always wait for this plant to blooms as yellow is my favorite flower color. 

I mowed in the neighborhood yesterday and checked on the status of the chokecherries. Far Guy will probably pick some that are ripe today...most of the berries need just a few more days. 

I have cut to size, scored the paper and started to stamp the Christmas Cards... I am making progress.

Far Guy and I designed the 2021 Christmas Ornament...he cut out the wood blanks...so they are ready.  He is still woodcarving everyday...I find other stuff to keep me out of trouble. 

Far Side

Adventures in groceries

Ack...no Pretzel Buns this week either...if it was winter I would make them myself.  They did some substitutions even though most items are marked no substitutions...I sent corporate headquarters an email suggesting that their personal shoppers read.   That should be kinda a requirement...

The Ritz Thins Bacon flavor were not available so they substituted Sea Salt and Creamy Onion...uffda. We do not like anything Onion.  I will drop them off at the food shelf.

They were out of Cara Cara Oranges...they may be out of season.  However they are still listed on their website.  ( they are not very organized if you ask me) Instead of two pounds of Cherries they sent five pounds...I may have to make jam.

Our friend Jill has breathing problems...so we dropped off jars of jelly near boulders in her front yard.  No contact exchange!  She said she was down to her last jar of chokecherry jelly and wasn't sharing with her husband...I have one jar of 2019 chokecherry jelly left in my cupboard after that delivery.

Grocery pickup always an adventure in these Pandemic times. 

Liatris and Rudbeckia blooming in the wild gardens

Goodbye month of July...onward and forward!  

Far Side

Chokecherries

A few of the Chokecherries are ripe. 

These are ready, they are dark and plump and easily strip off the stalk.

These are not ready...they need some more days to ripen. These will be ready some time next week. 

We picked about 2 gallons of fruit that was ripe. 

Then it is washed and washed some more. 

I assembled the new steamer /juicer. 

The bottom is filled with water and a few marbles...so you can tell when it is boiling and if it boils dry.

The catch part....placed on top of the water,,,a funnel in the center allows the steam to go up.  The catch basin will fill with juice and you can siphon it off into another container.

The berries are added next. The part the berries sit in has small holes so that the juice can drip downwards.

The whole contraption is so much easier than cheesecloths etc...I should have had it years ago! 

It took about 90 minutes for the Chokecherries to be completely steamed...the house filled with the most delightful fragrance of cooking chokecherries. 

I worked on the Christmas Cards and did some laundry while they were steaming. 

Far Guy helped me siphon off the juice twice...I did not measure but I think we got about eight cups plus of juice.  It is in the fridge and in the next couple of days I will make jelly.   The juice can frozen or canned to be used at a later time.

We don't get a good Chokecherry crop every year...two years ago we had a great crop and harvest.

I have jars, lids, sugar and pectin all set to make a sticky mess in the kitchen soon. 

You can only make jelly out of chokecherries...the seeds are poisonous....so jam is not a possibility. 

Far Side

Linnell School Corner

We drove on over to see what was happening with the road construction.  We are thankful that we are not included in that mess this year.

We are at the old corner and ahead is the new corner.  This is the old Linnell School corner. 

There you can see the Smoky Hills in the background.

The driveway where I used to wait for the School Bus is on the left...where the tall trees are. 

I rode two different School Busses over the years...Ivan Siegford's bus that started at Shell Lake (picked up Susan, Carolyn and Mary) and then Jim Hind's bus that came from the prairie.  I think the bus switch happened about Grade Five as that is when the country schools up on the prairie were closed and all the kids either went to the Osage Schools for K-6 or Park Rapids 7-12...that would have been about 1961.  The old Linnell School that was on this corner was closed in the summer of 1957 when the new Osage School was built.   I was suppose to go to First Grade at the Linnell School since we lived so close I could walk to school...instead I was a bus student!  After the school was torn down it became a baseball field. 

 I most often read books or studied on the bus...sometimes in the winter I would draw on the frosty window if I was lucky enough to sit by the window....in later years I would play cards...four of us would sit on the aisle seats holding a book on our lap and play Whist on the way to school. 

Far Side

Flowers and more

My small flowerbed is looking really good.  The squirrels have taken out a few plants.

For the most part it looks good.  The Pansies and Violas don't like the heat...they will come back nicely when it gets cooler.

I mowed yesterday here and next door it took a couple of hours.  The rain we have been getting lately makes the grass grow real fast.  I dumped out the rain gauge again this time it was 1 1/10 inches.

Far Guy finally has tomatoes forming.  This is a Yellow Pear Tomato plant...so we should see them getting larger and ripe in the next few weeks.

Yeah for tomatoes!  I harvested lettuce again...it is so good to have our own lettuce.  I also picked a few raspberries and the chokecherries are almost ready to pick...the shrubs that get the most sun are real close to being pick worthy.

With so much rain mushrooms are popping up in the lawn.  I know nothing about mushrooms...other than the ones in the store are safe to eat.  I mowed over quite a few yesterday!

I went in the local little store for milk...the mask law is supposed to be in effect however inside a woman and grade school age child wore no masks.  Until everyone wears masks inside public spaces the Pandemic will continue.

Our oldest daughter Trica had a positive Covid test last week just before she had emergency surgery for a looped intestine.  So far she has no terrible symptoms but we are still concerned...Far Guy is worried...I don't worry as much as he does...let go and let God!

Far Side

11 and 14

I took family photos over at my other baby brothers yesterday.  My other baby brother has four children and between them and their spouses they have 14 children.
2 + 4 + 4 =14 ha!

Number 11 was wearing a Coonskin Hat...he took it off for the group photos.

His baby brother Number 14 is getting bigger!

This is Erwin...he has two older brothers and a older sister.  So far Erwin holds the baby spot...he is 15 months old.

Always fun to see the children of my other baby brother!   Some of the older ones are driving cars now!
Far Side

Milkweed

We finally have some Milkweed in our Wild Gardens.

Common Milkweed  or Asclepias syriaca a Native Plant

I spotted this Monarch caterpillar munching away. He is pretty large and will transition to a chrysalis soon. 

It was a terribly warm and humid day yesterday...the Heat Index was way up there. 

Christmas Card "stuff" was spread all over my desk and the dining table. I made little headway. Far Guy woodcarved and we went to the transfer station with our garbage ...and stopped by outside the Post Office to mail some cards. 

The milk can project has to be worked on outside when it isn't windy.  Maybe later this week.

Far Side

Blooms and a crappy idea

Our weather is downright tropical.   I mowed in the morning before it got real hot. 

The rest of the day was quiet ...I had a long nap.

The Bee Balm or Monarda is blooming in the wild gardens.

Fireworks in flower form.

I am in between projects...Christmas Cards or Milk Can ...which project do I do next?
Something about the Christmas Card has me bugged...I need to work it out in my old brain.

I worked out a solution to stop riots...manure cannons mounted on the trucks that suck all the gunk out of your septic tank....u betcha...cover those rioters in poop...

Far Side

Town Report

The State of Minnesota will be requiring masks to be worn indoors beginning July 25.  There is a fine...but who are the mask police anyways...

Becker County now has 92 cases of Covid -19 and Hubbard County 13 cases (where we get groceries and go to the clinic)

Grocery order pickup was an adventure again...no milk, pretzel rolls,  potatoes or various crackers...who knew.

This is the last of the sculptures at Goose Poop Park.  It is not named.

It looks the same from just about any angle.

Town was very busy...Crazy Days are happening and Main Street is blocked off...I would be crazy to go there.   The clinic seemed busier than normal. 

Before we left town we got our monthly tank of gas and a car wash.

Far Side

Christmas in July and tomato report

Yeah!  The Christmas Ornaments for 2020 are done!  91 were completed yesterday.  Paints and the drying holder were put away....the ornaments fill two pretty boxes and await Christmas delivery.  Some have been packaged up to go back to Washington, Oregon and North Dakota.  Many will be mailed to people all over the country.

We like sitting outside carving on the patio...letting the chips fall where they may...Far Guy routinely uses the leaf blower to blow them into the grass...we do track a fair amount of chips into the house! Woodcarving the Christmas Ornaments is one of our summer projects.

We have been making some kind of ornament since 1990 to share with relatives and friends.   Ten of those years they were woodcarved ornaments....other years they were some crafty idea that we liked.

I have begun thinking about the 2021 ornament...nothing definite yet...we have time.

I will have an ornament give away as it get closer to Christmas.

On to other "stuff" now ...like the Christmas Card.  I have all the watercolor paper to cut to shape...and I can stamp and stamp some more... and then watercolor for many days weeks months...we send out about 125 Christmas Cards....it is a tradition.  I will order the envelopes someday soon.  I will order them from Paper and More...I can never recall their name ...so now I have it in the blog!

Far Guy's tomatoes are getting really tall...they have flowers sure hope we get some tomatoes someday.  Knock on wood the deer have not found them yet.

Far Side

Trail Cam : Mid July

Our yard is a pretty busy place.

The last time the trail cam caught the bear was July 15...that was seven days ago...so maybe he has moved on.  We are still bringing all the bird feeders in at night.

The deer come and go.

My baby brothers dog...Einstein..Stiney for short...he is deaf and doesn't see very much...but his nose keeps him busy.

One of our rabbits.

We got 3 inches of rain on Tuesday early morning.  I mowed down a bunch of weeds in the old parking lot and around the raspberry patch.   Far Guy serviced my lawn mower a blade was loose and it needed oil and the air cleaner needed cleaning...I am good to go for a little while.

We finished some more Christmas Ornaments 74 are done and ready to package up.   The carving is all completed...just painting and sealing left to do.  My carving tools are put away...not sure what I will carve next...maybe nothing for awhile!  Far Guy is working on some more flowers...his favorite thing to carve.

I made some of the Poison Ivy rounds yesterday afternoon...still have some more to do. 
Far Side

Two projects finished

I have been working on a crochet design that I had in my head.  I took it apart a few times...decided I was possibly not a designer of any sort. 

I wanted a cowl with buttons...big buttons as someone I love likes big buttons.  I finally declared it done.

It looks a bit funky on the hanger.

At one time it had button holes...and I took them apart...the half double crochet is lacy enough to make a button hole through the stitches where ever you want....therefore being a multi functional design.  (HA)

Far Guy finished his woodcarving....and very sweetly said "Would you like this one sweetheart?"
Of course!

The base is some California wood that is hard as a rock...petrified perhaps.

The Christmas Ornament count increased yesterday...68 are completed.  We should be totally done with them in the next day or three.   I am ready to put this project behind me. ( We usually carve between 80 and 100 ornaments and they will all find a home!)

Far Side

Shawl and a Visitor

I finally had the time to take the latest shawl off the blocking mats and take some photos.

Another one in the shawl box!
As I was finishing up we got company.

Our youngest daughter Jen drove down to have an early supper with us and to deliver craft supplies to me and to check on the elderly.

We had a good visit.  They are in the middle of their kitchen renovation at their new to them house.  So far she reports it is quiet (no trains) and she misses travel time in her car...so why not get some car time in, listen to an audio book and visit her parents!

Far Guy and I did some wood carving and we now have 54 Christmas Ornaments completely finished.
Far Side