It's the strangest thing. Since their spay/neuter both puppies are far more loving. Beau is even worse than Belle for needing to be right near us if not sleeping on us. We must have bodies touching. Both of them have discovered that recliners provide a great extension to mom and dad's laps and have an overwhelming need to sit with us in them. I'm currently typing with my arms stretched out over my almost 50 lb lap puppy, as he gently snores in my lap. It's actually a bit humorous. I'm waiting for the other one to decide that she needs to climb up here also. She usually lays on my legs, he refuses to give up the prime spot on my hips and stomach. I hate to bother them once they get comfy, it makes me sad to wake them. Although I am not altogether sure there is anything normal about this, I sure do love the love that they give so generously.
These unseasonal weather spikes are wearing me out, I am absolutely not a fan. It is supposed to hit 92 today, I am not ready for such a strong weather swing. YUCK! It was only in the 60's not even a week ago. I don't supposed I'd loathe the heat so much if it didn't come with so much humidity. It's like a giant energy zapper. And I am absolutely not about energy zapping. When it's like this I find I often get low grade headaches and an overwhelming desire to sleep or fight the sleepiness all day.
I have a lot to do today, I need to harvest a bunch of jalapeno's, I'm not sure if I want to pickle them, ferment them or make cowboy candy. If I make the cowboy candy it will be for gifts, that is far too much sugar for us, and I'm not sure that a sugar substitute would work. Although it is one of my favorite treats. I'm also going to try my hand at fermenting today, I am officially going to make some sauerkraut. It's been on my I want to try list for a really long time, and I have decided that I am finally going to take the plunge.
I made sugar free ketchup yesterday, both of my taste testers loved it. In fact, I am fairly certain that Hubs will not be opening the store bought one after the one in the fridge is done. The fragrance that filled the house was incredible, I chose to follow the recipe from 1943, but used 1/2 the recommended sugar and replaced it with Bocha Sweet - a sugar sub made from pumpkins. I averaged it to about fifty cents a jar. That compared to the $6.74 I just paid for the same size bottle with questionable ingredients made the 3 hours well worth it. Especially as over 2 of those hours were no active on my part.
I spent $20 for 50 lbs of tomatoes. I have made so much out of those boxes of tomatoes. Oven roasted marinara, spaghetti meat sauce, salsa, ketchup, pizza sauce, and tomato juice. I currently have one batch of cores and peels included in the broth that is cooking in the slow cooker and have multiple bags frozen at this time.
I don't think I'd call me a prepper, although that is Hubs current term of choice. I think my thriftiness would rather spend a bit of the time I have available creating yummy foods and saving a ton of money. If I can even find what I am in search of. Not to mention, it is taking a bit of my time now, but it is the ultimate in fast food once it's put up. Because of the time I am putting in right now, I can whip up dinners in no time at all. And when we are going camping I don't have to spend hours cooking in the day or so before. I can go to my pantry and pull out whatever I think we will like and be on the way.
To me it just feels like a better way to prepare meals. Eliminating the chemicals and yuck that I don't want as part of our diet. Doing so may ultimately lead to a wider variety of foods in our diets.
That and I am addicted to that sweet little ping that comes as the jar seals. I admit it, I'm an addict.
Today I am also going to play with my dehydrator a bit more. Hubs bought me a new one for mother's day, I've had my older ones for almost 20 years now and I still love them, but find them a bit limiting. I will still keep them, they are incredible tools for making puppy treats, but the new one is easier to use, as if that was even possible. I am going to try some grain free cracker recipes today. We love to have a nice charcuterie tray and crackers are definitely a plus. These ones fit dietary requirements. Thankfully, dehydrating simply requires me to mix it and forget it. I will spend a few minutes prepping and then I will move on with my day for the next 6 - 8 hours. Sounds perfect to me.
I need to harvest a few more radishes and then I need to plant 4 tomato plants. I need to plant the celery that I am re-growing from the core of 3 others. They are doing fantastic and I am almost afraid to take them out of the cups they are in. I have never had success with celery before and I am actually a bit stunned that they have taken off. I've been doing some research and it sounds like they are definitely fans of indirect sun and soggy soil, so I can't mix them with anything else in the garden. I was hoping to put them all in single planter, but that also sounds like it might be a challenge. They are definitely an experiment that is thriving.
I'm also going to try to get my lilac bushes planted today. Hubs has been watering the hill a lot this week to encourage the grass to grow, as a result the area I need to work in is very wet and slipper. So we will see, I'm also going to order my raised beds for the lower side of that wall.
I just saw another alert that for the third month Abbot Labs is shut down with the FDA not willing to allow them to reopen. Seems like a rather minor issue, right? Unfortunately, they are the largest producer of baby formula in our country. If I had a baby dependent on formula right now, I would be hopping mad. I worry about my great nephew, he is far too medically fragile to not have just the right mix to thrive. Not every momma can breastfeed for a plethora of reasons. I am terrified about what this means for babies. I am not looking for haters, but I frankly feel that solving formula issues in our country is of far greater concern to me as an American than sending money to a country half way around the globe. I am getting a bit pissed off for lack of a better way to say it.
When are we going to take care of those in our own country. We are not the babysitters of the world. I am all about helping people to be self-sufficient, to move away from big agriculture, big pharma, big financial, big... well big everything. I would love to live in a world not controlled to the degree that it is by people and entities that don't have the people of the worlds best interest at heart. Plain and simple. I am worried for these babies. I am worried about the insanity of everything that is going on. As I said to a friend of mine this morning if this were a movie, and I were forced to rate it on a scale of 1 - 5, I would definitely give it a one because I can't go any lower.
I think honing my own skills is how I am dealing with the insanity that is feeling very overwhelming at this time. I can't control the world. Heck, I can't control anything outside of my own front door. But dang it, I can control some of the things surrounding me.
Speaking of control... it's after 8 am and I need to get busy...
love and peace...
Good one! 381+
ReplyDelete