A Day with Mom - It doesn't always have to be on Mother's Day

I took Mom, aka Grandma Bailey, to Reedley yesterday.  The reason this was such a big "to do" was that my mom loves to be around her family. Nothing makes her day like being in contact with her children, grandchildren or great-grandchildren. On the other hand, I'm a loner. I'm perfectly happy staying home and gardening, crafting or reading. (I love being around family too, but I have to be in the mood. Of course when it comes to my own children, I'm always in the mood. They live too far away.)

I'm also not much of a shopper, but if we were making the trip, I planned to make a day of it.

A while back a friend of my mother's gave her some sausage that he bought in Reedley. Reedley was originally a Mennonite Community and Mom was raised Mennonite in Manitoba, Canada. That sausage was known to her as Farmer Sausage and brought back sweet memories. Her dad always made Farmer Sausage and it was delicious. I asked my uncle for the recipe one time and he told me it was written on the barn wall. Anyway, Mom asked me to take her to Reedley so she could buy some Farmer Sausage. Her friend said he bought it at the Main Street Cafe.

Having asked me a few months ago to make the little trip - it's only about 35 miles away - we finally went. We browsed through a few boutiques and two thrift stores. At the Mennonite Relief Thrift Store we each found 2 sweaters for $3 apiece. Mom bought her great-grandchildren Ethan and Renae some story books & I bought some books for my Grandson Dylan. By then we were getting hungry so we went to Main Street Cafe for a lunch of German Sausage sandwiches. The first bite was like tasting memories. We bought 10 pounds apiece of Farmer (German) Sausage to take home. I had come prepared with a large ice chest so the meat would not thaw out while we continued to enjoy our afternoon. I took Mom to the quilt shop next. I had been there once before and knew she would enjoy looking around. We saw a quilt in progress as they always have a quilt framed up that they're working on. My Grandma Plett, Mom's mom, has made several quilts for the family that we all enjoy. It brought back fond memories of my grandmother. We met some neat Mennonite people that she could talk to about her heritage. They could tell by her accent that she was from Canada. That was funny because she's lived in the US for over 50 years. The quilt shop also now features items for sale from Ten Thousand Villages which is a fair trade organization that encourages people from third-world countries to become self sufficient through selling their crafts. (Fair trade requires that the women are given equal pay, that the children attend school and protects against child labor among other things.)

Once we left Reedley, we got turn around on the way home and drove through London. We stopped by the Bravo Farms Cheese Factory in Traver for some cheese and to get chased by a little goat wanting food. I asked Mom if she was too tired or if she had time for one more stop. She was still good to go. I took her by the Hobby Lobby store in Visalia so she could price yarn. She knits and crochets gifts for her family and is ready to start on Christmas presents.

By the time we got home, it was nearing sunset. All in all it was a full day, but great fun. Now I can veg out for a day as my hubby is hunting.

My Bunnies - Past & Present

In late April I went to buy a couple of rabbits. I had been wanting to add rabbits to my "farm" for at least a year and was just waiting for the right time i.e. when the area I would house them was cleaned of junk and I could convince my husband. (He doesn't take much convincing as he lets me do whatever I want.) I had raised rabbits before and knew they were fairly easy to care for. Their "poop" pellets make the best garden fertilizer as there is no need to "age" it like you have to do with chicken manure. Rabbit meat is really good for you as it's high in easily digested protein (they suggest it for children and the elderly) and very lean. The trick to raising meat rabbits is practicality. You don't get attached to the babies even though they are very cute. You either sell them or butcher them - they are food just like chicken & beef.

I saw an ad on Craig's list offering a male, female and baby for $3 each. He said the male was black, the female brown and the baby was brown & white. I knew right away that these weren't the "preferred" breeds (New Zealand or Californias) for meat rabbits, but it was a start and the price was right. So following the guy's very round about directions I went to pick them up. When I got there he said the buck (male) was missing so his wife had instructed him to give me the other two. The price just got better. The owner explained that he had allowed his rabbits free run of the dog kennel, but they dug out. He was going to use them for bow hunting practice and cook them on his outdoor fire pit. But when his kids saw the baby bunnies come out of the burrows all over their yard, they just wouldn't eat them. His wife had decided she wanted a garden so told him the rabbits had to go - trap and sell them. I could tell these were transplanted city folk, but I figured they would learn. If the "tame" rabbits didn't eat her unfenced garden, then the cotton tails and jack rabbits would. I don't think the guy had been feeding the rabbits. They were just living on fox tails. No wonder they wanted to eat her garden.

So I brought home Momma and Baby. I asked my little friends Ricky and Christopher to name them. Momma became Daisy and Baby took on the name of Twinkle. Turns out Twinkle's a female (doe) also - sweet! They had to live in a bird cage for a little while until I could build the cages I had purchased.

Daisy - notice the orange fur?
It was very coarse and she has
no dewlap.

Twinkle

Momma and baby.

I had bought some cages from The Tractor Supply store, but they were un-assembled. I had also posted a want ad on Craig's List. The same day I posted the ad, someone else posted an ad for a rabbit cage & chicken cage. The price was very reasonable considering no assembly was required and they had a roof already built on. (Most cages come as a wire box and nothing more.) It worked out the woman selling the cages lived here in town, so my hubby and I took his truck to pick them up. The cages turned out to be very roomy and were ideal. I had a spot on the east side of my house that was in full shade, away from the dogs and fairly quiet.

Nice large cages.

Plenty of room to grow.

The next step in building my rabbit program was getting a buck. It just so happened that my niece was moving and needed a home for her son's rabbit, Barney. I offered to take him off her hands, give him a nice home, show him a good time and not eat him. It was a done deal. Barney turned out to be fairly big even though he's part Lion's Mane. He has funny tufts of hair growing between his ears and he's developing a fu-man-chu mustache. Now I'm just waiting for the weather to cool down so I can start breeding. The heat is very stressful on rabbits. I put large frozen bottles of ice in their cages on the days when it gets above 95 degrees. I know I could have waited for fall when the weather cooled off, but for me the time was right in April.

Twinkle in front of Daisy. She's
getting almost as big.

Daisy. Notice the double chin? It's
called a dewlap and is a sign of health.
She didn't have this when I got her -
probably that fox tail diet she was on.

You'll also notice her coat is darker.
I think the orange was due to sun
exposure. It's also much softer.

Twinkle is very playful & inquisitive.

Beautiful markings.

By the size of her ears, she's not
done growing.

Barney (I call him Herman.)

Notice the developing mustache?
He also has tufts of hair between
his ears.

He's a handsome guy.

Learning

I guess you never stop learning. Which is a good thing. I have opened an Etsy shop with the encouragement of my daughter. As I may have mentioned earlier, I joined the ranks of the unemployed in May of this year. When I went to visit my daughter who lives in Washington, she suggested that I sell my homecrafting projects/extras on Etsy. Well I worked on computers everyday at my previous job, but setting up an Etsy shop is a whole new experience. It's one thing to work with software applications on your computer, it's another to set things up on the Internet. (I haven't had any formal training like some of you out there.)

I finally posted a few items to my Etsy shop and it was terrifying for some reason. I think I was also afraid it would steal some of my new found freedom. Today I added my Etsy shop to the sidebar of my Blog. Another new learning opportunity. I guess it goes to show, even this old dog can learn new tricks. The name of my shop? DLC Homecrafting what else. (DLC are my initials.)

Celebrating Our Freedom

The Fourth of July means one thing in general to American citizens. We are celebrating our independence from tyranical rule by the United Kingdom (aka Great Britain).

Last night as we were sitting out in front of our home watching the "legal" fireworks being enjoyed by our neighbors, we also saw quite a few of the "illegal" fireworks. They were awesome! My husband made the comment that several people would probably be arrested for celebrating their freedom. I searched the local papers and there were no instances reported where a fire was started due to fireworks of any kind. So why are these spectacular fireworks illegal? If they are going to confiscate fireworks, they should donate them to the following year's fireworks show since Tulare almost had to cancel them due to lack of funds.

As a child in Wisconsin on at least one 4th we gathered around a pasture to watch fireworks. It must have impressed me since I still remember it.

Personally, the Fourth of July marks the day my Dad quit fighting cancer and went to heaven. My son was 12 and it had a huge impact on him as he was the oldest grandchild and greatly influenced by his Grandpa Bailey. My daughter was affected because the next day was to be her seventh birthday. What a bitter-sweet celebration.

Back to the present, I also searched the local news to see if there were any reports of run away dogs. There weren't any. We know of at least one. It was a little Chihuahua and I have never seen a dog run so fast!!! He whipped by with his ears tucked back so quickly we nearly missed him. A young man rode by shortly afterwards on a bike, but he couldn't catch him. No telling where that poor dog ended up.

As to our dogs, Ashton and Pete snuck into the garage and lay in the shadows. When David realized they were there, he told them to get in the back. They both went, but Pete kept sneaking back in. Hense the nickname "Sneaky Pete". After awhile we moved to the back yard since there were several sky high displays going on north of us.

Ashton is about 11 1/2 years old and I can remember many, many 4ths spending time with him as he would bark and carry on when the loud booms and whistles started up. If I would let him in the house where he could lay on the dining room floor, he was calm. This year I observed him as we were all in the back together and I realized something new. Ashton was not afraid of the fireworks, he was pissed! When a really loud, bright fireworks would go off, he would run forward toward the display not backwards cowering. He was trying to protect us! Wow, what an amazing dog.

Ashton with Pete in the background.

So we had a good July 4th celebration without spending any money and even learned something new.

Jim's visit



Jim playing catch with Chris Bailey.

My brother Jim came for a quick visit so we had a BBQ. I hope everyone had a good time. I hope they got plenty to eat. I made beans, macaroni salad and a zucchini slaw (had to sneak in that zucchini). We had hamburgers, brats & hot links. As I was busy organizing and cooking, I managed to take a few pictures. They are available for viewing on my Face book page.

This morning as I lay awake at 6:30 am in spite of not going to sleep until 1:00 am, I started thinking over the evening.

Dylan brought some samples of produce from his garden including a GIANT zucchini, a Roma tomato & an okra pod. I didn't get to visit with him as much as I would have liked, but that is the nature of a big BBQ and what happens when you're in charge.

Deanna is the family caretaker and made several offers to help. She's also a great mommy to Carson and their soon to arrive second son. I didn't get pics of Carson this time, but have taken several in the past which you can see in my other Face book albums.

Our friends Chris & Linda came with their son Christopher. (Ricky was visiting elsewhere). He is just too cute and knows how to boss his mom around. Is that something that the baby of any family excels at?  Our friend Jesse was also there. He calls me his "other mom". These guys are just like family to us. Jesse offered to come and do any handyman worked we needed to have done. We've had him do work for us in the past like build our east fence/gate and paint our eaves. I told him we're broke right now and can't afford to pay him. He said, "Oh no. You don't have to pay me; I'll do it for free." Is that awesome or what? And recently when we needed some branches trimmed, Chris climbed up on our roof and sawed away while David stood below to catch them. See, family!

Deanna didn't realize she was supposed to pick up her sister Kayla, so Kayla had her mom Rochelle bring her. Now John and Rochelle have been divorced for years. Rochelle has treated my brother like shit (excuse my French), but they lived together for many years even after getting divorced. Earlier this spring she told my brother it was really over and moved out. My brother was really torn up over it. So then she shows up at my Mom's for Easter. Then instead of just dropping Kayla and Maddie off, she stayed last night. From my understanding, most people ignored her. She just doesn't get it. You don't see my ex or David's ex hanging out at family gatherings. (Disclaimer - I don't mean to hurt any one's feelings, but this is my blog and I get to say what I think.)

I also think that cell phones should be banned at family gatherings, but maybe the owners would feel like they lost a limb. Or maybe some people would be so bored they wouldn't come. Or then again, maybe they would be more focused on the current conversations and observant of what is occurring around them.

I did get a few minutes to visit with Jim and I'm hoping everyone else did too. I thought it was interesting how we try to find points of interest when we talk to someone we don't really know that well to keep from feeling awkward or just have something to say. Candy asked Jim about the Broncos. Steve's a Broncos fan and so they commiserated their poor season together.

We talked gardening and chickens. Jim says Denver now allows backyard chickens. So does New York. My town will come around in about 5 years even though we're a so-called agricultural community.

I asked him about Terri, his wife and what projects she has going this summer. Terri is a school nurse and so each summer during her "time off", she works on projects around the house. This year she's varnished some doors, painted a hallway/stairway (I think) and is wallpapering. I found out she has quite the garden in her backyard. They grow tomatoes and squash among other things.

I asked Jim about his children. We haven't seen them in 12 years. I don't think Jim realized it had been so long. We missed seeing them grow up. Maybe that's why I try to keep track of my great nieces and nephews since my brother's kids got away from me.

Maggie just graduated high school and is working as a life guard. She had the same job last year and was able to return as some kind of supervisor so she got $4 more per hour. She's driven. She will do anything to earn money like take care of the neighbors' cats and dogs. She already has several thousand saved up in the bank. Maggie is a lot like Jim; he used to mow lawns at the age of 7 and he would NOT loan you money. He was smart about money even back then.

Matt is 21 and has had his share of accidents. He's a pretty easy going guy and I think Jim has a hard time understanding him. But they seem to have a close relationship. They recently went to a reggae concert and got locked out of the house. Jim told the story of their attempts to wake Terri and Maggie to no avail. They ended up with the fire department providing a ladder so Matt could climb in his bedroom window. (Jim was too big to fit.) Terri and Maggie were fine; just fast asleep. This led me to realize that my brother inherited Dad's ability to tell a great story.

I remember Dad pushing back from the table when we had company and telling his stories. Maybe that's why I always loved having company for dinner.

So all in all, it was a success. It just flew by so fast that I'm glad I had a chance to mull it over this morning.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Top of Wind Chimes in my garden.

Wind Chimes I bought in
Oregon.

I get up in the morning and it seems I have a million tasks to perform so I tell myself that I'll blog in the evening; but then I'm so tired I can't think straight so I just go to bed.

Last night I was up until 2:18 am pressure canning my grandma's recipe for cabbage soup. I made the mistake of quadrupling her recipe. Now mind you, my grandmother was cooking for a family of 10 - they were Mennonite. When you start with a 5-gallon pot full of soup it takes awhile just to get it to boil. I didn't start until about 12:30 pm since I spent the morning in the garden harvesting and pulling weeds. After which I had to clean and refrigerate the harvest. I was tired before I started.

This morning I didn't wake up at the crack of dawn and finish weeding the garden as planned and now it is too hot. I think I will just write a little.

My last blog was anticipating my trip to visit my friend JoAnn in St. Helen's, Oregon and then on to my daughter's in Bremerton, Washington. The trip was enjoyable to say the least and went by way too fast. JoAnn and I ran out of time before we ran out of things to do. Now I have an excuse to go back. JoAnn loves to journal so I got her started with her own blog. We visited Blue Heron Herbary where I spent money on goodies and plants. We visited the Chinese Gardens in Portland where I got some neat pictures and had some really good tea. We got lost on the way there due to navigator (that's me) error. I used Google Maps for directions without knowing the address and we ended up at a closed Chinese restaurant. That evening we went to visit JoAnn's daughter, Amy under guise of a Tupperware party where I spent a little more money. Then on Saturday, we went to Powell's Books in Portland where I bought several books. My cheap trip on saved airline miles was getting expensive and I still had several days to go. Besides it was fun and I knew my frugal daughter would keep me from spending money. The best part of my trip was visiting. It was great to see my friend of 29 years and catch up. It was fun barbecuing with Misty, Richard, Madelyn, Becca, Jesse and Jesse's brother Jordan. And it was wonderful just having hours of time to talk with my daughter. She's so far away. (To see the rest of my pictures visit my Facebook album.)

Becca, Jesse, Madelyn, Misty, Jordan & Richard checking
out the 3D television.

After a week from home, I had plenty to do when I returned; but I was tired and took the weekend to recuperate. (I was also a little down after the high of seeing everyone.) But a garden waits for no man and there was work to do. I transplanted some seedlings I had started. Seeded new peppers that never came up. I harvested beet seeds, peas, green beans, cabbage and green onion. I tied up tomato plants. I also wanted to make some cotton dish cloths, but I didn't want them to be plain, unbleached so I hand died them.

Elder Blossom Jelly

Last Sunday my husband and I went for a Jeep ride to Eshom Pond. We wanted to check and see what the fishing situation was and just enjoy the drive. I took pictures of wildflowers - lots of pictures. Then on the way home David took me by "my" Elderberry patch and I picked both Elder blossoms and ripe Elderberries off the same bushes. Ain't that a kick. That meant Monday I was cleaning berries and blossoms. I dried three quarters of the blossoms and used 4 cups to make Elder Blossom Jelly. The dried blossoms will go into my special blend of Becca's Tea. I also purchased a flat of Boysenberries and made up some seedless jam. On Monday I also pressure canned 11 jars of Chicken soup. I still have the Elderberries to process. I think I'll make my Elderberry Syrup; it's better than Airborne for preventing a cold. I'll also make jelly. Then I have to deal with the cherries and strawberries in my freezer. I made Cherry Jam, Cherry/Strawberry Preserves, and Black Forest Preserves before I left on vacation, but I ran out of time to use all the cherries up so I still want to try making a Cherry BBQ Sauce.

Whew, that is not where I intended to go with this blog. You may wonder why all the gardening and canning? Well I never was a girl scout or boy scout, but I believe in being prepared. Our economy is very shaky right now and I am currently out of work. Anything I can do to help save money is a good thing. Also, the big farm conglomerates are adding so many chemicals to our food that I prefer to have at least a little control over what I eat. I can't be totally self-sufficient since I live on a large city block; but I can make the best of what I do have. I'm starting to jokingly call it My Five Acre Farm.

My friend JoAnn gave me a book entitled Into the Forest. The story tells of two teenage girls who are left to fend for themselves when their parents die. The economy has collapsed. There is no gasoline, electricity, phone or internet. They live in the forest on their own and are running out of food. They do not have the knowledge to live off the land or fend for themselves. I do not want to be like these girls. I want to be prepared as much as possible. If I never have need of these skills and knowledge at least it's been a fun learning process.

Update to Making My Own Potato Boxes

You may remember we started out with the base of my potato boxes.

Then we went up a level.

As the potatoes grew, the boxes grew too.

Until you get to the top of the posts.

Now I'm just waiting for the blossoms to indicate the potatoes are forming. When the tops start withering, it's time to harvest.

NOTE: 8/30/2011 Okay, the potato boxes didn't work very well. I got potatoes, but they were ALL in the dirt, none in the straw. So did my dear husband say anything about the $100+ we spent on the boards, nails, etc. Not to mention the time? No bless his heart he just enjoyed the potatoes we did get. I think what went wrong was using only straw in the boxes. We should have used compost & dirt as well as chopped straw. The straw worked great as a mulch, but didn't stay close enough to the vines to promote additional root growth. Also, the straw settled into the boxes until they were only half full. I guess you live and learn.