Trip to Property

This is the back field of our 10 acres in Fairfield County; we've got to take the Gravely tractor up and mow before we loose it all to the woods again. We drove back in since we had the pick-up truck as it's too overgrown to really walk in at the moment. About where I took this picture Scott scared a batch of Bobwhite Quail. They were so cute; wish I could have gotten their photo to show you all.

Since we were out that way we decided to drive up and check on a friend that we haven't heard from in awhile but she wasn't home. Hopefully she will call us soon and let us know she is OK. The drive was gorgeous...

I wish that our fields were this well maintained but living about an hours drive from our land makes it hard to keep it this beautiful. Hopefully within a couple more years we will be up there and able to stay on top of it - unless we sell it all and move somewhere else. We've learned that no matter what - life throws you curves and you just have to roll with it.

On the way back we were getting hungry and decided to stop at Five Guys for burgers. This one is located in The Village at Sandhills ... UGH!!! What a mess traffic wise! Then we got inside the music was so loud I couldn't hear what the cashier/order taker was saying and the other cashier/order taker kept hollering out his orders to the kitchen crew... UGH! Needless to say we were so happy to LEAVE that place. If you LOVE shopping I'm sure you'd love The Village at Sandhills but we hate shopping in places like that so have decided we will never return unless forced to at gun point. We stopped at Target - a LOT less stressful and more low key - right up our alley. We bought Scott a new outfit and some other things that we buy only from Target. All in all we've had a wonderful "goof off" day!

Exhausting week

This week has just been exhausting and with "Christmas Season" just beginning there will be even more exhaustion in my future. The Christmas music has begun to play in the store and "STUFF" is stacked out EVERYWHERE! UGH! RETAIL! Oh well it's how I make a little money to help with the bills and I just have to focus on paying EVERYTHING off so I can just return home as quickly as possible.

Yesterday a friend came over and we did a bit of sewing together. Julia makes the neatest things! She was working on the cutest "cat" scarves; which I didn't get a photo of... see what exhaustion will do to me? I fixed that black and white block and put it in the envelope without getting a picture to share either. I also worked a bit on my little section on Carrolyn's  wedding dress crazy block and I plan to add some more today once the sun comes up. So far I've added a bit of lace trim and pearls and made a couple "spider web roses". Once I'm done adding embellishments I will post a picture... PROMISE!

Greg has drill this weekend and is getting ready to leave for that. I got up and ironed his uniform for him - spoiled wretch that he is. Hopefully it will be a good weekend with some new things learned.

Scott just wants to veg as he has worked 10 hour days or more since he started the new job and is also exhausted. I'm hoping we can get a couple walks in by the river this weekend - that always rejuvenates both of us. If we do I'm sure I will have photos to share.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

AHHHH!!!! SQUISHIES!

My mailbox was full of them today - SQUISHIES that is... wanna see whats inside 'em?

OK package one was from a quilting friend who is also a previous Jo-Ann Fabric's co-worker. Here are the goodies from her envelope..

She made me a delightful "Harvest" block as part of a themed swap we are in and she made the adorable coaster as well - I love Peanuts. The green fabric is an FQ (Fat Quarter) that is part of a "Sampler's Swap that we are doing as well. I will make her a 12 1/2" block using that fabric as well as some from my stash. She will get blocks back from each participant using her fabric plus fabrics from their various stashes so that she can make a a"Sampler Quilt". We will all end up with a special quilt in the end.

Next package was some fabric that I bought off Ebay. I had thought it was going to be ONE piece that I could make a blouse out of but it's 4 narrow pieces that I will use up in a quilt. I still love it and it won't go to waste but I was a little disappointed.

And to top all that off I got a package from Carrolyn out in Washington State and WOW! Lets start with her Crazy block that I will add embellishments to....

She attached a note : any embellishments (buttons,embroidery,laces, etc. are okay) Please keep colors to cream, white, beige, tan, gold, grey,silver - no colors.
This has pieces of lace from my wedding gown, my mom's, my daughters dance outfits, etc...

All I could think was WOW this will be something extra special. I didn't think to include a note like this but that's ok as mine is color wild to start with (the corduroy block in a few posts back). She also sent her FQ for the Sampler swap (the blue print) and another "Harvest" block for me. I wish the canning hadn't taken me ALL day but I knew it would in the back of my mind - perhaps one day I will get faster at it.

NOW for the cream on top of all this wonderful stuff. Do you remember the black, white and red block I sent out on a Round Robin tour awhile back? Well it came home today as well... and I was stunned... I mean JUST LOOK AT IT! WOW! The gals really blew me out of the water with this one....

 THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!! I LOVE IT!

Chow Chow recipe

This recipe comes out of Kerr Home Canning and Freezing Book last copywright listed is 1982 and first 1958. I LOVE old cook books - the older the better; back when they used REAL ingredients not a box of this and a mix of that.

CHOW CHOW

1 peck (12 1/2 pounds) green tomatoes
8 large onions
10 green bell peppers
3 Tablespoons salt

6 hot peppers (chopped)
1 quart vinegar
(Just an FYI HERE - the spices go in a cheese cloth bag)
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
1 Tablespoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon cloves
3 Tablespoons dry mustard
Few Bay Leaves
1 3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup grated horseradish (optional)

CHOP Tomatoes, onions and bell peppers together and cover with salt: let stand overnight. ( I grind the vegetables using my food grinder that fits on the front of my Kitchen Aide mixer and I put it in the refrigerator overnight.)
  Drain, add the hot peppers (again I put them through the grinder) , vinegar, spices ( tied in cheese-cloth bag) and sugar; allow to boil slowly until tender (about 15 minutes). Add horseradish. Pack into sterilized jars to within 1/2-inch of top. Put on cap, screw band firmly tight. Process in Boiling water bath 5 minutes. (I did mine in a pressure caner for 5 minutes under 10 pounds pressure)

I'd definitely wear gloves when handling the hot peppers. This smells wonderful as it is processing!

I did remove ALL seeds from ALL peppers too.

I ended up using whatever jars I could find as I about fell over when I saw how much canning jars were selling for... $9.99 for 12. Just couldn't do that. I'll be checking the thrift stores and yard sales for jars from now on.

This took me all day so I didn't get to any sewing but I did get some lovely squishies in the mail and I will write a separate post about all that so as to not make this one into a novel. And Friday a friend is coming over to sew/craft with me.

Joining Blessing the Elements

Sharing an oldie but a goodie....

Chow Chow in the Works

Green Tomatoes, bell peppers and onions

I ground the tomatoes, onions and bell peppers today and added 3 Tablespoons of Kosher salt and they will set in the refrigerator until tomorrow. Then I'll add more "good stuff" and cook it up and then can it in pint jars; last time I put it in jelly jars and it just didn't last long enough.

We decided to use 3 different types of onions and several types of hot peppers and some turning bell peppers to add a bit of fun color to this batch. I'll be adding the hot peppers tomorrow along with the spices, horse radish and vinegar. If anyone is interested I'll post the entire recipe tomorrow in case anyone wants to try making some themselves. This stuff is delicious on any beans and even on hot dogs.

I'm using Greg's GIANT cooking pot that Rachel bought for him to cook Lobster. When he moves out and takes it with him I will have to buy one for myself; that and a rice steamer.  This huge pot is perfect for this process and we love this Chow Chow; so it will definitely be made for many years in the future. I just need to get horseradish to grow somewhere on this lot as $4.99 per pound is a bit outrageous. Everything I've read says it will grow anywhere and can actually become quite a nuisance but so far I haven't been able to get a plant started here.

They asked at work if I'd come in and work tomorrow on my day off and I thought about it and decided I needed a day at home to put up the Chow Chow, catch up on the laundry and I've got to get my quilt swaps finished up and mailed...so... I'll be home. I will work over Thursday and Friday is they still need me to but tomorrow is MINE!

SO... The first sewing I do will be to fix this mess...

I've got to rip out some seams and fix my mess up! I'll post a picture once I get it "fixed".

Last Nights Trick-or-Treaters

Greg and Rachel had a lot of fun handing out candy to the kiddos...

Sorry the pictures are a little blurry but the kids were so fast grabbing candy and going it was hard to get really good pictures. When the teenagers saw the camera they would bolt immediately - wonder of it's because they thought they were too old to be out tick-or-treating.