A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Banter Hall Coffee House 2438

A new day will be here before we know it. I am hoping it is more spring-like for most of you.

nope--not here--and I get to drive my itty bitty car to my daughters tomorrow--and it is supposed to snow---great---NOT

BUT I have no choice, she is very sick.

Drive carefully, Carol.

thaNKS & GOODNIGHT

Good morning. I slept to the sound of rain on the roof last night. It was nice. But I am up way too early. It is going to be a very long day unless I can go back to sleep soon.
I am looking forward to the long weekend.

Rain is good, but not at 20 º

lol
Glad you got some . I read online calif is running out of water..
I have a friend in Moorpark and she waters her flowers so much.
But she does have a lovely collection...Her alley behind the house is filled to the brim from her an neighbors adding stuff.. Love her style.

Yes California has water issues along with neighboring states. Yesterday's rain was just enough to settle the dust. We need much, much more.

That is strange to me.
With all the oceans lined up along there... Guess heat isn't always good.
Wonder if Hawaii has the problem?

Glad you ok.

Jet stream matters more with falling rain and snow than an ocean next door.
like whether or not you get rain or snow there.
My kitchen is spiffied up and I have a potroast in the crock with onions and carrots. I'll add some potatoes later. I cleaned ashes out of the stove to cool. Time to move on to the next thing.

dodge, some of the Hawaiian Islands are in drought conditions. It's hard for me to believe because when we lived in Hawaii it rained every, single day. I hated it.

California is having the driest time in history. What in the world???

Juniegirl, how is your daughter?

That is strange.. Again surrounded by water?

When did you live there? Was hubby in the service or something>
The furtherist I was , to west coast is Colorado.....Denver. Awesome in July an snow capped mountains....
Been out west 10 times....

Sheri you been around the block a few times then.. One time someone on here or another forum, said her daughter an granddaughter lived in Hawaii, an she had never seen her.
Was wondering who that was? Many moons ago...

My brother lived in Hawaii for a few years. When he left everyone asked why. He says, you can get really tired of rainbows.

No wonder that stars keep jumping from one place to another to visit an vacation.
I notice boring a lot....I am an outdoors person, when I visit family an friends in town, I need to get busy an do something.. Only so much of that life I can take.TOwn.
Seems like in town all they do is go to the store got out to eat an drink.. That's about all there is unless you into sports or something.

Not being rude, I just like a different lifestyle....They probably hate mine .

I like to cook. That means going to town and shopping for fresh stuff often enough. That works because I drive my son into town almost daily.
It has been a long day ending a long week. I can barely keep my eyes open. But I have another couple of hours before I can expect to go to bed.

Tina
Don't you raise any food of your own there?
Like tomatoes an lettuce ? Easy stuff. Cukes?
Cant get that any fresher....Gardening.

Are you into gardening at all? Sounds odd if your on gardeners forums.

I love raising food, Dodge. I have to fight the critters for it. We have voracious ground squirrels, rabbits, opossum and raccoon. Plus occasional deer. I do have fruit trees that I can harvest. Most of my available land is full of trees. Those can live through out drought like conditions. I am replacing some of my dying ornamental shrubs with berries and grapes right now.

Good morning. Ready for the new day and the long weekend.

Awesome on fruit trees an shrubs.
I have grapes, currant bushes.Raspberry bushes.. Red
Great for jams an jellys an pies ..Blueberrys.. I buy strawberries in season an freeze them.
Just made some raspberry jelly from the frozen berries in the freezer.. I never buy jam.
My apples I freeze for pies an apple sauce.. Favorite of gkids.

Sorry of the animals .. If you have a cat or dog outside it helps. I aren't completely shut off with trees here.. So wide open spaces help to keep critters off.
Good girl. Keep on keeping.

My DH just woke me up...retirement is going to be so much fun--NOT----

The good news is he will drive me to the bank & grocery this morning.

It snowed again...so, more snow on top of the other 5 or 6 we had----I am so ready for spring.

Dodge: My DD e-miled me & she got me lot of seeds form her MIL for my garden this year. As I have cut way down on my garden size in the last few years, I should have seeds to share.

I assume I will get them on march 8th when they come down here for her baby shower. I'll let you all know.

Wonderful Carol.
Let me know what is available an we can share.

That was not really CH material but oh well---we are all friends.

I will be sure to let you know when I get them, Barb.

Rod just made bread. I am washing clothes & when I am done with that I will resume my embroidery.

On that note, I today recieved the rest of the colors I needed so as to have back up, and I am really upset with DMC.
What they call Lt. Blue is actually Lt. Purple. Lucky for me, I do have some lt blue from a diferent brand of floss.

Thanks Barb..as I have promised Tina, when I have the barn done I will take a picture of it & show you all. I am hoping that all the other "scenes" on this quilt will take far less time to do...

I like to begin with the hardest/longest part of a project too. I am glad you have the colors of floss you need on hand.
I have been using my food sealer this afternoon to seal up jars of my dehydrated fruit and vegetables. I am getting my money's worth out of both the dehydrator and that vacuum sealer.

Your a cool granny Carol, glad you do needle work.. I assume you use a Hoop to work with?

Tina what fruit an veggies did you dry?
Gosh how efficient you are.

I used to make strawberry freezer jam. So good but I can't remember how to do it. Anyway, last year the mockingbirds ate all my strawberries. I don't know how to keep them from it. I'm going to plant 2 blueberry bushes. Had 2 but the deer ate them to the ground. I'm going to put them in a different place.

I put dried apples, zucchini and bell peppers in jars today. They are so pretty. I am a little worried how our drought will affect produce prices this year. So when I find a sale, I jump on it.
Critters can really damage your special crops, Sheri.

Tina, when you reconstitute the veges are they like fresh or do you put them in soup?

I love eating dried apples plain.

Yes, dried vegetables are best in soups or stew type dishes. I also like dried apples plain or with a dash of cinnamon. If you get freeze dried vegetables, You can use those in any way that you would use a cooked veggie. And some are wonderful for snacking dry. I love freeze dried food and have a lot of it. But it is expensive.

Good morning. I hope everyone has a wonderful Sunday. We have tomorrow off from school for Lincoln's birthday. I think next Monday off too for President's day. Long weekends are nice.

I didn't go to church today. Johnny went without me. He's so good.

Tina, do you mean it's expensive to buy or expensive to dehydrate at home?

I have to go to a continuing education meeting tomorrow. It's free so I'm not complaining but I don't want to go. Wonder how long it will be before I feel like I don't want to keep up my nursing license anymore. I have 2 friends who retired, a few years before me, and they've let theirs lapse. I just can't wrap my head around that.

We're supposed to get freezing rain Tuesday and Wednesday so I don't know if I'll work those days or not. I'll have to wait and see on that.

Sheri
Sounds like your missing the daily nursing routine.

Most back here do the house call things for the doctors, after they retireed.

I went to church at 8......Not a lot of activity at 18º roads were bare but streets had pushed to the limit.. Sure hope the week is better in temperatures.

There is a difference between dehydrated food and freeze dried food. Freeze drying is more expensive but leaves food at or close to its normal size and shape. Not the shriveling of dehydrating. And freeze drying is not done well at home. So expensive to buy.
I have been studying up on this for over a year. I aim for nutrient values.
The best nutrients are in fresh foods. (Or lightly steamed vegetables)
Next is in freeze dried with the most nutrients left intact.
Drying/dehydrating is a third most nutritious.
Then frozen followed by canned. Heating destroys a lot of different vitamins.
I am all about storing a lot of freeze dried vegetables and fruits. Along with my wheat, rice, beans and other fun stuff.
If you are interested in trying some things out, look in the camping section of your local Walmart or Bass Pro or something. If they have freeze dried ice cream sandwiches, try one of those. Or one of the Mountain House brand entrees. Or both.

Tina, what about flash freezing? That's what the free range farmer, where I buy my meat, does - flash freezes everything.

Flash freezing is good. It is a good way to keep things separate in the packaging.
I am wondering how Carol's daughter is today.

I hope Carol does check in soon.
Sweet dreams all. I am bushed and will lay my head on my pillow as soon as my hair dries a little more.

Sorry Guys...

I have been working on my quilt. FINALLY, after 42 hrs & 35 minutes I am done with the barn!!

I will post a photo tomorrow at some point.

I think I may do the sun next just so I can finish something quickly for once.

G'nite & sleep tight.

I hope you are getting some very good rest, Carol.
Good morning. We have an extra day to prepare for a short week of school. Today I will strip the beds. I'll need to replace some comforters and things soon. Mine are beginning to wear out.

OK--so here is a photo of my barn:
I used silver metallic thread for the windows & weather vein. They thought it should be black..



P.S.
since I put this here, I will leave it, but future posts about it will be down in Hobbies & crafts

I would like to live there, Carol. Right in the barn.