Running out the door to church. Back later. Hey, fill this page up, will ya? Where are all of you? Outside?

-- Anonymous, August 18, 2002

Answers

Very busy lately, many projects. Stuff planned for the next two days. Be back when I can! ;-)

-- Anonymous, August 18, 2002

Sittin' here on my fanny, just me and the cat (well, he's sitting on my lap; I'M sitting on my fanny!) just taking a little break!

Woke up to a thunderstorm this morning - there went the stuff that I had planned to do outside. No matter; plenty to do inside. SIGH. Since it didn't look like Hubs was going to join the world of the living anytime soon, I grabbed his hat and went trudging through the rain to do the chores. I forgot to be gloomy about half way through; left his hat hanging in the shed while I went out to gather Bun some fresh greens and got my hair thoroughly soaked, then tossed my sneakers up on the porch and went out to a mud puddle in the drive and squished mud betwixt my toesies for a bit. I used to think that I was about half human and half feline, but now I'm considering that there may be some amphibian genes mixed in there somewhere 'cause it sure did feel good to soak up the moisture!

Hubs had picked a bunch of the larger tomatoes Thursday night, to take in to work to give to the fellas; and for his co-worker Dave to drop by the food bank; so when we went out to pick last night there were only 3 1/2 buckets of the paste and small round tomatoes to be picked - and, NO!, I ain't complaining! They're starting to slow down and some of 'em are looking a little scroungy, so I don't know how much longer that I'll bother with most of them - we've already given up on the cherry and small pear tomatoes. Pop was watering the garden (guess that's one way to get it to rain!) with his custom sprinkler - he tie-wrapped the hose nozzle to an electric fence post and poked it in the ground; so that left him plenty of time to supervise the tomato picking. He informed me that we were gonna plant the tomatoes out in the field on the west side of the berries next year; and then Hubs piped up with how he thought we ought to put the melons up closer to the house so's we could get water to them easier, and then Pop said as to how he was going to dole out the sweet corn seed to Uncle Ivan so he couldn't plant it all at once and then they thought that maybe we ought to put the sunflowers down at the other end... I started to ask them "Just who in the heck's garden IS this anyway!?"; but caught myself before the words got out - with the amount of help they give me; I reckon that they can get in on the planning stage too!

So, anyway, after I got done with the chores this morning, I mixed up a breakfast cassarole and tossed it in the oven and started washing tomatoes. Got done with that about the same time breakfast got ready, so hollered the fellas down to eat; then hornswoggled them into moving some shelves around and adding a shelf in my pantry! Took them as long to do that as it did for me to dip all the 'maters in boiling water and then quarter them! Then Hubs put the Victorio together and he started squishing tomatoes into juice; I loaded the hopper and unloaded the juice and dumped the leavings in between trips to the pantry with boxes of stuff that I had canned over the past month - they'd just been stacked against a wall in the kitchen - not my favorite decor items! Pop proved to be a bit smarter than us; he escaped upstairs to watch the pre-race (Nascar) programming on TV! We ended up with 3 1/2 gallons of juice; so I put 2 1/2 gallons of it on to cook down for MORE spaghetti sauce; not sure what I'm going to do with the other gallon yet - still need some more spicy tomato juice for chili, so if I get energetic enough to go out to the garden this afternoon for onions and bell and hot peppers, I guess that's what it will be. We got all the squishing equipment cleaned up and then hollered at Pop again; to come down for lunch. I had gone grocery shopping after I got off work yesterday; so Hubs and I went into a minor cooking frenzy when I got up yesterday afternoon - roast chicken, swiss steak, taco meat, sausage (for the breakfast cassarole and a future pizza), plus some butterfly pork chops and sandwich steaks that he cooked out on the grill; tomatoes, cukes, sweet corn, green beans, watermelon, canteloupe....buffet, anyone!?!

So now, Pop's heading out to have homemade ice cream with Bailey and her grandparents; then he has to watch her until midnight. Hubs is doing a crossword puzzle in his Lazyboy - sure to be dozing soon! - and then plans to go out and take the road oil off his truck. I really, really ought to sweep and mop the kitchen floor (this is where the SIGH comes in!)...but I think that I'll just take a nice long soak in the tub, finish the book that I started the other day and then watch my tomato juice cook down some more. Got to go in on overtime tomorrow night (got Jessie's tuition paid for this semester - Thank Heavens! - so I might not "need" to work quite so much extra here soon!) so tomorrow will be another busy day - gotta change all the sheets and the guest room comforter, go to town and do the laundry, stop by the dollar store and pick up more jars and lids, take the cat by the vet for his second shots and a wormer, take Jes out for lunch, hang the clothes on the line, iron the dresses that have been languishing on the hope chest for the last week or so, sweep and mop the kitchen, dust and vac the living room and bedrooms - sheesh, who's got time to go to work!? Ah well, I probably actually need the rest!

Well, off to the tub I go! You folks take care this week,

-- Anonymous, August 18, 2002

Geesh, Polly....anyone who posts after you is kinda anticlimatic :-)!!! Is that the word I'm looking for??!! Really, though, I do enjoy reading about your somewhat "busy" life! Wanna come here for a vacation? All I'll ask ya to do is some weeding, milk the goats, shovel shit, pooper scoop the litterboxes, butcher some chickens and turkeys...oh yeah, and pull some lobster traps! Should be a piece-o-cake for you! Sure hope you know that I'm teasing ya :-)!!!!!

I haven't been posting here (or anywhere!) as much as I'd like to lately. Sooooo sorry! We've been really busy canning potatoes, tomatoes AND onions (can't wait to try those!). I get online...answer a few necessary emails (ya know...family stuff) and then I fall asleep! That's it for the night!!! Sex isn't even in our vocabulary anymore :-)!! Ooopps! Should I be using the S** word here??

Speaking of getting back in the saddle again...My new horse was delivered Saturday morning! Took him about an hour to get acclimated to my goats....with me holding onto his leadline and walking him around while talking to him! I was more pooped than he was. He and the goats spent all of the first night and most of today shut up together in side by side stalls. Then this afternoon when I released everyone, they spent most of the time "talking" to each other. So I do believe that they've all bonded. They are in separate pastures...for the time being!! Tomorrow is my granddaughter's b'day, although I doubt that we'll be allowed to see her til Wed. (our visiting day). I know that she will be so surprised to see a REAL horse in Gramma's barn!!!

Also been spending many nights on the phone over the past few weeks trying to get my mother's life organized. Her husband has been placed in a nursing home where he can get 24 hr. care, but just recently he came down with bronchitis and is back in the hospital. She is trying to re-learn how to take care of herself...pay blls, do banking, consult with their stockbrokers, etc. I'm telling ya....she doesn't have a clue!!!! But it's finally sunk in that she will be alone very shortly and she HAS to deal with it and that she is the one making the decisions now!

Also heard from some long lost relatives (on my father's side) about property in Texas that had been sold and that I'd inherited some of the profits! Pleasant surprise...but not much money. I hadn't had any contact with my dad's side of the family since before 1964 and didn't even know about any family property in Texas!! It was about 458 acres in east Texas that finally sold! Supposedly it had belonged to my great-great-grandfather Snavely. Best part is that I get to meet some relatives that will be coming to Maine in Sept. to vacation! The inheritance will be just enough to buy myself a brand new western saddle!!!!

Gotta get off this webtv and call mother-dear before it gets too late. Tonight is Harry's poker night and he'll be out late...but I'm too pooped to watch t.v.! Hopefully, he'll come home and play a couple of games of online chess or checkers to unwind, but he really could use another player or two....are ya busy Jay :-)??

Have a good week, everyone! And I hereby pledge to check in AT LEAST a couple of times a week....whether I'm awake or not!

-- Anonymous, August 18, 2002

I'm game for anything but the cat box patrol, Marcia! It's been a while since I milked anything, so I'd need a brush up course - and goats are a lot different to milk from cows, I noticed last year when I visited Sharon, and we went to a friend of her's who has a goat rescue. If I hadn't been driving the Neon, I woulda brought home a cute little brown fella! Oh, btw; I'll be driving the truck, so you don't mind if I scoop that poop right on in the back, d'ya?! Maybe a few crab/lobstah leavings on top for a Martha touch? You can onions just by themselves? Never heard tell of that!

I feel for your Mama, Marcia; having to get used to doing all that stuff again; and for your step dad being ill, of course, too. I turned all the financial crap over to John a couple of years ago (except for my OT; that, I spend on Jes and I) and never looked back. He's much stingier than I am, so my moola goes a lot further, it seems, when he's in charge of it.

I do rattle on a bit, don't I? Y'all can tell me to shut up if you want to. Heck; I might even do it, for a week or two!

When I went to take a soak this afternoon, I had forgotten that I had the bathtub full of garden buckets that needed scrubbed, (and I wasn't in the mood to do THAT!) so I had to settle for a shower and then crawled in bed and finished my book and took a two hour nap instead. Then Pop showed up with Bailey in tow, so we had some supper and played with the cat for a while. Then, I spent some time with my head in the refridgerator - repacking food into lunch size containers, picking chicken from the bones, etc... I've got to work the next three days in a row; so at least the grub is cooked and ready to eat with just a few veggies to heat up to go with. Gonna make pizza tomorrow before I go in to work; and maybe use some frozen roll dough to make a couple or three more pitas so I can have some roast chicken/tomato/cuke sandwiches at work Tuesday night. Guess I'd better hide me a pork chop for Wednesday! Saw some frozen apples out in the freezer when we cleaned it the other day; probably ought to get them out and make an apple crisp while I'm at it - no sense turning the oven on for one or two items! Looking at the weather forcast; I don't think I'm going to be hanging any clothes on the line tomorrow - so that lets out doing laundry. And I don't run to town for just one thing; so all of my tomorrow town list will have to wait for Thursday or Friday, if the weather doesn't cooperate, so I reckon I'll just do some cooking instead.

We have no food service at the hospital at night; if you want food (and I ALWAYS want food!) between 7pm and 6:30 am, you either bring it yourself, or buy it out of those awful machines - ick! ick! ick! Seems like I either have to bring enough to share, or stand guard over it tho; 'cause everyone else is too busy to make a lunch to bring! They do keep me pretty well supplied with junk food in exchange, tho!

Now, I've got Hubs moving the chairs and stools out of the kitchen now so I can do a thorough mopping instead of my usual damp mop hit the really yucky places type job. Still cooking down the darn tomato juice (decided just to make it all into spaghetti sauce since I didn't want to go out to the garden today); it should be ready to add the seasonings and can before too long. I think maybe one or two more pickings of tomatoes and I'll call it a year on them. I'll hopefully have green beans to can when we get home from vacation; and then I'll do some spiced apple rings and stewed apples (peeled, quartered, gently cooked, packed into wide mouth jars, light syrup and pressure canned) - we like them better than applesauce. My grape vines have made it almost to the top of the posts on the arbor, but it will be a couple of years before I see any fruit from them; so I am trying to find some grapes to make grape juice and jelly with this fall. Gonna stop by a winery in Missouri on the last day of vacation - maybe they'll have some extras to sell. I remember when Jes and I went out to OK a couple years ago, I saw a lot of signs offering grapes for sale along side the road. I'll be passing through the area a couple weeks later, tho, I think. Wish we were going just a little bit later - those OK pecans are wonderful!

Whoops! Hubs just hollered from the kitchen to ask me if I was making tomato sauce or tomato paste - reckon that's my cue to get in there and finish up the spaghetti sauce! Take care,

-- Anonymous, August 18, 2002

Marcia, wuz beginning to worry about you.....so glad to hear your sweet posts!

Canned potatoes? really? you can em? why? Reminds me, as I mentioned just recently, of when I first met Bren. She had commercially-canned potatoes on her basement shelves. I had never in my life seen canned potatoes before. They looked nice and all on the shelves, but after tastin em I couldnt figure out why anyone would do that, unless they were maybe expectin a holocaust or something. I mean they're so easy to keep fresh.

Same with onions.......geesh, canned onions hey...that's um.....interesting :)......can't imagine.....I have always been well renowned in my family for two culinary peculiarities.....one: everybody referred to me as the 'garbage disposal' cuz I would eat the left-overs off everyones plate, and two: my affinity for onions.......mom used to say the only thing I don't eat with onions is chocolate cake! (personally I think that's why I have such low cholesterol even before I even knew of such a thing!)

Actually reminds me of about 20 years ago, while we were living in So CA (Los Angeles), we were having dinner with my parents who were also living in So CA (San Diego), and I casually mentioned my 50 pound bag of onions hanging from a rafter in our garage..........well my mother broke into hysterical laughter! Well, at least for her it was hysterical! ( a beautiful and uncommon thing it is, to see my mom silly with laughter!) She just thought that was just such a hoot....I didnt really get why, but later she told me it was cuz it reminded her of her poor farm roots, which of course I had no idea that I was just beginning to feel.

Marcia, your great-great grandfather Snavely? Is that for real? What a great name....sounds very Dickensian!

I have lots more I could say but I better stifle myself..........gosh I wish more folks would post; I still feel a bit squeamish lettin out too much when there are so many possible lurkers.........

Blessings to all,

-- Anonymous, August 18, 2002

Very busy too down here . . .

My son will be four the 30th of this month, so we're busy planning the party. Because of our small (TINY) home, we really have to plan who is coming and when they are to come, as large a family as we have.

To add to the chaos, we're also baptizing my daughter next Sunday, so the godparents and my wife and I have been attending the obligatory classes. My wife and I were also chosen to be her brother's daughter's god parents, so we've been pretty busy coordinating efforts.

Yesterday afternoon, we went shopping across the border, looking for party supplies. We bought a pinata (a paper mache' figure filled with candy / treats, which the kids beat the hell out of with a broom stick while their eyes were covered; no, I haven't the slightest how this custom started :^)),the candy and the kids' baptismal gowns - shoes, and other various sundries.

We also decided to get our hair cut. They cut hair pretty cheap across the border - we paid $3.00 a piece, for scissor cuts, nothing fancy. So my barber turns out to be a drag queen, who looks like Bette Midler (if Bette looks like a 180 pound person with 5 o'clock shadow under the makeup and Tammy Faye makeup - an Enquirer hatchet job picture :^)). He had pictures of himself in drag taped to the mirror; it was hard not to laugh and hurt his feelings. The person cutting next to Bette was Cher (again, not even close!), but nevertheless, seemed pretty competent. The conversation between both of them was pretty funny, no they were hilarious! The guy cut my hair very well, and I left a two buck tip; hey it was better than a floor show.

That's pretty much it around here - gotta go.

-- Anonymous, August 19, 2002

Yep, busy here too. Today is our first day back to homeschool. We never totally take off but today we're back to a routine. Two of the kids are reviewing math facts with flash cards for each other as I write this. Looks like they remember pretty well. We probably won't have to do this again. Yeah! We can get on to new things!

Went to the zoo yesterday. It looked like it was going to rain when we left. But we tempted fate and went anyway. Well it turns out that we were there for about four hours before it started. And boy was it a torrent. We had a great time even though a soggy one at the end. We were about ready to leave anyway.

Still lowcarbing. I've lost 15 now. I'm only 4 away from my convervative goal. At that time I will up my carbs again by adding more non starchy veggies and start the premaintenance part of Atkins.At that point I will start to lose more slowly (Atkins says it should be almost imperceptable) while retraining myself even further toward the new eating habits I will be adopting for life.

Glad everyone is doing well. Hello to those who come later.

-- Anonymous, August 19, 2002

Hot..too hot..I'm melting.. Its been a week of heat with no let up in sight...Who the hell calls us the great white north?? I feel like I've been transported to 'bama or somewhere else humid and HOT. Have I mentioned the HEAT yet???? This is NOT the Nova Scotia I know and love. C'mon October!!! Wish I could pack up and move to the beach. Hmmmm....nah too much effort to come back here for food and animal caretaking. Speaking of animals..I'm getting a new kitty!! This will be number 4 and for a change its a boy! (cheaper fixin') He is jet black and spunky and I will name him George. He is a kitten from my friend Terri's cat Bandit and the litter is about 4 or 5 weeks old now. I had fallen for a calico with long hair but my husband pointed out that she looks too much like Miss Kitty whom he has never loved. Poor Miss Kitty. Terri's girls are already calling George Georgie Porgie and I told them why I was calling him George (Bugs Bunny Cartoon reference) so according to Terri they think the have free reign to SQUUUEEEEZZZZZE him...LOL Poor little mansy. Picked 3 cukes Saturday. The Royal Burgundy beans are getting tough so we are picking them for pig fodder now and the yellow beans are just starting to come on. I have shelved the diet for now..too many yummy veggies and fruit this time of year and honestly its just too hot for all that meat. Gotta cook it. On grocery day I'm gonna get me a sushi snack pack too. Now thats fine snackin!! I have to call daycare and see if they can fit Cammie in full time. Its already making my heart ache at the thought but I one is going to have a shop one should work there full time I think..at leaqst for the first few months to work the kinks out and be on top of things. Oh this is a big move for me. Long time since I worked outside the home full time and never since I had the boys... Pray for me and my babies won't ya??

-- Anonymous, August 19, 2002

Yup...I really can "can" potatoes :-)!! I know canned potatoes don't compare to fresh cooked ones, but I consider them my "I'm too lazy to cook fresh potatoes today" substitute! We just heat and eat. But they're so easy to dress up with whatever you want...cheese, onions, mix with other veggies, etc. I even make a quickie potato salad with them by just adding onions, hard-boiled eggs, mayo and spices!! You can also mash them or do a baked au gratin "thing". Quite versatile! We do keep about a 100 lbs. or so of red Pontiacs in the cellar, but conditions aren't ideal there and they usually start sprouting by February or March. Now the canned onions is new for me this year! Has anyone ever seen canned onions in the canned vegetable section of the supermarket? Around here the most popular brand is "Aunt Nellie's" and they come in a jar. Really delicious when added to a roasting turkey or chicken. Great for adding to a pot roast or making onion soup also! We had lots of tiny onions this year and they worked out perfect for this. We also keep about 40 lbs. or so fresh in the cellar as long as possible. Is it really true, EM, that onions lower cholesteral also?? I knew that garlic did! That's good to know...I put lots of fresh onions in with my sweet cucumber pickles this year :-)!!

Yeah...Snavely sure is a weird name!! Over the generations some of my ancestors changed the spelling to Snably (my pre-marriage name!). It's a Swiss name and from what I've learned the original family castle is still standing...somewhat...over in Switzerland!! I might research it further. Can anyone recommend a good geneology (sp.) site??

j.r....Pinatas are very popular way up here in Maine, too! Lotsa kids have them at their birthday parties. What is it about the kids nowadays...they all have to have "theme" birthdays :-)!!

Alison...October can't come soon enough for us here either! We've had sooo much heat and humidity this summer. And, believe me, the beach isn't much cooler!! Did you know that the officials at the beaches in Wells, Maine had to close them down for a few days last week? Sharks were sited cruising the waters!!! That's how warm the Atlantic is getting. Imagine...sharks off the coast of Maine!!! Who would have thunk it?!!

-- Anonymous, August 19, 2002

E-Mama- I can potatoes because they make the easiest best hash browns in quick time. We are always looking for ways to speed up breakfast. We only cook on wood so starting with raw potatoes, boiling them, grating them, etc etc takes forever when you need to get the kids to school. I just grate the canned potatoes, chop onions, add garlic and yummy hashbrowns. I agree, I wouldln't eat them mashed or boiled but I think they have their place.

Kim

-- Anonymous, August 19, 2002

Hey! Hi Kim! Thanks for everyone's posts!! There's LOTS going on everywhere it seems.

We're trying to get ready for vacation here, plus deal with outside stuff since the weather has been fantastic for a couple of weeks. Looks like it's clouding up tonight. Some rain would be great, as the lawn (? ha...weeds) is getting brown and I'm using a lot of water for the vegetable garden, the new (last year's) perennial garden, and keeping two duck ponds full, plus the water for the sheep.

Getting a bumper crop of strawberries this year! I moved them SO late last year that I wasn't sure if I'd get *any*! I got off work early today, came home and picked berries and made jam. That was fun. I have volunteer kale, spinach, and swiss chard coming up... great! Green beans are flowering, peas are done, got a few handfuls of raspberries (chopped 'em way back last year). Got lots of carrots and lettuce still, too. I love summer! Even some more garlic to dig up...

Getting our hay delivered Thursday. $185/ton for alfalfa. Cheaper than last year (I think I got stuck at $210 or something horrid (not that $185 isn't!)). Neighbors gave us another dozen or so T-posts. Really gotta get some more fence up! Mr. S. repaired the sheep feeders yesterday. He's out of school until end of September, so he's got a LOT to do around here, I'll tell ya (and you can bet that I've sure told *him*!).

Current lament: I can't find any clothing that I like anymore. What is it with "fashion" these days? Good grief...I never thought skin- tight stuff was appealing, even in my skinnier days. Even if I had all the money I could ever imagine, I think I'd still have to shop the thrift shops. At least I could find a style or two that I could relate to. And I've never been known to be particularly frowzy or drab. I just don't think I want to present myself as a 50-year-old Britany Spears! I thought it might be nice to get something contemporary to wear on vacation, but guess not.

Our ducklings are getting their tail feathers. We had one of our old hens die last week. They are getting pretty old. If they weren't Mr. S's pets, they would have been toast (or chicken and dumplings, anyway) a long time ago. We have one Aracauna hen that's 7 year old!

Time to go fix some dinner. Hope y'all are doing well. Sounds like it!! Sorry this has been choppy and all over the place, but you all know what it's like to be busy!

-- Anonymous, August 19, 2002

Am I the only one who couldn't get in here for a couple of days? (Again)

I am busily sewing, for my most pressing (no pun intended) project involves a wedding dress, needed in 2 weeks. EEK!

-- Anonymous, August 23, 2002

Nope Joy, no one could get on evidently. The last post was on the 20th. Glad it's back up again. Or that we can get back on now.

Wildman, (missing ya'll)

-- Anonymous, August 23, 2002

Boy...I'm sure glad that we're all "back"! Although, I wonder how long Lusenet will be up...when I clicked on to some of these posts, I got that "too busy to respond right now" excuse!!!

Going to the National Folk Festival tomorrow!! I'm soooo excited!! Both Harry and I can't wait to "sample" the goodies in the food court :-)!

Sure is great to be back talking to you all!

-- Anonymous, August 23, 2002