Garden goodness & other beginning of September Happenings

 Greetings

White, orange, yellow & red.

I guess I didn't know or realize there was different colors of carrots. Kevin dug the carrots & mentioned that he had planted multi-colored ones.  Apparently there are even black ones but none of those in our harvest.

The red ones are orange on the inside.

They are sweet if you can imagine a 

sweeter tasting carrot.

Grandkids

The oldest Grand that is a Sophomore in high school, decided to do distance learning full time instead of the 3 days a week his school is doing.  The 2 days he was attending, school was online learning with a lunch provided & not a teacher in front of the class teaching.  He came up with a plan of what his daily schedule at home would be & how he would do chores & stuff.  Daughter says it's working out good so far.  

Happy Birthday to our Spiderman fan.

Kudos to our summer league baseball player.

Cooking

Meal planning continued to be around whatever was ready to be eaten in the garden - All things squash.  After squash there was baked tator soup.  Coming up is pumpkin chili.

Squash casserole ready to stick in the oven

after work for supper along with BBQ

chicken cooked in the crockpot.

Kevin planted 2 different types of winter squash. Bush Delicata & Carnival. I cut them in 1/2 & scrap out the seeds.  Next I put in butter, brown sugar & cinnamon. Then bake at 425 for about 45 minutes.  Fork out the squash & mix with the juices when ready to eat.

Chocolate zucchini bread for breakfast.
Chocolate & Coffee=Yum!

Gardening

Kevin canned another run of carrots & I helped.  We shared our harvests with friends cause there was more than we could eat or have room for in the pantry or freezer.  We need to keep jars, lids & shelf space for an antelope that Kevin hopes to get a little later on during hunting season.  The deer trampled the pumpkin vines while foraging around for something to take a bite of...a pumpkin here, a squash there & mators over yonder then drank all the water in the birdbath.  Kevin covered a few more pumpkins with buckets to hide the pumpkins from the deer.

We have enough carrots to have 1 jar
every week for a year.  

Rose helping with carrots or not.

 

Peeling/scraping carrots is a 
relaxing project to do outside
 chit chatting with a companion.

Onions drying before being put away for winter storage.

Cleaning

Cooler temperatures moved in.  I opened the windows & let the fresh air circulate though the house.  I had a couple of scheduled days off from work with no appointments scheduled or nothing else going on, so I made myself a 2nd cup of coffee & caught up on cleaning a few things such as dusting & vacuuming, emptying out the bathroom trash can, cleaning the salt & pepper shakers & refilling them, wiping out the inside of the refrigerator & microwave.  The stove top & oven needs a good cleaning but I think I will put that on my spring cleaning to-do list.  I certainty like to do other things on my day off at home besides clean, so I set the timer on the stove for 30 minutes between cleaning & do other stuff...take the dog out to potty & sunshine for me, read blogs, organize pictures & do some writing, look out the window & daydream, close my eyes & they open when the timer goes off.

80 degrees, soft breeze, clear blue sky...the trees called for me to come
enjoy a nice long walk.  The Russian olive trees have berries/olives that the
 animals, perhaps a pheasant, will eat during the winter.  The lilac
 leaves are drying up & falling to the ground.  No fall colors yet.

I did something I had not done in a long time...Make some 

good ol southern style sweet tea for supper.  Aka insomnia tea. 

At bedtime I was wide awake then tossed & turned all night

long it seemed.  I know tea does me that way these days, but

it was sooooo good at the time.  I need to take the advice a 

friend said she did, Don't have caffeine after 2 pm. 

Health & Weight Maintenance

So far I'm enjoying having Rose as a motivation for getting me out walking more, so that is at least 1 good thing about having a dog again - The already chewed hole with stuffing coming out of her new soft lounging bed, not so good.  I had been trying to take a nature walk everyday by myself out in the trees, now I go out there walking 2 or 3 times a day with Rose.  

Frugality, Savings & Spending

We ate stuff out of the garden & meat from the freezer, so not much shopping done at the grocery store other than butter, brown sugar & ingredients to make an ice cream cake.  I put out my fall/Halloween decorations that I've had for years.  Did some more Christmas shopping.  

I did it - made this ice cream cake for mine & Kevin's 35th
 wedding anniversary.  We also went out to eat for the
special occasion.

Social & Community Service Activities

Participated in Labor Day events & helped with Lions Club activities - Pancake Breakfast & Bingo.  Breakfast had about 1/2 the attendance compared to last year.  Kevin cooked the ham & eggs.  I helped with serving.  We both helped with cleaning up.  Bingo had a good turnout, about the same as last year.  Kevin was the number caller.  I helped with snacks.  We both helped with cleaning up.  Kevin & I also helped with the community BBQ hosted by the Chamber of Commerce.  Kevin helped prepare the meat.  There was 350 pounds of meat cooked in a smoker.  We both helped with cleaning up.  

It rained on our parade, though it was  
much-much needed rain. Me & Rose
here watching the parade
underneath an umbrella.

Quilt show along with BBQ
in the Rec Center.

Other Activities

I got back to reading in my Little House book series. I made a Fall Bucket List of things I want/need to do this fall.  I've already done some of the items & hope the list inspires & motivates me to check off everything on the list.  I started watching Hart of Dixie, Heartland & Private Practice on Netflix.  I'm still watching episodes of The Office, Grace & Frankie, Gilmore Girls, Jane the Virgin & Schitts Creek.

Then

Now

These are a few things that's been going on in my neck of the woods, how about you?