Imagine What You Could Do . . .

Greetings Fellow Earthlings:

Imagine what you could do, if you knew you would not fail.

Ponder that for a moment.

Imagine what You could do, If you Knew you would Not fail.



If you Believe that you will fail, you won't be disappointed because you most certainly will.

If you Believe you will succeed in your quest and are willing to do what you need to do to accomplish it, you will.  You don't know what you are capable of until you give it your all.  It may not happen as quickly as you desire, but with perseverance, it eventually will.

We all have the potential to do great things, to be someone's hero, to create a good life, to fulfill a dream.  Fear, then excuses and doubt, are often what keeps us in a place we don't want to be.  This and the choices we make on a daily basis. 

We knew from a young age to get to our desired goal, sacrifices would have to be made along the way.  For us these weren't actually "sacrifices" as we had a goal in sight and were quite willing to forgo immediate gratification for the bigger picture.   Our goal and dream was to live in the country and become self reliant. 

We always told our kids that you don't become a Rocket Scientist by taking Underwater Basket Weaving.  You don't become a Ballerina by studying Taxidermy.  And you don't become Self Reliant by ordering Take Out. 

Whether your dream is to travel, become an expert in your field of interest, grow your own food or become a fashion designer, your lifestyle and frame of thought needs to reflect your goals.  Find a way to make it happen.  It's one thing to dream about something. It's an entirely another thing to Do something about it.

Just Imagine what you could accomplish, if you knew you would not fail.

Around the Yard:

Being a Cat around here is hard work, evidenced by our Smoky, aka "Twitchy", as I caught her napping in the Lilacs.  Ah, to have the life of a cat!  Hee Hee!  But, to be fair, I have witnessed her "go to work".  She along with her sister, Bandit, do a fine job of keeping our place virtually rodent free.  The Twitchy moniker was given, as she will twitch her tail when she's ready to pounce on her prey.  No mole hill, no mouse, no gopher is safe with our girl on duty!  That is, unless she is enjoying a battery recharging, sunbathing, power nap in the lilacs!

Smoky taking a nap.  Do you Mind?

When we received these two girls, 10 years ago, they were mere kittens and more than half feral.  We didn't want them to become pets - we needed them to do a job.  So we left them be, for the most part, while still keeping them fed, watered and sheltered.  They have free access to the garage and yard, but we do lock them in at night as we do have coyotes very close by. 

We laugh how these two "free" cats cost us a small fortune by the time we had them vet checked, spayed, chipped, de-wormed and given their shots.  Over time, they have warmed up to us and us to them.  They have been a wonderful source of entertainment and amusement for two old people and will continue to be so for many years to come I am sure.  They both chatter at us and each has her favorite human to snuggle up to.  It is challenging sometimes to be out in the garden when one or the other suddenly appears and demands a good body massage.  Apparently you really only need one hand to weed.  The other hand is very much free to pet a cat!

Chick Update:

The Baby Chicks have been moved from their first brooder area into their growing pen.  Papa noticed that several of the chicks would Jump Up to See him whenever he went into the brooder area to check on them, refresh their water and add more feed.  It became very apparent that the 18" high wall surrounding them wouldn't keep them contained for much longer.  Moving day came a lot quicker than we had anticipated.

They have lots of space in their new digs. When they get the rest of their Big Bird Feathers, they will be given free access to their private outside yard to run in the grass, eat bugs, scratch in the dirt and do what happy chickens need to do. 

Baby Chicks in their new home.

CAF Snowbird Sighting:

We found out the that the CAF Snowbirds would be flying in our area on the 16th.  It looked, at first glance of their scheduled flight path, that they would go right over our house!  We had our morning tea out in the back pasture, hoping for a fly over, but alas, their path had changed and they were several miles to the east of us.  We were happy to see what we did see, although it looked more like a flock of geese with a vapour plume!  

We were extremely saddened to hear of the crash and the loss of one of the pilots the next morning.  Such a wonderful act of hope and love marked with such tragedy. 

Morning tea waiting for the CAF Snowbirds to fly over.

Greenhouse:

The greenhouse is doing beautifully!  I love to go out there and breath in all the amazing smells.  It is great for your spirits.  Papa has planted much of the garden and has moved out much of the veggie starts from the greenhouse.  By the time the weekend is over, we'll only have Tomatoes, Long English Cucumbers and Sweet Bell Peppers left in here. 

Overview of the greenhouse.

We started these petunias from seed collected last fall.
I didn't expect them to grow, much less bloom as they are a hybrid.
Double Bonus for sure!  I'll collect seeds from these -
assuming they put off any and try again next year.

In the Studio:

I have been out in the studio whenever the mosquitoes decide that I'm going to be a tasty treat or if it's raining out.  This particular project goes to a newly "incubating baby chick", who should be joining his/her family around the end of this month.  I had made a wedding quilt for the parents, and saved back some of the original fabric for baby quilts.  One has already been made for the soon to be big brother when he first "hatched".  Not knowing the gender of the new arrival, I went neutral for the background color, while still using some of the original fabric.  And just an fyi:  should they add a few more baby chicks to their brood at a later date, I'll be able to continue to make a few more baby quilts from the same original wedding quilt fabric. 

Will post a picture of the finished quilt after it has been delivered to its recipient. 

Quilt Under Construction for Baby Under Construction.

In the Kitchen:

My Sourdough starter had gotten rather lack-lustre recently. It was very wet with a lot of hooch on the top.  I did some research and discovered that it was "hungry" and that I hadn't been using it enough.  The suggested solution to my problem, was to retain only a small amount - I saved about 1/4 cup - and to feed it either rye or whole wheat flour and half the water it would normally receive.  I stirred in the hooch (I could have poured it off as well - either was acceptable) and scraped it into a new, clean jar.  

To the 1/4 cup of starter, I added 1/4 cup of Whole Wheat flour and a few tablespoons of water. I stirred this all together and scraped down the sides of the jar.  I then loosely placed a lid (or you could use a towel) over top.  I then set it aside on the counter, after marking the starting point of the starter with a rubber band.  I was so happy to see some growth that very afternoon.  Before bed, I added another 1/4 cup of the W/W flour and a couple more tablespoons of water to the mixture and stirred well.  Imagine my delight to wake up to a fully ripe and happy starter!  I was so excited that I was able to save it.

Rejuvenated starter doubled over night! 

Apparently the Whole Wheat or Rye Flour is best for feeding your starter.  I had been using Unbleached All Purpose.  It was fine for quite a while, but mine spends a lot of time in the fridge (I bake multiple loaves whenever I do use it) so it is better to use a more "nutritious" flour. 

Look at all that bubbly goodness!

The information I found suggested that although completely safe to store your starter in the fridge, it still needs to be fed occasionally in its resting state - I did not know this!  So now I check on it once a week to see how it's doing.  If I see a bit of hooch on top, that means it is hungry and could use a small feed, even if I am just going to put it right back into the fridge.  Because of this, it is also better to have it a bit drier than my first set of instructions expressed.  It doesn't need nearly the water most people give their starters.  Apparently the equal amount of water and flour, is to quickly create bulk.  Since mine isn't used very often, it is better to have it a bit drier, only adding more water when I want a larger amount to bake with.  This way I am only keeping a small amount of starter on hand and making what I will be needing to use a day or two before I need it.  There is so much to learn about this wonderful craft and so many opinions and methods that may or may not work for your particular circumstances.  Who knew!

Hot Sourdough Bread, fresh from the oven!
Look at that Ear!

Since rejuvenating my Sourdough starter, I have also started to bake my bread in a Cast Iron Dutch Oven.  It gives a very different product from the more conventional pan baked method.  This one is the result of a very long bulk rise and a 45 minute Dutch Oven bake.  I am very happy with the results.

World Affairs:

We are doing our best to not let the current state of the world's affairs completely take over our lives and our heads.  In fact, since we've stopped listening to the news about it - it changes moment by moment and there are far too many agendas, opinions and updates to try to keep up with anyways.  We can't tell fact from fiction any more. We have decided that we could let it consume us or we could get on with our lives.  Fear has an incredible way to get a hold of you to the point where it cripples, causes self doubt and makes you question everything around you.  We don't want to live that way. 

Although we aren't reckless by any stretch of the imagination, we are really getting tired with the constant and never ending "changes" of protocol.   We have always washed our hands and faces upon coming home from town.  We don't touch public surfaces intentionally, my purse never sits on the floor, I don't touch public door knobs with my bare hands, and we don't do crowds and so on.  Lids have always been washed, cans wiped down and no child or grandchild of mine will ever drink directly out of a soda can - before or after any of this.  Veggies and fruit were/are always washed before they are peeled or cut into.  Counters have always been wiped down after the groceries were put away and my reusable bags hit the washing machine immediately after being emptied, to be done in the next load.  We have town shoes and farm shoes - mostly because no one wants to go to town with chicken or steer goo on their feet!  We go to town once or less per week and try to do everything in one trip.  Since we rarely, if ever, eat out, that too isn't a risk factor for us - you don't know what that restaurant standards are or if a staff member is sick - I have worked in the restaurant industry and I have seen things.  And if one of us is sick - which is extremely rare - we keep our butts at home!  How did all these things we have always done, suddenly become the "new" rule.  Weren't these things "always the rule" of public health and safety?  They always have been in our home. 

We only really notice the how crazy the world has become is when we do have to go out in it, on the rare occasions that we do.  It is so sad that things have had to come to this.  It's like living in a science fiction movie - and a bad one at that!

I found this the other day and it speaks volumes:

Words to think about

It really is a lovely perspective on things.

As we take another trip around the sun, consider and Imagine what You could accomplish, If you knew you would not fail.

Until next time, Stay Safe.

Warm Regards,

Gremlynn

I Love Old Things

Greetings Fellow Earthings:

I love Old things - which according to Papa, is a good thing, since he too, is an Old Thing!

I love old classical music.  I love old rock and roll. I love antiques.  Old Mason Jars.  Old jewellery.  Old furniture.  Old friends.  Old dogs.  Old cars.  Old china and glassware.  Pretty much anything with a history to it.  People get really excited over new things.  Not me.  Give me an estate sale, a garage sale, or an antique shop, any day of the week and I'm a happy girl.

Part of my vintage canning glassware collection.

I love old recipes and old recipe books.  I have a collection of old recipe books that I often peruse, just for fun and inspiration.  My favorite bread recipes come from an old Betty Crocker Breads recipe book.  If  I get a notion to make a "new to me" bread, I check this book out first.  Chances are very good that there will be a recipe for it and I will have great success.

My "Go To" Bread Recipe book.  You could still get this on Amazon, when I last checked.
It definitely covers all your bases.  My copy was purchased new back in 1980. 
It has been well loved!

I love the terminology used in these old books.  I love it more when I find a "replacement" recipe book for a well loved book from my collection. 

The Blue Ribbon cook book was picked up at an antique shop. 
Hubby has his mother's original one from pre circa 1961, well used and loved. 
I was thrilled to find this pristine copy, to tuck away for him. 
The Bread Book was picked up as some of the recipes really intrigued me. 
There are also hand written notes in the margins by a previous owner.  This is gold to me! 
The old Co-op bottle/can opener is the tool I use to open my home canned preserves.

My Go To Dumping Recipe from the Old Blue Ribbon Recipe Book.
I make these every time I make a stew.

Even as a child, I would spend hours going thru my Granny Graham's recipe books, her notes and her hand written recipes.  I know that I inherited my love of cooking, baking and preserving from her.  I always enjoyed just sitting on the little step stool at the kitchen counter peninsula and watch her go about her daily kitchen routines.  She made it all look so easy.  Her meals were simple, from simple ingredients, but always wonderful.  I especially loved her flour bin.  It was built right into her kitchen cupboard and held a whole sack of flour!  Talk about convenient!

My Granny Graham's Dumpling Recipe which I typed out around 1978

When we go antiquing, I am always drawn to the kitchen items and recipe books.  You never know what treasure you might stumble onto.  Papa scouts for vintage Lionel "O" Scale Trains and antique hand wood working tools.  We each have our favorite things to hunt for.

I found this old cloth bound Purity Flour Cook Book at an estate sale. 

For being printed in 1937, it is in amazing condition!

It is wonderful when you find treasures from days gone by in old recipe books.  The recipes are more of a reminder to the cook, rather than an actual recipe.  This baker made this recipe so often that all she/he needed was a few notes.

Besides old recipe books, I also have a collection of vintage cook ware, mixing bowls, casseroles, utensils and other every day items.  That I use.  Literally every day!

This Women of Unifarm Recipe Book was given to me back in 1982 as a shower gift.
Some of the recipes are so vintage that they no longer readily available ingredients.
For instance, there is a whole section on Rape Seed oil recipes! 
The egg beater is from the early 1900's and was a gift from a dear friend. 
And yes, it works!  My grand kids love to use it.   

You won't find a Kurig in my kitchen.  Coffee is made either in one of my two Pyrex stove top percolators or a press.  After replacing several electric coffee makers over the years, I had finally had enough.  It didn't matter if it was a $20 discount store special or a $200 programmable system, I only seemed to ever get 2 or maybe 3 years out of it, before I had to set out to find yet another one.  My last one expired about 15 years ago.  I was fed up and unwilling to spend another dime on yet another disposable coffee maker.  This led me on a search for vintage Pyrex Perks.  I have been blessed to have found not one, but two fully complete with basket and stem, in two different sizes.  Wow!  This is a game changer!  Coffee has never tasted so good!

My 2 vintage Pyrex Coffee Perks

Like coffee makers, I have purchased several non-stick frying pans over the years.  Even buying brand name pans, have resulted in the finish eventually flaking off, rendering them unsafe to use.  I was always told how difficult cast iron pans were to maintain, so my set of three vintage cast iron ones sat, unused and unloved, for literally decades. 

It became time to replace yet another set of Teflon pans.  It dawned on me that I had these old cast iron ones tucked away.  Why not get them out, clean, re season and try to use them?  Wow!  Not only are they convenient to use since they can go from the stove top to the oven and back again, but once seasoned, they are as non stick as any Teflon pan would be.  A quick wipe after use and you are good to go for your next meal.  And no chemical finish to flake off in your food.  Bonus!  

I can't begin to tell you how many electric kettles I have purchased only to have them burn them out within a couple of years.  When the last one - a cute, little cordless unit - gave up on me, I went looking for a large, stainless steel, seamless stove top kettle.  This was a tough order to fill.  I lucked out on a new one at the local hardware store.  It holds 6 litres and has no bottom seam, for the water to eventually break through and leak out.  I have had this kettle for over 4 years now.  That is already way longer than any other kettle I have ever owned!

Collection of Vintage Cast Iron Frying pans and my stove top kettle which have a
permanent home on the cast iron grates of my all gas range.

If you look at my stove, you will notice that it is gas, with cast iron grates.  I have always had an electric stove.  I have replaced more than my fair share of elements - both in the oven and the stove top - and electronic parts. 

My, "I thought it would be my last" stove purchased new ten years ago, was a beautiful Dual Fuel range.  It had a built in dehydrator, a bread proof setting, built in temperature probes, 2 electric ovens, 5 gas burners and more options than I could ever use or even knew existed!  It was My Absolute Dream Stove!  

And then the mother board went on it - not once, but twice.  

And the thermostat went on it - my oven would fluctuate 100's of degrees up or down within moments - so cookies were either molten lava within mere seconds or still raw after the required baking time had passed.  Grrr 

The auto start/stop timer quit working.  I couldn't trust it to turn on at the scheduled time or turn off as programmed.  Sigh. 

One of the electric ovens had quit altogether.  It was one thing after another.  When the main mother board went for the second time, I had had enough.  Not another dime was going into it.  Warranty had long since passed and it wasn't worth to keep fixing as previous fixes were being re-fixed. 

So, I went about looking for a plain old, old fashioned gas stove. No electronics.  No special features.  Something I could light with a match, should I chose to.  Unless I was able to find something pre 1980's, things weren't looking too good for me.  

I had the local appliance store do a search for me.  I wanted a bare bones gas stove.  Do they even make these any more?  I was so happy when they were able to locate one for me!  It would have to be shipped over from Germany, but I was willing to wait.  No bells.  No whistles.  No parts to malfunction.  No electronics to blow up. And it works like a charm! I have had it for well over three years now and not one service call.  Not one glitch - not even a minor one. Although this is not an "old" gas stove, it sure works like one.  And I am extremely happy with it.

If you ever come to my house, you will also notice that not only a good many of my kitchen utensils are old or vintage, but so is our furniture. 

As 1980's newly weds, we had done the whole modern furniture thing, but the stuff didn't last.  The finish peeled or wore away.  Frames broke.  Drawers broke.  I don't think my kids were that rough on stuff, it just wasn't very well made.  And it certainly wasn't made to last.  By the 1990's pretty much everything we owned needed to be replaced. 

Papa built me several wooden pieces, including our bedroom set, storage units and shelving.  I found myself getting more and more interested in old fashioned furniture and its construction.  Since then, pretty much every piece of furniture in our house is either antique, hand made or vintage.  Things were made to last and last they do.  They also stand the test of time.  I also don't get tired of vintage/antique furniture like I do with the more modern trends.  Classic is Classic.  I find something that works for me and I just stick with it.  If it isn't broken or worn out, I find no need to replace it.  And, If we can make something new out of an otherwise old item, we will absolutely try.  

Hubby re-purposed an antique bed to become a bench for my front porch. 

I guess I really do love old things.  Including Papa!

Have a wonderful day.

Until next time,

Gremlynn

The Babies and The Boys of Summer are Here!

Greetings Earthlings!

It appears that winter has finally left the building.  It is just me, or did this year's winter seem extra long?  I don't think it was, truly, but it sure seemed to be.  For me, anyways.

Perhaps it had more to do with being shut in from the extreme cold and Papa's recovery, then being told we needed to be shut in due to the virus.  I am so grateful to be living a country life - we are free to go outside without worrying about running into anyone.  I am even more grateful to be able to go outside and not have my face frozen off now!  So thankful for small things to make me happy.

We have embraced April with full vigour.  From watching the snow melt away, to getting the greenhouse up and running, to getting the high tunnel erected, to baby chicks hatching in the incubator and finally the deliver of this year's Boys of Summer - Quar, Anne, Tine our three Hereford Steers.  Feed was delivered and more feed was picked up last week.  We began to clean out the flower beds and planted 2 more cherry trees in the back orchard and 4 new shrubs down by the pond.  We also moved 9 peonies from their temporary home in the nursery area of the main garden, to their new permanent bed by the upper pond.  We have had socially distanced coffee in our driveway and wine on the front deck, enjoying the warm sunshine.  We have toured friends through our yard, to see the new additions and have managed to maintain our distance from each other.  How I would love to hug my dear friends, but for now, we are happy with video and phone chats and visits in the driveway and a friend's wheat field, if need be.  Strange times indeed, but you do what you have to do.

The High Tunnel is up and ready to be filled. 

Papa planting his tomatoes in the high tunnel.
I really hope that it's not too soon!

I can't get over the difference in heat inside and outside the high tunnel!  I am suspecting he is going to need a heat sink out there if he plans to plant his tender tomatoes out there this early.  Time will tell!  Fingers crossed it goes well.  He checked the forecast before planting, happy about the warm, sunny days ahead.  And then, it changed of course, to cooler weather and frosty nights, after he was done.  Sigh. 

The Greenhouse is doing wonderfully!  His circulating solar heated water system is working beautifully again this year.  I am also so happy we picked up that propane furnace for those extra cold nights.  Things are thriving!

Petunias already in bloom!

And check out the Long English Cucumber!
It will soon be "Have you eaten your cucumber yet today?"
time again!  Hee hee!

The baby chicks came a day early.  Perhaps we didn't count correctly!  Regardless, we got a 78% successful hatch rate.  That's pretty good indeed!  I felt bad for the 9 eggs that didn't hatch out.  One had a pip hole in it and the other 8 had nothing.  You never really know why an egg doesn't hatch. We left them in the incubator for an extra day and a half, just to be sure, but there was no movement or chirping coming from any of them.  The other 31 chicks are doing very well - being their chicky cuteness! 

Whew!  Breaking out of an egg is very hard work!
Time for a much needed rest! 

The chicks hatch out very tired and wrung out.  It doesn't take them long to dry off and hop about
and cheep for joy, encouraging their hatch mates to join the party!

31 little Chicken Nuggets are in their brooding area.
They will stay in there for 3 weeks or so, until they no longer need the brooding lamp
and have most of their Big Bird feathers.  They are so cute when they are this little.

We love the Hereford breed of steers since they are generally very friendly and docile.  They are so personable and tend to settle in right away.  We have had several other breeds over the years, but none are as nice to have around as the Herefords are.  This year's group is no exception  The look so little!

2020's Boys of Summer:  Quar, Anne, Tine!

We are so happy to see our goldfish swimming about, now that the pond is completely thawed out.  I can't remember if they are 2 or three years old now.  We had our first school of gold fish for many years, until we lost them all one really bad winter.  Our daughter showed up with a bag of feeder fish to replace them all - at least 2 summers ago.  We are so happy that they survived another winter.  They are getting so Big!  We have experienced babies in the past, from the first bunch.  Perhaps these ones will reward us as well one day. 

4 of the 6 observed Gold Fish in the Pond!

I had to do some canned beans recently as well.  I was going to make a pot of chili and was surprised to find that we had consumed most of the pressure canned beans in the cold cellar pantry.  I guess they must have been good!  I tried a new basic baked bean recipe for this one.  There is more pepper that we would like in the sauce and the flavor needs tweaking - they are a bit flat - but I think I can work with this recipe.  It is very close to what I was wanting to produce.  The beans I normally make for just eating are a Maple Syrup and Apple Baked Bean - so awesome!  The other beans I pressure can are Romano, Black Eyed, Red Kidney and Garbanzo.  All of those are just in water, ready to be added to a recipe and season as desired.  I was wanting a tomato/molasses bean to add to chili dishes.  These are pretty close to what I am looking for, but I have made notes to make changes the next time I do them.  Here is the link, if you want to try the recipe for yourself:  https://youtu.be/rEtSjzVN7XI

Tomato/Molasses Basic "Baked" Bean just
out of the pressure canner.

It was also the first time I got to use my new Presser Canner Weighted Rocker Regulator.  Up until now, I had relied entirely on the pressure gauge and the basic pressure regulator.  I had read recently that if you replace the basic pressure regulator with a weighted rocker regulator, your pressure will stay more precise during your caning session.  I figured that I had nothing to lose, so I ordered a "replacement" weighted regulator.  Well.  Game Changer!  Instead of having to sit and "baby sit" my gauge so it didn't drop below the recommended pressure for my altitude or go way above, once the new weight got to proper pressure, it does a gentle Hula dance.  I adjusted my heat flame maybe twice during the whole 90 minutes of canning time, instead of every 10 minutes or so as it crept and fell.  No siphoning and no yuck on the seals.  In fact, I had a 100% seal success rate.  I am glad I stumbled upon this pearl of information.  It was also very freeing to not have to sit and watch the gauge.  I managed to get a lot of sourdough bread made in this same time.  If I have to be in the kitchen, I prefer to get a lot done in a short amount of time. It has bothered me to have to watch the gauge so closely.  Now I can just listen to it rock and know that the pressure is fine.  And, if I did happen to check the gauge, it stayed steady at the psi it needed to be at.  Seriously, a Game Changer for me!

I haven't been spending much time in the studio since our focus has quickly shifted from indoor pursuits to outdoor activities.  I did, however, transform another unwearable pair of jeans into a fun and funky large summer tote.  The wooden bars that the straps are woven through are available for purchase in the studio.  We offer them in two different sizes to make an easy to open, but tightly closed bag when correctly installed.  You can take any purse or tote pattern and instead of adding a zipper or another closure, you make two sleeves to hold the purse bars.  The bars are slid into the sleeves and your continuous strap is added as a final step.  The beauty of the bars is the weight of the bag forces the bars together to keep the top closed.  But when you need to open it, you put it down and it slides open, without effort.  I am really happy with my funky tote.  I can wear it cross body or just carry it as a bag.  I had a lot of fun making and embellishing it.  It was a design as I went project as I had no pattern to work from. 

The top part of a pair of jeans with a new, stabilized bottom added
and embellished with fun buttons. 

The inside of the tote includes a large, zippered pocket
(look at the black strip towards the bottom of the picture)
and a large, three sectioned open pocket on the other side. 
Notice how easy the strap slides in the purse bars.  

And this about sums up how our last 10 or so days has been.  We are keeping ourselves occupied as we patiently (or rather impatiently) wait for this Covid crisis to pass.  It will be wonderful to be able to hug my loved ones again.  It will certainly be quite emotional.  I can't say that I will be letting them go once I start.  

Stay Safe Everyone!

Until next time.

Hugs,

Gremlynn