My "fruit roll up" epiphany.

We have a gazillion plums.

Maybe more.

We have plums everywhere.

And a body can only eat so many...

What to do?

(Cue the orchestra)  MAKE FRUIT LEATHER!

Okay, so you're thinking "what's the big deal?"

Well, nothing really except it all turned out so cool.

And I have this 'thing" about wasting food. I **hate** to waste food.  I like to put everything we grow or buy to good use & get as many uses as possible out of it.

So the fruit leather idea pleased me greatly.

And they came out perfect.

Way more perfect than I even dared to hope.

And, okay, it's just cool to make something like that.

And fun.

And it was easy peasy.

We washed & pitted the plums.

Ran them thru the food processor until they were liquified.

Oh! Here's one of the cool parts: we cut parchment paper to fit our trays ~ worked like a charm!

Here they are all done (we dehydrated them at 140* overnight)

We cut them into 4ths & rolled them up (fruit roll ups!) & put them in baggies to store in the freezer (longer shelf life).

See how easy it peels off the parchment paper?

They taste so yummy & sour & even better than those nasty things you buy at the store chock full of chemicals & ingredients you can't pronounce!

And being the dork that I am I am just *giddy* with the thought of taking these camping & hiking & hunting & just ,well, everywhere  :)

Yes. Yes, I am easily pleased. It is one of my most endearing qualities :)

Blessings.

Tadpoles, froglets & little boys...

So....several weeks ago we went down to the creek & there were hundreds upon hundreds of little bitty tadpoles & baby fish.

And I have little boys right?

So you know where this is going right?

Yup.

Daddy told them the fish would die if we took them out of the creek but we came home with 2 tadpoles a piece.

As Murphy's Law would have it, the aquarium broke as soon as we got the tadpoles home so a trip to Purgatory,  uh, I mean Walmart, was in order.

We picked up 2 totally cool little reptile houses & some frog food (who knew?) & started our tadpole adventure.

They did really great until we had a 112* day & 2 of them croaked. (Sorry. Frog humor.)

We had weeping & wailing & gnashing of teeth & a tadpole funeral & then we headed back to the creek for more.

And we checked books out of the library & we watched & we waited & you wanna see?

See him there? With his stubby little tail? And his buddy down there in the corner? He's only got his back legs so far.

Isn't he cute? Blowing his bubbles.

How cool is this one? He looks like a little lion with his big head & long tail.

Look at him in his little hideout ~ he's so small he could sit on your pinky.

This one has legs but still his big tail. He's starting to get his frog head though...

Aren't they cool? We've been having so much fun watching them grow & change. 

Blessings.

June Garden Update

It's been about a month since my last garden update. We have had a bit of growth since then... 

I took a walk thru last night & in no particular order here we go.

The bell peppers which the gopher has not eaten are growing & flowering & setting fruit.

The corn/pumpkin jungle is just a skosh out of control.

The apricots are delicious & we have dehydrated & frozen pounds & pounds of them.

The onions & the broccoli are huge. Unfortunately they are a favorite with the evil gopher :(

Companion planting: carrots love tomatoes :)

Itty bitty tiny baby cucumber.

 String bean.

Birdhouse gourd blossom.

Grapes!

 Potato tower.

Corn! Look at my corn! I can't wait :)

Sweet corn on the right & popcorn on the left. I'm thinking it's a wee bit higher than knee high by the 4 of July...

Sunflowers~ they were supposed to make a secret hideout for the boys but the uh, pumpkins sort of, uh, took over...

Warty little baby gourds.

A happy scare crow with a green field to watch over.

Beets & tomatoes.

More beautiful apricots.

Plums, plums & more plums!

Pickin' plums.

Baby pumpkin.

The hoop house is coming along. Vines are growing up & over.

The best thing to grow in your garden : little boys :)

Blessings.

Threshing Bee 2013

My 16 year old son is a very talented & creative welder.

I think I *may* have mentioned that before...;)

So we decided to try a booth at the craft fair of a local event. They have a Threshing Bee every year at one of the historical sites here.

They have a craft fair, games & projects for children, they actually  harvest & thresh the wheat in the fields with a combination of horse drawn equipment & antique tractors. There are sheep dog demonstrations & farm animals for city kids to see. They also grind some of the wheat & bake biscuits in clay ovens.

It's a really well done family event.

The only draw back?

This year, for the first day of the event, the projected temperature was 109*.

Oh dear.

It was okay though because they were wrong...

It was actually 112*.

Nice huh?

Suffice it to say not many folks came out & we made one measly little sale. And we melted. A bunch.

It was NO fun.

But the next day was beautiful. It topped out at 88*. A lovely breeze blew most of the day & we made back our booth fee plus a little profit! Phew!

I also took a bajillion or so pictures, watched the bee beard (have you ever seen one of those? Uber freaky.) Talked shop with the driving horse folks (I have a slight obsession with draft horses. Very small obsession. Really. Minor...) Enjoyed the live music & took a tour of the beautiful house on the property.

So, of course, what this post is really about is...the pictures :)

I only a chose a few. Honest. ;)

Trust me...

Here he is, the artiste, himself.

He's hard at work & I am blind because I looked into the light to take the picture...

These are my favorite thing he has made. ( and they are mine & you can't have them...just saying)

Pretty flowers.

This is his booth at the "Artisan Fair" (the term 'artisan' cracks me up. It's SO pompous!)
You can see his bottle racks & hooks & mug holders.

Here you can see his flowers & some of his chicken families.

More flowers & more chickens.

I don't know about you but I just love his stuff. It's so fun & clever & yes, I am his mom & what has that to do with anything?  ;)

Okay, okay. On with pictures from the event:

Wheat. What it was all about.

Cut wheat waiting to be threshed.

The house where it all takes place. Isn't it lovely?

The posy hanging on the front door.

And now, because I shan't narrate every photo, I am just going to warn you: I take weird pictures. They are not centered. They are not 'normal'. They are of gears & words & parts & pieces & weathered old wood & rusty nails & the like.
That is what draws my eye & the beauty in the details astounds me.
I hope you agree.

I may have mentioned  my minor draft horse fascination...

Blessings.