Summer winding down; chicks, harvest, soaping, and a smidgen of quilting

The newest, and FINAL, chicks of the season joined us this past week.  

I had been peeking in on Mama daily seeing we didn't really know when she started sitting on her clutch of eggs.  Do you see the little guy tucked in right by her breast?  

Since the hatch, we've been trying to get an accurate count, but have simply decided to shrug and wait until we graduate Mama and chicks to a ground brooder, that way we'll count as we remove them from the brooder house. We THINK there are 12-14 in there, which brings our total number of chickens on the property to..........

Ummmmm.........

....

somewhere around 85-90.  LOL.  However, not all of them will spend the winter with us.  Many of the hatched chicks this year are roosters, and we simply don't need a whole lotta roosters around the property.  Two have already been claimed by a neighbor; we're hoping to find houses for others just as easily!

Goodness, WHERE to even start with this catchup...

Well, it IS breakfast time around here.  Hungry?  Paul shared an Apple Fritter recipe to my FB page a few weeks ago, so last weekend, I gave it a try.  Soooo yummy!  See the icing drip onto my thumb?  Yuppers, folks!  Finger-lickin' good! Recipe here.

And yes!  It is that time of year again;  the annual pollinating of Ragweed!

*whispering*  But crazy enough, I have not been overwhelmed with itchy eyes or runny nose this year.  Could it be that I'm finally growing out of this allergy????  Candace, on the other hand, continues to be miserable;  allergy medicines we've tried barely take the edge off.  

So that means I've been able to be in the garden without too much discomfort.  Yay!

The tomatoes are slowly starting to ripen; about 20 pounds harvested so far, with HUNDREDS of pounds yet to come.  No lie!  HUNDREDS!!!!!!  Holy tomatoes, batman!  I guess 78 plants will do that, huh?  LOL.....

One monster so far....

The excess basil from the Pesto making a few weeks ago has been drying and waiting for processing. 

It doesn't take much basil to fill a spice container, so we're reserving the rest to make some tomato-basil seasoning once we've dried some tomatoes.

A coffee filter worked great as a collection device and then again as a pour-spout, only after sifting out some larger stems by hand.

Coffee filters were also used to keep dirt from falling out of some pots that were used for my plant clippings.  

I find it quite cool watching the root systems grow!  I don't know what kind of houseplant this is, but it is SO easy to care for AND propagate!

Much of our living room has been taken over by plants, which doesn't bother me at all... sorta!  

An opportunity was given to me to add two more mini-greenhouses to my lot (thanks Karen!!!!), all in exchange for some homemade lotions and soaps.  

For now, the greenhouse plastic was set aside, and they are being used as organizational shelving for our (ever-growing) collection of plants.  Weird, maybe, but I can't help but smile when I look at the showcase of plants and photos!

Some more soaps have been added to the curing shelves:  Oatmeal, Milk and Honey, and Hazelnut coffee (my NEW favorite!!!!!)  I love walking through my curing room (which also happens to by my quilting room).  The smells are yummy, yummy, yummy!  What a fun adventure this has been this summer!

Caitlyn's Lemon yogurt "Energy" soap has been in the bathroom for the past couple of weeks.  After trying it out, I accepted that a simple recipe is truly sufficient to make a great bar of soap!  This was one of the first batches we made this summer:  70% olive oil and 30% coconut oil, and then some fragrance.  Quick and easy to mix up; lathers and bubbles wonderfully, and does its job!

The corn harvest has been underway for us for the past week, and two weeks ago, when visiting my parents, I allowed myself to kick back while waiting for the grilled corn.  (Hmmm... another picture with a glass of wine.... )

Have I mentioned how thankful I am for the help I get with the Fall harvests????

Amidst a harvest, when time doesn't allow for large time-consuming meals, it IS okay to simply place a jar of fresh salsa and a plate of fresh corn-on-the-cob on the table.  

We ARE finding time for fun and relaxing, too!
Last week, Paul and I finally buckled down and hired a crew to pour a 30x30 concrete slab, with intentions of using it as an "activity" area for the girls.  Basketball, volleyball, skating...

And....

....wait for it.....

I found a couple hours of time to work a little more on the Smith Mountain Morning quilt!  Hours 13 and 14 (no pic) were completed.

School schedules are almost back in full swing.  Cassie has made the starting lineup on the JV volleyball squad; I'm not sure who loves the sport more, her or me!  We're off to watch the Varsity play in their first tournament of the season in a little bit.  

The first day of school is Tuesday (9/1).  I think we're ready. ;)

Happy Saturday!

Oh, those garden gnomes....

Those garden gnomes MUST have sprinkled me with motivation dust while sleeping last night!!!  Almost 12 straight hours of garden/harvest/preserving work!  And I'm not even completely exhausted :D

Once the pizza sauce finished up its hot water bath, the girls and I headed out to the garden to start picking and shucking corn.  After weeks of beans, the change of pace was nice!!!  Even the girls didn't seem to mind this task;  it really wasn't that bad. {{Plus it helped that it was overcast and cool out today!  Upper 60s}}

We had a good assembling line going.  I helped with the shucking while the water was heating on the stove for blanching.  Once ready, I headed inside to start the blanching/cooling task while the girls continued shucking.

Yup---glass top stove!  Ignorance is bliss for sure!  Prior to this summer, I was unaware of the "dangers" and "No-No's" involved when it comes to hot-water bathing and pressure cooking (supposedly) with glass top stoves.  

Hmp.  Well, this is my.......6th (?) year of preserving my summer garden, and I have yet to have my glass top shatter;  I have yet to deal with the burner not reaching the temperature required for hot-water bathing.  **shaking head**  **shrug** ??? Maybe I came away with a winner when we bought our top!  

By lunch time, most of the corn was shucked and blanched.  And guess what we ate for lunch??!?!?!  :P

After lunch....cutting and cutting and cutting the corn off the cob.  I kept sneaking peeks at the Chinese/Brazilian beach volleyball match between cobs.  For a while there, I thought the Brazilian team was going to fall apart;  it was uncomfortable watching the time-out interactions between them;  they just seemed to argue too much for my liking (coming from a former coach).  

Even Paul helped out with the food sealer when he arrived home from work!  I'm not a big fan of the food sealer job;  I'm sure it's easy-peasy, but I've never done that part before and......I had just finished cutting the corn from the cob when he drove in the driveway....so it was meant to be :)

Yield today:  21 bags (4 cups corn each).

And I wasn't done YET!!!!

Go back up and look at the picture of the corn on the table for lunch.... See the angel food dish in the middle of the table?  I use that to cut corn from the cob;  the cob rests on the center-edge while I cut off the corn (with an ELECTRIC knife, of course!!)

Anyway...while cutting away, I tried to remember the last time I had made angel food cake.  No clue!  So, once the dishes were done up, the inspiration and motivation was still going strong.... I found a recipe online for homemade angel food cake.  (For those of you with chickens, this is a GREAT way to burn through a dozen eggs!!!)

And of COURSE we don't have any frosting in the house, so I found a recipe for that too.....

and I'm waiting patiently for the cake to cool (while I write this post) so that I can DIG IN and finally put my feet up for the day!!!!  Oh yeah......dinner tonight:  Pork roast, mashed potatoes, gravy, beans, cob-corn (grilled)......ALLLLL from our garden/animals!  :D

Whaa-hooooo!  Ummmm......dare I say that I get to spend the day sewing tomorrow???  I'll have to check to see if any more tomatoes are ready-n-ripe, but those won't take all day even if there are some ready.

{{Update}}

10-minutes later.....

It won't win any cake awards, but .......Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!