Spaghetti Squash

 Last year was a total fail.

We grew a bunch of really nice

looking spaghetti squash.

We harvested them.

And I stored them on the shelf

in my office.

There was a TON.

And we ate..... five?

The dirty little secret is,

while I love to eat spaghetti squash,

I hate cooking it.

I look at it.

EVERY DAY while I'm in my office.

And I actually think about cooking it.

But it's HARD to cut.

And takes FOREVER to roast.

And we tend to eat quick meals.

So.....

the other day I packaged it all up

and took up to the pigs.

And then I harvested 16 more from

my backyard volunteer plants.

And I was excited to have them.

Because I really do love spaghetti squash.

I cut one

(ok, let's be honest, I had Rod 

cut one... and it was HARD!)

and we stuffed it with ground beef

and roasted it for an hour

and it was DELICIOUS.

And not likely something I will do again.

So.

Today I washed them all.

And then I put them, 2 at a time,

in my pressure cooker.

(WIN! You put them in there WHOLE!)

Set it for 20 minutes.

Then pulled them out, cut them and

let them cool, while the next ones were

in the pressure cooker.

Rinse and repeat.

Things I learned.

If you cut them in the middle instead

of lengthwise, it's WAAAAY easier

to cut, AND way easier (weirdly) to

scoop the seeds out!

I have a bowl of guts that will eventually

go outside to the chickens.

Meanwhile, I also peeled and cut all the

little teeny tiny (personal sized) butternut

squash we harvested the other day.

It was a PAIN IN THE NECK.

But I got them all cut into cubes.

And then, as long as I was doing it,

I also peeled and cut the big normal sized

one I bought from Dave & Mary at the

farmers market this weekend.

Put them on trays and roasted them

in my toaster oven.

The pretty bright orange ones are the ones

we grew ourselves.

There's a bag of Dave's in the back.

It's more yellow....? Hmmmm.

And a bunch of bags of spaghetti squash.

I'm not quite done.

I have 2 in the cooker.

One cooling on the counter,

but I need to start tonight's zoom.

(There's ONE left!)

But I feel VERY accomplished.

Whew!

Dump Truck Etc...

 I was going to take a picture of the 

loaded trailer with another bunch

of fencing material...

but then I had to hop on an RS

Presidency Meeting (zoom) and

I forgot...

Anyhow.

We got another BIG load of fencing

stuff, so Kyle can fence in "his"

2.75 acres around his house.

He will also put a smaller "dog yard"

inside that large fence so he can

keep Luna (and probably Bandit)

together but not just running free for 

every time you need to come or go

through the gate.

Anyhow.

After he finishes putting up the fence,

the next big project is...

OUR HOUSE!!!

First up, install the pilings for the house to sit on.

We have a hole dug (for when we thought we

were going to set the house on a cinderblock
crawlspace. But WHEW, that was ridiculous...)

So we are putting the pilings (encased in cement)

on the existing cement foundations.

Then, after they are cured, Kyle needs to

back-fill all that dirt.

One 1/2 yard scoop at a time.

It will take FOREVER!!!!!

But NOW, he can dig the dirt, fill the dump truck,

and then drive it next to the hole, dump it, and push

it into the hole with his various Cat earth movers.

It will take a couple weeks work OFF the schedule.

(And we got a great deal, $3000!!!)

He is VERY excited.

Not jazzed about having to drive to Nebraska

to pick it up and load it on his trailer to bring home.

It runs, but the guy said he has never had it on

the highway and has no idea how it would do.

So... trailer it is.

It's 500 miles.

We don't want to discover that it DOESN'T do highways.

(grin)

So.

That's what's next.

Meanwhile, I harvested all the spaghetti squash

from our volunteer plants in the yard this morning.

Then I pulled all the plants and dragged the

chicken coop on top so they could finish 

cleaning it all up.

(LOTS of bugs in there!)

Rod just called, his truck is finished

at the mechanics.

So I'm going to quickly eat a sandwich

and get ready to drive over there with

him to pick it up.

(I haven't had breakfast and it's 3:00... lol.)

Chicks!

The chicks arrived one day early.....

which kind of messed up my

schedule for the week......

We got 30 little black stars.

Sex linked, so they are guaranteed females.

And this is a hybrid that is bred for

early maturity. They start laying early,

maybe March?

Anyhow.

After we got them all set up,

we checked on the piglets.

They are getting bigger!

Check out those giant okra in the background!

Then down to the garden to see what there

was left to harvest.

The flowers are looking pretty.

The okra is HUGE.

I'm going to spend next week cutting them down and

adding them to the mulch pile.

There are sweet potato vines under them,

so maybe in a couple weeks I'll dig them up.

Fingers crossed there's something under there!

And check out the ONE sprig of lilac Kyle

found on my bushes along the back alley!

It smells HEAVENLY!!!!!

(Also some basil, basil flowers, and onions....)

Looks like we just bought a used dump truck!

So a trip to Nebraska is on the books

for next week....

Never a dull moment.

Day 6

 Day 6:

Check out 10 Ways to Find and Share

Your Family Stories (including

"All the Stories").

Share a story with a loved one.

Ask them to share one....

?

So.....

Hit the comment button and SHARE!

We are making a mad dash to Salina.

(2 hours) to pay for our house stuff.

It's too much $$$ to put on a card.

So a stop into our bank in Hays for

a cashier check and then to Menards

to place and pay for the order.

And then Braums for a fantastic burger

and a shake and then run home

again in time for me to teach.

Oh.

And all the jars sealed!

And no siphoning!

YEA!

I did a run of 5 pints of water as a test,

and then 3 pints of chicken and another

jar of water just for the space saver.

I'll keep the water sealed for emergency

sterilized water....

until I need those jars.

Might as well have them full of water

as full of air...

Talk later!

Excellent Conference!

 That was an EXCELLENT conference!

Such good talks!

This morning Kyle came to spend the

day with us and brought Little Bear with him.

He's not so little anymore!

(That's Bear on the left...)

We are pretty sure he has some English

bulldog in him. (They breed both there

on site...)

He's awful cute though!

I'm also doing my very first

pressure canning project today.

I did 5 pint jars of water as a

test run, they all sealed.

And now I have some of our chicken

breast that I cut into chunks.

Fingers crossed it works!

(I'm just waiting for the pressure

to release so I can pull it out

and set it on the counter.)

Day 3 - GREEN

Day 3:

Pin a note on all family member's backs with the

name of an ancestor to guess. (Family members

ask yes/no questions to everyone else in the room...)

*********************

I went out to the farm today to pick some cherry

tomatoes and check on how the guys are doing.

Kyle is happy to report he is FINISHED his project.

He got the doors built and the barn painted.

As he was painting, he was like...

"I think I really like this shade of green.

It's EXACTLY the same as my kitchen cabinets!"

Hahahahaha.

It was a LOT of building and fencing.

(And road building, and pipe laying...)

Here's the view of the rest of the property, 

from up on pig world hill.

Pretty, isn't it?

(Our house and the new shop are behind 

the dark green trees.)

The piglets are now able to go out into their pasture.

They are still small enough they nearly get

lost in the tall grass.

This weekend we have LOTS planned.

Farmer's market in the morning.

There is a state high school rodeo up in 

Hill City (where the farm is, technically.)

And I have our first Urban Garden meeting

at the senior center at 2:00.

And, of course, there is general conference.

And then more conference on Sunday.

We are looking forward to it!

But now? I just finished teaching, I'm going

to go watch an episode of JAG with Rod

and then head off to bed.

NITE!

*****************************

Congratulations to Walter and Robert!

Day 2 And a Quiet Thursday

 Day 2 of Family History Month:

As a family, play 20 questions.

"I am thinking of an ancestor who..."

Family members respond with yes/no

questions to guess the answer!

**********************

We are gearing up to start building the house.

And I think we are all a little intimidated.

hahahaha

So we are all just kind of taking it easy

yesterday and today.

A bit of a breather if you will.

Yesterday I drove up to the farm to deliver

the goodies we bought for Rod on Tuesday.

(A new trashcan, some hooks for his

extension chords, a new pouch for all the

things he sticks in his pockets when he's 

working on a project, and a measuring tape.)

And then I picked some tiny butternut squash,

a couple zucchini and a yellow squash.

And some bell peppers.

I dropped the squash at Kyle's.

He was staying in and processing squash

for the freezer, so I added to his pile.

And then I came home and baked some

banana bread. I bought a new toaster oven.

(The same as the old one, I gave the old one

to Kyle for his house...)

It cooks a little hotter than the old one.

So it got a tad over done.

But it was still tasty.

Today I might do a loaf of raisin bread.

We'll see.

Rod has been filling bins and labeling them.

Getting all organized for the upcoming projects.

His shop is looking very organized!

(And once we get the big saw (the green/grey

thing in the foreground of this picture)

in it's designated spot,

he will have lots of room for projects!

They got ready to put the new pump in

Kyle's new well so he can have water

up at his house and also at pig world,

but the pump was defective, so they had

to order a replacement.

It will be here Tuesday.

So that job is on hold.

We bought some pretty green paint to

paint the pig world barn, but it rained a bit

yesterday and then it was WINDY.

(Kyle was going to paint and do the roof,

but neither of those are good windy day

projects... so he switched to indoor stuff.)

Oh, and I need to package up some

more freeze dried peaches.

I sold out on Saturday.

Can't have THAT!

Need to add that to my list of stuff to

do today.

Also wash the kitchen floor.

Who thought a white floor in the kitchen

would be a good idea???

I love how bright it is.

But sheesh.

It needs to be mopped... like hourly.

Never again!

Welcome October!

 It's the first day of October!

I went out to the garden to check on

what's going on out there...

my roma tomatoes have absolutely

taken OVER the little raised bed

they are in.

They are LOADED with fruit,

but this late in the season,

its doubtful they will ripen.

And then....

I saw them!

I planted 3 little purple peppers.

(And 3 little no heat jalapenos)

but the romas just over grew them and

pretty well everything else.

But there they were!

Three little snack sized purple peppers!

Exciting!

I'm looking forward to next year's garden.

We will implement many of the things

we learned this year.

Like butternut squash likes to grow on the 

ground better than on a trellis.

And the peppers should really be separate

from the tomatoes.

And plant romas EARLY and don't bother with

Amish Paste. Just do Roma instead.

Etc etc etc.

I'm going to run out to the farm for a bit.

I'll bring those little peppers and a tub

of cream cheese to dip them in.

Gotta check on my baby chicks 

(not so baby anymore...)

and the piglets (also growing) and

just generally check on how stuff 

is coming along up there.

Then it's class tonight.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Enjoy Family History Month this month!

(I found a list of 50 fun 5 minute things to do

with the family for family history month,

so I'm posting one each day on our ward

RS facebook page.)

Today was create a Family Search account

and do 4 generations starting with yourself.

Shop - CHECK!

 Kyle and Rod have been BUSY.

Rod has been installing all the insulation

in the new shop and getting it all

buttoned up.

Kyle came in one evening when it started to rain and he

couldn't work on his pig world.

He put up a shelf for some of Rod's tools.

They drove up to the storage unit and got

all Rod's big tool boxes and moved them in!

It's going to be SO NICE to have all his tools

in one place!

Then he came in the next evening and built

more shelves and work benches on the other wall!

Excellent job you guys!!!

And now..... on to the NEXT project.

Which is getting the pump installed

in Kyle's new well so the man can

FINALLY have real running water!

**************************************************************

In other news, we were so happy and blessed

that Dad's fall didn't result in any major

injuries or difficulties.

It's tough when you tip over!

But so glad it turned out to just be

a scrape on the ol' noggin.

And, of course, we were saddened to hear

of the death of our dear Prophet.

Driving in to church Sunday morning I

tried to imagine his arrival in heaven.

Being greeted with such joy and love

by his dear wife and daughters and

other family members.

I imagine Christ standing off to the side,

patiently waiting to welcome him home

with open arms and a well deserved

"Well done, my good and faithful servant.

Come with me so we can talk."

(And his wife sighing.... another meeting.

And so eternity begins.)

Friday

This morning I got 2 trays of zucchini 

ready to go into the freeze dryer.

I cut it up in chunks and left one plain

and sprinkled the other with 

Everything But the Bagel seasoning.

It's yummy.

And better than potato chips.

(At least that's what I tell myself... lol.)

And then I did a tray of diced colored peppers

from our garden. 

They are so vibrant when they are dried.

And delicious and easy to just dump into 

recipes. (I keep a mason jar of those as

well as a jar of diced dried onions on my

shelf above my stove.....)

AND 2 trays of diced celery.

You buy a bag of celery.

You use one stalk.

The rest turns into a nasty, slimy mess

before you need to go buy another big ol'

bag and use one stalk.

So these go into another mason jar.

SO easy and convenient!

Then I headed out to the farm to finish

tidying up after yesterday,

and do a harvest.

We got 5 zucchini and a couple yellow squash.

I was also able to pick a bucket of

sungold cherry tomatoes.

There were lots of super sweet (red)

but I just didn't feel like it.

I DID get 2 gallon ziplock bags of ripe

Amish Paste tomatoes to put in the freezer.

In a week or two when I have some time,

I'll pull them out.

Once they are frozen, the skins just slip off.

And I'll make a big batch of spaghetti sauce

and can that.

The okra is done.

It's still producing, but not great quality.

And I brought 4 gallon bags and probably 6

quart bags full to put in the big freezer.

(As well as several bags of diced peaches

for smoothies and crumbles etc over the winter...)

Tomorrow "may" be the final farmers market

of the season. I don't remember from last year,

but I feel like once October got here, we were done.

We'll see.....

We plan to go and bring what we have.

And then its the final go-cart race of the season,

so we are going to go to that tomorrow night.

Here's a picture of our FAT and happy piggies.

Their bellies are FULL.

(Kyle and I ran the numbers and we "may" be

overfeeding them a bit... might need to cut back.)

He actually pet one today.

Said it wasn't HAPPY about it, but at least he

got close enough to pet it.

He is nearly finished with the pastures.

When I went over about 2:00 he only had to put

wire on the gates and string the electric wire around

the perimeter. (Keep them in and other critters

out ... right at "snout" level.)

Piggies with a "banana for scale". Its an internet thing. Lol

So... maybe next week we will be able to move

Luna up there (she will be in the adjacent pasture,

so they can see each other, but she can't eat them...

until she gets trained, she will have to keep her distance.)

But having a barking dog will also protect them from

other critters who also like pork.

Ok.

I'm done for the evening!

Have a great weekend!

Aaaaaaaand We're DONE!

 Whew!

That was a JOB!

But we have all of the chickens processed

and safely in the freezer.

That is a little over half of the bags of chicken.

I started being really organized and putting

the breasts on one side and the leg quarters

on the other side, but then I started putting

the big black trash bags full of .... leftover stuff

in the middle and it kind of leaned over onto the

leg quarters side, so... I gave up.

I'll organize it all nicely in milk crates. 

Later.

It felt good to get it all finished!

The hens were smaller and fit in the

"hugging" cone easier.

But they were MUCH feistier!

Harder to catch, and actually

a little harder to process.

The roosters were HUGE!!!

The size of a hen turkey!

Too big to fit in the cone.

So after we got all the hens done,

and I took an hour break up at Kyle's

house to do our RS Presidency zoom,

we did the final 3 roosters.

Thankfully Rod was there today to help me.

We had to do it the good old fashioned

way, like Grandma did back in the day.

But it was effective and we got it done.

Just in time to run to the house and 

quickly put a double batch of Cowboy Grub

into the pressure cooker for the

missionaries who were coming for dinner.

We had cowboy grub, corn muffins,

and ceasar salad with cookies for desert.

Those young men can EAT!

There was one deli container of leftovers.

Enough for us for dinner tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Kyle and Rod got all of

Rod's giant toolboxes moved from the

storage building into his new shop!

I forgot to take a picture.

But I will...

And now, he is in my office doing a

Bishopric meeting.

And I'm reading a book.

But probably going to nod off.

I just could NOT get to sleep last night.

Tossed and turned until after 1:00.

Up again at 4.

And then got up about 7.

Had a nice visit with Soni.

Tomorrow is the LAST morning class,

so I'll probably pop in and say Hi to

Coach Beth.

And then I need to go to the farm.

We have a BUNCH of ripe

Amish Paste tomatoes that I need to pick

and get into bags in the freezer.

And I need to pick the okra.

And there are probably some zucchini

and yellow squash that need attention.

I also saw a pumpkin when I was down

there earlier this week.

I also need to get a load of zucchini slices

and some okra and maybe some bell peppers

into the freeze dryer.

I love harvest season, but it is BUSY!

Oh!

And I turned over to 11,000 miles on the

new car this morning!

I got to the top of the hill just before our turn-off.

I tapped the brakes to disconnect the cruise

and to start slowing for the turn.

Glanced down and couldn't figure out why

I was still doing 64 mph.

And then realized it was the temperature outside.

Hahahahaha.

It was a lovely cool morning!

Perfect for chicken processing.

Next I need to clean out the hen house.

Maybe Monday.

We'll see.

More Chickens.....

 Today I spent the morning processing chickens.

I got.... 7? done? 

It went well until the last one....

it was kind of a fiasco.

So I quit a little earlier than I planned.

Needed to come home and shower and

wash my hair and still be ready to teach.

(yes, whatever you are imaging is probably

exactly what happened.... ugh)

I also called the hatchery and changed my order 

for baby chicks coming in October.

Instead of 120 I dropped the order down to 30.

We have decided driving to Wichita every week

doesn't sound like fun.

We are likely going to take the pigs to the local

sale barn in Colby and sell them there instead.

But our plans are always fluid.

Either way, I don't want to have to try to sell that

many eggs, and if you are selling them yourself

that's a LOT of eggs without a LOT of profit.

30 is plenty.

And shouldn't be a problem to sell and still make

enough $ to make it worth while.

Anyhow.

Life is always changing around here.

The internet folks came by just as I was leaving and

did more work on getting our internet installed and

up and running. I would LOVE it if they got it up

already, but I doubt it's working yet.

I have to do a Presidency zoom tomorrow. It would

be awesome if I didn't have to stop what I was

doing and go up to Kyle's house to zoom.

I could just sit there in the shop and have the

meeting and then get back to work.

We also have the missionaries coming for dinner.

So I need to leave about 4:00 anyway.

But I only have 9 more left to do.

And then I think we are going to pressure wash

the egg house and then bring our 7 chickens from

our backyard up to the farm and put them in 

there and out on the pasture with the pigs.

Get them out of our backyard.

But.... fluid. (See above...)

Ok.

Rod just got home from his Wed night meetings

at the church, and I just finished teaching,

so I'm going to run make us some quick dinner

and we are off to bed.

Busy day again tomorrow.

NITE ALL!

No Pictures.......... lol

 I know.

I'm a terrible blogger.

But I'm BUSY!!!!!

(hahahaha)

It's been ..... a week.

Tuesday - aborted piggy trip. (And 2 new tires.)

Wednesday, 2 more new tires and teach.

Thursday - SUCCESSFUL (10 hour) piggy trip.

They are ADORABLE (and no, I can't put a

banana for scale - they're PIGS, they'd eat it!)

(And they are SUPER skittish so they just run away.)

Friday - teach a double.

Saturday - teach the Louisiana class AND go to the

season ender stock car races.

It was a BLAST.

Sunday - teach the Louisiana class.

Monday - teach my LAST DOUBLE (yea!!!!!)

I had planned to run to the farm between classes,

but Rod had to take the car into Hays for a church

member's funeral... and I didn't feel like driving

the Trooper. So I didn't.

(hahahahaha)

Oh hey! A picture!

Do you remember LAST September, when I 

was doing ridiculous amounts of dill pickles?

(26 quarts....)

They've been sitting on the shelf in my office.

I look at them EVERY DAY.

They're no good.

They "false" sealed.

Probably 50% of them.

Kyle opened a jar one day and the lid didn't

give that nice satisfying pop,

and they were mushy and kind of cloudy....

so I looked them over and....

today I dumped the juice down the sink and

the pickles in the trash.

And then I washed all the jars.

It's a bummer, but it's just pickles.

Not like its a big loss...

(And I just picked a bunch more cucumbers,

so I might try again, I bought WAAAAAAY 

better lids this year... I've had 100% success

with the seals this time.)

Anyhow.

Then a lady came by to get some freeze dried

corn and carrots and okra as a snack to munch

on for her trip to Colorado this weekend.

(She was sad we didn't go to the farmer's

market on Saturday --- see above.)

And then,

I taught again tonight.

WHEW!

Tomorrow I WAS going to run to Hays with Kyle

in the morning to do the weekly shopping and

then head to the farm to try to process half the chickens

we have left to butcher.

But it's going to be raining.

And SIXTY SIX DEGREES!!!!

Nope.

(It's going back to the 80's on Wed.)

So I'll butcher on Wed and maybe Thursday.

We have the missionaries coming for dinner

Thursday night.

But I don't want to be butchering in the mud.

And the cold.

(And it's MESSY, I don't want to get blood et al

on my winter stuff...)

So yeah.

It's been busy.

But I promise I'll get you updated pictures of the

pastures Kyle and Rod have been finishing.

And the adorable piglets.

(Kyle said I can't name them.

HA! Watch me!)

(We don't have any issues eating things with names.)

ie: Sirloin. Moon Pie. Charlie & Jake

(named after a BBQ place in Melbourne... lol.)

And, of course, my rabbits, Bob, his main squeeze Ethel

and Gertrude and Mabel, his "girls on the side" and their

many many many offspring.

Farming.

Ok.

Dinner is ready.

Have a great night!

(Just re-read this... wow. That was random.

Guess my brain is tired.)