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.