Bonus Post!!!!

 I just had to hop on with the

good news!!!

Got an email from my tech

at Harvest Right.

She talked with her tech team

and they were able to come to

the decision that because it was

SOOO close to the 1 year mark

that the machine broke,

they are going to treat it under

the 1 year warranty.

Which means FREE SHIPPING!

And they will do all the repairs for free!!!

What an awesome decision!

I'll be sure to jump on their FB page

and sing their praises...

you mostly only hear when people

want to gripe about something.

But when they do something amazing

like this, people should know about it!

Anyhow,

we are STOKED!

(wish it didn't break in the first place,

but so happy not to have to pay the

shipping on an extremely heavy machine

via FedEx.....)

Yea us!

Old Country Store

 So Rod told me the story of

the Old Country Store.

It was originally a old country store.

And then the Cracker Barrel company

bought it out, but didn't want the building,

so Rod's Uncle Bobby & Aunt Suzie

bought the building and moved it to their

car dealership and used it as an office.

We actually have 2 prints.

This one in a nice frame,

and then another one in just a blue

cheap frame.

We put it in the half bath.

Nobody will ever notice we have

2 of the same picture just feet

from each other...

grin.

More House Pictures

 Today was a house cleaning day.

I vacuumed and damp mopped

all the floors.

I love how they look after that.

There is always a fine dust on them

and so for a little while (maybe 

even a few days) they

look pretty good.

I also got the prep room all

cleaned up after all the

produce that has leaked all

over the counters.

I clean it regularly, but it

needed a good deep clean.

It looks much better too!

And I took some pictures of the

house to send to Nancy,

so I thought I'd share them here.

This is a numbered wall hanging

made of some sort of animal skin.

I got 3 colors of suede chord

and braided something to hang it with

this morning, and then Rod got

up on the bed and hung it for us.

It is SUPER soft... 

Really pretty,

and TOTALLY the wrong color.

Actually, it matches the room

really well, but now the bedspread

is completely wrong.

But I'm not buying a new one

any time soon.

We hung a new picture on

the wall next to the fridge.

It's a print of the

"Old Country Store"

that Rod bought for his Dad for

Christmas a gazillion years ago.

That's a store that has family

history, I just don't remember

what it is...

(grin)

We are still deciding what to hang

between the fridge and the cupboards.

I would like something bright and

cheerful and kitchen related...

I had a hanging I loved from the

old house and it might be in

storage, or it might be at the dump.

I don't remember.

But I'm keeping my eyes open...

If you zoom in, its hanging on the wall

between Jim and Sabrina.

It's a little metal hanging I got from

a catalog - it's all old fashioned jars

and tins and stuff.

I always loved it, but then Rod got

us the big 

Back 40 Beef and we hung it there.

It's now hanging on the wall in our 

living room!

I love it!

But I'm on the hunt to replace

the little kitchen hanging thingie.

The house looks much better

without all those boxes!

It looks like there is a love seat

or couch on the right...

it's just Rod's chair, which looks

just like mine, 

but the camera stretched it out

so it looks like a 3-seater.

Which is handy, because now I know

I would be happy to have one there.

Some day.

Maybe.

Today and tomorrow look like the 

last hurrah for summer weather.

It was 98 today.

99 yesterday.

Probably the same tomorrow.

And then it drops to 80 on Saturday

and then looks like mid-70's for

the rest of the month.

Can't say I'm sorry to see it!

The okra won't be happy,

it's a little too chilly for it,

probably... okra LOVES heat.

But the rest of us are HAPPY

to see fall arrive.

Good News Bad News

 So.... as I probably mentioned,

the new Freeze Dryer is broken.

It only worked for 2.5 runs.

And then it started popping the

circuit breaker.

So the good news is it didn't burn

the house down...

the breaker did its job.

But the bad news is, its broken.

I finally got in touch with the

technical support today and 

they had me do a bunch of tests

and we determined it's the freezer

unit that isn't right.

So the good news is,

there is a 3 year limited warranty

on anything related to the freezer system.

YEA!

(Because my 1 year warranty ended

on 7/23/26 and it broke on 8/25/26...)

Of course, it was in storage in the

garage for the entire time.

But anyway.

The bad news is...

I need to ship it back to the company to repair.

Tomorrow morning I'll take pictures

of all the sides (for insurance, so it doesn't

come back with unexplained damage)

and then they will put in the repair ticket

and call me with the estimated cost for

the shipping (my dime) and send me

all the boxes, etc we need to package it 

up so FedEx can come pick it up.

And then..........

hopefully they will fix it and it will

be all new and working great.

And whatever is wrong will be all

covered under the warranty.

But in the meantime,

I'm back down to one machine.

(Not that I ever really had 2....)

They needed pictures of the plug

all plugged in.

And the breaker.

And the chord (to check for damage).

So now I just need the other 5 pictures,

but by that time it was time to start

tonight's class, so we'll do that

in the morning.

Good thing we are nearly done with

harvest season!

I picked more red okra,

but the greens aren't quite ready yet.

Monday Monday.......

 Rod and Kyle went over to Jim's to

help him with some plumbing issues

and see what's what with his truck.

I harvested and processed a BUNCH

of red okra.

AND the green okra got it's first

flowers today!!!

So just as the red is petering out....

it's still producing, but the plants

are looking pretty ragged...

the green will take over!

It's not as tasty, but still beats the

socks off WalMart okra.....

(grin)

And then I washed and trimmed a

bunch more tomatoes and got them

into bags and into the freezer.

I'll be processing them later in the week.

And then....

I read a book.

I taught all weekend,

and because Labor Day threw off my schedule,

I'm teaching again this weekend...

I decided to just relax for a minute.

It felt REALLY nice.

I'll get back to it tomorrow.

Farmers Market Update

 Jim had a good market today.

I talked to Sabrina this morning before

my class started... she was up until

3:30 baking.... but they got their

computer and printer hooked up so

she was able to PRINT all the little

labels they have to do for baked goods.

That's WAAAAAY better than

hand writing them all!

(Has to have a tag with your info,

as well as ingredients in order of

how much is in it... just like "real" stuff. lol.)

Sold a BUNCH of their baked goods...

(no wonder she was up all night,

there was a TON!) as well as

all of the roma tomatoes, about 100+

of the cucumbers and 7 of the pumpkins.

(It's not really feeling like fall yet...)

A good day for them!

Rod was at our market which was held

in conjunction with the town's car show today.

So we started at 8 instead of 9 and went as long

as you wanted..... (he finally left about 1:15)

It was really busy until shortly before 1:00

when the BBQ truck started selling food and

everybody went over to sit down for lunch.

Sold zero pumpkins, but some

of the other produce and a BUNCH

of the freeze dried stuff we sent.

Had a really good $$ day.

So, all in all, not a bad Saturday!

AND the high for today was only 77.

The AC just kicked on for the first time,

(and I'm going to go adjust it because

it's still too chilly in the house for it

to be running, I'm wearing sweat pants

and slippers and a blanket on my lap...)

The stuff in the freeze dryer says it's 

finished, but I'm not sure I believe it...

there are 2 trays of sliced lemon boy

tomatoes (which are DELICIOUS,

by they way... for sure we will put in

more next year...) as well as a giant

tray probably overloaded with

all the jars of caramelized onions I did

last year.

We never open the jars, so I decided

to dump them, drain them a bit, and

then freeze dry them and put them

in a mason jar in the kitchen.

If I SEE them, I'm more likely

to use them, and they should be

REALLY good on a burger!

(Along with a dried slice of tomato!)

Fun crunch!

Also probably awesome in our

morning omelets...

We are back to using freeze dried

eggs these days since it's been SOOO

hot, the girls are on strike.

Kyle collects 4 eggs a day.

He and Bear eat 4 eggs a day.

So... yeah.

Omelets and scrambled eggs it is.

But once you rehydrate them,

you actually can't tell them from fresh,

they are just already scrambled.

So, crumbled, baked bacon...

some freeze dried bell peppers,

some freeze dried caramelized onions...

sounds DELISH!

(And probably I'll cook up a big mess

of our own pork sausage to mix in too.)

Ok, I'm hungry.

Guess I'll get out of my office chair

and head into the kitchen.

Have a wonderful weekend!

*** PS - the air FINALLY cleared of

all the vinegar / jalapeno - it was a little

scratchy still this morning, but my voice

is fine now... whew!

Where's Waldo (Jalapeno Edition)

 We have been working through

all those long "TO DO" lists

and the only thing that keeps

transferring from day to day

is do SOMETHING with the

jalapenos we harvested.

Today Jim came by,

harvested the first pumpkins!!!

As well as the regular haul of cucumbers,

okra, tomatoes, etc.....

AND he did a quick pickle on the

2 pounds of jalapenos.

Aren't they beautiful????

Can you see the happy face?

The alien face?

The shocked face?

Here's a hint...

They are going to be HOT!

But he and Sabrina embrace HOT.

So I was happy to have him make 

(and take) them.

However, while I was teaching,

there was much jalapeno and vinegar

floating in the air,

and my throat is feeling it!!!!

But now I need to go help Rod get

ready for the extended market tomorrow.

They are going to be set up at the

Car Show in Hill City.

Hopefully they will have a great turnout

and sell LOTS of freeze dried treats!

This morning he started working on getting the sides

of the house blocked in for the winter.

Once the blocks are in, Kyle will bring in loads

and loads and loads of dirt to complete the

insulation (leaving a "door" so we can still

get under there if needed...)

He is such a hard worker!

LOVE YOU!!!!

Yesterday and Today's Processing & a SURPRISE

 The cucumber chunks are FINALLY 

ready to come out of the freeze dryer.

So I need to get something ready to go in.

I think today I'll slice up the 

lemon boy tomatoes we harvested.

They are DELICIOUS!

I've seen lots of folks just slicing

tomatoes, freeze drying them,

and them putting them in jars to

use crunchy on burgers.

That sounds YUMMY!

But I don't have enough for 5 trays.

So I'll have to think of something

else to put on the others.

This is how many tomatoes I have right now.

And there are some more in the garden...

Yesterday I did spaghetti sauce.

Jim came over and tasted it and

said it tasted like it came from a 

jar in the grocery store.

And then he spread some on a 

piece of bread and sprinkled some

parm cheese on top and ate it.

So it must be good.

(hahahaha)

I still have another batch I ran out

of time to do anything with.

The ones we did yesterday still

had seeds in them.

This batch I thawed, slipped the

skins off, and then Rod ran them

through the manual food mill and

got all the seeds out.

Then we added onions, peppers,

some Italian seasoning and 

sugar, salt & pepper.

So it's still chunky, but no seeds.

I think that will be the way to go

from now on.

That batch just came out of the fridge

and is on the stove heating up while

I do a quick update on here and get

some breakfast in our tummies.

Picklers

Slicers

We will have a LOT of cucumbers.

We won't be able to use them all,

but the pigs LOVE them,

so we can turn them into BACON!

(always a win)

And then Rod came in from the car

with all the stuff he picked up yesterday

including the mail from the town house.

Oh my goodness Mom!

SO ADORABLE!!!

I'll bet the residents LOVED these!

Ok, I gotta get a move on.

Hope its Good!

 Another busy day!

Kyle and I processed a BUNCH of

tomatoes again today,

2 big bags full.

There are more... but we ran out of time.

I got 13 pints into the three

pressure canners.

The ones I did yesterday syphoned

and didn't seal,

so I re-processed them.

They all sealed.

I'm hoping they taste good!

Here's our new address again:

2971 J Road

Hill City, KS 67642

So Much DONE!

 Harvest Season.

Phew!!!

We had quite the list today.

And I got almost all of it done.

Thanks to Kyle and Rod helping.....

I went down and harvested more tomatoes.

Took the ones out of the freezer

and put them in the prep room sink

to thaw. They will take overnight.

There are a LOT of them,

and you can feel the cold coming

off of them when you stand near by.

Then we washed and I roasted 2 trays

of them with some of our onions.

They took FOREVER to roast.

But then I put them in the food processor

and whirred them around and around

and then jarred up 5 pints and put

them in the pressure canner.

It tasted really good before it went

into the jars, so hopefully it will

still taste good after!

They came out during my first break 

during tonight's class.

(Yes, it's Labor Day and I had 20 students!)

Meanwhile the tomatoes we harvested

the other day were all ripe, so we

washed and trimmed those and got them

into bags and into the freezer.

And then the newest ones got laid out

on the counters to finish getting ripe.

It's a dance.

But in the middle of all that,

we peeled and chopped FIVE trays

of cucumbers - seasoned with

dill pickle popcorn seasoning.

It was  HUGE hit at the market!

I sold out!

I also cut and froze all the okra 

we harvested ... yesterday?

We are getting a nice stash of okra

for over the winter.

(There's another row above what is

in the picture, and more out in the

garage freezer and in the kitchen freezer...)

And more growing!

Good thing, cuz it's DELISH!

I also got 2 loads of laundry in,

Rod pulled out one load and got the

2nd in the dryer and during break

I got that one out and put away...

I think the only things left are the

jalapenos and some fun snacks

I want to give a try to.

Neither are very important.

I was going to make pepper jelly,

but when I read the recipe again,

it only calls for 1/4 cup of jalapenos.

I have more than a pound.

So I found a fun quick pickle for them

that I might try.

Jim and Sabrina really like pickled jalapeno,

so maybe..... we'll see.

(Well, I also have a HUGE bucket

of potatoes I need to wash, chop, 

blanch and freeze as well as that

wagon of onions still calling my name...)

And there are MORE tomatoes in the

garden, I just ran out of buckets.

I'll pick first thing in the morning again.

It was a FULL day.

I had a bowl of yogurt with some fresh

strawberries cut in for breakfast

about 8:30 and then grabbed a quick

turkey and cheese sandwich just

before I started class at 4:30.

So I think I'll go find something to eat

and then we will head off to bed.

Rod works 8-4 tomorrow.

Needs a good night sleep!

Hope your Monday was fun!

Wanna See Some of the House?

 I was talking with Soni on the phone

today and sent her a bunch of pictures,

so I thought I might share them here too!

I bought some new shelves from Walmart.

They are simple,

inexpensive,

and relatively easy to put up.

And Kyle doesn't have to manufacture them.

This one is FULLLL of dvd's from the old house.

Another matching one is on the other

side of the piano with my cook books

on the bottom, my pretty bread pan

and a buffalo statue on top.

(And now, I have some of our old

photo albums on the empty shelf...)

A third went into the bedroom where

there has been a big black tote.

It was full of blankets, but I bought

some of those vacuum bags and we

put them all under the bed.

Winter is coming..... but not YET.

The oval picture above Rod's dresser

is his Grandfather from WW1.

He loves to hang stuff on the walls.

This is "his side" of the office.

Some old pencil drawings of airplanes,

a clock made from a motorcycle part,

and a picture of the family.

And outside the office door is a hat

hanger from Mom and our old

Buffaloe sign from the Indialantic house!

(And the kitchen in the distance...)

(with... horrors... a blank wall!

Soon to have a fun picture on it,

as soon as I find one.)

Here's the view from the bedroom doorway.

Except now ALL the boxes are gone!!!!

YEA!!!

We went through them all,

pulled out some stuff,

tossed some stuff,

and sent some back to storage.

The prep room.

Shelves with canned stuff on the left.

A little red microwave, and one of my

pressure canners, and then a BUNCH

of red ripe tomatoes I need to do

something with pretty soon.

Then crates full of cucumbers...

(Jim came by and got them to sell

tomorrow at the market)

the freeze dryers, 

more ripe tomatoes,

a couple jars of freeze dried peppers

and 2 canisters of freeze dried

cucumber slices with some

dill pickle popcorn seasoning on them

(YUM!!!)

and the stand-up freezer.

Full of frozen tomatoes.

(With an empty shelf for me to put

freeze dryer trays on...)

Lots of bags of frozen okra in the door.

And a peak at some of my

canned goods and some of 

the spaghetti and honey baby

squash on the bottom.

(And MORE cucumbers.....)

Anyhow.

Now that all the boxes are gone,

that wall looks really bare.

We have some nice wood that used

to be the bed frame for our old

double bed (the new one is a king)

so I think I'll ask Rod to build a

shelf on the long wall.

I always have more stuff to put

on a shelf!

There are LOTS more books in storage.

Ok, I'm off to watch a little TV and

then to bed.

We are doing the WaKeeney market in

the morning and it starts at 8.

Night!

Rodeo Fun!

 I'm late posting this, but it has

been a busy week.

Saturday morning we attended the

Hill City farmers market.

It was a really light day...

most of the vendors weren't there.

We usually set our table next to 2 really

nice ladies - Julie & Jacqui.

They are neighbors.

(Jacqui rents a house on Julie's farm.)

Jacqui was going hiking with her

family and Julie was starting calving

for the next 2 weeks.

The lady with the cake pops wasn't

there either. And neither was the

sour dough bread lady.

But Phyllis was there with her jams

and jellies and some produce,

and a new lady, Cindy, was there

with some muffins.

And us.

They had arranged for the karate club

to come down for kid's story hour.

One of the members read a story and

the club acted it out.

It looked like they were having great fun!

Then 2 high school students read 2 more

stories and then they helped the kids

make beaded caterpillars.

We had a good day. 

Sold lots of freeze dried peaches and

ice cream sandwiches.

Even a couple peeps.

Jim and Sabrina had a GREAT day at their

market - sold over 100 cucumbers and

lots of her amazing bread and rolls.

She makes yummy cinnamon rolls and

some lemon/blueberry rolls.

They have quite a following now!

And then, in the evening, we drove

about 45 minutes north west to a town

called Hoxie for another rodeo.

This one was bull riding, ranch bronc riding,

and barrel racing.

Lots of local talent.

We sat next to this guy's parents.

It was a short ride, didn't make the whistle.

He's only 19 and just getting started.

His second ride of the evening

was also pretty wild.

Everybody walked away.

But it was exciting!

He got a re-ride off that one,

but didn't do much better on that one.

By that time I was tired of taking

pictures and just enjoyed the show.

Kyle messed with my shutter speed

so I could get better pictures.

Lots of guys got tossed.

And one of the ranch broncs

jumped out of the arena and only

made it half way!

Got stuck on the top of the fence,

half in and half out.

Luckily there is another pen on

the outside of the arena and she

jumped into that....

the cowboys were able to get her

safely over the fence and,

although she was probably sore

the next day, maybe she'll never

try that again!

It was a fun night,

under a beautiful moon.