Dilly Beans

Since I've already posted lots of gardening stuff this week, how about a canning post today instead?!?  For the first time, I canned dilly beans..

I think they look pretty tasty.  They are supposed to remain unmolested for two weeks to allow those lovely beans to 'pickle'.  *taps fingers*  Now I have to wait.

Just for the record, I grew these beans with this canning project in mind.  I'm really pleased with this variety of bean.  They are so straight and smooth, made it easy to get them in the jars.  Now I just need to figure out what to do with the other 75% of the crop.  May have to make a few more jars of dilly beans!

Thanks to my awesome daughter Carin and her gracious in-laws for this recipe.

Garden Help

Since I'm having such a hard time getting all the yard and garden work done, I hired some garden help.  She's very dedicated, every flower is fully watered.  Best of all, she works for snacks.

Thanks, Miss Bean!

In The Garden - July 27

I've been slacking in my garden updates, but not in my garden work.  So many things in the garden are beginning to catch up after that cold, wet spring.

These daylilies have been a wonderful surprise this year.  I moved them from the front yard into the new bed in the back.  I did not expect them to bloom, but here they are!  The original planting out front was planted about 20 years ago.  They bloomed beautifully for several years, but as the trees and shrubs around them grew and began to shade them, they gradually stopped blooming.  For the last couple of years, there have been no blooms at all.  The biggest surprise is that the ones in front have a few blooms on them, too!

Here's my bean patch, just full of beans waiting to be bottled into dilly beans.  This variety is very slender and very straight, should make the bottling process easier.  I hope to get to them by the end of the week.

I planted some red sunflowers about five years ago.  Haven't had to plant them again, but there's always a nice patch of them self-seeded in the garden for the bees and birds to enjoy.  They've cross pollinated with both the native sunflowers and some giant ones that I planted one year.  Although there is still a hint of their red flower parentage, it has nearly been bred away.  Looks like I'll need to plant fresh red ones next year.

Be still, my heart appetite.  Due to the spring cold, the pepper plants have been very reluctant to get going and get to producing.  They are finally setting some fruit.  Now I just need to be patient while they size up and turn red.  *taps fingers*

Have a few of these hiding in the giant plants.  Looks like Granny will have a few pumpkins to share this year.  Thank goodness!  Would love to have a pile of pumpkins to photograph with the grandchildren this year to send to our missionary.  Sam tells me that the photo we sent to him of PJ and Kaid was one of his favorites while he was out in the field.

Missionary Monday - July 26

Thursday of last week, I got the 'best of phone calls, worst of phone calls'.  I was thrilled to hear from Ben at the MTC!  He's doing fine, but had bad news.  His visa has been delayed, so he won't be flying to New Caledonia tomorrow as planned.  He was a little bummed, but seemed determined to stay the course until the paperwork comes through. 

If you can spare a good thought or a little prayer for a missionary who's currently on hold, that would be great.  And if you could say a little prayer for the bureaucrat at the French embassy responsible to finish up this paperwork, that would be great, too.

As for me, I'll be praying for them both and waiting for another phone call to tell me just exactly where my son is going to be.

Missionary Monday - July 19

I know.  It's been a while since I've made written a missionary update.  It's not because Ben isn't doing fabulously at the MTC, because he is.  It's not because I'm not soooo proud of him, because I am.  It's just because I'm having a hard time dealing with the fact that he's going to be several thousand miles away in just a couple of weeks.

I know that he's going to be an awesome missionary.  I know that Nouvelle Caledonie is where he is supposed to be.  I know that the Lord's hand is evident in all this.

I just miss him.  A lot.

Step 3 B - Finished!

I finished painting yesterday, but, man was I tired!  This morning, I got up and shampooed the carpet first thing, then had to wait to get in and take pictures until it was dry.  Without any further ado...

The photos are a good representation of the the color which I like to call 'Frog Frappe' (oh, please tell me that I'm not the only Sliders fan around here.)  The actual color is called 'Garden Fresh' and it's Valspar paint in an eggshell finish.  While I really like the color, the paint itself was not all that I had hoped.  It didn't cover as well as some other brands that I've used, nor does it level as well on the wall.

As you can see, I still have some finish work to do.  I need to repaint that door before I rehang it.  It still some residual Cassie-grease on the inside.  lol!  I need to rehang the blinds, too, and then it's time to decorate.  Mike is out looking at furniture sales right now to see if he can find a new entertainment unit that will fit through the door.

While I've already purchased chocolate brown slipcovers for the sofa and loveseat, I'm still looking for the perfect pillow fabrics to bring the whole project together.  JoAnn's used to have the perfect fabric in their home decor center, but it was sold out the last time I went to look.  I found some really beautiful ones on-line that may just do the trick.

Step Three A -

Since I'm not completely done, I couldn't count this step as complete, but as of 7pm, thar be green here!  As I had hoped the walls glow with an inner light making that basement room look completely different.  I think it also looks a bit bigger.  It does need that second coat.  Between the heavy texture on the walls and the drastic color change, one coat just couldn't do it.  I'd planned on two coats, though, so I'm all set.

I'm really looking forward to putting together a decorating scheme for the room.  I have several ideas, but I'm still on the lookout for good ideas.  Several people that I know have lime green craft rooms, but I don't know anyone with a bright green tv room.  We're going to need to get some furniture as well as new decor, so I'll be checking out both online and brick-and-mortar sources of fun decorating goodies.  Maybe this will finally be the excuse I need to pay a visit to Tai-Pan Trading.  Been wanting to go there since it opened!

On a related note, I had really forgotten how exhausting painting can be.  I've had to reduce my usual gym workouts this week to compensate for all the up-and-down while I've been painting this week.  And, I've discovered that it gets surprisingly hot down there, too.  I'll have to remember that if I try to exercise down there once we get all the media goodies moved.

Step Two -

When I got ready to paint today, I realized that there was a lot more prep work that still needed to be done.  So, I started out by patching some holes and removing some hardware.  While I was tidying up, I found a few long, black dog hairs.  lol!  Cassie's legacy still lives on.

I got all the trim painted.  Looks so smooth and bright.  I didn't realize how much that the old paint had aged.  I also got all the patched areas primed.  Sam came through and moved the satellite hookups for me, then Mike repaired the dry wall.

And in a garden side note, I picked and ate a couple of apricots today!  They were delish.  Silly birds are taking advantage though.  Going to have to do something about that.

Step One -

I just finished painting the ceiling of the being-refurbished family room.

Can you tell that Mike is away at Scout camp again.  lol!

In The Garden - July 7

Although you can't tell by looking at me, I have unlimited willpower!  I am totally in control of my appetites.  For today, at least.  And I have proof...

When I went to work in the garden today, I found this perfectly ripe Early Girl tomato.  Did I pounce upon it immediately and gobble it all up?  No!  Did I grab it and run for the house and the salt shaker?  No!  I walked all the way into the house, grabbed the camera, went out and took a photo for posterity!  Then...I grabbed it and gobbled it up.  It was absolutely delicious!  Nothing tastes better than that first red ripe tomato, in my opinion.

The garden is growing very well.  Except for my peppers.  For some reason, they are just limping along.  That is just not going to work for me.  If I don't have at least sixty large peppers to put into the freezer for the winter, I'll run out about February when the store-bought peppers are $2 a piece.  Today, I sprayed the peppers (and all the garden) with Miracle-Gro hoping that a shot of micronutrients will get them going.  I would imagine that they are still resentful of our cold, wet spring and are showing their displeasure by poking along.  That is going to change, if I have any say in the matter.

A Sense of Security

Just as I'm finally getting a handle on the weeding and flower maintenance, the harvest has begun!!!  No, I'm not talking about the five or so pounds of sugar snap peas that Mike and I have consumed in the last couple of weeks.  I'm talking about the kind of harvest where I spend hours in the kitchen processing yummy things and then we have delicious goodies in the pantry to eat all winter.

Both the strawberries and the red currants ripened at the same time this year.  I consider that a real boon as the strawberry currant juice is much more than the sum of its parts.  The six pints that I bottled today are a little over half of the harvest.  The rest of the berries should be ready by the weekend, so I'll be back in the kitchen then.

Oh, and in case you wondered what all the whooping and hollering was earlier today, I finally worked up the nerve to edit the registry on my computer.  I've managed to get the printer working again.  I have been lost without the ability to print.  Oh, yeah.  I'm a geek.