Peas Porridge Hot......

peas porridge cold..... what do you do with porridge one day old..... MUFFINS... i'm not much of a cereal eater, but sometimes there just is nothing like a hot steaming bowl of porridge... i make my porridge with oats, raisins or other dried fruits and a bit of sugar.... sometimes adding some sort of spice like cinnamon or allspice or even the generic (store bought) apple pie spice... and always there is some porridge left over.. usually the puppies get it as a treat but today.. muffins!!!   the recipe i used is 'doctored' as my per usual but the basis is from GRIT ..  the recipe was easy and the muffins are tasty... in my recipe i used the cup of leftover porridge and added a scant cup of oats and reduced the buttermilk to 1 cup, to offset the already cooked and moist porridge...   stirred it all together, cracked in the egg and added the sugar.. stirred till the egg and sugar were all mixed in... added the dry ingredients and mixed like regular muffins... baked at 400F for 15 mins.... yummy yummy....

yesterday i made the best bread i've made in years.. the weather co-operated, the humidity and temperature must have been favourable.. YAY  my daughter gave me a great compliment.. 'those buns look and taste like what you'd buy in the bakery'... that compliment will be tucked in my heart for awhile!!! the  bread i make in a very long smaller sized loaf pan... perfect slices for me....

today..... is 'dump' day... once a year daughter and i wander off to deposit those dreaded 'what do i do with that' items ... the garbage dump annoys me... just the idea of having so much 'garbage' sighhhhhhh.... i'm trying hard not to use plastic products but it seems never ending.... just recently i asked a good friend... do you remember what it was like before plastic?  she replied 'oh yes, we used waxed paper, paper bags, put plates on dishes (to store things in the fridge) wasn't it aweful, thats why Tupperware was invented'    ....... personally, i wish we were still back there with waxed paper and paper bags ......

Just checking in......

this time of the year is always a busy one... baseball season has arrived.. woohooo... i don't actually play but i'm a good scorekeeper and love the game... Coffee League... morning ball, coffee after ;)  can't beat that!!!

been gardening and getting things organized even then the weather isn't exactly warm and toasty.... last night was another night of frost... i'm so thankful that i have my greenhouse... some of the plants in there are tiny and some are a goodly size.. with flowers... mmmmm nothing like fresh tomatoes!!! i can hardly wait...

the difference between what i grew from seed and the two lower plants which i bought as small seedlings...

zucchini but of a patty pan type... they are loving the greenhouse.. and even a few watermelon's have sprouted finally... the package said to plant late, so late it was... hopefully they will catch up when we actually get some warm weather....

mmmmm basil babies!!!!   yummy yummy is all i can say!!!

have been watching my cold season crops that are in the garden already... apparently someone else has been watching too.. since there are some large chunks out of some of the leaves!!

am assuming the plant in the above picture is some variety of cinquefoil... any ideas?? 

Big Red..........

well we have a new arrival on the farm... she joins Randy the backhoe, Oily the delimber, Lulu the pressure washing truck ... Big Red..... she's a beautiful buxom babe with flashing red lights and a horn that would drive a fireman to his hoses.... poor Big Red was sitting out in some farmer's field waiting for just the right owner..... my son in law... she was cheap and he's got some pretty good ideas what to do with her after he does a few major fixes... apparently she was left outside with water in her pump, it froze... well u can imagine the rest!!!  he's a heavy duty mechanic and figures that it shouldn't cost too much and for the price was well worth the purchase.... so Big Red... welcome!!!   everyone was having a great deal of fun on her, especially the 'boys' big and little.. varoomm varoom... woo woo.... you name the noises and they were made by the boys umm men that is... a little boy's dream.. having a REAL firetruck some day..... ahhhhhhh for childhood!!! my youngest daughter is planning on taking an airbrake course... hmmmmm

they even gave me a ride in the back... from their house to mine!!!

Ommmmmmm.......

is a bit what i feel when i'm in my greenhouse... it's now getting fuller and fuller with tomatoes, peppers, cilantro, zucchini, okra and a few other things which at the moment i can't remember what they are!! such bliss transplanting wee tomatoes and cilantros, tucking their little roots in warm home mixed potting soil.... the only thing wrong with this picture is my greenhouse is already too small!!! ahhhh next year perhaps an addition is required ;)   .... i just looked at the date of my last posting, i'm a slow poke... it's not that i'm not doing anything, or much to busy to post... it's just well... i think i'm boring!   i've done no quilting lately but was asked to take some photos of my friend's quilts, she's entering a local quilt show and needed photos for the entries... we discussed the fact that hand quilting is a dying art... more and more quilters are doing wall quilts, like i do, which i suppose is my reluctance to do more of them.. just not 'feeling it' ya know... how many wall arts can you produce and shove in a closet or chest.... but to be snuggled under a warm, soft cuddly quilt is just the best!  All her quilts are made with soft batting, no spray glue or any other foreign objects, just cotton and softness... ahhhh zzzzzzzzz....

yesterday i had grandbaby here... and of course she was off bug hunting... observing 'scientifically' the mosquito, ants and woodbugs.. seems to be her favorites lately....
the mosquito was under the microscope (figuratively speaking) and i was been thrown all sorts of questions about the life cycle of mosquitoes... i answered as many questions as i knew and later Googled 'what do mosquito larvae eat' and found this very cool Youtube video...   i believe it's going to be a bumper year for insects... mild damp winter, mild damp spring... mmmm the stuff of giant mosquitoes!!!  if you watched the video and have children who might be interested in other insects there is a Backyardbugs 'channel' on youtube.. its very good, simple, great photograpy and perfect for kids!
yesterday we did a bit of foraging in the garden and she was quite delighted that brussel sprout greens and flowers are yummy... and Sampson is so not 'doggish' since he was enjoying them as much as we were... we checked out the garden variety of asparagus which is now almost a foot tall.. it's amazing... i looked a few days ago, didn't see any up, in the same bed arestrawberries which are just beginning to flower... i'm sure she'll be keeping an eye out for those fresh ripened strawberries... if i don't eat them first!!!

Once upon a time.....

i had a greenhouse.... for about 3 months....then we moved..... sigh!!!!  that was about 30 yrs ago.... i'd always wanted a greenhouse, finally got it, then poof, we moved about a 1000 miles away... so for another 30 yrs ago i wanted a greenhouse..... and finally......

i can't tell you how excited i am!!! the total cost of the project was about $350.00 for the materials.. and $600.00 for the labour.... the windows were my Freecycle score... i have to thank my neighbour/handydude for building it for me... now i have to get the materials for the shelving... ahhhhhh a trip to Home Depot and the Restore store.... that will be later today... can't wait!!!  
somewhere inbetween the new greenhouse and the building of the deck, i decided i wasn't getting any younger, veggies aren't getting any cheaper and materials aren't getting any cheaper either!! sooooo bite the bullet, cough up the dough and tada..... a new greenhouse is sitting next to my house.... when i get more of a cash flow, the 6mm plastic will be replaced by a twin wall polycarbonate sheeting... not looking forward to that bill!!!

my little seedlings are doing well, but need to be transfered as soon as possible... as soon as i have some sort of shelving in there, maybe later today, if i get cracking!!!

i had planned on posting this yesterday, but we had a wicked storm, a lot of rain, high winds and a 12 hr power outage... what a reminder of how attached we are to power.... my daughter and son in law have a generator, so they had heat for their lizards, power for the coffee maker and microwave and even a heater!!  such luxuries!!! as for me... i had a very quiet day, watching the trees whipping around in the wind, the rain beating on my windows and me snuggled under a blanket, sitting on my chaise lounge, with 2 dogs sitting on my feet... a good book and a thermos of tea... was very pleasant.... even had an afternoon nap... now we're talking luxuries :D  

Rata-tat-tat......spring vibrations...

on my roof, on several trees..... the flicker aka 'mini jackhammer' is busy busy letting the world know he's available!!! i love the sounds of spring.. the chirping robins who've arrived in hoards... the toehee that's looking for goodies on my deck, to the chickadees and nuthatches that are zipping back and forth from feeders to trees...

i was kind of sad today, i had to bury a wee robin who'd hit one of my windows... i was amazed that sampson my 'bird' dog was interested but only in passing and seemed to understand that i was feeling sad about the bird... since having feeders up he's getting much better about not chasing them and i even managed to have 2 mallards come for 2 days and borrow my 'winter' pond... 'winter' because it dries up in about june...

i also have noted the amazing number of scurrying red/black ants... i managed to save a rather large caterpiller who was vallantly attempting to 'outrun' them.. poor creature was covered with the ants so i scooped him up with a big leaf and managed to get all the ants off him... placed him over by my compost pile, where no red ants are.. and left him to defend himself again, all the while hoping that he won't just eat all my comfry or other herb that is planted in that section!!!

it's been a bit since i last posted... my kitchen has a small addition of a microwave stand and i'm in need of discovering some sort of 'treasure' to put my spices in.... i've painted my hall, put up some 'sally ann' specials and now am in the midst of having my much wanted red front door...i know it's supposed to bring good luck, but i just feel that is brings in good energy.. and a hint of the person living inside.. (or not)!!

sally ann special #1

sally ann special #2

at first look i thought they were bathing but no.. they are fishermen and
women

sally ann special #3

all for $15.00 each and they've been sitting in my closet for several years..

i've gotten my little seedlings going, yesterday started my tomato seedlings, their a wee bit late but lots of time before may, when i'll have my little hot house ready for them....

i've attempted further organization of my big shed and in the process of all the painting and fixing.. my little shed is back to being in an upheaval... ah well... life in the 'fast' lane huh!!!

Recycling at it's best.......

in my  world!!!  Some time ago i'd thrift store purchased what looked  to be two china cabinet tops, painted and used previously as bookshelves... and i was just waiting for something to put them on... my 'plan' came to fruition when some friends came to visit and brought a lower cabinet set which consists of 2 lower cabinet units and one countertop.... TADA!!!!!

my kitchen is very tiny but now functions much better.. i'll be doing a few more changes to make it more functional but hey... i'm LOVING it!!! i now have a storage space for my pressure canner and accessories, my other big 'not always in use' pots and other things which always were being shuffled around...

in the garden world... my 'recycled bakers rack has been helping in the food dept.....

arugula on the left half and basil on the right half... YAY!!!

this morning i went to let my dogs out when i went out on the deck... they were very much preoccupied with something on the ground... i went to see what it was... sadly it was a wee little nuthatch looking much like being on the verge of death... i'm suspecting it banged into the front window .... i picked it up and remembered what my son-in-law says... 'if keep the bird in an upright position, it has a much better chance of surviving'  ....  sooooooo ... i recycled an old nest which i'd found a couple of weeks ago... put it in a shallow container, my gloves and the nest on top... placed the poor little bird in the nest... and hoping for the best!!

update.... just checked on the nest... empty and the birds are all back feeding...
life is good.....