Category Archives: home

2023, Family, Food, home, Uncategorized

Changing Plans

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The past weekend was supposed to be relatively quiet one devoted to housework and gardening, with very little cooking. The only dish I was going to make was a rice and cabbage minestrone to use up one of our lovely savoy cabbages from the garden. We had almost everything we needed from the store on hand, and just needed to pick up a few things.

Everything changed rapidly when we got to one of our two grocery stores and discovered they were having a Hatch chili extravaganza and were roasting the peppers right there in the parking lot. The smell was wonderful, and, of course, we had to get some of the freshly roasted medium hot peppers. Husband started feverishly thinking about cooking with them, and by the time we got into the store he decided we were going to make roasted tomato and tomatillo salsa. Since he was going to fire up his grill to roast the veggies, he figured he might as well get a rack of baby back ribs and some of the Hatch chili brats. He insisted that we had to get the tomatillos at the Mexican grocery store downtown. Once we got to the Mexican store, I realized that I had left my debit card at the first grocery store, so we had to drive back out to get it. We drove home after that.

Husband got more tomatillos than he needed for the salsa, so I decided that I would make some Texas green sauce with the leftovers. My recipe called for six Serrano peppers, which we didn’t have, so I ran to another grocery store to get them and some more limes. When I got back home, I couldn’t find the Serranos I had purchased, so I drove back to the grocery store to get more. I must have dropped the first ones in the parking lot. Husband roasted all the veggies and meat, and we ended up with three pints of Texas Green sauce and seven pints of salsa, and they are all in the freezer. It was rather exhausting running to various grocery stores five times in one day. We also planted a late crop of cold hardy spinach and fenced it in to keep bunnies out. Sunday we slept in. I never did get the minestrone started.

What are your biggest distractions that get you off task? What fresh produce are you enjoying now?

2023, books, Family, Food, home, Media, Uncategorized

The Curator

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We find recipes from numerous internet sources, and are rarely purchasing cookbooks these days. I subscribe to the The New York Times Food app, and that has tons of great recipes as well. We like to have paper copies of the recipes, however, and a week doesn’t go by that we aren’t running recipes off on the printer.

Husband loves putting the recipes in plastic slip covers and filing them in their respective three ring binders. He has the binders labeled. There is one large binder devoted solely to rye breads and sourdoughs. I am not allowed to rearrange the binders. That is his role.

When a sufficient number of new recipes have accumulated on the buffet, Husband puts them in their binders, culling older recipes we either didn’t like or never made in the first place. There are fewer and fewer of those. His devotion to the recipes does not extend to our bank and tax papers, however, and it is my thankless task to organize those.

How do you store your recipes? What is your filing system for important papers? What kind of a librarian or museum curator would you have been?

home, Mysteries, pets, Seasons

The Single Life….

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The last couple of weeks Guinevere and I have repeatedly passed by a house on the parkway with one toddler’s pink shoe sitting on the front post of someone’s house.   It is still in good shape (despite a couple of storms) but it does look a little forlorn.  If YA had lost this shoe as a toddler, I might have re-traced our steps to find it but there are probably several good reasons why the shoe remains all by itself.

It makes me think about the socks that go missing in life.  This time of year I spend more time thinking about socks; winter socks are bigger and harder to mis-placed.  I mostly wear little no-show socks (if I’m wearing shoes) and I often find one of the missing when I fold up my weekly laundry.  I’ve developed a short process when this happens.

As I sort and fold laundry, I tend to shake it out a bit.  If a sock is missing, I may unfold, shake and refold any likely suspects who might be holding onto a sock, especially the fitted sheet.  If that doesn’t turn up the missing footwear, then I head down to the basement to check the dryer and the washing machine.  If I am still single-socked, then I put the lonely sock into a little box that I keep in my closet.  Then when its mate shows up, I put them together and replace them in the sock drawer. 

Eventually I go through the single sock box and get rid of any inmates who have been there for a long long time.  Right now there are four socks in the box and none of them are likely to get paired up again.

How to you deal with lost socks, shoes, gloves?  Do you have a process?  How long to you keep single items before despairing of finding their mates?

2023, animals, Fantasy, home, Medicine, Mysteries, Uncategorized

Mysteries

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There have been some strange happenings here in usually dull ND that could be the basis of some interesting mytery or science fiction stories.

The first event was in Fargo. A couple of weeks ago there was a story in the Fargo Forum about a spat between a local hospital system and a medical waste disposal company It seems that a human torso showed up in a bin at the medical waste company, and the company blamed the hospital and the hospital blamed the medical waste company.

https://apnews.com/article/human-remains-medical-waste-fargo-9d5434b46441ec5e03275186a3de2887

No one has indicated the identity of the body, or where the rest of the body is. Hmm.

The second mystery is closer to home, in our driveway. About two weeks ago, Husband found the decapitated, eviscerated corpse of a small cottontail rabbit. The head was lying right by the body. All the entrails were gone. Our dog is never in the front yard. We have no roaming cats or dogs in the neighborhood. Who (or what) could have done this? We live in the middle of town. Hmm.

Come up with some hypotheses for these strange events. Could they be linked?

2023, animals, Business, Family, Food, home

Adieu to the Milk Man

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This weekend, for the first time in 25 years, I’m going to have to go pick up milk at the grocery store and lug it home.  YA and I (well, it was mostly “I”) made the decision this week to discontinue our dairy delivery service. 

The combination of YA and I doing a little less dairy these days along with the reduction of items available from our dairy guy (thanks SO MUCH Kemps… she says with her voice dripping with sarcasm), it just isn’t worth it.  I find myself adding things to the order form that we don’t really need because I feel guilty not having as big an order as we used to have.  This is how I ended up with six rolls of cinnamon rolls in my fridge and four bags of tortilla chips in the cabinet.

It’s going to feel weird to not put the cooler and order form out on Wednesday night (my guy delivers to our house at 3 a.m.) but I’m looking forward to not having to get up at the crack of dawn on Thursday morning to get everything out of the cooler and into the fridge.  We’ll see how long before this wears off as I’m dragging cartons of milk home!

How much does a cow have to eat and drink to produce my gallon of milk every week?

2023, gardening, home, Uncategorized, Weather

Good Pea Weather

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It is often a real crap shoot if we will get a good crop of peas in our garden. Peas and spinach are hard to grow out here because the ground isn’t ready for planting until late May or early June, and then it gets too hot and dry by the end of June for good growth, This year has been really different, as June and July have been cool and wet. Our peas are flourishing. It is weird for things to work out like this for us.

We planted six trenches of peas, one on either side of three pea fences we constructed a couple of years ago with the help of the neighbor children. We water with soaker hoses to reduce powdery mildew. This last week, every time I look at the peas it seems that new pods have grown overnight.

We are grateful that things seem to have worked out just right for a good pea harvest. Once the peas are done we will pull them up and plant spinach. I hope the stars align for a cool and long fall for a banner spinach harvest.

When have things unexpectedly worked out just right for you? What has this summer’s weather been like for you and your garden and yard?

2023, animals, home, Mysteries, pets

Doggy Dilemma

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You all know that one of my favorite parts of summer is going barefoot, or wearing zorries, which is pretty much the same as going barefoot.  If I’m dressing up I might put on one of my pairs of Birkenstocks, but that’s as much as I like to encase my feet at this time of year.

The exception is when I’m walking the dog.  I should say that I CAN walk the dog wearing zorries – my feet can handle it, but I sometimes worry that if Guinevere takes off after a squirrel or rabbit and surprises me, zorries might not be the best footwear in an emergency.  So I wear tennies. And socks.

That’s where my doggy dilemma comes into play.  Guinevere, whatever issues she may have, is pretty smart and has definitely figured out that my putting on tennis shoes almost always means she is going for a walk.  Like all dogs, she loves the walk and from the minute the shoes go on, she begins to prance around, whine and bark until her halter is on and we are out the door.  This is very annoying and it’s not something I’ve ever had to deal with in all my life with dogs.

I’ve tried putting on the shoes 15 minutes ahead of time and spending time picking up or doing dishes, but so far this hasn’t fooled her.  The minute there is a whiff of walk, she starts her impatient song and dance.   I wonder if I have to just bite the bullet and occasionally put on the shoes, hang out at home and then take them off and not involve a walk at all.  I’m pretty sure she’ll figure this out as well.

When have your pets trained you?

2023, Family, home, Kids, Travel

Luggage Conundrum

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Photo credit: Mikes-Photography

When I graduated from high school my parents gave me luggage as a graduation gift.  Matching luggage.  This was a few years before all black luggage became all the rage.   Two suitcases, one over the shoulder tote and a make-up case (although very in-aptly name in my case, since I wore next to no make-up, even back then).  I doubt my folks were predicting my eventual career in travel; back then luggage was a common gift at graduation or wedding – something you needed as you were launching yourself out into the world.  My mother also bought me a sewing machine and a few lessons to go with it.

Obviously after all these years, none of that luggage has survived.  I now have a rag-tag assortment of suitcases and bags, many of which I got as gifts from clients (leftovers from programs).  Mostly black.

YA has purchased two suitcases since she started traveling for work – and black is apparently not the color or choice these days.  Her big bag, which she uses the most, is a blue pattern thing with wheels that go in all directions, a handle and a plug in for charging her phone.  Fancy dancy.  I don’t have any problem with her suitcase EXCEPT when she gets home from a trip.  She empties it out fast enough, but then she tends to roll it out into the hallway.  Where it sits. 

Now I’m not the fastest “put your bag back in the attic” gal, so I tend to be lenient.  I also know that YA doesn’t tend to drop anything to attend to a request from her mother.  But after the last trip, the suitcase sat in the hallway for two weeks and at least three requests to put it away.  Being raised by the Queen of Passive/Aggressive, three days ago I pushed the suitcase right into the middle of YA’s doorway.  It was in the attic within an hour. 

Passive/Aggressive isn’t my favorite mode but sometimes it’s better than nagging.  At least that’s what I’m telling myself at this point!

Do you prefer hard-sided or soft-sided luggage?  Check or carry-on?

2023, Family, home, Uncategorized

Division Of Labor

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I have always considered myself fortunate to have a partner who believes that household chores and childcare are the responsibility of both adults in a relationship. I wash and dry the clothes. He folds it and puts it away. We both vacuum. I dust. He mows the lawn and runs the snow blower. I do household repairs. He walks the dog three times a day. I make the bed and change the sheets. We both cook and clean the kitchen. He unloads the dishwasher and I reload it. We do grocery shopping together. We both work in the garden and pull weeds. I clean up outside after the dog. He cleans the cat litter. We clean our own respective bathrooms.

I noticed just how much he does around the house since he had carpal tunnel surgery last Friday. He still has been able to walk the dog and unload the dishwasher, but he can only do most other things one handed until next week. He can do some kitchen tasks and cooking, but not as much as he wants. He feels as though he isn’t pulling his weight as he should. This makes him anxious and irritable. I try to reassure him that I don’t mind having to fold the laundry and clean the cat litter for a while. I sure don’t want him to do too much with his right hand until it is healed.

How did your parents divide up the labor at home? Have you had roommates or partners who didn’t do their fair share of tasks?

2023, gardening, home, Nature, Science, Uncategorized

Scientific Method II: Weeds And Pests

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Our gardening goal this past week was to weed the veggie gardens and flower beds. After today’s carpal tunnel surgery, Husband will be somewhat out of commission for outdoor work.

Many people we know use the good old hoe to weed. That system has never really worked for us, as the weeds grow back so fast, so we are down on the ground puller-uppers and digger-outers. It is more labor intensive, but works much better. We also put down wet newspapers between the veggie rows and cover them with top soil. That method keeps weeds down all summer, and the newspaper disintegrates and can be tilled into the soil and improves the soil texture. It is a lot of work, though.

We don’t use herbicides at all, and only spray a fungicide called Daconil on tomatoes, roses, peas, peonies, and monarda to prevent powdery mildew and black spot. We use bacillus thuringiensis, an organic pesticide for cabbage worms. When the flea beetles attack the brassica veggies I will use Sevin, but most other insects are free to live in the garden unharmed. Bunnies just are kept out with fences. Our next door neighbor has threatened to get his shotgun and dispatch the rabbits in his yard. I would never go that far. We have never had problems with moles or voles.

Flea beetles are horrible, with hundreds of the tiny creatures showing up overnight devouring every thing in the cabbage family they can find. The flea beetles are often used as an organic solution to an invasive plant around here called leafy spurge. It is poisonous to cattle. People somehow catch a bunch of flea beetles and take them out to patches of spurge, and the flea beetles, who have a great love of spurge, eat it up. I think that is really cool! I just wish they would stay in the pastures and not come to town.

Would you consider yourself a scientific gardener? What are your preferred methods for weed and pest control? What are the worst insects, pests, and weeds you have encountered?