Memories

I grow a garden, it's that simple, I grow a garden. As a child we had a garden in our back yard every single summer. I would help plant, water, weed, harvest, and finally preserve. My dad was the one to initiate this by digging with his shovel to turn the dirt. He would then fertilize the soil and again turn the dirt with his handy shovel. The plants would be planted and watered and the garden was on it's way.

This is just one of the memories I have of my dad, or Pop as we called him. I didn't have a dad I had a Pop. Summers were all about the garden and adventures to each and every one of the alleys of our town in search of "The Great Blackberry Bush". We had one in our backyard, but Pop always wanted more, more, more......I understand why, he made the best blackberry jam ever. Sadly, like everyone else, I had to get it at the store, it just isn't the same.

As a result of the gardening and blackberry hunts I also learned how to use a canner/home preserver. Pop taught me how to can jars of tomatoes, jars of blackberry jam, jars of pumpkin, and many other items. It had been a long, long time since I had done any of these things that I only re-entered the adventure in the past several years. I take my boys to a berry ranch and we pick berries in order to make jam. I have them help me plant the garden and harvest the crop in order to can/preserve the tomatoes and pumpkins. So far this is all I have ventured, but hope to add to my home preserving repretoire.

Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop Wednesday

Hmm....6 descriptive words to describe me. This should be interesting. I can already forsee what my lovely husband will say.....

This turned out to be more of a challenge than I thought. Hubby was not so cooperative. He wanted to know why I needed this information and who was going to see it. I told him that I am doing Writer's Workshop Wednesday and that anyone can see it since it is on the internet. At this point he became tight lipped and then challenged me into giving him 6 descriptive words to describe him. So I played:

• hard working-he is a bit of a workaholic
• obstinate/stubborn-imagine that, he is pretty set in his ways and beleifs
• caring
• trustworthy
• persistent
• obnoxious

Once I gave him his descriptive words he made a feeble attempt.

• beautiful-I think he said that because I am his wife and had to
• caring
• energetic-I go out for runs 3 to 5 days of the week and for him that is energetic

After the first 3 he gave up, said "I'm done, I'm not a descriptive person" , so being persistent I continued to hound him until he could give me 3 more words. This is what he came up with.

• stubborn
• cold-not in the way of being mean, but I am always cold....my hands, feet, nose, etc.
• understanding

I, on the other hand, can name a few more descriptive words about myself that I think he was afraid to say for fear of the iron fist coming down on him. I am also short on patience which leads to being short on temper. My poor, poor family.......I can admit I am working on it.

Aprons, Aprons, and.........more Aprons

There is this gal, Julia, over at The Apron Goddesses who is having a drawing for an apron from The Paper Passion. Boy is it ever cute. I would love to have one myself.

This Apron thing/fetish all began in November, at Thanksgiving, when Julia and I were both, at some point in the day, preparing the bacon for one of the many dishes served. See she usually wears a big sheet in order to protect her clothes and I usually put on an old, ratty sweatshirt when I prepare the bacon. Both of us end up splattered and she says to me that we both need an apron. We decided at that moment that we would be each other's Secret Santa and get each other an apron of choice. At that point I showed her the web site for Jesse Steele and we chose the apron's we wanted.

Shortly after we ordered our aprons, Julia decided to start The Apron Goddesses. She is now getting sponsors to donate an apron for the "giveaway". I have to say I am excited, she is getting some great aprons to give to one lucky woman at a time. Go check her out at The Apron Goddesses, she has some great sponsors to check out too!

She has put a bee in my bonnet, I just bought a book that is all about aprons with some patterns in it as well. I am now going to try my hand at sewing one for myself. We shall see how that works out. With any luck I will do a fairly decent job, so wish me some luck because I will need it as I am a novice on the sewing machine. I will post the finished product when I finish.........might be a while, since taxes are knocking on my back door.

So for all you apron fashionistas go check out the very cool apron that will be given away! I dare ya, you are bound to really enjoy what you see.

Honey Do's

At my house it takes an act of God and Congress to get my husband to do any "Honey Do's", so I feel I need to give him some credit when he actually does any......and not just here in Blog Land. I need to be a bit more diligent to tell him I appreciate his help when he dishes it out.

Yesterday he decided to stay home and work around the house, much to my relief. He had been under the house and decided to wrap some of the hot water pipes so he, or anyone else (like my boys) doesn't get burned by them when I am running hot water. While he was there he figured he would do something I have been asking him to do for more than a year, put outlets on the exterior of the house. We need them for our Christmas lights as well as the light that is in our chicken coop. I have to say that the primary reason he did this is because he was tired of the "redneck, hillbilly" appearance of the
extension cord running across the patio and into our back door. Well if that is all it takes to get him to do something for me maybe I should start a bit of sabotage..........heee, heee, heee. No really, I do appreciate his efforts, however I would love for him to put me and some of my "Honey Do" priorities as high as he puts his customers jobs and their priorities. Yay for me I have two outlets for outdoor electrical needs, one on each side of the house. Good job Jeff and thank you.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Everyone!

I can't say New Year's Eve was uneventful. Last year my family and my sister-in-laws family began a whole new tradition, primarily for the pyromaniac's between the two families, of torching our Christmas trees. The men start by building a bonfire with a propane fueled torch so we can all keep warm on this cool winter's eve, then they proceed to prop up the two trees in order to light them afire. This is a testament to our "redneck, hillbilly" ways, it is as much fun for the men and children as it is for us wives who document this grand event.
Once the trees are propped up the men douse the trees with some gas, diesel, whatever flammable fuel is handy. Again the propane fueled torch is activated in order to get the trees started, then we watch in awe and wonder as the trees go "up in flames".

Meanwhile the kids are right in the thick of it. On this night they are armoured with some glow sticks they recieved from Julia's nanny. Some were a bust, but the ones that worked kept the little ones entertained as they spun them around and watched them fly through the air leaving a trace of bright flouresent color trailing behind it. When the novelty wore off they slowly began to place them in the fire and watch as the chemical reaction of fire and liquid produced an even brighter color for all of us to enjoy.

Once the trees were burned we added them to fire and watched as the fire died down. It is still early, but close enough for bed time for the little ones, so we head to Julia's for some champegne and sparkling apple cider. I have to say the sparkling apple cider is always a hit with my boys and Julia's two children. We also had some chips and salsa to snack on before heading home to put the boys in bed. It was a nice evening, one I expect will be repeated for years to come.
My evening did not end there.


Jack, our dog, is allowed inside on the occasion there are gun shots and fireworks, so I let him in the back room for an evening slumber. Once the boys were asleep, on my bed I might add, I had to move them to their own so I could get some shut eye. As soon as the boys are in their beds I settle in for the night, I pull out my book and book light (Jeff gets upset when the light is on when he is trying to sleep) and read until I am tired. Well midnight rolls in, bottle rockets and gun shots peirce the evenings solitude, my dog is scratching wildly at the door to be let in the main part of the house and my husband is pulling at me to fulfill his desires. In the end I humor them both, but not without consequences.

At about 2 AM I hear the scritch-scratch of doggie toe nails on our dining room floor. I decide to get up and let him out into the cool night's air, as he must be getting hot sleeping by the fire. As I enter the living room there is an overwhelming smell which leads me to believe that Jack has a bad case of gas, he is an older dog. After I let him out I decide to investigate to make sure there aren't any surprises. Well the surprise was on me, he couldn't wait and left me quite a surprise on the living room carpet......couldn't he have done it on the dining room floor, wood laminate? Sadly I spend the better part of an hour cleaning up his surprise and was restless for the rest of the night. Overall it was a good evening.