Enslaved by Ducks

This is a title to a book someone gave Bob.  I am finished with my big canning for the season.
Phew...now into the shop because November is just around the corner!  Some of the extras I have in my shop for sale.  I am NOT in the food biz.

Chutney trio offered in my shop

Daisy the white pekin holds court for her drakes.

I am starting a new 365 project for the year.  So excited to share.  Kicks off November 1, 2012 for Day of the Dead.
Thanks for reading.  xo
Suz

Kitchen and Coop

Tassels on top mean corn starting on the bottom.

It's the middle of August, and everything is ripening.  I picked about 5 pounds of basil, which equaled 30 cups of leaves, and a bouquet for the kitchen table.  Tomatoes and green chili are bountiful. Bob helped me carry 20 pounds of tomatoes, and about 5 of green chili into the house last night.

Cukes on the right, and basil on the left.

12 pints of refrigerator dill pickles

The "Coop Mahal" is slowly progressing.  Bob is getting ready for a show, so that is his focus at the moment.  But here are a few pics of the progress.  The large door will have the metal mesh open in summer, and cleverly hinged with a piano hinge closes in winter.  I don't know if I have ever seen a coop with a piano hinge.  We had it, so Bob used it. 

"My" door to the Coop Mahal

The chicken door to their yard. Not open yet.

 Morning mash...love those tail feathers.

The girls continue to bring daily joy to my life.  I bring my set chair in early in the morning, or at dusk for some socialization.  Many hop on my lap for lovin'.  They all preen me, and pick at my clothes. We get about 4 eggs a day right now.  They are all bantams...as that's who is laying.  Irma, the black cochin has a comb that is soooo red, that I know any day, she will be laying.

Thanks for reading.

Each day is a gift. Open now.

xo,

Suz

Harvest Time with Mother Night

My view of the West from inside the garden.

The last bit of the sun slips into the horizon.

My kitchen has been in full swing for the last week.  It's that time of year.  I am trying to keep up and manage what is ripening.  As the days grow shorter I can see less and less blooms, and new fruit.  13 hours of daylight means about 9 in the vegetable garden.  As always things seem to ripen all at once.  So I'm on one of those "Jetson treadmills" or Tetris moments where the same thing is happening, just at a faster pace.  Bob bought me a beautiful basket from Peterboro Basket Co. in New Hampshire to carry veggies back from the garden.  So here are some photos...mostly from my iPhone of this food factory I am running.

 Tomatoes and green chili.

I roasted mine and put it in

the freezer in ziploc bags.

I oil a rag to wipe the bbq 

grate, so they don't stick.

Bob is getting ready for the Las Vegas Gathering.  It's a very social show.  We have new things on knives that are my doing...skulls.  It's pretty cool to have collaborated a bit.  I realized that I can't be hustling for the show.  We need someone to hold down the fort.  So I won't bring my jewelry.  I'll post it on the USN forum, and in my Etsy shop.

The skulls are new, and my direct influence.

Doing what I can to support Bob right before a show makes both our lives more manageable.  So I bring him tastes from the kitchen and garden.  The peaches continue to rain down on us.  I have them on their own ripening treadmill.  Now putting them into the freezer.  Later to make jam and salsa out of.  Waiting for the big ones that are left on the tree to ripen for pies and crisps.  I hope we don't miss that window while we are in Las Vegas.

Peaches halved, pitted, and brushed

with lemon go in the freezer.

Later we can make jams &

such with them.  I plan to make

peach and green chili chutney.

I downloaded Clarissa Pinkola Estes latest series of broadcasts: "The  Mother Night."  Her soothing voice always makes me feel the Universe is right.  I have so many images coming to mind when I listen to her.  It seems that when I listen to her, I listen to me.  My authentic self is front and center.  Filled with images I scratch down in my sketchbook as fast as I can.  I've been listening through my lap top while working in the kitchen.  Bob has chopped for me, and peeled for an hour or two.  We really enjoy this canning thing together.  Pickles when we come back from our trip.  Hopefully Dilly Beans too.

I don't have her on when he is there, because I relish Clarissa.  It's a no talk zone when she's on.  What a gift she is to my life.  Her series on creativity, and death, and wild women have made their spiritual mark on me.  If you have not heard her CD's, I highly recommend them for the artsy and creative types. She feeds the soul with her "curandera" way of storytelling.  Very Jungian for those who are analytical.

Back to the food factory I am managing at the moment.  And back to learning to see in the dark.

The "Sandias" last night.  

Thanks for reading.  Every day is a gift: open now.

xo
Suz

From the Front Porch

Good morning from the front porch.  It's been a bustling morning here.  I should be getting ready for the Las Vegas "Gathering" show. However, there is just too much to do here.  It's harvest time. This means canning, and watching or ripening fruits and veggies so the varmints don't get them first. We've had huge winds and branches down.  Clean up as well as fruit that wasn't quite ripe to deal with.  The dinning room table is lined with brown paper bags with ripening peaches. There is a stack of boxes with peaches ripening.  I find by dinner time, I am out of gas.  This is something new for me.  So I try and get as much done before I run out of steam.

Just Peachy

Above the pears that came from our tree.  Some fell, some were picked by me climbing a 10 ft. ladder while Bob held the ladder.  When there were little holes or nicks in the pears, I put masking tape over them.  Some ripened as if they had their own skin, others just rotted.  Why, I have no clue.  I made pear marmalade, and pear butter.  Also, some green tomato jam for the first time.  Helping me was a new tool that I bought a Williams Sonoma.  It's a silicone spatula that gets into the edge of the pots while cooking.  It kept fruit from burning and sticking while boiling.  It's my new best friend. :-)

The pumpkins and various squash continue to get bigger. Lots of peppers, green beans, and tomatoes, strawberries,  and peaches are yet to be picked.

Thanks for reading.

Every day is a gift...open now.  

xo Suz

Yes I Can!

I've been busy doing things around the house all week.  My business is slow.  I "should" be getting ready for the Gathering Show in Las Vegas.  Instead I am canning peaches and tomatoes from last year that have been frozen.  I have to make room for this year's haul.

On the kitchen table above are 12 jars of peach jam...I left it chunky.  Also a UFO peter pan squash that was hiding and got larger than edible.  Bob helped last night with the hot water bath.  He had never canned before.  He said he remembers his aunt canning with parafin wax.  I have no memories of this from my childhood.  Women on the North Shore of Chicago didn't can.  When I moved to the farm, I did a lot of canning.  Bob and I plan to do pickles next, then dilly beans.

This photo is the inside of the canning pot.  It has a rack to put the jars on. This pot is HUGE!

Somewhere out in the universe are my canning tools from the farm.  When I bought this pot a few years ago, it could only be found at Walmart.  I called around.  Believe me, NO ONE knew WHAT a canning pot was! In Walmart  I was holding it my arms waiting in line to pay...a man came up to me.  With tears in his eyes, he said: "I love a woman who cans.  I suppose you have a significant other?  My late wife and I used to can together before she passed away."  How sweet was that?  We shared some of our canning favorites, and some disasters.  People around us could hear, and looked stymied.  I mean really...who cans anything today?  

You'd be surprised.  Many of my Etsy sisters commented on a canning treasury I created.  So there are closet canners.  :-)  Ball published a book that is the easiest guide to canning: "The Blue Book."

Thanks for reading. I'm still amazed that you do.

xo

Suz