Friday, August 31, 2012

John and I were up early so we could get our walk in before getting started on the day's agenda.  Our plan was to straighten out the garage and free up some more storage space.  We had cleaned out the garage after we returned home from Texas, but over the summer we somehow managed to get it disorganized again.

We had just hauled a shelf out of the garage to hose it down when Matt and Hanna pulled into the yard.  We all spent the next hour or so sitting on the porch, eating watermelon, and discussing last night's volleyball and football games.  It was noon when they left, so John and I ate lunch before heading back to the garage.  We cleared off a couple of shelving units and bagged up the trash.  

John then suggested a change in plans.  The garage job wasn't finished yet, but he needed to change the oil in his mower and didn't have the correct filter. He asked if I would like to take a quick trip to Bemdji.  I agreed as we needed some milk and a few other items.  We picked up the correct filter at the Fleet Store and then made a stop at K-Mart to see if we could find any bargains as the store will only be open a few more weeks.  From there we stopped at BK for some supper and then hit Wal Mart for the milk and other groceries.

We spent a pretty quiet evening watching some TV and reading.  Tomorrow we'll get back to the garage.    

Thursday, August 30, 2012

After such a busy day yesterday and a late night, both John and I were pretty tired this morning, so we decided to skip our walk and sleep in for an extra hour.

With the warmer weather of the past few days, the tomatoes have begun to ripen so we decided to make some salsa today.  John headed to the garden after breakfast and picked a bucket full of tomatoes and green peppers which he then processed with our Victorio Strainer.  We added some chopped onions, vinegar, and salsa mix, and ended up with seven new pints of salsa.  John processed the rest of the ripe tomatoes and stored the sauce in the fridge until we have enough to make another batch.

We ate an early supper so we could get up to Clearbrook in time to watch Hanna's volleyball game.  They won their first game, but lost the second by 2 points.  That meant a third game, which they won handily.  The team keeps improving and Hanna made some nice plays.



 
 
 

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

John and I were up early this morning so we could put the finishing touches on our preparations for company.  Our guests, Jim, Kathy, Melinda, and Paul, arrived around 10 a.m.  We spent the next hour or so visiting and giving them a tour of our home and the shop.  

We took a break for some lunch, and then loaded up the cars and headed to Bemidji to show them Paul Bunyan and Babe The Blue Ox.  Next stop was Itasca State Park to see the Headwaters of the Mississippi River and walk across the river.

 Paul using the Mississippi River map to
point our where he lived in Arkansas

 Paul and Melinda enjoying the cool river waters

 The Headwaters

 Jim, Carol, John, Paul, Melinda, and Kathy

The group decided to head to Park Rapids and the "North Forty" Restaurant for some supper before we went our separate ways.  Everyone enjoyed a good meal and a couple of hours of more visiting.  We said our good-byes in the parking lot and look forward to seeing everyone in a few months.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

After being gone all day yesterday, it was catch up time today.  We got our morning walk out of the way and then both John and I got busy taking care of some household chores.  I changed bed linens, cleaned the upstairs, and did some laundry.  John kept himself busy finishing cutting up the wood from Matt, getting it stacked, and then mowing some grass.  Without any rain, the grass just needed a slight trimming in a few places.

This afternoon we headed to Bemidji to do some banking, made a stop at BK for an early supper, and then drove 24 miles north to Blackduck where we met up with Matt and Sara to attend Hanna's first volleyball game of the year.  The eight grade team was much improved over last year and they won their first two games, which meant they didn't need to play a third.  




After the games, we drove back to Bemidji and did a little grocery shopping for tomorrow's lunch before heading back home.  The rest of the evening was spent watching some of the convention.

Monday, August 27, 2012

John and I were up and out early for our walk as we needed to be on the road by 9:30 a.m.  Our Winter Texan friends, Jim and Kathy Runger from Detroit Lakes, invited us to spend the day at their home along with other Texas friends who were visiting them for a couple of days.

We arrived at the Runger's in time for a delicious lunch and spent the day visiting with them along with Paul and Melinda.  Kathy gave us a tour of the property and then Jim showed us his very large shop.  Before we knew, the afternoon had slipped by and Kathy invited us to stay for supper.  Before we hit the road home, we made plans for all of them to come up to Bagley on Wednesday.  It was fun to see our Texas friends and to be able to spend some time visiting and catching up on what everyone has been doing since we were all together last winter.



 Melinda and Kathy working in the kitchen
 
 Jim, John and Paul visiting after supper

Sunday, August 26, 2012

The humidity of the past couple of days finally moved out and we had a beautiful day with bright clear skies.  It was our usual Sunday morning routine:  walk, breakfast, and then off to church.

We ate lunch when we got home and then John went out to the garden and picked the last of the grapes.  We then got busy and made another 13 quarts of grape juice--glad we are finished with the grapes and very pleased with the crop we had this summer.  We were able to make 34 quarts of juice and 9 jars of jelly.  Hopefully that will see us thru until we harvest another grape crop next summer.

John and I took a little time this afternoon to watch some PGA and he also started cutting up the wood trim and bench he picked up from Matt.  He needed to cut it into lengths that will fit in the outdoor furnace.  We spent a quiet evening watching some TV, reading, and working on the computer.  Tomorrow we head off to Detroit Lakes to visit with some Winter Texan friends.

 

Saturday, August 25, 2012

When we got up this morning, the sky was overcast and it looked like rain could start falling at any moment.  We canceled our walk, ate an early breakfast, and then got busy making a final batch pickles--this time we made some sweet pickles.  

A little after 11 a.m., I took John to Matt's so he could get a ride with Matt, Sara, and Hanna to attend a football scrimmage.  Rachel didn't care to go, so I took her back home to spend the day with me.  We were out of bread, so I baked a couple of loaves and then Rachel gave me a hand making some peach cobbler.  We also watched an older Disney movie before Hanna called and said they were close to Clearbrook. Rae gathered up her things and I drove her home where I picked up John.  I learned it was a tough day for the Clearbrook Bears--good thing it was only a scrimmage.  Seems like they have a lot of work to do before their season starts in a week or so. 

Friday, August 24, 2012

Matt had called last night to ask John if he could come up this morning and help him reinstall their downstairs toilet.  He had finished tiling the floor and was getting everything put back together.  It was decided to get started nice and early and that would give the guys enough time to get the project finished so we could get to Bemidji by 11 a.m.  I had my annual eye appointment and wanted John to come along as I knew I would be getting my eyes dilated and, with the bright sunlight, would have a difficult time seeing to drive.  I had a good report from the doctor and didn't need any changes in my glasses.

It was noon by the time we left the clinic, so we headed to BK for some lunch and then stopped at Wal Mart for a few groceries before heading home.  Students from the state university are back in town and the store was packed with kids shopping for dorm supplies.

The weather was very hot today, so we spent the afternoon in the AC keeping cool and comfortable.  We had planned to do the rest of the grape juice today, but it was just too hot to be outside picking grapes.  That project has been put on hold for a couple of days.  

Thursday, August 23, 2012

John and I were up a little earlier this morning so we could get our walk in before the temps heated up.  We had another beautiful, but hot day--still no rain.

Right after breakfast, John headed to the garden and picked another bucket of grapes.  We then got busy washing jars, stripping the grapes, and making grape juice.  The job took most of the afternoon, and we ended up with 21 quarts of juice.  We plan to get the remaining grapes picked tomorrow and get the last of the juice made.  The grapes ripen all at the same time, so once their picked, that's it for the season.  

  Our first batches of grape juice

We spent a quiet evening watching TV and just vegging out after a busy day in the kitchen.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

The warm weather continued today so it was back to shirt sleeves for our morning walk.  The temps warmed up enough that we turned on the AC once again.  The forecast is for the hot weather to last through the next several days and then we'll return to more normal temps.

With the warmer weather, John checked the grapes this morning, and picked enough to fill a five gallon bucket. We stripped them off the stems, ran them through our Victorio Strainer, and made two batches of grape jelly.  We'll use the rest of the grapes to make juice.





The jelly making took most of the day, but I did manage to get a couple of loads of laundry done along with a little more organizing in the basement.  Our evening was spent watching some TV and reading--nothing too exciting.

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

The warmer weather returned today and it was actually about 10 degrees warmer than yesterday morning when we took our walk. We certainly enjoy the nice sunny weather, but we really need a couple of days of nice steady rain and there doesn't seem to be much chance of that in the forecast

When we shopped at Sam's Club yesterday, we bought quite a few bulk items so John and I spent most of the morning breaking them down into smaller quantities, putting some in the freezer, and others into storage containers.  We also reorganized and labeled the shelves in our basement storage area so we can easily find what we want to use.  

Our pepper plants in the garden have yielded quite a few peppers which we want to use to make our salsa; however, the tomatoes are not ready to be picked.  This afternoon John chopped all the peppers, we bagged them up, and placed them in the freezer to await the tomatoes.    

After supper, John went up to Matt's to pick up the old trim and doors from their finished basement.  Last week their holding tank in the basement leaked overnight and their carpet, trim, and some sheet-rock were ruined.  The insurance company is giving them a settlement so they are now in the process of redoing the floor with tile and adding another bedroom downstairs.  John will get rid of the old trim by cutting it up and using it for firewood.

 

Monday, August 20, 2012

Our beautiful weather continued again today.  The morning was a little on the chilly side when we took our walk--the overnight temps were in the 40's.  Each morning we see more changes in the trees as the green is fading and there are more pockets of red and yellow leaves.  Fall is coming pretty fast.  

John and I decided to take a road trip today and headed over to Grand Forks to do some shopping.  Cabela's was having a big outdoor sale, so that was our first stop where John found a couple of shirts on clearance along with more ammunition for his shotgun. After crossing the river into Grand Forks, we stopped at Culver's for some lunch and then went on to Bed, Bath, and Beyond to look for a vegetable chopper.  We found just what we were looking for along with new pillows for the bed and a couple of insulated cups.
We then hit the mall looking for some birthday presents, but nothing caught our fancy, so we headed to Sam's Club to stock up on some bread flour, sugar, and much, much more.  The back of the Honda was full by the time we started for home.  Of course, what's a road trip without a stop at the DQ for an Oreo Blizzard.  That made a perfect ending to a busy day.  

Sunday, August 19, 2012

We had another beautiful day--sunny skies, light breeze, and temps in the mid 70's.  The long range forecast calls for one or two days with temps in the 80's, but mostly our highs are going to be in the 70's.  I think our extremely warm weather may be over for this year.  After our walk this morning, we ate breakfast, got cleaned up, and then headed off to church.

Many years ago we had planted an apricot tree next to our attached garage and it has since grown so tall that its branches were rubbing on the roof shingles and siding.  Today John decided it was time to do some tree trimming.  I steadied the ladder while he climbed onto the roof and cut off some of the branches.  When he got back on the ground, he also trimmed off several limbs that were rubbing on the siding.




 We now have a big pile of branches
and leaves to clean up

John and I also took some time this afternoon to put up a few more shelves in our basement storage area.  We have done much more canning this year and needed more shelves to hold the full jars.

 Matt's family had spent the weekend in Fargo doing shopping for school.  This evening they invited us up to their place to see what the kids had bought and to give us some corn from their garden.  We had a mini fashion show as the girls modeled their new outfits.  They are going to be the best dressed kids the first day of school.

Saturday, August 18, 2012

The morning was once again a little on the cool side.  One good thing about that is the deer flies don't bother us while we are walking.  We can tell fall is truly on its way to northern Minnesota.  Most of the birds have left--only seem to have the hummingbirds filling up at the feeders.  It is absolutely quiet outside when we take our walk.  There are no birds singing or chirping.  The only birds we see, and occasionally hear, are the crows.  We haven't seen any geese flying south, so I guess that's a good sign.

After breakfast, John went outside to unload and stack the firewood he brought home yesterday.  He also spent some time in the shop working on a flooring strip Matt needed for the top of his stairs.  I kept busy most of the day cleaning the upstairs and changing the bed linens.  

 While John was working around outside, he noticed some of our neighbor's cows and bull had gotten out and were grazing in our north field.  One of the cows wandered right by the side of our house and out onto the road.  We were finally able to contact the owner and he came and rounded them up and got them back where they belonged.  He then moved them to the west pasture down the road from us until he can get the fence repaired and more strands of barbed wire back up.  The fence line runs right through our pond and with the water level so low, there was plenty of room for some of the smaller cattle to get under the fence and onto our property.




Cow walking by our living room window

We spent the evening watching some preseason football before calling it a day.

Friday, August 17, 2012

Today we were able to get back to our usual morning routine of a walk before breakfast.  Between our trip to Wyoming and early morning appointments, it had been put on hold for over a week. The temps were in the mid 40's when we left the house and felt chilly enough to wear our hooded sweatshirts.

Right after breakfast, John headed up to Matt's to split more firewood, hauled a load home, and stacked it in the yard.  While he was gone I took care of a few household chores and got the canning supplies around for making more pickles.  This afternoon John sliced up the cucumbers while I made the brine.  We had enough cucumbers to make a dozen more jars of bread and butter pickles.  I think this might be the end of the pickle-making this year--will have to wait and see how many more cucumbers still come out of the garden.

This evening John returned to Matt's and picked up the remainder of the wood he split this morning and then we ended the evening watching some TV. 

 

Thursday, August 16, 2012

A cold front moved in overnight with strong winds and much cooler temps.  The overnight low was in the upper 40's with the daytime highs only reaching the mid 60's.  It sure felt like a fall day.  As a matter of fact, we are starting to see some change in the trees with a few pockets of yellow and orange leaves.

First thing this morning following breakfast, I got busy making some shortcake and a pasta salad.  With those jobs out of the way, John and I headed up to Sara's for haircuts.  We didn't linger too long visiting as we were expecting company.  Pat and Hoagie arrived around 11:30 a.m. from Lake George where they had spent several days with other friends from Fort Clark. Hoagie had orders from Stan M. to check out John's tomatoes, so first stop on the tour of our place was the garden.  We Picked some green tomatoes for them to take back to Texas.


Pat and Hoagie

After a nice long visit and some good food, Pat and Hoagie took off for Fargo, ND where they planned to spend the night before getting an early start on their journey back to Fort Clark.

When we were looking over the garden, we found that the grapes are just about ready for picking.  It looks like we are going to have a bumper crop of them this year.  They should be ready to pick sometime over the next few days.


 Our evening was pretty quiet as usual--just watched some TV and did some reading.
 

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

John and I were up early this morning and off to Bemidji by 8 a.m. as I had a doctor's appointment to refill a prescription and have some blood work done.  When we left the clinic, we went to a local restaurant for some breakfast and then off to do some grocery shopping.  Our friends from Fort Clark, Pat and Hoagie, are coming for a visit tomorrow, so we needed to get some food in as we had cleaned everything out before our trip.

When we returned home, John started mowing and trimming the lawn.  That job took the rest of the day because he kept getting interrupted by rain showers.  I got busy cleaning up around the house and working on the finances--there were quite a few receipts to be entered into our computer's financial program.  

Our evening was pretty quiet--just watched TV and did some reading.  John talked to Amy and learned that Caleb had a successful first day of football practice at his new school.      

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

John and I made an early start from Sioux Falls this morning and made it to Fargo, ND before noon.  We crossed the Red River into Minnesota and stopped at our favorite Village Inn Restaurant for some lunch before driving the final leg home to Bagley.  We did make one more stop at the local DQ for some ice cream to finish off the trip.

Once we were home we got the Honda unloaded and then made a quick inspection of the house and garden.  We found the pocket gopher managed to do more damage to the cucumbers and ripe tomatoes that were close to the ground.  John has declared war and set a trap at the mouth of the gopher's hole.  Hopefully that creature is not tunneling under the potatoes and carrots and eating them from below the ground.  We picked a couple of buckets of cucumbers and peppers--John took some up to Sara to use and we'll make more pickles from the rest.  The grapes are just about ready to pick, so we'll be making jelly and juice from them pretty soon.

The one bad thing about coming home from a trip is the laundry.  I did manage to get most of it done while making some homemade bread.  That process takes almost three hours, so I had plenty of time to get unpacked and clothes cleaned.  The fridge looks pretty bare, so tomorrow will be a trip to Bemidji for grocery shopping. 
This evening we watched some of the shows we recorded while on our trip.  Seems funny not to be watching the Olympics. 

Monday, August 13, 2012

John and I were up early, said good-bye to Amy's family, and hit the road toward home.  Our first stop was breakfast at BK before we left Gillette.  After a couple of hours on the road, we left the interstate to stop in Spearfish and drive through the Spearfish National Forest and take a hike to see the Spearfish falls.  There was some very beautiful scenery and well worth the time for this side trip.





When we finished with our Spearfish visit, we got back on the interstate and spent the next six hours on the road to Sioux Falls where we spent the night.  Tomorrow is our final leg home.

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Our final day in Gillette was another busy one.  This morning we attended the First Baptist Church where Dave is serving as pastor.  We got the opportunity to tour the church facilities and meet some of the congregation.  

Following lunch, we headed off to the Recreation Center, a huge sports facility with an indoor water park.  We enjoyed swimming in the lazy river and sitting in the hot tub.  Best of all, senior citizens got in for free.  

For supper, John treated the family to pizza and then we spent the rest of the evening watching a movie and playing games.  John and I plan to hit the road early tomorrow morning and hopefully make a few touristy stops along route 90.

Saturday, August 11, 2012

We had a busy day here in Gillette.  Right after breakfast, Dave, Amy, and John installed the new screen door they purchased at Home Depot yesterday.  The new door would have been installed then, but the first one they picked out was defective and had to be returned to the store.  The weather was about 20 degrees cooler this morning and that made it much more pleasant for working outside.


After lunch, we headed off to see Devil's Tower which is about an hour east of Gillette.  The afternoon was sunny with a few clouds in the sky and with the cooler temps, it was perfect weather for a hike.  We pulled into the parking lot, got our cameras, and started off for the mile hike around the base of the rock formation.  We got just about to the half way point when we heard some thunder.  The vote was to keep going, but a couple of minutes later the wind came up and the rains came down.  We looked for a cave to get out of the storm but had to settle for sheltering behind some large rocks.  It just poured and then we go some hail--fortunately it wasn't very large.  Both adults and kids were soaked to the skin.  We were desperately trying to keep cameras and cell phones dry.
 The rain finally let up and we continued the second half mile of our hike.  Fortunately Amy had a few towels in the back of the Yukon and we were able to at least dry our arms and legs before getting back in the car.  


Devil's Tower


Our cold, soaked family

Even though our hike got rained out, we saw some beautiful scenery and had a fun time.  This is one adventure we will talk about for years.  We'll always remember our first trip to Devil's Tower and surviving the thunderstorm.

Friday, August 10, 2012

Even though it was another warm day here in Gillette, after breakfast we headed out to see some more of the sites around the town.  Coal mining plays a big part in the economics of Campbell County and makes it possible for the county to be financially sound.  This morning we took a ride to just outside of the city limits and saw one of the open pit coal mines in the area.  The coal company has made a little observation area where one can pull off the highway and look down on the mine and watch the operations.  John and I were amazed by the size of the trucks hauling dirt and coal up from the mine--they are at least two stories high.

 John, Dave, Amy, and Caleb on observation platform


Notice the size of the road grader as compared
to the trucks hauling coal and dirt
 

Open pit coat mine


Spraying road to keep down dust


 Large truck heading back down into mine
for another load of dirt or coal 

After leaving the mine, we toured more of the town and then made a stop at Wal Mart for a few groceries before heading back home for lunch.  This afternoon we went to the Rock Pile Museum which displayed  much of the history of Gillette along with many historical western artifacts. 



There was an area in the museum where kids
could try on old western garb.  Noah
tried on a Western vest and cowboy hat. 


  Dave and Caleb looking at a few exhibits




Thursday, August 9, 2012

The weather is pretty warm here in Gillette, so we spent most of our day hanging out around the house in the coolness of the AC.  This morning John and I played several different games with the boys while Dave was busy at the church office.  When it cooled down a little later in the afternoon we took a car tour of Gillette and the surrounding area.  The town is very nice with many modern buildings and restaurants.

This evening Dave returned to the church for a meeting and John and Amy worked out in the garden while I kept the kids entertained.  With the kids in bed, we watched more of the Olympics before calling it a day.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

After a good night's rest and a delicious breakfast at the motel, John and I continued our journey to Gillette.  When we decided to head to Wyoming this week, we didn't realize it was also the week of the big motorcycle rally in Sturgis, ND.  We have never seen so many motorcycles coming and going at one time--there has been a constant stream of them on I-90 across the state of South Dakota.  John and I have seen license plates from all over the United States.

When we reached the Badlands, we made a stop in Wall, SD and visited the famous Wall Drug store where we purchased a few souvenirs before getting back on the interstate.


 John standing across the street from Wall Drug




Carol and friend at Wall Drug 
 
  Many bikers stopped in Wall before heading
to Sturgis

After leaving Wall, it was only about another hour or so before we reached Gillette.  We got a warm welcome from the grand kids and then they gave us a tour of their new home.  The boys were very eager to show off their new bedrooms as each one now has his own room. We spent the afternoon playing games and visiting.  Tomorrow we get a tour of Gillette.     

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Today was the first leg of our trip to Wyoming.  We weren't in a big hurry to get on the road this morning as we were only traveling as far as Mitchell, SD.  There was very little food left in the house, but John and I did manage to scrounge up some breakfast.  Once we were done eating. John loaded up the Honda and we made one final sweep through the house to make sure all the blinds were closed, the water turned off, and that we hadn't forgotten anything.  We pulled out of the driveway right at 9:06 a.m.

After a couple of hours on the road, we stopped in the Fargo, ND area for some lunch.  Of course, you all know we ate BK--where else?  From there it's only a short hop to get on I-29 with its straight shot south.  By mid-afternoon we stopped at a Culver's in Watertown, SD for an ice cream break.  It was a little after 4:30 p.m. when we pulled into our hotel--we were both ready to get off the road.  

Mitchell, SD boasts a very large Cabela's, so after supper we spent an hour or so just walking through the store and found a couple of shirts on the clearance rack.  We then went across the highway and walked through their very nice Wal Mart.  John and I soon had enough walking, so we decided to head back to the motel where we spent the rest of the evening watching the Olympics and reading.

Monday, August 6, 2012

The hot weather returned in full force today and by this afternoon we had to turn on the AC.  We were able to get our morning walk done while it was on the cool side as once the sun came up the temps were on the rise pretty fast.  With the warmer weather this summer, it seems like it has been moving in fast forward.  As we were walking this morning, we noticed that the birds have moved out.  We don't hear any birds singing or chirping at all.  One day they were flying around and now they're gone.  The hummingbirds are constantly at the feeders and I think they are filling up in preparation for heading south.  At least we haven't seen any geese flying south so far.  It just seems a little early for the birds to be leaving.  Maybe they know something we don't--like an early winter.

John and I kept busy today getting ready for our trip to Wyoming to see Amy's family.  I got the laundry done, so we have plenty of clean clothes to take.  John mowed a little grass, picked what was ripe out of the garden, and started packing the Honda with some furniture items the kids want us to bring out.  We also took some time to get all the fair entries sorted, a few hung up, and the rest stored away.  

We plan to hit the road bright and early tomorrow morning and will be gone about a week.  John's hoping the tomatoes will hold off on ripening until we get back.  JD will water the garden and be in charge of picking anything that ripens and putting it in the fridge.  Our evening was spent watching the Olympics once again.  Tomorrow evening we will hopefully be in Mitchell, SD. 

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Our cool weather continued today and I must admit it's been nice to have a break from the heat, turn off the AC, and open the windows for some fresh.  We talked to JD this afternoon and he told us he had 47 degrees on his outdoor thermometer this morning.  It almost felt like fall when we took our walk.

It was the usual Sunday morning routine of breakfast and then church.  This afternoon we watched more of the Olympics and also made one final batch of relish to use up the peppers, cucumbers, and onions we had left over from yesterday.  We need to get the fresh produce used up as we'll be heading out of town in a day or two to visit Amy and her family in Wyoming.

This evening we headed back into the fair grounds to pick up our exhibits and ribbons.  We also had to pick up Hanna's and Rachel's as Hanna left for camp this afternoon.  It's always a little sad to have the fair come to an end but we look forward to next year and participating once again.  Maybe I'll enter some homemade bread next time.

 

Saturday, August 4, 2012

The thunder storms of last night brought much cooler weather for today with temps only reaching the upper 60's.  It was also very windy which made it feel even colder.  John and I had to wear our hooded sweatshirts when we took our walk--it was the first time in a long time that we didn't work up a sweat walking.  

Right after breakfast, John and I headed off to Bemidji and the farmer's market.  There was quite a crowd already on hand waiting for the market to open.  We purchased peppers, onions, and cukes we needed to supplement what we had taken from the garden so we could make more dill pickles and some sweet pickle relish.  It was late by the time we got done with our shopping, so we made a stop at BK for some lunch before heading back home.

First on our to make list this afternoon was another batch of dill pickles.  This time we made dill chips instead of strips.  While the pickles were processing, we got started chopping the cucumbers, red and green Bell peppers, and several onions.  We then mixed all the vegetables together, covered them with some Kosher salt and cold water, and let them stand for a couple of hours.  The veggies were then added to some boiling brine and simmered for 10 minutes before putting them in some pint jars and processing in a water bath.  We now have five pint jars of relish that looks just like the relish found in the supermarket.  Now, if it only tastes as good as it looks.  I'll have to report back about that after we try some.  The relish was pretty easy to make and since we have enough ingredients left over, we probably make another batch tomorrow.

The evening was spent as usual, watching the Olympics.  John loves the track portion of the games and is looking forward to seeing some exciting races.

Friday, August 3, 2012

Thunder and lightening rolled in during the night.  We didn't get any rain at first, but around 6 a.m. the heavens opened and we received a heavy downpour that last for a couple of hours.  Needless to say, our morning walk was once again put off so we decided to sleep in for an extra hour of shut-eye.

After breakfast, we got started making the bread and butter pickles.  They are a little more complicated to make than the dills as after getting the cucumbers and onions sliced up they have to be covered with pickling salt and ice and then put in the fridge for three or four hours. 

The clouds cleared out and we had some sun for a while this afternoon.  John took advantage of the break in the weather to do some weeding in the garden.  He discovered that the stripped gopher got the rest of the "eating" cucumbers and is now trying to keep it away from the pickling ones until we can harvest all we need for pickles and relish.  


When the cucumbers were ready, we took them out of the fridge, rinsed them off, cooked them in the brine I had prepared, and then put them into some pint jars.  The jars were put into a boiling water bath for 15 mins.  We now have seven pints of delicious looking pickles.


John and I had planned on heading into the fair this evening, but severe thunderstorms were in the forecast so we decided to stay home.  It was a good thing we did.  We had some strong winds and heavy rains hit our area around 8 p.m.   Our TV was out for a bit, so we watched a couple of programs recorded earlier on the DVR and when the programing resumed, we watched the Olympics.
 

Thursday, August 2, 2012

After the long and late day yesterday, John and I were both pretty tired and decided to skip our walk and sleep in for an extra hour or so this morning.


Following breakfast, John got busy mowing some grass by the pond and I did some research on trac phones as we are thinking of switching our cell phone provider.  John picked more cucumbers and now we have enough for a batch of bread and butter pickles which we'll do first thing tomorrow morning.  


This afternoon we headed back into the fair to work our shift supervising the Original Arts Building.  Of course, we were both anxious to see how we did with our entries.  Our granddaughter, Rachel exhibited for the first time and won a ribbon for her rose photo.  John won ribbons for all four of his entries.  I won six, including a Judges Choice and Best in Show.  We always have a good time going to the fair, not just to see the animals and exhibits, but because we run into so many folks we haven't seen since last year.  John and I enjoy the visiting and catching up with old friends.

Before starting our job for the afternoon, we took a moment to check out the cattle and poultry.

  
Cattle Barn





Geese on display
 

Rachel won Award of Excellence
 

Three of my winning photos
 

John's table won Best in Show in 
furniture category

When we were done at the fair, we stopped in town to pick up some fresh produce and a few other items needed to make our pickles.  We ate a late supper again this evening and then watched more of the Olympics.



 

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

We had a very busy day today.  John and I took our usual morning walk and then after breakfast got everything around for fair entry day.  Our shift for helping out began at 12 noon.  As people brought in their items for the Original Arts Building, we attached their entry tags, folded the bottom so their names were covered, gave them their claim stubs, and then put their entry in a category marked on the many tables set up in the building.


Entry ticket
 

Tables with different categories 
 

The original plan was to work until four p.m., return home for supper, and then come back at 8 p.m. to help set up.  There was a lull in the entries coming in, so it was decided to start setting up before 8 p.m.  Boy, were we glad about that decision.  We didn't get done until almost 9 p.m. even though we had many folks helping out.  Everyone was very pleased with the end results.  Now it's up to the judges tomorrow to pick the best works of art in each category.  I sure wouldn't want that job.




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John and I were both pretty tired by the time we got home.  We just ate a late supper and called it a day.
 

Roofing Being Done Everywhere!!

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