More fixing to do

One problem solved and here comes another one. One of the burners of our stove started acting up. The stove is ONLY () 34 years old but I am used to it and I don’t want a new one. So… in comes the resident handyman with tools and an old cord from a waffle iron. That man is GOOD!!!! A 2 hour job and it is as good as new!! I am very thankful and happy. It is the burner I always use for frying things and canning. It would only get really hot once in awhile. I hope I get another 34 years out of that stove. Hmmmmm … that would make me 108 years old. Yup, that should do it.
Last night we had a great rain. We sure appreciate it. The Island was very dry. So far we have had no problem with our well so we were lucky. Right now the rain stopped but it is cool and dreary outside.
I just picked a few more beans and I think there will not be many more. The ones that are still coming are way up and we need a ladder to get to them. There is still a lot of them on the stalks but they are too big already so we will use them for dried bean soup and chilli in the winter. Half of the beans are Appaloosa beans which are not good to cook fresh but are great as dried beans. 
While I was out there I took a picture of on of our Dahlias. These ones are as big as a dinner plate. Very pretty but not good in a Vase.



That’s it for today.

Good bye everybody ☺

A plumbing emergency

Yesterday I cleaned out under the kitchen sink and found a small leak. The newspaper I had there was wet. Of course I called the resident handyman and he tightened whatever it is called under the sink. I had placed a little dish with a Kleenex under the area that leaked. When I checked that awhile later it was wet and the handyman was called in again. This time her really tightened it hard which left the water gushing out . When we checked it out we saw that the pipe had corroded and so we needed a whole new strainer basket assembly. It was too late to go shopping so we left it until this morning. Since I also wanted to buy some green peppers and celery for my tomato sauce we decided to go to Canadian Tire instead of Rona and stop at Farmer’s Market on the way.

I was able to pick up a bag full of green and yellow peppers for $ 1.99 of the quick sale table. That was great.
Canadian Tire had quite a few different basket assemblies and since we had our old one with us we picked one that seemed the same except it was made of PVC which we figured would be better. I also wanted a new faucet swivel for the kitchen tap. Our old one that we bought years ago on the flea market in Quartzsite had come apart. I don’t know what I would do without one so I picked one up as well. Home again Cliff got to work and installed the new unit but we saw that it stuck up too much above the drain and there would always be a little water still in the sink. Also the swivel was not the right one, it did not turn into a sprayer. Canadian Tire is quite a ways from where we live so we decided to go to Rona after all, it’s just up the road from us we could have saved a trip into town but then I would not have had my peppers and celery. We found exactly the right strainer and tap swivel. Next time we get to Canadian Tire we have to take both back.
That was my exciting day so far. Hope the rest is better.
Weather was great again. On the way to town this morning we had turned the heater on in the car and on the way back the air conditioner.
Good bye everybody ☺

Lots of Veggies

Our tomatoes are finally ripe and Cliff picked a big bucket of them this morning.


Now I will make more sauce after all.
Blackberries are ripe as well and the yellow jackets have been in them. Today is not too bad because it is quite windy so Cliff wants to pick some. I have too much blackberry juice and jam already so I told him to cut the bushes down ☺ which of course he will not do.
Yesterday I picked 10 great cucumbers and we have a salad every day until they are gone and hopefully by that time there will be more.
I started 8 more lettuce plants in the little peat pots and it looks like at least 7 of them are starting to grow.
For some reason our beets don’t make a round beet but only thickened roots. The greens on them are lush though and I like to cook them up. Maybe it’s because I saved the seeds from last year. Next year we will buy seeds again.
We have also been eating our corn every lunch and supper. It is really nice and sweet this year. Last year we did not have too much but this year it is plentiful. Must be the horse manure Cliff spread this Spring.
The squash is winding it’s way on everything. I just hope they all ripen. There are more vines than squash but it is hard to see in that jungle out there. I saw one crookneck the other day. I like to eat those raw. I have to wade my way through all the vines to get to it.
Our weather has been outstanding. This morning it looked like we might finally get some rain but the clouds went away and now it is sunny.
That’s it for today
Good bye for now ☺

Much better !!!

The temperature has been much more to my liking the last few days. Nice and sunny but not too warm. We have bamboo blinds on the outside of all the windows that get sun during the day and that helps keep the inside cool. 
This year our tomatoes are not not as plentiful as in other years. We just get enough to eat every day but I don’t think there will be any for canning. I don’t mind that because we still have lots of tomato sauce and tomato juice from other years to last us for next winter. The beans are coming on with a vengeance but I don’t like to can many because I would rather eat fresh veggies even in the winter.

our bean poles

I made a big pot of hamburger meat, beans, onions and green peppers yesterday for lunch and froze enough of it for 6 more meals. It will be easy cooking on busy days, just boil a few potatoes and that’s it plus our daily salad.
This year we also don’t have many potatoes. I am quite happy about that because normally we have too many and in the Spring I am peeling all “pruned-up” potatoes which is not a pleasant job. Here is one of our malformed potatoes but they all taste good.
 
I also baked yesterday. I wanted to have something nice and sweet so I baked what in my hometown is called “Amerikaner”, a stiff batter with flour b.powder, sugar, custard powder, eggs and milk. Good size blobs of that on a greased baking sheet and baked for 14 minutes in a hot oven. They spread out and look like a little hill when they are done. While still warm the flat bottom side gets a glaze of icing sugar and hot water with a squirt of lemon juice. There were 9 of them and only one was left this morning and that is gone now at 9 AM. You can see why I don’t bake too often.
We don’t have too many flowers but I love these Dahlias.

 

I better start my jobs for today.
Good bye everybody ☺

It’s a jungle out there

We had a great lunch today. Sockeye salmon filets, fresh carrots and beans, a salad with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, radishes and onions, home-made dressing with cilantro, beets and beet tops and potatoes. All the veggies straight out of the garden and  we got the fish a couple of weeks ago. I canned 32 jars and froze 5 of the tails.
Our garden is absolutely overgrown.

Corn patch


Squash


Back gate to the garden


Cliff is starting to clear parts of the garden  to get it ready for the winter. I think it is way too big. Today I tried to give away some beets and tops but nobody was home so they will go in the compost since I don’t have any more room in the fridge.
We just started to pick beans and there will be tons. I will have to do a lot of canning. On the other hand we like to eat fresh veggies even in the winter so the canned stuff will just sit there. Grrrrrr. I really hate the thought of so many people going hungry and I am crying about too much food. It does not seem right.
Somebody asked about Moosetracks ice-cream. It is super delicious and consists of vanilla ice-cream with tiny peanutbutter cups as well as lots of chocolate fudge throughout. Here come the pounds!! Try it….. you’ll like it ☺
It was really hot today and when I went to the Mill Bay library and to do a bit of shopping I was very thankful that we now have air-conditioning in the car, so I finally found something that I like about the new car. I am still struggling with parking. I don’t drive too often because most of the time Cliff and I go together, he does the driving and I like it that way..
It is starting to cool off a bit so I better go outside and enjoy the evening.
Good night everybody ☺