Life goes on here whether I am here or not. That's a good thing. I know I promised to post more often, and be dang! here it has been over a month since I posted last. Shame on me.
But maybe I can catch you up on life here. Or there. As for my health I am doing a great deal better managing my pain and RA and Fibro. I feel so much more "alive" now that I am off some of the meds that nearly killed me. I had my annual labs drawn about a month ago and now we find my thyroid is a lil on the low side. According to things I have read if you have fibro and low thyroid the levels need to be a lil bit higher than for normal people to combat the fatigue. So I go back to the family doc tomorrow to see what his plans are to deal with that. I guess there is a fine line between high and low with all labs when you have fibromyalgia.
I went to west Ky in early September to cook for the hunting lodge at the request of my sweet aunt Ann. She normally did not house hunters for bow velvet season but this year we had a full house. I spent almost 2 weeks doing that. Sadly on September 14th my aunt lost her hard fought battle with cancer and passed away. Talk about a hard week. I miss her so bad. I guess I keep waiting for her to call. Still we have carry on the lodge and cook for the hunters just like she would have wanted. So that will be what I do in November and December. It will be a tough few weeks seeing familiar faces as hunters return to hunt that have been hunting with Snipe creek Outfitters for several years and have to tell them that Ann is not with us any more. Not sure how tough I am when it comes to that. I got some big shoes to try an fill. Maybe I be best just trying to walk in her footsteps instead.
While I was gone in September Rodger kept the raspberries an tomatoes picked an taken care of . I still need to make some jam and get that done in the next few days. We got our sweet corn brought in that was left to mature on the stalk for seed. I should have enough Golden Bantam and Stowells Evergreen to plant next year.Also got some of the white corn field beans picked for seed as well. Still more of those to get off the vines as they mature and dry. I think we have a few green tomatoes left in the garden I would like to get picked an chopped an frozen to make fried green tomatoes later on. Maybe I can get those tomorrow evening after Rodger gets in from work to help me. Its getting close to time for us to get light frost. At least not too far off anyway. I picked the pears off our small tree here in the yard the other day and there is enough of them to make some pear preserves or pear honey. Or to just make canned pears. I like to mix canned pears an peaches together to eat in place of fresh fruit in winter time. Beats buying sprays stuff from the store. Hopefully next year we will have some fruit of our own to can. Our young trees should produce some fruits IF we properly care for them. Its time to start picking up black walnuts too for shelling and baking later. I told Rodger we can gather them, hang them in burlap bags in the buildings to dry away from squirrels and then shell the dried shell off with the corn sheller later. Then the hard part of cracking an picking the meats out of the shell. We also have wild butternuts here on the farm too if we can remember where the trees are that have them. They are easier to shell than the black walnuts. And have a lil sweeter taste too. Makes yummy cakes and fudge. The cabbage plants that I planted before I left to go west are looking pretty good. Had a good bit of worm damage but I think I stopped that with DE a few days ago. The mustard an turnip greens are looking really nice too. I guess I need to cut an can some of those this weekend so they can grow back and make even more. I kinda look forward to the turnips a lil later as the weather cools they get sweeter. I had some turnips that were pulled an stored in the fridge for like 2 months an they were like eating an apple, so sweet and crunchy. I still need to do more work on the herb bed. I think my plan is a go to kill back a lot of the mints and stuff an just leave patches of purple coneflower an mint and put down black plastic with mulch so in spring when it comes back out it wont look so scraggly and over grown. If anyone ever plants mint or anything in the mint family it for sure needs to be contained. Better yet, plant in containers so it don't take over. It propagates from roots an seeds and can get out of hand really fast. I started in spring with just a lil tiny sprig of peppermint and now I have a space of 3 ft square covered with it. I do like to dry peppermint for tea tho. Great belly ache remedy and sooths indigestion. I could stay busy for days on end and not get bored with things that need to be done around here.
But this week I don't plan on being too busy doing all this farm stuff. I got a lil grandbaby to play with an spoil this week. At least till Thursday till he an his momma have to go home to Nevada. Yes our sweet daughter in law Amoy an grandson Liam have been here for several days to visit. That lil man is so precious. He is the sweetest lil fellow. I guess when he goes home I will have to stay really busy so I don't go nuts missing him. Thanks for letting Liam and Amoy come home for a visit Rob. I know you miss them terribly but we certainly have enjoyed having them. Maybe we can just keep Liam and let his momma go home to keep his daddy company till Christmas when they come home to visit they can get him back. IF he is not so spoiled by then. But I really doubt they will let that happen.
Not much else happening here on the farm. So till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.
Stella
