Yeah, I woke up far too early. Not sure what the hell is up with my sleep pattern but there is really no method to the madness. So I flip on my laptop and think hmm, open my blog. Well why not at least let my readers know I am still alive and kicking. Well for all you fine folks who read or read my blog, I am still alive and well. Just dont ask me to explain my long hiatus. I guess life got busy and I procrastinated. A LOT!! For a long time it appears.
I guess as we get older it just takes longer to get the same amount of things done thus less time and energy left at the end of the day to do things we want to do in our minds. We have been blessed the past 2 summers to enjoy our little grandsons here for extended visits on the farm. And they have finally moved a bit closer to Virginia instead of Phoenix. Eight hours is not a bad road trip to visit the kids. Sure beats 30 hours driving and 3 days on the road. All the kids and grands are great, healthy, happy and sassy. Hope to get to go see the littles for the Christmas holiday for a few days. We were certainly happy to have Rob, Amoy and the little boys here at our house for Thanksgiving this year for the first time in a long time seems like. Hard to believe Liam is in kindergarten now. Such a smart little boy. Zachy is quite the character. He is so much like Rob at that age. They just melt my heart.
All is well on the homestead. Our garden was not good at all this season. Blight hit the tomatoes and we had none, nada, zip, zero zilch from the garden. Glad I still had lots canned from previous years. Now for sweet corn, good grief, we can grow that stuff. Had more than we needed and as usual you cant give it away. People ask if its shucked. Ugh, hell no it aint, if you cant shuck it you cant have it. I cant tolerate people that lazy. I did locate some seed for white half runner green beans that I have been seeking for several years. These are the old variety that will develope a nice bean in the pod and the pod is still tender. They dont get tough and fibrous like some varieties I have gotten in the past. We now have about a lb of those seed to grow this coming year. Happy camper I am. So many little things to tell you and dang I cant begin to remember them all at one time. So I will fill you in as time progresses.
As for my latest hobby/obsession, its soft cheese making. We are members of a food pantry/coop here and from time to time we get over whelmed with milk products. Like last week when I had 6 half gallon jugs of heavy whipping cream. Turned that into butter. Oh yeah, I have not bought butter in going on 2 years now. We keep a LOT frozen from turning the heavy cream into butter. I also got 9 half gallon jugs of half and half. Well you can make cheese with it. As I learned lots of different cheeses as matter of fact. But it needs added lipase to put back some necessary enzymes that are killed off during the pasteurization process. Yep google is yo fren. I will learn to do this and make a decent cheese. I have made the 30 minute mozzarella and it is ok, just sorta bland. But the method is very simple. Paneer is another one for first time cheese makers to try. Will fill you in as I learn.
We did a bit of remodeling on the house this fall. Took this awful carpet out of the dining room and continued the laminate floors from the kitchen into the dining room. Love it much better. Easier to keep clean. Then I got the vinyl tile to do the small bathroom and the utility room. Folks those tiles are the bombdiggity. So easy to install over existing flooring, and dang they do stick down good. And they look nice. They look and feel like real tile, just not as cold on the bare footz as real tile. And to top off that Rob and Amoy got me a Deebot. Well who'd a thunk it? I love that thing. The one chore that makes my back hurt more than any other is running the vacuum. If you knew me you would know its a huge deal when I say I have not ran the vacuum since before thanksgiving. Yes, that long and the floors are still clean. The Deebot, who Rob named "little dip shit" I call him "dippy" for short, is like the Roomba just a different brand. I could not imagine something so small picking up the amount of dust and dirt this little guy gets. I was genuinely amazed. So dippy keeps the floors nice and sure saves my back a lot of pain. Now I can have some umph left to do other things I enjoy more. Yes I am hooked on technology now. lol Not to mention my new phone has "Bixby" to help me out. I gotta teach that fellow a few things before I let him type text messages for me tho. Yeah, don't ask. Ok I admit , I am techno challenged. Maybe IF I live long enough I will find or take time to learn about all these newfangled toys that I have. Who'd a thunk 20 years ago that a person could have a vacuum that would clean the floors without any help from a person pushing and pulling one of those things. AND you can program it to do the floors while you are away so you alas come home to a neat tidy house. Or in my house you find Dippy stuck on a floor vent. Ah he ain't smart enough to remember where they are I reckon. Talented he is, smart he ain't. Or maybe its operator error. Now if only they made a self emptying dish washer. I know there is a robot in the works that can cook meals. Let you imagination take you about 20 years into the future and think of what could be. Or not. Smart TVs? Got em. Vacuums that clean without manpower? Got em. Robots that can cook? Got em. Oh and don't forget the cars that are in the works that drive themselves. Got em.
Ok, now ya know I am still alive and kicking I will get on with this day and see what kind of mayhem I can create. Till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.
stella
