Processing

Processing-hmm!

I guess there are all kinds of processing, such as processing a thought or the steps something goes through to its end, such as the process of a seed to fruit, veggie, or nut.
There is the process or way something is prepared or heaven forbid, being processed or summoned by the court.

Our means, however, is to process the end result of a good harvest season, or namely, Bill's deer from this past weeks hunt.

Since early morning, I have been stoking the wood stove in the garage to first take the frost out of the room and the subject, thus making it easier for step 2- turning harvest into a meal. I'm fortunate to have a canning area, with stove, frig, counters and equipment in a clean area out of my house, a huge plus in the processing department.

At this point, you will be glad my photo processing is nil, as putting up any kind of meat is not necessarily a pretty site.....depending on how you look at it., I suppose.

We will be making steaks, hamburger, loins kept whole for the grill, and cutting the remainder of the meat into bite-sized chunks that will be canned. The canned meat is then used in stroganoff, soups, stews, mincemeat, (processed a bit differently, but delicious in a pie), venison with gravy, sub sandwiches, etc, etc.

I know there are folks that do not eat meat, but our family grew up on living off the land, and we carry on that tradition today. You could say that our family has been "living Green" for centuries, long before Al Gore brought it to our attention.

We are proud to be able to supply food for our family from God's Good Earth and Field. It was meant to be that way., so we carry on.

We laugh when the gate gets knocked down in the garden, thinking how we are happy to let the deer have a munch here and there. Come fall, they are harvested, and we already have veggie venison stew all in one. Imagine that.

What a blessing when Bill gets his deer. If any of you ever have a 'hankering' for the best Venison Stew in the world, just go to Mama's......mercy, so lip-smacking and how grateful all of us kids are that she has taught us her little secrets.

A note about the hunt this past week...not only did Bill get his deer but he got to spend time with another Dear...his 15 yr. old granddaughter sat in his blind with him a couple of times. I asked Hannah if she saw anything. She said " No, but it didn't matter because she got to spend time with Grandpa, all by herself, and they had some great talks. " That is about as special a hunt as any.

Andy also took his son Sy, with him the last afternoon. He said he loved it because even tho they only saw red squirrels, he got to be quiet with Dad without his noisy little brother...lol. Special times for special people.
All parts of our Thanksgiving week, and we Are Thankful.

Thanks for listening to my babbling on about nuthin'
BlessYourHearts

The Bucket List

While watching " The Bucket List " for the umpteenth time, I realized it must be one of my favorite movies. I'm coming to realize also, that it may be because I can't believe I am relating. Oh, I have no terminal illness that has afflicted me, but I do have a list of " I wanta's " before the Golden Gates or the Devil's Chamber confront me.

Here goes with just a few crazy notions~~~~not necessarily in order

1. SING COUNTRY- sing Good and not just mediocre bar-room brawl stuff
2. DANCE- I never did get the basic steps down with my 2 left feet. My niece did try to
teach me to line dance once~~~she is sooo patient and even got frustrated. That
was when I sat out so as not to embarrass her efforts any further.
3. FLY- literally, ya know, like the Harry Potter stuff~~~stop laughing
4. SKY DIVE- no longer attainable due to all the metal in my spine~~~however, if I
were terminal, I'd consider it.
5. TRAVEL- like Jack and Sherry do- just travel the states without a care in the world
and see what great wonders we have within our own country AND then see the
wonders of the world.
6. BECOME A PI- I would have been good at it. Actually, I AM good at it except I do
not like hurting anyones feeling.
7. MOVE TO THE CABIN AND BECOME A RECLUSE- attainable

8. CHECK OUT HEAVEN- I'm missing my Dad so much and I just want to sit and
talk to him face to face. Oh, we talk every day, but you who have lost someone so
dear to your heart, know exactly what I mean.

My list could go on and on with material stuff that would just make daily living less of a strain, but I must have grown beyond it. Money. It does not seem so important. If ya don't have it, ya don't have it.

There are so many more personal wishes in my world, but they are only important to me.

One of the things on the movie, "The Bucket List", was to laugh until crying. I've done that many times, and do Not wish to anymore because I usually end up in an embarrassing situation.....laughing til I pee my pants.....not funny. It dampens your spirits immediately. Ha!

What's on YOUR Bucket List????

Silence Is Necessary

THERE IS SO MUCH GOOD IN THE WORST OF US,
AND SO MUCH BAD IN THE BEST OF US,
THAT IT HARDLY BECOMES ANY OF US
TO TALK ABOUT THE REST OF US.
~~Anonymous


This poem was once in our church bulletin years ago and has since been on my refrigerator. I do my best to live by it.
I wonder why the holidays sometimes bring out the worse in some. I'm hurt by insensitivity. Before opening mouth and inserting foot, one should consider walking in anothers shoes.

Dinner was delicious but soured with disrespect.

No more will be said, but I'm thinking of canceling Christmas. We will go to church alone and pray for the brazen rather than the lashed. What is ironic about this whole attitude thing is, the lashed is very happy.

If that split second of being hurtful were repeated, I surely would have pointed out the poem in defense, rather than remaining silent to keep from blowing up in my own home.

What am I thankful for?~~~my restraint
and folks like you who listen to a frustrated ol' gal.

I do hope you all have had a wonderful, stress-free Thanksgiving.

BlessYourHearts

OK, I Give~~~
Thanks to all for commenting on my misery.~~~I so agree with Paula, some things just don't seem so important anymore, well, maybe, except the family celebrations, for me., at least.

so, I'm thinking (painful sometimes), but it had to be done., maybe if I took a long winters nap, just maybe, I'd wake in a better frame of mind.

The house is quiet, so quiet that I could actually hear my wheels turning about in my wee little head. No hubby, no grandloves, no kids, no TV (literally), as the reciever for the sattelite dish took a dive today. Have you ever realized how wonderful peace and quiet can be?

A pause here while I thank Jack for letting me borrow his color-coded paragraphs without permission...

It seems that all I needed was a good snooze.~~~

Not only did I wake refreshed and ready to tackle another day, but I baked....all day long. The first thing on the cooling rack were two Pecan Pies,.....heaven help me, I had to look at them all day!
Next were two Pumpkin Pies....oh the spices of pumpkin pie......all that nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon~can you smell it yet?
Finally, a very scrumptious looking, 4, yes four pound Lemon Cheesecake. Oh Mercy!!! These guilt-free goodies guarantee drooling and satisfaction.

It is beginning to look like my family will eat turkey and all the trimmings after all. The Cranberry-Orange-Pecan Sauce is marrying it's flavors in the fridg, the Sweet Potatoes have been baked, whipped and waiting for the crumble topping and lots of butter. Onions and celery have been chopped for the dressing and
green beans have been blanched for the casserole. The dinner rolls are baked and ready to be warmed.

I guess I was looking foreward to pleasing my family after all. Our dinner will be a day early, but just as mouth-watering. There is little to do tomorrow. Once the bird is oiled with herbs and in the oven, only warming side-dishes and a prayer of thanks needs to be done to complete our meal.

I'm so happy to be out of this slump I had been in.
Life is goooood!~~~

BlessYourHearts and Tummys

In Restless Preparation

In preparation for the upcoming excitement of Thanksgiving, I realized I still had some groceries to get. I headed out the door, slid on the icy steps, catching myself on the railing. All is fine, but Mercy, it's nasty out there. Rains have turned into freezing rain, slush on the salted roads and wipers whipping up a storm on my windshield with the window cleaner spraying a visual hole to see through. Finally the truck warmed enough to clear the window and I was on with my day.

In hopes the only grocery store in town would not be too busy with Thanksgiving still days away, it was as crowded as ever. Anything over a dozen cars in the parking lot is a crowd to me lately. This time I couldn't find a place to park.

Anyway, quick as a wink, I was in and out, skating my way back to the truck and onward home.

Folks around here that know me well, also know that I used to love to shop, visit along the way, and genuinely spend time and money foolishly. I couldn't resist a sale. Sometimes, that still holds true, but lately,? I am restless. My visits with even my family are short., meaningful, but short. It's almost like I'm developing clostraphobia or something. I'm sure there's a word for it.

The weekend was without grandloves or company, except the boys in and out from the cabin with hunting season going on. That too.....I used to spend a lot of time there, listening to the stories, having meals with them, getting in on the ' hunt ' air.

I miss it, but I don't. So, what's that all about. Even Bill has noticed a change. He isn't as enthusiastic about the ' hunt ' anymore. He was in today saying how the boys are all out in their blinds, and not wanting to be in his, what was he to do. "I can't get into this, this year.", he says.

Something is amiss. What? Who knows. Perhaps it's just this gloomy day we've all had.
Maybe all we need is turkey, dressing, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes with pecan crumble, green bean casserole, cranberry-orange sauce, dinner rolls, pumpkin pie and pecan pie ala'mode.

Sounds like I better get busy, our Thanksgiving will be on Wed. night this year. Maybe that's it!
Change in tradition does not suit me well, and we have been doing the sacrificing for years.
Perhaps, I shall NOT cook.

Have a Great Night One and All
BlessYourHearts
Restless

OH DEAR

Oh Dear.....what can the matter be?

I cannot believe it has been months since I have last made an entry. Not because I have not wanted to, and perhaps I am taking a risk now, but because I still have no computer. I am still sneaking a bite here and there on ' borrowed ' time, thanks to my dear son and his work laptop.

By now I may have lost all of my faithful followers of my daily dribble. Dear Me.

So much has gone on, but not much worth wasting your valuable time with.
Bill and I did go to TX for a couple of weeks in late Sept.-early Oct., where we had much needed R&R with Lil Sis, her hubby and friends we had not seen for 3 years.
Where did that time go?

We returned home early enough to get in on the repairs and renewal of Mom's house. Who ever thought I could reach so high, having painted half of her house myself, thanks to one of those extended handles on my paint pad. I was able to reach over 14 ft. from the ground., painted from a ladder a bit, and only flew off once. Not bad for an old broad. That project turned out great.

The rest of that vacation was spent doing a little partridge hunting, straightening out the cabin in hopes of spending a night or two. Once again, that did not happen.

Back to Grandma Daycare for a few more weeks, did some fall cleaning of the closets, you know, like bringing winter clothes out and tucking summer away. We cleaned out some gardens, putting the last of hoses and planters away before the snow flew.

More Daycare.

The last of the logs were trucked to the lumberyard, Bill got his check for the logs and off we go to the trailer dealership to pick up dear Bill's new toy. Good thing he has a few toy garages with all he keeps getting.

The purpose of the log sale was to profit enough to purchase his new 6x10 dump trailer. I am glad he got it, because, after all, we are getting achey and stiff in all the wrong places, our hair is turning gray, and we have lost way too much muscle tone to do all the lifting and dumping that the trailer and tractor can do for us. I do know how to drive the tractor and run it's bucket but Bill has not shown me all the tricks with the dump trailer yet....spring, I will learn in the spring.

We were on vacation again the last two weeks of Oct. but it was all work and no play.
We took everything off the walls of the cabin, one wall at a time, and resealed the logs with a polyurethane acrylic. Phew, ceiling too! Now, for me, that was a challenge as I attempted to overcome my fear of heights without hanging onto anything. The scaffolding was set up about 18 ft. to reach the last 6 ft. to the peek. I did it, but not without hesitation. Bill was right there beside me but it was still a bit much for this ol' gal.

Now, it's hunting season, the boys are all home, the cabin is full of stories, great food smells, and some not-so-great smells, as hunting quarters have. The warmth of the wood fire in the potbellied stove was drying boots, socks and jackets from the days rain. The roast pork, saurkraut and potato dumpling supper was as good as any Thanksgiving meal all smothered in gravy with a side of apple sauce.

So, you ask, Oh Dear, What can the Matter Be?........simply this........

I miss being able to share a dozen picture with you with my entry.

Hope that doesn't keep you away. I know I enjoy looking at the pictures with the story, so if I loose you because of the lack of photos, I appologize, and will do my best to ' get back with the program ' again soon.

Until then, Thanks for coming
BlessYourHeart
Dar