Saturday Musings

I know that it is far from harvest time. But I got to use my pressure canner yesterday for the first time. I made 7 quarts of turkey soup. Turkey, carrots, celery, onion, pepper and stock. Today I used the rest of the stock to can up 4 pints of stock.I just wanted to share how they looked. And it does taste yummy!

I also noticed that I have sprouts. Remember that I told you that I put seeds into sow. Well, the peas have already sprouted. Woo Hoo! 8 of the 9 seeds for both varieties have popped up.
Ok, lets see what else happened. I got an email from the local freecycle and it said that the remains from an estate sale was free for the taking and that there was canning jars. I ran and got them. They are full of dirt and still in the back of my car. I didn't even count them. LOL! I just grabbed and left.
Then I went over to the Joann's that was in that neighborhood. I got almost 6 yards of material at 70% off and I got 3 pattern sets. 2 of them are just aprons, the other one is all kinds of kitchen items. I love when everything is on sale.
The fish fry went really well. We sold 80 dinners. Yeah! Next week should be 120 dinners, considering that it will be the first Friday after the start of lent. I was going to bow out but they are really going to need my help. I hope I don't have to take the little monsters. If I do I do, that is kewl.
Teenage monster is healing nicely. Thank you for all of your concerns. She is happy that she doesn't have to do much around the house. It is like a vacation. LOL!

I let DH in on a secret. I told him that now that the pressure canner no longer scares me. I will be cleaning out the freezer and canning everything that will fit into the jars. I will be busy for quite awhile as we have 2 chest freezers. Right now as I type, I have some chicken that was a little freezer burned in the pot with veggies making stock / soup. I have used slightly freezer burned meat before to make soups with. I don't find that there is much of a difference. So something that would normally would be trash now has a whole new life as sustanance for my family.
I think that I am addicted to canning. In the fall when I did all the water bath canning it was fun and I looked forward to the next item. But those individual items wouldn't keep us for long. But the pressure canning, I am searching for ideas. I have a whole list. I posted it not to long ago. Now I have added things to it. I'm having a blast doing this. It is a lot of work. But I love it. I really wish I would have started doing this years ago. Even though I think by doing it now I have a greater appreacition for it. So I figure until I run out of jars I will be PC'ing something everyday.

Gotta run and check the soup,
Huggles
Yart

Thursday Morning

As promised we had leftovers. Everyone like it. Plus we didn't really have a choice it was either that or nothing as we had to spend almost 2 hours getting stiches last night. Teenage monster was doing dishes and broke a glass. Needless to say she ended up with 9 stiches and a couple pieces of steri strip, and antibiotics. So it was such a good thing that I just had to pop it into the oven and reheat. She is doing ok. Sent her to school with a note about if she can't hold her pencil she can bring the work home and we will do it.

So far this morning I have got the bread dough rising, exercised my mile and got more of the afghan done. I am dreading taking the laundry down. When the monsters were cleaning the room I had them toss all of the socks in the wash. So now they are all clean and I don't want to have to match them. LOL! I have to do more laundry today.I think only 2 loads. That is great. I got the towels done in the last batch so very little laundry.... Woo Hoo! I guess I do something with laundry everyday. It doesn't generally take long to do. It is just everyday and I think that is why it gets so tedious.

I found another paid to click site. They pay right into your paypal account. It is called Storm of Cash
I am working it right now as I type my blog. Like I said before these are not get rich schemes. They take some work and you make something.

I go at 3 today to get my canner tested. I am so excited about it. I just can't wait. I think I will have to wait until Saturday before I will have the time to do anything with it. And even then I have to get started early as I have plans Saturday night. I'm still thinking that I need to make turkey soup. As the bones and the meat are in the upstairs freezer taking up room. I hope to get at least a full canner load for the first time. Then Sunday I will have all day.

Tomorrow is the fish fry...Oh boy. I do get tired of working them. But it is a volunteer thing so I really can't complain to much. Plus I like most of the people that are there. It is just that with most volunteer organizations you only have a few people who do the majority of the stuff. I wish a few more people would step up and help out once in awhile. But the good news is that we are done the end of April not to start back up until September. It will hurt the Legion as they won't have the money coming in but I think they can come up with a few other things to bring in the money. Lent is coming also so that will help. The last couple of weeks we haven't been getting the crowds like we were last year. Maybe just a sign of the times.

That's all for today.
Huggles,
Yart

Making Money On-Line

I know 2 posts in one day I must be sick... LOL! But anyways, since I have been layed off without a possibility of going back I thought it was time. I have always worked online doing something, surveys, paid to click, or searches. At one time I did really well at it. Then I went back to school, then on to the job that I am now laid off from and fell out of it.

So here I am again.

These are not get rich schemes. They will make you a couple of dollars here and there if your willing to put in a little time. Now I know my description of these jobs are not fantastic. But I don't want to lead anyone to believe that they can quit their job to do searches all day.

Here are the sites that I do things for with an example of benefits.

Swagbucks - Search engine - Randomly earn swagbucks while doing searches - 45 swagbucks earns you a $5 e-gift cert to amazon.com
MySurvey - Survey Site - You earn points for every survey you take - 1000 points earns you a $10 check
InBoxDollars - Paid to Click Site - You earn points for reading your emails and clicking on a link - Once you reach $30 you can cash out
Say Nation - Survey Site - You earn points for every survey you take - 12000 points earns you a $10 gift card to Barnes & Noble
Mypoints - Everything Site - You earn points for searching, paid to click, & surveys - Once you reach your point level you can redeem for lot of different gift cards.
Bzz Agent - Product Testing & Surveys - Here you can earn points as a reward from buzz that are transfered to mypoints - So you do things at buzz and are rewarded at mypoints. Double the benefits.

I am just sharing these in case anyone else would like to try and make a little bit of money.
Huggles,
Yart

Lazy Day

I forgot to say that Sunday I got all of the seeds into the dirt. I have 2 types of peas, 4 types of tomatoes, eggplant, green peppers. If they all come up there will be 9 tiny plants for each item. That should be plenty. And it should save us quite a bit of money as I won't have to buy the plants. Then once I can get outside to plant I will do lettuce, onions, potatoes (white and sweet), cabbage, beans ( green and lima). Not sure what else I will plant as this is quite ambitious for us as it is.
I was so busy yesterday. I started cleaning mouthy monsters bedroom. Mind you mouthy is only 5 so a lot of help is needed. LOL! 2 bags of trash, broken toys, stained clothes and paper, a ton of paper. She loves to draw but doesn't keep them nice. The drawings end up everywhere. I have tried to organizer her. She just doesn't fit into the organized category.
We had the first estimator come to give us a price on our roof. WOW! For the cheapest roof its $3500 for the most expensive the starting price is $12k. I just sat there listening and told him, let us think about it and we'll get back to you. All I can say is NEXT!
My idea of calzone's was shot down. I will put that on hold till one day next week. We ended up making Shepard's pie:
2lb hamburger
1 onion
2 cans of mixed veggies
1 can of corn
2 cans of beef broth
4 tbsp of flour
Mashed potatoes
Cooked hamburger and onion. Added beef broth and veggies and flour. Simmer till thickened. Poured into a casserole dish and topped with mashed potatoes. Baked uncovered for 25 minutes at 350. And of course I forgot to take a picture, next time.
Monsters weren't home for dinner but DH and I ate. Loved it. Once the Monsters came home they said they would rather have been here for dinner. That's ok, cause we had a ton left so that is what is for dinner tonight..... YEAH! No cooking tonight. LOL!
I still haven't gotten around to making dessert bread or even bread for sandwiches. I was up last night with a sick stomach. I know that I shouldn't snack before bed but I was hungry last night. I worked out late. So I paid for it. I am taking it easy today. I was able to work more on the afghan. All of the variegated is done. Now I am on to the dark blue. Only 3 1/2 skeins left.
Tomorrow I get to have the pressure gauge tested. So I think that I will start with turkey stock. Oh I can't wait. DH and I were discussing what we are going to make over dinner last night. Looks like I need more jars already and I haven't done any thing yet. LOL! I think I have accumulated about 8 dozen empty jars. But that will never be enough.
Huggles
Yart

Monday Rambling's

It's monday night and I am just beat. I know I talk all the time about being tired. But I seem to do way more then I type about. Worked the fish fry on friday night. We didn't do to many dinners. I wasn't able to help out all that much. I have problems with my wrists and with all the work I have been doing around the house I strained the left one. So here I am taking orders and being able to do much else. But I was there so that is all that matters. We went out after up to the local bar. Stayed there for awhile. I got to be lazy all day Saturday as my Valentines Day gift.... LOL! But it was wonderful. We even got Chinese food for dinner. Then Sunday, I was back to work. I finally cleaned out the closet of holding. It took all day. I still have some things to tweak. Plus since most of the stuff had to go into the bathroom that got reorganized also. Today, I finished my bedroom. I just had to move one small unit to vaccuum behind and wash back there. So that room is done till fall. Also helped the monsters with that room.... Yuck! I hate helping the monsters their room is always such a pig sty. Sorry Pigs for offending you! LOL!
Sunday we ate leftover Chinese food and tonight we had pizza. Tomorrow night I will try and make calzones as the monsters will be gone all day. Yeah! I have been keeping up on the laundry. And I have even got more of the afghan done. Once I start on the solid color I will get a picture of it.
If your wondering why it is a light week so far. Well, I am taking it slow as I know once I get the canner tested I will be a canning fool. I can't wait. Oh, I almost forgot. I was shopping the other day. I found 2 pounds of strawberries for less then a $1. They were on the bottom rack in the back of the discount rack.... I think someone was hiding them. But I found them. Once I got them home I cleaned them and tossed them to the dehydrator. Now I have a whole jar of strawberries for cereal or oatmeal or a batter of some kind. I also tossed 2 sliced apples in to see if we liked them. Not bad but next time I will add some cinnamon or sugar or both. They are kind of flavorless, but maybe they will taste better once they are rehydrated.
I think one day next week I will have to make more laundry soap. Now that I know how much to use this batch should last me a lot longer. I made the last batch the end of November and it will be almost the end of February. Four months and next one should last at least 6 months maybe longer. Considering that it costs just pennies to make. Now I'm not a mathamatician. But I know buy the detergent was way more expensive. Plus, I use vinegar as the fabric softener and they seem just as soft as with the commercial brand.
I have been going like crazy on the treadmill. At least 1 mile everyday. I still haven't lost any substainsial weight I have lost inches. So at least I know that something is happening. Slow and steady!
Tomorrow will be more work around here. Maybe calzone's for dinner. Just have to wait and see.
Yart

Busy Friday

Well, I am just popping in. I have been out all day shopping. Got tons of stuff. Dog & cat food, ramon was also on sale. Stocked up on the toilet paper, cake mixes and frosting. Picked up a tray, potting soil and some more seeds.Went to Rite Aid, I purchased something that has a single check rebate. I am trying to figure that out right now. I hope it works. Cause I should have $6 coming back to me.
I have to go to work the fish fry tonight. Hoping that more folks show up then have been over the past couple of weeks. But it is hit and miss. The weather isn't very good right now either. There is suppose to be a lady coming in to speak to me about helping out. I sure hope so. I am going to need to take off the last friday because something else has come up.
Tomorrow I will be working on cleaning the house. The friend that I was going to be helping move isn't moving now. So I have the day to get some stuff done. I really want to work on the linen closet. Still haven't gotten in there. I did work on the living room a bit yesterday.
We have panini's for dinner last night. I got a mile on the treadmill and then I worked out with the wii personal trainer. Did that for 2 - 15 minute intervels. Boy did that ever beat my butt. I was so tired last night I don't think I slept well because of it. I will have to start working out earlier.
Well, I guess that about does it.
Yart

Thursday Morning

My canner came today. I called the extension office to see if I could bring it down to get the gauge tested. I have to wait until next week to get the damn thing tested. This really sucks! I wanted to start filling up them jars this weekend. Man, I am so bummed out. But that is ok, it gives me another week to get all of the supplies ready.
Still have bedding to do. But the rest of the laundry is washed and hung up. That is the only thing about hanging in the basement it takes awhile to dry. I love my outside line. The laundry is dry the same day. Plus it makes everything smell so nice.
I need to make more waffles this weekend. I think I am going to triple the recipe this time. I got 12 last time I made them. I am hoping for more like 20 - 30. Then they would last for the whole month. Instead of just the week. I also pulled out one of my cook books last night. There are several new recipes that I think I might try. All of them are dough related. One is called a zesty picnic bread. It sounds like it would go great with a pasta dish.
Well, today is the last day of school for the monsters till next Wednesday. So we are going to try and get the spring cleaning all done. My room is almost done. I just have a corner left to clean out. Once that is done I am moving on to the linen closet / pantry / storage area. That will probably take me a full day as quite a bit of the stuff has to be moved into the bathroom. I need to get more garbage bags. I love spring cleaning. I was such a pack rat for so long, and never got rid of anything. Now I am like I don't have room for it, it has to go! LOL! So if the monsters get their rooms cleaned then the whole back of the house will be done. Then I just need to concentrate on the front of the house. But I can do that at my leisure.
Dh, has to call the garage door repair man and a basement repair company to see if they will come out and give us an estimate. This is going to be the year of home renovation. Once we file our taxes our roof needs to be replaced. Need to get estimates for that also. Come spring we will be taking out all of the paneling in the basement. Once we get the walls taken care of. I want to insulate and repanel the basement. That way it is all new and nice. Instead of a dark, dank, dungeon... LOL! Plus it is one of those projects that can be done over time. So it won't be a huge expense all at once.
The weather has changed to chilly again, by tonight it should be down right cold. 6 more weeks is all if that little rodent is right. LOL! I will be putting my seeds in the dirt this weekend. I am so excited about getting my hands dirty. I know nothing like being outside but oh what a start. =o)
Made mac n cheese last night. I used the powdered cheese about 3/4 of the mix, 2 pounds of pasta, 1 canned ham and then baked it for about an hour. This is one of the family faves. Tonight I think I will be making calzones or pasties. Not sure what I have to fill them so that is why I don't which one it will be.
I think I have rambled enough for today.
Yart