An e-mail from the neighbors, after Grandpa gave them lettuce out of the garden!

Alex would like to know what variety of lettuce this is.


He said "Maybe Grandpa should be a little more  careful. "

*We've been out of town for a few days, I hope to return to normal blogging soon!

A present for me!

When I got home from work yesterday, this is what I saw!


It's a jewelry holder for me.  I had told the blacksmith I need a holder for the necklaces I would be selling at the BAM conference. Isn't it adorable?


He's a keeper!  The blacksmith that is!  

Keeping busy

The Blacksmith Association of Missouri will be having their annual conference before long.  Since I play a big part in running the boutique, I thought I'd better get busy.  The ladies in the boutique sell donated items for our fund raiser. 

I have made more than 20 skull caps for the guys to buy.   I figure at $3.00 a piece they can afford several. 

I've also made 20 plus charms featuring things the blacksmiths and their wives should like. At $5.00 for a charm and $2.00 for a bead chain, hopefully they will go fast. 


I want to say a big thank you to Ms. Tammy of Flat Creek Farm for her help in teaching me just how to put these charms together.  She not only sent me free samples to work with, but she gave me telephone support on my walk through Lowe's for the sealer.  Of course that conversation ended with our blacksmiths talking to each other. 


10 dozen Cookies made - check
20+ Caps made - check
20+ charms made


What else can I make????

Stock the shelves

I've been a little under the weather the past two weeks.  But yesterday I got my butt in gear and got busy. The blacksmith and I canned soup.  I know it's summer and soup is good in the winter.  But it can also be  a quick meal when you're sitting in the AC. 

The neighbor son gave us two big beef roasts.  So we made vegetable barley soup.  We canned 7 quarts and 7 pints from two roasts. 

We picked up two fresh chickens at the butcher shop.  I saved a few pieces to fry for dinner and the rest went into chicken stock soup.  From those two chickens, that cost $14, we got one meal of fried chicken and 8 pints of soup. That's not bad at $1.56 a meal, plus a few carrots, celery and onions. 

Soup. It's what's for dinner

Before I sign off, I just have to show you what that redneck neighbor  son was up to last night.  He pulled our trailer home using his four wheeler. Not to mention it was loaded with chairs he was returning. 

My Fresh Garden salad

The lettuce, spinach, onions, and radishes are producing well. 

The peas are looking really good this year. 

You might remember back in January, I canned cuties.  If it were January now and they were that cheap, I'd buy cases and can more. 

Because they are excellent in this salad.  Sure you can use mandarins too, but I like getting them out of my own cabinet. 


Here's the recipe oddly enough called:  Lettuce and Mandarin Salad

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup cider vinegar

1/2 teaspoon poppy seeds

2/3 cup canola oil

1 teaspoon salt.

Mix in one vintage green ball pint jar! (JK, any will do)

Use garden leaf lettuce, spinach too if you want, we like a variety.

1/2 cup finely chopped celery

1/2 red onion chopped (we use green onions out of the garden)

1 can mandarin oranges (drained)

*Note the dressing makes enough for 3 or 4 salads.

Well for dinner we had the above salad and really fresh wild turkey!  The blacksmith deboned it and cut it into strips.  We marinate it an hour or two in Italian salad dressing and cider vinegar.  Shortly before deep frying it, drain it well, then salt and pepper it. Flour it, let it set about 10 minutes, add more flour at the end if it's all soaked up. Deep fry and yum, yum!


P.S. Now that the DIL gave me a quick lesson on my new camera, maybe my next pictures won't be grainy!

Baking day

Monster cookies cooling and peanut butter cookies waiting to go in the oven.

Snicker doodles cooling.


Today was baking day.  Looks like I'm in charge of the boutique, at the Blacksmith Association of Missouri conference this year.  So I baked lots of cookies.  They are now in the freezer, 2 to a bag.  At fifty cents a bag, they will go quickly.  By keeping them in the freezer for a week, it takes the temptation away from me!  All 10 dozen.


I also made chocolate chews that are awesome.  I already had them in the freezer when I thought about a picture.  But go over to Mennonite Girls can cook.   You will find the recipe there.  Just don't leave the pecans out, they make the cookie!

A first communion

Today 7 year old Alex made his first communion. 

All eight of the kids had duties to perform during mass.  Here is our little man taking up the collection. 

After church we had a luncheon at the new neighbor's house.  Alex's mom, has 11 siblings. Most of them came with their spouse, their kids, and even some grand kids.  It was a big party!

Later in the day, it was gift opening time.  Alex was pretty pleased with the gift that Grandpa made for him.  He told us, "Now I have something to hang on those nails in our room".

Here's  close ups of the cross.