Monday – We’re Crazy!

You all know I cut my finger a couple of weeks ago and had to have stitches. I got the stitches out this past Wednesday but the nurse told me to not keep it soaking in water for another week (as in . . washing dishes). When I got the stitches out Wednesday, it still looked pretty bad and was really sore. By Friday, it was hardly sore at all unless I bumped it but still looked not so great. Saturday morning when I looked at it, I couldn’t believe it. You could hardly tell it had ever been cut. It was like overnight it all healed. But, Saturday I feel kinda awful. I had a headache, couldn’t stop coughing, had a little fever. I took two pretty long naps so Saturday was pretty much a lost day. Sunday (yesterday) I felt better in the morning. I cooked lunch and I washed dishes! Vince had been doing all the dish washing for a bit over two weeks. He hadn’t complained but he has no idea where things go in the cabinets. He’s only lived here three years. 🙂

By the afternoon, I was feeling kinda bad again so I took another nap. For two days I had been wimpy and I have two speeds – full speed ahead or . . I may need to see the doctor! Vince said he was getting concerned because he said I looked pretty bad but he’s not used to seeing me not being energetic.

This morning, I got up feeling GOOD and I was happy and Vince was happy. Last night we had talked about the potential for different things that could happen so we decided we needed to get some eggs and get them freeze dried. I was a bit negative about the idea because, with my older freeze dryer, inside it slopes towards to back by design so that when the ice inside defrosts, it drains down to where the hose is that drains the water. So, anything liquid that goes into my freeze dryer has to be frozen in the freezer first (because the slope in the unit will cause one end to overflow while one end has nothing in it) and I don’t have any freezer space. None! I kept thinking about it and knew I could come up with enough space for four trays of eggs but it would mean taking some things out of the freezer for canning, which I had planned to do anyway. I got up this morning, took out 10 pounds of ground beef to can, took some of the meat out that we need for this week, and made room for the four trays of eggs. I was able to get two dozen eggs per tray.

While at the store, we picked up mushrooms and blueberries, both of which were on sale. The mushrooms were regular $1.69 on sale for .89 so that was a good sale.

I bought 6 or 8 packages of mushrooms, cleaned and sliced those. They filled three trays so I put blueberries on the top tray. The eggs will stay in the freezer until the mushrooms and blueberries are done – probably Wednesday morning. Then, I’ll defrost the freeze dryer, get the eggs in, process the mushrooms and blueberries, get more eggs in those four trays, and put them in the freezer til their turn to go into the freeze dryer. I figure between eggs, blueberries, strawberries, and then there will be peas and peppers in the garden that need to be freeze dried . . it’s going to be a busy month or two for the freeze dryer (and the operator of the freeze dryer!).

Vince was outside washing the house and I took him out some blueberries. They were so sweet and juicy. He said “We need to go back and get more of these!” I said “We should. I’m dressed and have on makeup. Let’s go back when you get finished with the house.” So, we did.

We got enough blueberries to freeze dry some, to freeze some, eat some and I made 11 half pints of blueberry rhubarb jam when we got home from the store.

There was nothing leftover today that went to waste. I baked all the egg shells and will use them in the garden in the fall when we add the mulched leafs and compost.

Once the egg shells were cool, I ran them through the blender.

You can see the layers. The whiter powder in the bottom of the jar is from today’s white shells. The darker layer is from all the shells I’ve been saving from the Mennonite farmer’s chickens’ eggs. By the time we’re ready to use the egg shells, I should have 5 or 6 quart jars full of powdered egg shells.

The trimmings from the mushrooms, as well as from the rhubarb, all went into the compost bin.

The blue containers from the mushrooms will be used in the greenhouse in the spring. Vince will drill drain holes in them. Once the tomato seedlings outgrow their initial little seed pods, I will transplant them into these kinds of containers. The clear plastic containers the blueberries were in have drain holes and air holes in them. I will separate the tops from the bottoms and use those over the containers when I start seeds. They will help keep the humidity in for the seeds to germinate.

It was a good, productive day . . except we did eat lunch out. On our way home from the first trip to the grocery store, Vince said “Do you want to go eat Mexican since you have so much to do in the kitchen?” I won’t ever turn down Mexican.

I took the picture and I said “your smile looks fake!” He said “my cheese is dripping back into the bowl.” Huh?? What does that have to do with a fake smile? But . . ok! 🙂

See that guacamole? They have the best guacamole and this little restaurant is maybe 6 miles from our house and it’s pretty much back roads.