No Phone Line

We think Bill accidentally cut our phone line when getting our yard ready for grass seed on Fri. night. So no Internet! The phone co. is coming out sometime today, and we're hoping for a temporary line they can lay on top of the ground.

Nice Saturday

Diane and I had planned for a month that we were going to the JoKir's Wild Farm Fair today. There was going to be 12 vendors selling everything from vegetables to baked goods to pillows. Then this week Glenn & Amy had the chance to come back from Texas for the weekend to see Camry for the first time, so Amy's sister and her husband also came from Indiana and her brother came from eastern Iowa, and we all went! This is a picture of Amy's brother holding the baby - and Diane. Unfortunately, this was the only picture I took today.

The fair was at the farm home of people who raise Black Angus and sell the beef. Mrs. Pisel makes lots of things like homemade bread, noodles & caramel rolls plus puts together gift bags of various quick meal ingredients and sells them and their beef from their home and farmers' markets. It was a hot day but they have lots of big shade trees. A 4-H club was selling lunch for $5 of the Pisels' beef made into Italian beef sandwiches on her homemade buns, chips and a drink.

Saw this on the way at the nursery - pretty!

Bill, his mom, Uncle Tim and others helped move his aunt today. Unfortunately, the house she had rented for years is for sale. She had her little house fixed up so cute. I hope she can find something as nice or nicer but it won't be easy. She's going to be house sitting for friends for a while while she looks.

Last night we all got together for a cookout at Diane & Todd's. I made cheese potatoes, an ice cream dessert and took the meat. Diane made stuffed jalapenos and corn pudding.

Bill is planning to work on our yard some more this evening. The grass and weeds have all died nicely.

Happy Birthday today to Mom! She's going to a cookout at Uncle Neal & Aunt Jan's. They're also celebrating cousin Scott's birthday today.

Yard Work

Bill has sprayed Roundup on our yard to kill all of the weeds plus the rye grass he planted after we built the house so we'd have something green while the old house area settled and until we got the landscaping done. A couple of days ago he borrowed this little tractor & tiller. From the video below, you can see that it's slow going but he got the back yard done. He's waiting until the front yard dies a little more. Now that the landscaping basics are done, we'll be excited to have grass! And we hope the yard won't be as bumpy for mowing.

I did a little painting job that needed to be done in the garage and started another one (pictures later). We're trying to get these projects done before the beans are ready to be combined!

I went to our Farmers' Market. Always glad to get some of "Beth's bread" (whole wheat), green beans and tomatoes. No peaches today.

The Fields are Changing

Harvest time will be here soon! See the beans starting to turn yellow?

Bill is at combine school this afternoon. They are reminded about safety issues and other things - and then fed.

The Goodwill truck is here again! It was here this spring too. I cleaned out a bunch of old clothes and other stuff then but seemed to find more for this time! Back in Indiana, we had Goodwill stores so until moving here, it had been a long time since I had seen or had to wait on a Goodwill truck. It will be in nearby towns for a couple of weeks after it leaves ours.

I'm getting better about not having to save everything sentimental or things that are "still good" but not being used or worn at all.

Apple Pie - Bill's Favorite Thing

It's still hot at 91 today. I decided to use the oven anyway. We had a nice Sunday lunch of pork loin, fresh green beans, iced tea and Bill's favorite thing in the whole world; warm, homemade apple pie and vanilla ice cream. It takes about this many dirty dishes to make . . .







this pie - but it's worth it! See recipe below. Notice that this pie only has the one crust. I like it that way - more filling, less crust!

This recipe, like many of my favorites, also came from Grandma R. I was thinking of her when I was cooking the fresh green beans too. She always said to cook them slow with not much water. Which means you have to watch them and add water a couple of times. We always cook them with some chopped onion and small chunks of ham. Grandma & Grandpa always ate a bite of fresh green beans with a bite of buttered bread and a bite of raw onion. Yum!

DUTCH APPLE PIE

1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. white sugar
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/3 c. flour
1/4 c. water
butter
about 5 large apples (I use Golden Delicious)

Mix the sugars and cinnamon together. Put half in the bottom of the pie crust. Quarter apples and arrange on top. Sprinkle rest of sugar mixture over top and dot with butter. Dribble water over all. Bake at 425 for 15 min., then at 325 for 45 minutes.

I usually, but not always, make my own crust. Here's the crust recipe:

1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. Crisco
1/2 t. salt
1/3 c. cold water

Cut Crisco into the flour mixed with the salt. Stir in just enough water to hold the dough together in a ball. Handle as little as possible. Roll out for a one crust pie.

** a couple of the key things are to have the water very cold. I put a couple of ice cubes in the measuring cup and fill with water. Let it sit while you're getting the other ingredients ready. The other tip is to stir and handle as little as possible. This helps it be a flaky crust instead of tough. Many people use Granny Smith apples for their pies, but I prefer Golden Delicious. They turn out softer instead of crunchy when baked and sweeter.

I think I've said on here before that Grandma was very patient with me on learning how to make pie crust. I couldn't get the hang of crimping the edge and wanted her to "just do it" but she would show me how, again, and say "no, you keep trying".

By the way, I just looked up the word "dribble". I thought maybe it should be "drizzle". But dribble means to let or cause to fall in drops little by little so that works!

Summer Landscaping Project

Bill has finished the deck and patio, edging and put in the river rock. It's looking good! Now he's trying to get the yard sprayed between days that are too breezy. He's killing the grass & weeds we have and getting ready to add some dirt, level it and plant grass seed around Labor Day which is supposed to be the best time here.

The special sand that goes in between the patio blocks stuck to everything including in the grooves of the patio block. So I still need to use a wire brush to finish getting that out.
























We think we'll wait and see how the knock out roses do with the wind this winter. If they still look good next spring, I may add one plus a hosta or two in the area by the patio that's now just river rock (1st picture).

I have a few of Grandma R.'s irises left to move to the area by the screened porch plus a daisy plant and another Black Eyed Susan. They will get big but that's ok there. I want to eventually have several flowers that I can cut for bouquets. I also have 3 coneflowers and about 6 clumps of daylilies (some Stella de Oro and 2 burgundy ones) plus some creeping phlox. Not shown, but behind the porch I have some chives. Next summer I'll add parsley and maybe another herb or two - and rhubarb. Bill has done the hard work. Now I can slowly add to it.