Canning Marathon

I have been so busy canning here lately.  I do this every year to stock our pantries. Has nothing to do with the pandemic. I've been doing this for years. Carrots,  more cole slaw and sauerkraut,  and potatoes. I tried something different with our potatoes this year. I dry canned them. They are suppose to come out to not be so mushy if you pack with water.

I am going to try my hand at canning rice sometime.

Slowly but surely getting there.

Me and the girls are rocking right along. Mommy took her last exam for the year.

We had a girls night one night and they spent the night with me. I had a pic of me and Poppie and a pic of just Poppie on a night stand beside the bed. They grabbed those pics and hugged and kissed them and told Poppie goodnight. I melted my heart.

Poppie got me part of my Mother's Day. He found this stool for us. These girls will fight over one stool and push and shove and want to be beside Gmaw in the kitchen.  So he fixed that problem. ❤

One morning they came to eat breakfast and I put them to work.  No, really,  they wanted to help Gmaw of course. They made biscuits with supervision.  And wanted to wash dishes. 

Dallas is done with school. He has turned in all his work to his teachers.  This is a page from the year book at school. He is an FFA member.

I had two more rows of corn to plant and I planted some sunflowers too. I've got to replace some tomato plants due to weather.  But not as bad as I thought. We have got to find some sweet potatoe slips and plant two more rows of corn then we are done planting. 

It has been an exhausting week. 

Dad got to come home. The job is done for the summer but he will have to go back end of summer for a small project. But for now, we are going to enjoy every minute. I can't understand people complaining about being home with their spouse or kids during this pandemic. Oh well, that's a whole other soap box. 

Mothers Day 2020

I’m paying tribute to two beautiful women today for Mother’s Day. I am who I am today because of them. Their prayers helped me make it through life.
My momma: God bless her. She raised us in a Christian home and I have heard her sing all my life. She was a Preachers daughter. She had devotions with us prayed with us, and over us all our lives. And still does. She worked hard to always make sure we had what we needed. Even if it meant two jobs. We were never hungry. We always had clothes to wear, alot which were hand made by her and my grandmother. They put alot of love into those garments. I felt the love in my mommas hands and hugs. I always felt safe and secure with her. She made home a home. She also had her share of tough love for me. Yes, I got my butt whooped alot and should have gotten more to be honest. She was tough and still is. She didn’t take any crap and still want. She sacrificed alot of things just to protect us and provide for us.
Still, today, she is amazing and one of my best friends. We love the days we get together and make the most of it. I can call her anytime and she will listen, let me vent, yell, cry, and get things off my chest, then she prays with me or for me.
She is graceful, but a force to be reckoned with. She is one of my heroes.
The next is my Ma Ma Oliver. My grandmother. Boy, how I miss her. Even when I got older, I always went to visit, and she always made my favorites to eat. I made sure my children knew her.
She was raised in a Christian home and was a very Godly woman. Talk about a Proverbs 31 woman. I don’t ever recall seeing her angry. Maybe a hissy fit or two, but never angry. She was a gentle kind soul who loved God, family and everyone. She was a prayer warrior. I would spend every summer with my grandparents. They taught me so much.
She put love into everything from house work, cooking, cleaning, gardening, animals, sewing, you name it. My momma says I am my grandmothers child. I patterned my life after her and I get my old fashioned ways from her. She was a gracious preacher’s wife and served the Lord and the church. I miss her dearly and wish I could visit so bad. I’d make sure my grandkids knew her.
These two wonderful women are the reason why I do what I do.

Two of my greatest blessings call me Mom. I prayed for children and God heard. Everything I have done all these years have been for y’all. I may not have done it or do it the way you want, but hey, you’re still alive and loved. 
We may argue, fuss, fight, and aggravate but in the end, we are a team. Y’all have given me more scares, heart aches, gray hair and hurt feelings than I can count but my love will never change. At the same time, y’all have done things that have made me so proud and overjoyed that I just had to shout it to the world.
I know I’m strict and old fashioned but I think y’all may get it now. I know I have screwed up sometimes and I know I have failed sometimes as a mother, but it’s not because I didn’t try. I look back alot of times and ask myself where I went wrong.
Y’all are prayed for daily and loved so much. You will never know. Maybe one day when y’all are older. God gave me a high calling as being a mother and i will do it to the best of my ability until he calls me home.
Always remember, I would lay down my life for either of you. I love y’all.

I have the greatest mother in law ever. I can’t say I have known her all my life but for 29 years I’ve know her to be a God fearing, Godly woman. She’s one tough cookie but with a heart of gold. She has always put others before herself. From what I know she has done this for a very long time. I am glad she raised this man here. He loves her and will do his very best to care for her.
She has always taken care of her children and raised them to be who they are. She has always sacrificed her needs for the sake of her family. You can’t keep this woman down. God is on her side.

Happy mother’s day to a wonderful young lady. The mother of our little grand blessings. I know it’s not easy with these Dixon men, but you have proved yourself quite well. You are slowly but surely passing the test. 
You are a great mom and kind hearted and most of all patient. That’s what it takes. Thank you for loving our girls and raising them. Jocelyn Dixon we love you.

And these two made me a grandmother. Just when I thought my heart couldn’t get any fuller. They melt my heart and keep my young. We may not always see eye to eye but they are my little buddies and I know they love me.
We have so much fun together and I want to teach them all I can. They will always know Gmaw will be here for them.
When they run to you and holler,  "Gmaw, Gmaw,Gmaw" and hold their arms open for you to hug them,  PRICELESS.  and then they melt my heart when they say, "I love you Gmaw!" I just crumble.

I Did A Thing Today

Well, I'm gonna try it. Old timers said it can be done, and they did, so I did too. The purple is coleslaw. Yes, you can, can coleslaw. And the one on the right is sauerkraut. You're welcome. 

You can, can coleslaw.  Old timers have done it for years.
Here is the directions to follow:

Click on the images and zoom in so you can see better
 For the coleslaw, when you get ready to eat it, open the jar and drain the liquid. Then you can add your mayonnaise,  vinaigrette dressing or any dressing you put in yours.

 I want to do a fermented version too. My MaMa Oliver did fermented sauerkraut all the time.  I just have to research it some more on how to do it.
I know that by canning it doesn't have as much probiotics in it, but I like the shelf stable life with canning. I only have so much room in my fridge to ferment some. I have planted about 36 cabbage plants and will need to put them up somehow. 😱😊
This also has apple cider vinegar in it too so that may be a plus.

Learning Alot

When your son passes on life lessons to his daughters, it is a blessing. Daddy told them if they worked hard today, they would get paid. Well, when they got here, Atleigh jumps out of the truck and says, "I want to work hard wiff you Gmaw!" And Caroline said, "Work hard!" 

They were so excited. We had two very tired little girls. Jossie wants to learn, so today's college and preschool homeschool class was Agricultural Science. Yes, they got paid when daddy got home Don't tell me you can't teach little ones anything.

  

When they want to put on their new pajamas in the middle of the day and wash dishes.....you let them.  

Dallas is doing good getting all of his assignments turned in to end the school year with. The school directors will be coming up with a time they will let students come pick up personal items from the school.  Our state is going to slowly start opening back up after May 1st. They will do it in phases. I will still choose to take precautions however. 

Earth Day

Well, yesterday was Earth Day and this is what mine looked like.

I had 25 pepper plants to get in the ground. 

I used a nifty little contraption my dear hubby got me last year. It is a drill auger. You put it on the end of a drill and drill away. It is so fast and convenient.  I used a homemade fertilizer to put in the holes when I planted. It is used coffee grounds, epsom salt and baking soda.

I got them all covered and mulched because it is still getting a little chilly at night here, and we are trying a hay method this year to cut down on hoeing and tilling.

Then I tilled a border around the square so Dallas will know not to weed eat those areas. I like my garden crisp, clean and weed free.  

Then I tilled a space to plant 2 rows of corn first. We plant two at a time to stagger our planting so everything is not coming in all at one time and I am overwhelmed and can not keep up. I fertilized and covered those as well. 

And of course I had to take time out to play with the kitty. She loves being with me when I'm outside.

I think it is all coming around just fine. 

The rest of the parts for my electric fence should be in today and my dear sons are going to finish it for me. 

I came in, and it smelled so good in the house. Dallas had cooked us some lunch. I ate and then took a much needed shower and just crawled in bed and passed out. I was already so sore I couldn't hardly move. I think I slept 2 1/2 hrs. Needless to say, I didn't do anything last night but sit and watch tv. Then went to bed and passed out again. 

It did however rain all evening and then into the night, so I hope my peppers are not water logged. I guess we will see. But at least everything is fertilized and covered. 

If you are considering putting in a garden, check out our Gardening Page by clicking on the subtitle in the header.

Today I got to spend time with my buddies again.  Jossie had some assignments to get done to turn in and a quiz to take. 

We have a little princess who has a hurt arm. She was playing in their trampoline and she hurt it. She kept crying and would scream when they touched it and they knew something was wrong. They took her to have some xrays and she has a little fracture. As young as she is and the little bone thatit's on, it is going to grow back just fine. We just have to keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't do anything strenuous or rough housing.  She is being a trooper. 

We had a good day today. 

Today's Doings 😊

Why, yes, I think I will have a good breakfast to start my day.

Today I just took it easy because I was so tired from yesterday. My feet and legs hurt so bad last night from processing baked beans all day. I've still got more to do but I'm out of bbq sauce and would rather use it than ketchup. But dear hubby can't get any delivered and doesn't want me to get out unless I have to, I will just pause and find something else to do.

I put my plants out today to help harden them off. I will plant the peppers tomorrow and possibly plant a few rows of corn. We will see how tomorrow goes and how I feel.

A country girl can survive. Home grown and canned green beans, home canned potatoes, home canned pinto beans, corn bread and yes, fried Spam.

This is another way we save money. We will buy something in bulk and repackage it into meals and vacuum seal.

Well, I think I'm done for the night. I'm going to prop my feet up and get caught up on episodes of When Calls The Heart. 

Days Around Here

Days around here look something like this. On the days Jossie has class work to do with her teachers on line, I keep the girls busy. They do school too. We are working on letters, numbers, shapes and colors. We draw and create things. 

Then there is Science class. Bugs, birds, blooms and of course, a little water. 

Then we have some free time and watch a movie and eat popcorn. 

I love naptime cause I get all the snuggles I want.

Lesson for the high schoolers is putting up tposts and cattle panels in garden to get ready to put tomato and pepper plants. We are installing a solar electric fence this year because I can not loose  my garden to deer and racoons this year.

When your mother in law aka: Nanny tells your son if he gets him a rabbit or squirrel, that she will make him dumplings, this is the result. They were yummy rabbit dumplings. That is one less rabbit that want be eating my broccoli and cauliflower.

I love this little visitor when I'm sitting at my bedroom window reading my devotions in the mornings.

All these years of teaching your kids how to cook has paid off. Dallas made us some salmon one night for supper.

I did a thing and I'll do it again. I knew there was something you could do with pineapple cores and the peelings. People in Jamacia boil them down and strain the juice and add tumeric and ginger and a sweetner. Yummy cold or warm.

One morning I made a whole batch of pancakes and froze the rest to have breakfast on hand.

Today was a busy day. 8 hours later and I have 21 quarts of beautiful baked beans. My feet and legs are killing me so I am not doing any thing the rest of the  night except watch some tv.

I hope everyone is doing well. We are almost to the end of our peak time for shelter at home order. Our governor will be slowly opening things back up at the end of the month. Not that I'm gonna flock to town anyway. Cause I don't really like going unless I have to or there is just something I really want to do. 

Canning Dried Beans

On our Canning and Preserving Page, I have a picture tutorial of the way I have always canned dried beans like Pinto Beans. However, sometimes I just can't get them to turn out right all the time. Sometimes the jars evaporate some of the liquid out during processing leaving the top part of the beans in the jar either dry or scorched, or sometimes they get too mooshy. When I open a jar, I always just add a little more water and cook on the stove a little. Now, I have searched and searched for a better and easier way to can them, and let me say, I love this method better. Disclaimer: This is not USDA recommended. I am just a rebel and wanted to expierment. So I will leave this tutorial here in this post and I will add it to our Canning Page so any time you want, you can book mark the link. 

No Soak Method:

Step 1 and Step 2: Wash beans and pick out any debris, rocks, or bad beans. 

Step 3: I get a little vinegar and paper towel ready for wiping jar rims.

Step 4: Wash, dry and sanitize jars and keep warm in a warm oven. 

Step 5: I warm up some water in a big aluminum pot on the stove, and in another pot I will boil my lids and rings. 

Step 6: I prepare my canner with water in the bottom and rack. Check your manufactures directions for how much water to put in your canner. 

Step 7: I get a work station set up with my boiled water, pot with hot lids and rings, jars, bowl of vinegar and a paper towel, wooden spoon and my funnel. 

Step 8: I put one cup of dried beans into each jar. 

Step 9: I pour the hot water from the aluminum pot into each jar about 1" head space from the top. 

Step 10: I take a wooden spoon and stir really good to loosen any debris or bad beans, and get out air bubbles. 

Step 11 and 12: Bad beans and debris floats so you will want to remove them.

Step 13: I will wipe each rim of jar off with the vinegar I have in my little bowl with the napkin. (not pictured, sorry.) Then I will place hot lids and rings onto jars and just screw them on finger tight. Don't torque them too  tight or use alot of elbow grease. 

Step 14: Place jars in canner and put lid securely on the canner. 

Step 15: I process at 10 lbs pressure for 90 minutes.Be sure to check you manual too for lbs pressure for your altitude.  In this photo, my pressure got a little high, so I had to back down my heat some. You have to find your stoves sweet spot some times when canning. 😄😄😄

Step 16: After they have processed, I move the canner off stove to cool and let pressure come down so I can safetly take off lid and take out jars to cool. And you know they are sealed when you hear those "pings". You need to check the lids to make sure they have all sealed too. You can thump the top and if one is not sealed, you will be able to hear the difference. It will sound more hollow. 

To me they look so much better than the way I was doing them. 

They do look different than the other way of processing. I personally love it better. When it is time to have a jar for a meal, I just open the jar and empty into a pot on the stove and cook for a few more minutes. Wholah!!!!