I'm Back! What a Busy Week

Boy!  Has it been a busy week and this is the first chance I've had to blog. 

Last Friday I was a substituting at a local school and we had the worst storm!  We were in the hallway, for safety, twice before the day was over.  During the lunch hour the electricity went out, came back on for a brief time, and went out again for the remainder of the day.  One teacher estimated the winds to be 70-80 miles an hour.  The sky was so black, it was like night-time before the first wave of high winds and rain hit.  During lunchtime a second wave of high winds and rain arrived to pound the area.  As I drove home, I saw lots of devastation:   trees down everywhere; electrical lines down; roofs missing from barns, sheds, and garages; and a large camping trailer overturned, but further down the highway another camping trailer hitched to a pickup truck that was fine.  Folks spent the weekend trying to clean up.  Some people still don't have electricity today. 

My family and I packed up goat milk soaps and my spinning wheel Saturday morning and spent the day at the Red House Interpretive Center in Cape Girardeau, where I spun sheep wool into yard and sold a few soaps.  The Red House is modeled after the trading post of Louis Lorimier, founder of Cape Girardeau.  Louis and Clark spent some time in Cape Girardeau before beginning their Expedition.  The Red House is very interesting to visit.

Then on Sunday, after church and Sunday School, we ate at a local Chinese restaurant for Mother's Day.  Yummy!  In the afternoon, I planted some kohlrabi plants that my dad gave me.

Monday and Tuesday I spent working in the garden: weed-eating, hauling goat manure and tilling more of my raised beds.  I planted a few tomato plants, but still have more to plant, as well as other vegetables.  I also planted a patch of green beans.   Should be enough Chinese cabbage to pick today and I'll stir-fry it along with a package of frozen stir-fry veggies I have in the freezer.

Wednesday was market day and again it started out cool and misted rain for a while.  By the end of the market it was finally warming up and the sun was  trying to come out.  However, overnight we received almost an inch of rain (yippee! I have a new rain gauge....last one broke) so it's too wet to work in the garden today.  I started out my day by washing two loads of laundry, hanging them out on the "solar dryer", made a batch of coffee soap, had lunch, and am now blogging.  

So what to do next?  Make more soap or bake something yeasty????  Hubby likes anything with cream cheese filling or drizzled on top.  Decisions, decisions!

Market Day, etc.

Yesterday was Market Day and we had a good crowd of customers, even with the rain and the cool temperature.  It helps that we can set up under a pavilion.  Makes it easier for both the vendors and the customers.  There are geese and ducks in the park and they are entertaining to watch when they wander over closer to where the market is set up.  On nice days some people bring bread to feed them.  I used to bring #1 daughter to this park when she was a toddler, years ago, so she could feed the ducks.  The rain finally stopped shortly before market closing time.  

I bought some wonderful, hydroponic lettuce at the market.  It keeps well, but it doesn't usually last long at my house.  My lettuce isn't quite ready yet and I need to plant more to keep a steady supply ready to eat.  I also bought a pound of rhubarb.  Haven't decided for sure what I'm going to make with it.  I'm looking at a recipe for Rhubarb Dream Bars and one for Rhubarb Custard Pie.  I'm leaning towards the pie since it takes 4 eggs and I have LOTS of eggs.

After the market I took care of a few errands then stopped by my sister's house to drop off several dozen eggs.  My sister, her daughter, and grandbaby had just got back home when I arrived.  My little great-niece was excited to see me.  Made Auntie Barbie's day!  She's the cutest, sweetest, little doll!  She gave me lots of  hugs, showed me some of her toys, and brought me two books to read to her.

Well, the sun is shining today!  Yipee!  So I'd better hang out a load of laundry, and get busy making another batch of soap...probably peach. The Wild Honeysuckle & Green Fig goat milk soap is ready to be wrapped.  After the grass dries I'll be back out in the garden.  I have a little asparagus to pick, weeds to pull, grass to weed-eat, and dirt to turn over.  As soon as the rain is over and the garden dries out more, we'll be planting everything!  The tomato and jalapeno pepper plants I planted on Tuesday seem to be doing okay. If the jalapenos do well this year, I will be making pepper jelly for my family......great with cream cheese on crackers!  And if there's enough, I will sell some at the farmers' markets this year.

So off with me.  I have lots to do today! 

More Soap Making and Garden Work

The Madagascar Vanilla goat milk soap is a beautiful, dark, chocolate brown and smells wonderful as ever. When I finish blogging, I'll go back to slicing and stamping the Lavender Fields goat goat milk soap that I made yesterday.  This morning, after watering the chickens and hanging out a load of laundry, I made a batch of Vera Wang-type (I renamed it Very Wonderful) goat milk soap.  And it smells great, too!  Will wrap the Mysore Sandalwood while I watch my soap opera, "The Young & The Restless".  I also have to fill up the soap boxes for the farmers' market tomorrow morning.  Then this evening the kids have a 4-H meeting.  A policeman and his canine partner are supposed to be visiting our club.  

This afternoon's plans include weed-eating in the garden, pulling weeds, and possibly planting some of my pepper and tomato plants.  The sun was in and out for a bit yesterday and it's out today, but the garden is not dried out yet.  And the weatherman is calling for MORE rain tonight. 

I went out to the garden late yesterday afternoon to check if there was more asparagus ready to pick, but first I had to walk around the garden to look at how the veggies that are already planted were doing.  Well, with all the rain we've had there are LOTS of weeds.  I ended up weeding the broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower bed.  Then I picked some asparagus and went back into the house to fix supper.

Soap Making Today

It's been several days since I last posted.  It's been raining every day, so the garden is soggy and the only thing I've done in it is to pick some asparagus and pull a feed weeds from the asparagus bed.  More rain is to come today and tomorrow.  When the rain stops and the garden dries out, it will be time to plant EVERYTHING I haven't planted yet.

Wednesday morning was the opening day for my second farmers' market and what a nice morning!  The sun was shining and the rain held off until later in the day.  We had 2 new vendors and some prospective vendors chatted with our market manager.  I strongly encourage everyone to shop at their local farmers' markets.  Doing so helps your local economy and helps the local farmers/vendors.  Plus you have the opportunity to visit with the vendors to learn about their gardening practices and you know where the food came from.

I made the Bug Off Blend soap a few days ago and it is now curing.  I had a lot of requests for this one over the last weekend.  I just finished making a batch of Madagascar Vanilla and after lunch will make another batch of soap.  Not decided yet on what scent it will be.

I have to share a goat story.  Our goats don't like being out in the rain.  So if it's raining, they can be found inside the barn.  Last night after supper I heard the goats bleating.  I thought that was odd and looked outside.  Fawn, our newest doe, was standing outside the barn in the rain just a hollering.  So I grabbed my windbreaker and a hat, slipped on my rubber boots and ran down to the barn with #2 daughter.  The barn door was shut and poor Fawn couldn't get in.  Apparently another of the does, Marshmellow, had closed the barn door.  She is known for doing that, as well as rubbing, pushing on the stable doors and closing them as well.  We let Fawn back in the barn and she ran in and promptly shook herself.  I told her that now she was beautiful after having a rain shower.  Ha, ha!   Marshmellow's grandmother, Happy, was famous for turning the barn lights off and on.