Adventure Awaits

October 25, 2021.Reading time 9 minutes.

They said it wouldn’t freeze until November 5th, at least that’s what one weather station predicted. About five days ago, the light freeze darkened nearly all the plants. Good thing I prepared the days before. The other plants I didn’t care about, they had already produced all their vegetables, but the tomatoes and peppers still had a lot to give.

I searched every tomato branch and picked every decent-size green tomato. I picked every decent-size sweet bell pepper, even a hand full of jalapenos. It brought enough sweet bell peppers for two chili ralleno meals and I think three half-pint jars of canned jalapenos.

Mom pre-fried and froze half of the sweet bell peppers. So, they’re ready whenever she decides to make chili rellenos again. I don’t make them. She usually makes some when we come over for lunch or she’ll bring me a few. And they are always really good! She fallows a memorized recipe she learned from her mom years ago. I have never had a chili relleno in a restaurant, but I imagine they taste very different, considering the dough we use is the same dough we use to make our own version of crepes.

Which is also very good! You make one crepe, set it aside, make another crepe, but leave it in the pan. Then spread whichever fruit you’d like onto the crepe in the pan, add sugar over the fruit, drizzle dough on the edge around the crepe, place the first crepe over the fruit, and ceil them together with the dough you drizzled around the edge.

Fall deep cleaning began on the last Monday in September, at dawn. That week, the men had a lot of alfalfa baling to do almost every morning, giving me the chance to start early. Because of that, I was able to take half of Wednesday off to have coffee with my mom and friend/brother’s girlfriend at the farm.

By Friday at five or six, I dumped the last bucket of water out and threw the last cleaning towels in the hamper. A few of my other chores got neglected, but it all worked out.

Now I just have to thoroughly clean the shop/garage. I’m waiting to do that until the first week of November. After our trip to Maine. Also, then my husband will have his Duramax finished and I won’t have to clean around it. I can back it out. That’s what I was waiting for.

On Saturday, after I finished deep cleaning, I did decorate the front porch area. On that day we had crisp, rainy weather and my husband didn’t have to work, so we went to the local coffee shop. We’d only done that once before, when the shop first opened, so it was a real treat. The atmosphere and the drinks . . . everything is so good there, I don’t know why we don’t go more often. You can definitely tell that the owners put a lot of thought and effort toward it.

I started decorating after the coffee shop trip. I’m happy with how the porch turned out. I’m definitely growing pumpkins again next year. It’s worth it, even if I just use them for decoration. I might try to make a puree out of them yet. I don’t know if I’m brave enough to do that though. Maybe around thanksgiving.

To celebrate . . . we went shopping!

We didn’t go crazy or anything, only walked out with a few bags. 😀 But I did buy a puzzle and a piece of fabric for a dress from Hobby Lobby. I asked my mom if she wanted to go to town with me. We had both just finished deep cleaning, and I thought as a treat, why not spend the afternoon browsing. So, that’s what we did. Of course, we had to get a coffee as well. (haha)

But I made the dress that next week yet. I also sewed a bunch of other things. At least I considered it a bunch. I tried making a t-shirt for the first time and it worked out. But I don’t think I used the right fabric. The apron I made, didn’t turn out like I thought it would, but it did work out and I’m using it all the time now. It might be my favorite.

Apple Pie. Recipe from Natasha’s Kitchen.

Other than that, homemaking and writing keep me busy lately. The garden is cleaned up, all except the carrots, which I’m hoping to harvest as I need them, until the hard frost comes. A layer of manure is resting on the soil. Once we get back from Maine, I hope to spread straw over it yet. Then I can forget about gardening for five months. Except the occasional watering, to help breakdown the manure. Though, I’m hoping we get a lot of snow.

Hoping to Celebrate Three Years in Maine

My husband and I are flying to Boston, then driving up to Maine next week. Our third year anniversary is coming up. We love to take a trip around that time. Just a few days every year to get away, just the two of us and explore the country. In a few years, or so, we’re hoping to start traveling all over the world.

We did not know where to go this year! I think we thought of every corner of the U.S–for sure every corner, and so many places in between. But in the end, we decided on Acadia National Park.

I’m planning on packing a lot of layers. The weather stations predict fifty degree weather for the time we’ll be there. And we’ve been having seventy to eighty degree weather here. (It’s unusually warm, I think, for this time of year.) The temperature’s supposed to rise up to forty-four again at night next week, then rise thirty degrees by the afternoon.

Anyways, next month sometime, I’ll talk more about the trip. What we did and how it went. 🙂

I am going to go clean the Denali, maybe go to the bank yet, and then start dinner. Roasted Cornish hens are on the menu for tonight. Just thinking about it makes me hungry. (haha) But I better get on with my day.

Thank you for letting me share what I’ve been up to. 🙂

As always, I hope you all are having a good day, and I’ll talk to you next time.

Until then,

Maria

Follow me on Instagram @marialoewen99

Time for Puzzles and Coffee

September 23, 2021.Reading time 8 minutes.

The autumn wind has arrived. Until now, it had been very calm for Kansas, but today we’re dealing with forty-mile-an-hour wind gust. The wind tires everyone and everything out, but if that means cooler temperatures then I’m here for it. I love summer, but I am ready for fall.

Yesterday was a full on summer day at the lake. (One last lake trip before autumn sets in.) But it was hot! I feel like I’d be happy to go hiking with boots and many layers. Come March, I know I’ll be itching to feel the warm sun beat down on my back, but now I’m patiently waiting for crisp fall air.

The autumn “feel” arrived weeks ago. But the heat is lingering. And still the plants are dying down. One would think that if the heat held up, the plants should too. But they’re weary. Their produce is dwindling. The plants are being pulled one by one. But the colors in the garden make it all okay. When the sun shines on the storm clouds, when it highlights the golden picket fence and the orange pumpkins, I could admire the view all evening.

I’m saving the corn stocks for porch decorating–if there will be any leaves left on the stocks, after these winds. After I’m done deep cleaning next week, I think I’ll decorate the front porch area. Deep cleaning usually only takes me five days. So, hopefully I’ll be able to reward myself with a cozy porch.

It’ll be my first time decorating the porch, ever. So, I’m excited. At first I thought I would have way to many pumpkins, but now, I’m doubting I’ll have enough.

I’m getting into the sewing mood again, now after I’ve been running around outside all summer. It’s fun to create useful things out of pretty fabric. Most of the time I sew clothes for myself, but occasionally I’ll sew curtains, or in this case I sewed napkins. I’m still wanting to sew a new apron out of the two pieces of fabric you see in the picture. They’re scraps that I now have laying around, so why not. My old apron is worn and torn.

We went camping a few weeks ago–oh it’s been a while, maybe a month ago. And goodness, one day it was hot and windy, the next it was cold and breezy. Seriously cold for August. The clouds looked like they could bring snow.

Later that day we hopped in the lake, like we never huddled around a fire and pulled blankets over our shoulders for warmth. We swam; we tubed behind the boat; the lake water splashed our bodies as the boat swerved over the waves and lifted it’s nose in the air.

Despite the unexpected weather and some unfortunate events, we had a good time.

Sitting in the front, looking at the deep waters, my head held high, my shoulders set straight, holding a towel around me for warmth, I felt like Tom Sewer himself.

This picture was taking on the lake, during the sunrise and before the snowy-cold weather came. As you can see, were trying to get some early morning fishing in.

Later on today, depending on if the wind slows down or not, I might get the Kioti tractor from the farm and turn the compost pile. I’m not supper good at keeping up with it like I should. One day I might get really into it, and do it correctly, but for now I just dump the scraps onto a pile of horse manure and any plant material I might have, then hope for the best.

I spread that onto my garden soil last fall and I believe it helped this year. So, I’m wanting to do the same thing this fall. I want to spread a layer of straw over the compost and let it decay over winter. Next year, I plan to plant directly through the straw, the compost and into the soil. We’ll see if it’ll work.

The watermelons have been very good. Some not as good as others, but for growing them myself and the fact that watermelons are a hit and miss type of plant around here–I’m really happy with them. I’ve been making Rollkauken for dinner, served with watermelon and cantaloupe a lot lately.

“Rollkauken” is an old Russian Mennonite recipe. You roll out the dough, cut it into strips, twist the strips and fry them until they’re golden brown and fluffy. With sweet watermelon and salty, warm rollkauken–mmm, it taste so good!

I don’t make a lot of the old Russian Mennonite foods, but rollkauken is one of the view. I found that frying the “crullers” is a very tricky prosses. It took me a long time to learn. Because the oil can’t be to hot and it can’t be to cold, it has to be just right. Otherwise you’ll end up with doughy strips, or strips as hard and thin as crackers.

If you’re ever curious about the recipe, it can be found in the Malting Pot of Mennonite recipe book. The link’s in the title if you’re curious. The book has a lot about different Mennonite cultures as well. It has information about ten different Mennonite groups, such as: South German, Pennsylvania German, Netherlands, West Prussian, Russian and so on. My mom gave me one years ago, and I really love it.

Oh well, that’ll be it for me today. This week I’m hoping to work on my novel, clean the windows from the outside, do some extra work in the garden, do the weekly chores . . . and see whatever else comes up. I hope you all have a wonderful day. Thank you for hanging out with me. 🙂

Until next time,

Maria