Now is the time...

for all good men to come to the aid of their country.

Remember that?

People of a certain age should.

It is the phrase that supposedly taught hand/letter placement on a typewriter.

Isn't that a blast from a previous era...?

It is also the time to preserve food for the year.

The waste corn trailer was delivered yesterday by a friend.

Much sorting and picking through the waste occurred in the heat but under a shade tree.

4 milk crates were stuffed.

A few hours were spent watching/listening to mindless dribble on the idiot box.

Corn was thereby shucked.

I covered the corn with wet towels and aluminum foil and refrigerated overnight.

This morning I cut the corn off the cob with my high tech board with a nail in it.

Much corn juice and mess flew everywhere.

The empty cobs were artfully arranged in the tub while I counted my success.

132 ears of goodness were utilized.

This will help me decide if I want to rinse and repeat this process.

They were dumped along with the shucked husk and silks back onto the waste wagon.

Blanching commenced.

2 cups of corn were bagged, air removed , bag sealed and flattened for easy freezing.

38 bags were frozen with extra kept out for supper usage.

LN will take some to college when next she visits for some "real" food to cook in her apartment.

She will also take some of the peas I froze this spring.

The all important dish washing was completed along with wiping down counters and cabinets.

The stove was divested of all the corn smush and mess.

Last but not least and with no picture to prove it the floor was washed of the ensuing stickiness.

Job complete for the moment.

Time to decide if I want to do this again next week.

With only 2 of us home now I need to cook less quantity but it's a hard thing to institute.

This may be it.

Except green beans which will be on the waste truck soon.

I lub , lub, lub me some beans.

That time again is it?

Hmmm... it does not seem possible in this heat.

It is time to start the breeding process.

I threw the rams and ewes together in the beginning of August.

So far there is marking harness color on 2 ewes in the pen of 4 Lincoln Longwools.

Nothing in the Border Leicester pen yet.

The 1st Lincoln marked would been Jan 4th lambs if successful.

Cheerio the ewe is still being showed through the fall but will stay with her "baby Daddy" between shows to double check the success.

It is her 1st time being with Mike so let's hope.

This was Cheerio and LN last month at our fair.

She's antsy to show so hopefully motherhood will calm her a bit.

Some do calm down , others ram up their ants in the pants attitudes.

The heat is supposed to moderate in a few days with only 80's vs. 90"s during days.

Nights will be in high 60's which is better than high 70's also.

Breeding needs cooler weather to progress.

The fall shows begin shortly as well.

MD State Fair

Big E

KILE

DE EXPO

Here we go.

A load of waste corn just showed up in the heat.

Guess it's time to sweat my behind of and pick out ears to process.

Oh joy!

Still dog days but not much longer ...

I am excited for fall weather.

Menopause and heat are a horrible combo.

I feel as if I am cooking from the inside out and sweat with any movement.

Such is life for women of a certain age though.

OBX, NC was relaxing and enjoyable.

A whole lot of sleeping, reading, eating and sunbaking went on.

One day we ferried to Orcacoke island to look around.

Ate lunch at Jason's , had fresh tuna salad sandwiches that were awesome.

Stopped for coffee for Miss B and LN and at a bookstore.

I never say no when my offspring wants a book.

I may have bought one as well ;-}

Sunset off the sound was prettier than this picture shows.

Calm and peaceful...

The ocean never fails to relax me even with wind constantly blowing.

The tide was high each afternoon so had to plan accordingly.

Such were the problems in my life that week.

I did miss my flock and took awhile to straighten out the chaos of being gone.

No matter how much I prepare someone looses their minds.

A bad case of the runs is being treated and a few not interested in grain.

Nothing a few scratches didn't help.

Back to real world now.

Haircuts/color, dentist, truck servicing, college last min prep.

LN will depart Sunday for another year.

She's excited.

Me not so much.

I am excited to watch her grow and mature as the big, bad world grabs her.

A college beau is a draw for her as well.

Glad to have her with me and see her enjoy our girls week trip.

Hope she is never too old for a dino tire swing.

Fair 2019

Is that even a sentence?

I do not have any motivation though to post.

Lots has been happening but ugh to sitting down and recording it.

Delaware State Fair has came and went.

Some good, some great, some not so good happenings.

Miss A loves her Auntie LN .

Miss A soaked up as much as she could get of LN since her junior year of college is fast approaching.

She came home July 15th and will return possibly Aug 11 or Aug 25th.

Short summer but she may be hired as a Mentor in her dorm requiring her to return early.

S2 showed his hog and placed respectably for a camper hog.

He will taste good as well.

R also showed her hog and had a tough class but again he will taste good.

They have a regular buyer for one hog and they use the other one.

I admit I teared up when Z came out of his self imposed show retirement to help LN show.

They made a great team on Randy her Border Leicester Ram.

Z acts tough but I know better.

R and some close friends helped also with our flock.

Show families are the best.

LN helped them as well in their classes.

At the end of fair they held a Parade of Champions.

LN had Reserve White Wool Ram with her Border Leicester.

She also won Grand Champion Fitter as well as ...

Grand Champion Natural Fleece with our homegrown Lincoln ewe lamb.

This tickled me as the lambs' Mother won the same award two years ago.

It was a long, tiring fair with my camper AC blowing up during the heat wave as well as a pipe bursting in the camper early on.

Thank goodness for helpful friends repairing the leak and for R noticing immediately before damage was too severe.

Another friend found a new-old fan motor to repair the AC after a tense 24 hours.

He is a mechanical wonder and wouldn't take money for it either.

Lots of food was prepped and grilled, more meals in the crockpot fed the ravenous crew also.

S2 helped out and brought his propane griddle and cooked quite a lot.

I bought a water filter for the camper so I am proud to say LN and I broke the plastic water bottle habit and used tap water to hydrate.

We put cut up lemons in the fridge pitcher and it was delicious.

Small steps but we are getting there.

The weather had moderated at night so we threw the windows open and hooked up a fan to sleep.

It has taken a full week to clean camper and store it, clean up the house, wash clothes and bedding, find the yard, find the garden (lost cause), work the store and catch up on sleep

with a 3 year old here as well the first couple of days to help.

We survived and next year will repeat I am sure.

Now to pack for a week in OBX on a girls trip.

Much sleeping, sunbathing and doing nothing is planned.