They're Off!

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

Sorry for not having made any updates in sooo long, but I have been a little preoccupied. So much so I couldn't even come up with anything to write.
You know your tired when your just brain dead before you go to bed.

Billy and I have a big auction in Jackson Hole, Wyoming in September, and we are sponsors of the Jackson Hole Fall Arts Festival. This sponsorship requires us to place banners promoting the event, while also being able to plug our event, in front of 36 participating Art Galleries in Jackson Hole.
Previous sponsors had silk screened duck cloth banners mass produced and hung, but the galleries nor the chamber really liked them. I decided I would go with something completely different. Cow Hide! Billy found an Auctioneer in the Midwest that was liquidating a gun holster factory, and we bought 37 of them. I am using the entire shoulder (which ways close to 20lbs). I designed several stencils and had them made and have spent the last week in production.
For those of you who have never been to Jackson, it is about 30 miles south of Yellowstone and the entire town has an 'Old West' theme that is carried continuously in everything. All buildings are either brick or log, the sidewalks are wood plank and the town square has four Elk Antler Arches surrounding the square. With this in mind I wanted to create a truly unique piece that would fit with surroundings but also last for years to come.
So here's my design, and this is what I have been doing. Thirty six of them! All by hand individually made with the extra added touch of a little gold leafing.
At this point I don't know whether I will be able to blog again, as my hand are sooo stiff, I can barely type.

Musical Revue at The Marva!

Don't Miss:

August 15, 16, & 17th: MUSICAL REVUE

A benefit performance, presented by The Community Players of Salisbury and directed by Lisa Robbins Moore. An all youth chorus featuring 30 musical numbers and skits of the 1950s era. The program will include a silent auction before and after the show and home made desserts will be sold during the intermission.

Tickets: $15, $12 Students & Seniors- available at the door or : Pocomoke City Hall and Chamber of Commerce, Country Blossoms and T's Corner in VA,
Performance schedule: Friday the 15th, Saturday, 16th at 8:00 PM Sunday matinee at 2:00 PM.

Life Go's On...

Wow, what a hectic few days! Sorry for no updates.
The cukes are pickled,
The honey is almost all put in jars
The puppy is now suffering from my neurotic obsession with fleas,
The grapes have been weeded,
The marketing letter is written,
The 9 year old has finished Vacation Bible School,
The hedge is trimmed,
The fish tank is clean, and
my hair is blond. Too Blond for my taste, and I'm going for a touch up in the morning.
My mother had a saying... 'You can never be too rich, too thin, or too blond' but I'm thinking I can be too blond. I spent the entire day in the hairdressers chair yesterday. I just wanted to have my color touched up, but I waited far to long. My stylist thought it was soo beyond that she would cover my entire head in bleach, then paint in dark streaks. Didn't work out.
She has been doing my hair for almost 20 years and hasn't screwed it up, so I am definitely going to give her grace. She blew it dry and painted in more dark. Didn't work.
Maybe it's me; but it just looks too blond. I will be in the chair again tomorrow morning to add more brown and hopefully when I'm done I will look like my naturally blond self.

The Pickles are Pickling!

Yesterday I sliced up all of the cukes and put them in a large pot and started the pickling process.
I mixed the lime in the water, and dumped in the cukes.
They will be ready to be rinsed shortly.
If you are going to use this recipe be sure to rinse the cukes really really well. I suggest rinsing and dumping the fresh water at least 3 times and then filling the pot back up once more for the final soak.
The lime is so strong, that after handling it yesterday my hands are extremely smooth as it removed the top layer of skin on my palms.
Hmm, maybe I could work on a 'Summer Feet' foot soak. Mine feel like leather by this time of year between barefoot gardening and going to the beach, I need some emergency moisturizing.

Pickle Rescue

Thanks to my neighbor who knows how to grow cucumbers, I will be able to make my Grandmothers Sweet Lime Pickles this summer. After much lesson learning on how not to grow a cucumber, and Hubby throwing the Death Blow to my last remaining plant, I had nearly given up. But I was rescued yesterday when my neighbor met me in Southern Maryland with a case of cuc's that he successfully grew.

I'm going to get the lime today and start the pickles tomorrow.
Thanks Neighbor!
Here's Gran's recipe, it super simple and simply delicious...Enjoy!

Gran's Sweet Lime Pickles Recipe

2 c. hydrated lime
2 gallons water
7 lb. sliced cucumbers, 1/4 inch thick
4 1/2 lb. sugar
1 1/2 tbsp. salt
1 1/2 qt. cider vinegar
2-3 cinnamon sticks
1 tsp. whole cloves
1 tsp. pickling spice

Mix and stir lime in water. Add cucumbers and let soak for 24 hours. Stir often. Drain. Wash well in clear cold water. Soak 3 hours in clear water and drain.

Make syrup with sugar, salt, vinegar, cinnamon, cloves, and pickling spice. (Take bay leaves and red peppers out of pickling spice.) Add green food coloring (1 drop). Put cucumbers in syrup and let stand overnight. The next morning, put on stove and bring to a boil for 40 minutes. Put in hot jars and seal.

The Dog Days of Summer

Seems like just yesterday we were eagerly anticipating the coming summer. We were getting our seeds started on our window sills, and we just couldn't wait to get outside and feel the warm sunshine.
Not anymore!
The last few days have been stiflingly hot. With the humidity at 100% it's impossible to stay dry and functional unless your inside in the air conditioning.
I know, I know, quit complaining, but it's really hot.
I have plans of taking the decimated corn patch and transplanting the pathetic pepper plants into the area as it has more sun than where they are presently, but the heat is taking away my enthusiasm.
Heat makes me cranky too.
The other night one of my sunflowers was listing and I had been propping it up with a broken shovel, but I wasn't able to get the shovel deep enough into the ground so the plant wasn't pushing the shovel over too. I asked Hubby for some help, and he sweetly said that he would.
He took the shovel out of my hands and dug it deep into the ground, I was sooo happy. However, the bottom of the shovel was not visible to me through the leaves of the sunflower. I lifted them up to see how deep it was then I discovered that not only had he propped my sunflower but he had also severed the main stem of my ONLY producing cucumber! I snapped!
I had 4 cukes on the vine now the vine is dead.
Cukes have been the hardest thing that I have had to deal with this growing season. I started some from seed in the garden and just as they were coming up we had day after day of rain and they washed away. I did this twice. Then the fellow gardeners bought some that were in cups which I transplanted and they died ( they hate to be transplanted). Then a neighbor gave me another two cups of the cuke plants. I placed these in a little nursery bed right next to the back porch and it was here that one of them was thriving. One little plant that was going to town making cucumbers. Maybe I'm taking this far to seriously...but you know a lot of time goes into this stuff.
Anyway, my part time neighbor stopped by after I was done screaming at poor hubby and he heard my tale.
He sent me an email when he got back to his full time home, and said that he was overrun with cukes and that he would meet me at the auction we are having this weekend on the other side of the Bay and give them to me. He knew I really wanted to make some pickles so he took pity on my circumstances. Thanks Neighbor!