theeyy'rre baaacck

after seeing a few tiny black foreign beings flying around my house, i realized that I needed to look up my homemade recipe for gnat juice.  i honestly don't know why they come in this time of year.  maybe it's the (very few) tomatoes brought in from the garden and left to ripen in the window sill or maybe they just fly in when the doors open and close in the evenings.  regardless... they get in somehow and must be dealt with in a serious manner. 

 

i mixed up a batch of my infamous gnat juice and y'all, i kid you not, i had one swirling around the air right over the mixing bowl as i was pouring it into the decorative small jars and candle holders i chose to display my potion in.  this recipe makes enough for me to have  one in the kitchen, dining room, pantry and bathroom.  for some reason they like the moisture and humidity in there.  or maybe they just like to annoy me in there.  either way, they must go.  the recipe is simple and it goes a little something like this....

 

Gnat Juice

1 cup water

1/2 cup cider vinegar

1 tablespoon dish washing liquid

 

stir together and pour into little bowls for display.

the gnats will be laying at the bottom of the juice before you know it.

 

 

here's the original post

 

 

 

i feel better now.

xo, laurie

Puttin Up the Zuke

When zucchini get too big, because it seems it can overnight, what do you do?  

Most throw it out because it can be tough or grainy.  I don't like to waste what I've grown even if it is too big.  Actually, squash casserole is perfectly fine using larger squash or zucchini.  But I put mine up in the freezer.  I simply chop in up into cubes and wrap up about a cup of chopped zucchini in heavy duty aluminum foil and place the packets into gallon size freezer bags.  I have a couple of soup recipes that I love to make during the winter and cold months that call for zucchini.  So I simply take out a packet and plop the frozen zuke right in the cooking pot of soup.  I prefer the larger zucchini for this because it holds together better being frozen and in hot soup. 

 

There you go!  It has been such a wet summer that just about all of my zucchini got too big because the garden was too muddy to walk in.  I spent more time with my shoulders slouched and a frown beside our garden this year that frankly I'm ready to mow it all down and give up.  Did I really just say that?? That's pretty bad y'all.

 

 

Feel free to put up that extra large squash too!



honky tonk heroes like us

well guys, the fair is over.  i wound up entering twenty photos and bringing home twelve ribbons!  shaun had a good run at the truck pulls.  he didn't bring home a trophy but he did bring home a truck that wasn't tore up.  that's a winner in my eyes... not having to fix anything.  there's just something about the truck pulls that just revs my engine!  I love it! 

 

I wasn't able to enter anything into the canning division or gardening divisions this year and I could tell from the lack of entries in the canning section that others had the same problems that we did.  oh there were still quite a few but not like normal.  even long time participants, one in particular, entered things like peaches and pears and canned mixed veggies.  meaning to me that they probably didn't have the garden produce either. darn the rain... we are usually praying for rain to hit the garden, not danging it for too much!  oh well... better luck next year huh.

 

 

 

 talking bout what they're gonna do

lining up

now, I think I see the problem.... wow  that's one twisted up drive shaft pal

talkin bout what they did



hello september

Hello September.  I can't believe the summer is gone.  I am a true summer girl and I always say "I'd rather wear bug spray than long johns!"  But this summer has been so odd, with all the rain and cooler temperatures, no garden canning for me, jeans on the fourth of July!  Pure madness!  Although it has been nice to be able to sit on the porch at night without sweating.  I sewanee if this was your first summer to ever live in Tennessee you would have got the wrong idea of how it usually is around here during the summer.  We didn't even hit 100 degrees!  Not once!  

I'd like to say that after The August Break, that I came back with a new blog look or new fancy things, but y'all... I'm just me and I am going to keep sharing the only way I know how.  I am excited for Fall.  We've got the Dove Hunt, my birthday (40!), a four wheeling trip planned at the mountains of East Tennessee, not to mention Halloween (my favorite), Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Which the latter of the two will probably seem short because Thanksgiving falls on the last weekend of November so there's just a few weeks in between the holidays this year.  Needless to say there's a lot to be excited about in the upcoming months and lots of sharing with you.  So thanks for sticking around!

xO (that's lil kiss big hug)
Laurie