Rain, glorious rain... we finally got some!

It's just been so dry and so hot that any little bit of rain would be appreciated. Well, we got some the other day. Of course it waited to pour down until I got to the gate so I got soaking, sopping wet but I'm not complaining. We needed it badly. It rained and stormed for about 3 hours. The lightning and thunder was so bad it had the horses running wildly around the yard. Jimbo settled for standing up near the cabin while the other two hung out down along the tree line. They weren't actually in the trees but they were near them. I figure they know where they're safest having been there so long. Poor Jimbo, he probably didn't know what to do.

The wind was howling and blowing the tree branches every which way. The lightning was lighting up the sky every couple of minutes and the thunder was so loud you'd have thought cannons were going off. We're  pretty sure a couple of the trees were hit out in the woods in back of the cabin but we weren't about to go check! lol  Fortunately, the power stayed on so I was able to make dinner :)

Daryl had brought me a huge bag of beans so while it stormed, I sat on the couch snapping and stringing them so they could go into the slow cooker. I cut up some bacon with all it's pork fat beauty and added that to the pot. In went some water, some salt, some pepper and some ham bouillon. Since I had a few red potatoes that were threatening to go bad, I sliced those up and added them in too. I set that bad boy for low so it could go all night and got to making dinner.

We call it gruel because it doesn't have a name and we can't seem to come up with one. I've made it many times before and we always go back to the same name - gruel. Well it might not sound very taste tempting but it actually does taste really good. Just brown some hamburger meat, add some peppers and onions and a can of beans with their juice. I prefer to add dark, red, kidney beans but I was out of those so I added black eyed peas instead. I also added one can of cream of mushroom soup and a little sprinkle of anise. Since I had jalapenos in the refrigerator, I chopped up and added one of those too. Personally, I couldn't tell the jalapeno was even in it so maybe two or three would be better. Done deal. You can serve it over rice or egg noodles (pasta ribbons if you're into whole wheat) or just bake off a batch of biscuits and sop up all that gravy goodness!

The rain was greatly enjoyed by my garden as you could well expect. Indeed, there were puddles all around the tomato plants and the cucumber leaves were covered in splattered mud :) It probably sounds silly but I could just stand and look at that garden for hours - it has a very relaxing effect on me even though it is really more work than relaxation. Explain that one, would you? I had pulled weeds over the weekend so that made it look even better. None of the tomatoes have turned red yet but that's okay. Everyone has tomatoes coming in right now so there's never a shortage of them at the cabin.

Tuesday I had to stop at the Tractor Supply store and get two rolls of barbed wire for Wally. Let me just say that looks are very deceiving when it comes to barbed wire... lol  I asked the guy at the counter where it was but not before searching the entire store for it, hello? Outside he tells me, out with all the other fencing materials...well sure enough, there it was. He didn't have to make it sound as if I should have known this handy little piece of information.

I buggied over to the stack and reached out to pick up a roll of it and discovered just how dadgum heavy a little roll of wire can be! Jeez it probably weighed 50 pounds! I had to get two of them! Okay, first I had to get them into the buggy and then, not be be showed up, I had to get them into the trunk.When Ford built my car they were going for the world record on the smallest trunk possible. The rolls are about as big as a basketball and they do have handles but like I said, they're heavy AND they are barbed wire. They have a paper band around them, which is real nice of the manufacturer but for all accounts and purposes, not very effectual. At least not for someone who is as uncoordinated as I am. ha ha ah. Well the people inside must have felt sorry for me because while I was standing there contemplating my situation, a very nice man came out to help me.

He made it look like he was lifting cotton balls - whatever.
I finished up at the register and headed for the smallest trunk in the world. I don't know how many scratches on my hands and arms later but both rolls did finally go in. Upon my arrival home, Wally picked them both up at the same time and hauled them over to the 4 wheelers like it was nothing. Is it just me? lol 

One of the little mom & pop grocery stores had whole smoked picnic hams on sale for $.98 lb so we went to pick up a couple of them on Saturday. Well they were out so we got a rain check and went back to get them yesterday. The guy in the meat department remember us and offered to slice them for free. I had one sliced up but the other one I left whole. I'm not sure why now that I have it home but I'll figure something out. LOL We picked up some leg quarters while we were there since we'll need them for our next cookout - they were on sale for $.47 lb. We loaded the car and headed to Pee Wee's - it's only about 10 minutes from the store and since we were over that way...

The usual crowd was there and we had fun listening to everyone tell their funny stories/lies of how their day went, we had a couple beers and went back home. I talked to Daryl about attending the first hog killing of the season and he said it would be okay for me to come to it. He even told me I could get some of the hog fat to use in rendering lard. It used to be this was done outside, with a huge cauldron, over a fire and it was an all day event. I found a recipe from Jenny, at the nourished kitchen, that gives instructions on how to render lard in your own kitchen. Woo Hoo!! You know I am totally into that. Lard got a bad rap a long time ago and everyone switched to margarine. Bad move folks! Well, as things come around, we all know now that margarine is actually the one that's bad for us. Lard does contain cholesterol but research shows that in limited quantities, cholesterol is needed by your body. I could list all the benefits here or you could google it and see what I mean. Maybe I'll take the time on another posting since I have a feeling you won't be looking that up any time soon... lol  Anyway - that'll be later in the year.

My CSA basket was just overflowing with homegrown goodness this week. In it was another container of the Sungold and Cherry tomatoes, 4 big round beefsteaks, two roma tomatoes, green peppers, yellow squash, a couple cucumbers, a cantaloupe and more rattlesnake beans! This might be the last of the rattlesnake beans so I'm thinking of par-boiling them and putting them in the freezer for winter. I can't decide - they're just so good! lol This is so much fun for me. Every week I know something good is coming, I'm just not sure what it'll be. I have tried so many new vegetables this year I can't even remember them all! Good thing I have the blog. I'm pretty sure I put them all in a posting :) My favorite of all? Probably the beets. Weird huh? I never would have tried so many new things if they hadn't been in the basket so I consider my horizons very well expanded on account of the Beaverdam Creek Farm folks!

Speaking of cantaloupe, while I was slicing it up I just went ahead and sliced up the tip of my middle finger too. Man did that hurt! The cut is little but that knife is sharp (if you've ever been over, you know the knife I'm talking about) and to make matters worse, I ran a piece of paper through it at work a little while ago. Typing is a little bit of a challenge today :) because I can't type with a bandaid on the tip of my finger. You wouldn't believe how many times I've had to back up and re-type LOL

So I cooked a couple slices of the picnic ham. It was good but kind of salty to me. The trick, I hear, is to soak it in some water for a little while before cooking it. We had some of the green beans from the slow cooker and a couple of the leftover squash squares (those things are good - the recipe is at the bottom - try to try it - you won't be disappointed) and some tomato slices. Ahhhhhhh that was so good. The cabin smelled like ham and beans for the rest of the night :) They should make a candle scent like that one! ha ha ha

Dizzy Debbie is leaving for Arizona this Saturday so the girls (and guys) are "gettin their drink on" this Friday. I wish I could be there but y'all be sure to give her hugs for me since I can't be. You know how hard I tried to get her to come here instead but she just wouldn't. Stubborn red head. I know she has to go look out for her Mom and she really does love AZ so it's a good move for her. Maybe once Brian is out of school she'll be ready to move again and consider coming to stay here for a while. Everyone still asks about her - she grows on ya real quick, wouldn't you say? lol 

I got a letter from Ricky Kline yesterday. If all goes as expected, and you're at the club tonight, chances are good you will see him. Please give him a hug for me too! He's a cool guy and a great friend and I'm glad to hear he'll be back home.

This weekend we're supposed to go to Hidden Valley Lakes. The guy who does the karaoke invited us to his dad's birthday party over there and it sounds like it's going to be a lot of fun. We're going to load up the 4 wheelers and take them with us. I have to figure out what to bring - even though Jeff said not to bring anything but beer. You know I can't go to a party empty handed now, it just wouldn't be right!  I don't want to bring anything that will go bad in this heat and I also don't want to bring a dish or bowl that I'll have to try and keep up with. I'm thinking the taco layer dip with some chips... what do y'all think? It can go in one of those disposable aluminum pans and it doesn't really last long enough for the sour cream to go bad. That'll work, so long as I remember to pick up one of those pans... lol!

You can google Hidden Valley Lakes and check out some of the pictures of the grounds. It's really very pretty. They have a pool, bathhouses all over the place, trails for riding, ponds for fishing, grills, picnic tables and a pavilion. Sounds like a real good time will be had by all, doesn't it? C'mon up and join us :)
 
"The brain is a wonderful organ; it starts working the moment you get up in the morning and does not stop until you get into the office." - Robert Frost