Hello Folks,
Well, not as cold as it is going to be getting soon enough, but I want you all to know, we have officially started the wood stove at the Clampetts! Now, at almost 2:00 p.m., it is raining, and cold, I might add.
Yesterday, Wednesday, turned out to be a pretty nice day and was sunny most of the day. I went for a walk in the morning; my first walk since returning from vacation. Here is a picture of the brook that runs along the road. I guess it rained rather hard and long while we were away.
I met my friend, Missy, at Bubba’s Restaurant in Newbury Harbor, for lunch. We had a delightful chat over lunch. There were a few whitecaps on the lake, and it was not warm enough to sit outside. We drove a short distance to another eatery for coffee and a cookie and continued chatting. We had toyed with going to a local historic house to see the Christmas decorations done by a multiple of local decorators, but in the end, neither of us were up for it, so we talked instead. I seem to be still in la-la land from vacation, but am slowly coming around.
Yesterday was also my first day for the local farm fall CSA. You may recall that, with the fall CSA, you have a choice as to the number of weeks, up to a total of 7, that you want to participate. I chose the last 4 weeks. B had an errand going that way, so he drove me up to the stand. Here is a sampling of what I got.
1 – 3 lb bag of sweet potatoes
1 – choice of winter squash
3 – turnip
5 – beets
1 – yellow onion
1 – green pepper
1 – head of Napa cabbage
1 – small head of cauliflower
1 – bunch of large, nice radishes
2 – heads of leaf lettuce. I chose a red and a green. Very gritty. I need to wash them again.
1 – bunch of curly kale
From the bakery, 1 small loaf of oatmeal bread. And one frozen soup container. I had B pick out his choice of soup and he chose a sweet potato and peanut soup! I popped it into the freezer when I got home, as we had leftover mushroom soup to finish up.
I passed on the bunch of mint, as neither of us are much for mint. Anyway, we had about 2 grocery bags full when we left. I had to take care of the veggies once home, so both my regular refrigerator and the dorm refrigerator are the repositories for the most of the veggies. Now I have to figure out what to use them for.
Today I am cooking a beef pot roast. Believe it or not, this is the first time I have ever done a pot roast in the oven. I usually use the slow cooker, but somewhere I read that using the oven uses less electricity than the slow cooker. The theory being that, once the oven reaches the set temperature, it stays that way due to the insulation, while the slow cooker has to keep using electricity to maintain the temperature at an even keel. I don’t know how I can tell, but I am trying it in the oven. I had a heck of a time getting the meat browned; I had grease splattering everywhere and had to get out the mop and clean up the floor closest to the stove. And wash my glasses. What a mess! I used a few sweet potatoes and the 3 turnips, along with carrots, onions, and mushrooms. I hope it comes out well, as it is a big roast; 4 lbs of local beef! I meant to cut it in half and use the other half of it for something else, but forgot. I think I will cut it in half and freeze half of it tonight. I can only handle leftovers just so long. I am not sure what to do with the other cooked half, though. If anyone has a brilliant idea, please let me know!
B was busy recently using the leaf blower on the driveway. This always makes me laugh as we have no lawn and don’t live where it matters if you have a leaf in your yard or not. B says that, by blowing the leaves from the driveway, the leaf matter doesn’t build up until the driveway is partially dirt rather than the small stones that we have on top of it. Anyway, as with everything B does, it was immaculate looking when he was done. However, it was dark before he got back home, and I asked him if he did the entire road. He said no, but he did down as far as our turnaround. Will it need doing again before snow fall? I don’t think so, as most of the leaves were off the trees when we returned home from vacation.
Today B is a bit antsy, as it is raining. However, we had some paper trash that needed to be burned, so he is doing that. He also is catching up on his side business, as it got a bit busy and backed-up while we were gone.
I went back to exercise class this morning, and my limbs know it now! It won’t take many sessions before I am back to normal. Because the class is 8:30 – 9:30, I had to let the critter duty go until I got back. They were all alright, but teasing for treats. I got them their treats and dumped out the water (it had a thick layer of ice on top of the two pails) and re-filled them with clean water. I also went looking for eggs. No eggs yesterday and no eggs as of this morning. Hmm.
While I was re-filling the pails, I noticed the two ducks went in their cage and seemed to be staring at something in the corner of the cage. Once I returned to the pen with the water, I checked the cage. Sure enough, one of my white Leghorns was sitting in the corner of the pen. Those rascals must be laying their eggs in the duck cage! I didn’t have time to do anything then, but I’m going back out as soon as I finish this blog. Sneaky little devils. I just thoroughly cleaned their cage last Saturday. Sigh.
B just came in to tell me that he had one of his “epiphanies” that he is famous for, and decided to burn the paper in the wood stove he installed in the shop. I said fine but just don’t burn it down and please use it all, as I have more to add to the bin! So far, everything seems safe.
Oh! I have a bit of a rant before I close today. My Mr Coffee brew basket broke before vacation, so I am back to using the percolator on the stove. I am beginning to get the hang of using it again. Anyway, I bought the Mr Coffee at Walmart (!) several years ago for about $15. And guess what folks??? The part is no longer available! I think that is one of Walmart’s tricks. Anyway, I’m done with Mr Coffee, at least for the winter, and will continue to use the percolator even if the grounds are re-used in it. I just adjust for it by not adding as much coffee to begin with.
Okay. I’m done and it is time for me to check on those eggs and wash some dishes. Some things never change. But I am happy to be back home.
Stay well.
The Clampetts 