Sunday at the Farm & In the Garden

It was a beautiful day on Sunday so DH & I took a ride to a couple of farm stands I like.

I got....
6 ears of corn
6 pickling cukes
5 yellow squash
3 large tomatoes
2 bell peppers
2 zucchini
2 onions
1 patty pan squash
1 qt. of wax beans

I paid $12.55 for this local goodness.

Other than the corn which I grilled already for Sunday's dinner & the tomato I used for the BLTs at lunch, here are my plans for it all....
*make a batch of bread & butter pickles to eat off of all week
*make fried zucchini
*make squash casserole
*make stuffed peppers-I have half a leftover red bell pepper I'll stuff for my portion that night since I don't care for the green kind
*mix green beans with the wax beans for a simple side dish one night/blanch & freeze the rest of the wax beans
*not sure about the patty pan yet
*sliced tomato for Caprese Salad-it's not a roma tomato but it will have to do

That's a whole week's worth of side dishes and then some.

I talked to the woman who runs the small family farm nearby on Sunday.  She said the last week's heat spell and lack of rain is nothing but bad news for them.  Everything is drying out.  Her son dug down 4 feet and there is no moisture in the soil to that point.  Wells are drying up too.  I hope we get some good soaking rains soon!  I've got an order in for a bushel of beans, roma tomatoes, red peppers and dozens of ears of corn to put up for fall but this won't happen if the rains don't come soon. 8-(

I am getting very impatient with my own garden here.  I need to go harvest more collards and the lettuce is big enough to pick too but nothing else is ready to pick. 

The peppers & green beans are finally budding though....yah!

And we have golf ball sized maters now!!  No sign of the late blight so far.....crossing fingers this year!

I took some photos of the garden on the 2nd but I guess everyone is pretty bored with this kind of stuff so I won't share them.  But I do have to share these.....

This is the barrel by the back deck where I put kitchen compost-ables in the winter, when it's took bitter outside to walk all the way back to the compost pile.  About a month ago these 2 volunteer tomato plants shot up!lol  So I stopped dumping kitchen waste in there for now.  I just continued to put grass clippings in to act as a mulch, as things in containers tend to dry out so fast, and I don't want to have to water these constantly.
And over by the back deck fencing these volunteers starting growing.....

I had Morning Glories here last year.  When the vines died I just left them on the fencing until winter and pulled them down and threw them into the garden bed to compost.  I guess there were some seed pods left on that vine, huh?lol

I'd better get outside now and cut those collards before I have to go to pick up one of the doggies from the vet's office.

Sluggy

Are You a Curator?

When I was in high school....10th grade I believe....the guidance counselor had us all take a career test. By answering about 100 questions this test would be able to tell you what vocations you would be well suited for in your working life.
Among what seemed like a very strange mix of careers, the test indicated that I would make a very fine Curator.
Though I believe the test meant that to be a Museum Curator, I do believe that old test did nail down my life's work!
Though the National Gallery of Art doesn't sign my paychecks, I look around me here and yes, I have become a Curator.

A curator of stuff.
My stuff....
my hubs stuff....
my kids' stuff.....

 
(Not a picture of our actual stuff.)

Not only do we all collect stuff(or did), but I started collecting MORE stuff to sell.
I got bit by the beanie baby craze over 10 yrs. ago.....and I started collecting extras to sell or trade.  The beanie buying branched out into 'collectibles' buying too.

Then I started buying old out of production toys since with 3 kids under the age of 5, I found myself in toy stores quite a bit, so 'in the day' I was one of those rare grownups who knew waaaay too much about Power Rangers, Thomas the Tank Engine, and Pokemon.

The buying to resell worked out pretty well....between my 'geiger counter hands'(I had an uncanny nack  of being able to feel that a particular toy would be worth selling, just by the vibrations it gave off when I held it)and having kids who could tip me off to what was or would be a 'hot' toy(since nobody knows these things like a kid does), I could buy low and sell high.
Yes, I was the Charles Schwab of the toy market.....a day trader of toys when I wasn't toting kids to practices, breaking up fights or sorting laundry.

And where has this brought me to today?

Well, I still have boxes of toys to dispose of.
Seems I was much better at buying the toys than selling them off in a timely manner, what with all my other jobs as a mom that took precedence.
And now with shipping costs having more than doubled since I began this hobby, it's not worth my time to try to sell some of this stuff anymore.

So not only do I have stuff like regular people that they need to get rid of having grown out of the need for it, I have all this toy stuff to let go of.

Plus I have hubs stuff......and the kids' stuff like I mentioned before.

But.....
I am making some headway in reducing the piles of stuff here.
But it's slow going.....
And sometimes I look around and get so impatient with myself and the stuff.

Because I don't want to be a Curator!

I don't want a house filled with Stuff!!

I don't want to spend my days dusting tchatchkes(that's nicknacks to some of you).

I don't want to spend my days changing decor according to the seasons from the stash of boxes piled in a closet marked summer, winter, spring or fall.

I don't want to spend my days worrying about the color scheme of a room or having to search for months or years to find just the right 'thing' that is missing to make this room feel like home.

I want to feel at peace and serene and not have all this stuff surrounding me.
I want to get rid of all the visual clutter and have just a few special things or furniture pieces accenting each room.
I want to be able to open my front door at any time to anyone and not be embarrassed at the mess because of all the stuff.
I want to be able to enjoy family and friends in my home and be able to have people in because it's empty of stuff and there is plenty of room for them.

So tell me.....are you are Curator?
Is your home filled with objects and you are the caretaker of stuff?

Do you enjoy being a Curator of things?
Or do you want to change like me?

It's never too late(or too early)to start!
Start small with something easy.
How about letting go of some old collection you have shoved in an attic, garage or closet?
If it sits untouched or unappreciated, why hang onto it?
Anything you bought and hang onto because it's going to appreciate in value and be worth a bazillion dollars?.....it's NOT!.....well unless you have gold, money or real estate shoved in a closet.
 
Let it go!

Here is a cute video I found on YouTube that humorously talks about the difference between a Collection and Clutter.
Have a look and then get busy making the changes in your life that you want to see!

If this inspires you, leave a comment and tell us all about it....



FYI--I do think Marc should NOT ditch that Dark Shadows record album....

Sluggy

Go Enter this Food Giveaway!

Go on over and see my bloggy buddy Ann Marie.  She is having a giveaway for a Suddenly Salad Prize Pack.
The link to enter  is HERE.
You'd better hurry though since the contest ends on July 12th!!

When you enter, be sure and mention that you were referred by Sluggy at Don't Read This; It's Boring!
That gives me an extra entry too.   ;-)

It sounds like a Yummy prize, doesn't it?

Sluggy

She Started this HeatWave......Finish the Lyric

I spent summers in New England slaving in various theaters' costume shops during college.   One theater in particular use to play muzak the hour or so before the performances.  The costume shop was in the basement of the theater so every evening while we worked we were forced to listen to this looped muzak tape.  Mostly, it was old numbers from old musical films(think 1940's thru 1960's).
One of the songs was the old classic "Heatwave" from the even more classic movie musical from 1954 "There's No Business Like Show Business", staring Ethel Merman, Dan Dailey, Mitzi Gaynor & Donald O'Connor.  Also featured in the film was Marilyn Monroe and she performed the Heatwave number.

Have a look at it if you like this sort of thing....



Us Costume shop folks use to put on our own impromptu performances of these songs when they played. 
I can tell you only that they were not as well choreographed but just as cheesy as this one with alot more 'camp'.

This is what happens after you've been awake for 3 days straight trying to get the costumes done for opening night.....


I'm off to go spend time with my #2 BFF before I start my own personal heatwave meltdown.
I will say #2 BFF's  personality is all wet and she has a wickedly cold sense of humour but I wouldn't trade her for all the SmartSource coupons in the world....

Sluggy

July Food Shopping....9 Days Down **Amended**

I was finally able to go to Ollie's again since the June Food Stamp Challenge is over.  Remember, Ollie's doesn't accept EBT so that is why I hadn't gone in June.
They still had some of the Olive Oil I wanted to get......so I got some!lol

3 x EVOO from California $1.99=$5.97
2 x Enchilada Sauce $.79=$1.58
1 x Juicy Juice (cherry)=$1.69
1 x Act II Popcorn=$2.29
SubTotal.....$11.53

Everything in the store was on sale the week of July 4th for 15% off so I got a $1.73 discount off the already discounted prices! 8-))
$11.53-$1.73=$9.80 OOP
Reg.Retail Value....$21.33

I also went to Price Chopper(NE) last week.  I had 9 doubler coupons from the Sunday paper(you could only use 3 per trip).
I had a very hard time finding stuff I wanted that was cheapish that would be free or cheap after coupons were doubled.  You could only use sunday insert or magazine/etc. coupons with the doublers not Internet printed coupons so that cut down even more on what I had to pick from to buy.
The 3 things I planned on buying with the doublers were either out of stock or they didn't carry to begin with....crap!
So I ended up with....
1 bag of Herr's chips...used a $1/1 Q+a doubler=$1.49
2 containers of BestLife Butter Spread(for daughter)...used 2 $1/1 Qs+2 doublers=$.29 ea.=$.58
1 can of Chef Michael Dog Food...used free item Q=$.00
2 tubs of Grands(on sale $1.91)....used 2 $1/1 instant dairy store Q=$.91 ea.=$1.82
2 packs of AlFresco Chicken Sausage(on sale $3.50)...used 2 $2/1 Qs=$1.50 ea.=$3.00
SubTotal...$6.89+$.06 tax=$6.95 OOP
Reg. Retail Value...$23.88

I hit the Bakery Outlet as well...
Total....$10.00 OOP
Reg. Retail Value...$39.70 + a free loaf of bread for spending $10=$42.69


This week I picked up a few things Tuesday when I took the nephew up to the grocery store....
6 x jars of organic applesauce on sale $1 ea.=$6.00
1 x Cantaloupe on sale=$1.98
1 x Iceberg Lettuce on sale=$.98
1/2 lb. of Turkey Pastrami on sale=$1.90
1 Gallon of Milk=$3.32
3 Cream Cheese on sale $.99=$2.97
2 x TV Dinners(for #2 son)on sale $1.25=$2.50
Total....$19.65 OOP
No coupons used.
Reg. Retail Value....$28.25


On Wednesday I hit up Weis checking for clearance meats....

14lbs. chicken breast=$33.31
4.96lb. steak/stew beef=$28.90
1.58lb. pork chops=$6.30
1lb. ham slices=$1.98 marked down already
SubTotal....$70.49
DISCOUNTS
BOGO on the chicken -$16.52 & Instant Meat Dept. Discounts  -$18.75=$35.27
$70.49-$35.27=$35.22 for 21.54lbs. of meat

I also bought a 2lb. bag of Shrimp on sale for $13.98($6.99lb.)
I also used a Free DiGiorno Pizza($3.00) and a Free McCormick Spice Sensations Q($1.99).
#2 son needed a pack of tiny spiral notepads for Band Camp...$.99

Total....$50.19 + $.06 tax=$50.25 OOP
Reg. Retail Value...$88.70


Then I hit Family Dollar for junk food/drinks for #2 son.  We had gotten a flyer in the mail with coupons and a $5 off a $25 order coupon too.

4 x 12pk. soda  w/Q $2.50ea.=$10.00
3 x Koolaid Mix w/sugar w/Q $2ea.=$6.00
1 x Lipton Tea Bags $2.00--there was a $.50/1 ManuQ tearpad next to the bags but the cashier somehow rang it up twice so they ended up=$1.00 instead of $1.50
2 x Cornbread Mix $.45=$.90
1 x Gravy Train Dog Food=$5.25  went looking for the larger bags on sale for $8...
1 x Ramen Noodles=$1.00 the kid lives on these in the summer...I need to buy stock in the company!
1 x Small Spiral Notepads (3 pack)=$1.15
After discounts and coupons total came to....$21.10 w/tax
Reg. Retail Value....$31.80


July Food Spending to Date....$117.75

Sluggy