New Addition to the Farm

Special Delivery!  (I paid how much for this little pile of material???)

Progress...

Ok, now its looking like something!

Getting there

Finished!  Now we get to fill it!

I realized last year that if I ever wanted our basement finished, we would need to put up a shed.  We have a big garage, but it's holding all of the stuff that used to be in our shed at our last house(s) ...(boat, mower, four wheelers, log splitter, gas cans, oil pans, race car parts [fortunately the actual race car hangs out at the actual farm], dog kennels, decoys, trailers, wagons, sleds, augers, you get the idea).  All of the stuff that is normaly in a garage is in my basement (tools, tools, tools, paint cans, hunting clothes, fish cleaning tables, random pieces of wood and insulation that my frugile husband came across in the trash piles from the builders building our home 3 years ago and he couldn't handle to actually throw away cuz we might use it someday, boots, more boots, and probably 8 boxes that hold the contents of 3 or 4 junk drawers from the last 2 or 3 houses, again you get the idea). 

Long story short, in order to have my dream quilting/sewing retreat in my basement someday, we needed a shed.  So, here it is.  One step closer to my ultimate basement takeover!  :-)  Hooray!

Freezing Sweet Corn



Want the yummy taste of sweet corn all year round?

 Easy Recipe for Freezing Sweet Corn

16 C sweet corn, cut off the cob
1/2 C butter (1 stick)
1 C sugar
1 C water
1 T salt

Each year we freeze dozens of bags of sweet corn.  I think we've perfected the recipe and how to freeze it! 

First, cut the corn off the cob before cooking.  Our tips?  Spread out a large towel over your work area.  This prevents the corn that does miss the bowl from bouncing off the table and onto the floor.  You'll need a large bowl (we use a 32 c tupperware).  Then, put a tall GLASS glass upside down in the middle of the bowl.  Trust me here, we've tried all kinds, the glass glass works best.  Then, with your sharpest knife (my husband uses his filet knife and sharpens it every 2 or 3 dozen ears that he cuts), place an end of the cob on the cup and slice the kernels off.  They should fall right into your bowl. 

Put all of your ingredients in a large pot, I put everything but the corn in first, let the butter melt and get everything boiling, then I add the corn.  Put a lid on your pot and bring the mixture back to a boil.  Total cooking time is around 15 minutes, boiling for about 7 to 8 minutes of that time. 

Once your corn is cooked, I transfer the mixture from the stock pot to another large tupperware bowl.  To help this mixture stop cooking and cool quickly, I put the bowl in the sink filled with ice water.  Once the corn is warm, we scoop out 1 1/2 to 2 cups of corn and pour it into quart freezer bags.   Leave these bags open until corn is cooled completely.

 Lay bags flat to remove air and seal.  Place bags flat in the freezer to freeze. 

They are much easier to handle if you freeze them flat!  Now you'll enjoy sweet corn all year round! 

a day in the life

In between quilting and pressing my teeny tiny log cabin blocks on Sunday, I also played farm wife.  Hubby is baling 3 1/2 miles away, which means lots of equipment trips, which means I follow behind to give him a ride back to the farm.  At this this tractor has a/c so my little farmer man can ride along and have some Daddy time.

his hobby

My husband's hobby... Figure 8 Racing.  I think this is why I get to sew so much!  Next weekend we have four races... Thursday in Crete, Friday in Wahoo, Saturday in Osceola and Sunday in Aurora.  I'm tired just thinking about it! 

#73 car and it's biggest fan - Jackson

You've got to be kidding....

C'mon.  This is at 6:00 at night.  No relief in sight.  My flowers are dying, the garden is wilting and I am melting.  And of course, mid-July, it's baling season.  We raise about 30 cow/calf pairs so we bale brome and alfalfa every summer.  Baling always means triple digit temps and triple the work.  Mow, rake, bale. Repeat.  I feel so bad for my hubby.....  In a 19-something Heston swather that was invented before a/c.  Poor guy.  I'm ready for fall...

my unexpected life

Who knew that this is how my life would turn out...

Growing up, I couldn't wait to leave my small town.  I dreamt of living in a high rise in the big city. Now I live at least 8 miles from almost anything. When I was little, I hated planting the garden with my barefeet,  picking bugs off the potato plants and putting them in tin coffee cans, spreading grass clippings around the plants and podding peas on the patio.  Now I still plant my garden with my barefeet and I'm using all of the tricks my dad taught me way back when.  When I was about 5, I was scared to death of our rooster, Fred.  I didn't go in our backyard for an entire summer.  Now I have laying hens of my own and I'm teaching my son to pick eggs.  In the early years of my marriage, I called my husband at work to ask him how to cook rice.  Now I love to create in my kitchen.  A few years ago, I didn't know whether you plugged in a sewing machine or pedaled it.  Now I'm completely addicted to quilting.  After college I found myself in a minimum wage job looking across the mall parking lot at the local radio station and thinking, "If that guy can sell radio ads, so can I."  Today, I've been creating radio ad campaigns for my clients for over 10 years.  It's still a challenge and I still enjoy it. 

I am not in charge of this life.  Who knew this is the life I would live.....  Thank God HE had a better plan for me!

As if I don't already have enough going on...

As if I don't already have enough going on in my life, I've decided to start a blog.  I attempt a lot of different things in my life, some of them are even a surprise to me.  This can be my way of documenting, my attempts, my failures and my successes.  I hope you enjoy my journey as much as I do!