No Rain Yet and other Ramblings!

This is day 144 of the drought in my part of the country.  The weatherman assured local viewers this morning that remnants of Hurricane Isaac would definitely bring us some much needed rain.  We did get less than a tenth of an inch of rain this morning here at Patchwork Acres, but nothing since.  The sun has popped out occasionally, but not for long.

I didn't go one of my farmers markets to sell soaps today because of the rain prediction; plus, I had sourdough bread rising and needed to get it in the oven past the time I should have been on the road.  When we woke up this morning, it was so sticky, humid due to the tropical air moving into our area.   I was going to wrap soaps for a custom order, but the soaps are too damp from the humidity.  I decided it was too uncomfortable to make soap, as well.   It's not so humid now and there is a nice breeze blowing, so it's bearable here in the house.  We turned off the A/C several weeks ago when it cooled down a bit and the humidity dropped.  I don't plan to turn it back on until next year, if possible.  I like having the windows open to smell the fresh air.  Plus, it saves on our electric bill if the air conditioner isn't running.

Because of the drought, my garden---which started out with so much promise---is rather sad looking right now.  I have gotten enough tomatoes to can a few and have some to eat.  Both the sweet and hot peppers aren't producing like normal and they are smaller than they should be.  The habanaros haven't set any fruit at all yet.  Some of my vegetables didn't even germinate.  I have been watering as needed so everything doesn't completely die, but even so, rainwater would be much better for the plants.  My plan is to do some cleaning (weeds still grow in a drought!) in my garden next week and start my Fall garden even though I'll have to water....unless we get that rain that's been predicted.  I want to plant lettuce, spinach, squash, peas, and green beans.

Even though it's been so hot and dry, our goats are still producing a lot of milk, enough for my family  and several customers.  I made mozzarella cheese a week or so ago, and we quickly ate it.  I like to make it and put it in the freezer for when I make home-made pizza.  Anyway, our buck was checking out one of the does yesterday.  And depending on when he does "his job", we could be expecting baby goats near the end of January or first part of February.

So I've had a bit of a lazy day, hoping for the rain to come, knitting with a new yarn, checking email and Facebook, and baking my sourdough bread.  The computer control on my oven went out a while back, so I wasn't able to bake for a few months; but my husband installed a new one.  The oven now bakes a little hotter than it did before, so my sourdough bread is a bit darker than I would usually bake it because I forgot to set the timer for a few less minutes than the recipe called for.  I am sampling it right now and it still tastes good.

I mentioned that I was knitting today.  I have a new yarn from Knit Picks called Chroma.  I bought the fingering weight yarn in the color, "Prism."  I love how the colors subtly change from one to another.  I'm knitting myself a pair of socks with this yarn.  I didn't pay attention when I bought it and didn't know until I started knitting that the yarn was a single ply, rather than a 2 or 3 ply sock yarn.  But that's okay; it's knitting up just fine.  I'm halfway finished with the first sock----working on the gusset, then on to the foot and toe.

First Friday is coming up next week at the art studio where I am a member.  First Fridays are always fun.  I get to see the other artists in our studio, plus the other studios in our building, and get to see all the folks who stop by the look at the artwork.

Well, it's time to get started on supper tonight.  We are eating leftovers of one of my favorite dishes to make.  It's called Chalupa Grande and it's basically pork cooked with pinto beans, spices, onions, garlic, onion, and green chilies.  It can be served on rice or in a flour tortilla with cheese, salsa, and/or hot sauce made by one of our market vendors.

Maybe I won't take so long between posts.  That's always been hard for me to do with our dial up internet, but broadband is supposed to be here soon!!!  Until next time.

What's Happening at Patchwork Acres Today?

Wow!  It's been over a year since I last blogged and I've had to start over setting up my blog!  So much has been going on.

The weather has been very mild this winter.  My son has only missed two days of school due to weather conditions, much less than last several years.  So, school will get out on time this year, which makes my son very happy!

Currently, we have one baby goat, over a month old, that I have been bottle feeding.  We've named her Cinnamon and she will be a replacement for one of our two goats that will be going to the sale barn later this year.

I've been busy making lots of goat milk soap.  Before long the farmers markets will be opening for the season and my Spring Craft Shows and various festivals will be starting as well.  Also, it will be time to start my garden soon, so I need to get as much soap made before then so I can spend time in the garden. Have big plans to put out a bigger and better garden this year.  My garden has been rather dismal the last two years and I really want a better one this year.

This morning my husband, son, and I moved our young chickens to a different chicken house.  Hubby caught one of my roosters that I will butcher after lunch.  Will put him in the slow cooker tomorrow and make chicken "something" for supper tomorrow.  Hubby suggested chicken enchiladas.

I've also got sourdough bread rising.  It's actually time now to divide the dough and shape.   Then it rise for a third time and be ready to go into the oven and bake.  I love the smell of bread baking!   And I really like using sourdough to bake a lot of different things:  breads of course, muffins, cakes, sticky buns, rolls.

The other kitchen "chore" I did this morning was to prepare a head of cabbage for lacto-fermentation.  I've been doing that since last summer.  Except for my son, the rest of my family loves it and I especially love how nutritious it is for us.   My father-in-law likes the fermented cabbage, aka sauerkraut; and I took a jar with us and left it the last time we visited them.  Since then I've made cortido, which is a  Latin American sauerkraut.  My husband likes it better than the plain sauerkraut.  Will have to take some to my father-in-law and see if he likes it, too.

My latest fiber projects are that I'm hand knitting fingerless mitts for a fiber friend of mine.  She raises alpacas then prepares the fiber:  spins, dyes, & crochets the yarn.  She has a knitting machine that she makes many items with, but she doesn't hand knit.  She mailed me a package of several colors of alpaca/merino blend yarns and I've knit one pair of mitts so far and am working on the second pair.  Alpaca yarn feels so wonderful soft and is very warm.  Here's her Etsy shop URL:  www.etsy.com/shop/BreezyRidge   Check it out and support a local artisan.

For the last year and a half, I've been a part of an art co-op and that has been a lot of fun.  All of the artists take turns working in the studio and we get to meet a lot of interesting people and other artists.

Maybe I won't be so lax at my blogging.   We still have dial-up in our rural area and it takes a while to do some things online.  So if I don't post in a while, it's because I'm busy doing something or just not taking time to get online!