It's Been a While

Laurel from, Exchange in the Hive said that we need to update our blog.  I agree because so much has happened since October.  By the way, it feels like it has been two weeks since then.  We bought a house 1.2 miles north of where we were currently living with Grandma.  We now have a 4 bed, 2 bath, corner house, which we are madly in love with.  It has been quite an adventure to move and start all of these things when we have had no background knowledge on home owning.  Special thanks to our families, including our mothers who forced us to make about five small loads the night of the move before we tuckered out  It was drama free for the most part, even though we had some problems with our big furniture.  That's okay, we love to shop!

Our first house!

In true "We're Really Doing This?!?!" fashion, we decided to start renovations right away (the first week).  We enlisted our friends, Derek and Adam to come over and help.  We traded a lot of beer for some amazing work.  What seemed like a "small" project turned out to be five weekends, again because of the lack of background knowledge.  But they have been so cool and we love our new laundry room.  Everything else seems to be in great working order.  Our goals for the new house: finish the laundry room to completion, create a huge garden space, install a new tankless water heater, and gutters?   More pictures and adventure to come from Zenith. 

Adam installing lights after they added all of the framing.Joey (Derek's wife) and I installed all of the instillation.  Can you count how many Bud Light bottles are in the room? 

 

Premoving picture: The chickens had to move as well.  Alex painting.

The End of an Era

We have had a extremely busy week with the passing of Grandma.  It has allowed us to reflect a lot about the past six or seven years.  Alex has lived on Honeycut Road for seven years, and I moved in 6 years ago this Thanksgiving.  During this time we have traveled with Grandma to Mexico, Las Vegas, Sun Valley, San Diego, Aruba, and many other places.  We shared countless of dinners at the Cottonwood Club and Country Club, drinking far too much wine.  Finally, we had an amazing friend.  Many have said how great it was for Grandma to have us in the house.  Or that we extended her quality of life, but the fact of the matter is Grandma bettered our lives.  She will be missed and it truly is the end of an era.  Thank you for all of your condolences and well wishes - we will be fine as life moves on.  Please enjoy some of these great photos.

 We always love dressing Grandma up for Halloween.  What a good sport! 

We've Got Worms!

Okay, so we have been very busy around the house getting ready for Halloween and what not, but one thing we have put off long enough is dividing our worms.  Now before you start thinking gross things let me tell you these three fascinating facts about composting worms. 

First cool fact, 1/3 of our garbage should be composted, 1/3 of our garbage should be recycled, and only 1/3 of our garbage is true landfill garbage.  Do a little 4th grade math activity and see how much of your garbage can is a 1/3.  Mark up the sides and you will be amazed at how much you are over filling your garbage can. 

Second fascinating fact, red worms are hermaphrodites.  This means two sex organs, but we have to have two worms to breed.  By the way, you can optimal breeding at 59 degrees.

Third cool fact, a Red Wiggler worm can process an estimated amount of ¼-1/2 lb. wastes every day.

So here are some pictures to see how we divided our worms to give to another friend to start his own colony.  Think of it like Amish friendship bread or those Halloween doorbell dashes.  

 Start with important supplies: wine, Rubbermaid tub, drill, and hose. 

 Drill holes for the red wigglers to breath. 

 Insert the hose into the tub.  Seal with hot glue 

 Fill the new tub with torn paper and water.  

Red wigglers need moisture in the air to breath.  

So it has to be very damp. 

 Here is the old tub full of probably hundreds of gigantic worms.  

At least three pounds when all was said and done with. 

 Morgan stopped by for the some dividing fun.  But she didn't get her hand dirty.

  Worms mixed up with the compost.  We will now use this in the garden and houseplants.  It is odorless and amazing for growing things around the house and in the garden. 

Peach Salsa

Thanks to Gina Larson for buying fresh off the tree peaches (completely unripe) from last Saturdays Peach Canning Extravaganza, I had an entire box of Yellow Albertas.  Tonight I decided to go crazy and make a quadruple batch of Peach Salsa!!  Note, if you are going to work with jalapenos, it is highly suggested that you wear latex gloves; my hands are still on fire from the jalapeno oil and contrary to the advice from multiple online sources, soaking your hands in milk and rubbing them with olive oil DOES NOT HELP!  Ok, back to the Peach Salsa . . . AWESOME!!!  I mean what not better to do on a Monday night than make Salsa for four hours??  


Many have asked what has been jammed and canned so far this season, please see the list below (if anyone wants recipes or to learn, just let me know):


-Jalapeno Jelly
-Strawberry-Rhubarb Jam
-Blackberry Jam
-Raspberry Jam
-Blueberry Jam
-Peach-Jalapeno Jam
-Peach Salsa
-Lite Syrup Peaches
-Marinara
-Sun-dried Tomatoes
-Roasted Tomato Dip
-Pesto
-Mint Chutney

Last year's bounty included:

-Apricot Jam

-Strawberry Jam

-Strawberry-Blueberry Jam

-Salsa

-Mint Jelly

-Peach-Plum Jam

-Plum Chutney

-Jalapeno-Dill Pickles

Who says that cooking in a doo-rag doesn't look good?

In the jars

Joe's attempt to look like he's helping when all he wanted to do is eat, eat, eat!!

All the ingredients in my fabulous copper pot, now I'm ready to cook!