Vacationing in Amish Country, Ohio

    This is our first time to visit the Amish areas in Ohio. Its just a little 3 day weekend mini vacation. The Ohio settlement is supposed to be the world's largest Amish community. We brought the new Cyclone toyhauler to a campground in Berlin. Its Scenic Hills. A very nice, clean campground with generously sized sites. Its within walking distance to sveral nice shops on main street.
     On the way out of the campground we already had our first sitings of those traditional black Amish horse drawm buggies.

     We visited a large antiques mall, and just ate supper at Boyd & Wurthmann Restaurant.  It started in the 1930's as a grocery store. It still had the wonderful charm of a time past.
     My husband had their chicken dinner, and I had the chicken salad. Both of us had the warm, and fresh homemade bread and butter. we are usually too full after eating a meal to buy dessert. This was the first time since we have been married that we actually made room. Thankfully so. We both ordered the banana cream pie and it was fabulous. I dont care for meringue, and this was topped with whipped cream.
     We also drove past this great old courthouse. i love the stonework.

        More to come. We arent heading home till Sunday.

Homemade Perpetual Vanilla

      A few months back I decided to find out what all the fuss was about with homemade vanilla. so I ordered some Madagascar Vanilla Beans over the internet. If you value your budget, dont buy in your local Walmart. They may be cheaper in a lot of things but definitely not in vanilla beans. One jar from McCormicks had ONE single bean in it for a whopping $9 and some change. I bought about 45 beans on Ebay for roughly $13 and change.
     I bought a bottle of Vodka from the liquor store. I cant believe they didnt card me,lol. I asked, but I dont think the clerk got the humor in this coming from a 50+ year old woman,lol. Since I am not a drinker, and wasnt sure I would like the vanilla made with bourbon, I only bought one of the 1 oz bottles.

   Once you obtain the vanilla beans, lay one out on the counter and using a sharp knife, split the bean thru one side down the middle. From tip to tip. Dont cut all the way thru. Then place 4-5 beans per cup of liquor in a bottle. Preferably a dark glass bottle. Or keep in a dark place. I stuck mine in a bag and back into the back of a lower cabinet. Let these steep for about 3 months.

  

     As you start getting a little low in vanilla, just add more liquor. Eventually you may need to add a few more beans as well.

    For my small bottle of Jim Beam, I just split and folded one bean in half and placed it in the bottle.

    I have been smelling this new pantry item off and on, and tasting it. I couldnt decide if I liked it or not. But I guess since I had not actually tasted store bought straight from the bottle, I didnt realize there might be a difference when actually cooking with it. Until last night.
     We just got back from a 2 hour drive home on the motorcycle to watch my grand daughters play soccer. I hadnt really dressed warm enough for the 50 degree temps, and was pretty cold by the time we got back. not to mention the cool night air was aggravating my fibromyalgia causing some aching as well. So i immediately took a hot shower then fixed me a cup of hot chocolate. I suddenly decided to get a little creative. After mixing my hot chocolate, i then placed slightly less than a 1/2 tsp of my bourbon vanilla into the cup and stirred, then I dropped in a dollop of marshmallow cream, and a slight pinch of cinnamon. This was the most fabulous cup of hot chocolate I have ever tasted. as i noted before I dont drink. other than an ocassional sample of wine from Olive garden etc. I could only taste a hint of the bourbon in the chocolate. just enough to be a wonderful drink to warm the tummy.

We Have Applesauce!

   My husband has access to a couple of apple trees. I dont know what kind of apples they are, but they are good to eat fresh, and great to cook with .He brought me in two large ( I think 10 gallon) buckets full on Friday.

I managed to work up 1 and 1/4 of buckets.

This mess got buried into my  make-shift compost pile behind the garden.

I ended up with 28 pints of applesauce. !3 pints of cinnamon applesauce, and 13 plain. I think I will put up some sliced apples for apple pie filling with whats left.

Tips From Farmer Pat

    I was talking to my sister today and she telling her how poorly my vegetable garden did this year. She was bragging about how well her husband Pat's garden always does. She said his peppers are always huge and very productive. Out of 4 plants this year, I got a grand total of .......are you ready?.........wait for it.......
4 small peppers. So I called her house later today and since he wasnt home, I left a message. Farmer Pat, as I have teasingly started calling him, called me back later. I am going to note the tips he gave me here for future use. I write notes everywhere and can never find them again. I seriously doubt i can lose them from here. I hope!
     His very first recommendation was to get a Soil  Sample. So I plan on checking with my county extension agency next week about this. His further recommendations are based on what he has learned from gardening that have helped him in his soil in our area.
1. Lime the garden area this fall
2. Since last years garden did so well with the addition of a large amount of mostly composted Horse  
    Manure, I am going to do the same for next yr.
3.Plant Garlic in October.
4. Lime again in March or April
5. Plant Onions and cabbage in March or April. Cover cabbage with a milk jug if there is to be a heavy
    frost.
6. Pull garlic in July, then plant beans there.
7. For the green beans, sprinkle on bone meal over planting area, then plow under, or just sprinkle on top
    after planting. Also prepare the area now in the Fall by applying bone meal.
8. For Bell Peppers, he recommended applying Epsom Salts and Potash at planting about 6" out from  
    plant, around it in a circle during planting, then once a month. Or use a 5-10-10 fertilizer instead. First
    number being nitrogen, then sodium, and then potash.
9. For the corn, he said to use a 10-10-10 fertilizer 2 times during growing season. Also he said to dig a
    small hole about 1/2" to 1" deep, and plant 3-4 seeds. Then later thin to 2 strong plants. Also he has
    waited till corn was up about a couple of feet, then plant half runner beans around them.
10. He said for any underground bulbing type veggies use Bone Meal. Such as for Beets.
11. For the strawberries, he recommends covering them with straw for the winter, and then in spring,
      pulling it back some from each plant and applying nitrogen. Also to mow over the June bearing plants as
      soon as they are done producing.
12. For blight on tomatoes, he said I could use Sevin Dust, or mix a 1 capfull of bleach, and a gallon of
      water to spray the tomatoes.
He also generously offered to help me out next year if I needed. Farmer Pat, be prepared for a call or two...or three.

Homemade HE Safe Laundry Soap

  A few months ago  I read a post on StoneGable blog about homemade laundry soap. I still had some bottles of bought soap put back that I had bought cheap with coupons, so didnt do anything with the information.  A couple of weeks ago, i started buying a few of the ingredients each time I went shopping. I thought about making half a batch to see if I liked it, but after dumping one whole box of the washing soda in my bag without thinking, I figured I would cut down on cost, till I see how it goes.
      I have made liquid laundry detergent before but it was too much of a pain in the butt to make. Now I have an HE machine and didnt think I could use powder detergent. So I did a little research online and found that the Duggers used a homemade powder detergent. I have to admit, I have only seen the show once or twice, but I figure if it works for them, why not try it. I also read comments by several that this was safe to use in an HE machine. Most advised to just throw the soap directly into the tub. From what I understand the reason for special detergent with HE is because the regular detergents suds up too much for these machines. I found that out once the hard way,lol.  These ingredients also do not suds up. Even so, I have read 100's of comments about how great this stuff cleans. Some have said it helps with the odor buildup in the HE machines. (that and keeping the door open when not in use). Some have commented that their clothes had begun to have a smell because of the HE machine, but this detergent has stopped that problem.
    Since I hadnt gotten quite all the ingredients, I also researched other recipes. Only one I have read (on Stonegable) called for Downey Unstoppables or similar product. I liked this idea so wanted to keep it. However I only had one bottle, but figured if others were having such good results without, one bottle should be fine and help keep the expense down. StoneGable also had Oxyclean in hers. another fantastic idea which I didnt find anywhere else. But again, I only had half of the recommended amount. So same as before, if it worked well without, I used half.

                                I also borrowed the label that Stonegable found and used.  
Here is the recipe that I adapted:
4 bars fels Naptha soap.........97 cents each at Walmart
             Note: I have since found Zote soap at Big Lots for around the same price, but it is twice
                       the size, and a pretty pink, with a nice smell.
2 jars Downey Unstoppables.......$4.76 at Walmart
1 Box 4 lb, 12 oz  Borax.............$3.38 at Walmart
1 box 4lb baking soda.......$2.12 at Walmart
             Note: I have read that Walmart has this in the pool section in large boxes cheaper
1 jar approx 1.5 lb jar of Oxyclean........$3.86 at Walmart
             Note: i have since found a "Sun" brand knock-off at Big Lots for only 2.50 
1 box 3 lb 7 oz Super washing soda.....$3.24 at Walmart
      Grate bars of soap. I used by hand grater since I couldnt find a part to my food processor. Then dump all ingredients into a garbage bag to mix thoroughly. Then pour into your special container.
total cost for materials was $21.24. i didnt figure up actual cost per load but someone on Stonegable using all the ingredients in her original recipe stated it worked out to .07 cents per load. a bottle of  27 load Gain detergent from Walmart costs $9.97. This works out to LESS  than (with my recipe) $1.89 (costs for other recipe) for same number of loads. I have already washed a load, and brought a handful of the towels in for my husband to smell. With the HE washer we occasionally have problems with a musty odor. I didnt tell him why I wanted him to smell them. he commented they smelled very fresh. THEN  I told him why.
By the way, I use 2 tablespoons per load. you gotta give this a try.

Another poster also mentioned that if you have hard water, add some epsom salts, or kosher salt to mix to soften water and help the detergent work better.

I am also going to use vinegar for fabric softener. once clothes are dry there is no vinegar odor. I also want to get some essential oils to add a little to the vinegar. Maybe even make my own by soaking some vanilla beans in the vinegar, or even lemon rinds.
                                                       

UPDATE: I recently found Zote, laundry soap at Big Lots for .90 a bar, and these bars are twice the size as the other. Also, i found Sun brand  oxyxlean for $2.50 a tub at the same place.

Clingman's Dome, NC....Where's The oxygen!

        Today we rode the motorcycles to Clingman's Dome, NC. It is about 20 miles from Pigeon forge,Tn. The trail to Clingman's Dome is a very well maintained blacktop trail to the top of the mountain. it is only about 1/2 mile to the peak and observation tower. However it sure feels like much more. The air is thin, and with the exertion of climbing up the side of a mountain, it only takes minutes before you feel it. I am ever so grateful for these placed all along the edge of the path:

And believe me, I think I warmed up almost every one. I think between me and the couple in front of me, we made a pretty good tag team making sure every bench was visited,lol. The peak is 6,643 feet high, and the observation tower adds another 45 feet. It is well worth the trip and effort. Just take your time, make frequent stops if needed. I seen some people on their way back down that had to be in their 70's. Here are some more of the views:

This is the observation tower up ahead.

 This is a peak of the beautiful view from the tower.

More of 2012 Car Show

 I finally got a quick shot of the radio Flyer. Still got my fingers crossed for a better one:

And here some more shots to enjoy:

Another Step Towards Growing More of our Food

     I have been making an attempt at growing more of our own food. I just think that the more we can produce on our own is healthier. Have you taken the time to read your labels, or listen to the news about how many more are sickened from contamination of our mass produced foods? Not a pleasant thought. My son recently bought a Jonagold apple tree and planted it in the front yard. We went shopping at Lowes yesterday and I found a couple of fruit trees at really good prices. Too good to pass up, even tho we have to haul them home in the back of the truck while pulling the fifth wheel. The apple tree is about 10 feet tall right now, and the peach is about 6 feet tall. both look very healthy.

For some reason this shot doesnt want to stay upright on upload. Sorry about that. I cant wait till these start bearing fruit. especially the peach. Here is a shot of the tags so I can remember the info on both.

Pigeon Forge, Shades of the Past

  On this past Monday we made our yearly trip to Pigeon forge, Tn for their car show. My husband loves this. We will be here for 14 days. The first show starts Friday and runs thru Sunday. It is Shades of the Past. Then next Friday thru Sunday we have The Grand Rod Run. below is a little video I put together showing some of the cars we seen. i will add more pics as I get time.

This show depicts the broad range of characters that participate in car shows. Some are the restorers:

And some fall into the imaginative fun seekers, just here to entertain and be a part of the fun:

Some just like to share their little bit of the past, untouched, and allowed to age gracefully. Enjoyed for their true beauty:

Dont we all wish we could be appreciated like that. Unfortunately i missed getting a pic of the HUGE radio flyer wagon driven down the road, full of smiling faces. Hopefully they will still be here next weekend for the Grand Rod Run.

My first Machine Quilted Quilt

     My niece is expecting her first child. Its a boy! Her baby shower is in October. I got to work on my first quilt for a boy. I also wanted to try machine quilting again. In the past it was a disaster. This time it turned out a little better. I did shadow quilting. I am not 100% satisfied with it, but at least this time I had no bunching. Next time I will try the meandering style quilting. We left yesterday morning for Pigeon Forge, Tn. I usually like to knit, or quilt on the way, to keep me busy. So i opted to bring it with me and finished the binding and brder quilting by hand on the way down. I was able to get this little quilt done within 2 and 1/2 days. not too shabby.

PS: A Thank You to Laura at Lullabelles View for her encouragement and  instruction.