Bread & Butter Pickles and an Update....

Hey Everybody!  I hope you had a wonderful 4th of July.  We ended up staying inside and eating sweets instead of going outside because the whole evening kept threatening rain with lightning and wind, but we never did get rain.  We did get to see some fireworks the neighbors put off though.  Anyway, it was a nice relaxing day.  I'm already looking forward to staying home Monday even though I have to clean all day! 

Ok, you ready for an update?  Alright then, let's get started!

Above is a picture of when I prepped some cucumbers to make Bread & Butter Pickles!  I did these once year before last and they were so good.  I sliced these thinner though, so these will be easier to get on a burger or hotdog or even to eat straight off  a plate.  I want to do some dill pickles  that will be thicker slices.  I did these pickles this past Monday.  I was so busy, but these cucumbers needed to be dealt with or they would go bad.  I got them from the fella that does a big garden every year and sells his extras.  Only 3 miles away.... not bad!  The picture below is of the cucumbers and onions mixed with pickling salt and ice on top.  I had to soak them for 1 1/2 hrs.  The last picture is of the finished product.  I got so involved in the canning process that I forgot to take pictures!  I did a water bath canner for 10 minutes... now we need to wait a few weeks before we try them.  I have a feeling they won't last long! 

Ok, so onto other topics. 
The garden.  I really need to take more pictures because I've actually cleaned out another bed and I'm slowly but surely finding things to fill it in with.  I've used the bags of soil that I had there already, dead clippings, newspaper, more dead clippings, and some soil from some beds that just weren't working.  I would like to work towards having all raised beds.  The slope makes it difficult to keep erosion from washing away the soil.  Tonight though, I'm going to plant some bush beans in one prepared bed that isn't raised.  It's never been raised and I have had some good luck with plants there.  I read on a blog that she always plants a second round of bush beans in July after her spring crops have been harvested.  Well, since my first round was killed by frost, I'm gonna give it another shot!  I'm gonna go for broke and try to have 6 plants.  Exciting!  We had a pretty bad storm come our way and broke a branch off our tree (did I tell you that already?)  anyway, that branch is still in our back yard.  We're waiting for it to give up the leaves so I can put them on my newly cleaned raised bed.  I'll then top it off with some compost and I think we'll be good.  I may even be able to plant something in it. 
I'm gonna stop rambling and just do a whole post on it.  Lots of pictures.... maybe even video!!

Business:  Business is going really well.  We did over 5k in sales last month and was able to bring home a descent paycheck.  Still not enough to cover everything, but we're definitely heading in the right direction.  We're getting more and more customers and we actually sold out of things this past weekend!  Luckily we got a new shipment in on Tuesday.  We're excited because business is starting to flow, but we're still not really "busy" all the time, so the numbers can only go up!  I think the part I like most is meeting all the different people.  We met an amazing man this past Sunday.  He is a Vietnam War Veteran that did not one, but TWO tours of duty there!  He is the sweetest most laid back guy I think I've ever met.  He talked to us like he had known us his whole life.  He is a back to basics kinda guy and I would love to spend the day with him on his property just to soak up his knowledge of homesteading!  I have to say Business is Good.

Family:  My son is loving summer and we had a great time Monday at the waterpark.  We had a "camp out" in our sitting room Tuesday night, so we are having a good time on the cheap so far. I feel blessed to be able to be with my son and hubby everyday.  I hope that when my son grows up he will look back at this experience and be happy with it.  He's such a good kid. 

Money:  We are still hanging in there!  We have earned half of the expense money for August and we are hoping that July sales will have us earn the other half.  We are proud that the paychecks we have written to ourselves have actually been what we have truly earned.  Maybe we will earn a enough money in August to cover all of our September expenses.  We are working the budget like nobodys business.  We are looking at the quality of food we are buying though.  We are considering buying meat from a local free range farm instead of the stuff at the store. The quality is much better not to mention that it is encouraging local business.  We may need to skip meat everyday of the week, but it will make those meat meals much more special. We'll have to see what we can do.  Hopefully my garden will produce some food to help us with that goal.  So, we will keep moving on. 

Kitties:  Oh my kitties.  How I love each and every one of them.  My old girl DiDitv.  I can't believe my little kids are turning 4 this year!  Lita and Harry!  and their mom named "momma" will be 6.  And yes, I bought special kittie treats to celebrate the occasion! I am sad though because one of my feral kitties has disappeared.  Delilah.  I had her spayed and she is a sweet kitty.  My heart breaks thinking that she may be dead.  Hubby says that she is so sweet she is probably laid up in someone's house! 

Alright everybody, I'm headin' home.  See you next time!