The Epitome of Relaxation

I looked out the window and saw one of my cats relaxing like this:

This does NOT look like a relaxing position, but apparently to this cat, it's just fine.  And yes, I did check to see if this kitty was alive, and yes, she is very much alive but sleepy.

What a life to be a cat - nothing to do but eat, sleep, hunt, play and .......you know what.
Meanwhile I've been working like crazy with late season garden produce, honey, canning, kraut making, and cleaning.  We harvested 300 lbs of honey this year, about 50 lbs less than last year.  This year's honey is a cross between clover and basswood honey with a little tang thrown in for good taste.   It has a beautiful golden color.  
     Hard to believe that summer is over, September starts tomorrow, and winter is just around the corner!  The leaves are already turning into fall colors here.  Kids start school.  The garden is winding down - only a few tomatoes and peppers left, and some lima beans, and popcorn to harvest.  Everything else is completely done.  We are harvesting apples by the bushels from our tree.   I sell plenty of them at our market booth, too.

One of several tubs of apples from our Prairie Magic apple tree.   They are good not only for pies, but also for eating.  I recently discovered a recipe for a butterscotch dip for apple slices, which is SO good with our apples!

We have also been harvesting our dry bean crop and podding out the beans.  Harold and I spend a couple hours a day doing this.  We have 3 full trays of Jacob's Cattle beans, Topaz Pinto beans, and Red Kidney beans.    Plenty of bean dishes in our future winter meals!

Three full trays of beans from the garden - Jacob's Cattle, red kidney, and Topaz pinto

     Now, if I could just find some time to relax like this cat................maybe not quite so contorted, though!

Honey Time Again

Today we began the process of taking the honey supers off of our beehives, getting ready to extract honey for this year.   We took about half of the supers off today, and we will take the remaining supers off tomorrow.  Over the next several days we will extract honey.  Hopefully we will have plenty of honey to sell at our market booth next week. 

We anticipate about the same amount as last year - about 350 lbs.  But last year we only had 3 hives and this year we have 6 hives, so this is not good.  Several factors have affected the honey crop this year.  For starters, the basswood blossom season was very short and not good.  We had way too much rain at the time the basswood trees were in blossom.  In just 2 weeks we got over 14 inches of rain!  Then we had our largest two hives swarm, and that always reduces their honey output.  And also the air quality during the last couple weeks of the summer honey flow (when all the summer wildflowers are in bloom), it was smoky and hazy and the sunlight was greatly reduced.  This is because of the wildfires in California and Canada.  You may have read about how the upper plains area has had to deal with smoky air.  It affected the bees because they do not like to forage on dark days, and many times you could even smell the smoke.  On these smoky days the sunlight was greatly reduced, so it almost looked like late evening when it was really noon!   Harold and I had sore throats and runny eyes and sinus problems because of all the smoky air.  It is hard to believe that wildfires in the west can affect us here in Minnesota, but it's true!  Also, after the rainy season we got NO rain at all, and so many of the wild flowers were without nectar.  But we will be happy with what we have, and 350 lbs is still a lot of honey!

We both suited up, and Harold took the supers off and I kept things covered at the truck (and also took pictures!)

The inside of one of the honey supers.  This box has to come off, and all of these bees must go!  We used to brush the bees off with a soft brush, or use a blower, but that aggravates the bees and makes them mad!  We sometimes got stung.  Now we use a product called Bee Quick to clear the bees off the supers.  It is a strong smelling oil, almond oil or something like it, and the bees hate it.  They try to get away from it by going down to the bottom of the hive, and thus clear the supers for us.

This is the product we now use to clear bees off the honey supers.  A few sprays of this on a special felted lid will drive the bees down into the lower hive.  After a few minutes we can lift off the super with no bees on it (or maybe just a couple stragglers).   This makes for very easy taking of the honey supers!  After the honey supers are taken, the bees all have to live in the bottom two boxes.  These are much larger boxes and can accommodate all the bees.

This is the special lid that Harold made for spraying the Bee Quick onto.   A thick piece of felt lines the top of the lid.  Harold sprays the felt with several good sprays of Bee Quick, and puts this lid over the honey super.   The smell of the almond oil is something the bees just hate, and get away from, thus clearing all the bees from the super.  It does not affect the smell or taste of the honey, and actually doesn't smell bad at all to humans.  But the bees sure don't like it!  This is so much better than trying to brush away hundreds of angry bees!

One hive box completely cleared of bees.  It was my job to keep all the honey supers covered and free of bees on the back of the pickup.

This year we had a little different situation with the honey supers.  These boxes are part of our "winter hives", which are much larger.  Harold had to make some wooden extensions on the honey supers to fit on top of the large winter hives.  These supers were a little harder to handle and carry inside, but there was no other way to fit these onto the large winter hive bottoms.

And so our 9th year of beekeeping will soon come to an end!  Every year the honey tastes a little different, as it depends on what flowers and plants are plentiful during the season.  Next year our clover field should yield a lot of sweet clover for the bees.   Sweet clover is a two year plant.  The crimson clover we planted came up this summer, so there should be plenty of that in this year's honey.

Oh No !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

While harvesting onions this morning I looked at our maple trees and found this:

Fall colors already??

Actually several trees around here are already beginning to turn into autumn colors.  I am NOT ready for winter!!  sigh. 
     But actually there are many signs of fall lately:  I harvested onions and grapes, the birds are beginning to line up on power lines, the farmers are harvesting wheat (that's where Harold is today, helping one of the area farmers with the wheat harvest), the weeds have all gone to seed, the loons are already gone to somewhere else, the goldenrod is out, grasshoppers and crickets are back - these are all signs of changing seasons.  It's hard to realize that in less than a month the trees will be in full peak autumn colors around here in northern Minnesota.  In less than 6 weeks the trees will be bare again.   And then it is winter..........again.  sigh.

Tiny Wildlife!

I know I have written several posts recently, but I just had to share with you a photo of what I saw this afternoon!  While watering my zinnias I caught these two tiny critters basking in the sun together!  I think the grasshopper is too large a meal for the tiny frog, and I know grasshoppers don't eat frogs, so I think these two "buddies" are compatible.   They seemed to enjoy each other's company.  I ran to get my trusty camera and take a few pictures.   I also saw many bumble bees on the flowers, and even our own honey bees.  I tried to get a picture of the honeybees, but they were too quick for me.  Check out these photos - my zinnias have a 'purpose'!

A tiny tree frog and a grasshopper are enjoying each other's company on a sunny summer day!

A little closer view of the small wildlife on one of my zinnia flowers.   This flower is about 3 inches across.

A bumblebee was gathering pollen while I was taking pictures.

It just goes to show you that a person has to take time to really look at surroundings.  Otherwise little scenes like this are missed!  What a privilege to have seen this tiny slice of life on a fine summer's day!

Church Car Show

Today our little country prairie church had a picnic and car show!  Many of our parish members are car enthusiasts and have nice vintage cars.  So our pastor decided it would be a good idea to line these all up today on a nice sunny day and let the owners show them off!  There were some real beauties displayed here today.   Also some parish members brought their restored trucks - pickups are a staple in the life of a country person - and nobody ever really gets rid of them.  One ten year old boy in our parish has his own truck already!  He loves cars and working with them.  At 10 yrs old he is already a pretty good mechanic.  Someone gave him a 1969 Datsun truck to fool around with and he is restoring it himself!  All in all it was a gorgeous sunny day, and everyone enjoyed stepping back in time to the era when cars were CARS!   I was especially happy to see a 1951 Studebaker in the line up of cars.  Studebakers were made in South Bend Indiana where I was born and raised, and lived there for 23 years.  My own Dad worked at Studebaker on the door assembly line.  I am posing next to a 1951 Studebaker that perhaps my own father put the door on!  Here are photos of the cars and trucks:

A general view of one end of the line of cars.

Another view of about the middle of the car line-up.

There were vintage cars from all decades.

Another view of the line-up.

This fellow is showing off a 1930 Ford.  It has been meticulously restored in every detail and has been the winner of many awards in car shows in the area.

This 1930 Ford had a Rumble seat!

I asked the fellow how a person actually got into the rumble seat.  He showed me the round metal stepping plates on the bumper and fender.  You can see them on the right hand side.  A person had to be either young or very agile to get into and out of those rumble seats!

The back view of the 1930 Ford.

A 1951 Studebaker Commander with the "bullet nose" front.

The interior of the Studebaker.

Here I am standing next to the 1951 Studebaker.  My own father worked on the door assembly line when this car was made.  It is very possible that I am holding the door he once put on.  I think it is amazing to think that 67 years after this car was made, I am standing next to something that my own father had a hand in making!  When this car was made I was only 3 years old.  My Dad probably never imagined that his daughter would be standing next to it, 67 years down the road, at a church car show in Minnesota!

Another 1930 Ford.  The owner of this car is no longer alive, but his family members brought the car to the show. 

The back view of another 1930 Ford.

Here is a 1948 Plymouth

The interior of the 1948 Plymouth.  The owner has purchased the necessary items to finish restoring the inside door panels, but it didn't arrive in time for this car show.   He has a little bit of restoration work yet.  But look at all the chrome on the dash and the radio!!  That radio almost looks like a juke box!

The owner of the 1948 Plymouth.  He is as old as his car, he says.   He bought this car in 1969 in New Mexico when he got out of the service.  It was a rusty thing, and a faded olive green color.   Roger has restored this car beautifully!

This is the 10 year old boy who is restoring this 1969 Datsun truck that somebody gave him to "tinker with".   At 10, he is quite the mechanic already.  He lives in the country near the church and actually drove this truck to church today!! (Yep, here in rural prairieland, driver's license and brakes are "optional"!)  He is working to put brakes on this truck.  Good thing there are only lonely gravel roads around here!  Cody is SO proud of his truck!  He is definitely a future "car show guy".

Cody and his friend Jameson dreaming of the days when they can drive for real.........i.e. legally!  Pretty much every country boy already starts driving farm vehicles when they can reach the pedals!

This 1977 GMC was restored by a 15 year old!  It was a total rust bucket when he got it.  Look at it now!

Not sure of the vintage on this one, but it is from the muscle car era.

I think this is a 1977 or 1979 Corvette.  It was a big attraction for the boys in the parish.

This 1977 Pontiac LeMans is owned by a girl in the parish.  She helped to restore it, with help from her Dad and brother.

A nice trip down Memory Lane don't you think?

Really Good Refrigerator Pickles

I want to share with you a recipe for "the best" refrigerator pickles you will ever make!  I got this recipe from my Mom several years ago, and she got it from a friend.  Good recipes like this one should definitely be passed around!  Even though canned (brined) dill pickles are good, these refrigerator pickles say 'summer' like nothing else.  Even my husband, who is not the greatest pickle lover, enjoys these pickles with a sandwich or a simple meal.   They will last for a few weeks in the refrigerator, and they are very crisp and fresh tasting!  So if you have some cucumbers that are about 4 or 5 inches long and not too thick around, cut them into spears and try this recipe.  You will also need dill and garlic.
     The brine makes enough for 2 or 3 quart jars, so that is enough pickles to share with a friend!

For the brine:
3/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup canning salt
2 quarts of water
     Heat the above until the salt is dissolved and set aside.

Also need:  about a dozen or two  cucumbers, small, well scrubbed and cut into spears
dill
garlic cloves


Place dill in bottom of a wide mouth canning jar.  Put in a garlic clove and the cucumber spears.  Then top with more dill.  Pour the brine over the pickles and let stand un-covered at room temperature overnight.  The next day cover with a lid and ring (you can use a used lid for this) and put in the refrigerator for 8 days.  After 8 days it is ready to eat!   Do not eat them before the 8 days is up!    Give them a chance to age the 8 days!  These will last for several weeks if stored in the refrigerator, but they will probably be gone before then!

A jar of refrigerator pickle spears ready to eat.   They are light tasting, crunchy, and just the right thing to go with a sandwich for a quick summer meal.