"Truckload of Firewood....."

We had our first truckload of firewood delivered on Saturday.  You may remember the old saying, "Firewood warms you twice, once when you stack it, and again when you burn it".  Well, I was sweating when I watched it being dumped, so I guess I am an exception to the old saying because I've already gotten pretty warm just watching it be delivered!

Here are few photos in sequence of its delivery......

Yes, I'm gonna get warm quite a bit while stacking all of these pieces of firewood.  We also want to have another truckload of slab wood delivered before too long.  I guess that means I have to get this out of the way so it, too, can be dumped in the same place.  I'm sweating just thinking about it!  ;)

"A Drive Up and Around Leelaunau Peninsula....."

Don and I went to brunch in the Village at Hofbrau's yesterday (http://www.hofbrauinterlochen.com).  All I can say is WOW!  It truly was amazingly, fantastically wonderful!  :)

Here is a small sampling of what was available.......

After brunch, we drove back home to pick up Copper and then headed for a drive up into Leelaunau Peninsula.  We drove back roads until we hit M-22, then followed it all the way up and back down to Traverse City.  It was a beautiful day for a drive.........Copper enjoyed it very much, too!

After arriving back home, Don got online (http://www.micorps.net/newsletter/2009/summer/article3.html) and found this photo for me to use so you could see the entirety of Glen Lake before seeing the 2 photos we took while on the bridge "at the narrows".  This photo shows Glen Lake, Lake Michigan, plus the North and South Manitou Islands.

The traffic was very light so I pulled over so we could take these next 2 photos.  Sleeping Bear Dunes is in the distance to our West.....

And to the East, the largest section of the lake which was a gorgeous view, too.  The color of the water was truly magnificent!

We had a wonderful day!

"Replacing Yet Another Appliance....."

Well, we decided to replace the old side by side refrigerator with one similar to what we'd bought for the Madison house.  The side by side was just too small, especially the freezer!  I'd had it already filled and the seasonal produce has just gotten started!  To remedy that aspect of "Home Food Preservation", we also bought an upright freezer to put down in the basement which will free up space in the new refrigerators freezer, which is a bottom drawer slide/pull out.

This photo shows everything I had in the old side by side, which totally filled the old refrigerator!  Completely filled it!  We now have extra shelving space plus sections on the door aren't filled......"yet". ;)

I love knowing I can go out and buy more, more, and more!  No, I'm just kidding, but knowing there is room certainly gives a person less anxiety when grocery shopping and not having to think "is this going to fit"?

So far, we've replaced every appliance that came with the house except the dryer.....and that has been making a few "strange" noises, so who knows what will happen, eh?

I just looked back and realized I hadn't posted about the new stove and microwave.  Those got changed out before Don got here.  Here is the "before" with the electric (UGH!) stove.  Neither Don nor I like to cook on electric.....yes, we're spoiled!  ;)

And "after".  Having the "above the range" microwave has freed up the entire counter between the stove and refrigerator.....YEA for more countertop space!  Yes, I have found "things" to use in that space.  ;)

We are still unpacking and re-organizing our home but are at a place now that we feel we can take some time for fun things, too, so are having a nice balance between work and play.

I'd forgotten that today was Saturday until Don came in (he is out in the screen room having coffee and "catching up" with the world on his iPad) and asked in a bewildered voice, "you're blogging today?".  See what happens when both of us are retired?  I no longer remember what day it is as Don isn't going to work (outside the home, that is!).  ;)

"Drying Sweet Cherries Experiment...."

I washed a few of the flexible mesh liners yesterday in preparation for drying some sweet cherries I had left from the 2 quarts I bought a few days ago.  I would estimate there was perhaps a pint of cherries.  The dehydrator needs to have at least 4 of the drying trays/racks on the unit for it to work properly, so this is how it looks set up and ready to go.

Unfortunately, I do not have a cherry pitter (YET!) so taking a small paring knife, I halved each cherry.    It truly did not take as long as I had feared, but my hands were red with juice when I was done, and I was ready to layer the halved cherries in the dehydrator quite quickly.

The instructions said to position the cherries with the skin side down to help eliminate as many "drips" as possible, plus any juice would then dry onto the piece of fruit.

I had enough cherry halves to fill (although I'm sure I could have positioned the pieces closer together) one and one half trays/racks, each having a mesh liner underneath the fruit.  It is a flexible mesh liner to make it easier to peel any fruit off that has stuck while drying.  The instructions also suggested placing a  "fruit roll up liner" on the bottom tray to catch any juice that was able to drip down through the trays/liners.  I had no such "excessive" dripping.   ;)

As you would expect, the cherries, when dried, shrank in size, so what was a pint of fresh fruit, became maybe 1/3 to 1/2 a cup of dried fruit.  It is delicious though.....all that goodness concentrated into a smaller package.   ;)  Yes, I would label this experiment a success!

"Old and New Fire Rings....."

As I may have mentioned in an earlier post, the new house had a fire ring which was placed over part of the drainage field for the septic tank.  It was suggested we move it to lessen the chances of melting drainage pipes.  I don't think the fire ring had been there too long because there didn't seem to be much ash build up.

However, there was another spot, surrounded by stones, that had a huge ash build up!  That is located next to the long raised vegetable bed.

I spent some time out there removing stones but found as I did so, that there was a lot more "foreign" materials in the ash than I'd known about.  My original plan was to take the old fire ring (we'd bought a new and larger one.....more on that in a bit) and place it over the pile of ash, fill it with organic materials, add some top soil/compost, and use it as another raised bed for some pepper plants we had bought when we bought the huge cherry tomato plant.  I decided the area will take a bit more clean up before I will feel comfortable eating from vegetable plants that grow above and into that ash.

So I placed the old fire ring off to the side of that area, filled it with hay, stamped it down, added peat moss, then commercial compost, and cut a large piece of cardboard to size and wedged it down on top of all that.  I then sliced an X in the cardboard and planted the sweet bell pepper plants into the compost.  My last layer in the fire ring, now my raised bed, was cedar mulch around the pepper plants.  Below is my newly finished raised vegetable bed........very well watered, too.  ;)

I did take a photo of the new fire ring/grate while sitting in the screen room the other morning.  We've not had a fire in it yet, but like the placement of it.  The long raised vegetable bed is to the left and back from the small raised bed (can be seen in the background in the first photo), so the fire ring placement is bit closer to the house and decks than when over the septic drainage field.

"More Equipment for Food Preservation....."

We had a delivery yesterday afternoon from Amazon.....one that I have been anticipating since Don and I talked about "my wants".  ;)

My new PRESSURE COOKER arrived!  LOL  Yes, it is that simple to make me happy and fulfill "my wants".  ;)  We knew it was "Made in WI", but didn't know it was made in Two Rivers/Manitowoc, WI!  We have a Madison friend from Two Rivers, Dan Walkner, who is a musician (http://dane101.com/dan_walkner), and we've also taken the SS Badger Ferry (http://www.ssbadger.com), from Manitowoc, across Lake Michigan, to Ludington, MI.

What makes this pressure canner so special, you ask?  It does not have any rubber gaskets or seals to contend with or replace.  It is a "metal on metal" seal, thus the screw downs all around the top edge of the cooker.  I've never been around anyone who used a pressure cooker (my Mom, as well as my wife, Cindy, were scared of them because they could "blow up", due to gasket/seal failure), so this is a totally new experience for me.  I am taking a class on using them sponsored by our local co-op, Oryana (http://www.oryana.coop), and the Michigan State Extension Office (http://www.msue.msu.edu/portal/default.cfm?pageset_id=27320), later this month.

Also in this delivery, was a Food Dehydrator, which I have used before "back in the day" when the kids were very young.  Actually, I think this is the exact same one we'd bought so many years ago.  Evidently, it has stood up to the rigors of innovation/time, and hasn't needed improvement?

I see dried fruits and fruit leather in my granddaughter Abigail's future.  ;)

This is an exciting time for me, preserving food by canning, freezing, and drying.  The small amount of experience I have brought to this adventure, takes me back to the 1970's, and the new ones have me thinking about the possibilities of what foods I can and want to preserve, and which method(s) to use, plus the thought of spending time in the kitchen this Winter using the preserved "fruits of my labor, makes me smile.  :)

"Scottville Clown Band......"

If you've seen the Scottville Clown Band perform, you know what a treat they are to watch as well as listen to.  Scottville, MI, is a small town East of Ludington, MI.

I have been fortunate to have seen them many times in the Benton Harbor/St. Joseph, MI, Blossom Time Festival Parade.

My daughter in law, Julie, found this photo from the Manistee newspaper (I think that is what Don told me).  You can see Julie, Abigail, and me at the tip of the burgundy awning, and Don a bit to the left, taking the above photos.  :)