A Productive Suzie-Homemaker Day

Today I processed and froze 10 packages of corn. I took it off the cob because I'm not too fond of frozen corn on the cob. To can the beans I used the instructions on this page. My pressure canner isn't big enough to do all the jars at once--I can fit 6 jars in at a time. The green beans were all from the first picking out of our garden. I could hardly believe that last weekend I found a few wannabe green beans and yesterday, I found a bunch of 'em ready to pick! We had some with our supper last night and they were delicious with a bit of butter melted on top of them. I did give some to my mil and still had a bunch left for canning. Here's a few pictures:

This is about 2/3 of what I got.

Ended up with 11 pints after giving some to MIL and having for supper last night

I started out with 20 ears

Ended up with 10 bags

I got the 1st cucumber yesterday too. Seeing it makes me realize that I forgot to cut it up and put it on our chef salads tonight. Drat!!! I planted a smaller size one because it looks like it might make better pickles.

This is some salad greens I'm growing in a pot. Mine doesn't look pretty like some I've seen pictures of.

The lilies in our pond. Several years ago we had purchased a different lily for the pond. It disappeared! We have no idea what happened to it. Our son Justin tore a chunk off his and gave it to us and it is taking over the pond and has gorgeous flowers. It's been probably 6 years or so that we put fish in here. We just got the "feeder fish" that were 8 for a dollar. They are HUGE now and often we are asked "when's the fish fry?" This year we've noticed babies for the first time.

Now, here's a picture and I'd like to see how many of you can guess what type of flower is in it:

On Saturday I'll let you know what it is.

Thanks for visiting and I hope you're having a great week.  Hugs...

Today's Mixed Bag

I went into the spare bedroom (aka yarn warehouse) to look for some yarn that I had bought at Dollar Tree a while back.  I got a bit side-tracked in my search when I found a couple dishcloths I had made and just needed to weave in the loose ends.  I quickly did that and took some pictures to post here for you.  So here they are...

I remember doing this from a pattern in a book I have.  I can't remember what book it was though! I really like to post the source of patterns I use so that my readers and I have a reference to it.

This dishcloth is alternating rows of single crochet and double crochet.  The edging is a picot edging.

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We have a small pond in the back yard that is stocked with goldfish.  Every spring we give it a thorough cleaning and water change. It is usually filled with all sorts of debris such as leaves and small twigs.  It has been a big chore to clean out.  My dh came up with a good idea to make this job easier.  He built a frame out of 2x4 wood and covered it with screen material that I was able to get cheap when it was marked down last fall.  He put the cover over the pond last fall and just recently removed it.  Now,the pond's spring cleaning has been simplified!

Here are the fish happily swimming in the clean pond a few years ago.  The fish are much bigger now.  Here is  an idea if koi are too expensive for your pond budget...we used feeder fish that I got 8 for a dollar at a local pet store!

Another view of the pond.  The white rock is a piece of coral we brought back from Hawaii when we were stationed there.

Here is the cover dh made for the pond. 

The January Snow Here at Home

The things we do for our kids.  When we had our "big" snow of 4-6 inches, that was a big deal for our little chihuahuas, Opi and Nellie Belle.  If you think about it, that amount of snow hits them in the middle of their faces!  DH, the good doggie daddy that he is, shoveled an area for them to go outside to do their duty.  Here's a glimpse of  the "rest area." Barney, our "big girl" didn't have any problem with the snow as you can see by all of her foot prints.She loves to frolic in the snow.

DH thought I should put this picture in here so you can see what our pond fish are living under. He made this cover to put over the pond to keep all the leaves and winter debris out of the pond to save beaucoup effort to clean it in the spring.

Catching Up

I know I haven't posted lately but I do have a ummm reason, er excuse uhhh laziness. Anyway, here are some pictures to show a little bit of what I have been doing.

This is a pair of men's slippers I made. These are tucked away into my gift drawer for a future gift.

Here's another completed "purse project"-- a dishcloth in Christmas colors.

Here is Ray with a Fathers' Day gift from me. It is a German beer stein. To go with the stein, I gave him a really good bottle of beer--Dad's Root Beer!



I made these slippers to give to a friend and her grown children when I visit with them in Illinois. I gave my friend a pair once and the kids always wore them and she never had a chance so now they'll each have their own pair.



We've been enjoying the pool too. Here are our son Justin and ggd Leslie cooling off.

We spent several hours a few days ago cleaning out the pond. It is really nice to be able to see the fish. These fish were originally meant to be feeder fish for other critters but they have survived for several years in the pond at a fraction of the cost of koi. We actually put a real water lily in the pond. The fish like the shade it generates.

FYI the pattern I used for the slippers is found here. The first picture shows a modified version of the pattern.

I hope you have enjoyed today's post. Happy Fathers' Day and hugs to all!

07-01-2008 Money Saving Tip for Backyard Ponds

We have a wonderful pond in our backyard that we have really tried to economize on. We recycled materials from a friend who no longer wanted her pond. I really like ponds with koi in them but the cost for one is rather prohibitive. What I did was go to a local pet store and bought "feeder" fish and put them in our pond. These fish were designated to be dinner for other animals but here, they have been given a pardon and are flourishing! Oh yeah, and I paid $1 for 8 a couple years ago.