Busy Days

We got home from our 3 day road trip about 6:30 PM Sunday.  It took about an hour to unpack and put things away.  Got to bed about and got a good nights sleep.
Up early Monday morning and pulled the beets and picked a hug basket of green beans.  I sat out back and cut the tops off of the beets and snapped a colander full of beans.  The chickens got the beet greens and the green bean ends.  Cooked a soup pan full of the green beans and when they were just about done I added a pint of canned potatoes.  Ron and I had green beans to go with our grilled chicken breasts for supper Monday night.  Ian does not like green beans at all.
Today, Tuesday got up early and started canning the beets.  Didn't have a huge amount but did get 5 1/2 pints.  I worked on hanging more of the Amish and Mennonite clothes on hangers so they don't get all wrinkled.  Finally got everything hung with some wire hangers Ron brought home from work.  I have 200+ pieces of clothing items.  I took some pictures of a few miscellaneous items today and listed them on Etsy.  I listed 11 items and within 2 hours 3 of the items I listed sold to my very best buyer.
Tomorrow I hope to get some more items listed.  I have about 300 listings I need to put on Etsy and eBay.  I know it will take weeks to get done but that is OK.  I will have plenty to keep myself busy.

Saturday in Southern Indiana in Pictures

We went to Ferdinand Indiana today for an auction and went to see the Monastery that is there after the auction.

This is a huge place with about 250 sisters living there.

The color of the brick was beautiful.

The cemetery for the priests and sisters.  

Side entrance.

Another part of the cemetery for the priests and sisters.  

Cross in the cemetery.

There are birds nests on both sides of Jesus's head, beautiful.

Scenes coming back to the motel. 

Beautiful Amish house.

Amish farm where the ducks were in the same pen as the sheep.

Beautiful horse and nice and shiny buggy.  Most likely all cleaned up for church tomorrow.

We saw several open buggies with patio umbrellas attached to them for shade.

The scooter is bigger than the little Amish boy.

Another beautiful Amish house.

Friday in Daviess County Indiana

We left bright and early this morning for our weekend trip to Indiana.  We arrived in Daviess County about 11 am and was able to check into our motel.  We brought in our stuff and set out for our day.  We ate some lunch at an Amish style restaurant, it was buffet style and I had some wonderful chicken and Ron ate some catfish and other items.  We then set out to do some sight seeing.  The Amish in this area have very nice well kept houses and property.  We stopped in an Amish variety store and when we were leaving I asked about if there were any second hand Amish stores around and to my surprise she said there was.  She drew me a map and off we went to try and find it.  It took 2 stops asking people for help with the directions but we finally found it.  I spent over 2 hours there and went through less than 1/4 of the shop.  I could have spent a whole day there but I have no idea where we would have put more stuff.  I have the whole back seat of the truck stuffed with bags of Amish and Mennonite clothes.  The young lady running the shop was very nice.  Ron talked to her and her dad while I shopped.  She said she would be willing to hold items for me if I contact her in the future if we come back down.  She also gave me the name of a shop in Arthur, Il that sells second hand Amish items.  So the next time we are in Arthur we will have to check it out.
We left there and went to Dinkies Auction and it was very disappointing.  Hardly anything there and nothing we were interested in.  When we leaving one building to go to another I wasn't watching very good where I was going and tripped on a trailer hitch, fell landing on both hands and knees.  I scuffed both palms, took some skin off of my right arm, took some skin on my right knee and have a small hole in my knee and broke the toe nail of my big toe and my toe is caked in blood.  I also did something to the muscles in my right side and I am sore.  I'm sure tomorrow will be worse.  Just what I needed to start my weekend.  Oh well it could have been worse.
The worst part was after I fell I sat there in the white rock calling for Ron to help me up who I thought was still right behind me.  He never came and I kept calling his name.  Then a very nice looking buff gentleman came along and asked if I fell and needed help getting up.  I said thanks but was waiting for my husband and I was totally embarrassed.  He said he did see me fall so I shouldn't be that embarrassed.  He started in the building and I heard him say "are you Ron, your wife has fallen and needs your help."  He told Ron he offered but I wanted him to help me.
We left the auction and then went to supper and am getting ready for bed early.  Long day and am pretty tired and sore.

Amish farm, notice the white wagon.  It holds benches for church meetings.  It must be this families turn to have services at their house this week.

Turkeys, there are a lot of Purdue turkey farms run by the Amish in the area.

Some beautiful horses at an Amish farm.

Goats resting by a tree.

 

Get Away 3 Day Weekend

Road trip weekend.  We will be leaving for a 3 day weekend trip early tomorrow morning to Daviess County Indiana.  This is a huge Amish area and they have a auction every Friday night where they have up 14 auction rings going at the same time.  We will do some sight see all day Friday, auction Friday night, site seeing Saturday and Sunday and will check out an auction both days.  Want to find some Amish run stores and of course an Amish bakery.

Next month we will take a road trip to visit some Missouri Amish areas and see what goodies we can find.

Sunday's Pictures and Eliz gets to go Home

Caleb and Eliz

She found her finger.

That finger tastes mighty fine.

Caleb and Eliz.

Her going home outfit that I picked up.

Me and Eliz.

I love bonnets.

Saturday and Baby Eliz

You would never know that Gina had a C Section yesterday.  She was up walking and in no pain and isn't taking anything for pain.  She started breast feeding last night and said Eliz latched on like a pro.  She finally got to get out of the nursery about 5 PM today and is now staying in Gina's room.  I guess Ali is telling her things "like watch her neck"  "this is how you do it".  Gina reminded him she has had kids before and thought she could handle her correctly.  Ali is so proud and I'm sure she will spend a lot of time in her dads arms and on his chest.

Gina and Eliz

Me and Eliz, first person to hold her besides her parents, not that I'm bragging.

Me and Eliz

Eliz

Reagan was next in line to hold Eliz, she got to hold her before her brothers and sisters did.

Hannah was next.

I think she looks like Hannah through the lips.

Blossem was next and got to hold her the longest.

Blossem and Eliz

4:35 PM, 18 1/2" Long, 6 lbs 1 oz, Lots of Dark Hair

Eliz is here, a little early but doing great.  She will have to stay in the nursery on monitors for 24 hours to watch her before she can go to Gina's room.  Her blood sugar was low so they gave her some formula and that helped.  She had a slight fever and was sweating a lot.  They will watch her very good and take her blood sugar every couple of hours.

Before going back for the C Section

Kartal and Ian

Renee and Hannah

Ali all ready

Very first picture of Eliz

All cleaned up and no place to go

Eliz has found her fingers

Today is Baby Day

The big day is here and little Miss Eliz will be born sometime after 2:00 PM today.  Gina has been in the hospital since Tuesday with bleeding, high blood pressure and a slight fever and the risk to wait any longer is to great.  She was due for her C Section on Sept 4th so this is a little early.  I think she might be 36 weeks today.  The baby is 6 lbs and they have given Gina the 2 hormone shots to make sure Eliz's lungs are good and strong.  She might have to have a little oxygen but they feel everything looks good.

Open an Etsy Shop and Earn Some Extra Money

Ever think about opening an Etsy Store.  Do you have some special crafts you make, do you have some antique items you want to sell.  Or maybe like me I love going to auctions and estate sales and picking up those vintage items at a cheap price and make a little money by selling them.
Since I opened my shop on January 6th of this year I have sold 482 listings and made some extra cash.  If you are interested in opening a shop they have a special going on that if you use the below code you can get 40 free listings.  This is not an advertisement for Etsy but it has been an easy way to make some extra cash for me and thought someone might be interested in starting a shop.

http://etsy.me/15ILuf7

Gina and Baby

Got a call yesterday from Gina that she was going to be the guest at our local hospital for a couple of days. She had been having some trouble with some bleeding and she is only 35 1/2 weeks.  She spent last night in Labor and Delivery hooked up to monitors and such.  The bleeding has stopped for now and she was transferred to Antepartum.  If she can go for 24 hours without any problems she gets to go home.  Any bleeding at all and the baby will be delivered right away.
Ian and I were there when they did the detailed sonogram and it was very interesting.  Eliz weights 6 lb 2 oz and has the cutest little face.  They gave Gina the first of 2 hormone shots in case she delivers early to make sure the lungs are good and developed.  The doctor and tech kept says how good Eliz was doing practicing breathing when they were doing the sonogram.  She needs to go for at least 2 more weeks so we will be praying for everything to go well.

Yard Work Monday

I was up and outside yesterday at 8 AM to start my yard work yesterday.  I first started out using the new weed whacker we got a couple of weeks ago.  It has a non pull attachment that you put on a drill and it starts it.  I do not have enough energy to pull the cord to start it and decided to purchase one I could start.   We also got a straight gas model which is a little heaver than a gas/oil model.  My arms are really sore today.  After 3 + hours on the weed whacker it was time to get out the mower.  Got the yard done WITHOUT getting stuck in any ditch.  Then I picked tomatoes and cucumbers from the garden.  When I finished it was 3 PM and I was filthy dirty.
We desperately need some rain.  The garden is pretty dry and the grass is starting to turn brown.  I would rather have to mow the grass and have it green than to have it brown and not have to mow it.  I love having a yard that looks like a park

Canning Day

Ron and I got up early and canned the Yukon Gold potatoes I dug Monday.  We got 22 pints of potatoes, 6 quarts of what I call roast vegetable mix.  It has carrots, onions and potatoes in it and ready to add to a beef or pork roast.  I also canned 3 quarts of beef broth.  We had beef roast last night and had some broth left and when I got the roasts the other day I saved the fat I trimmed from a couple and added it to the broth along with some more water and cooked all night in the crock pot.  I strained it and canned it.  Love to add it to vegetable beef soup when I have it, gives it just a little extra flavor.
I want to do at least 18 more quarts of roast vegetable mix and about 5 more dozen pints of potatoes.  We take the potatoes, drain them, add butter and parsley and makes a nice side dish.  I've also used them to make potato salad, garlic potatoes and fried them.  They are perfect and so convenient to have.
I was so happy that I have 3 canners, 2 were going at the same time (that's all the stove will hold because they are so big) and while the first one was cooling I stuck the 3 one on the stove.  Makes for extra cleaning but saves oh so much time.

Intestinal Infection Possibly from Chicken

For the last 3 weeks I have not been feeling well at all.  After an incident of feeling like I was going to pass out Saturday I called the doctor on Monday and saw one of the other doctors in the practice, my doctor is on vacation. He ran all sorts of blood tests and a stool test.  All my blood tests came back perfect but the stool came back positive for white blood cells.  They ran more test and I have an bacteria in my intestines that chickens can carry. The bacteria are not harmful to them but to others it can be.  When I butchered the first group of chickens I wore rubber gloves but the other 2 times I did not.  So any little cut I had the bacteria could have entered my system.  Or you can get it from eating uncooked chicken, or from bacteria on a cutting board.  I have no idea how I got it nor does the doctor and it might not have been from chicken. I am a lot OCD when it comes to cleaning and I clean with bleach but when I butcher the chickens the blood gets caked on my hands until I get done.  I am now on antibiotics and might have to have 2 rounds of it to get it cleared up because I had a lot of the bacteria in my system.
So from now on I will be wearing rubber gloves when I butcher chickens and picked up some disposable gloves and will wear them when I collect eggs in case they have some feces on them.  I will only use the disposable gloves until I get over this and will be very careful from now on.  I've had the chickens for 3 years and this is the first time I got something so I'm pretty sure it was from getting blood on my hands and into a small cut that I had.  I'm just glad that they found out why I have been so sick.

Potatoes Not Done Yet

Still don't have the potatoes done yet.  Have not been feeling well and no energy.  I have to get them done soon.  If I don't get them done during the week Ron can help me get them done on Saturday.  I did iron some items that I washed that Ron got at an auction last night while I went to the village meeting.  Now I need to get some pictures of them and list them on eBay and Etsy.   I hate when I am not feeling at my best. Sitting around is just not for me.  Maybe tomorrow I'll get some energy to do the potatoes, I'll keep my fingers crossed.

My Lazy Boring Day

One of those days where I really did nothing, nothing at all.  I did have to go into town to the lab at the doctors and then picked up some special pills at a special pharmacy.  Then I came home and did nothing.  I hate not have a list of things to do.  Tomorrow I am canning potatoes I dug Monday.  Went out to the shed and got the pint jars I'll need.  We went through all the potatoes I canned last year.  I canned over 50 pints and over a dozen of quarts and then canned potatoes with carrots to go in a roast.  I am waiting for the store where I got 50 #s last year for around $10 to get their yearly shipment.  This year I plan on getting 100 #s and doing more carrots/potato mixture and will be adding small onions from the garden to that mixture for having with roast.  Village is having a special meeting tonight and am going to it.  The subject is on code and ordnance enforcement and there are many residents who don't want a code enforcement officer.  I am not one of those.  We live in a society where there are rules and regulations and if you live in a community you need to follow them.  If you want to do things differently then go start your on society and do it your way. OK Paula get off of your soapbox.  The last thing my husband tells me when I leave for the meetings is to TRY and stay calm and don't get arrested.  The last meeting I attended I walked out just so I could do both of those things.

Potatoes Dug and Ready to be Canned

I planted only three 8' rolls of Yukon Gold potatoes and dug them early this morning.  I got about 20 lbs and will can them tomorrow or Wednesday.  I then picked some cucumbers and tomatoes and took some to the Post Office to share with the gals there.  We have a very small Post Office (village is only 250) and there are some very nice ladies.
We got a little rain today not that much to do any good but every drop I guess helps.  Picked several green peppers yesterday and hopefully we should have some eggplant by Saturday.
Going to have super nachos with some of the items from the garden tomorrow night, onions, peppers, tomatoes.  Love eating from the garden.

Chicken Stuff Done for the Weekend

Up early and strained the broth from the bones and picked off about 1 pint of chicken pieces.  Ron and I then canned 7 quarts and 2 pints of broth and 1 pint of chicken pieces.  We had 2 canners going at the same time so we were able to get it done much sooner than when I had only 1 canner.
After the canning we got out the Kitchen Aide mixer and the grinder attachments and ground 10.6 lbs of chicken. Nice amount of stuff from the 9 chickens.
I think there are about 15 or so more chickens that are not yet ready and most will be kept whole for baking or grilling.
For supper tonight we went to Gina's and Ali's for a cook out.  It was real nice and nice to get out and visit. The weather was perfect, in the 70's with a little breeze.  Ali makes a Turkish Salad that has cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, salt, lemon juice, vinegar, black olives and olive oil.  It is very good and Gina sent the leftovers home with me.  I will be eating that for my lunch tomorrow.  Of course he doesn't have a recipe he just use a little of this and a little of that.

Chicken Butchering Day

Up and outside by 7:30 to start on the the chickens we butchered today.  Renee brought Derek, Brandon and Brandon's girl friend Brittni over.  Brandon wanted to watch it being done and to help out a little.   We butchered 5 hens and 4 roosters so it should be a little quieter around here.  I decided to bone these and grind them up.  We eat ground chicken and ground turkey instead of ground beef.  We have it all boned and will grind it in the morning.  I have all the bones and the things we couldn't bone in the roaster for some wonderful broth and should be a little chicken to can also.  We didn't finish up everything until 4, a long day.  We have to get a plucker, plucking takes forever and they are much better than doing it by hand.
Here are the weights of the dressed chickens:
1:13, 1:12, 2:14, 2, 2:1, 2.1, 1:11, 1:15 and the old rooster was 5:1.  The boned chicken weights a little over 10 lbs.

Here is the day in pictures:

Me plucking the chicken.

Ron does the gutting.

The roosters waiting their turn.

Ron inspection a chicken.

Brandon and I plucking one of the the roosters.

Me and Brandon and Brittni, Brandon's girl friend in the back ground.

Brandon acting like Brandon.

Bleaching everything down after we were done.  It takes a good hour to get everything bleached and cleaned up.