September memories...

A preview of the patio nearly finished!!

I went out to get the mail and found this glorious sight, welcome FALL. :)

Cody & Jim putting down the last pavers.

Cody gave Peter his first camping experience. Peter made it through all night and woke up smiling.

Peter working hard and getting the ground ready for steps with his safety glasses and tools.

We are going to have dinner on the patio, wooo hooo!

A beautiful blossom in the garden.

The dirt piles are disappearing with some steady work.

Jim is working hard at trying to pick out the dirt from the tiller. I think he got it confused with a brush hog? LOL Jimmy...wait until the boys & dad see this one.

Getting ready for Polish Fest

My son's girlfriend, Theresa came over to help out with the perogie making. We make about 250 total and Amanda is the QUEEN dough maker. She has learned well from her Aunt Jean.

We made several kinds of perogies ~ farmer's cheese, potato cheddar bacon, potato cheddar, potato chive, blueberry and kraut perogies will be made on Saturday as a demo. The blueberry ones are made with frozen berries with a little sugar and vanilla bean seeds. Yummy.

I think she is proud, what do you think? She said her grandmother would be happy she was cooking something from scratch. Italian and Polish make a good blend, what do you think? ;)

Ok, this says it all.

Theresa eager to learn the tricks to perogie making from the Queen Perogie Maker, Amanda.

My grill moved into her new home...

Doesn't she look happy in her new place? And how about the sun screen so the sun isn't reflecting off of her into my eyes. I LOVE this set up...Bobby Flay couldn't be happier!

The last of the gluing for the steps and then the patio is NEARLY complete. Go Jimmy, Go Jimmy!!! Almost time for chillin' and grillin'

Jim is putting the yard back in order and preparing it for grass seed and he finds an old gas line from the early 1900's. You never know what you might find in a yard with more than three generations.

Here comes the FLOOR!

So it is time for a break and Jim wanted to take his drink here on the little bit of flooring that is laid down. Do you think he is excited. :) He has done an AMAZING job with this project.

Let's make sure it is level.

Jake came home and helped for an afternoon. He is lifting that paver like is is only a few pounds...60 pounds is more like it.

And then, of course...a little rain MUST fall.

Another fun summer night...?

Well my darling Jim decided to come home with 1 1/2 bushel of beets tonight. He is thinking it is a great time to make pickled beets for the winter...all at once. Hmmmm....it wasn't exactly what I had in mind for a weather perfect full moon Friday night. :)

Very large steaming beets. Yum Yum Fun Fun

All cut up and ready to put in the brine. Have you ever smelled three pots of boiling vinegar at the same time? Whoosh! Good thing I love this man. lol

Ok, we ended up with 38 quarts of pickled beets. So, I need to escape the amazing smells of the kitchen I stumbled upon a full moon. I walked up to the road and snapped the picture below. Enjoy.

Save a few ears for corn relish...

Peter and Papa Jim husking some corn for corn relish. Peter is getting pretty darn good at this task.

Let's cut up some peppers, onions and toss into the corn.

Now, let's simmer some more of that lovely vinegar so we can fill a few (0k, 18) jars.

Corn Day at the Farm, hosted by Jim & Kat

This is a tradition that Jim had growing up, only it was in the basement of the homestead in Colden. He remembers it being messy and crowded. So we put a new twist on the freezing corn process. Husking and boiling in the turkey cooker with a barrel around it to keep the wind down.

Do you think he likes corn? Well, in the middle of winter we ALL do.

EVERYONE gets into the fun. We started out with a tote of corn (appox. 60 dozen ears).

Jake, Jan and Grandma Pat are the first to start the cutting. There is regular cut and cream corn. The cream corn is AMAZING.

Mike needs a rest and is keeping Sarah going? LOL Can you read her mind? I hope not. :)

The next shift of help was Lori and Molly...thanks girls!

Hey, we can see the bottom of the tote!

Our "go to" guy and supervisor was Papa Pete and he went to Bill Russell. The corn is so sweet and tender, perfect for freezing.

Jim came up with this system that includes custom made (by him) cutting boards that fit into a 4 inch deep pan and all the knives are EXTRA sharp.

Jim's special lesson on cream corn. Each kernel is sliced and then gently he pushes the meat and juice out. Sweet and yummy stuff it is.

Next shift is Jenny & Greg. Greg is a BIG fan of the freezer corn and wanted to be sure to join in the fun. :)

I think we ended up with over 80 quarts of corn for the freezer. Yeah!

Clean up is a breeze and the day was a BIG SUCCESS! Thanks everyone, enjoy the corn this winter!!