Happy 18th Wedding Anniversary

HAPPY 18TH ANNIVERSARY TO ME N HUBBY

Yes, we got married on Friday the 13th :)

at a justice of the peace in Hillsville, Virginia

with a red headed, red bearded viking hangin on the wall behind the JP, we tried hard, VERY HARD not to crack up during the ceremony!

sorry, polaroid photos never turn out very good, wish I had taken a photo of that viking on the wall!!

my brother always said I would get married in a t-shirt and jeans, he wasn't far off, t-shirt and jean shorts!

It was a very rainy day in Virginia too, we lived in NC, decided to get hitched on the way back to OH to see my nephew who was born the 11th, so happy 18th birthday to my nephew Jordan

Went to see him as soon as we hit Ohio, my very first nephew!!! 

gosh it doesn't seem like he can be 18 already! Where has the time gone?

to celebrate how about a pie instead of cake? we do love some pecan pie

PECAN PIE RECIPE

1 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans

1. Preheat oven to 400 deg.
2. In a large bowl, beat eggs until foamy, and stir in melted butter. Stir in the brown sugar, white sugar and the flour; mix well. Last add the milk, vanilla & nuts.
3. Pour into unbaked 9-in pie shell. Bake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees, then reduce temp to 350 & bake for 30 to 40 minutes

Sealing the basement walls before we fill in drainage ditch

The ditch has been dug, the gravel is here to fill in after we get the pipe laid but before we can do that we thought we would take an extra measure of protection on the basement walls, we applied a basement sealer to it

 I have been working on this on my day off while hubby is at work, he can put the second coat on after this is dry HA HA - this left side is where the back porch is and where we are starting the drainage pipe (this is the back side of the house)

 back side of house still

 here you can see the end, the ladder is for me to get in and out, because unlike my daughter, I am NOT running up and down the trench to get in and out

 I have even put this sealer on the footer where the block start, better safe than sorry

 see the water laying in there, oh yes, my shoes were a horrid mess by the time I got out of the trench

that's the first coat, will let it completely dry before we do the second coat, then we will lay the perforated pipe then gravel on top of that and then push the soil back in 

we will be running the gutter drain also into the drainage trench to have it flow out into the roadside ditch

will update later when I have time

continued drainage ditch around house

continued from yesterday, the ditch is dug now all around the end of the house and it winds around to the backside of the house until it hits the back porch

My Cheyenne thought she needed to run through the ditch

goofy kid!

You can see it goes from the road all up the yard and then around the end of the house

I don't know why I didn't get photos of the huge hole on the end of the house, probably because I was working when they dug it and I forgot!

Digging up around house for drainage

Remember my post from May 6th, talking about the end of the house that gets all the hill runoff, it soggies up the yard and ends up in our basement May 6 post 
and this post showing the mess

Well it's time we did something about that, not my favorite thing in the world, tearing up a beautiful yard after it's taken so long to get everything looking pretty out there, but sometimes we have to do it

 hubby on the measuring stick (for depth of ditch) and brother in law on the backhoe of the neighbors we borrowed to do this ditch project

it's getting there!, what a mess, all that dirt all over the yard now :(

 had to get the box turtles out of their enclosure because it is now all dug up, they will have to all live in crates for a day or two until I determine where I want to make their new homes

see the snail along for the ride, someone must have found the toad and put in there with them, goofy things, hitchin a ride

pretty babies, don't know what to do stuck in a crate

 checking depth

 ran some water to see if the runoff has the right slope so it doesn't back up but flows out into the ditch

 that's a deep and long trench!

 and that used to be my beautiful front yard boo waahh

 at least they moved my shrub

adjusting the slope a bit

Veggie garden & some canned salsa recipe

We have been hard at work fixing things up around this place and in the vegetable garden we put in as well as canning some of the goodies

I took a video for my CA friend, might as well share it here as well

just being goofy in the garden

these beefsteak tomatoes were huge, overhung the bread and were so delicious!

We also grow roma tomatoes for the sauces we make

homemade salsa, nothing like it, the kids eat it up like its going out of style

SALSA RECIPE

3 quarts peeled, cored, chopped tomatoes (15-20 lbs) we use Roma

3 cups chopped onions

6 jalapeno peppers, seeded & chopped (or banana pepper, what ever kind you like)

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped (or use garlic chips found with spices, they give it a kick!)

2 six-ounce cans tomato paste - OR 2 Tablespoons CLEAR JEL this helps thicken it up

2 cups bottled lemon juice 

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar (optional)

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 tablespoon ground cumin (optional)

2 tablespoons oregano leaves or chopped cilantro (optional)

Add all your tomatoes and seasonings into your stock pot, start simmering, I bring to

a quick hard simmer, almost boil then reduce heat and simmer about 30 minutes

Taste it as it cooks, adjust spices to what YOU like

Fill the jars with sauces and put the lid and rings on

Fill them to within ¼-inch of the top, seat the lid and hand-tighten the ring around them.  

Boil the jars in the water bath canner for 15 minutes

Put them in the canner and keep them covered with at least 1 to 2 inches of water. Keep the water boiling.

Process the jars in a boiling-water bath for pints 15 minutes

Lift the jars out of the water and let them cool without touching or bumping them in a draft-free place (usually takes overnight)  You can then remove the rings if you like, I do so they don't build up moisture and rust.

Makes about 9 pints.

 the tomato and pepper garden

 can't keep tall enough stakes in this tomato garden

 and you can hardly walk between the rows again 

 fried green tomatoes!!

 growing some german strawberry neighbor gave me to try

I even had to venture out into the flower beds with tomatoes this year because we ran out of room in the actual garden plot

 peppers, need lots for salsa

 area of strawberries, just put in this year, so over planted with peppers this year

more peppers