Mendota did not get snow. Mendota got rain. Sniff.
All kidding aside, I do not mind. Our friends and family in the northeast have had a very scary two days. They are safe. I am grateful.
However, I had intended to wow you with snow pictures. Would a rainy gray background of my weedy rosemary do instead?
This demonstrates how forgotten my garden became at summer’s end. The walk to the rosemary inspired me to make rosemary potatoes for dinner, so I picked quite a bit before returning to the house.
I also passed by one of the mums I transferred from the pot to the ground just a few days ago. I know…a bit weedy. I’ll get around to taking care of that!
If these mums “take hold”, I’ll have them to enjoy for years. Here’s a few that are several years old. They are looking a little sad at season’s end but they have been putting on quite a show for at least 8 weeks.
And lazy gardeners listen up! I left last year’s pumpkin out so long that it rotted. As a result, I have been treated to a Cindarella pumpkin which I’ll be displaying on my Thanksgiving table. Wow! Have you priced these pumpkins? Thank you rotten pumpkin seeds! This picture makes it looks small, but it’s a good size and perfect–even though it is growing laying on its side.
It’s time to get the rosemary inside. I picked quite a bit of rosemary, so I’ll hang some up to dry…
It will dry in this basket…the kitchen is smelling so good! I’ll pick more in a day or two.
When it dries, it’ll go into the little rosemary spice jar I made last summer. I’m still in love with spray on chalk paint. I painted this lid and talked and talked and talked about it in this post.
Back to the potatoes. My potato picture has a shadow…it’s me…loitering about with the camera wishing these were my homegrown potatoes, but I only grew three potatoes this year. A total potato disaster here at RiverCliff Cottage. Here’s a sprig for the potatoes I bought…
A couple of tablespoons of olive oil and a dash of seasalt. Oven preheated to 425 degrees. This will be ready to eat in about 35 minutes. I am so hungry…
Thank you for reading RiverCliff Cottage. So much!
Hi everyone! We are loving this beautiful fall weather here in Mendota. I’ve really enjoyed these Susie flowers that have come up during the past month. They self seeded from the Black Eyed Susie baskets that were hanging on my porch last year. They’ve taken over!
Here’s another one..I accidentally put a border on this picture…
This beautiful fall weather reminds us that winter is not far off. Since we heat our house, guest house, and hot water with a wood boiler, we have a barn full of wood. We actually have enough wood to go into the following winter. This is extra wood, and it will be cut, stacked and covered.
Mike recently repaired the bird feeder in the picture below. It had some rot and needed repainting. It’s ready to go. Soon I’ll start filling it with bird seed daily.
We’re are continuing to get our beehives ready for winter.
This is hive # 3 in the picture below. It is a hive that survived last winter. Can you see the space underneath the silver roof at the top of the hive? It is a vent which allows heat to escape the hive in the summer. I’m going to remove the vent this week since we’re having cooler days and nights. We’ll also be closing off a portion of the entry space on the lower portion of the hives. When the bees are foraging heavily, they need the extra space to come and go from the hives — else it becomes like a traffic jam! In winter, they primarily come out to do housecleaning and do not need the space which lets in cold air or possibly mice.
I was a bit lazy today, but I did paint the bathroom baseboard. It just looked dirty and the Magic Erasers weren’t doing the trick anymore. It’s all taped up in this picture. When I look at pictures, I see what is wrong with a room. For instance, that picture hanging beside those plates looks silly. I just stuck it up there today because I like the colors. I saw it on a clearance rack for $7 at Walmart a few weeks ago and tossed it in the cart. I believe it may return to the clearance rack. I may do an arrangement of plates. I actually had an arrangement of plates up there at one time. There are only two left as I broke THREE! In one day!!
The bathroom pictured above has been hot pink, wallpapered in yellow flowers, painted green, painted pink, and now painted this beige color. It has had three floors and two counter tops. All of the original tile was pulled up and replaced last year.
Back to plates…I bought the platter below for $3 at the Salvation Army in Kingpsort. This is one good place to go find bargains that might be trash to treasure” candidates. This is not fine china, but who cares??? I will find a good home for this platter.
The dogs kept bothering me while I was in the bathroom so I gave them some doggy treats to occupy them. Then..instead of working on my paint project, I started taking pictures. Have you ever wondered who buys the Dogsters in the ice cream section at Food City? It’s me!
Luckie really enjoys them.
She usually tears the cup up and makes a mess after she’s finished. She’s just resting before this starts.
This dog was thrown away like trash. She was so scared when she got here that she would not sleep inside the garage or house. She had to be where she could get away. I hope whoever threw her away suffers like she did. She has been a wonderful pet and so much company for Mike. They are together every minute. She is the only dog that ever gets to ride in his Porsche. She is 12 and she’s on Remadyl for her arthritis. She’s had both ACL’s replaced in her rear legs by the great orthopedic vets at the University of Tennessee. Luckie even has her own health insurance. She’s just special.
So…after watching Luckie eat her Dogster, my sister Nancy came up. She’d made this beautiful apron for her granddaughter, Lacy. I would have included Nancy in the picture but she’s all splotchy from poison oak.
Happy Monday evening! I started back on my weight loss which basically I’ve learned means walking every day. If I walk every day, I lose weight. It’s been less about what I’m eating — although I have been watchful — and more about these feet hitting the road every morning.
Anyway, this morning I walked two miles, came home and showered and headed out. When you live 17 miles from a retail store, trips count! I had the following “mental list” as I headed out….Hancock Fabrics (40% coupon in hand); TJ Maxx (cute black jeans in mind); Hobby Lobby (40% coupon in hand); Whitney’s Closet (15 consignment items to drop off); Salvation Army (stuff to donate); Target (exchanged a shower curtain); nail salon for manicure; dry cleaners; and finally, My Pal Walmart! I started in Kingsport…looped around to Bristol and then home. Whew! It was 3:00 pm when I pulled into the garage.
I bought a few items to work on fall decor projects. Other than the gazillion gourds that are everywhere, I haven’t done as much as I thought I’d have done by now. While I’ve already shown you the foddershocks I cut from the corn patch, I didn’t show you what they look like with a few mums tucked in here and there. I just can’t keep from glancing over at it. So simple and so pretty.
I also made a wreath.
I started not to show it to you because I’m not 100% happy with it. It’s in puberty. It has two little orange boobies that keep staring at me everytime I look at the door.
I tried to make a wreath that was more organic than what I’ve been seeing. I used ribbon, burlap, Spanish moss and Indian corn. However, I needed the little pumpkins (which are absolutely nonorganic). I really needed three, but I only had two so that’s what I used.
Should I add another pumpkin or just put a bra on the door?
Here’s another thing that reminds me of fall. Soup. I made soup last week to take to a family member who has been ill and is now recovering. Bread, soup and a bit of our honey. I think that bringing food to someone who is ill, lonely or sad is one of the best ways to say you care.
I’m having a perfect evening watching “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” with my Gracie Dog beside me. My sister lost her beloved Bailey Dog and it’s reminded me that my time with this dear girl is short. She is on the couch and I can reach out and touch her every few minutes.
Do you recall that I said I was planning on doing a lot of fall decorating this week? Well, I still am. Everything is always slower than I think it will be. It’s like I run like water and everything around me runs like molasses.
One thing I really like about fall is fodder shocks. Many years I’ve been the first hanging out at a garden center asking when the fodder shocks are set to arrive. Even last year I bought a bunch of fodder shocks, loaded them in the truck, and then became mortified when they all fell out before I got to the first red light. I wasn’t so mortified that they fell out…things like that happen. I was mortified that I didn’t notice they were falling out and I was leaving a trail behind me. Yikes! Cars were blowing at me and flashing their lights. Finally when I stopped at the light, some very nice person knocked on the window and told me I’d lost my fodder shocks. Every where. All over the road.
This year there will be no trip to town. I grew my own corn! It was good to eat right out of the garden, good to eat now out of the freezer, and now I’ve got my own corn stalks. Sigh. Life is good.
So here they are. I decided I’d surprise Mike and cut them down myself. (This is truly a surprise…I usually outlast him on things like this and he’ll eventually take care of them for me.)
Truthfully, I wasn’t even sure how to cut them down. I went and got a little pruning saw. Here it is. It’s lying on our picnic table. Our oldest grandson painted his name on the picnic table two years ago. I always enjoy looking at it and thought I’d share it with you.
So I just went out and started sawing the old corn stalks. It was easy. However, I was glad I didn’t get a manicure today.
Just a few dozen whacks and a few trips from the garden to the front of the house, and I had one nice fodder shock set up. This is in the front of our house. I used a walkway light to anchor my fodder shock and lots of florist wire to keep it in place.
I wonder how many calories I burned trotting back and forth with my fodder shocks plus the sawing? Here’s the fodder shock in the rear of the house. There was a vine growing up the corn and I just left it in there. It’ll turn brown and not be noticeable, but right now, I think it looks pretty. See those little black eyed susie flowers? They volunteered and I love them.
I’ll be adding pumpkins and mums and bows. I didn’t grow pumpkins this year, and I’m so mad at myself!
Prior to my channeling Paul Bunyan and sawing corn stalks. I had been to Kingsport for a few things. I can’t believe I had to go to Kingsport…I’ve never liked that drive, but drive it I did! I had to return a fake pumpkin at Hobby Lobby and visit the consignment store to drop off some things. By the way, do you think that Bristol could manage to shelve either Cabela’s or Bass Pro and give us a Joanne’s, Hobby Lobby or Michael’s? I hate driving to Kingsport to get my crafty stuff and it’s especially difficult when you have to have two of everything since you mess the first try up.
Moving along after I cut down half of the corn stalks…I came back in the house.
I went back to my organization projects. When I organized the closet in the guest bedroom, I encountered the king size down comforter lying on the bed in the same room. I recently removed this from one of the beds, washed it, hung it out to dry and then realized I had no place to put the monster. It’s been lying in the front bedroom in a big blob on the bed for three or four days. In this picture, it’s on the floor, and you can see what I”m faced with. Try folding it and it comes to life!
However, when I was in Kingsport today, I swung by Target and bought a box of space saver vacumn things. Two jumbos bags in a box for $12. I wondered if they really worked that well. They do!
Here’s what the comforter looked like after I wrestled it into the bag and then vacummed the air out. It’s sort of strange looking. I wonder about all of the down feathers…will they ever fluff up again?
I’ll worry about refluffing later. Look how well it went into the bonnetiere..it’s at the very top. I do not know why this thing is called a bonnetiere, but we bought it at Ethan Allen about 15 years ago and that’s what they called it. I use it for quilts and stuff. Apparently, Mike uses it for a hotwheels set…that is what is in the little gold box on the right on the first shelf. What was he thinking? Isn’t he a little old for that?
Before anything else…check out the North Fork of the Holston River this morning which runs in front of the house. This was the view this morning following last night’s rain. That girl is muddy!
A blog reader asked, in a roundabout way, why I’m doing this blogging thing. Well….it is way more fun than cleaning house. Actually, it’s an answer to a question I’ve heard many times…”why do you live there?” I can’t articulate a single answer so in writing this blog, I’m hoping to respond. So many good reasons…
Speaking of the blog…you may now “follow” RiverCliff Cottage by subscribing on the buttton to the right of this post. Also, if you have left a comment, thank you!! Please continue, and if you have not, please do so. I love your comments–especially when you share what you are doing or if my thought reminded you of a thought…and so on. If you wish to share a picture that supports a topic, please send along. It would be fun to see what you are doing.
For everyone who comments between now and Monday, July 30, you will be included in the random draw for this DISHTOWEL!!! Very expensive…almost $2.00!! Please comment as anyone…everyone…can use a dishtowel!! I’ll announce the winner on the Monday evening post which will appear about 10 pm. So exciting! Pleeze don’t make me beg….if I can’t give a dishtowel away, I’m sunk!!
We are still up to our necks in Kandy Korn. Last night, while I froze corn, I pleaded and begged made a suggestion that Mike make a “corn run” and drop off a few ears here and there. It’s garden wars…turn your head and we’ll leave some squash on your doorstep! He hung it on our neighbors’ doors! Today, I ran up the road to Don and Molly Kiser’s and left a few ears in their barn which I felt allowed me to steal a couple of their tomatoes. See how it works!
However, I’m getting some unwelcome help on getting rid of the corn. I know who it is based on the evidence…
Rocky Raccoon!!! He has forgotten how nice I was to him two winters ago when he was cold and hungry and I gave him peanut butter sandwiches. Just look at this…
See the chewed up ears between all the baby gourds that have volunteered because I didn’t hoe the garden.
I asked Luckie about helping me out…maybe going out and giving the raccoons a good barking tonight…she was waiting on me to take her for a trip around the Mendota Loop (Swinging Bridge to Mendota Road to Barn Rock to Swinging Bridge).
After the loop Luckie said “see my cute little paw in this picture…you can kiss it but I’m not chasing your ‘coons. I’m retired!”
This week is a busy week…especially since I laid around all day yesterday and did nothing. Mt. Vernon UMC’s VBS starts Sunday, and I am so excited about it but there is quite a bit of work involved. On Saturday, I get to decorate the church like a farm which is going to be fun! We’re “Farming the Fruits of the Spirit”…a great reason to find a use for my burlap since the burlap curtain project failed so miserably (see here), stack up straw bails, set up a Fruits of the Spirit Fruit Stand inside the “Spirit Corral.” You get the message..it’s going to be a blast!! Check out Mt. Vernon’s Facebook page for all the scoop.
Finally, I’ve had some company show up. Look at these pals….
Because of the work these little guys have created, VBS, and my extremely filthy house, I will not be posting again until Sunday night.
Our corn is in! We are so excited. We are terrible at growing corn. It usually doesn’t even germinate or the crows get it before it has a chance.
This year, no one was more surprised than Mike and me when the corn came up. We planted Kandy Korn, a sweet hybrid that has been around along time. If you’ve been reading my blog, you may remember when it looked like this…
Believe it or not, today it looks like this!
I just noticed that one of the ears looks a little rotten. Sorry.
The financial news says that corn will be expensive this year and will result in higher food prices. I’m sure I’ll be buying lots of things that have corn in them and will suffer with everyone else, but I won’t have to buy corn. I’m freezing it!
I have some gadgets to help me in the process…my favorite is this…
This FoodSaver Vacuum Sealer came from Sam’s Club. I love it!
Look at the corn I’ve froze! So what if it’s not carefully stacked…
So far, I’ve put up about 60 ears of corn. I’m now removing it from the cob and freezing it for soups.
While I had the mess out, I also picked a few green peppers. They grow so easily in our garden. I have a book on organic cooking and it says that bell peppers are among the vegetables with the highest amount of residual pesticide. Not my peppers!
We do nothing to our peppers and they grow all season. We will be picking peppers until the first hard frost. Hmmm…I just noticed that I didn’t wash the peppers before I took the picture above. Sorry. My father’s voice is in my head saying…”a little dirt never hurt anyone. “
So after I washed them…I chopped them up. Here they are…
I will use these in meatloaf and soup recipes. I’ll use some that are in larger pieces in fahitas. They freeze well for these uses. Look at the wooden chopping block that the peppers are lying on. Mike made that for me out of leftover materials from a church pew he shortened so we could get it in the house. A Bristol church replaced their pews and for a very little bit of money, we bought the old ones. People sat on that bench, found Jesus on that bench, sang hymns on that bench…and now it resides in my kitchen. I call it my Madonna chopping block since it has reinvented itself. I hope it lives on a long time.
Back to peppers…they look a little strange after vacuum sealing….
My mother told me that during the Great Depression, the people in Mendota were not hungry. Relatives would visit her parent’s home, Will and Eva Sproles, just to eat the good food. She said she didn’t have nice underwear or pretty clothes and her family did not have coffee or sugar. However, because they had land supporting a few livestock for milk and meat, a large garden, and put forth the required hard work…they continued to eat well.
I’ve never forgotten Mom’s words. She would tell us that while she worked so hard at making sure her own family had plenty to eat. She worked all of the time. It makes me feel good to sit at the table on a cold winter day and realize that we grew and preserved some portion of the food ourselves. And I think of Mom.
Remember a few days ago (here) when I mentioned that we were being visited by Mrs. Squash and her gang. They are still arriving.
We drove up and down the road this evening looking for people who might not have squash in their garden and might possibly, hopefully be in the mood for some squash. We finally spotted Johnny Wolfe directing traffic at the Carter Family Fold. The Fold had a big crowd, and Johnny felt he could find someone who would want some squash. Whew! I thought they were coming back home with us!
There was a book written a number of years ago that referenced a small farming community with a bumper crop of tomatoes. Neighbors were sneaking and leaving bags of tomatoes on other neighbors doorsteps because they didn’t know what to do with them. This could be Mendota and our squash. Folks, we are having a Squash Situation. The Mendota Police Blotter, if we had one, might read like this:
When interviewed, Mrs. Eva Beaule said she witnessed the onset of the Squash Situation while attending Mt. Vernon Church on Sunday, June 18. Immediately following services, there was increased activity as women ran to their cars and pulled out bags of squash and passed them throughout the congregation Vickie Fulkerson, Pastor of Mt. Vernon, could not be reached for comment and was thought to be one of those actively participating in the Squash Situation. Will Washington County’s Sheriff Fred Newman develop plans to squash any additional crookneck and zuchinni activity in the area? Stay tuned….
I am now thinking about the book where the tomatoes were passed about among the neighbors. Do you know the name of the book? Was it by Fannie Flag? I believe it was Fannie Flagg. Click on the leave a reply at the bottom of this post and let me know if you can think of it.
This chair came from the dump Waste Disposal Station about 8 years ago. The seat is long gone– it’s been replaced with chicken wire and a moss lining. I’ve got a few of these chairs, and they do well with succulents. I have someone staying in the guesthouse tonight, and I drug the chair over to soften the entry way.
I’ve got the “simplify” sign hanging on the chair…trying to make our guests think that we really don’t have phone or internet service over there because we planned it that way.
Last month when I was in North Carolina, my husband told me about our “visitors” which turned out to be the Corn Family. If I could insert a link, now would be the time to do it, but I haven’t learned to do that yet. Pesky links! Anyway…
Here’s what they looked like when they arrived:
Mr. and Mrs. Corn
It’s been about a month–a very dry month too! However, take a look today! The Corn Family seems to be thriving.
Here’s the garden that sits beside the raised beds. These are my potatoes–not just any potatoes. These are Yukon Gold potatoes. My favorite. Just past the potatoes but before the raised beds, there are some zinnia babies that will show up soon. There are also a few bell peppers in the picture. We’ve had trouble growing corn. The crows eat it. This year they are not bothering the corn. Maybe it’s all the cicadas keeping them interested and full.
Yikes! Could the crows be eating our honey bees instead? I hope not!! Whatever the reason, they have left the corn alone for the first time in 7 years.
Anyway, while I was gone last week, my husband received some visitors.
I’d like to introduce you to the Corn Family…there are a lot of them!
