Sunday Quotes.....sunny...hot....90's

Just sayin'

Watermelon Rind Pickles...Sunny...hot..90's

Watermelon Rind Pickles

4 quarts watermelon rind
1/2 cup salt
water to cover
 Cut dark green and most of flesh off rind leave a hint of red, then cut into 1 inch chunks.
place in large glass bowl add salt and water, mix well, cover and let sit in the fridge overnight.
In the morning rinse rind and place in large pot , just cover with water and simmer till just tender about 20 minutes
Drain. combine:
8 cups sugar
1 quart vinegar (5% acidity)
7 cinnamon sticks (broken in half)
2 tsp. whole cloves * see note*
Bring to a simmer, add rind and simmer till translucent.
Ladle into HOT sterilized jars (use pints or half pints NOT quarts)
include a cinnamon stick and some cloves in each jar. Cover with hot syrup, leaving 1/4" headspace
wipe rim, add lid and process in boiling water bath for 10 minutes (add 5 minutes if your in a high altitude area)

*NOTE: I have substituted 2 tsp. whole all-spice for the cloves and like that taste even better!

***If you aren't familiar with standard canning procedures please refer to a good book or web site about canning before trying this recipe!

Farm life....sunny..hot..90's

Can you see Lonesome's dilemma?

This is his favorite spot when the woodstove is going and the stones are radiating warmth. For a change to laying outside under the oaks all summer, he came in the other day and tried it out. Seems he's laid around so much he no longer fits!

 

Farm adventures....Sunny...90*

Our faithful followers will be familiar  with our rescue dog Clarabelle, self-taught and self-proclaimed farm protector!

Yesterday morning Clarabelle was conspicuously  absent when I went out to do my morning chores , but as often happens around the farm, I got busy with  other matters and forgot to go looking for her.

Later she came to get me with a whine and  fervent gestures  towards the east woods, She seemed to be saying “come quick, I need to get back to the tree”  I followed her and sure enough she led me right to the bottom of a tree, she was sure she had coon treed.
I looked and looked but could not find one, she stayed there all day, repeatedly trying to convince both me and my husband that there really WAS a coon up that tree, she knew, she’d put it there! ( As the trees are quite close together in this part of the woods, we suspect he slipped away through the tree tops, while Clarabelle guarded the bottom of the tree!)
I guess that’s one that got away in spite of her best efforts! I imagine he’ll come back for the chickens soon enough, let’s hope Clarabelle isn’t too sound asleep at the time.

And just this morning I found a large black “chicken snake” (technically they are a Rat snake but here in the hills everyone calls them just plain ol’ chicken snakes because of the  frequency of being found in the chicken house stealing eggs), I have a feeling this snake is the one who smothered two of my setting hens this year, after first removing all their eggs one by one!

A coon and a snake in the same day, life on the farm!
Which reminds me of the old country adage “You never know what predators live in your area, until you get chickens” seems everything likes a good chicken dinner!

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