Trying to make good use of my time

Well, since I'm stuck here for awhile it seems, I decided to get busy.  I was sitting here aggravated and all and that doesn't solve anything.

So yesterday I canned 7 quarts of green tomatoes for frying, made 7 pints of relish, and made 6 pints of pickled beets, all I had out there.  Half didn't germinate.

Today I made 9 pints of freezer slaw.  Never made it before but I have all this nice cabbage so used 3 headsk it tastes pretty good and said it will keep for 6 months.  I got a real sale on a Cusinart food proccesor.  I don't know why usually buy good appliances but had never invested in a good food processor.  Wow, this thing is awesome made short work of that.

I found a wonderful sounding recipe for tomato soup online with lots of good reviews. Sue Anne has been after me to make some homemade.  If I can save enough tomatoes from those darn bugs will make it this week

Also going to can 2 to 3 pounds of fresh tuna.  In comes into our local seafood market daily.

Supposedly about the middle of the week to get motorhome, but I'm not holding my breath.  Now if I get involved in something maybe it will be ready!!  Reverse physcology?

Also a recall on Tom's new truck should be done midweek.  Sounded like something serious with a back axle, some had issues, some didn't and his did.  They said they had to get the parts in from Michigan.  We never noticed anything wrong with it, guess it happens over time. But its under warranty so good deal to get it fixed.

Then since I was here decided to get my septics pumped tomorrow, so catching up some stuff.

Also hope to clean off some of my garden of things that are done.  Some will remain.

Let's see what the week brings.

I have some veggies left from last year so with the things I'm adding should be good to go.

I would love to find some peaches, they say they are coming off down here about now and can some and make preserves too.

You don't realize how much sugar you are eating till you make slaw, relish, and things.

Never canned tuna before. How do you do it? We get good sales occasionally on tuna but I usually grill it on the Weber ... very tasty.

I'm glad I don't live in Texas but I am jealous of your garden. All I've got so far is lettuce and herbs.

Wendy

You are one inspiring woman.  When I try to make good use of my time, it means dust, go for a walk  or pay a bill.  I  have never canned any vegetables and I so admire you for your ambition, green thumb and work ethic.  You go girl!

Our garden is producing pretty well right now but we're just too lazy to can any of it.  We're eating all we can and giving away the rest!

LOL, last Sat we bought two tomato plants and planted them, froze that night, unexpectedly, and killed them.  Usually if it's later than Mother's Day, no more freezes but not this year.  Planted two more today, maybe tomatoes before the first frost next fall?

Wendy said:

Never canned tuna before. How do you do it?

Wendy

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Google oregon+state+extension-tuna+canning for pdf instructions. (Page 2) We're lucky enough to be able to buy it fresh off the dock in Charleston, OR. It requires a pressure canner. Warning: Once you try it, you will never again settle for Starkist in the can. It makes creamed tuna on toast or tuna salad a gourmet treat. Lasts on the shelf for a couple of years. 

Margi

Tuna is extremely easy to can.  Just slice some off and I used tiny jars last year, a 1/4 pint I think they are.  I figured about the amount in a tuna can, but this year might do some in half pints.  They are small glass jars.

You put in the tuna, water and salt.  It's in the Ball Blue Book of Canning, my bible.  It says to only process in pints and half pints, not sure why.1 teaspoon of salt per pint, but like I said I did a smaller quantity.  You process in a pressure canner for 1 hour and 40 minutes at 10 pounds pressure, sounds like a long long time but it was delicious.  Maybe I just got some good tuna as it was so good I was surprised. This is a cold pack method I use.  There is also a hot pack method.

It makes excellent tuna salad and I used all ours up last year.  I want to can more veggie soup, bean soup, chili base, and meatballs.  Also took canned tuna and chicken for salads.  We took alot of this stuff when traveling last year and it was so handy to just heat and eat "homecanned" meals or for example with my chili just add macaroni.

I would like to make some homemade spaghetti sauce but may miss the window on my tomatoes if I leave on the weekend.  Next year, less garden but out much much earlier so its done before now.  It's been so hot in the winters that shouldn't be a problem.  It was to hot this year for my lettuces to do any good, but I should have tried bibb, it did well year before.

I also have some butternut squash, must have been in one of the seedling packs I bought as I have no seeds like that and have never planted any before.  The squash from what I've read shouldn't have any green veins before you pick it.  I think those will keep a long time, and will put in a box under the canned food shelf. I've cooked a couple and have 3 ready to store, there are many more out there if they make it.  This drought is taking a toll on the garden even though its watered.

I wouldn't mind to have a small green house.  Think I could have some lettuce, tomatoes, cukes, and peppers year round. Maybe even green onions, those are the main things I use in cooking and salads.  And fresh herbs would be nice too.

I  have okra, eggplants, melons, and cantaloupes due to come off soon.  Also bell peppers, 1 plant of hot peppers, onions, a nice crop of potatoes.  already had some new fried potatoes, very good. Also squash is coming off, herbs, and some pretty sunflowers plus more cabbages and tomatoes.  I planted english cucumbers and they are huge.  figured they were no good that big but they are, quite tasty. 

I do enjoy raising a garden, but this year with my shoulder hurting the grass took a lot of it over before my shoulder got ready so doesn't look real great.

Just trying to do something instead of just sit here.  I could be sewing but not in the mood right now.

Anyone thinking of canning the Blue Book tells you how to can about anything.

Margi, you are so right, I could not beleive the difference in the taste of the tuna.

I must admit, its very expensive as what I buy is the same tuna they use for sushi, but there is no waste, its all trimmed off and all you are buying is 100% of edible loin so well worth it.  Sue Anne and I love it, Tom isn't crazy about it, but we are.

Pat planted our tomatoes today and hope to have some before they freeze in September.  Quite a difference in seasons between south TX and SW Montana. 

We are near 45? latitude and also near 5000' altitude, the combination results in a short growing season.  150 miles east and almost 3000' lower altitude, the tomatoes have been in the ground for almost a month.

We had heat early this spring and a lot of people have planted tomatoes multiple times.  It looks like our apple trees got froze out when the weather changed back to a normal spring, all the little apples got froze when they were about 1/4 to 3/16" in diameter and are dead.

The problems trying to garden in mountain valleys half way to the north pole!   

I'll have to give the canning tuna a try next time it's on sale. Sounds pretty easy. And I do have a pressure canner. My first canning was about 10 years ago (I was a slow starter) and I canned the heck out of tomatoes which are so easy. I've done tomatoes, salsa, green beans, spaghetti sauce, enchilada sauce, zucchini relish, pickles. Never done corn because we always eat it all up as corn-on-the-cob before I ever get a chance to can it. Now I can hardly wait to find something to can

Wendy

I have corn left from last year, cut off the cob corn.  but you can also blanch and freeze corn on the cob. 

I canned tomato soup yesterday, a lot of steps but I have a good food processor, Roma strainer, makes short work of tomato juice, and a small pressure cooker I used to cook onion and celery to put through the strainer.

But I learned something.  I pressure canned the soup, the recipe online said water bath, but it had flour and butter in it and I was real leery of the water bath.  I've read that newer tomatoes are not as acidic as the old time ones so need to handle a bit differently.

I was trying to hurry and get the first batch cooled and the next in before hubby called.  He calls every day right at 5PM.  I pulled the canner off the stove and put it in a sink of cold water and ran water over the top.  Normally I let it sit for a few minutes even after the pressure goes down but I took it out, dried it, sat it on the stove and opened immediately.  I'm looking at the water and seeing soup colored water, I'm thinking, great a jar broke.  But no, I took them out and several were only half full.  I couldn't figure out what happened.  I started researching and found that if you cool it to fast and don't let it set near 10 minutes that the change in pressure can siphon the liquid from the jars.  Well who knew?  I've canned for 20 years and never had this happen, very odd.  But this soup contained both flour and butter, very odd things in canning.  I ate one jar for dinner and put the other 2 in the fridge that had lost quite a bit just in case they didn't seal good. The rest sealed just fine.

In the interim I also decided to reduce the soup in each of the next set of jars I was going to can.  Yep, hubby called told him I would get back to him shortly.  I emptied some out of each jar into a new one and filled it, cleaned off the seals on jars and lids, reset lids and put them in the canner.  I think the flour also made it boil thicker and increased the volume to much, this batch I canned was fine.  I lost no soup in that batch.  But that was interesting, never heard of that happening before.  So it was a couple of things, cooling it to fast, which wasn't a problem but should have let it set a few minutes for the liquid pressure to equalize and also having to much in the jars for this particular item.  If I'm here Saturday should be lots more ripe tomatoes so will make more soup as its really really good tasting and probably much better then the store bought that contains, corn syrup of all things.

I plan to come back home in about a week and can more tomatoe soup, that stuff is good and my tomatoes should be ripe by then. That should be enough and after 2 or 3 days we will be off again, not sure where though.

Obviously didn't get out, but pretty sure I will have motorhome this week.  He was also able to get my Bilstein shocks too, finally, he had to end up ordering them through Demontrond a motorhome dealer and repair palce here in Houston, not sure why. He will also get my genny going.  Had to send out to have the alternator on it rebuilt, might be why the battery on the gennie didn't stay charged. 

We have a nice 28 ft Jayco 5th wheel, 2007, with a big slide on it, nice little coach I got for a good price.  It's rented out to a guy, if I knew how to hookup and drive with one of those I could use it when its empty but I know nothing about those.  Hubbies truck does have a 5th wheel hitch now and its a 2500 so I would think it would pull that.  Funny never even thought of using it.  If we use it, it would be husband driving and pulling that, think that might be to much work for me to sit up, hook, and unhook. 

The weather is miserable today only 81 but 74% humidity, like a sauna out there.  Garden is drying off fast, had some tomatoes on the table until I picked more to make soup and they literally cooked even though they were under the umbrella.  I pretty much lost all of them. 

I have had some nice cantaloupe from the garden and soon will have 4 or 5 of the sugar daddy small watermelons.  Also okra is out there as is eggplant, bell peppers, english squash, butternut squash, and some tomatoes and 2 heads of cabbage.  I need to pull a bunch of plants now, mow them till it up to start cleaning it up.  But the last few days have just been lazy.  I'm thinking of baking some whole wheat honey bread this afternoon, maybe.

I talked to mechanic yesterday.  He has all the items in for the generator and my new Bilsteins except, the thermostat housing.  Tom had done something to a screw hole or some such thing, I don't know what, it was when he was flushing the system, and put JB Weld in it.  He said while they had it apart replace that piece so it wouldn't cause problems later.  Well wouldn't you know, that piece has to be manufactured, they put a rush on it, but still not supposed to be in till July 2nd.  I was not a happy camper but tried to keep my composure. 

The mechanic said in the last 2 years this type of thing is becoming more common.  He said some parts he can't even get and has to fabricate them.  I know the coach is really old so I'm sure that is why, but man oh man, I just cannot seem to get this thing back from people, never seen anything like it and its not even anything major.

So I made reservations at the Commodore in Galveston for next week and Sue Anne and I are going down for 3 days.

We haven't seen the new Pleasure Pier, also I like to eat at Guido's.  We are going on a tour of the Bishops Palace and another sight.  We will find things to do, like the rainforest restaurant also.  Not what I wanted to do or where I wanted to go but it will work.  I told him if it doesn't get done till near the 13th of July it will be August or September before I can go as Tom will be home and I also have to work on some empty rentals coming up.  I cannot believe I am still waiting on this thing.  Months have gone by.

I'm also looking at a cruise in the mediterranean in September.  It's for 12 days, goes to Barcelona, Rome, Venice, Split, Cannes, Livorno, Naples.  But with so much unrest over there I hesitate to make reservations now.  I found one skipping Greece, always wanted to go there but leery right now.  Also will take the organized tours instead of buses and walking, not the right time for 2 women alone to do that I don't think.

Just have to see how it goes, I looked at that one last year and it was to late in the year to go, will see how the political climate plays out in the next couple of months.

I am soooooooo dissapointed.  I called today, the mechanic had said the part would be in the second.  Today he says its July 4th, I was so mad I had to bite my tongue, he said he would check on it and get back with me, he did not.

I just don't know what to think about this.  I'm not calling him back I'm tired of getting nowhere, I don't call him often to check on it.  My husband will be home the 13th, if its not ready by then I'm suggesting he go down and deal with it.  I'm afraid if I have to I'm going to be angry.  I have a renter issue aggravating me too.  I am really going to have to watch it, I have a temper and between the two I'm about to blow up.  If I do it will solve nothing and just cause more problems.  But come on, this is beyond ridiculous.  I have written off a half year so far.  I read where others have problems like this but I've never had issues like this before.  I suppose all will work out in time, but I'm aging here waiting

I guess stuff like this is why you need to avoid older motorhomes.  This is getting old really really fast.

I will try to look on the positive side and say would we enjoy traveling and being out in 100 degree plus weather anyway and maybe August and September will be a lot more enjoyable anyway. So that's trying to turn the situation into a positive instead of a negative.

Carolyn, I feel your pain.  I'm so sorry you have been side-lined for so long when you want to be somewhere else.  Always seems that when something goes wrong, something else follows to keep you on your toes, and your fuse short.  You sound a lot like me, and don't like interruptions to plans you mentally make for yourself.  Somehow, they always work out in one way or another.  I just hate the waiting for the good to come my way... 

Daisy

I asked my husband how I can get this done.  He says dear, if they don't have the part they don't have it.  and having one made can take awhile.  but I am just so da**ed frustrated, jeez.  Since I planned to have been gone this has screwed up everything. At least my real estate agent is back from vacation so the newest house will be put on the market tomorrow.  Then end of next week I have another moving, we may sell that house and replace it with one closer.  Its quite aways away and takes a good hour to two to get there so a problem if it needs anything done to it. That is ok when Tom is home but I have to leave Sue Anne and I don't like doing that. If I got over there to do stuff you can figure all day.  Of course she doesn't want to go and I don't blame her the other places are closer.

Also moving one guy from one TT to another so he can pay less rent and then rerenting it so now even if he gets the motorhome done will be awhile before I can go.  Nobody ever moves that you don't have to clean or something. Also Tom home the 13th of July.  He has to go to a dermatologist the 18th he has a couple of places on his arm that is either lesions or skin cancer he said they aren't healing so have to get that done. He watches his skin working in the tropics so skin cancer can develop easily, don't think they were there 10 weeks ok.  then we need to go visit his mom, she is 84 and its been a year.  He was wanting to drive the motorhome up so he would be with us the first time out to see how its going to do for us.

My one tenant that moved out of the old Silver Streak left it neat.  But I will still clean and mop.  I washed the outside down, had been a year, pine needles and gunk on top.  May have an AC problem, AC is not old.  I need to get on the roof tomorrow and take off the max airs, one has a hole and clean good around all that stuff and seal if needed.  have guys building a metal shed there this weekend, that will be the last one, need storage at those places. Also going to take off the dometic cover and see if the coils need cleaned, hubby said wash them out with a hose, just routine maintenance.

Hubby who will be 66 in August just had his annual physical.  Blood pressure 120/80, his one cholesterol was 197 and the good was 44 I believe he said.  Said his lung capacity was better then last year.  The doc asked how he kept his cholestrol down eating in that messhall, he said all he eats there is cereal for breakfast.  He said the food over there is very very greasy and everyone has high cholesterol, he is one of the only ones that didn't.  Also he has lost about 5 pounds, he is 5'11" and weighs 220, like me could stand to lose 20 pounds but still ok.  I remember when 10 years ago he was almost 300 pounds when he went to Africa.  Took him over a year and a half but he lost 100 pounds, this 20 he fights all the time.  His chest exray and everything looks good, didn't even need a stress test this year.  I told him he will outlive me, all he takes is a vitamin. There is one man older then him an Indonesian aged 68.  I think his company had issues with the guys being old and sick, some have had to be evacued out of the countries and that is expensive. But all his friends have died several younger then him.  They drank and smoked and didn't take care of their health, he is about the last old guy standing out of the boomers and younger. I worry about our son smoking, he tries to stop but said its hard where everyone smokes.  Also a country like Nigeria will not allow expats older then 60 to come in and work now.  He is fortunate he is still healthy.  He likes working and I'm afraid he will keep it up past 68.  I agreed to that age, he used to say he wants to work till 70 now says 68, so hope he will stick with it.  You know the expat wages get very addicitive, hard to walk away.  And many of the younger guys just plain will not do it.  they don't like working in places with nothing much going on.

I told him anymore between the paperwork for the rentals, our personal stuff, repairs, and work for Sue Anne I feel like I have a job.  It's hard enough for me to get away anyhow and then to have my plans fall through.  I will try to look at the positive side and say its so durn hot perhaps Aug or even September will be much better anyway or even October.  Now if i can stay healthy too. ;D 

PatrioticStabilist said:

He likes working and I'm afraid he will keep it up past 68.  I agreed to that age, he used to say he wants to work till 70 now says 68, so hope he will stick with it.  You know the expat wages get very addicitive, hard to walk away.

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Carolyn -

One of the insurance companies did a study a few years ago - I don't know the details but Escapees likes to quote from it on a regular basis.

Basically, they found that the earlier a person retired, the longer they lived - as long as they kept active after retirement.  It's a one to one ratio - if you retire one or more years before you reach 65 you add that same number of years to your life.  And the same holds true for later retirement - every year worked after age 65 subtracts the same amount of time from your expected life.