All Hallow's Eve!

A traditional Scottish prayer for today:

From ghoulies and ghosties

And long-leggedy beasties

And things that go bump in the night,

Good Lord, deliver us!

Halloween is almost here!

Front porch Welcome

Guardian of the mailbox



Watch where you put your hand!



This is a costume I made for our Time Share Chihuahua one year:

"...if only I could fly..."



If I were to make another costume for her, I'd have to go with:







October begonias

Just a quick post before I run out the door this morning. This is what I saw peeking out my kitchen window this morning to see what the weather is like.

What a nice surprise! Begonias in October! I gues when they say "Non Stop Begonias", they really mean it.
Oh, and the grass-let's just say it's ornamental and supposed to be there!

And if you peek into the bottom right hand corner, you'll see my tiny fairy sized fushia is still in bloom. I am planning on bringing it indoors as a houseplant, but not until I can do a thorough bug inspection!

How To Preserve A Husband

I have so much to share! I have been meaning to post more regularly but a trip to Albuquerque, the fall harvest, a trip to the Methow Valley (more specfically, the Big Red Barn in Carlton), more canning and a visit from my daughter have taken precedence.

Now, however, I found a gem I have to share from the back page of the New Revised Edition #29 Ball Blue Book: Easy Guide to Tasty, Thrifty Canning and Freezing, copyrighted 1972.

How To Preserve A Husband

Be careful in your selection.

Do not choose too young.

When selected, give your entire thoughts to preparation for domestic use.

Some wives insist upon keeping them in a pickle,

others are constantly getting them into hot water.

This may make them sour, hard, and sometimes bitter;

even poor varieties may be made sweet, tender and good,

by garnishing them with patience,

well sweetened with love and seasoned with kisses.

Wrap them in a mantel of charity.

Keep warm with a steady fire of domestic devotion

and serve with peaches and cream.

Thus prepared, they will keep for years.

I have to wonder if that was a nod to earlier versions of the Ball Blue Book, seeing as they've been publishing it since 1909! I would love to get my hands on one of the early, early editions to see what other advice is included along with the recipes for safe food preservation.

I love old cookbooks! But, just in case you are using an older version of the Ball Blue Book, the USDA published new standards for homecanning in 1988, so you should treat yourself to the 100th Anniversay Edition of the Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving published in 2009.

And, in case you are wondering, the back page of this issue has a recipe for Peach-Walnut Shortcake. No more pearls of domestic wisedom. That's too bad, because I really got a good smile from the poem above!