Saturday, August 23, 2014

Today's Update - 23 Aug 2014


Some of you asked about quilting.  Well I don't quilt to any extent these days.  I can, I just don't have the appropriate time to dedicate to it; and it is a dedication of love and time to make a quilt.  The one pictured above is the quilt that my mom made for my oldest daughter when she married two years ago.  Below is a panel that Mom made for me Christmas before last.  It is "3D"; meaning it isn't just a flat picture but the "feathers" and "leaves" and etc. are all individual pieces that stand away from the background of the quilt.  She's done numerous wall panels for the kids over the years and all five of mine still have at least one of them hanging on their walls.  Mom is very talented.

 
 
 
Now to show you part of what we've been up to today ... taking down a dead and dangerous tree.
 

The ladder in the foreground of the above pictures is a 32' aluminum ladder.  They were using it to tie ropes near the top of the tree to control where it was going.  They did a really good job.  The nasty thing was covered in wild potato vines that kept trying to pull it this way and that.

 
 
 
As you can see from the following picture it shattered on impact with the ground.  It was such a relief just to have the tree down.  It was so rotted that it wasn't even worth saving for firewood.
 
 


If you look in the second tree picture above and then look to the left of the tree that was felled you will see one of my stands of banana trees.  You can see pretty clearly the bunch hanging off of one of the trees.  To the right of where that picture was taken I have a stand of plantains and I have some bunches growing over in there as well.  The kids are all eager for the bananas to ripen (assuming I can keep the varmints out of them) and I will be canning some of them.

I managed to get another chapter for Enduring transcribed, but not Georgie.  I'll try and do some of that later this evening or tomorrow. I'm also working on MJOTZY and trying to get the next "month" edited and then pieced so that blogger doesn't choke on it.  I'll work on it and hopefully have something up next week.  I also need to work on the next chapter of Eidetic Sunshine and hopefully I'll have that by Monday.

Today's updates otherwise include all the usual suspects .............

Zombies Aren't Real ... Are They?!
http://zombiesarentrealarethey.blogspot.com/ 

Up On Hartford Ridge
http://uponhartfordridge.blogspot.com/

Teaghan
http://teaghanandsloan.blogspot.com/

Larkspur in Eden
http://larkspurineden.blogspot.com/

There Is No Such Thing As A Thornless Garden
http://thornlessgarden.blogspot.com/

When All Doors Close
http://whenalldoorsclose.blogspot.com/

Mother Hen's Recipes
http://motherhensrecipes.blogspot.com/

A Bunch of Wild Thyme
http://bunchofwildthyme.blogspot.com/

Enduring on the Lake
http://enduringonthelake.blogspot.com/

Today's videos are in answer to a question I received about canning bananas.  Not nearly as hard or as crazy as it may sound at first.


 




5 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh your moms quilts are so pretty!! What a wonderful skill and she has a great sense of color!

    I can't believe you have a banana tree! Citrus and now this! My gardeners soul feels ripped off somehow.

    Well done on the tree! Living where i do, that is something dh has to do a lot of and although hes good at it, it is always a worry and a danger. he's pulling 6 out of the woods now that fell during last winter storms.

    Can you please explain what potato vines are? I read about them in your stories, but our potatoes never grow vines... Do they actually produce potatoes?

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    1. I will try and write up something on the invasive wild "air" potato. They can be as big a pain as kudzu here in Florida growing roughly 5 to 8 inches a day. Ugh. They are for the most part poisonous.

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  2. I accidentally deleted someone's comment. Call me a whambulance ... whaaaaaa!

    Seriously, I am sooo sorry. I was trying to hit reply without my glasses on. Anyway, thanks for the quilt comments. And yes, banana puree is very easy to can and is very convenient. The babyfood banana puree has tapioca in it or something like that; undoctored banana puree isn't nearly as thick.

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  3. Love the quilts and I bet it's great to have that tree down not a danger anymore. I am going to try the banana nut butter. I do make banana jam :). I told someone I made banana pear jam and they looked at me real strange lol. They didn't know you could make things like that with bananas

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    Replies
    1. What is your ratio of pears to bananas. My mouth is watering right now trying to imagine how this tastes.

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