Its Friday...Let the weekend begin!!

Ok so it's Friday today.... I have much planned for the weekend for the past week we have been picking Blackberries... I am serious in when I say we have probably some where in the rang of 100 Blackberry bushes lol.. I have at this point over 4 gallons of blackberries in the freezer.. My husband and daughter pick them and I wash them, and then put them on a tray and freeze them one batch at a time so they are individually frozen and not just in one big lump in my bag.. This takes some time but WELL worth it in the end..  Now for the next step, I am making jam.. this should be fun I am thinking I have enough too make more jam than one could ever need.. and this is only my first batch.. we are gonna pick every last one that we can reach...haha crazy I know ... but hey you can never have too much FREE fruit right?? 
Here is a great recipe for blackberries:
Peach Blackberry Crisp
1/2 c flour
1/2 c rolled oats
1/3 c firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/4 c cold butter cut into sm. pieces
2 16oz packages frozen sliced peaches
1/2 c granulated sugar
1/4 c cornstarch
1 c fresh or frozen (thawed) blackberries

Preheat oven to 400F. Combine flour, oats and brown sugar in a bowl.  Cut in butter with a pastry blender until coarse crumbs form.  Combine peaches, granulated sugar and cornstarch in a large bowl; stir to coat.  Spoon into 2 quart baking dish. Add blackberries. Sprinkle with oat mixture. Bake crisp until filling is bubbly, about 1 1/2 hrs. Serve warm.. (with ice cream on top) yummy !!

We have been growing tomatoes, peppers and onions as well and I have more tomatoes than I could have ever imagined.. haha I don't even like them YUCK !!! But the hubby does so I see salsa in my very near future as well..  I am gonna spend the entire month of Sept. in the kitchen over a hot stove and canning jars.. I am growing cucumbers to and will be making pickles for the first time so if anyone out there has a good recipe for pickles please let me know.. I have never made my own pickles but I do love them.. good eats !!

Remember in my first post I mentioned these uninvited creatures living among us.. Well I have been hearing some wonderful movement in our attic.. So I am sending my hubby up there tomorrow too hunt down this terrible noise maker. The idea of a four legged creature that is not part of the family camping out in my house is not appealing too me and I want it gone !! He's not looking forward too this and I told him while he has the attic open I will be out in the car safe and sound with my daughter and the doggies hahaha so he's on his own.. He says what if I am attacked and I said well when I hear the scream I will call for 911 and hope for the best .. hehehe  after all what on earth am I gonna do if I am with him but scream and run myself.. I know that if I see a raccoon stuck to his back I wont be of much help I will be screaming and running off so I figure we both don't need too be traumatized .. it's only common sense right?? Then he's also searching under the house for unwanted guest it could get very interesting tomorrow.. I might be staying at a hotel .. lol  Anyways all in a days work when your living in the country or at least ... Everyone keeps telling me that anyway... Did you know that if a rat wants too get into your house HE WILL !!  When we first moved in we actually had a RAT chew his way in thru the wall.. He apparently couldn't find any holes and decided whatever we had in here he wanted and chewed a hole thru the kitchen wall.. One day no hole next day big hole.. it was NASTY.. we put out poison and found him in the yard a couple days later.. he was HUGE .. it was GROSS!!! We ended up finding two rats and one mouse.. so don't think your safe if he wants in he will get in.. But we have cleaned up outside all around the house and haven't had anymore problems as of yet!! Knock on wood!! and I did on the desk just now !! lol I'm loving the country but not the rodents..

We also hope to get some work done on our bathroom this weekend.... So we can finish that project and move on to our second bathroom which we are going too knock back to the studs and start completely over I cant wait too get started.. Well I had better get going I have housework to get done before the hubby gets home from work and the weekend really begins.. I keep the house clean all week so I don't have to do those CHORES on the weekend.. Who wants to clean on a sat??? NOT ME NOT ME NOT ME !!! Have a great weekend !! Melissa

My very first post...

Alright where to begin.. I have decided today that I would like to try blogging.. hopefully it will all go well. I figure I have plenty to say and it shouldn't be kept to myself anymore. if no one reads this I am good with that at least I'm getting out what I would like to say maybe I can clear some space in my head too focus on other stuff that's creeping in constantly.  Well I have just recently moved to a new house and a new state..And the new house is in a pretty bad state of it's own. haha We seen the house and knew we must have it.  Its 5 miles out from town. we have 2 acres in which my husband and I have decided is going too make us self sufficient so this is what I mainly will be posting because I've decided this is going to get interesting .. haha  Neither of us know anything about this concept but have decided we must do it.. I have some background in such matters as I did grow up in a practical environment. My momma was a farm girl and my dad is about as practical as one can be.. He strongly believes in working hard, saving your money and everything is a luxury you don't need haha .. so I am pretty practical myself but really when it comes too all that we are about to embark on I haven't a clue but I am ready to give it a go.. Back to our house it looked as if it would need some work.. oh my gosh were we blinded with those rose tented glasses everyone talks so much of?? once we signed the papers the house was ours and there was no going back it was like what?? are you serious?? that wasn't there before?? that didn't need repaired 2 days ago? what what what ?? so day by day we have been rebuilding our little castle.. I am pretty sure thou we are sharing our house with some interesting creatures which I will post more about later.. We have been in the house now since April of this year, we have gotten a lot done but we have so much more to go.  My daughter loves it out here, is it normal for a 9 year old girlie girl to handle any kind of bug with her bare hands? I have never seen such enthusiasm to search out and destroy with her bare hands any bug she thinks may attack her at some point.. She is my little star for sure.. She is sure that any worm however small or large it may be belongs on the end of her dads fishing pole.. Now I am from Montana and Wyoming and the one thing I am not use to seeing are slugs much less GODZILLA slugs and my daughter comes running in as if she had just won the lottery "look mom look what I found" and I kid you not she is holding a slug that must have been 8-9 inches long and as big around as her wrist.. in fact it looked as if my husband could have thrown it on the BBQ and fed us all !! and she was holding it I could have died right then and there, we have since had a talk and the slugs do not belong in mom's living room.. haha  My Husband and I are enjoying our new adventure and it's clear my daughter is loving it here.. she says she is never moving out... what have we done?  We have two dogs Bailey and Hannah and they absolutely love it out here, I have never seen a pair of nosier dogs I'm pretty sure their sniffers have been over every inch of the property and they keep us well entertained so I will share stories and pictures of them as well.. (Bailey is our Black Lab/Whippet and Hannah is our Yellow Lab)..  I will keep adding to this blog and see how it goes, and as I figure it out I will add more things too my page and hopefully I will have some sort of entertainment on here.. I have enjoyed writing this and look forward too seeing if anyone checks me out.. I have loads more too say .... have a great day !!