Have You Heard Of A Product Called Drug Buster?

I think we can all agree that a lot of problems in society are created by drug abuse.  Theft in homes and robbery from people is on the news every single day.  Sometimes it results in violence and murder.  In our area they are having heroin summits to make the public aware of what addiction can do to people.  They will stop at nothing to get money to buy more drugs.  Addicts will watch the obituaries to see what a person died from and where they died.  Then they watch for the time of a funeral service.  They take this opportunity to break into peoples homes to look for drugs.  They know what drugs are used for cancer pain and other painful diseases.  This blog isn't going to be an editorial as to why there are so many addicted people, although in my experience medical doctors are very quick to write prescriptions.  I learned something new during my dad's hospice experience.  In the past we have taken our unused or unfinished prescriptions to drug drop off spots.  Every now and then the local hospital collects unwanted over the counter and prescription drugs.  They always have a police officer on hand in case someone thinks this is an easy place to get drugs.  The trouble with this is that you have to hold on to things until they offer this service.  Hospice was fine but it wasn't exactly what I thought it would be.  They prescribed a number of drugs to control pain.  They want to keep the patient comfortable, so they prepare for all scenarios.  When dad died, we had bottles of stuff I did not want in my house.  I was worried about all the things I mentioned.  I asked the nurse if she could take the excess or what I should do with all of it.  I didn't want to put it in our septic system or throw them out in the woods to get in the water supply.  The nurse thought about it and said she had something we could do.  She brought in this bottle.

It is a bottle of a solution made out of biodegradable safe products.  We opened the bottle and dumped all the pills we had in the house that weren't needed or necessary.  Then we put the cover on and turned it over a few times.  The drugs dissolve in the liquid and neutralize them into an indigestible product.  If someone thinks they can drink the solution, it will just make them violently throw up.  I don't know why this product isn't readily available or maybe it is and I haven't come across it.  Here is the website with more information.  http://www.drug-buster.com/

I checked with a person from our city to make sure it was safe to throw in the garbage.  He had never heard of it, but all testimonials say it can be put in the landfill.  The whole bottle with the solution can be tossed or you can pour out the liquid and recycle the bottle. 

Is Today's Education Better...It's Hard To Say

The schools in our area started yesterday, September 2.  Some schools around the country wait until after Labor Day, but all the kids will be back soon.  Things have changed so much.  I was getting a haircut the other day and my hairdresser was saying that third graders don't have spelling lists anymore.  Even with spellchecker, you have to get the word slightly correct or it will change it to a whole new word.  Even if you spell a word right, it sometimes gets changed anyway.  I don't know the logic behind no spelling lists, but I'm sure someone studied it and determined that it didn't make for better spellers. 

My grandson Ewan started kindergarten.

These days kindergartners go to school for the whole day.  My daughter told me they didn't need to have a nap mat because they don't have nap time anymore.  They don't teach handwriting and by the end of the year, they have to be able to read a chapter book with several sentences on each page.  They need to know the title, author, parts of a book and be able to answer questions to prove comprehension.  I guess Ewan is fine with it though.  His teacher told my daughter that Ewan had the best question of the day.  He raised his hand and asked if they were going to learn to read today.  He can't wait to read big hardcover books like his brother and his parents.

 When my daughters attended kindergarten they went half a day and learned a letter a week.  I think the only expectation was to write their name by the end of the year.  When I went to kindergarten, I don't think we learned anything.  It was so long ago I don't remember much.  I do remember wetting my pants so I could get sent home.  Why do we remember those things but not the happy things?  I know I didn't learn to read.  My husband didn't even go to kindergarten, so I guess basically we both started school for real in 1st grade.

My Aunt Agnes in 1928 when she got out of Normal School.

My mother's oldest sister Agnes was a teacher.  She taught grades 1-8 in a country school without indoor plumbing and a woodstove for heat.  She taught many of her brothers and sisters.  Mom used to say she was so hard on all of them because she didn't want anyone to think she favored her family.  I recently found her planning book from 1940.  It was interesting to read.  There was no kindergarten.  In first grade students began the year with a pre-primer called We, Look and See.  These were called Dick and Jane books and they came out about 1930.  I imagine they were the new innovative reading program.  They studied vocabulary words like oh, see, look and run.  By the end of the year Agnes wrote "drill on phonetic development and read with expression".  I learned phonics drills and had Dick and Jane books.  I remember them to this day.  Who knows what is best?  I do have to say that by 8th grade Aunt Aggie's students knew the classics, talked about current events each day, did exercises in punctuation, learned posture and manners, and did extensive drills on County and State government.  All grades had spelling lists and practiced handwriting. 

Pray Wisconsin schoolhouse

Mom's sister Agnes, the teacher, with the striped shirt in the top row, my mom in the middle with the blonde curls and her brother Eugene in the lower right corner.  My mom never did like to have her picture taken.  She always looked serious.

 It's a different world now for good or bad.  The old way probably wouldn't work now, although students were taught a lot of useful life lessons.  Things have changed so quickly.  Twenty five years ago my daughter went to college with a small computer and no portable cell phone.  I went with a typewriter and a dime to call on the pay phone.  Now small little babies can use an ipad and use a cell phone.  Imagine what the next twenty five years will bring.  I can't even begin to imagine.

What I Learned From My Parents Death

 
Last week we had a memorial service and buried my parents.  I have written about losing them and how much they were loved.  I didn't take any pictures that day because carrying a camera around changes my experience in situations.  I look for good shots instead of being in the moment.  That day, I wanted to be in the moment.  This blog is not going to be a recount of the day, but some of the things I learned.  Not necessarily what I learned from them about being a good person, but what I learned about what needs to be done when a person dies.  It is easy to be taken advantage of because of the situation.  Who knew that a regular bouquet of flowers can cost $40, but the same bouquet can cost $80 when they are for a funeral.  I learned from my husbands family that bereavement rates with an airline cost a lot more that regular rates.   I am so lucky I had to learn these things as an older person myself, and that I had my parents in my life for much longer than most people.  I also realize that the job of funeral directors is to do a lot of the work we took on, but we didn't have that option.  If you work with a funeral home, many of the costs we had are built into the final service cost.  I was just over whelmed for the moment.  Then I had to realize that we had to tackle one thing at a time.  I was fortunate to have a sister who did some of the arranging.

I may have learned some other things, but these are some that stand out in my mind.

1.  Talk about everything before your loved ones actually die.  The first thing is have a Power of Attorney and know their wishes as far as health care decisions.  If they don't want to be resuscitated, then have that information available or hospitals go to extraordinary means to save a life.  My parents had DNR's, which was fortunate.

2.  They had paid for their funeral expenses in advance.  We knew what they wanted, or at least I thought we did.  A few details were left up in the air, so if there are specific wishes, be sure to write them down.  When the time comes, the thinking process slows down a bit.

3.  Have enough money set aside to pay for all the extra expenses.  My parents moved from the area they lived and from the area they set up their pre-paid cremation.  We had to pay for transportation to the crematorium which amounted to $300.  We had to pay $150 for a cremation permit, $40 for the coroner to sign the death certificate, $20 for one death certificate and more for each additional copy.  We had to pay for a local funeral home to hold my dad's body until it could be transported.  That was $300.  We had to pay $250 for the cemetery to dig a small hole for the urn.  It was a companion urn so we didn't have to pay for two.  The cemetery director said we got two for the price of one.   Even though my parents had a grave marker that was engraved with their name and birth dates, we had to pay an additional $150 each to have their death date engraved.  That equals almost a $1000 extra dollars that wasn't pre-paid.  This is in Central Wisconsin.  It would probably be a lot more in other areas of the country.

4.  If the loved one is on Social Security, you have to pay back the money for the month they died.  My mom passed away on the 31st of January but we had to pay back the entire amount of her Social Security disbursement for the month of January.  Dad was the same.  We also had to pay back a second federal pension for the month he died.  I didn't realize that happened until we experienced it.

5.  There are a lot of decisions.  If you have a service, you need to know what kind of service, any special music and any special verses or poems, who will officiate the service and if there is a meal you need to estimate how many people to expect.   This usually has to happen within a few days.  We were fortunate to have more than a month to plan this part.

6.  Make sure there is a will, so any stipulations are in writing.  So many families come to blows at the death of a loved one.  It seems so strange to me that when someone dies, the family mourns and is sad together and then later they fight about the dumbest things and never speak again.  The person who dies would be so sad to know what can happen over a ring or a piece of silverware.  I'm afraid the world is a selfish place, and a lot of people only think of themselves and not the whole picture. My parents took care of gifting family members things well in advance of their passing.  We probably wouldn't fight, but this way that won't be tested.  
  
We had disposed of my parents house and most of their belongings well in advance.  That was a huge undertaking, but it was done before my parents passed away.  Some families are left with a lifetime of possessions to decide what to do with.  I feel sorry for my children if they would have to deal with all of our stuff now.  It is something I need to consider.  Hopefully I have a lot of life left, but it is the reality of getting older.  How many possessions does a person actually need?  I need to sit down with my daughters and make some important decisions.

http://www.thecabincountess.com/2015/07/goodbye-dad.html
http://www.thecabincountess.com/2012/12/the-white-poinsettia.html
http://www.thecabincountess.com/2013/01/in-memory-of-my-mom.html

No More Sushi For Me

Oh brother, I'm such a loser.  Less foods appeal to me the older I get.  My husband and I are boring eaters.  I could live on peanut butter sandwiches on white bread and fritos. I do like vegetables and fruit, but I dislike meat.  I'm not a vegetarian because the rest of my family are carnivores.  For example, this week we stopped at a family restaurant on our way north.  There wasn't one thing on the menu that looked good to me, but I knew I had to eat something.  I ordered a hamburger steak and mashed potatoes.  I asked for it to be cooked medium.  My husband ordered beef tips on noodles.  I got my plate of food and there was a round hamburger patty which was bright pink when I cut into it.  It was floating in au jus and covered with lots and lots of fried onions.  Really not sure if the au jus wasn't blood.  I gagged a little and my husband offered his plate of beef tips on noodles swimming in brown gravy.  I traded but didn't really like the meat, so I ate most of the noodles.  No wonder I usually eat at home and am so happy when I find something I like when we eat out.  My husband can't understand my keen sense of taste and smell.  Except today, he was glad he stayed home.  My daughter invited me to go shopping with her.  I was excited to go.  It is always fun to go shopping with her.  She is a shopper, and I can actually look around as opposed to making a bee line to the item we need, checking out and leaving.  When lunchtime came around, we met my son in law and grandson Ewan for lunch.  Ewan got to choose where we would eat.  Imagine my surprise when he wanted to eat SUSHI!  My gosh, I have never eaten sushi.  My daughters took me to a sushi restaurant one time, but I order something ordinary.  When it was time to order, Ewan wanted a salmon roll.  He wanted to sure it was wrapped in seaweed.  My daughter and son in law ordered all kinds of different sushi rolls like spicy tuna, salmon roll and an Alaska roll whatever that is.

 I just couldn't do it, so I got chicken and broccoli.  When the food came, my daughter asked if I wanted to try one.  Being the risk taker I am (NOT), I took a piece of salmon roll.  I figured if Ewan liked it, it must be a safe choice.  I can't use chop sticks either so I took my fork and was going to cut off a little piece.  My son in law Bret said they were already bite sized pieces so I should put it all in my mouth at once.  I gathered my courage and popped it into my mouth, but then I didn't know what to do with it.  I had to make the decision to swallow it or spit it out.  How would it look for an old woman to spit out her food, so I was polite and swallowed it.  I liked the white rice, I liked the avocado, but that pink raw piece of salmon just didn't cut it.  I will leave it at that, but I will never knowingly eat sushi again in my life.  I like my salmon cooked.  As for the miso soup with seaweed floating in it, I think they soak the fish in it to keep the fish moist so it rolls easily. 

My chicken, broccoli and rice was good.  I actually enjoyed it and the company was wonderful.  As I said earlier, I'm glad my husband stayed home.  He would have stayed in the car, that's for sure.

I know most people love ethnic food.  They love food that makes them sweat.  They love food they can't spell.  They love food from all different countries.  When I married my husband he didn't even use ketchup.   He has grown some in his food choices and will eat Mexican food and likes Italian food.  He has actually progressed far beyond what I can enjoy.  I must say this only applies to main dishes.  Give me a piece of pie or a cookie and it's a whole different story.  I like Danish Kringle, French Silk Pie, Belgium waffles, Mexican Wedding Cakes and other ethnic delicacies.  Maybe I'm not such a loser after all. 

Our House Then and Now...A Work in Progress

While searching through some old files, I came across the papers for purchasing our house.  Some of you may be interested in how the place looked when we bought it.  It wasn't very pretty.  The house hadn't been taken care of.  We loved the view and thought we could fix it up over the years.  We are still fixing it up.  That's the trouble with remodeling.  Just when you get the house to a point where it looks nice, then everything is out of style again.  Remember when shag carpet was all the rage.  I have lived through all the color changes too.  When I got married in 1968, avocado green, harvest gold and orange were the popular colors, then I remember mauve and blue was in, then jewel colors and now I haven't a clue.  I think it's dark brown but I'm not really sure.  

This was how the house looked from the outside.  It was built by a local man, and we don't think it was meant to be a permanent home.  It has two big fireplaces, and we think that was the main heat source.  The room with the window you see and the front porch were built on.  The furnace in under that area so that is another reason we think it was installed later.

This is how the house looked when we purchased it in 2001.

My mother thought we were crazy.  She never really liked it here.  She grew up in the country with no modern conveniences and thought this was no better than how she grew up.  At times I also wondered if we were in over our heads.  The first summer my husband worked the entire summer on chinking the house.  The person we bought the house from hired someone to put colored caulk between the logs and all of that had to be removed before the chinking could even begin.  For those who wonder what chinking is, it is the white product that is between the logs.  In the old days, it was a cement type mortar but now they have a synthetic product that stays elastic and doesn't crack with the movement of the logs.  It keeps cold air and insects from getting between the logs.  

The inside also needed a lot of work.  It was so dark.  The outside of the interior walls were logs, but they put half logs on the rest of the inside walls.  It gave the word "rustic" a whole new meaning.  We removed those and painted some of the interior walls.  As you can see in the following picture the kitchen ceiling had faux beams.  Their only purpose was to hide the seams of the drywall.  They too were removed during our kitchen remodel.  http://www.thecabincountess.com/2013/03/kitchen-remodel.html

Notice the snazzy orange counter top.  Stylish in 1970.

If you follow this blog you know I have written about many of the improvements we have tackled,  but basically the layout remains the same.  The only thing added was a dining room.  I also wrote about that.   http://www.thecabincountess.com/2013/01/putting-new-addition-on-log-house.html

Some day we may have to move but for now this is home.  

The house on August 15, 2001

Homemade Antibacterial Wipes

One of my decent qualities is that I can usually admit when I am wrong.  Usually is the operative word.  Sometimes, even if I am wrong, I hate to admit it.  Today I am stating that I was wrong.  I said I didn't use paper towels, although I qualified it with not using paper towels very much.  I blogged about buying microfiber towels at the dollar store and using them instead.  http://www.thecabincountess.com/2014/02/cloth-unpaper-towels.html

That was a year and a half ago but found that the towels were not that absorbent, and they just added to more dirty laundry.  I believe they also just spread the germs around, so I was using paper towels more and more.  I still use the towels I made for wiping my hands and dry dusting, but not for cleaning off the counter or wiping up messes.  Instead I found a blog posted on Facebook and have been using this method instead.

It was from http://www.doitonadimeblog.com
This blog is full of useful information and recipes.  This person also has several youtube videos.  These towels, resembling the antibacterial wipes sold under several brand names, are easy to make.  I am happy with how they work.  I use a lot less paper toweling this way with a good result.  They are supposedly safe on granite and other surfaces.  So until something better comes along, this what I use.

The first thing you do is find a container with a cover that will hold half a roll of paper toweling.  I found these Lock n Lock square plastic containers at the dollar store.  They are six inches tall and fit the roll perfectly.

The paper towels I use are Viva.  I like the fact you can tear off any size you need.  I think any sturdy paper towel will work.  The less expensive tend to shred so I think paying slightly more is worth it.

The only other supplies you will need are water (I used distilled because I had some), rubbing alcohol and dishwashing soap.

Cut the paper towel roll in half with a kitchen knife.

It is easy to cut the paper toweling with a sharp knife.  Be sure to leave the cardboard center inside the tube for now.  Mix together 12 ounces of water (1 ½ cups), ¼ cup rubbing alcohol and 4 squirts of dishwashing liquid.  Next place the dry toweling in your container and pour the mixed solution over the roll of towels.  Within minutes the towels absorb the liquid and the center cardboard core can be removed easily.

The cardboard center pulls right out.

At this point the towels are ready to use.  Just pull from the center as much as you need.  I find a small piece is usually enough.  I don't even wipe dry.  With the alcohol, it drys quickly.

I used the other half roll to make a cutting board cleaner.  The woman from the blog has a video on cleaning wooden cutting boards.  She uses the same process for making the wipes except she pours on 1 cup white vinegar mixed in 1 cup of water.  Every time she uses the cutting board, she wipes it off with a wipe.  Baby wipes can also be made this way.  The mixture is usually made with mild soap, some aloe vera or vitamin E oil and water.  There a many variations in the recipes but all of them use the same process for making the wipes without using all of the chemicals and preservatives in commercial wipes.  

Would you want this stuff on your babies butt
or yours for that matter?

The Cursive Debate

I have heard a lot of discussion about whether or not kids should be taught to write cursive.  Initially I thought, of course they should be able to write and not print everything.  I heard a story of a child who received a birthday greeting from his grandmother.  He did not know how to read or write cursive so he couldn't read it.  He didn't  even know who sent him the card.  That is sad but probably not totally true.  It probably didn't take him long to figure out it was grandma.  All the X's , O's and lipstick kisses probably gave it away.

I heard that people in the future won't be able to read old documents like the Constitution and Declaration of Independence.  When I was a child we practiced how to write almost everyday in school but through the ages penmanship has changed so much that some words are difficult for me to read and I'm almost as old as that document.

When I was in college, we had a class called manuscript writing.  It wasn't a class about writing manuscripts, but it was a penmanship class.  I think I helped my husband cheat in that class just a little because he is left handed and our instructor was an old guy who didn't approve of lefties.  We had to do pages of circles and slants to learn how to make the perfect letter.  What a waste of college class time.

We didn't have computers or voice activated word detection back then.  We had to write letters and send them through the mail.  In class, we had to write our notes and study for tests from notebooks.  So now I come to the point of my story.  I have been writing thank you notes to people who sent memorials for my dad.  I always thought I had good penmanship, but every note I have written looks terrible.  I am almost embarrassed to send some of them.   I came to the conclusion that I don't write long hand anymore.  I find that I rush and miss words.  We have trained ourselves to think faster than we write because most of the time we type on a keyboard.  Once in a while, we have to sign our name on a document, but even that doesn't have to be great.  Have you ever signed those credit card machines.  Most of the time, my signature isn't even legible.  We got a letter the other day with some important information for us.  This was the signature.

This is the signature of a person whose first name is Jon, middle initial is D and his last name has ten letters.  As you can see, you don't have to write perfect cursive to sign your name.  My husband taught school and noted that by middle school students were developing their own style of cursive.  At times he had difficulty reading their papers.  What good does it do to write, if it can't be read.  At least when a person prints, they usually print every letter.  Computers also have handwriting fonts, and I'm pretty sure government agencies and others use those fonts to fool us into believing we have an actual signature.

This isn't my usual type of blog, but I got to thinking about this as I fell asleep last night.  I think the reality of it is nothing stays the same and that includes perfect cursive penmanship.  My heart wants to keep things the same but my head tells me that time marches on and technology is replacing many things in life.  Sometimes it makes things easier and sometimes it adds frustration.  We aren't going back to the olden days.  Even the Amish elders probably never thought they would be shopping in peoples garages or making a trailer for their buggy's so they can take home their purchases.

Adventures With Ewan

We don't take care of our grandkids very often anymore.  They are getting older and don't require as much supervision or the older ones can take care of the younger ones.  Every now and then we get to have them one on one.  These are the best times.  They don't have to share us with any other kids, and we don't have to give equal time to each of them.  Sunday night and Monday we spent time with our youngest grandchild.  I have written about Ewan many times.  He is so entertaining.  For those who don't know how to pronounce his name, it's You-an.  The EW makes the U sound.  He is five years old and starting Kindergarten soon.

This photo reminds me of the John Greenleaf Whittier poem called "The Barefoot Boy".  The first line is "Blessings on thee, little man, barefoot boy with cheek of tan!".  Ewan certainly has cheeks of tan.

Whenever Ewan visits he must check on the leprechaun that lives in our woods.  He is fascinated with him.  It all started on St. Patrick's Day.  http://www.thecabincountess.com/2015/03/st-pattys-day-celebration-catching.html

So on this visit the first thing we did was take a walk.  We had to see if there were any signs of the leprechaun.  We didn't see a thing so when we returned to the house Ewan had Papa looked up leprechauns on the computer to see what they like to eat.  He was going to set a trap and needed to do some research.  What we would do with one wasn't discussed.  I guess we would cross that bridge if and when it happened.  I think he thought the leprechaun would run away, but he would leave behind a bunch of gold coins and jewels.

This was actually the second day of research .  The previous day
didn't produce the desired results.

Through much research, it was determined that leprechauns are very difficult to trap.  Ewan decided that something sweet like a marshmallow would probably be enticing.  Papa and Ewan designed a trap.  It was an empty oatmeal box.  It had green and blue on it already so the only decorations it would need would be pictures of clovers drawn and colored on the top.

Next we had to choose the perfect spot to set the trap.  We threw a few marshmallows along the trail to tease the leprechaun.  Then we set up the trap.

They cut a hole in the top so when the leprechaun looked
 in he would fall into the hole.

Everything looked perfect.

In order to be sure, they set up another style trap in the actual leprechaun house.  It consisted of a rusty upside down bread pan and a stick.  When the stick got bumped, the pan would fall and trap the leprechaun.

This was also baited with a marshmallow.

Then we waited.  We had to wait overnight.  First thing in the morning, even before breakfast, we had to check the traps.  So we quickly got dressed and headed off into the woods.

Oh dear, nothing is in here except marshmallows.

Ewan thought about it and said "of course, the leprechaun is too short to climb the tall slippery box".  We had to redesign things and make something more accessible to a small little leprechaun.  They decided to cut the bottom off of a clear plastic bottle and bury it at ground level.  Then instead of marshmallows, Ewan thought a little cereal would be better.

They headed off with a shovel, a plastic bottle, and a ¼ cup of rice chex.

They dug a small hole for the bottle.

He buried the bottle upside down
and put in the cereal.

It's almost invisible except for the cereal.

Nothing had appeared in the traps throughout the day.  He would check often, always taking his trusty bow and arrow in case he came across any danger in the woods or if the leprechaun got angry.

To avoid total disappointment, we asked Ewan if he wanted to go on a treasure hunt called geocaching.  We have done this several times with the older kids, but not with him.  http://www.thecabincountess.com/2013/03/geocaching-as-one-of-our-hobbies.html  We thought the chances of finding a pile of gold coins and jewels were pretty slim, but perhaps we could find something of interest and change his focus.  We looked online and found a cache near our home that was large enough to hold some goodies.  We found the cache easily.  Ewan's reaction to what was inside was less than enthusiastic.  There was a dollar bill in the box and an interesting NASA postcard, but it just wasn't the same as gold.

The look of disappointment.

At this point it was lunchtime, so we headed to McDonald's.  I know, not a good choice, but he did have apple slices and milk.  Then we went to the library to get a book on reptiles.  After a quick nap in the car (it's exhausting looking for leprechauns), things were much better.  He ended the day on a happy note and so did we.  

"Ah! that thou couldst know thy joy, Ere it passes, barefoot boy!"

The Train of Life

With the death of my dad comes piles and piles of paperwork to keep track of.  I am trying to keep track of everything and trying to keep everything in order.  However, a few days ago, I was straightening up some of the mail that had come in.  There in the pile was a bookmark.  I remember seeing this before.  Someone had sent it to me or given it to me in the past.  I apologize to whoever it was who gave it to me.  If it was someone reading this blogpost, please let me know.  I remember liking it, but it didn't have the impact or significance it has now.  How or why it appeared now is anybody's guess, but I think I was meant to see it at this moment in time.  I hope it has meaning to others who are reading it.

I'm sorry I don't know who the author is either.  I wish I did.  I would like to give credit to the person who wrote these beautiful words.  I found other poems by this name, but not this one.

Our Resident Gray Fox

I originally posted a photo of this animal on facebook.  There was a lot of discussion as to what it is, but I can confirm from many sources that it is a Gray Fox.  It is a very odd looking animal.  Some thought that this is a pregnant female.  I can't prove that fact because I have not seen any offspring.

I have only seen her one other time during the day, but she comes almost every night and I can see her on the trail camera.  She has been coming often since last year.  I wonder if she has some fox pups hidden away somewhere close by.

She is looking slightly thinner and only time will tell if we see more in the area.

Another night time visit.  One of many over the course of time.

These final two photos are from August 2015.  This fox looks a little smaller but it is hard to tell if the angle is just a little different.  Obviously he or she lives in the neighborhood.

Freezing Turnips

Winter in Wisconsin seems to last a long time.  That is why everyone gets excited about planting flowers and gardens as soon as the last frost happens.  It is usually around May 1.  My daughter and her husband were no exception.  They planted a gigantic garden.  I don't plant a vegetable garden because I get more than enough fresh produce given to me.  I reap all of the benefits without doing any work.  I love it when the harvest starts.  The only trouble is that most things are ready to pick at the same time and need to be dealt with while they are fresh. They planted a 25 foot row of turnips.  I noticed that some of them were getting quite large and there were enough turnips to feed an army.  I decided to pull a few.  Some had gotten too big already, but there are plenty of perfect sized turnips.  I like to eat them raw, but there are way too many to do that.  We decided to try to freeze some to use in soups and stews this winter.

Medium to small turnips are the best.

I took the tops and root off and then peeled them.  They peel quite easy, just like a potato.  In fact, they look like a potato but have a mild flavor much like a kolrabi.  After peeling, I sliced them in one half inch slices, and my husband cubed them.  He didn't cube them by hand, but with a fancy non-electric gadget.  I have written about one of my favorite gadgets called the Vidalia Chop Wizard. http://www.thecabincountess.com/2012/12/a-day-of-recovery.html.  I like this one too.  It is very similar to the chop wizard, but it's for bigger projects and has a capability for making one inch cubes.  It is called the Genius food chopper.  I got it at a thrift store, so I don't know much about it except I love it.  You can chop a whole salad in the bowl, put the cover on and keep it stored in the same container.

We used the smaller 1/2 inch attachment for these.

After the turnips were cut into cubes, I had to blanch them before they could be frozen.  To blanch a vegetable, you just drop it in boiling water for a short time to stop the enzyme action of ripening and to kill bacteria.  It preserves the quality of the vegetable or fruit for better color or flavor.  Then after a couple minutes in boiling water, take it out and put in ice water to stop the cooking process.

Blanched vegetable and the Foodsaver vacuum sealer.

The only thing left to do at this point is to put them in a container or freezer bag.  Then label and freeze.  I have had a Foodsaver vacuum sealer for twenty years, so that is what I used.  I hope we enjoy having these frozen turnip cubes to use in recipes.  I have never frozen them before.  I read they can be rubbery but that is usually because the turnips are not fresh, they are blanched too long or they are too large.  I think we will love them.  We have frozen green beans, corn and a variety of fruit this way, so I am confident turnips will be good too.

Eight bags ready for the freezer.