The Smells Of Christmas

This morning of the smells of Cathy's freshly baked gingersnaps filled the air of Applejack Lane.  Christmas is almost here!

Doggie Advent Tree

At Applejack Lane, we have granddogs...

Timmy and Burt

and Kahlo

Each year, I make them  Doggie Advent trees...

 

 This is T and B's tree with 48 small Meaty Bones tied with red curl ribbon...

I have 24 Meaty Bones for Kahlo's tree...

Now, they will just have to wait until December 1 to start their countdowns to Christmas!

Stone Mill 50 Mile Race Is History!

Here at Applejack Lane,  we have been recovering from a weekend trip to Gaithersburg, Maryland.  Cathy ran her first ultra trail race there of 50 miles, and I was the pit crew and water girl.  We left on Friday and returned about 11:30 P.M. Saturday night after the race.  Needless, to say we are tired, but at much different levels.  I couldn't believe how she stuck in there and ended up running  51 miles in a day!

Crossing the Potomac River at White's Ferry sure beat traveling on the Capital Beltway...

 It takes four minutes to load, the ferry, five minutes to go across the Potomac, and another four minutes to unload a full ferry...

The race started at 6:00 A.M.with 300 participants.  Runners had to use headlamps to see to get started. They ran  through all kinds of terrain-wooded areas, fields, streams as well as the sidewalks in the city.  Aid stations were a welcome site...

  

 As the day warmed, hats and gloves started coming off...

 Part of the race went through the Seneca Creek Greenway Trail...

 About 3:00 P.M. it started to get a little chilly again...

This is the house at Stone Mill in the Seneca Creek Greenway Trail for which the race was named.  The area had historic locks and canals next to the Potomac River...

 This is Cathy about nine hours into the race...

 

A few miles later with an extra layer for warmth...

THIRTEEN hours later and in the pitch of darkness, she finished running 51 miles!  Many runners had to use headlamps again to finish going through the wooded trails and make it to the finish line.  Way to go Cathy!  

Today, she has had a tough time walking around.  I guess she won't be going to the gym tomorrow morning at 5:30 as she usually does!

I'm Ready For Halloween!

Halloween is pretty simple here at Applejack Lane.  I did my decorating in four easy steps since I only have about four Halloween decorations!
Here is my new light bulb...

my little handcrafted ghost...

my favorite fall kitty cat...

and my new handcrafted pumpkin from my friend  Valerie at Snap Peas...

Happy Halloween!

Planting 240 in the "Back Forty"!

The farmers next door to Applejack Lane were plowing the fields in mass this morning because the weatherman called for a lot of rain the next few days.  That meant we needed to get on the stick and do our own farming on our "back forty".  So, we got to it and completed a new garlic bed just in time before  frost comes to the Valley.  This has been somewhat of an undertaking.  Cathy has wanted a garlic bed since she met a garlic grower at the local Farmers' Market this summer.   After some research and reading Paula's blog at Sweet Pea, we made a plan.  First, Cathy brought home a load of leaf mulch that was pure black gold to put over our soil on the existing garden.  We added some chopped leaves, and hubby tilled that under.  After tilling, more turning, and raking,  we were ready to plant this morning.

This summer, Cathy picked up eight different garlic varieties from the Farmers' Market for planting. All garlic is not equal.  Garlic varies in taste, color, and size.

 Red Tosh-one of Cathy's favorites

 Oregon Blue

 Russian

 Chinese

 Kettle River

 Bavarian

 Italian

 Musik-very large cloves-can't wait for this one!

Next we peeled and separated each bulb into individual cloves and picked the largest 30 of that variety to plant.  The outer cloves were usually the best. Yes, with eight varieties and 30 plants each, we are going to have a lot of garlic if each one matures properly.

 I labeled a a baggy to keep each variety separate.  Some varieties had more cloves than others, and the cloves in varied in size.

 I had to improvise garden labels by using plastic spoons for the time being.

I made a cardboard template to dig the holes.  I wanted relatively even rows that had plants every 5 inches apart.

Ten the digging and planting began.  A clove has a definite top and bottom so you want to make sure you put the right side down. 

I lightly raked the top soil to cover the holes. The next time hubby mows, we will put a layer of leaf mulch on the top.  Voila!  We are done!  Now, we wait through the winter until June to see if the majority of our 240 garlic plants grow!

Does anyone know if squirrels like garlic?

Sunday Morning Breakfast

Blueberries were on sale this week at the local Martin's.  This Sunday morning was the perfect time to try a Paula Deen recipe for Blueberry Gems.

Blueberry Gems

2 cups of self rising flour (I had regular flour so I added 3 teaspoons of baking powder and 1 teaspoon of salt to the mixture.)
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup whole milk ( I used 2%.)
1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line 18 muffin tin cups with paper liners.
2.  Combine flour and sugar in a large bowl.  In a smaller bowl, combine the eggs, vanilla, oil, and milk.  Whisk together until well combined.  Make a well in the center of the flour mixture.  Pour in the liquid.  Mix with a spoon until flour is moistened.  Gently fold in the blueberries.
3.  Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling about half to two-thirds full.
4.  Bake for 23-25 minutes until browned and puffed.

End of the Garden Soup

The garden at Applejack Lane has come to a screeching halt.  With cabbage heads, peppers, and tomatoes finally gathered, I had a dilemma as to what to do with all the remaining bounty.  The cool, damp weather helped to decide the answer to this problem.  I concocted  an End of the Garden Soup this afternoon.

End of the Garden Soup

1 head of red cabbage, chopped

1 large onion, diced

16-28 ounces of tomatoes, chopped (I used a variety of ripened tomatoes that I had on hand.)

2 green peppers, diced

4 carrots, sliced

1 package of dry onion soup

1 14 ounce can of chicken broth

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

various herbs-rosemary, thyme, oregano, chives, parsley to taste

2 tablespoons of brown sugar

4 cups of water

Combine all ingredient and bring to a rolling boil.  Let simmer for about an hour until all vegetables are tender.