Click here to learn more about my “55 Things” and here to view previous posts in this series.
Like most people my husband and I enjoy a good pizza, but I have found making homemade pizza that we like to be a challenge. I have yet to master making a good pizza crust and most of the store bought crusts that we have tried just aren’t that good. The exception is BOBOLi pizza crust. Not only does the BOBOLi make a decent pizza it is super easy to use. 🙂
Here’s my recipe.
Ingredients:
BOBOLi Pizza Crust
Pizza sauce
Olive Oil
Garlic (powder, granules or minced)
Oregano Leaves (dried or fresh)
Pepperoni Slices
Artichoke Hearts quartered
Mushrooms sliced (Canned or fresh)
Mozzarella Cheese Shredded
Instructions:
Preheat oven ( I think the crust package says 400 degrees)
Place crust on baking sheet.
Brush crust with a light layer of olive oil.
Sprinkle with garlic and oregano leaves.
Top with a layer of cheese.
Add pepperoni.
Add mushrooms.
Add artichoke hearts.
Add pizza sauce by dropping spoonful’s of sauce over the pizza.
Click here to learn more about my “55 Things” and here to view previous posts in this series.
I think I am falling behind on my 55 Things posts and I do have a couple of recipe ideas that I plan on sharing soon, but today I am just going to leave you with this tune.
It has a beautiful message and two quotes that I love very much come from this song.
“It’s better to be hated for who you are than be loved for who you’re not.”
“If you want to hear God laugh tell Him your plans.”
Thanks for stopping by. Until next time remember to breathe deep and be well. 🙂
Each year after the garlic is harvested I let out a big “WOO HOO!” and my husband and I each sigh in relief because it is such a laborious task. This year, however, the harvest went so quickly and easily that I thought it hardly worth a mention.
For the sake of keeping a record of it I decided to write about it anyway.
250 Garlic Bulbs Harvested July 10, 2020
We harvested the crop on Friday, July 10. It was hot and humid in the morning when I got started, but I thought it would be good to get it out of the ground before the rain and storms, that were predicted for later that day, arrived. I began digging the bulbs up like we normally do but quickly discovered that the soil was moist enough that I was able to pull the bulbs out without breaking the stems. This saved much time and energy. After 40 minutes or so I had about 1/3rd of the crop harvested but my body was telling me I needed to get out of the sun.
We decided to go home for a break and lunch. Then, despite the fact that it was raining, my husband returned to the farm that afternoon to finish the harvest. While we ended up getting a decent rain that day we did not get any of the storms that surrounding area experienced. After my husband harvested the rest of the garlic he bundled and hung the bulbs that I had pulled earlier. Later that evening I bundled the rest of the bulbs that he had pulled. We ended up with around 400 bulbs total (our smallest crop ever) and plan on saving at least 150 bulbs for seed to plant in the fall.
The garlic is now hanging upstairs in the barn where it will cure for at least three weeks before being cleaned.
NOTE: For anyone thinking about growing garlic, in the U.S. now is the time of year to start looking for seed garlic. I have never seen seed garlic it sold in stores or garden centers but an internet search should produce many options. In northern parts (colder climates) fall is the time of year for planting garlic (about 6 weeks before the ground freezes). Then it should sprout up in the spring around the time the daffodils and other bulbs start sprouting.
According to almanac.com the dog days of summer run from July 3 through August 11 which is normally the hottest and most humid time of year in the northern hemisphere. Around here every day is a dog day. Just ask Ranger and Trooper. But, yes, the HEAT IS ON and it is accompanied by a dry spell so keeping the gardens watered has been the main focus for the past week or so. If you are curious about how we manage that on our off-grid farm you can check out our off-grid irrigation system here.
In the mean time I put together a collection of pictures that I’ve taken over about the past few weeks to share with you.
This is how Ranger cools off on these hot days. (Did you know beagles can swim?)
and Trooper enjoys laying on the beach after a swim in the pond.
The grandbabies love the water as much as the dogs do.
Dragonflies are yet another creature that appreciate the pond.
This one is drinking water from the sand. Check out the honey bee (on the left) that photo bombed this shot. She too was coming to the beach for a drink of water.
This beauty hung out with us on the beach, for a couple of hour yesterday evening, fluttering about and pausing now and then to rest or perhaps get a sip of water.
One last pond picture because we can never have too much cuteness. LOL.
Speaking of cuteness, here is a double dose – twins.
The lavender is gorgeous this year and the bees and butterflies are all over it.
We have transitioned from strawberry season to blueberry season. On the same day that my husband, and (daughter) Kara, picked the last of the strawberries, I took (daughter) Tina, and Jackson and Addy into the blueberry patch to pick the first ripe berries. While Kara took her 3/4 of a basket of strawberries home. Addy couldn’t wait, so she ate all of the blueberries we picked while they were still at the farm.
Start them off young – that’s my motto. They posed for a group photo then dad took Jackson and Addy, one at a time, for a ride on the tractor.
The garden is flourishing. I have harvested basil and calendula flowers twice so far.
We have green tomatoes, peppers starting to develop, blossoms on the eggplant,
blossoms on the green beans and the corn is knee high.
We cut garlic scapes (check out this post to learn more about scapes) about two weeks ago and will be digging garlic soon.
It seems that every summer our back field is dominated by different plants. This year it is full of clover and birdsfoot trefoil and I think it is just gorgeous. It’s also great bee food.
I’ll leave you with one last photo of this pair who stopped by our deck for a short visit last week. They were kind enough to stay so I could get a photo then they hurried on their way.
Thanks for visiting and remember – stay hydrated, breathe deep and stay well.
Click here to learn more about my “55 Things” and here to view previous posts in this series.
Last week while listening to one of the local talk radio programs I heard mention of a collection of stories told by former slaves about their lives. The collection was said to be housed in the U.S. Library of Congress. I love stories about history especially ones told by those who lived it so I decided to see if I could access these stories. Since an internet search produced positive results I thought I would share this treasure for others who might be curious about this part of U.S. history.
Thus far I’ve read just a few of the 2300 stories. I try to read one or two of these short stories each day. I am finding it interesting to read what these individuals experienced while living as slaves; during the civil war; and life after slavery ended.
The link below includes 17 volumes, organized by state in which the person lived, that can be downloaded in PDF format.
About this Collection
Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers’ Project, 1936-1938 contains more than 2,300 first-person accounts of slavery and 500 black-and-white photographs of former slaves. These narratives were collected in the 1930s as part of the Federal Writers’ Project (FWP) of the Works Progress Administration, later renamed Work Projects Administration (WPA). At the conclusion of the Slave Narrative project, a set of edited transcripts was assembled and microfilmed in 1941 as the seventeen-volume Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States from Interviews with Former Slaves. In 2000-2001, with major support from the Citigroup Foundation, the Library digitized the narratives from the microfilm edition and scanned from the originals 500 photographs, including more than 200 that had never been microfilmed or made publicly available. This online collection is a joint presentation of the Manuscript and Prints and Photographs divisions of the Library of Congress.
Don't Eat It! Soap and Skin Care 