Well, the visit is over, sadly.

[hippywife]

My best friend, her mom, her aunt and her sister-in-law were here for a long, long overdue reunion the past couple of days. My best friend since high school lives in Kenilworth, IL, her mom in and SIL in Abilene, TX and her aunt still back in Columbus, OH where we all started. She and her aunt were down visiting her mom in Abilene and she was going to fly here on her way home to Chicagoland. When her mom and aunt heard about those plans, they said, we want to see her, too, we'll drive you to Tulsa. Now I haven't gotten to actually see my best friend in 10 years. She's a flight attendant with a husband a daughter. I haven't seen her mom and aunt in many more years than that. They've all been like family to me as long as I've known them and was very excited at the thought of seeing them all!

They arrived on Monday around 3 p.m. and her mom, aunt, SIL all drove back to Abilene yesterday morning. I took my friend to the airport last night. She was supposed to stay until this morning but her husband called and said her little dog was very ill and would likely need to be put down. She didn't want that to happen while she was away, so...

Anyway, I fed them all the Sunday Gravy with capellini, a fresh green salad with lots of goodies in it, fresh Ain5 bread, homemade apple raisin pie with homemade vanilla yogurt/ice cream. I had fresh squeezed Meyer lemonade and iced tea with frozen blackberries to drop in their glasses along with the ice. We had a wonderful visit. I had her mom bring a cooler and sent them back with fried ham steak sandwiches, homemade molasses cookies, and fruit for the trip back. I cooked lots of pasta and sauce for dinner and sent that back with them for their dinner last night so they would have something ready to heat and eat after the long drive home.

My friend and I had a good day alone together yesterday and I made a batch of Ain5 so she could see how it's done. We took a walk down our country road while I had some pumpkins cooking in the oven. We came back and had some goat cheese and fruit with some sunflower basil crackers made by Back to Nature. Nice light lunch.

Oh, and my friend brought me this as a hostess gift:
http://www.thespicehouse.com/spices/ethnic-chicago-neighborhood-spice-blends-2-gift-box

They smell wonderful! While I was cooking dinner, they opened them all and passed them around the room so everyone could get a whiff. Bill is ready to have them put to use soon. LOL

Since I still have today off, I could go into work but I'm going to stay home and can some more tomatoes (they picked some out of the garden to take back with them, too), make another pie and roast the chicken we were supposed to have for dinner last night.

My friend is taking furlough for a year to be home with her daughter more so we are going to make a foodie out of her, too.

It all went by entirely too fast but I'm so glad they came.

[eleny]

1. What a very yummy visit!

[hippywife]

4. It's kind of funny anymore

that food is always the backdrop to everything I do. :rofl:

[eleny]

7. Reminds me of that Bugs Bunny line...."Tell me more about my pies!"

Or was it "eyes"?

[hippywife]

10. LOL! I had forgotten about that.

And I do so love Bugs!

[japple]

2. What a nice visit, and I'll bet your friends are still dizzy from all

the wonderful food you fed them. Your posts always make me drool.

[hippywife]

5. Always wishing I could share

with such good friends. It makes me so happy to feed those I care about good food. :hi:

[grasswire]

3. nothin' says lovin' like somethin' from the oven...

...so I am sure that your friends feel well cared for, HW!

What did you do with the pumpkins?

[hippywife]

6. Yep. Around here it is an expression of love.

I stripped the pulp outta the skin and pureed it. Bill loves to make pumpkin pies all on his own when I'll let him in the kitchen.

I hope you will send me a PM soon to let me know how things are going on the farmette. I'm so interested to hear how it's going and how the two of you are doing. :hug:

[grasswire]

8. status of the farmette

I have been meaning to take some pictures and post them if I could ever find a photo host that was easy to use and free.

After a very dry spell in August, we had four days of colder weather and LOTS of rain. The rain took down the cornstalks, and I believe all the corn was delivered to the turkeys, so my dream of sweet corn ten minutes from the stalk was dashed. But the rain will no doubt revive everything else beautifully, as we now are in a 6-day period of 80 degrees again.

There are zillions of raspberries still coming, and many tomatoes are just dropping off the bushes. I am picking a lot of the orange cherry ones but the other big ones I really don't think have a LOT of flavor, oddly enough. I chunked and froze as many bags as I could accommodate. I have frozen some tomatillos too. I found some okra bushes and will pop some of those in the freezer just to throw in soup later. There is a very lovely red plum tree that has given me dozens of fruits. Not quite enough for jam, but just delicious for snacking. Some of the grapes are ready -- there are about ten varieties. Some of them got snagged with a fungus early on. Some are too seedy for eating fresh, but there are a couple of varieties that are yummy and beautiful.

Five bee hives have been delivered. Hmm. Dunno what that's about.

The summer squashes have powdery mildew and only a few are making it. I dug some potatoes the other day and fried them and they were really really good, but I think that's the end of the crop. The basil crop is EXcellent. I ought to get busy and freeze some pesto.

My hosts are putting in an herb garden this month for the future -- right in front of our little dwelling. How cool is that?

Honestly, we are not feeding a great deal out of the garden. I don't like to take much, plus for whatever reason the things that are there may not be what I would plant for my own use. There are hardly any cucumbers, and no salad materials. No dill. The beets and onions and stuff are already gone for the year. Few squash. This is a good lesson for me in what I would plant for myself!

What we can use we are very grateful for, though!! And of course the birds and butterflies and beautiful espaliered trees are extremely restful and nourishing to the eye.

And that BLT I had for breakfast with orange cherry toms and basil was beyond words. Mmmmm.

[hippywife]

9. It really does sound

like things are going well for the most part. Sorry to hear about the corn failing. That is a true bummer. And an herb garden right in front of the house will be fabulous. Sounds like they may be planning on raising colonies of bees. That would be really cool, too!

For your photos, www.photobucket.com is absolutely free and easy to use. :hi: