Monday, August 21, 2023

T Stands for a Quiet Week

 Hi everyone. Happy T day to you. 

Last week I had a very quiet week, and  it was fantastic. Well it did rain quite a bit, but when it rained it made some good inside play time. I was able to start making some art for some upcoming challenges. ❤ And other than 1 day at work (I was rained out of the other), it was great not having to be any place for a particular time.

It didn't rain one morning so I went out and did a beehive check. I really need to check the bees on a weekend when my husband is home so he can take photos. My frames are very heavy with honey, so it's hard for me to hold them up with one hand and take a photo using my phone with the other.  (And being short means I am working with my hands being held at face level, which makes it even tougher.) But for those of you who love seeing the bees, here's a couple of photos that came out OK, but all they show is lots of bees on the frame.



I also made a video of the bees using my phone, but for some reason Blogger isn't letting me access it to post it here, even if I can access it when I go into my photos through Google. Hmm. Perhaps I am saving it in the wrong place. Does anyone know how to access it on blogger? 

I also picked my first cucumber the other day. It grew a little too big to eat because of all the giant seeds compared to flesh. I didn't want to let it go to waste however, so I made a batch of freezer pickles with it.


These are not finished pickles because freezer pickles have to sit in the freezer for a couple of weeks to finish processing. They're really easy to make. First you salt the slices a bit in a bowl and then after 2-3 hours you drain off the excess water. Add your vinegar and sugar as well as your spices, stir them up, and then put them in a container you can freeze. Pop them into the freezer, let them sit for 2-3 weeks and you get your pickles. They aren't fermented, but they're still tasty. And did you know if you have a glut of zucchine you also do the same thing and turn them into pickles? 

 If anyone is interested in the recipe let me know in your comments, and I'll post it.


For my T Day ticket  this week let me share this take out fajita salad the hubby brought home for dinner Friday night. I got mine with steak, and since the hubby doesn't eat his guacamole, I had a double serving. That's always a good thing because I love guacamole.

 For my drink to link up to   Bleubeard's and Elizabeth's blog  I made us each a margarita. And I'll admit, I was too lazy to get out the step stool to climb up to the top shelf to get the margarita glasses so I just made them in some regular drinking glasses. 

These were some of the small adventures from my quiet week.

This week ahead I have a lot on my agenda. It's either feast or famine I think. 😀
Have a great T day and week ahead. 






18 comments:

Mae Travels said...

Making pickles sounds like fun, especially if you have too many cukes.
best, mae at maefood.blogspot.com

DVArtist said...

What a great way to make pickles. I didn't have cucumber this year. You know how much I love seeing the bees. The looks very healthy. I'm with you, I really hate having to use a step stool because I'm short. LOL Have a nice evening.

Tom said...

...your hive looks like it's doing well, I hope that they continue.

Cloudia said...

Congratulations on those beautiful cucumbers!

Angie's Recipes said...

Can't help you with Iphone issue as I don't even have one. Pickles looks so crunchy.

Hels said...

Your cucumbers look delicious!! If you can only use a half a cucumber in a salad, slice half and add to slices tomato, sliced hard boiled egg and small lettuce leaves.

Fresh vegetables and salad components are so expensive this year.. you are fortunate to grow your own.

Iris Flavia said...

First big smile: Bees. Yesterday I dropped a box of cheapy-"jewelry" - and caught a bee-earring!
These days, working from home... I sit here in the same ole shirt like all the last days! Jewelry??? Forget about that, what´s in is in.
Quiet week sounds great.

I look very much forward to your honey and bee-pics!
At the tourist-info you can buy Oker-bees-honey (Oker is our river). I did - as pressie for others!!!! I never bought one for myself! (Dumb me).

LOL. The bees use your phone? Funny thought!
(I know what you mean, but this made me laugh real hard!)

Blogger... it´s for free, keep saying this... So many bloggers it denies access to and I have no idea why! No access at all! Others with name and url at least. And let´s not start with the code...
It was great once, what happened? I have obviously no idea and cannot help you...

Your cucumber looks... well! Good! I´d give it a munch. I never heard of freezer pickles, though! Sounds very interesting!
Recipe, please (I "only" need to grow a cucumber next year, LOL) - no, seriously, recipe, please.

"Mimimimi"... that fajita looks so wonderful. I might take off to the city for lunch-time!

LOL on the laziness of the glasses-choice. Ours are high up - that´s a). And b) I am clumsy and always fear I break one washing up.
Go figure ;-)

Sounds like a wild week for a quiet one! Hugs! And happy T-Day

J said...

How lovely to have your own honey, lovely to see them at work. We've never grown cucumber although I love it, my DH has been making salsa and sauces with all the tomatoes we've grown, it's so sweet.
Have a lovely T Day Jan S

David M. Gascoigne, said...

The bees look to be doing well. Maybe lots of honey this year. We used to pickle beets, baby corn and cucumbers (icicle pickles) but gave it up a few years ago. They were good though. Maybe we should do it again and just make a small batch. Oh and we used to make apple sauce too. Hugs - David

nwilliams6 said...

So fun to see your pet bees!

I have never heard of freezer pickles but now want to try them.

Super yummy looking dinner! I love guac too.

Happy T-day and hugz, Erika. Have fun this week!

Divers and Sundry said...

Bees!!! I love your bees :)

If you figure out a way to upload a video from your phone to your blog post please clue me in. I had to upload the video to YouTube and then embed it in my post.

Valerie-Jael said...

Lovely to see the bees again. I have no problems with uploading pics from the phone but I haven't tried videos. I FOUND THIS WHEN i ASKED BLOGGER:
https://www.google.de/search?q=uploading+videos+from+phone+to+blogger+blog&sca_esv=559122478&sxsrf=AB5stBj0wvQUOpNOHsAU6lLkS9cDGuigLQ%3A1692722801560&source=hp&ei=cebkZOCyH6LPxc8P5Y-WyAk&iflsig=A
I don't know if it helps! Happy T Day, hugs, Valerie

Lisca said...

Great to see the hives with the bees. Are they the bees that survived the winter or did you have to buy new bees? It's all looking very healthy.

The fajita salad looks yummy. Yes, I like guacamole too.
Hugs,
Lisca

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

The bees are certainly being very productive, Erika, and I keep thinking how wonderful that honey will taste in a cup of tea! We both enjoy guacamole so would not be sharing any.

Jeanie said...

Yes,, please. Post the pickles. And I love seeing the bees. They look -- as one says -- very busy!

CJ Kennedy said...

The bees look like they are thriving. Prissy had given me her recipe for freezer pickles. It never occurred to me to use zucchini. Thanks for the tip. Happy T Day

Aimeslee Winans said...

Glad your bees are doing well. That's a tasty looking fajita salad and guacamole is always good. I love cucumbers and pickles. Honey's dad grew cucumbers. His garden is missed by us every year since he passed. Right now we are eating sliced raw yellow peppers, carrots and radishes with our meals. Also got a really delish cantaloupe. Hope your busy week goes well, xoxo

pearshapedcrafting said...

Ooh! Very busy bees! Hope you get lots of honey. My Mum used to pickle or jam everything we grew if we had excess! Belated Happy T Day, Chrisx