Still Bustin My Butt!

This past week has been wild. So much is kicking into gear around here - now that Mother Nature, finally, decided to give us all a much needed break from all the constant rain. Our vegetable garden is showing color and loads of promise! The Hay has been cut - raked - baled. And believe it or not - at this very moment, they're out there loading the last bit in the dark! This is just that kind of work. When you've made it this far - and you only have two-thirds of the field to stack - "Git 'er Done!" You just wanna get it over with and go home! My body is killin' me. Even today - I was out there at 7:30 this mornig. Everything needed watering, especially the last section of corn that I just planted a few days ago. That was about a two-hour job. Next in sight was the blackberry bush bed. The weeds were laughing at me - until around 1:30pm. Took about a half-hour break with Zucker. That dog is like a Bloodhound. No matter how worn out or hot he may be - he refuses to let you leave him behind if you're heading out the gate on the porch. He trotted right to his half-full water bowl and dried it up. And then - he turned around and finished up the refill! Headed for the rug in the living room - laid down and just panted for a while - until he saw me heading for the door, again. And right now - Dog is more like Pig. He is absolutely filthy - belly coat full of cocker burs, too. So, guess what I get to do in the morning! Anyways - headed back outside after my break. By then the garden had dried off and the water had soaked down enough to walk around. It was time to run twine to support the new height of the tomatoes and get them cleaned out and stabilized, again. Just as I was finishing up and piling all the debris to take to the compost bin - here comes Pat Townsend's son! He was ready to rake the hay! Pics of that are coming soon! But for now - here are three layouts I've done for what I'm calling my own version of "Veggie Tales" that we're experiencing here! Look closely - there's a recipe in there somewhere! And I've included it at the end of this post so you can steal it! Remember - click on the layout to see a larger view!

I have had a blast with this brand new kit called Garden of Weedin' by Kimberly Stewart at http://www.scrapbook-elements.com/! I've got more photos of things going on around here and the layouts should be coming shortly!

We get up at 4am around here. Can't get much yardwork done when we're still a few hours away from the sunrise! So - I take that time to get a layout done - and a little bit of housework, as well! But once that sun pops up - time to go chase the weeds and all the other stuff there is to do outside before the moon takes its place!

Spicy Lime Grilled Chicken Kabobs

I never really measure anything in this recipe by any other way than personal taste. So, here's a guessing game you can play with to suit your own tastes!

6 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Filets

1 cup fresh Cilantro

6 - 8 Tbl. Lime Juice

1 Bottle Regular Italian Dressing

5 Cloves of fresh Garlic (or 1 Tbl. garlic powder)

1 heaping Tbl. Course-ground Sea Salt

Pinch of Cayenne Pepper

2 Zucchini Squashes

3 Yellow Hook-neck Squashes

1 Pkg. fresh Mushrooms (either kind, button shape)

1 Pkg. large wooden skewers

1. Cut chicken filets into 1" chunks. Cut squashes into 1/2" slices. Cut of the very bottom of mushroom stems without removing. Dice fresh garlic. Cut fresh cilantro into small pieces - but do not mince. (Best way to judge is to imagine one of the leaves resting on a bite of chicken.) 2. Throw all ingredients into one-gallon size ziploc bag. Marinate in refrigerator for a minimum of 3 hours.

Here's the messy part! Make sure you're near the kitchen sink and have plenty of paper towels around!

3. Grab some older kids (or a husband) to help. One sets up the grill. The other begins skewing items. (Skewing not a job for small kids. Too easy to poke their hands and fingers while skewing the chicken.) Skew items in consecutive order. 4. Once the grill is ready, set skewed kabobs laying in the same direction as the grill wire; otherwise, food may slip between the wires and stick, or, fall off skewer during cooking. 5. Everybody's got their own way of determining when the food is done! So, just use common sense. But you want to turn the skewers every five minutes, or so, to make sure the kabobs fully cook on all sides.

Remember - this recipe gets you started. But you can adjust measurements of all the spices to fit your own tastes! This should make enough to feed about 4-5 adults.