The story of black walnuts

At our place...these days....life centers around black walnut harvesting. I've had inquiries about the process i use...so here's a bit of explanation.

We have several trees at the farm and at the studio and it takes a couple weeks for them all to fall off. so, when they start, i am out there with my 5 gallon bucket .... picking up and picking up.

Then we throw them all down the driveway and run over them for a few days going in and out....till the hulls are all mashed off and they dry out a bit. Two of the walnut trees are at the top of the pic...on either side of the driveway where it turns.

After they are ready.....i go out once again with my 5 gallon buckets and a milk crate to sit on and pick them all up. as i separate the nuts from the smashed hulls....i toss the hulls over on the left...in the ditch next to the driveway. maybe they'll kill the weeds there....LOL

Then we toss them in the old wringer washer that we have in the barn and give them a good washing. they agitate in the washer for about 30 minutes...then we drain out the water....and give them another wash for another 20 minutes or so. We store the washer out in the barn and just wheel it over to the doorway...close to the hose connection outside and easy to drain outside. works like a charm.

Then we lay out some feed sacks on the garage floor...out of the way of things. and lay the washed nuts all out to dry for a few days. they look so pretty after they are all washed.

When i got home from quilt class yesterday hubby was just laying out the last of the loads for the day. he finished them all while i was gone. isn't he the best?  here are 4 loads of walnuts. that's a lot of nuts.

In the evenings i sit and crack them up for us to use in baked goodies....and hubby's ice cream. here is my cracker that i got online several years ago. i think it was like $80 but so worth it....don't have to use the hammer. and i've learned a trick to soak them overnight and they crack better...the shells don't all shatter. and you just have to pull till the shell cracks and then take them apart. too much and they are all busted up. it's a fine line. LOL

In a couple nights i filled a pint size jar...they are now in the freezer. and am on the way to filling a second jar.

So, that's what happens around here in the fall. dh woke up this morning saying it sure would be nice to have some black walnut cookies. might have to make some for him. after all...he did do all the washing by himself.

This morning i was out in the drizzling rain....picking persimmons. gotta go out every morning before the critters get them all. from 2 trees i got 5 pounds this morning. gotta go start processing them. work is never done...sigh!

The Duck is pretty...on the outside

The Duck is looking prettier on the outside. it would have been nice had i remembered to take a picture....but i didn't.

The yard guy that i hired to cut my grass during the summer is doing a fine job. this last weekend was the first time i was down there in about 2 months. it is so nice to go down and not have grass 12 inches high.

And i also spoke to him about cutting out those ugly shrubs along the front of the house. i just talked to him about those on Sunday.....and when i went down on Tuesday to take a load of furniture....he already had the bushes whacked down. fast....fast.  he still has to dig out the roots but it looks soooo much better. i filled a whole trash bag with the crap that was under those bushes. people!!

I really wasn't able to do much work when i was done there. on saturday i spent 2 hours and 3 hours on sunday. nothing exciting accomplished. just picking up trash and carrying it out to the garage. i did manage to get the vinyl off the back steps .... tacked on with about 100 upholstery tacks. and under that was green carpet....i think the indoor/outdoor stuff. it was glued to the steps so i couldn't get that off. but those steps will be replaced so it will disappear eventually.

I came home on Sunday and then turned around and did another day trip down there on Tuesday to take 4 pieces of furniture that i had stored in the barn here at the farm. i think dh was ready for me to get my stuff out of his barn. LOL

One piece was the barnwood hutch that i had gotten a few weeks back.

And i took 2 bookcases that i had gotten at a yard sale. this one is unfinished and heavy.

And this one is 7-8 feet tall with a curvy top. it is also heavy. i will paint it another color...not sure what yet.

But now i am home again for a while. i spent my morning picking up black walnuts....hundreds of them.....3 hours worth.  we throw them all in the driveway and drive over them until the hulls are smashed off. after i cleaned up the driveay of what was there....i picked up the last of them out of the yard and threw them in the driveway. i have a large trash can full of this years nuts...hulled and ready to dry out for next year.  and i am beginning to crack last years nuts for some good bread and cookies this season.

I have been working on my Dear Jane blocks some, too. i only have 1 more block to do and then rows A through E will be finished. i do have 4 or 5 of row F done, too.

I feel like i need a nap. my sleep is all disrupted lately. i go to bed too early....about 10....and then wake up at 2:30. i get up and sew for a couple hours then go back to bed for a few hours. somehow my internal clock is all messed up.

OK...gonna go be constructive.
Later

Off on an adventure

I am off this morning to visit with my sister for a couple days. we are going to a quilt show in Urbana, Illinois on Saturday. might stay overnight if it is real exciting and we need more time to view the quilts and shop the vendors.

Then will stay in Centralia a day or two. i want to hook up with my yard guy and see about taking out those ugly bushes in the front of the house  at the Duck and a few tree stumps. we might check out more of the town and see what is happening.

I won't be able to do any demolition work while there.....i'm still rather recouperating from the gallbladder surgery. although it's been 3 weeks, strength is not all back yet.

I'll be back Tuesday or Wednesday. perhaps i'll have some cool pictures to show you.

When i get back i'll have a week to quilt up Abby's pocket quilt and get it out to her. Yikes!!

I've been picking up the black walnuts on our property and putting them in the driveway so we can drive over them and squish off the hulls. then i will have thousands of them to crack and freeze. black walnut bread and cookies are good! but it is a time consuming job to clean and crack them.

See you next week.

Where does the time go?

It seems i have been AWOL for a couple weeks again. i swear it was just a couple days since i talked to you. i just don't know where the time goes.

I've been busy both at the house and at the studio. we have a huge black walnut tree way out in the far pasture. it is really not far from the house...as the crow flies....but as fencing goes...well, it's a little drive around to it. i've been going out there and picking up the black walnuts. i went out the first time and picked 7  5-gallon buckets of nuts. and i mowed the grass so i could find them better. then i went back a few days later and got 8 more 5-gallon buckets. there are still probably 2 or 3 buckets left but not sure i will make the effort to go after them. i have a whole lot to shell and crack the way it is.

And it is work to get those yummy nuts. when we first moved out here, i spent days and days with a hammer and a concrete block. and some aspirin for a sore shoulder. now we have an old fashioned corn sheller. put the walnuts in there...turn the crank, husks fall out the back and nuts fall out the front. very much easier than that hammer. but still a need for a few aspirin.

After that part, we dump them about a bucketful at a time in an old wringer washer out in the barn. agitate them for a few minutes and then pull them out and lay them on the barn floor to dry. it washes them off really nicely.  then spend winter evenings at the kitchen table with the walnut cracker to fill the tupperware containers for the freezer. i used the last of the batch i had so if we want black walnut cookies, bread and cake....it's aspirin time. LOL

And we are still wrestling with the huge trunks of the last tree we had taken down. all the wood sheds are full but we still need to get them cut up and off the lawn so it can be mowed. we probably have enough wood for 2 or 3 winters.

And the apples. i picked all the apples off the trees. didn't count them this year...it would have been too discouraging. let's just say there were LOTS. canned lots of apples for pies...made numerous apple pies...made some apple tarts....and still have a large bowl of apples left. if we still had cows....they would be getting those last apples.

Did a few things on my to-do list. still have to do a bit of caulking and painting before the snow flies. finishing the tile floor in my studio bathroom has been on the to-do list for about 4 years now. it is so sad. i am giving consideration to just pulling up the tiles and painting the floor. it's got to be simpler than cutting those last tiles and putting them down and grouting. after all....if i haven't gotten it finished in 4 years...when will i?

I have been quilting up my UFOs...i only have 5 or 6 left in my closet. and i am starting on them next week. i have given the customers notice....come back in March. till then...it is ME time once again. i find i just have to do it that way....i get too guilty to do mine when customer quilts are here waiting.

I'm still working on busting my fabric stash....and thread stash. you know...thread goes bad after a few years. if you have a spool that is breaking a lot....it may just be old. you could try putting it in the freezer overnight....if that doesn't help....you might just need to toss it. another thread tidbit i figured out the other day. i was embroidering some small designs....6 of them....the first one looked much different in color than the others. i finally figured out that the thread must have faded. my thread sits out in the open...hanging on a wall. but not in direct sunlight. but i am guessing just light in general fades it out. so, along with no buying of fabric...it's no buying of thread either until this place gets under control.

I filled my truck up twice and took it all to the thrift stores. cleaning out the studio....stuff from craft sales that didn't sell. .... older fabric....beads....yarn.....patterns....books. sheesh i'm a packrat. i don't want you to see me on Hoarders. LOL

OK, let me go get some photos and show you a couple quilts that were done lately.