My Story

[Angela]

Sept 15, 2016 14:52:08 GMT -5 thegeema said:

Good afternoon. I have decided I would like to join in a bit of gardening talk. I came from the Cooking for 2 thread. My big experience has been a raised bed and many garden pots and cukes in the bump-out of my wooden deck (raised patio). Moved my rhubarb and asparagus plants from the other house. I have had all the tomatoes and cukes one can eat this season. Shared a few. I moved from 3.91 +/- acres early 2014 back into town to a smaller house and lot. My early years was in Ripley County, IN on a 84 acre farm. Married a "Yankee" from R.I. in 1953 (lost him in a backhoe accident in 1990). Have 5 children and many g'kids and and as many or more gg'kids. I just celebrated my 83rd birthday about 2 weeks ago. I love recipes - especially Mug recipes. Hope this isn't more than you wanted to know.

Hi Geema! Glad to see you here. Remember reading your posts on Cooking for Two & I do recall your fondness for mug recipes! 😊 Hope to see you posting frequently.

[luvmyb_b]

Welcome, Geema!  Glad to have you joining us.  I think your post is just right.  It's very nice getting to know a little about you. 

[tasty]

Good to see you venturing over here to the gardening side too, Geema.  I think you'll enjoy it - very friendly.  Nice and relaxed.

[plantdoctor]

Sept 15, 2016 8:51:08 GMT -5 judahl said:

Plantdctor, I grew up in Cedar Rapids. My grandparents had a farm outside of Marion where I spent a lot of time. People think I grew up on a farm, but I have just wonderful memories of going to the farm. Thanks for all the welcome aboard wishes.

You should join in with the people in the Midwest.....there are about 4 of them not far from Cedar Rapids...Dubuque, Monticello area.  

Geema...glad to see you joining us.  I recall you from Cooking for 2 on TOH since I posted there a couple of times re:Lily.  Your story is great and tells us quite a bit about you...so glad you joined us here.  Charlene

[shelly]

Hello Everyone ~ I've come over from TOH.  Thank you for setting up this site.  I was so diappointed when TOH closed, but so pleased that I found this site. 

I live in California (born here) -- San Francisco Bay Area.  Life is a little crazy out here, but I wouldn't live anywhere else.  Although I'm only 30 minutes from San Francisco, I live in a semi-rural area and have several acres of land.  I grow lots of veggies and have a small vineyard.  I like to cook and am always trying new recipes. This week I'm making tomato sauce with my heirloom tomatoes --- soooo good!

I enjoy reading posts by people from all over the country and world. Most posts tell what state or country the person is from, but sometimes people talk about their weather or town and never mention where they live.  That's a little frustrating!  

I won't be posting much, but I'm here learning from others and just enjoying the community!  Thanks, again, for this site!

Shelly from California

[iliz9]

Welcome Shelly, glad you have joined this site...We live in Clovis, in the S.Joaquin Valley...our weather though is so different from the Bay Area...hot and hotter...lol...hope, this will change soon and we are able to enjoy the outdoors more... Our late BiL and family lived in Alameda but moved to Discovery Bay, lately we haven't traveled that way as much...

[plantdoctor]

Welcome Shelly!  Please do post some...I love hearing about weather and gardening in different parts of the US and Canada.  Your weather is certainly different than we have here in NE Iowa.

 We have a niece that live in the SF bay area...Silicon Valley.  She is a CEO in a company and makes more in a year than my husband and I have made in a lifetime...lol.  Nice to meet you!  Charlene

[shelly]

Thank you, iliz and Charlene, for the warm welcome.

iliz -- I'm glad that there is someone else here from California. I agree with you -- the weather is much warmer in the San Joaquin Valley than it is here. We have, however, had our share of hot days and, like you, are expecting a cool-down starting tomorrow. Alameda is a nice area -- mild temps by the water. I'll look forward to reading your posts and chatting with you and others. Thanks, again!

Charlene -- Yep, Silicon Valley is the "big deal" here in California. I remember when it was nothing but miles and miles of farm land!! Millions of people are employed in the ".com world" and many of them commute there every day from all over Northern, CA. The freeways in the Bay Area are always crowded -- starting to remind me of Los Angeles traffic!! Gag! I'll look forward to reading your posts about life in Iowa. Thanks, again!

[luvmyb_b]

Welcome from NW Ohio, Shelly!  It is always interesting to hear about other areas of the country.  Actually, it can be fascinating to hear about the differences within a particular state also.  I don't think I have much of a reference point on SF, other than our son and his wife enjoying their visit there last year.  Your vineyard has me intrigued so I hope you will post about it.   

[shelly]

Thanks for the welcome, Karen. I agree with you. I also enjoy reading about gardening, cooking, and the weather in other parts of the country. California is definitely one of the states that has it all --- coast line, desert, mountains/snow, valleys, foothills. You can travel from a ski resort to a beach resort in less than a day! As I said before, it's a little crazy out here -- never a dull moment!

As for my vineyard, it was planted many years ago. The majority of the vines are old Zinfandel wine grape. For the last five years, I haven't even bothered to harvest the grape because of the drought out here -- there was nothing much to harvest. So, I let the birds and the turkeys enjoy what they could find. This year, however, we did harvest some grape, but not much. We are in the process of making a little wine. Hopefully, it turns out well. 🍇🍷
Thanks, again. I enjoy being here!

[tasty]

Do you make the wine just for yourselves? Or to sell?

We have what my hubby likes to call 'a vignette', it's definitely not big enough to be called a vineyard - LOL!  However, as we Iive in a wine producing area, hubby thought it would be fun to try his hand at growing grapes.  Producing grapes could be considered success, now let's try making alcohol.  The first attempt was really good red wine vinegar - things have slowly improved and it's looking like a good crop of grapes this year.  Who knows - one day it may be really good, make that drinkable, wine.

Welcome Shelly

[shelly]

Ha! Ha! I can totally identify with "vinegar", tasty!! I've had a few barrels of vinegar, too!!! I'm
hoping this will be a good year.

No, I don't sell my wine. I just make enough for myself and sometimes for friends and relatives.
In order to sell wine here, you need permits, a business license, and the county/state will inspect
your wine making facility. It's way too complicated unless you're one of the "big guys" like those
in Napa or Sonoma!

Thanks for the welcome and here's to a good wine year!
Shelly from California

[posy]

Welcome Geema, remember reading some of your posts on the Cooking for 2 post in TOH. Also, welcome Shelly from California.

I like to cook and garden and I live in New York State in a small village in western NY, just 10 miles from northern PA border. My DH is a retired accountant. My gardening is flower garden, small bushes, etc. I am retired so plenty of time to cook when I feel like it and bake,too. I visited my grandparents farm when I was growing up and helped my grandmother churn butter, and watched her cook and bake everything from scratch in addition to the number of things she could do from canning, sewing, and anything else she could tackle. My grandfather was an engineer on Erie Railroad and owned a house in the city and a farm in country. He had a few horses as all the garden work back then was done with a team of workhorses plowing, cultivating, etc. He had a pig or two, and a Jersey cow. I watched them strain the milk through the separator each night. Hard life for those people but they enjoyed what they did. Made sauerkraut, jam, jelly, homemade rolls, bread. etc. I have good memories and am glad of that. My mother is gone and she was a cook all her life for private families and also for 21 yrs. in restaurant. She was one of 10 kids and grew up on a big farm. She left home at 16 to go on her own. I have 2 sons who live here in the village and my oldest son passed on almost a year and a half ago. Only 1 of my sons is married.

Great place to visit and exchange ideas, recipes, and just chat anytime. We are lucky to have this site to visit when we have a bit of time. Bette did a great job with it.

Sure passes a lot of time and especially in the winter season when days can be long and lonely for many, too.

So all have a good day and glad to see so many folks here!

[luvmyb_b]

Sept 25, 2016 15:25:16 GMT -5 posy said:

I like to cook and garden and I live in New York State in a small village in western NY, just 10 miles from northern PA border.

**** I don't know why I cannot put my cursor in the reply box to quote the right way.  I tried two different ways.  Normally, I have no problem at all.  Maybe because I deleted so much of the message???  Anyway ... my comment follows - Karen


Posy, DH and I spent a weekend in Bradford, PA in July of 2015 en route to Ellicottville, NY for a family reunion there.  My two times great-grandparents lived in Ellicottville, and one of their sons raised his family in Bradford so both of those places have meaning to me.  Are you anywhere either place? 

[calgalnv]

Hello! Just joined here today. I'm Patty.  I was on Birds and Blooms and TOH site since around 2001. My name was Calgal then Calgal_nv there for years and years. I live in Reno, NV. Married 28 years and have one son and one dog, Geezer. I enjoy the mountains, camping, hiking. I grew up in Michigan, than at the age of 15, my parents decided to retire early and move to Colorado. From there, I ended up in Reno. We've moved around through the years for my husband's job to VA, IA, and CA, where we spent ten years, then back to Reno. We just love it here and have finally settled. :)