I get the same urge through I don't bury food. I've seen how forgetful the squirrels are when it comes to finding their food supply. In the spring, their acorns and walnuts sprout in my flowers. I would be just as forgetful as the squirrels if I tried that except my tomatoes and cucumbers wouldn't come up in the spring to remind me where to look. The safest place for what Harold brings in from the garden is going into jars stored in our basement or baggies in our freezer. That way the food supply is centrally located for me to get at when the ground is snow covered. Perhaps, that's a suggestion the squirrels should try. Pick one spot, dig down and bury all the nuts to make it easy to find them. The idea works for me. I wouldn't have so many tree sprouts to pull up in the spring.
We are fortunate to be able to raise our food. Gardening is good exercise and a safe way to have healthy food. We have a large garden, but there are times we wonder if it's going to hold all that we want to plant. We like a variety of vegetables so we plant our spring garden as early as possible, and when some of that has finished producing, we start over with a fall garden. Just like last year, we're now carrying water to the plants. Our new lettuce, radishes and carrots are up and growing, but some of the other veggies have yet to sprout. The seeds are dormant. What we need is a good soaking rain and soon.
Preserving all the good foods to eat this winter really limits my time on the computer. I'd like to spend more time working on a new Amish story right now, but I console myself with the thought that this winter when I'm making lunch with quick cook dishes from the freezer or jar, I'll be writing more.
Right now my writing project is a special one. If you remember, I just finished publishing a book written by a cousin about his experiences in the Vietnam War - 199th Light Infantry Brigade Redcatcher M.P. Now I'm soon going to publish another book for a dear sister-in-law this time. She just lost her battle with cancer at age 60.
The two of us started out in the late eighties thinking we would like to write a book. I signed up for a 6 weeks summer writing course in the back of the library. That was a very helpful course and fueled my fire to some day be an author. The next summer the course was offered again and both of us signed up. There was only a class or two before the classes were canceled. We were on our own again, and life seemed to get in the way this time. After that, our conversations weren't on a possible book. Though I kept working on my writing skills every time I had a spare moment, the sister-in-law didn't. Her possible book was placed in a metal box for safe keeping until she had the time to finish it. She didn't get the chance. The metal box surfaced recently and brought back memories of our bright hopes to be authors.
So now I'm going to make her dreams come true by publishing her book. The story is a romance. It needs much work and an ending which I've already figured out. So the day will come when I'll be able to share the book with the author's name on the cover. What a special legacy for her to leave her children and grandchildren. This woman lived her life with courage. She embraced life with humor and bravery in the last 14 years all the way to the end. She enjoyed her few remaining years and then months and days she had left and always kept in mind ways to make it easier for her loved ones to live life with her and without her. We were sisters in a common dream. If the situation were reversed, she'd have done the same for me.
Now time to get busy. On my list of to do today is making homemade ice cream from an Aunt's recipe.
Pudding flavored Ice Cream
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 small box Cool Whip
1 large box of instant pudding in any flavor. (We love butter pecan which you won't find in the grocery stores anymore but Amish stores carry the pudding in bulk.
1/2 gal. cold milk (I use siky very vanilla soybean milk)
Beat eggs in large bowl. Add sugar and pudding. Beat. Stir in Cool Whip. Pour in freezer can and add milk to the fill line. Freeze.