Buying Christmas Presents Early

 

Last year I wrote an article on buying your Christmas presents early.  So how is that coming along?  It is 161 days until Christmas, about five months so now is a good time to start your Christmas shopping.  If you start now you can enjoy what you are doing and get the things you want at a good price.  When the Christmas holidays come you can always shop and spend more if you like….

            There are sales now that will probably not beat the sales at the holidays because business is slower so they are pushing merchandise at a good price.

            Just in case you didn’t read my article before, I have a large tote or two I put my presents in when I buy them;  that way I don’t lose them and can find them easily when the time comes for me to start wrapping. 

As I said in my previous post, I had a mother in law who had all her Christmas bought by August and throughout the holidays she would decorate and wrap presents.  To me that should make the holidays more enjoyable because you are not pressured to spend so much money all at once and buy things that you wouldn’t normally buy.  Not that I expect you spend a lot of money, but with the economy the way it is it doesn’t seem that your dollar goes as far as it used to.

Cows on the ranch

This cow is the granddaughter of Matilda, her grandmother Matilda was a cow we bought from a trading post on the reservation many years ago.  Matilda was anything but friendly, but after years on the ranch she became a bit more pleasant although she still wasn’t the friendliest cow around.  We did get some nice calves from Matilda and she lived a good life on the ranch.  After being on the reservation the ranch must have seemed like heaven. 

Her granddaughter has a calf of her own now and is getting ready to go out to the range for the summer.

Each cow has their own personality just like people and they are quite smart.  The older ones will know the trail and lead the younger ones to water although the cows will automatically follow the leader even though sometimes the leader isn’t going anywhere in particular.

We had a cow once that was quite friendly and named her Daisy, but found out later she only liked men.  For some reason she didn’t like women and would actually go after them.  It wasn’t just me, any women with long hair she disliked.  We finally had to get rid of her because she got mean a few times.

Cows can be interesting, but not a good pet like a cat or dog.

How to Dry and Store Mint

Mint tea is the best!  I make my own tea blend and use my mint that I dry during the summer.  I also to make mint tea with fresh mint, it is very refreshing.  I enjoy peppermint tea before bedtime with chamomile, it makes a wonderful tonic to relax me and help me sleep.  I also add mint to some of the tea blends I have bought and you can make your tea and chill it for ice tea in the summer.  If you buy mint tea at the store it can be pricy so why not dry your own.

            If you want to dry your own mint one of the important things is timing.  It is better to wait until it is mature, but you don’t want the mint to start going to seed as you will lose some of its holistic value.

When you feel like your mint is right cut it and put it in a large bowl or platter.  When I cut mint I put all the cut ends facing the same way, you will find it is easier throughout the drying process.

 

 

Put your mint in the sink (all facing the same way) and wash and rinse it well, you want to wash any bird droppings or dirt off so you have clean mint.

            I then put my mint on a towel to drip dry, remember to keep it all facing the same way. 

 

I cut a long piece of string to tie around a bunch of mint, be sure and tie it tight because as it dries it will shrink and you don’t want it falling on the floor.  I have put brads (little nails) in my beams in the kitchen and hang my mint from the brads.  Hang it at different lengths so it will dry faster.  You could also use a fold up clothes dryer or anything else you think might work. 

DO NOT PUT IT IN THE SUNLIGHT TO DRY.

            VERY - VERY IMPORTANT!  You need a fan when you are drying any herbs, fruits or vegetables.  I don’t care how hot it, is you need circulation.  After all that work you don’t want your precious food to go bad before it is dry.

When the mint is dry I put it in a large Tupperwear bowl and let it blend together.  You will find when you dry herbs, fruit or vegetables they don’t all dry the same and this way I keep an eye on it and make sure it is dry enough before I put it in containers.  You don’t want it to spoil.

            When I feel like it is ready to store I put my mint in large glass pickle jars or jars with metal or plastic lids.  You may also use mason canning jars.  I save my nut or animal cracker jars from Costco, they make perfect containers for storing my dried things in and it is great way to recycle. 

 Before I screw on the lids in whatever kind of container I use, I cut a piece of wax paper and screw the lid into it, this creates a better seal to keep your mint fresh.

I would love to hear how your drying went.