Instant Relief for Allergy Eyes

Steve and I returned to the Delta on Thursday morning to what we thought was finish a job. On Wednesday afternoon I had talked to my Dad who said that he saw on radar where it had rained in Inverness, but he didn’t think it was much. We were in for a surprise. When we got to within 20 miles of Inverness we saw that it was really wet but thought maybe they had received more rain than us, not so. On our farm rain was running between the rows in the field, the crops look good but the fields are wet! In the last few weeks we have received 22+ inches of rain on our farm here. We are able to monitor it closely because our crop pilot’s airstrip is directly across the road from some of the land we farm. Macon is wet but Inverness is much wetter, the neat thing is the type soil we have here will dry up twice as fast as anywhere else. God has truly blessed us with a wonderful farm in Inverness!!!!

On Thursday night we ate at our local restaurant “Hometown” where I came really close to being glutened. I ordered a chef salad that I have ordered before, the girl that usually waits on us knows of my disease and wheat allergy and she automatically knows I don’t eat bread or fried foods. Also the chef is a friend who knows that when he has a order labeled NO BREAD it is usually for me. We have gone over spices etc. that he can use in preparing my food and I have become spoilt because they never mess up on my order. A different girl waited on us this time and it never occurred to me that she had never waited on me before and may not know about the gluten thing. When I ordered she asked, “is there anything you want left off your salad?” And my reply was, “no you’ve made it for me before and did a good job!” When I received the salad it looked great but instead of diving right in I started cutting the lettuce in smaller bites and noticed that under some of the toppings there were CROUTONS! I was bummed. Bless his heart Steve had ordered grilled fish and baked potato and we switched plates instead of my having to send my salad back. My meal was still great but I hated that Steve had to eat a salad instead of his wonderful fish.



After supper Steve and I decided to take a walk around the walking track. The track runs through the middle of town and is really neat. It has barbecue grills, picnic tables, benches and even a couple of drinking fountains. Our walk didn’t last long because I did not have on my walking shoes and before I made it half way around the track my foot started hurting, so much for getting old. Next time I'll make sure to wear the oppropriate shoes, the track is great and I'd love to use it.


Friday we had to chase parts and was out at lunch. Because it was early lunch we were able to go to Shoney's and get salad bar. I love good salad bars but am always afraid of cross contamination I figured that this was the best I would be able to do, many people were still eating breakfast and we were the first ones to dip into that wonderful salad bar!


All day Friday my eyes itched and burned but I did find one relief and it was great, “Visine-A” eye allergy relief. Steve had bought this but I had not thought to try it until I became desperate and starting looking for something. It numbed my eyes and gave me instant relief!

Eating Myself into a Coma?

I’ve often heard are said, “I’m going to eat myself into a coma,” and this holiday weekend I thought I really was.


Saturday Ashia came in with me some Sunkist fruit gems, these little jewels are great. Ben and Ashia recently toured the Jelly Belly Factory in San Francisco, California and because Jelly Belly's are not gluten-free only Steve got some. But they found these little fruit slices that were gluten-free and treated me to a bag of them. I loved them but could never find them around here and just last week Ashia found the same thing but in different form at Barns & Noble book store. Thank you Ashia you made my rain day bright.

On Sunday we visited First United Methodist Church in Macon. They had a special speaker who is a long time friend of Steve’s and we have not seen him or his wife for a couple of years now. It was fun to visit with all of our old friends at the Methodist Church. After church we stayed and enjoyed a covered dish meal with everyone. I had made a “Chicken and Broccoli” casserole that everyone loves. I got this recipe from a friend in Guatemala and have transformed it to be Gluten-Free. (Recipe listed below)




Chicken Broccoli Casserole
Serves: 8

Ingredients:

1-cup mayonnaise (Hellman’s is gluten-free)
2 eggs
1 onion; chopped into small pieces
1 can cream of mushroom soup (I use Glutano cream of mushroom soup mix)
1 ½ cups water
1 tsp. garlic salt
4 cups broccoli; partially cooked
1 chicken; cooked and chopped
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
1-cup gluten-free breadcrumbs

Instructions:

Mix the first six ingredients together and set aside. Mix the chicken, broccoli, breadcrumbs and cheese together, add the mayonnaise mixture to it. Put in a 3x9x12 dish and bake in the oven for 1-hour at 350 degrees.
ENJOY

Sunday afternoon my Dad came for a visit and we cooked and ate the whole time we were together. Ben and Ashia joined us and supplied part of the food. We had a big variety including Rotel Dip, grilled deer sausage, pork chops, steak, hamburgers, fries, baked beans potato salad, grape salad, apple pie and Better Than Sex cake. Some of the food wasn’t gluten-free but believe me I had PLENTY!!!!

I am having another flair up with my stomach, I guess I’m going to have to break down and call my Gastroenterologist and get an appointment for him to decide which step to take. The last time he did the procedure to stretch the opening from my stomach to my intestines, he said if it keeps closing he’ll go in and put a shunt there to keep it opened. I hate any type of surgery no matter how small so I always put it off as long as I can. The last few days I have been extremely uncomfortable every time I eat anything and sometimes I can’t get the food to go down, this is a sure sign that something needs to be done.



I went to the grocery store today and my favorite butter, “Brummel & Brown“ vegetable oil spread, it is now labeled Gluten-Free! As you probably know I get so excited when I see this. It will be no time and everyone will know about or have heard about living life gluten-free. Thank you to all of those out there who have helped to make a difference.

Can a Migraine/Allergy Sufferer be a Farmer?

This is a question I’ve thought about from time to time. I help out on the farm by transporting workers and what we call chasing parts or making runs to pick up supplies but I have not done much else, until this trip to the delta. I have done my usual chasing supplies and helped Steve with several other things. Here are photos to tell what we had going on.



We have a crew putting up an equipment shed. After they left on Thursday I picked up some around the grounds and burned Steve’s seed bags.




We had someone come in and clean out a large ditch that runs through our farm and the farm of several others. We've had a lot of rain here so this was necessary. Steve and I checked out the work several times during the day. Pictured is Steve meditating on what is going on.



I helped clean and reassemble sprayer parts for the planter.




I watched to make sure none of the tubes were plugged, we had several that were but after applying water pressure they came clean fast.



At one point I looked close by and low and behold there was a birds nest that Steve had found in the planter laying on the ground.



If you look close in this photo Steve has the nest in his hand to return to where the mother was searching for it. He’s also returning a toolbox that I had taken to the field for him earlier. It may not have seemed heavy for him but it sure was to me.



I made several runs for supplies, after this one Steve had me come to the field so that he could get something out of the truck. When I pulled in he looked in the back of the pickup and asked did I go to town with the tailgate down. I told him, “if it’s down now I did”. He had place a gallon jug of chemical worth around $100 on the back of the truck and it was gone. Thank the good Lord we retraced my route and found it on side of the road where I had turned a curve.



It is bedtime and after a busy day we are ready for rest and relaxation.

Can a migraine/allergy sufferer be a framer, not this one Steve doesn't have to worry about me trying to run things! LOL

I woke up with a migraine this morning and have been sick all day. I guess it's from working outside so much yesterday it started off a bad sinus headache and turned into a migraine. I tried using my great little herb pack my daughter made me (thank you Sarah)! It helps my sinuses to start draining and relieves some of the pain when I heat it in the microwave and lay it across my eyes.

Now the rain has started and we have returned to Macon to attend church and celebrate Memorial Day. Hope you enjoyed your trip to Good Farms in the flat land.

101 Questions & Hot Buttered Cornbread

On Wednesday morning Steve and I returned to the delta to nitrate the corn before the upcoming rain. We ran by the office to pay bills and check things out there, stopped by Sanders and bought chemical and then on to the farm. On the way we must have ran over a nail because when we got there we discovered that we had a tire leaking down fast. This comes under my job; I run for parts, repairs etc while Steve works in the field. So after helping to get everything in the camper I grabbed my wallet and took off to the tire repair store here in Inverness. This nice little old lady runs the store and I have never been in there before. She had 101 questions for me so my fix the flat experience took a while. It doesn’t matter though because in running my errand I made a new friend.

After returning to the farm I had to go out several other times to help Steve and pick up parts. The parts were local so it didn’t take much time and I was able to cook supper afterward. For supper tried something new Gluten-Free Cornbread from “Bob’s Red Mill” mix. I always make my own cornbread but found this at our local Kroger’s and it is so easy I had to try it. It is easier to bring mixes to the Delta than trying to stock a lot of ingredients in our small camper. The bread turned out ok I mean it could have been a lot worse. I guess I’m spoilt because my cornbread it sooo good. I need to buy another mix and try to prefect it. To go with the bread I made Red Beans and Rice. This time of year I try to get in all my cold weather foods and this is one thing that I will not make once it turns hot.

Like my blog yesterday, here is a recipe worth sharing!

Favorite Corn Bread

3/4 cup plain cornmeal (be careful, make sure it is plain not cornmeal mix)
1 cup GF rice flour (you can use white or brown)
2 Tbls. sugar
1 Tbls. baking powder (make sure it is all natural)
3/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. Guar Gum or xantham gum (found on web and in health food stores)
2 lg dips Mayonnaise (you can also add a large dip of sour cream for added moisture and it just gives it that country taste)
ADD: 1 cup milk 1 beaten egg 2 Tbls. melted shortening or oil Pour into greased 9x9 pan (I use iron skillet). Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until golden brown. serves 6

Hot with butter it's great. My family and friends love it!!!!