MerryHeartCrafts.comMountain Momma… Country Living

Today, we have been busy with school.  We did a batch of apples in the steam juicer.  We got 1 gal and 1 qt. of juice.  We then run the apples through the Roma sauce maker and got enough applesauce to make 3 qts of applebutter.  YUM!  I also made a batch of homemade laundry soap. 

Colors here are at their peak this week.  I hope to get more pictures to share.  We have been having rain but it looks like it will clear up this evening.  Hubby has been busy making a king size bed for Jess and Dave.  I will show you all pictures when he gets it finished.  I think it looks beautiful.  Here he is working on one of the posts for the headboard.  I think I actually managed to get this picture without him knowing it.  He was deep in concentration.

Tonights supper will be baked pork chops with potatoes and carrots, pumpkin pie for dessert.  I guess I better get busy, I think everyone is getting hungry.  Enjoy your day and God bless.

Look at what Grace found!!  We are all very excited to get this first one.  Remember the big tomato plant we bought early in the spring and put in a bucket.  Well, the tomatoes are starting to get ripe on it.  All our other plants are, of course, way behind this one.  Tonight we will divide this one four ways so we can all have a little nibble.  So much fun, sharing the first of the harvest.

This morning the girls and I went out early and started working on the hen house.  It needed to be cleaned out and we wanted to get their nests ready as we are hoping soon to get eggs-maybe by the end of next month.  We just barely got finished before it started to sprinkle rain.  I think though it has already stopped.  What we need is a good steady rain but I know many blogger friends who are in severe drought conditions.

Our chicken yesterday evening was delicious.  I will definitely be making it again.  I was thinking that the spice mixture would be good on pork or beef as well.  I took the chicken off the bone and put the bones and skin back in the pot with the broth that had cooked out of the chicken.  I then added water -enough to fill up the crock pot.  Then I turned it on low and this morning I will be freezing delicious homemade chicken broth for soups and such.  YUM! 

I better get busy.  I want to make some hamburger buns for supper this evening.  We will be having pork bbq, fries, corn on the cob and cantelope for dessert.  Enjoy your day and God bless.

Our raspberries are getting ripe!  YUMMY!!!!  Black raspberries are one of my favorite fruits.  We have a few vines we have been working on getting established and it looks like this year we might get enough to make a cobbler at least.  (if we can keep the birds out of them)

Yesterday was a nice day.  We came back from church and cooked steak on the grill in honor of Dad’s day.  Steak on the grill is Hubby’s favorite meal.  We had fries with it, rolls and ice cream for dessert.  Our pastor’s sermon was very good.  It was of course directed mostly to the men in the church.  He preached on Ezekiel 22:30.  The verse says “I looked for someone who might rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the land.  I searched for someone to stand in the gap in the wall so I wouldn’t have to destroy the land but I found none.”  He challenged our men to be the one that could stand in the gap.  It was a very powerful message.

Temperature here this morning is wonderful.  Low 60′s with a pretty strong wind.  Great for drying clothes.  I have one load ready to hang out and several more to go.  The girls and I have many errands to run today plus piano lessons.  I guess I better get busy.  Enjoy your day and God bless.

We finally managed to get some pictures of the baby ducks.  They have grown so much.  When she first brought them off the nest, they were so tiny.   We could hardly see them in the grass. 

She is getting very brave with them now.  In these pictures, she is in the edge of the yard.  Maybe not too smart with all the cats we have running around here.

Today has been rather hot here.    Hubby worked some on putting the vinyl siding on the new room we built last fall.  He almost got it all finished.  We washed clothes and hung them out.   They dried pretty quick.  Todays “lupper” was wilted lettuce and onions with crumbled bacon,  pinto beans and corn on the cob.  I also baked some corn bread and made some flitters, watermelon for dessert.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

Look what I found today at the dumpster.  Beautiful!  I should tell you all that at our dumpsters people set things out beside the dumpster for others to get.  It is amazing the things you will find.  It is not uncommon to find appliances like dryers, etc.  Sometimes they will even put a paper on it telling you what is wrong with it.  We call it “greenbox shopping” (our dumpsters are green).  Anyway, today when I stopped to put the trash in, there was a box with this beautiful teacup in it.

Also this set of old teacups.  No saucers though.  Oh well, I guess you can’t have everything.

And this old sugar bowl.  I could hardly wait to get home and clean them up.  I love old dishes.

Today was busy running errands and shopping.  We have been gone all day.  Thank the good Lord our car has air conditioning as it is hot again today.   Grace has a dentist appointment tomorrow so we will be gone most of the day again.  Well, it is past time for us to eat supper so I better get busy.  Tonight’s menu is garlic bread and baked spaghetti with cantalope for dessert.  Enjoy your evening and God bless.

The front porch is finished.  I wanted to show you the finished product.  I’m not sure the picture does a good job of showing it or not.

I rolled the blinds down some so you all could see them too.  When we do school out here, we roll them down some to eliminate the glare.  They also help keep it cooler in the summer.  We now have cleaned and mopped the floor and returned all the furniture to the porch.  It is so nice.  Thanks, Hubby.

Yesterday was spent down at Jessica’s watching the boys while she went for her ultra sound.  She saw the heart beat so all is well in Mama’s world.  She is 8 weeks and her due date is Nov. 9th.  Very close to Grace’s birthday.  Today will be catch up at school and getting the house cleaned for tomorrow’s bible study.  It is my turn for dessert and I am planning on making cinnamon rolls.  We are going over to the Horn’s tomorrow evening to eat and visit with them.  I am making enough cinnamon rolls to take over there as well. 

Enjoy your day and God bless.

I think my Christmas Cactus is confused.  It bloomed around Christmas time and has decided (to our great pleasure) to bloom again.  It looks so cheerful and happy in the room. 

Todays temperature was a little warmer when we got up, 26 degrees.  It is a little overcast  but the sun is coming through.  It is now about 30 degrees.  I have one load of clothes on the line and am getting ready to take another.  They are predicting rain for tomorrow.

On the menu for tonight is pork tenderloin, mashed potatoes, and kale.  I think I will do homemade biscuits with it and have cooked apples for dessert.   Time for us to start school.  Enjoy your day and God bless.

The birds are starting to come in to the feeders now.  Different ones than we get in the winter.  They make such a joyful sound to the Lord.  As soon as I get up in the morning, they are already singing.  I go hang clothes on the line, their music fills the air.  Such blessings the Lord gives.

Our weekend weather was a little different.  It started to rain about 7:00 a.m. Saturday morning.  It rained all day Saturday, all night Saturday night and most of the day Sunday.  All our little creeks were overflowing.  Several places the creek was running across the road when we came back from church Sunday afternoon.  Then it started to ice, then it snowed some and finally it got bitter cold.  When we came out from church last night, the side doors to the van were frozen shut.  Julie and Grace had to get in the the front doors.  We had some fierce wind so I guess that made the doors freeze.  This morning it was 20 degrees when we got up.  The wind has slowed down to a more manageable breeze, the sun is shining and hopefully it will get warmer.  I just checked and it is 32 degrees now.  I already have 2 loads of clothes on the line and another load ready to go out.  I love clothes dried outside.

We finished our study of II Corinthians last night.  Next week we will begin in Galatians.  Our supper menu last night was pigs in a blanket, mashed potatoes, corn, baked beans, cornbread and a sour creme pound cake for dessert.  I tell you, we sure do eat good.  Our pastor says if you like to eat and shoot this is the church for you.  As you may remember, our church does a lot of clay shoots as a men’s outreach.  Lots of the women shoot too.  We certainly have a lot of fun at our church.  Hopefully, I haven’t made it sound like a social club.  We are very dedicated to worshipping and serving the Lord.  We just believe the Lord wants us to have fun too.

Well, it is time for school.  Enjoy your day and God bless.

As you all know, I love old things.  My mother-in-law gave me this old lamp while we were down helping her move.  It needed a new shade and a little cleaning.  Grace cleaned it for me and we are on the lookout for a shade that will do it honor.   I have it on top of my treadle sewing machine for now. 

We are getting some much needed rain here today.  I understand we are about 4 in. below normal on our water level.  It seems very cozy, the rain on the tin roof, a warm fire.   I think I need to light some candles to make it even cozier.

We are working on school today.  Also cleaning house.  The ladies will be coming tomorrow for bible study.  Tomorrow will be our last lesson in this study, “Women who believed God”.  It has been a good study.  Tonight’s menu is sloppy joes, french fries, green beans and a peach pie with homemade whipped creme for dessert.  YUM!

I hope you all have wonderful day and God bless.

P.S.  In answer to the question about what sassafras tea tastes like, it resembles a root beer or birch beer taste.  You can drink it hot or cold.  We prefer hot but it is good cold.

We are finished with health!  Isn’t that great?  The girls decided yesterday that since we were so close to being finished, they would just work on through to the end.  (This decision was made all on their own, I didn’t even suggest it)  I think that is amazing in itself but so typical of homeschool kids. 

Today is a very nice day.  Lots of sunshine.  Temperatures are in the low 40′s.  Amazing!  I have clothes on the line, I love it.  The girls and I have been walking down to the barn to get milk this week.   Today’s walking should be fairly nice except for the mud.  I know, complain, complain.  But I really do not like walking in mud.  Good exercise though. 

Tonights menu will be kielbasa with sauteed mushrooms, onion, garlic and green peppers served over brown rice.  I haven’t decided what to have for dessert yet , maybe a peach cobbler.  I have made little progress on the matching aprons.  I am very frustrated with myself.  I made an unfixabe error on the little girl apron.  I will have to transform it into a doll apron.  At least, it will be usable for something.  Well, that’s how you learn, I reckon. 

I hope you all have lots of sunshine today and warm temperatures and that you are able to go outside and enjoy the beauty of the day.  God bless.