MerryHeartCrafts.comMountain Momma… Country Living

Wineberries are starting to get ripe here in our area.  They grow wild however we are hoping to get a start of them this fall. 

I think they look a lot like red raspberries (maybe they are but folks here call them wineberries).  They have a tart taste.

Grace and I picking berries.

Julie picking.  We all wore our rubber boots in case we came across any unwanted critters.  Next time we will wear long pants as well.  We took some down to Sam when we went and he dearly loved them.  Daniel would not even try them.  As I have mentioned before, he is not a fruit eater.  Hubby is gone today with his brother down to Grundy.   His Mom has a couple of apple trees that need to be cut.  She was afraid they were going to fall on the power line.  

I plan on working on a few aprons today and maybe going back to pick a few wineberries.  I did make the pickles the other day but I didn’t add the squash.  I had enough cucmbers to do one batch so I just made them using all cucumbers.  I got 8 pts though instead of 6 as the recipe said.  They seem very similar to bread and butter pickles.  I think they will be very good.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

Just a few pictures today to show the progress of our upper garden.  It is finally starting to look like a garden.

We have been enjoying lettuce and onions for a while now.

The peas are starting to bloom.  I really love fresh garden peas.

These are the plants we started under the greenhouse.  We decided since we were not having much success transplanting them, we would just leave them where they were.  They seem to be doing great.

Cucumbers blooming.  I love fresh garden cucumbers.

Squash blooming.  I love fresh garden squash. 

A closer look at the cabbage.  I love fresh garden cabbage.   Can you tell  I just love ALL fresh garden food!!!!!

Enjoy your day and God bless.

Check out the size of this frog.  He is huge!  He was soaking up the sun yesterday afternoon in front of our car when we were leaving for piano practice.  We, of course, could not resist taking a picture of him.

Yesterday was a nice day.  Temperatures were in the lower 70′s with sunshine.  My plants looks (maybe) just a little better but I do not think they will make it.  The tomatoes look strong but the cucumbers look the worst.  The squash may be okay-not sure yet.  Lesson well learned.  I suppose it was too hot when I transplanted them.  Maybe if we had waited until the sun went down to transplant them, it would have made a difference.  Not sure.

We had a nice visit with the Horn’s yesterday.  We ate pizza and a strawberry crisp she had made from her fresh strawberries.  It was delicious.  We walked around her yard looking at all her flowers that were up.  Her chicks and ducks.  Everything.  I love doing that.  Just walking around with her looking and talking.  I am so thankful she is my friend.

We hope to finish science this weekend.  We are on our last definitions.  Today looks to be nice.  The sun is shining.  The garden is still too wet to work in but we have plenty of other things to do.  Enjoy your day and God bless.

Today we are getting back into the swing of school.  We had too many errands  yesterday to start.  We also visited some with the Horn’s yesterday.  For Christmas, the Horn girls had received a kit from Wal-Mart to make a little girl apron and a little doll apron.  I took some interfacing over and Vicki and I traced out the pattern.  So I now have a little doll apron pattern to make.  I want to make a mother, daughter, and doll apron to match. 

Temperatures here are much nicer than they have been however yesterday morning was pretty cold.  Temperature yesterday was 14 when we got up but it did warm up nicely with lots of sunshine.  Cloudy today though, of course, because I am home and could hang our clothes on the line today.  Oh well, thats how it goes.  Hubby worked on getting some more wood yesterday while the girls and I ran errands. 

Tonights menu is something I really don’t have a name for.  I brown hamburger meat, add onions, cabbage, and potatoes.  The options are limitless as to what you can add.   I sometimes add fresh peppers, zucchini, squash, mushrooms.  I like fresh baked cornbread with it.   I got some  cushaw from the freezer this morning.  I think I will make a pie for dessert. 

Enjoy your day and God bless.

Here are a few pictures of the decorations for bible school.  Our theme this year was Harvesting God’s Word.  We had lots of good lessons, fun crafts and games, and of course good food.   We averaged around 17 kids each night.   I wanted to get some pictures of the kids, but Hubby put it all on video and I don’t know how to load that on the blog.  Our pastor was there every night.  He has such a heart for kids.  I think he had as much fun as they did.

Progress is slow but moving on the new room.  A minor setback occurred when we decided to put the door in a different place.  This required undoing almost all we had done.  Hubby had to remove the floor and do all the plumbing drains different.  This will be much better though than the original plan. 

The girls and I have been busy today putting up gooseberries in the freezer.  We had 6 bags.  This is the first time I have froze gooseberries.  I hope they will be good.  I also gathered some squash and zucchini to put in the freezer.   We will  be enjoying the first of our broccoli this evening with supper.  I think home grown broccoli is so much better than store bought but then I think everything is better home grown.   If I finish these other veggies in time, I think I will put up some rhubarb.  I have gotten a little behind with my harvesting due to bible school and the new room.  Oh well, all in God’s time.   It has been a very pleasant morning for me.   I so much enjoy putting up our own veggies that we raise in our garden.  It always gives me a feeling of peace and contentment. 

We are planning to go to the fireworks this evening in town.  We had hoped the Horn’s would get to meet us there but Quentin had to work.  Jess and Dave are going to enjoy fireworks down at their town.  They will be coming up next weekend.  Sam’s first trip to the mountains.  I can hardly wait to see them all.  I guess I better get busy if I expect to get anything done.   Happy 4th of July.  Take care and God bless.

Time to enjoy some of the fruits of our labor.  Our first zucchini, our first squash, and our first peas.  Delicious!! I think it is so exciting when the garden first starts coming in.   I combined all these together with a few other ingredients and had a wonderful stir fry for supper last night.  I am eating the remainder of it for lunch today.  Today is ladies bible study day.  We are on our third lesson.  It is about being a true servant of God and how we can encourage our church leaders.  I think it is a very interesting study.  Many times in churches today, the members can’t encourage their leaders because they are too busy criticizing them.  This lesson shows us ways to avoid that trap.  The girls and I cleaned house yesterday, found some new kittens (which are adorable) and in general just enjoyed the day.  Dale and his mom came by for a visit and to pick up his wood splitter.  They came right when I was taking some homemade rolls out of the oven.  It was so much fun to be able to share them.  Hot and buttery.  YUM!  Food is so good when it’s shared.

Can you believe this is the baby geese?  They are almost as big as mama and papa.  It certainly has been entertaining to watch them grow.  This morning as Hubby and I enjoyed our morning coffee together, there were lots of wildlife activity  here on the farm.  The geese were playing at the pond,  a deer was grazing in the field straight in front of us, and a coyote was passing through on the ridge to our right.  Some mornings we don’t see anything but cows and birds.  Other times there are lots to watch.  I so enjoy our morning time together.  We think its worth getting up a little earlier for.  The ladies will soon be here so I guess I better get ready.  We are going to Jessica’s tomorrow.  PawPaw has yet to see his new grandson.  Take care and God bless.