Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin growing in our garden

This year as a gift from God we have pumpkins. Quite a lot of pumpkins. We have decided to harvest them a little early as bugs have decided they like them too. The pie was made completely from scratch as you probably can tell. The crust is a very simple recipe that doesn’t require being rolled out. I like things simple. The filling recipe came from an old lady at a farmers market we visited years ago. If anyone is interested in these recipes let me know and I will post them. Today has been a good day. The girls played piano at church today. Grace played the special and Julie played the congregational. Big step for Julie-playing while others sing with her. They both did great. When I hear them play like that I think all that money and time for lessons was REALLY worth it. It’s almost time to leave for Sunday Night Bible Study at church. We are using John MacArthur’s study on the book of Daniel. It has been a very interesting study so far. The pie is for church tonight. After bible study we always eat(Its the Baptist way) Tonight we will be having a feast. Pinto beans, cornbread, onions, tomatoes, hot dogs, cole slaw, and pie. Who could ask for more. As I tell my oldest daughter, we really do study, the food is just extra. Gotta go and God Bless.

August 30, 2009 2

More Harvest

Today has been another busy but productive day. We gathered 1/2 bushel of tomatoes from the garden and the dishpan full of peppers. The tomatoes yielded 9 qts and I am attempting for the first time to dry the peppers in the dehydrator. Hope it works. Hubby has been busy today with woodwork. I’ll post a picture when its finished. After canning was done I went to help him and the girls took off upstairs for some play time. They are such good helpers. They help me with everything I do. We try to impress upon them the value of work and the importance of play. Teaching them how to garden and then harvest what we raise is important to me. Canning is becoming a lost art and I want my girls to know how to do it. Well night is approaching and I need to get busy doing my Sunday School lesson. If I hurry I can get it done outside on the swing before dark sets in. God bless.

August 29, 2009 0

Summer is Sweet

I thought I would share some of my flowers with you. The second picture is of the garden. The third is my most favorite spot in the entire yard. I love to sit on this swing and enjoy the view. My hubby redid the swing last year. It was one of those from Wal-Mart with fabric for the seat. It also had a fabric cover on top however one Floyd winter can destroy much. We have lots of high wind here so of course the top was the first to go, another year or so and the seat was in really bad shape. So he ripped all that out and put treated wood on it. I love it. God and I have so many special talks right here in this swing. Early spring pictures from my swing. Enjoy

August 28, 2009 1

Geese

Nightlife Events

Fall must be quickly approaching Floyd. The geese are back. Lots of geese. We counted at least 40 this morning on our pond. They are very interesting to watch however they are quite loud. I haven’t posted anything in a day or so as we have been really busy. We went back to Jess on Monday and worked more on her bathroom. It is started to look more like a bathroom now. We were planning on going back tomorrow but they all have a cold so I think we will just stay here. We went on a picnic today with good friends of ours at a little park here on the parkway. We took the puppy so all the kids had a great time playing together(especially the puppy)

I wanted to show you this strange cucumber(yes it is a cucumber) I raised it on the back porch in a large pot. The plant did fairly well but this one is pretty strange. I put some tomatoes and cucumbers in pots this year. They did okay but required me to remember to water and I am not really good at this. All in all though it was a good experiment. Night has fallen here on the farm. Katydids and crickets are making a joyful noise unto the Lord. I think I will go out on my swing and enjoy.

August 27, 2009 2

Salsa Recipe

I have been asked to post my salsa recipe. This is a very good recipe and can easily be divided to make less. This recipe makes about 10-12 pints depending upon how thick you let it get when simmering.

Salsa

7 qts tomatoes chunked
6 cloves garlic chopped
5 med. onions chopped
5 green peppers chopped
1/2 cup hot peppers chopped(this makes med. hot-lower or increase amount for your preference)
2 cups vinegar
2 tbsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp oregano
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp cilantro
2 tsp chili powder
Combine all ingredients. Simmer until thick. I simmer 4-5 hrs. Process in hot water bath canner 20 min. I use pints.

Enjoy!

August 23, 2009 0

New Dog

I must be getting soft in my old age. What was I thinking? We went to visit my oldest daughter this weekend. She wanted to get our grandson a puppy. We found some free and I suppose Dad and I gave in to the excitement of the moment and brought this guy home. He completely enjoyed the ride home(over 1 hour) in Julie’s lap so I suppose this means he likes to ride. He is lab and shepherd mix. We already have 1 large dog (chow and retriever mix)

He is an excellent farm dog and we want him to train Jasper to be a good dog also. Other than the puppy we also got some new clothes for the girls while shopping with Jess. Dad and David did some more remodel on Dave’s bathroom. Walls are sheetrocked and shower stall is built. Pictures of this can be found on Dave’s blog www.dlbates.com. We also received some much needed MawMaw and PawPaw time. I wanted to let everyone know my husband also has a blog he has started working on www.gdjg55.com. Check it out.

August 23, 2009 0

Another Picture

A flower from my garden.

August 23, 2009 0

Pictures

I am attempting to learn how to put photos on. This is one of the views from our yard. More to follow as I learn.

August 23, 2009 0

Salsa

Well that batch of salsa is done. We got 11 pints. It took up the major part of the day. From morning till lunch chopping. We were blessed to use all fresh garden ingredients. The tomatoes had to be scalded, peeled and then chopped. Then from lunch until about 6:00 was dedicated to simmering and then canning. If I knew how to do pictures, I would show you pictures of the jars. The salsa is very pretty in the jars and taste wonderful. Today we will be working on some more corn. At last count we had a little over 200 ears in the freezer and around 30 cans of corn. Thank you Lord. Last night was church night. We have been working on establishing a youth class on Wed. and last night we had 7 youth. Pretty good for a small church. I think this is one of those stretching times from the Lord. I have never taught youth before(only my own) however this has truly been fun. My prayer would be to see more kids show up and that they would learn more about our Lord through this class. Well I gotta get some work done. I need to go down to the barn and get some milk. We get our milk fresh from the cow. The girls however now have a hard time drinking what we call store milk. They say it doesn’t taste good. Thanks for reading and may God bless you throughout this day.

August 20, 2009 1

Busy Days

Yesterday hubby was home so he helped me pick blackberries. We picked 4 gal. I canned these and saved enough back for blackberry dumplings. According to our local grocery store price for blackberries , we had about $200.00 worth of berries. We are very blessed. These berries are very abundant here on the farm. Lots of them cover the fence line that is right in our yard. George mows right up to the fence so it is easy picking. We share these with others as there is much more than we can use. Also yesterday we finished the work on the chest of drawers and put it in Julie’s room. Then we did some work on George’s building. He plans to make this his wood working shop as we both enjoy making things from wood. He has made almost all of our cabinetry, beds for two older kids, tables, outside swings–the list goes on and on. It will be much more enjoyable when we don’t have to carry everything outside to work and then back inside when done. Todays to do list includes making salsa. For many years I have tried to raise peppers here on the farm with no success. I think late springs early frost hindered their growth. Then I read on the internet to surround them with black plastic to hold in the heat. I tried this and guess what. Peppers! Lots of peppers. I planted green, banana, and hot. The banana and hot are the most abundant. Last night we gathered tomatoes and peppers so today the girls and I will be busy chopping and canning. I also need to make some more fabric softener. I have been making my own for a couple of times and so far this has worked well for us. The recipe for this is: 6 cups of water, 3 cups white vinegar, 2 cups hair conditioner(your choice) Mix all ingredients together. Yields approx. 1 gal. Use 1/4 cup per load. I also make my own laundry detergent. I’ll have to post that recipe at another time. For today there are things that need doing. The wash is ready to go on the line. I love hanging my clothes on the line. When I was a working mom I would pass clothesline full of clothes on my way to work and think “what a luxury to be able to hang clothes on the line” because as you all know working moms barely have time to get them in the dryer much less anything else. So now I am blessed (thanks to the hard work of my hubby) with the time for this luxury and I take advantage of it every day. Of course it also saves money as God’s sunshine is free whereas man’s electricity has a price. There is no comparison to the fresh smell of clothes dried on the line vs. in the dryer. I love it. Well to chopping I will go.

August 19, 2009 3