Comparison

I thought it would be nice to look back and remember how things were just a few short months ago. This picture was taken this morning. Then I looked back and found another picture of the same scene.

Personally I like this morning’s picture better but to each his own. Yesterday was busy for us. The girls and I went to pick apples. A friend from church offered us his early apples from his tree. We were very thankful to get them. After we came home, we started processing them. Yesterday we got 11 quarts of applesauce made and still have more to work with today. Sally, our pastors wife, told us she puts her apples in the microwave to cook them. This was much easier as we didn’t have to worry about them burning. Then she puts hers through her food strainer and puts them in the freezer. I had never put applesauce in the freezer, only apples. We tried that yesterday. It was a lot faster and didn’t heat up the house.

Beautiful weather here in Floyd this week. Much cooler temperatures with a wonderful breeze. We have had several little rains which we really needed. I picked green beans Monday and dug some young potatoes. They were delicious. I think I’ll be able to pick some more beans by tomorrow. YUM! I love fresh produce.

Did you all notice my canning and freezing logs Dave put on my blog? Thanks Dave. I really like being able to look at it and see what I’ve got done and what I still need. I better get working on those apples. Enjoy your day and God bless.

July 14, 2010 1

A Fun Day

Yesterday was a fun day. Baby Sam came to MawMaw’s house for the very first time.

He seemed to enjoy himself. I know MawMaw and PawPaw certainly did enjoy it.

Sam investigating the world from PawPaw’s shoulder.

Just one more picture. Don’t he look content and happy.

Daniel had a great time with a bottle sprayer filled with water. All MawMaw’s plants needed a drink and he had a great time giving it to them.

I think this is my favorite picture of the day. Ain’t he soooooo cute?

What do you think they are looking at?

A frog of course.

My Julie. The gift my Lord surprised me with at 40.

At 41 my Lord gave me another gift. Grace. I never imagined the Lord had more babies for me. My daughters(all 3) have taught me so much about life and love. I am such a blessed woman. Such joy He has given me. My family is so important to me and I cannot never thank the Lord enough for allowing me to be part of their lives. God is so good. Enjoy your day and God bless.

July 11, 2010 3

The Cost of Berry Picking

I decided yesterday to pick some more gooseberries and make a gooseberry cobbler. I had never made this before. It turned out very good. Tasted a lot like cherry cobbler. The recipe I used is:

1/2 cup butter, 1 cup sugar, 1/4 cup flour, 1 tsp almond extract, 1/2 cup water, 4 cups gooseberries. Melt butter in 9X13 baking dish. Combine sugar and flour. Mix almond extract and water and add to sugar mixture; add berries. Pour into pan. TOPPING: 1 cup sugar, 1 cup flour, 1 tbsp oil, 1 egg-mix ingredients until crumbly. Put on top of berry mixture and bake at 375 degrees for 40 min. I think this would work with just about any fruit.

Somehow during my picking I managed to get too close to a wasp. Not good! I also made my own tortillas yesterday for supper. Another first. They were really good and not too hard to make. I think I would try them again.

We got a little rain last night. Lots and lots of thunder and lightning. I could have done without the thunder and lightning but we really need rain. Hopefully we will get more this weekend. The garden and yard really need a drink. Jess and family will be coming up tomorrow for a little visit. I can hardly wait to see them. I know Sam has grown so much already and Daniel seems to grow up more each time I see him. Family is such a blessing from God.

Bible study today so I need to start getting ready. Take care and God bless.

July 9, 2010 2

Grapes

A picture of our grapes. They look like they will be plentiful this year. When we bought these vines several years ago, we thought we were buying purple concord grapes, however they are green. They first year we almost didn’t get any because we kept waiting on them to turn purple. They are very good, though. We just had to adjust to grape jelly not being purple. I am thinking about making grape juice this year. I have no experience with it though. All I’ve ever done with our grapes is make jelly but a family can only eat so much jelly. If anyone is familar with making juice, I would appreciate any advice you can give. I am thinking about purchasing a steamer/juicer for this but I am not sure it would be worth it. What do you all think?

It was extremely hot here yesterday. When we went to bed last night it was 90 degrees in our bedroom. When we got up this morning about 6:00 it had cooled down to 82 in our room, thats still pretty warm. Hopefully, today will not be as hot but it is what it is. Tomorrow our bible study will meet at Wanda’s house. She has air conditioning.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

July 8, 2010 3

Garden Enjoyment

I thought I would post a few pictures of things that are growing in our garden.

Green beans starting to set on the vine. I will soon be able to pick some of these and enjoy them.

Our hot peppers. They will taste so good in our homemade salsa.

Sweet banana peppers. YUM! Hubby and I have had to start watering our garden. It is so dry here. Forecast is calling for a chance of rain over the weekend. We really need it. Seems like no matter how much you water, it never does the garden as much good as rain from God does. I think I forgot to tell everyone what a nice weekend we had here-very cool temperatures. Two mornings when we got up the temperature was 43 degrees- then up to the lower 50’s, upper 50’s and today mid 60’s. Daytime temperatures over the weekend were great-low to mid 70’s. Starting Monday though its been back up to HOT-not near as hot as some places but hot for us. 96 degrees yesterday when Hubby came through Christiansburg. Upper 80’s here on the farm.

Last nights supper was grilled chicken, green beans, pasta salad and rolls. I fixed everything on the grill so as not to heat the house up any more than it already was. We ate outside at the picnic table. It was really nice. A little breeze was blowing which helped a lot . Yesterday I got a recipe from my friend Vicki-applesauce pie. I made it and thought it was really good. I wanted to share it with you all.

2 eggs, 1 cup sugar, 2 tbsp flour, 1 tsp.ground nutmeg, 1 stick melted butter, 1 cup applesauce, 1 tsp vanilla. Combine sugar, flour, and nutmeg.(You can use cinnamon instead or a little of both). Beat eggs, add eggs to dry ingredients. Gently combine butter applesauce and vanilla until mixed. Pour into pie shell. Bake at 350 for 45 min or until golden brown. (I would recommend if your applesauce is sweet to cut down some on the sugar, I didn’t but Hubby thought it was a little too sweet. I thought it was just fine.)

Enjoy your day and God bless.

July 7, 2010 1

Butterfly Paradise

This is a picture of our butterfly bush and our rose of sharon. I think this is a very pretty spot in our yard. The butterflies and the hummingbirds really love this area so there is always lots of activity here.

Just one of the many who enjoy.

Our gooseberries. This bush has been loaded this year. The girls and I so enjoy eating them. I looked them up on the internet once and read that they are a dessert gooseberry. They are very sweet and delicious. I am thinking about looking up a recipe for gooseberry pie. I think it would be good.

Yesterday for ” lupper” we enjoyed steak on the grill, french fries, steamed carrots and broccoli. The broccoli was our first from the garden. So very good! I know lots of you think I misspelled supper, but ” lupper” is our name for a late lunch and an early supper. We just combine lunch and supper together and got the word “lupper”. We have “lupper” a lot when Hubby is home and then have just a little snack later in the evening.

Time for me to go hang some clothes on the line, enjoy God’s sunshine and the birds beautiful songs. Enjoy your day and God bless.

July 5, 2010 1

VBS

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.

July 3, 2010 1