Pears

We have been blessed to have quite a few pears given to us. Do any of you all have any pear recipes you would like to share? I usually just can them like apples but I am always looking for new things to try. One thing I want to do is make juice this year. Anyway, the girls and I will be working up pears tomorrow. Today, I helped Hubby. We textured the ceilings on the job he has been working on. They looked really nice.

I have a question for you ladies who have chickens. Last week we were getting 8-10 eggs a day. Yesterday and today, we got one each day. What do you think is going on? We did have a couple of days that we didn’t feed them the layer crumbles. We had all kinds of scraps from the corn. Do you think that would affect their laying? I’m just not sure what would have happened.

Well, I’m tired and it is my turn for the shower. Enjoy your evening and God bless.

August 30, 2011 7

Grapes

Beautiful grapes! Last night a friend of ours called and said they had some grapes that we could have if we wanted them. They had already used all they wanted so we loaded up and went over to pick. We picked about 3 bushels. The girls and I have been busy all day, processing them. We are using the steam juicer. I think we will end up with about 20 qts, maybe more. What a blessing. God is so good!

Guess what? We have a broody hen! Well, where I come from we call them setting hens but here most folks call them broody. Anyway, she is only 4 months old. I don’t think I have ever known one to set that young. We have kept Mr. Rooster separate from the hens so her eggs would not hatch but she doesn’t seem to know that. The girls and I wanted to put her back in the coup with Mr. Rooster so we could let her set but Hubby said no. No more chickens-(this year). Anyway, we moved her out into her own little coup for a few days. The other hens were glad as she was hogging the only nest they will use. They have two other nests but for some reason they all prefer to use just this one.

I hope you all have a wonderful day and God bless.

August 27, 2011 4

Back View

There is a slight hill at the back of our house. This picture was taken from the top of the hill looking down.

Not much happening here today.(I hope) Hubby did not need me today so the girls and I are working on some housecleaning. We have a few tomatoes to can so we will probably work on those. Maybe just a little reading time thrown in for fun. As of now, clothes are calling. Enjoy your day and God bless.

August 25, 2011 5

Picking Tomatoes

The girls picking tomatoes.

You all hear me talk about sitting on the green swing. Well, this is the view from it. As you can tell, there is lots of shade there, which is one of the reasons I love it.

This is a little bit closer view of the pond. See all the geese. Our pond has had lots of activity all summer.

A picture of the house as you turn down the driveway. To the left of the yard is the pond. Well, the yogurt turned out great. I think it is the best homemade yogurt I have ever made. I definitely will be making more. Also, the plum juice was very good. We enjoyed a cold glass of it this morning with our breakfast. I went to help Hubby today and the girls spent the day with the Horn’s. They had a great time. Temperatures here are still nice-upper 70’s today with a good wind. I hope you all enjoy your evening and God bless.

August 24, 2011 6

Beautiful Day

Today has been a beautiful day here in Floyd. Temperature as I type this is 72 degrees with a slight breeze. An absolutely georgeous day. Thank you, Lord.

This is a picture Grace took yesterday. This is the view from the back yard of the house Hubby is working on. The girls and I have been working on plums today. We did one batch of freezer jam. I am trying out the ponoma pectin that my blog friend Cheryl at http://holcombhappenings.wordpress.com/ uses. You only have to use a small amount of sugar with it. I have some now on in the steam juicer. I wonder how plum juice will taste? One thing for sure, the house smells delicious!

I am also making yogurt today. This is a new recipe for me. I got it from Cheryl too. The recipe is Sweet Yogurt:
7 cups milk
1 pkg unflavored gelatin
2/3 cups instant milk
1/2 cup sugar
4 Tablespoon yogurt

In a small bowl, measure yogurt and let it sit. Mix ingredients (except yogurt) in a large saucepan and cook to 180º; do not boil. Cool to 112º in pan. Stir in a small amount of milk into the yogurt and then mix it all into saucepan. Stir well. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla (if desired). Divide into 2 quart jars, cover with lid and band. Wrap in a towel and set over a pilot light or on a heating pad covered with a large pot. Check in 4 hours.

The only thing I did different is use my yogurt machine. Well, actually, it is Jessica’s machine. She is letting me borrow it. The recipe filled up the yogurt machine with about 1 pt left over. I put that pint in the oven and turned the oven light on. I want to see how that works. I’ll let you all know.

Well, the juice is almost done so I better get busy. Enjoy your day and God bless.

A later note to this post. The girls and I were working on the plums when the house started shaking. David, my son-in-law called almost immediately to see if we were okay. Evidently, there was an earthquake somewhere close to Richmond VA. We have never felt an earthquake here. It definitely was strange. Our friends, the Horn’s, felt it at their house also. We said a prayer of thanks to the Good Lord for his protection over us. We also prayed for the safety of others. I will let you all know more about this as I learn of it. God bless.

August 23, 2011 6

Monday

I wonder what they are doing?

Someone is feeding them. I see a hand behind the tree.

Of course, it is my sweet Julie, who can’t resist feeding cows no matter where she is. We went with Hubby today to help him hang ceilings. The girls went in search of something to do. What do farm girls do when they are bored? Feed cows, of course. We had a nice day, enjoyed a picnic lunch with Hubby, then came home and went to piano lessons. Temperatures here have been nice. Upper 70’s with a nice breeze. Feeling more like fall every day. Enjoy your day and God bless.

August 22, 2011 4

Plums

Here is a picture of the plums we picked yesterday.

We picked a half bushel of them.

This is the view behind the plum tree. Beautiful! Temperature here this morning is in the mid 50’s. Enjoy your bday and God bless.

August 20, 2011 4

A Lovely Walk

Isn’t this a beautiful place to walk? I love walking in the leaves.

Yesterday, the girls and I went down to Jessica’s to play with the boys while she went for her doctor’s appointment. All is going well, praise God. Katie is measuring a little big though and at this time she has turned to the breech position. We are not sure what will happen with that. God is in control, this we know.

We are getting ready to go pick plums. As I mentioned earlier, a couple from church told us we could come and pick all we wanted. I will try to get some pictures to show you all. The tree is very beautiful with all the plums on it. I’m sure Grace will take lots of pictures.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

August 19, 2011 4

An Old Barn

This is an old barn that is at our pastor’s house. I love old things, even old barns. Yesterday we worked with the corn. We got it all shucked. We put some up in the freezer on the cob and some we are cutting off the cob. We will be finishing working it up today and then we will start on the peaches.

Our temperature this morning was 50 degrees. Amazing! All indications are that we will have an early fall. Yesterday, we noticed the geese were forming groups. Several groups flew over with about 40 geese in a group. They were flying in the “V” formation. So pretty! This is another picture from our pastor’s house. I hope I don’t bore you all too much with these but the girls took lots of pretty pictures at his house that I want to share with you all.

This is the view from his front porch. Lovely! Well, our little break is over so I guess I should get busy. Enjoy your day and God bless.

August 17, 2011 7

Fallen Leaves

Yesterday, we went to our Pastor’s home. They had some corn to give us and some peaches. I thought you all might enjoy seeing some pictures we took. As you can see, I think fall is coming on us pretty fast. Some of the trees are already losing their leaves. Our temperatures this morning was 55 degrees. Our morning temps have been in the 50’s for about a week now. So much nicer sleeping weather. Anyway we got about 2 bushel of corn and almost a bushel of peaches. We will be busy today working all that up. Grace is my helper when it comes to shucking corn. She loves it. Julie will be inside doing other work while Grace and I shuck. Then I will let Julie help with the blanching while Grace has other chores.

Also, a couple who go to our church told us we could come and pick plums from their tree. This is exciting for us. We have never known anyone who had a plum tree. We want to make jelly and I was thinking about trying plum juice. I wonder how that would taste? I guess we’ll find out. We probably won’t get to go pick them until later in the week. I let you all know how it turns out.

This is a picture of some of the trees in the Pastor’s orchard. If you look close, you can see the ladder at the tree we picked peaches from. I will show you all a few more pictures next time. Well, we better get busy. Enjoy your day and God bless.

August 16, 2011 8