Fresh Mullein Tea

One of our favorite drinks in spring is mullein tea. It is so refreshing and has a slightly minty taste. The other day Grace had gathered some leaves from the tractor road. We have already drank that up so I thought we better make some more. Mullein has many medicinal purposes. We drink it because we just think it tastes good.

After gathering the leaves, I break them apart and put into a large kettle. Kettle size is based on how much mullein we have gathered. Cover the leaves with water and bring to a boil. Turn heat down and simmer for 10-15 min. Strain and sweeten to taste. This can be used hot or cold. I made a post last fall about drying mullein. You can read about it here. https://merryheartcrafts.com/?s=mullein

Today has been a nice day here in Floyd. We had some morning rain but the skies are clear now. Our temperature is upper 60’s with a good breeze. If you notice, we almost always have a breeze here. This is good in the summer, not so good in the winter. Anyway, clothes are on the line drying in the breeze. I love it.

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

March 31, 2012 2

Dandelion Jelly

I heard about this jelly for the first time last year however I did not get to try making it. Our dandelions are popping up everywhere so yesterday the girls and I gathered some blossoms. We picked all the green off however I forgot to get a picture of that. We then poured boiling water over the petals and let it steep overnight.

It isn’t very attractive at this stage. I must admit this was a time consuming jelly. It took a while to get the green off the bloom. The end result though is beautiful in the jar.

This picture doesn’t really show how pretty it is. Every thing I have read about this jelly says it tastes like honey. We tasted it when it was hot and it DID taste like honey. Amazing! You can read more about dandelion jelly here http://theblessedhearth.blogspot.com/2011/06/another-jelly-recipe.html She also has a recipe for apple blossom jelly that I am thinking about trying.

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

March 30, 2012 4

Fruit Trees

Yesterday evening the girls and I planted 6 fruit trees. Grace dug every hole. She was very excited about getting fruit trees. As you can see, she has good helpers- the cats and the chickens.

And, of course, our ever faithful Shadow.

We planted an asian pear, bartlett pear, plum tree, golden delicious apple tree, golden transparent apple tree, and a nectarine tree. We hope to get 2 cherry trees in April. While we were working on the trees, Hubby was busy trimming the blackberries.

It was a nice, productive evening. After we finished planting, we went to get the clothes off the line and a huge flock of geese flew directly over our heads to land in the field. Of course, we had already put the camera up so I couldn’t get a picture. It would have made a beautiful picture though.

Today will be school as usual. Hopefully, with more outside work afterward. Enjoy your day and God bless.

March 29, 2012 4

Daniel, Sam and Katie

We went down to Jessica’s today and I finally got a few pictures to show you all-thanks to Grace.

Sam was saying “cheese”.

Miss Katie. Hasn’t she grown? She had a well visit check up today and she weighed 15 lb.

We went to work with Hubby yesterday. I will try to get some pictures of his progress next time we go. Tomorrow after school, we will be going to get Grace’s new glasses. I am so glad. For those of you who do not know, Grace has worn glasses since before she was a year old. Last year, when she got a new prescription, I noticed she was wearing them down quite far on her nose. I questioned her and she said they hurt her eyes if she wore them up farther. I should have taken her back but to be honest I guess I thought she had just got in the habit of wearing them down on her nose. WRONG! They had put her bifocal up way too high in the glasses. So I know she will be so glad to get her new ones.

We had a tremendous amount of rain over the weekend. Lots of areas close by had large amounts of hail-3 to 6 in. I’m very thankful we didn’t have any. Temperatures dropped considerably after the hail. This morning it was 28 degrees with a heavy frost. I think I will have to build a fire this evening. It is fairly chilly inside the house.

I’m not sure if this worked or not. I was hoping to show you all a picture of the hail at the shooting range nearby. This is where Hubby and others from church go to shoot clays.

I hope you all have a great evening and God bless.

March 27, 2012 4

Spirea Bush

I wanted to share with you all this picture of our spirea bush. I think it is the fullest this year it has been in many years. So bright and cheerful. Not much happening around here. We went with Hubby to work yesterday. Today we went down to Jessica’s but we forgot to take the camera. I want to remember it next time. You all will not believe how much Katie is growing. She just grins and grins. I love it.

We have been getting rain almost every evening this week. Just enough to keep us from working outside. Oh well, I know rain is really needed. Everything is really popping out green here, so the rain and the warm temperatures are doing their job. Our pastor said his peach trees were in full bloom. I certainly hope they are not too early.

I guess that’s about all for today. As I said, not much going on. Enjoy your day and God bless.

March 23, 2012 4

Now and Then

I posted this picture on March 11, 2012.

10 days later it looks like this. Amazing! Things are really popping out here and I am so glad. Monday and Tuesday, I had to help Hubby with the electrical at the the job site. Today, I am very glad to be here at home. We are hoping to get some outside work done this afternoon after school. I’m not sure though. The morning has been chilly with lots of fog. The fog is lifting now and the sun is starting to lighten things up. It is looking hopeful for outside work.

I wanted to share with you all something I just recently purchased for our kitchen. It is called a butter keeper. Are any of you familar with them? Well I just love it. I love using real butter but do not like the fact that it is so hard to spread when kept in the fridge. Well, this butter keeper allows me to leave the butter sitting on the table without spoiling. And it looks cute, too.

Here’s how it works. Every couple of days, I put cold water in the bottom of the crock. The butter then stays nice and cool but spreadable. I really like it.

Well, it is time for me to give a history test. I hope you all have a wonderful evening and God bless.

March 21, 2012 6

Creeping Phlox

I took this picture of creeping phlox last week in Salem when Grace had her eye appointment. Lots of things have been springing to life around here this week. I hope to have pictures to show you later in the week.

Yesterday was spent outside. We got the fence posts in the ground for the new chicken lot, picked up the yard, got some mowing done and worked on a flower bed. Then it was time to get ready for church. Our church was having a special singing last night. The group singing was The Hylton’s. They were 4 generations of them singing praises to the Lord. The youngest was about 3 and she sang “Jesus Loves Me.” It was beautiful. I can just imagine Jesus listening to her sing and saying oh, how I love these little ones.

Today we have overcast skies with a light drizzle. The temps have dropped some and the fog is moving in. I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday and God bless.

March 18, 2012 4

Rainbow

I thought I would share with you this rainbow. Isn’t it beautiful? We love rainbows. In Grundy, where I was raised, we very seldom ever saw a rainbow. Here in Floyd, we see them much more often but they never fail to amaze us. Today, Julie was finishes up her outside chores and had taken a few minutes to spend time with the new chicks. She loves to do this. She pets them and gets them all tamed up. Anyway, it started to sprinkle rain and the sun was shining. She turned around to look for a rainbow and they it was! She came running in to get us so we could all see it. Then, of course, we stood out in the yard (in the rain) looking at it. God is good!

Enjoy your day and God bless.

March 16, 2012 6

Thursday

Hello Ladies, it has been another busy week for us. Monday we went with Hubby to the job site. This is a picture of one of the rooms he is working on. He has gutted all the upstairs and Monday we put the new subflooring down in 2 of the rooms.

He put these on the rafters upstairs to give them extra support. This is a very old house (over 100 years old). He will be running new electrical throughout the house, hanging sheetrock, lots of updates. We are VERY thankful to the Lord for this job. It is the biggest job he has had in several years.

We took our school books and when the girls had finished with school they wanted to go exploring.

Then on Tuesday, Grace had an eye doctor appointment in Salem. This usually takes all day. It takes about an hour to get there from our home. Wednesday, we did school in the morning and then went to help Hubby again. Today, we went back to Salem to pick up Grace’s eye glasses prescription and then made a trip to Rocky Mount Wal-Mart to get the prescription filled. Tomorrow we are going down to Jessica’s. A week spent on the road.

It has been warm here this week. A beautiful week for being outside. We slept last night with our bedroom window open a little. I love falling asleep listening to the frogs. We are getting rain now. The rain and the warm temperatures will get everything blooming and greening up. So exciting! I hope you all have a great evening and God bless.

March 15, 2012 5

Rhubarb

Our rhubarb is coming up!!! We love rhubarb. This variety comes in early in the spring. We have another variety up in the garden that comes in later in the summer. Today has been a nice day here in Floyd. Sunshine and temperatures in the mid 50’s.

Jess had to do some more work on our soap. We did some research and tried something called rebatching. We think (hope) it is going to work. I wanted to let you all know I really like the orange cleaner I made. It smells really nice and cleans good. I have another batch making now.

Well, not much going on here today. I just wanted to let you all know about our rhubarb. Enjoy your day and God bless.

March 11, 2012 5