Flowers

I thought I would share some flower pictures with you all. This picture was taken at the Bread Basket the other day when I delivered the aprons. These are a type of sunflowers.

I’m not sure what these are but they are pretty.

All these pretty flowers surround her store.

In the fall, this is one of my favorite wildflowers. I love the brightness of goldenrod. I think goldenrod and ironweed mixed together makes a beautiful bouquet. However, I couldn’t get a picture of ironweed to show you.

And, of course, this dainty little daisy.

Our homecoming this morning went very well. Our guest singers did a really nice job. Our pastor’s message was about home, our real home, Heaven. Then we had a wonderful meal with all kinds of good food. Tonight will start our revival. I have not heard our guest speaker before. He will speak for all 3 nights but we will have different singers every night. I am looking forward to hearing both speaker and singers.

I have a question for you ladies. Remember last week when I made the hot pepper jelly. Well, I have never had this happen before but for some reason, it did not set up. Any ideas about what I could do? I have thought about opening all the jars and re-heating it, adding more sure jell. What do you all think? Please let me know any ideas you may have.

I hope you all have a great Sunday. God bless.

September 11, 2011 6

Saturday

Hello, ladies. Seems like we have been busy here for the last few days. Friday, I worked all day (in my spare time) on aprons. I managed to get two finished. I took them down to the Bread Basket for selling. She had sold all my aprons except one. YEAH! This month is our month to clean the church and mow the churchyard. We went Friday evening to do this. Grace took this picture of the sky on our way over to the church. Hubby did the mowing and weed eating while the girls and I cleaned inside. Our homecoming is tomorrow morning and then our revival starts tomorrow evening. Here is a picture of the inside of our church.

Twice a year, our church sponsors a clay shoot at the Coonhunter Club here in Floyd. Today we had about 25 shooters. The girls and I stayed for a while and then we had to go to C-burg to buy ink. Monday we will be starting school and I needed a few supplies.

I guess I better get busy. We will be having a fellowship meal following services tomorrow. Enjoy your day and God bless.

September 10, 2011 6

Spaghetti Sauce

Today, we worked on making spaghetti sauce. I got this recipe from Sally, our pastor’s wife. We really like it.

Spaghetti Sauce

Scald and peel half a bushel of tomatoes (we used our food strainer instead), 6 cups chopped onions, 4 chopped green peppers, 1 clove of garlic. Cook for 1 and a half hours, stirring frequently. Add 1 pt olive oil, 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup salt, 1 tbsp oregano, 1 tbsp crushed basil leaves, 1 tbsp italian seasoning, 1 tbsp parsley, 5-12 oz cans tomato paste, 4 jalopeno peppers. Cook another 45 min stirring frequently. Put in jars. Heat lids and seals to boiling. Put lids and seals on jars. Cover jars with towel and let sit overnight.

The sauce simmering in the pot. Can anyone guess what we are having for supper?

Enjoy your day and God bless.

September 7, 2011 6

Hot Pepper Relish

Today, I made hot pepper jelly. This is a favorite of ours. We serve it with cream cheese and Ritz crackers. When I take it to church on Sunday night, it goes super fast. I did not have enough hot peppers to make it but the pastor’s wife gave me enough. I have been so blessed this year. Even though our garden did not do as well as I would have liked, others have given us so much. Anyway, the recipe I use is on the sure-jell recipe instruction pamphlet. I guess the only different thing I do is that I put the pepper mixture into the blender and pulse instead of trying to chop them up finely. I’m lazy that way. I always put the hot pepper jelly in half pint jars. I did not have enough empty ones so I bought a dozen yesterday at Wal-Mart. I think they are soooo cute, don’t you? The lids came with them.

Saturday, we did go with the Horn’s to Paint Bank. However, I forgot the camera. For those of you who have been reading my blog for awhile, this probably does not come as a surprise. What might surprise you though, is that Vicki forgot their camera too. We did take a few pictures with the phone but I am not sure how to get them off. Well, anyway, we went to the fish hatchery, to the general store, ate lunch at the Swinging Bridge Restaurant (which was way over priced in our opinion), saw the buffalo, and walked around some at the campground. It was such a fun day.

Yesterday, we went to Sam’s. It rained off and on all day and then in the evening the heavy rains came. We have probably gotten over 5 inches. Our power was off for about 5 hours. We lit some candles and went out to the glassed in front porch. Hubby played guitar for us and we told the girls stories of when we were young. It was fun. We are still getting heavy rain in spurts. We really needed rain-just not the whole years worth in one day.

I also wanted to share this soup recipe with you all. Our local supermarket sells a 15 bean soup mixture. They have it with the dried beans. The brand they carry is http://www.hurstbeans.com/. I follow the instructions on the back of the bag (kinda). Well, I did cook the beans like it said. I added kielbasa sausage to it and a can of my homemade salsa. I used a qt of our fresh canned tomatoes. I then added some potatoes, corn, peas, and spinach to it. It is a really good hearty soup and fairly inexpensive. It is really good without adding the veggies. Either way you like it. I have made it with hamburger, ground turkey, whatever I have on hand. It is also good without any meat but Hubby is a meat eater. We serve it with hot cornbread. YUM! Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, I do not use the ham powder base that comes inside the bag of beans. Just my personal preference.

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

September 6, 2011 7

A Glimpse of Fall

Just a little glimpse that fall is on the way. Dried corn stalks are definitely a sign. Yesterday, the girls and I went to play with the boys while Jess went to have another ultra sound. This time Katie was in the birth position instead of breech. Praise the Lord! I want to thank you all for praying for her and ask that you continue to pray. She has about 9 weeks to go.

Today, we will finish up the pears. I think I will make juice from what is left. I may end up canning some more. I’ll wait and see. Tomorrow we plan on spending the day with the Horns. We are going to Paint Bank. I will hopefully get lots of pictures to show you. We are so looking forward to this. It has been several years since we have been there and the Horns have never been. I hope they enjoy it as much as we do. Our hens have picked up some on their laying. Yesterday, we got 5 eggs. We haven’t gave them any scraps (except just a few little treats).

This lone tree sits in the field behind our house. If you look closely, you can see the leaves are starting to change. It has been so dry here, I’m not sure if we will have very much color. I hope so, though. I so enjoy the colors of fall.

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

September 2, 2011 5

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