Our Latest Find

Here’s a picture of our latest yard sale find. Saturday we went down to Jessica’s to celebrate Sam’s first birthday. Happy birthday, baby boy. We ended up not getting to stay for the party as Grace was not feeling well. When we got down there, though, one of her neighbors was having a yard sale. We walked over with Dave to check it out and found these books. I could not believe it when she told me the price. $5.00! Yeah, I was one happy mama. 10 childrens classics. I love old books.

Yesterday was my beautiful Julie’s 13th birthday. Happy birthday my darling girl. After church we went out to eat and then went to the movies. We watched Kung Fu Panda 2. Going to the movies is still a big treat for us. We don’t do it very often because we want it to remain special and because there are very few good movies to go see. Anyway we had a fun but busy weekend.

We got a little rain last night. Hopefully enough to get the garden growing. Sunshine today with comfortable temperatures. Saturday morning we were down in the 40’s but I think that will be the last of the cooler mornings. Well, I have clothes to hang out and school to do. Enjoy your day and God bless.

June 6, 2011 6

Home School

How much more fun is school when you can sit outside under a big shady tree and watch the kittens play? We have had hot temperatures here for the last few days. Not as hot as it is at Jessica’s but hot for us, anyway. I went out early this morning in the garden to work. Hoping to get it finished before it got too hot. I left Julie and Grace inside doing dishes and other inside chores. I much gather work outside than in, even if it is hot. Anyway, I got the garden finished weeding, replanted some tomato plants, planted some beans and some corn. Everything is in the ground now so we’ll see how it does.

I thought you all might enjoy seeing how big the baby geese are. They are almost as big as their parents. Geese are definitely good parents. They are very watchful and protective-always together.

We have piano practice this afternoon so I better get busy. We have another load of clothes to put on the line before we leave and a folded basket to put away. Enjoy your day and God bless.

May 31, 2011 5

Cherries

Look at these beautiful cherries. David’s mother has 2 of these cherries trees in her yard. She graciously gave them to us. Thank you, Donna. We went down Friday morning as Hubby was having difficulties with his computer too. While Dave and Hubby worked on the computer, Jess and I with the kids went to pick cherries. We picked 3 gal. and didn’t even hardly take a step.

Look at how the limbs are just bowed down to the ground. You could just stand and pick. No tree or ladder climbing. I really liked that.

We ended up staying Friday night and most of the day Saturday getting Hubby’s computer up and going. When we came home I put the cherries in our steamer juicer. We got 5 1/2 qts of juice.

Sunday morning just before we left to go to church, Jess calls and says Dave needs Hubby’s help. Their shower drain has come loose and flooded under the house and the heat pump was not working. This of course means no air conditioner and for a pregnant woman that was bad. It is really hot where they live with lots of humidity. Well, we changed clothes and headed down to help Dave. While the men went to Lowes, the girls and I went to pick more cherries. We got 2 1/2 gal. I have one batch in the steamer juicer now. I think I will make jelly from some of the juice and then just can the rest. It is very good. We had fresh cherry juice with our breakfast this morning. The Lord is so good to provide us with treats like that.

Well, I have clothes to go on the line and much to do today. Enjoy your day and God bless.

May 30, 2011 4

Wild Roses

Remember the rose bush up by the fence that had not bloomed yet. Well, this is it. It is full of tiny white bloom. Very pretty.

I thought I would share with you all how my plants look. This is what the cucumbers looked like before we transplanted them.

This is what they look like now and this is one of the better looking ones. Oh well, live and learn. I am going today to a local greenhouse and hopefully get some cucumber plants. Yesterday, after school, the girls and I worked on weeded some of our flower beds. We planted some cosmos seed, some columbine and some seeds that just said “cut flowers”. It is a little late getting the seeds in the ground but I think they will still have time to make flowers.

Temperature here is beautiful. 70 with sunshine and a good steady wind. I have clothes ready for the line and another load to wash. Enjoy your day and God bless.

May 26, 2011 3

Irises

Here is a picture of our irises that are blooming in the green swing area. These were given to me several years ago by a good friend who attends our Friday Ladies Study. Thanks again, Barbara. I just love their purple color.

Yesterday, I made buttermilk. I have attempted several times to make cottage cheese but I keep doing something wrong. So I decided yesterday to change gears a little and try making buttermilk. It turned out great. It tastes a lot like kefir. Here’s what I did. I used almost a qt. of our raw milk. I did not skim off the cream. I then added 1/4 cup of whole milk buttermilk I had purchased from the store. I shook it up and sit it out on the counter for about 20 hrs. I was told there is no set time for how long to leave it out. It all depends on the temperature of your house. This same rule applies to kefir. The warmer the temperature the quicker it will set. It is ready when you turn the jar over and it all leaves the side of the jar in one clump. Shake the jar for about 5 min and put in the refridgerator to chill. I am very happy with the results and definitely will be making more.

This is a picture I never get tired of seeing. I LOVE hanging my clothes on the line. I LOVE seeing them hanging on the line and I LOVE smelling them after they have dried hanging on the line. To me, drying my clothes on the line is one of the luxuries of being a stay at home wife and mother.

I hope you all enjoy your day and God bless.

May 25, 2011 3

Trout Fest

Remember a similar picture from last year. Same little girl perched on the drainpipe. Obviously she really likes the spot.

Now its brothers turn to sit for a while. We really had a nice day with about 90 people showing up all total. After we came home from the fishing we worked in the upper garden. Hubby tilled, and the girls and I set out the plants. They looked great. But then they wilted badly. We watered them when we planted them, again the next morning and again yesterday evening before we went to church. Last night the Lord watered them for us so we are hoping they look better now. I haven’t went up to the garden yet to check on them. If they do not perk up, I am afraid they will not survive. We’ll just have to wait and see.

We plan on going over to the Horns today for lunch and some play time then on to piano practice. I don’t think I told you all but we have ducklings now-12 of them. They are very shy and it is hard to get a picture of them. Mama duck keeps them hid most of the time. I’ll keep trying though.

Time for us to get busy. I have a load of clothes to hang out on the line and several more to get done. Enjoy your day and God bless.

May 23, 2011 5

Little Tomatoes

Aren’t they so cute! These little guys are on the big tomato plant we bought. Makes my mouth water just looking at them. Today has been dry at least. No rain. We were able to hang clothes on the line. YEAH!

We received a wonderful blessing yesterday. Billy gave us a quarter of a beef. You will notice on my canning log a new entry. Thank you, Lord. My computer is out of commission-so sad. Dave says he thinks it is the hard drive. I will be using Hubby’s computer for a while. I miss my computer already. Hopefully, we will be able to get it fixed before too long.

Time to take one of the canners off. Enjoy your day and God bless.

May 19, 2011 4

Fire Pinks

On one of the rare occasions Sunday that the sun actually peeked through the clouds, we happened to be at Smartview Park. These beautiful fire pinks were blooming everywhere.

I thought you all might like them. We are always looking for different types wildflowers and quizzing each other to see if we can remember their names.

Today is STILL overcast and foggy. We had rain most of the day yesterday and more last night. Our temperature this morning was 40 degrees. I finally decided to just go ahead and build a fire. I washed a load of clothes on Monday and hung them up inside. This morning there were still not completely dry. It takes a long time for them to dry if I don’t have a fire and besides the house was a little chilly and damp.

Time for school. Enjoy your day and God bless.

May 18, 2011 4

A Good Day

Yesterday was such a fun day. Daniel and Sam spend the day with us. We went riding in the “bumpy truck.” When we came back Daniel told me “That SURE was a fun ride, MawMaw.” I love it. Children are so easy to please. Just simple things make them so happy.

Wild strawberries we saw blooming on our ride.

PawPaw, of course, pointed out the deer trials. It was a very nice day here yesterday, warm with lots of sunshine. This allowed for lots of outside playing. They saw the chicks, the new kitties, the baby calves and the goslings. A full day in little boy world.

We had a storm pass through last night with thunder, lightning and lots of rain. I’m not sure what the day will hold. Right now it is cloudy and everything is soaked. Maybe not a good day for hanging clothes on the line. We’ll see.

This rosebush came up on its own at the fence line. It has had a tough time getting started. The cows keep wanting to eat it. This year though it is huge and full of buds. It has never bloomed before so we are excited to see what it looks like. I hope you all have a great day and God bless.

May 11, 2011 4

Our Greenhouse Plants

Our plants are growing. YEAH! Today makes 2 weeks since we planted the seeds. I think they are doing really well.

The tomatoes and peppers seem to be the slower growing. The cucumbers and squash are the fastest. The broccoli and okra are growing pretty fast too.

Today is overcast and windy. The temperature is 60 degrees though so that is very nice. I have clothes on the line outside. We worked on school yesterday and then went into the library and piano practice. I found a book at the library. It is written by Ree Drummond. She has a blog www.thepioneerwoman.com If you have never been to her blog I am sure you would enjoy it. She has some excellent recipes and many interesting stories. The book I got at the library is about her and her husbands courtship and marriage. I think it will be very good.

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

May 3, 2011 4