Closest Neighbor

This is a picture of the closest neighbor that we can see from our house. The picture is zoomed in pretty close. It actually is farther away than it appears. I also wanted to show you the corn that is raised here on the farm. Lots and lots of corn. They cut it up for feed. We can’t see the road from our house because of all the corn. It will soon be corn cutting time. I hope to get pictures of that to post. Today was spent on the road running errands. Piano practice in the afternoon. The highlight of the day was a stop at Lifeway Christian Store. They have so many good books and studies there. I could spend hours looking at them. We do a Ladies Bible Study at my house and we are starting I & II Peter this week. I think it will be an interesting study. I always get excited when we start a new study or we get new school books. The girls don’t always share my excitement. George is working on another chair, so I think I’ll go help him. God Bless.

September 14, 2009 1

Back View

This picture was taken from the top of the hill, looking down on the back side of our house. The view from here is beautiful. As I have said before we are very blessed to live in a beautiful part of God’s creation. I’ll be getting me some MawMaw time this weekend(can’t wait). Of course he pays more attention to PawPaw than MawMaw but I don’t mind. I take whatever I can get. Temperatures will be warmer there so the girls are looking forward to that. Me, I kinda like the cooler temps. I really enjoy fall with the colors and of course the thanksgiving meal. I do however dread the below zero temperatures and the high winds that come with winter. Well I guess it can’t all be good. Have a good day and God Bless.

September 4, 2009 2

Latest Wood Project

This is George’s lastest wood project. It is just a prototype. He doesn’t have the seat in yet but I think it looks very good. Our oldest daughter and ourselves are in need of new chairs so he has been working on getting a pattern that he likes. Not much happening here today. The girls has a dentist appointment in Roanoke and we were gone most of the day. We went to Michaels afterward, picked up a few things. Then went to Lifeway Christian BookStore. We did a little grocery shopping and came home. The temperature here has been a little chilly. Lows about 50 to 52, highs in mid 60’s. Nice weather. Makes me start thinking fall and fall makes me think school. We started Math yesterday. I am trying a different approach this year. I borrowed this idea from my friend. I am going to add one subject a week and by the end of September we will be in full school. This way it won’t be school overload. I’ll let you know how this works for us. As you know what works for one family doesn’t always work for another but I think this will be a good plan for us. I love homeschooling my girls. We have such fun. It’s a lot of work too but then most things worth doing require work. Night has come and I am tired. God Bless.

September 1, 2009 1

Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin growing in our garden

This year as a gift from God we have pumpkins. Quite a lot of pumpkins. We have decided to harvest them a little early as bugs have decided they like them too. The pie was made completely from scratch as you probably can tell. The crust is a very simple recipe that doesn’t require being rolled out. I like things simple. The filling recipe came from an old lady at a farmers market we visited years ago. If anyone is interested in these recipes let me know and I will post them. Today has been a good day. The girls played piano at church today. Grace played the special and Julie played the congregational. Big step for Julie-playing while others sing with her. They both did great. When I hear them play like that I think all that money and time for lessons was REALLY worth it. It’s almost time to leave for Sunday Night Bible Study at church. We are using John MacArthur’s study on the book of Daniel. It has been a very interesting study so far. The pie is for church tonight. After bible study we always eat(Its the Baptist way) Tonight we will be having a feast. Pinto beans, cornbread, onions, tomatoes, hot dogs, cole slaw, and pie. Who could ask for more. As I tell my oldest daughter, we really do study, the food is just extra. Gotta go and God Bless.

August 30, 2009 2

More Harvest

Today has been another busy but productive day. We gathered 1/2 bushel of tomatoes from the garden and the dishpan full of peppers. The tomatoes yielded 9 qts and I am attempting for the first time to dry the peppers in the dehydrator. Hope it works. Hubby has been busy today with woodwork. I’ll post a picture when its finished. After canning was done I went to help him and the girls took off upstairs for some play time. They are such good helpers. They help me with everything I do. We try to impress upon them the value of work and the importance of play. Teaching them how to garden and then harvest what we raise is important to me. Canning is becoming a lost art and I want my girls to know how to do it. Well night is approaching and I need to get busy doing my Sunday School lesson. If I hurry I can get it done outside on the swing before dark sets in. God bless.

August 29, 2009 0

New Dog

I must be getting soft in my old age. What was I thinking? We went to visit my oldest daughter this weekend. She wanted to get our grandson a puppy. We found some free and I suppose Dad and I gave in to the excitement of the moment and brought this guy home. He completely enjoyed the ride home(over 1 hour) in Julie’s lap so I suppose this means he likes to ride. He is lab and shepherd mix. We already have 1 large dog (chow and retriever mix)

He is an excellent farm dog and we want him to train Jasper to be a good dog also. Other than the puppy we also got some new clothes for the girls while shopping with Jess. Dad and David did some more remodel on Dave’s bathroom. Walls are sheetrocked and shower stall is built. Pictures of this can be found on Dave’s blog www.dlbates.com. We also received some much needed MawMaw and PawPaw time. I wanted to let everyone know my husband also has a blog he has started working on www.gdjg55.com. Check it out.

August 23, 2009 0

Salsa

Well that batch of salsa is done. We got 11 pints. It took up the major part of the day. From morning till lunch chopping. We were blessed to use all fresh garden ingredients. The tomatoes had to be scalded, peeled and then chopped. Then from lunch until about 6:00 was dedicated to simmering and then canning. If I knew how to do pictures, I would show you pictures of the jars. The salsa is very pretty in the jars and taste wonderful. Today we will be working on some more corn. At last count we had a little over 200 ears in the freezer and around 30 cans of corn. Thank you Lord. Last night was church night. We have been working on establishing a youth class on Wed. and last night we had 7 youth. Pretty good for a small church. I think this is one of those stretching times from the Lord. I have never taught youth before(only my own) however this has truly been fun. My prayer would be to see more kids show up and that they would learn more about our Lord through this class. Well I gotta get some work done. I need to go down to the barn and get some milk. We get our milk fresh from the cow. The girls however now have a hard time drinking what we call store milk. They say it doesn’t taste good. Thanks for reading and may God bless you throughout this day.

August 20, 2009 1