Outdoor Fun

We decided to surprise the girls today and do a picnic lunch. This area is one of their favorite picnic spots and it is close to home. We had a great time. We took so many pictures. I will share them with you all over the next few days. This is the road leading into the park. After lunch we came home and had some difficulties with our stove. As you all know, we have been using it a lot this summer. Hubby only recently replaced all the stove eyes and their receptables. Well, today as the steamer/juicer was busy with our second batch of cider, the receptable shorted out and caught on fire. Praise the Lord, Hubby was here and got everything under control quickly. This does mean, however, that until he can fix it the biggest eye on my stove is not usable. Well, “all things worketh good”. He has been wanting to fix us a place outside to use the propane burner to can on. So today, prompted by need, he got the burner set up and I used it to cook the second batch of apples on. It works really well. I’m not sure how it will do using the pressure canner though. We haven’t tried that yet.

We now have 2 gal. of apple cider. YEAH! We have been running the apples that have cooked down through the roma sauce maker. Yesterday we just used it for applesauce. It is really thick though as all the juice has been cooked out. Today, we decided to try something a little different. We make applebutter out of it. No cooking involved-no simmering for hours praying it does not stick. Just added the sugar and spices AND put it in freezer bags and froze it. I’m not sure how it will be but it certainly was easier. It tasted just like applebutter that had simmered for a long time so I think it will be good.

Well, I am tired so I think I will rest for a while. Oh, I almost forgot, Hubby got the room painted today. I guess the next step is to lay down the rug. Getting closer every day. Enjoy your evening and God bless.

October 21, 2010 2

Apple Cider

Today we made something new! I love doing new things. We made apple cider. After much research on the internet, we decided that what we were making is correctly called cider. Cider is homemade apple juice that hasn’t been filtered. Isn’t it such a pretty color. We used the steamer/juicer to make it. We got 3 qts of cider and 2 qts of applesauce from a little under a half bushel of apples. We plan to do more tomorrow.

The room is coming along nicely. Hubby put another coat of mud on today. It has rained here most of the day. We really needed rain. The sun started peeping through the clouds in late afternoon. Alll in all it has been a nice day. Temperatures around mid 50’s. I spent the first part of the day running errands. Not my favorite chore, but it has to be done.

Time to cook supper. Enjoy your evening and God bless.

October 20, 2010 2

Fall

Hubby took this picture from our dining room window. I think the dogwood is looking very pretty. Yesterday was a busy day. Remodeling always makes the whole house a mess, not just the area where you are working. Our house seemed to me to be very chaotic. The girls and I took some time before school to straighten up a little. Then we decided to take a morning walk. It would have made a good picture. Myself, Julie, Grace, our two dogs and one kitty cat. The little black cat, Moon, always loves to go on walks. She was very tired when we got back and had to take a long nap under the maple tree. Hubby got the first coat of mud on the drywall yesterday evening. It is starting to look more and more like a room now. Gets me excited thinking things will soon get back in order.

Today seems to be another beautiful day. Yesterday was very nice-sunshine, warm temperatures, breezy, a nice day for drying clothes outside. We made homemade doughnuts yesterday. They turned out okay, I guess. The girls and I did not care a lot for them, but Hubby thought they were good. He likes doughnuts much more than we do. I made the dough in my bread machine and then fried them. If I do them again, I think I will try baking them. A blogger friend of mine bakes hers and they like them better. I did discover though, the doughnut dough is excellent for making garlic bread sticks. The girls liked them better than the ones I did the other evening. The recipe I used is:

1 1/4 cups milk, 1 beaten egg, 1/4 cup shortening, 3 1/2 cups flour,1/4 cup sugar, 1 tsp. salt, 1 1/2 tsp. yeast. I put this in my bread machine in the order listed. Set it on dough cycle and let it work. I love that.

Today I think we will make some cookies-chocolate chip of course. They are the girls favorite-not mine. I am not much of a chocolate person. I know that goes against all nature-for a woman to not like chocolate- but I just don’t care a lot for it. Well, we better get started on our day. Take care and God bless.

October 19, 2010 2

Bread Sticks

One of the girls favorite eat out food is crazy bread from Little Ceasars, so today I decided to try my hand at making it. They actually turned out really well. They tasted very similar to crazy bread. I used my butter rich roll recipe for the dough, then when they were baked I brushed melted butter over them, sprinkled on garlic salt and parmesan cheese, and YUM! I think this will definitely be a keeper.

I thought you all might want to see our progress so far. The electrical is done, insulation finished and the drywall is hung. Hubby will start putting the mud on next week. Thankfully, he has some work for next week. This means the room will go slower but we need the work. I am glad to have it this close to finished. He estimates it will be finished and everything moved in by the end of the month.

This has been my major project all day. We decided to do a recipe exchange among the ladies at church. We ended up with about 40 recipes. We thought it would be nice to have them in their original form so most of them are handwritten. I arranged them into categories today. I have only a few that I need to find out who donated them. I hope to find this out tomorrow, then I will put them all together into books. This has been a really fun project.

Cooler temperatures have arrived here once again. We had a fire yesterday and last night however we didn’t need one today. Temperature is about 58 degrees here now with lots of sunshine, quite a brisk wind though. If you are outside, a lightweight jacket feels pretty good. I think I will enjoy some of that sunshine while we still have it. Enjoy your evening and God bless.

October 16, 2010 1

Progress

Here’s our progress so far. The outside is finished except for the siding. Hubby calls this “dried in”. Anyway we are glad we got this far yesterday as it is raining today. We will be working on the inside of the room today. I think we will be moving some of the plumbing over and putting up the insulation. Maybe even working on some of the electrical.

Sunday was Pastor Appreciation Day at our church. We had a potluck dinner (of course). We take advantage of every chance we have to eat! It was a nice day. We didn’t have Sunday night study as we were there so late for the dinner. Sunday evening we went down to Jessica’s for a surprise visit. They did not know we were coming. Hubby needed the little window that you see in the picture of the room. There is a place near Jess that sells used windows at a good price so we went down to get the window. We spent the night with Jess then went and got the window Monday morning and heading back home. It was a good visit. She was so surprised when she came to the door and saw us standing there. I love surprises!

Well, I guess I better get busy. Hubby is ready to work. Enjoy your day and God bless.

October 13, 2010 2

Laundry Room

We finally have the time and money to begin framing our new laundry room. Hubby had put down new flooring for it earlier in the summer. Then work stopped for a while. Yesterday we framed it up. Today we will be going to get the OSB for the walls and begin putting them up. I am so excited. Hopefully, we will be able to get it done before it gets too cold to work on it. We will be moving the washer and dryer out in this room. Hubby is also putting in a small bathroom area. One bathroom is hard sometimes. Our laundry room now is very small and crowded. It will be so nice to have extra room. We had a really nice day yesterday to work. It was a little windy, kept blowing away our tools, but other than that really nice.

Beautiful sunshine. Temperature in the upper 60’s. A really nice day. Well, I better get busy. Enjoy your day and God bless.

October 8, 2010 2

Our First Fire

Okay, so it finally got cold enough to build a fire. The temperature inside the house was 61 and I decided we really did need a fire. This stove may look small but it is a real workhorse. It heats our old farmhouse, keeps us toasty warm. We do use the gas logs some when it gets really cold but most of the heat comes from this little stove. It even keeps the upstairs warm. We are very blessed to have it. A few years back, Hubby and I traded some electrical work for this stove. I think we made a good bargain.

We had to make a run down to Jessica’s today. She has been sick over the weekend with strep and thought the boys might be getting it too. Praise the Lord, Daniel just has an ear infection, which is bad but not as bad as strep. Sam seemed to be okay, just congested. We had a good visit anyway and she made some awesome chicken noodle soup for lunch.

Well, I think I will relax and enjoy the coziness of our fire. Enjoy your evening and God bless.

October 4, 2010 2

Searching For Treasure

Today will be a busy day. We will be doing our bible study, then cleaning the church and of course, school. This is our last week of cleaning until next August. After we clean, we will be going to a friend’s house to gather pears. She has generously offered us all the pears we want. Thank you, Becky.

Yesterday, we did school and then we had to go to C-burg to pick up a few things. Our printer was out of ink, Hubby needed some banjo strings and some shells for the Saturday shoot. Temperatures are still a little cool here but very beautiful. Low 50’s, lots of wind and lots of sunshine. I like that.

Better get busy. I am doing a applesauce pie for dessert today for the ladies. Take care and God bless.

October 1, 2010 1

Birthday Pictures

Daniel’s birthday cake. He was very excited about his cake. He loves “Cars” and especially “TowMater”. (Hope I spelled that correct)

Daniel blowing out the big #3 candle. My, but they sure grow up fast.

Friends playing at the party. All in all I think he had a really fun day.

David, Jess and the boys are coming up tomorrow for a visit. Our church will be sponsoring a clay shoot tomorrow. David will be spending the day with Hubby at the shoot. Julie and Grace are going to be with them. Jess, myself and the boys will find something else to do-too much loud noise for little ears. Sunday they plan on going to church with us. This will be Sam’s first visit to our church. MawMaw can’t wait to show him off. After church we will be going to the Mennonite church for their annual hymm sing. It is always such a blessing to go there. Beautiful hymns!

Sunday night we will be starting our new bible study. We will be doing John MacArthur’s study on II Corinthians. Enjoy your evening and God bless.

September 17, 2010 3

Still No Pictures

Well, we came back home yesterday evening and I did remember to bring the camera. The problem is the camera card is in Jessica’s pocket book. So still no pictures. Anyway, we have got a lot done. All the walls and ceiling is finished. Dave and Jess are painting it this weekend while we are home. She decided to paint the room a light blue, the official name is icy blue. It sounds really pretty. We are staying here until Monday morning then going back down to work some more. We will be coming back home Tuesday evening as Hubby has some work coming up this week. He still has to lay the tile on the floor and do some more to the electrical. We will be starting our revival at church tomorrow. I am really looking forward to hearing the preacher who is bringing the message. I have never heard him before but others that have say he does a really good job. The youth from his church will be doing the music. We will be having a fellowship meal tomorrow following the service (of course), you know we gotta eat. I think I will take potato soup and salisbury steak with gravy. I’m not sure if I’ll have time to make a dessert or not but there usually is an abundance of desserts.

Temperatures here are cool-mid 50’s. It has been raining most of the day. It is also pretty foggy. I think it will be a nice sleeping night. I just made some blueberry muffins and they are ready to eat. I think I’ll see if they are good. Enjoy your day and God bless.

September 11, 2010 5