Thursday’s Fun

Here are some pictures of the fun we had last Thursday on Jess and Daniel’s visit. In the first picture, we are outside playing, the next picture is coltsfoot (one of our earliest wildflowers to bloom). We took a ride around the farm in “MawMaw’s bumpy truck”. On the tractor road, we spotted these kildeer walking on the road. Jess took the picture from the truck. I think they might have a nest somewhere close as they did not want to leave thier area. The last picture is Daniel, thinking. I am not exactly sure but it looks like he is trying to figure out how to get the sawdust in his wheelbarrow. We had lots of fun!

Tonight’s menu is pork tenderloin on the grill, french fries and corn on the cob-frozen from our garden last year. I gathered some rhubarb today and plan to make rhubarb dumplings for dessert.

Rosemary Marinade Recipe

1/3 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup lemon juice

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp minced garlic

2-4 tsp dried rosemary-crushed

Combine all ingredients. Pour over beef, chicken, or pork. (I use this on all types of meat). School is finished for today. Time to enjoy the sun. We got our bikes out today, pumped up the tires,and oiled the chains. We rode for a little while. Long enough for me to discover how out of shape I am. It will take a while before I can keep up with the girls. I hope to work some on the garden this evening. We have some clean up to do before Hubby can plow. I hope you all enjoy your evening. Take care and God bless.

April 6, 2010 1

Pickled Eggs

Here is how I make our pickled eggs. First I boil the eggs.

After they have cooled, peel them.

Put them into a large glass container. I use a wide mouth half gallon canning jar. Using a wide mouth jar makes it easier to get the eggs out. We grow beets in our garden. In the fall we harvest them and make pickled beets. I use the pickled beet juice to pour over the boiled eggs. If you don’t have your own pickled beets you can buy them from the store. If using store brought you will need to add pickling spice to the juice. About 1 tsp. per can.

As soon as you pour the juice over them, they turn this beautiful color. Put them in the fridge and they will be ready to eat in about a week. As I said yesterday, Hubby loves them. I think they are just okay so I consider making them an act of love. Last night’s supper menu was pork roast baked in a cast iron dutch oven, mashed potatoes, home canned corn, homemade rolls, and blackberry dumplings made from blackberries we canned last fall. Delicious! Today is sunshine, beautiful sunshine. Warmer temperatures are on the way. Jess is coming up tomorrow with Daniel. She has some shirts she needs altered. We also hope to go the the local greenhouse and check out the flowers. Lots of fun! The girls don’t know it yet but we are taking an Easter break. Half school today and then no school until Monday. They will be very happy. Well, now it’s time for a language test so I better get busy being Teacher. Take care and God bless.

March 31, 2010 1

Pioneer Lady

This is my friend Barbara. No, she is not a real pioneer lady. She is one of our Friday Ladies Study group. She needed an outfit for a Red Hat function and this is what we come up with. She looks so good! I made the skirt and the apron for her. She got the bonnet at Schoolhouse Fabrics here in Floyd. I had so much fun making the apron. I have never attempted an apron this this before. It was challenging for me but I so enjoyed doing it. I think I will make one for myself, maybe even the girls. We think this would be an excellent costume for Christfest (halloween alternative) at church. The sun is trying to shine here but the clouds seem to be winning the contest right now. Hopefully it will be warmer today. School as usual. We are almost finished with spelling, only two more word lists. This is when it starts getting exciting again. When you can see the end in sight. I have to make pickled eggs today. My hubby loves pickled eggs. I make some every year at Easter and Christmas and sometimes in between. I will try to document the process and post on it tomorrow. Enjoy your day and God bless.

March 30, 2010 2

More Signs of Spring

I could hardly wait to post these pictures! The crocus are so bright and beautiful. The rhubarb is coming up nicely. I LOVE SPRING! This has been a busy week for us. All day Tuesday spent in Roanoke at the eye doctor. Wednesday was a fun day spent with our friends, the Horns. Today has been a beautiful day here. Temperature around 60 degrees. We can hardly believe it. I hung our clothes out on the line-they will smell sooooo good! I plan on having london broil on the grill tonight, probably home fries and corn on the cob (from our garden last year). I purchased some strawberries at the store today. I usually don’t do that this early in the season but they looked so good. Strawberry Shortcake for dessert tonight. We usually go down to Jessica’s in early May. There is a” pick your own” strawberry patch. We love it. We try to pick a lot, freeze them for winter. We also make lots of fresh strawberry jam. YUM! Anyway I have a praise. My truck is fixed!!!! Hubby and his brother worked until dark last night but we are back on the road. I never imagined how much I would miss that old truck until I had to jiggle my schedule with Hubby’s. One vehicle can be a little trying to say the least. The girls and I don’t go a lot of places but it sure is nice to be able to go when we want to. I guess I better get busy cooking supper, Hubby is looking in the pantry so he must be hungry. Take care and God bless.

March 18, 2010 2

Wheat

Today was spent running errands. The girls had dentists appointments this morning. We left home at 9:00 as it takes about an hour to get to Roanoke from here. After their appointments, we spent some time in Lifeway. I picked out several studies I think the ladies will enjoy doing. Then we went to Toys R Us. The girls wanted to look around.

When the girls were younger, we always called Roanoke “big big town, Christiansburg was “big town” and Floyd (our town) was called “little town” . So we came back, went to “little town” and picked up the wheat I had ordered. It is called Prairie Gold. It is a hard white spring wheat. It can be used in all baking, from bread to cookies. The price was $25.00 for a 50 lb. bag. Pretty good price. Tomorrow I hope to make cinnamon rolls to share with a friend on Thursday. If I’m really industrious, maybe a loaf of bread too. Our snow is melting more each day. Temperature today was about 60 degrees. I went out on my back porch and sat on my porch swing. I love porch swings. When I was a little girl, my grandmother had a porch swing and I have loved them ever since. To me, nothing says relaxing more than a swing, so I have 1 porch swing and 2 yard swings. All made for me by my loving Hubby. The girls have had 2 tree swings since they were very small and still enjoy them. I guess we’re just “a swingin” bunch. Take care and God bless.

March 9, 2010 3

Road

I took these pictures this afternoon after church. This road connects to our road. About 3 weeks ago when the first drifts came, they cleared this road. I was told it took 12 hours to clear it. I can only imagine how tall the snow was then, if it still looks like this 3 weeks later. Church today was very good, communion with a fellowship meal, then a business meeting. I went alone as Julie is still sick. Hubby volunteered to stay home with them. I very seldom go anywhere alone, so it felt very strange. Julie is feeling some better though so I pray she is on the mend. The young pup Jasper seems to be on the mend too. Take care and God bless.

February 28, 2010 3

Drifts

I apologize for not posting anything is several days. Things have been a little busy here. Julie is sick with a sore throat and head cold. We took her to the doctor yesterday. Thankfully it is not strep throat. But she feels yucky just the same. Rest and lots of liquids for her. Also we have been doctoring Jasper’s (young dog) paw. He seems to have stepped on somthing and run it through his paw in 3 different places. The first day it happened he just limped, the second day it was swollen 3 times normal size, the third day it bled alot, then finally it has started ( I hope) to improve. The swelling is down, he still can’t put any weight on it, but it looks much better. Of course, he has been allowed to sleep on the enclosed porch, which I am thinking he likes WAY too much. Cold temperatures here-below zero wind chills. Wind gusts of about 60 mph. We had to let the fire go out in the wood stove. It was just too much smoke coming in the house, especially with Julie sick. This is definitely on Hubby’s to-do list to fix this problem this summer.

The pictures are of drifts in our side yard. They are a little darker than I had hoped but you can get the idea anyway. I estimate them to be over 4 ft. Yesterday when we took Julie to the doctor, the main road was pretty bad. 3-4 ft. drifts blocking one side of the road. Lots of places had only 1 lane open. When we came back, the road crews had cleared them. Our road crews have definitely spent a lot of time working this winter. Speaking of work, I guess I better get busy. Take care and God bless.

February 27, 2010 2

Comparison

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About 3 weeks ago, I posted the first picture showing the amount of snow we had gotten. The second picture was taken this morning. Not a lot of change, but I know spring is coming. Our birds are starting to make the nesting calls. Surely they know things we don’t. Hopefully we will get to do bible study tomorrow. Hubby did get the van out this morning. It took him 5 trys but he did it. The truck wheel is still locked up so it is not going anywhere. I will wait until this evening when he returns to find out how bad our road is, hopefully not too bad, so the ladies will be able to come. We are supposed to start Esther by Beth Moore. I am very excited about this study. I love Beth Moore studies. School today as usual. The girls and I are watching the entire series of Anne of Green Gables videos. There have been really good so far. Well, I guess it is time for school. Enjoy your day and God bless.

February 18, 2010 2

Birds

We have been entertained all day today by these beautiful birds. Many, many birds. Every time I looked out my dining room window, I would see 50-60 birds in our yard. Probably 20 of these were doves. We love feeding the birds. They love sunflower seeds. This morning as Hubby and I were sharing our coffee together, we listened as they sang morning praises to the Lord. Beautiful! We take care of them by feeding them and they take care of us by providing beautiful praise music. I think that’s a fair trade. It was a little distracting doing school and watching the birds, though. Well, the fog has moved in here. Super foggy. High wind warnings for tomorrow and Thursday 25-30 mph with gusts up to 50 mph. This will be for Wednesday and Thursday. I never knew what fog and wind could be like until we moved to Floyd. No church tomorrow night-it’s already cancelled. I guess it isn’t done snowing yet. I just looked out and the snow is pouring down. Oh well. We are warm inside our home, our tummy’s are full and our children are happy. Life is good! God Bless.

February 9, 2010 0

More Snow

More snow! We already have about 3 more inches and as you can see it is still coming down. It is supposed to snow all day today and tomorrow. Wow! I think it is going to be a snuggle in weekend. I hope to work on Grace’s quilt this weekend, maybe make a few aprons, have fun with my girls, make a pot of coffee to share with my hubby. Our front porch is enclosed with glass. We love to sit out there, drink coffee and watch it snow. All the beauty without the cold. I have a beef roast on the wood stove cooking. I haven’t decided what to put with this yet, probably potatoes and carrots. Yesterday’s menu was meatloaft, mashed potatoes, green beans, mac & cheese, and biscuits. School today as usual, maybe make some snow cream later. Enjoy your day and God Bless.

February 5, 2010 1