I know, another fall picture but soon all the colors will be gone and it will only be snow pictures again. David, Jess, and the boys are on their way up this morning. Our church does a halloween alternative, which we call Christfest. It is always lots of fun. We will be doing it tonight. Kids and adults both usually dress up. I hope to take lots of pictures to show everyone. We will be eating at church for the evening meal. Lunch here will be burgers on the grill with homemade buns, home fries with ranch dressing for lunch. Depending on time, I might make a pumpkin pie-not sure. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy your day. I know I will, lots of MawMaw time. God bless.
Update on Repairs
I have no pictures to post today as I forgot the camera at Jessica’s. The girls and I came home to check on everything and wash some more clothes. We are leaving this morning to go back down. Hubby stayed at Jessica’s so he could get the drywall hung on the ceiling after David got in from work. They decided since the damage was so major they should just redo the entire laundry room. A redo was on the to-do list anyway. This just speeding it up a little.
Saturday was Daniel’s birthday party day. We had lots of fun. I have pictures of his party on my camera. I will post those next time, if I don’t forget my camera again. Well, I just wanted to let you all know where we where on the repairs. Enjoy your day and God bless.
Just a Swingin
Sam really loves his swing. He does not however like his car seat. He was sooooooo ready to be home Saturday after shopping. He wanted his swing and some sleep. Us girls got up early and went blueberry picking. We picked 2 gallon-1 for us and 1 for Jess. We came home just before the rain started. Good timing. It rained most of the day there.
Afterward, we all went out to eat at Golden Corral. Then we went to look around at Lifeway. I purchased a new bible study. It is Ruth by Kelly Minter. I think this will be our next Friday Ladies Study. It looks very interesting. I saw so many new studies that I want to do. We even picked out one for the girls to do for their bible class this coming year. It was a great day. We all had lots of fun.
We are getting some much needed rain today. Temperatures are cooler too. 74 degrees right now. I like that. Did you all notice my drying log on the right. My darling baby girl, Grace, did that for me. She told me she watched David put the others on. I was very impressed with her knowledge as I have no idea how to do any of that. Thanks Grace.
Church was very nice yesterday. Our pastor’s sermon was on what it takes to make a man. It was a very good sermon. Then we had communion, followed by a fellowship meal. LOTS o f good food. Then we had more good food last night with our Sunday Evening Study. All in all it was a really good day. I better get busy. Take care and God bless.
My Newest Helper
This is my new helper. I did not even know these existed. About 1 month ago, I was in our local farm supply store, and spotted one of these. All I have ever used are the old food mills. I have been told these are so much better than a food mill. I can’t wait to try it out. My friend Vicki and I will be making applesauce today out of early cooking apples. When we lived in Grundy, we had a June apple tree in our front yard. I sure do miss that tree. What they have up here has a little different taste than that one did, but they are still good. It is our favorite type of applesauce, so I hope to can a lot of it. Last year, apples were hard to find. We ran out of applesauce early in the winter and had to buy from the store. Not near as good as home canned. Guess I’ll get busy. Lots to do today but lots of fun too. Take care and God bless.
Fishing Day
I thought this was just the cutest picture. This little girl was so intent on her fishing pole. Look close you can see her little bare toes sticking out from under her dress. You can also notice her hair is wet. She sat on this drain pipe through a little shower we had. She did not want to give up her spot. I heard we had over 100 people there Saturday. I think they said about 300 lbs. of trout were caught. The kids had a great time. Lots of fun and fellowship. Afterward, we went shopping for a few things. Hubby needed to replenish some of his electrical supplies. Yesterday was church, went into town to pick up some ink for the printer. When we got home, I made some baked beans to take to Sunday Evening Class. Then we worked some on our homework. Sunday Night’s menu was pigs in the blanket, baked beans, chips and homemade dip, a pasta dish, coleslaw. For dessert peach pie, ice cream and a dessert that Becky makes that I forgot the name of. (Happens as I get older) Temperatures have been cool here with quite a lot of rain. We haven’t gotten all of our garden planted because it has just been too wet. Hopefully this week we will get it finished. I am, of course, washing clothes today. Lots of clothes! I guess they will have to be dried inside as it looks like the sun will not shine today. Tomorrow the girls and I are going down to Jessica’s to watch Daniel while she goes for an ultra sound. Samuel is just about ready to be here. Just a couple more weeks, maybe sooner. Pray for a healthy and easy delivery for him and for her. I better get busy. Take care and God bless.
Fun
Okay, so our visit went by much too quick. Monday evening when they first arrived it seemed like such a long time, but now it is Thursday and they are gone. I miss them already. We had so much fun. We went to a park here in town. When the girls were little they called it “the colored swings.” We, of course, still call them that. Tuesday was a beautiful day, we packed a picnic lunch and headed into town. We had a great time. Wednesday was cool here. Not much outside activity. Today however is gorgeous. Nice and warm with lots of sunshine.
Doesn’t he look like he is having fun!
The girls had a great time keeping up with him. Well, maybe not a great time but they did have fun.
No fear-no gain. Tuesday evening while we were outside burning off the garden, Daniel had lots of fun playing Superman. As I have said before he is all boy. Time for me to start supper. I think tonight’s menu will be sloppy joes and fries. Something easy. MawMaw needs to rest. (Just kidding) I don’t think anything makes me feel any younger than being around small children. They love so freely and completely. No wonder Christ said for us to come to Him as a little child. Take care and God bless.
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.
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.
Another Cat Picture
Another picture of Stripes. Maybe she wants a shower. Grace took this picture of Stripes in one of her strange places. She lays in the sink quite frequently. She also loves to get a drink from the faucet. I think the word “spoiled” might come to mind. Yesterday was lots of fun. I went to my friend Vicki’s and we made our own hot cocoa mix. It is really good. Much better than the powdered mix bought from the store and I’m sure much healthier. We read the ingredients of the store bought instant mix and it contained lots of things we couldn’t pronounce. In case anyone is interested in making their own here is the recipe. 16 cups powdered dry milk, 1 1/4 cup cocoa powder, 5 cups sugar, 1/2 tsp. salt. In a large bowl mix all ingredients well and store in an airtight container or zip lock bags. To use measure 1/3 cup of mix into a cup and add hot water, stir. This will make about 1 gal. of mix, perhaps a little over. Vicki and I halved this recipe. The powdered milk will be your biggest expense, so shop around for the best price. I hope you enjoy this as much as we have. God Bless.

















