Update

Hello everyone! I hope all is well in your life. I still do not have my computer back but I thought I would post a little update while I had access to a computer. The keyboard Dave ordered for Grace’s computer did not work so she is still using mine. Oh well, the things we do for our children!

We have been busy here. The garden is doing fairly well. We have had tons of rain though. We have been harvesting beets, cucumbers, carrots and such. We planted a new type of beet this year. They are called Chioggia beets or candy striped beets. They look like this http://www.rareseeds.com/chioggia-bassano-beet. They are really pretty. I will definitely be planted them again. I want to try out a new pickled beet recipe refrigerator pickled beets.

We picked blueberries last week. We made blueberry freezer jam using the pomona pectin. I really like using it. Thanks, Cheryl, for telling me about it. We also made homemade blueberry ice cream. So good!!!

I’m sure there is lots more going on around here but I just can’t seem to remember it all. That’s what happens I guess when I don’t do a post for a long time. I hope you all have a great Sunday and God bless.

July 14, 2013 5

Mint Syrup

This has been a busy week for us. On Friday, the girls and I cut some mint to try a new recipe.

We wanted to make mint syrup. One cup water, one cup mint and one cup sugar. Bring it to a boil, reduce heat slightly, let simmer for 10 min. Turn off heat and let it cool to room temperature.

For a half gal of tea, we used 1 cup mint syrup and then filled up the half gallon with water. It is absolutely delicious!! I have been making mint tea for years and I definitely think this is the best.

After making the mint syrup, we all worked in the garden. We had to take down the old fence we had put up last year to keep the chickens out, pulled up the stakes and the tomato fence. Then we got the tiller out and started getting it tilled. We had high hopes of getting the plants in the ground but the rain was faster than we were. Oh well, hopefully tomorrow (or the next day). We have had rain all weekend.

Yesterday, we went to the Greensboro Science Center with Dave, Jess and kids. We had a great time!

So much to see and do!

Well, that’s about it for now. We will be starting revival at church tonight so I guess I better be getting my crew ready to leave. I hope you all have a great evening and God bless.

May 19, 2013 1

Busy

Hello everyone! We have finally moved out of the rain and cold and into sun and warmth. I am glad. I am definitely ready for warmer weather and sunshine. I have clothes on the line, windows open and enjoying the day. I just finished baking chocolate chip banana muffins. I have rolls rising for supper tonight so all this added together makes my home smell wonderful.

Well, just a short post to let everyone know what has been going on here. I hope you all have a great day and God bless.

May 10, 2013 2

Friday

Hello everyone! I hope you all are having a good week so far. We have definitely had an assortment of weather types here this week. The first of the week was beautiful, warm. Our temperature one day was 70 degrees. It felt like spring. I hung clothes out on the line. Then the rain came-in buckets. We had heavy downpours of rain and high wind. Now the cold is here. Our temperature this morning is 10 degrees. We have wind gusts of 50 mph, wind chill temps below zero, and snow on the ground. It is very cold.

School has went well this week. On Wednesday, we helped a friend by changing some light fixtures. They are moving into a new place and are doing some small upgrades to the place before they move in. We took our school with us. As I have said before, this is one of the things we love about homeschooling. School adjusts to our schedule not our schedule adjusting to school. It was a nice day. We did a lot of catch-up as we had not really seen them in a while.

Well, I guess that’s about it. Stay warm and God bless.

February 1, 2013 3

Rainy Tuesday

Hello everyone! I hope all is well with you all. We are getting some much needed rain here in Floyd. It rained most of the night and is still raining. Temperatures are warm though. Over the weekend we got up to about 60 degrees. Amazing! Right now it is 40 degrees. I will take this for January weather any time.

We are working on school as usual. I love routine days. Days that we just go along doing normal stuff. Hubby hasn’t found any work yet so he is still working on learning how to make bowls. He is doing a really good job.

I want to give an update on the homemade dish soap. I don’t think I will be making it again. I’m sure it cleans good but I just do not like the fact that it does not soap up. I really like to see bubbles in my water when washing dishes. Oh well, it was fun making it.

Well, I think that’s about it. Piano practice is almost over and then book work begins so I better be getting ready. Enjoy your day and God bless.

January 15, 2013 5

Fall Colors

Here are a few of the pictures we took Saturday at Grayson Highlands. The colors of fall are looking pretty good here.

We have had rain for several days so lots of the leaves have just fallen off.

Hopefully, not all though. I love the colors of fall.

We started school yesterday. So far, everything is good. Mostly just review right now. We had some rather chilly weather yesterday so I built our first fire. It was nice to feel the warmth and smell the wood smoke again. Today we made a huge pot of chili beans for supper. We plan on canning some of it-if there’s enough left. It sure does smell good.

Well, lunch break is almost over. Enjoy your day and God bless.

October 2, 2012 4

Grayson Highlands Festival

I thought I would share with you all some of our pictures from our visit to the Grayson Highlands Festival today with the Horn’s. We saw lots of crafts and hand made items.

This was one of the biggest attractions. The making of molasses.

Here they are pouring the hot fresh made molasses into jars for selling. We, of course, bought one.

There was lots of food and lots of music.

But these little guys were the main attraction. They auction off these wild ponies every year. We stayed for a little of the auction but the rain finally forced us to leave.

It was a really fun day. I will show you some more of the pictures with the fall colors in my next post. I hope you all have a great weekend and God bless.

September 29, 2012 4

Blueberries and Squash

The girls and I picked a gallon of these beautiful blueberries yesterday. It was a nice day for picking. It rained on us before we got to the blueberry place but stopped before we got there. The bushes were wet but the temperature was not bad and the bugs even left us alone.

Today we made this zucchini pineapple recipe. We used yellow squash instead of zucchini. It actually tastes like pineapple. You would never know it had squash in it. I got the recipe from here. http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/zucchinipineapple.htm A blogger friend of mine had made it the other day. She posted about it here. http://holcombhappenings.wordpress.com/2012/07/11/a-day-of-canning/ I think it will be really good.

Now, question time. I found out from the internet this squash is called a patty pan squash. Do any of you ladies have a recipe for it? Our pastor gave them to us and I really would like to try them. Online it says it pairs good with tomatoes but I thought I would ask you all.

Our weather change here has been amazing. We had rain yesterday which we so much needed. We laughed and said the plants in our garden were doing a happy dance for God. The temperatures have cooled off so much. We are right now at 73 degrees!!! Thank you Lord.

Well, that’s about all. I hope you have a great evening and God bless.

July 12, 2012 5

Rainbow

Hello everyone! Sorry that I haven’t posted as much as usual. Things just seem busy here right now. Anyway, yesterday evening the Lord gave us this beautiful rainbow. If you look close you can see it was a double rainbow but the one on the left is fading. This picture was taken at the top of our driveway.

Yesterday, we went to help Hubby on the job site. It is coming along nicely. After school, the girls were entertained by this guy. He and a few of his buddies were very busy in the walnut tree.

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We did get some much needed rain yesterday evening. The garden is all in, however, the birds have already discovered it and destroyed about 1/3 of the tomato plants. They love the tender young leaves so all that is left is the stem. Has anyone else experienced this problem? Any solutions?

Hubby has been working all week on my car. He has replaced the rotors on the front and today we picked up rotors for the back. I am so thankful he knows how to do all this. His knowledge saves us lots of money. Well, I will leave you ladies with a picture of the purple flowers that are blooming everywhere here. I don’t know the name of them but we think they are beautiful.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

May 22, 2012 8

Goslings

I thought I would show you all how big these goslings are. It always amazes me how fast they grow. They are however ravenous eaters. We also have ducklings (we think). She hatched them off and took them up into the field. We have not seen them since. Mama and Papa Duck are still around though so we are confident the ducklings are too. Mama is just keeping them well hidden.

I forgot to mention in yesterdays post about the chick house, all the planks and the door are from the old farmhouse we are working on. He said we could have all the old wood. We have been thinking of ways to reuse it. I think some of it will go to box in the remainder of our back porch. Today is a nice day here in Floyd. Temperature is 66 degrees. We have had some sun but it is overcast now and I think rain is coming.

Tonights menu at church is kraut and weiners, pinto beans, cornbread, cole slaw and strawberry rhubarb pie. (Thats just what I know about). For a class of 10-12 people, we sure do eat good. Time for me to start getting everything ready. Enjoy your evening and God bless.

April 29, 2012 4