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

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

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

Young Farmer

I thought this was such a cute picture. This young man had just been out to the barn with our pastor. He spent some time sitting on the tractor and then they were on their way back to the house. They both look very content. Simple things in life seem to bring the most contentment.

Yesterday was rainy and foggy here. Very dense fog. Temperatures were still in the mid 50’s. The sun is shining this morning and it promises to be a nice day. Hopefully, we will get to hang our clothes on the line today to dry.

I better get busy. We are planning to make applebutter today after school. Take care and God bless.

September 28, 2010 1

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

A Resting Kind of Day

Today has been a kinda slow day. Julie went shooting at the shooting range with her Dad today. She had a really great time and says she wants to go again. Grace and I stayed home. We made applesauce muffins. I got the recipe from one of my blogger friends. Remember the “peach sauce” we made earlier in the summer, well, we used it instead of applesauce. They turned out really good. Then we made some homemade rolls to go with supper tonight. We will be having beef roast, corn from the garden and potatoes, with the homemade rolls of course. I think watermelon for dessert.

Today is a beautiful day here in Floyd. Temperatures in the upper 70’s, low 80’s. One of those nice relaxing days. I thought the picture of the cat summed up how the day has been. Slow and lazy. Yesterday was bible study day. We only have one more lessons in I Corinthians and then we will start the Ruth study. I am really looking forward to it. I’m sure there will be lots to learn.

Time for me to go enjoy some of that nice weather. My green swing is calling me. Of course, the other cat will have to move over.

God bless.

August 28, 2010 1

Black Eyed Susans

I think these are such cheerful flowers. I like their bright color. They are among the last of the flowers to bloom in one of my flower gardens. Fall is definitely in the air here in Floyd. Cooler temperatures at night. Upper 50’s lower 60’s. We even spotted one tree that is starting to change colors. I love fall! Many people say summer has long lazy days. This is usually not true for me. Fall is more of a slow down time for us. Most of the canning is done. We can slow down and enjoy the cooler days. I love it! Of course, I have had to slow down a little earlier than planned this year but I think I have learned a lot from this experience. What have I learned? I need to slow down a little, enjoy life more, laugh more, do more things with my girls. There is much to be said for teaching my girls how to can and take care of the house but also there is much to be said for picnics under oak trees and hikes down favorite trails. Balance-I think it is all about balance.

Yesterday the girls and I made homemade vegetable beef soup with homemade rolls. It is starting to feel like soup weather. I told the girls the other day, these cooler temperatures makes me want to open up new school books. Amazing-cooler temps does not have the same effect on them. We wanted to make chocolate chip cookies yesterday but did not get them done. I think that will be a project for today. If we get to make them, I will try to post the recipe we use. We have some corn that needs to be pulled and worked up so I guess that too will be on the list for today. My list is not near as long as it was before the back pain.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

August 26, 2010 1

Sweet, Juicy Corn

Our corn is ready! I love fresh garden corn. We have been working some of it up this morning. So far we have put 58 ears in the freezer and 9 pts cut off the cob. I have a vacuum sealer which I use for the corn and other stuff. It is a very handy thing to have. I purchase items at the store in bulk at a discounted price and then separate them out into portions we can use. Then seal them with the vacuum sealer. It really makes a difference. No freezer burn.

The type of corn we raise is called Merit Corn or where I’m from they call it Garden Creek Corn. The man who had the seed for it lived on Garden Creek, thus the name. It is an excellent corn, very sweet. It is called the silkless corn because when you shuck it the silks just fall off with the shucks. I LIKE THAT! Makes working the corn so much easy.

We have been getting quite a lot of rain here this week. The temperatures have cooled down some though because of the rain. Yesterday, the girls and I worked on apples. 16 quarts to be exact. I used my new steamer juicer and extracted over a qt of juice from the peelings. We had fresh apple juice with breakfast this morning. Very delicious!

Better get busy. Enjoy your day and God bless.

August 19, 2010 2

Salsa

The girls and I made salsa yesterday. We ended up with 19 pints. Counting what we made the other day, I think this is enough to last us through the winter. We will be canning peaches today.

Temperatures here are still cool and comfortable, 67 degrees. Very overcast. It is supposed to warm up throughout the week with a chance of thunderstorms. I really like the cooler temps, I just wish the sun was shining. Oh well, God knows what He’s doing.

I was wondering if anyone out there had a good pizza sauce recipe. I have one that is pretty good but I am always looking for new ones to try. I guess I better get busy-peaches are calling. Take care and God bless.

August 3, 2010 2

Peaceful Scene

We did not get to have our breakfast picnic yesterday morning at the park. Weather was too bad. VERY foggy here. Most people would not have been able to find the park . Everything is wet, wet, wet. We did move it to the church, however, so we still had breakfast. Just not outside like originally planned. Lots of good food though. The pastors sermon was on the Lord’s Prayer. It was a very good message.

I have been told this strange looking flower is called a Naked Lady. The name suits it. There are no leaves on it what so ever. Just a tall stem and then the flower. They have filled out more since I took this picture however I could not get a new picture. It is too foggy and dreary today. The girls and I will be busy making more salsa. I did not like the recipe in the Ball canning book as much as I like my old recipe. It was given to me by a Mennonite friend, Judy. So today we are making her recipe. Much better. Temperatures have been cooler here. Low’s in the upper 50’s, high’s in the low to mid 60’s. Wet, foggy. Nice days for doing work inside or just curling up with a good book. I think I’ll try to work both of these activities in today. Enjoy your day and God bless.

August 2, 2010 1