Orchard

Friday evening we went to our Pastor’s house. As I mentioned earlier, he gave us some peaches. He has a small orchard at his house. All his trees were so full of fruit. It was beautiful.

These are only a few of the trees. Grace took lots of pictures. I will try to post more of them tomorrow.

This is a view from his yard. Very pretty. We also ate supper at his house. Almost everything we had was home grown. I love to eat this way. We had hamburgers on the grill, cucumbers, onions and tomatoes from the garden, fresh homemade applesauce, and fresh peaches. Delicious!

The girls and I did not get to can our beets yesterday. As it was raining most of the day, we decided to run a few errands in town instead. Jess had given me some coupons she had for canning jars and lids. We decided to go to Wal-Mart and get these. They are a little cheaper there than there are at our local supermarket. We will be canning the beets today.

The sun is shining here nicely today. Temperatures have cooled down some, thanks to the rain yesterday. Outside temperature is about 80 degrees. This is one of those weeks when things begin to start building up. Much to do. Beans are ready to pick, berries are ready, beets are ready and I think we might have enough tomatoes ripe to make a batch of salsa. I love to can and put away food for my family however when I start getting behind, it is easy for me to allow that to become a stressor in my life. I do not want this to happen. God has given us this bounty and I thank Him for it. When I was growing up, the garden and canning controlled our summers. I do not want that for my girls. I want the garden and all it involves to be enjoyable and fun for my girls. I want to keep a balance. This is hard, as old habits are sometimes difficult to break. Pray that I will do this well-that my girls will have a love for gardening and canning and not see it as just hard work.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

July 28, 2010 1

Peaches

We were very blessed to have these peaches given to us. They are called Saturn peaches or donut peaches. These are very small and I was not really sure how to best use them.

As you can see, we had quite a few. We decided to make something like an applesauce from them. We used the food strainer. We made a pie from our peach sauce yesterday to see how it would taste. It actually was very good. Hubby was home yesterday and he helped. Thanks, Babe.

Temperatures here are hot. We are getting a small shower here this morning. Much needed. However the sun is already back so it probably will get hot fast. We are headed into town for piano practice. I also need a few spices for the beets. Enjoy your day and God bless.

July 27, 2010 2

More Spaghetti Sauce

Yesterday we had 12 more quarts of spaghetti sauce. I think this will be all the spaghetti sauce we make unless we have lots more tomatoes. I want to make salsa and maybe try our hand at ketchup. We also usually just can tomatoes and tomato sauce for use in soup and chili. Temperatures here have been hot and humid. Low to mid 90’s.

Jess talked to her mother-in-law yesterday and she said the name of this apple is Scarlett Apple. She thinks she ordered the tree from Stark Bros. I typed it in on Google and found all kinds of information about it. Very interesting.

Today is bible study day so I better get busy. We have decided to do it at Barbara’s house. It is so hot here and Barbara has air conditioning. Enjoy your day and God bless.

July 23, 2010 4

Comparison

I thought it would be nice to look back and remember how things were just a few short months ago. This picture was taken this morning. Then I looked back and found another picture of the same scene.

Personally I like this morning’s picture better but to each his own. Yesterday was busy for us. The girls and I went to pick apples. A friend from church offered us his early apples from his tree. We were very thankful to get them. After we came home, we started processing them. Yesterday we got 11 quarts of applesauce made and still have more to work with today. Sally, our pastors wife, told us she puts her apples in the microwave to cook them. This was much easier as we didn’t have to worry about them burning. Then she puts hers through her food strainer and puts them in the freezer. I had never put applesauce in the freezer, only apples. We tried that yesterday. It was a lot faster and didn’t heat up the house.

Beautiful weather here in Floyd this week. Much cooler temperatures with a wonderful breeze. We have had several little rains which we really needed. I picked green beans Monday and dug some young potatoes. They were delicious. I think I’ll be able to pick some more beans by tomorrow. YUM! I love fresh produce.

Did you all notice my canning and freezing logs Dave put on my blog? Thanks Dave. I really like being able to look at it and see what I’ve got done and what I still need. I better get working on those apples. Enjoy your day and God bless.

July 14, 2010 1

Garden

It’s been a while since I posted pictures of our garden. It has really grown. Everything looks to be doing really well. You can’t tell it from the picture but the potatoes are beginning to bloom.

This is our beans and corn. We kinda got a late start on planting them but they look strong and healthy. Today is an absolutely beautiful day here in Floyd. Temperatures are in the lower 70’s with a nice breeze. It’s one of those days where it is hard to work inside. I would much rather be outside enjoying the day. Hopefully, later after our inside work is done. I plan on spending some quality time with my green swing.

This is the kind of space I always dreamed of having. It is one of the most peaceful places I know. I so much enjoy coming and sitting down in this swing. The Lord and I have had some of our best conversation here. I am so thankful to my hubby for making this swing for me and for helping me keep this area beautiful.

I wanted to show you all how the sun was glistening off the rows of corn. The corn stalks seem to be glowing. I thought it was very pretty. I guess I’d better get busy if I want to get my housework done today. After all, the green swing IS calling my name. Enjoy your day and God bless.

June 17, 2010 1

New School Books

We received our new school books for next year. This is always an exciting time for us. We love looking at them to see what the next year will be about. Of course, about half way through them they will not be near as exciting. Oh well, enjoy the moment, right. Temperatures have been rather chilly here. 30 degrees this morning with scattered frost. Hopefully no damage done. We spent the weekend at Jessica’s. Saturday was her baby shower day. She received many nice things but of course I forgot my camera, so no pictures. Her mother-in-law got her a really nice bassinet. She is going to use this upstairs in the bedroom for a while. Then they will put up his crib. We also celebrated Hubby’s birthday while we were there. Hot dogs with all the fixin’s and birthday cake. We had a great time. As usual, though, it goes by too quick. When we came home last night, it was pretty chilly in the house. We hurried and built a fire. We still have one going today but I think it is going to warm up nicely. The sun is shining and it looks beautiful outside. Hubby and I are going to get another load of wood while the girls stay here and work on school. Dale-a friend from church- is bringing over his wood splitter this evening to let us borrow. Thank you Dale and thank you Lord for provided us with such good friends. We are truly blessed. Enjoy your day and God bless.

May 10, 2010 5

Irises

I think irises are very pretty. These were given to us by a friend at church last year. When we planted them, we were not sure they would live but I think they look pretty good. Today has been a beautiful day here in Floyd. Temperatures in the mid 70’s with a gentle breeze. A beautiful day to hang clothes out on the line. Today Hubby and I set up the wringer washing machine for us to use. We had it set up and ready last fall however the line froze and burst so Hubby had to do some repairs. We are ready now. The girls and I washed 3 loads of clothes on it today. It was hard to keep them focused on school because they wanted to help with the wash. I’m sure this thrill will wear off before summer is over but we’ll see. It is a little more work than the automatic machine but more fun to use. I am very thankful to have it. Yesterday, I made some strawberry-rhubarb jam. I used some of the strawberries we got Saturday in N. C. and the rhubarb came from our patch. This is the first thing we have canned for the year. I am looking forward to much more. I really enjoy canning our own food. It is a lot of hard work but I think it is worth it. At least I know what’s in the jar I’m opening for supper. Well, I have much to get done. Take care and God bless.

May 5, 2010 1

More Spring blooms

I was hoping with this shot to show all the trees colors together. The yellow of the forsythia, the white of the dogwood, and the purple of the lilac. This area is extremely fragant this time of year. When I’m hanging clothes on the line it smells so wonderful. Temperatures have been a little chilly here but today promises to warm up nicely. We are doing school as usual.Today will be our last spelling list. Yeah! I love doing school with my girls but we are all ready for summer break. I have made out my list of books for next year. We useABEKA.They offer free shipping in the month of April, so I want to order them before themonth is over.New books are always exciting around here.This evening I think we will be going into “little town” to get a few groceries, our seed potatoes and a few cabbage plants. I solook forward to enjoying fresh vegetables. Lunch break is over so I better get busy. God bless.

April 22, 2010 0

Friday Ladies Bible Study Group

This is our Friday Ladies Group. Okay so two are looking down but it is the best we could do. The sun was shining directly in our eyes. The study as I have said before is really good. We have 3 more lessons to go. Then we are going to do I Corinthians using John MacArthur’s study book. Today has been busy. I made a loaf of bread, then made a batch of laundry detergent. We are doing school and in my spare time I have hung out 4 extra large loads of laundry on the line. Rain is supposed to come tomorrow so I wanted to get as much dried outside as I could. We had frost this morning with temperatures about 28. The house is just now started to warm up. I didn’t want to build a fire because then the clothes I put on the line smell like wood smoke. Not a bad smell-just not that fresh spring smell I wanted. Tonights supper menu will be baked chicken, broccoli and cheese, and mashed potatoes. And of course the bread I made today. Dessert will be rhubard dumplings. Sounds pretty good. I guess I better get started on all this food. Hubby has just come in and seems to be VERY hungry. Take care and God bless.

April 19, 2010 1

Apple Blossoms

Our apple tree is blooming. Isn’t it pretty! We are not sure what type of apples these are. The tree was here when we came. However they are very good apples. The tree blooms very early though and usually gets caught in the frost. I fear this will happen this year. Temperatures tonight will be in the upper 20’s. We have had a very hard wind for 2 days now so of course it feels much colder. Temperature now is about 50 with a wind chill of about 40. YUCK! I guess this is what we call “dogwood winter” as the dogwoods are blooming now. Warmer temps are on the way though. Yeah!

Dogwood in bloom outside our dining room window.

My bouquet of flowers for the ladies today. I love to have fresh flowers out when they come. Makes the room look so much more cheerful. We all enjoyed these today. Forsythia and spirea. Class went very well. Two ladies could not come. We missed you, Wanda and Vicki. I know I have said this many times, but this really is a good study. She takes it nice and slow so you get to just let it all sink in. I like that. I better get started on supper. Take care and God bless.

April 9, 2010 2