A New Day

With each new day, we get another opportunity to get things right. Michael took yesterday off from work so he could work around the house and farm. Lots of little things got accomplished and even a few big things. It was a good day...

As I look out the window on this dark morning, I know that shortly the sun will be up and the day will be in full swing. It is as if the Lord has given a blank canvas known as a new day, and He is asking me what will you paint today. Some days I miss the mark and do everything in my own strength and power. Other days I stop and ask Him, "What would You like me to paint for You today?"

grace and peace,
julie

He Would Have Rather Been Hunting

Have you ever had days that everything you go to do just doesn't turn out the way you planned? That was our farm evening. We have had an enormous amount of trouble keeping our little black cow in our fences this past week. She keeps getting in the road and every where in between. We knew we had to get her secure, and we wanted to start feeding her because she will become our meat in the next few months. Michael got the pen all ready for her. He needed to get a bale of hay to put in the pen with her. He went to start the tractor and we couldn't find the tractor key. 3rd son had used the key last, but couldn't remember where he put it. We spent the next hour looking for the key. I might add that we were all getting a bit stressed over the loss of the key. It has a huge red bandanna tied to it to make it easy to find. Finally 3rd son said, "I know I put it on Mom's round thing in the kitchen." I then remembered that I took all the junk off my pretty round thing and put it under the cabinet. Yes, the key was part of the junk! Michael went to start the tractor and the tractor wouldn't start. He told me to bring the black truck down to him so he could jump the tractor. I went to start the black truck and guess what... the battery went bad and it wouldn't start. Finally he brought down the suburban and used the jumper cables to start the tractor. He placed the bale of hay in the pen. It took awhile to get the cows that we wanted in the pen. Two of the cows went in the pen and we only wanted the one little black cow. In the end, we decided that we would just leave both black angus cows in the pen for now. It was easier than trying to keep the horses, the sheep, and the other 2 cows away from the hay!!

Some days everything seems to go like clock work. Other days nothing seems to go right on the farm. We ended our evening sitting on the deck with a cup of coffee making some farm plans. It was the kind of day that was easier talking about farming than actually doing the farming!

grace and peace,

julie

Sunday Scripture

"Let all that you do be done with love." 1 Corinthians 16:14

Fresh Apple Cake

4 cups chopped apples (golden delicious or any good baking apple)
2 cups sugar
2 well beaten eggs
1/2 cup oil
2 cups All purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans


Mix apples, sugar, eggs, oil, and vanilla. Mix flour, soda, salt, and cinnamon. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Stir well by hand. Add pecans. Bake in greased bundt pan for 50 to 55 minutes at 350 degrees. Let cool on wire rack for about 10 minutes. Invert pan on serving plate. Enjoy!

grace and peace,
julie

Football Fun

This week is homecoming at our local high school. Each day the students dress according to the plan. Yesterday was twin day. My boys, who enjoy Scottish history, decided to wear kilts. Kilts aren't so bad, but when you pair them with long socks and black converses they aren't the best. Without the sashes that so many Scottish men wear, I thought my men children looked more like school girls. They had a lot of fun together.

So tonight we once again will be watching football. Here is a picture of our son (#2) enjoying a football game.

My Fridays are just about always the same during football season. I finish cleaning the house for the weekend, and I spend the rest of the day cooking a large meal. We never know for sure how many extra kids will end up at our home eating before the game. I think this is my favorite part about football. I love spending time with our kids and their friends. Then after a quick kitchen clean up, its off to the game we all go! How about you? What does your Friday look like?

grace and peace,

julie

Apple Pull Apart Bread

3 cans biscuits
1 can Apple pie filling
cinnamon sugar

Grease a tube pan. Preheat oven to 400. Place apple pie filling in food processor and pulse until the apples are in small pieces. Flatten each biscuit into a 5-6 inch circle. Place small amount of apple pie filling in the circle and roll up to make a ball. Roll ball in cinnamon sugar and place in tube pan. Repeat procedure until you have two layers of biscuits. Sprinkle top layer with extra cinnamon sugar and bake for about 45 minutes. Cover biscuits with foil after 20 minutes of baking. When bread is done, allow to cool on wire rack for about 5 minutes. Use a knife to loosen the sides and remove from pan. Make a glaze with 3 tablespoons powder sugar and 2 tablespoons milk. Drizzle over warm biscuits. Serve warm.


This was a simple breakfast bread to make. I would use homemade biscuit dough instead of store bought. This morning I used the store bought biscuits because I wanted to make the original version before I started "fixing" it. I also think using a dinner roll recipe would be great instead of using biscuits. (if you don't make homemade dinner rolls, you can purchase frozen ones...just let them thaw and then use them in place of biscuits). My kids loved this warm breakfast treat. It wasn't overly sweet like doughnuts, but it was good.

grace and peace,
julie

Garden Update

We spent yesterday evening in the garden. Michael worked on pulling "man weeds" from the strawberry bed. We need to finish that job soon and get some straw for the strawberries for winter time. The kids pulled weeds so I could put out the last of our broccoli plants. I spent my time in the garden picking green beans, peppers, and a few tomatoes. (I had the best job)!! Then I finished planting the last of the broccoli plants. I am heading out this morning to sprinkle some collard seeds out and plant some spinach. The rain is heading our way (so they say) starting tonight. It has become chilly in the mornings and evenings here. Michael and I had to go get a cow back in the fence this morning, and I sure was glad that I brought a jacket!!

I am heading to the kitchen to make a Apple Pull Apart Bread for breakfast. If the kids like it, I will share the recipe later today!

grace and peace,
julie

Apple Pie Filling

I have spent the last few days canning apple pie filling and apple sauce. I had always wondered how apple pie filling in the grocery store was made. I never could figure out how the filling part got its consistency. Well, now I know the rest of the story. The recipe I used called for a thickener known as Clear Jell. I had never heard of it, and I had no idea where to locate it. TnFarmGirl told me it would be sold at our local Mennonite Store. So I made a trip and bought me some Clear Jell. That is the secret ingredient in pie filling! The Apple Pie Filling was easy to make, but it did take some time to peel and slice all of the apples. I have several recipes calling for apple pie filling so I wanted to have some homemade. I have recently found several bread recipes made with apple pie filling so I will give them a try. I think they will have to be good!

grace and peace,
julie

A Gift Cake

Hope found a picture of a cake that looked like a gift, and she asked that I make that for her birthday. It was suppose to have fruit by the foot candy and skittles used for the decorations. I wasn't impressed so I set out to find my own idea to wrap up her cake. I went to the cake decorating department at our local Walmart, and Wilton Cake Supplies had just the thing I needed. I purchased a box of Rolled Fondant Icing and a jar of Jumbo Sprinkle dots.

I made a 9x13 cake. After it was cooled, I took it out of the pan and used my Pampered Chef Baking Stone as a cake plate. I covered the stone in tinfoil. I made a pink buttercream icing (directions were in the Wilton Fondant package). I frosted the cake and then used the directions on the back of the box of Fondant to make the bow. It was so easy. (It was much easier than wrapping a real gift)! The fondant rolled out much like pie crust and it worked up a lot like play dough. I used a pizza cutter to cut the strips, but a sharp knife would have worked just fine. I then placed the jumbo sprinkles sporadically on the cake to resemble polka dots. I also used the sprinkles to decorate the bottom edge of the cake. It was beautiful, and Hope was thrilled.

I wish I would have thought to save some colored icing to use to make her a gift tag. I had plenty of fondant left over, and I could have easily shaped her a name tag. I just didn't have any icing to write with, and I wasn't about to make another batch of butter cream for that. This cake would also be great for a baby shower or even a wedding shower. On the box of fondant, they had a beautiful cake that was more elegant, but the same concept for a wedding shower. You could also make this cake for a boy. Just change the colors and the polka dots. There are lots of sprinkles out there that are cool designs for little guys that could be used instead of the circles.

I also thought that this idea could be used with a real bow. Ice the cake and then use real ribbon to make a bow. That would be pretty. The fondant bow was thrown away at our house because nobody really liked the flavor, but it was pretty!

grace and peace,

julie

Farm Lessons Learned Here Daily

Michael captured this swarm of bees this past summer. They are doing well, but he was concerned about the fact that their hive may be too small to survive a cold winter. We decided to extract honey this past Saturday if there was any available in the hives. Due to the lack of rain last year, we had no honey. We weren't for sure if it was going to be any better this year. When he checked the hives, he estimated that we had about 2 1/2 gallons which was enough to extract. He took the supers off and put them on the back of the truck to carry them back to the house. He usually puts them in rubber maid containers and seals them to keep the bees away, but this year we just didn't have enough to go to all that trouble. (Farm lesson number 1... TAKE THE TIME)! He pulled the truck up to the front of the house, and he came in the house for lunch. After lunch, we went to pick up the honey extractor from a friend. All of this took us about an hour. When we got home, I set everything up in the kitchen and he put his bee suit back on to bring in the frames of honey. I thought it was taking awhile and I glanced out the window. He looked like he had lost something. I also noticed tons of bees everywhere in the front yard. It looked as if we were having a swarm. This had never happened before when we extracted honey.

A few minutes later he came in the house and told me the honey was gone. What do you mean gone??? Who in their right mind would come and steal our honey with the bees everywhere in the yard? Well, the bees decided to come and take back what was theirs in the first place...never mind the fact that we are the reason they have a nice home and warm bee soup for them all winter long. We had no idea that this would happen. They came and uncapped all the honey and took it back to their hive in a matter of about an hour. (Farm lesson #2... All bees are pains especially when they steal YOUR honey)!

We had no idea this would happen, but now we know for next year. I knew Missy had escaped the house when Michael went to put the supers back on the hives, but I couldn't do anything about it. I couldn't go outside to get her because there were so many bees EVERYWHERE. This is how she got into the hives in the first place. She is doing much better this afternoon. She even had enough energy to go and chase a car. (FARM LESSON #3... "STAY AWAY FROM THE BEE HIVES AND CHASE CARS INSTEAD. IT IS SAFER", says Missy)!!!

grace and peace,
julie

One of These Things Doesn't Belong Here...

These are Michael's bees. He went to check them this weekend and Missy decided that sounded like fun. Well, while he had the hives open she decided to stick her head into the hive. He said her head and body were covered with bees. She started running between his legs trying to knock the bees off of her. When she came back, she was covered with stingers from head to tail. Her ears and face took the brunt of the beating. Her ears are swollen huge and her eye was quite swollen. We watched her carefully to make sure we didn't need to take her to the vet. It was obvious that she felt bad all weekend. This morning she is acting more normal, but she still doesn't have a lot of bounce in her step.

Poor Missy....

She has decided that it is safer to stay under the kitchen table instead of in the pasture!!!

grace and peace,
julie

Happy Birthday Hope Shalom!!!

Our baby girl turned 10 years old today. I can't believe 10 years have come and gone so quickly. She has been looking forward to this birthday for awhile since she would finally join the double digit club! To make the weekend even more special, her grandparents drove up from Ky. and took her and a few siblings to Dollywood on Saturday. They spent the entire day pouring into all of our kids, and what a great day for each and every child! The grandparents stayed to celebrate Hope's birthday today with her dinner of choice and a pretty pink gift cake, apple pie, and homemade ice-cream. It isn't often that we have grandparents join us for our kids birthdays so this was extra special to Hope. I have lots of farm things to share in the days ahead. Stay tuned for some real farm fun, but for now I want to go spend just a few more minutes with my girl.

grace and peace,
julie

Apple Season

We got a hold of 5 bushels of apples from a friend of ours that works with Michael. (Thank you so much Jerry R. You are Seth's new hero)! These apples are wonderful. If you doubt me, just ask Seth. He had 5 apples for lunch yesterday and cried because I wouldn't peel him a 6th one! To get him to eat his supper last night, I told him that he couldn't have any more apples until he ate what was on his plate.

I will be heading to the store today to purchase more canning jars. I am hoping to make Apple Pie Filling to can. Now, I have never done this so I have been looking through all my canning books and I even placed a few phone calls. I think I have settled on a recipe now all I need is some time in the kitchen...and jars. I will also be making more apple sauce. My kids could eat an entire quart in a sitting if I let them!

I am sure many apple pies, apple cakes, and apple pull apart bread will be heading to our table in the next few days. By the time I am done with the apples, maybe everybody will have had their fill! Well, at least everybody but Seth...did I mention he LOVES apples?!! By the way, if you have a GREAT apple pie recipe for canning, PLEASE send it my way. I want one of those treasures that are tried and true...you know, like Grandma use to make.

grace and peace,
julie

One of These Things Doesn't Belong...

Is that a Bubble Gum Wrapper by Missy? Where's the Bubble Gum?

Oh, there it is in her fur!!!

Perhaps the 4 year old had something to do with the pink gobs of Bubble Gum on Missy. We had to cut all the Bubble Gum out of Missy's hair and now she looks mangy. Bubble Gum definitely doesn't belong with the English Mastiff or the 4 year old!!!

grace and peace,

julie

Fall Garden

Last night I planted the first bed of our fall garden. I planted 21 cabbage plants. This should be more than enough cabbage for our family. I still have some in the freezer so I just wanted enough cabbage to eat fresh. I also planted a large square of Buttercrunch lettuce. Buttercrunch is somewhere between a head lettuce and a loose leaf lettuce. I also planted a large square of Heirloom Acres Mix which is a combination of several different lettuces. This mix makes a lovely salad because you get so many different varieties all blended together. I have never planted fall green onions before, but I thought I would give it a whirl. After all, what is a salad without fresh garden green onions?

I am trying a new experiment this year. When my son tilled up the cucumber bed, the cucumber seeds reseeded and now I have beautiful cucumber plants. I weeded out the small ones, but I left the larger ones. I am going to see if we can grow cucumbers this fall by using plastic to protect them from the cool. This is more just for fun than anything else, but since I didn't have to do any work it is an easy experiment. I like to try something new each growing season. I'll let you know if it works!!

grace and peace,
julie

Flowers and Daughters

If you take the time to pick through the old ones, our zinnias are still beautiful. I have wanted to till them up, but they are still producing some pretty flowers. I hate to till them whenever they still have any flowers at all on them. Can you tell I love zinnias? My daughter put this bouquet together for me. She isn't as interested in flowers as she use to be. I think it is because she has done the flower thing so many times. However, I still try to coax her to help me because I believe that she will once again flourish in this area. (At least I hope so)! If I back off and let her make her own arrangements the way she wants with the colors she wants, she is more likely to want to do it. Then I try so very hard not to fix it for her when she isn't looking. I knew a lady that let her 3 kids decorate the Christmas tree. After they went to bed, she rearranged EVERYTHING. My kids are more observant than hers because my kids notice when I fix anything that they have done!

grace and peace,
julie

It's Official

I have now used up all of my quart canning jars, and I only have about 10 pint jars left. I have finished canning the last of my tomatoes for the year, but I was still hoping to get a few more quarts of green beans in the canner. If the beans produce more to be canned, I will buy more quart jars. I washed out my pressuer canner and I will be placing it back in the building in the next few days. It has been a hearty bounty this year and my pantry shelves are loaded. I am so thankful to the Lord for all that has been harvested. I feel that this garden was very successful. I was disappointed with all of our vining crops and our green beans, but other than that we had a great year. I have started working on our fall garden and I'll post more about that later.

grace and peace,
julie

My New Find

Michael and I went to work at a fundraiser a few weeks ago. As we were leaving, I found a booth with handmade and hand painted items. When I saw this old ironing board painted with the above, I knew I wanted to hang it in our house. The truth of the matter is I have been waiting for about 10 years for an old wooden ironing board. When we lived in Florida, I walked into a friend's home, and she had an old wooden ironing board set up in her foyer. On it, she displayed family pictures in beautiful old fashioned frames. When we moved to Tennessee, I have seen many old wooden ironing boards to purchase. My biggest challenge has been space. The house we live in now is the largest that we have ever been in, and it is a 3 bedroom ranch home. We just don't have a lot of space for things like that. The ironing board I bought had been painted in a black milk paint and the words "FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT" have been stenciled on the black. She then free handed all the fruits of the spirit at the bottom. Her husband took off the legs of the ironing board and put on a nice strong wire to hang it. I have plenty of wall space to hang things so I put it in a spot in my living room. I would have hung it in the laundry room, but it is always a mess and I wanted to see it more than just when I do laundry.

I originally set it up by our fire place, but every kid in the house that day told me I had a nice surf board. This wasn't exactly the idea I had in mind. I don't generally decorate with surf boards so I decided to hang it. Well, the kids new I wasn't happy about everybody calling my new found ironing board treasure a surf board so now whenever the see my ironing board on the wall, they still tell me I have a nice surf board. Due to all of their mouthing, I now have come up with a new part of my plan. I have an old old iron from my grandmother's stash of old junk. I have had it for many years and it has always been on a project list in Michael's workshop. I asked him to get a shelf and put my iron next to the ironing board. He was a bit stunned when I asked for this because that iron weighs about a ton. I want it hung over our love seat. He wasn't thrilled with the whole laundry theme coming into our living room, and he reminded me that he wouldn't be happy if that iron hit him on the head while he was sitting on the love seat. I am sure there is something magical he can do with some tool of his downstairs that would prevent the iron from tumbling down onto any person's head. He agreed to hang the shelf and the iron for me.

These ironing boards would be easy to make. The lady also had one painted in an American Flag, a Christmas one, and a snowman. They would make lovely gifts if someone was inclined to the crafty side. Since I am not crafty, I chose to buy mine!!!

grace and peace,
julie

Monday Morning List

Today will find me back in the kitchen canning tomatoes. I picked close to a bushel of tomatoes last night. This will be our last tomato haul for the season. I have given the word to till up the tomato plants because they are at the end of their season. We may leave a few plants on the end of the bed to see if we can get enough to eat out of hand for a little bit longer. I also picked more green beans last night so I want to can those this morning as well. I got another wonderful harvest of peppers so I too will be canning pickled jalapenos, which happen to be one of my favorites.

The rain came last night and is still hear this morning. It has been glorious, and I am looking forward to working in the kitchen with the rain falling. It makes for a peaceful day.

grace and peace,

julie

Sunday Scripture

"The Lord lives! Blessed be my Rock! Let God be exalted, the Rock of my salvation!"
2 Samuel 22:47

A Bit of This and That

Friday night football went well for our team. Here our two boys are talking on the sidelines while watching the offense do their thing. We won, and Matthew had another great night. Whenever Matthew does something great, he always looks for Josh to talk to. I have enjoyed watching their brotherly bond. Josh doesn't get much playing time on the varsity team because he is only a Freshman. He is always ready to cheer his team on and dance a jig when he hears the band!

Fall is the air, but it has been blazing hot the last few days. I thought I would fry just watching our 3rd son's football game this afternoon. There is something about the tilt of the sun that makes it seem like fall, but until the heat subsides a bit it is surely still summer in my book! As soon as it cools off a bit, I plan on heading back out to the garden to see what might be ready. I am also thinking about what I want to make for tomorrow's main meal. I always like having a big Sunday dinner to come home to after church. There is something special about Sunday dinner. However, it does take some Saturday planning so I need to get hot on that.

I don't know if anywhere else has experienced the gas issue, but we have here. On Friday morning, our gas was at $3.58 and by Friday evening we pad $4.09. We also had to wait about 15 minutes just to get the gas. We drove to the away game and realized that we didn't get enough gas. We already knew that several of the gas stations in our area were completely out of gas. We ended up paying $4.19 for gas on Friday night. The prices are still high for those stations who still have gas. It is enough to make a person want to stay home! Truth be told, I am a home body any way no matter what the gas prices are!!!

grace and peace,

julie

Homemade Granola

Our family loves homemade granola. Whenever I have granola made, Michael keeps a jar at his desk and Matthew keeps another jar at school. It is a great snack or breakfast cereal. The trick to making granola is in the cooking process. I believe our 4 year old could mix it up, but cooking the stuff can be more challenging. I let mine cool on the counter as in the above picture. Once it is cooled, if it isn't crunchy enough, I will put it back on a pan and bake it some more. I have learned that the granola should be a nice brown color.

8 cups oats (I like the regular oats)

1 cup of brown sugar or honey (this can be played with...if you like less sugar, cut back or you can add more depending on your taste).

1/2 bag of coconut

1 teaspoon salt

Nuts (again do your own thing. I usually add pecans and almonds. I have added walnuts before)

In measuring cup Mix: 3 Tablespoons vanilla, 1 Tablespoon Oil, and fill rest of the way up with water. If you want a cinnamon flavor, add 1 Tablespoon Cinnamon. Mix the liquid into the oats. Stir well.

Bake in a 325 oven for about 45 minutes on jelly roll pans. Stir about every 15 minutes. Cool completely and store in air tight container.

Once it is cooled, you can sprinkle in some chocolate chips if you would like. I have also added some of the mini m&m's before.

grace and peace,

julie

Guess What She's Been Into Now??

Apparently she had something caught in her teeth. She needed to do a little flossing...
She looks as if she has wrapped herself up in an entire thing of dental floss. Apparently she wore herself out flossing her teeth, so she decided to take a nap and see if a child might be kind enough to set her free.

Only an English Mastiff!!!

grace and peace,
julie

Farm and Garden Updates

It took me awhile yesterday to get to feeling like my normal self. After dinner I decided that I felt well enough to go down to the garden and pick a few things. I enjoyed the breeze and the surprise of produce that was waiting for me. I picked enough green beans that I will be canning today. We still have enough tomatoes to can at least another batch. I didn't feel like picking all of those so I just chose enough to eat out of hand. The peppers are absolutely beautiful this year. (I know I am starting to sound old when I call peppers beautiful)! This has been the best year we have ever had for growing peppers. After I picked in the garden, we all walked out to the woods to see what Robert, the man we hired to clear our woods, had accomplished thus far. He only got to work for about an hour when his dozer malfunctioned. He had to load it up and take it to Knoxville for repairs. He should be back sometime next week. I was amazed at how much he got accomplished in an hour. I have such mixed feelings about clearing the woods. The woods are the only thing that provides privacy for our farm. I know they are in horrible shape, but still I love to go there and just disappear from the rest of the world. I don't usually stay gone long, but it is such a lovely place to be by myself. Robert had to knock down a few hardwoods to clear a path to stack the trees. We will be heading out there sometime soon and cutting up those trees for firewood. On the way back to the house yesterday, Jacob asked me if I was feeling alright. He noticed I wasn't my usual bouncy self. I realized that I had probably bit off a little more than I should have by walking out to the woods right after being sick. We walked back to the house watching the moon light up the path before us while we were busy making plans for the new fences that would be installed. As I lay my head down on my pillow, I heard the sound of rain drops hitting the window. What a perfect end to another precious day.

grace and peace,

julie

This picture was taken the last time that our family had a stomach virus. Well, I have felt just like Seth these last few days. Missy even came and curled up in the bed with me yesterday. I miss her cuddly self sleeping with me! When Mom gets sick, the whole family suffers. Everybody pitched in and helped, but little people just don't have the same "eyes" that mommas do when it comes to keeping a home in good working condition. Although I am still not 100%, I feel a lot better today. When I get some energy, I am going to spend my day putting our house back together.

grace and peace,
julie

Thought For the Day

"He who plants a garden plants happiness." A Chinese Proverb

grace and peace,

julie

Sunday Scripture

"Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me." Matthew 18:5

Making More Pastures

Our woods are in terrible shape. First there were the pine beetles that destroyed all the pine trees, and then there is the wind that finishes off any tree that may not be at its strongest. Our family loves the woods there is no doubt about that. Just last night our son and four of his friends camped out in the woods. Michael and the boys enjoy hunting and our woods help provide a nice habitat for deer and other wildlife. We invited an extension officer out to help us determine the best fix for our woods. He said they needed to be cleared because of the massive amount of damage. We have been holding off on that recommendation. First it is costly, and second we just couldn't stand the thought of mowing down all the trees.Now that we have sheep we have another problem. We just don't have enough pasture for the amount of animals that we want to keep on this property. Most of our land is covered in damaged woods, and we are spending a small fortune on buying hay. So we made the decision to go ahead and clear the woods. We found a man that is willing to work around all of our hardwood trees. There aren't many hardwoods, but we wanted to keep each and every one of them. Most people just want to come in and clear cut the whole forest, but the man we are hiring is willing to work around our wants.

Starting on Monday, our woods will be in the process of being cleared. It is going to be very costly. It is still cheaper than buying more land so I believe that it is the best decision. I am still very sad to see the woods go. I know they are in poor shape, but I still love to go walking in them. I just have to be careful not to go there when the wind blows.

We have decided to leave a stand of trees around our pond to encourage wildlife. Right behind our pond is a very steep hill that isn't much good for anything except wildlife. The trees will remain there, and I am thankful for that.

grace and peace,

julie

Fall Plants

Here is a pack of cabbage plants that I have grown from seeds in our makeshift greenhouse. They are growing rapidly. I ended up with 24 cabbage plants all together.

My broccoli plants aren't growing quite as fast. This pack looked like it could use a drink of water. I stopped with 72 broccoli plants for our fall garden. I usually plant all the ones that germinate, but this year I am trying to be more controlled. Often times I end up with much more than I need or can handle. I only have 2 shelves to grow on, and if I fill all those shelves then I have to spend a lot of time swapping the plants out from under the lights. I believe I have gotten my numbers right on each one of these, but I always find myself questioning. That is part of the learning experience each year in gardening. The trick is to keep good records so I can know from year to year what worked and what didn't.

grace and peace,

julie

A Great Shopping Experience

Awhile back, I wrote a post about this being my favorite grocery cart. You can read that here: http://3foldcord.blogspot.com/2008/05/grocery-shopping-day.html


Today I had another great shopping experience. I traveled all the way downstairs to my husband's shop and opened up our freezer. I was able to pull out pork, chicken, corn, jams, wheat berries, sausage, and some frozen peaches. I traveled all the way back up the stairs with my shopping bags loaded down and restocked our upstairs freezer. I felt like I had hit the jackpot. Now if only I can find a nice place to stash some chocolate!!!

The last time I was actually in the freezer it was full of pork. I usually send a kid down to retrieve whatever I want from the shop freezer. My question today is "where's the meat"? I can't believe that most of our pork is gone.

Hey, we have plenty of frozen corn and wheat berries in our extra freezer. Still no chocolate in there so I need to do something about that!!!

grace and peace,

julie

Just a Few Thoughts

On Tuesday, I picked green beans from our new green bean bed. I was wanting enough beans to can, but between the cows and the sheep I am not for sure that will happen. I did cook up the ones I picked, and they tasted wonderful! There is nothing better than fresh cooked garden green beans and vine ripe tomatoes.

We are still enjoying the Zinnias this year. I wish I had more time to do more with the flowers. As I was watching Gov. Palin's speech last night, I was wondering how she gets it all done. Last year about this time, I was working at home with Michael writing training packages for a mining company. It was the first time since I was 20 years old that I got paid for my work. I got to stay at home and write, but I hated it. I hated not being the one reading to our little one. I missed teaching school to our kids. I hated watching our house fall to pieces. Michael came to me and told me that my working wasn't working for our family. I agreed wholeheartedly and even though we were going to miss the money, we knew we had to go back to our old way of doing things. The kids quickly responded to me taking my place as the keeper of our home. Balance was restored and things went back to being the way that worked best for our family. It didn't take me long to realize that my heart isn't in the business world, but at home. The first business meeting I sat through ended with me wanting to throw up. People were downright nasty at the business table and I didn't handle controversy well. It gave me a glimpse in the business world my husband is a part of and I understood why he wanted to farm for a living!!!!

When reading Proverbs 31, it is obvious that the woman spoken of had her fingers in some business dealings. However, her family did not go uncared for according to scripture. I don't believe it is wrong for women to work outside of the home. I believe that we fall into a trap when we make lump sum statements that put us all into the same category. By the way, just because a woman stays at home doesn't mean that she is pouring into her children. She can fill her hands with things that have nothing to do with the caring of her little ones. We have to be careful not to judge one another. We need to encourage one another. My stint as a working mom brought me a total different perspective on things. I sat at the computer writing manuals, but my heart wanted to be with my kids. I wanted to do housework and make our home a peaceful dwelling place. I am thankful to the Lord that my hands are full doing exactly what He has called me to do, and I love the work that He has given me. I am thankful that my husband appreciates and values what I do each and every day...even the days that I don't get the house clean!

grace and peace

julie

Garden Beauty

I believe that peppers are the prettiest garden thing going...well except for the flowers that is!

The flowers and the butterflies catch my attention ALL the time!!

I love the flowers enough to put them in coffee pots. Not the new coffee pot that I put coffee in regularly because I do enjoy a good cup of java, but old coffee pots that we purchased for camping. I am always on the look out for new/old "vases". When I see a container, I wonder what it would look like with a flower arrangement. I love using florist foam and actually making an arrangement, but my all time favorite is putting a bunch of zinnias in a container and just letting them be beautiful on their own. I think I like this because it has simple beauty and it is quick to make. There is something beautiful about quick especially during canning season!!!

grace and peace,

julie

Dinner Conversation

I just finished dinner with part of my family and an extra teenager. We had a lively conversation about politics. I love hearing from the teenagers. Our oldest son is busy developing and expressing his opinions. He would make a wonderful lawyer someday. He loves politics, debating, and history. He isn't that fond of school so I doubt that he will stick around long enough to become a lawyer. It can be frustrating at times when my kids' opinions are different from my own. I want them to see things the way I see them, but quite often they see things with a different viewpoint. I am just thankful that our kids are thinking and that we take the time to talk over the issues. I wonder how many American families sit around with their teenagers and talk politics. This is something that is done a lot in our home... usually over a plate of food or a cup of coffee!!
grace and peace,
julie

Fajitas Fit for a Family

Yesterday on my "What's For Dinner" Sidebar I had listed Chicken N Dumplings. Usually I stick to my plans, but as I was picking peppers I decided to switch my dinner menu. I put the chicken back in the freezer and pulled out a few chicken breasts instead. I wanted to use those fresh garden peppers and fajitas was just the thing.

These peppers would have cost me a small fortune in the grocery store! From the garden, they are just costing us a few pennies and some hard work. The flavor is fantastic. I think peppers are probably one of the easiest plants to grow. The bugs usually leave them alone, and if you control the weeds you have a pretty good chance at having a hearty harvest.

I made some homemade salsa from our roma tomatoes. This batch didn't turn out quite as good as the last batch. I just didn't taste it enough while preparing it. The bowl came back almost empty so nobody complained too much!

grace and peace,

julie