Garden Progress

We have been enjoying fresh lettuce for several weeks now.   I always love the salads made with our garden lettuce. 

I cut my lettuce in the morning while it is still cool outside.  I use a bread knife to cut it, and then I bring it into the house and soak it in a sink full of cold water.  I then use my salad spinner to spin it dry.  I usually cut enough lettuce to last us at least several days. I store my clean lettuce in a plastic bread bag in the refrigerator.   It is a chore to wash and dry the lettuce, but I find that we use it more if it is prewashed. 

Since we are eating so many salads, this gives me plenty of free calories to enjoy strawberry cake and coffee on the front porch.  Okay, that may not actually be true, but it did sound plausible!  (Strawberry Cake recipe coming soon)!

grace and peace,
julie

Sunday Scripture

"...He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;"   Philippians 1:6

Keeping It Real

Do you ever get tired of looking at homemaking blogs and wondering if these people are real?  It is amazing what details can be left out of a photograph!  For those of you who may wonder about our family being real, here is a little proof...

You will almost always find clean laundry on our kitchen table.  This is the spot that I always fold our clothes.  If you come to our home and there isn't folded clothes on the table, either you had an invitation or I got up early that morning.  The other scenario is that I saw you coming down the driveway and I quickly grabbed the clothes and made a mad dash to throw them on top of the dryer.  If that is the case, the laundry room door will be closed!

Speaking of laundry, I found these this morning in our dirty clothes hamper.  I have no idea who owns this pair of underwear.  I have no idea how they ended up in our dirty clothes hamper.  I assume that one my children wore somebody else's underwear home, but again I am unsure of the reason why.  I don't think it was my husband who wore them home, but he did wake me up at 6:00 a.m. asking me if he had any clean underwear.  I directed him to the kitchen table.  Isn't that where everybody keeps their husband's underwear? 

And speaking of husband, I did a bad thing this morning.  I sent him to work in a shirt that was in desperate need of ironing.  I kind of sort of mentioned that it needed ironing, but I didn't say much more than that.  I figured he is a big boy with better eye sight than mine so he was responsible for his clothing decision.  It was only after I had my first cup of coffee that I felt a little guilty about his attire.

I always have dirty dishes in my sink.  If the sink is clean, we are expecting company.  The other real thing about our dishes is that if you come to our home you will probably be drinking out of a mason jar.  We don't have enough glasses!  It doesn't bother me because I like the ambiance of a mason jar.  I am weird like that.

This is the view of our back porch.  It looks like a bomb went off, but don't worry it is just the kid's stuff.  Most people enter our home from this area.  I try to keep it cleaned up, but those kids of ours haven't gotten that memo. 

The entryway to our home brings me to my next real point.  For the first time in our 20 year parenting career, Michael and I both went to asleep last night without knowing for sure that our teenager got home safely.  Well, this one isn't on me because I always fall asleep early.  Michael bolted out of bed this morning asking me if Josh got home.  I looked in the driveway and his car was there.  However, I have no idea what time Josh entered our home.  This is a little disconcerting to say the least. 

And speaking of kids, this picture is the perfect example of our 14 year old aggravating someone.  This particular time Jacob decided to steal Matthew's shoe and hide it on top of the playground equipment.  Jacob loves the fact that he out grew his older brother in height, and he reminds Matthew of it any chance he can get.




If you want to stop by our home, you are always welcomed.  Just be aware that we are real people, with real children, and a real dog that  sheds real dog hair.  And you will be served a glass of tea in a real mason jar!

grace and peace,
julie

Sunday Scripture

"Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."  Matthew 11:28

Potato Bugs on My Tomato Plants

If you want loads of tomatoes like this...

then you better watch out for the dreaded potato bug eggs!  I found them in our garden last night.  They are little yellow eggs on the underside of the leaves.  My solution is simple...just use your finger and smash them.  Make sure you stay on top of this problem because these bugs can do a lot of damage to a tomato plant!

grace and peace,
julie

Another Boy In High School

Jacob has had a busy week.  He has spent some time getting to know the neighbor's horses.

He has been busy playing baseball.

And today he was busy graduating 8th grade.  We now officially have two high school students in our family.  I am looking forward to seeing what the next 4 years hold for Jacob Andrew.   I expect it will be a fun ride for sure!

grace and peace,
julie

Garden Progress

 We are finally making headway with our garden.  I have felt perpetually behind this year and I am unsure as to the reason for this.  This is the first time for us to garden in our new area, and I am still learning the planting schedules.  Michael decided to have two gardens.  The picture to the left is our large garden.  This is where our tomatoes, peppers, corn, beans, watermelon, cantaloupe and cucumbers are growing.  We still have more tilling to do, but we are moving along nicely.


This is our "kitchen garden".  This garden is closer to the house to make it easier to pick things for the dinner table.  My herbs are here along with lettuce, squash, zucchini, okra, green onions and flowers.  This year we have had trouble with our seeds germinating.  I am trying to use up as much of the old seed as I can.  I will purchase new seeds for next year's planting. 

Please note that I have added a new category on my side bar.  I plan to keep a list of the amount of food that I store this year.  Since our move, we have completely emptied our freezers and most of our canning jars along with our bank account.  We spend an amazing amount of money on groceries these days.  I look forward to "free" food growing in the garden once again. 

grace and peace,
julie

Unintended Blogging Break

I didn't intend to take so long between posts.  Life just happened and I got caught up living it.  For the last several months, I have been substitute teaching at our local high school.  I am hoping that it will grow into a full time teaching position next year.  Many of you do not know that 20 years ago I graduated from college with a major in English and a minor in Education.  My dream all along was to be a teacher.  I had no idea that I would take a break from my dream career and home school my own children for the next 15 years!  Oh, I wouldn't change anything about putting my teaching career on hold.

Now all of my children are in school, and the time has come to pursue this childhood dream once again.  I have spent the last few months vigorously studying to take my Praxis exam.  I passed both of the exams that I needed to be issued a teacher's license in the state of Tennessee, and I recieved my license in the month of April.  I have waited 20 years for this piece of paper!  Now all I need is a job.

I have to be honest about this new chapter in my book of life.  I am a bit scared and more than a bit overwhelmed.  As with anything in my life, I will take it one day at a time.  My family supports this decision, and everyone has been pitching in to help around the house.  My biggest challenge thus far has been meals.  I have always been a planner where meals are concerned, but now I have to plan even more.  I'll let you know how this new chapter plays out in our life!

grace and peace,
julie