Saturday, June 25, 2011

Up to My Elbows...

in Strawberries!
On Monday, I picked up an order for 16 quarts of strawberries
at a local Amish farm and made almost all of into jam for the year.

Here was the end result for my efforts...

11 pints and 2 jelly jars made of reduced sugar surejell jam canned and

5 pints and 9 jelly jars made with Pomona's Universal Pectin in which I used
local honey for a sweetener instead of sugar. 
It was not as sweet, but will definitely be sufficient in the winter when we are craving fruit!

Since I used up all my honey on Monday making jam,
I had to stop at the local Amish bakery to pick up more of my honey
and a few other NONESSENTIALS!
Oh, by the way, the angel food cake goes with the 22 more quarts I picked up on Friday:)

How could I say no?
When leaving the Amish bakery, my middle child informed me that
when she grows older she's going to be Amish. 
Her main motivation behind this was that they wore dresses all the time, which made me smile.
I did have to explain that they don't wear any pink... I think that was a deal breaker.

So I'm at it again, this time to freeze strawberries whole for smoothies and
mashed up some up for strawberry shortcake in winter.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Finding Beauty

Sometimes life can take unexpected turns,
which can make it difficult to still see the beauty we are surrounded by.
Events can occur without your control,
which can often leave you feeling powerless.
Two people who are very dear to me are experiencing difficult times right now.
I hope this post helps to show my support, love, and prayers going out to you both.
Look around you try to find the beauty and love in your day today,
wherever you may be today.
(View from our hammock)

(Wildflower I spotted on our walk...I thought the girls had picked them all)

(Our bricks by our campfire)

(What's not beautiful about basil?)

(Yes, it's a snake, but it has a kind of beauty too
and it eats mice) 

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

She's Something Else

Sometimes my baby girl just cracks me up...
she is definitely a comedian!
We received a package from Aunt MaeMae that included
many clothes and a tutu. 
She put this ensemble together...

She wanted to look just like her sister,
 but she didn't want any assistance...

And this one is my favorite...

 She loves her new swimsuit. 

 This picture reflects her personality...
a face only a mother could love!




Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Fun Filled Weekend

This weekend my darling husband had the weekend off,
which meant that lots got accomplished.
It always refreshes me to get a break and have an extra set of hands.
As you can see everything is sprouting and growing great,
due to the really hot weather we had this weekend.

I managed to finally get the straw down to help out the strawberries...
and it's working!
Since we have mostly sand, it's hard to keep things moist without help.

We put up a split rail fence this weekend.

Not to boast, but it only took us two and a half hours
and that included getting the kids dinner and pajamas on!

It makes a huge difference!
And will hopefully slow down my baby from wanting to run into the road.

We also went fishing with the older two kids on Saturday morning.
My little princess got a carp on her line, but we weren't able to get it in the boat.
The kids favorite part was driving the boat with dad!

We had a great weekend and
were able to prepare the boat for the Island!

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

What a day will do!

Well, with the temperatures now reaching 90F in the day,
I'm fighting my desire to turn on the air conditioning. 
As a result, I haven't been cooking in the oven at all,  which is always interesting
because I'm not yielding any fresh produce from the garden just yet.
Our kitchen is in the upstairs of our house so this was the result of yesterday...
melted butter.
Although, I'm not complaining, because look at this...

My lettuce mixture has sprouted and growing beautifully.

My squash is actually doing great,
which is starting to worry me since this variety is known for it's large size(up to 25#)
And that's not all...I've planted 9 plants!
Do you think we could carve Blue Hubbard squash instead of pumpkins this year?

Look past that hideous weed and focus on that beautiful dill! 
Everything around my home is flourishing with this warm weather,
including the kids! 
They love being outdoors and have recently taken to playing "garden" in the woods.
My plastic containers and even some of my tags (strawberry and dill)
are being used to mark their plants.
Kids playing garden outside while mom weeds her garden...
What's better than that?!?