Exciting

Let me start off by saying that just because the blog name is simple life in the woods...

it doesn't mean life is any less exciting.

These pictures were taken on our walk the day we had a scare. 

My husband went for a run and was coming up our dead end road for a cool down. 

My little princess asked if she could go outside and meet dad.

Which I replied,"Yes, but he's already headed up the street so go through the woods to get to him"

Not two minutes later,

my husband came running in with my little princess in his arms.

When asked what happened, I was told...

There was a black bear not 10 feet from husband. 

The three of them made a triangle.

The bear went up on his hind legs and stood as tall as my husband(who is 6 foot),

which is a pretty sizable bear.

I was shaking...

we had walked up that same path two and a half hours earlier,

which I took these pictures from.

I didn't have any on me besides my camera,

 which wouldn't have helped much if I had to protect my babies.

Just a reminder to me...you live in the woods.

Be aware, especially in the fall, for bear,

cougar(which have been spotted within 20miles of our house),

 and wolves.

I might want to bring something more than a camera for protection

 the next time we venture into the woods.

A Change

Now that my older two are getting bigger,

my husband and I decided to switch the bedrooms around. 

The girls in one and  my first born all alone downstairs in another. 

In the last few weeks, the older two have been arguing all the time. 

On the eve of the move, it was like they were the best of friends-

Holding hands on a walk, helping each other, letting the other pick first

I wish I could say this is how they always behave,

but to my dismay, it isn't. 

I was feeling like this maybe this was the wrong decision.

Would this break that bond that they shared?

 

Until, my first born came out of his shell. 

He told me he was happy he didn't have to worry about her keeping him awake with singing

and doesn't have to keep an eye on her when she got out of bed,

which I think happened more frequently than not.

He even got to set up a little model without fear of it getting ripped down.

My little princess was the sad one the next few days. 

She even got "sick" before nap time, but who was right there for her...

My first born.

Why do mothers worry so much?

Look out Squirrels

Here is my little hickory nut hunter.

The squirrels beat us to most of them,

but we are lucky to have friends who have very mature hickory trees that allowed us to pick.

This was the result to picking for only about a half an hour.

The process:

-husk the outer shell(usually green or brownish)

-rinse off the inside shell

-put them in a bucket full of water and throw out the ones that float to the top

-Allow "the keepers" to dry outside for 48-72 hours(like the picture above)

-Put in a bowl until your big strong husband will crack them for you:)

(Most instructions say to use a hammer with a brick, but we used an industrial old fashion hand cracker)

-Hickory nuts are very similar to the walnut shape

so you may need picks to get any remainder nut pieces out

(Just make sure you don't have any shell left stuck on the nut- it would crack a tooth!)

-Store the hickory nuts in a freezer-safe container and freeze until use

-Enjoy!

The Harvest

My first ever "big garden"- it was 22"X28" 

I'm hoping next year to be double. 

 I definitely learned from this experience and

can't wait to implement my new knowledge next year.

 I always thought that these looked so complicated to make until I tried it.

If you can braid hair, you can make onion braids.

My all purpose sauce, which the whole family loves!

I'm definitely still a novice when it comes to canning, but I'm always in search of new recipes.

I can't wait to taste the new canning recipes I tried this year:

-pickles

-dilly beans

-sweet pickle relish

-bruscetta

-applesauce(I've only ever made fresh)

-eggplant and roasted pepper in olive oil