For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. Jeremiah 29:11-14

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Friday, September 24, 2010

Thankful for Friday!

OK, I won't say it....you know, the opening line I use for EVERY Friday post. Yes, this week went by quickly and I can't believe it's Friday again already....but I won't say it. :) How was your week? Life around here, as usual, has been non stop. Good, but non stop. We've seen some struggles this week...sick kids, sick mama, mountains of laundry, a kitten dying and a cranky baby...but it's life! We are blessed despite the struggles and THAT is what I try to stay focused on. Am I always successful? NO! I'm only human....but I DO try!

So, what am I thankful for this Friday?

* My hard working hubby and his job....we are blessed to still have him working. Also blessed that things are "starting" to look up in that area of life, S...L...O...W....L...Y we are seeing signs of a busy season ahead.

* Our kids and how much they are learning this year in school.

* Our adviser at the school....so helpful and is making this year's homeschooling so much easier with her tips and advice! Having two high school age kids has been a bit overwhelming for me, but we are doing great so far...thank the Lord! :)

* Answers to prayer in a tough situation....won't share more, but had to share how amazingly faithful our Heavenly Father IS!!!

* Canning season coming to an end for this year....there is more I COULD do, but I am feeling like I can be done with the bulk of my canning. :) YAY!

* A steer growing and soon to be in our freezer....chickens too!

* A weekend getaway for me...a much needed break.....quilting with a bunch of ladies! I just confirmed my quilting weekend with my mother-in-law. A group of women, getting together at a local lodge to quilt away the weekend....no kids, no laundry....just relaxing, laughing, good food and quilting! What could be better? I have not done this EVER and need the break SO badly! My amazingly wonderful hubby encouraged me to just go.....so NOT my normal behavior, but I am going. :)

* My grain mill...and the amazingly tasty bread that I am able to make with the flour I grind. Only down side is that I can't keep enough bread in the house most of the time. :)

* A dear friend that is going to give my kids riding lessons....gives her horses some exercise and fulfills part of my kids PE credit for school! Plus, my friend and I get time to visit. :) My kids are thrilled. :)

Enjoy your weekend! Praying you had an amazingly wonderful week...even if you didn't there is still SO much to be thankful for....WE ARE BLESSED!!!

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

It's here....Can you believe it?

It's here....it's here!!! I am SO excited! Are you excited? :) In case you haven't heard yet....FALL IS HERE! :) Today...well, tonight really, it will arrive. :) After the summer we had in these parts, I am welcoming fall with open arms. Our summer was less than a summer and I am ready to put it behind me. :)

I wish I had some glorious picture of fall color to share, but sadly I don't. I don't even have a pumpkin to take a picture of. :)

Fall is one of my favorite times of year. The smell, the cool air, apples, pumpkin...yummy foods that just scream fall. Burning candles, baking tasty treats, hot cider, cool crisp mornings, fall color all around and the smell of freshly cut wood. I LOVE it all! I look forward to the weather turning colder and having a cozy evening in front of the wood stove, a hot cup of tea in my hands, my family cozy around me and a good book.

Yes, I am ready! Ready for all that fall brings...even the rain. :) Around here, rain is often what we get...along with the mud, wet leaves, and lots of wind. I'm OK with that this year, I am ready!

Monday, September 20, 2010

Another Monday...ready or not!

Why does the weekend always have to go so quickly? This weekend was a busy and relaxing one for me. Saturday I worked on finishing up canning the tomatoes and applesauce that I didn't get to during the week. It feels SO good to have that done for now. :) I'll do more tomatoes IF I come up with the money for them before the frost comes, thankfully I've gotten enough done that it wouldn't be the end of the world if I didn't do anymore. I'd LIKE to have some tomato sauce done up, but won't feel like a failure if I don't. I LOVE being in that place where canning is concerned! Don't you?

Sunday was spent just relaxing, for the most part. Three of us are either suffering from a nasty cold or feeling one coming on so we were home all day. The rains were heavy at times, but it sure felt good...a really "fall" feeling day! The only thing that was missing was a fire in the wood stove, but it was just not cold enough yet. The temperatures were actually rather warm and muggy, everything just "looked" like fall. :)

On Saturday, while I was canning away, Wade and the boys were working on cutting out some limbs from some trees and also taking out a few in our side yard. These trees were totally shading our fruit trees and we finally decided to deal with them. It looks completely different out there now and we gained a bit more fire wood in the process. The goats LOVED the fir needle treats. :) I really don't like taking out trees on our place, but these trees were just not allowing our fruit trees to really grow properly. Sure, we could have planted our fruit trees in another spot, but you know what they say about hind site. :)

This week is looking much easier than the past few. I have VERY little canning to work on. That will allow me to work on some baking, cleaning and a bit of relaxing....OH MY! :) It's amazing how much my house suffers while I'm busy canning, I know my family will appreciate a more normal routine this week. My body will appreciate a bit slower pace and my house will look better for all of the extra attention. :)

So, how is your fall going? Is your pantry fuller? Are you still canning? I still want to can some pears, apples and some dry beans. Not sure where I'll put them, as my shelves in my pantry are FULL, but I'll figure out something. :) My hubby may have to sacrifice a bit of space in his shop for a few shelves. :)

Another canning project on my horizon is some more beef and chicken stock. I actually have a crock pot full going right now. I'll get at least 7 quarts of rich stock from the carcasses in the crock pot this round. It's so easy to do, I just let it simmer away in my crock pot for a day or even two...one of those projects that I can work around my schedule. The longer it cooks, the better the stock. My house smells wonderful in the process! :)

Have a wonderful week!

Friday, September 17, 2010

Thankful for Friday!

Wow, I know I say this every week, but really...it's Friday already? We've had another busy week here, shocking I know! :) Canning, school here at home, the beginning of classes at the school and co-op and more canning. :) In the midst of it all, we've had a good time, despite the threat of a cold or two. Our pantry is getting fuller by the day and we are finally seeing the end of the canning season in the distance.

So, what am I thankful for this week?

*My hubby is still working, as is his brother...YAY!
*The kids first week of the full school schedule went well and everyone enjoyed their outside classes!
*The fall color is everywhere, overnight it seems, and it looks like it will be a BEAUTIFUL fall around here.
*A friends daughter that had open heart surgery is doing fairly well...please be praying for little Lily.
*Our new layers should be laying any day...SO excited!
*Made 17 pints of tomato soup yesterday...might make more, but it's a good start...my kids will be thrilled this winter! :)
*My pantry is filling up by the day...I LOVE that feeling!
*We pick up this year's steer this weekend....he'll live at a friends house until he's ready to butcher...we'll have beef in the freezer again in about a month and a half!! We're starting out with an older guy this time...not really by choice....but that means we'll have the meat a bit earlier. Good timing!
*Hunting season starts in a few weeks...my boys are excited and so am I...praying for a good harvest this year with the three of them hunting. :)

It's been a crazy busy week, and today will be no different. Canning more tomatoes today, perhaps a batch of plum preserves and working on school, laundry and baby sitting too. Pray for me in the midst of it all...I'm feeling a cold coming on. I need my strength to get through the last of my canning. :)

Thursday, September 16, 2010

School schedules and canning...trying to fit it all in.

School is in full swing here this week and it has been a crazy, busy week. In a perfect world our lives would be busy with only school at this point, save a box or two of pears or apples to can. Not so much this year....all of the summer crops were late here this year, so I'm still in the process of canning tomatoes.

This week has been a busy canning week with Monday and Tuesday being filled with peaches and pears. Thankfully, I am officially done with peaches for the year. YAY!! :) Pears are another story. I have about a half box left to go here and a friend of mine is giving me more pears next week. We'll see how many we get out of those and decide from there if we need more. My hope is that we don't. :)

I'll be starting on my next 100 pounds of tomatoes today and tomorrow. Some of them will be canned and some will be made into tomato soup. The recipe was posted on a friend's blog this week and I have GOT to try it! My family LOVES tomato soup and I refuse to buy canned soups. Having some on hand that is just as quick and easy to prepare as the store bought variety will be nice on those busy fall and winter days. :) My kids are excited too.

Beyond that, choir started for my daughter last night and the kids returned to youth group at the church. We shall see how long we are able to keep going between busy schedules and weather, I'm praying about our involvement there. For now, the kids are enjoying the time there. Dylan also had his first co-op classes yesterday too. They went well and he had a good time making new friends and connecting with old ones. :) Yes, school has officially started!

Life is busy right now, and I am looking forward to the slower days of winter. At least the end of a crazy canning season. I've been trying to update my canning totals on my kitchen page, I know I've missed a few jars in my counting, but it's a general list. I also have apples to sauce this weekend and I'm hoping to have a couple of boxes of apples to work on next week. There is also a bunch of chicken parts in the freezer to make stock with and a few beef soup bones as well. Those will all need to be processed before our chickens are ready to butcher and we add any other meat to our freezer. Yes, it's never ending at the moment. Not complaining really, just busy. :)

We have been so blessed and even in this busy season it's good to be able to recognize that fact. My hard working man is still working, we have a pantry that is filling up by the day and will soon have chickens that are ready to find their way to the freezer. Hunting season starts in less than a month and we are praying for a couple of deer in the freezer as well. :) Maybe even an elk or two. We will be eating well this winter. :)

It's time to resume my crazy routine...I just wanted to check in and say hello! I miss being able to post about life and all more often. Thankfully, I know you all are in the same boat that I am in...trying to adjust to a new fall routine and care for your families in the mean time. :)

Friday, September 10, 2010

Thankful for Friday!

Wow, another Friday already! Seems the weeks are speeding by faster and faster all of the time. Must mean I've been busy, you think? Oh my yes! It's been a good kind of busy however, so I can't complain much. :) Life around here just keeps going full speed, there have been days I feel like I am not able to keep up. In the midst of it all I am trying to be thankful, because all of this busyness is proof that we are blessed!

So, what am I thankful for this week?

* My wonderful and hard working man is still working...thank the Lord!
* Our computer is back up and running and the repair bill was less than we expected.
* My pantry is filling up...peaches, tomatoes, green beans, apple pie filling, pickles, chicken stock, pears and more apples. :)
* We harvested about 50 pounds of apples off of our best producing apple tree...it's about 5 years old and we get the best apples off of it. I wish I could remember what kind it was...we'd get a couple more trees! :)
* My wonderfully talented husband made a grape arbor for our one grape vine...we'll soon be adding more that a friend is giving us. :)
* We were blessed with a load of produce from some friends....60 pounds of pears, broccoli, squash, zucchini and corn! YUMMY! So fun, especially since our garden has done little to nothing. Theirs had done very little as well, but they live at a lower elevation and have a bit longer and better growing season than we do. Crazy how a 15 minute drive can totally change a gardens production ability!
* School has started and so far it's going well!
* Our yard is about 90% ready for fall and winter...weeding, harvesting of herbs is done and all of that fun stuff. :)
* My back and shoulders are about 75% healed from the above weeding and such! :)
* Our cockerels are half grown, more than, and will be ready for the freezer in another 6-8 weeks! :) Meat in our freezer! Yes!! :)
* We were able to sell one of last years goat kids, now a yearling, to a neighbor....solving a problem for both families. :) We needed to downsize and they needed a buddy goat.
* All of the corner posts for our new expanded pasture are set and ready for the rest of the fencing...now all we need is a bit more money for the rest of the t-posts. :) One step closer...can't wait! :)

There is more, I know, but I'd say that's a good list. :) I have been super busy with canning, school preparations, baby sitting, yard work, cleaning and just life here at home. With our crazy harvest this year....everything being super late and all ready at once, it seemed, I'm STILL canning. Normally I'm about finished by this point. Thankfully, so far I've managed to stay on top of it all...but my dining room may tell you differently. I have boxes of pears, apples and tomatoes everywhere...waiting to be canned into their jars and be placed on our pantry shelves. Even with all of the canning I've done so far, I have not come close to what I wanted to do this year. Thanks in part, to our garden and it's lack of produce. I'm OK with that though, I know that God has blessed our family and will continue to do so! I can only do so much, I am one person...how awesome is it that we can trust in an awesome God that can do so much more than we can...and WILL! If I were trying to do all of this on my own power, I can honestly say I'd most likely quit...there is just NO way!

Enjoy your weekend, be thankful for the blessings you've received. If you can't see any...perhaps you are not looking hard enough or in the right places. Blessings can come in the strangest of forms sometimes...like enough broccoli given to you to provide that one night's dinner with a vegetable dish! God is SO good to us!

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Computer issues and school starting

Did you miss me? OH my what a week it's been here! My computer totally quit on me a week ago, but thankfully it's back and up and running again. :) It's a bit scary how dependent we are on this silly thing, don't you think? I've felt completely out of touch without it. Thank the Lord, it's back and we are hoping we won't see any further problems for some time now. :)

School started here today. The kids are getting to ease into the school year, but by next week we'll be at almost full schedule. So far, so good...smooth with a few bumps, but nothing major. :) The weather today has sure felt like fall and a typical school day. As I type this post, it is POURING down rain outside. I have cookies baking in the oven, the smell of freshly baked bread still lingers in the house and I have 7 quarts of tomatoes canned and sitting in my kitchen. :) Feels like fall here, for sure! Sadly, my hubby is out working in this nasty (as he would put it) weather. That is the only downside to the weather in my mind, though I know a few more days of warm temperatures and sunshine would do my green tomatoes some good. Oh well, I'll enjoy the rain if that's what we get. :)

I just wanted to check in and let you all know I was still here, just lacking a computer for a week. Thankfully everything can return to normal and I'll be able to post more often again. :)