I'm Back

Finally I have time to sit at my computer long enough to gather my thoughts for a blog! Can anyone tell me what happened to the month of August ;-) I seem to have lost it somewhere!
We have been so very busy this summer. I will share the highlights of our summer in the next few blogs.

Haven't my two sweet grandsons grown? They are so much fun!
They have new backpacks and they were so proud so show Nonna!Uh-Oh! Here's trouble! She is too sweet to get into too much trouble. Just ask her Poppa!!

And here is Reese's partner in crime! Oh well, no harm done.

School is back in session in our household. We are beginning our studies this year with the people of the Pacific Ocean and SE Asia. It has been AMAZING thus far. I just love learning along with my boys! Did you know that between the area of West Africa to East Asia live 95 percent of the world's unevangelized?! Eight-four percent of the world's poor live there as well!

What a mission field! This is the basis of study for our school year and I can't wait to dig in. Let me just put in a good word for the wonderful people of Sonlight Curriculum. If you are looking for the BEST of the BEST in home school curriculum look no further! In all my 22 years of home schooling I have never found any other curriculum that measures up to Sonlight! They are a great resouce.

That's all for now. I have a couple of videos from our camp this summer. I am having trouble getting them to post but I am not giving up yet. I hope to have them posted soon. Stay tuned...

Newly Found Treasures

I have to confess something. I have an addiction. I have an addiction for books!! I just love them, old or new it doesn't matter to me. Just ask my children! Anytime we are at a yard sale or thrift store they can always find me in the book section. They have to "talk" me out of that area by reminding me of how many books I already own and where in the world would I put another one! I am blessed to have a school room to home school the boys in and we have a small library in there. I have an antique china cabinet full of antique books. My kitchen cabinet is full of cookbooks and farm books... it's an addiction I tell you! My family is keeping a close eye on me, though. When I stop stocking the pantry with food and start putting more books there I know they will call for some professional help ;-)





I do have a special place in my heart for old books, however. I love to touch them, smell them and imagine what life must have been like in days past. My sweet husband just loves to collect old things. So, you can imagine my excitement when he drove up to the front door recently with a trailer behind his pickup full of old things! Someone called him and wanted their storage building cleaned out. The contents belonged to this person's grandfather who had recently passed away. Monroe didn't have to think twice about it. He would be glad to clean the building out! Some of the belongings were just junk and had to be discarded but packed away in a box was a treasure just for me....OLD BOOKS!! There were other great finds too like a collection of cast iron wear and old ball canning jars. I will blog about those later but I just had to share my "new" books with you.



The Farmstead Magazine is from 1977 and was published in Maine. Hot Weather Dishes was published in 1888 by Mrs. S. T. Rorer!! She writes in the preface: "During the hot weather old housekeepers frequently become embarrassed over the arrangement of seasonable dishes. The Author, feeling this difficulty, sends this little directory as a helpmate to her fellow housewives." Now come on ladies, it doesn't get much better than that!







And just look at this little recipe booklet, copyright 1933, from K. C. Baking Powder!! Priceless!

The red book on the left from the first photo above is a cookbook compiled from the Ladies Aid Society of Grace Methodist Episcopal Church, South Jacksonville, Florida, copyright 1905! On the page for the bread recipe section I found this quote; "But tho' so much of learning had been crammed into her head, she couldn't for the life of her compound a loaf of bread." Ha! Ha! How funny! And the dedication page reads: "To all the housewives and sweethearts throughout the land who are aiming at greater perfection in the art of cooking, this little book is respectfully dedicated." Wow. That is a sobering thought for we women of the twenty-first century! We have lost our "aim" somewhere along the way, ladies.

From the same red book I found some interesting Home Remedies and Household Hints. I must share one remedy with you. It is "Cure For A Felon: A felon may be cured by tying the affected finger in a poultice of pulverized rock salt and turpentine, renewing as the poultice becomes dry. Usually twenty-four hours application of the above will cure the felon."

Are you as confused as I was when I first read this home remedy? What in the world is a felon? I conjured up in my mind a thief that a family caught on their property. They must have brought him into their house, and hanged him up by his finger while applying a painful poultice...tee hee hee. That will teach him!

Luckily, I found out what a felon is by looking in this Webster's New World Dictionary, copyright 1952.
This dictionary was also in with the goodies from the storage building. This is what Webster's definition is for felon- n., a painful, pus-producing infection at the end of a finger or toe, near the nail. Ahhh, now that makes perfect sense and I learned a new word for the day, did you?

Last but not least, a songbook by Bill Monroe. It is dated 1947 and is in fair condition.

I also got several old magazines. I have the perfect place for them, an old, antique trunk Monroe brought home a few years ago. Actually, he brought home two old trunks. Oh, the goodies I found in those trunks.

There were old letters, baby clothes, wool scarves.....well, I better save that for another post. I am sure you have heard enough!

We have been very busy this summer with a camp/ministry our church has been blessed with. We were gone last week to the camp with the youth from our church. It was awesome! I am gathering photos and video to post soon.

Stay tuned...

Date Night

Lately every evening just before dusk, when it cools off outside a little, my hubby and I have been slipping off to a blackberry patch in the pasture behind our house. It has been a nice and quiet time together as we pick and talk. Sometimes, okay most of the time, it is NOT nice and quiet around our home. I love the noise and busyness in our home but if Monroe and I want to have a private conversation it must be planned. I think that is what we found so enjoyable about the blackberry picking. Of course, the extra reward was all the delicious blackberries we got to take home! It wasn't long before our secret getaway was discovered, however. Each evening we would be gone about 30 minutes and then in the distance we could hear a motor getting closer and closer. We would just laugh. It was usually Bryce coming out on the four-wheeler to "help pick".

Notice the beekeeper's gloves. A dear friend told me to use them when blackberry picking and they work perfectly for keeping your arms and hands from being scratched. So, even if you don't keep bees but you go blackberry picking, get yourself a pair of these gloves!

On this particular evening we looked up to find the boys coming out to us on the swamp buggy. This is about how far they got when they bogged down in the mud. It had been raining every day which caused it to get really mucky out back.

Dad to the rescue! They can't fool me though. I know every one of those males love getting stuck and having to get pulled out. I hear them talk of it later. Oh, the excitement in their voices as they relate the story to some other male. It must be a guy-thing! In my opinion, as my boys would say,...."whatev....!" And this is what they got stuck in.

We were also being watched by a small gator. Can you see his head? It is the little dot right in the middle of the picture. We estimated him to be approximately 4 or 5 feet long.

Back to business! Monroe found a clever way to get the berries that were too high to reach. He let down the tailgate of the jeep and backed up into the bushes. This was a great idea and I got a lot of nice, big berries. However, the next evening we went back to the same spot and just before he backed the jeep up into the bushes he spotted a black snake...a big black snake!!...curled around some branches way up high....right where we had been picking!! I thought I was safe being up in the back of a vehicle but noooo! I always watched for snakes down on the ground but never up high until now!!

We have been enjoying blackberry buckle. It is so good with a cup of coffee!

And this blackberry cobbler didn't last long. I almost didn't get a picture of it in time.

I was able to put several bags of berries in the freezer as well. Last summer I made blackberry jam. We still had a few jars left so I decided to just freeze this year's picking. My boys don't like the seeds in the jam so next time I will make jelly with them.

I have had such a busy summer! I have so much more to blog but I always run out of hours in my day. I will try to be more diligent.

And Like A Good Neighbor...

Our little town has changed so much in the past ten years. Being born and raised in this area, I can tell you that it has gone from a small, quaint little community where everyone knew everyone (well almost) to a place where I can be uptown all day and never see a person I know! This can be somewhat depressing to me and some days I really dislike where we live and I allow myself to become discouraged.

Now let me clarify, I absolutely love where the Lord has allowed us to raise our children, out in the country (well, as much "out in the country" as one can get in our town) with lots of room to let four boys roam. This home has truly been a blessing and answer to prayer for us. If I could just pick up my house and move it somewhere that is so far out that, as my dear friend, Kay, would say, " you have to pump sunshine in" that would be the place for me!

Well, one particular morning a few days ago, I was out doing my morning chores and thinking about how things have changed so around here. I was trying to be content but at the same time I was daydreaming about going out to feed our farm animals and then working in my vegetable garden in perfect 72 degree weather while seeing our cows grazing contentedly on the rolling hills of our "property". After being outside a FEW minutes and wiping sweat from my forehead in the humid 95 degree weather, I noticed that I kept hearing someone yelling "Hey, Hey!". The calling would stop and then a few minutes later I would hear it again. I didn't think much of it and just dismissed it as the road crew that had been working out on the highway in front of our house several days earlier. I just assumed that they were back.

While I was in the goat pen, my dear husband suddenly appeared. He was talking on his phone and promptly let the person on the other end know that I was okay. He then explained to me that our neighbor that lives across the pasture that is behind our house (it is probably 4 or 5 acres across) heard someone yelling and called my hubby to make sure that we were okay. See the tin roof in the middle of this picture? That is his barn. He had pulled his truck all the way up to the edge of the pond that is in his backyard and had his binoculars out looking to make sure we were all safe. That is when I felt the Lord gently reminding me that He had provided this place for us and that He is still in control. I was feeling pretty humbled when suddenly I remembered our other precious neighbor, a.k.a. the gardening guru. He is an elderly gentleman and like a second grandfather to my boys. He lives next door to us and Monroe has seen him fall out in his garden and rescued him on more than one occasion. This is where he lives. Note the rows of corn..beautiful garden ;-)

"Quick, call Mr. Willie's house and make sure he has not fallen out in the garden!" I said. My hubby didn't wait to make a call but ran down the fenceline and through the little gate we put in for visiting. He went down the garden rows looking but thankfully, our dear neighbor was inside his house.

Next, Monroe called our neighbor across the highway. They have a farm with many animals and citrus groves. After talking to this neighbor our mystery voice was solved and no one was needing help. It turns out that this neighbor was yelling at his hunting dogs! I'm not sure what he was trying to get them to do, or not do, but he had stirred up all of his neighbors in the process!

Now this may seem like an unimportant story to you but for me it was huge! I felt like the Lord knew I needed to be reminded of His perfect will and peace. It is not unusual for us to hear police sirens going by in front of our house day and night several times a week, sometimes several times a day. This is not the same neighborhood!

However, I am keeping my trust in Him. I love Psalm 91! It is about God's protection over His own. Yep, been reading that over and over lately!!

I just had to share one more picture. Each morning when I go out to feed the goats all of our cows are standing outside the goat pen with a pitiful look on their faces. They stand around patiently waiting. Then when they hear the grain hitting the bottom of the goat's feed bucket they can take it no longer! This is what I see almost every morning. A big snout sticking through the fence and this long tongue just barely able to reach a few pieces of grain, but oh how delicious it must be. So, I must assume that not only is the grass greener on the other side of the fence but the feed must be better too! What a hoot!! Have a blessed day!!

To Lighten Your Day

How to know when your 14 year-old son has skinned out too many deer: He walks into the kitchen pointing to his torso and says, "Mom, my tenderloins are hurting!"

Boys! You just gotta love 'em!
Have a great day!

Guess Who Turned One Year Old?

I'll give you one clue: All I saw in my house was Pink! Yes, our Little Reesie Pie is one year old. I can hardly believe it has already been a year since I held the first little girl to be born in our family in 27 years. And she has definitely been worth the wait! She is such a girly-girl already, however she gets pretty feisty with her brothers and can hold her own ground!

This little darling has been such a blessing to our entire family. But she holds a special place in my heart. Not just because I finally get to have my little girl to enjoy. You see, Reese has always looked just like her mommy did. I mean from the moment she was born I told Brooke, "Oh my goodness, she looks JUST LIKE you!" Not only does Reese look like Brooke but she feels like Brooke felt when I hold her. I made that comment to someone the other day and they looked at me funny and told me all babies feel the same. Oh, no they do not. All of my babies felt different in my arms. Do any of you other mothers out there know what I mean?

Well, I of course have to share the pictures from Reese's first birthday party. Doesn't she look like she is "Queen For A Day?"
I love this shot. There hasn't been a baby doll in our house in years. Parker and Luke look as if they are not sure what to do with this baby!

Here Reese, you take care of this baby!

Having two photographers in the family can be a bit trying at times. While we were decorating for the party Brooke kept saying she wanted the food table here, the gift table there, etc. Then she would say, "I know you are going to roll your eyes at me Mom but the lighting is going to be so much better here (or there) for pictures."

Well. I didn't let her see me roll my eyes, I just smiled and moved stuff from here to there...but maybe I was rolling my eyes in my mind...just a little bit ;-)

As it turned out, though, she was right. The pictures look like they are straight from "Martha Stewart Living".

By the way, all the pictures in this blog were taken by Brent. Brooke did all of the decorating. They work pretty good together. They have done photography for a few weddings together. Who knew?

The ice cream cones you see in the background here are actually pieces of paper twisted into the shape of a cone and filled with cotton candy. The stand for the cones is simply a cardboard box wrapped in gift wrap with holes cut in it for the cones. It was so pretty and Brooke said it cost approximately $3.00! Note to self (and anyone interested): Do not put cotton candy in cones until ready to eat...it evaporates!!

Reese is a natural born mommy already. That amazes me! God puts those instincts in little girls to be nurturing but at one year old? Brooke told me that Reese now has about six baby dolls and she tries to carry them around throughout the day, keeping them all together and feeding them with her little bottle.

She also called me one day to say that Reese was so mad she was screaming/growling! Her brothers had taken her baby dolls, stripped them of their clothes and wouldn't give them back to her. They were playing pirates. Brooke-please do not share the rest of this story. It is too gruesome!

Finally, the pirates...errr...brothers get a turn to open a gift.

Time for some birthday cake!!
A girl doesn't have to eat like a lady on her birthday does she?

This picture says it all!
End of the party and time to get cleaned up! Did I mention that Reese looks like Brooke? This picture is a perfect example! Spittin' image!

Happy Birthday Reesie-pie, Cuppy, Reesie Cup, Cupcake, Princess...

Spring Garden

I love a spring garden!! The bugs are not bad yet so the maintenance is easier and we always enjoy the baby lettuces from our first harvest. This picture is a couple of weeks old but it was from my picking one morning. I have red romaine, oakleaf, green romaine and buttercrunch lettuces planted and they are all so delicious!!
I only wish our cucumbers were ready to go along with this tasty salad. The summer squash is coming in faster than we can eat it! This is just one day's picking and we gather it every day most days. If we wait 2 days the squash gets too big and hard. We have done nothing but water and weed the garden. No chemicals and no fertilizer has been used! While shopping at Publix just the other day I noticed their organic summer squash. It comes shrink wrapped in PLASTIC and guess how much just ONE squash cost???? $2.99!!!! With a family the size of mine that is unthinkable!

We have had so much squash we have been giving it away to friends and family along with the lettuces. I have also been blanching and freezing the squash. Here are some bags ready to vacuum seal. Have any of you ever used the Foodsaver type bags and have you ever had problems with the liquid being vacuumed up to the top of the bag so it breaks the seal? I have and I had just about given up on using my Foodsaver until I read on one of my favorite websites (www.pickyourown.org) that if you freeze the vegetables/fruits with the bag open as shown below and then used the vacuum seal you shouldn't have any problems. What a great idea! I wish there were some alternative to freezing with plastic but I know of none.

If you enjoy fresh produce, you should visit the website I mentioned. I have found it to be so very helpful for many different things. You simply type in the area you live in and it gives u-pick farms, detailed canning and freezing instructions with pictures, and where to purchase all equipment needed for your task at hand. I love it!

While I am patiently waiting for some delicious southern peas to be ready to pick along with okra, corn, watermelon, cantaloupe and greenbeans, I have high hopes for at least one tomato. Last year I had over 80 plants and not one tomato!! I have had many others tell me the same thing happened with their tomatoes last summer. Strange. Oh well, I guess that's what keeps gardening interesting!