Strawberries and Peaches

  
Our neighbors went to the lovely state of GA last week for their oldest granddaughter's high school graduation. They would be gone for a week and needed us to take care of their beef cattle and to feed the cats while they were away.  We are happy to help them out so they can travel see their children and grandchildren. 
 

   They always bring back a thoughtful thank you gift and this time they brought a gallon of strawberries and a peck of peaches.  They were so flavorful, fresh and brightly colored. 

   After eating some fresh; we decided that it was just going to be too much to eat before they would go bad so I made 9 pints of strawberry jam and froze several quarts of peaches.  The peaches will be a wonderful addition to a smoothie.

 

 

 Ryder eats toast with butter and jam every morning.  I have even had some on toast...yeah the "bad gluten kind" too!  I didn't get sick and it is so delicious!  Madi made some parfaits with vanilla yogurt, granola and fresh peaches!  They were delicious also.  Ryder ate two, maybe three, that evening.  There is just something about fresh fruit that is awesome!

 

   I had to put more pictures in here to show how bright  the colors are! I love it!

 

 

The jam is a brighter red color than these photos show. It is bright red like the strawberries but for some reason my camera didn't feel like making them red! 

 

 

    Not really a big deal though as the taste is what is more important than the picture. 

   I used the recipe in the Ball canning book.  It is a very simple, easy recipe.  I did choose to use the pectin recipe.  After having these strawberries Jeremiah decided that he wanted to plant some more strawberry plants.  Our plants died out several years back and we just never got around to planting more.  I ran to the local greenhouse and bought 14 plants.  Jeremiah was happy that they still had some and they were marked down to $.75 a plant!  They are rather large plants with blossoms and two of them have strawberries starting!

 

That's a wrap from the Pine Tree Forest!  I think I may need to eat something with jam this morning!  I need something with my tea! 

Have a blessed day, y'all!

   

Canning shelves for 2016

   I am finally finished canning for 2016.  The only thing that I may have to can is venison if Ryder or Jeremiah get another deer.  We froze the meat from the doe Ryder already got.  My mom needs some venison so the next deer will go to her but both boys can get a doe and a buck each.  We only harvest what we will eat so really we only need to get two more deer.  One for mom and one more for us. 

Here is the break down on the jars.

 ::The first shelf from the ceiling is our tomato soup.  We have already eaten a lot of jars.  Madi has eaten the bulk of those jars.  She took them to work.  :-)

::The second shelf is salsa on the left and carrots on the right.  I may end up canning more carrots because they are so convenient to have on hand.  One of Ryder's favorite sides is sweet carrots. I melt some butter and brown sugar together.  When it is blended I just add a jar of drained carrots and heat it thoroughly. Easy peasy.   

::On the third shelf starting from the left is grape juice then some applesauce from last year, then some spaghetti sauce that I also canned last year. Next in line is some spicy banana peppers and some peaches- again from last year.  Finishing up that shelf is jams.  I have elderberry, peach and blueberry.

::The fourth shelf is the green beans.

::The bottom shelf from the left is red beets, venison, honey and maple syrup.

   That's a wrap on this year.  Hopefully I haven't bored you with all the canning updates. Until next time, be blessed and enjoy this November! 

Random Thoughts

   I have a bit of randomness going through my brain today so I decided to just do a weird blog post of those thoughts.  Random and jumbled- my specialty! 

   ::Am I the only person who can't wait for the election to be over?  I am all about going and voting and such but I get so tired of the bickering and the TV ads constantly ripping the opponent apart.  Ack! What irritates me most is that they pick a small section of wording and use a sentence fragment in an attempt to make you believe a lie.  I know it's part of politics but I dread it!  

   ::I made tomato soup again yesterday.  I ended up with 29 more jars.  Madilynne is thrilled with our supply.  Actually, I will say that we are all happy that the shelves are filling up.  I am thinking that I will attempt to make a V-8 type drink next.  I am not sure how this idea will turn out.  I need to look into a recipe for that.

   ::I need to make grape juice.  Our grapes are finally ready to harvest.  I may make some today actually....well, after I clean my messy house....keeping it real for ya!  :-)

   ::I am enjoying the cooler evenings.  We have pulled out the long sleeved shirts/flannels. Jeremiah is itching to build a nice big campfire!  We haven't had many campfires this year but only because we have been pretty busy. We need to slow down and enjoy our time together.   

   ::I have been focusing my time on being at home lately.  I still run Madi and Ryder to work.  Madi is working 3-4 days a week at a local discount store.  She is still really liking it.  She runs the register, stocks shelves and does some cleaning.  Ryder has several mowing jobs that keep him busy along with odd jobs when someone needs a helping hand.  He is gearing up for archery season because deer season is coming soon.

   ::I am so glad we homeschool. The kids are really gaining a lot of life experience and are able to keep up with their school work. They are learning how to handle money and make decisions on how to spend it wisely, save and tithe.  Our hope is to educate our children to be wise adults and not so much about being "smart kids" on paper.  Let me clarify that there is nothing wrong with smart kids but they need to know how to use those "smarts" in real life situations or it isn't going to help them when they leave home.  If you have an interest in home schooling, I would definitely encourage you to pursue it.  It has been wonderful for us. 

   ::Our chickens have been giving us many eggs!  I have been using them up quickly and even have a few people willing to buy them from us.  It isn't going to make us rich but it pays for the chicken feed!  :-)

   ::I have been eating way too many bologna and cheese sandwiches lately! I am not even sure why... yesterday I ate two, two people!  I don't even know if its real meat but it tastes-so-good!

   Well, I think that I will wrap this up.  I have much to do today. And maybe I need to make a sandwich....

   Be Blessed! 

  

Beautiful and Full Days in the Pines

   I woke up while it was still dark this morning.  That really makes me feel like fall is coming quicker than I want.  I still have so much to finish while we have the warmer weather.  I will be the first to admit that the heat of summer isn't my favorite at all but I need a bit more time before the frost and snow comes!  The sun was starting to rise and I couldn't help but take these two photos so I could send them to Jeremiah.  I wish photos could show the real beauty of the sky but hey, I tried!  I opened the front door and snapped them from the porch. 

 

   I carried more jars of tomato soup to the basement this morning.  I have close to 50 jars on the shelves. Now, before you think that is a large amount let me say that several of those jars are the smaller jelly jar type so that Madilynne can take them to work.  She enjoys the soup and some mac and cheese for her lunch.  It's always a decision for her on whether she wants green beans or tomato soup now.   I ended up with more than 70 pints of salsa this year.  I couldn't remember how many we ate already and I gave some away also.

 

   I am so thankful to God for blessing us with a very bountiful garden this year. We are filling up the canning shelves.  Over the weekend Jeremiah and Ryder took a metal cabinet I had in the playroom, for storage, to the basement.  Madi and I filled that cabinet up quickly and made room for the new canned goods. 

 

   Our chickens are filling the egg cartons quite quickly.  We have been eating a lot of eggs. I am finding the challenge of using the eggs up fun. The Breakfast Burritos have been a big hit and they use a lot of eggs.

 

   School has been getting done. The basics are being completed.  I have put the literature curriculum and several other extra curricula on the back burner until the garden and canning is done.

 

   Ryder has been shooting his bow in.  He is patiently waiting for archery season to start.  I kept some extra space on the shelf for some canned deer meat.

 

   We have a nice sized grape arbor.  I am hoping to make some grape juice this year. I have 6 jars left.  I didn't make any last year and I gave most of the grapes away. If they wanted to come and pick 'em they could have 'em.  :-)

 

   I must get busy again so I need to finish this post.  I hope you are having a great end to summer! 

 

~Blessings~



Busy in the Pines

   Hopefully everyone had a great weekend.  Here in the USA we celebrated Labor Day on Monday.  We went to my in-laws on Sunday, after church, for a picnic. Jeremiah grilled chicken and some cheddar brats.  I made a Caesar style pasta salad- that I will not make again. Ack, just not very flavorful and tasty.  No big deal though as we had so much other tasty food that it wasn't a problem.  Volleyball was played and the kids spent a lot of time in the pool.  We ended the evening with a campfire.  Madilynne and I did leave early as she had work the following day so we didn't enjoy that time long.  Jeremiah and Ryder decided to stay and visit a bit longer before heading home on the golf cart. 

   I canned 15 pints of salsa on Saturday morning. Jeremiah and Ryder went to the garden yesterday and picked a bunch of tomatoes so I can make more. After I have enough salsa made, I am going to try to make some tomato soup.  I haven't made this before but I am excited to try it. I have a recipe that I have tasted and it is good.  I just hope I can make it taste like what I tried.  Anyone every try to can tomato soup before?  

   My shelves are filling up.  I really enjoy looking at the "fruits" of my labor!  :-)   I had my sister-in-law J come down with me yesterday and look at the them.  She happily complied and even enjoyed it.  Yes, I am that person! I even have a picture on my phone that I will show people, if they want to see it. LOL  This is the picture:

 

 

   I took this picture one day in August to show Jeremiah the shelves and planned on deleting it but I never got around to it. I guess that procrastination worked out in my favor today!

 

   Along with the canning, we are trying to keep up with the house, school work and yard.  Jeremiah is busier than ever with work and the yard.  As we enter into September, the days become shorter and busier.  We are also looking at attending some of the local festivals that come in September.  The kids and I will be going to a festival on Friday with some family and friends from our homeschool group and then Jeremiah likes to go to a different jubilee to get grilled chicken that he loves on Saturday. 

   We had a nice cool down for a couple days but it looks like it going to warm up again.  I hope the humidity stays away though.

   Well, I think that's a good update for now.  Hopefully everyone has a great day and enjoy the remaining days of summer. 

Pines Update!

   This site has been quiet lately and I apologize for that.  We started school on August 1.  I was hesitant about starting early but it has been so hot out that staying inside in the air conditioning has actually been a blessing.  Madilynne has a full class schedule that includes many extras that she is interested in this year and Ryder is keeping things basic-hitting only those subjects that is required by state law and sign language.  They are both doing a good job at getting school done each day.  We started with an 8 am up-and-at-'em game plan.  Those that know my kiddos know that 8 am is early for the night owls!  :-)   They are adjusting pretty nicely to the new schedule.  Do they like 8 am? No, not at all but it sure is nice to get the school done early. 

   Our garden is producing like crazy! It's awesome but keeping me busy.  I have been canning green beans, red beets and experimented with some pickle recipes.  I will pick some green beans tonight and harvest some green peppers too.  We have two watermelons that are getting really big.  I am so excited about that!  We are also getting two cantaloupes.  We never tried to grow them before so getting two of them is really good!

   We have also been doing some baby/child sitting and visiting with friends.  We have spent some extra time in the pool and yesterday we met some friends at a local park to swim and visit.  It was hot but the visiting was well worth it.  I can handle a lot of heat when I am visiting with good friends.  Ok, well I also had a quart jar of lemon ice water! 

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   Ok, you know it's bad when I couldn't even get this posted three days ago!!  LOL  Before I could finish this posting I was interrupted over and over!  I also ended up processing more green beans and baby sitting my sweet little nephew for a couple hours.  We ended up going to a BBQ (BaByQ) baby shower for Jeremiah's cousin and his wife. 

   It has continued to stay hot and humid here. Today there is a higher chance of thunderstorms.  We are planning on going to Jeremiah's parents for a cook out and swimming this afternoon. His sister is coming up so hopefully the weather will cooperate.  :-)   

   So now since I have a minute I will post this before the next pressing item pops up! I hope everyone is having a great summer.