First Snow of 2017

  Last night we received our first snowfall.  When we got up this morning our little forest was covered in the fluffy, white stuff.  The sun hadn't come out yet and the world still had the dark, forlorn look from the storm. 

   The wind picked up and blew some of the remaining leaves from the trees all around.  I didn't think to take a picture this morning to document the first snow.  I just looked at it and enjoyed it from inside. 

   Both kids went out and enjoyed it.  They rode the golf cart and 4-Wheeler around in the snow.  It wasn't much but they enjoyed the little bit we got.  There is more to come! 

   As I write this; the wind is gusting around 40-50 mph. The sun is on "full shine" 😊 and the snow has pretty much melted.  The temp went from the 30's last night to the mid 40's. 

   I had been using the oil furnace to keep the house warm but this morning called for a wood fire.  I started a fire and the house is toasty warm again. 

   I decided that I needed to put something in the crockpot to give the house a savory smell.  I put chicken breasts in with some small, whole potatoes, corn and some seasonings.  I have some homemade bread to go with it also.  I may make another side dish and/or serve it with some red beets.  Depends on what we want to eat tonight.

  I used to menu plan on a regular basis.  I found that I didn't want to eat what I had scheduled for that day.  I decided to just have a list of foods handy that we all like and could be make rather quickly.  This system seems to work best for us.  I keep the freezer and cabinets stocked with all the basic items I need to make those meals.  This is the way my mom cooks so I guess I'm just used to that style.  Plus, I don't do so well following recipes.  I like to change things up and add in leftovers.

   That's it for now.  I started this post to talk about the first snowfall and ended up on a rabbit trail that has me talking about menu planning!  Oh, this will make Madi happy when she reads it.  She says that I write like I talk and apparently, I don't stay on subject!  HaHa!

   Have a blessed day and enjoy the weather you are receiving today! If you don't want to enjoy the weather, make a menu!  😊

  

Pumpkin?? Fall Only??

   Are you a person who only craves pumpkin in the Fall?  I enjoy pumpkin all year long. I have a pumpkin sheet cake recipe that is so good you have to eat it whenever you want, no matter what season it is!  I understand the whole eat in season thing but I don't care when there is canned pumpkin on the shelf!

   Jeremiah requested pumpkin gobs back in the middle of summer.  I made two batches of those gobs!  They ate it them so quick that I only got two out of both batches.  I found that recipe when the kids were little and I wanted a recipe to supplement our Thanksgiving studies.  They were called Pilgrim Pies and I couldn't pass that up. Perfect!

   Since I am a person who can eat pumpkin any time I am all about eating Aldi's Pumpkin Tortilla Chips!  Oh! My! Gosh!  They are so, so good!  I could eat them anytime.  I got this bag two weeks ago and I ate almost every single chip myself!  I don't even feel slightly guilty about eating all of them either. I wish they had them more often than in the Fall but I will get them when I can. 
 

   Do you like these chips?  Have you ever tried them?  I hope I'm not the only one. 

 

 

From My Front Porch

I haven't posted a Front Porch post in a bit.  I feel like its kinda like a repeat from last year but... here it goes!  ;-)

 

 

 The leaves have stared to turn.  I took these pictures last week so the leaves have changed a bit more since then.

 

A local farmer made some round bales this year.  I snapped this picture late in the evening to capture bales and I am so glad I did. 

 

 

The farmer came back early the next morning to load them up and haul them to his farm.  I tried to get a couple pictures of that but I was facing the rising sun and it was just too bright to get a good photo.  They used a red and blue twine this year to secure the hay.  I like it.  It matches my house!  :-) 

 

Well, that about sums it up for today. Have a great day!

Where, oh where has the Johnson Family been?

   Oh boy!  Have we been busy.  Crazy days for us.  I'm not sure when I posted last but we started school for the new year in August.  I was really sad about the thought of starting this year because it is the last year of homeschooling for Madilynne. However, I am enjoying this year because when you have older kids you can really have some good discussions about the topics they are studying. They have some really good thoughts and sometimes challenge my thinking! 



View of VA Beach from our room balcony.

   We have been traveling a lot lately also.  As much as I like getting on the road and being together making memories, I am so glad the traveling is done.  The last trip was to Virginia Beach, Virginia.  I loved the trip even though I am not a huge water fan.  I loved waking up every morning to seeing the ocean, the surfers and dolphins while drinking my tea!  I was really surprised at how well Madi and Ryder got along.  When you have two teens, well, they can kind of get on each others last nerve.  Both kids were awesome to travel with....most of the time!  ;-)  The trip to the beach took us 7 hours to drive to.  That's a long time in the car.   

   We were at the beach while Hurricane Irma was bearing down on FL.  My brother J lives in FL and he hightailed it out to safety in NC.  I am so glad that he was safe and as far I know right now, his home didn't sustain any damage. 

   I have been busy getting the produce from the garden canned for the last month.  Our garden gave a lot of produce but the wildlife around here ate their fair share this year.  I was able to can several batches of salsa and some jars of green beans.  I froze some zucchini and green peppers too. I bought some carrots and my mom helped me can 29 quarts today.  That was a lot of chopping!  Jeremiah grew two nice pumpkins.  He brought them to the front porch to use as fall decorations. 

   Speaking of fall... some of the trees are starting to show their colors!  My dad has a saying that "The colored leaves are the flowers of fall." 

    I think that I will finish with that for the evening.  I hope to post more later! Blessings to you all!

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. Growing up, were you close to your grandparents? Tell us one or two specific things you remember about them. I was close to my grandmothers more than my grandfathers.  My mom was one of 12 kids so there were a lot of us grandkids running around.  I think there were 33 (?) grandkids.  My grandma always made us feel special though.  I went to visit my grandma before she passed of Alzheimer's and I was prepared for her to not know who I was.  I walked up to her bed and I greeted her and asked her if she knew who I was.  She looked me and said, "Yes, I know who you are.  How could I ever forget you?"  She proceeded to tell me who I was and different things about me.  I forgot about that day until I started to type this. Now I have tears streaming down my face so hard I can hardly see to type!  
On my dad's side; I never knew my biological grandfather as he passed several years before I was born.  I was close to my grandmother though.  She had Parkinson's disease and I helped my dad and uncle take care of her until she was too sick for us to take care of at home.  I spent a lot of my growing up years with her and my grandpa (her second husband).  I can remember one time when he took me fishing and I caught a brook trout and thought that it was the biggest fish of my life!  I don't think he got much fishing done that day! 

2. What's an item you were attached to as a child? What happened to it?  I don't think I was ever attached to any particular item.  I had several dolls that I played with though.  I kept those dolls and thought that Madi would like them when she was little...nope! She wasn't into my old dolls so they are currently in storage! :-)

3. When you look out your window, do you see the forest or the trees (literally and figuratively)? Explain.  I see a forest and trees!!!  I try to see the whole picture in things and I also know that in every situation there is two sides and the truth.  :-)   I also like to look for the light at the end of the tunnel!

4. Do you like sour candies? Which of the 'sour' foods listed below would you say is your favorite?

grapefruit, Greek yogurt, tart cherries, lemons, limes, sauerkraut, buttermilk, or kumquats 

Have you ever eaten a kumquat? What's your favorite dish containing one of the sour foods on the list?  I do not like sour candies!!!  Of the foods listed I will say lemons.  I really like a slice of lemon in my water.  I have tried kumquats before and I can't say that I particularly liked them.

5. July 1st marked the mid point of 2017. In fifteen words or less, tell us how it's going so far.  It has been a rollercoaster ride but I love it!

6. Insert your own random thought here.   My mom came over to visit yesterday afternoon and we flipped through some old photo albums I have.  I am so happy that I have those photos and not just pictures on a computer.  It has encouraged me to print off more and fill some more albums!  I am so excited to print more photos.  Am I the only one who likes to look at actual photos instead of digital ones? 

Peek Into My Life

   At church several weeks ago before starting his sermon one of our pastors announced that the church cleaning crew found a note where a lot of the teens sit. 

 

 He read, "If you keep staring at her, you'll go blind."

   I personally loved this!  My "romantic heart" thought this was so awesome.

 

 Teen boy smitten with the lovely teen girl... Ahhh....  

  
   When we arrived back home I teasingly asked Jeremiah if he ever stared at me while we were dating?

Jeremiah: Yep, all the time!

 

Me: All the time? You must not have stared enough because you aren't blind.

 

Jeremiah: I stared enough. I wear glasses now.  ~wink~

 

   Let me tell you, that was one of the sweetest things he could have said to me! Yes, it falls into cheesy but it melted my heart!  ~Dreamy Sigh~  

 

Flowers and the Garden

I went down to get the mail and I saw this pretty little flower right beside the driveway.  Not sure how it got there but it is pretty. 

 

 

The snowball bush is quite lovely this year. 

 

The red beets are doing really well.  There are also several tomato plants and onions planted in this garden.

 

The peas and tomatoes are doing great.

 

Onions and lettuce.  There is also kale, celery and broccoli in these rows. 

 

These are the vining plants. Cucumbers, pumpkins, spaghetti squash, zucchini and I think cantaloupe and a watermelon plant.

 

The zucchini are doing great.  There are 5 or 6 squash ready to eat.

 

Another view of the zucchini.

 

Broccoli!

 

Spaghetti squash and this one has several smaller squash coming on also.

 

Baby cucumbers! 

 

Our Grape arbor!

 

It's loaded with grapes again this year.