Winter Photos

   I looked at the date that I last posted...February 2!!  Yikes!  An entire month has gone by.  Each day has been full for us though.  It has also been a month of sickness for us.  Sore throats, plugged ears, stuffy heads... Ack! I'm so tired of all of it.  At the moment, Ryder is dealing with a sore throat and stuffy head and I have plugged ears.  I am happy that it isn't flu-like stuff though. 

   An update on my stomach issues if anyone is interested...  :-)   I am still not able to eat gluten or eggs (I can eat eggs baked in something just not plain).  Gluten foods give me heartburn and a very bloated stomach. I also just feel plain old icky if I eat gluten.  I am able to eat some cheese now but I don't want to overdo it. I have lost my cravings for desserts and sweets- which is a good thing for me.  I also don't care much for bread.  However, I do not make my own bread anymore because I could not avoid eating that!  Homemade bread fresh from the oven is divine!  I don't even use sugar in my tea anymore!!!!  Yeah...no sugar...I do use some honey though.  That's it for my sugar fix! 

   I had promised to post some of the photos that Madi and I took on her way to work during the last big storm.  I thought about posting them frequently but when those thoughts arrived it was beautiful and sunny outside and I didn't want to think about snow! Plus, I took so many pictures (500-serious) and Madi narrowed it down to 25.  I have to decide which ones I want to post.  I really don't want to post 25 pictures! :-)   So without further ado...

Blackberries and Huckleberries

   The kids and I went berry picking recently.  Madilynne wasn't excited to go pick at first but once we started picking, her whole attitude changed for the better.  She really enjoyed picking.  Ryder was ready to jump into picking as soon as I mentioned it.  I think his belly and taste buds were a factor in that.

 

   The blackberries and huckleberries are ripe and ready to pick in our area.  If you aren't familiar with huckleberries they are small, dark blue berries that are really sweet.  I thought I would share some pictures of the berries we actually brought home and what was left since we ate most of them right off the bushes!

When we brought them home, Ryder started to eat them by the handful.  I am happy that he enjoys the berries as they are very nutritious.  These are all the berries I had left to freeze

 

This picture shows the huckleberries.  They are roughly the size of a pea and look similar to a blueberry. I think they are awesome frozen!

 

These are the frozen blackberries.  If Ryder doesn't finish them off they will be delicious in a smoothie. 

 

We stayed on the look out at all times because bears like blackberries and huckleberries also.  We saw some bear paw prints but no bears! We were kind enough to leave many berries for the bears, deer and turkeys to nibble on too!  I think they would thank us- if they could!

Vivid Rainbow

 

 I had to share some pictures with you. 

 

 The colors of this rainbow were so vivid and vibrant!

 

Beautiful! 

 

 

 

We could look out our front windows to see it.



   It was a double rainbow.

I wasn't looking too carefully when I took this picture because I got the power lines in it!  

The second rainbow's colors are in reverse order of the first, brighter one.

 

These pictures aren't the best but I hope you can see what I think is one of God's most awesome sights!  I love to see them!

 



Childhood Memory -Lady the Milk Cow

   I was taking a stroll down memory lane trying to remember different parts of my childhood that my kids aren't going to experience.  There are differences but there are also similarities like raising chickens and having a large yard to play in.  I had a good childhood but we weren't exactly in the higher income spectrum...
 
We weren't "poor" but extra income wasn't there.
 
Our needs were met but we didn't live a life of extras.
 
   I know that my parents did the best they could but vacations for us weren't like they were for my childhood friends. Dinner was made from scratch and eating out at a restaurant was almost unheard of (!) however it was all good! I had a great childhood with a balanced mix of work and play and knew that I was loved- THAT is what is important.
   We lived on what I would call a "farm-ette"...I don't think that is even a word. :-) My parents raised or grew a lot of our food.  We had a huge garden, grape arbor and fruit trees so my mom canned, juiced, jellied or froze much of the produce. We also raised much of our meat. We were a family of 5 (my parents, my two brothers and me) and as many of you know, kids seem to drink a lot of milk. Since we already had several other animals my dad felt that it would be a good idea to get a milk cow.
   He came home one day with a small, gentle, brown cow. Her name was Lady and she was a Jersey. She wasn't easily spooked and that was good with 3 kids in and out of the small barn.  She would look at us with her big, brown eyes like she knew her milk was helping us to grow healthy and strong. I was probably about 7 or 8 years old and could help a bit with the milking but my dad usually did it while I was helping mom with my little brothers.  I can remember him bringing the big milk pail into the kitchen and mom had a stainless steel filter/strainer that he would dump the milk into. I can remember standing on a chair watching the creamy liquid slowly flow through into another container. 
   Mom would take the milk and put it in the fridge. After it cooled and separated she would skim the cream off the top with a spoon that she had bent into a ladle. She used the cream to make butter!  Oh my! was that good on a piece of homemade bread fresh out of the oven! 
   I make bread and I have even made butter so Madilynne and Ryder have experienced that.  We currently have cows on the farm but we don't milk them.  They are here to keep the grass down and fertilize it as they go.  I am not exactly sure how long we had Lady or what ever happened to her but I do remember her being a big part of our food supply for a while.

Jersey Cows

  

 

It's that time of the year!  The fields are getting lush and green!  We need our "lawnmowers" again for the annual trimming.

   We know a local farmer who needs extra fields for his cows to graze on grass from Spring to Fall.

 

   The cows are so nice and gentle.  Some of them have bells on that ring so we know where they are.  There are only 9 of them but they will clean up the fields.

 

  I personally think that it is very peaceful to sit on the porch and watch them when they are directly across from the house.

  

Lilacs

  

 

   Lilacs are probably my number one favorite spring flower.

 



 I love their colors and scent.  We have a white lilac and a light purple lilac bush. The light purple is my favorite.



 

Yesterday, Jeremiah and I were in the yard and I decided to pick a bouquet of them. I brought them into the house and placed them in a pint mason jar. 

 

   The kitchen is filled with the light scent of lilacs.