Where is the Johnson Family today?

   Hi All. It has been almost an entire year since I last posted on here. I have decided to do a final post.  I figure most of my previous readers no longer read this blog so, that being said, I feel I need to finalize this part of our family. 
 
   First let me tell you that I used variations of our names when I started this blog. My kids were younger and I felt like I needed to protect them at that time. I want to fill you in on that.

    Jeremiah is actually Jeremy (He always wished he was named Jeremiah)
    SunnyKaye is actually Sonya (Sunny was a nickname from high school and my middle name is Kay)
    Madilynne is actually Paige Madison (She named herself here. She wished her middle name was Madilynne)
    Ryder is actually Nathan Ryder (He chose his middle name)
    Johnson is our real last name

   
    Jeremy and I have been together for 27 years now.  We will celebrate our 22nd wedding anniversary in December.  Paige has graduated from our homeschool and is attending college.  Nathan is in 11th grade of our homeschool.   

   I have an Instagram account that you are welcome to follow.  I do update that much more often.  IG is easier for me to keep up with.  I am sovojo on there.   Leave a message that you were a Pines reader!  Hope to see you there. 

   I have enjoyed my time on here and maybe one day I'll come back to Pines but for now, I'm going to stop and not have guilt. Thank you for reading our family blog and I have enjoyed this part of our journey.

From My Front Porch/Bits and Pieces

  We are at the end of December! The Johnson family has been enjoying the last days of 2017.  Jeremiah has been home on vacation. Yay! It's always enjoyable when he is home. ☺

   Our Christmas was easy this year.  We spaced out all the running around.  We went to my mom's on the 23rd.  We hosted Christmas Eve dinner here and then went to Jeremiah's parents on the 25th.  That day was a little out of sorts due to scheduling conflicts with his siblings.  We had decided to have a family dinner this weekend so that we could all get together at the same time but several people from each family was sick!  Mostly head cold type issues but I definitely do not want it so I was happy to cancel! We will try again next weekend.

   We are experiencing a lot of the bitter cold and snow that is mentioned in the news.  We have about 6 inches of fresh snow. I'm not sure how many inches were there before and it is still snowing.  Jeremiah and Ryder are excited and they have been on the snowmobiles a lot. The township hasn't plowed our road much but Madi made it to work without issues...Oh, except she forgot her glasses!!! Jerm and I ran them down to her. Here are a few photos from the front porch. It is 14* outside as I type this!

   I tried a new recipe...they were called Sprinkle Cookies.  I like happy cookies and enjoy making them. I think these cookies are pretty but I am not sure that I will make them again.  They weren't winners with everyone in the family. 

   
   Madi got me a pair of slippers for Christmas.  Little lamb slippers! Meep!  I love them.  They are so soft and warm.  I need them when the temps aren't above 20 degrees!!!  Jeremiah said that 20* was a warm spell for us!

    I hope everyone reading this has a Blessed New Year!  Lots of love from the Johnson's in 2018!  I'm excited to see the Lord's blessings this coming year!  

My Favorite Appliances and Updates

   I can't believe that tomorrow is D.E.C.E.M.B.E.R.!!  Really?? Time has been buzzing by.  We had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. We spent a lot of time with family and did very little shopping!  Jeremiah, the kids and I ran out and got a few items like bird seed, bird suet and then ran to Wal-Mart and got Christmas cards, a calendar and the boys picked up some hunting supplies.  Madi got a few little items she wanted but nothing we got were Black Friday special items. 

   Jerm and the kids have been battling some head colds.  Nothing serious but tissue use has been up!  :-)  Jeremiah was able to go to work but Madi had to call in sick on Monday.  I have been drinking lots of water and staying consistent with my vitamins and so far I haven't gotten sick.  I have two diffusers and I have been diffusing essential oils.  I ordered another one on Monday because I didn't have enough for each of our bedrooms.  I diffused two different kinds of oils.  One was for respiratory and the other blend was to boost the immune system and fight off the germs.  I also put some lavender in to help with sleeping.  I also put the oils on the bottoms of the their feet and behind their ears.  I'm not going to say it "cured" them but it helped their symptoms.

 

   Since everyone has been feeling icky I have decided to stick with easy foods. One of my favorite appliances is my crockpot.  I have quite a few of them.  I'm thinking like 7/8 or so- maybe a few more.  I really don't know. I like how easy it is to throw some simple ingredients in it and let it cook!  I end up with a healthy dish to serve and I know what ingredients are in there. I use my crockpots for soups, stews, whole chickens, roasts, meat and to keep foods warm like pasta dishes.  I think the crockpot is pretty versatile so I try to use it often.

   I use my bread machine weekly also.  I make my own pizza dough and we eat pizza frequently.  I prefer homemade pizza to store bought or the local pizza shops.  As you can see in the picture I also use it for bread.  I have a bread recipe that I found online years and years ago.  I made quite a few changes to that original recipe until I finally got one my family likes.  The kids can eat half a loaf as soon as it's cool enough to slice.  Ryder likes butter and strawberry jam on his slices, Madi likes butter (the one and only time she likes butter) and I will occasionally eat mine with butter and honey, otherwise just butter. 
   
   I need to get some stuff ready for tomorrow and finish loading the dishwasher. I had to let the crockpot cool and the insert will go into the dishwasher and the leftovers need to go into the fridge.  I will have some leftover chicken to make into something for lunches for tomorrow.  Have a great evening!  

 

 

 

  

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!  😊

  

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!

Random Thoughts and Updates

   It has been a quite awhile since I visited the blog.  I wasn't trying to avoid posting or writing but I was just plain ol' busy.  I decided that I wasn't going to push to get something written even though I have been very aware of the time that passed. 

   We are currently experiencing some warmer weather but not hot.  It has been in the lower 60's and I can definitely handle that. I am usually not in a hurry to rush warmer temperatures but this year has been different and I am (im)patiently waiting for warmer weather.  I am ready to get back to shorts and t-shirts. 

   Madi brought this little kitty home from the store about 2-3 weeks ago.  Someone dropped off/abandoned this little kitty and she was bones covered with skin. The poor little thing broke Madi's heart and she called me to ask permission to bring her home and try to nurse her back to health.  Madi named her Buffy and she is thriving and growing like crazy.  She feels like silk- so smooth.  Buffy is such a sweet and loving kitty.  She is a cuddle kitty too. She loves to nap and snuggle right by you. 

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   Ryder celebrated a birthday recently and he made it easy on me.  We met with family at a little local eatery about 5 minutes away and then returned home for cake, ice cream and gifts.  I only had to clean and make two cakes.  He wanted a Funfetti cake and a butter cake with chocolate icing.  He asked my mom to make him a pineapple upside down cake also.  I told him that I could make that cake but he said that Gam's cake tastes better!  I had to laugh because I learned how to make the cake from her and make it exactly like she does.  Oh well, it saved me the work and the cake did taste awesome! (I did take a small bite and it didn't hurt my stomach.) My mama does make a good pineapple upside down cake!

   One of the gifts Ryder received for his birthday was a drum set.... Yes, a drum set and Jeremiah and I were the ones to give it too him.  I have regretted that decision several times already BUT since he has been playing them and Madi will play them while he plays his electric guitar it is starting to sound so much better and not just banging.  I am quite impressed by how quickly they have both picked up playing them.  It will actually sound pretty good with some more practice. 

   We have not been parents to shy away from giving our kids musical instruments like recorders and flutes or xylophones and toy drums when they were little.  I have always felt that music was good for brain development.  Both of the kids were introduced to classical music at birth.  Madilynne doesn't care much for classical music now but Ryder still enjoys it and will occasionally listen to it before bed.  Jerm played guitar for both kids all the time and later he encouraged them to strum guitar along with him once they were old enough to follow simple instruction- around a year old or so.  We also sang a lot to them when they were little. 

   Our kids enjoy playing acoustic and electric guitar, ukulele, keyboard, harmonica, violin and now drums.  They both started formal instruction on violin and branched out from there on their own.  They are self-taught on the remaining instruments for the most part.  They received some instruction on guitar from some family members but not much.  I probably couldn't afford lessons anymore!  LOL  I'm glad they have a good base knowledge of music to teach themselves. 

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   As for my digestive issues... I have been doing really good in watching what I eat but I have sampled some foods that contained gluten.  I have only experienced a bellyache once but that was because I knowingly ate more than I should have.  I have found that if I only sample something it is ok but more than that isn't good for me.  I am hoping that I am getting better because I wasn't able to sample before without getting sick.  I just need more time. 

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   I have been clearing away a lot of junk and clutter from our home lately.  I am gearing up to do some Spring cleaning soon and I need to get rid of the "stuff" first.  I feel so much better getting rid of it.  It just took up space and made everything look messy.  Much to my surprise, a lot of the clutter was truly junk that just needed pitched.

   Well, I figure that's enough stuff to write about until the next time... Have a blessed day!
 

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...

Family Dinner!

   For those of you who have been following the updates on our Christmas present decision to have a family experience instead of gifts; here is the update. Since my brother-in-law is still dealing with the blood clot issue in his leg, we decided to do a family dinner.  We went to a little restaurant that has been around a long time but none of us have eaten there before. 

   We had a very enjoyable evening but since our family is getting bigger we were seated at a long table and it was slightly difficult to converse with everyone.  We had planned on going bowling after dinner but Jeremiah's work schedule changed and we needed to cancel going bowling.  We have decided that we would go bowling another time instead. Yay! I am not sure when we will do that though.

   I will say that the family dinner was much better than doing the family gifts.  We talked and laughed and made memories for ourselves and the kids.  I personally think that these type of evenings are better than having stuff sitting around our house.  I appreciate the creative gifts (honestly) but memories will last a lifetime.  We are all getting older and it is better to spend time together.

   As for the restaurant itself...  It isn't a place that I would recommend going to eat.  It has a casual atmosphere and our family didn't have to worry about noise or anything like that but the food wasn't the best.  I would say that half of the family liked their food and the other half was on the it's only ok side. Madi and my father-in-law ordered the same dish- hot roast beef and fries with gravy-they both said it was lukewarm and didn't taste good. I felt bad for Madi as she has recently started to try eating meat again and received an icky dish.  Boo... I had ordered a chef salad and it was huge and good. Jeremiah and Ryder each ordered a Philly Cheesesteak sandwich and fries and they were in the it's ok group. The portion sizes were giant but the taste just wasn't there.  Quality vs. Quantity-  Quality lost.  Those that ordered steaks and ribs said their orders were good.  My mother-in-law ordered some sort of pasta and shrimp dish and she said it was good also.   

 

Giant Nacho Plate!!



   Jeremiah ordered a plate of nachos and it was giant!  We passed the plate around the table several times and it never seemed to get smaller!  HaHa.  Madi snapped this picture of it (the only picture of the evening-my apologies)  You can see how small her thumb looks.  This was taken after the first pass around!  :-)  There was also an order of cheese sticks, jalapeño peppers and an onion blossom going around the table too. I didn't try any of those but was told they were really tasty. 

 

   Overall, the dinner was a huge success (in my mind) even if the food wasn't great.  The company was and that is all that mattered! Take the time to spend with family and friends if you have the chance and make some memories!

 

   Be blessed! 

I've Been Under the Weather Lately!

   Hi All!  It has been quite a long time since I updated.  As you can probably guess from the title, I have not been feeling well.  I got that blasted stomach bug that was going around our area right after first of the year.  I would guess that it was around the 3rd of January.  I had that awful sickness for 6 days.  Jeremiah and Ryder had it prior to me but it was about a 3 day virus.  I wasn't so fortunate.  Madilynne was able to avoid getting it.  I am happy she didn't experience it.  

    However, this virus was so intense for me that everything- and I mean everything- I ate gave me a terrible upset stomach with lots of pain. Madi and I started keeping a food log about what I was eating and what caused pain.  Well, Madi (aka The Food Warden) has been keeping a tight rein on what I am eating.  I am not a person who has a lot of will power otherwise I would be skinny and super fit so she is helping me make wise food choices!  ;-)  We figured out that anything with eggs, dairy, nuts and wheat were causing me issues.  I made some major changes to my diet and cut all those foods out. It seemed like I only had 5 things I could eat but I was feeling so much better.  I started taking a good probiotic and kept my eating to a minimal. OH HOW I WANTED A PIECE OF CHEESE!!!!  I like cheese almost as much as my tea.  I think not having cheese was the worst possible part of it.

   Madi and I quickly figured out a new eating plan for me focusing on what I could eat and not what I couldn't eat.  That made the process much easier.  I really wanted cheese and something chocolate.  I am not a big chocolate eater so that was surprising to me.  We went for groceries and I got a gluten-free brownie mix at Aldi's. Oh my gosh, it was so good!  The rest of the family even thought it was good.  I got over the chocolate craving and all has been good.  Madi and I have slowly introduced trigger foods back into my diet.  Nuts were the first thing to bring back without any issues. Then I really wanted cheese so I decided that if I only ate one piece of cheese or some shredded cheese on my salads I would be ok.  We tried it and I can only handle a little bit of cheese.  I don't drink any milk or anything like that.  I save the dairy for my cheese!  LOL  Eggs... well eggs are still not something I can eat.  I can handle them baked into something like the brownie but I can't eat them plain, like scrambled or an omelet.  Next is wheat/gluten...that is still a no go. I don't have any major pain if I eat something that I didn't realize has gluten in but my stomach gets upset. 

   I am hoping with a controlled diet, taking probiotics and eating some fermented foods that I will get this under control and get back to eating normally again.  I can say that I do feel better eating a better diet and not so much in the grain/bread/pasta group so that is a good thing!

   As for the rest of life, we went to visit a new creamery that opened recently for lunch.  We met my mom and step-dad, my nephew and his momma there.  Our homeschool group is going to tour the cheese making part of it next week but the idea to meet for lunch came up and we jumped on it.  It was so much fun to eat somewhere new.  I had some yummy food choices so that made it much better.  I got a chicken salad with a delicious ranch dressing.  Oh boy was it good!  The focus of the foods is to eat local, Farm to Table style. They had the local farms listed and I recognized three of the five farms.  I think that it is great that they are supporting our local community farmers.  They also had a gift shop that had some items made locally.  The prices weren't extremely high either.  Usually those kind of places have a high price point but honestly I didn't think it was too bad. I didn't feel like it broke the bank to eat there and we will definitely go back. Examples: my chicken salad was $5.50 and it was a nice sized salad. The Philly Cheese Wrap and homemade chips was $7.50 and the Cheeseburger and homemade chips was also $5.50.  I think I have those prices right.... Not a bad price overall. I can't remember the cost of the drinks though.  Madi ordered some fried cheese curds and they were pricier around $7 for the order but she really liked them.   

   Our extended family was supposed to go snow tubing as a family experience instead of Christmas gifts last Saturday.  My brother-in-law developed a blood clot in his calf muscle and as a result can't do anything physical like tubing for several weeks.  We decided to change plans and just go out to dinner.  What good is it to have a family experience and not have the whole family?  Dinner was scheduled and then my B-I-L got sick. He and his wife decided to stay home.  Dinner is now rescheduled for this Saturday!  HaHa  I personally don't mind changing the schedule because my stomach issues are getting better so I have more food choices now.  Jeremiah's family is pretty close so it's not like we won't do something else at a later date.  The restaurant that was chosen is also new to us.  I think only two family members have eaten there before so it will be another fun experience. 

   Well, I will wrap up today's post since this is getting pretty long.  I could have done this post in several different ones but I just wanted to get it typed up.  I hope it wasn't too long for you. Have a blessed day!

Homeschool Program!

   Last night we held our annual Christmas program for our homeschool group. It is always so much fun.  It is our own version of a talent show, if you want to call it that.  We have kids who play instruments, sing beautifully, dance, do stand up comedy, drama, art work, etc. 

  I am always impressed by our kids.  Last nights show was did not disappoint.  Ryder helped the younger kids with a song they sang about patience.  Madilynne was in a drama, played  Carol of the Bells on kazoo with 7 other teens, and sang and played guitar for Mary Did You Know? Ryder isn't one to be on stage.  He prefers behind the scenes type activities or black light puppetry where he isn't seen.  Madi on the other hand, LOVES front and center stage.  My job was to run the lights for the drama. 

   The fun continues after the program as we enjoy snacks and a time of fellowship.  I like to visit with everyone and we usually have some folks visit who once attended our group or friends and family that come to see the kids.  I have made so many dear friends throughout the years because of our group. 

   The only drawback to these evenings....CLEAN UP!  Oh how I dread clean up.  We need to vacuum the entire church, clean up the kitchen and put all the tables back and reset the classrooms, red up the bathrooms and turn the lights off.  Many hands make light work but it is still work.  As is the norm for us, we were in the pack of the usual three to four families to leave. We were able to get out a bit earlier than normal though... 10:30 pm.   In the past it has been 11-11:30 pm. I am used to it though. We have been part of the clean up for many, many years.  My kids know that we will in the crew that locks the doors!  Now that I think about it, we are also there to open the doors!  LOL

   I don't mind really as these clean up times also have good memories in them for Jeremiah, me and both kids.  I can't tell you have many years Jerm and another one of the dads have run the vacuums so the moms can clean other areas.  The teens are a huge help in putting away tables and resetting the classroom areas. 

   It is a fun evening but I am glad it is over.  We will repeat everything again in the Spring! I will dread the clean up but do it anyhow!  As my kids are getting older I don't have many more of these functions to look forward to but I plan on savoring each and every one! 

Update, Again!

   I think that I stated a while back that I was going to do better posting.  Umm...Well, that didn't happen!  I have been too busy living life instead of blogging.  I figured that today would be a good day to update you on what has been happening here.  

   Ryder and I were under the weather last week.  He had a sore throat and head cold and I had a stuffy head.  I wasn't really sick, sick- just icky sick. I was also really tired.  Everything I did wore me out. Ryder was much worse than I was.  He spent much of his week on the couch or in bed.  He wasn't even upset that he didn't get to go to homeschool group that week so I knew he was still sick.  He is still a bit clogged in the head but doing much better.  Madi went to work this morning but she told me that her throat was a bit sore.  I told her to call me if she needed to leave work early.  She has a really nice boss and manager at her store so if she needs to leave there shouldn't be a problem. Jeremiah has been able to stay clear of the crud.

   We went to a Thanksgiving dinner for my side of the family last Saturday.  My mom hosted it and she kept it pretty small this year but we have enough leftovers to go home with each of us.  She made everything but I brought the rolls. Mom only had us, my brother C and his family and my uncle and friend K. My brother J lives in FL and didn't make it home. We enjoyed getting to visit and it was just a nice family meal.  One more reason to be thankful.  On Thanksgiving day, we went to Jeremiah's parent's house.  I took candied carrots, that we canned this year, and coleslaw.  They host all Jeremiah's extended family.  It is a large, noisy affair with lots and lots of food.  You never get the time back so we enjoy all the time we get to spend with our families.

   Madi really, really wanted to go Black Friday shopping so I broke down and went with her.  One positive thing is; Madi isn't a morning person so she had no interest in getting up at O dark-thirty to go. I have not gone Black Friday shopping in years.  I used to take both kids when they were babies with me to shop because Jerm was working. We had a good time shopping. A couple of those years when the kids were babies in diapers and really little my father-in-law even went with us to help out.  Those are precious memories that we will never forget so even though I didn't want to go shopping I went and it made my daughter extremely happy.  Another day of memory making!

  After Black Friday shopping it is a tradition to go to my in-laws again for another supper. My mother-in-law always makes turkey pot-pies with the leftover turkey and some of the left over veggies.  We eat up most of the leftovers and bring some new dishes to feed everyone again.  I decided to take a big crockpot full of baked potatoes and a container of sour cream along with the left over coleslaw.

   Speaking of memories...  This is just a weird thought that I had last week.  Madi and I were in the car going somewhere, I can't remember where but, I was driving and went to change the radio station.  When I looked at my hand I could have sworn it was my mom's or grandma's (mom's mom) hand and not mine!  Isn't that crazy?  Grandma has been gone for many years now but my memories of her are still clear. OK, so really my hand isn't as wrinkly yet but the shape and just the movement caused me to picture one of their hands. I should state that Mom's hand isn't really wrinkly yet either but still... I shared it with Madi who put her hand out with mine and was rather appalled that her lovely, young hands would one day end up with age spots and wrinkles!   HAHA!

   Since we have been doing a lot of running lately, you know that the laundry has fallen behind.  Yep, Mt. Laundry has peaked.  I am remedying that today.  I have two loads washed and on the line to dry.  Jeremiah has furnace fire going so it shouldn't be long for them to dry and I will start another load.  While Madi and I were shopping yesterday, Jerm sent me a picture of a cleaned up kitchen. He and Ryder cleaned the house while we were out.  What wonderful guys.  Jerm said that he didn't think I wanted to come home from shopping all day to tackle the mess from the previous day.  So sweet of him!   

  Well, that's all the time I am going to take today to post.  Hope everyone is having a blessed day. 

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! 

Honey!

   I finally finished the honey!  I ended up with 13 quarts.  :-)   I am pretty happy with the end results!  My dad is the beekeeper.  I only help with the harvest.  ****Now before I continue I will tell you that we are novice beekeepers.  We do not do everything correctly. I can not endorse the way we harvest the honey.  It works for us but I can't state that this is the safest or correct way.****   

 

This year my dad and I decided to try a different approach to harvesting. We have tried several different methods in the past couple years but we struggled with those ways- me more than my dad. Since we thought we should think outside the box my dad decided that we should try to scrape the honey combs off of each section. 

 

 

This was a great idea!  It made much easier work for us- me especially with the filtering process.

 

The only drawback to this method is I was keeping the combs away from me so the honey would only drip onto the table and not make a mess on the floor.  Some of those combs were really heavy and stretched my abdomen muscles...hence I was pretty sore for a couple days! Ack!

 

I filled two nice sized bowls with honey and the wax. 

 

 

If you notice the plate and fork in the upper right hand corner- Ryder was making a quick snack of the honey and wax.  He said that this batch was one of the best harvests ever! :-)

 

I filter the honey through cheesecloth and a stainless steel strainer into a glass bowl.

 

This is some of the filtered honey.  All that is left is wax.  My dad took the wax back up to the bees.  We are experimenting to see if they will reuse the wax and take the leftover honey.

 

I put the filtered honey into clean Mason jars. I used a couple little jars that I recycled in case we need to give some away.  I don't worry about those jars being returned.

 

You can see the difference in colors if you look closely. The darker honey is clover and the more bright yellow honey is goldenrod.

 

Sorry about all the clutter in the pictures.  Ryder was helping me take photos and I just didn't want to take the time to make everything look all tidy!  LOL

 

 

From My Front Porch- October

   We have entered into Autumn.  The temperatures have turned much cooler and we have removed air conditioners in favor of the furnace!  For the last several days we have been getting plenty of rain.  I am happy about it because I think our spring could really use it.  It has been raining here since Thursday evening, if I am remembering correctly.  LOL  Days have been running together lately.  I have been a bit under the weather recently due to some pulled abdomen muscles.  I was working on honey and the combs are heavy when they are full and I was holding them away from my body.  I will post more on that later as I am pretty much back to normal now. 

 

   As you can see from the pictures, the sky is one big cloud!  No sunshine in sight.  If you can make the photos bigger you can see that the leaves are starting to change colors.  Fall is spectacular around here!  

 

   In this photo you can see where the grass is dry and in need of a good watering!  There is also a bit of goldenrod across the road.  The bees are visiting the goldenrod and the clover that remain in the fields.

 

   This photo isn't from the front porch but...  It is of our rain gauge that shows we have been getting a bit of rain.  Not as much as some areas but enough to fill our streams back up.  Most of the creeks and rivers around here were low.

   As I read over this before publishing, I noticed that I referred to the season as Autumn and Fall....  Hum, I am not quite sure what I refer to usually.  Do you call it Autumn or Fall? 

 

Happy Fall Y'all! 

 

or

 

Autumn's Blessings! 

  

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~



We Have Eggs!

   It was an exciting day when Madilynne went to feed the chickens and found an egg!  We were pretty close to doing a happy dance- ok, well one us might have!  LOL  We've waited so long for them to get mature enough to start laying that it was exciting!  We got the chicks in April and Madi found the first egg about two weeks ago. They have slowly started to lay.  At the moment we are getting about 7 small eggs a day.  It takes about two eggs to equal one large egg until they get a little bit older. 

 

I prefer to wash our eggs quickly in lukewarm water.  There is much debate over the proper way to clean them but for my own sanity and just plain cleanliness I prefer a gentle wash, dry, then into the fridge.  Jeremiah and Madi keep fresh straw in the nesting boxes so they really aren't dirty to begin with.  The eggs have a clear seal on them called bloom from the chicken and it keeps the shells sealed from germs and bacteria.

 

I tried to take several different pictures so I could show you the different shades of brown our eggs are.  I am thinking that the darker brown eggs may actually get a bit darker as they mature. 

 

Ryder told me that I was spending way to much time taking pictures of eggs.  :-)

 

He may have been a little bit correct but I thought that you may want to see a couple different pictures.

 

I took two pictures holding different eggs.  The smaller eggs are from the newest layers and the larger egg is from the early layers.

 

I thought that this photo may also show you the color differences.  The first egg is probably the lightest shell and the smaller on is on the darkest side. 

 

I didn't really think about it until now, but all the eggs are brown or tan.  We don't have any white egg layers.  It doesn't really matter to me but I do like the variations in color.  A couple different people told me that the brown eggs are more flavorful. I personally am not sure about that claim because I think they are all equally good. Oh well, maybe next time we will get some white layers!  Next time! What am I thinking?  I thought it was crazy to get 10 chicks to begin with!  HaHa! I do enjoy watching the hens.

 

Now to start finding some more good egg recipes.  Madi likes eggs so she has been eating a lot of them lately. Jeremiah enjoyed the Freezer Breakfast Burritos too!

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.