something old/something new

I'm thin, I'm thin, I'm finally thin.....

okay, I'm not, but this mirror kinda made me look l-o-n-g and thin. Here are some pictures taken on a recent field trip to the children’s museum.

Here are the girls hanging off one of the old cars (Big Miss, friend, and Little Miss)

I am in the hospital having a baby (Doctor Little Miss was wonderful!)

I love a puppet show!

Puppet show from the back....It WAS the girls!

The dentist said, "This won't hurt a bit".....AHHHH

Here Little Miss is inside a huge bubble (too cool!)

So many things to try....

Hurry, hurry, call the firetruck

Racing the skeleton

The kids loved trying out the special needs

Digging for dinosaur bones

Making a video

How's that wind there Sarah?

The castle maze

The train ride (did I mention it was REALLY windy?)

Never doubt that a 17 year old cannot have fun in a children’s museum!

Comfort or Character?

this might get long.....

first, please pray for the those in the earthquake in China. Being across the Straits from them, we get lots of news. It is heart breaking, really. We had an earthquake 24hours after that............in the middle of the night.........talk about freaky!!!

anyway, I am tired. i had a long day today and getting a headache. man, seems like the woes of pregnancy has hit me all at once! at 34week check up, dr said Anna Joy was still very breech. We go again on the 23rd and see. that will be about 36weeks.  anyway, we might have to have a c/section.................scheduled right now for June 12th. So, we'll see. I honestly am tired and exhausted with this pregnancy!!!

i haven't been doing alot cooking wise again.........getting lazy, just tired, really exhausted. I did plant flowers though:-) we are hoping to beautify the place, but then again, after baby comes, i won't keep up with it too much.

well, hope everyone is doing well.

Our school year is complete....

This morning I am feeling such a sense of pleasure. My children are still nestled in their beds. The house is quite. David is off at work. Standardized testing was completed on Wednesday. I even got to the post office yesterday to mail back our answer sheets. I started putting away books that I have finished with and rearranging the curriculum cupboard in the basement. All I have to finish doing is grading some math papers, and all of my record keeping will be complete as well. Then all I will have to do is write my reports that are required by the state.

We are all ready to be done. The children are excited about the change in their daily routine. I am excited about being able to get outside early and not have to wait until school is finished. I think this is why we start school at the beginning of August. We have done so for 2 years, and both years have been very good years for us.

I have a few more details to workout in my planning for next year's curriculum. Most of it has already been purchased. I decided to change Natalie's math curriculm from Rod and Staff to Christian Light Education. She has been working in Rod and Staff since 3rd grade and has just finished 6th grade, but she is just not doing well with the mastery learning approach. Although I am not an advocate of changing programs so late in the game, I believe it will be best for her if we do. So, that is another expense. The Lord will provide for our needs.

Have a great Friday...
Jennie

Friday!

Good Morning!

Weather here is still a bit dreary, but is still quite nice.  We have been productive in the house and have tried to stay home to keep from using gas! With prices jumping 12 cents in one evening it is hard to justify going out for much of anything... but today I must.  We like our milk and I need milk so I can make bread, so we must venture out today.  That and it is our annual Antique Alley down our towns main strip and far beyond... it is always great fun and I am getting ready to head that way now.  I don't plan on buying anything unless there is something TOO delicious that I can't pass it up. I wish you all the greatest of days and that this weekend will be terrific for you as well. 

My Cup Runneth Over...Chas

Rhubarb and Strawberry Pie (Diabetic)

Rhubarb and Strawberry Pie (Diabetic)

Since summer is almost here and it is time for strawberry and rhubarb, I wanted to send this recipe in. It is a Diabetic recipe and I know you do not get a lot of these and they are just as good made this way. Or you can make it like you normally would.

Ingredients

• 3 cups, cut in 1 inch pieces (or 1 pkg frozen unsweetened rhubarb, thawed and undrained)
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup flour
• 3 Tbsp. cornstarch
• 2 Tbsp. Lemon juice
• 3 cups sliced strawberries
• 12 1/2 tsp. Equal Measure or 40 packets Equal sweetener or 1 2/3 cups Equal spoonful
• 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

Directions

Use favorite recipe for pie crust for a 9 inch crust. Bake in pre heated oven as required by your recipe. Cool on wire rack.

For the whole pie to be baked, oven should be set at 350 degrees F. Add rhubarb into a large covered saucepan over medium heat until rhubarb releases liquid (about 5 minutes). Combine water, flour, cornstarch and lemon juice. Stir into rhubarb and heat to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered, stirring constantly until mixture is thickened and rhubarb is almost tender (3-5 minutes longer). Stir in strawberries and cook 2-3 minutes longer. Stir Equal and nutmeg into fruit mix.

Spoon into pie crust, spreading evenly. Bake in oven until bubbly about 40 minutes. Cover edge of crust with aluminum foil if browning too quickly. Cool on wire rack, serve warm. Enjoy!

Dietary exchange:

• 1-starch/Bread
• 1 Fruit
• 1 Fat

Grandma’s Blackberry Cobbler

Grandma’s Blackberry Cobbler

  Crust:

 1 Tbsp. granulated sugar

3/4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/3 cup shortening (she used lard)

1/2 cup buttermilk, (saved from making butter)

1-1/3 cups flour

Filling:

1-1/2 lb. blackberries

1-1/3 cups granulated sugar

3-1/2 Tbsp. flour

1-1/3 Tbsp. vanilla extract

Topping:

1/2 Tbsp. melted butter

2-1/2 tsp. granulated sugar

Directions

 Mix all filling ingredients and put into prepared pan.

 For top crust: Mix sugar, baking powder, salt, shortening, buttermilk and 3/4 cup of flour to form a sticky dough. Spread remaining flour on a work surface and knead dough until most of the flour is incorporated and dough is manageable. Roll dough to about 1/4-inch thickness and cut into large pieces. Cover blackberry filling with dough, overlapping pieces, patchwork style.

 Drizzle melted butter over dough and sprinkle with sugar. Bake until crust is golden-brown and filling is bubbly, about 50 minutes. Top with a scoop of ice cream or a whipped topping.

Picture Tour of My Homestead

We have been getting out and working in the yard as much as we can this past week.  The yard needs lots of work yet - everything looks so wild and out of control.  I have these buttercups that take over EVERYWHERE - they are hard to keep up on.  I don't have a lawn at all, and we really don't want one.  Would rather have garden areas for flowers, shrubs, and edibles.  So, it is a work in process...any ideas are welcome!  We try to keep things looking natural - rock borders, etc. mostly because it is cheap  :o)

Our home is on five acres owned by my dad who runs a marine repair business and uses this property to store boats.  I have claimed more area as mine each year I've been here - now over 10.  Here is the house seen as you drive in the driveway.  We have been working in the side yard on the right to get things tidy - but it sure is hard when you lack storage space.

Here you can see the whole layout.  One of the big projects this summer will be to clean the log siding and get it sealed.  Sure looks bad when it is wet! 

On the left behind the trucks, is the future home of our chicken coop.  That big pile of dirt is getting moved and used around the property.  Then the coop will be on the left with a fenced area for them to run around when I'm not home.  I would like to be able to let them out and roam around when I am home.

Just beyond the dirt pile is my veggie garden.  I have peas, strawberries, potatoes, beets, red currents, raspberries planted and onions to go in (I got 1/4 planted tonight).  It is about 25' x 20'.

To the right of the garden we have our camper, which we could move to beyond the shed and open up this area - for more garden  :o)  Under the tarp is my chicken coop project.

To the right of the camper, I have four smaller raised beds.  They are about 2 1/2' by 4'.  I have zucchini, cabbage, carrots and radishes planted in them.  Then our little greenhouse is 8' x 8' which will hold our tomatoes and cucumbers.  The hill behind I tried to tame a bit - I've planted a rhodedendron and a cherry tree up there.  I get all my dirt from the hill for planting beds - talk about alot of work!  I have an area dug out that I think would be a great spot for a root cellar...one project at a time!

The rhubarb is doing well here.  The raspberries have moved themselves from the other side of the greenhouse - guess they wanted more sun. 

Tomatoes and cucumbers waiting to be planted:

To the right of the greenhouse, I have my compost piles - made out of pallets and I have one of the black plastic ones with a cover.  I put the kitchen scraps in the one with the cover so the dogs/bears don't get into it.  Leaves and other garden stuff go into the other 3 open bins.  The blue tarp is where our wood shed will be going - right now we are keeping our extra lumber there.

Okay, now we turn around and are looking at the side yard toward the front of the house and the driveway.  The road is on our left, parallel with the house.  Here is where we have been working on a new pathway, laying it out with the rock and filling it in with rock.  To try to keep the buttercups down, we layered sheets of newspaper under the rock.  We have the clothesline on pulleys from the back door to a tree - works well.  We have a bird feeder hooked up to a pulley so we can get it way up off the ground where the bears can't get to it, but it is easy to lower down to fill up.  The birds really love this area and it is so entertaining to watch them from the dining room window.

And now we are back to the front of the house and where we started!

On the other side of those trees, we have a little pond.  We get mallards, geese and eagles here.

Well, that's it for our place.  Thanks for looking  :o)

Come, Summer, Come!

Another week