Be Ye Separate

my sister

{ Posted by Brenda }
{ 7:26 PM, Friday, July 3, 2009 } { 0 comments } { Link }

I have decided to do a blog entry on my sister. If you ever follow the comments of Carrie you will be entertained at her bargaining to get rid of her kittens by taking my rabid raccoon, or perhaps laughing at me hysterically as she reads a blog entry that isn't as clear as it should be and calling me....still laughing hysterically...We are 5 1/2 years apart and have never been closer than we are now. We both moved to Texas...I thank God!...because I couldn't have done it without her. She is my best friend. We share all of our disappointments, celebrations, stupid moments (like the time my kids were distracting me while I was talking to a parent of one of the kids we babysit...and instead of saying to my daughter who was tapping my arm, "I am talking one minute." I said, "I am on the phone. BE QUIET!" which I wasn't on the phone just completely out of my mind for that moment) and everything in between. I don't tell her nearly enough, though I suspect she knows. Thanks Carrie for helping get through this life, laughing.

Dear Reader

{ Posted by Mary-Ann }
{ 06:05 PM, Friday, July 3, 2009 } { 1 comments } { Link }

Bring on the midnight canning!

It got much to hot here today to finish the canning in our non-breeze kitchen, so we have put it off until it gets darker and cooler, so that is what I like to call a midnight canning. That is were you can until all hours of the night because you would rather go swimming during the day, and save what really should be getting done late at night.

So in my spare time I thought I would share pics from yesterday.......

That is a lot of cherries!

Me pitting (I hate pitting)

Sarah cutting the cherries up.

Yum!

Making the goo.

Sugar!

Boiling the jars

Jam!

31 pints of cherries went up yesterday! That is a lotta work.

In the words of Joseph Addison, "I value my garden for being full of blackbirds than of cherries, and very frankly give them fruit for their songs."

~Mary-Ann~

Fourth of July Plans & Menu

{ Posted by blessed mom }
{ 04:23, Friday, July 3, 2009 } { Posted in holiday traditions } { 2 comments } { Link }

I have been planning our weekend. Tomorrow we will enjoy a quiet day at home.. just family ( all 12 of us!). We always enjoy a special meal on America's B-day.. so this year I will be making grilled steaks ( a rare treat) , baked potatoes, homemade baked beans, watermelon & homemade apple pie! It's not the fourth w/ out homemade apple pie!

Sunday our Church is holding an evening meeting and then a potluck meal. I'll be brining watermelon, lemon meringue pies and spinach salad. The girls are making cookies & cupcakes. We are also going to bring a pinata & water balloons! It should be a fun evening!

Fourth of July is one of our favorite holidays! We sure enjoy celebrating and taking time to remember how blessed we are in this land of the brave and home of the free! I am also thankful for the freedom and perfect law of liberty thru Christ our Lord ! Jesus died so ALL men could be set free! How grateful I am for that! We are no longer under the bondage of the law -- but are free thru the grace and liberty in Christ! Thank you Jesus for your precious blood shed on calvary so all men can be free!

Hope you all enjoy a blessed Holiday!

Gloria

Summer Vacation is on.

{ Posted by Schatzi }
{ 04:08, Friday, July 3, 2009 } { 0 comments } { Link }

Well, our summer is underway and I'm already tired. It might just be the heat. Today it's 33 degrees Celsius. Thankful the pool is warm as I've been swimming a bit. I'm not complaining that's for sure because we get enough rain and cold in the winter so this is awesome weather we are having right now.

My favourite fruit is in season right now and we are enjoying an abundance of "raspberries". Yum. I have made raspberry cheesecake...raspberry viniagrette...raspberries and cream...just plain raspberries...raspberry shortcake...you get the picture. Plus, I put 40 pounds in the freezer to make raspberry jelly later. I am not doing much this summer...I am still working on this "tennis elbow" thing and so any amount of work causes pain...and trying to use my left hand for everything is also difficult....so I am taking it easy this summer and just sitting around doing only what absolutely needs doing...and with five kids still home, that's busy enough.

We took the kids to the ocean and for ice-cream...and now Anika says she has touched her feet in the North Atlantic Ocan and now the Pacific Ocean..it was exciting, not to mention we all had our favourite ice-cream...mine is "tiger"...delicious! The tide was out so we were able to walk quite a ways out.

Dh and I also made our first "beer can chicken"...or others call it, "beer up the butt" chicken. It turned out amazing. Next time though we will leave in on the barbeque 1/2 hour longer..but the flavour was unbelievable. I went on the internet to look up recipes and there were hundreds of them, so dh and I just came up with our own rub and everyone loved it.

The boys got the go-kart out from the garage and pumped up the tires washed it and even got it started on their own. Last year they couldn't really touch the peddles very easily but this year well.....my boys are growing up too quickly for "this mama"....but it was fun watching them tearing around the grapes and through the long grass. They had a blast....so did dad!!!!

We are reading Daniel Boone right now...and because the weather was so great today we took our blankets and I read to the kids under the big tree in the back yard...I sat in our wonderful Muskoka chair and the kids laid on the blankets...it was fun. I finally got a sore throat from reading so we all laid on the blankets while the kids talked about all kinds of things...we all told story after story until I got a whopper of a headache...so Anika decided to massage my head so I wouldn't go inside...she loves listening to my stories...she even braided my hair. It was a fun afternoon. Of course every once in a while the wind would blow a certain way and it was "chicken poo smell" everywhere....then thankfully the wind would shift and it was beautiful trees and grass smell. Oh the joys of living in the country. God is so good!

Our cherry tree is producing lots of fruit this year...but unfortunately the birds are getting more than we are. Any ideas how to keep the crows away?