I decided it was time to harvest my rhubarb - I picked most of it!  It was starting to look more like a jungle than a garden - I probably should have harvested awhile ago.  I was able to get to the raspberry bushes and get them tied up before they start getting ripe - the bushes are pretty loaded!

I clipped off the rhubarb leaves and put them in the compost and brought the stalks in.

It took me awhile to wash and chop the stalks, sorting out the bad ones as I went.  I put them in a big bowl.

I measured 20 cups into one big pot with 5 cups of sugar and 16 cups into another big pot with 4 cups of sugar, stirring to combine well.  The directions said to set aside for 3 to 4 hours and let the juices come out.  It was already late, so I put them in the fridge overnight.  Tonight, this is what it looked like - lots of juice!

Next, I brought the mixture to a boil and got my canner ready for boiling water bath.  Got the jars, lids and rings ready too.  These kind of projects make me wish for a bigger stove, or bigger kitchen.

Then fill up the jars, wipe rims, fit with hot lid and ring.

Then lower into the hot water in the canner, making sure there is a couple inches of water above the jars.  Bring to boil (this took forever!) and boil for 15 minutes.  I put the lid on the canner to keep in the heat.

Let sit in the canner for 5 minutes after turning off the heat before you take out the jars.  Then I just put them on a towel on the counter.  I had extra to taste - it is very good, just the right amount of sweet for the tart I think.  I look forward to using it for rhubarb crisp, as a pie filling, over ice cream...  I ended up with 13 pints and 1 half-pint - hope they all seal!  I'm pleased that they kept their color, I worried about them looking like yucky mush  :o)

We got our oven yesterday.  We are all so happy.  I can't imagine not having one.  I know people who wouldn't have hurt without an oven, but for us it was torture.  LOL!  Even my little  3yo understood we couldn't make bread, cake, muffins, etc. 

Last night to break in the stove we made a half batch of sugar cookies.  After I got to starting on them I was freaking out with each ingredient... sugar?  (I threw out the open sugar, do I have any other sugar?),   Cream of tartar (we threw out most every spice in the cupboard, but I had a spare new one in the bulk cupboard), almond extract?  (I knew I threw it out, but I had recently bought some new that I hadn't opened and it was ok).  I didn't have any regular white flour, but I did have bread flour... the cookies ended up a bit heavy, I imagine from the higher gluten content.  I imagine we won't eat the entire batch anyways... Steve and I are trying to eat healthier and the girls are just not woofing down the sweets.  It was more of an effort to give Paige some Mommy time.  She saw the oven and said... Mommy, I want to make cookies.  She wanted some "normal" back into her life... so we made cookies. 

As we were placing the cookie dough onto the sheets Paige looks up to me and says so sweetly... Mother, I am glad our oven is back... with a soft sigh. 

The oven does look almost identical to our other one... which we were told to replace as close as possible.  Even thought we had just bought the oven this January, the model is not a current one, even thought it was new.  So, we had to find something as close as possible with the current models.  We lost our warming burner.. .to get it was another $100, but we didn't use it and it was in the way.  But now all the burners are able to cook with two different sizes... so it was a trade off.  I am happy with the exchange.  I would have liked to have gone back to a gas top /bottom electric oven, but that was more yet and not comparible in price... I just find I am not crazy about the flat top stove.  It is not flexible in my mind and the pans swim on the top surface... driving me crazy!  But DH loves it and I will eventually get used to it.  Dh says if I can't manage after a year he'll buy me an LP stovetop... But that seems silly to me altogether! 

Anyways, we all just sighed when the oven came... life is feeling more normal. 

Warmly, ~Melissa

Good Morning my friends, I am up and feeling froggy today!  I look forward to all that the day holds around here... I have a lot to do and we have VBS tonight so I have to get moving... Have a GREAT one! God's blessings to each and all... (((hugs)))

I have had a few requests for my Hot and Spicy Salsa Recipe.  If you have visited my blog before then you know most of 'my' recipes are more of an approximation instead of exactness.  But I am happy to share and you can add, take away, whatever you like!

Ok, I had peppers, whatever kind, how many you like... cayenne, jalapeno, habanero, bell, cherry hot, Thai hot...
I took about 3 overflowing hand-fulls.  I cut off the stem, and tossed em into the food processor, yes seeds and all!

I took a HUGE onion and chopped it in the food processor as well.

Cilantro... SO good! Chop up several sprigs... this is a beautiful thing so be sure you use it.

Now as I take this out of the food processor I am putting it all into a big 8 quart stock pot. 

I now began adding tomatoes.  I would take my tomatoes and if there was any blemish I would cut that off and then quarter them and toss them in the food processor.  I really do not know how many I ended up using, I just kept processing until I had enough to fill my stock pot.  Sorry this is not more precise... but this doesn't have to be!  If I had to guess how many I would say it took about 20 tomatoes.  Remember that is a GUESS!!!

Ok, I have an almost full stock pot, I would say we are about 3 inches from the top!

Add about 1/3 cup vinegar, doesn't matter what kind.
Add about 1/4 cup sugar
Now this is a big guess because you just need to taste and see.... 4-5 Tbsp of Salt
SEVERAL-MANY grinds of freshly ground black pepper
1- 6 oz can of tomato paste
(I did not add these in previous batches and my salsa was a bit on the juicy side, these helped to add a bit more RED and to thicken things up a little!)

At this point taste... if it needs more salt, add it, if it is too sweet, add a little lemon juice, if it needs some more heat throw in some Texas Pete or maybe some horseradish... ooooooh that gives me a good idea!

I let that simmer for a good 30 min or a little longer if you need.  Get it good and hot, but not necessarily boiling.

Have your jars hot and clean and have your lids ready.

When you have it in your jars have your hot water bath ready... you want to process this for a good 15 min, in really hot water.  You  want to make sure you are getting a good seal.

I just got an email from my friend, Cindy Rushton.  She has just introduced a wonderful new set for those who want (or need) real help getting organized for the new school year. The best part is that this week she is offering two bonuses when you purchase her Organized Mom Super Set:

1. Her entire Organization 911 Seminar Set
2. Her NEW Virtual Seminar Set, Let's Get Organized for the New School Year.

To celebrate, Cindy just sent me permission to give you a sampler of one of her free gifts just for you. I am so excited to give it to you! Here is the link:

Scheduling ABC’s Audio Workshop with Cindy Rushton

Let Cindy take you by the hand and show you secrets to
developing a schedule that works for you and your family!

Download by Mp3
http://tinyurl.com/2cpsb9

A tribute to my Sweet One's birthday that we missed...
Carlie Jean, we missed your birthday this year because Daddy was in the hospital.  July 6th was such a special day, when you were born.  You were so precious and  you had so much hair, just what I wanted... we adorned you with a bow almost immediately.
Such a good baby.  You slept well, you ate well, you loved to cuddle.
You grew so quickly, becoming such a little beauty.
As quickly as you could you wanted to do everything you saw Moma do.
Washing dishes...

Making saurkraut...

Wearing your baby, or Dora...

Singing at church...
You are my big girl now, 4 years old... learning, growing and becoming more special to me every day. 
I love you Carlie Jean, my precious... and I am so thankful God blessed me with you.
My Cup Runneth Over...Chas

My daughter, who is usually my late-sleeper, woke me up about 6:15 this morning.  She said she was just not tired!   Right now she is sitting on my bed watching Lilo & Stitch and eating a bowl of honey nut cheerios.

I've got my tea brewing & maybe that will get me going.  I have been cutting out coffee other than on the weekends when hubby is home.  I still feel like I need something hot in the morn so I'm drinking tea.  I have several different ones but right now it's called "Awake."  Very appropriate!

We made a trip to Sams over the weekend & they had some really nice looking produce.  --Something that seems hard to come by in the area lately.  We went to wal-mart and their lettuce was all wilted so I decided to go for the plain old iceburg but it was already rusty.  Then walked over to the onions & there were little bugs/flys all over.  I put the other things back & decided to try Sams.  I do realize they are run by the same general company, but I've never had that problem there.  We ended up getting good deals too. I bought a 5lb bag of red onions, 2lbs fresh mushrooms, bag of big bell peppers, & 10lb bag red potatoes & they all looked & tasted great.  While there they had just started marking the ground chuck down because it had to be sold by the next day.  So I bought a huge package of that & came home, broke it down & put it in the freezer.  We ate some last night and it was good too.

We put up spaghetti sauce (8 quarts) & more whole tomatoes (7 quarts) on Saturday.  Today I'll need to do some again.  This time we're making pizza sauce.  Never tried this recipe, but it looks like it will be pretty good.

Well, that should keep us busy for the day.  I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

Weekly Menu:

Mon- Spaghetti & meatballs, cucumber & carrot sticks, garlic toast

Tues- Pizza, salad, fruit

Wed- Crockpot chicken, parmesan noodles, peas

Thurs- Hamburgers, chips & salsa

Fri- Chicken & rice casserole, corn

Sat- BBQ ribs, potato salad, beans

The cleaners came again today.  This was the confrontation with the boss and the employee.  Very uncomfortable for all involved, I believe.  Dh did all the talking... until he left to get corn when they started to reclean what they had missed.  When they were done, Dh was still gone, so I had to go over it with the boss and what does one say?  Can't you put elbow grease into your cleaning?  The spots we cleaned were still cleaner than what they cleaned.  Apparently professional cleaners don't use elbow grease.  Instead, he saw a couple streaks and fixed them, but admitted it wasn't wonderful and still would need cleaning.  Each spot that was touched up still wasn't good enough to be clean on its own.  When they take you on a quick tour of your own house, it looks better overall, but up close... which I didn't do when they were here, tells a different story.  The hallways steps where the smoke travelled upstairs... has a shelf ceiling where the smoke just rolled over it.  The cleaner said, they got what they could see, but it likely will show more soot in a week as it bleeds out of the paint and I may repeat cleaning once a week for several weeks and hopefully I won't have to paint.  This is the boss talking and how do you fight something they do professionally and we've experienced only once???  I took it as good enough.  Dh saw it and says... pretty pathetic effort, huh?  Of course he has a heavy arm for cleaning, so his cleaning is apparently more than necessary.  We can still see each clean spot in the living room that he did to show them that it wasn't clean enough.  I just sighed and said... well if you say it's as clean as it gets... and I'd walk over to a spot dh cleaned and look and they'd look and say... ya, it's not perfect, but it's better.  ???    They'd take a rag and wipe it to show me it doesn't come off... and it doesn't unless you rub with a little pressure.  I looked at the crew... 2 elderly men (meaning past 50 years old each) and a woman that is just bones and likely 50 yo herself.  They all are sweating and panting from climbing up and down and I just realized it wasn't worth it... they did what they could with an honest effort.  After they left, I cleaned some of the worse spots for about a half hour... and yes, they came off with several strokes over the same spots. 

I guess what bothers me after they left was that the owner and this guy would say... you can see better in different lighting (at night).  But that wasn't the point.  I began to see they were spot cleaning and not doing a systematic cleaning.  Meaning they would have had better luck had they started in one corner and did 1 foot deep and worked across the ceiling and then back again another foot out until it was all touched... not this ... squirt, squirt... got that spot, squirt, squirt... got another spot.  No wonder they leave streaks and spots totally missed. 

As for the confrontation, the owner took me aside when the other two were cleaning and said... this new gal, (they blamed it on her when they first came in and I didn't like it one bit because she cleaned the best!) works for him part time and she was new to the ceiling and floor cleaning... saying she works at his laundromat and she loves to clean houses in general, but this was her first fire to clean up after.   Anyways he says she is wonderful and likely did what she was told to do... wipe it down with sponges.  He said that the crew leader was in error by choosing the dry sponge, vs the wet rag cleaning.  He was basically told that he erred by not checking and that was his job.  He also erred in not telling her to clean with a wet rag...  Anyways, I'm not sure if I failed the test or what... was I supposed to complain about why can DH get the ceilings clean, but you can't?  I don't get why they get paid $5000 to do something poorly and if we do the job right, we don't get paid... because they already paid the cleaners to do it.  Perhaps we were supposed to get ugly and irritable, but as I said earlier, it seemed that physically it was too much for this crew.  (As a nurse, I noticed that and didn't want to push them anymore). 

After the boss left, the crew leader went into a room they said they couldn't clean any further cuz he touched it up already and was touching it up again (and still removing soot from those streaks that I was seeing).   When he came out, he walked out and I believe he would have continued to walk out without saying a word, but I said... Thank you (his name)... and meaning it... I know it was hard to come out and clean a second time with your boss over you.  I didn't say that last part, but that's what I was thinking.  Then he turns to me and says... I apologize for offending you in any way, it wasn't what I meant to do.  You wanted a clean house and your satisfaction is what we desire... now you are satisfied so things turned out alright for everyone.  He turns and walks out.  I just stood there, unsure of how to take the apology.  I am sure that he went and touched up the laundry room just to have time to hang back and give the apology if I gave him opportunity to do so and I did.  

After they left, I had a mixture of feelings.  I felt bad for them all.  I felt upset the house still isn't any cleaner.  I felt angry when I found they had spilled cleaner on our couch and didn't say a word... It is a bit greasy and I hope it comes out of it... right now I have a spot on it.  I feel frustrated that we went through this without any improvement... I was hoping at least one ceiling or one wall would be saved, but no.  It is all still as it was ... in need of something to cover the streaks... or in need of some elbow grease.  The insurance adjuster said to wait on the dining room ceiling to see what the boss could do... and he dabbed at the spot, but it really isn't much cleaner... and I fear the insurance adjuster will say to paint the ceiling cuz they won't pay to replace that room.  That will just look sick, in my opinion... the fancier dining room with flat painted tile and the only tile we can find to replace in the kitchen is designed tile... the tile won't match... the rooms won't blend like they did... I was thinking if they could save the tile, it has a gold fleck in it and I could paint the new ceiling tiles gold to blend the two rooms.  I hate to sound picky, but I really liked the tile that was in there and to see it just carelessly cleaned one day to make it have to be paintable... due to a stubborn employee who felt I should thank him for leaving streaks so I could repaint the house.  UGH. 

So, now we wait for the insurance adjuster to come again so we know where to go from here.  I just wanted to cry after they left today.  Not because of any loss... I can deal with that... in fact it seems it would have been easier if the entire house had burned down... I could live in the camper and life would be stable... I would know what is expected and what is going down, but this shaking up of my life is just hard.  Crying seemed senseless... so instead I did laundry then played in the pool with my girls.  When Dh got home from his offshift (yes he got called after they left) then we unloaded corn for the chickens and got that into the barn.  A full day.  Just keep plugging along.   Perhaps that is part of the point... we can't control everything... but, we have to keep going.  I will be emailing the adjuster our estimates for kitchen repairs tomorrow.  The weather is to be warm this week, but not overly hot.  A good week for cleaning.  *grin* 

FYI:  I've logged 90 hours in cleaning our house as of yet.  My estimate to finish cleaning logs in around 150 hours to go.  That is getting in places that the insurance guy is not wanting to pay... the storage area upstairs and the small tv room, both of which were lightly affected.  He will pay for me to clean the walls, but not ceiling or floors or contents.  That area alone estimates around 50 hours.  There is a LOT of stuff up there that needs to go.  My down time has consisted of these updates and reading.  I'm trying to read down my pile of "to read" books... so that they can leave the house.  My current book I am reading is How to Clean Anything.  Some good ideas, but some eye rolls as well.  I think it was written by a professional cleaner because he says using elbow grease is not a good plan... I laughed... I understand the cleaning when it is lightly dirty... it just seemed to be funny... like using elbow grease is not for "good cleaners".  Seems to be this cleaning company's motto...(no elbow grease) 

Warmly, ~Melissa

I love participating in Peggy's The Simple Woman's Daybook, but just never have time.  Although, today I just made the time.  Here goes:

Outside my Window...I here the chirping of birds and it is going to be a scorcher of a day.  They said the high was going to be 98 with a high humidity.  Oh, my!

I am thinking...of all that I need to get done.  I have cleaning and laundry, as we pretty much do nothing but spend time with Ronnie on the weekends.

I am thankful for...my children.  I am thinking on the new school year and I am so thankful that I can spend my days with them.

From the kitchen... Ronnie smoked two chickens for me this weekend and I will be putting them to good use today.  I think I will make Poppyseed chicken and Crockpot chicken enchiladas.

I am creating...we have so many projects going on but the biggest thing I am working on is our plan for next year's school year.

I am going...nowhere today or tomorrow.  We will be home, praise the Lord.  Wednesday we have dentist appointments and hopefully a library trip.

I am wearing...right now I am still in a T-shirt and pajama pants.  The kids are still sleeping.

I am reading...I have started my chronological reading plan over and am reading in Genesis.  I just ordered the Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery and Storey's Guide to Raising Pigs.  So I will be devouring those pretty soon. 

I am hoping...for a week that is full of great memories with my kids before the hustle and bustle of starting school starts.

I am hearing...I am listening to a little news before the kids get up and it all gets turned off!!

Around the house...are piles of school books that I need to sell on ebay.

One of my favorite things...the simple life that we have found and are now cherishing. 

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week...not to get too busy!!!

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...

This is a great picture of the sun setting I took a couple of weeks ago in our back yard.  I wish those electric lines were not in it but you still get the jest of the beauty.

After you are finished here go over and check out the other daybooks.

Have a great day,

Trixi

Well it has been such a long time since posting.  I have missed you all!!  I have come by periodically and checked in with a few friends.  We have been so incredibly busy since buying this new home.  I have even started a new blog dedicated to the projects we have going on around here, as far as fixing up this house.  Here is the link:  Making It Our Home.  However, I love this community of people and all that I have learned here. 

Here are some of our going ons.....Last week we expanded our temporary chicken fencing to add an additional 50 feet, to make it a little more permanent.  We may add another 50 feet of fencing.  That will make our chicken yard around 150 + sqare feet.  We have also added 4 new guineas to our 24 chickens. 

Now for the newest addition to our homestead.  Here is a sneak peak.

Aren't they just the cutest.  We went to Philadelphia, Ms. Saturday, to the little local flea market.  They have every kind of chicken, guinea, donkey, duck, cat, dog, rabbit, goose, turkey, and on and on, that you could ever imagine.  Well, Saturday they also had pigs.  Now let me tell you that my sweet hubby has wanted to raise a pig for such a long time.  He looked at all of these guys and we went and ate lunch and talked about it.  The number one concern was that we do not have the fencing set up for them yet.  Has that ever stopped us?!!  Anyway, we went back and got 2 little girls.  They are 5 weeks old and just as cute as can be.  We named them Petunia and Penelope.  My son wanted bacon and ham but the girls didn't even think that was funny.  We ended up putting them in our old brooder box in the barn.  Our rabbit has been occupying it but he went back in his old pen.  We will start working on our pig fencing this next week and soon they will have a more permanent pen.  Here are some more pics. of the girls:

I know these girls are for food but I just can't imagine this little cutey being in my freezer.  My hubby keeps telling me I wont feel that way when she is 300+ pounds.LOL

Have a great day,

Trixi

Oh my, oh my... I love being home.  I am so thankful that I have a home I love to come home to.  Aside from the things we packed everything is clean and put away... it was a nice way to come home. 
We had a wonderful time in Gatlinburg, it was such a special time to gather with Shannon's family...
Here is the whole troop...
I have a lot to catch up on... tomatoes that are waiting on me, REAL cream to go in my coffee this morning (thank Kristin!) and things needing to be put away.  So I am going to go and get started... Have a wonderful day!
My Cup Runneth Over...Chas