Windy Acres

Come again someother day!! We are getting the tail end of some hurricane, don't remember which one. I do not want to complain about the rain as although there were tornadoes in our part of the state this afternoon, we are not facing anything that the people in Texas are! My prayers are with them tonight as they prepare for the worst. We have had 31/2 inches so far, it has been a nice gentle rain. I tried 3 times to do chores this afternoon. I would get a few things done and then it would start to rain, I came in and went out when it quit for a few minutes and did a few more things, finally finished up in the rain. I must say I feel so sorry for our goats, they do not go out and get wet!! They have spent most of the last 2 days in the shed waiting for the rain to stop so they could go out and eat.

Another down side, we will not be doing Farmer's Maret again tomorrow morning. At least we had plenty of warning of the rain this time. This is the 7th Saturday morning this summer with rain! Usually we have at least 1, but 7?? Because of the forecast I had the day off today, no breads or rolls or pies. Let me tell you, I have had the day off in every way. Since I didn't have to do the usual I guess I felt blah and lazy, just no energy at all. Of course the cloudy, dreary weather does that to me anyway, I really need sunshine to function well. They are saying starting Monday it will be nice again, I can hold on until then.....

The little chics are doing well. We have lost 3, but that isn't bad out of 200 plus. They are growing and so cute.

We went to the state fair on Tuesday. That was the only decent day weatherwise and that is the day we had planned to go anyway. The goat show was that day and we enjoyed watching some of that. That gave us a chance to sit down and rest. Nothing really new at the fair, but we really enjoy seeing the exhibits.

Monday evening I went with Nicholas to his 4-H meeting as Mom and Dad were both busy that evening. It was fun to be able to go with him. He had refreshments that night.............so here is Grandma with Nicholas, Maddy, lemonade, brownie muffins, cups, pop cans to turn in, the car seat, diaper bag, and probably some other things............whew, I am not used to all of that! I used to do it all of the time, but it has been a while! Lets just say that I admire you gals with several little ones!

I have 20 peach pie fillings in the freezer. Still have a few in the fridge to use up. I may can them tomorrow. Haven't done anything with the apples yet, will have to get busy with them starting Monday.

Yesterday was Granddaughter, Jamee's 18th birthday..........hope she enjoyed it!

Chocolate Stars.............

are a fond childhood memory! Today hubby had a Dr. appointment so we were off to Topeka for most of the day. I went to Goodwill while he was at the Dr. office, more on that in a minute, we then ate a very late lunch and went to the grocery store. In passing the candy isle I noticed right on the end a bag of chocolate stars. I mentioned to hubby when I caught up with him that I saw them and hadn't seen them for a long time and didn't even know if they still made them. Ok, we stop at another little store on the way home to check out any specials they might have and you guessed it, I saw another bag of chocolate stars...............I really am not looking for chocolate stars, honestly. I said, "there are chocolate stars again". Next thing I know hubby has grabbed a bag and we are on our way to the check out. (Not too fast, I ran into an old friend and we had a nice little chat.) So on the way home we snack on......Chocolate Stars!! Now, for the meaning behind this story. When I was little and my folks and I would go to Emporia shopping Mom would buy chocolate stars and we would eat some on the way home. My Daddy really enjoyed them. So they brought back a very fond memory for me.

Well, I had a great Goodwill shopping trip. I found 6 pair of slacks in various colors that fit me! I tried on a couple more that didn't fit perfectly so put them back. Most times I would be happy enough with the way they fit and made do. I couldn't believe what was available today. Also got 2 knit tops and a pretty little soap dispenser for the bathroom for 68 cents.

The phone rang this morning with the news that our chicks were at the post office. We had plenty of time to get them settled in before having to leave. They seemed pretty happy when we got home, had only lost one.

I was very thankful that they did not come yesterday as the weather was COLD! It was 52 when I got up and never got above 57 all day! Today started out pretty chilly, but this afternoon the sun came out and was really nice later.

That cool weather made for a nice day to work in the kitchen. I made 6 batches of grape jam, it is yummy! Got 6 peach pie fillings frozen. And one ready to use tomorrow. Also am working on 14 day sweet pickles this week. I hope to get apples picked tomorrow. However since we were running around today, I didn't get any baking done for Saturday's Market..........so tomorrow will be a busy day. One good thing (I guess) is that we don't have produce to get ready now. That really takes a lot of time to pick and wash.

Busy Summer Days

These days have been busy ones. Last week we had almost 200 broilers processed. The end of the week brought many visitors to our little homestead. We were blessed with folks wanting to buy critters! While it is hard to see them go, I realize that with winter coming and feed prices rising it is necessary. We were able to sell some extra Muscovy male ducks, all of a small breed of ducks, some laying hens, and 3 goats. The goats were ones that had problems kidding in the past, so they needed a home where they were wanted just for eating weeds and being pets. We are wanting to cut down on hens for the winter, feed costs are too high to have a lot of hens to feed when they stop laying. We have 200 chicks coming tomorrow or Thursday to replace them. They should be starting to lay about February. We need to get on a schedule in the future so we will have some pullets starting to lay about now for eggs through the winter months.

So, first thing in the morning we have to get the place ready for the new chicks. I have the feeders and waters out, but still have to wash them up. Intended to get that done today, but it didn't happen.

Today was quite warm again, but it is cool tonight. Tomorrow's high is to be in the upper 60's.............Sounds like fall doesn't it!

We picked some grapes last evening, got 2 bushels of peaches today and have apples to pick at the neighbors asap. Sounds like I will be busy for a while. Our tomatoes have really slowed down to almost nothing. I sure hope they will produce some more as I would like to do some more canning of them. Another neighbor offered me some if not.

We plan to put a few does in with Bubba our little buck this week. I don't think we should put them all in at once since he is young. All of those girls flirting with him might scare him. lol Since the sale of the does over the weekend that leaves us with 20 does, which is a good number for us. Some of them need a little more time to get into good shape before breeding anyway. Some have had worm problems over the summer and need a little extra feed.

Hubby got my clothesline poles put up recently, one little problem, he put them up at his height instead of mine! I suppose standing on tippy toes to hang things up is good exercise?? Anyway, I will enjoy using them............the smell of things hung outdoors is priceless!

The old wooden pole is shown in the picture, it now is a hanging flower pot holder...........

One more picture to share with you, a couple of weeks ago our kids were here and I happened to get this picture of hubby with the grandkids.

I have one question.........where did our summer go? How can it possibly be Labor Day...........the end of summer already?? Any of you that know me well at all, know for a fact that I prefer summer to winter. It is hard for me to enjoy the beautiful fall weather because I am sure it means winter is coming soon after. Actually, by this time of the year, we are getting pretty tired after all of the summer activities and I am finding myself looking forward to a slower pace as winter approaches.

We have been blessed with such a nice summer this year! I don't remember many years in Kansas that we had to mow quite this often after the 4th of July. Everything is so pretty and green yet.........and the garden has been wonderful for us. We have enjoyed eating, canning, freezing, and selling at Farmer's Market! About the only thing left is tomatoes and they have really slowed down, I was in hopes I would be able to make another batch of salsa or two yet, but we will see. We do have some fall beans planted and they are doing well, and the sweet potatoes look nice.

We so enjoyed spending some quality time with our grandson, Nick at the county fairs this summer. This was his first year in 4-H, his projects were foods and goats. It was fun to watch him learn and try so many new things. Of course you know that Grandma had as much fun as Nick did. I still enjoy the county fair as much as I did when I was a 4-Her a few years ago...........

He did very well for his first year, coming home with all blue ribbons! In foods he exhibited trail mix, chocolate chip cookies and rocky road fudge brownie muffins. Here he is showing one of the goats, Rain Drop at the Overbrook fair.

Speaking of goats, and I usually am, I have some sad news to share. Most of you know my first little goat, Bucky, he has been the center of attention at our Nativity scenes, made several appearances at the Lebo 4th of July parades, and just had a special place here at the farm. He was a bottle baby and lived in the house with us for the first 3 weeks of his life, he then had the run of the farmyard for about a year. Finally after getting other goats he moved in with them, however he never really figured out that he was a goat. Well, sadly he died last Tuesday.............. He had been sick for about a week and I had treated him with everything I could think of. He seemed to respond and I would think he was going to be ok, and then would relapse. I had let him out to run around the yard the last week and the night before he died he wanted in the barn where he called home that first year, so I guess it is fitting that that is where I found him the next morning.

Some happier thoughts, baby chicks are coming this week! Who can resist cuddly baby chicks? We have 200 pullets ordered, they will be our layers next summer. Because of these replacements, some of our current layers will be for sale later this fall. So if you are wanting a few egg layers of your own check with us.

*We also have a new batch of broiler chickens available right now. They were processed this past week. I would say they average about 4 pounds. Some of you have already picked up your order. Let us know right away if you would like some, as these will most likely be the last ones available until next spring.

We have found a home for Black Jack, our donkey. He is such a sweetheart and will be greatly missed here, especially his wonderful voice! However he could not be trusted with baby goats and that was always a worry! So, he left yesterday for his new home near Osage. He is on loan and will be working for his keep now, training 4-H calves to lead. He will be returning here to appear in our annual Live Nativity scene this December.

We have a puppy that needs a home (now at least think about it), she is a nice little dog about 5 months old. Her name is Sassy. She is English Shepherd/Anatolian Shepherd cross, which will make an excellent farm dog. She loves kids, is used to other dogs, cats, poultry, goats and whatever else we have around here. We would love to keep her, but we already have Sadie, Sophie, Rowdy and Shadow........don't you think that is enough? They are all working farm dogs except Shadow of course who is the spoiled house dog!

I have not been able to keep up very well this summer with my blog, but please do check it out when you have time. As things slow down I hope to do a better job. http://www.homesteadblogger.com/heritagehill/

Fair week and more

A week ago Monday our little grandson, Nick came down to spend a couple of days getting ready for the fair. We have so much fun when he is here. One of his 4-H projects is foods, so we did his baking here this time. He made chocolate chip cookies and rocky road fudge brownie muffins. He did everything himself except I did help him get some of them in and out of the oven. Let me tell you that it takes a lot of patience for this old grandma to watch and let him do it all by himself. He did a super job and learned a lot too! Both got blue ribbons!! The brownies are a recipe I found this summer and they are so simple to make I thought it would be a good one for him to try. Here it is........... recipe from Cookie Madness.

8 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder
2 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 scant teaspoon salt (if using salted butter, omit)
3/4 cup all purpose flour
2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (divided use)
1/3 cup toasted pecan pieces or coarsely chopped pecans
2/3 cup mini marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease or spray top of a 12 cup muffin pan with cooking spray and line cups with paper liners.

Place butter in a 2 cup glass measuring cup; microwave on high for one minute or until butter melts. Add cocoa to melted butter and stir well. Set aside and let cool slightly.

Whisk eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt together in a medium mixing bowl. Add butter/cocoa mixture and stir until well mixed. Add flour, stirring just until blended’ stir in 1/3 cup of the chocolate chips.

Stir together remaining 1/3 cup chocolate chips, toasted pecans and mini marshmallows. Set aside.

Bake muffins for 18 minutes. Pull pan from oven and sprinkle with marshmallow mixture. Return to oven and bake for 2 minutes more for a total bake time of 20 minutes. Let cool in muffin tins for about 10 minutes, then carefully loosen muffins from tins and let cool completely before serving.

Note: If you skip the topping, divide batter among 10 muffins cups to make the brownie muffins slightly taller. Bake time is still 20 minutes.

On Wednesday evening Nick and I took his goats and food entries to the fair. His house is only a few miles from the fair, so I stayed the night with them. He and I went back on Thursday morning to check in the goats and weigh them and for conference judging for his foods entries. Both got blue ribbons! I headed home to bake for Market.

Friday afternoon was the goat show, so hubby and I went up. It was a long day as the judge took a lot of time on the classes before his. The favorite goat, Lucky placed 3rd in his class. Rain Drop, his little doe was the only one in her class. He did well in showmanship placing 4th or 5th. We rushed home to get garden produce and baking ready for Market the next morning........

Well, as we were getting ready for Market on Saturday morning it started to rain!! Had we known this would happen, Friday could have been a lot more relaxed and rested I might add!! Hubby did sell some things at his market, but I sat in the car for an hour thinking it will let up soon, and then came home. We got 3.75 inches of rain.

The parade was cancelled and the demolition derby also at the fair for that night. However the 4-H livestock auction turned out fine as the rain stopped before it started. Nick sold Lucky, if you remember I mentioned he was the favorite goat, and I expected to cry myself over this, but to my surprise neither of us did.

Sadly the fairs are over now for the year. I can't expain it, but I so enjoy the fairs. Most folks are ready for them to end, but it really does make me sad. We plan to attend the State fair in September, so I have that to look forward to.

Nick has learned so much and had a lot of fun this year, so that is what counts the most, and he is looking forward to next year too! I was able to spend some real quality time with him this summer, both during the fair and when he stayed here getting ready, those memories are priceless.

Yesterday hubby had a Dr. appointment, so we spent some time in Topeka. Also checked out Good will and found a bed spread.

Today I went to a friend's house all afternoon, was supposed to help her work some goats, but mainly just caught up with visiting and had a nice time.

The kids are coming Sunday evening for a cook out, a belated Birthday celebration for Mom, whose big day was last Wednesday during the fair. And my cousins and Aunt are coming on Monday to spend a day at the farm. So need to think about some food to fix. Also a pot luck dinner at church on Sunday at noon. Need to do a little cleaning......have done some this week and the laundry is done. I got a new vacuum cleaner and so have had fun trying it out?? I must say it sure works better than the old one, so that does make it a little fun.

School started here today, way too early in my opinion, but they didn't ask me. Kaylan starts pre-school tomorrow. Nick and Lexi don't start until the 25, they attend a private Christian school so have a different schedule.

Some good news on the farm and some bad news...........The little bucket calf, Blossom is doing great and we got her a room mate. We purchased a little heifer that was a bucket calf 4-H project from some friends after the fair. Her name is Tootsie, she is an Angus cross. Buttermilk "Casey" my little bottle baby goat from last summer was found dead this week. No idea what happened to her, I am thinking one of the bigger does may have butted her and hurt her, as they can be pretty mean to each other at times. She was the one that would ride on the garden tractor with me last summer, good memories!

It has been a long time............

Hello, I am still hanging around, haven't taken time to write, but I have kept up checking in with my friends to see what you all are doing the past month. Thanks to those that have checked in to see if I was ok.

Hard to believe that July 4th was a month ago already, times goes so fast it really is scary isn't it! Since right before the 4th things have been crazy around here, just not enough time it seems.

I will try to briefly catch you up..............Our little town has a big 4th of July celebration which is fun! We didn't enter the parade this year, so that was a lot less stressful. Last year we did a float for our homestead, and it was a lot of fun. I did enter the cookie contest, didn't place, and the dog contest. The fireworks were really nice and enjoyable. On Saturday there is a car show and we had our regular Farmers Market downtown, it was the best sales we had ever had, so that was exciting.

Saturday afternoon Nick came to stay and get ready for the fair. We had such a good time with him. The neighbor baled the hay he had mowed for us and so we had some help to haul it in. That hay deal was quite a story, but we did get 1/2 of the 20 acres baled.

On the 13th one of our County fairs began. (We have 3 county fairs, some think that is crazy, but I love it!! Fairs are the highlight of the year for me.) I am the superintendent of the sheep, so I take entries, weigh in, organize the show schedule and take care of the show. Nick was showing his goats for the first time also this year. The weather was great and we all had a wonderful time! Nick showed 2 market goats, a doeling, and in showmanship, also 2 foods enteries and got all blue ribbons! Not bad for his first fair. He sold one of the market goats, Curly. Hubby and I had 10 garden entries, 2 jams and muffins.

The fair was over on the 16th, I woke up the next morning and it took me an hour or so to come back to everyday life and realize that it was Hubby's birthday! Fair days are kind of another world with no thought of dates or anything else that is going on around you.

During the month we sold all of the puppies Sadie had in May. We wormed the goats and got them moved to a new weedy spot. Several are looking pretty bad, so I started to feed them and give them liquid molasses to get them ready for breeding season. The corral they had been in during the summer had too many worms. I am treating one with iron shots also, may have to treat some others too, will see how they look in a week or so after the worming. We lost one doe last week, she had her head stuck in the fence. We had never lost one that way before, but I know it does happen. She was behind the shed and kind of behind a tree so that it was hard to see her. I noticed she was not with the group and went looking for her, but when I found her it was too late. I felt so bad, as it was hot and I hate to think of her suffering. These are things that happen with livestock sometimes.

Our garden is doing great yet. We have had nice rains through the summer, and not the storms that have gone all around us. We are very thankful for that. Tomatoes are coming on strong. Cucumbers have slowed down right now, squash too. I will have tomatoes to can tomorrow and have sweet pickles soaking right now. We have dug most of the potatoes, we sold most of them and only have a couple of buckets left for us to eat. The last 2 plantings of green beans are doing pretty well, I am sure there are some out there needing picked right now.........but it is just too hot. I spent Friday morning picking for Market and almost got sick with the heat. Last week we had 3 days of cool, cloudy weather and then the real heat set in. For 4 days now it has been unbearable, the humidity is so bad. Yesterday I saw on the weather that a town north of us had a heat index of 120. Can you imagine that??

Farmers Market has been going great for us this year and we are so thankful! This past Saturday hubby went with me here and we had the best market ever here. We had quite a few tomatoes and they add up pretty quick, however I only had 2 pies made. We did sell quite a bit of meat, more than usual for this market. The Lord has truly blessed our little garden and our efforts this summer.

We just found out that our Pastor is moving the end of August, so that will mean a transition time for our little church. Last Sunday we hosted a Christian Motorcyle Association Sunday. It was such a wonderful day, folks of all ages enjoyed it. We rented a tent and had the service outdoors, which of course was right up my alley. After the service we served pulled pork sandwiches, potato salad, cole slaw, baked beans and brownies.

We have a new addition to our critter family, a bucket calf named Blossom. We got her on Friday at the auction. Not sure of her breed, but she was 3 days old and seems very healthy so far at least. She was very easy to start on the bottle and is so cute! I can't believe I have not gotten a picture of her yet.......but I will. Kaylan will have such a fun time with her, she spent the first of last week with us, but went home the day before Blossom arrived.

Also in July we had another 100 broilers processed. Will have 200 more done the end of August. This week we roasted one with fresh herbs from my little herb garden, that was fun and it sure tasted good. I am not very good about using fresh herbs or knowing how to use them, so I was very proud of myself.

Wednesday through Saturday this week is our final county fair. So this will be a busy week for sure. I will go to Market on Saturday, but will not be home on Friday to bake, so will only have what garden produce I have time to gather up to sell.

Well, that somewhat brings us up to date at Heritage Hill Homestead. I will leave you with a picture I took early one morning a couple of weeks ago while out doing chores. Isn't it wonderful to live out where we can soak up the beautiful world God has given us!

Garden update and Birthdays

My last post was about the first tomato of the summer.......while still fun to spot a red one, now there are quite a few. Over the weekend we picked about 20, so we officially have tomatoes now!

Friday I picked enough green beans to have 19 bags to sell at market. I didn't pick again until today and got enough for at least one canner full. They are snapped and ready to can in the morning. I know they should be done straight from the garden, but it doesn't always work out that way........ The first planting is not producing much, I think I will wait to see if they come back after the rains we had a few days ago before pulling them up. We waited a long time between the second and third plantings, but the third planting is coming along nicely. Four more rows were planted last week and they are starting to peek up today. We were needing a rain and got .70 on Thursday night and .80 on Friday night. It is hard to believe how the plants grow with some good old rain water!

Speaking of rain.............the neighbor started mowing our hay this afternoon. Seems he broke down as he only worked a short time and then left? He is on vacation this week, which means the hay needs to be done this week! Today was a beautiful day and tomorrow is supposed to be nice, BUT then they are talking about rain again and I really hope God doesn't allow our hay to get wet!!! (He did last year). I was nearly in tears several cold winter evenings when I had to pull apart many bales of hay flake by flake, trying to salvage some that wasn't molded to feed the hungry little goats! When I would get a nice bale I think I was just as excited as the goats were.

Since I last talked with you here things have been pretty normal what ever that is. Friday I spent the day baking ~ a peach pie, a strawberry-ruhbarb pie, 3 mini apple pies, 10 small loaves of friendship bread, 1 dozen large muffins, and 4 dozen cinnamon rolls. As you remember hubby had already baked 10 small loaves of lemon-poppy seed bread for me! We also had potatoes, cucumbers, green beans, eggs, meat and jam to sell. Market was slow it seemed, sprinkled in the middle, but at the end of the morning it was the best sales of the year so far. Hubby was having problems with low blood pressure, so he did not feel like driving to Emporia market that morning. He went with me and I sure enjoy having him along, help loading and unloading it great! He will also go here this weekend since it is a holiday.

Today was a nice day and it seemed like I got some things done! Yeah me! Some days just go by and I don't feel like I accomplish much or at least enough. Almost everything is marked off of my to-do list tonight, so that feels really good! Hubby's sister and family planned to stop by here this afternoon on their way home from vacation for a short visit. Today is her birthday and I was to bake her an apple pie, but as it turned out they needed to get on home and could not stop by. Today is also our wonderful little grandson, Nick's birthday.......9 years ago tonight was a pretty special occasion!

BT Sandwich

That is what I had for lunch today!! Most people have BLT but I really like just a Bacon Tomato sandwich. Last Friday I saw nothing but green tomatoes...........when we got home Sunday evening, this is what I saw.

Yummy! There are quite a few turning now, so before long I will be saying, I have to go out and pick tomatoes. Right now, it sounds like fun.

Yesterday our ladies Bible study met here. We had a good turn out and a nice evening. Hubby went to Farmer's Market, so the morning was spent getting things ready for him to take there, and the afternoon getting the house somewhat ready for company.

This afternoon I went into town and gave Mom a perm. While I was doing that hubby fixed supper and baked two batches of Lemon bread for Farmer's Market! What a wonderful surprise that was. I really should have baked more this evening, but just didn't. While ago I made my list of to-dos for tomorrow and it is long..........but it will get done!

It was really hot here yesterday and today, there are storms around now, doesn't look like we will get the worst of it anyway, but we could use a rain. We put a soaker hose on the green beans today. When I picked yesterday there were not nearly as many as I expected, so I thought giving them a drink might help. Hope there will be a good picking tomorrow for Market on Saturday.

The wedding

I must share a little of the wedding we attended over the weekend.........It was our Grandaughter, Whitney and her groom Ben's special day, and it was absolutely wonderful!

I wanted you to see the back of her dress, of course in this picture of their first dance, the train is buttoned up, but you can see the red trim, it was so pretty!

I took 89 pictures, no I will not bore you with them all, although I could............I will share just a few!

My step-daughter Jody and her hubby Jimmy, the proud parents of these beautiful girls! What a special family they are.

Ok, I will share some fun photos later. We had such a great time. Our two sons that live close and their families met us Saturday morning and we all traveled together. When we got to Springfield, we checked into our motel, then went next door to eat lunch. We had very little time to get ready for the wedding, really had to rush. But all was well as we found the church in plenty of time. The reception included a light dinner, highlights were a punch fountain and a chocolate fountain. The dance followed with a great DJ. He kept everyone involved and lots of fun dances for all ages. It was amazing how much fun everyone could have without drinking!

After returning to the motel, yes we did finally reserve a room, we watched the grandkids swim for a while, they were having such a great time. It was well worth the money to stay, in my last post I said we were unsure what to do!

The next morning after checking out, we went to Bass Pro Shop for a while, then started home. The kids traveling with us wanted to eat at Lamberts so they headed over there. If you are not familiar with that it is known for throwing the rolls! They also went to Bass Pro before heading home. Mom, hubby and I went on to Carthage to the Precious Moments Chapel. Mom had not been there before and really enjoyed seeing it. We also stopped at the Louisburg Apple Cider Mill just across the Kansas line. So we made a day of the trip home. On the way home Mom said, You know 2-3 times this month I thought I would just stay home, but I sure would have missed a lot! She had a really good time and didn't seem to get tired. Hubby was pretty tired on the way home, but did feel good and enjoyed the weekend. (He even did the Twist with the girls at the dance)

When we got close to home, I began to worry about our critters and wonder if everyone would be ok when we got home. Thankfully we found all was well, they didn't seem to miss us!

Today was more bean picking and usual stuff around here, back to routine. However, this afternoon a guy we visited with on Friday came and bought all of our little goat babies! I have some mixed feelings...... sorry to see them go, but glad for a check in hand and not nearly so many little hungry mouths to feed! We were just weaning them today which meant them eating more grain, so the timing was perfect. Of course, God's timing always is!!

First canning of the summer

I had a small picking earlier in the week, but hubby took them to the mid-week Farmers Market yesterday. This afternoon I picked 2 small buckets full and here they are, ready for winter. We plan to make sure we get what we need to eat through the winter this year instead of selling too much at Market and then not having our own to eat. Hubby had the great idea to can some in 1/2 pint jars for Mom! Since it is just the two of us we only do pints.

Last evening while I was working in the garden a plane kept turning around right over our place, he was spraying just south of us. That makes us very nervous, that spray can really drift and cause a lot of damage to a garden. A few years ago after they sprayed the pasture right across the road we lost quite a bit of produce, very dissapointing!

Well, plans are set for the weekend trip to Grand daughter, Whitney's wedding. We did get a motel room for Saturday night. We went back and forth, trying to decide what to do?? We didn't want to spend the money, but a 4 hour drive there, wedding, reception, 4 hour drive home all in one day........a very long day! Mom is going along and that would really be tiring for her. We ended up getting a room the same place as our kids are staying, so that will be fun. The wedding is in the Springfield, Mo. area, wish we could zip on down to Branson, but I doubt that we will. We love to go to the Amish store there and I need some things, but not sure it is worth the extra gas and time it would take.

So, tomorrow will be a full day getting ready to be gone overnight! A friend is coming over to water or at least check everyone's water. I told her we will feed and hay early Sat. morning, so she will only have to come for a few minutes to check on the critters. We should be home mid afternoon on Sunday to do chores that day. Some of it I can do tomorrow, putting out extra water tubs and extra hay to last.

One of our county fairs is going on right now. We had intended to take part, but with all that is going on right now it just didn't work out. The goat show will be tomorrow morning, so we plan to go and watch it, and see the other exhibits.

I am getting laundry finished up this evening and still need to go back out and shut the chickens up. I mowed some this morning and intended to do more later, but a rain came up again, we only got .15 so that isn't bad, but too wet to mow. Just as well, I picked the beans right after lunch and I would not have been able to do that after the rain either and that was more important...........the grass will wait to be mowed! While it was rainy I got a pie baked, one of our customers brought some cherries from her tree and wanted me to make a pie for her. Hubby was nice enough to pit them for me!

Rain, Rain go Away............

Chocolate Stars.............

Busy Summer Days

Newsletter

Fair week and more

It has been a long time............

Garden update and Birthdays

BT Sandwich

The wedding

First canning of the summer

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