Unexpected Blessings...

One thing that is great about living a simple life is that you have plenty of time to count your blessings. While walking along the road that divides our property from mom's, we stumbled across some passion vines! The flowers had already begun to fade, but there are more buds along the vine that should flower soon.

Following the vine back a bit...we found some fruit! How cool is this?

This is the largest of many fruit growing along the vine. The vine is rooted on a drop-off so it is impossible to try to transplant. We did take a cutting from it, in hopes to get it to root.

Speaking of roots...the first year we owned this house, I put in a small watergarden. That was in the Summer of 2001. We managed to keep the water lillies alive and thriving until this spring when we lost all but 1 small piece of rootstock. Well this week that one little plant produced it's first flower of the year! I wondered if it would flower at all this year since it had to start over again. What a great suprise! This was the first day it was opening. Water lillies will only flower in still water, and they only stay open during the day (with bright light). It was not quite open all the way...

And here it is fully open. It is perfect!

The frogs have had a hayday in the water garden this year. They do their mating calls just about the same time I am trying to sleep at night. While getting some shots of the lilly, I was able to spot this little tadpole. He's just getting his legs, and I'm sure he'll be joining the chorus in no time!

Here's a shot of who I suspect is the mama of the tadpole. (it's gotta be a girl, look at the cleavage!)

New Kitty In Town

We lost our good mouse cat a couple of months ago in an accident, and have since been over run in the barn and milk parlor with mice. Ick. So, a couple of weeks ago I contacted one of the cat rescuers in the area (she's the lady that brought Liberty to us also), and last weekend she contacted me regarding a cat. He is about a year old, beautiful grey tabby with a medium length hair...and very friendly. We brought him home 2 days ago and so far he's doing very well. We are keeping him in a cage in the milk parlor until he gets to know our sights and sounds...and we make sure that he and Liberty will be okay together. We don't know his whole story...other than he was already neutered before being rescued. He was living in deplorable conditions and is very thin. If we ever get weight on this cat he will be HUGE!

His head is too big for me to put my hand across. It is very long and wedge shaped like a lion; so the girls named him Leo. I was kinda hoping to call him Simba, but I was outnumbered.

So far so good with Liberty. She can come and go in and out of the building so they can take their time and get to know each other.

In case you're wondering why we need a second cat as a mouser...Liberty has only one eye. She was rescued after someone damaged her eye with a beer bottle and it had to be removed. I think it effects her depth perception so that she can't catch mice(that's my story and I'm sticking to it).

Too Busy to Blog!?!

We hit a point over the last few days that I have been too busy to take the time (that I really enjoy, by the way) to write a blog. I enjoy blogging because it helps us stay in touch with friends and family, plus it leaves a 'diary' of what we've been doing. I take pictures of everything anyway (just ask my kids...they avoid the lens like the plague!); and at least this way I can share the pictures that I take.

I am new to blogging. I think it will be great to look back a year or 2 from now and see "what we were doing back in"....

Anyhoo, here is our last few days in a nutshell. Didn't get pictures of everything...

First we picked and canned pears. We picked a BUNCH of pears, the man that owns the trees has no use for them, so he told us to "take what we want"...and we did. After giving about 80 pounds to a friend, here's what we had left...

According to my scale it is 56 pounds. The price was certainly right...but pears are hard work to process. These are what is referred to locally here as 'sand' pears. They are very green and hard as rocks. They are perfect for canning! The girls and I spent a day getting them ready...

They turn into succulent beauties once they are peeled, cored, and canned. They are the perfect pear for canning. We do some in simple syrup plain, some with cloves, and some with star anise. The anise pears are a favorite here...biting into one is like biting into a big black jelly bean!

Next on the list of things to do involved a great sale on chuck roast and our bell peppers getting ready. We canned a dozen jars of pepper steak...

And then we harvested a lot of cantaloupe from the garden....

By the way, we grew non-hybrid varieties this year, so we saved all the seed for next year.

Today is also a special day for us. It was August 22, 1986 when Bob and I first met. In some ways it seems like just yesterday...in other ways it seems like a hundred years ago. I have never doubted that he is the one that God intended for me. He is my rock. I love you baby.

How Blessed We Are!

I am constantly amazed by our blessings. Every day miracles and blessings are what remind us of God's presence, and His hand upon us. I guess I am reminded of them more during this time of year while we are busy canning and preserving as much food as possible. This week we hit a sale on carrots. These were not scrawny bitter pale yellow things....but beautiful, fat, sweet, bright orange sticks that just begged to be preserved in a jar to be enjoyed for months to come. And we were just the people to get them there!

First, I needed a volunteer from the audience. My mom offered to come over and help peel them; which was a good thing since the girls and I had to go pick pears that had been knocked off the trees by a rainstorm last night (more on pears tomorrow).

I was inspired by a picture in one of my cookbooks to use the crinkle cutter on them, especially since we were putting some up specifically for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners.

They are just beautiful sitting there waiting to have their little lids put on them...

We did some of them in a wonderful sweet glaze made with 1 part brown sugar, 1 part water, and 1/2 part orange juice. These are a great answer to that age old question "Mommm, I'm hungry what can I snack on?" We canned several half pints and pints of these for snacking. Once the carrots are cut and arranged in sterile jars, you make the glaze and bring it to a boil, then ladle it onto the carrots leaving 1" headspace in the jars.

Once filled, the jars are capped and placed into the pressure canner. I have 2 pressure canners, which is a good thing since we had 3 canner loads of carrots to do today. We glazed about half of them, and the other half we did plain, with just 1/2 tsp of salt added to each jar. Instead of adding the glaze to the jars, we add boiling water.

And they end up looking like this...

Tomato Soup, Mmmmm Good!

This is one of my all-time favorite canning recipes! It is not easy to make, but OH MY is it ever worth every bit of the work! First, you get a box of tomatoes. Wash them really well, cut into quarters, then put them in a large roaster or stock pot. I use the roaster so they can slow cook all day and I don't have to worry about scorching.
Then you quarter 6 onions, rinse and rough cut 12 ribs of celery, and stir them into the tomatoes. (I'll post the recipe at the bottom)
Let it cook all day, stir it every hour or so. You will know it's ready when it has all turned to mush. Usually by this time it is late, so I pop it in the fridge and finish it the next morning.

The next step is to either run it through the food mill (if you want it really smooth), or you can run it through the food processor for a little chunkier soup (which is what I did). Sorry I didn't get a picture of this stage of the process.

Next you put your pureed yummy goodness into a stockpot on the stove and bring it to a nice low boil. Pull out 2 cups of the mixture and put it in a separate pan on the stove, maintaining the boil. To your stockpot, add 1 cup Sugar and 1 Tablespoon of canning salt. To the reserved puree, whisk in 1/2 cup all purpose flour. Stir in the flour mixture and return the pot to a boil.

Ladle into sterile jars. It should look something like this...

Cap the jars and place into your pressure canner...
Follow your canner's instructions, and process for 20 minutes.

YUM!

Tomato Soup

1/2 bushel tomatoes

12 ribs celery, rough chopped

6 large onions, quartered

1 cup Sugar

1 T canning salt

1/2 cup all purpose flour

Wash and quarter the tomatoes, and place into a large stockpot or a large roaster with the onions and celery. Slow cook this all day. Do not try to rush this soup or the flavor will not be right. The vegetables are ready when they are all mushy.

Run through a food mill or food processor.

Place the puree into a stockpot on the stove and bring it to a nice low boil. Pull out 2 cups of the mixture and put it in a separate pan on the stove, maintaining the boil. To your stockpot, add the sugar and the canning salt.

To the reserved puree, whisk in 1/2 cup all purpose flour until smooth then stir it into the soup to thicken it. Return the pot to a low boil.

Ladle the soup into jars and cap. Follow your canner's instructions and process for 20 minutes.

Yields:

7 Quarts or 14 pints

Anybody Canning?

Last weekend we canned 5 boxes (1/2 bushel each)....to the tune of 50 quarts and 12 pints....and this weekend we have 4 boxes (I plan to make tomato soup + ro-tel)

My dear friend that is helping me, bought 1 box last week, and 1 box this week. I told her that her box was the last one. And that I'd be happy to help her with them. ;-) She is patient. And she has a dishwasher . Those 2 qualities make her a great friend during canning season! Of course I am just kidding, she is a great friend during soap season too!

I'm getting back into canning mode. I've been 'off' for a couple of years, but catching up quickly.

Second Planting and a Cold Front!

Well, maybe not a cold front...but it certainly is cooler!! It is already after 1 o' clock and it is only 90º! I took advantage of the cooler weather and walked through the woods for Muscadines. We have a few, but none much bigger than a bb. I sure was hoping for a nice crop this year, but I guess it's not to be.

Speaking of good crops, our second plantings are doing really well....much better than our first planting! Here is what the herb bed looked like a week ago when I finished weeding and ammending the soil...

And here is how it looks today. Our green beans and sweet potatoes are coming in nicely!

The summer squash are beginning to sprout...

Liberty takes advantage of the cool patio and catches a nap...

And my Joseph's Coat rose has a beautiful new flower...

Clover and Silly come up to say hello. These are the 2 doe kids we kept this year; Lord willing we'll breed them in Fall '09 for Spring '10 freshening. They are out of my 2 favorite does, Clover is Faith's daughter, and Silly is Legacy's.
Well, I don't want to waste such a beautiful day...I best go get busy!

Tomatoes and Heat

Our tomatoes are still quite stunted, but are finally beginning to look promising. In the meantime I have been hitting farmer's markets in an attempt to find some locally grown tomatoes for canning. A friend of mine joined me in my quest and together we hit paydirt! I bought 4 boxes (half-bushel boxes), and she bought 1. These were #2's, but the price was right ($12/box). My morning began just after 5, and we started working feverishly to get them all canned. The end result (after 12 hours of work), is 50 qts and 12 pints of beautiful locally grown whole tomatoes.

Of course, in this heat we would not be able to do this all in the house. It was 104º today with a heat index of 107º! Bob set up the canopy for shade, and we were blessed by a nice breeze. This is my "summer kitchen". Bob has his smoker blazing and the propane burner powers our water bath canner. Under the patio sits my propane grill. It is called the "Outdoor Kitchen" since it has a burner, the grill, a sink, and food prep area. When hurricane Rita hit we were able to prepare and provide food for friends and neighbors without electricity by using our summer kitchen; but mostly we use it to avoid turning on the oven during the heat of the summer.

Christian Agrarianism???!?!?!?!?!

erican (one nation under God). What I see is that the "green movement" has brainwashed even the most sincere Christians into some sort of belief that we as people have control over the universe, this planet, or even the ground we own or walk on. Never forget that God is in control. Never forget that the environmental movement IS a religion.

Here are a few definitions copied from online sources (wikipedia and the american heritage dictionary)...
Agrarianism - NOUN: A movement for equitable distribution of land and for agrarian reform.
Am I the ONLY person that sees a problem with this when compared to scripture??
And then we have the PHILOSOPHY of agrarianism....

In the introduction to his 1969 book Agrarianism in American Literature, M. Thomas Inge defines agrarianism by the following basic tenets:
Cultivation of the soil provides direct contact with nature; through the contact with nature the agrarian is blessed with a closer relationship to God. Farming has within it a positive spiritual good; the farmer acquires the virtues of "honor, manliness, self-reliance, courage, moral integrity, and hospitality" and follows the example of God when creating order out of chaos.
The farmer "has a sense of identity, a sense of historical and religious tradition, a feeling of belonging to a concrete family, place, and region, which are psychologically and culturally beneficial." The harmony of this life checks the encroachments of a fragmented, alienated modern society which has grown to inhuman scale. In contrast, farming offers total independence and self-sufficiency. It has a solid, stable position in the world order. But urban life, capitalism, and technology destroy our independence and dignity while fostering vice and weakness within us. The agricultural community can provide checks and balances against the imbalances of modern society by its fellowship of labor and cooperation with other agrarians, while obeying the rhythms of nature. The agrarian community is the model society for mankind.
GOD created the model society for mankind (the garden of eden). We do not toil in the fields for any kind of self-enlightenment. We do it to eat. Capitalism and technology does not destroy anything. Sin does.