Where I've Been...

~What I've been working on ~

pizza sauce

diced tomatoes

salsa

green beans

apple pie filling

~Yes, it's school time again!  Two weeks down, how many more to go?  Sure keeping me busy, but I guess the schedule is a good thing~



~So very thankful for the peaches brought from PA~

and for my mother who willingly helped fill these jars and stuck it out through the bushel of apples for the pie filling.  She sure saved my sanity.

~Hitting the books.  We're trying a new curriculum for our Bible, Science, and History this year.  So far, so good!  Sticking with it through this busy gardening time...something {maybe all the baby kicks?} tells me we're going to need some time off come December.   :) ~

~Pears: On the agenda for next week~

{along with corn and more tomatoes}

I don't think we'll be going hungry this winter.

Praising HIM for the harvest!

Sweeter Than Applesauce

Thanks to the generous sharing of my in-laws, I have 50 lunch cups of strawberry applesauce in the freezer...and the anticipation of many more boxes to come.

{16 month old boys must think apples are the perfect toy.  Yes, the apples are going to have a few bruises!}

And those curls?  Love 'em!

Fresh Squeezed Lemonade

Slice 6 lemons very thinly, mash them up to release all the juice, mix with one cup of sugar and let sit for 20 minutes.

Dump in pitcher {or in my case, a jar, because every pitcher you tried was too small!} and add 2 1/2 quarts of water and 10-12 ice cubes.

Add a sliced strawberry to your glass and enjoy!

{I took a fork and smashed up my strawberry to get that yummy strawberry flavor! yum-yum!}

Our Florida Trip in a Nutshell

 Fun on Grandpa's Swing

 Strawberry Shortcake on the Patio Table

 Fun in the Sand

 Testing the waters

 Visit to the Alligator Farm

 Praying.  Oh wait, I think they're snoozing!

Visit to the market to bring some freshness home!



In The Hills of West Virginia...

We made a quick trip out of town for a dear aunts funeral. On the way home through West Virginia, we stopped at a Blueberry Farm.

We were here once before {5 or so years ago!} on the way home from a family reunion. We have good memories of stopping with my husbands family and spending a couple of hours picking berries. Since it's blueberry time in West Va...we decided to continue the memories.

I think she's in her own imaginary world, probably pretending she's from long-ago times...finding berries in the woods!

We came home with 12# of these beautiful, yummy blueberries! There is something rewarding about picking fruit....somehow the memories return when you're eating the fruit in the middle of the winter while the snow flies! {that is, if any make it to the freezer before being eaten by my hungry boys!}

As we were leaving, the owner asked if we liked peaches. Her neighbor had picked them and she didn't know what to do with them all. My husband laughed and told her "My wife would never turn down a gift of fresh, homegrown fruit!" {He knows me well!}