Pictures from July

 July was a beautiful and busy month. I always enjoy July, as I feel that it is filled with summer's best. Trips to the lake, picking berries, stunning sunsets, garden produce, family picnics, beautiful flowers, well as you can see I could go on forever!

We were very blessed with an abundance of berries in our garden this year. I was able to make jam from our home grown strawberries, black raspberries and rhubarb, so far. I still plan to make red raspberry jam from our garden at some point. I also had enough berries to freeze for the winter months ahead.

There is nothing quite like a pie made with fresh berries from the garden! It gives us such a good feeling to see the hard work of planting and caring for our plants come to fruition.

Although we have planted blueberries they are very slow to grow. The picture of the plant above was taken at a beautiful blueberry farm we visit each summer. Our annual trip is one of my favorite summer traditions! This year I went with my mom and sister, with her children. It was fun to see the cousins enjoy their time together and competing to see who could pick the most blueberries!

 

One evening Jemimah brought in a basket of bell peppers she picked. She likes to pick flowers from her wild flower garden and then arrange them among the vegetables. She finds great delight in surprising me with beautiful bouquets and displays of her flowers.

I am grateful to have a nice supply of peppers in my freezer for the winter ahead.

We are thrilled to finally have some ripe tomatoes. They seemed to be a little slow to ripen this year. We have a few different heirloom varieties, which is a real treat. Above is another example of Jemimah's creative expression in vegetable/flower arranging. : )

The geese have grown so fast! They are such characters and seem to find ways to amuse us nearly every day. Axel is a little aggressive with people he doesn't know and becomes very vocal at his annoyance when unknown guests arrive, like the gas delivery man yesterday! He also finds great delight in chasing our poor little dog Darla Mae and chasing Jemimah while she rides her bike. He has gone so far as to bite her bike tire. I'm glad to be on his good side, so far!

 

Jemimah spent time this summer working on her embroidery and learning how to sew on the sewing machine. After completing a couple of hand sewn projects she was ready to try her hand at using a sewing machine. She sewed a patchwork quilt for her dolls and did a great job! I was so proud of her hard work, and blessed when she won best of fair at our county fair for her quilt.

Over the summer I hand embroidered a little runner/dresser scarf. I found the stamped embroidery kit at a little quilt shop in our area; they were selling a number of vintage stamped embroidery projects for 50cents- $1. I purchased several, some appear to be from the 1950's. 

I also added a couple of new (to me) vintage apron patterns to my collection. I am hoping to find time to sew them over the next few months, and maybe add them to my shop. I really like to button back closure of each design.

I hope you are all enjoying a wonderful summer! 

"O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!" Romans 11:33

Feathered and Furry Friends

Happy Summer! I hope you all have enjoyed a beautiful spring.

This spring we were blessed to add to our flock and I thought I would take some time to share pictures of our feathered and furry friends.

For some time now Adam has been interested in purchasing some geese. He had read articles about the benefits of geese, and that they prove to be a good alarm/guard against predators. After losing all but two of our hens over the past year he had been looking into options on how to better protect our hens. Some recommend geese as they will alert their owners of harm and even scare away predators.

 It wasn't too hard for Adam to convince me that we needed geese. Especially when I met the sweet little gosling above! Adam had ordered two Embden geese, unfortunately when the shipment arrived at the store, one of the goslings had not survived the trip. The store we purchased from had a mix of other goslings to choose from and this little dear caught my eye, she is a White Chinese.

 In just over a month the geese have grown so much! Both geese are loving and enjoy being held. In the evenings Adam and I will sit in our lawn chairs with a goose on each of our laps.

 Adam has named his Embden goose Axel, after the character in Journey to the Center of the Earth. Axel is an impressive goose already, he is twice the size of my goose. I love the picture above, as it looks like he has a crazy tuft of blonde hair! Both geese have lost most of their baby fuzziness and are growing beautiful white feathers.

As I mentioned earlier we lost all but two of our hens to a hawk and possum. We decided to add ten new chickens to our flock. The business we purchased chicks from has an incredible variety to choose from. My daughter and I had a difficult time limiting our selection to only ten birds! Each of the ten chickens is a different variety, many of which we never raised in the past. Some will even lay blue or green eggs.

The chicks are harder to photograph than the geese as they are constantly moving about. They love to flap their wings and "fly" about their pen. We love to watch their adorable antics!

Our two remaining hens have been enjoying the company of a distinguished gentlemen. Our neighbor's rooster comes over every morning to join our ladies on a stroll about the lawn; come evening he escorts the hens to the hen house and returns home. It is truly comical to watch him walk the hens home, cut across the lawn and then pass under the fence to his own yard. We have dubbed him Sir Reginald Rooster, but call him Reggie for short. Reggie is the most conversational chicken I have ever met, he is always clucking away over every inch of lawn and will even crow in Adam's garage to request an ear of dried corn.

We also purchased two turkey chicks this spring. Much to Jemimah's dismay Adam plans to have the turkey butchered come fall. Adam hopes to have a truly home grown Thanksgiving this year.

Since it has been awhile since I last posted you have not yet had the chance to meet our puppy, Darla Mae. She joined our family last summer and has been an absolute delight! Darla Mae is truly the sweetest little dog I've ever met. In the picture above she is wearing a sweater I crocheted.

Since I can't resist cute puppy pictures I had to include a picture of Darla Mae from last summer soon after we brought her home.

Adam has also begun beekeeping. We're all hoping to eventually enjoy a wonderful yield of honey, but in the meantime we are finding pleasure in watching the bees collect pollen from our various flowers. It is beautiful to see the bees return to their hive with their back legs coated in yellow pollen. Bees are such amazing creatures. How good the Lord is to bless us with His incredible creations.

 We were somewhat surprised by a recent visitor to our garden. One evening Adam spotted this enormous snapping turtle in our  vegetable garden. We stood by and watched as the turtle began to burrow down into the tilled soil. We all kept our distance, since snapping turtles can be quite dangerous, but enjoyed an up close observation of a large snapper at work.

I hope you have enjoyed this little update about our animal friends. Hope to chat with you all again soon!

"O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches." Psalm 104:24

Springtime Beauty

May has been a beautiful month where I live. My family and I have been enjoying the return of each springtime flower and feathered friends. It is always such an amazing blessing to see spring unfold after a long cold winter.

 My daughter and I find great delight in awaiting the arrival of our favorite flowers. I cherish all of the sweet little bouquets my daughter collects for our kitchen table.

 Star of Bethlehem is one of if not my favorite springtime flower. It is a wildflower that began blooming on our property a couple of years after we moved into our home. It tends to be a short lived flower, so we anxiously await its blossoming and soak up its beauty while we can. Each time I see the Star of Bethlehem flower I can't help but think of the sweet Christmas song by that name. : )

Our crab apple tree was especially beautiful this year! I always love the vibrant pink blossoms.

I was so impressed with the amount of blossoms on the tree this year.

We always eagerly anticipate the arrival of the Baltimore Orioles. Adam made little platforms for grape jelly, the orioles enjoy perching on the platforms while they eat the jelly. It is surprising just how much grape jelly they can eat in a week! If you look closely you will spot a male Baltimore oriole, a female and a very mischievous squirrel. 

We have a family of squirrels in the large old maple tree outside our living room window. We have enjoyed watching their unbelievable antics! They make us laugh so often with how cute and crazy they behave, especially the juvenile squirrels.

Adam took these pictures of the orioles early one morning. They can be fairly difficult to photograph. 

We have also been grateful to once again see the Rose Breasted Grosbeak, Eastern Bluebirds, hummingbirds and so many others! Many times when we visit my mom we are treated with a visit from the Pileated woodpecker, what an amazing creature!

We have planted our vegetable garden and are excited to once again watch the plants grow. Our first harvest this year was asparagus, which was an unexpected blessing. Adam had planted some asparagus roots in the garden last spring. We had read that it could take up to five years before the plants would produce anything edible. However, much to our delight we had enough asparagus to enjoy one evening with our dinner.

Adam started most of our plants from seed this year using heirloom seeds. Last year we had purchased tomato plants from a local greenhouse, at the time we hadn't realized they were heirloom tomatoes. They were the most delicious tomatoes we had ever tasted. The tomato variety was Boxcar Willy, it was the variety's name that caught our attention. Adam was able to save seeds from last years tomatoes and start his own Boxcar Willy tomato plants this year. We are excited to enjoy them once again this year.

Hopefully I will post again soon. It seems like there tends to be more to share during the spring, summer and fall. I hope to share some of my recent sewing projects soon.

Have you planted a garden this year? Are you enjoying any special feathered friends?

"O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches." Psalm 104:24

August

This bouquet of flowers came from our wildflower garden.

August has been a busy month of gardening, canning, home improvements and beginning our homeschool year. It feels as though we have accomplished a great over the past few weeks.

We have been so pleased, blessed and grateful with the success of our garden this year. Adam tripled the size of our patch dedicated to growing corn, and it was wonderful to enjoy homegrown sweet corn so often this summer. We even had enough corn that I was able to freeze several quarts for the winter ahead.

Adam has compiled a collection of  garden pictures that we hope to share in a post here soon. As you can see from the picture above Adam grew almost everything this year! The cantaloupe has been a favorite. The flavor is so sweet and special during the last of these hot summer days.

As I type this I have over a dozen jars of spaghetti sauce and a dozen jars of pepper jelly resting on my kitchen counter - all made with produce from the garden. It is such a joy to know that come winter we will still have a taste of this beautiful summer to enjoy!

Earlier this week I made plum jam. It remains a family favorite. I am always delighted when I am able to find locally grown plums. They are so delicious and they make the perfect jam!

In the evenings I enjoy sitting back with a good book or some handiwork. Currently I am reading Duskin by Grace Livingston Hill. Reading a Grace Livingston Hill book is like meeting with an old friend, some of the situations are similar book to book, but enough is different to be entertaining. The theme of God speaking through His Word is woven throughout Duskin in such a natural and beautiful way. The main character has promised her mother that she will  read her Bible daily while away from home on a business trip. At first she is annoyed by her mother's request, but as the story progresses she realizes that God is using the book of Proverbs to guide and direct her course.

The evenings have been cooler of late and I have been finding some time to knit again. This summer was quite hot, so my knitting sat tucked away until now. The blue yarn is being knit into a cardigan for my daughter. The natural yarn is a scarf.

Earlier this month I canned several quarts of peaches. While I had fresh peaches on hand I made peaches and cream kuchen, a recipe that my grandma shared with me years ago. It is one of Adam's favorites, so much so that I made it twice in one weekend.

Peaches and Cream Kuchen

Crust:

2 cups flour

2 Tbsp. brown sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 butter

Combine flour, sugar, salt  and baking powder. With pastry blender cut in butter until mixture resembles course crumbs. Turn mixture into lightly greased 8"x8" pan. Pat firmly against bottom and sides of pan.

3 cups of sliced peaches (fresh, frozen or canned may be used)

 3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

Arrange peaches over crust. Combine sugar and cinnamon, sprinkle over peaches. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove from oven.

Beat 1 cup heavy cream and 2 egg yolks together. Pour over peaches. Bake an additional 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Allow to stand 10 minutes, serves warm. Yum!

My mom, daughter and I visited a lovely greenhouse/farm market one day this month. Jemimah was excited to discover this stunning display of pink petunias. We had to snap a few pictures of her among the flowers.

"Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us." Ephesians 3:20

Black Raspberries and Clematis

This summer we have been abundantly blessed with delicious raspberries, both red and black. Ever since I was a little girl black raspberries have been a favorite. For many years they grew wild along the edge of my mom's yard. My sisters and I loved to pick and eat blackberries on hot summer days. Very often we had enough for a pie too.

About four years ago Adam planted both red and black raspberries at our home. In the picture above you can see the row of black raspberries to the left and red to the right.

It has taken time, but it is certainly a blessing to see the bushes reach their full potential and produce enough berries to be useful.

We had enough berries to make two batches of jam (20 jars). I love making lots of jam each year. Family and friends are always pleased to receive a jar of jam. I feel like it is a way to preserve some of summer for the winter months.

Each year my clematis brings me so much joy! The previous owners of our home planted the clematis. It was a lovely surprise the first summer we lived here.

"He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end." Ecclesiastes 3:11

Elderberries and Bluebirds

 It has been a while since I last posted here. Life has been busy and my blog always seems to take last place on my list of priorities. Between finishing up our homeschool year, gardening, homemaking, sewing and just enjoying my family, the months have moved along too quickly for my liking!

 Today I thought I would share some pictures of our elderberry bushes. Some may remember back to when Adam first planted the bushes in 2017. I am amazed how they have grown so huge in just three years! We will have to use a ladder to reach the uppermost berries.

 The blossoms are as large as my hand and they smell absolutely heavenly! In fact you can smell their fragrance several feet away, especially on these warm summer evenings. We are excited, and hopeful, for a grand harvest of elderberries this September.

 We have been delighted with our little family of Eastern bluebirds that have nested in one of our bluebird boxes this year. It may be hard to see them clearly in this picture, but there are four babies. The baby on the lower left hand side is beginning to show blue feathers.

Eastern bluebirds are very special to me. My grandma and mom were some of the first in our area to place bluebird boxes in their yard, about 30 years ago now. Both studied bluebirds and were very attentive to each bluebird family that nested on their properties. I remember one year a family of baby bluebirds had become wet and dirty due to a tremendous rain storm. My mom and grandma worked together to gently clean the babies and create a fresh nest from grass clippings that had been left from mowing the lawn. At the time it seemed a bit risky, but they did a great job. All of the babies survived and eventually left the nest.

 Hopefully I will share a post dedicated to our garden in the near future. Adam had outdone himself this year! Despite the lack of rain we have had in our area, our garden is thriving. Praise the Lord! We are all eagerly anticipating the first tomatoes and corn on the cob of the season.

 The lettuce in the picture above was found in one of my flower beds. The seed must have been carried there by the wind. It made for a delicious salad.

 This was our best year yet for rhubarb. I was able to make two batches of vanilla-rhubarb jam. If you have yet to try this jam recipe I recommend you make a batch soon! It is by far the most delicious and unique jam I have ever tasted.

We love to sit outside in the evenings and watch the sunset. I thought this sunset was a beauty, however my picture pales in comparison to how the sunset looked in real life.

I hope you are all enjoying a beautiful summer surrounded by God's great creations!

"For the word of the Lord is right; and all his works are done in truth.
 He loveth righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
 By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth." Psalm 33: 4-6