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

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

April

Earlier this month we enjoyed the first of our springtime flowers, crocuses. My little girl loves flowers and was excited to pick dainty bouquets for our kitchen table. In the picture above you can see her collection of bouquets in her tiny tea cups.

 Jemimah loves to color, and I am grateful to find a wonderful variety of coloring pages through Pinterest. I am always especially pleased to find scripture verses for her to color. Over the past two months Jemimah has memorized all of the verses comprising the Romans Road. It truly blesses my heart to hear my daughter recite the many scriptures she has memorized over the past year.

 Our new hens have begun egg production! After a long winter of not collecting any eggs it has been wonderful to have an abundance of eggs to share once again. Since we have a variety of breeds this time, it is nice to take note of the variances of the egg shell colors. My sister commented how some of the eggs are almost mauve in their hue.

 Over the winter Jemimah learned to embroider. Embroidery was one of my favorite pastimes when I was a youngster, however I will admit I didn't learn to embroider quite as young as Jemimah has. She spent many painstaking hours creating this precious kitty tea towel for me. I know that I will treasure it forever!

 My most recently completed project is a crocheted afghan. It has been quite a while since I crocheted an afghan. It had been on my mind that I would like to crochet an afghan for our living room.
My grandma was quite prolific in her crocheting of afghans. All three of her children, as well as some grandchildren were gifted with multiple hand crocheted afghans. Growing up I always loved to nap under one of grandma's afghans. I thought of my grandma a lot while crocheting this afghan. It was my grandma who taught me to crochet, and this pattern is very similar to a pattern she crocheted a number of times.

 I am really pleased with the end result! It is super cozy and I love the stitch pattern. It was fun to crochet as it was not overly repetitive, but was simple to memorize.

Did you all have a nice Resurrection Sunday? We did, even if it was quiet and different. One of the special treats we enjoyed this Easter was chocolate cream pie. I thought I would share the recipe today. Over the past few years it has become a family favorite and one of my most requested desserts to bring to family gatherings. In fact my one sister always asks me to make her a chocolate cream pie for her birthday and wedding anniversary. : )

Chocolate Cream Pie

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 tsp. salt

Mix ingredients well in a medium saucepan. Then add:

3 3/4 cups milk (I recommend whole milk)
Cook over medium-high heat. Stir constantly. Mixture will come to a boil. Boil 1 minute or until the pudding is thick. Then add:

3/4 cup chocolate chips
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Mix well. Pour into an already baked pie crust. Chill in refrigerator until completely cool. I typically allow my pie to cool overnight in the refrigerator. Then top with homemade whipped cream, and if you are feeling extra festive maybe some sprinkles.

To close I would like to share a devotional I recently read in David Jeremiah's daily devotional Turning Points.
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 Unwavering

The Lord has promised good things.
Numbers 10:29

In his commentary on the book of Joshua, John Calvin wrote, “Our faith, unless founded solely on [God’s] promise, must be continually wavering…. Faith ought properly to recline on the truth of God alone.”[1]

Are you troubled today? The Bible says, “For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion” (Psalm 27:5).

Do you feel weak? The Lord declares, “My strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Are you anxious about how a situation will work out? Proverbs 3:5-6 says: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”

For every pulsing thought, there is a pulsating Scripture. There’s always a Bible verse waiting to be requisitioned to your need. Search it out and write it on the tablet of your mind. If our faith is founded solely on God’s promises, we’ll be unwavering.

That which God promises to us in word he seals by act.
John Calvin

 

 "Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."
2 Peter 1:2-4

Springtime Aprons

 

Spring has finally arrived where I live. It is such a joy to see the first spring flowers bloom. Our crab apple tree is about ready to blossom, and our favorite springtime birds have returned after the long winter. Over the weekend Jemimah spotted our first Baltimore Oriole of the season, as well as the return of beef cows across the road. It is wonderful to see her delight in these signs of spring's return.

The past few weeks have been busy with spring cleaning and garden preparations. Adam has increased the size of our garden and has plans of planting sweet corn this year.

I have also found time to sew some aprons for my Etsy page, Lilacs in Spring.

Yesterday I listed eight aprons and a few kitchen towels. The first apron shown in this post is sewn from a fabric that truly reflects the season! While sewing the apron I seemed to spot a different flower with each step of the sewing process. There are irises, roses, lily of the valley, daisies and more.

If you are looking for a new spring apron be sure to visit my page and take a peek at my new listings. I have some other aprons cut-out so hopefully I will be adding some other aprons in the next few weeks.

Are you enjoying beautiful springtime blooms where you live? What is your favorite?

"Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight." Psalm119:35

Clothes Pin Bags, Aprons and Laundry Day Inspiration

Once spring arrives I am always excited to hang laundry outside to dry on my clothesline again. There is something absolutely wonderful about wearing a garment that smells of fresh air and sunshine!

 I have found my clothes pin bag to be a very handy accessory. In the past I would sometimes be guilty of leaving clothes pins on the line. Over time the clothes pins would become discolored and the springs could become rusty. But with a clothes pins bag it is so easy to collect my clothes pins up at the end of the day.

Over the past two years I have enjoyed making my own homemade laundry detergent. I found this recipe on Pinterest and really like how quickly a batch can be made. I always add lavender essential oil to my detergent.

Homemade Laundry Detergent:

• An empty  1/2 gallon old detergent jug or 1/2 gallon canning jar
• 1/2 cup liquid castile soap
• 1/2 cup baking soda
• 5 drops lavender essential oil

Combine ingredients in 1/2 gallon container, fill container with hot water. Shake to combine. Gently shake before each use. Use 1/4- 1/3 cup per load.

Another laundry favorite is this stain remover recipe.

Use 2 parts peroxide and 1 part blue Dawn and baking soda. I usually use 1/2 cup peroxide, 1/4 cup Dawn dish soap and 1/4 cup baking soda. Apply to stain remover prior to washing.

 

I shared this some time ago, but thought it would be a nice addition to this post....

Old Recipe

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Years ago a Kentucky grandmother gave the new bride the following recipe for washing clothes. It appears below just as it was written, and despite the spelling, has a bit of philosophy. This is an exact copy as written and found in an old scrap book (with spelling errors and all).

1.Bilt a fir in backyard to heat kettle of rain water. 2.Set tubs so smoke wont blow in eyes if wind is pert. 3.Shave one hole cake of lie soap in bilin water. 4.Sort things make 3 piles. 1 pile white, 1 pile colored, 1 pile work britches and rags. 5.To make startch, stir flour in cool water to smooth, then thin down with bilin water. 6.Take white things, rub dirty spots on board, scrub hard, and then bile. Rub colored don’t bile, just rinch and starch. 7. Take things out of kettle with broomstick handle, then rinch, and starch. 8.Hang old rags on fence. 9.Spread tea towels on the grass. 10. pore rinch water in the flower beds. 11. Scrub porch with hot soapy water. 12.Turn tubs upside down. 13.Go put on clean dress, smooth hair with hair combs. Brew cup of tea, sit and rock a spell and count your blessings.

***Paste this over our washer and dryer and next time when you think things are bleak, read it again and give thanks for your blessings!

 

The clothes pin bags featured in this post are for sale in my Etsy shop. I have also added some pretty new aprons too.

"And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men." Colossians 3:23

Spring Flowers and Birds

Spring arrived earlier this month, and it has been one of the loveliest springs I can remember! After a very long, cold winter the sunshine and warmth is truly a blessing. 

With the arrival of May my mom and I always look forward to the arrival of our favorite feathered friends. While we talk on the phone each day we give each other bird reports. : ) I saw my first Rose Breasted Grosbeak of the year at my mom's house. We were impressed to see three males at one time! About a week after seeing the Rose Breasted Grosbeak at my mom's house Jemimah yelled out "Mama, the Rose Breasted Grosbeak is here!". I came out to the kitchen and sure enough outside the kitchen window I saw the Rose Breasted Grosbeak eating from our feeder.

We have been super blessed by the variety of birds that have been visiting us regularly. One of my favorites has been the Baltimore Oriole. I would love to take a picture of the Baltimore Oriole, but he tends to hear me if I try to open the door or window. Usually we may see a Baltimore Oriole once or twice in the month of May, but this year he has visited our suet feeder every day in the morning and evening. 

We also have both of our bird houses inhabited. In the picture above in a tree swallow. Despite Adam's efforts to dump their nests and move them along, they have persevered! The boxes we have purchased are special for bluebirds and we try to keep them available specifically for bluebirds. However we were delighted to discover a sweet little bluebird family nesting in the other box.

The crab apple tree was exceptionally gorgeous this year! I was amazed at the fullness of the blossoms and how they remained on the tree about a week. In past years the wind has blown the blossoms off within a day or two.

 I made a bouquet of crab apple blossoms and lilacs for Mother's Day. I thought it was one the prettiest combinations I had seen.

You may have noticed in the picture of the crab apple tree that there was work being done across the road from our house. Last fall a Mennonite family purchased the land across the road from us and the field next to our property. They have worked hard to remove all of the overgrowth and old buildings that stood deteriorating across the road from us. It has been wonderful to gain more sunlight in the evening due to the removal of all of the trees. Another treat has been the addition of cows! They built a large fence and a couple of weeks ago brought in several Angus cows as well as a few other breeds of beef cows. I love to hear the cows mooing when I wake up in the morning. : )

The lilacs are in full bloom now. They smell so beautiful!

I have added a few new flowers to my garden this year. The Columbine in the picture above was called "songbird bluebird".

My grandma always had a bleeding heart in her garden. Adam bought this plant for me as a Mother's Day gift. It makes me think of my grandma and her love of God's creation.

 I have also been blessed to see so many wild flowers growing in our yard. The little violet in the picture above is one of many I have discovered. Jemimah has such fun looking for flowers. Every morning she comes in from playing outside with a little bouquet of flowers.

The flower above became one of my favorites last year. I discovered it growing along side the road in front of our house. I was puzzled. Growing up in the country I had seen many wild flowers and knew most by name. I had never seen a flower like this before. I went on-line and searched to try and discover the name, but couldn't seem to find the same flower. A day or so later I was reading a blog post about flowers, the post did not include pictures, just names of favorite flowers. When I read the name "Star of Bethlehem", something inside me just knew that was the name of this flower, and it was. This year we have Star of Bethlehem growing all along the edge of our front yard.

 To close this post, a picture of "cat Winston", as Jemimah calls him. Thankfully he has been doing all of his bird watching from inside! I hope we can keep it that way.

I hope you all have a blessed and beautiful weekend!

"It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O Most High:

To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night,
 Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound.
 For thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands.
 O Lord, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep." Psalm 92: 1-5