A Homestead Montage

 Here's what's been going on around the ole homestead.

Lots of veggies, as you can see.

Oh my, I'm so amazed by my garden!

Come take a look...

Oregano drying.  There's plenty more growing out there in that pot on the deck.

Blogging Is Funny

I'm still not sure why you guys are reading this blog.  It's pretty amazing to me.  There's a lot more readers out there than there are "followers" or "commenters."  Oh my, I sure loooooove my commenters!  You make my heart beat faster!  I know, it's weird. If you don't have your own blog,  you may not know that I've got this neat little back room on here that shows me all the "stats."

Tip Tuesday: Do What You Can

 Boy, it sure would be nice to own 100 fertile acres, a root cellar, a spring-fed well, a milk cow, a gigantic thriving garden, an orchard, 1000 canning jars, a windmill, a wood burning furnace, a tractor and a generator.  Oh, well, at least I have a flock of chickens. 

Yep, that, and a few other things.

 Like spam.
 And rice.

What Hillbillies Do For Fun

Hams.

First you drive the truck down the trail way back into the woods.
That's our friends' truck, by the way. They brought us a bunch of fence posts for our farm.  

They are wonderful friends.

Fresh Homemade Salsa!

Tomatoes & Peppers & Cilantro, Oh My!
This is one of the best things about summer.  Food wise, anyways!

A Motherhood Conundrum

Do you ever get that nagging feeling that you were made for more than this?

Like, Yes, I know that all this Mommy stuff is super important and all, but isn't there something else I should be doing?

And I know that growing food, cooking food and cleaning up after the food is important and all but it feels so temporary.

And raising all these children is so meaningful and eternal and close to God's heart, but...

Tip Tuesday: Use Less

We're always trying to figure out ways of saving money for our family.  Most of the time we first think of how to spend less on the things we need.  How to get a better deal.  But one often overlooked method of saving money is to use less.  Here's where a little thrifty thinking comes in.  Did you know that a whole scoop full of detergent is enough for at least four loads?

A Recipe That Works

Lately I've been on a quest for good, reliable canning recipes.  Thanks to all that rain, I've got lots of veggies to deal with.  It's a good problem to have, but a problem, none the less.  You'd think you could just look up what to do with banana peppers and there would be some sort of consensus on how to safely and easily can them.  But there's not.  There's 45 recipes for the same thing.  And they're all different.  Different ingredients.  Different processing times.  Different etc.   Now, if it was just cooked peppers that I was wanting, I would just pick any old recipe and wing it.  Then eat it.  And not really give it much thought.  But canning is a different story.  Improperly canned foods can kill people.

College Update: Packing and Procrastination

I just realized that I haven't updated you guys in a while on the whole traumatic first-kid-moving-away-to-college adventure.  I guess I haven't been feeling quite so traumatized lately.  That's a good thing, right?  I'm sure it will hit me out of the blue one of these days and I'll be all freaked out again.  But for now, I'm OK.

So, are you curious how it's going for a homeschooler getting ready to move off to college?

Rain and Rambling

I've been sitting here at my computer for over two blessed hours almost totally uninterrupted.  What a wonderful thing!  The rain has been raining for that long, too.  I can not tell you how happy I am about that rain.  Last night when it was on its way here, I just sat out on the deck and thanked the Lord for sending it.