Monday, September 30, 2013

Grandma Gladys would be proud, she loved getting caught red handed....

Poppie dug all my beets a couple of days ago so this morning I finally got time to boil them up and peel them.  You know that they are supposed to slough their peels right off but I had to persuade many of them with my plastic spoon so I am very red handed.  There are a lot of them that are nowhere hear the 2 inch diameter that the pickled beet recipe calls for and Poppie thinks that I am a wasting my time peeling them but think what good little pickled beets they will make.  I have a great large bowl of them all peeled several are giants and there are the little wee ones but for the most part they will all be lovely pickled beets.  I canned all my beets last year into just canned beets, I had not ever got to make them with my fear of the pressure canner still weighing on me all those years, and so last year I made a bunch up.  I didn't have my technique all that refined and a lot of them siphoned their water off so since I read about botulism last week I am now afraid to use them.  

We have eaten a good many of them and they have caused no problems but I was reading on Facebook on my canning group site and they got into botulism.  I finally just looked it up and found there are about 116 cases in the last 20 year, 48 percent from canning, then mostly from babies getting it from honey, after babies comes black tar heroin users so we are safe here don't you know, or people leaving baked potatoes in aluminum foil and I don't foil my potatoes anyway.  CDC reports the following.

Protect yourself from botulism: When in doubt, throw it out!

Home-canned vegetables are the most common cause of  botulism outbreaks in the United States. From 1996 to 2008, there were 116 outbreaks of foodborne botulism reported to CDC. Of the 48 outbreaks that were caused by home-prepared foods, 18 outbreaks, or 38%, were from home-canned vegetables. These outbreaks often occur because home canners did not follow canning instructions, did not use pressure cookers, ignored signs of food spoilage, and were unaware of the risk of botulism from improperly preserving vegetables.

116 cases in 20 years is a pretty low incidents, and only 48 cases from canning, so canning by far and enlarge is pretty safe.  I do know that the highest incidence of home canned botulism is from beets or corn.  So I am going to try and especially be careful of the beets and since, the ones I did last year haven't gotten eaten in the last year, they are a little short on water and are in pint jars I am going to happily give them to the pig so I can put my beet pickles in their jars.  I think the runs along better safe than sorry lines.......

Off to make pickled beets.... I pray the Lord speaks to you, I know that until the Lord speaks to you nothing else toward salvation can happen.  I do know that faith cometh by hearing and the easiest way to hear God is by picking up his Word, the Bible and reading it..... He will talk to you. Try and see if he doesn't..... tomorrow.
 

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Maybe I will teach a canning class...... or rent a commerical kitchen one day?

Canning season is winding down for me and is going to soon be back to just a few canner pans or pressure canners full a month as Fall becomes winter.  I would have normally said I was done for the year but with the treasures of Bountiful Baskets I can can all year which makes for less lazy jars than of old.  I have had occasion in the last month to be asked to teach several people to can.  I tell each one the same thing, bring a box of fruit, tomatoes or a clutch of chickens, jars and come over any time I will make time to teach you whatever you would like.  I think maybe I should just take a day, invite them all over at once and they can learn to can all at once but then I would miss out on the one day each with three of my friends..... a conundrum for sure.  I got two calls yesterday alone for what to add to the tomatoes and how long to can them and how long does stock or stock with chicken take in the pressure canner.  Oh, how I love to talk canning, well for those of you who know me you know I like to talk about anything I can help a person learn, I am a jack (or is it jill?) of many trades and a master of none really.  Anyway most of you know I like to talk, with my mouth or in your case with my fingers.  I got to teach a lady to make a dream catcher this week, teach some one to crotchet and some one else is waiting to learn to make toe up socks with alternative heels, what a mouthful for a simple pair of socks.  I digress. 

I made up and canned several things this summer that several people have suggested I make to sell.  I have looked into it and maybe one of these days will rent a commercial kitchen and do just that.  I do love to share what I make just for the pure joy of giving mostly.  What is a gift that isn't shared after all?  I will miss the daily routine of canning, it seems I have spent most of the summer canning any and everything I could get my hands on.  My pantry can actually attest to that.  I am finding of late I actually have to think of things to keep me busy.  I have cleaned my front room and moved it around twice, the kitchen is soon going to get tile and I will finally have time to actually grout the bathrooms and pantry.  I can't wait for Poppie to finish my hutch, and he is working on a family room which will give me more tiling to do.  I really won't have to look far to keep busy but there is something rewarding about taking jars our of my canner and finding a place for them in my pantry.

 I was asked recently if I worried about my jars going bad before we used them all?, the person had just found out I keep over a thousand jars.  I said no I never worry because we use most of them annually, think of it, if we only used 3 jars a day we would be out in a year, so not sure if she thought of it that way really.  I do like that I no longer feel obligated to only fill them once a year, the no lazy jar concept has sure enlarged my life and my thinking on what I can put in a jar.  I have soups in jars, something only a few short years ago I never even thought of, to make the soup and just use it when I needed it and it still taste homemade (well it was just not now).  I have mustards and hot sauces, ketchups and things that once I would have relied on the store for but no longer and my kids are the better off for it.  I know what they are eating in a more personal way.  So if you happen along and see me out and about and you want to learn to can just step right up and we can make a plan to have you come learn and I will share my generationally learned art with you.  Maybe the Lord bless you and your day..... tomorrow.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Exodus repetitive and leads to Leviticus........ the stumbling block of many a reader. Or??

The Ladies and I have been reading the Bible all the way through this year.  We happily went into Exodus, with Leviticus on the horizon, in June and there we got stuck so to speak, we went in with joy and got stuck in the detail of unknowing and of why the details were so important.... I thought.  We had read the New Testament first because I wanted them to see, and try to understand, the Grace that the Law could not be.  We started in January so we were doing out best but alas human best always falls short and we fell flat on our faces in Exodus in June.  Our chosen time to study is at 6 in the morning, and when school was going it was ideal, well it is actually ideal for me all year long but it became a battle to get the Ladies out of bed they are alright with 7 when there is no school but they got a little bit cranky at 6 and so before long I, against my better judgment, gave up the battle. We gave up languishing in Exodus knowing that Leviticus was to come..... I had heard a Preacher on tv preach that Leviticus dashed the dreams of more people reading through the Bible many a time.

 I do not believe that God ever deals in coincidences, he has a plan and the secular world calls it a coincidence, those who have God in their lives know it is God's will.  I digress.  We went stumbling on with no morning worship of the reading of God's word.  I still read my Bible, and read many of my De Haan books as well, but as a family we were a failure in our study and reading.  I have happily purchased now 17 of M R DeHaan's 25 books.  I read they with such joy because I know God speaks to me as I study his word that they highlight.  They are not the kind of Religious books that take some takes one verse and writes a whole book or a self made theory from. They are whole pages of God's words from scripture and verse where the author tries to make it more understandable with the scriptures as his guide.  I look for each one like a person the follows a modern author and can't wait for the next one to come out; but with me some of them are so hard to find it is like I have awaited his writing a new one when I find it.  I always say the one I am reading is my favorite and I mean it at the time.  I can't wait to reread them again when I can slowly read them and the Word of God together to get more meaning from them and from God's word with the Holy Spirits guidance.  I got several of them this summer and joyed in the their reading.  Just as school was going to begin I finally got a copy of the Tabernacle, I say finally because I had won several of them thru Ebay but each time I won one the seller would cancel my purchase and not send it.  I would have to seek it out again, I finally got one just as school was beginning again, it was God's time for me to find it and receive it. 

I began it with the joy I always have when I am reading my "newest" book.  I was soon in tears and enthralled, it tore at my heart more so than any of the others had ever done. It for sure is my favorite and I don't think it is because of it being the one I am currently reading, it is the one that will always be my favorite.  It has allowed me to read Exodus and Leviticus with joy in my heart now.  It took me from thinking they were "just" books about a building and a stupid law that is no longer is our master.  I learned that the Tabernacle is so many many things, so much of Christ our Lord is it and it is him.  It is me, it is you and it is our relationship with our Lord.  It is a glorious revelation cloaked in porpoise covering and white linen.  I saw a tiny bit of what lays in the books that we so hate to study and read.  We, the family, have gone back to reading the Bible straight through, the Ladies don't find it any easier and Poppie tries to understand it as I once did, with dread.  I can't wait until I get to the end of the old testament because I am going to read M R DeHaan's the Tabernacle as our first study book in conjunction with the Bible as our morning study.  I think they will truly enjoy Exodus the next time we read them together. 

I learned so much about the Tabernacle while reading it but DeHaan said as he closed the we had just scratched the surface of what it was and we can spend a live time learning more and more about it and what it represents to us as Christians. I sat quietly this morning as I read the last page and lamented it's end.  I was so saddened at being done I turned to the beginning and started anew.  I had only gone in a page and God spoke to me, I was reading where Jesus was the tabernacle and I was the tabernacle and it came to me that the Tabernacle was the trinity of God in a way that I could for the first time truly understand, for me, how the trinity of God works.  The tabernacle, in me, represents the three parts of me, body soul and spirit, as there were three part of the tabernacle.  I thought if I have three parts then surely the tabernacle is the three parts of the one God.  God is the Tabernacle, as is Jesus and the Holy Ghost, they are the one Tabernacle.  I was so blessed to have God tell me it in a way I could in that moment understand.  I would encourage any of you to find the old book and set down with it, and your Bible, to see if what DeHaan writes doesn't give you new understand of an old book that so many despair at reading. I know I will never dread it again, I will probably read, and reread, it again and again with joy of the Word of God in his joyous book.... Exodus.

I pray that you read your Bible, it is life changing, it is the Word of God, and faith comes by hearing the Word of God, he give you Grace, Salvation and life everlasting as a free gift, and he even gives you the faith to believe if you "hear" his word, read it, hear it preached or however but hear the Word of God, take your faith and believe God's Word.  It is your only door to salvation..... tomorrow.  

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Can it be a raised bed garden if it is about a 1/5 of an acre? Maybe but not....

Our garden has always been an endeavor of love.  The acre we live on is a nice square, and I mean square piece of property.  It was lost in a divorce to one of the parties so it was perfectly cut out of a bigger tract of land in the 70's.  We originally owned the property adjacent to it, we bought that property in 82 but with many an up and a down along the way we ended up with the acre we are now on.  Our youngest biologically child, Mokie and her family live on the adjacent acre and 1/2 we once owned.  It is a nice set up in the overall, we get to see our 3 closest grands as a daily part of our lives.  But I digress.  The property we live on is exactly 207 by 207 feet and appears flat but for the one corner that goes up the rise of a small hill.  Basically it was a flat square plain when we moved on to it.  We later found when we had the foundation put in and pour it is not flat in reality but only appears so to it's surroundings.  We decided early on that we would like to build up a garden in the raised corner.  We had had a junk yard before we moved on to this property and had a bunch of tires left over from the last crushing of cars that we had to get rid of.  We had roughly 200 tires, a mountain so to speak, and no we did not want to pay 5 plus dollars each to take them to the dump.  We decided to use them as a wall to build up the garden we wanted to have, but we had no idea where we would get the back fill or actual garden dirt to fill behind the tire wall.  The neighbors that had just moved in at the time were digging a large hole in the hill behind them, so we asked them what they were going to do with the dirt and they had an equally big problem of what they were going to do with it. So because God never send coincidences, but only his plan that seems incidental to us at the time, he had had a plan for both our neighbor and us all the time, at hole to build in and a garden to provide food were the answers. 

They brought dump trucks of dirt over to our yard, smoothed it a little and Poppie on his little lawn tractor went to smoothing the dirt in behind the tire wall as I built the tire wall.  Our little Yogie was about 18 months and she rode on the lawn tractor with Poppie as he smoothed and smoothed hour after our.  It finally came together into a sort of flat giant raised bed with a tire wall around 3/4's of it.  We planted strawberries in each tire to hold in the dirt, and for the first 2 to 3 years had the biggest and best producing strawberry bed in the area.  We gave them away by the 5 gallon bucket.  But as the dirt, which was mostly clay set and hardened the strawberries died out because we didn't want to compromise the structure to by digging and putting softer dirt in all the tires.  Alas we no longer have the strawberries there but we do have a good strong wall that bears the wait of the garden.  Back to the garden, the neighbor brought over two dump trucks of cow manure and horse manure to cover the garden the first year. Brother rolled all the dirt with his tractor and plow, Poppie used his lawn tractor to till, we had a great garden the first year but the weeds were horrific.  Over the years Poppie has added, leaves, more manures, goat and pig more of late, but it has been a growing endeavor all along.  We added rhubarb plants, fruit trees, a table and benches, at green house, we have had great years where the garden was fabulous and some not as good.  The year Poppie landed the tree on himself and shattered his leg and spent 3 months on bed rest not so much.  Three years ago we grew two hundred pounds of cucumbers and almost none have grown since.  The garden is ever changing and evolving and we have had no answers  as to why one year he can grow a 107 pound pumpkin and can't grow small ones the next, well there is one but it only weights around 40 pounds, but only one out of all the plants grew a pumpkin.  We have decided it is time to make more amendments to the garden but were unsure how to proceed at this point.

I happened to be at the local hardware store to pick up my jars lids when I noticed on the shelf a ph test kit for gardens.  I bought it and brought it home and we tested the soil, we now know that we need more manure, who would have thought with all we put on it, we need leaves, and we knew we needed sawdust or some more organic matter but now we have a way to go and can effectively help our garden grow.  We have a raised bed garden but when it is a 1/5 of an acre big no one sees it that way.  Poppie has decided that because of all of his disabilities that he wants to add more real raised beds and at least one more green house.  Our garden does grow and grow and change but it is and has always been a work in progress. 

Genesis 3:18-19  18"Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field; 19By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return."

God has a plan in our lives that we work for our bread.  This life is not meant to be easy or a vacation, life is hard and has many a problem, with ups and down.  God wants us to work and toil in this life.  He sees to our needs but our wants we must work for.  He gives us eternal life if we but believe him and his word.  He gave us his son to believe and if we do we are gifted salvation and ever lasting rest from the toils of earth.  We can go to glory and live with him forever as a gift not of our works but as a gift for having faith and belief of his word.... tomorrow.

Monday, September 23, 2013

Frost has come, rainy days, stoves back in action..... Fall is upon us.

The Farmers Almanac, to the best of my ability to decipher, says that we, here, will have a cold September then basically the same type of winter we have had the last few years and a Cold February.  I think that would make for a nice winter all in all.  I do like that we have had the best huckleberry crop I have ever seen, in this area, the last two years, so if like winters contribute to that I am all for it.  It is funny in my life time the winters have changed a lot here in Montana.  As a tiny child in northern Idaho we had snow that was a fence post height and I can remember snow coming in September here in Montana, and definitely by Halloween but of late we don't get the snow of my childhood.  I think that the mountains still get a lot really but the valley floors don't get the amounts they once did.  The last really big snow we had here was in the winter of 96-97, and we literally had roofs cave in that year.  I don't miss the snow as I age, but I really would rather have snow if it means the cold will come and we have been blessed with less and less snow.  Why am I talking about snow on the first full day of Fall, well in Montana, fall brings snow.  I have a friend trying to decide what crops to plant where she lives, we don't actually plant much in September in Montana, some do little crops but even those little lettuce or pea crop are hit and miss at best. 

We have had a nice rainy September of late,  the rains have been a blessing, but you can truly feel Fall in the air.  I always find that ironic, Fall is probably the season, well here any way, that you can most feel one day it is hot and dry and over night there is a crisp coolness in the air and you just feel Fall has come.  Winter and Spring have a change about them but it is not a feel in the air like Fall is really.  Poppie but the stove back in our house, well not the stove but the chimney as we had had it out since we had painted in the spring.  He is going to go help Belle put her chimney in later this afternoon.  I like the feel of the house when a fire burns for the first time of a season, you feel a comfy feeling of warmth almost like a blanket being wrapped around you, it calls for homey cooked soup as an accompaniment. 

My friend called Friday night and they had pulled all of their cucumber plants in preparation of the frost coming, and wanted to know if I wanted to buy their last 5 gallon bucket of the season, yes I did, there is nothing better than the little pickles that come from the last picking of the season, I got 17 jars of those lovely little pickles.  Poppie picked the last of the zucchini's and I got 13 jars of zucchini pineapple.  I made end of the garden fruit pie Mincemeat, no meat but pears, tomatillos, green tomatoes and apple made up the base, very yummy. I love the combinations that come from the end of the garden canning.  Necessity in the Mother of invention and I think some of the best recipes are made just that way by the mad chemists we canning mothers become to make use of that last little bits of our gardens.  I am getting half case of jalapenos from Lady later, she ordered one and I shared with her.  I will make fermented hot sauce with mine, I am going to add some of my frozen habaneros to it,  it will be a whey fermentation, I can't wait to see how it comes out.  Today I will try the Kimchi  I started fermenting last week today, I hope it is good. 

I love the warmth of the Fall, outside it is rainy and the cold has crept in, but inside we are safe in the warmth of our fires. I believe the Fall or even the Winter of time is upon us.   I pray that you are safe in the warmth of being in Christ Jesus.  I hope you have heard the gospel preached or just heard it period.  I pray that you know that Jesus was born of a virgin, lived a perfect life and was crucified for our sins and died.  But more importantly that you know that he died and rose again, if all we know of Jesus is that he died on a cross is to know nothing of Jesus, with out his rising from the dead it is just a good story. Jesus is so much more than a good story,  Jesus arose from death and became the savior of one and all that believe.  Faith cometh by hearing the word of God, hear, believe and receive salvation... tomorrow.

Thursday, September 19, 2013

The Lord never gives you trials that you can not handle.....

The Lord never gives your, or maybe a better word is allows you to be tested with trials more than you can handle, or maybe again more than you can handle with his support.  I think that so many of us forget that a trial is a good opportunity to ask the Lord for help, support and love.  Maybe that is part of why trials come so God can have the opportunity to love and support you.  I think that those who cause trials are best left to God and his judgment. In JOB the Lord allowed Satan to test Job in anyway but death and in the end Job loved the Lord and passed the test and trials.  God rewarded him for his faithfulness and gave him more than when he began to be tested.  I think God takes glory in see us through trials especially when we pray, asked for his help and love, and mostly when we are not tempted to give up on God or deny him.  God rewards us for our faith in him and he enacts vengeance on those who would seek our down fall through lies, gossip, and false witnessing. 

I always find it funny, or more precisely ironic, when some one seeks to misuse others for their own amusement, and it backfires, and in the end they look like the liar, gossiper and fool they are.  So many people say "oh, it was a little white lie"  no it wasn't it was a lie and in the old law of the old testament a lie was breaking of the law, and the wages of breaking the law was death, no matter if you lie or murder someone.  I am so glad I live under the Grace of God and not the law of God.  I do try to honor the Lord by do my level best to obey his laws but I know that daily and minutely I fail and fall short of the glory of God in all ways. I can not be anything but a filthy rag in the site of God without the blood of Jesus to cover me.  I think that those who don't try and unceasingly run head on into breaking all of God's laws on purpose must surely be ever more filthy and worthy of the everlasting death that at God's judgment will be given them.

I want to say to the stalker that purposely gossiped and lied about me, thank you for the trial you met out to me, with out it I would not have sought God on my knees for his help and love in the trial that I was given by your malicious treatment andjoy.  I do know I prayed for you and that is more than you probably do for yourself.  I hope the God speaks to your heart and you hear his voice, I hope for your forgiveness from God, I have already given you mine because I do not have time for you in my thoughts or life.  I don't want you to be able to control me on any level so you were not worthy of my anger, I gave all of your malice to the Lord and the joy he gave me for it is unimaginable.  I am on a new level of understand with the Lord because I no longer have to fear my own anger as I  have learned how to give it to God and he is and can be a vengeful Lord when his own are mistreated.  I hope you pray to God for forgiveness.  I hope any of you out there who are not right with the Lord and have mistreated others get on your knees to ask God for his forgiveness for this sin and all your sins, because if you never ask and receive God's forgiveness you will spend eternity in the lake of fire with the devil and his angels..... tomorrow.   

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

At what cost......

I don't think any parent truly knows what they are getting into when they decide to become a parent.  I think in concept you can see the joy that it will bring and you may be aware of the expense but I do not believe that any parent can see or is prepared for the cost of parenthood.  I am not speaking of the expense because flat out raising a child is expensive and it varies from family to family but in the end all families give all that they have at the time they have it to their child.  I also don't believe any child is ever truly satisfied with what they have, that may be by God's design to give them incentive to seek more.  I think that as they grow, if you do it right, they become responsible adults that you can be proud of.  If you do it wrong they still become adults, and in the end whether you did it right or wrong they become what they want to become, they live the lives of their choosing.  There in is the cost of parenthood.  You do your best and in the end you can only watch as they live their lives.  Parents will always feel the blame but alas a good parents never take the credit, they have pride in the child's success, but know it is not theirs. They were the guide and sometimes the catalyst but they are never the one who succeed and in reality they are never the one who failed. Though some how I have never seen a parents who's child is struggling, failing or hitting rock bottom who doesn't grieve and doesn't feel it is somehow their fault, that they could have done something more to prevent it or to protect their child.   Nothing is harder than standing back and letting the child fail, and sometimes hit rock bottom. You never get over trying to keep them from hitting the ground as they take a step...... but sometime you should and have to.

Does God feel that way about each and every one of us.  Does he watch us hit the ground over and over again, wanting and needing to keep us from falling?  Does he grieve for our failures?  Does his heart bleed for every wrong we do?  I think he must he is after all a Father and what father doesn't sorrow for his child?  I also know God can, and does, let us hit rock bottom, he does let us fail beyond imagining.  He also is there when we are so lost and forgives us for the asking.  He loves us and has gifts for us beyond imagining if we but ask for his forgiveness and believe Him.  I have heard it said that some people believe that the only unforgivable sin is suicide, that is absolutely untrue, beyond a doubt, the only unforgivable sin is Non-Belief.  The only sin God never forgives is not believing him.  Ask any parent if they love their child and I can think of no parent who doesn't love their child.  I know some who don't like their child but none who doesn't love their child.  God is so much greater he always loves his child, he doesn't love the sin but he always love his child, he however can not forgive the child that doesn't believe him or ask for forgivness.  Do you believe God? tell him and he will forgive all the sin you have ever had in you, his son Jesus already died for all your sins, believe, accept his grace, and his love, for all eternity.  Nothing is worse than the cost of non-belief....... tomorrow.

Monday, September 16, 2013

French Onion soup, simple as pie, but then sometimes pie takes a lot of simple steps that add up to work!

I was fortunate enough to get more wonderful beef bones.  I made the first ones into stock and learned through the process the I would add a few steps next time.  Well Saturday and Sunday this weekend was next time.  I decided to step it up a little and make French Onion Soup and add some roasting. Here is how I did it.  It turned out delish, I ended up with 8 jars and all good canners know 8 means you get to eat one, yay.  No one in their right mind processes one jar for a hour and a half! Poppie loved the flavor and the toast and cheese floating on top, no so much all the onions, I did tell him the processed one would cook down the onions a lot and in the end I was right, but I get a head of myself. 


I chopped up onion, summer squash, zucchini, giant cucumbers (you know the ones a little to big to eat that someone missed in the previous picking), wilted lettuce from the frig, radish tops, frozen broccoli stocks from the freezer oh and frozen celery too, a beet and root it you got it.  Basically any veggie scraps, or veggies you have.  I placed them in chunks in my roaster pan.  Added some of the cut or chopped beef bone knuckles, it is best if the marrow is exposed.

 
Veggies and beef bones in the roaster, second batch so you can see some of the flavor from the last batch on the side walls.

 
Bones and veggie before they go into a 400 degrees oven for 30 minutes.
 
 
While the bones and veggies I chopped onions it takes 1 cup of onions to each 1 cup of broth to make the recipe.  I chopped 32 cups and roasted two roaster pans of bones and veggies.  Once roasted I put each batch of bones and veggies in my 22 quart pressure canner, to pressure cook for one hour on 10 pounds of pressure. 
 
Bones and veggies roasted.
 
First batch has set a little in the pan and you can see the fat has congealed on the veggies.
 
Close up of second batch of bone and veggies add to the pressure canner pot on top of the first batch.

 
You can see you how high in the pan the veggies and bones are.  I added 2 gallons of water just enough to cover the bones and veggies, pressure cooked on 10 lbs for 1 hour.
 
 
 
While the bones and veggies roasted and pressure cooked I sautéed the onion in butter, you can use olive oil if you prefer.

 
All 32 cups sliced and ready to go in the sautéing pan, I used cast iron.

 
Cooking away!

 
Nearly cooked, I put them in the roaster pan in the oven to stay warm as they all got cooked and the stock got cooked.
 
Straining the stock out of the veggies.

 
I squeeze it a little to make sure all the wonderful stock get out, I don't really care about the little bits, but if you do, you can stain it again through a cheese cloth after you skim the fat off.   I gave these left overs to my Great Pyrenees as a treat she loved it, Okay I know some of you don't give scraps to dog but I do. 

 
Stock with the fat floating on the top.  I used a turkey baster and a dipper to get it off so I just had the wonderful stock.  You can see the lighter layer on the stock in this photo. It was about 1 inch on the top of the stock. 
 
 
I put one glove of garlic in each jar and filled half full loosely with the sautéed onions, and then filled to one inch from the top of the jar with the stock.  If you look you can see a small ring of fat on the top, I let the jars cool a bit and skimmed it off before I processed at 15lbs for 1 and 1/2 hours.  I live at 3600 feet so I need the 15 but you might be able to process at 10 pounds in your area you might check the USDA recommendation to be sure.

 
Viola, I think they look wonderful.  The onions did cook down, so Poppie is happy and look at that color, which came from the roasting.  Lots of work but the taste is Priceless.......... tomorrow.
 

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Why would you keep goats for meat and then not actually eat them or know if you even liked them? I don't plan on being here after the rapture.

I had occasion to speak to a woman today that has several goats.  She has had goats for several years, some females and several withers.  She free ranges them and never pays all the much attention to them, they are happy to eat her weeds and hay.  Recently some one gave her a fully intact buck, she merrily put him in her herd, well need less to say, goat who are second only to pigs of farm animals that go feral and can take care of themselves, and do, they got busy procreating.  She is now going to be a grandma to her goats babies.  She asked me what to do with the possible 2 to 6 babies.  She wanted to know if I wanted some, I said if they are male I would be happy to eat them.  She said that her husband keeps the goats so that if the end comes and they have to survive off the land they would eventually eat goats.  I said why don't you eat them then?  You could eat them new born and they would be much like chicken or rabbit or raise them up and eat them.  She said her daughter wouldn't like that unless it was necessary to survive in the end.  I asked her have you ever eaten goat?  No was her answer, I am thinking that after the end and when you are scrapping to survive is not the time to figure out that you don't like goat meat, but to each his own.

  I am an admitted happy homesteader, I can, I garden, I farm and generally make due with what the good Lord affords me.  I prep to some extent but not because I am thinking I am going to survive the end times.  I know that in my Bible it tell me that the church or the saved in Christ Jesus are going to be taken, or raptured, so I am not going to be here trying to figure out how to survive the walking dead, the zombies or what ever else Hollywood has imagined.  I have read Revelation and know what to expect.  I will meet the Lord in the air, those not in Christ are going to have to worry so it really makes me scratch my head when Christians are so worried about their prepping for the end time.... just saying.

Please settle your salvation today, KNOW that you are going to meet the Lord Jesus in the air and not be subject to the end times that the non-believers will endure.  Today is the day of salvation it is yours for free, have faith, believe God and know that Jesus is his son, the joy of salvation can be yours this very day...... tomorrow.  

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Pepper jelly..... that's not, well jelly, and why I don't like to process jelly. Oh, give me a time with no usda recommendations.

Years and years ago I made pepper jelly, I think the first time I made it it was called pepper relish on the sure gel package.  I was happily surprised to find the recipe because I love everything pepper.  My mom thought that salsa, when she first heard of it, should be equal parts jalapeno pepper and ketchup.  It was a whole different time for a northerner in the south west, 1970.  I was raised on this as my salsa, as an adult I and my mother, found real salsa.  The hotter the better is my motto.  I was very happy to make Pepper jelly (relish) for the first time.  I made it as close to the recipe as I could, it did not set up.  Two weeks later still not set up.  I had failed.  I decided to open it, and love it, I use it on all my oriental dishes, a hot sweet sauce.  I had accidental discovered something we all love, well except Poppie, all my kids love it.  I have never since actually tired to make it set up like jelly, I have also since learned peppers don't like to set  up well and need the exact or more pectin to do so.  I shared my pepper sauce with Lady and she loved it and has since made her own. 

Yesterday I decided to make a batch and since I still have a bunch of habaneros in the freezer I wanted it hotter than I normally make it but not to over power anyone.  I chopped up jalapenos, some hatches and one habanero, (recipe in the sure jel or certo instruction when you buy the pectin) I used 4 cups for a double recipe (package calls for like 2 cups) mixed the vinegar in and the sugar as per the instructions, and floated a habanero on the top for a little more kick, once it boiled 10 minutes I added the pectin in and boiled one minute. 
 
 
Seeds and habanero floating, I said I like it hot.
 
 
boiling way for the 10 minutes.

 
I got the jars ready and started filling them up

 
jars in the water bath ready to process

 
fresh out of the water bath waiting to seal and be put up.
 
 
I happily ended up with pepper sauce and not jelly, I actually have only just begun processing my jelly I was taught as a child to do wax and then graduated to flipping the jar over for 5 minutes and then setting up right, which has always sealed the jelly for me.  Since I have begun using Tattlers and 4ever recaps, I have had to process my jelly, never tried the flip method with them.  I am not sure I like processed jelly because it always changes the texture of the jelly.  I have had people say I am crazy but I am not, the strawberries are more cooked in my strawberry jelly and so on.  Yesterday was not exception.  The processed jellies are all really runny I am thinking they should set up a little, the jar I did not process is not only a sauce it is half way between sauce and jelly so you can't tell me that the processing doe not change the texture or thickness of the jelly.  I can literally tip the lids less jar over and it does not come out, sort of like good meringue, but the processed jars are only a little thicker than water at the this point, it remains to be seen if they will thicken any more.  Oh, to be in a world where the USDA doesn't have to recommend and make us feel guilty if we make it like grandma did.  I do still sometime make it just like grandma did, well on stuff we eat here, if I give it away I don't usually give the ones I make like grandma did....
 
I pray that you are in God's love and more importantly in God's grace, for God loves all of his creation which you are one of but he gives Salvation and Grace to those who believe on Jesus and believe God when he tells us he gave his only begotten some and whosoever believes on him shall not perish but have everlasting life with God.... tomorrow.   
 


Friday, September 13, 2013

Old enough to decide for themselves.... comes in steps.

I think the term accountability often is relative.  I know that since the Bible never says this is the age when this happens, that it is something that God left to us to decide.  I also know that the Bible never speaks of dating or courting so I think that that is something else God left to us to determine for ourselves or our children.  I do believe the that God gave us free will, he knows what we will ultimately choose about any and ever decision in our lives but he gave us the free will to make the choice.  No, that is not predestination that is an example of omnipotence, part of the unlimited power of God.  Predestination is the predetermining of what some one will do not the act of seeing what they will do and knowing it ahead of time.  God knows who will ultimately be saved but he does not make that decision for us.

 Accountability when does it comes to a child.  Having said the Bible doesn't tell us that but it does give us some guidelines I believe.   Jesus stayed in the temple as his folks journeyed home and when they had to return to retrieve him they asked him why he had done this to them? Jesus replied, "I must be about my fathers business", undoubtedly he was of accountable age, he knew that he must be about doing the work of salvation.  I don't believe that Jesus ever didn't believe God so he didn't have to have a moment of salvation in his heart but he did have a time when he was to spread the Word of God his father.  I think that the Bible may give many passages about accountability but I can only speak on the ones that have spoken to my heart.  I believe that when the Israelites were in the wilderness and sinned, God gives us an age of accountability as a determining factor of who would and who would not see the promised land.  He made them to  wonder in the wilderness until all who were over the age of 20 died and only those who had not been accountable for the sins the Israelites had committed were allowed to enter the promised land, all but two who had not sin.  So in my own belief accountability to the Lord, for most children (there are always exceptions), is between 12 and 20.  I believe you have to understand that you are a sinner and unworthy of the Lord's salvation before you can believe and asked God for it.  I personally don't think that salvation can come to one who does not know that they are an unworthy sinner, and most children can't wrap their minds around the reality of death little own the reality of salvation.  Just saying.

I do believe that accountability for lives lessons come at many different ages and long before the accountability of salvation.  I think that a child leans to be accountable for how hard the floor is and how not to hit it while learning to crawl, they learn not to bite soon after they have teeth or they will be accountable for their biting.  They learn ??..... and the list goes on, each rule of accountability to the daily reality of this life comes as it is needed in a nearly straight forward manner.  As teens the lesson come ever faster and the scope of their decision ever widens and the consequences become more and more harsh, and a reality in their lives.  I think maybe that is also why the accountability of salvation begins to fall in this time frame, they are near who they will be but there is still time to make greater adjustments to the paths of their lives.  The teen is much more pliable than the 20, 30, 40, 50 and on somethings, the teen who is just stepping into his adult being is so much less set in ways of good or bad. 

I know not where you are in your life, you know not where I am in my life, well not more than I tell you and you only have my word on it if I do, so in the end you only know where you stand in this life with God and really know one else.  Is your life in God's hands, are you accountable for you life's choices, have you made a choice for God or are you one of the ones he knows will never quite answer his call, does he sorrow for your loss?  Or do you know that salvation is yours, if not you should..... tomorrow.

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Diversity? Wickedness? Someone might be offended. Conspiracy theories..... when does it end? Or is it the toll of the end?

Yesterday was the 12 anniversary of 911 and it was a day of remembrance for most American on some level, big or small.  Most I would say paused for a moment on some level to remember.  One of my friends posted a lovely link to a Budweiser commercial that was only ran once on TV.  I watched it and wondered why it had only been ran once.  It was moving, respectful and poignant. This morning I woke up and the news is reporting on people slamming different companies "using" 911 to sell their product.  Okay, so now I know why it only ran one time.  Someone somewhere complained it offended them.  How is it that we in America have become handcuffed by the one that is offended and no one cares about the millions that aren't?  I thought this was a Republic after all, look it up America is one, we are not a democracy, ahh, you didn't know that did you?  In a republic the rights of one is never supposed to out way the many. 

I often hear that someone is so glad of the diversity of America or some such and such place. I am not a fan of diversity.  I am a self proclaimed conservative and pretty much a fundamental Christian, not to the extreme of the Westboro Baptist cult, but I do hold true to the fundamentals of the Bible and God's well, as best I can.  I believe that diversity is a "nice" word for most of the sinful things that people want to do that are in complete disregard for the Bible teachings.  I am categorically against abortion for any reason, if God allowed a child to be conceived that child has worth, value and is God sent.  I won't go into any more of the other wicked things that this age and society thumbs their noses at that God says are sins.  I do believe that you hate the sin but love the sinner and that is a fine line.  Some many people condemn Christians for hating the sinner with out even having a conversation with the "horrible" Christian.  In this country if you are a Christian you are always the bad guy but if you are any other religion we are supposed to be understanding of their few, and not supposed to profile, but Christian profiling is the acceptable norm.  The Bible does tell us that Christian will be more and more persecuted in the end times. The wicked (diverse) will be more and more prolific and you just have to look out your window to see all of the Bible revelations coming more and more true daily.  So many say oh you are just a conspiracy theorist , no, I am realist.  God told of end times, and the days are moving faster and faster to his revelation.  We know not when but we do have the way of it clearly written in the Revelation of the Bible.  So enjoy your diversity, your wicked ways because God will only allow so much evil to prevail in this world before he can no longer abide it and the end will come like a thief in the night to those not watching, it says so in the Bible.  You only have so much time before God ends it all and if you are not saved by his Grace you will live eternally in a devils hell, and unlike the fantasies of Hollywood, the devil will not be in charge no he will be in the lake of fire burning just like all the other who are lost..... tomorrow.

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Days of chaos and non order are soon coming to an end..... I have to grow up and be an adult, sigh.

Poppie and I had one year of no children, well two if you count the first one, in our lives.  Our kids were all grown up and we even got to go on a grown up vacation just the two of  us.  We went to Yellowstone, we were to get to go for the week but it ended up being a three day week end but we did get to go.  We were beginning to figure our how to be empty nesters.  We came home and Goofy and Matt, who had known each other in a dating manner for a month, were getting married and in less than 6 weeks, the whirl wind began that within a little more than a year we would have a baby to take care of, at first as grandparents, then less than another year later as parents of a newborn and a 13 month old.  We were new parents again and our nest was no longer empty.  We had gotten used to no time clocks and no calendars.  We got to keep that as our lifestyle for the next 5 years.  One day Yogie started school but we still did not let time rule our lives.  It became less and less a reality as the girls grew into a school routine but we desperately have cherished all the time away from time that we could manage.  In the last years, farmer's market, 4-h, bountiful baskets and Church began to chip away more and more at our freedom and I finally bought a clock and put it up in my front room. I put the school magnets on the frig, you know the ones with the calendars on them and pretended to still be as free as we wanted to be.  Poppie started feeding his friends animal more and more regularly, his friend is 70 and needs the help of a couple hours each morning.  Funny Poppie enjoys the time with his friend daily as an out of the house, that and his weeding keep him busy, but time had snuck in even in Poppies life.  This year has told us that we can no longer even pretend to not be the slave of time.  Poppie has kids to pick up at 3:30 daily, one child in volleyball to pick up daily at 5, one in piano on Tuesdays, one with a Wednesday time to join shooting sports, volleyball games to attended, no time for Farmer's Market during the school year, Church, Singing at the old folks home and assisted living and the list goes on....... We are no longer allowed the luxury of the chaos of non time.  We have to set times for reading, time for milking, time for play, time for dinner, time for bed (though a little later than last year), time for feeding animals and who knows what on each day.  It is time to grow up and be real time bound parents again for the second time in our lives, and we have come to this kicking and screaming all the way.  Oh, and that list of times does not include the times we are needed to do things for the grands so time to put on our big people panties and buck up, time to be on schedule.

Poppie is making good head way on my mock Hoosier, when it is done it will be a real Hoosier in everyway but when and where it was made.  He is doing a job to be proud of on it.  It is so right for the space we have for it.  I can't wait he is next going to build me a  1950 Chevy wooden side board mason jar light fixture and an antique bed frame pot hanger.  I can say when it is all done I won't live in a cookie cutter house anymore.  I really have come to terms with my "new" house and we are really making it ours and in our taste, which usually makes no sense to anyone but us.  We do have to hold on to some of our off beat, chaotic sense of self some where, after all. A space without time, that is timeless......

May the Lord be in your life, may you seek the salvation of Jesus Christ.  May you turn away from the eternal death of hell and accept Gods gift of salvation through his grace and your belief in his son. Believe..... tomorrow.

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Zucchini leather..... the evolution of a recipe.

I have tried to use all that Poppie grows for us in his garden for all the years that he has grown gardens. Sometimes we are blessed with more that is grown and some years simply less grows.  Last year Poppie got his amazing 107 pound pumpkin, I still have frozen pumpkin in the freezer from it.... This year Poppies pumpkin is only about 30ish pounds so he is disappointed.  We do however have zucchini and crookneck squash coming out our ears.  I have made zucchini relish, put it in soup base, have always made lots of zucchini pineapple and this year has been no exception but I still have zucchini every where so I took to the net to ferret out zucchini recipes to explore, well that or feed them to the goats, which they do love.  I found a recipe on a blog for zucchini gummy worms, my kids loved them but they were lots of work and it took pan after pan to dry them.  I decided one day if you can make zucchini gummy worms why can't I make zucchini leather.  I decide I would give it a try and what do you know it was a complete success and no sugar was involved, well other than the sugar that come from fruit juice. Here is what I did.

Recipe:  ZUCCHINI LEATHER

8 cups of chopped, peeled and seeded zucchini
1 can of thawed 100 percent juice concentrate
1 can of water

Peel zucchini, seed and chopped in to rough chopped chunks.  Measure out 8 cups per batch into a big pot, add 1 can of thawed 100 percent juice concentrate and one can of water.  Bring the zucchini juice water mixture to a boil and simmer about 30 minutes until the zucchini is translucent and most of the liquid has cooked down and concentrated.

zucchini peeled, seeded and chopped

The juice types I used.


zucchini, juice concentrate and water simmering


Once your mixture has simmered and cooked down, cool down to warm, put in your blender and puree to a nice applesauce consistency.  Next pour into leather trays for you dehydrator or if you don't have leather trays, which I don't, you can dehydrate in the oven.  I lined my cookie sheets with food grade plastic wrap so none of my mixture would touch the metal. 


plastic lined cookie sheets




 Next pour the mixture on the lined cookie sheet and put into a warm oven, you don't want the mixture to cook at over 170 ish  degrees, and it takes about 14ish hours, you will know when it is done because the mixture won't stick to your finger.  I let them cool once done and rolled up in the plastic they were cooked on, the reason I used the plastic was that the mixture when cooked doesn't stick to it, well not so you can't get it off easily, and you can store it in the plastic, you could use a silo pat but you would have to put it in something to roll so the plastic wrap made since. 

blended zucchini and juice mixture


zucchini and juice mixture in lined cookie sheet






Finished rolled up zucchini leather, one sliced and ready to eat or store in the freezer in a freezer bag.  Enjoy.

Monday, September 9, 2013

Tiling done on the snack bar, grouted and sealed we can soon use it. Poppie has to make the hooiser....

I spent the last few days intermittently tiling the "snack bar formerly known as the isle", the tile came out a perfect fit no cutting or anything.  I was able to use the tile on the edge as well so very nice.  I let it dry and then began the process of grouting it.  It was very expensive adhesive and grout, so I used my finger to put all the grout on so it would take less, well not take less but less waste anyway.  I did that in shifts, as well, and finally got it all done last night and this morning I was able to do the sealant.  It is officially done, now to let it dry and then put my big old piece of granite on it, that Poppie says will break my tile if I am not careful.  I told him I am not going to be moving it around so it should be fine.  Here are the photos, yay.


 
Oh and the stone in front of the snack bar is not the granite that is my bread making marble stone for the hoosier that Poppie is going to make me.  He is making it because I have the pieces, the flour bin, the sugar bin, the enameled tin slider and the marble and only a specific place for it so he is making it because to buy one to fit would be impossible especially on my none existent budget. 
 
I have green beans to can and Poppie has a hoosier to make.  I pray for the Lord's love to come into your heart and his grace to be accepted in your life.  I pray ever for your salvation, it is the only way to life everlasting no matter what anyone else may say..... tomorrow.

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Faith, do you have it? Where do you think it comes from? and where does it really come from?

Faith is a funny word, do you know what it means? The Bible defines it as per Hebrews 11:1 (KJV) Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

 The dictionary defines faith as.....
 
noun
1.
confidence or trust in a person or thing: faith in another's ability.
2.
belief that is not based on proof: He had faith that the hypothesis would be substantiated by fact.
3.
belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion: the firm faith of the Pilgrims.
4.
belief in anything, as a code of ethics, standards of merit, etc.: to be of the same faith with someone concerning honesty.
5.
a system of religious belief: the Christian faith; the Jewish faith.
 
 
So we know what faith is: by definition faith is a complicated word.  Faith has two elements: 1) being convinced of the truth, being certain of reality, having evidence of unseen things, and 2) believing, hoping in, embracing, seizing the truth.   You  can have faith in your family, you  can have faith in your spouse and you can have faith in????  This kind of faith is trust or confidence based upon mostly how you feel about some one or something.  They have earned your faith by your reckoning.  You can have faith in a code, a standard or ethics because you find it to be honest or honorable, you also feel that. You can have faith in religions because you feel that it is right, mostly because you were raised that way or you have learned to have that kind of faith.  Most of all you can have faith in God.  Most people would say I just feel that I believe in God that's why I have faith, and most people would be wrong, especially if they read the Bible.  So you know what faith is by definition but per the Bible it does not come from a feeling, it comes from a very specific place.....  Romans 10;17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
 
The Bible says faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.  What does that mean?  Does that mean we felt it?  Does it mean that when we read the word of God or heard the word of God read or preached we trusted what God said and believed in him?  Does that mean that God gave us the faith in the first place?  Does that mean that God gave us free will and we believed in him?  NO, I don't think Faith is about feeling anything about God.  I believe plan and simple that Faith is and always is about believing.  I believe God.  I don't believe in him.  I believe my husband, I don't believe in him.  I believe my friends and family, I don't believe in them.  Faith in the shortest terms is believing in things not seen by evidence and things hoped for. 
 
I have faith in God.  I don't feel it, I know it, and that is a mistake so many people never get past.  I have been asked before "Why do you feel there is a God?"  I don't feel there is a God, I know there is one, to feel it is to miss the boat completely, you can't believe God part way, you either do or you don't.  So many people fall short and feel maybe there is a God and in the end they are never persuaded that God IS.  and They like all other non-believers never BELIEVE.  God is an all or nothing deal, you either believe or you don't.  If you believe he gives you salvation, glory everlasting, revelation in his word and so many many blessings I can't even imagine them little own list them but with out belief you never even open the door to salvation or the Love God has for you, or life ever lasting.  Yes, faith is so much more than a feeling it is our only way, just one way to life everlasting, The belief in the Lord Jesus, and God, not because some one proved it to you, not because your felt it, not because your works were good and you earned it but pure and simple you BELIEVE God, and if you do, God gave you his only begotten son, and by hearing, God gave you the ability to believe his son,  and what a glorious gift that it..... tomorrow.
 
 

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Booboo turns a decade today....... I really will never know where time does go?

My oldest child was born 32 years ago this year.  I truly can remember almost all of the hours leading up to her birth, and as well, all of my children.  I was there at the moment of all of their births, 3 times as the active participant and twice more as an observer.  I did however cut my Booboo's umbilical cord and she has been my child from that moment in time. Imagine it was 10 years ago today.  I can remember the moment each and ever one of them were first placed in my arms as it were moments ago.  How can 32 years elapse in a heart beat?  How does a child go from needing me as much as they do breathing to walking away and never looking back?  I know my task in life is to raise children, to have patience for their antic and be ready to smile at their success even when I am dead tired and can't take another step. I also know when to let a child fall and fail knowing they will get hurt.... that is the hardest thing to do.  I had a teacher tell me in high school that I had the intelligence to do anything I ever put my mind to but; that I would chose to raise children and be a mother.  I was aghast at his insult and offended.  It took me 30 years to understand he meant no insult, he was giving me one of his highest praises, he must have saw in my something I didn't know existed or wanted to hide from. 

I spent the first half of my life running from being just some ones wife and just someone's mother, I grew up in a time when it was looked down upon.  I was raised by generations of woman who loved and feared God, and loved and cherished being just mothers and just wives.  I have finally, in the second half of my life embraced being with children, and surprise of surprises I am good at it.  I do have the patience to spend time never ending, though I be dead tired, their joy in seeing a button go into a button hole for the first time, still never gets old. The delight of their tying their own shoe.  Their accomplishment when they go potting on the toilet and get to flush, their triumph.  Their success at riding their bike for the first time, or the love I see on their dirty little face, the joy on it as they give me a kiss because they "did it".  The honor of sharing a child's wonder does no longer escape me, well I don't think it ever did,  but I no longer think of it as less than accomplishing something of great intellectual work at some place I should be other than home.  A child is a wondrous thing to help build and I have been given many, many children to help mold, a blessing from God.

Today my youngest child turns ten, she will be my last child, but probably a far cry from being the last child I help model, hold, hug, kiss or enjoy the wonder of their  life.  Do what you love and you will never work a day in your life.  I love spending time with littles and God made me that way.  He has given me a life time of being there for children, sometime just to hold their hand, sometime to be their mother, their big sister or maybe just to wave at as they pass by going on with their lives.  I guess I am just a kindred spirit in life's big picture, and have had the luxury of knowing a mud puddle is lots of fun  and in the big picture who does it really hurt if we stomp in it and make it splash down on us like rain?  The joy of a child's splattered smile is totally priceless, and mud washes away as does the echoes of a child's laughter of the moment. Those moments are some of the most precious jewels God ever made, embrace them they are fleeting and priceless. Happy Birthday today to my Darling Baby.

 May the Lord have blessed you with your life's calling or be leading you to it, even if you are dragging your feet and screaming as I did.... I pray the Lord blesses you with his love, his Grace and his salvation, oh, the sorrow of a life not enjoyed and a life that never accept Christ, a devils hell awaits and that is the saddest thing possible in any one's or any one who loved you as their child's life.... tomorrow.

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

School days begin in ernest today.... just a prelim last week.

The Ladies are well and truly back to school today.  Last week was a two day week followed by a day at the fair so it was not really routine orientated but today it really begins.  We had a nice labor day.  Poppie feed rabbits and then came home and helped me move the isle from being an isle to a u to complete the kitchen layout.  It is very beautiful in it's new place, it adds so much and doesn't take anything away from the kitchen in it's new position.  As an isle it was just to big and took more than it gave.  I wasn't sure in the end whether to tile it or not.  I liked the old patina of the wood but decided to lay the tiles on to see and the tile won hands down.  I ended up using a little bit of black tile to make accents and it looks so nice, I have to adhere and grout them today.  I think I may even add some tile accents to the side boards eventually but going to see if I can't find some truly nice hand made pieces to do that.  I now have room for a kitchen table and since school has started and we need to get back to the real world we need to have nice sit down dinners to talk about our lives while we were apart.

Bubbles is here today it is kind of funny just to have the one little one, she is always so quiet when it is just her and me.  She kind of just walks around and observes, and she absorbs everything she sees.  I have more zucchini leather to make for the school lunches,  it is definitely a winner in one and all's books, very easy as well.  Making a sauerkraut cake for church tonight.  Booboo's birthday is tomorrow and we are going to take a treat to share with the congregation tonight.  She told me she didn't want sauerkraut cake so I asked if she would like a nice moist chocolate cake, she thought that would be great so she is getting a nice moist chocolate cake with a secret moistening ingredient, sauerkraut.  She will love it.  Kind of dreary here supposed to rain all week.  We need the rain so that is nice.

I pray for you to hear the call when the Lord speaks to your heart.  I pray that the Word of God speaks in your life this day, how glorious that would be.  I pray for the lost that never hear the Word when it is spoken to them.  May the Lord bless your life... tomorrow.