~To live, love, and journal our days at~

~A day in the life of a farm girl~

Written by Sue, Saturday, July 29, 2023 Cloudy, very warm, high humidity, temps. 90's

The sheep don't seem to mind the excessive heat, as long as they can graze ,they are content.

Wow! Another week has passed, and July is drawing to a close, which means our hottest month is approaching, on the brighter side, fall is coming soon, my favorite season.

This past week found me mostly in the kitchen doing what I do most in summer, preserving our food for the rest of the year.

You might wonder why I do so much preserving of food, and there are many reasons,.. to name a few,.. we grow it, it is safe from chemicals, it's cheaper, both Mr P and I enjoy gardening and we get to bless our children and grandchildren with bounty from the farm. Most of them live in the city, and have such busy lives that time nor resources permit them to do this. It gives us so much pleasure to share.

The spring and summer garden season is closing, Mr p has planted a few things for fall that we haven't grown due to the excessive rain. I will now get a break to do some much needed house cleaning, which I am so looking forward to.

So here are a few things I canned this week......

Three types of relish,

dill which is a favorite, I use this in all types of salads, all ingredients came from the garden except the vinegar and sugar, spicy sweet relish same with ingredients this relish is spicy and is good when eating collards, turnips or any fresh veggie, cucumber relish so good on hot dogs and hamburgers.I also canned okra, with okra you either love it or hate it, we love it. making relish is so simple and delicious.

My brother always blesses my Mother and I with peaches in the summer, aren't they pretty.

so I canned a few jars, and made peach jam, dh says one of the best jams I have ever made, I added a secret ingredient,

I pinky promise my photos of canning will end soon, maybe I will share other things, but for now this is my daily routine.I know I have another post I would like to share of a new skill I am learning about food preservation so please bear with me, I think you might find it interesting.

Have a great weekend.

Blessings

Sue

A word of encouragement.

Nahum 1:7~ The Lord is good,

a stronghold in the day of trouble,

and He knows those who trust in Him

So... How do you begin your day?

Written by Sue, Saturday, July 22,2023 cloudy, very warm, and humid, 90's. high heat index

Most people are creatures of habit, I know I am, I am an early riser, always have been. My morning routine goes like this, upon awakening, I do stretching exercising, up to bathroom, to test, blood glucose, all the while praying for a good reading, then I take my blood pressure. Coffee pot catches my eye,sitting there on the counter so pristine waiting for me to pick her up, add water and coffee grounds with a pinch of sea salt, I like freshly brewed coffee). Turn burner on and precede to warm the cream adding a touch of vanilla extract sometimes cinnamon. ~smile~ while waiting I pour myself a glass of water adding minerals, I warm coffee cup with hot water. Now the moment has arrived, fresh brewed coffee, it not only smells divine it taste so delicious.

What's next?

I walk to my favorite sitting area, where my bible, devotional books, notebook and pen await, this is the most special time of day for me, this time with God sets the tone for my day.

One of my favorite devotional writers is Lysa, TerKeurst, I have gained so much insight in so many spiritual matters, and have been challenged in so many ways. A prayer that she prays each day, has now become a prayer I pray, it just spoke so vividly to my heart......

"Lord I want to see You. Lord I want to hear You. Lord I want to know You. So that I can follow hard after You."

Psalm 119:18~ Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in Your Law.

Do you have a routine to begin each day? I will add, there have been days when I would have to stray from my normal routine, and it just didn't seem right.

****************************************************************************

I must add it has been such a busy summer for us, our garden produced lots of vegetables, herbs, and the chickens gave us lots of eggs. I have canned, dehydrated, and learned a new skill, to ferment produce this year.

These are the last of the tomatoes, I have made Italian sauce, spaghetti meat sauce, and plain tomatoes.

I have an abundance of cucumbers so today is relish making day, one of my favorite things to make.

Thank you for taking the time to stop by for a visit.

Blessings.

Sue

~Still Kicking,... not going anywhere, yet ~

Written by Sue, Thursday, February 23, 2023 sunny, very warm actually hot, 88 degrees🌞

I always look forward when these cute babies arrive, I know 'spring' is not to far away, at least on the calendar. We are having extremely hot weather, breaking temps.records,which I know won't last, we have had some big snows in March, but I am keeping my fingers crossed the snow will skip us this year, because the warm temps. have caused a lot of early budding. For now the chicks will be staying in the laundry room. ~wink~

When One is not able to move about freely, they have a tendency to get behind in their work, such as was the case with me, it's been almost 4 weeks since I sprained my ankle, I am now able to move about freely, so I decided I better get cranking or I will get behind.

So what have I been doing?

I juiced and canned orange juice, very refreshing, I used Cara Cara oranges, I was surprised it wasn't real sweet, which I like,

I canned apples with vanilla and cinnamon, yummy, I see, apple dumpling, apple pies, or plain cooked apples.

Applesauce with vanilla and cinnamon, we like chunky applesauce.

I canned chicken with bone broth, this makes great tortilla soup, chicken and rice/noodle soup.

Canned chicken bone broth, so delicious, when I was sick with covid 19, bone broth was so nourishing to me.

That's what I have been doing among other things, it was so nice to be up and about again, I am still not able walk outside, yet, though I have been busy. ha ha.

Love,

Sue

A "Quick Note" Maybe!

Written by Sue, Saturday, February 4,2023 sunny, temps. 40's

Hello dear Friends,

My, how quickly your daily routine can change in an instant, as I found out this week. One of my goals for the new year was to become more consistent in my walking exercise, I was off to a pretty good start walking outside for an hour 4 to 5 days a week, and having fun, being able to get fresh air and keep an eye on what was going on around the farm.

Tuesday, as I was rounding a curve in the driveway my right ankle completely gave way, throwing me to the ground, and boy did it hurt. Instead of going to the house and icing it, I picked up a wooden handle and kept walking for along while, not a smart thing to do, I will admit to being somewhat stubborn,that's not a good trait especially with something like this.

This week has found me sitting, around the fire,

foot elevated, ice packs, rotating with Epsom Salt foot soaks at night, and my Dh having to feed and take care of me. I am truly blessed, he has done everything with a smile, while also reminding me that his hourly wage has increased. Ha! ha Inflation, don't you know!

One of the good things about this week is I have had some time to visit blogging friends, catching up on some reading, meditating, making plans for future projects, as if I really needed more.

I also found that my blogging skills have decreased, and blogger is always changing things or either I have forgotten a lot of things. Oh well! It is what it is!

Up until this week, I have been so busy learning new prepping skills, I have always wanted to make and can my own cranberry sauce, so I did, so easy peasy... I am now wondering why I waited so long to learn.

I use cranberry sauce in a lot of recipes, it goes so well with pork loin, baked ham, makes great cranberry breads and muffins, add to other sauces.

I also wanted to try new home remedies, since we grow our own garlic, I learned how to ferment garlic with raw honey, with so many new viruses around we need to protect our immune systems, garlic and honey are two of the many foods to help with this, as are many herbs, turmeric being one of them.

Peel, chop, garlic,

Place in sterilized jar, add raw honey, stir, several times a day turn jar upside down as to keep garlic covered in honey, each morning burp the mixture by slightly unscrewing lid, tighten again until next day, after two weeks it is ready to use. We chew a piece a day, and put a little honey in our lemon, vinegar water. The honey makes the garlic taste so good not spicy at all, and it is good for you.

I am also learning about how essential oils are vital to our health too. Love this book, a gift from one of our sons and his fiancee.

Well! that's my supposedly quick note!~wink~Thank you for visiting.

Enjoy your weekend.

Blessings,

Sue

should I or should I not,

write a post before 2022 ends? This was the question I asked myself this morning. So here I am.

Hoping everyone had a very Merry Christmas, you are staying warm and cozy, and are looking forward to the New Year.

Christmas Day was very quiet and relaxed for Mr P and I, we both stayed in our pjs most of the day, except when DH went to attend to the animals.

Our ewes are lambing, we are up to 30 new babies,(pics, real soon), we always have a Christmas lamb born on Christmas Day.

We had lots of events leading up to Christmas Day. Some of the grandkids came over to make gingerbread houses.

We baked and decorated cookies .

decorated cookies.

He had the most important job,.... head of the cleanup committee, ~wink! always with a smile!

Christmas Eve was celebrated with Daughter and her family, we had our traditional meal of oyster stew, and chicken enchilada soup! so yummy! After gifts were exchanged, we have another tradition that is, reading of the Christmas story, with everyone sharing their thoughts of what Christmas means to them, ending with a prayer of thanksgiving of the greatest gift given to us all.

In late November,our second son,his fiancee, one of our grandsons and his family came for a weekend our son cooked a seafood dinner for us all, that was such a nice treat.

Playtime!

First time gathering eggs.

Always time for a nap!

We ended the weekend by having a get together with family and friends at Susan and Chad's home, this was so special to us as we haven't seen friends in a long while because of Covid 19!

We visited Mother, she received her usual Christmas basket of fruit from Mr P, she sent us home with a big pot of homemade vegetable soup, ('we eat lots of soup around here'),(wink)

My Christmas decorating was should I say, minimal, that is compared to previous years, but it was so nice, I have really enjoyed our family tree so much this year,

there are so many memories on this tree, ornaments made by our children when they were young and ornaments made by their children.

The tinsel and bubbling lights are placed there by me,as a memory of my childhood. We always had both on our tree, I remember as a young girl, I wanted to toss the tinsel, but my Dad said no, we must place the tinsel very carefully on the branches, and so it goes.

Usually my decorations are packed and put away before New Year's Eve, but not this year, I am going to enjoy them a while longer.

Thank you so much for visiting, and indulging my meandering!

Wishing everyone a most blessed,

prosperous and

Happy New Year!

Sue

Written by Sue,Tuesday, December 27, 2022, very cold but sunny, temps 40!

~A couple of things we enjoy in the fall~ Happy Fall, Y'all

Written by Sue, Wednesday, September 28, 2022 Warm, sunny fall day, temps. 70's

Hello, dear Friends,

My days are finally slowing down, (I think) ~smile~ The pantry is almost full, so thankful for a bountiful gardening season, the peas will be harvested next week, then I will finish decorating for fall and making plans for the holidays, which will be here before we know it! Is it me or does time seem to fly by now, I have been told it's because of getting older, I remember when I was a child, time just seemed to creep, so maybe age is the reason. ~wink~

Mr P and I had our six months check up at the dermatologist this week, we both had a great report, just a few zaps with the freeze zapper. Ha ha.

Speaking of fall decorating,

I've been working on fall decorating what I call "my little haven," the small screened porch that sits off of our bedroom and den.

Before

Scrubbed clean.

It is where I spend my early mornings, meditating, having my devotions and planning my day.

After

In the evening the led candles come on automatic, love the glow.

Mr and Mrs Farmer like to sit out here with us too, especially in the evening, listening to the quietness of the farm, as most of the animals have settled down for the night, some of the sounds we may hear are a lamb calling for his mother, an owl hooting, or a bobcat, and once in a while we all hear the sound of a train in the far distance making it's way down the track.

🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂

We did find time to visit a local vineyard to pick grapes for jelly, it was such a beautiful day,

they were so plentiful, it didn't take long to pick.

Our buckets full, now the work begins.

to prepare the grapes for jelly, after washing you separate the pulp from the hulls, cook the pulp to separate the seed, strain, add sugar, a little lemon juice, a pinch of salt, cook until jelly stage, pour into jars, process in boiling water bath for 15 mins. `Voila` It was one of the tastiest batches(southern) I have made.~smile~

Thank you for visiting.