Garden bounty...

We had a wonderful garden supper on Saturday night.  It was all fresh picked that day except for the squash and carrots.  The squash was fresh cooked from squash that was still in our basement.  I've been terrible about eating it this winter.  It's a shame because I have so many squash eaters.  We had squash with butter and honey, mashed potatoes with a touch of garlic, cilantro and parsley, coleslaw with shredded carrots, sliced tomatoes, green beans, fried onions with yellow squash (we love to eat this on mashed potatoes)(I do anyway), lettuce salad, and sliced cucumbers, sliced peppers and celery with ranch dip.  The celery ended up being  favorite of some kids.  I was surprised.  They were quite strong tasting and a bit chewy.  We were stuffed and had leftovers.

We ended our evening watching Tangled (a Disney movie).  I normally would not recommend a Disney movie because of how they have added "junk" into it.  This movie actually had no language (Disney is very known now for it's minced oaths and other expletives that kids think are funny but are still bad words to me), it had no sexual references or jokes (even adult inferred, another commonality of newer Disney movies) and it had a plot that you could follow along with an action packed theme.  We all laughed much.  It followed along with the fairy tale theme of Rapunzel with some magic (there was a magical flower that when eaten or you recited a poem, it would heal that person).  As I write this, that sounds a lot like witchcraft.  If fairy tale witchery doesn't bother you then this is a movie to check out.  There wasn't a sorcerer or witch in the movie. 

Market...

 

Farmer's Market yesterday.  We started out with a little card table and finally have enough to fill our two small tables.  It was great.  We made smaller loaves of zucchini bread and added banana bread this time and had good success.  We sold a bit of jam this time.  These pictures are more at the end of the market day.  We had several things on the ground and on a chair and by the end everything fit on the table.  I had two crates of tomatoes and got down to what is in the picture. 

The vendors sell a variety of things; most have produce, some other things sold are jellies, eggs, chickens, pasture-fed beef and pork, crafts, snacks, bread, plants.  Someone also sells perennial plants that she is cleaning out of her yard.  It is a little community. We took part of our earnings and went to the laundromat and washed 7 loads of laundry because...

  Sunday night our septic backed up into our house.  The boys and I dug the hole on the right side all the way down, it was the wrong spot.  Kev has found a cracked pipe but we aren't sure that is the only problem.  We had a plumber come help locate the problem.

 This is half the buckets we had to take out and wash and dry and then carry back down.  This is oatmeal, wheat, beans and other staple items.  Jordan washed about 100 jars and other things that got sewage and other water on them.

 

 

  A bright spot in the week;  my cousin and her husband and two boys (from the Cities) came a bit out of their way just to visit us.  They couldn't make it to the graduation and so we got to have them for supper a couple days later.  The boys got to ride the barrel train and dig in our hole.  It was great!  I'm so happy they were here!

Happy Birthday...

 to Lena Mae!!  She is 3 years old!  We are praising the Lord for giving us this special joy!

 Mud cake!  Mmmm!  A very favorite crock pot cake that is gooey on the bottom.  Lena only ate the ice cream.  She doesn't really care for cake.

Thank goodness for the birthday box.  I didn't remember to get something for her birthday but I've had this Little Pony in there for a few years now. 

The Party...

Our Family at the graduation.

 Kids were busy on the merry-go-round all day.

 Volleyball, no gathering is complete without it, we don't play but there is always a group that likes to. Kevin actually got out there and had a good time and so did a couple girls. 

 Someone is going on the zipline.  It's been out of commission for 2 summers.  Kevin built the platform a couple days ago and lowered one end of the line on the pole and it was also busy the whole day.

Late night card game, Dutch Blitz.

It is after midnight here and some are enjoying a sing.  Josh is an amazing piano player.  You can't see, but his wife is sitting on the chair in front of them.  She has a beautiful voice too. 

Some families stayed the night so we got to enjoy their company until late and again in the morning.  The last person left about 6:30 p.m. on Sunday. 

We loved the whole weekend, getting ready for it and now the aftermath.  (Unfortunately for me I am thinking of all the things that didn't happen or people I didn't talk to, things I forgot to do; the dessert didn't have a spot to be, I forgot to put out the wallet pictures of Jordan for friends to take, didn't get to the needle in a haystack game, the targets for the big archery weren't out until way late, the tubs the water were in leaked out all the ice water, I didn't get to have a good conversation with several people (every time I thought I'd come right back I got pulled away for a food related thing, a kid or something :( )  In time I will get over this but it is fresh in my mind.  We all did have a grand time and didn't want it to end.

I made twice as much food as I needed and we are enjoying a bounty of meals.  Breakfast today: strawberry shortcakes (they were kind of breakfast like because they resembled biscuits so they were no different than having strawberries and cream on pancakes).  Lunch was hotdogs, beans, watermelon and cowboy salsa.  We could have hotdogs for a couple weeks.  I'll have to freeze some of them again.  I bagged up about 14 family size servings of shredded chicken, yeah!!!  It was like I did that cooking for a month in a day thing.  We have many bags of home made buns in the freezer along with many shortcakes leftover.  Again, yeah!!!  If you are going to plan a big thing like this plan food that freezes well.  I didn't think of that when I did it but we made the food over the two months before the day of the graduation so it had to freeze well for us.  

We missed those who couldn't be there with us and we thank those who were able to make it.  Off to make chicken sandwiches, noodle salad and veggies and dip ( all grad food).                                           

Exhaustion...

I don't know what keeps us up so late exactly but I need a really deep long sleep! We have much done and much left to get ready. Now it's down to the nitty gritty, all those details that you can't even write on a list because you don't know about them until they are happening. Today, we spent some time making zucchini bread and picking produce for the Farmer's Market. I needed to run to town to pick up some trays and a roaster at the church so I thought, "Hey, might as well earn the money for the gas while I'm here." About 6 p.m. I was getting anxious to get home and get to work and wondering why I spent my time that way but we made enough. The market was slower than usual today but I sold 6 of 7 loaves of bread, all the beans and a couple jams and some zucchini, tomatoes, peppers and cukes. It was a decent day. They were selling farm fresh food to eat for $2 a plate. You got your choice of hamburger, hotdog or brat on home made buns, corn on the cob, and a dessert thing. It was great and I didn't have to find something when we got home at 9:30 p.m. Anyway, off to bed, maybe. Tomorrow is another day! Kevin took tomorrow off to get tables, chairs, etc. 12:52 a.m. Good night!

Tina...

My friend Tina came to visit for the day awhile back. Tina goes way back with me. She used to live 5 miles away but I didn't know that until I met her at a homeschool gathering. By then she was getting ready to move to New Hampshire. We became phone friends for years. When Isaac was ill she call everyday without fail to get an update. Well, here she is. She now lives back in ND but about 80 miles away. We see each other more often and talk a little less than everyday but at least every week she still calls. She's a great encourager. We ended up having a common bond. These two kids were born on the same day, two rooms apart at the same hospital but we didn't see each other or know each other that day. We both remember the girl who came in about 2:30 a.m. screaming in labor. We were on either side of her.

Here are two of her girls with two of mine.And her youngest Katie with Moriah.

Some finished projects...

Here is our family room in the basement. My friend Val came last week and painted the floor. The room has shrunk in size because the wood stove is going in the far right corner and we are trying to separate the room from the rest of the basement. It worked great for a movie night and devotions Saturday. We want to put pine siding on the far white wall so that isn't finished at all. It was the last carpet in the basement and it was covered in mold when we took it out. It is a relief to have it done (well mostly). We tried to get to it all winter.
Here is our finished flag. We finally got the stars painted and Kevin used caulk to stick them to the building. Now if the birds will quit building nests under the eaves and dropping things everywhere!

We have five days to clean and make food for the graduation. It feels like a million things to do. Today we have some specific cleaning projects and some baking. It rained this morning and forced us inside. That is a good thing for me because when I start weeding or working in the garden I find I can't leave. It forced me to tackle some indoor projects. I've got little girls washing walls and doors and such and normally I would be too obsessive/compulsive to let them do it for fear they wouldn't get it quite right but I'm not going to let that bother me even though someone tipped over a bucket of water on the carpet! :(

10 days to go...

We have ten days until the party. My house is a disaster and I'm sure I need a month to get it in order. I was tying up tomatoes today, mowing in the rows of the raspberries (my tiller gave out on me), mowing the neighbor's yard, cleaning for someone in town and nothing to help get my house looking ready. Thankfully, my friend Val came yesterday and painted the last room in the basement needing painting and painted my front entry. She called the night before and I told her that she didn't need to come. We would get it all in but she wouldn't accept no for an answer and I was blessed by her kindness. Her daughter Renae helped Emily wash most of the windows. Wow! I didn't realize we couldn't see very much out of them until they were really clean. I think I've washed windows in this house once in the ten years we have lived here. They are temperamental and difficult to do. Tomorrow's a busy day but Friday I hope to get that basement put back together and we can start cleaning the house. Jordan has been busy making buns and cookies for the party and got the strawberry shortcakes all done last week and in the freezer. It's coming together. My kids have been great! I'm so pleased to see them being helpful without attitude this last week!

I like cherries...

Lena said, "I like cherries." at lunch today. We got our Azure order and had wonderful cherries for lunch.


Everyone thought it was a great treat. I wish I would have gotten more so I could can some.

Sharon, if you read this, I apologize for not staying and visiting with you. The dog barking was just too much and I couldn't think straight. Since Monday last we have been up to about 2 a.m. every night butchering chickens and last night we went to fellowship in SD and got home real late so I am sensitive to noise and light and everything. One more night of chickens and we will get some rest, I hope. We still have dozens of things to do to prepare for the grad party.