For many, Labor Day is a day of celebration, a day of BBQ's and picnics, or maybe the last trip to the lake. For me, it was a productive day. I actually labored! We had spent the weekend with my folks, taking care of necessary chores that needed doing. And I even managed to can 8 pints of green beans while at Moms. We ate fresh beans for dinner as well. Grandpa said, while eating his second helping, "These are a dang sight better than anything you dump from a can." Amen! Before we left on Sunday, I discovered, in my mother's freezer, 3 bags of sandhill plums. She's had them for a couple of years, she's been going to make jelly, but hadn't gotten around to it yet. So, I brought them home and yesterday, I made jelly.
My first time making jelly. I made 3 batches. I was in the kitchen from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. It was great! Only downside is I have to share 1/2 of my 22 jars with my mother. I guess that's fair, since the fruit was hers. But I really like sandhill plum jelly and...I don't like to share, but I will.
There's nothing I love more than doing something "homey"; something that my Mother does/did, something my grandmothers did. I like canning food, and I enjoyed making jelly. I like knowing that my family will eat food that is healthy, doesn't have any dangerous additives or chemicals, and to be frank, home canned food simply tastes better than anything you can bring home from the store. Our favorite meals are those that came entirely from our home. We did pretty well last night--venison Swiss steak, new potatoes and frozen corn--from our corn! Good, healthy food.
So, I'd rate yesterday as one of my favorite days. I spent the day in the kitchen making something that my family will enjoy during the months to come. I have visible evidence of how I spent my labor day, and that's great!
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Monday, August 21, 2006
Remarkably ordinary
This past weekend was one of those perfect weekends. The weather--perfect. Cool, temperatures in the 70's and 80's, cloudy all day, both days. No rain, but you could smell the ozone all day long. I picked beans on Saturday. My bean plants haven't done well this summer, but Kevin and I picked and then I drove to a neighbors and picked hers. (She's finished for the summer after canning 47 quarts, so now, they are mine.) Kim went with me, as she wants to learn how to can. Imagine, me teaching someone how to can...I taught myself from a book!
We picked all the beans before 9 and then gathered all 5 kids to help snap beans. We all sat on the floor in the living room, snapping beans and visiting. A couple of us watched TV as much as snapping beans, but all were snapped within half an hour. Then, Kim and I canned them, we canned 9 quarts of beans. At noon, we sent Kev to town for pizza and all had lunch together. After the H family went home, Kev and I were lazy, and just relaxed for a while, then ran to town to look at a patio set that Walmart had marked down to 1/2 price. Andy found 5 more eggs in the feed shed, but not knowing how old they were, we tossed them to the cats. We gathered 18 eggs today. Small in size, but large in numbers!
Supper was BLT's, with homemade tomatoes. We still aren't getting many, but have eaten enough to make us want more.
Spent a lazy evening, enjoying each other's company and an early night to bed.
Night time is my favorite time. We are both snugglers, so we snuggle down to sleep, sometimes visiting, sharing our day, our thoughts and dreams for our home and our kids, but we have to be touching each other before drifting off to sleep. I'm almost always the last one to sleep, which annoys the heck out of me, but...Then again, I like listening to Kev breath beside me. There's a security and comfort in having him there.
Sunday was just as ordinary, but wonderful. The weather was still perfect. We put together the patio set and put it on the porch. Looks good there too! Then Kev decided to tackle the leaky outside faucet while I decided to tackle the kid's laundry. Somehow, I wound up spending as much time outside with Kev as I did inside! I mopped the kitchen (much needed!) and did 3 loads of laundry. He spent quite a bit of time digging out that faucet. After lunch--leftovers, Kat and I ran to town to get her school supplies while our men went to shoot trap. Supper consisted of grilled deer steak, grilled potatoes and onions with roasting ears. The pullets gave us 20 eggs today! Oh, and Kev got the new outside faucet installed--nothing broke and it all went back together beautifully. Only shortcoming...well, when he measured the old one, he said it was 5'8", so he got a new one of 5'. However, the length is actually the buried length, so we should have gotten a 4' faucet. But, we decided that we just won't have to bend over as far to turn on the water! Good planning--right!
I managed to do a little cross stitching, and paid the bills before calling it a night. But, as I snuggled in bed, next to my best friend, I felt that it was just a perfect weekend. No demands other than those we wanted to make for ourselves, perfect weather, good company. A perfectly ordinary weekend. Perfect.
We picked all the beans before 9 and then gathered all 5 kids to help snap beans. We all sat on the floor in the living room, snapping beans and visiting. A couple of us watched TV as much as snapping beans, but all were snapped within half an hour. Then, Kim and I canned them, we canned 9 quarts of beans. At noon, we sent Kev to town for pizza and all had lunch together. After the H family went home, Kev and I were lazy, and just relaxed for a while, then ran to town to look at a patio set that Walmart had marked down to 1/2 price. Andy found 5 more eggs in the feed shed, but not knowing how old they were, we tossed them to the cats. We gathered 18 eggs today. Small in size, but large in numbers!
Supper was BLT's, with homemade tomatoes. We still aren't getting many, but have eaten enough to make us want more.
Spent a lazy evening, enjoying each other's company and an early night to bed.
Night time is my favorite time. We are both snugglers, so we snuggle down to sleep, sometimes visiting, sharing our day, our thoughts and dreams for our home and our kids, but we have to be touching each other before drifting off to sleep. I'm almost always the last one to sleep, which annoys the heck out of me, but...Then again, I like listening to Kev breath beside me. There's a security and comfort in having him there.
Sunday was just as ordinary, but wonderful. The weather was still perfect. We put together the patio set and put it on the porch. Looks good there too! Then Kev decided to tackle the leaky outside faucet while I decided to tackle the kid's laundry. Somehow, I wound up spending as much time outside with Kev as I did inside! I mopped the kitchen (much needed!) and did 3 loads of laundry. He spent quite a bit of time digging out that faucet. After lunch--leftovers, Kat and I ran to town to get her school supplies while our men went to shoot trap. Supper consisted of grilled deer steak, grilled potatoes and onions with roasting ears. The pullets gave us 20 eggs today! Oh, and Kev got the new outside faucet installed--nothing broke and it all went back together beautifully. Only shortcoming...well, when he measured the old one, he said it was 5'8", so he got a new one of 5'. However, the length is actually the buried length, so we should have gotten a 4' faucet. But, we decided that we just won't have to bend over as far to turn on the water! Good planning--right!
I managed to do a little cross stitching, and paid the bills before calling it a night. But, as I snuggled in bed, next to my best friend, I felt that it was just a perfect weekend. No demands other than those we wanted to make for ourselves, perfect weather, good company. A perfectly ordinary weekend. Perfect.
Friday, August 18, 2006
Just to keep things even...
I scrolled down through my blog to see if anyone has left any comments. While scrolling, I ran across the entry where I share finding lost checks in my daughter's school trapper...Well, just to keep things interesting, here's one for her big brother.
Fair week is hectic. Hectic really isn't a strong enough word for what fair week is, but hectic comes close.
Friday of the fair was the day for the Round Robin Showmanship competition in the morning and the Livestock sale in the afternoon. After the Round Robin and between the sale, we ran home for a few restful, cool, hours at home. Andy competited in the Round Robin, so he had his dress clothes as well as his "I can get these dirty" clothes. Of course, right after the competition, he changed into his grungies, and threw his good clothes into the back seat of the pickup. He then had to drive us home, because he has his license now and since then, I've forgotten how to drive.
Once home, I grabbed his clothing with his cell phone and carried all into the house. He then carried them down to his bedroom. Later that day, we couldn't find his phone. Exhaustion had kicked in, but I knew I brought his phone in.
"Did you look downstairs, in your room?"
"Yes."
"Did you look in your clothes?"
"Yes."
Not having time to look closely, we left it for another day. The next day, Saturday, I called his phone, thinking we'd hear it ring, but it went straight to voice mail. The battery was dead. But I knew it was in his room.
This went on for two weeks. I'd ask, "Andy, have you looked everywhere in your room?" He'd always reply "Yes MOTHER, I looked."
"Did you move everything?"
"Yes Mom, I did."
This went on, until the day he asked if we could go file a police report and then use the insurance to get a new phone.
I took matters into my own hands. Marching down to his room, I started moving stuff. I cleared off the dresser, the bedside table, the bookcase, the TV stand, and then I looked under the bed. Now, while I'm doing this, my 5'10" 15 year old son stood beside me and said "Mom, I told you I looked. You just don't trust me. You should trust me. I swear I looked everywhere and moved everything."
At this point, my head pops up from looking under the bed and I simply toss the phone on the bed, in front of my son, who I don't trust.
"Oh." That's all he said.
"What did you just say about me trusting you?"
"Nothing" he replied as he sheepishly picked up his phone, grinned at me, gave me a kiss, and walked out of his room.
I'm relaying this story--just to keep things even.
Fair week is hectic. Hectic really isn't a strong enough word for what fair week is, but hectic comes close.
Friday of the fair was the day for the Round Robin Showmanship competition in the morning and the Livestock sale in the afternoon. After the Round Robin and between the sale, we ran home for a few restful, cool, hours at home. Andy competited in the Round Robin, so he had his dress clothes as well as his "I can get these dirty" clothes. Of course, right after the competition, he changed into his grungies, and threw his good clothes into the back seat of the pickup. He then had to drive us home, because he has his license now and since then, I've forgotten how to drive.
Once home, I grabbed his clothing with his cell phone and carried all into the house. He then carried them down to his bedroom. Later that day, we couldn't find his phone. Exhaustion had kicked in, but I knew I brought his phone in.
"Did you look downstairs, in your room?"
"Yes."
"Did you look in your clothes?"
"Yes."
Not having time to look closely, we left it for another day. The next day, Saturday, I called his phone, thinking we'd hear it ring, but it went straight to voice mail. The battery was dead. But I knew it was in his room.
This went on for two weeks. I'd ask, "Andy, have you looked everywhere in your room?" He'd always reply "Yes MOTHER, I looked."
"Did you move everything?"
"Yes Mom, I did."
This went on, until the day he asked if we could go file a police report and then use the insurance to get a new phone.
I took matters into my own hands. Marching down to his room, I started moving stuff. I cleared off the dresser, the bedside table, the bookcase, the TV stand, and then I looked under the bed. Now, while I'm doing this, my 5'10" 15 year old son stood beside me and said "Mom, I told you I looked. You just don't trust me. You should trust me. I swear I looked everywhere and moved everything."
At this point, my head pops up from looking under the bed and I simply toss the phone on the bed, in front of my son, who I don't trust.
"Oh." That's all he said.
"What did you just say about me trusting you?"
"Nothing" he replied as he sheepishly picked up his phone, grinned at me, gave me a kiss, and walked out of his room.
I'm relaying this story--just to keep things even.
Living with a teenager in love
It's interesting to watch teens in love. I like Andy's girlfriend, but she sure has complicated our lives.
Phone calls. They are on the phone constantly. It's worse now that she's moved across the state. She has unlimited long distance. So we get lots and lots of calls. Andy's been informed to only call her on his cell phone, and preferably after 9:00 p.m., when it's free, or weekends, when again, it's free. Of course we told him this AFTER he'd called her on our phone and spent over an hour having an intelligent conversation. Part of which went like this-- "I miss you." "I miss you more." "No, I do." "No, me."
This went on for 5 minutes. How do I know? I was sitting on the couch, listening.
Watching their behavior when they were together was interesting as well. Lots of fingers brushing other fingers, arms on shoulders, bodies accidently bumping into each other as they walked beside each other.
It amuses me, and makes me remember how nice it is to be in love. It's nice to see my son discover these new and exciting feelings. There's a tenderness and an innocence that I want him to remember his whole life. (And I'm positive it is innocent. They've been well supervised.) I don't want him to lose this.
And yet, it also saddens me. I'm no longer the most important female in his life, and I'm learning. He's pushing to grow up and it annoys me. I wasn't mentally prepared. In three short years, he'll be gone. There will be other women who will take my place as the most important woman in his life. I'm also seeing a different side of my husband, who is more annoyed by his son's love life than he is understanding. Kev is annoyed if she calls. He's annoyed if they talk on the phone very long. He'd be annoyed when she was at the house. He's annoyed because Andy wants to buy her a present. He's annoyed by the whole thing.
I'm amused, he's annoyed. What's with that? Makes me wonder if he remembers being a teenager in love. I'm thinking it's easier living with a teenager in love than it is living with the father of a teenager in love...
Phone calls. They are on the phone constantly. It's worse now that she's moved across the state. She has unlimited long distance. So we get lots and lots of calls. Andy's been informed to only call her on his cell phone, and preferably after 9:00 p.m., when it's free, or weekends, when again, it's free. Of course we told him this AFTER he'd called her on our phone and spent over an hour having an intelligent conversation. Part of which went like this-- "I miss you." "I miss you more." "No, I do." "No, me."
This went on for 5 minutes. How do I know? I was sitting on the couch, listening.
Watching their behavior when they were together was interesting as well. Lots of fingers brushing other fingers, arms on shoulders, bodies accidently bumping into each other as they walked beside each other.
It amuses me, and makes me remember how nice it is to be in love. It's nice to see my son discover these new and exciting feelings. There's a tenderness and an innocence that I want him to remember his whole life. (And I'm positive it is innocent. They've been well supervised.) I don't want him to lose this.
And yet, it also saddens me. I'm no longer the most important female in his life, and I'm learning. He's pushing to grow up and it annoys me. I wasn't mentally prepared. In three short years, he'll be gone. There will be other women who will take my place as the most important woman in his life. I'm also seeing a different side of my husband, who is more annoyed by his son's love life than he is understanding. Kev is annoyed if she calls. He's annoyed if they talk on the phone very long. He'd be annoyed when she was at the house. He's annoyed because Andy wants to buy her a present. He's annoyed by the whole thing.
I'm amused, he's annoyed. What's with that? Makes me wonder if he remembers being a teenager in love. I'm thinking it's easier living with a teenager in love than it is living with the father of a teenager in love...
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Long time no see or the summer in a nutshell
My last post was May 15. Holy cow, seems a life time ago! You see, I don't work during the summer, and I refuse to pay for s.l.o.w. dial up internet at home. So, I blog during my lunch hour, or on break time at work. But, since I've been at home all summer, no blogging. I've missed it. I've thought of hundreds of things to write about. I just have been to busy to come in and blog.
Today? Today is a Sunday. My wonderful hubby had to use the internet to do some annual training via the internet, so we had to come to town. It's hot here. The AC is off. Hot and stuffy. But, it's hot outside too.
Kev is online. Kat is online. I'm online. Andy is off helping his girlfriend load her truck and move. My little boy has a girlfriend. It's made for an interesting summer, as they have had the idea that they have to spend every single hour together and that he needs to be in town or she needs to be at our house.
I'm pleased that someone has discovered how wonderful he is, and has discovered that he is a cutie-pootie. But this means that I now have to share him. But, his girlfriend's family is relocating and they leave today. He's crushed. She's crushed. We adults, are slightly relieved, and yet we ache for our love-lorn children.
We've spent much of the summer getting ready for the fair. Those of you who aren't 4-H parents have no idea how time consuming it is. Animals have to be fed, monitored and trained to lead. Crafts have to be constructed and completed. Sewing projects created. Everything has to be delivered and presented in the best of light. Every year, I swear that we won't wait till the last minute. Every year, we have something that isn't done till the last minute.
This year, it was crafts and sewing.
Kat likes both, and is good, but boy is she stubborn and difficult and ...Well, she's stubborn and difficult. I, however am not.
Sewing. She's sewed 2 years. Made 3 or 4 items. So, of course, with her 2 years of experience, Kat knows more about sewing than I. To keep me from killing her, Kim offered to come over and sew with the girls (her's and mine) if I'd do arts and crafts with the boys. Done deal.
Kat sewed really well for Kim. Kim isn't as stupid as I am evidently. Kat made a beautiful sun dress. Zipper wasn't perfect, but it turned out beautifully. Purple ribbon quality. Two days before judging, she insisted we make a white blouse. The day before we had to have it judged, we sewed it. She and I. Lots of yelling, lots of "I don't care if that seam isn't straight, I'm not ripping it out." And she didn't. I had to let it go.
I really did let it go! I promise!
But, the shirt got finished. The dress earned reserve champion. It was well deserved. The shirt, well, we don't know yet what it got, we'll have to wait. I'm betting on a red. But, we survived.
All Andy has is animals. But, his love life has taken front seat to training animals. I'm not sure what will happen at the fair, but he's 15 and I'm not going to nag. Right???
Let's see, what else have we been doing??? In a nutshell
1. Bought and installed a new front door. A beautiful door. I stained and poly'd it. Now we need to paint the house.
2. Took a much needed vacation in the Mt's of Colorado. One week away from the world. 3 days of it in atypical continuous rain. My first hike down the snake river. The bald spots on my feet are almost healed now.
3. Drove the kids to the pool many many days. Drove kids to band lessons. Drove kid to drivers ed. Drove kid home from drivers ed. (Why couldn't the kid drive himself home???)
4. Stayed in the house out of the 100+ degree days.
5. Paid $120 for a stupid cat. Said stupid cat is a bottle baby that we saved after his momma died (carried off by coyotes or owls). Said stupid cat tried to play horse-shoes with the menfolk. Cat broke leg trying to catch horse-shoe. Cat is now is a cast from shoulder to paw, requiring him to be in the house full time and using a +*&()^%#$@ litterbox.
6. Discovering that of my 33 new "pullets," 5 of them are roosters. And 4 of those 5 are from my 8 Americana "pullets". I'm not going to get any colored eggs out of them. And, these 5 roosters are extremely randy. I feel sorry for the hens.
7. Sorrow. Miss Monkey, our bottle goat died while having her horns removed. It's my fault, and we've had lots and lots of tears about it.
8. Get ready for the fair. Which is next week. And one week after that, it's back to work.
Today? Today is a Sunday. My wonderful hubby had to use the internet to do some annual training via the internet, so we had to come to town. It's hot here. The AC is off. Hot and stuffy. But, it's hot outside too.
Kev is online. Kat is online. I'm online. Andy is off helping his girlfriend load her truck and move. My little boy has a girlfriend. It's made for an interesting summer, as they have had the idea that they have to spend every single hour together and that he needs to be in town or she needs to be at our house.
I'm pleased that someone has discovered how wonderful he is, and has discovered that he is a cutie-pootie. But this means that I now have to share him. But, his girlfriend's family is relocating and they leave today. He's crushed. She's crushed. We adults, are slightly relieved, and yet we ache for our love-lorn children.
We've spent much of the summer getting ready for the fair. Those of you who aren't 4-H parents have no idea how time consuming it is. Animals have to be fed, monitored and trained to lead. Crafts have to be constructed and completed. Sewing projects created. Everything has to be delivered and presented in the best of light. Every year, I swear that we won't wait till the last minute. Every year, we have something that isn't done till the last minute.
This year, it was crafts and sewing.
Kat likes both, and is good, but boy is she stubborn and difficult and ...Well, she's stubborn and difficult. I, however am not.
Sewing. She's sewed 2 years. Made 3 or 4 items. So, of course, with her 2 years of experience, Kat knows more about sewing than I. To keep me from killing her, Kim offered to come over and sew with the girls (her's and mine) if I'd do arts and crafts with the boys. Done deal.
Kat sewed really well for Kim. Kim isn't as stupid as I am evidently. Kat made a beautiful sun dress. Zipper wasn't perfect, but it turned out beautifully. Purple ribbon quality. Two days before judging, she insisted we make a white blouse. The day before we had to have it judged, we sewed it. She and I. Lots of yelling, lots of "I don't care if that seam isn't straight, I'm not ripping it out." And she didn't. I had to let it go.
I really did let it go! I promise!
But, the shirt got finished. The dress earned reserve champion. It was well deserved. The shirt, well, we don't know yet what it got, we'll have to wait. I'm betting on a red. But, we survived.
All Andy has is animals. But, his love life has taken front seat to training animals. I'm not sure what will happen at the fair, but he's 15 and I'm not going to nag. Right???
Let's see, what else have we been doing??? In a nutshell
1. Bought and installed a new front door. A beautiful door. I stained and poly'd it. Now we need to paint the house.
2. Took a much needed vacation in the Mt's of Colorado. One week away from the world. 3 days of it in atypical continuous rain. My first hike down the snake river. The bald spots on my feet are almost healed now.
3. Drove the kids to the pool many many days. Drove kids to band lessons. Drove kid to drivers ed. Drove kid home from drivers ed. (Why couldn't the kid drive himself home???)
4. Stayed in the house out of the 100+ degree days.
5. Paid $120 for a stupid cat. Said stupid cat is a bottle baby that we saved after his momma died (carried off by coyotes or owls). Said stupid cat tried to play horse-shoes with the menfolk. Cat broke leg trying to catch horse-shoe. Cat is now is a cast from shoulder to paw, requiring him to be in the house full time and using a +*&()^%#$@ litterbox.
6. Discovering that of my 33 new "pullets," 5 of them are roosters. And 4 of those 5 are from my 8 Americana "pullets". I'm not going to get any colored eggs out of them. And, these 5 roosters are extremely randy. I feel sorry for the hens.
7. Sorrow. Miss Monkey, our bottle goat died while having her horns removed. It's my fault, and we've had lots and lots of tears about it.
8. Get ready for the fair. Which is next week. And one week after that, it's back to work.
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