September

This has been a busy month for me. Along with all the usual stuff, I have also been busy putting away the garden bounty that we have been blessed with. Our concord grapes did well this year and I was able to put up 26 jars of grape jelly.  Our apple trees did very well this year, the first time since we planted them ten or so years ago, and they are keeping me busy. The grandchildren love applesauce so I am making plenty of it. I have put up 6 quarts of applesauce so far and will easily have enough apples  to do another 8 quarts of sauce, and I have made 9 pints of apple butter.  My sauerkraut is fermenting away in a bucket in the kitchen, I will can it some time next month, it smells very good right now.  Our pear trees are loaded down and early next month I plan to start harvesting them and will begin to can some of the fruit.
I think this year I have canned more than I ever have; the inventory so far:

Tomatoes 65 quarts

Peaches 27 quarts

Green Beans 50 pints

Corn 35 pints

Grape Jelly 14 pints

Apple Sauce 14 quarts

Apple Butter 8 pints

Strawberry Jam 24 pints

Pickled Beets 12 pints

Pickles 22 quarts

Peppers 7 quarts, chopped up and frozen

Sauerkraut 25 lbs still fermenting, yet to be canned

Everything was from our garden except the peaches which I purchased at a very good price.  We are very pleased with our little harvest. And, we thank the Lord for the abundance. I think back to early spring when we planted the garden, I stood with the grandsons in one of the gardens, we held hands in a circle and we prayed for the Lord's blessing upon our little gardens, and we have truly been blessed.

Family Update

Grandson Henry who just turned 5, started preschool earlier this month and really likes it. His favorite part each morning at school is recess and playing with his new friend Eli. 

Grandson Patrick who is three and a half, has started to draw "proper" pictures, he suddenly has a great interest in coloring and drawing, I enjoy his art work.

Grandson Charlie who is 16 months old is into absolutely everything and I feel that all I say to him is no, no, no, all day long when I watch him! Henry says, "Bad Baby", and I say no, "Learning Baby", and hopefully he will learn soon that he cannot climb up onto everything and bang on everything in sight :) 

Granddaughter Alivia is just about 11 months old now, she is starting to take a tentative step with a lot of encouragement, but her preferred method off locomotion is speed crawling everywhere. You can hear Alivia coming from a mile away, as there is a frantic slapping of hands and chubby knees on the floor, as she races from one thing to other. Alivia now has four teeth.

The other day Henry told me about a dream he had, I want to remember it for him for when he gets older, so here it is:

In the dream Henry and Patrick are taking a bath, when they get out of the water they are different colors, Henry is blue, Patrick is green and their ears are feathers! They are able to remove the feathers and then find that they have brown ears and they cannot be taken off.

Well, what that is all about I don't know, but I thought it was quite an original dream to have! We spent a while talking about dreams and Henry wanted to know what kind of dreams I had when I was a little girl. I remember a few dreams, most likely because they disturbed me and I thought about them and they became part of my memory. One I remembered  from when I was around four years old, my family had come home from a weekend of camping and there was evidence that mice had enjoyed our home while we gone. I heard my parents talking about the mice and they put out some poison. I dreamt that a family of mice, people sized and sort of Mickey Mouse looking lived in my wardrobe, I don't recall what happened in the rest of the dream, but still can see visions from the dream. Henry told me that my dream was "very freaky"!

Everyone else is simply busy. Amber has stepped down as manager at the salon she works for and is transferring to a location closer to home, she got tired of managing people! Son-in-law Brad is away on an 8 week training course for work, he is able to come home on the weekends, and has just completed the third week. Amber and the boys will be glad when Daddy is home for good.

Ben and Emily are working hard on their college courses.

Dave returned to work last week and has fully recuperated from his surgery and the complications that followed.  Thank you for all of the prayers.

My fun Friday night was spent in the large recliner in the TV room watching Mary Poppins for the umpteenth time with, at one point three grandchildren snuggled up with me, I thought to myself that it really doesn't get any better than this, and I felt truly blessed.

So all in all although we are busy, life is back to normal again and that is good thing, and we thank the Lord for the many blessings he pours upon our family.