Blessings and Answered Prayers

When we moved into this house we knew there were problems, that was, after all, why no one could get a loan on it, and why it was so reasonably priced.  We fixed the electrical and we fixed the plumbing, we patched holes in the cupboards and painted the walls.  During the 'painting the walls' part we discovered another problem - we had a leak in the roof that the company had just painted over the evidence of and now the paint they used was starting to slide down the wall!  Hubby went up on the roof and tried to patch it, but was only partly successful, the next year more patching...you get the picture.  The corner of the kitchen where the leak ended up practically poured water through the drywall when it rained, forget stains - we had drywall that was falling and cracking!  This was going to be a fairly large job and more money than we had in savings, we got ready to take out a loan even though it made us feel sick as we have stayed debt free since we retired 5 years ago.

My grandmother passed away last November and my mom and her two sisters just sold the family farm, they all got a nice amount, my mom told me one night on the phone that when the money came through she was going to give my brother and I a gift that she hoped we would use to improve our houses as we both had issues that needed to be taken care of. 

She sent us the exact amount of the estimate on the roof - plus a little extra.....

The simple 'remove the old and put on the new' shingle job it should have been turned into this...

They had to replace the rafters, the wood sheets, the insulation and the drywall!  This was going to be a lot more!

We spent 10 days with no light in the kitchen, and all the appliances and stuff from the counters in the TV room, then we (I) had to paint the walls and ceiling after the texturing was done and hubby had to hang the new lights and do the wiring. 

This is the finished product!  It is such a blessing to have the problem fixed and done right!  Did I mention that my mom was coming to visit and I finished the painting the night before she got here?!!
Oh and the money she sent?....It was almost exactly what we needed with just  little cushion !!

We are blessed - and I am enjoying the company of my mom for at least 10 days!!  Life is good, and once again we were reminded of the lesson we shouldn't have to be reminded of  "Let go and Let God"  he knows our needs and we shouldn't worry.  I am fairly sure I will need to be reminded of this again, but hopefully not for awhile yet!!

Monthly Nine - July

It is actually past time to sit and think and review July and share with the other bloggers in this group.  Be sure to check out the others at Greenhaven where Linda is hosting our little group.  I love reading what others in another part of the word are doing and seeing a little of their lives.  There are trips I may never take but the blogging world makes true the old saying about reading taking you on adventures, and I have seen how others live differently and how they live the same.  It is a lot of fun!

Onward and upward - it is summer here in Idaho and we are all about the garden so forgive my one dimensional life this month!

Nourish - There is a flavor that screams SUMMER to me and it is the BLT (bacon, lettuce, tomato on toast)
sandwich.  It is only made better when the lettuce and tomato are fresh from the garden, and the toast is homemade.  Hubby has tomatoes everywhere - they have of course ripened a ton of them at the same time!  He is feverishly making his salsa and then I will get to can whatever tomatoes are left!  (looks like I will have plenty!)  If anyone is curious about different types - he tried an "Amish Roma" (heirloom) this year and they are really large and tasty!




Prepare - This category is all about the canning this month as that is our major activity in the late summer as

Peaches, Salsa and Sweet Pickles

we harvest garden, so far we have done dill pickles, sweet pickles, yellow squash pickles, sauerkraut, salsa and peaches!












Reduce - I have reduced the population of squash bugs in the world!  Alright it's kind of a stretch but I did

mention in a recent post that I had not yet had any this year and - pow ! - there they were!  I saw two of them one day and the next day the whole batch were history.  I just didn't want to risk the cucumbers and cantaloupes.  See that beautiful plant - it doesn't look like it's harboring evil but there it is!








Green - We have managed to avoid any store bought chemicals and/or pesticides on the garden  and

the weeding has kept things under control so far.  We did use the chicken wire to keep the birds off the strawberries, that is green isn't it!!  :)  It is a good feeling to know that the food we eat is grown in plain old dirt and compost!









Grow - The beans are starting to look like they maybe ready to move beyond flowers.  The winds recently

have really played havoc with my pole beans!  I have been keeping better track of yields and dates of planting and harvesting this season so I can be better prepared next year.









Create - In keeping with the all garden all the time theme this month I will share that I have created some monumental messes in the kitchen!!

Discover - We have rediscovered the Farmers Market here locally.  it is just the best place to get local honey and some of the things we don't grow. 

hollyhocks!

Enhance - I have very much enjoyed the flowers that we worked on adding to the yard this summer.  They really have enhanced our enjoyment of the outdoors!














Enjoy - I am enjoying the anticipation of my mother coming to visit in August!  She has been taking care of her mother for the last 3 years and has not been able to come and see where we live and visit us here.  I am so excited to have her come here as it has now been almost a year since I have seen her again and that is just too long!!  I am just like a little kid with the excitement!  She looks too young to have a kid my age doesn't she!!!

Don't forget to check out the other blogs this month and have a wonderful August, whether you are winding down the harvest season or gearing up for spring!!

Funner with a Friend!

I think the original saying was "many hands make light work".  The bottom line is - it is almost always more fun to do a tedious job with a friend! 

Just 2 plants!  (and a marigold for bugs!)

I had way too much yellow summer squash, I let it get ahead of me - in my own defense, the last two years I have had squash bugs by this time and the plants were winding down!  This summer after a major move of the vines to the other side of the garden near the herb garden, (so far, knock on wood) I have yet to see a squash bug (don't get me wrong, I still have bugs just not that one...yet) and the two silly plants that I put in are just producing like crazy.  I am really not complaining, it is a good problem to have...I just wasn't prepared for it!

Patsi at "A Working Pantry" (in the blog roll) had posted a recipe for 'Yellow Squash Pickles' on the 26th, this seemed like too much coincidence so I figured this was going to be the perfect thing to try.  My friend Anita had been telling me about her new food processor and kept volunteering herself and the appliance to help with harvesting and preserving, boy is she regretting that now!! (not really, we did have a good time!) We discussed it and decided that we would use the food processor and do our sauerkraut on the same day.  We began our morning with a cup of coffee and some planning and then we went to work!

First we did the slicing and dicing of yellow squash, onions and red bell pepper.  The squash and onions sit under ice for a couple of hours with salt on them.  They will be drained but not rinsed to put in jars.  While the squash were soaking, we started shredding the cabbage for our kraut.  (the full kraut recipe is here)

  May I take a moment here to mention how much easier this is with the food processor than with a knife!!!  It was kind of fun just running it through. The salt was added and it went into jars, was covered with water and a leaf folded into a plug and we were ready for lunch!  (of course you have to eat to keep your strength up!)  Sandwich, fresh sliced tomatoes, cookies and tea, resting our aching backs and feet and then we were right back at it!




Boiling the liquid and packing the jars, and then filling the jars sealing and water bathing, with two of us each doing something in the process it really didn't take much time and Anita had almost all the dishes done by the time the water bath was done!  That is a true friend in my mind!  :)

So here is the final tally - 23 pints of sauerkraut quietly, and nearly odorlessly, fermenting.

And 20 pints of yellow squash pickles, all the lids have sealed now.


Not bad for about 6 hours work and a couple of breaks!!



I am not sure that there are many things more satisfying on the homemaking front than jars of produce lined up ready to be stored for the winter season.  It doesn't really matter if you do it to be frugal (the price ranges from $0.68 for the regular stuff at Walmart to $20.00 for organic raw, our cost was roughly $.25 a jar) to be prepared (so as not to be the one standing in front of the empty store shelves when the storm is predicted), because you like knowing what is in your food (yup, water, salt and cabbage), or a combination of all three like I do - it is a good feeling.  And it truly was funner with a friend!  We are now thinking of adding a couple more friends for peach season!