New Year Must Haves

One of my favorite things to do between Christmas and New Years is to get my life organized a bit. You know, taking down the Christmas decor, cleaning up all the wrapping paper bits and boxes, getting the kids rooms organized. But most of all, getting my calendars, planners, and so on ready for the new year.

My husband and mom know me well. For years they have gotten me calendars and journals for Christmas gifts. My New Year's Eve tradition (probably 20 years running now) is to sit by candle light and open my calendars and work on adding important birthdays, anniversaries, etc. So exciting, right?! My kids must have gotten that weirdo gene from me because they now ask for calendars for Christmas and do the same.

I have a monthly budget sheet printed out ready for January as we are going to pay close attention to the money we spend and the money we save. 

We have plans to buy an acreage within the next couple years. Since we recently paid off our house, it is time to start building up a down payment for when we do find that perfect place for us. After looking at prices of places I think we realize that we will need a bit more than we originally thought for the type of place we have in mind. While we await the perfect place to pop up on the market we will also be fixing this house up to be sell ready. So a careful budget for the next few years is a must.

My mom gave me a delightful Bible journal for my morning studies. 

My calendars will hold special dates and the daily journal will hold daily life notes.

The One Year Home & Garden Devotions by Sandra Byrd "offers an encouraging, applicable, sometimes humorous, and always personal word each day for contemporary women of all ages who delight in being busy at home." 

Each month starts out with a recipe, household tip, or gardening hint. Daily you'll read a Bible Verse and then get a glimpse into Byrd's life with a story, reflection, or life lesson. Whether it is about friendship, gardening, homemaking, marriage, or life - you'll feel encouraged to go about your day with a little refreshment and see things with new eyes. 

Just by flipping through this I am really looking forward to making it a part of my morning devotions! (This book was given to me by Tyndale Publishing in exchange for my honest review.) 

My friend knows me well as she gave me this daily desktop coloring calendar. 

I still use the Whitney English Day Planner as well. So, yes, I have my little daily rituals and these are the items that I depend on each New Year to get me organized and on track!

Do you have any New Year must-haves? 
  

Child-Like

Ah, to see the world through the eyes of four little souls has been a blessing. Just today in the garden Amy stopped her watering to watch a little beetle drink from a puddle that she had just made. 

"Bug! Bug!" she called to bring it to my attention. She was crouched over to observe her new little friend.

It was hot. Sticky. Totally gross out. I wanted to get the garden watered and return to the cool indoors.

Yet to stop and watch one of God's little creatures, a strange yellow beetle-like bug, enjoying a cool drink on a hot day that we had provided it by watering the flower it was perched on was worth it. 

The key word in the above quote is "see". Do we really see all the wonders around us? Do we see our blessings? Do we try to see the good in everything? (My fingers automatically typed "Do we see the GOD in everything?" That, too, applies.)   

To be like a child. Happy, free, exploring, content, trusting. In wonder of it all.

“Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it”Mark 10:13-15

Fresh

Being gone for 5 days in July means returning to a bounty in the garden (as well as a bounty of weeds!). 

It's amazing just how quickly things can grow and change in the garden.

Look at the giant cucumber! It was as long as Amy's legs! It actually still tasted good too, no bitterness or giant seeds in it.

One night I tried to make as much of our meal out of the garden as possible. I ended up with:

*Open face bagel sandwiches. They were whole wheat bagels, a slice of tomato (from the garden), bacon, and cheese.

*Green beans and onions (from the garden) and bacon

*Cucumber and green pepper (from the garden) salad

*Strawberries

That is a summertime meal! Yummy! 

Green!

I think I'll snap a photo of my gardens (both flowers and vegetables) periodically throughout the summer to document how it grows it changes.

The flower bed out front is already starting to bloom on the border. I love seeing the bees and butterflys stopping by for a visit. 

My garden grew almost overnight with the rain we received the past few days. The peas are starting to climb so I just put the trellis out.

This year I am using grass clippings as mulch around the plants. It keeps the soil moist, cuts back on weeds, and adds nutrients to the dirt and plants. 

New to our gardening routine this year is our rain barrel. It comes in the nick of time as I just saw that our sewer and water prices are going up.

The barrel is filled with even a light rain and then can be used for watering the plants around the yard. The bonus, besides saving money, is that the plants enjoy rain water much more than city water (kind of scary when you think about it...we are drinking the stuff that the plants don't like!!).

Life, Lately

*Today my husband works his last day at the job he has held for 9 years. Next week he will be on to bigger and better things. More on that later!

*Becca took her end of year CAT tests. She scored pretty good, except in math. Which just reiterates that we will be continuing math through the summer. One of the many benefits of homeschooling.

I made violet jelly this year. The color is so beautiful. Unfortunately, I think I added too much liquid, which means it didn't jell as much as jelly should. Never fear though, it will be used as a simple syrup in drinks and on ice cream and pancakes. And I'll know to follow directions better next year.   

I also made strawberry rhubarb jam. That turned out perfectly and I can't wait to pull it out this winter and have a taste of spring in my mouth. I'm using our huge excess of rhubarb to make deserts and yumminess. A new favorite is this strawberry rhubarb crisp. We go through a whole dish of it for a snack! 

Joe has been practicing on his new skate board that he received for his 7th birthday. I imagine soon enough he will be doing tricks and turns and ready for the skate park down the street. 

I haven't bought a package of disposable diapers for over two months. Except for a few day trips, she has been solely wearing cloth diapers. It's saving loads of money, is better on her skin, and just makes the clothesline look pretty. I'm so glad for the sunny weather again, too, to catch up on all the laundry. My electric bill is happy as well, going down by $20-$30 now with the clothesline usage. 
 

Weekend Wrap-Up

Our weekend started off with a prediction of rain. Which then turned into a prediction of severe storms. Thankfully, we ended up with neither.

Because of that, my cousin's outdoor wedding ended up being a beautiful, dry wedding! I didn't get a photo of the happy bride and groom (such a sweet couple!) but did snap some dance floor photos!

When your uncle asks you to dance...

Our bedroom smells divine with this bouquet of flowers on the dresser. All from around the yard! The first spring flowers are the best!

We have TONS of rhubarb, so Joe set up a little table on the lawn, selling rhubarb for $1 a bag. He made a little money, learned some life lessons (cleaning up the leaves of the rhubarb, setting up his table, taking the money, meeting new people) and had fun on a sunny afternoon. 

Bloom

The day started off overcast and windy, not to mention quite chilly for the middle of May. So I brought some sunshine indoors with a bouquet of lilacs, the first spring flowers in my yard.

My Grandma had dug three lilac plants from her own yard 8 years ago. For three years they grew, yet wouldn't bloom. The spring after she passed away all three bloomed brilliantly and have prospered since. So having the sight and scent of these lilacs in my living room, as well as the tree (are they lilac trees or bushes?!) outside my kitchen window always remind me of Grandma. 

I received a call this morning from a local greenhouse saying that we had a gift from my mother-in-law for our anniversary. I arrived to find a generous gift certificate. How fitting as Ben and I had just talked about making an "English garden" by our porch. It's all planted now and will look glorious once everything is in full bloom! I went with a purple color scheme so can't wait to see how the different shades pop.

Daddy filled up the kids sandbox. Which makes them very happy!

Beauty

As we turned the calendar page over to May we headed off to deliver some May day baskets.

Suddenly, it seems, the truth of "April showers bring May flowers" rang true. The view from my bedroom window is a glorious one. Though the first heavy rainfall will ultimately knock all these delicate petals to the ground, the fact that this view is a fleeting one makes me savor it all the more.

I've been preparing all my garden beds this week and have high hopes for Jacob's memorial garden. It's a shady spot behind the garage, but each year a few handfuls of wildflower seeds scattered on the ground produce enough flowers for us to bring a small handful to his graveside each week. Daily, even, during the peak of the flower production. 

I'm trying container gardening for my cucumbers and tomatoes this year. We had such bad luck with the plants growing so well, starting to bloom and produce, then shriveling up to a curled little dead mess. It must be something in the soil, as the rest of my plants grow quite well. So we shall see how they grow in containers this year.

We took this little bed, usually reserved for vegetables, and scattered wildflower seeds within it as well. Flowers make me happy, so filling our yard with them shall bring us a little extra joy.

As I look around at the beauty that Spring brings, my heart fills with hope, joy, and amazement. I've been brought to tears these past few days by the beauty of it all. Because if our earth can hold such beauty, I can only imagine Heaven. Only fantasize about the exquisiteness that Jacob sees daily in Heaven. 


1 Corinthians 2:9 - But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
 

This Week

*It's been rainy and gloomy. You know, April showers bring May flowers and all that jazz. It may be chilly yet tomorrow but I think it's supposed to be dry so I look forward to hanging out some laundry and working in the flower beds and garden. 

I'm wanting to tear out the old, dying shrubs along the west side of our house and plant some type of shady shrub on the west side of the porch...a fragrant shady shrub. Any suggestions? I'm thinking mock orange or something along those lines.

*I've gotten a Facebook page set up for my Etsy shop so feel free to like it if you'd like updates. I'm not doing much with the shop at all right now (though I did just send out two orders in one week after a long lapse of orders) but do plan to list things within the next few months. Little pop ups of new items. :)

*We are catching up on school work by not taking a spring break around here. The kids don't mind (since I didn't mention spring break to begin with!) and we may be able to finish earlier than most schools around here this summer. With that said, we will be continuing with math and reading throughout the summer, as I notice things go more smoothly in those areas without that long break.

*Spring cleaning.  Lots of spring cleaning. I love, love, love this quote and am taking it to heart. This shall be my motto this year. :)

 

Dandelion Jelly

As I opened up another jar of jelly today I realized that I never shared with you my new discovery this past spring! As dandelions popped up all over my yard in early spring I googled Dandelion Wine (something my Grandma had talked about) and saw that I wouldn't have enough to make that, but stumbled upon dandelion jelly instead.

I was intriqued. It sounded like it would be gross. Yet, all reports I read made it clear that it tastes like honey. I figured I would give it a try.

We picked a huge mixing bowl full of dandelion blossoms (no stems) in an area that is not sprayed or used by animals. I rinsed them and spread them out on a towel on the kitchen counter. Several hours later I separated the yellow petals from the green part (I started by cutting off the base but finally just started to pull the middle out with my fingers which was much faster). Discard all green parts.

Pour enough boiling water over the petals to cover and let sit several hours or overnight. After brewing you will have a yellow colored "dandelion tea". Pour through a strainer lined with a coffee filter into a bowl. Discard the petals as all you are using is the "tea liquid".

You will need: 3 cups dandelion tea, 4 1/2 c. sugar, 2 T. lemon juice, 1 box powdered pectin

Add dandelion tea, lemon juice, 1 box of pectin into a large saucepan. Bring to a boil.  Add your sugar and bring back to a boil.  Continue boiling 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and fill jars. Process in a hot water bath canner for 10-15 minutes.

 

I think this made about six jars. I am hoarding the last few in the cabinet because it seriously is very delicious! It does taste similar to honey and is great on toast, biscuits, and English Muffins.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

After a rough start to my garden (late frost, hungry bugs or bunnies), things seem to be going well now.


The square foot gardening method that I am using this year is giving me plenty of space, maybe too much as there are several empty squares yet!

We've already enjoyed radishes and rhubarb from the garden and the kids like to help me water, though they leave the weeding up to me. :/

I'm excited to see several gardens popping up in the neighborhood. When we moved here 8 years ago it seems that we were one of the few with a backyard garden. Now there is one behind us, one across the street, and several down the block. It's great to see people working in their yards again, growing some of their own food, and becoming urban farmers! New to our town this year is a community garden where residents can rent a plot for a small fee and have their own garden. Perfect for those with no yard space. I think that the whole garden has been rented out now and I love going past and seeing the progress.

The library even rented a plot this year and the summer reading kids can go once a week to learn about gardening, work in the garden, and probably enjoy the fruits of their labor later this year. Becca and Joe are loving it!

It's about time that we are all getting back to our roots.

Happiness, Home Grown

I've said it often, "Flowers make me happy!"

We finally have a dry sunny day so I hung up a few loads of laundry on the line and then took a stroll through the yard to say hello to my flowers. The one above is a miniature rose bush that I planted years ago. The one below is a wild rose bush that I stumbled upon. It was hiding behind my raspberry bushes. I figure that since Amy Rose arrived this spring, so did this flower for her. :)

 My white peony is going crazy this year with blooms. They look like giant clouds and are so soft and fluffy. I do wish that the peony flowers lasted longer than a week!

Bringing a little happiness (as well as a lovely fragrance!) to your home can mean something as simple as finding a lovely flower friend outside your door.

Naturally, Growing

We are still flying high after Jacob's good CT results earlier this week. We are also happy to all be back together and are savoring this time as we know it will be short for we have a long 30+ day hospital stay ahead of us. I have some deep thoughts on that and life in general but will save that for another time.

Today my thoughts are on gardening. We finally received some rain which helped the garden plants shoot up (as well as the weeds) so I have been working on tending my vegetables and flowers since arriving home. I realize that after 5 days of being stuck indoors I crave the outside. Things are so much more noticeable when you are deprived of them. The smell of rain and wet pavement, the birds singing, the wind gusting through the leaves on the tree, butterflys fluttering about. I think about people who are just released from prison and how they must marvel once again at everything around them - I'm sure the freedom of the outdoors is more alluring to them then the confinement of indoors. It's a wonderment that I am happy to experience once again...seeing the beauty and blessings in every. little. thing.
Maybe that is why my gardening philosophy has changed this year as well. I've changed my game plan and am curious to see how my experiment will turn out.

With the extremely mild temperatures that we had this past winter I was able to plant quite early, early March as a matter of fact. We've already harvested all of our radishes and turnips. We've been munching on lettuce and spinach for quite some time now. The rhubarb has all but fizzled out.

I had ordered seeds and hoped to start all my plants by seed instead of buying nursery plants. The seeds arrived much too late to start indoors so I decided to go ahead and start my seeds in the ground, even tomato seeds.
I later had some empty space after harvesting the turnips so bought a couple nursery plants. Later I found some self-started tomato plants growing, apparently by a dropped tomato last year. Now that I have nursery plants, seeds started in the ground, and self-sown seeds I am curious to see which do the best this summer. In the first picture you can see the nursery tomatoes (with bush beans behind them), which are big and healthy. Yet, all my nursery plants in prior years tend to wither and die in July so I will be keeping watch on those.

In the second picture you can see tomato wire cages (a couple of which my Grandma used for her tomatoes that my Grandpa had made over 25 years ago! I love having a part of them in my garden!) around teeny tiny tomato plants. Those are the seeds which I planted. I think they will catch up fairly quickly and give us a later harvest of tomatoes. Throughout the garden are a few self-seeded tomato plants which are bigger than the ones I planted from seed and smaller then the nursery plants.

There are also cucumber plants, pepper plants, lettuce, and more. I'll keep you updated on the progress of the plants. Care to take a guess on which plants you think will do the best this year?

How To Use Up That Garden Produce...

We have been eating a lot of tacos, BLT's, cucumber salads, and plain tomato sandwiches in order to make the most of the bounty from our garden. August is such a hot month (except for this past week which has been in the 70's and perfect) that the perfect food is something fresh and light.

I wanted to change it up and bit so came up with a healthy pizza using the odds and ends of produce that we had around the place. I started with some flatbread and added a handful of spinach leaves. I then sprinkled that with chopped onions and peppers. Next went the slices of tomato which was then sprinkled with chucks of fresh mozzarella cheese.
I baked this in a 450 degree oven for about 10 minutes. The smell while cooking was divine and my mouth watered as I pulled it out of the oven.
This will become a new summertime staple in our house! I may have to try it on the grill next time.