enjoying autumn

The cool nights and warm days are working their magic on the foliage around us, and I am loving it.  The red-orange berries of the mountain ash shine forth from trees all over the surrounding mountains, and on my property.  I am tempted to gather them, for wreaths, but so enjoy seeing them on the trees, [...]

Read Full Post »

habits

Good, bad or ugly, habits control the way we practically live out our lives.  Habits are those little things that we do without thinking or thought.  They are patterns we follow, developed by repetitive behavior.  Everyday we live and act, enforcing our habits. 
As parents, we are developing habits in our children’s lives.  They are watching [...]

Read Full Post »

clothespin bag

A new clothespin bag graces my clothes line, after ten years of making due with an ugly one.

Read Full Post »

knitting

While finishing my son’s second sock, I began this little sweater. 
I had picked up the pattern this spring, but could never find the right yarn; it is not sold anywhere in this state, or the neighboring one.  (I had checked the companies on-line directory, and called every shop within 100 miles, just to double-check.) Finally, I when [...]

Read Full Post »

autumn–welcome!

September 22 

* I did not take this picture.

 The beginning of Autumn!  My favorite season.  I love the cool weather, and the days are still long, while the nights are crisp and cool.  If I wrote the calender, today would be mid-autumn.  The beginning of this season would have been six weeks ago…when we began to [...]

Read Full Post »

wash day

Mondays are laundry days.  This was not always the case.  When I ran a daycare, I washed three loads of laundry a day…in an effort to keep everything clean; but now that I have quit daycare, many of our habits are changing. 
To keep up with my family meant washing at least two loads a day, five days [...]

Read Full Post »

peaches

“Peaches are the delight of the canning wold,” claims the Blue Ball canning book, and I would certainly have to agree.  Nothing is prettier than jars full of peaches.  My husband thinks nothing is tastier, so he brought these “Summer Lady’s” home from a local fruit stand.  They were so big, that even cut in [...]

Read Full Post »

spiced peaches or pears

This recipe comes from the Kerr canning book.  My mom tried it several years ago, when she ended up with several more boxes of peaches than she had planned on having…their insurance sales man had brought her a box, as had several other people who know her canning ability. 
 We have never been able to forget [...]

Read Full Post »

photo shoot

This last week, I took the boys portraits, in the tradition of school pictures. 
Now to take proper school photos at home, one is required to find the ugliest piece of fabric she owns, and to drape it in some dark corner, that roughly represents the stage in the gym.  Then the child is given a [...]

Read Full Post »

apples

“The apples are ripe, and starting to blow down.  Come get them while you can.” 
That was a call I had been waiting for!  I had noticed small red crab-apples on a tree in the town park, and the boys had brought me some almost ripe ones, from another park, a few weeks ago. 
Several months ago we [...]

Read Full Post »