Boo ~ tifule Harvest

This past Saturday saw the first rain here in some time.  It cooled us off, for the remainder of the day anyway.  Interestingly enough it was also the first chance I had to swim this summer.  Irony huh?  LOL  It was a nice treat though, a Women of Faith get together for our church.  Swimming, fellowship, food and a movie.  The movie was 'Fried Green Tomatoes', which I had not seen before.  Wow, good movie and our hostess cooked those tasty tomatoes for us as well.  Good times.

Well the rain certainly helped our garden, but it was doing well before the rain too, thanks to my hubby and his green thumb.

  He goes out every morning before the heat of the day and tends the garden and shares time and knowledge with our twin son.  It is funny how twin son is interested in the garden and twin daughter enjoys spending time and learning with her dad in the garage, fixing cars.

More cucumbers, peppers, spaghetti squash and our first pie pumpkins came in!  I am so excited about the pumpkins and squash.  We also planted what they call 'goosebump' pumpkins, with knobs and bumps all over, but none of those have shown up yet.

With the arrival of the rain my sinus/allergies seem a little better, thank goodness, I am tired of being sick.  I did start my new Allergy meds on Sat. but like I said, the weather has made a difference so I don't know about the meds yet.  Hubby is concerned about some side effects, so am I, but we just don't want to move.  I miss my family much, I guess if we move we should move back north so I can see them.  Sigh.  Life is full of choices and compromises.  The only thing I know for sure is to keep praying and listening to God.

Blessings, Beth Ann

Weather or not . . .

It is currently 101 outside, before the heat index ~ Zoinks!  Gotta love summer in the deep south.  On the bright side, we all no know what a melting ice cream cone feels like : )  LOL  I have been feeling poorly for the past week and today is the first day I feel semi-human.  Thank the heavens that I have such a wonderful man at home and he gives me so much help.  The garden is his baby and he works in it daily before the sun comes up.    He has been picking pole beans real reg. now for a couple weeks, but he also picked a surprise:

Here is some of our bean bounty with our surprise, a zucchini!  We didn't plant zucchini, that's the surprise - LOL  All I can figure is that it is a volunteer from the compost pile that we used when tilling the garden.  Any who, it's a pretty good looking zuc!

Here is Tina, dd B's cat, peeking in the screened porch at us.  Hubby lets this vine grow every year, claiming added privacy.  Whatever, I think he just doesn't feel like cutting it down.

We let Tina in for her morning nap and she chose to take in on top of this vending machine we are selling, out on the back deck.  Silly cat.

Here is twin dd coloring out on the deck.  Some mornings it is still cool enough when we get up, that we can have our coffee out there.   Looking forward to fall . . .

Counting our blessings here during the dog days of summer, Beth Ann

Flower Power

We have been blessed with much sunny weather and enough pop up thunder storms to make for a wonderful garden this year.  I will give full credit to my hubby for all his hard work and time into our veggie garden, all 3 plots, but I take pride in the flowers : )  I will will post pic's of the garden soon, as things are just now coming into blossom.  Soon there will be fresh lettuce!  But for now here are some snap shots of my babies.

We always seem to have more than our fair share of volunteer sunflowers, but every year my daughter Bre and I like to pick a specialty breed from our 'Burpee' catalog, and plant them to perk up the shrubs.  This year it was 'coconut ice'.   They are much paler than the volunteers from the bird feeder.

Here is our mail box and all the cone flowers I planted last year.  We started with six flowers, look how many came back this year!

They are just so . . . cony - LOL  I Love the cone shape : )

As you can see, the bee's love them too, and you know that if the bee's are in my flowers they are not far from my veggie blossoms ; )  Can we say pollination.

Last year we saw mostly the white flowers, this year there is a wonderful mix of carnival colors.

And here are the volunteers under my kitchen window.  See how tall, almost to the hummingbird feeder!

On a beautiful sunny day, and looking at all these amazing flowers, there is no doubt that God is awesome!  Blessings, Beth Ann

Happy fabulous Friday All!

Such a beautiful day here in middle TN!  Sunny and 85, what more could you ask for?  Glad you asked - LOL  Time for 'Good 'ole Days' here in Cannon County.  It's a southern version of all the festivals we have up north.  This year my middle dd will be manning the library booth, as her new (or not so new) thing is volunteering at the local library.  Our whole family has been pretty heavily involved with our local library, I am proud to say!  They are a home school mom's best friend : )  B works tomorrow, so she and her brother Z, plus friends are off to enjoy the festivities tonight.  Mom and Dad will stay home and save there money and count their blessings that the twins still haven't figured out what it is yet.

This Sunday is oldest son's graduation party, and I am freaking out.  I might be more excited than him.  All he has to do is show up and bask in the glory. (I remember doing that, and loved it!)  I hope this is a special day for him and he has many found memories in the future. 

Following week-end is the twins 7th birthday, graduation, party's, and Memorial Day.  What was I thinking by having them then?  Oh yea, they were five weeks early, they were Due July 2nd.  We still don't know how we are going to handle the crush and I know there is only a week to figure it out.  Kung Fu Panda 2 is coming to the drive in that week-end as well.  We are considering taking the twins Friday night for their b-day, as they won't sit still through an entire graduation ceremony. Although I would really like to be there as there are several other friends participating, including Z's girl, whom he calls 'the one'. (yikes)

And finely, I just wanted share this quick pic I snapped today from my driveway.  We utterly have a sea of sunflowers growing under our kitchen window and around the bird feeder.  Here is the first to open to the sun!  I know how he feels, when I open to the son.

Blessings, Beth Ann

Going green ~

Hello Monday!  And the start of a new week : )  I finished processing the last of the tomatoes over the week-end and wanted to share a new recipe with you too.  Oatmeal green tomato bars, so yummy!

I went from this to . . .

. . . this!

I had enough to chop up 4 - 4cup bags, slice up 4 - 4cup bags and pickle about 4 qts. of olive size green tomatoes (rumored to be great in martinis).

Still had a few left and some had the audacity to ripen while on my kitchen counter.

So I chopped those up too, into 2c. freezer bags.  These will be the same as a can from the store, which I will most likely not have to buy again this year!

I already have so many upstairs that these little beauties are heading downstairs to the deep - freeze : )

Last night I made the Oatmeal green tomato bars to go with dinner and they were a big hit!

Oatmeal Green Tomato Bars

4c. green tomatoes, chopped
2c. brown sugar
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. lemon zest
1 1/2c. flour
1c. butter, soft
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 c. old fashioned oats
1/2 c. walnuts, chopped

In a sauce pan add drained tomatoes, 1 cup brown sugar, cinnamon and lemon juice; simmer, uncovered, for 20 -25 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally.

Remove from heat and stir in the lemon zest and set aside.

In large bowl cream butter and remaining 1 cup brown sugar.  Add flour, baking soda, salt and mix well.  Stir in the nuts and oats.  Measure out 2 1/2 cups of dry mix and press into bottom of greased  9x13 pan.

Spread slightly cooled tomatoes mixture on top.  Crumble remaing dry ingredients on top.  Bake at 375 for 35 minutes or until golden brown.  Let coll before slicing into 24 squares.    (Mine was like 12 squares ). 

This was so good and took on a apple like flavor and would be excellent with vanilla ice cream on top!  Tonight:  fried green tomatoes.  I prefer the triple coating method, dry, wet, dry and fry!  LOL

Blessings, Beth Ann

Busy day

Busy day today, and another cooler (in the 80's), sunny fall day.  Rain, where are you?

Started the day by making my amazing banana blueberry muffins for breakfast : )

A morning full of chores was followed by my home made Italian chicken cheese pizza for lunch, at which time company dropped by (good timing or what).

Spent time looking for 101 recipes for green tomatoes.  Then made out a shopping list and headed to wally world for our quarterly visit, at which time the power went out while I was in the baking isle.  Geesh, you would think THEY could pay their bill.  LOL

Then I took time out to show my twins "How to train a dragon".

We were all famished after that.  So headed home where hubby surprised me by taking me out to dinner.  We went to the local Mexican join, which makes the best bean dip in the world!  Then everyone sang happy birthday to me and the waiter smeared ice cream (from my deep fried ice cream they brought over) on my face.  Grrrr.  Can't believe I fell for that!  I had done the same thing to hubby last year and I guess this was pay back.  I didn't think about that since this was a day early and I get worn down and bleary eyed after a trip to the 'boro.  Sorry, no pic's were allowed of this event!  : )

Here is the new kitten sunning her buns once again, lucky cat!

Well tomorrow looks like another busy day: pumpkin patch with 6 kids.  Enough said!
Blessings, Beth Ann

Not done yet!

You all remember my crazy squash vine?  The one that over took my son's window?

See how the vine is trailing sinusly twoards the left?

That would be my bathroom window it is heading for!  I just took this pic from inside my bathroom!

See it streatching into the window as the rest of the plant continues to climb and bloom.

Look at the top, see how it is climbing the roof line over my bedroom window, crazy!  It is the talk of the neighborhood - LOL

The tomatoes aren't doing to bad either!

Four of our seven tomato plants are still going strong.

See the red beauty playing peek - a- boo? 

The garden is a truely wonderus thing and God is good to bless us so, Beth Ann

OH my gourdness!

Our garden is on the down side now, but I did want to share a couple pictures with you all.  Hubby went out to work in the yard yesterday and snapped these to share.  We have a luffa plant gone crazy and it looks so funny going up the side of our house!

It has over taken Z's bedroom window, you can barely see the air conditioner as it makes it way up the roof past our second story bedroom window.

How crazy?

Here is a look from inside his room : )

 

Finely, here is some of the gourd booty that hubby picked yesterday, small bottle necks and luffas (on the right).

God has blessed our little garden well this year and I pray he blesses you as well, Beth Ann

Total randomness

Been a few days, so thought I would check in with some high-lights.  First off, we are all well and doing fine.  Z had a fibro flare - up early in the week, but seems to be doing better now.  I feel so powerless when those occur.  Such a defeating feeling. 

On Friday I am headed up to Defeated Creek once again, this time for the church ladies "Women of Faith" week-end camping devotional.  Last year was so much fun, hoping this year tops that!  It has been over 100 degrees everyday for the past couple weeks here.  So also hoping to get some relief from that while camping, or I might not leave my RV and it's air!

Thought I would share this pic of my ruby red fingerling potato with you.  I thought it looked a bit like a heart.  I was cleaning them up to make 'Warm mustard potato salad' for church tonight.

Those are tomatoes from our garden in the background : )

Yesterday I cast on my first ever pair of baby booties.  I found out that I could put both pair on one needle and knit at the same time!  Isn't that terribly clever?  Well I finished last night and sewed them up today.  I am happy with the results and they match the bib I made a couple weeks ago.

These will be going to a young church friend who is expecting her second son in Nov. , but I plan to make a ton in different sizes.  I will send some off to my new grandson and squirrel some away for future craft inventory.  They are very addictive to knit.

Blessings, Beth Ann

Fly away home

Today we let our butterflies go free.  It was a very fulfilling moment for us.  We started with five larva and ended with 5 butterflies, but one didn't make it, he hatched with a deformed wing and died the second day.  That too is part of the lesson learned for the family.  All four children really enjoyed this activity, even though it came with our K curriculum for the twins, and I must confess that I too found myself staring at the cocoons , waiting . . .    So here is a quick glimpse of the project, beginning to end.

Here they are when they arrived as larva, aka caterpillars

Here they are as five chrysalises

Here are two newly hatched butterflies that have perched at the top of the habitat

Here is E setting them free, all four flew out happy as a lark : )

This is just a random pic that K said I should share.  These are a couple of our squash vines that ran up the side of the house and totally enveloped Z's bedroom window!  Crazy or what?  LOL

I really love home school!  Blessings, Beth Ann

Garden Update

I know I haven't posted in about a week, but it has been crazy here, more so than usual : )  Went out to the garden last night with oldest son and took a little tour, and took some pic's to share as well.

Here are a couple of my bottle neck gourds, hanging off the North side of the house.

Here hubby is holding his harvest from this morning, dig those crazy red noodle beans!

Just one of our 7 tomato plants.  Visitors enjoy picking some to take home with them, it has become a tradition.

Here Z is holding one of biggest tomatoes yet, it will be great on a BLT!

One of our many Luffa squash, hanging off the south side of the house.  I plan to make soap and sponges out of them, for Christmas.

A volunteer sunflower growing among the lufffas.

Sorry this didn't rotate, but here is another of our Chines red noodle beans.  We are up to about 8pound of them now.  They have a great meaty flavor I don't find with Green or yellow beans.

See ya next time, blessings ~Beth Ann