PEPPER RELISH MAKING AND WAITING FOR BABY #5

 Up to another hot humid morning. D-in-love had to take RL to the dentist at 9:00 this morning so she took g-son to school so hubbie got to sleep in today. The news from the hospital is they are getting ready to give d-in-love-Tif the second step of induction medicine to continue to soften her cervix.                        We got chores done this morning and then I headed out to pick up an Aldi curbside order. I love this way of shopping especially when they are standing out front waiting on you when you pull up like they were today.  I came home and met daughter in the driveway , she dropped off IR and CA on her way to her doctor appointment for this week.  We unloaded all the groceries and then played the morning away. RL called on her way back to school and was excited that the dentist found that she has 2 loose lower teeth.  She was already counting her money from the tooth fairy !   We all had lunch then I started getting things ready to make some pepper/ onion relish. I made this several years ago and we ran out of it last year but I didn't have any peppers last year so I decided to turn this basket of bell peppers into the relish with the addition of some onions that I bought this morning. 

I made 9 half pints of the relish. This is really great on hot dogs and deviled eggs.

Daughter made it back from the doctor with a headache so she crashed on the couch while CA napped and IR and hubbie went outside to play.  I sat out all the big tomatoes we gathered yesterday on the sunroom table. I sill have a couple basket bottoms covered with Roma tomatoes also that I plan on making some "tomato junk" for the freezer.

I cut up and froze the okra that I cut the other day. I freeze this in the same method as berries so I can have loose pieces to use in soups and gumbo.

And I froze the last blueberries I picked. I have been eating these on my oatmeal every morning but needed the room in the frig.

After I finished all this I went outside to join hubbie and IR for an ice cream cone and watch IR swing.  After daughter and CA woke up they came out and played for awhile until chore time. Both girls wanted to go help with the chickens so they got their boots on and were excited to feed corn and gather eggs.

After we got chores done the girls begged to stay here and have a picnic supper outside so daughter went home alone.  Hubbie cooked them a pizza and they had a good time eating outside.

Hubbie took the girls home when he went to daughter's to pick up trash.  I did some weeding in the back yard while he was gone . When he got back we shut the chickens up and then came inside. I baked 3 caramel cakes and then relaxed for the evening.

Update from the hospital on d-in-love-Tif,  they broke her water at 8:00 tonight and are just waiting for her to progress.  I pray for quick progress for her and that the baby gets here soon.  

We had a bad thunder and lightening storm tonight with heavy pouring rain, hopefully no damage around here.

Thankful for all the blessings of this day.

God Bless and Good Night

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL FOR RL AND GRAPE JUICE MAKING

 Up to hear hubbie coming back from taking g-son to school. He said the traffic was still really bad this morning but they got there on time barely.  Hopefully traffic will work it's self out after this week.  I got up and got chores done and then had breakfast alone. Seems strange to not have any littles around the breakfast table.  It was finally RL's turn to have her first day at school and she was all smiles this morning.

 After I ate we loaded up all the furniture covers and bed srpead from July and took them to the laundry. After we dropped them off we made a trip to Walmart to pick up a new Kitchenaid mixer since my old one died last night. We also stopped by our insurance off ice which was on the way back to the laundry and signed some papers she needed. We also stopped and made a cake delivery before we got back to the laundry. The washers were just finishing for perfect timing. We brought everything home and hung it out on the clotheslines to dry in this hot sunny day. We came inside and waited on daughter to get here with lunch for the girls and hubbie. I ate a left over zucchini boat with spaghetti sauce on it for my lunch.  After lunch IR went out and helped me pick grapes. Our frost bitten, dead looking grape vines of this spring are exceptionally loaded with grapes now. We picked the ripest ones and came back inside to make a  batch of grape juice.  This bowl of grapes gave me 13 pints of beautiful grape juice.

Daughter and the girls left as hubbie left to go pick up g-son from school. Thankfully he had a better day today and was smiling and chatting with some friends when hubbie got to school.   After he dropped g-son off at this house he started weed eating and I went into the garden to see needed to be picked. Bugs are really bad this time of year and if we don't stay on top of the harvest the bugs move in quickly. This is an unbelievable harvest for the end of August.   Guess I'll be doing some more preserving !!!! 

After we got chores done we worked more on this bank of Hosta and decided to go with this thick landscape fabric we had uncovered in the barn when we cleaned it out. I don't want the guineas and loose rooster and hens to be in here scratching all the dirt down into the driveway so this will keep that from happening and also keep the bank from washing off .

We tied this sunflower plant up .  The bees love these huge blooms.

We finished out work wet with sweat for the second evening in a row and felt good to come into a cool house and rest.

I iced 3 caramel cakes when I came inside and then relaxed for the evening.

This little boy started kindergarten today also at d-in-love-A's school and he got a royal welcome to school today by his dad's co-workers at the sherriff's office and even the Clemson mascot tiger made an appearance since this little boy just lost his mom a couple weeks ago to the Covid virus.  Praying for this dad who is doing a wonderful job with his 2 boys while waiting to bring home his little daughter from the nicu, who was taken from her mother just before she died. 

Thankful for a caring community and for an awesome God who always provides.

Thankful for all my blessings of this day and praying for #2 son and d-in-love-Tif tonight as they are at the hospital expecting the arrival of their little girl.

God Bless and Good Night

God Bless and Good Night

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

 Monday morning with RL here for the last day before she starts school. We were up earlier so hubbie could go pick up g-son and take him to his first day of high school. He sure is handsome this morning.

And these two look so grown up heading into their first day of school, EL headed to third grade and BB headed to his first grade year. 

Kindergarten has a staggered start for the first two days and RL isn't going until tomorrow for her first day.

I hope all these kids have a wonderful year.  Daughter opted not to go back around all the kids and chance picking up the covid virus before she delivers her baby.

When hubbie got back I did some leg stretches and then went out to get chores done. I came back inside and ate breakfast with RL. It will definitely be strange not having her around everyday.

I got a load of laundry started and then got started on canning all the extra tomatoes hubbie has been gathering.  I spent the afternoon between getting 3 loads of weekly laundry done getting all the tomatoes in 14 quarts of canned tomatoes and they sure are pretty.

Daughter brought IR and CA over and spent the afternoon playing with RL.  After they left we watched the news then I went out to get chores done and then hubbie helped me pull weeds out of my Hosta bed below the chicken lots. It had gotten so overgrown I was afraid the Hosta was going to be choked out.

It looked so much better when we finished but it was too dark for a pic.  I also sweated a gallon or two while we worked in the very warm, humid evening. Thankfully we didn't get any rain today after the 2/10ths inch we got yesterday.

We came inside and I made 3 caramel cakes before my big mixer died on me. It has been sounding pretty bad and tonight all of a sudden it just died. This old mixer has mixed many many cakes so it is time for a new one.

Thankful for the blessings of this day and praying for #2 son and d-in-love-Tif as they head to the hospital tomorrow night for an induction to meet their sweet baby girl.

God Bless and Good Night

BLESSED SUNDAY

 Up to a sunny but humid Sunday morning. My knee is a bit more painful today than yesterday but I did really give it a workout yesterday.  I got chores done and then had breakfast before starting to get ready for today's lunch with the kids. Today is  a spaghetti day so I fixed cucumber salad and some zucchini boats to go with it along with Texas toast. #1 son's family and #2 son and Tif came early and ate and daughter's family came in late.  Aa's family isn't feeling well today so they stayed home.  Everyone enjoyed the lunch and these 2 look ready to pop and are hoping tonight's full moon might just be the trick.

IR stayed here this afternoon after everyone else went home. She played and watched TV while hubbie and I had a restful afternoon. We went out to get chores done and the rain that had been threatening all afternoon came and ran us in the feed shed for a little while to let it pass. Seems like we can't get past a day now without a shower of rain. IR is always on the lookout for the rainbow after the rain and found this one today.

 After the rain stopped we got chores done and then while IR and hubbie had ice cream outside I pickedblueberries. Seems like the blueberries are lasting a long time this year.  I have so many tomatoes staring at me when I walk through the sunroom that is what I intend to tackle tomorrow and maybe grapes on Tuesday as they are really ripening quickly.

Thankful for the bounty of garden produce we have had this year.  

Thankful for the wonderful blessings of this Sunday and praying for these 2 babies that are arriving into this crazy world any day now.

God Bless and Good Night

ROOSTER HARVEST DAY

 Up to less pain in my knee thankfully this morning. I got chores done and then had oatmeal for breakfast for the first time in probably a week.  After we ate we loaded up a couple cakes and an egg order to go meet customers at 11:00.  We came home and started getting set up for a rooster harvesting day. The roosters are still a little small but they are fighting so much that we decided to go ahead and harvest at least half of them today. We set our canopy up for shade and got everything ready before we went up to catch the roosters.

We only caught 4 because it is pretty hot on them and we didn't want them to overheat waiting their turn !   After we got those 4 done we went back up and caught 5 more. I had a mostly roosters hatch this spring with only 9 hens out of the 26 chicks I hatched in the incubator. Thankfully clouds started covering the sun intermittently all afternoon and our canopy kept us in the cool shade.  We worked routinely and got all of the roosters in freezer bags to cool in the frig downstairs to cool for 24 hours before we put them into the freezer. We probably could have done at least one more but both our backs were giving out by the time we got everything cleaned up and things all put away.  It felt good to take a break out in the cover patio to watch a storm roll in.  Surprisingly we got over an inch of rain that continued through the evening.  We got chores done in a light rain and then came inside to have a light supper and relax for the evening. 

We celebrate this little sweetie today as she is on her 2 year anniversary from her heart surgery and is doing great.

Thankful for the blessings of knowledge to harvest all our own food and for my knee feeling better and better today. 

God Bless and Good Night

TRIP TO KNEE DOCTOR

 Had another rough night with knee pain so I was glad that IR and CA watched TV quietly this morning so I could get a few minutes extra sleep. I got up and got chores done and then had breakfast with the girls. We had a Sam's Club order and a Walmart order to pick up this morning at around the same time. We all loaded up in the Honda to go get our grocery orders. The girls helped get things carried in and we got everything put away. They were hungry again so we fixed them some lunch and I ate one of IR's frozen PB and jelly sandwiches which turned out to be a huge mistake as I immediately got indigestion . I'm sure the fact that I was headed to the walk in ortho clinic right after lunch didn't help matters either.  I left to go to the clinic about 12:30 and arrived at 1:00. I got checked in and was told there was 4 folks in front of me.  This clinic is pretty quick so it wasn't long after I got the paperwork filled out that I was called back for and x-ray.  The doctor said my injured knee looked better on the x-ray than the other knee and he moved my knee all around and mashed on it all over and I felt no pain so he said he didn't think there was any ligament damage. He said he wanted to give it until the end of the month to heal on it's own before he administered a steroid shot which was fine with me. The last steroid shot I got in the other knee years ago took a week to work and then left me with a bad catch in my knee for months.  I left the clinic at 2:30 and headed home. The stretching of my leg and bending of my knee actually made everything feed much better by the time I got home.  IR was waiting to show me her masterpiece when I got home.

CA was napping so hubbie went out and started mowing the lawn when I got back. I stayed inside with the girls until daughter got here.

CA woke up and we went outside to watch hubbie finish the mowing then he helped get the baby's carseat in daughter's van so she is ready when the time comes. She is hoping the full moon coming Sunday will be the key for her. 

These two sisters are about to get a little sister and have their lives turned upside down !!!!

After daughter left hubbie and I got chores done then gathered produce from the garden. I cut the okra and picked some more dried beans while hubbie gathered squash, cucumbers and tomatoes. The tomatoes are out doing themselves right no so I will be canning tomatoes the first of the week.

Tomorrow is our first rooster harvest day of this season so no canning tomorrow.

This little girl had her "meet the teacher" time this afternoon and she did great and was happy about getting to go to school.

As I went back out this evening to shut up the chickens I saw this huge August full moon which is also called the "sturgeon moon" and this one is also a "blue" moon because it is the third of four full moons of this summer season.

I iced a coconut cake this evening and then got an early bedtime.

Thankful for the blessings of this day and thanks for the answered prayers that nothing major was wrong with my knee.

God Bless and Good Night

ANOTHER ERRAND DAY

 All three grand girls arrived early this morning. I got chores done and then grabbed a quick breakfast before I made a cake delivery. I came back from the delivery and we loaded the girls up in hubbie's truck and we went to run our weekly errands. We made a stop at McDonalds first as they were craving cheeseburgers and fries from there. We stopped at one of our favorite walking park stops to have lunch and the girls all enjoyed it.

After the girls ate we headed to the dump/recycle center, then made stops at the bank and the Curb market to take in another bunch of money plant that I had gotten shucked. There were no customers in there at all.  

We came home and got inside before the sky clouded up. Hubbie and I ate our lunch while the girls watched TV.  They have been very good today to play together without disagreements. 

We watched a nasty thunder storm pass us by with only about 2/10ths inch of added rainfall thank goodness. Still praying for the devastated folks in Heywood and Transylvania counties just to the west of ours as they still search for 20 missing folks in the historic flooding that Fred dropped on them.           Thankfully the other 2 tropical storms are not coming our way ,although the path of Henri has changed and he is now going to hit the New England states this weekend.

Thankfully Grace has stayed on her projected path.

After all the girls left hubbie and I fixed a fresh from the garden supper for tonight.

We got chores done and then came inside where I baked 1 coconut cake and rested for the evening. My knee has ached pretty much all day so I am going to call the doctor tomorrow to see if I can get in to get a x-ray to see exactly how much damage my fall did.

Thankful for the blessings of this day and praying for all the flood victims that have lost everything.

God Bless and Good Night