Satsuma Oranges 2011

Summa Time in Bama

My goodness!  It's hot as pepper sauce down here!  It is all we can do to water and keep plants alive right now.

 We picked sixteen quarts of blackberries yesterday morning starting at about 6:30 am.  I put them in the freezer with a couple of quarts of blueberries.  I still have about one and a half gallons left from last  year. :o)                                                    The pigs are enjoying summa time though!  They love the mud and all the trimmings from plants we use!  They are growing fast and fight each other for food when we put it in their feeder.  ;o)    The "farmer" hubby of mine handles the heat better than I do. I guess because he grew up here and somehow is used to it even after being gone for years.   My job mainly is to process the veggies and  fruit, so I can stay indoors some.  Also a big thing is to keep him hydrated with water and gatorade.....not a small task! ;o)    Early morning and evening are my favorite times of day and I try to water plants and chicks then......It is then that I am able to take a deep breath and  thank my Father for another day.........  He has me so spoiled!  :o)       

My new bedroom

This is what my bedroom looks like now.  It was a plain white until my wonderful children , their mates and children came here for Christmas and  transformed my room.  Actually three rooms!  Two baths and my bedroom.  How blessed am I?
The pillow on the bed reads; "I may not be rich and famous but I do have priceless grandchildren."
Years ago when my children were growing up, I found myself weary of cleaning up and taking care of everyone....That now seems like a lifetime ago.  I have many happy memories of that time with them that will get me through the years ahead.  I hope to leave them with thoughts and memories of the good times that only come when "Family" spends time together.
My rooms now stay pretty clean but there is an emptyness there that only happy memories and fill.
Make some soon with your loved ones.
Be even more blessed.
Love,
Nancy

OOPS CAKE!

Sometimes something you planned doesn't turn out exactly like you thought it would!   Last weekend was Papa's birthday celebration.  He loves caramel cake so I decided I would make one since our local bakery has gone to "fake" caramel.   I have to confess that I did use a cake mix for the yellow cake..
Oh but the icing was to be 100% homemade because I had a recipe that had never failed me! Ha!
I got out my 10 inch iron skillet and added the 3 cups white sugar.....yep that's all to begin with.    You S L O W L Y  heat this until the sugar melts and browns slightly...check...so far so good!  Then you add in 1 cup of milk, 1 & 3/4 cups of butter and 1 tsp. vanilla that has been heated.   This is where the "fun" began.  It almost boiled out of the pan and pops went everywhere.  My recipe ended there!  Didn't tell me how long to cook it, nothing.......hummm.  I tried my wooden spoon but quickly turned to my handy stick blender that my sweet neighbor brought over on soap making day.  Thanks Pam!  I cooked and cooked ....beat and beat and it just wouldn't firm up.  I had made a sheet cake in a pan and decided to just pour the caramel mess over the cake.   It ran into all the spots only runny caramel could go...but it DID taste good!
I told the kids that it was a OOPS cake and said that I had messed up.  My kitchen was covered with sticky caramel as was I! 
After much cleaning and wiping and a bath for me and clean clothes, the kids got here.   They loved the cake...messy, thick, gooey, yummy  icing and all!  Just added ice cream , handed everyone a spoon and it was a party!
I guess the moral of this story is sometimes we all mess up sometimes, but we can  go ahead and try to make something good out of our oops in life!  I think the Bible calls it "Roses from Ashes"...
It helps to have the support of a wonderful family that is very forgiving and loving!  That's what family should be.  I am so blessed.
Nancy xo

This is chili made from our grass fed beef, garlic, tomatoes, bell peppers and dried beans(from the store)!
We had a surprise rain-hail storm yesterday here and in Birmingham.  It had just started as we left to drive to town with dinner for us and the daughter's family!  We left our sweet dog, Belle home alone because we thought we would just drive home after dinner and Reid's b-ball game.   Welllllllll.......we did but his game was canceled  and the roads were covered with ice and rain...We were patient and waited a little while for the rush hour people to clear and started home about 6:30 pm.

Here is a picture of Belle patiently waiting.  This is one of her favorite spots to wait and watch.
Oh that we could learn to wait and hope patiently!
We made it home with melting ice on the car safe!  Thank you Father.
I hope you all have a good safe weekend.

A Chocolate Soldier

New Blog!

Hey!  I just created my blog!   It was too easy. 
Now to work on what to add!   Let's see...there are so many thing that we do around here that I don't know where to start.  Maybe I'll just share a little about me.  I've been living on a small family farm for about ten years.  Before that I was 100% city girl!  I am very interested in helping the next generation know how to feed their families well.  I love to cook from scratch and many of the things I cook have been grown here on our farm.  We added grass fed beef to our list last year and this year will try some hogs.  The early peas are in the ground and the garlic was planted in the fall.  I have corn seed ready to go when the time is ready and it is an old variety  that we can save seed from.  Golden  Bantam.....Seed savers has it as do some of the local farm stores.
 We processed two beef to share with our children and are in the process of canning some of the ground meat to make it as easy as possible for them to use. Our daughter phoned last night to say that she had made crock pot meat sauce for pasta with the meat and canned pasta sauce that we made last summer.  It is a good feeling to know that our families are not eating fast food or food with added ingredients.  Ok...enough for now.....must go do something "Productive"!!