~ October Blog Party ~

Today marks the first full week of the " October Blog Party " , thought I would take the time to update about the activities I've done this past week ..........................................

Oct 1st ~ I started the month by adding a primitive Halloween background to my blog and heading out to the local county fair to see my grandson's " Fall Tree ".

Oct 2nd ~ Made an art trading card , called " Spirit ".

Oct 3rd ~ I gathered herbal wildflowers to make a flower arrangement for the kitchen table. I also took time that night to enjoy viewing the harvest moon , it was absolutely enthralling. Glad I did , it was cloudy on Sunday.

Oct. 4th ~ Dug the Fall & Halloween decorations out and started decorating the front porch.

Oct 5th ~ Made pot-pourri to celebrate harvest time , used , apple peelings , herbs , lemon and orange rinds , small fir cones and pine cone petals. I added green apple and lemon oils for the scent , smells like Autumn.

Oct 6th ~ There were two beautiful spiderwebs outside the front porch yesterday morning, so I grabbed the camera and took photos of them. The camera fogged up in the misting rain and gave the web a very eerie look , perfect for the month of Oct. , I think the photo looks wonderful with the sepia effect. I also cooked homemade chili beans and jalapeno cornbread , yummo.

Oct 7th ~ I read the grand kids a book called " The Haunted House ". I found this little board book at a thrift store a few years ago , it's great for toddlers. They enjoyed being spooked a little !

~ Autumn Blessings To All ~

JoyceAnn

~ Spidery Art ~

~ Autumn Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ Fall Gardening ~

Greens , Greens , Greens

The mixed leaf lettuce and spinach are growing.


The broccoli , cabbage and collards have taken growth.


Patch of mixed greens sprouting up.


I planted these bell peppers and jalapenos back in the Spring , but they haven't produced because the deer ate the first blooms , then it got hot and dry. But the cooler weather and some wonderful rain has brought them back to life , hope to have a small harvest before the frost arrives.

~ Autumn Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ Autumn Sunday Blessing ~

~ May your week be Blessed

with Beautiful Autumn Wildflowers ~

JoyceAnn

* County Fair , Fall Tree , October Blog Party *

~ Curious J's Fall Tree ~

Last night we ventured out to the county fair to see Curious J's art. His " Fall Tree " is beautiful , although I might be a bit biased (LOL). Curious J and Little Froggy enjoyed the rides and cotton candy. Our county fair is very small , you can see everything from the gate , but it was perfect for the kids and me (LOL).
I was hoping to take Little Missy and Little Tree , but they're sick. My daughter took Little Missy back to the Dr. last night , she took them on Monday and the Dr. said it was a respiratory virus. She wasn't drinking or eating yesterday , so she took her back again , this Dr. said it might be H1N1 virus (swine flu) , just to keep doing what we're doing. Today she seems fine , she's drinking , eating and playing. He said she would probably be better by Saturday or Sunday.

Yesterday was the first day of the October Blog Party , we're to do something holiday/seasonal related everyday of this month. I started the month off by decorating my blog and going to the county fair to see Curious J's " Fall Tree ".

~ Autumn Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ ~ The Cutest Egg Gatherer ~ ~

Little Missy helped gather the eggs today , she loves to go see the bock , bocks , we started calling the hens that when they were younger. She points to the gathering basket before we head out the door and almost runs to the coop. We've gathered over 500 eggs to date , 506 to be exact , unless I missed a day or two. The hens have been great layers and the grand kids enjoy them so much , wish I would have got chickens years ago.

~ Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ Fall Tree ~

~ Curious J's first finger painting , he was 2 ~

~ Experimenting ~

~ Computer Art ~


~ Painting ~

Curious J came home from school last week with a note that said his art , called " Fall Tree " had been chosen to be displayed at the county fair. They only choose 2 from the kindergarten class , so we're very Proud of him. If you've followed my blog since I started blogging , you know Curious J stayed with me for 3 years before starting pre-school. He's been coloring , drawing and painting since he was old enough to grab a crayon , pencil or paint brush. He has a very vivid imagination , loves to create and is quite a computer wiz too.

So , we'll be going to the county fair this year , we were talking and realized that our family had never been to the fair in our county. My mom was from the neighboring county and we always went to the fair there , so when my kids came along , I took them to the neighboring county fair too. I'm looking forward to visiting and supporting our local county fair , hopefully it will become a new tradition for our family. I'm so excited , can't wait to see that " Fall Tree ".

~ Autumn Blessings ~
JoyceAnn

~ Sunday Blessing ~

~ Hope Your Day is Blessed with Peace ~

JoyceAnn

~ Autumn has Arrived ~

And I'm a few days late posting this , but as the Autumn equinox begins , I always feel more creative. This year I found the Domestic's Witch October Blog Party http://domesticwitch.blogspot.com/2009/08/october-blog-party.html and thought it would be a fun challenge. If you enjoy everything about the Autumn/Fall season , you just might enjoy this challenge too. So click on the link to read about it and sign-up if you dare. I plan to do a weekly update about my holiday/seasonal activites. Hope you'll join in the fun !

~ Autumn Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ My Weekend Garden Helper ~

Curious J and I were busy Saturday morning , shoveling compost for the garden bed. He was a great helper , he managed about a half dozen scoops before running off to see the chickens.

Look at him using that shovel like a pro (so cute) , we used a couple of shovels that have broken and have short handles , they were the perfect size for him.

And this is what we found when we went to get the wheelbarrow out from under the shed , waiting for rats or looking for eggs I suppose.

Here's the small garden bed , we added the compost and planted leaf lettuce and spinach. Curious J had a great time watering the seeds , his favorite part (LOL).

~ Garden Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ * ~ Sunday Blessing ~ * ~

~ May Nature Bless ............................... You with it's Beauty ~

JoyceAnn

~ Fall Gardening ~

I meant to post this last week , but life was hectic and I forgot about placing the post in draft. Hubby and I spent Labor Day , laboring in the garden. He got the garden ready to plant the garlic next month and we planted a patch of mixed greens. I also planted 9 cabbage and 9 broccoli in the bed near the garage. We have 9 more broccoli plants and 9 collard plants that still need to be planted , I'm planning to expand the garden bed near garage for those plants. We're going through a drought again , so they need to be planted near access to water. I'm also planning to plant leaf lettuce and spinach , my spinach died back in the Spring , it got to hot under the cold frame , so I'm hoping for better results this time. I've never did Fall planting , so it'll be a new experience.

While hubby was plowing the garden , I did some cleaning up , removed the tomato cages and clay pots from the Roma and Tommy Toe tomatoes. The clay pot irrigation worked wonderfully , I'll definitely use that system again next year. We're still getting a few cucumbers and some small tomatoes from the large tomato vines. We've been eating cucumbers and tomatoes with every evening meal , hubby and I were discussing how much better they seem to taste since they're almost gone , we're sure going to miss them. I've never had cucumbers growing this late into the year , but they taste delicious , so we'll be planting late cucumbers next year too.

We found a few more potatoes as hubby turned the soil , enough for a few more meals. Most of them were cut , so we've been eating them this week before they go bad. I have a few more small potatoes I need to can , hope to get them canned soon.

~ Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

* Doing Not Thinking Challenge *

The " Doing Not Thinking Challenge " is ending this week. I didn't fare so well with the challenge this time , my goal was to declutter and reorganize the kitchen from top to bottom. But with the gardening , canning , critters to care for and keeping 3 grand kids 4 to 5 days a week , there wasn't much time to " Think or Do " (LOL).

I did get the top of the refrigerator cleaned and the drawers reorganized , but that's about it. The kitchen is better organized than I realized though , because during the first challenge , I rearranged and organized the lower cabinets. If I ever get around to the top cabinets , I should have things in order.

Thanks Kathie , for hosting this challenge , although I didn't accomplish much , those few things were a step in the right direction.

~ Blessings to All ~

JoyceAnn

~ Grandparent's Day ~

Yesterday was Grandparent's Day , the girls brought the Grands over for a visit last night. Curious J and Little Froggy painted a picture for us , their Mom tried to get them to do a hand print , but they wanted to paint , so you have to look very closely to see a hand print (LOL). Curious J picked me a small bouquet of flowers , they look lovely in this old medicine bottle. We also received a watercolor painting , a beautiful card and they bought our supper.

Little Missy and Little Tree have a card for us , but they forgot to bring it , due to an unfortunate accident. My daughter hit another deer last night , she hit one back in March this year too. I'm just Thankful they're safe and weren't hurt. It was a Wonderful Blessed evening , hope you had a Wonderful Grandparent's Day too.

~ Family Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ Sunday Blessing ~

~ Hope Your Week is ................................ Blessed with Many Pleasant Surprises !

JoyceAnn

* What my Feathered Friends are up to .............

The girls come running to meet me , they're always Happy to see me , actually they're Happy to see what I may bring as a snack (LOL).

~ Mya is free from nesting , this little hen hatched 20 guinea keets , I'm so proud of her.

The girls are eating poke berries along the edge of the woods , maybe that's the secret to free range eggs being better for you.

The alpha male guinea is keeping watch over the new guinea nest , he's doing a great job.

~ ~ Sunday Blessing ~ ~

~ * May Your Day be filled with Glory * ~

~ Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ Saving Seeds ~

Yesterday afternoon , I cut the 3 sunflowers that bloomed this year to save for next years seed. I tied them together and put a large paper bag over them , they'll be hung from the rafters in the outbuilding to finish drying out. I also gathered some old okra pods to dry for seed next year. My okra hasn't did well the last few years , but next year I'm determined to grow beautiful okra.

We had 2 more keets hatch yesterday , we have 19 keets from this clutch and 2 from the first clutch. Mya , the barred rock hen has did a wonderful job sitting on the eggs , she doesn't mind a bit when I remove the keets and take them to the brooder. She still has 10 eggs under her , so there maybe more keets to hatch. I'll be keeping a few , giving some away and selling a few hopefully. I've found 2 more guinea nest , something found one nest and has been eating the eggs , so the guinea abandoned that nest. I found another nest Monday that had 17 eggs in it , I plan to leave it alone and let nature take it's course.

~ Harvest Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ In the Kitchen ~

Each time I think this harvest season is over , something else appears that needs canning , pickled or froze. My uncle brought my Mom a wash tub of okra , so we pickled okra yesterday. We also cut , sliced banana peppers and bell peppers that needed preserving. These pickled banana pepper rings are very easy to make , just cut into rings , stuff jar , fill with vinegar and keep in refrigerator. They're delicious on beans , burgers , in salads and make a sandwich taste special. We sliced the bell peppers and froze them , they'll be used for stir-fries.

I also dehydrated some apple rings and bananas , the dried apples are sooo good , but the bananas are to sweet. I'll use less ripe bananas next time , maybe they won't be so sweet.

~ Harvest Blessings ~

JoyceAnn