~ This Week ......... ~

I had to go grocery shopping Monday , needed cat food , milk and a few other items.. I decided while I was in town I would go ahead and vote early. Glad it's done and I won't have to go out next week and stand in line to vote.

I did some decluttering in my art room , the closet is clean. Now I hope to get hubby to build in some shelving , so I can store my canned goodies and other items I'm stocking up on in there.

Annette ask about the recipe for the pineapple sage jelly , I found the recipe I used at this link http://www.willowpondherbs.com/kitchen/sage/page3.html , it also has the marinated chicken recipe I plan to try this week. I'll be making a few more jars of the pineapple sage jelly too.

**** Hope your Day is Blessed ****

JoyceAnn

~ Busy as a Bee ~

Hope everyone is doing well , I haven't had much computer time lately , been busy finishing up the fall harvest. I made more pear preserves and pineapple sage jelly last week. We also picked more grapes . I've made wine with some of the grapes , I'm not a Wino (LOL) but I do like a glass with my evening meal occasionally. I bottled my first batch last week , it tastes pretty good. I'll be teaching my youngest daughter how to make grape jelly this week , her boyfriend loves my grape jelly , so she has decided she needs to learn how to make it.

I've moved my herbs and tropical plants to the basement for the winter. I found a recipe for pineapple sage marinated chicken , that I'm planning to try. We've been cleaning up the garden and picked about a 1/2 bushel of peppers from the garden , I've been pickling those. In the next week or so I will be planting garlic for next summer's harvest , hope to double or triple the amount from last year. Anyone tried Garlic jelly ? I'm thinking about trying to make some , just wonder how it taste.

~ Green Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

* Doing Not Thinking Challenge Update *

I haven't did any decluttering over the last week. My oldest daughter , her husband and Little Missy have been staying with us. They are doing some remodeling on their mobile home , new flooring.

I went to the grocery store last week and did some stocking up. I want to start a nice stockpiled pantry. Hope to get the art/craftroom organized and use the closet as a pantry.

~ Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ Snake in the House ~

I had a very unwelcome guest in the house this morning. I don't like to kill snakes , but this one invaded my territory and had to be dealt with. I went to throw some junk mail away and it was wrapped around the trashcan. I grabbed the broom and gave him a few good whacks. I couldn't take a chance on it getting away , so it's history.

Yesterday I canned 9 pints of grape jelly and 4 quarts of pears. My uncle brought me some more pears this past weekend , I plan to make more preserves from them. What are you harvesting and preserving this week ?

~ Many Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

* Doing Not Thinking Challenge Update *

I've been busy decluttering the grand's bedroom , it's almost done. I also give the bathroom a deep cleaning and did some decluttering. I've got a couple of shelves I need to declutter in the bathroom.The house is looking better , although I haven't got to the most cluttered room yet (yikes). My art/craft room has become the catch all place for the last year or so , it needs a major declutter , hope to start in there next week.

~~ Hope your weekend was Wonderful ~~

~ Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

* 100 Foot Diet Challenge *

10 ~ 9 ~ 08

Meatloaf ~ Homemade

Ground Beef ~ Local Owned Store

( Need to find Local Grown Beef )

Egg ~ Local Owned Store

( We're working on getting laying hens )

Garlic Salt ~ Local Owned Store

( Plan to make my own soon )

Bell Pepper * Homegrown

Banana Pepper * Homegrown

Cayenne Pepper * Homegrown

Onion ~ Grocery Store

( Need to grow more next year )

Ketchup ~ Local Owned Store

( Hope to make my own next year )

Creamed Potatoes

Potatoes * Homegrown

Butter * Grocery Store

Milk ~ Homegrown

( I would love to have a goat or cow in the future so I will have milk and

can make butter )

Collards

Collards ~ Locally Grown

Fatback ~ Local Grown Hog

Blackberry Cobbler

Blackberries ~ Wild Food

Flour ~ Local Owned Store

Sugar ~ Local Owned Store

Milk ~ Local Owned Store

Vanilla Extract ~ Local Owned Store

( In the process of making my own )

Butter ~ Local Owned Store

~ Cleaning , Cleaning and more Cleaning ~

I've been busy cleaning the Grands bedroom and it is almost finished , need to declutter a couple of shelves. Thought I would share a photo of the ceiling I sponge painted a few years of go.

The bedroom has a moon & stars theme , Curious J loves looking at the glow in the dark stars on the ceiling when he stays overnight. I have more stars I need to add to the ceiling ,when I finish cleaning. The framed art is Curious J's first finger painting .

~ Hope your week has been full of Bright Stars ~

Blessings ~ JoyceAnn

~ It's only Natural Odor ~

I don't know why , but I was inspired by that skunk to create a drawing. We haven't seen it anymore , so hopefully it was just hunting food. Jazzy , the rabbit has been turning her food bowl over and the rabbit pellets fall to the ground. I think maybe that skunk has found a food source , since it went to the rabbit cage twice. I put a rock in the wire basket that holds her pellet bowl , she hasn't turned it over yet. Hoping I solved the problem. I'm still a little paranoid , so I'm keeping a eye over my shoulder.
The skunk we saw didn't have a stripe down the back , it had a white spot below the head. I did some research about skunks and found out it was a Southern Spotted Skunk.

~ Hope your day is Blessed ~

JoyceAnn

* Doing Not Thinking Challenge Update *

I finally got that closet decluttered and organized ( Yay ~~~ ) !

I also managed to get the back porch decluttered , lots of gardening items found their way there over the summer. I've got them back to were they belong.

Today I'm working on the Grands bedroom , hope to get it cleaned and decluttered. I feel like the challenge is working , now that the closet is finished.

~ Autumn Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ Never A Dull Moment for Sure ~

I had a new visitor today , this one has me scared. I was at the computer this morning , when DH looked out the window and saw a skunk. It went around the house , I got to the puppy just in time , he was on the back porch so I opened the door and he came in the house . The skunk then walked across the yard , toward the dog lot and rabbit pen. A little while later it came back around the house , Dh wanted to shot it and I told him not to , I thought it might be looking for food. It went out toward the road , so we thought it was gone. I decided a little while later I was going to get some fall / halloween decorations from one of the outbuildings , when I came out I saw the skunk coming back through the yard. I grabbed Shadow and eased my way back to the house. It went back toward the rabbit pen and under the other outbuilding. This was about 11:00 a.m. , so now I worried it maybe rabid. DH was gone to pickup the wood splitter , when he got back I told him he should kill it. Now we can't find it , I 've got the puppy in the basement , I'm afraid it will come back and you know how curious pups are.

It has halted my plans for today , guess I 'll stay in the house and do some cleaning.

Hope you are having a Great weekend .......

~ Autumn Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ Gathering Grapes ~

~ Beautiful Trellised Vines ~

~ the vines were loaded ~

Guess Who ?

My Niece


~ adding a few more ~







Wow ~ what a Blessing , my Mom's neighbor let us have all the grapes we wanted this year. My niece and I enjoyed picking grapes in the drizzling rain yesterday , a nice cool day for harvesting.






~ Autumn Harvest Blessings ~
JoyceAnn

~ My Weekend Visitors ~

We had some visitors that showed up this past weekend. They enjoyed rooting around in my front yard Friday afternoon and all day Saturday. I tried to shoo them away when they headed toward the garden , but they tried to come to me , I finally gave up and went back in the house. My hubby went around the neighborhood trying to find their owners , without success. The neighbor called animal control , hopefully they found the owners.

I've been busy catching up the wash and pickling more peppers. Today I'm going to pick more grapes. I want to make a couple more batches of grape jelly. I'm also determined to get that closet cleaned and decluttered today..............

Hope you have a great day !

~ Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ Doing Not Thinking Challenge Update ~

Cleaned Front Porch

~ Decluttered Spiderwebs ~

( Does that Count ? LOL )

~~ Pine Oil / Red Oil ~~

I posted about the natural pine oil I made awhile back here http://feather-spirits.blogspot.com/2008/09/natural-pine-oil-furniture-polish.html. My Mom went to move a fan week before last and the blade hit her finger , gave it a good slice. She was talking about how everyone used red oil in the days , and its healing properties. Red oil has become a thing of the past , you can't find it at the stores anymore. I told her I had made some pine oil and we should try it on the cut , I read that pine has antiseptic qualities .

I applied some and put the bandage back on it. She called the next morning and was singing praises about the oil , she said it took the soreness out of her finger. She kept applying it and it healed wonderfully.

I love the thought of being able to clean/ dust and use it medicinally too. I don't have to worry about the grands , accidentally spraying it in their eyes ( using a squirt bottle ) or ingesting it because it's just olive oil with oils absorbed from pine needles. I made pine needle tea last year when I had a cold that wouldn't go away , it worked great too. I plan to do more study on the healing properties of pine , will let you know what I find.

~ Green Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ Weekly Wrap-up ~

It's been another busy week around the homestead. I didn't get much decluttering done. I had business in town that had to be taken care of this week. I did get 8 pints of grape jelly made this week , actually 4 pints of jelly and 4 pints of syrup. Four pints didn't set , so I guess I'll be experimenting with some syrup , any ideas ? I wonder how grape syrup

taste on pancakes , it'll probably be good.

Shadow has adjusted well , he plays well with the Grands. Little Missy yells pup-pup , each time she sees him.We have a wild kitten that has taken up residence too. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it. I've been feeding it and hope it will get use to me , it is staying on the back porch , but each time I go out , it makes a mad dash off the porch to the edge of the yard behind the bushes and starts crying. My husband thinks someone dropped it out Saturday night , he saw a car stop on the road in front of our house late Saturday night. The kitten was on our porch Sunday morning.

I finally got some fall planting done , hoping it's not to late. It's been kinda chilly this week , seems like Oct. instead of Sept. We're having a early fall , so we'll probably have a early winter too.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

~ Green Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

What are Little Boys made of ....................

?

~ Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

* Doing Not Thinking Challenge Update *

I started this challenge thinking , I wasn't doing , just thinking about doing. I now realize I'm doing , there's just so much to be done. I still haven't cleaned out the closet. I did manage to clean and declutter this shelf in the living room.

Last week I had pears and grapes to preserve , garlic that needed to be cleaned , house cleaning , meals to cook , washing and grands to take care of. I was going to make my grape jelly yesterday , but didn't get to it either. Wasn't feeling well yesterday morning , felt better after I napped about noon , so thought I would get the jelly fixed in the afternoon but I ended up taking my oldest daughter to the hospital. She was sick and throwing up profusely , since she's pregnant , they wanted her to come in and be checked. They gave her a bag of IV fluids at the hospital and said it was probably a GI bug.

So today I'll be making grape jelly , instead of cleaning the closet. I guess I'll keep doing and thinking I'm not doing enough (LOL).

~ Autumn Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

*~* Path to Freedom Contest , Pears and a Puppy *~*

I spoke about the website Path To Freedom ~ http://pathtofreedom.com/ ~ awhile back , they have a contest each month for their Freedom Gardeners. To enter the Tally ' Hoe ' Contest , you must sign -up at Freedom Gardens ~ http://freedomgardens.org/ ~ and guess how many pounds of food they will harvest for the month. I joined the Freedom Gardens site last week and made my guess of 907 lbs. I 'm the 1st place winner for guessing the closest lbs for their Aug. harvest. I won a 25.00 gift certificate ( YIPEEEE ) for their online store , they sell homesteading and green goods.

I made pear preserves this week and a couple of qts of canned pears. The grapes have been juiced , so I will make grape jelly this weekend.

Someone abandoned this sweet little puppy at my Sister's driveway last week. I saw him and fell in love , so meet ~ Shadow ~ the newest member of our homestead. I'm hoping he'll be a good dog for the grandchildren and a guard dog for the chickens when we get them.
I can't believe people still dump dogs and puppies beside the road. There are many programs out there to help find homes them , if they would take the time to do it.
I wasn't looking for another dog , but I guess the Universe had a different plan for me. We have a German Shepherd , she's 10 years old and will probably be very jealous of the newest edition. She doesn't get along well with other animals , she hates the cats and would kill them if she got a chance , we keep her in a dog lot and only allow her out on leash. I hate keeping her in a pen , but she's so aggressive. She has attacked the neighbors dog and almost killed it. She also attacked my cat ~ Buddy ~ , he fared pretty well considering , just a nasty bite. She doesn't seem aggressive against people , but I wouldn't trust her around the Grandkids. I hope ~ Shadow ~ is different , he seems calm maybe he'll remain that way.

~ Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

Kitchen Table = Sacred Object ~ Thought Provoking Post

( My Sacred Kitchen Table )

( Carved A )


( Dining Room Table )

( Kitchen Table Memories )



Kathie over at Two Frog Home wrote a post about the kitchen table , I loved this post and thought it was worth sharing , it was very thought provoking for me , please go to http://twofroghome.com/2008/16/100-things-31-kitchen-table-sacred-object/ to read her post.

I've never thought about the kitchen table as being a Scared place , but after reading her post I thought about it and realized , it really is the most Sacred place in my home too. Our kitchen table and dining room table hold many special memories and new ones are made everyday around it.

The photo above shows my old farm table I bought at an antique store about 6 years ago . It has the letter A carved into it , our last name starts with an A , I guess I was drawn to that table because of the A. Our dining room table was handcrafted by a friend my DH went to school with , he passed away a couple years after we got it , it's very Special to us.

~ Kitchen Table Memories ~

Family Meals & Prayers

Preparing Meals

Making Homemade Biscuits

Making Birthday Cakes

( The most recent ~ Fire Truck Cake )

Company , Coffee and Gossip

A Place to do Homework

A place to do Art / Finger Painting

Playing Board Games / Cards

Making a Table Tent

Carving Jack-o-Lanterns for Halloween

Thanksgiving Feast

Making Christmas Gifts / Ornaments

Making Pinecone Bird Feeders

Valentine Cards & Ornaments

Working on Science Projects

Spelling Bee Study

Preparing for Cook-outs / Birthday Parties

Dying Easter Eggs

Making Cupcakes & Decorating

Making Cookies

Canning and Preserving Food

Serious Family Business

( Sometimes Tough Decisions )

(Crying ~ Laughing )

So many Special times and Wonderful memories are made around the kitchen table , it's definitely a Scared Place. Please share a memory about your kitchen table.

~ Kitchen Table Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ Permaculture at Work ~

A couple of weeks ago , my herbs looked awful. Bugs were eating the basil and sages , everything except the rosemary. I've had a couple of spiders move in and rescue my herbs. The bottom photos shows a garden spider near the basil , you can barely see the other spider that's near the sages ( top photo ) , but it is casting a shadow you can see. You can click on photos to enlarge for a better view.

I thought this was a great example of nature doing what it's suppose to do aka permaculture , if we allow it to happen. My herbs look great again , the rain and the insect eating spiders have done a great job. Wish I had a before and after photo of how bad the basil and sage looked , the difference is amazing. Spiders get a bad rap , because they're really beneficial. I'm not a spider or snake lover , but I respect the job they do for us.

I think rosemary would probably make a great insect repellent , may try an infusion to experiment with. Anyone ever tried rosemary for insect repellent , the bugs don't seem to like it ?

~ Green Blessings ~

JoyceAnn