~ * ~ Weekend Happenings ~ * ~

~ To the Moon ~

~ Strawberry Cake ~

The weekend was busy , on Friday I did grocery shopping , glad that's out of the way . Saturday , Curious J spent the day with us , he wasn't feeling well though. He did get to feeling well enough to create something , he informed me that " we always made something when he stayed with me ". I asked him what he wanted to make and he said a " Rocket " , so I gathered up a paper towel tube , some corrugated cardboard , glue , paint and brushes and we got busy making a rocket ship. As we were working on the rocket , he told me about using his glue stick at school last week , he said they made a rainbow fish. He started kindergarten last Thursday , my daughter brought Little Froggy to the house before she took him to school the first day. I went out to the car to wish him well on his first day , he was seating in his booster seat and had his pencil box out looking at everything in it. He was excited about starting school and told me what was in his pencil box , he was really thrilled about the glue stick and the bottle of Elmer's glue.

We celebrated my Mom's birthday yesterday with a 50's party , she loves the 50's era. I made a poodle skirt doll cake for her , it's not professional , but cute enough and she enjoyed it. She broke out the record player (remember those) and we danced to Fats Domino and Elvis. It was a busy weekend , but enjoyable all the same. Hope your weekend was filled with fun.

~ Family Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ Sunday Blessing ~

~ ~ May Your Day be Blessed with Peace ~ ~

JoyceAnn

Our Garden has a Sense of Humor

We've found potato rocks ............................. they really look like a potato and ...................this

potato brought me a laugh , look at these Cheeks ............


and the ------------ , complete with pimples (LOL) !



And I found half of a potato rock , it looks like it's monogrammed with an "A" and guess what , our last name begins with an "A".



So see , our garden really does have a sense of humor : )
Have you found any of nature's humor in your garden ?



~ Garden Blessings ~
JoyceAnn

~~ Curious J & Little Froggy Spend the Night ~~

~ Late Cucumbers and Squash ~

Curious J and Little Froggy spent Saturday night with us. I didn't get a chance to take many photos , they're a handful together. We enjoyed homemade pizza , ice cream and pillow fights this past weekend , they wore this Nana out . Little Froggy loves to play with the garden veggies , I have to keep a close eye on my tomatoes or they'll become balls (LOL). In the pic above he's giving an old squash that I was going to throw out , a bus ride : )

The harvest continues , I canned 7 qts and 4 pts of mild salsa , also canned 6 qts and 1 pt of spaghetti sauce for my Mom last week. I didn't think my tomatoes were going to produce much , but they've decided to show out , so now I have a 1/2 bushel that I've got to preserve tomorrow. I may try making ketchup or maybe more spaghetti sauce. I've got late cucumbers coming in too , I planted them in front of hubby's garage so I could keep them watered , but they've did well without watering , we've been getting rain every week since I planted them. They're so sweet and delicious !

~ Many Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ ~ ~ Sunday Blessing ~ ~ ~

* Hope Your Week is ..............

Blessed with Much Goodness *

JoyceAnn

~ ~ Tooooo Cute ~ ~

~ Sweet Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ And the Harvest Continues ~

I'm still busy preserving the harvest , last week we canned a few jars of applesauce , with apples a friend had sent to me and my sil. I'm teaching her how to can , her applesauce is thin and I made mine chunky , I like it with bits of apple chunks.We're planning to get more apples this week , her bf's Grandmother has apple trees and they no longer preserve them. We plan to make more applesauce , a few jars of jelly and I want to dry some apple slices with cinnamon.

I made 6 ~ 1/2 pints of peach jelly , but it didn't set , so I tried to redo it using the sure-gell method , the test jar did well. But , when I did the whole batch it didn't. I'm debating on trying it again , not sure if I should. Anyone else ever tried a 3rd time (LOL) , I don't give up easily.

Saturday I canned 14 qts of potatoes , still have small ones I need to can sometime this week. But the tomatoes have finally started ripening , I have quite a few of those I need to do something with. I'll probably make more salsa , we never seem to have enough salsa. The dried tomatoes turned out well , so I'll be drying somemore tomatoes too.

I've got to harvest the popcorn and still have garlic that needs cleaning , so much to do and never enough time it seems , but I keep at it , knowing it will get done and the pantry will be well stocked this winter. You just can't beat that homegrown goodness in a jar , except when it's fresh from the garden.

So , How's your harvest going ?

~ Harvest Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ Sunday Blessing ~

Hope your Day is Blessed with

Many Peaceful Moments

~ Love and Hugs ~

JoyceAnn

~ The Missing Guinea Keets ~

Monday , I finally caught the guinea off her nest and was able to take all the eggs and put them under the hen. There was another keet in the nest that had died , it had got out from under her.

Tuesday morning when I went to feed the hens and guineas , I found another keet had hatched under the hen , it had got out from under her too. It was cold , so I brought in the house and wrapped it up in a warm washcloth. I put it in the brooder with the other small keets. I wasn't sure if it would make it , but it did. So now I have 6 keets , the oldest two graduated out to the chicken coop Monday , they're in a larger box and have really grown in the last 3 days. Tuesday afternoon I went out to check on them and make sure they had water , I forgot to put the wire top back over their box , when I went to close up the coop for the night , they were gone. I searched the coop and couldn't find them , I didn't think they would stray to far away , but I wasn't dressed to search the weeds and outside of the coop in the dark. I went back to the house , put on jeans and boots , Dh said he would drive the truck down to the chicken coop , so we would have more light. One side of the chicken pen has tall weeds , for some reason , the chickens never go to that area. Dh found them nestled up in some straw under the tall weeds , he almost stepped on them. So it ended well , I'm thankful we found them , it was beginning to rain and Lily Belle ( the cat ) was sitting near the coop when I discovered they were missing , so it could have ended tragically , but thankfully it didn't.

~ Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

Tomato , Tomatoe , Tomatoes

~~ Drying Tomatoes ~~

~~ Almost Ready ~~

~~ Dried Tomatoes ~~

~~ Spaghetti Sauce Cooking ~~

~~ Spaghetti Sauce ~~

~~ Spicy Salsa ~~

Do you say tomato or tomatoe ? Around here it's been tomatoes lately , I must admit my tomatoes didn't do so well again this year. We had a very dry June and a cool July , the tomato vines grew beautifully , but the tomatoes are small , rot on the ends and cracking. But I have been saving what I can , I've also bought tomatoes from a local farm to make salsa and spaghetti sauce.



The Roma and Tommy Toe tomatoes have produced well , they're the plants I used clay pot irrigation with , next year I will use that method on all of the tomatoes. Our garden is to far away from the house to water with a hose and toting water is a pain , so clay pot irrigation will be the best solution. I only had to add water once a week or less if we had rain. I tried to leave the tops off if I knew it was going to rain so the clay pots would fill up.


I made spaghetti sauce for the first time this year , my SIL and I canned 17 quarts + 4 jars of tomato juice. I used the recipe from the Blue Book of Canning , but tweaked it quite a bit , so I guess you could say it 's my own recipe , that recipe was just a starting point. I hate those recipes that only make 3 qts , if I'm going to can spaghetti sauce or salsa , I want to make enough for a full canner . Anyway it turned out great and I 'll be making more next year.



I also canned 11 qts of salsa and 4 jars of tomato juice. We love spicy salsa around here , I'll probably make more soon. The small tomatoes coming off my vines , we're eating or dehydrating. This is the first time I've used my dehydrator and I started with the hardest thing to dry , tomatoes. But they seem to be drying well , it has taken longer than the book recommendation though.



BTW , spell check says tomato is the correct spelling (LOL).



~ Garden Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ Sunday Blessing ~

~ May Your Day be as Bright as this Beautiful Sunflower ~

JoyceAnn

The Guinea eggs are .............

hatching , Saturday 2 of the eggs I placed under the hen hatched. I removed the keets Sunday and put them in with the other 2 , so far they're doing fine. Sunday night I had another guinea that didn't show up to roost , so I thought we had another nest somewhere. Monday morning she was back with the rest of the gang to eat breakfast , but didn't come to roost that night. So Tuesday I tried to watch and see were she went , but she disappeared again when I wasn't looking. Later I decided to check on the other Guinea to see if she was o.k. , as I pulled back an old tire I had placed in front of her nest , I got a big surprise ........... there were 2 guinea sitting on the nest. I tried to get a pic , but the one in front jumped up and headed for the back exit , you can see the backside of her in the pic. The other guinea didn't move , I believe she was the one that had been sitting for so long , she is used to me checking on her everyday. As the pic shows the eggs are spilling out from under the guinea and you can see a baby keet in there too. There are so many eggs I think the Momma guinea called for help to keep the eggs and the baby keet warm. I always thought all the eggs would hatch at one time , but I'm learning that's not the way it happens , they hatch days apart. I'm marking my calendar to see how long the eggs keep hatching.

Update ..... I started this post yesterday , but didn't get to finish it , as I had the 3 youngest grands all day. I went to check on the guinea nest in the afternoon and the baby keet was dead. I plan to take all the eggs as soon as I catch her off the nest again and place them under the hen. It's so much easier to let the the hen hatch them and remove the baby keets from her.

~ Many Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

The Popcorn did well , but the corn .......

didn't fare so well. I didn't realize that popcorn would cross pollinate with corn , actually I thought about it when I planted it and was planning to read up about it , but forgot to. It did cross pollinate , most of the corn ears were small and didn't fill out well. I did manage to freeze about 60 descent sized ears.

I harvested a few ears of the Cherokee Long Ear popcorn to see how it did , it looks pretty good. I'm leaving most of it on the stalks to dry out , hope those garden critters leave it alone. Shadow has been confined to the dog lot each day , so he's not much help at chasing them away. He stole two guinea eggs from the nest and I'm afraid he'll upset their nesting. There were 4 deer out there in the garden yesterday , 1 buck , 2 does and a fawn. I didn't get a pic of the buck , he was over in what's left of the corn. I'm planning to let those small ears of corn dry out for the chickens , will need to figure out how to grind them up. I'll probably try the blender , anyone else ever tried to grind dry corn with a blender or is that a crazy idea (LOL)?

~ Garden Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

: ) It's Party Time ............

Yesterday was party time , Curious J turned 5 years old. I can't believe he's 5 already and will be starting school in a few weeks ..... my how quick time goes by. He wanted a police themed party this year , so we had the cutest policeman running around the yard with their little police hats. Last year he helped me make a fire truck cake , so this year he wanted to make a police themed cake. He loves to cook and make things , so making his cake was as much fun as the party itself. He helped mix the cake and bake it , I frosted it and let him place the decorations were he thought they should go. His Mom bought a police rescue vehicle that made siren sounds to place atop the cake , it really added to the ambiance of the party. The kids had a great time although it was cloudy and rainy , so they didn't go swimming or jump in the bounce house , but they did enjoy the swing set and tire swing for a little while.

~ Blessings to All ~

JoyceAnn

~ Sunday Blessing ~

~ May your Day be Blessed Love ~

JoyceAnn

~ ~ Canning Time ~ ~

I was really busy last week , canning , cleaning , cooking and looking after the critters and the grandkids. I started early everyday and I was to exhausted to blog at the end of the day. It was a very busy week and I'm glad it's over. On Monday of last week , I put up 14 qts of canned tomatoes , Tuesday ~ My Mom and I made and canned 20 qts of vegetable soup , Wednesday I froze corn and canned 7 qts of potatoes. Thursday I had 2 of the Grands all day , so kinda took the day off and enjoyed them , but I did freeze some more corn that morning. Friday I was back to canning and put up 21 qts of green beans , plus I decorated a birthday banner for my neighbor , whom was hosting a Birthday party for her friend that was turning 100 Sunday. Wow ~ 100 years old , now that's a reason to celebrate .

Curious J came Saturday morning and stayed until Sunday afternoon. He helped gather eggs and look after the 2 guinea keets. The keets are doing good and starting to get their feathers , they'll be going home with Curious J when they're old enough. We played Go Fish Saturday night and first thing Sunday morning (LOL) , he loves to play card games. Sunday was my day of rest , my girls and the grandkids came over , we enjoyed a day by the pool and celebrated my son-in-law's birthday.

Monday I had to mulch some late cucumbers and squash I planted a few weeks ago , then I cleaned the chicken coop and worked on the compost heap. As I was finishing up outside , I noticed that the broody guinea hen was off her nest getting water and food , so I decided to take a few eggs from her nest and put them under Mya. I took 10 eggs from the nest and placed them under Mya , she has been broody for a couple of weeks now , so I'm hoping she'll raise a few guinea keets. I've read that people had more success with hens hatching the eggs and raising the young keets , so I'm going to give it a try. I'm expecting the eggs to start hatching this week , so today I'm going to get a brooder box set-up , I plan to take the keets when Momma guinea brings them out. I hate to take them away , but I know they won't survive very long if I don't and I'd love to have more guineas around.

Yesterday I went grocery shopping , did some stocking up for me and my Mom. Glad that's done , hope I don't have to make another grocery run for at least a month. Dh usually picks up milk and other items we need in between. So , that's why I haven't blogged in awhile , still have a busy week ahead of me , but it won't be quite as hectic. Hope everyone is doing well , plan to visit blogs this afternoon and catch up on the happenings in blogland.

~ Harvest Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

....... And then there were 2

Saturday morning I went out to feed the chickens and guineas , when I got to the holding pen I saw 1 of the keets outside the pen with Poppa. I picked it up and put it back in the pen with it's Mom , then I noticed they were all gone except for the one I had just put back. I looked around for awhile before spotting another keet under a log. I put it back in the pen , but decided later to take it to the house because it was cold , slightly damp and seemed weak. I looked for the other 2 keets , but couldn't find them. I let the Momma Guinea out of the holding pen , I thought if they were out there in the grass or under a log they would come to her. I went back out later to check on them , I never found the other 2 and while I was out there I saw a hawk flying over the neighbors house. I decided to take the other keet to the house too , they're safe and doing well now.

~ Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ * ~ Sunday Blessing ~ * ~

Hope Your day is Blessed with Natural Beauty

JoyceAnn

~ Other Happenings around the Homestead ~

My Mom and I canned 14 qts of peaches Tuesday , she bought a bushel from a local man who sells produce. They'll be yummy this winter.

Mya has been broody since the weekend , I took the five guinea eggs that were left in the nest and placed them under her. I didn't think they would hatch , they felt cold to the touch but yesterday morning when I went out to feed the chickens I found a dead keet in the nesting box , apparently the keet hatched , but wandered out from under her and got cold. I was going to try and break her broodiness , but decided I would let her set just in case something happens to the other guinea that is sitting on a nest. I might be able to put the eggs under Mya and let her hatch them. I'm expecting her eggs to hatch about the 28th of this month.

This little guy was sitting on the hummingbird feeder , not sure if he was exploring or looking for a sugar fix (LOL).

A friend of a friend passed along this swing set to us , the Grands are enjoying it. Curious J calls it

" His Playground " (LOL). That's Little Froggy swinging , he looks just like his brother (Curious J ) , except their eyes are different and Curious J's hair was lighter at that age . The black cat is " Buddy " , he's the elder of the animals around here. I think he was keeping an eye on Little Froggy (LOL).

~ ~ Many Blessings ~ ~

JoyceAnn

~ In Memory of Jazzy the Bunny ~

Jazzy

~ May your Soul Rest in Peace ~

( Remember this Scene )

~ Little Froggy trying to feed Jazzy a stick (LOL) ~

Yesterday , this is what I found when I went to feed the bunny. We've got a predator , it tore a hole in the wire bottom cage and pulled our bunny out of it's small house. The Grandkids will miss that bunny , they went out there to pet and feed it , everytime they were here. She was a very loved bunny.

~ Blessings ~

JoyceAnn