My Plants

I have been sprouting several plants hydroponically on the windowsill. Their roots were finally big enough for them to be transplanted, so yesterday I got some dirt from the garden and set to work.

My first plant, it's some kind of vine that I don't know the name of. :)

Some Pussy-willow and Lilac shoots I cut from our trees in December.

Close-up of the pussy-willow

And the lilac.

All lined up and ready to move. Very original pots I might add. :)

There is nothing quite like working with your hands in moist dirt.

Carefully packing in the lilac.

Adding more dirt.

I really like this picture. It's... artistic.

But I do not like this one at all. I need to not slouch so much. :)

The plants now reside under the window in the living room,

And my little heart is very happy. :)

Snow

By Rebecca

A couple nights ago it snowed and it has been melting already

The day after it snowed I got this picture. I thought it was more or less boring.

The next day the sun was shining and it was cold but beautiful. This picture is not as boring as the one before. I think the scenery improved. :D

I got two pictures of this. I was trying to get the sun shining on the trees. How did I do? :D

Thank you God that the sun rises every morning and sets every night.

Wood Cutting

Dad and the boys spent the better part of last week chopping and hauling logs from a pile of trees about 10 miles away. All that work warranted an enormous pile of wood.

As I said, there was quite a lot

The loaded big truck, I don't know if I have ever seen it so full.

The emptying process. First, have Benjamin guide you back to the pile.

Raise the bed...

And down it goes!

The pile. It stretches clear from the front of the picture all the way to the stack of split wood in the background.

All those logs mean wood-splitting, something we enjoy doing. :)

So one evening we all went out to work on it a bit.

Me. I may not be as strong as I once was, and I may have been in my Sunday clothes, but I did alright considering. :)

Benjamin, making short work of a huge log.

A few shots of the whole process that I just couldn't leave out. :)

The only injury sustained was, Benjamin fell off of a log and twisted his ankle. It swelled up, as you can see the right side is about twice its normal size, and now while it doesn't hurt much, it has turned quite the array of colors.

That's all for now folks!

Car Art

John has been creating all sorts of 'car art' with his hot wheels.

A 10 foot long chain.

A barn.

And a parking garage. :)

Very creative John, good job!

Typical

It has been a while since I put on one of these posts, so I had quite a few pictures saved up. I hope y'all don't mind. :)

Rosie doing school.

Daniel and Trina came over for supper the other day. I think they heard we were having steak. :)

Soup and bread for dinner. Mmmm

I found this gigantic hunk of meat in the freezer, so I defrosted it and discovered that it was a turkey breast. I cut it into smaller more usable pieces, and came up with the equivalent of 17 chicken breasts. That had to be one HUGE turkey!

John getting a haircut.

The full moon rising. Isn't is so beautiful?

Chili and cornbread. Man I love that stuff. :)

Rosie was sick the other day, so John and I went out to feed the calf for her. I'm just not sure we were wearing enough headlamps! :)

Two beautiful girls playing dress-up.

Timothy..

And Benjamin, gallantly doing the dishes. Thank you Boys.

That is all for now Folks! :)

Raspberry Jam

Throughout the summer we save all our raspberries, and then sometime in the middle of winter we make a load of jam.

First I took the raspberries out a few days before jam day so that they can defrost. (do not leave them out too long or they may ferment)

Put all the ingredients in a huge pot and take turns stirring until it boils. (this takes several hours)

A good book is always good company. :)

When it is getting close, wash a load of jars and lids.

Get a cheerful (and cute) helper to hand you empty jars.

Fill jars with the jam.

This is what the whole filling operation looks like.

Full jars of raspberry Jam.

41 pints later, the finished product!