Found a FREEZER

So I took a day off work... tomorrow... to work on getting the rest of the harvest in.  We have winter squash and beets yet.  Also Kale and chard which are more frost hardy, so probably will let them go as long as possible.

We were able to find a large chest freezer to replace our old freezer which met a demise this summer along with 2 refrigerators and an upright freezer.  I'm now ready to fill-er-up.  We have chickens to butcher too and I am thinking about getting the price on a 1/4 beef or pig to put in also from a local butcher.  With the meat and veggies this year I think we'll be set for food... except dairy (butter, cheese, milk, yogurt) and flour.

I gotta tell you about this freezer.  We had been looking for quite some time, actually since the middle of summer when the old freezer died.  We had several leads and I was ready to throw in the towel and get a couple of smaller chests in lieu of a larger chest freezer.  We found a few of those, but Mr. D was a hold out.  Just need to say, He's the best husband ever!  We found this one on Craigslist and they were asking $550 for it but it was a few years old / not new / and so they agreed on $300, but because they helped load it Mr. D paid them $325.  They also threw in 500 lbs of popcorn (guess they used to do the fair or something and will not need this - extra).  What a blessing this all was and now I'm on a tear getting everything in from the garden before winter.

Mr. D is overwhelmed with tasks getting ready for winter... there are cars to maintain/register and inspect.  Then there is the general clean up so we'll have a place to push the snow.  The tractor needs a gasket which he is having a hard time finding.  Once the garden is taken care of, I will be available to do some of these things myself, but was fighting an infection on one of my fingers last week and it's amazing what you can't do when you have an infection on just one finger.

Some days are like this...

Well, I'm not sure about that... but what I do know is that God is in control, He loves me, He knows my life better than me, He has a plan (sometimes I wish I could see that, but other times I'm thinking it's probably better I don't), and He knows my frame, abilities, knowledge, and strength-limit.  I guess I'd better just trust Him!

He allows us to do what we are physically able to do and will work out all the details.

Have a wonderful day all of you in bloggy land.

More Harvest and the Cornish Fair

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Friday evening after work I went into the garden and picked more beans.  I also knocked loose one of the Spotted Hound winter squash.  I cooked that up on Sunday for the potluck and it was very good though not fully ripe it was sweet and very fleshy.  We have a good number of these on the vines so it looks like there will be plenty of winter squash this year if all goes well.

This weekend we had both grand-boys overnight.  Norman went with us to the Cornish Fair, Brandon being older and wiser decided not to go to the fair, but he came with us afterwards.  

beep beep

Look who's driving!!!  He was tickled to be driving an "off road" vehicle... a vehicle Mommy would like to have I think.  

More fun on the tractors.  This is what Grandpa would like to have sitting in the backyard.  

We had lots of fun at the fair.  I didn't purchase any food there 'cause it was way too expensive, but the animals were lots of fun and we did go on 3 rides... actually Norman went on 3 rides and I went on the big Ferris Wheel with him 'cause that was a little scary.  Then on the way home we stopped at the Meriden Market for some corn dogs and sat on the "bear benches" to eat them up.

After the fair we went home and Grandpa and Brandon went on a bike ride and then swimming in the river, while Norman played in the wading pool and Grandma fixed beans (which I didn't get done since there were literally hundreds of questions to answer).

Grandpa spent a good amount of time at the fair talking with the owner of the pigs.  He has an order in for two next spring.  Another expansion to our little farm.  I think I'd rather dress out a pig than 20 chickens... well, I've never done a pig before, but I've done other large game animals and that doesn't take all day like it does when we butcher chickens and not nearly as messy or smelly.  We'll see what happens with the pigs.  Live and learn is my motto.

Hope you all have a wonderful day in the Lord!

Found this on Facebook... too cute not to share.

goals

https://answersingenesis.org/media/cartoons/after-eden/

I love this cartoon.  I eat good food, just too much of it.  I heard on the radio that research tells us that if we make commitments to others, or proclaim our goals, it's not so easy to fulfill those goals.  Psychologically we tend to think of them as done if we proclaim them.  I find this is true with long range goals, but I always write down a Saturday list and check things off as I get them done.  I would like to write down a plethora of goals, but am a bit shy of doing that since so many things get in the way of accomplishing them and maybe it's true after all, if I tell people about my goals I may never accomplish them.  I'll just tell you, I have secret goals!  How's that?

The harvest continues.  I put up these beans and blueberries and then Saturday I picked another two baskets  of beans and yesterday one more basket of blueberries.  The cukes and the squash go right on the table or I take them to church for dinner there.  It's been a great harvest so far this year.  

Love my blue morning glories.  They just started blooming and though not many yet, I know by the end of the season they will be covering this vine in this glorious blue color.

The little dish lawn ornament was something I picked up at the plant sale this spring.  I thought it was a cute idea and my daughter Joanna went on to make a few of these for her garden and for friends.

I purchased these little flowers late in the season from a local shop.  They were nearly dead and now they are blooming in the little moss covered cement urn that Mr. D picked up at the dump.  Please disregard the weeds around it, but one day I'll have this sitting in a more picturesque setting.

These pink blossoms were from Home Depot.  They also looked a little sad when I bought them, but perked up once they were planted and watered.  I like rescuing plants that have been neglected.  I think these look a little like butterflies and they have bloomed all summer.

The dill and the cosmos and a poppy that is perking up a little now.

More happy cosmos.

I'm sharing a few short verses with you today that are appropriate for the gardener.  Though I love, love, love gardening, I'm completely aware that it's not my green thumb that makes things grow.  I've had fellow gardeners with much better talent than I who have had a rough year this year and we have also had some very rough years in the past.  None of that is in the gardeners hands, it's totally in the hands of our mighty creator God!  I also have had folks that I have shared the Lord with.  I've shared verses from the Bible with them and they seem not to respond, but it's a little like gardening, at least God uses that comparison.  We may just be the planters.  Another may water and move the plant into the sunshine, but God is the one who makes those seeds of the Word grow in the heart.

I Corinthians 3:6-9

I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building.

When I am telling people about the Lord and share verses with them, I need to remember that even though I don't see the produce right  then it's like the planting process.  Plant the seeds faithfully and allow the growth to take place.  Sometimes we might find a plant that is struggling and we're able to give it a little boost, a little more water or a little more sun.  What I need to remember is that God is the one who makes the increase. In lives as well as gardens.  Don't be discouraged.  It might not look like much, but God can use it since he's the one who causes growth.  

I'm a happy gardener:)

BEGINNING THE HARVEST

It doesn't seem possible that it's August already.  Didn't the summer just start?  Days are getting noticeably shorter and the blueberries are nearly done.  We picked our first green beans last night (in the dark after church).  It's been quite wet here this past month raining nearly every afternoon.

We had a wonderful 80th birthday party for my mother-in-love last weekend.  We had planned to leave Thursday after I got through with work, but there were lots of tails to wrap up before we left.  First was a transfer of our just hatched chicks to my daughters basement for them to "chick-sit" for us while we went away.

The Girls... we're keeping these.  The boys are going to auction.

Norman was very interested.  He squeezed a little too hard, so Heather held and he patted.

Then I needed to get home and pack up what clothes and food we needed.  All was ready to throw into the car, but needed to be gathered together.  We had just finished and I was going to make a little supper and Doug needed to get the chickens situated before leaving he went in to check the large chest freezer since we've had a bit of trouble with it.  Things were floating in the bottom.  We had already emptied most things out, but there were some older pieces of meat and stuff that had been in there a while, but it all was floating in the bottom and it had to be cleaned out before we left.  It was already around 10 pm and so we pulled on our big-kit pants, put everything into garbage bags and hauled it off to a "borrowed" dumpster to get rid of it so the bear wouldn't raid while we were away.  By that time we both had to take a shower and still eat a little something before we left.  Poor Brandon got put to work too and he was so patient I was way proud of him.  He wondered why all this was happening, but thought perhaps God was sparing us from some unseen danger and He certainly could have been.  We never know these things, but God has a reason for it all.  We got on the road and arrived in Maine about 3:30 am.  The camper was all ready for us and we climbed into bed and slept like rocks.  The next few days made up for all this with a great time with our family.

Mr. Ds sisters are great photographers and took some great pictures which I'll include here.

food prep

lots of visiting

lots of great healthy food

cooling off with the ice

the theme

signs are hung

more visiting

looking through old family photos

80 candles

the cousins

Much fun was had by all regardless of all the trouble getting there. We may never know why things happen the way they do, but there's an author of our days who holds the master plan.  He's a great and mighty God and He loves up beyond measure.

The pickings from last night after dark... had a flashlight.  I intend to do lots of work in the garden this weekend.  It needs weeding and has had several days of neglect.  I'll try to take a before and after picture.  We had beans for supper and a zucchini/tomato dish baked in the oven... yum!

 

I measured some of these Romano beans and they were all between 8-12 inches.  I thought they'd be tough, but not at all, they were tender with no strings.  Looks like we picked a winner.  Thank you, Lord!

wild flowers

Had to grab a few before Mr. D mows the field.  

Just another blessing from God's hand.

If you look closely you can see the pie cooling on the stove to the left of the picture.

wild strawberries

Sorry so fuzzy, but this is filling for a wild strawberry and rhubarb pie.  Thank you Lord for the little blessing.

PICTURE FEST 2