Awake and Aware

I've not had much to say this week other than to gripe about getting ready for school to start. I'll admit I've been down in the dumps and not much like doing anything really.

The girls are gone to my Momma and Daddy's house, since yesterday,  for a sleepover.  I slept through the night but woke early with a sinus headache and stepped outside for awhile hoping that the change in the air would release some of the pressure in my head.

I feel a little bit better but more so because I took a moment to listen and look around me. Roosters crowing,  owls hooting to the new sun, doves cooing and tree frogs chirping, all helped to ease my head a little. I can't post videos on the blog from my phone so you have to go to our Facebook or instagram to see and hear what I'm talking about.

It was good to be awake and more importantly aware of what I have around me. I'm still going to take some ibuprofen and lay back down awhile but I'm not near as bad as I was despite the headache. Good morning.  Hope you all find a Saturday Morning Serenade waiting for you.

Lived To Fight Another Day Or Buy Another Pencil

You would think we were celebrating a holiday.  The floor and furniture look like a small office supply store blew up on them. It's school supply time.

I'm doing okay. I've gotten all but two things on their supplies lists. I didn't want to do it though.  I suppose I should explain.

I sincerely hate shopping for school supplies. I mean I have an actual physical reaction to the thought of it. My stomach gets queasy,  I get an underlying sense of nervousness.  It's not good.  

I usually try to do it in one big swoop. I go in with a plan of attack,  supply lists in hand,  bracing for the onslaught of other parents who are also in search of one red, plastic,  folder, with two pockets and metal prongs. It must have prongs! It must be red!

It wasn't too bad in the beginning.  When it was just for Tori. Back then she had color coordinated, perfectly labeled everything.  Now, with two kids, I feel like I'm on this horrendous scavenger hunt where the outcome determines how my kids will fare in class and life. I know it's illogical, a little irrational but seriously if you don't have a kid you are trying to, "GET ALL THE SCHOOL STUFF!" for you just won't understand. 

If you don't have a kid I challenge you to go stand near the school supply section in any retail store within the next few weeks.  I guarantee you will start to feel a residual sense of nervous dread.

People will walk about aimlessly, they sigh in exasperation over needing two packages of pencil top erasers only to find one and hear from the sales person that, "those are on next week's truck." There is a quiet desperation to the whole scene.

The kids of course think it's great.  They love everything!  The problem is that they have to give you specific details about what they do and don't want from EVERYTHING. 

I actually now refuse to bring the girls with me when I get the stuff.  The bickering over who will get the last pink notebook and their second guessing and questions over whether or not I'm getting the right item is just too much.

So now I just plan my attack and get in and out as best I can,  hoping not to forget anything.  Then I head home where the second battle,  the great supply sort of 2016 or what have you, then commences. I only hope nothing is lost in the shuffle of scattered plastic bags.

Like I said,  so far so good this year.  Just two things left. It's been a good battle.  I even got extra points for my choice of the poop emoji composition book for Gabs and a locker light for Tori. I lived to fight another day, to buy another pencil.  I survived school supply time!

To Sleep, But To Dream

We'd been on a roll with Gabs sleeping through the night. Last night she ended up waking me up at 2:30 though.  So to the couch I went.  My neck is paying for it.

I feel a little bit like what I imagine the apples Dennis has been sealing and freezing feel like.  I guess it's the weather and allergy season paired with the crick in my neck.  I feel confined and suffocatey. Yes I doubt that's a word but that's how I feel. Kentucky summers can wreak havoc with your sinuses.

Here's to cooler weather and a good night's sleep!  Oh but to dream!

Small Victories

Sunday went fast and I'm left still tired from the weekend.  The new week is going to be a crazy one. Summer reading is wrapping up at work with our big end of Summer movie.  Lots of reports to do and submit.  Lots of juggling of the schedule because of overtime rules and trying to make sure we're covered. The girls go back to school next week and we still need to get school supplies.  Tori needs to practice opening her locker at some point.  Middle school....eek! Gabs will be in 3rd, Tori 6th and I will be forty.  Life is still just as hectic as ever, haven't seemed to magically break the code that whole work/home life balance thing I'm searching for.  Didn't lose fifty pounds yet, still have bills and stress. I don't pretend to think that a number of age will make any difference in all that. I do have a little more sense,  maybe a little more maturity and confidence.  I know that I have a lot to be thankful for despite all my worries.  I have a lot of wonderful people around me that I love and who love me. I may not be have it all figured out but I think that means the world.

On a side note,  in relation to control over things, a word about the picture.  I took a little petty control yesterday.  The Japanese Beetles were attacking the blackberries.  I decided that while they may have ruined the fruit they weren't going to get the satisfaction of having it all! So I picked what was there and gave them to the feathered girls.  Small victory but I felt vindicated lol!
#lifelessons
#gettingthere
#slowdown
#Ihatejapanesebeetles
#covertchickenfarm

Betrayal Or Blessing?

Often I begrudge my incessant need to wake early.  I'm never sure how or why my body betrays me to force my eyes open or my back to ache in my position, just enough,  to make me pull the covers back and stretch forth into the morning.

But sometimes, I remember and I understand.  I crave this quiet, peaceful time. I need these moments of early morning, mottled light that filters soft through the steam covered windows. 

All is quiet and it's too early for my worries to wake. Perhaps my body doesn't betray me at all.  Perhaps, instead,  it helps me seek the solace needed to re center me. 

These fleeting moments of solitude often help me remember and appreciate all that I have and sometimes forget in the chaos of daily life and self doubt. My sleepy brain is perhaps more sure of itself than at any other time.

Good morning all. May you find a few moments to feel blessed yourself today.

I Want To Call Recess

So for once I slept!  But for some reason when I can actually sleep through a night I can't seem to sleep past 7:20. Mind you I have been known to go back to bed after that and I can't swear that I won't, at least for a few minutes,  but for now at least I'm up and contemplating coffee.  Yes I know,  what's to contemplate?  All the same I just don't feel like making the effort this morning.  So I'm drinking diet soda instead right now.

Today's agenda includes cleaning, in some form or fashion, deciding how long I can put off getting school supplies before Tori and Gabs make a final attack and plea for a need to shop and possibly baking something.  Come to think of it that pretty much sounds like my past few weekends.

If I could throw caution and responsibility to the wind I think I might do absolutely nothing today but maybe read or watch mindless TV and movies. I also want to go on a date with my husband. 

We're at the stage of summer when the girls are bored with being home,  bored with us, bored we each other and also swinging back and forth between wanting to kill each other and reminding us that they are not children.  They have taken to telling us that they know best and we should just succeed and turn the house and bank account over to them,  minus cleaning duties and work for said bank funds of course. I know I'd be missing them after a few hours away and be feeling guilty if I knew whatever we were doing might be something they'd enjoy but I might be able to handle it for at least those few hours lol!

Yup I'm having one of those days where as bad as it sounds I want to remember I'm still Amy. You know what I mean?  Parenthood, adulthood and all those real world duties you know you can't shirk are hanging a little heavy over my head today and I want the ability to call time out for a bit. "Recess!," I'd yell if I could. 

But alas life doesn't work that way.  We are Mommas and Daddy's and such and even when little tween girls start exerting their independence we're still their Mommas and Daddy's. I can't promise I might not stick my tongue out at them a few times today though and say nanna,  nanna,  boo, boo. Just a couple times!

It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

The corn and maters are ready!  I repeat the corn and maters are ready! Which is sort of like a food Christmas around here.

We'll have fresh corn and tomatoes at almost every meal while they last, until we're burnt out and then won't won't them again for several months, until the dead of winter when we will settle for tomato juice in our chili and frozen corn off the cob. Both still good of course but in February it just won't feel the same.

Needless to say you can guess what our weekend plans are. We broke down and got the freezer which came yesterday, just the same time as the corn. Dennis also got one of those food saver gadgets to seal everything in. Shame I can't hermetically seal all the furniture and stuff so I could just hose everything down and run a leaf blower over them.

Also needless to say the house is still a wreck and not likely to get better any time soon.  I keep sorting through closets and gradually making a dent by donating some of it and tossing the other.  Feels a lot like I'm just shifting piles though.  Oh well,  at least I have corn and maters to appease my frustrations!

Tipping My Hand

I'm not a card player. I've never played poker and in fact UNO is about the closest I get to it on occasion.  I'm a board game girl. Scrabble,  Candy Land, Monopoly,  none of which requires any need to bluff. I guess I'm just a little too straight forward.

This week I think must be proof as to why I should never gamble. I simply lay my cards on the table too soon. I tip my hand.

I started this week out by talking about how I planned to change my habits up and get into the routine of being happy about the need to rise early. I flaunted my winning hand, I tempted fate. Yup I brought it on myself I reckon.  Because it seems that no sooner than my plans were uttered than all my chips were swiped off the table.

I need sleep.  I'm sorry all you self help gurus and authors who say it's a choice to be in a good mood.  I agree, to an extent,  but by golly you are no match for the battle of insomnia and an eight year old girl who was a born strategist!

When sleep has evaded you most of the week, between an overworking brain and a child who seems to know just when to wake you during your REM cycle so that you are too tired to protest her rooting you out of bed and you merely shuffle defeated to the couch to claim your uncomfortable few hours left of sleep, you too would find it hard to stay positive.

I'm pretty much feeling like a grump. I did so good though...for that whole day. Chipper, positive, swatting away the negative Nellie ' s (I still wonder if that came from Nellie Olsen on Little House?). Yeah,  I'm just no good at this game of strategy.

Sigh...okay I need to buck it up right? Today is a new day,  the dawning of a new era. There's always more toast!  I need to throw a new piece of bread in the toaster or at least try to salvage one of the others by gettin' to scraping...toast...no I need coffee! Coffee! Yeah that's it! Coffee's the answer,  or could I maybe just crawl back in bed? Pretty please? Probably not huh? Yeah my spots still taken.

Buzz Kill Morning

Alas my newfound mission to greet the #earlymorning with an #earlytoshine attitude has been thwarted by a bad case of insomnia and one non - sleeping eight year old. Up but not shining today and with a pretty bad crick in my neck (got rooted out of bed by the non sleeper) and allergy induced headache.  Time to make the doughnuts!  #buzzbuzzbuzz #thesunwillcomeouttomorrow
#powerofpositivethinking ....right?
#covertchickenfarm

Self Help, Chiggers and Song Worms

I'm up. I'm also on this new mission to be happy about getting up earlier,  to look forward to a kick start to the day instead of dreading and thinking  I "have" to get up early. Another self help book inspiration I suppose but my thought is:

"Think happy,  be happy and be healthy."

Mind over matter you know?  I am in a good mood,  that much is working.  I'm excited,  right now more about the call of the coffee makers beep! But hey it's a start!

Dogs, like our Zeus in the attached picture,  always seem pretty content.  They don't even have opposable thumbs and they're bound to have chiggers!  Wonder what their secret is? Probably morning yoga and not reading the political news.

I'm actually trying to get over my own itchy shins, chiggers!  Ugh! I do have thumbs but they're harshing my vibe man! That and I have a random song stuck in my head that's slightly bugging me. I'm not going to let that get me down though.  I can smell the coffee and I made banana bread muffins last night. I have awhile before I need to wake anyone. 

"The morning is mine, the day is new, itchy or not here I come!"

A Life's Passion, A Labor of Love

Dennis and I have been together, dating years and all, going on 20 years now. Longer than we'd been alive when we first met.  In the beginning, at first glance, some thought we were opposites in many ways.  I was in my grunge/hippie phase, complete with art major, combat boots and granny skirts (yeah she's still in there and waiting for retirement or perhaps some windfall of independent wealth to be set free again). He was the slightly preppy, clean cut,  basketball loving and very by the book Horticulture major. But strange as we seemed to some we worked.

He helped me see that I didn't need to be wild to be free and that I wasn't giving up some grand fight against conformity if I allowed myself to have a little structure, I loosened him up and encouraged him to let go of some of his self inflicted, sometimes consuming sense of duty and showed him that it was okay to let himself be him and that there was nothing wrong with letting the plan be flexible and seeing everything in a new light.

We balanced each other.  I think in some ways he is more the hippie that I was now and I'm the one a little too constrained by my own invisible set of rules.  We're at the middle of life though and starting to realize everything is more gray space than anything else and were going to let ourselves explore all it's many shades and encourage each other in our journey.

Through everything he has had one constant,  gardening.  He's known since twelve that he wanted a career in Horticulture.  His passion for that is as strong as my need to write or make things.  I consider it his form of art.  I'm often in awe of his dedication to his art form as well.  I try to help with the outcome of this life's passion but a lot of times I stay at a distance and watch him create.  Living things and the knowledge of them come to him as easy as breathing and I don't think he could manage to go on without the ability to do what he does.

I love him for that.  For all of what makes him, him. At times when the front porch is overran with potted plants and I'm shifting piles of seed packets all over the kitchen and when we can't find the counters for the years harvest I can be a little overwhelmed but I wouldn't have him or this life any other way.  He's my best friend and I respect and love his art.

Rainy July

It's been a rainy July
with clouds stacking high,
today is no different it seems.

My windows are wetted,
my week I have fretted,
can't even remember my dreams.

Back to bed I must crawl,
down my quiet hall,
to let sleep wash my worries away.

While it's morning outside,
inside I must hide,
under blankets is where I will stay.

Lego Me Back to Bed

My breakfast companion this morning. I found her wedged in between the couch cushions.  I understand her need to hide from Mondays,  I also think it fitting that her feet are heading in the opposite direction of her body. I feel like that too. #iwanttogobacktobed 
#imisssunday  #funday  #covertchickenfarm

Banana Bread, Coffee and Crowded House

I was off yesterday, because I work today.  Only a few moments to catch a little calm before the day rolls on.

Despite all that's going on in the world yesterday was nice. Home with the girls to putter around the house.  Cleaned a little,  watched the rain,  the girls helped me make chicken and dumplings and I made banana bread while Dennis canned some peaches after he got home from   work.

I only have a minute or so, so I'm drinking my coffee on the couch with my bread and decided to start my morning with my favorite song. Crowded House,  "Don't Dream It's Over." (Here's the link so you can listen to. )

https://youtu.be/J9gKyRmic20

I have to get going but I'll leave you with a picture of how Tori and Gabs weathered the storm yesterday afternoon.  The lights went out for a bit but they managed!

What Am I Fighting....Err..Writing For?

I've been giving a little thought of late as to what my need is to write, to capture on photo our every day life. On the face I know it is to remember, to reflect, to reminiscence, it's for something that is entirely my own but I think some of it is bigger than that.  

Sometimes I do hash my worries out by talking out of my head about what keeps swirly around from the day or week but looking back I also see that I'm taking a moment to look at the less worrisome and maybe to magnify the good and the beauty I see.  I think maybe I'm trying to find a little control over all the negativity and sadness that surrounds us at times.

My life isn't without problems.  Those that know me know I lean to the melancholy at times.  My sense of humor is a little on the dark side, I'm definitely sarcastic and these days especially I've been losing the sense of optimism that I had long ago.  On here though, in these few words and random photos of the day I can tilt the world back a bit towards the light I think.

I can offer up a little happy, a little niceness, I can CHOOSE to focus on the good in the world I see around me and for a brief moment pass that on to someone else, who I hope in turn might smile and pass on their own light to someone else.

When I write about the silly things my kids do, when I share a picture of a sunset or fresh baked pie, I think it's my way of finding a little balance.  We share so much sadness, so much wrong that has been done to another, we fight, we blame, we hate.

We draw lines in the sand and refuse to budge and in that we forget to take a moment and look to the left to see that the sand we're drawing in is at the edge of this amazing ocean of beauty that we have become blind to because of all the negativity skewing our view.

I'm not oblivious.  I'm not burying my head.  I don't belittle the need to fight for what is right and to make sure that the truth is heard.  I just think we need to take a moment to pause and recenter, to breathe in the world around us, lest we forget what we are fighting for to begin with.  In the end if we don't still have that, the recognition of the fact that we have been given a gift in just being allowed to live and that many of us have won the lottery by being born in a place that affords  us the right to even have our opinions, then what's the point?  If we take it all for granted and throw all the opportunities to be kind and to still see each other as human at our core with all the same qualities and abilities to feel pain, sadness and yes happiness then I fear we'll become lost in this forest of our our own making.

So for me this blog is me trying to tilt the universe. Yeah deep ain't it? Every pie crust, funny story, sunrise, sunset and flower petal, is a quiet little jab at the notion that I have to be enveloped by all the bad that has been feeding the frenzy of media coverage and allowing all the nay sayers and negative nellies to throw a darker and darker shade of paint over our view of the world.

The way I see it light begets light.  If we start posting the good we see, the beauty, if we magnify the kindness in the world, pretty soon that good is going to become the norm and the way to be.

We have forgotten that we are the driving force in what "sells".  We get what we ask for, whether we realize it or not.  It's a crazy notion I know.  I am the first to admit it's not as simple as it sounds either.  You can get so caught up in the drama and and languishing in your own sadness and anger that you can forget what real happiness looked and felt like.  It's easier to just wallow than to get up, do the work, wash off all the darkness and TRY.

This is my "Try".  I challenge each of you to do the same.  For every sad thing you see share, post or tweet something happy.  For every word of hate, offer a word of kindness.  Respond by building someone up instead of putting them down.  I think it might just help!  "They may say that I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one."

If you're with me I hope you'll join our blog. It's free, you just have to supply your e-mail address.  I think it would be pretty cool to see if the stuff I share is actually enjoyed and maybe will bring a little happy and light to someone else.  If you don't that's fine too.  I'll still be here looking at sunsets and eating pie.  I hope you do too!

Photo Friday

I take a lot of pictures. I really hadn't realized just how many until I had to start backing up my phones photo storage online before we went on vacation.  It's normal for me to take fifty photos walking around the yard or someplace and end up only getting one that I actually like.  Tonight I was going back through the week looking at all the random things I'd taken pictures of.  Funny really the assorted odd images and items that make up my life that may not even have a person in them but that each one represents some human aspect and happy little detail of the people I love.  So I've decided to do Photo Friday's.  I think it will be nice to look back each week at the things, places and faces I found beauty in during a brief moment over the span of the week.
Nothing too extraordinary in the grand scheme of all the flashy headlines of the days news but they made me happy.  I hope you find beauty in a few of them too. 

Jelly Vs. Jam

The canning has begun, on a smallish scale at least. I picked the berries but Dennis ended up making the jelly out of them tonight.  I suppose I did have a hand it in it, meaning I did a little stirring, poured in the sugar and put the lids on, but mostly it was him. As I said he's the real canner here!  

Plus, as he pointed out, he grew the berries so that's sort of the ultimate one up! 

Normally we wouldn't go the jelly route.  He and I prefer jam. I also actually like to make it more preserve like with whole berries in tact so I can use it for cobbler, like pie filling.  Tori, on the other hand, hates the seeds so jelly it was.  Honestly this pickin' has had some mega seeds though so I'd say this was the best way to go.  Gabs, in case  you wondered, rarely if ever eats any type of jam, jelly or anything, she's a chocolate girl all the way. 

She's on her second Hershey bar tonight, she doesn't think I know, and is sitting beside me as I type this quietly breaking off pieces every so often.  

We, Dennis and I, had this debate the other day on what is considered the go to choice for PB and J. Believe it or not I never actually ate PB and J until I was an adult.  If it was made in our house though, by my Dad, it was always grape or possibly strawberry but mostly grape.  

My Nannie (Paternal Great Grandmother) and Granny Goodlett (Paternal Grandmother) both grew concord grapes. Which was where said grape jelly came from.  The strawberry was store bought because no one grew strawberries that I can remember.  While today I'd take blackberry over grape any day I still have good memories of stealing grapes, warm from the sun, outside at Granny's house.  Concords have a distinct flavor and texture, the skins are thick, almost purple black when ripe and burst on your tongue.  The seed always seemed to be bigger than the actual fruit so I never ate more than one or two plus I don't think we were supposed to eat them anyway because they were used for the jam.

I really don't recall my Granny Goodlett canning anything but I'm sure she did.  I  know that Nannie did because my Dad helped her garden and can some.  It is funny when I think of the similarities between my Dad and Dennis it's actually kind of odd because both were very close to their Grandmothers and both gardened and canned with them. 

Anywho, for Dennis it was a blackberry PB and J or nothing else.  They didn't do grape and the blackberries were wild from their farm, no cheating with the tame kind like we have now.  I have to admit, he's right, blackberry is soooo much better than grape or strawberry. 

As I've said before I came late to the canning thing.  I had avid gardeners on both sides so I guess maybe it was a recessive gene that got kick started by Dennis.  My Maternal Grandmother, Granny Claunch, was also a big time gardener and canner.  She was a blackberry jam person too. Or rather she was a blackberry cobbler person and like me did the whole preserve thing.  I also remember her canning cherries.  She canned and froze a little of everything really. Throw back to the depression era and leftover from having a big family to feed I think.  

I recall sneaking goose berries at her house, which if you've had them you may wonder why the heck I'd sneak those, but I loved the sourness of them.  I always wished that I asked her what she did with them.  I don't think I ever saw her do anything but let them grow.  She had one tiny bush at the far back corner of her garage, to the left of her garden, and I remember sitting in the grass beside it pulling them off.  I seem to be in a reminiscent mood tonight, don't I? 

Well, I can hear the lids popping on the jelly so I guess they're going to seal.  There's a small bowl of "extra" jelly in the fridge, which Dennis has called dibs on for a PB and J for breakfast.  I have a feeling we may end up unsealing one of the jars sooner than later.  

It's almost bedtime for the girls so I'd better sign off. Question before I go though: 
Which do you prefer? Meaning what's your favorite, jelly or jam? And which flavor?  Comment down below on this post and leave me your vote.      

The Pressure Is On

So we're about to have a good problem but one I still haven't figured out how to fix, at least in a way that I'm willing to fix yet. You see we've finally gotten fruit from the trees that Dennis has been babying over the past few years.  Peaches (a couple of varieties), pears and apples, in addition to the cherries,  blackberries and blueberries already in the freezer and still more berries yet to pick. 

The problem is that our large deep freezer bit the dust over the winter. We still have a small chest freezer but....there's still corn to think about too. I know that logically two or three things need to happen here:

1.  I need to clean out the freezer of outdated stuff. 

I keep telling myself that I'm going to start liking broccoli in some form outside of a casserole but if it hasn't happened by now, one month away from 40, I don't think it ever will.  The same with cauliflower.  I've tried to like this albino cousin of broccoli as well but I just can't seem to do it.  Even after several, day long, gung ho decisions to do the whole low carb thing where we suddenly turn to cauliflower to take the place of pizza crust and mashed potatoes it just never flew.  I like bread.  I like carbs.  I will remain fluffy if it means I have to give them  up. So it's time to give up on all those long ago frozen veggies.

2. I need to get the canning jars out of the building and start washing them. 

Canning would definitely help take up less room in a freezer.  I'm not sure it will take up any less room in the house though. Which is sort of the reason that I'm having this dilema at all.  You see I am pressing for us to get back on and stick with the whole budget thing.  The main reason is because of our need for more room in the house. We need to save if we plan to build.  

We knew when we moved in here that we'd need more space eventually and of late it's becoming ever more and more clear.  Two little girls with very different personalities can sure get on each others nerves when they share a bedroom.  They also come with a lot of STUFF! They get it honest, Dennis and I both have the pack rat gene.  His is for gardening supplies and mine is for artsy, random clutter that I'm just sure I might need one day.  Needless to say we're busting at the seams.  

There's also the bathroom situation.  Again two girls, one who has been going on teenagehood since she was four and is now actually (Be still my heart) heading to middle school and another who, while being a true gamer girl, is also hitting the tween years and also likes to primp.  I already hadn't been to the bathroom alone since 2005.  Now I can barely brush my hair, they keep stealing my brushes and the mirror, nor can I get my makeup on, that seems to be magically disappearing too.  Dennis has also all but given up on ever being able to do much more than quickly brush his teeth before being tossed out by their morning rituals.  We NEED as second bathroom.

As I said, saving means building on, eventually.  I have a plan. I HAVE A PLAN I TELL YOU!  It doesn't include purchasing a new upright freezer right now but...there sure is a whole lot of fruit and corn in our future!

These are Tango Peaches, we also
have Georgia Bell coming, supposedely
not till August but they seem to
be ahead of schedule.

  

3. I may be forced to bend my plan. 

I don't want to bend though.  We just started and I kind of feel like if we break this early on it's going to be a downward spiral to never getting there.  I have visions of Dennis and I being forced to live in a tiny corner of the house as the "real" teen years hit and hormones and hair brushes really start to fly.  It's a scary thought I tell ya!

So that's where I am right now 

Debating.  Again I do have logic at play.  I also have a husband who is pretty pro-freezer purchase.  Fortunately he's also a canning king!  Seriously he's a canner from way back, he has always been a gardener and always helped (and ran the process of) can, freeze, you name it. I love to bake but I came to this whole food preservation thing late in life and through him.    

So...I think I know what I need to do.

Time to get washing! The pressure is about to be on around here and even more so than it is with the pressure of living with two tweenaged girls!

As American As....

Happy rainy fourth of July!  I suppose I should be sad about the wet weather and I do feel bad for those who had picnic plans but I'm loving the sound of the rain. If the wind will stay down we're good to go. Fingers crossed! We needed the rain to "make" the corn.  But the wind could topple it.

I've been taking advantage of being stuck indoors to "try" and clean the house a little and to make another pie. Any excuse for pie! Blackberry today. The blueberry peach was well received at Dennis's Mawmaw Wheatleys yesterday so no leftovers and of course we need pie for the Fourth of July!

Funny fact,  did you know that the American as apple pie saying probably isn't the most appropriate.  Apples, believe it or not, are not native to North America. When the first settlers got here all they found were crab apples which you can actually do something with but they aren't exactly the greatest pies baking and such.  So tree cuttings were brought in to remedy the problem.

That's your history lesson for today,  courtesy of my Horticulture Agent husband.  If you want to learn even more though here's a link to all the great apple information at Wikipedia:  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple

So as that I'm not really too big a fan of apple pie I feel justified in baking my blackberry pie, which consequently ARE native to North America!  Blueberries are too.

I got to wondering why apple became the "American Pie" so I looked it up.  Evidently it was more about the fact that, "Throughout the 1700s, Pennsylvania Dutch women pioneered methods of preserving apples -- through the peeling, coring, and drying of the fruit -- and made it possible to prepare apple pie at any time of year. In the vein of many things American, settlers then proceeded to declare the apple pie “uniquely American."
This information was taken from the following article from Price Economics:
http://priceonomics.com/how-apple-pie-became-american/

So really it was more about availability than taste. Dried apple pie is better than no pie when you need a pie fix in the middle of winter.  Thank goodness for modern food preservation though,  so I can be as pie picky as I want to be!

As a side note Tori and Gabs aren't pie enthusiasts, "gasp," I know,  how un-American! They actually baked themselves a little cake for today.  Anyhow Happy Independence Day! Here's to celebrating our freedom with whatever pie you choose...or cake if you'd rather.

Drinking In The Dark

Today, this morning,  I'm drinking in the dark.  Drinking coffee that is.

We're going through this phase with Gabs where she wakes up around 1 or 2 a.m. and won't go back to her own bed. At 1 or 2 we're too tired to argue and don't want to wake up Tori so we end up taking turns getting kicked out of bed by an eight year old and sleeping on the couch.

Last night was Dennis's turn. He went from couch,  to Gabs twin bed and back to couch. Evidently the dogs also stayed up all night and woke him up again,  thus his move.  Needless to say he's still tired and is back asleep on the couch.  Thus I'm sitting here on the other couch drinking my coffee in the dark so I don't wake him again.

We're too old for this late night stuff. I can only imagine what the teen years will be like when we're waiting for them to meet curfew. If we're this tired at 40 we'll be zombies in a few more years with no sleep. Granted both girls claim they shall never date or leave home so maybe there's nothing to worry about! I suppose if they do end up dating I'll still be up late drinking in the dark then too...just for different reasons! 

Saturday Morning Haiku

Southern Saturday Morning Haiku

Saturday morning
and out of coffee oh my!
What's a girl to do?

Sweet tea ya'll, is what.
Cold amber liquid beauty
to the days rescue!

#sweettea
#outofcoffeedilema
#covertchickenfarm