Shoe Surprise

The boys leave their shoes all over.  I find shoes in the strangest places.  And they frequently are left lying all over the yard. 

One morning there was a big commotion when I was in the shower (because I can never take a five minute shower in peace).  It turns out Reid had gone outside to grab his Crocs and when he put his foot in, something was in there.  At first, he thought it was dog poop.  Luckily, it was something much cuter.

You'd think this would be a good lesson not to leave your shoes lying all over the place.  You know, to put them away where they go.  If only...

Canning Season - Carrots, Wineberry Jam, and Turnips

I've finally started to do some canning.  I'm still intimidated by the pressure cooker, but if I get everything prepped Paul doesn't seem to mind hanging out with it on the porch while the jars process through. 

Paul and the boys picked a bunch of wineberries from our land, and I made nine half pints of jam.  These are the staple of the pb+js that the boys like in their lunches during the school year.

Then I spent a couple of sultry afternoons in the garden digging up carrots.  I don't know why carrots don't just pull up from the garden like beets or turnips.  But I had to dig every single one out, and broke quite a few in the process.  Regardless, I got a good number, and ended up canning 27 pints of carrots and 5 of turnips.  I only did a small batch of turnips because I couldn't find anyone who'd actually tried them and I had my suspicions they might be gross.  So I did a test batch.

So here's the scoop on canning turnips.  They become more pungent and the texture (while they do stay intact) becomes a little spongy.  So they really don't taste so great.  On a brighter note, I discovered that if I make a big batch of mashed potatoes and dump in a jar of canned turnips to the mash, no one in the house is any the wiser.  So at least they won't be going to waste.

The carrots and the wineberry jam turned out wonderfully, and we'll be enjoying those this winter.  Hopefully there will be some green bean canning in my near future.  Canned green beans are my favorite!

Crash Test Dummy

I picked up a costume at a thrift store for $1.99.  It's been quite popular with the boys.  I don't know how they can stand being completely zipped up in the thing.  It's mesh, so they can still see out and breathe, but I think it would creep me out.

I think this is a crash test dummy costume.  What do you all think?  They used to be kind of popular when my middle brother was a kid. 

Renaissance Camp

You may remember that a couple of summers ago, the boys and I spent time studying the Renaissance.  It's one of my favorite time periods.  Pierce had the opportunity to go to a Renaissance camp this summer. 

It was a creative camp.  He got to do leatherworking, cake decorating, and bridge building (although he refused to test his bridge with weights because he didn't want it to get busted).  He also make a simple game using clay and beads.  But his favorite thing, by far, was that they got to play around with building Renaissance architecture with Minecraft.  Pierce just adores Minecraft.

Here's Pierce with a cake he made.  He said it's the first round table for the knights. 

Readers, do you have a favorite time period in history?

Foraging in the Pastures

Things are  in bloom in the hills around our place.  Reid and I went for a walk to the far pasture one night to gather some ox-eye daisies that I had noticed during my morning run.  They are very similar to chamomile.  While we were picking daisies, we stumbled upon a lot of red clover, which also makes a nice tea and is useful for skin conditions like psoriasis. 

Once we got back to the house, we spread our flowers out on paper towels for a few days to dry out.  I will label them and store them with other herbs we have been gathering.  We'll either use them to make teas or salves during the winter months.

Soon, I will be harvesting the calendula planted in my garden.  It's doing much better than the batch I did in a pot. 

Readers, what's in bloom at your house?

Where's Cort?

I gave Cort a book by Cornelia Funke (her Ghosthunters series) and told him he might like it.  I was doing a bunch of chores around the house and realized he was missing.  Things were so quiet. And quiet moments in my house are few and far between. Reid had been working at a coloring project at the dining table, and Pierce was at Renaissance camp.

I called for Cort.  There was no answer.  So I had to track him down. 

Cort was so wrapped up in his book that he didn't even notice when I snuck a picture of him with Bobby.  Cort is Bobby's chosen person, so I tend to always find the two of them together.

An hour later, Cort emerged, and asked if I could order him the second book in the series from the library.  You bet, Cort! 

What Not to Wear When You Meet Your New Neighbors

Recently some neighbors moved.  We were really bummed, because we'd gotten along with them so well.  New neighbors moved in.  Paul wanted to go meet them.  Being the introvert of the family, I skipped out on that, but sent over some cookies with him.  The boys wanted to tag along.  Here is what Reid was wearing:

What's so funny about this is that we aren't a family that hunts or even generally wears camo.  I had gotten the shorts for 'camo day' at school, which they seem to have at least once a year.  The jacket I picked up at a yard sale for the boys' costume drawer.  The hat we got from an outdoors store that was closing down and had everything on 80% clearance.  And he is also sporting knee high Halloween crow socks with water sandals.

I wasn't there, but I'm pretty sure he must have made quite an impression!