Oh my! We've been up to our eyeballs with garden stuff. But praise the Lord! With grocery prices skyrocketing, I'm SO thankful for every bucketful of vegetables that comes through the back door! Daddy and Wesley planted a big garden (of course before my daddy was put out of commission with blood clots/surgery), and we have truly been blessed with lots of good things to 'put up'!
This week we've canned tomato sauce, prepared breaded okra for freezing, and picked figs and blueberries. My cousin generously told us to pick the blueberries off his bushes because they don't eat them! Yay for blueberries and yay for sweet cousins! We will still have to go pick/buy some more from a local grower, but at least the 2-3 gallons we already have are ones we won't have to buy. Around here, blueberries are $8/gallon if you pick them and $12/gallon if you buy them already picked. And we use a lot of blueberries....so that can add up in a big hurry!
Today I will have more blueberries to pick, tomatoes to process, more okra to blanch, batter and freeze, figs to turn into strawberry-fig preserves (with lots more to pick) and zucchini to grate, blanch, and freeze...and who knows what else! It's a daily discovery and adventure! Oh and did I mention I need to be reorganizing bookshelves, cleaning out closets, and planning for our upcoming school year?? Plus, I'm behind on two reviews for The Old Schoolhouse! I need more of me! Hmmm...I wonder what Chad would think of that? I'm figuring he thinks ONE of me is quite enough! LOL Oh well, it will all get done when it gets done! Last time I checked, the zucchini was still staring at me from the bottom drawer in the fridge!
Now to some fun stuff....
Why didn't I think of this??? I just found this idea, but back in February, 'Cocoa' over at the Chocolate on My Cranium blog posted a great idea to make 'I SPY' bottles. What a neat way to get the whole family involved in a little wholesome 'friendly competition'! Ellie and Wesley have spent a lot of time playing Monopoly this summer, but I think we'd all enjoy playing 'I SPY' with our individual bottles. I'm going to round up the materials and do this ASAP.
And wouldn't it make a great on-the-road game???
BTW, I bunny-hopped my way to the post on 'I SPY' bottles beginning with Monica at The Homespun Heart (making butter) to Amy at The Motherload (making Who Bread) to Michelle at Scribbit (an old post on making Flubber) before making my way to Cocoa at Chocolate on my Cranium.
Also back in February, Michelle at Scribbit had an awesome post and video on making Flubber! This is something we did a long time ago, but I'd forgotten how fun it is. Definitely another activity to try before starting back to school!
What are some unusual and neat activities that you have done? Any more ideas?
What a busy time of year it is for you.... Ive enjoyed reading about your jam making, canning, freezing etc. I think there is something truly satisfying about laying things by to use during leaner months...... be it food to sustain the body or a shed full of logs chopped and stored to keep the family warm during winter. Gone are the days when I would help chop wood for the fire, but I have to admit that I get such a thrill from seeing my jars of preserve stacked on the pantry shelf. Maybe its because I was born during the war..... brought up during a time of make-do-and mend. Well, whatever the reason, Im pleased that Ive been blessed with a sense of resourcefulness.
Like you, we are finding the cost of living in Britain has shot through the roof recently.... it seems that each week when I visit the grocery store there has been another price increase on the mere essentials. Fuel has hit an all time high, the bottom has fallen out of the housing market and harder times ahead are predicted.
Our schools finish this week for the summer holiday and after watching a discussion on TV, I was shocked at the cost of keeping children happy during the holiday...... it appears that the average cost of a day out visiting the likes of a zoo or theme park for a family of four.... can quite easily exceed £100. I really do feel out of touch! Bring back the simpler things in life I felt like yelling at the TV..... but I guess it all comes down to expectations!
I have to say Amy, it was so refreshing to see your family....... the fun they get from their own creativity, the girls play acting and producing their own films etc, Wesley has the hens and his veggie patch, they all get involved and far from their enjoyment being a financial outlay, it is rewarding in a productive way.
I'm a very happily married pastor's wife, former schoolteacher-turned-homeschool mom of six wonderful blessings, and freelance writer--and we live in the great state of Georgia! I'm a southern girl through and through...but most importantly, I'm a child of the King! We have just finished up our twelfth year of homeschooling, and our two oldest have now graduated! This is my place to record thoughts about homemaking, Classical-Charlotte Mason based homeschooling, writing around the fringes of family life, and more...so welcome to my little corner of the world!
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