Processing Veggies

This AMAZING machine called a FOOD SAVER was a gift from Bill, Alicia, and the kids for our wedding back in 2014!  We have used and used and used this thing!  We have three different types of bags which all have a different purpose.  For the more moist foods such as zucchini, carrots, green beans (after they have been blanched), the press and seal bags work well that you use the accessory tool to suck the air out of a special spot in the corner.  Then, for the dryer stuff like peppers, squash, and tomatoes (I don't blanch them) the pre-made bags work or even the roll.  I really like the roll because you can tailor make the bag to fit your product!  Then, you use the actual machine to suck the air out and then it seals the top (and bottom if creating your own bag)!

*Plant * Water * Weed * Pick * Wash * Process * Bag * Label * Freeze * Repeat until Winter *

*ENJOY ALL WINTER!!*

Bunches and bunches of peppers!

And shredded zucchini in roughly 2 cup portions!
Yellow and green make it *c*o*l*o*r*f*u*l*!

Chokecherry Pan

Great devotion this morning from Sarah Young's Jesus Calling book.

This amazing pan has been loaned to me by a friend.  She is awesome!  She said to use it and enjoy it, so I usually send her pictures of whatever I am making at the time!  It's so fun and it has been an amazing gift of simplicity!  There are other ways to extract the juice from the chokecherries, but this is waaaay better!

The bottom pan - holds the boiling water and
doubles for cheesecake water bath!

The 2nd pan is where all the juice collects and then
goes out the straw.

The 3rd level is a sieve where the berries sit and
the skins/seeds stay.

Crazy looking contraption, but oh so efficient!

*Heath's Birthday Surprise*

This was a great day!  Heath ended up going into work for pea harvest so this worked out great for me because I was able to 'play house' which I love doing and plan my surprise for his birthday!  Right before lunch I heard someone pull into the driveway.  Barb, Heath's mom, hand delivered the cheesecake pan I wanted to borrow!  I was going to meet her at some point throughout the day and she just surprised me and brought it to the house!  BLESSINGS!  As soon as she left, a plane flew over flying really close.  I went outside and grabbed a few pictures because I have never seen one this close to the house before.  I called Barb and we decided it didn't look like it was spraying, so it was probably someone taking aerial house pictures.  That would make sense since they buzzed the house several times.  It was fun!

I had alot of help with my lunch.  The dogs were by my side!  Unconditional love.

Next on the agenda, cheesecake.  I have the special pan, I have the recipe, it's go time!  The cream cheese was set out prior, to come to room temperature, and I had read all the tips and tricks.  Turns out we needed a water bath for the cheesecake....gotta get creative!  The chokecherry juicer machine has a bottom pan just about the right size!  So, genius here, dual-purposed that machine into a roaster for the cheesecake water bath.  Ahhh, relieved to have figured this all out and feeling mighty resourceful, I dropped the cake into the water bath and stuck it in the oven.  Please note the pliers in the picture below...the fit was so "perfect" and fit right down in there (thanks to the help of gravity) that I didn't think about how I would gracefully remove the cake when it was hot.  And now you know the job for the pliers....

All is well that ends well!

Got the new picnic table dressed and ready for this celebration!  Strung some lights and got his gifts wrapped!

Of course none of this would have happened without all my support team!

So, then I waited, I was all set to go!  The jambalaya was all baked and transferred into a great carrying case that would insulate it to keep it warm.  The cheesecake was complete.  I was waiting outside as a surprise and then I realize that he was still going to be a while so I decided to make a scavenger hunt starting at the front door of the house when he walked in.  I put up about 6 or 7 clues leading him to supper behind the barn.  (I think the animals helped show him as well!)

LOL, took a selfie while waiting!

God provided us with a gorgeous evening to *c*e*l*e*b*r*a*t*e*!

Thanks Mama for the gold chargers, they really dressed things up!

I could hear his truck pull in and the dogs went around to greet him.  Shortly thereafter, here Heath came, around the corner!  So fun!  He had found all of the clues and was following them to meet me for our surprise supper celebration!  After we finished a nice supper and he opened his gifts, I told him to head for the hot tub.  I would meet him there.  This is what I brought to him in the hot tub!  YUMMY, if I say so myself!  I will definitely be recruiting that chokecherry juicer pan again as it turned out delicious!!!!

Good Day!

Good Day at Work

This picture is something really neat! As we are establishing our yard, we decided try to plant as many perennials as I possible since they come back each year. Perennials are super expensive, especially when planting so many at once. This has truly become like a women's ministry of several different women opening up their gardens to me. They have very established gardens and need to 'thin' them out.  Just word of mouth brought me to several ladies' homes from our church. Another way that we were able to plant so many varieties of beautiful flowers was through the connections made through the Facebook group called "Scottsbluff NE Area Flower and Plant Swapping Club." Great connections  made and wow, the conversations we had while digging up flowers.  Now, I have all these meaningful, beautiful, special gardens that carry with them a story....a story of life and how God puts us where he wants us to grow.  Someday, I will be able to return the favor and share my story!

Heath made this bench from the HUGE dead tree we pulled down from the backyard.  How cool to have a memory of that tree instead of just burning it.  We will now have a very heavy, homemade with love bench and table to set on our back patio.  How special!  Heath is so creative.  :)

Late night selfie out by our new bench!

* Sod * Farm * Supper *

Taking care of our newly laid sod.

Beautiful day for a ride with my girl and my doggies!

Supper with Gram and Pa

Little Moon in Henry, Nebraska

Gardens

Each year since we bought the place, we have created and been blessed with growing an edible garden on our island.  It's original size was as big as the kid's sandbox at the far south end of the current garden (toward that little garden shed).  Then, we took out the playset and burn barrel which opened it up alot last year toward the north.  Learning as we go, we decided that our corn would be out back this year since last year we had alot of our viney veggies, fruits, and pumpkins get all tangled up.

With a variety of flowers and seeds, I just had so much fun!  Heath would get home and I would ask nicely for him to create a new garden for me.  He would get out my Grandpa's amazing (old) tiller and create a new space for me to design.  It was seriously awesome, from meeting people who were thinning their gardens to pulling the weeds and the watering!  I met so many people who shared their precious gardens and lives with me...for that I am grateful!  With their generosity, I will someday be able to do the same as my flowers grow!

I pulled this photo out to show that I put little bird waterers around the farm so as our birds circle the house all day long, they have somewhere to drink!  A little baling twine will make just about anything work!  (And an awesome husband who put the hook on the inside so that I could hang them!)

Heath went and got several loads of mulch so that our new transplants would not dry out.  This helps keep the soil from blowing and the moisture in.  The top left photo is of our row crops in the backyard and then the top right photo is of our honeysuckle growing nicely up the gazebo leg.  We actually purchased four different kinds-one kind for each leg of the gazebo!  Heath also put some burning bushes around the back and some red Columbines (which are his favorite)!

I planted all my newly found friends' flowers along the South*SIDE* of the house.  Lots of warm sun and just needed a pop of color!  My gardens are arranged by how and when I was gifted certain flowers from very special people.  This creates our story that is entwined in our love for our home.

I give Heath all the credit for this really cool strawberry-rhubarb garden setup.  He used some old tires we found on the farm and created this tiered strawberry garden so that when they come back each year, we will not accidentally till over them.  Great idea to plant it next to the rhubarb all right outside our garage door for convenience.

Shower Garden~need I say more?  He created this beautiful rock drain out of the shower with prairie aspens, multi-colored butterfly bushes, stella de oro day lilies, and deep purple may night salvia.  A masterpiece if you will allow me to blush.  Humbled each day by my wonderful, talented, and loving man!

Time to sit down and relax by the fire and *enjoy* all the hard work we have done.  "Don't forget to stop and smell the roses!"

We hung Mason jars from one of our trees with little tea lights in them.  They turned out really cool and added a nice relaxing factor as the evening was setting in!

Farm Life

Ms. Penney, Ms. Mya, and Mr. Briggs stretching, preparing for the day.

Big Dog helping me gather eggs!

Starting our seeds!

Lettuce is popping up!  The chickens like the really bright green stuff.
It goes first.

I decided that the back bathroom needed a curtain with some color.  Since it is only about half (6 rings) of a "normal" shower curtain (12 rings), I decided to make my own, non-sew, easy, colorful creation.  This is what I came up with.  1/2 price sunflowers from Hobby Lobby and a little clear fishing string, and a strand of garland over the horseshoe hooks.

Project Day

I was given this cute little three-drawer deal at work.  When I received this gift, I knew exactly what I would do with it!  I have been wanting to make Miss Mya a food bowl stand to get her food up off the floor.  With that fourth leg missing, she has to balance on just one front leg.  By raising her food to her level, I feel like there is less strain on her front leg.  The height was perfect!  I simply put a clear coat on the top to seal it up and used a saw-saw to cut a round hole that I traced out for her bowl.  I am proud to say that I am very pleased with the way it turned out.  The top drawer doesn't really work since the bowl sits in the way, but the other two drawers are great for dog-stuff storage.  She doesn't seem to mind eating at her new stand!

When I went home earlier this spring, I visited Kyle and Liz's home in Missouri.  I was super impressed by her guest bathroom theme:  "You are My SunShine."  I asked if she would mind if I transitioned this idea in my bathroom.  She didn't mind at all.

I have been keeping a clear curtain up in our bathroom up until this point because I just didn't have the perfect curtain to complete the room.  After seeing her theme in a cute grey and yellow chevron, I knew that I could come up with something that would go with our bright orange paint.  So, on a mission I went....AND the above is what I found!  IT IS AWESOME!  :)

Indoor Progress....

So, while I was down and out, sitting in our living room for days, I decided that it was very dark.  With that, I had some time to play around on Houzz.com and come up with some fun ideas to try.   I even contacted an interior designer friend-of-my-parent's in Springfield, Illinois.  (Check out her designs on Houzz.com.  http://www.houzz.com/pro/loismooredesign/lolo-moore-periwinkles.  The are phenomenal, especially if you are like me and *LOVE* bRiGHt colors!)

After talking with my mama about the darkness of my living room and desire to make some changes, we started to brainstorm.  She introduced me to the idea of simply picking out and purchasing a slip cover instead of buying a brand new couch or couches....GREAT idea Mama, thank you!  So, I began researching slip covers:  colors, styles, sizes, etc.  Being frugal minded, I still couldn't justify this purchase because of price (although way) less that purchasing a new couch.  Soooo....we went back to the drawing board.  I got my thinking cap on and got onto Pintrest, which Mama introduced me to while I was sick.  Watch out world!  LOL!  I have some *cRAzY* fun ideas that came off of there!

Anyway, someone had the idea to simply use a painter's canvas drop cloth from Menard's or Walmart.  So, that is what I did.  Plain and simple!  My brown, really comfortable couch, is now a nice, light, cream color and my multi-colored floral couch is the same.  WoW, what a difference that made for only $20 a piece and machine washable!  I talked my daddy into helping move a few pieces of furniture around as well as the dog beds.  Then, got out my sewing machine to make a few *colorful* throw pillows.  Quick, cheap makeover!  (My only disclaimer is that if you have kids and or lots of couch activity, they probably aren't the best because they tend to move around a bit.  I haven't figured out quite yet how to hold them in place.  I'm sure there is something out there that will remedy that issue.)

Living Room Before....

$20 Painter's Canvas Drop Cloth....Menard's or Walmart

.....progress taking shape!

Dad helped me paint our kitchen door.  It came brown which was fine before we remodeled the kitchen and went with the bright theme, so it was time for a change.  A quick couple coats of picket fence white paint and wa-la!  Bright, refreshing kitchen.

Kitchen Door Before.... 

Kitchen Door After!

 Mama gave me a sewing machine several years ago.  Still in it's new box, I got it out and dusted it off.  For the first time in it's life, it was going to be used.   After much thought on colors, I purchased some duck cloth patterned pillow material at our new Hobby Lobby.  What a fun store!  I was able to use some of the pillow forms from old pillows that came with the brown couch.  So....never using a machine by myself before, I set out for help from my neighbor and her kids.  They were SUPER helpful and we had a fun time working through a few different options!

New Sewing Machine

My neighbor had a great idea to make an envelop pillow.  The one shown above is one I made on my own which turned out great, but you have to hand stitch it closed.  With the envelop pillow, you don't have to do any hand sewing and the case can be removed and washed!  Best of both worlds~especially when a certain black dog of mine tends to sneak up on the couch when we are gone during the day.  Evidence:  black dog hair all over my nice white sofa and new pillows!

A work in progress!