Midnight Moments

Wine, cigars, and wicker

Leather seating, time for two

Kerosene lamps at midnight

Talk of dreams, me and you

Bathrobes, bedsides, babies

What if is what we do

Life doesn't get any sweeter

Here we still are, who knew?

Inside Pennsylvania

Inside Pennsylvania

At the turning of the year

The evergreens hang low and white

Just past the season of good cheer

The whitetail deer are fewer

But still they can be seen

The smart ones and the young ones

Resting quiet midst the greens

Woodsmoke in the morning

Woodsmoke in the night

The comfort smells of warmth and home

Beckon tea by firelight

Just when the winter winds

Seem billowing too long

The spring begins its prelude

Sugaring season now begun

When the maples have decided

To bloom and start their leaves

The crocuses delight us

With their cheerful repartee

The days begin to tease us

With sunny warmth for play

And lambs and kids start calling

For the pastures of mid May

The night time chorus echoes

With serenades here and there

The silent dawn is broken

By an owl song in the air

Then all at once its summer

And crystal waters clear

Beckon every living thing

To spend time very near

Caves, lake beaches, campgrounds

Are worth the out of way

Parks and pools and playgrounds

Bustle in the day

And just to keep us longing

For the summer every year

The harvest time is welcomed

The school books do appear

Pumpkins, corn, and mazes

The farmers now do shine

Their labors in the hot sun

Yield cider, hay, and wine

Tobacco hangs in some barns

Apples fill the press

The atmosphere hangs heavy

With rest and thankfulness

Seasons greetings to the country

Merry Christmas to each town

Inside Pennsylvania

Another year takes a bow ~

(Didn't make the cut for publication, but I had fun writing it!)

nighties at noon

'tis the season for nighties at noon
what's a sun? what's a moon?
lullabies and nursery rhymes
gentle winds and snuggle times
sisters coo and brother smiles
mommy rocks sweet daddy's child
he comes home from his long day
and still has time to sit and play
little fingers, little toes
tiny buttons, ribbons and bows
the bassinet is made for sleep
but arms work best for baby's keep

Is the quiver full?

Everyone has an opinion. We have never made decisions based on naysayers opinions, as the naysayers know. If we had followed their opinions, Jason and I would not be married or have any children. Keep an eye on us... we don't plan on pleasing the naysayers any time soon. But I have been pleasingly overwhelmed by the amount of positive opinions expressed during the expectancy and birth of Hazel, the kindness has been refreshing and much appreciated. Thank you, to the kind ones.

The baby story continued... well, after I got so sick Destiny also got very sick. Her symptoms led our family doctor to order some blood work. The results said that she was suffering from mono AND lyme! After doing an extensive amount of reading on each sickness, and comparing my own symptoms I am led to think that mono may have been what was plaguing me as well. The wonderful upside is that mono generally does not have a negative effect on an unborn baby, but it can take every negative pregnancy symptom and magnify it exponentially for the mother, and add a few other miseries as well. In the end my sweet daughter was born healthy, but my body was so exhausted that we ended up having our first cesarean delivery. For Destiny, three weeks of antibiotics helped her to get back to feeling like herself. For me, each labor and delivery has been very different from the others, the last was not an exception. Cesareans are not medically preferred, the nurses all expressed disappointment for me, considering that I even delivered twins naturally. My sweet doctor apologized to me while I was in the recovery room, he said he did all he could, but sometimes that just isn't enough. I assured him that I was extremely grateful for a healthy baby, and I did not feel disappointed. I even have a new outlook on my previous doctor. Ideally birthing would be much safer and less painful, but alas, that is not the way of it. My merciless former doctor seemed to make decisions based on his own schedule and his personal success records, I think several of my previous births would have been managed very differently at the hands of another doctor. Each previous baby was born vaginally and healthy. My former doctor has skills and many successes, but most of my physical recoveries were far more difficult than this cesarean recovery (even with the surgical complication of an alarming amount of blood loss), and the emotional trauma I experienced as a result of my previous doctor's thoughtless words lasted much, much longer than even the physical pain, BUT in the end I am glad that I did not have previous cesareans, because they can complicate future pregnancies. So, if that meant having a heartless doctor that pushed my personal physical limits, then I am grateful. But I would never choose his care again, or recommend him to anyone. I do thank God for His perfect plan, even when I don't understand it at the time. And I am very grateful for modern medicine. As my doctor mentioned in one of the conversations he had with me in the days while I was still at the hospital, once upon a time cesareans were performed knowing that the mother would be sacrificed to save the child. We have come a long way, thank the Good Lord and the hands of the skilled surgeon.




“The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them.” (from Isaiah 11)

“See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven." ( from Matthew 18)

"And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them." (from Mark 10)


"Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,

So are the children of one’s youth.

How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them;" (from Psalms 127)

Kidding Season 2010

Cappaccino
Cocoa
Carob (and Shiloh)
Ashley (and Chester)
Alabama

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All the does were successfully bred this time and kidding season is now over. We have 5 sweet does added to our herd. Unfortunately, not all the birthings were successful, but hopefully we learned a few things to improve upon for next year.... we also have 2 does for sale if anyone is interested!

Tooth Fairy - FIRED! In the sweetest way possible.

I am the worst tooth fairy ever! I forget, sometimes for days, weeks even! Sometimes when there has been an accumulation of teeth, I just tell them to round up all their pearly whites and cash them in the kitchen, "the tooth fairy has been busy and asked me to fill in...". I have even recruited Chester occasionally since he is sometimes the last one to fall asleep....

Yesterday, Avé lost a baby molar. She put it in a container and put it under her pillow and I, of course, completely forgot about it. This morning I woke to a rattling sound... Shiloh was standing in my doorway... "Here is Avé's tooth, I gave her a dollar."

I may be a complete and utter failure as a tooth fairy, but I must be doing something right as a mom, at least some days.

Now, I just owe Shiloh a dollar, not that she expects to be paid back..... such a sweetheart, I am beaming with pride and completely humbled.

My Baby Stories....

If you belong to the "mommy club", in other words, if you have a child, then this blog probably won't seem inappropriate, but if you haven't I doubt that you want to continue reading....

My Puberty...

As a teenager my menstrual cycles were hellish, vomiting, diarrhea, passing out, extreme pain and cramping.... I was sure that labor and delivery couldn't be worse. (I was wrong.) I also had an extreme dislike of needles and doctors. I contemplated not ever marrying because I was told that it required having blood taken, but I was smitten by cupid and a needle prick seemed tolerable if it meant spending my life with my sweetheart.

First Baby...

The needles and doctors were still a big issue with me, so we opted for a Mennonite midwife for our prenatal care. We did need to find out what my blood type was so a trip to the local family practice did happen and the doctor was a total "prick"... hehe pun not really intended. He was a jerk though in my opinion, trying to convince me that I should come to him for my prenatal care... yuck. I wasn't about to remove my pants for his lousy bedside manner.... I had read lovely books about hot tea and foot massages and midwives that treated the "whole" you. What I didn't realize was that the Mennonite midwife mindset ended up being a bit more of a "barn" mentality... "get up and walk around until the baby comes out, or I can't help you..." ended up being the amount of "whole you" care that I received... 24 painful, agonizing, glimpse into the "other side" hours later we were at the emergency room of the local hospital. The midwife inferred that I was just lazy, but it turned out that the baby was stuck. My doctor/needle phobia ended with the epidural.... God has forgiven Eve!!!! Our first daughter was born after an arduous 36 hours. First time I stood up I passed out from the loss of blood, and I couldn't properly sit for weeks because of the large episiotomy. Even though we had thought a dozen children had sounded like a lovely idea, Avé was looking like an only child to me...

Change of mind....

It took about 2 months for the pain of labor to subside enough for me to consider having more children. "Experienced" mothers were reassuring that God designed natural spacing of births when a mother breast fed, so we were pretty surprised to be expecting again when our first daughter was only 4 months old. The doctor that delivered her seemed like a logical choice for our care, so that is where we went for the prenatal visits. His bedside manner was not endearing, but after the unsympathetic midwife I didn't have very high expectations. A lot more needles are used when medical doctors are in charge of care. One of the many tests came back questionable, so an early ultrasound was scheduled... "oh that test always gets that way when there are twins" was how we learned that we would be blessed with three babies one year old and under....

Although the pregnancy was tiresome and I was a bit concerned about my own limitations as a mother, there really weren't any complications. We were at the pediatricians with our oldest when my water broke. 37 weeks is considered quite normal and healthy for a twin birth and the labor and delivery was a breeze in comparison to my first. When the pain was to the point of being unbearable and I said, " I'll take that epidural now.." the nurse informed me that the babies were coming and it was too late for that. I was peeved at the time, to say the least, but if I had known that it would only be 2 hours of hard labor I may not have minded so much. That is what it was..... my lovely twin daughters had arrived.

Done for now... or maybe not...

I don't know if it was my "young mom" parenting skills or my babies' natural tendencies, but sleeping was not high on their priority list, being held was. We all caught a cold when the twins were about 5 months old and after five months of breastfeeding both of them and not getting more than an hour of sleep in a row I had a bit of a breakdown.... I needed help and I needed it now!!!! I got it, and that is all I am going to say about that.

It took a little longer for life to calm down enough to convince us that our family was not finished yet. A sweet friend loaned us a lovely book called The Way Home: Beyond Feminism, Back to Reality by Mary Pride. It helped to renew our original desires for a large family and a month and a half later we were expecting again. The twins would be about two years old when we welcomed our son.

Again we went to the same doctor, and again I was not pleased by his gruff bedside manner, but what did I know? He scheduled an induced labor at 38 weeks, so that he wouldn't miss the delivery when he was away for his triathlon. Another long labor, 24 hours long, but an epidural was effective, so our son's posterior position wasn't nearly as painful as our first daughter's posterior presentation, and I had the most darling, sympathetic nurse that you could hope for during the majority of it. I think she literally sat by my bedside and held my hand for hours upon hours, she must not have had too many other patients that day, lucky for me...

Definitely ready for a breather, or so I thought....

Four babes, ages four and under, kept young parents pretty occupied, but apparently not so occupied that we didn't have some time to read on the toilet... Kosher Sex: A Recipe for Passion and Intimacy by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach got checked out from the library a few times. We weren't stupid... we used condoms :-) Soon we were expecting our fifth child.

Not okay...

Our fifth child is as much a blessing as all the others, but my mind and body were not prepared. I immediately began researching my preferred method of birth control and came up with the copper IUD. I think it was at the first prenatal visit that I brought it up, probably right after the doctor said... "the only people that have this many babies this close are either very poor or very religious". We kind of were both, but the comment still insulted me. I brought up the IUD and was told that it wasn't a popular birth control method anymore and at a few hundred dollars that insurance won't cover we probably wouldn't want to afford it anyway. I assured him that we were definitely still interested and I brought it up at nearly every visit. Soon we saw "Paraguard" advertisements sitting around his office.

Again the doctor wanted to induce so that our labor would not conflict with another one of his triathlons, but this time the baby did not cooperate. Pitocin was no match for her, she would come when she was good and ready! She decided to come a day before the doctor's triathlon. I can't imagine that anyone wants to stay up all night before a marathon, but I just wasn't being cooperative and insisted on being in labor... the nerve of me. Several times during our prenatal care I had mentioned that the only birth that went smoothly was the one that "the water" broke itself. During our prenatal visits I had repeatedly asked if it would be okay to wait for the water to break itself, even if it took a very long time, so long as there were not signs of distress. He agreed to that request until I was actually in labor, he said I was taking too long, I felt bullied into having my water broken, and then things began to get rough. "Epidural PLEASE"!!!! WTH???? After two attempts the anesthesiologist decided I was a lost cause, he couldn't get the epidural in, and I was faced with an unexpected "natural labor". Apparently God hadn't forgiven Eve after all....

I calmly informed the doctor that I was not emotionally prepared for the pain that I was about to face, and that although my labors were "safe" enough, my single births were very long and both of them were presented posterior and I was worried that this baby might not come out on her own, was there anything he could do to help me through this? He said, " If this is how you get when faced with labor you should be getting your tubes tied while you are in here..." I tensed up. and the labor continued for 15 hours, most of it hard labor, I panicked. The idea of being under the care of a doctor that didn't "get" the concept of a kind word caused my mind to interpret my care as " I could die on this table and he wouldn't give a damn..." I quite firmly stated that I felt that it was extremely unreasonable to allow me to continue indefinitely, that I did not think I was going to be okay and I insisted on a cesearean delivery. He agreed to my demand, but quit. Another doctor was called in to perform the surgery. I relaxed, and our fifth child was born, not even posterior, as the doctor adamantly pointed out. The replacement doctor hadn't had time to arrive, so he got to deliver our baby before his triathlon after all.


The ten ton straw... ( the one that broke the pregnant woman's composure)

I was more convinced than ever that I wanted that IUD. At the hospital I requested it from the doctor, (I don't know why I even gave him another chance.... ). He told me that I had to call his office and have them order one. When I did that the nurse told me that they have a supply of them at the office. I was like...what? So I asked to schedule an appointment. She informed me that I had to have my period to have it inserted. Well, for crying out loud. My periods wouldn't start coming for awhile, especially since I was breast feeding, and I know that I can get pregnant while doing that, and I know that condoms aren't effective!!! I was peeved, especially after reading that IUDs can be inserted during a period OR immediately after delivery!!! If that freakin' @#$%@%&& of a doctor had been doing his job instead of telling me that I was no good at mine then he would have known that we both agreed I needed birth control and he would have given it to me that day!!! But NOOOO it had to be his uninformed, controlling way, and as a result of his less than professional skills I was now at risk of becoming pregnant much sooner than I felt comfortable doing so... I refused to take hormones while breastfeeding. After a few months I started getting periods, but each time I called for an appointment I was informed that I couldn't get in for one to two weeks.... I wasn't regular enough yet to schedule that much ahead of time, so I just gave up on that pathetic office and called a new one. Same day service and I was good to go!!! Woohoo!!! One precaution... watch for heavy bleeding. A week later..... heavy bleeding! A trip to the emergency room informed us that the bleeding was "natural" but that the IUD was not inserted effectively. Thank you, merciful God! Another appointment, some minor hassles, and again... I was good to go. A check came in the mail covering the cost of the IUD. When I called the office to ask about it I was told to not ask too many questions.....

When it was time for my regularly scheduled yearly gyne check-up I procrastinated. I procrastinated for a few years. The thought of going back for gynecology care just felt a bit traumatizing. I finally made an appointment at the new office and was scheduled in with a midwife. As soon as she walked in I broke down into a sobbing fit, she was so kind, so compassionate. I scheduled all future visits with her for the next several years. Matter of fact, when we finally decided it was now or never with adding to our family... 35 is considered "high risk" and I was 34 after all, I was comforted by the thought of receiving my care from her. It wasn't until I called to schedule my first prenatal visit that I was informed that she does not give prenatal care, that she is technically a nurse practitioner. I had actually followed her to a new office where she was partners with one doctor, so it has been him that I have been seeing and he has proven to be highly compassionate as well, with a comforting and respectful bedside manner, and he has been tested. This pregnancy has had its complications..... low lying placenta, followed by mysterious infection (causing a five day stay in the hospital) and polyhydramnios (extra amniotic fluid) have been some of the things my body has presented him with. We have worked well together so far, at least in my opinion, and he seems to be genuinely interested in the well being of my baby and me....

Today I called to reschedule my appointment that is scheduled for tomorrow. I have not had to reschedule any of our prenatal visits before, but I accidentally scheduled an appointment for one of my children for the same evening and it is crucial that she does not miss it. When I called, an answering machine message informed me that my previous doctor had just joined the practice. A talk with a nurse followed by a talk with my doctor informed me that my previous doctor will be taking half the work load including deliveries.... I informed them that I will completely refuse his care, and I was reassured that I didn't have to worry about it.... I am less than reassured, and we shall see... it has been nearly eight years since my last labor, but still it makes me cry sometimes at the thought of it... I know now that I can make it through a "natural labor" but I still don't necessarily want to, and I would give my life for any one of my children, but I don't want to have to...


to be continued....

Merciful Tea, Comforting Orbs, and Orchard Dreams....

Mint tea reminds me of visits to Grandma's house, always a recycled glass jar of meadow tea in the fridge and a kitchen filled with the aroma of mint, pears, and bacon? (She now sits lonely in a nursing home for most of her days, and my heart breaks for her and longs for her comfort.) I have been trying to grow mint tea since we moved into this house over three years ago... unsuccessfully, or so I thought. This spring I had given up trying, between the cats and the chickens, the tea didn't have a chance, or so I thought. Much to my surprise there are now numerous patches of mint tea coming up all over my garden! None of it is coming up anywhere that I actually planted it, so I can only assume that it was planted by Nature herself.... (or perhaps the comforting orbs?)

Chester took this picture of the ivy covered barn, or is it more than that? I was a little disappointed at first at the "blotches" in the photo, but then I remembered that some people consider them to be a sign of significant energy that is not detected by the human eye. Some believe that the color of the orb is significant... these peachy orbs would then be a sign of a comforting presence. Science says it is just light... (as if light itself wasn't a miracle) and I suppose these fringy thoughts could be offensive to some of my more religious readers, but where did the idea of halos come from? I don't mind the thought that there are comforting spirit energies floating about my barn and garden and home, these days there is quite the need. Matter of fact, I very much want to believe, maybe that is because I am a bit of a dreamer, always with an eye for what could be.... take our orchard for example...

I had a humorous conversation with my father-in-law the other day. He also has a young orchard, and he also dreams of the future sweetness of each delicious bite of homegrown fruit. Matter of fact, he is a little bit worried about planting the wrong variety of trees, who wants a bushel of plums to sit and rot for lack of use? His wife was quite the calming influence when she assured him that too much fruit was highly unlikely, between the bears and the birds, they have been lucky to get any harvest at all so far!! We shared a chuckle and I completely understand.... two Christmases ago when asked if we had any wishlist desires Jason and I only had one... a cider press, for the bushels of apples our orchard will produce.... just below you will see a picture of one of our favorite apple trees in our wonderful orchard....

You know you're pregnant when....

..."every commercial on tv either makes you sad or hungry."

..."You use your belly as a resting place for the book you are reading or the cereal bowl you are eating out of" ( my husband is a little jealous of that one I think, kind of nice to have a tray with you everywhere)

..."you avoid eating anything except bread or pasta for fear of getting heartburn..."

..."when dumb things **** you off (like the cat rubbing against your leg too much)"


.."you need a running start to get out of a chair/off a couch"

..."you frequently find yourself checking Discovery Health channel to see if "a baby story" is on, much to the dismay of those around you... then you get upset when people moan that they have seen that episode three times that week already..."

..."You feel like you want to eat someone's head one minute then cry because you are feeling particularly lonely the next."

..."*Having to sticky-note everything and keep a detailed running list of things to do because you can't remember what you did five minutes ago, let alone what you need to do in a week (then to decide you don't have the energy to do it anyway so you end up laying in bed all afternoon!!)"
(that one was probably my favorite!)

Some of these people really had me cracking up, check out this site for more cute sympathy pains....

http://forums.families.com/you-know-your-pregnant-when,t106455

For the Love of Pancakes

Our new stove ( six months old) has a cast iron middle griddle. Love it! Especially for pancakes.
Fluffy, hot, aromatic cakelets of bliss. Even the dog sits begging when the smell of fresh pancakes fills the kitchen. Made with farmette fresh eggs (and I do mean our farmette), farmette fresh goat's milk (actually it is better for pancakes if it is just a bit past fresh, but again, our farmette), and whole wheat flour (not fresh ground yet, but one of these days we will get back to doing that), and covering all of this enticing goodness is the gift of the trees, pure maple syrup (from our own sweet trees in our own sweet yard). If you knew me when... when I was living in town. If you heard me complain that I was not meant to live in town, that I belong in the country, just come and eat pancakes with me some day and I am sure that you will agree :-)

Our favorite pancake recipe:
Feeds about four appetites (we of course double it)

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
3 Large Eggs
2 Cups Whole Milk
3 Teaspoons Baking Powder (hopefully you aren't using powder with aluminum in it...)
2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 Teaspoon Sea Salt

Mix wet ingredients, add dry ingredients, beat until smooth. Fry them up in a pan on med/low heat. Serve with pure maple syrup (do not offend this recipe by topping it off with imitation syrups, save the imitators for the "just add water" mixes, and most preferable is to use syrup from a tree that you have met).

Enjoy!

In Good Company

The next time you feel like GOD can't use YOU, just remember...
Noah was a drunk
Abraham was too old
Isaac was a daydreamer
Jacob was a liar
Leah was ugly
Joseph was abused
Moses had a stuttering problem
Gideon was afraid
Sampson had long hair and was a womanizer
Rahab was a prostitute
Jeremiah and Timothy were too young
David had an affair and was a murderer
Elijah was suicidal
Isaiah preached naked
Jonah ran from God
Naomi was a widow
Job went bankrupt
John the Baptist ate bugs
Peter denied Christ
The Disciples fell asleep while praying
Martha worried about everything
The Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once
Zaccheus was too small
Paul was too religious
Timothy had an ulcer
Lazarus was dead!
No more excuses now!!
God can use you to your full potential. Besides you aren't the message, you are just the messenger.

( Anonymous )

I love his and he loves mine

I often have dreams, sometimes they are glimpses. For example, last night, I dreamt that I was concerned about Jason's beehive and so I went down and checked on them and they were fine.
Today, I woke up to sirens, an odd and alarming sound in our rural setting. I looked out the front window and it was just a rainy morning scene. I looked out our back window to a flooded view of the fields and forest, not particularly alarming except for the beehive which sits beside the creek on a patch of higher ground that was being threatened by the rising waters. I donned my rain coat and galoshes and set out to inspect the situation. A few swampy minutes later Jason got a phone call... the bees are in the creek.... The hive sits up on slate and bricks, so the beehive was still in the high and dry, but there wasn't any dry ground around it and the waters aren't scheduled to stop rising for at least a day. This qualified as a minor emergency and Jason came home from work to rescue his bees. All is well now and we have a better idea of what will be an ideal beehive location... ( Not sure what the story was with the sirens, but the fire trucks, police, and front end loader headed back out not long after they had come by.)

I am very fond of the honey bees. I don't do much to help care for them, but I feel very affectionate about the sweet brood. I am delighted that I have a man that is inclined to have such a fascinating and useful hobby. I wish him lots of success and increases in skill and knowledge over the years, and look forward to enjoying the results! My personal hobby contributions are many, too many perhaps. Some of my enjoyments require family participation, such as gardening and goat raising. Right now the goat responsibilities primarily belong to everyone at this house besides me, and nobody seems to mind the daily feeding and watering. Milking is on hold while we wait for the dams to freshen, perhaps in March the milking will begin again as well as the care of little kids!

We love each others hobbies. I love Jason's beehives and wine making and the possibility of trebuchet building (which is a high hope for Chester too!), and Jason loves my gardening and goat raising and sewing and photography and harp playing and knitting and crocheting and writing and cooking and ..... like I said, maybe I have too many, but there are just so many interesting pursuits! We all love maple sugaring, and it is almost the sugaring season! Life is good.


















(The beehive rescuers)

Holiday Highlights!!

The Silent Artist, Demanding Attention

The silent artist
Softly works
With one color only
O'er the sleeping earth

Children awaken
Eyes bright with cheer
Adults awaken
Lost plans, new fears

No escaping our notice
Opinions are made
Masterpiece of wonder
Or canvas of jade?

Thank You, Lord, for this food and this day!

I have really been enjoying food more than ever these days. Something is different with this pregnancy, all the other pregnancies undermined my efforts in the kitchen, but this pregnancy seems to be enhancing them. Hooray! And Jason is enjoying being part of the kitchen revival, which makes it that much more enjoyable. The kids are still happiest when macaroni and cheese is on the menu, but when it is made with real noodles and real cheese, as opposed to instant from a box, or made with "cheese products", and served with home canned stewed tomatoes and venison meatloaf it still meets my criteria for the kitchen standards these days. This week's (and a few days extra) supper menu includes:

~Corn Pone Pie and beets (and old standby actually)

~Some of Pap's delicious fish - baked and seasoned with a touch of lemon and herbs, steamed limas, and fried potatoes

~Venison steaks (not sure if they were compliments of Snyders or Showers, but thank you both!)
baked potatoes, and artichoke gratinata (recipe from Giada De Laurantiis, who has become my favorite Food Network chef)

~Cheddar Chowder and homemade WW biscuits

~BBQ chicken, baked green beans with homemade garlic white sauce, pasta salad with diced avocado (I didn't save the seed, but our avocado tree that we planted from a seed last year is still doing great!)

~WW pizza from scratch with home canned tomatoes, italian herbs, and three cheeses (real cheeses of course), applesauce

~Reuben burgers on gourmet buns (our own sauerkraut is an awesome touch), and broccoli alfredo

~Lasagna (I have a great recipe that does not require boiling the noodles first, but still has that wonderful "from scratch" appeal), Ceasar salad

~And last but not least... the aforementioned mac and cheese with stewed tomatoes and venison meatloaf


Christmas cookies make for a lovely seasonal dessert! Fruit slushies have been on the list of must haves these days also, fresh squeezed oranges and lemons added to frozen raspberries is a fabulous high vitamin C treat on these dry, virus filled days of winter....


It probably doesn't qualify as a gourmet menu, but it sure makes the kitchen smell good, and the house feel warm and cozy, and fills our bellies, and nourishes our spirits!

The Birthday of Faith

You were born in the season I love the best
Of pumpkins and hayrides and family fests
Your Daddy's image, your Mommy's girl
I'm proud to be part of your blessed world
May each passing sunset bring memories sweet
May each day becoming carry wished for treats
Happy Birthday, my Mother!
Many more, my friend!
May the blessings of loved ones know no end!!!

Ain't We Sweet?

"Sometimes you feel like a nut!"





















Love my slimming pose!!















This looks like it needs music....





















Not sure what to say....

















Ah! There's the music! Savannah has a well developed funny bone!



Avé is actually pretty hilarious...















Not so sure about me....






















They must get their sense of humor from their Papa ;-)












































maybe sometimes
me....

At any rate, we know how to crack each other up!!

Bon Voyage to Our Migratory Grandparents

The cool breezes blow. The nights grow long. The extra
blankets and woolen socks come out from their summer
slumber. Canadian geese, robins, butterflies, hummingbirds,
and Gram and Pap all make the long voyage to warmer
climates. We are saying goodbye for now to our summer visitors.
Maybe someday we will follow you to your winter getaway,
but for now, we will batten down the hatches, throw another
log on the fire, and set the teapot to simmer. Winter hasn't
really begun yet, but the first snow, the shimmery
icicles, the anticipation of sledding, and maple sugaring,
and crocuses peaking through the snow, is enough for
me to stay content and snugly in my Pennsylvania cabin,
with my sweet country man and precious children. I love
my wonderful life, but we will miss you, Gram and Pap!
Safe travels!! Bon Voyage!!

Lemon Blossoms

We have had this lemon tree for several years now. It is such a novel treat to be able to grow lemons in Pennsylvania! We usually get two or three lemons a year :-) and they are very sweet,
not nearly as tart as the ones from the store, although I don't mind tart, especially these days.
As in the days of being pregnant with twins, I crave sour foods! I figured that lemons were a healthier alternative than all those Sour Tarts I used to indulge in... I will have to wait several months before I can enjoy another one of our home grown lemons, but that's okay. For now the scent of lemon blossoms fills the air and winter in our home defies the bitter cold by producing tropical fruits for us to enjoy! Anyone have any ideas why our Christmas cactus blooms at Easter?

A Walk in the Woods

A few weeks ago we enjoyed a magical day walking in the autumn woods of Pennsylvania. The children always seem to have an optimistic view of homeschooling, but on days when school gets them into a setting such as this they count themselves among the fortunate few that get to spend the fleeting days of fall in the great outdoors.