A Mighty Fine Green Bean Bounty

Are you all sick of hearing about my canning updates??

Is ANYONE THERE AT ALL any way???

Sometimes blogging is so lonely.  Sometimes I blog and see no comments.  

I KNOW some of you (*ahem: KIM*) are reading but it feels like I am typing to the wind some days.... oh well!

Okay.  Canning update: 18.5 more quarts of green beans

Total: close to 80 quarts!  :)   I am excited about that tally.  It means I most likely will not have to buy any beans from the store this year.

Love, love, really love.

Just like the ants..... the MANY, MANY ants.

I've been thinking about a bible verse on and off today.

I've not been so great at following it's wisdom but have been thinking on it none-the-less.

The verse?

Proverbs 33:25

²⁵ Ants are creatures of little strength,
   yet they store up their food in the summer; 

 I've been canning green beans lately.  I've been picking every other day or every third day and have been canning about 20 quarts from each picking.

My next picking is tomorrow morning.

I've been super happy about my MONSTER CANNER that Hubby bought me for Christmas a few years back.  I sometimes worry about my stove when I am operating it but love that it holds 19 quarts in one setting.  :)

The cherry tomatoes are on the vines (green) and our other tomato plants look like they are coming along.  AND... while putting the green beans in storage I realized I only used about 2/3 of my tomato products from last year.  We are in great shape.

The squash plants are coming and we ate our first zucchini the other day.

I think we are putting up food, just like the ants.

Speaking of ants.....

Yesterday Hubby was fixing some drywall in our bathroom that had been tore apart for many years after a burst water pipe.  :)  A wall is a good thing to have.  :)

While he was in drywall mode he cut square pieces to put over a hole in the ceiling in our room and the boys' room.  When we bought the house it had 2 trailer/camper skylights in our bedroom and one in the boys' bedroom.  When Otto was just 6 days old Hubby and Father-In-Law re-roofed the back of the house and covered those holes.  On the inside the stuffed the hole with insulation and covered them with a piece of plywood.

Covering the hole in our bedroom went quite well.  Hubby was on a roll and went to the boys' room to take that piece of plywood off to do the same.

****

Pause the story.   The past year I have found these big black ants in random places in my house.  Unlike their sweet kitchen ant counter parts I could never find a nice little ant parade, just random ants.  It was driving me crazy but I had no idea what to do about it.  They were not hurting anything, just annoying me.

****

Flash forward to yesterday.....    (Can you guess?)  Hubby unscrewed the plywood to find the ant nest was ON that plywood.

   The plywood now suspended in the air.  Through frantic communication where I tried to take the board, he tried to take the board, ants fell off, ants fell on us, ants fell on toys (praise Jesus the kids had recently picked up that room).  

We FINALLY (maybe 30 seconds but felt like an hour) got that board tossed out into the yard.  Hubby gallantly ordered me around and as I was in a weird state of ***AAAHHHHH, I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO*** shock, took over the vacuum cleaner and sucked most of those critters up.  The boys were put on the order of *squish any ant you see* and quickly and bravely took over the task.  Hubby then went out and sprayed the board and the surrounding area with wasp spray.  Hey!  It's all we had!

I then spent the evening vacuuming up dust from under the bed, drywall powder and dead ant carcasses which covered 3 rooms.  

EEEEEEWWWWWWW!!!!!!!

I am SO glad it was Hubby and not me.

I am SO glad I merely went into shock and didn't scream like a girl!!

And most importantly I am glad we found that nest and prayerfully got rid of the queen and that they were mostly hanging out in the open space the skylight originally occupied and did not cause much damage from their chewing.  

Whew.

Could have been worse.

I kinda feel bad about disturbing their nice little home, after all they were just storing up food and babies for the winter.   Yet, it's MY house and I'd rather not share it with any creepy crawlies!

What have you been up to?

Morning Surprise

I went to bed hot, sweaty and super grumpy.  By 10:30 the house was 81  and the outside was about the same.

I woke up pretty grumpy too.

The weather map shows cool temps are on their way after a round of strong storms that should hit in the next hour or so. I am praying the storm blows my crankies away.

Then...

Otto came inside with these.

Hubby had spied these beautiful flowers the other day.  He had sowed the seeds 2 years ago and until this summer we had not seen any results.  We had written them off as a failure and yet here they are.  Makes me thankful our Lord doesn't write us off so fast!  :)

What's all the YOU MUST ORGANIZE NOW hub-bub about??

So, according to all the emails I am receiving these days I am supposed to be ORGANIZING my homeschool and my fall plan.  And apparently I need a LOT of planning sheets, organizers and special tools to get that done.

I think about our school a lot.  While cooking supper or hanging clothing, I think through what we will be studying and evaluate if I am missing pieces.  I have been selling un-needed curriculum and using my sales money to purchase new products that I have researched and feel will fill in our gaps. 

Every time I have tried to sit down and plan out a daily schedule or find other ways to micromanage, errr I mean ORGANIZE, our days and weeks I find we stick to it for just a few days and then it falls by the wayside.  I do like routines but I like routines that help me feel like the world is not chaos.  I don't like routines that feel like I am living in the super strict world of  a 19th Century one room school house where if I turn my head the wrong direction at the wrong time I will be swatted with a ruler or switch.  I feel the need to keep progressing at the speed my children can handle and I believe that allowing lots of flexible non-planned time in our week allows us to double up lessons one day so we can take the next day off. This kind of scheduling allows for us to just hop up one day and take an impromptu field trip without the pressures of feeling *behind*.   I honestly have never felt behind.  We PROGRESS.  If one is progressing then I am confused as to how you can be BEHIND unless of course you have over planned and you have divided all your books into nice need perfect schedules (that rarely line up with real life's roller coaster filled life lessons)?

In my state I vow to implement a "sequentially progressive curriculum of fundamental instruction in: reading, language arts, math, social studies, science and health."  I am not required to do a portfolio.  My children do not have to do standardized tests.  We have no interviews or conferences with people with more credentials.  In fact in my state at this time the law states there is "no authority for any agency or school district to monitor home-based private education programs or to verify the hours of instruction."  Perhaps that is why I can relax so much more than the online friends I observe who are all frantically organizing and planning and worry about how it will all happen. 

My fall plan is to keep doing low key on the spot schooling until the harvest is over and then pick up our books where we stopped and keep moving forward.  Perhaps, I'm a weird homeschooler but I just don't understand all the extra stress and energy of *PLANNING AND ORGANIZING* for the new year. Perhaps it is because I prefer to use books that either are or resemble text book.s (I have disliked nearly ALL the unit studies we have attempted.)  Perhaps, I was just brainwashed by NIKE as a young child and REALLY BOUGHT INTO THE **JUST DO IT** motto?

I guess I figure if I keep my calendar and thus know if we are staying home or running errands, keep my teacher planning sheet (which I often fill out the DAY OF our lesson) and keep my children moving progressively through the required topics then I am "good to go." 

Perhaps I have just slipped into harvest time vision blur already?

Perhaps I am just not the SUPER HOMESCHOOL MOM that others are attempting to be?

Perhaps our school style just fits this way of planning best?

Perhaps I'm just weird or perhaps I just have it super easy where I live.

Any way you look at it, I really am scratching my head as to why everyone thinks I need their expensive planners and organizers that actually give me even more work to do and more *stuff* and papers to find a place for.  I just I just don't get it.  I guess I just DO IT.

Graphics provided for free from: Webweaver's Free Clip Art

Heat Wave - Day 4 & 5

Wednesday was day 4 of our heat wave.

We started out at the library.  Each week in the summer school age kids can attend our Library's Story Time. (Click here to see pictures of week #1.  It's under the KidStuff tab if fun pictures don't pop up.)  

This year they are learning about other countries and cultures around the world.  Wednesday they had a professional musician & story teller perform.  Usually we are outside in the shade near a very pretty gazebo.  This week we were all crammed into our very, very small library but the story telling was mesmerizing and the children all sat with wonderful behavior.  YAY!

After Story Time we headed to the grocery store and then back home again to lay low.  Earlier in the day I received a call from each ball team telling us they were canceling the last week of ball due to the excessive heat.  That was sad, but a very good call.  It was 90 at 5:30 pm when we would have been loading up to drive to the fields. 

Thursday on any other year I would label to be hot enough for a heat wave.  Our high for today was forecasted at 87.  I picked beans today.  I picked for an hr in our lower bean patch.  I call it the Jungle.  It is a mixed crop patch.  We planted peas and beans together alternating seeds.  The peas are done producing and I have pulled most of them.  The beans are now the primary crop but there are places where we allowed the volunteer tomatoes to grow.  Those volunteer tomatoes are mingled here and there and there are places where it's really hard to find the bean crops which are still growing and producing.  We thought about pulling the tomatoes up but all year those volunteer tomatoes are bigger, healthier and have much more green fruit growing on them then the seedlings we started AND the green house seedlings that we purchased!

So far I have put away about 25 quarts and have a very large batch waiting to be washed, snapped and canned yet today.  (Perhaps I'll do them tomorrow.)

Aren't they lovely?

So how have you been surviving the heat?

Heat Wave - Day 2 & 3

Day 2, yesterday.

We survived. The kids took 2 baths and I tried not to touch the hot computer.  I read nearly an entire chapter book to Otto as we sat on the couch with the ceiling fan on high.

When Hubby woke he went out and picked green beans for me.  It had cooled off to 80 outside with like 98% humidity. It was as hot, but less muggy in the house.

She holds 19 quarts.

 After kiddie bedtime Hubby and I snapped beans while watching some Netflix until he had to leave for work.  I stayed up to finish snapping and then I got the fun task of CANNING.  I had 20 quarts and so I pulled out my big gun.  I need to name her. 

Perhaps I will call her Rosie the Riviter.

You have to be about that tough to lift the thing up on the stove, she requires 2 burners and forget moving her with jars and water in her!  UFF.  DA.

By the time I finished snapping, filling jars, loading the canner, rumping up temperature and pressure and getting through the required canning time it was about 3 hours past my bedtime.  

Can we say I slept REALLY WELL?

Today, Day 3, the house is much more humid.  The floor is laid directly on the concrete pad for our home and I have had condensation collecting on the vinyl floor the past few days.  I keep swishing a towel around it using my feet.  I just really don't like the wet floor feel.  I can't wait for this heat to go away.

The kids are doing mostly okay.  They get loud in the house (especially with a sleeping daddy on the other side of the living room wall) but it's super hot outside.  Today we watched Superman 2 and did some reading.  Earlier today we passed the time by researching answers to some library quizzes.  One was on Japan and another was on famous facts and landmarks around the world.   Otto learned much, Abram enjoyed watching the short clips from the internet and it not only kept us still--and thus cool-- but I can count it as geography!  

More incidental school = love. it.   :)

This evening is going fast.  I soon will be pulling out some cold pasta salad and then it will be bedtime.  If we have time we will have fast baths to cool down before bedtime.

Tomorrow we will be distracted with morning Story Time at the Library and with our last (MUST REMEMBER THE CAMERA) week of ball games (T-ball and slow pitch).

Right now the kids (all 3) are on the couch pretending to be on a pirate ship.  They just all survived a quite intense shark attack.  He who is up in the crows nest (kitchen bar stool) just spotted A FLYING SHARK.  I think that means this captain need to get her eyes up in the skies and off from the computer, lest those flying sharks want to attack moms too! :)

Hang tight and stay cool.   :)

Heat Wave- Day 1

It is July.

In some places (like Central IL where I grew up) one EXPECTS a huge, long, super hot heat wave in mid-July through August.

Here in Wisconsin, we are used to 5 or less days where the temps reach 90.  And we are CERTAINLY NOT used to sticky, muggy humidity.

Here is our forecast, as predicted on Sunday (when our high was in the upper 90's).

UGG!!!

Now, after having moved up here I have adjusted quite nicely to the very cold winters.  I can handle months and months and months and months (like 7) of little sun and temps hovering between freezing and negative 20.  I can handle my home getting down to 58 before I feel I MUST, MUST, MUST start up the wood stove.  I actually don't get chilled to the point of no return until the temps go below 62 in the winter.

However, in the summer I start to wilt at 70, am incredibly uncomfortable at 75 and think I might combust at 80. 

BEFORE YOU CALL ME A WIMP, please re-read the paragraph after the "Ugg!!"

So, knowing the forecast for the next 7 days (minimum) was going to be in the 90's I started to emotionally and mentally prepare for the wave.  I usually depend upon cool night temps to cool down our house.  There will not be any temps below 70 until Friday and then it will only be 67.  Next week we will find ourselves in the upper 80's and I am praying that means that our lows drop at night.

Currently, we have our thermal shades down, our windows shut tight, most of our lights off and we are trying not to move or get on each other's nerves.  Our house is built into a hill and reaps some benefits of that as a basement might, but it is still a bit warm today.

I hope to give you a daily report of how we are doing. 

Day 1:

Internal temp at 5pm was 78 degrees.

Temps outside at 5 pm had gone down to 91.  I don't think I want to know what the high was.

I fixed Wacky Mac with ranch dressing (cause my Italian was gone).  I tossed in cheese chunks, peas and sliced carrots.   I am praying I can come up with cool, cheap meals to fix after getting to a grocery store tomorrow.  I'm not sure I will be able to sustain my family on cold pasta all week.

We shall see.

At 8:30 pm it is raining out side a nice gentle rain, but the sky looks like the loud stuff is on it's way.

Kids are bathed in cool water and it must have worked because my super silly second born, who was NOT attempting to be silly, told me he wished I would start a fire in the wood stove................UH.NO!

My mantra for this week (which I hope to believe soon) is:  If the pioneer women could survive heat waves like this with fewer conveniences then *I* can survive as well.

Let's hope that it works.

And that my headache and nausea goes away!

Ein Keiloheinu (Non Komo Muestro Dyo)

I have NO idea what that means.   :)

It is the title of an beautiful song that is often sung in Jewish Synagogues.

A while ago, Hubby and I hired a sitter so we could go to a special lecture/concert by a Jewish Cantor who spoke about the history of Jewish Music.

It was a great night, you can read more about it here.

While we were there he sang this beautiful song.  

God speaks to my soul in music.  I am amazed often at how a beautiful traditional tune, especially when accompanied with powerful lyrics, can move me in great ways.

I wanted to share the beautiful lyrics to this song. 

Here they are:

There is none like our God, 

there is none like our Sovereign;

There is none like our Ruler,

there is none like our Savior.

Who is like our God?

Who is like our Sovereign?

Who is like our Ruler?

Who is like our Savior?

Let us give thanks to our God, 

let us will to give thanks to our Sovereign;

Let us give thanks to our Ruler,

Let us give thanks to our Savior.

Praise be our God, praised by our Sovereign;

Praised by our Ruler, praised by our Savior.

You are our God, You are our Sovereign;

You are our Ruler, 

You are our Savior.

Well, perhaps I was more impressed with the words when it was sung in Hebrew but a place to direct one's reflections it still remains.

Homeschooling on the Fly

We still homeschool here and there in the summer.  Sometimes it is sit down formal and sometimes it is on the fly.

The other day Mr. Abram pointed at the wall chart (Okay, calendar being used as wall chart) and told me "Sometimes we should do those numbers." 

 So I pushed up a chair, pulled out all the little numbers, tossed them into a bowl and said "Have at it!"  He loves this.  I need to work on color matching and letters too.

So, do any of you out there do pocket charts?  What do YOU do with them?  I'd love some new ideas. Especially if they don't cost me anything and are low on prep time and printer costs..... snicker, I want it all don't I!!

Bendigamos

A few months ago, Hubby and I hired a babysitter and headed off to the synagogue that our church rents space from.  They had invited our Mennonite Church to a special lecture/concert from a Jewish Cantor on Jewish music and history.

I only understood a bit of it, most of it was in Hebrew.  On the flip side, we are pretty sure that many of the Jewish counter parts were also a bit in the dark with the language barrier.

One song the cantor presented was this one:  Bendigamos.

The top of the music states this: 

This is the only Spanish-language hymn which was retained by the Jewish community in Amsterdam, and brought to America.  It is customarily sung immediately after the Birkat Hamazon, especially on Sukkot.

I found the English translation to be beautiful and so I thought I would share it with you.

O let us bless the Lord most high,
The God whom we adore;
Give thanks unto His holy name,
And praise Him evermore.

O praise and glorify His name,
Our rock, our shield,our guide;
Whose love and mercy e're the same
Shall with us e're abide
*  *  *
O bless the Lord whose gracious hand
Hath saved from all disgrace,
And led in glorious mission here
His chosen people's race.

O praise and glorify . . . . . .
*  *  *
O praise the Lord who giveth us
Each day our daily bread.
To Him let praises e're ascend,
By whose kind hand we're fed.

O praise and glorify . . . . . .

*  *  *
O blessed by this holy fane
Where songs ascend on high,
Where feasts and blessings ne're will fail
With His blest presence nigh.

O praise and glorify . . . . . .
*  *  *
 English version by Rev. Joseph Corcos

Can we say....

over packaging?

On our trip to IL I began working on Christmas stockings for my children.

I have wanted to knit these for YEARS now and never remember it until November.  :(  This year I was going to pull it off and get at least one done in the car during this trip.  

Well.....  I would have but it would have been big enough to fit The Jolly Green Giant!  I needed a smaller set of needles and they finally came today.

I was a bit taken aback at the size of the box and then I laughed very much when I opened it to find the needles on the bottom of the box with all those air pillows on top.  

Oh well 1) it got me to giggle and 2) they are here.

Now I just need to figure out how on earth I am going to find time to knit between now and December!

Who needs a wedding....

when you have your very own flour girl.

Who thinks *smiling* includes squinting her eyes like this...

Gardening Can Be Such a Pain in My Rump

Sometimes on the homestead we do things quickly.

Sometimes we do things without the best, most ideal tools.

Sometimes we do the best we can with what we've got and we look away knowing we are doing just fine (even if our ways would not be featured in Better Homes and Gardens).

I'm not sure exactly which of the above or if it was something else but this is how our fence ended up enclosing our garden.  It does a great job at keeping the animals out but....

When one is bending over to pick peas....

And one does not pay attention to how close she is to the fence....

One runs her rump into THIS...

Which results in THIS...

Which results in an injury beneath that hole and folks, I'm sorry but the photography ends here! 

Let's just say when I revealed it to Hubby he said "WOW, that's a big Owie.... and a great reason for why we keep our tetanus shots up to date!!"

LOL

There are few dull moments around this homestead.

Dog Gone Tired

Dog

Gone

note gravity affect on upper lip...lol

Tired!

I'm not.  

I'm doing okay.  

The heat and humidity are trying their hardest to suck away my motivation 

but I'm alright.

Apparently, Maybelle was awake most of the night upset about the thunder, lightening and rain and needs to nap it all off today.

Giggle.

(And a side note:  Photo bucket and I are having an argument about getting a watermark on my photos.  I actually put my blog address on ALL of these but only one copied over.  HMMPPH.  Guess it will have to wait for another day as my blogging time for today is gone.)