Farm Life

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And time moves on…..

Our last couple of weeks have been swamped with things going on.  Not only did we wind down Awana and our homeschool co-op classes for the year, but we also threw in VBS last week!  Whew!!  What a whirlwind that always is, but we always look forward to it and enjoy it immensely.  By the end of the week, we are also looking forward to a break once again. 

 

Now, we are in the middle of getting our two girls ready to head off to Awana camp on Saturday.  It’s hard to believe that it’s already time for camp again.  It just seems like last years camp ended only a couple of months ago.  And, just like last year, we have spent the last 3 days shopping around trying to find all of the clothes that my girls need.  We have an extremely hard time finding shorts each year for them to wear because, not only do we dress modestly (shorts have to be within a few inches of the knee), but the camp requires it, too (Yay, Awana!!  Thank you!!)  But, it makes clothes shopping hard.  But, just like last year, God led us to the appropriate stores and we managed to find shorts that are very pleasing.  Then, we having the bathing suit issues.  I’m not even going to get started there.  But, suffice to say, we managed to find them, as well.  They cover EVERYTHING that needs to be covered and both parents and children are happy!  One thing I have learned this year is that the tankinis cover WAY more than a one piece ever thought about covering!  Who knew?!  The top is similar to a halter top style but comes up plenty high enough on the chest and back, and the bottoms resemble a normal swim suit bottom but have a little skirt over top, which makes them resemble boy shorts with a little length!  How cool is that!  AND, they more than meet in the middle so that no skin is exposed that does not need to be exposed. 

 

Other than my stressing over shopping (which I detest, by the way), I have also been playing with another new love in my life:

 

Oh my!  This is one of those purchases that I wish I had made many years ago!  Unfortunately, it came during the week of VBS, but I still managed to get in some “play time” with it!  So far, I have dehydrated mushrooms, bananas, strawberries, apples, zucchini chips, herbs, and bell peppers!!  They have all turned out amazingly well!  I’m excited to be able to use these new foods in future dishes, plus all the space & food savings that I’m going to benefit from it!  It’s so nice to be able to save my freezer space for things like meat, some fruits/veggies, cheeses,  & broth.  Yes, I know I can pressure can my chicken broth, but I just haven’t had the time, so it’s nice to have that option. 

 

So, now you know what I’ve been up to for the last few weeks.  Hopefully, things will settle back down and I’ll be able to post on a more regular basis again.  Pics will be coming soon of all the lovely things that I’ve dehydrated!  I’m sure you’d like a peek at them, wouldn’t you?

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Where I’ve been…

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Wow!  I can’t believe it’s been almost 2 months since my last blog post.  To say that life has been crazy busy would be an understatement. With the official coming of spring, it seemed like even our busy lives took on a whole new meaning.  Even with spring break thrown in, it seemed like we never really slowed down.  With that being said, I had decided to allow myself a short hiatus from blogging.  Little did I know that I would “disappear” for almost 2 months.  But, I really needed the break, and I’m so glad that I have the freedom to take that break when I feel that it is necessary. 

So, I’m back! And I hope to be back to making regular blog posts again.  They still may be a bit scattered, but I’m going to shoot for about 3 to 4 a week!  That should be easy enough since I have LOTS to share with you!  There have been some interesting things going on at My Country Haven, so stay tuned to find out what my family & I have been up to!

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Tuesday’s Ramblings

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OK , so I just thought that the sickness bug was leaving our home.  It seems to have my sweet husband in its grip & doesn’t want to fully let go. Poor thing.  He’s being a real trooper though.  Hoping today shows much improvement for him in that he’s feeling significantly better.   I know it makes for long days when you’re trying to do your job & you’re sick, & it’s even longer when your job means attending classes while you’re still not feeling up to par.  Thankfully, he’s able to come home & rest, for the most part. 
I don’t know about you, but I’ve been so glad to have really nice days with lots of sunshine & good breezes blowing.  I’ve taken full advantage of being able to hang my clothes out to dry again!  Brian laughs at me when I’m snuggling down in bed after the sheets have been hung outside that day & are now on the bed with that fresh, clean smell.  Our short conversation goes something like this:
me: (sheets up to nose & smelling that sweet smell)  Do you smell that?
Brian:  What?
me:  Sunshine?
Brian:  What does sunshine smell like?
me:  This!  (showing him the sheet)
Brian:  LOL  Oh! (big smile on his face)
It’s the little things in life that you love & appreciate the most, ya know?  And you don’t realize how much you miss them until you have them again.  Oh, how I wish I could bottle that scent.  To me, that is what clean is!  That wonderful smell you get when your laundry has been dried by the gentle breeze provided by the Almighty God!
Another reason that I am so glad that spring is just right around the corner is that it has come to that time of the year when I really start itching to get my hands (& feet – lol) dirty.  This past weekend would have been the perfect weekend to get the garden turned, but with my poor hubby sick, that had to be put on hold and will hopefully be done by this weekend.  I’ve been getting lots of seed catalogs in the mail and am in the process of laying out plans for my garden once again.  I’m really praying that this year’s garden will actually do something since the last 2 years have been failures due to the crazy weather. 
With grocery prices on the up again, I’m definitely wanting to try to get my garden in early enough that I can have a decent spring planting of lettuce, peas, broccoli, etc.  as well as get it ready for the summer produce.  With me not working now, this will really help to stretch our grocery budget even further.   Plus, I plan to can move than ever this year.  I want to put up as much as I can this year to help our grocery budget during the months when I can’t have a garden.  Not only does it help to save money, but it’s also healthier for us because I know what has NOT been put on our food that we are eating.
Another thing that I plan to take full advantage of this year is the farmer’s market. It’ll be a bit of a drive for me, but I plan to take full advantage of the local produce this year.  My goal is to not only make our money stretch as far as it can, but to also feed us using more fresh & local ingredients while they are in season.
God has so richly blessed our decision for me to finally quit working & becoming a full time homemaker that I am trying to make sure that I am honoring Him in all that I do.  This is such a wonderful privilege & blessing that I never want to take it for granted.   Brian & I want our home to be a place of honor & worship for our Lord, as well as a place of peace & happiness for our family.   I know we fall short a lot of the time, but I am so very thankful that He forgives & lets us (me) start anew each & every day (sometimes many times a day, lol).