Earlier this month, I had my first photo shoot for my etsy site. It was so exciting for me...I had amassed several vintage coats that I really needed an expert to photograph. Cue in Kelly B., who had once offered to help me with etsy pics when I first launched my site.
What a treat this was. Here is Kelly's blog post on the shoot. You can check out the coats in my etsy store. My sister is a trooper and turned out to be an incredible model for the feel we wanted.
http://www.hopskipphotography.com/blog/post/2011/10/24/Vintage-Style.aspx
Monday, October 24, 2011
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Furnace is On
No hidden meaning there.
We just have the heat on regularly now as the days and nights are becoming colder. I love curling into my warm bed for quiet time. It's nice having a husband whose body temperature always feels a good 10 degrees warmer than mine (he "loves" having my ice cold feet against his calves). I almost phrased this: "It's great having a hot husband" but think that may be misconstrued.
Our Tuesday morning Bible study was cancelled so I think we will drive to Menards for some furnace filters, maybe stop by my sister's house. Last night I made some more marinara sauce in the crock pot and the smell was so savory good in the house on this cold morning. We canned 12 large jars of pomegranate and plum jam on Sunday night. Our deep freeze is crammed full of jelly:
My parent's freezer is stocked with some of the jars as well as our upstairs freezer. Thank goodness I bought all that pectin at Meijer when it was 48 cents per packet. (Some of this is pesto, marinara, salsa and apple butter). Almost 100% of the organic fruit was gifted to me before it was dumped into compost. All the canning has made me appreciate the modern conveniences we are blessed to have. It blows my mind to think about how much work it was for a family to put dinner on the table back in the pioneer days. Harvest time has a nice ring to it when you see the pretty Indian corn & pumpkins, but harvest used to equal grueling work, work that was completely necessary for survival.
God has been teaching me so many things in this season. This week has been a challenge in many ways....learning to lean on Him and not keep "taking back" and having a pity party over all the burdens that He has lifted from my hands.
We just have the heat on regularly now as the days and nights are becoming colder. I love curling into my warm bed for quiet time. It's nice having a husband whose body temperature always feels a good 10 degrees warmer than mine (he "loves" having my ice cold feet against his calves). I almost phrased this: "It's great having a hot husband" but think that may be misconstrued.
Our Tuesday morning Bible study was cancelled so I think we will drive to Menards for some furnace filters, maybe stop by my sister's house. Last night I made some more marinara sauce in the crock pot and the smell was so savory good in the house on this cold morning. We canned 12 large jars of pomegranate and plum jam on Sunday night. Our deep freeze is crammed full of jelly:
My parent's freezer is stocked with some of the jars as well as our upstairs freezer. Thank goodness I bought all that pectin at Meijer when it was 48 cents per packet. (Some of this is pesto, marinara, salsa and apple butter). Almost 100% of the organic fruit was gifted to me before it was dumped into compost. All the canning has made me appreciate the modern conveniences we are blessed to have. It blows my mind to think about how much work it was for a family to put dinner on the table back in the pioneer days. Harvest time has a nice ring to it when you see the pretty Indian corn & pumpkins, but harvest used to equal grueling work, work that was completely necessary for survival.
God has been teaching me so many things in this season. This week has been a challenge in many ways....learning to lean on Him and not keep "taking back" and having a pity party over all the burdens that He has lifted from my hands.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Beautiful Fall
The month of October has been so beautiful here in the Midwest. Since there hasn't been many windy days, the trees are full of leaves. Some are still green but many have changed to flaming reds, gold, orange and purple. This fall is possibly one of the most gorgeous I have ever seen.
This fall has also found me very busy (mostly in the kitchen). We have been blessed to receive a huge amount of organic produce that likely would have been composted or thrown away. When I bring it home, I know that I need to get busy prepping it within a few hours-it is that ripe. My parents came to dinner last night and after we ate my mom helped me make plum and raspberry jam. We invented a new recipe and it is delicious. Our yield was 3 pints and 5 quarts. We also chopped apples (unpeeled) for the crock pots. They were soft and cooked down today, so I ran them through the Foley food mill and made unsweetened sauce. That sauce is now reducing so I can have apple butter for fall baking. My mom is an excellent cook and she is always so helpful to keep my kitchen tidy.
Today I made more jam from 3 bags of organic grapes (green, red & black) that were on their way to becoming wine. I added some plums that were soft, too. I got about 4 1/2 quarts total and brought some to the neighbor's home. The salsa just finished and I popped it into the fridge to chill. The result of making salsa, apple butter & jam at one time is that your house smells oddly wonderful. A little garlicky, a little plummy.
The boys (and E) and dozing off on the couch right now and I need to go take a shower. God is so gracious and good to our family.
This fall has also found me very busy (mostly in the kitchen). We have been blessed to receive a huge amount of organic produce that likely would have been composted or thrown away. When I bring it home, I know that I need to get busy prepping it within a few hours-it is that ripe. My parents came to dinner last night and after we ate my mom helped me make plum and raspberry jam. We invented a new recipe and it is delicious. Our yield was 3 pints and 5 quarts. We also chopped apples (unpeeled) for the crock pots. They were soft and cooked down today, so I ran them through the Foley food mill and made unsweetened sauce. That sauce is now reducing so I can have apple butter for fall baking. My mom is an excellent cook and she is always so helpful to keep my kitchen tidy.
Today I made more jam from 3 bags of organic grapes (green, red & black) that were on their way to becoming wine. I added some plums that were soft, too. I got about 4 1/2 quarts total and brought some to the neighbor's home. The salsa just finished and I popped it into the fridge to chill. The result of making salsa, apple butter & jam at one time is that your house smells oddly wonderful. A little garlicky, a little plummy.
The boys (and E) and dozing off on the couch right now and I need to go take a shower. God is so gracious and good to our family.