Let the Canning Season Begin!

Canning season is in full swing around here...

The blow picture is the average pick that Jonathan brings in from the garden - he picks at least once a week - usually every other day. As you can see we have been over run with cucumbers - which I love! So far I have made two batches of sweet pickles, a batch of lime pickles, two batches of bread and butter pickles, two batches of Clausen dill pickles (knock off recipe from food.com), strawberry lemonade concentrate, and salsa. I'm so excited because our first tomatoes finally turned red and we were able to pull them off the vine last night. Might I say DIVINE!! I had to do something with them, so I whipped up a batch of salsa last night and it was pretty good, but I'm ready for the rest of the tomatoes to come in so I can try other types of salsa, canned tomatoes, pizza sauce, spaghetti sauce, and the like.

I have been making sweet pickles for several years now and this year is no different. It's an easy recipe and I love the end effect. They are so delicious to eat by themselves, on hamburgers, or my favorite - in chicken salad.

 The first 14 days is very easy - cut up all the pickles, boil 11 cups of water with 1 cup of non-iodized salt, allow to cool and pore over pickles - let sit for 14 days.

After they reach 14 days, I wash the pickles, taking off the mold on top along with getting rid of any pickles that are too soft to continue working with and any that got mold on them.  I then proceed to wash the rest of the pickles, put them back in the jar, add 1 T of Alum, and cover with water.  For the following three days, (after emptying the Alum water after 24 hours) I add three cups of sugar each day, then proceed canning in a water bath as normal.  Super easy and so worth the effort!

This is the first year I made bread and butter pickles.  These are FANTASTIC!! I got them off a website * I can't remember which one, but I love them!  I think this is my new favorite pickle.  It only made a small batch, so I had to go ahead and make another full batch to get us through until next summer.  

 Another pickle I tried this year for the first time is a Lime Pickle.  I got the recipe from the Blake's when we lived in Martin.  I can't wait to try them.  It made a huge batch - That is a 2 gallon container full of cucumber's and covered with lime water.  They were easy to make as well :).

 After sitting overnight in the lime water, I cleaned them really well, added them to the pot, made the brine, and then canned them. Easy as Pie!

 I have always put my pots in a water bath before filling them, but it makes a mess and I always seem to burn myself, so when I found this handy tip, I used it the entire time I was pickling and I LOVE this concept - I just take all my jars and put them in the oven at 200 for about 10 minutes, and then it's ready to fill.  So much easier than dealing with the water more than needed.  I still put my tops in the pot with really hot water, but this is an awesome way to do the jars.

 Water Bath time :)

 This was my second batch of sweet and sour pickles.  They are so yummy!

 This is my pantry - well on my way to filling it up and having us ready for the year :)

I know that putting up food is not for everyone, and honestly I have never put so much up as I have this year - but if the Lord is blessing us with a garden that is so full, I should be utilizing it and taking every effort to save us money for the winter months.  So far I have put up about 80 ears of corn from our garden this year - I freeze this, along with squash, zucchini, blackberries, green beans, green peppers, and I am even trying to batter the squash, zucchini, and okra to try frying this winter.  We shall see how it goes!  My goal this winter is to eat our veggies that I have put up for the winter and purchase as little/no fresh produce that we have grown in our garden.

Wild Blackberries

We went blackberry picking last Friday.  I had enough to put up 12 cups for cobblers this winter, along with making blackberry tea, and eating our weight in them.

This was my pick for the day

Beautiful wild blackberries

It was so hot.  I picked, but Tucker was NOT a fan.  I had to pick quick or hold him because he hated it.

Wild blackberries have a ton of thorns, so next time I'll make sure to bring gloves, and I'll go early in the morning before it gets too hot, but it was so worth it because they are divine!

Chicks, Pullets, and Chickens Galore!

This city girl has turned country quickly!  In the past 4 1/2 years of marriage, I have slowly adapted more and more to the country life and I LOVE IT!  Since having Tucker I have pretty much turned to as much organic produce we can afford - including organic eggs.  Tucker eats 3 eggs every morning for breakfast along with some piece of fruit, so we have been going through two dozen eggs a week.  I had been asking Jonathan about chickens and his thoughts on getting some for a while, but he kept saying that he wasn't really feeling it yet.   

Well....we had some friends over a few weeks ago - Tyson and Charity.  Tyson and Jonathan went to college together and he has been raising chickens since he was 5 years old.  We got on the subject about it and really talked about them and we asked him several of the questions we had about them.  I thought that was the end of it and didn't pursue it, but two weeks later, we now have 4 chickens, 4 pullets, and Tyson is hatching out chickens for us as I type!  I can't tell you how excited I am about this venture.  Not only am I excited, but Tucker LOVES them.  He almost squeezed the life out of one at Tyson and Charity's last weekend.  He is so fascinated with them.  I can't wait for him to get better so he can play with them.  He doesn't even know we have gotten them all yet, but I know he will be so thrilled.  The pullets are Light Brahmas and they seem to lay about 200 eggs per year.

Headed to see the chicks!

He caught a chicken and was holding him.  He was so proud.

We finally have pullets home - with their food and water. 

We have 3 chickens and 1 rooster

We think these are about two months and will start laying eggs around 6 months

Our Pullets will look like this when they are grown - this is a Light Brahma

Yesterday we also purchased 4 chickens.  They are really pretty.  This morning I went out and saw an egg already!  These chickens are black australorpp.  They are known for laying an average of 350 eggs per year!  That's incredible!!!! 

Poor little man

Our little man has been a little under the weather the last two days.  Sunday he woke up with a 100.2 fever.  I didn't think we should take him to church because I wouldn't want someone else bringing their little one to Tucker's class, and boy was I glad.  He slept for most of the day, but after his second nap he woke up and was burning up.  I checked his temp and it was 104.7.  I have never seen his temp climb above 103 so I was a bit crazy freaking out.  We gave him a bath and tried to get it down, giving him Tylenol, and it finally went down.  The rest of the day he was really mellow and just laid around.  He went to bed and had the worst little night mare I've ever seen.  I'm afraid it might have been a bit of a hallucination because he was not jumping on the crib when I got there like normal, but was stretching his arms out from his body, not reaching for me.  I snatched him up and it took us about 15 minutes to get him calm - he kept looking around and crying again like something was in the room with us and he was so petrified.  I hate seeing him like that.  I took him to the Chiropractor first thing Monday morning and he said to just keep doing what I was doing.  I really do trust my Chiropractor, and he is really good with him, but I had a mamma's intuition that said I should go on to his pediatrician as well, so I did.  I'm so glad we did because his fever was between 103-105 all day and he had tonsillitis. The doctor said it was either viral or strep.  He came back in and said it was strep - much to his surprise.  He said it's not common for children this young to end up with strep and tried to figure out where in the world he could have gotten it.  Apparently if someone is a carrier of strep (his mamma), then if they get it they can give it to someone if they drink or eat after each other.  I don't feel bad at all, but apparently I must have had it.  We made the decision for him to get a shot, so I honestly thought that his temperature would quickly go back down, but it was at 105 until almost bedtime on Monday night.  Poor baby was so pitiful. I'm praying he feels better tomorrow after his shot.

Sunday he wasn't feeling great, but he was still up for hanging out and watching a little TV with daddy.

Poor boy in the doctor's office.

So sweet!

Update:  The shot was the best idea we had.  He has taken 4 naps so far today, but is his sweet perky little self again.  I think by Thursday we will be back to normal!

Happy Father's Day Baby!

This is our first year to actually celebrate father's day.  Last year one of Jonathan's best friends got married on father's day so he was busy with wedding festivities and then we also traveled home that day.

I am constantly telling Jonathan how thankful that I am for him sacrificing and working so hard so that I can stay home to take care of Tucker.  It is hard because sometimes I feel like a single mom - especially when he is in school and we don't see him at all on Monday's or Wednesday's, but I am always reminded of the many blessings the Lord has provided for us, and cherish the time that we get together.

Jonathan is such a hard working man and I'm so unbelievably thankful for his willingness and ability to work hard at his job and at home.  We purchased our home almost two years ago, but it was a foreclosure, so it was no cake walk to get into it before Tucker arrived, and he has worked so hard at making sure our home is taken care of inside, and has now started working on the outside.  We have almost 7 acres, so there is a lot of upkeep to it, but also it needs a lot of TLC besides just the cutting grass and bush hogging.  Thank you babe for working so hard on so many levels - not just on work and our home, but also on being a Godly husband and father.  You're my super hero and Tucker's!

Play date with Sawyer

Today we had a play date with my friend Brittany and her little boy Sawyer.  Sawyer is about 2 1/2 months older than Tucker.  They had so much fun playing in the pool and on the play ground.  So glad we did it and can't wait to do it again!

   

Tucker went down the slide by himself for the first time, Sawyer was chillin in the pool.

Crazy Busy Weekend

This past week was VBS at our church.  I helped out a few girls in our Sunday School class and did the crafts for a first grade class.  It was so much fun, but also super tiring!  On Friday night we went to a surprise birthday party for David at Bethany's house.  She did such a great job getting all his friends there before he arrived and really surprised him.  Unfortunately I didn't get any photos of the night, but Tucker had a great time swimming with his daddy and Uncle David.  He also played a little with Ivey, Bethany's niece.  It was a great time all around.

On Saturday we went to the lake, once again to celebrate David's birthday.  It was an interesting day to say the least!  So we were supposed to leave and head to the lake at 9 on Saturday morning, so we called about 9:15 to see if they had left yet because we hadn't heard anything, and they couldn't get the boat to start.  We had decided to garage sale a little in Oakland, and we thought we should head on in to help, and then over half way there they called to say that it was ready, so we turned around and headed on to the lake.  Right before we got to Lexington we had to stop quickly for the person in front of us and my phone fell in the water.  I shook it out for about 5 minutes and it turned itself off.  We just knew it was shot, but fortunately it wasn't!  We stopped in Lexington at Wal-mart to get crickets so Jonathan could fish and rice to put my phone in while we were on the lake, and then headed on to Pin Oak. We got there and realized we had somehow left our lake bag on the counter at home.  This meant we left Tucker's life jacket, float for the water, sun screen, swim diapers, change of clothes...EVERYTHING!!!  So Jonathan had to go BACK to Lexington and get another life jacket AND swim float.  Once he finally got back we ate lunch and had a great rest of the day.  Here are a few photos from the day.  We had a blast! 

Pole in one hand, cracker in the other - priorities!

Tucker's Times

Know you have been warned - This is a little of everything from the last few weeks, but I don't want to forget anything or miss any of the pictures that I've taken and want to remember.  :)

This week has been a little laid back, but we've had a little fun mixed in as well.  Wednesday we went to the Bellevue Play Ground and let Tucker play.  We met Jonathan and played for about an hour.  He had the best time running around and going up and down the stairs, across the bridge, and under everything.  Here's a photo to show all his enjoyment of the day.

Playing hard at the playground at Bellevue.

This was a photo from Memorial Day that I left out the day before.

Jonathan has been promising me for several months that he would come up with a way to make me a strap for my camera.  We got to looking at it and decided that it might be cool to just do it on top of my current strap.  I really like it - he did a great job.

A few weeks back Tucker helped daddy and papaw lay mulch at papaw's house.  He decided that he wanted to help and ran into the house and got his shovel.  So cute!  The shovel lasted about 5 minutes and then he realized that he could get more moved by picking it up with his hand and throw the mulch - so this ensued for the rest of the time.  He was covered in mulch from head to toe by the end of it, but he had the best time.

 Sweet boy excited one day that we were riding in the car.  He is getting so big!

Strawberry Picking - Take 3

We have now been strawberry picking three times.  The first time we picked I only came home with 3.5 pounds of strawberries, which was not enough, so my friend Lucy, Tucker, and I all went back and I came home with 9.25 pounds.  I thought that would be enough, and I was happy with it, but it wasn't, so we went back today - Lucy, Kassie, Tucker, and I.  It was the best picking we have had so far.  They had SO many strawberries.  It was awesome!  I came home with 8.5 pounds, and I have been making strawberry lemonade concentrate all afternoon. :)

We stopped at Backermann's Bakery in Whiteville on our way back from picking.  They have some of the yummiest home baked bread you've ever had in your life.  It's awesome!  If you are ever in the area, you've got to stop by.  

Our buckets were getting full

The Goats got out while we were there.  As long as they don't get in the strawberries they let them graze.  Tucker was fascinated by them.

Tucker and Lucy hard at work picking strawberries.  Tucker kept picking huge berries and bringing them to me to put in the bucket.  He did a great job.

Tucker helped me cook a few days ago - he loves to stand up and stir or just play with all the utensils.  I love how much he get into making a mess - no matter what it is.

Climbed into his rocking chair and read the book to himself.  So sweet

 The other day Jonathan was working on getting our upstairs air conditioning unit set up and had his cart from his work van out to haul his tools.  He got underneath and played on it.

 True Story - Tucker will ONLY eat the strawberries that we have picked.  He won't touch the strawberries that I buy at the store.  I'm not sure how he can tell the difference, but it's crazy how he knows.

Hey guys I love these picked strawberries - you've been holding out on me!

 Our first pickings from the garden this year - this was last week.  Jonathan got our garden in the last week of March and we already have produce!  So yummy.  We have never done broccoli before, and I truly think it was the best I've ever had.  I told him that we will have to do it at the correct time next year (Feb), and plant plenty of broccoli, cauliflower, and snap peas!

I stopped at a garage sale last weekend that had a vacuum cleaner.  I've been looking for one because he is not a fan of our vacuum, unless he is trying to take it apart, but he likes this so much!

I saw this idea on pinterest and thought it would be fun to try and see what Tucker thought about it, but to be honest he had too much trouble to get it out of the small parts, so I ended up just dumping it out, but it was worth trying. :)