Ronald Reagan - "We the People"

 When will "We The People" stand up and say no more. That we are free to prosper or fail. That our liberty is not up for sale in exchange for supposed government benefits. That we will not give our freedom for a little comfort and plausible security.

There is a time to realize that this utopia of socialized everything is nothing but smoke and mirrors. That it is just another fantasy those who want power sell to those who are gullible. Here little girl, if you let me tell you what to do I'll make sure that you never lack food or shelter.

And that is the point. Every time a government has seized power under the guise of socialization two things happen. Those in power become super rich and those of us working grunts become peasants. Socialism and Communism are just a new form of Aristocracy.

Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!

By the Fireside

Ever since I was a little girl I have loved a wood fire. Some of my fondest memories come from the peaceful evenings spent dozing or reading in front of our fireplace as it crackled and let off scented smoke. There is something so comforting and calming about a fire at night. It draws every person in the house to gather round and just gaze at the rapidly changing peaks and valleys.

When we walked into our house to view it one of the first things we saw was the fireplace in the parlor.  My husband was "Sold" from that moment on.  It is the original fireplace dated 1889 on the inside.  It is a copper and cast iron fire grate with tile surround and then tigermaple wood.  I love it!  As often as I can I light a fire in it and just enjoy the sounds and light.

There is nothing I like more than to sit in our parlor next to the small fireplace and drink a good cup of tea or read or knit. My children like it just as much as I do and bring their blankets and pillows and storybooks. Samson the dog and Smokey the cat are frequently found dozing away in front of its glowing embers.  I would rather watch a fire than any t.v. show.

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By an Autumn Fire


Now at our casement the wind is shrilling,
Poignant and keen
And all the great boughs of the pines between
It is harping a lone and hungering strain
To the eldritch weeping of the rain;
And then to the wild, wet valley flying
It is seeking, sighing,
Something lost in the summer olden
When night was silver and day was golden;
But out on the shore the waves are moaning
With ancient and never fulfilled desire,
And the spirits of all the empty spaces,
Of all the dark and haunted places,
With the rain and the wind on their death-white faces,
Come to the lure of our leaping fire.

But we bar them out with this rose-red splendor
From our blithe domain,
And drown the whimper of wind and rain
With undaunted laughter, echoing long,
Cheery old tale and gay old song;
Ours is the joyance of ripe fruition, Attained ambition.
Ours is the treasure of tested loving,
Friendship that needs no further proving;

No more of springtime hopes, sweet and uncertain,
Here we have largess of summer in fee­
Pile high the logs till the flame be leaping,
At bay the chill of the autumn keeping,
While pilgrim-wise, we may go a-reaping
In the fairest meadow of memory!

Lucy Maud Montgomery

Love at Home

One of my top priorities as a wife and mother is to make home a comforting place to come to. I want my home to be a haven from all the cares and stresses of the world. After all we have so much to contend with every day. Our homes should be a place of refuge where you feel safe and loved. So when my children come home from a long day at school I like to have some baked treat and a warm fire waiting for them. When my wonderful husband comes home after a hard day at his very physical job I want him to be able to rest and relax and enjoy his family.

Serving my family this way can be difficult at times when I'm tired or discourage, but when I know that I have blessed them with a loving home it brings such contentment and joy to my heart.

Here's another song from my antique school songs book called

Love at Home

Pretty Pics

Here are some nice pictures of the area around Walla Walla, a hometown of mine.  Walla Walla means many waters and you will know why if you ever go there.  Many little streams flow through the town.  As children my brother and sisters and I would go and play in a nearby one called the YellowHawk and catch crawdads and sail ships all day long.

A walk to where my dad used to take me fishing

A little stream

A pond with lots of ducks

Growing your own fruit in town

I'm a homesteader girl at heart.  My idea of heaven is a cabin up in the woods far away from neighbors and noise. Growing and preserving most of our food ourselves with a cellar brimming with orderly rows of home canned jars.   Reality, however,  means that we must live where we can make money to feed and clothe our brood.  Compromise being the better part of valor and all that.

So when we were looking for our home smack in the middle of a tiny farming town my first priority was making sure it had plenty of space for fruit trees, berries, and a garden with a place for laying hens and meat rabbits thrown in for good measure.  Lo and behold the ideal property came up.  It was perfect in every way.  A solid 1900 Victorian with a full basement for storing canned foods, a garage for the rabbits, and a small brick building for the chickens.  It had a fireplace in the parlor and a wood stove in the living room that would more than adequately heat the house in winter.

The yard was even better, it was sitting on almost an acre of land with large areas ready for a garden and fruits.  My ultimate goal is to raise all the fruits and vegetables we will eat in a year.  Think that's not possible on a lot in town?  Think again, it is absolutely possible!  But it does mean sacrificing the lovely but useless yard of grass that needs constant mowing weeding and fertilizing.

This summer we were only able to put in three raised beds and plant 3 blueberry bushes, two peach trees, a plum tree, an apricot, 5 apples, 3 red raspberries, 3 golden raspberries, 3 black raspberries, 2 elderberries, 9 dewberries, 3 dwarf cherries, 6 grapevines, a strawberry patch, and 2 gooseberries.  I say only because my husband lost his job due and many projects went on hold.  From all of this we will have more than enough food to last year round.  Yes it absolutely takes work, but imagine having your own canned peaches, applesauce, blueberry pie or raspberry jam.  All for pennies on the dollar.  We are a family of 6 and one peach tree will not only feed our family for a full year but two other families as well. Just one apple tree will give us enough fruit for 48 quarts of applesauce for the year.  The other 4 will provide pies, fresh eating, and maybe even cider for our family.  The grapes will go to making jelly and juice.  The raspberries will go to pies, jams, and fresh eating, the apricots and plums will go to jam and syrups.





 We had one patch for winter squash, melons, and summer squash.  In that one spot I grew enough winter squash to get us through at least 4 months for roasting and pie making.  And they didn't even do good this year do to the cold.  We had 3 raised beds and other flower beds that I planted in green beans, tomatoes, peas, cucumbers, carrots, lettuces, greens, eggplant, and beets.  With that we had all our fresh eating veggies for 4 months and I froze and canned enough for another 3.

The berries and small fruits will begin to bear next summer.  The fruit trees will begin to bear well in two to three years.  After that we will be getting bushels and bushels of fruit.  I will be able to can all of our jams jellies, syrups, fruit, for a year and have tons left over for pies, cobblers,  and fresh eating.



I'm planning to build 6 more raised beds next year and planting 2 red currents 2  pear trees and one more plum.  And we will still have a nice sized strip of grass to sit and admire the garden in.  Our property does not look cluttered or gross.  Most of the fruit is planted in such a way as to look landscaped. Our side yard is partial shade all day so it is where we will preserve the grass.  Most fruits need full sun to produce a good harvest with two notable exceptions.  Both gooseberries and currents do best in partial shade.  Not only do they make great jellies and pies but they also form a natural hedge of thorns to discourage unwanted visitors.  I love dual purpose stuff.  So in this dead area  along the fence that most people would ignore I'm going to have the gooseberries and currents.





Not only will this provide our family with organic healthy food, but it will be insurance against hunger if my husband were to loose his job.  I think about all those people who have lost their jobs lately and are running out of unemployment.  What happens when the benefits end?  Having a way to produce your own foods would be a lifesaver.

I also consider food prices going up astronomically.  We are already seeing food inflation, and forecasters are saying it will get much worse.  For our family that would be very bad as we are all ready on a small budget.  The higher food prices go the less things we can buy.

A favorite cookbook

                                   

I love cookbooks that not only inspire you to get into the kitchen but also entertain you at the same time.  How often I have gotten a beautiful cookbook only to let it languish on my shelf unloved and unused.  It's a really outstanding book that entices me to try new recipes. 

One of my favorites is Nigella Lawson's "How To Be a Domestic Goddess".  With a title like that how can you resist?  I think every women longs to be a domestic goddess at some point in her life.  I find Nigellas writing style to be funny and down to earth.  It's like you and her are chatting in her kitchen.  At the same time she gives you a hunger to bake something!  Amazingly (for me) I not only tried several of her recipes, but now they have become family standbys.

I also watch her cooking show whenever I can, she's just so much fun to listen too. Her passion really is evident and the food she cooks is not that painfully perfect dish that may sound good but looks impossible to recreate at home. Something else that I  like about her is that she is unafraid to embrace being a mom not only in her cookbook (theres a whole section on cooking for children) but on her show as well.  She talks about them all the time and even cooks with them on her show.  Her love for them is evident in the way she describes cooking for them.   I have noticed that many women in the media avoid mentioning their children because it may make them seem less sexy or attractive.  Nigella is  totally unconcerned with this and instead reminds me why I'm cooking at all.  To bring joy to my family!  My husband even likes her show which, if you have ever seen a picture of her is totally understandable!



Some of my family's favorites are

Lily's Scones- the best scone recipe ever, my kids love having these with jam and tea after school

Lemon Raspberry Plate Trifle-  just writing about this makes me want to make it again.  A lemony syrup drenched cake sliced and then topped with fresh raspberries and then piled  with rich whipped cream and toasted almonds.  Its so easy to make and looks very fancy when put on a plate.  I make it in the summer when we have friends over or on Sunday after church.

Dense Chocolate Loaf Cake- rich and perfect with a cup of coffee

Lemon Syrup loaf cake- I'm not overly fond of lemon but this moist cake changed my thinking.

Looking through the book again I am finding so many recipes that I want to try or bake again.  Especially with Thanksgiving and Christmas coming.

Canning Applesauce

 

I know the end of the canning year has arrived when I make the applesauce.  This is my last big effort of canning before I retire the kettles and jars until spring and start getting ready for the holidays.  The apples I used this year were Golden Delicious and Rome's.  I generally use a half and half mix of Golden's and Red Delicious but this year could only get the Rome's at a great price.  I paid 25 cents a pound for over 150 lbs of apples.  Half of these were Galas for winter storage in our cold room for fresh eating. Believe it or not you do not have to add sugar to most canned fruits to preserve them.  They already have enough natural sugar, but they will be insipid and tasteless without the sugar.  This is why you are better off making applesauce with sweet eating apples like Golden's or red Delicious.  you can then use very little sugar saving tons of money and making the sauce healthier.  Using a mix of two or more apples will also give the sauce a better flavor.

 

Golden Delicious Apples

 You can see why I am so impatient for my apple trees to start producing and why I planted them in the first place.  If I had an unlimited free supply of apples I would also dry them, can apple pie filling, apple butter, and make apple pies/tarts/bread/fried apples all the time!  And maybe just for fun make cider.  I can expect plenty of fruit from my five trees, but deep down I long for more.

I have now pretty much got canning down to a system.  Each fruit or veggie requires a little bit different processing method so to really get into a rhythm you have to adapt to each food item.  My applesauce system is as follows.

First I put all my jars into the dishwasher with two tablespoons of bleach thrown in for extra sterilizing power and start it.  As long as the jars stay hot after washing they are considered sterile.  Then I fill my big water bath canning kettles and start them heating because they take awhile to get to boiling.

Next I start peeling the apples.  After I get one extra-large full bowl I pour the apples into my big stock pot with two cups water and boil till tender.  Then they go into the blender.  This gives them an extra smooth texture unlike anything you have tried in the store.  Back into the stockpot the sauce goes with one cup organic cane sugar and Cinnamon and nutmeg. Once it boils the sauce is ladled into quart jars, sealed, and then immersed in the now boiling water canner for 20 minutes.  Now the system starts in earnest.

 

 

While one batch is in the water bath I am cooking another batch which takes about 15 minutes to reach tender.  While all that is boiling I am peeling more apples.  In that 20 minutes I am able to fill my big bowl for another batch.  On it goes until I'm done!

 

This morning I canned 27 quarts of applesauce

A New Run for the Chickens

This summer several projects were put on hold due to lack of funding.  Now that things are getting back on track some of our projects are being resumed.  One of the most important is building the laying hens a more spacious run.  The old one we built for them was only supposed to be temporary and is way to small for my taste, although who knows what the chickens think of it. 

First Husband needed to build a privacy fence so that dogs and people cant just walk by and see the chickens running around.  This will help protect the chickens because out of sight is out of mind after all.

Next he built a frame and then attached chain link fencing to the sides and the top to prevent chickens from getting out and other animals from getting in.

Done!  Don't the girls look happy!

This weeks Yardsale Finds

This weeks was another good one for yard sales.  I have been wanting a wicker set for our front porch ever since we moved in.  This is, after all, a Victorian house so one has to have a wicker seating set.  But as I am extremely cheap and underfunded I didn't buy one.  Until this weekend that is!

Good things come to those who wait!  I got this set that has two chairs a loveseat and a table all for $5.00.  It needs repainted and for five more bucks I got enough white spray paint to do it.

I also Got a whole roll of brand new gauzy curtain fabric which will look great in the new girls room that we just made.  That was $2.00

The lady also gave me a whole bag full of brand new zippers fro clothing and a thread organizer for free.

Chicken N Dumplings

When my mom would make chicken and dumplings it was a red letter day for our family.  It is such a homey and comforting food,  filling the house with a heavenly scent as the chicken stewed to make the broth.  There are many forms of this dish across America with variations on the dumplings. For those readers that are not from America let me tell you this is real American food!  The way my mom made it and now I make it is with noodles and dumplings.  The chicken stews all day with bay leaves, celery, carrot, salt, and onion creating a rich broth.  The dumplings are bit and light and fluffy.  I end up making a triple batch for our family because the dumpling is every ones favorite part.  I'm going to have to start making a quadruple batch soon because there are no leftovers of dumplings for lunch the next day.  There is really nothing better on a cold fall night than this soup.

Chicken and Dumplings My Way

I mention in the following recipe additions as you like.   Depending on things in my kitchen I will add stuff here and there.  So if I have a slice of stale bread I add it to thicken and enrich the broth.  You can't tell its there and it uses something that might go to waste.  I do this allot. Also this makes lots of soup, enough to feed 6 people and have leftovers.  You can easily change the proportions to fit your personal needs or tastes.  So if you don't like peas don't add them!

Take one stewing chicken (or another way is to take the carcass of a chicken you roasted the day before with the meat removed and saved for the soup and then add the back pieces from cut up chickens that you saved and froze to make broth.  I always save the back from cut up fryer packages in the store and throw them in a freezer bag until I have enough pieces to make broth with)

Put the chicken into a large stock pot with 8 cups water, 2 tbls salt, two stalks celery, 1 peeled carrot, 2 bay leaves, a good grinding pepper, and a whole onion cut in half.  Extra additions if you like - a cut up ripe tomato or 2 tbls canned diced tomatoes, garlic, a slice stale bread  Also this works fine in a large crock pot on low all day.

 

Simmer on low for 4 to 6 hours or more till chicken falls off the bone.

Remove chicken and veggies and allow to cool on a plate.  Then discard the veggies (or feed to your pigs) and debone the chicken of all meat.  Put back in the broth

In broth add - 2 or 3 carrots peeled and diced, 2 stalks celery sliced, 1 cup corn, 1 cup frozen peas, season to taste with salt or if too salty add a little milk, 2 to 3 cups noodles (more noodles for more people)

  

Bring to a simmer

Now get on with the dumplings.  My recipe comes from my Better Homes and Gardens red and white cookbook.

Dumplings for stew:

Combine 2/3 cup all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/8 teaspoon salt.  ( you can also add dried or fresh herbs to this but I never do)  Combine 1/4 cup milk and 2 tablespoons cooking oil in a separate bowl, pour into flour mixture.  Stir till just combined.  Drop by spoon fulls into slightly simmering broth, too high of a boil makes your dumplings fall apart.  Cover and simmer 10 min or until a wooden toothpick inserted into dumpling comes out clean.  I triple this recipe and it works just fine.

 

Dish into bowls and let cool for a few minutes, then enjoy!

 

Autumn Colors

Autumn

The apples are ripe in the orchard, The work of the reaper is done,

And the golden woodlands redden in the light of the dying sun.

Song from: American School Songs by Hall and McCreary

My favorite season is Autumn.  I love the crispness of the air and the lovely colors that nature showcases.  Around here we don't have the flashy fall colors that the eastern part of the country gets, but we still have our splashes here and there.

My pansies have been going all year and are still flowering.  Since they can take frosts I expect they will continue to brighten my garden until November.

The Changing of the Sheets

The weather has finally turned brisk and there is a crispness in the air that was decidedly lacking for the last month.  We have started making a fire every morning in the wood stove to cut the chill  and the upstairs feels like an icebox in the mornings.  Now that it is finally really fall I got out all the flannel sheets and heavy comforters to  put them on every ones beds.

This ritual began when we were living in Wyoming.  For the first time in our lives we lived in a place where it routinely got down in the teens (that was during warm parts) and stayed firmly below zero for months.  The old farmhouse we lived in had only one source of heat.  It is called a gas box and is just a fancy natural gas fueled space heater.  The downstairs rooms stayed the coldest even though they were closer to the box.  The upstairs stayed much warmer through ambient heat.   What a change of lifestyle this was for us!  For the first time we were really really cold!  Our bedding had been bought with the expectation of central heating.  You flip a switch and the whole house gets warm.  We layered two or three comforters on top of the bed and when walmart put the flannel sheet sets on sale for 10.00 each I bought a set for everyone.  Then I started investing in multiple thick comforters and warm sheet sets.  Most of these I bought at yard sales since that's the best place to find good quality blankets for cheap.  Whenever I see warm flannel nightgowns and pajama pants in good condition at thrift stores or yard sales I snatch them up knowing someone will wear them come winter.  I also have started sewing flannel nightgowns for my daughters because they don't sell the old fashioned kind anymore.

We started to pre plan for winters without central heat. If you are heating with wood or a space heater many of the rooms will be cold.  Flannel sheets and pillow cases instantly turn a cold bed warm and cozy.  Then I top with two comforters and we have a cuddly bed.

Another lifesaver, especially for young children, is the rice bag.  This is a simple cotton bag filled with rice that you warm up in the microwave.  They retain heat for an hour or more depending on the size and can be put into a cold bed to warm it before bed.  We used to have a whole winter bedtime routine.  Right before bedtime I would heat up the rice bags and put them in the kids beds.  Then we go potty, read stories, pray, and have a lullaby song.  By the time we get them into bed it is toasty warm.  Kisses and then lights out!  My kids love their rice bags and frequently request them in cold weather.  I made each child their own bag with a fleece slipcover that I put on after heating.  It took me maybe a half hour start to finish to make every person in our house their own.  These are great for upset tummies and sore muscles too.  I going to try to warm these up with my wood stove and see how to make it work.

Smokey- Dogs have families, Cats have servants

Smokey is our male cat that we found last spring.  He was still a kitten and wandering around. He had obviously been sleeping under a car because he had motor oil on him and was starving.  I told the kids that we would try to find him a home.  Now most people who know me would laugh at this because I am a notorious sucker for anything furry.  It's only through strength of will that my husband has been able to restrain my compulsion for bringing animals home.  As a child my parents became inured to finding stray animals at home when they got off work.  "But he/she followed me home, please can we keep it!"  Was my anguished cry.  Actually I usually carried or tempted the animal home.

I like cats, there's something about their attitude and orneriness that is fun.  There is nothing like getting a cat all worked up and excited.  Smokey is not only a beautiful cat but he is a wonder with children.  He likes to rough house with us but with our two year old he never bites or scratches.  Even when the two year old deserves it!

Here is a funny joke, and with the way my cat looks at me sometimes I have to wonder!

Born To Work

What we do without little boys? They can be so funny and sweet but at the same time incredibly destructive.I was totally unprepared for boyness when I gave birth to our first son.  I had been raised only among girls and my first born child was a girl who even at an early age loved to organize and clean.  It was quite a culture shock when our son came along.  From the time he could crawl his main goal was to discover and then DESTROY! At first I kept thinking "Whats wrong with this kid?", but after awhile I realized that was just the wonder of boys.

My youngest son just turned 2 in May and has lived up to and beyond his brothers example.  He can be so sweet with his chubby cheeks and sweet kisses. But at the same time he is stubborn and ingrained with a viking type personality.  Pillage and conquer is his outlook on life when left to himself.  After the experiences with his older brother I have found that what most boys (and girls) need is not video games or a new toy but a JOB.  They need something to do to focus all that wonderful energy on.  Even at the age of two a child is intelligent enough to complete simple tasks.  Maybe not as well as an adult can but well enough to occupy their time and help out a little.

It's amazing to watch the change come over a little dervish when you ask if they can help you do a job.  Those little faces light up and they joyously cry, me help you mommy!  Favorite chores in our house is emptying the dryer, carrying in firewood, wiping off the chairs and table, cleaning the walls and floors with hot soapy water, and helping Mommy cook any kind of food.  God truly created us to work and children can take the most mundane chore and seem to love it.

Boys especially need jobs to feel useful and like they are contributing.  When I give my boys a job I notice an immediate change in their attitude.  They are more cheerful and loving and so very proud of the job they have done.  After all we all want to feel like we are accomplishing something important in life.  The people who are the most discouraged in life are those that feel that what they are doing is pointless or useless.  Why should children be any different? There is nothing my boys love more than to have Daddy invite them into the garage to help with some task.

Here is youngest son "fixing" older sisters bike

Helping Daddy split kindling

Green Tomatoes

As usual I have a glut of green tomatoes squatting on my plants.  It's almost like they were taunting me because I know that they will never turn red before the frosts get them.  It's frustrating because this year has been terrible for my tomatoes.  The spring was unseasonably cold up until June and then it went straight to 90 degree weather.  So I got only 10 ripe tomatoes this year.  And yet here are dozens of big beautiful green ones on the plants just a week away from red deliciousness if it were only warm enough. 

Yesterday a hard frost was predicted for our area so I went out and pulled all our tomato plants and then harvested every good sized green tomato I could find.  I decided I didn't want to bother with the whole covering up the plants every night in the hopes of getting a few red ones.  Also I detest pulling tomato plants that have been frosted on.  Not only do they turn disgustingly slimy and gross, but they also seem to be considered some sort of gastronomic delicacy to wasps.  So while your handling the slimy vines you also are being attacked by stinging insects.  In my life its just easier to pull them up and throw them in the truck bed to take them to the dump.

After that I brought them all inside I went through and weeded out any damaged ones and wiped off all the good ones I carried them down to the basement and put them in a single layer to slowly ripen.  

Green tomatoes don't need sunlight to ripen (contrary to popular belief) and actually do better if ripened slowly in a dark well ventilated room like a basement.  I got the instructions on what to do from my much loved and useful book The Encyclopedia of Country Living.  There is of course a whole section on what to do with green tomatoes and recipe ideas.  With luck we will still be eating tomatoes into November.

A Christ, marriage, child, and family affirming blog

I have just been reading through the most amazing blog and I have to recommend it.  It is called

Life at Providence Lodge 

Just reading this ladies posts bring tears of joy and thankfulness to my eyes.  She remindes us that our most important focus should be on Christ and then our families.  Her encouragement to mothers comes at a time in my life when I so need it. 

http://providencelodge.blogspot.com/

Why I love Yardsales

I love and I mean absolutely love yard sales.  It's not just the fact that it's practically the only way I can get affordable nice things for our home.  It's also the thrill of the hunt, the possible great finds that you can get, the challenge of haggling with someone over the price.   It's my own form of entertainment.

This week was the best yard sales ever.  A town nearby was having a community wide yard sale weekend. I went with the kids and this is what I found.

Two.. Count them TWO! Hand wheat grinders that actually work!  I have been looking for these for years but could never afford them.  Purchase price?  $1.00 for both.  I am not joking, the husband collected wheat grinders for some reason and the wife just wanted to get rid of them.  These are heavy duty cast iron with stainless steel hoppers and the adjustable stones for grinding different types and coarseness of grains.  I looked them up on the Internet and they are antiques that sell for 60-80 dollars each!  I'm not selling though :)

Then I found a CB home base radio that is also a working antique.  I offered two bucks thinking I would get turned down but the lady said SOLD!  My husband who is a CB aficionado said I did good.

A beautiful Christmas tablecloth with six matching napkins.  2.00

An 18 piece set of correll ware that matches the set I already have.  5.00

Toys for my son.  Husband informed me these are incredibly expensive GI Joe's.  He loves these and they are in amazing condition. Including two other bigger ones  for Christmas 7.00

Smokey the Cat vs. Samson the Dog - Who will prevail?

Our cat Smokey loves to wrestle with Sampson and even goes over and instigates a match.  It's pretty funny to watch because Samson is so gentle with the cat.

New Books for my Library

Here are two books I found at our local country store for only $5.00 each.  They both have great color photographs for better identification.  We already found 4 plants growing in our garden that are wild foods!  I'm very excited about these because I've been wanting a mushroom and wild food guide forever.

Pumpkins Galore!

Pumpkins for breakfast

Pumpkins at noon

                                                                   Were it not for pumpkin
                                                                     We'd all be undoon.

An early American colony rhyme, indicating how dependant the colonists were on pumpkin.  Many times they would eat it three meals a day.

I don't know why I love pumpkins.  Maybe it's because they are so low maintenance.  To me they are the symbol of a plentiful harvest and autumn.  Above is Youngest Daughter with the 3 big max pumpkins.

These are the heirloom variety Amish Sugar Pie that I got from Baker Creek Heirlooms.  They are small and sweet and used for making pies.

These are the Connecticut Field Variety that can be used both as a carving pumpkin or for eating.

These are the Big Max pumpkins and I'm told they arn't good for eating.