The Help

Really, none of this would have been possible without the slave labor.  

                                                  

                                                They are really amazing kids, these.

                                    And one more because his fat little face is so funny:

Fat Barns Full

Oh!  Here he goes!

He got it!  The little tomato snatcher!

I have always enjoyed reading the accounts of people living during the Great Depression.  It is fascinating to hear their stories; their tenacity in times of trouble is inspiring.  One thing always puzzled me though...  I have always wondered why, when so many people were hungry and needy, farmers dumped milk and ruined crops.  How could they DO that when the nation went hungry?  It baffled and shocked me.  I NEVER thought I would live to see the day that it would happen again.

But here we are in 2020 with Farmers dumping milk in fields and manure lagoons.  Perfectly good vegetables being plowed under or buried.  Eggs destroyed. Pigs, cows and chickens slaughtered instead of sold.  

And plenty of people are hungry.

I really can't fathom the tragedy of these losses.  Even more so, the tragedy of the losses to come because of these losses.

The supply chain will certainly be smaller and if these items are in short supply they either won't be accessible for people to buy at all OR they will be too expensive to buy (at least for us).  It's simple supply/demand.  I feel certain that these things cannot happen without dire consequences.  

I feel certain that many of the things happening today cannot happen without dire consequences.

The Lord provides, it's true.  One of the things He provides is the wisdom and strength to prepare and load up those barns.  

I was inspired recently by this sermon:  

Go to the ant, O sluggard;
consider her ways, and be wise.
Without having any chief,
officer, or ruler,
she prepares her bread in summer
and gathers her food in harvest.
How long will you lie there, O sluggard?
When will you arise from your sleep?
A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest,
and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
and want like an armed man.

B. Merkle speaks about how the common interpretation of that verse is to 'be a hard worker like the ant' but in fact... the wise thing that we ought to consider about her ways is not necessarily her 'hard work' but what comes after that verse: Without having anyone tell her what to do, she prepares and gathers and sets about with the work set before her.  

I don't know.  That struck me as quite profound.  

And so, like Joseph, I am looking at how best to utilize these fat months for the inevitable lean times to come.  And how to insulate us as best as possible for the possibility of hard times ahead.

And all the while, I look at these overwhelming bowls and buckets that have been lining my porch all summer and am just overcome by the goodness of these gifts.  I am ever so grateful for such a productive garden this year- and the strength to tend it.

Jammin'

Jammin' with Uncle Jonathan and Aunt Mary.  We love their visits!!  

They are the coolest: Aunt Mary can even jump in bubbles!

Sometimes All you Need is a Little Pick Me Up

 

In the midst of covid, shut downs, stress, store closures, empty grocery stores, and it being impossible to find toilet paper~ one of my dear, dear friends had a terrible, no-good, awful week with TWO of her children breaking bones in the SAME WEEK.  

It was all TOO MUCH!

So we had them over for lunch and made it a bit of a party to help give them a little pick me up.

(The PEANUT theme is a bit of an inside joke with the children and doesn't make sense outside of their relationships.  In fact, it really doesn't even make sense INSIDE of their relationship, come to think of it!)

As Corynns' sign says, sometimes all we need is a little pick me up.

Rebels, together. 18 years.

 18 years ago, despite the urging of Very.Important.People not to marry me, this man did.  What a rebel!

I spent the day of our anniversary looking forward to going on a date and out to eat (!!!) for the first time in almost a year.  Despite getting to the restaurant at the minute it opened and it being entirely empty, they refused to seat us without wearing a worthless mask to walk 6 feet to an empty table in an (again) empty restaurant.  Which is total and absolute malarky.

Taking part in malarky is not what I am about so.....

we left and happily gave our money to a roadside stand that was happy to treat us like people and sell us chicken and pork (sans mask).  We ate it at a park- with a nicer view than the restaurant anyway.  

What rebels we are!!

Thanks for standing for Very.Important.Things, Mister, and thanks for standing with me.

Tomatoes Are NOT Cardboard.

 

Early morning light hits the tomatoes just right

As proud of I am of growing lots of beautiful heads of broccoli... I don't think I am going to grow it anymore.

Picking all those broccoli worms out before cooking- makes me lose all appetite for the stuff.  And dinner is always a bit on edge for everyone- hoping they don't find any leftover surprises.  STRESS!

It may make me a bad person but pesticide broccoli is looking pretty good to me!! 

They are awfully pretty in the sunlight but they can't stay here forever. 

The question is... WHERE will I put them?!

Peanut butter pie.  The creamy peach and blueberry pie was eaten up too quickly to be photographed.

Baby Moses loves him some cherry tomatoes!  Can you tell?

Pressure  canner mirrors are so SLIMMING.

(except when they are not.)

I made a breakfast hash to top scrambled eggs one morning.  And then discovered I didn't have any eggs left to scramble!  We had breakfast topping all by itself.  For SHAME.

I spied a gaping hole before anyone had even sat down to supper.  

Summer tubs

Making homemade ice cream is a task that happens once or twice a week around here.

On 90 degree days it melts before it can smile pretty for the camera.

Biscuits and Sausage gravy for supper...because we can. 

 

After supper porch sitting...for a few seconds before grabbing the climber from flipping the rocking chairs over. 

Over and over and over again. 

He's HILARIOUS.

Corynn and her own zinnias.

Do you get tired of all the food and flower pictures I share in the summer?  That seems to be all I blog about but I can't help myself!

Here's the thing:  God is SO GOOD.  And every time I make a colorful meal full of kaleidoscope from the garden or load a vase with lurid petals, I am astounded by His goodness to us in His creation.  

Have you ever thought about the fact that God could have created us to survive and thrive on a single food...  He could have made us to eat only cardboard.  Seriously!  I think about it a lot.  Probably every day.  (Hey...I think about food a lot.)  Especially in the summertime.  Especially when the lighting is so beautiful at every meal to actually capture some of its' beauty before it is wolfed down to be redeemed as energy.  I can't help but take just a tiny moment to revel in it.

It's astounding.  All of it.

Tomatoes are happening at our place these days.  And MY, what a harvest.  Last years' harvest was puny... whatever we got, we ate.  I don't think I canned ANY.  When you plant over 100 plants...that is a disappointment!  I am thankful for this year and the opportunity to restock those homecanned tomatoes.  My one disappointment (if I could be disappointed at abundance...) is how many red cherry tomatoes we are getting.  I had bought several six packs of orange tomatoes and yellow pear tomatoes to go along with the ones I had started from seed...and they must have been all miss-marked because all I have is a ton of cherry tomatoes and NO yellow or orange tomatoes.  

Happy weekend, friends!  What are your plans? 

Mine involve cheesemaking, canning, and cleaning.  What else?!