Jammin'

We've just come through the thick of apricot & plum season.

Which means lots of washing, pitting, slicing, chopping, jamming & dehydrating.

I put my kids to good use by having them do the washing & chopping.

I save the death defying water bath canning for myself :)

(only minor surface burns this year)

My 17 year old has been running the dehydrator non-stop for a week.

We have quarts & quarts of crack, I mean dried apricots & plums put up.

They make fabulous snacks for those of you with self control.

For the rest of it they make for fabulous binge eating... ;)

And of course jam. Yummy sweet fresh jam.

I love preserving God's bounty & being able to feed my family with it far after the season has ended.

Isn't that just pretty?

First few jars of apricot.

Plum jam is so pretty & pink.

Have you been jammin' too?

Blessings.

Our Independence Day 2014

We had a really fun trip planned for over the 4th of July but due to circumstances beyond our control we didn't get to go :(

So we improvised.

(I've actually become very adept at improvising. It comes in handy but it's kind of a crummy skill to have as the reason you would need it is you aren't getting to do what you had planned to do...)

But anyway...

We donned our 4th finery & headed to a local parade.

(yes. I am one of *those* people. Even the dog.)

What better way to end a parade than with a fire breathing dragon???

After the parade we had lunch

How cool is it that my new jars (thanks Gina!) perfectly match my pitcher?

Star shaped watermelon & black berry fruit salad.

After lunch we headed to the creek to enjoy the lovely 100+ degree weather (that's sarcasm folks).

Ahhhhh.

The creek is looooow.

Look! It's me! I'm in the water. A rare occurrence.

After the creek we set up for a Backyard Movie.

Fireworks are verboten here :(  so we did some snakes...

and ended our day with the perfect Independence Day movie...

Independence Day.

"It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible."

George Washington

Blessings.