{ Canning and fresh cut flowers }

“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” 

— L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables 

 

Oh beautiful October, beautiful fall, beautiful leaves and warm morning glow.  This time of the year brings so much peace to my soul.

It's started to get darker earlier, by 7pm the sun is already dipping below the horizon, and yesterday we had to turn on the car lights while driving home.  And I love every second of this transformation from warm to cold.

I wanted to come in and just share a bit of what I was up to the past few days.  

#1 - I would love to say that I got the recipes on the food blog.  Truth is, I didn't.  I haven't had the time, and the little downtime that I have, I end up just wanting to sit for a bit and don't have the motivation to do anything that requires me using brain.  You understand, I'm sure.

#2 -  I have so many projects that chores, tasks that need doing before the cold weather truly arrives, and I'm so hoping to get them going this week.  They need to happen and soon.

 

Okay, now that we got that out of the way, let me show what I've been up to.

 

 

 

My slow cookers have been working overtime.  They're either making dinner, or a side dish, or something that I need to process to be able to can for the winter time.

 

Last week's slow cooker meals, were not only delicious, but they saved me so much time, and ensured that we had a home cooked meal on the table after a day of running around.

I also made a delicious Pumpkin Spice Apple Butter, and canned two of them for the pantry, and left one out in the fridge.  It is soooo good, so so delicious.  It's one of the recipes on the list to be posted.

I also canned some of my nectarine brown sugar jam, and some pecans as well.  Forgot how much I enjoyed canning and am determined to get back to it, as soon as possible.

We are slowly filling our cellar with canned goods and all sorts of canned food.  I will be getting some big buckets soon for flour and sugar too. 

I mentioned last week how I made this Immune Booster drink.  I've been taking a tablespoon every day, especially going into the cold and flu season.  It packs quite a punch and I'm sure it is going to be wonderful especially with such ingredients as grapefruit, lemon, ginger, cinnamon and tonic water.

As our gardens come to a crawl and put out the last of their beautiful blooms, I've been trying to make the most of them by bringing them in, and adding pops of color to different rooms of the house.

 

Walking into a room, smelling the outdoors and seeing the beautiful flowers, is sure to brighten your day, at least it does mine.

I also brought out more of my candles, and placed them in different rooms.  Not just for those nights when we lose power due to strong storms (which happen more often than we would like), but even though I light candles all year long, there is something magical about candlelight.  

It invokes a feeling of cozy and warm, of soft blankets, cups of coffee or tea, a cheeky cookie or a slice of cake.  Crackling fires, and the sound of rain or a winter storm blasting outside.

I've started gathering wood and getting the fireplace ready, and can't quite wait for the first fire of the season to be lit.  

As I type this post, a storm has moved in, and is howling outside, trees are dancing to and fro, and our lights are starting to flicker.  

I had no sooner finished typing that line, and we lost power.  It would go on to last from 7pm to 3am.  I think one of the longest we've lost power due to a storm.  There is a lot of damage outside, a neighbor's trampoline from across the field, is in our front yard.  A mangled mess of bent iron and torn fabric.

Trees have come down, huge branches have broken off and toppled to the ground and we have a lot to clean up.

I just wanted to come in and quickly finish this post so that I could post it for you all.  Thankfully, we were ok, and aside from losing power, we were kept safe by the Lord.

{ A cold wintry day }

The Texas weather is a bit of a phenomenon.  I always heard people talking about how insane the weather was over here, and how it would flip flop from hot to cold and rain to shine.  But when you don't live in the area you just assume people are being dramatic or exaggerating.

Then we moved to this state and for the past 3 years, I often find myself scratching my head and wondering just what on earth Mother Nature is doing.

{ Scariest moment of my life and prayer request }

You guys, I can't even begin to tell you just how scared I was last night.

If you follow me on Instagram then I'm sure you've seen by now, if not, then I'll point you in that direction so that you can see the video I posted last night.

My day started out like any other, the sun was shining, there were hardly any clouds in the sky, and it was just a nice cool fallish day.

Chucking it down!!!

I always say that if I want something to happen, all I need is to talk about it and BAM there it is.

My mother in law and father in law, stopped by on Sunday evening on their way back home to Sherman.  They just came to drop off some yarn for me.  I know......yarnnnnnnn!!!
Well it was actually from another family member, Rowena, who is this amazing sweet lady that I'm so thankful to have in our lives.

I have yet to look through all the boxes, just been so busy the past two days that I haven't had a chance for much of anything.  Tomorrow though I'm going to look through it all, take photos and show you my gifted yarn haul.  I am quite excited to see what is in there.

Anyway, as most of you already know, my sweet mother in law has been battling Breast Cancer, for the second time.   She just finished all her treatments, the doctor's have actually stopped them because she no longer needs them.  We are so thankful for that.  But anyway, I keep getting side tracked today, this is what happens when I haven't sat down and chatted with you for a while, so please forgive me and hopefully I won't lose some of you along the way.

So back to what I was saying, she just finished her treatments and her immune system is quite low, so she can't be around anyone who is sick.  I've been battling allergies but that's not sickness, unfortunately my kids both had sore throats a few days ago and we didn't want to chance it.

We stood out in the driveway, the four of us adults and just chit chatted and caught up on what has been going on in our lives.

As we stood there, the clouds started moving in and my father in law commented that they had quite a bit of rain lately and asked if we had any.  Truthfully it had been a few weeks since we had any kind of rain.

I mentioned that, and what do you know, last night it started coming down and not just a little pitter patter here and there, it just chucked it down like nothing else.

But it didn't just stop there.  This afternoon, out of nowhere the skies got dark and it again chucked it down with such a vengeance. 

My flower pots outside went flying, my flag fell right off it's pole.  (usually I bring it in when it rains but this was so unexpected that I didn't even get a chance before it went flying).

The rain pelted against the roof, the windows, the driveway and lawn.  The winds picked up, hail came down and I was quite taken aback, to be honest.

Thankfully I had just arrived home 30 minutes earlier, so I was blessed to not have been caught in that thunderstorm with the kids.

I don't think I mentioned it yet, but we had to go to base to get our military ID's renewed.  I actually had to go twice because the first time Jasmine forgot her old ID and her wallet.  Then we returned and she brought the old ID and forgot her Social Security Card. 

Thankfully the supervisor at the MPF (Military Finance) where we get the ID's done, helped us out so we wouldn't have to return a third time.  My word.  I had a nice talk with Jasmine after that, reminding her that she is now 18 and she's going to have to remember to keep certain items on her at all times.

But back to the storms, this little one is terrified of thunderstorms, so when they're quite severe, he climbs on the couch and onto my lap.   It's quite funny because there's little ol' me and an 80 pound dog on my lap. 

The rain seems to have gone now, but it looks like it's now in the forecast for Thursday again. 

I don't mind at all, you all know how much I love rain :)

With the weather cooling down, I've been gathering all my crochet blankets, getting them ready for a quick wash and then they'll be placed into the wicker basket in the living room, for cooler nights.

Truly love the preparations that go into the Fall and Winter season.

Well friends, I'm pretty exhausted.  I'm going to leave it here tonight and get some sleep.  Have a blessed night.

It's a gorgeous morning!!!!

We've had thunderstorms for the past 2 days and it feels wonderful, it's been so hot lately that the rain coming down is a welcome sight....of course the humidity it brings is not that great, but I'll sacrifice some clammy feeling skin for it.

It's a gorgeous morning, the sun is peeking through the gray clouds and there's some droplets still left on the green grass. You can still smell the rain, is there anything better than that???

So what have I been up to around here???
Yesterday I worked on my computer, installing a new hard drive with 300GB because well, I'm a girl and I tend to download so much stuff that after a while it starts slowing down dramatically. I swear, the more space you give me, the more I use. So anyway, Curt installed the new hard drive for me and then I spent the day cleaning up old files, deleting programs that are no longer needed etc. Computers are like a house, you have to keep up with them.......I admit, I'm bad about it though, there's months that go by without a second glance at the recycle bin or anything else. Bad bad bad!!!!

******************************************

Then I decided to watch a movie, now I have a stack of movies that we've bought and gotten from Netflix, that I have yet to watch. So I neatly stacked them all in a pile and am determined to get through them this weekend. The first one I watched was United 93 and I have to tell you I went through a rollercoaster of emotions during that movie.

The first one was definitely anger, the minute I saw the terrorists right at the beginning of the movie and KNEW what they were about to do, anger overwhelmed me, I have never felt so much resentment for someone. This is not a movie for the faint of heart, it brings back way too many memories from that dreadful day.....the images replaying of the second airplane hitting the towers put me right back on September 11, 2001. Tears rolled down my face and I felt like I had been punched in the gut repeatedly....but I made it through the whole movie and ended with an enormous feeling of love and pride for the passengers and crew aboard Flight 93.

They literally "fought to the death".

******************************************

Anyway, I spent a while in the kitchen too, fixing some Crab Rangoon for dinner. They do take a bit of time to make but they're well worth it....add a salad and you're good to go. I still have a at least a dozen left so that's what we'll be having for lunch.


I used Wonton Wrappers for these and when I look at them they remind a lot of Samoosas, a popular indian street food. I remember eating them a LOT back in South Africa, it was one of our favorite treats......I haven't had them in years so I think it's time to make some, I will post the recipe for you all next week.

For dinner tonight I have some Pork Ribs in the CrockPot. I added some salt, pepper, garlic and a bottle of beer, layered the ribs with some sliced onions and set it on low for 8 hours. It smells heavenly right now, I can't wait for dinner time!

I've got the dishes done and I'm halfway through Mount Laundry, it's days like these that I wish people were allowed to walk around naked. It would save so much money, not just on clothes but on laundry detergent, water....get the picture??? LOL

******************************************

I'm about to go get settled down to watch another movie, I think I'm going with The Fountain.

Yesterday, today, tomorrow. Past, present, future. Through time and space, one man embarks on a bold 1000-year odyssey to defeat humankind's most indomitable foe: Death. Hugh Jackman plays that man, devoted to one woman (Rachel Weisz) and determined to protect her from forces that threaten her existence. His quest leads him to a Tree of Life...and to an adventure into eternity.

After that one I think I'll watch The Illusionist, I've heard such great reviews about the movie.

So there you have it, that's what I have planned for today. I'll also be getting some reading in, the Tucker Mills Trilogy and Julia Quinn's "Dancing at Midnight". Am I the only one that has 2 or 3 books going at once???? I wish I could just grab one and stick with it but I tend to loose focus or get bored and then I have a book in the kitchen, one in the bedroom, one in the living room.....reading them all at the same time. It doesn't seem to bother me, though I would think it would become confusing. What can I say, I have a passion for books like nothing else....well maybe, cooking.

Have a wonderful Sunday everyone, I leave you with one of my favorite songs. Enjoy!!!