Blooming Apple & Peach Trees

All the trees are blooming.  God's showing off his creativity.  I love it!

Apple blossoms

We had crazy amounts of apples blooms last year.  This year?  Not so much.  Guess its a good thing I made LOTS of apple sauce & apple butter last year.

Surely with all these peach blooms there will be peaches this year.  None for the last two years.  Much sadness.  Many of the trees on our little home place have been neglected for several years.  Much pruning needs to be done.  The peach tree is about half dead.  This year it may come down.  

We planted a few new trees and they survived!

I can't wait until we get back from Bible Quizzing Nationals to start working in the garden & flower beds.

Of course God is keeping our yard beautiful . . . . .

Here are some past garden posts that you might have missed.

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DIY Natural Peanut Butter

We eat A LOT of peanut butter.  Seriously.  I love it.  Joshua loves it.  Megan too.

What I don't like is the added sugar that is in peanut butter.  Even the natural kind.  Boo!

So I make my own.  Now honestly these peanuts have been waiting a LONG time to be processed.  I bought them on Amazon probably 6 months ago & I just haven't felt like making the effort.  However I decided to go for it this week!

The bag of peanuts cost me $2.50 a pound($.16 per oz).  You probably can find them cheaper but I love Amazon Prime Subscribe and Save.  Right there I've cut my cost!! LOVE that.  *This is based on the cost of Smucker's Natural peanut butter on Amazon.com--$0.37 per oz

My peanuts were raw but you can buy roasted ones and skip the oven step.  Then all it takes is a food processor and some ear plugs(kidding--kinda).

Roasting Raw Peanuts

Place your raw peanuts in a single layer on a baking sheet.  Bake in a oven that is set at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Stir them occasionally.  After they have cooled, rub the peanuts between your hands to remove the skins.  Discard the skins.  Eat some warm peanuts!  YUM!

Making Peanut Butter

Fill a food processor about 1/2-3/4 full.  Turn on the processor and let it run for 5-15 minutes.  This is not an exact science.  You will need to scrape the sides down a couple of times.  Keep going until the peanuts are all chopped and become butter.

*I like to add 1-1.5 teaspoons of salt to the food processor.  It seems to bring out just the right flavor in the peanuts.

Fill your containers with peanut butter & store them in the refrigerator.  Mason jars or empty peanut butter jars from the store work well.

Next project?  Sprouted whole wheat flour!  Stay tuned . . . .

Help for THM lifestyle

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Comfortable Homeschooling

I have dreamed of this room for years and years.  It has almost all our schooling supplies in it.  There are more bookshelves and storage than I know what to do with.  I have all my scrapbook supplies and sewing supplies(minus some boxes of fabric) all in this room.  But that is NOT what this post is about.  Sorry for the rabbit trail. 

But I LOVE LOVE LOVE this room.  Today the awesome thing about my work room is of course our window seat with shelves.

Everyone in the family loves to sit on this seat.  Since this post I have made a cushion for it and it looks awesome. 

If you need a custom covered cushion, go check out the tutorial!

I've spent much of the winter looking out this window dreaming of spring.  It is the perfect place for reading, snoozing or just looking out the window at the GREEN grass that is growing like crazy. We can see who drives in the driveway and check on the puppies in the back yard. 

I didn't think it would be so perfect but it is!

Joshua found the perfect solution for right now to make the wooden seat more comfy.  He often reads in this seat when he's doing his homeschooling. 

THIS is one of the privileges of schooling at home.  You can pull your bean bag or pillow or blanket in to the spot in the sun to get comfortable.

My kids learn better when they are not stuck in their chair at a desk or table.  I've seen some very unusual ways of reading but I really like this one.  He's 12 and growing like a weed.  I am afraid he will not fit here next year.

What creative place do your children choose to read?

10 things learned recovering from a Cornea Transplant

I had something really hit me last week.

I'm on month #9 of recovery.  That is a long time to me.  I don't sit still well.

I'm 4(going on 5) months out from my cornea transplant but my body is still fighting to recover.

Aren't you glad I don't have pictures of my hurt eye from August? I am--it was horrible.  My family claimed they couldn't look at me without their eyes watering.

10.  Recovery is SLOW.  Just when you think you have it licked it sneaks up on you.

Last Thursday night was the first night of doggie school for Riley.  She's huge--90ish pounds. Working with her was almost too much.

I came home exhausted and unable to think or make decisions.  Then I figured out that our dinner in the crockpot wasn't completely done--crunchy rice.  Ick!

So what is a girl to do?  Well I picked the cry on my hubby's shoulder option.  He's had to deal with that more than once over the last 9 months.  Thankfully its not happening as often.

9.  Related to #10.  When you are exhausted, you cannot think.  I've had to pick the moments of the day that I have energy to get the most important things done.  Like school.  Like deciding what we are eating for the day/week.  My menu planner is INVALUABLE.  If its filled out then I don't have to make a decision.  Just do what's on the planner.

8.  REST is not for wimps.  In my mind if I am laying around, then I am being lazy and not doing what I need to do.  Yeah well I've had to accept that is a lie.  The rules have changed.  I must rest. 

• Some days that means going back to bed after breakfast. 
• Some days that means kids will have to fend for themselves at lunch. 
• Some days that means I must accept help from friends and family(who have been absolutely AWESOME!)
• Some days that means supper is not on me.  My family is quite capable of fending for themselves.  Guess what?  No one has starved yet. 

7.  Stuff that needs doing will wait.  Honestly when I sit still it is not a good thing.  It means my mind is going a million miles an hour.  Planning plotting & dreaming.  When I tried to start a project I would run out of steam.  The kids could help me with some jobs.  Others Steve would handle.  Others . . . well they are still on my list of to dos.

6.  Small things are HUGE victories. 

From Dec to February I couldn't lift or bend over.  It seriously cramped my abilities.  Creativity was important.  I learned to squat to do laundry and getting stuff out of cabinets.  But the day I could CARRY the laundry basket instead of kicking it to the washer was SO AWESOME!  Silly huh?  But it was BIG for me.

5.  Frustration builds up.  After not doing things for a long while & being patient it is normal to get frustrated and loose it over something small.  Again this seems silly but it happens.  I tried to focus on what I could do but many days it was difficult..

4.  3 steps forward 2 steps back.  Every time I upped my activity level or started doing something that I'd been limited on before I found that I would be exhausted all over again.  Or I would get sick.  I tried starting my workouts back up after I could bend over.  Twice.  Yeah two separate times I tried this and I got sick both times.  It was too much.  So I'm still waiting on that.  So I'm still resting.  Each day a little less. 

3.  8 SOLID hours of sleep every night.  And it helps if at least 2 of those hours before midnight.  I'm a night owl.  I'd rather be up a couple hours when the kids are asleep and it is quiet.  I used to survive on 6 hours at least a couple times a week.  Nope.  Doesn't work. 

2.  Blessing List.  Probably the one thing that kept me sane the first few months when my pain level was HIGH and I didn't know what the outcome would be was keeping a list of the things I was thankful for each day.  I posted them on Facebook which kept me to connect with people although I was literally in hibernation.  I was VERY light sensitive and not going out much at all.

1.  Give yourself grace & be flexible.  All the rules have changed.  When energy is low don't worry about if the house is clean--just rest.  When vision is wonky(this changes day to day) don't try to catch up on grading.  Doing things the old way may not work so look for alternatives or ask others to help. 

It's funny how the hard things in life make us grow and change.  There are more things I've learned about myself but these are the top 10 that I've had to do real battle with to accept.

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Its a Wrap April 12, 2015

It was a VERY busy week here.  By Friday Steve & I were both ready to just take off on a long vacation. 

Yeah that didn't happen.  Some times I just sit down and look at my beach pictures.  Seems like a vacation that way.  Not a lot of pics from this week so I'll share some great ones. 

We jumped back into school on Monday with both feet.  I've looked at the numbers.  We have to crank out the school in April, May & June to make up for our VERY slow December & January.  In one way it is depressing to not be close to finishing but we all know why so their is no guilt or thoughts of being behind.  It is what it is. 

After lunch Elizabeth & I went to the lab to get more of her blood drawn.  She has an appointment in a couple of weeks with a rheumatologist and this got a jump on the blood work that will be needed.  No fainting so that was AWESOME!

On Tuesday, I had a special opportunity to visit with a friend who I hadn't seen in 8 years.  We caught up, talked about grace, forgiveness.  We cried and prayed.  So special.  After our errands in town Megan and I got to take a meal to a friend who had surgery coming up.  Fun to see their house--so beautiful.  Her surgery was a success and there was NO cancer so that gave us the opportunity to celebrate later in the week. 

Another BIG school day on Wednesday.  Seems like it's been raining all week.  Thank goodness for the driveway work we had done so there is no more moat.  I also found the first green little  asparagus in our garden!

The big event on Thursday was that Riley & I started puppy obedience school.  She's really smart but has gotten the idea that she's in charge around here.  That is due to my not being 100% during her first year.   Not good for a BIG dog.

So we are taking lessons.  Unfortunately for me the class was FULL.  Riley not being mild mannered tried to yank my arm off and didn't have the slightest interest in learning. 

I survived.  Barely. 

It was the most energy I had expended in 9 months.  She's doing great at home so we will see about this weeks class.

See isn't that more peaceful than a 90 pound obnoxious dog?

Friday I tackled some work I'd been putting off.  Due to all the junk in the past two years I'm later than I like in getting Megan's transcript started.  So I straightened out some messes in that area.  After 5 we met Steve for dinner & went clothes shopping.  If you haven't seen Joshua lately well he's growing like a weed. 

Last Bible Quiz practice before Nationals was on Saturday!  I'm so ready to get our Saturday's back.  We've been on the road every other Saturday since December.  It's time to put some time in our 2015 Garden!

Big Plans this week?

Begin planning for Nationals!

School!

Estimates on plumbing in the house

School!

Go see hand specialist for Megan

School!

(are you seeing a theme?)