HOMECOMING!

It is so good to have our family back home again for a visit--well, everyone's home but JT. He'll be here in a few weeks.

Here is a picture of Huxley and me. He wouldn't need the saying on his shirt, he looks like a boy--no mistaking him for a girl! He's a very calm baby and soooo sweet!
Next is a picture of Sophie looking very serious. She is growing so fast. She is talking quite a bit now--a very smart and sweet little girl.
Last is a picture of me and Emma gathering eggs. Here we are inside the chicken coop. Doesn't she look like she's having fun! Emma is so grown up. She can write and spell her own name now!

SOME REAL GOOD DIRT!

Well, it's that time of year again! Time to plant tulips! It's an act of faith in a way. You plant them in the fall and trust that they will come up exactly as planted in the spring. This is a picture of me showing off the prettiest (an appropriate description for dirt?) compost you ever saw. We made this mixture over a couple of years just by saving our kitchen scraps, cleaning the coop occasionally, and adding leaves and yard debris. Makes dirt all the more precious when you know you worked to reclaim it! These 50 bulbs of 5 different colors that we planted today were purchased during our trip to the Tulip Festival in Holland, Michigan earlier this spring. We've been waiting for a hard freeze before we planted. We were discussing today whether our great, great, however-many-greats-grandfather and his family were tulip farmers while living in the Netherlands. Just this week we uncovered a bit of information that indicated that the family originally fled from France to Switzerland to escape persecution. Later they moved to the Netherlands where this grandfather was born in the 1700's. Eventually some of them came to America. We are blessed because of their courage and determination. I am so thankful for the earlier generations that left us a legacy of faith.

As we delve into more family history my faith is strengthened in discovering such truths. Clint's family has long known their history of fleeing religious persecution, coming from Switzerland to America in the 1800's. And....just today we learned an amazing tidbit of information that I think is the most amazing yet! Care to guess what that might be? I will post on this in the near future!

Meanwhile we are enjoying the return of our grandchildren and daughter in law from Colorado Springs! Blessings, LORI

MY HOW YOUR PROPERTY HAS CHANGED!

I couldn't help thinking of this blog title when I started writing! When I posted property pictures yesterday, they were of things a few weeks ago. Please take time to compare! When I was little it never failed every year at the family reunion, older aunts would look at me and exclaim, "My how you've changed!" The same can be said for the rapid color changes we saw in the last several days around here! Michigan is lovely right now! Fields and hills...
More fall color!
An aisle of red sumac!
The pond
A woodland trail
Beautiful trees

I hope you are enjoying the pretty fall we're having. They say our weather is about to change. We are gearing up for an early winter as this last ten days seemed like Indian summer--a bit early! Blessings, LORI

A COUPLE OF PICTURES

Just recently I spent a little while at our new property. Clint mowed lanes around the 29 acres. This is what it looked like about 2 weeks ago.
This is the pond at the back. I was hoping to get a nice fall color picture but it was a bit too early the week I took this. On Sunday afternoon I spent quite a while over there walking the hills and lanes. The view was very different than just a week ago. I will try to post those new pictures soon so you can see the comparison! The family will soon be all together again for a visit. Kori and the children will be home! Hooray! Later JT will join them and we will be together for Thanksgiving! We are anticipating that with great joy! I hope we can all go over to the new property to walk the trails together and possibly take our family Christmas picture.

We've had some amazing times with the Lord just recently as we met up with His servants--some from far away--one person we had met for the first time and another we hadn't seen for a few years. We've also had some wonderful prophetic encouragements given to us recently that make us eager to keep the faith and press on! I trust the Lord has been blessing all of you as well!

Had a day off today and was surprised at all I got done--seemed so good. Ironed 9 shirts and 3 pants, did laundry, cleaned various areas of the house, started a sewing project, read Bible, pulled weeds, took a walk, cooked (a rarity lately) and probably more I can't remember! Blessings, LORI

SUMMER IN A JAR!

THIS IS A QUICK POST ABOUT PUTTING THE FLAVORS AND BOUNTY OF SUMMER IN JARS! This is the wild black raspberry jelly I made from berries on our property!

Here is a picture of the moms cutting apples for sauce! Thankful to have a laundry tub for this!

Next is the operation of squashing the apples down for sauce. Isn't it a pretty pink? No artificial color! I use a mix of equal parts Jonathan, Cortland, and McIntosh every year and this is the lovely color product I get!
Running the pressure cookers to process the jars.
Many, many crabapples from our 200+foot windbreak down on the front of our farm. This is the first year I've picked them since I got a longing for crabapple jelly like my Mom once made when I was young.
Jewel-like jelly in jars. I am very, very pleased with the crabapple jelly. I didn't get much--4 jars in all, I think, but it was the easiest jelly I've ever made. It required no pectin since the fruit is so full of natural pectin! Sugar and juice and that's it! I could have picked more, but I decided it was a lot of work and the wildlife appreciate the winter snack!

We are very, very busy right now. Our weather is beautiful, the whole family is working long hours, and we are trying to enjoy what is probably the last of our nice fall weather. Blessings, LORI