My new grain mill~

It was a day or two after we got home from the wedding that Mr T yelled to me, from his lap top, “I just bought the mother-0f-the-groom a new wheat grinder!”

I’ve had mine for 15-16 years and it just gave out.  I had also done some research and felt like this one would be the best purchase for us, so…he just did it. Yay!  I was so excited.  There really is nothing like grinding  your own flour and, while it is still warm, adding it right into your recipe.  I loved the flour that came from my old grinder but it sounded like a jet engine that was taking off and it would dust my kitchen with flour while grinding.  My new one is a definite step up from the last.

It’s just one more thing to ♥love♥ about my home and staying at home!

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charming…

I really did make some charms yesterday…just like I said I would.  While making charms I watched “Kate & Leopold”.  It’s such a great movie!

from the land to the table…

I picked up my first chickens this past spring…actually, I think I got them on May 28th.  It became quickly apparent that the rooster I had specifically ordered to ‘accompany’ my hens had something wrong with him.

As I would ask others who knew more about these birds than I…I discovered that he was indeed a ‘fryer’.  Now, you have to understand that a ‘fryer’ is bred to be eaten, therefore, it will grow very fast in an unhealthy sort of way and cannot lead a normal, healthy, happy life {which is what I am trying to give my chickens in every possible way}…

…thus, the beautiful ‘home’ that I had made just for them.

BUT…poor Mr. Fatty really didn’t have very many options.   SO, being the type of person that I am…

~desiring to live a simpler life

~desiring to live off of the land

~desiring to be practical in every possible way…

[if you have a week stomach you may need to exit now…jk]

…I did what had to be done {w/a bit of moral support}.

fresh from the garden: coleslaw, potatoes, squash, gr. beans, tomato, cucumber, gr. pepper, strawberry jam {made that day} and whole-wheat bread made with fresh-ground wheat * {hot} apple pie with fresh apples from the orchard

All of our meals have been completely out of our garden with the addition of a meat so, to me, this was the perfect meal.  Everything was completely fresh and wonderful.

*I’m sorry if this post was a bit disturbing to you but I tried to approach it as delicately as I could and for those of us who enjoy eating our ‘meat’, if we only knew what was involved in the feeding, raising and…yes, butchering of these animals we would all choose to raise our own when at all possible {this being my first attempt!}.

Now I think I’ll go make some charms…

a few charms…

I have a charm order going out today to a very, very sweet lady who makes wonderful {and beautiful} soap from goat’s milk {pictured in this post}!

I love how this one turned out…

…and I really love this one too!

enjoying my {new} d-i-l

It was a fun surprise to have our son and his brand new wife call on Sunday, fresh off of their honeymoon cruise ship, to say that they were coming to visit.  Their lives are in transition in every possible way so that allows them to spend a few days with us.

Part of ‘passing the baton’ to this sweet girl is to teach her how to make Andrew’s favorite dessert.

Apple Pie!

With several apple trees in our orchard we decided to tackle some canned apple pie filling today.

Canning is always more fun with someone else!

as busy as a bee…

I try so hard to keep variety going in my blog.  It makes me crazy when I get stuck in one area for too long…like now.  I’m not sewing or soldering right now which is so NOT good because I have a show coming up in a few short weeks.

The garden lures every sense right now.

It calms me!

It demands me!

It amazes me…

All by herself, the honeybee can even accomplish all of that.  She is quite the amazing creature.

notice how this bee is so laden with pollen - her whole body is even speckled with it

Here is an excerpt from an article that I read this week from one of my favorite magazines, Countryside.

Honey takes tremendous energy to produce.  Manufactured by bees from the pollen of flowers, it is then stored in honeycombs as food reserve.  One-hundred-sixty-thousand bees make trips to two million flowers to gather the four pounds of nectar, which, on the way back to the hive they convert, by the reaction of various glands, into one pound of honey.  Without doubt this immense work by the bees gave birth to the phrase “as busy as a bee.”

All I can say to that is WOW!

Goodnight!

Goodnight Mr. Rooster

When will I hear your crow?

*I took this picture late last night from the outside of the chicken house…he was quite the poser

a few more wedding pictures…

So many of you have been so sweet with your comments about my son’s wedding.  I only had one picture to post from the actual wedding, which I did the ‘day after’ but here are a few more.  These came from my brother’s camera and the flowergirls belong to him so most of the pictures he took were of them.  Not a bad thing since they are some of his favorite peeps and mine too…   Also, I really did want to show off some fun pics of them in the dresses that I made for them.

The wedding took place in a community building just off of the main street of La Conner, WA ~ a beautiful, quaint, touristy town.  The wedding photographer had all of the girls in the wedding party, including the bride, walk down the middle of that street, all of them holding bright-colored parasols while she snapped shots of them.  When I get one of those, I will be sure to post it because it was quite adorable.

quenchable goodnes…

I love♥, love♥, love♥, my new iced insulated To Go Starbucks cup that my girl Lauren got me for my birthday.

It’s just such a perfect ME gift!  thx. dear!

from the garden to the jar…