"She works with her hands in delight" Proverbs 31:13

The blackberries are in!

           

We enjoyed such a beautiful morning! The blackberries bushes that are scattered all around our yard were ripe for the picking, so with basket in hand, I decided to gather just enough for a blackberry cake. Eric grabbed his Indiana Jones hat and offered to help me with the task!  

           

Eric was kind enough to take a picture for y'all as living proof that I am indeed...still on earth. :) As you can see, you have to really look for the blackberry bushes because they're intertwined with all manner of weeds and other plants. The berries this year are a lot smaller than they were last year for some reason! They are still good though...not too bitter. :)

           

Here is Ind...I mean Eric coming out of the bushes. He had his big boots on so he could reach the good bushes way in there. It sure was a pretty morning. It was so cool and quiet...except for the birds chirping and an occasional Buddy bark. :)

           

I think my basket is too big, what do y'all think? I only needed about a cup of blackberries for the recipe, so I figured I had enough to bake with. To the kitchen! 

           

Finished and all cooked-out. :) I found a great recipe off of Allrecipes.com, and I'm not really sure which one I used. :) Did I say I was back down to earth? Haha! Anyway they had hundreds of blackberry cake recipes if y'all want to try it sometime. We also have tons of zucchini from the garden, so I grated some and made two loaves of zucchini bread. I found that recipe off of Allrecipes.com too....again...I'm not exactly sure which one! There were so many! So I got a little baking out of my system this morning. :) The whole house smelled like cinnamon and nutmeg...it reminded me of Fall (my favorite).

Well next on today's agenda is to package up some of those books that sold on eBay. I didn't get a whole lot from the auctions, but we received the books for free to start with, so it isn't a big deal. Now I get to ship them...yay! I also have an apron that I need to cut out, so I may try to do that today also. Oh, and my room is currently an explosion! I have taken everything out of my hope chest. :) It's fun to go back through it and see what all you've collected over time. I'm going to make a list of all of the things that I do have...and then I may start another list for things that I need to keep an eye out for...at sales, yard sales, and such. I may do a post about my hope chest if y'all would like in the very near future. Right now though...I need to clean. :) Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Picked for me this morning by Eric...

           

Little Blessings

 Those of you who know Mom...know that she LOVES coffee. :) Frappachinos, mocha-lates, frappa-mocha-chinos, machiattos, cappachinos...anything! Lately, she has been introduced to a certain little machine that gives frothy coffee goodness with a minimum amount of effort...a Senseo machine. :) Because they are so expensive, she was hesitant about purchasing one. The Lord certainly knows how to make someone's day! Today while Mom and I were in one of our favorite thrift stores, we decided to walk down the used appliance aisle. Usually we skip that aisle because who wants an old used toaster? :) Anyway...on the bottom shelf amongst the coffee pots...Mom spotted a Senseo machine! I think I actually saw a tear in her eye. :) It looked like it had never been used! Do you know what's even better? God is so good! We saw that it was priced for only $3.95! We looked even closer...and saw that it had been marked down to $1.98! We grabbed it! After bringing it home and giving it a VERY thorough cleaning...because it was afterall in a thrift store :)... Mom tried it out. Works like a dream!   

                               

                                             The first cappachino :)

                               

Mom has already had a few cups! I of course had to have some too...I really look like I did need some coffee in this picture (self-timer). :) Mom is so grateful that we found one of these machines, like new, in a thrift store of all places! I think I hear it right now brewing another cup downstairs. :)

Random Update

Such a creative title. :) Haha! The other day while Mom and I were scouting one of our favorite stores for a birthday gift for Granny, I saw a huge display of shirt boxes and thought..."Aha! Photo box!" They were priced really cheaply (if that's even a word) so I brought one home. I love to scrapbook, but my pictures have kind of gotten away from me as of late. :) I had them scattered all over my room...in various boxes and drawers. At least I can now keep them organized in one place! Wow...I haven't scrap-booked in so long! I still have pictures from two years ago that I have yet to do. Maybe having them all organized will get me motivated. ;)

This week, I am excited to say that I have many new sewing projects stacked up on my sewing table! I love sewing projects! If only I were that enthusiastic about scrap-booking. :) I have been asked to sew three more drawstring skirts and an Edwardian apron. I have already cut the bottom two skirts out and have made their drawstrings, so all that's left is sewing them all together. I also have a skirt of my own (I haven't started it yet :) that I'm going to work on this week as well. Wow, I can't believe it's already Wednesday! There isn't enough time in the day! I guess I need to get up earlier then. :) Well, it is true...when you get up earlier than usual...it does feel like you're able to accomplish way more during the course of the day. Cock-a-doodle-doo!

 

This is a random picture but I just had to post it.  I think our cats are finally warming up to Bud. Kitten (that's our cat's name...yes I know...strange :) has learned to just brush him off and go back to sleep. Ahhh...cats and dogs!

Oh, by the way, thank you all so much for your suggestions with the strawberries! I really appreciate your ideas! Ehem...yes my jam is still like syrup. :) We have decided that it would at least be good drizzled over pancakes and biscuits. ;) I have since learned from a reliable source that you're not really supposed to double the recipe for jam because the measurements aren't really precise. I believe that's exactly what I did wrong. :) I know better for next time! And I was able to use the leftover strawberries to make two pies. Heheh...one of them was very watery...and the other was perfect! I guess I don't do very well when it comes to jello. :) That or our batch of strawberries didn't like me very much! Also, I am going to be responding to everyone's comments soon...sorry for the long delay!

You caught me red handed!

I love strawberries! Yesterday we went out to our local berry farm with baskets in hand to pick some ripe strawberries. I shouldn't say some strawberries because we actually ended up picking 13lbs of them! I really enjoyed getting to walk up and down the long rows in the strawberry patch picking...and eating...our own strawberries. There is something about doing it yourself that makes them taste better. :) You should've seen us though after we were finished! Eric and Philip had red stains all over their clothes, shoes, and hands, and Mom somehow managed to get some on her purse! I managed to walk out with stainless clothes...but my hands were bright red. :)

Hmmmm...now what to do with all of those strawberries! Strawberry ice cream was first on our list yesterday. ;) Today, Mom said that I could put some freezer jam up and that would at least use up most of them. I ran out to the store this morning and bought some sugar and fruit pectin. I doubled the recipe, and this afternoon, I was able to fill up six freezer containers half-way. I have never made freezer jam before so I'm hoping it won't turn out to be strawberry soup. :) I just wiggled a container about 10 minutes ago, and it seemed to be setting up okay. We shall see! Well, that put a little dent in our strawberry supply...but we still have half of a basket full of strawberries to use. Any suggestions? I was thinking about a strawberry cake or pound cake of some sort. Hmm...

We were excited to have Nan drive out this morning for a visit! You know what happens when us ladies get together...shopping. :) Mom, Nan, and I decided to drive around our little town to several antique stores. Then, we stopped for lunch at a little country diner...I have decided that I love onion rings. :) Afterward, we popped into a small fabric store that I had been meaning to check out (to see if they had good deals :). For some reason...I was under the impression that they only sold upholstery fabric. Well, I was wrong! A little old lady runs it, and she carries a rather wide selection of quilting fabrics and supplies. I was happy to see that her fabrics were reasonably priced...around $3.84-$4.50 per yard...which is great! Mom and I spotted this fabric on the rack for around $4, so I thought I'd grab some to make into another skirt. Hopefully, I can get that made this week! Anyway...I am talking way too much. :) It's from all of those strawberries I ate yesterday. :) Again, if anyone has suggestions for what to with all of these strawberries, I'm all ears!

Mother's Day Weekend

                         

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend! I was going to write a Mother's Day post, but somehow the day got away from me. :) We had a fantastic day though...although it was cold and rainy! Dad cooked a Mother's Day breakfast which was served to Mom in bed, of course. She was a Queen for the day. :) Later that afternoon, we drove to South Boston, VA and had lunch in a little country restaraunt called Ernies. That place was packed but worth it!  :) It was so nice to be able to go on a country drive as a family and have lunch out! Sorry, no pictures. :)

All-in-all, I think Mom had a nice Mother's Day...until dinner. :) Haha! Well...I had a nice dinner planned with lit candles and had it all cooked on time and ready to eat. Then, we sliced into the chicken...the chicken that I thought was finished cooking. Totally wasn't finished! I checked it with a meat thermometer and everything and thought it was done... but it wasn't quite...edible. :) So I stuck the chicken back into the oven to finish cooking, and we ate a chicken-less Mother's Day dinner! Nothing like mashed potatoes and salad for dinner. :) Sorry Mom! So that was my unfortunate kitchen disaster for the weekend! Mom didn't mind...we were all actually still full from lunch so that worked out perfectly! Haha! I had promised her a pedicure for Mother's Day, so I'm going to make up for it with that. :)

Oh and I'm going to be posting my verse for the week tomorrow. Have a blessed Monday everyone!

Picture from allposters.com

An Afternoon of Folding Clothes...

No...this is not our laundry pile. :) Last week, Mom and I took about seven or eight totes full of boy's clothing home from the pregnancy center's storage shed to be organized into different sizes. So that is what I was doing this afternoon! I look kind of mad in this picture, but I was really concentrating on my sizing. :) I'm just glad Buddy didn't decide to chase one of our cats right through all of my folded piles...like he did last time when I was working on the girl's clothes.! It was such a mess!

Finished at last!! Now, I just have to make signs with the different sizes on them. I think I'll do that tomorrow...I'm kind of tired of looking at Winnie the Pooh, dump trucks, and itty bitty baseball uniforms for today...although they are very cute. :)

Tomorrow, I'm going to try to take some pictures of the vegetable garden that Dad has been adding to recently. I can't believe tomorrow is already Thursday!