The New Mac 'n' Cheese

It's late, you just walked into the house after an all afternoon shopping trip, or after spending all day working hard in the garden.  Dinner is due in less than an hour, and the last thing you want to do is spend more time on your feet in the kitchen.  Your mind grasps after something easy and quick to make.  Macaroni, Spaghetti? 

  Neither.  That is, not if it's August and you have three gardens that the LORD has blessed with abundance this year.  Instead of searching in the cupboard for starchy noodles, you step outside to your summer "pantry" and see what's available in the garden.   In no time at all the beginning of a delicious stir-fry is sizzling on the stove.  A stick of butter and a couple handfuls of Beans, both green and yellow wax make a good start (of course it's always helpful if the Beans were already snapped the day before :).

While the Beans are cooking you snatch a yellow and green Zucchini, and that Eggplant the neighbor gave you the other day and slice them.  (note: we found that Eggplant is not good in stir-fry, it disintegrates too fast)  When the Beans feel just right, you toss in the sliced Zucchini stirring them around, then you quickly slice a couple Banana Peppers and throw them in too.  After letting it all cook down together, you add the finishing touch of some more butter, two or three crushed Garlic cloves and a few snips of some fresh Cinnamon Basil.  You give it a stir and take a whiff.  Ahh!  Delicious!  Your main dish is finished, and while it was cooking the side dishes were accomplished in no time at all.

A plate of glowing garden-fresh sliced Tomatoes,

Some wonderful colorful Beets, tasty Beets greens salted just so, and of course a large fresh picked salad!!  There you are, a delightful quick garden bounty dinner.  

The garden provided everything for this dinner................................

... except for the chickpeas :)

~Chs

Junk, Treasures, and Fresh Produce :)

Last weekend we hosted our second annual (and maybe last annual :) garage sale, and of course produce and bake sale.

We had over 10 individuals and families contribute, and had a wide variety of objects for sale, including an antique rocking chair,

wooden tennis rackets,

bowling balls,

 a golf club set,

and a large variety of small stuff, including books, kitchen utensils, decorations, etc.

Mr. Reiche also had rows of license plates for sale, as well as a trailer full of miscellaneous tools and other "old stuff".

The produce table was much more extensive then last year, and also had a lot more traffic.  Our Cucumbers were cleared out the first day, and our Zucchini didn't last much longer either.  A favorite (besides the Cherry Tomatoes) was Faith creative Fresh Salsa basket, complete with a complimentary recipe.

Always a hit, the Bake sale table added on a couple new items this year, including blueberry muffins, blueberry jams, and pretty Mixes-in-a-jar by our friend Megan. 

Despite some rain on Thursday, we carried on and had a wonderful weekend.

That is, when we weren't fighting the wind :)

: fresh dill :

While we maybe wished that a little more might have sold, the fellowship we had with friends who helped out was priceless.

So, although the Garage sale is over, Faith and I will be putting out a produce (and occasionally bake sale) table at the end of our driveway when we have spare time and veggies.  So if you are in the area, look out for the signs!!  :)

~Chs

Wordless Monday: Harvesting Garlic

Family Reunion

Every year in August our family attends the Harrison Reunion (Mom's mother's family) and every four years or so, we get the exciting responsibility of hosting the reunion.  Usually we have it at a park in Port Huron, but this year due to some unchangeable circumstances we decided to have the Reunion in our own back yard!

Well at least it would have been in our backyard, if it hadn't been quite so soggy.  So instead, the night before the reunion, you would have found us frantically cleaning out our garage - a garage that hosted 60 plus chicks.  We did manage to get everything out, and Saturday morning cleaned and swept and cleaned some more.

By 11 or so everything was just about ready; the tables were set up, the grill warming, and the relatives arriving.

We managed to pack just over 60 people in our garage for prayer.  You never know what you can do until you try.

After prayer the families spread out, some in the garage, some in the large tent on the deck, and a few others in the little tent with the grill.

By the time we were all done eating the rain and drizzle had stopped, leaving everything wet, but not too wet for some die-hard volleyball enthusiasts.

After a couple rounds of volleyball and other random games, we headed out front for group pictures.

The Learned family. ( Mother's maiden name)

All of those in the first generation.  We did get a whole group photo, but unfortunately my camera's battery died at that point. :(

Pictures finally over with (it takes a while with such large families) we headed out back for our annual water balloon toss.

It is always a pretty fierce competition, and this year was no exception.

We did three rounds, each time with a different winner (though the top three were always up there) so of course we had to have a match between the three winners for the ultimate victor!

"two sisters enjoying some treats" :P

When the balloons were all used the volleyball continued.

We actually had some impressive competition going with quite a few volleys back and forth.

Slowly but surely the afternoon wore away and the relatives began to say goodbye and trickle out except that is, for the volleyball players, who of course had to finish up their games.

Despite the rainy weather, the reunion was a success and I believe everyone enjoyed themselves.  As for us, I think I can say it was worth cleaning out the garage. :)

~Chs

Our New Vocation

So, Faith, Josiah and I have found our calling.  We have been doing this particular work for 4 years or more without realizing it, and now have only begun to comprehend the magnitude of our vocation.

What is it?  Farm sitting, house sitting, animal watching, just all around take-care-of-your-place-while-you're-gone.  That's us!

Over the years we have watched around 6-8 different farms/houses, multiple times, and have had to take care of everything from cows to fish, and everything inbetween.  One of our latest jobs was staying at a farm north of us that had a dog, ferret, one cow, one steer, uncountable cats, and most importantly.....

Six horses!!!

And even more to the point, horses that we were allowed to ride.

So we did, we rode as much as we could.

Josiah who has only been on a horse once before (and that when he was 7 or 8) rode Freckles the retired barrel racer, like a pro.  Farmer turned Cowboy :)

Reno, the other horse we could ride was a beautiful mustang from out west.  Gorgeous horse.

Whoops, Someone shrank the horse! :) Actually this is Misty the pony, and we only rode her once.  We were just a mite too big, don't you think?

The other four we admired, petted, fed, and played with.

The last day of our farm sitting we were happy to have Josh and Theresa join us and enjoy some riding as well.

"Cowgirl"

Like I said, there were many barn cats around, and like any self respecting cat, their favorite time of day was....

Milking time:)

 We had a lovely time farm sitting. Each job is different and enjoyable in its own way.  So now that we realized we have a business if you need any animals watched, give us a call!  But make sure you do it in advance; somehow without knowing it, we have become quite popular farm sitters.  

~Chs

Sunday Thoughts

"Come, and let us return to the LORD;

For He has torn, but He will heal us;

He has stricken, but He will bind us up."

Hosea 6:1