Oh the places we went!

I took all the pics off my phone from vacation and there are 219 of them. I think that I will break up my vacation adventures in a couple posts.

My family came in on Sunday and bright and early Monday morning (Labor Day no less!) we went for a hike at Rider Park outside Montoursville, PA. And what a hike it was!

It’s very difficult to take little babies on hikes in strollers when the terrain is a bit uphill and rocky. Yes, I know that most hikes are just that, but I was hoping for a nice wooded nature stroll. This is my sister with her small umbrella stroller not made for hiking.

She was pushing quickly past me while yelling “ARE YOU TAKING PICTURES!” hahah! Yes, I documented our grueling adventure.

We found some fun insects. Katydids!

This is my niece’s caterpillar before she suffocated him in her pocket.

And we had some vistas to look over. So beautiful!

 

 

And here is our dog, Shay, who normally is the lead of the pack but the baby was restless and found pure joy in walking her. I don’t know how long this hike was, but it felt like forever! I have so many more pictures but these are some fun ones.

More adventuring tomorrow!

Back to the Grind!

So I was MIA this past week due to my family being in for vacation. We had a well packed adventurous week. My mother likes to plan our activities each year wherever we are at and this year, I hosted.

I live in Central PA. There’s lots to do if you are an outdoorsy kind of person, which I sorta am. I certainly enjoy the outside beauty mostly from my window (hehe). I used to love to hike but my hubs ruined that for me (another story) and we did get a few miles in. We got out quite a bit seeing some things I hadn’t yet been to. I also got in quite a bit of crafting in making presents for my niece and nephews. I can’t wait to post the pics tomorrow of the places we visited and the newest works.

I’m just posting a quick hello and mentally preparing myself to go back to work tomorrow. This week was glorious! Too bad work ruins it lol 

Homesteading Summers

Summer 1 – 2012

A few weekends ago we cracked open a jar of pickles we canned last summer at our first summer kick off party and we were delightfully impressed with ourselves. They were tangy, salty, and full of wonderful dilly flavor. I was quite inspired to do it again this year with our own pickles! Last year’s pickles were someone else’s crop that we experimented with. After we gathered all our supplies from various stores, our cupboard and read up on what pickling entails, we set out for a long, hot day of canning. Our efforts were rewarded with three quarts of pickles!

Not a lot mind you, but plenty for our first try.

I thought that would be the end of our homesteading adventures, but alas, no. We have grand ideas. We can be more sustainable! And produce is very expensive.

Summer 2 – 2013

We put in a garden this past Memorial Day weekend. It was the perfect weekend to do so. Not too hot, with a breeze and lots of time on hand.  I rarely have much time to do time and labor intensive things at the house so I’m hoping that having this garden will help me cultivate the family time as well as vegetables for my family.

Preparing the plot of land for our family garden was a huge task. It’s just a tiny bit of our yard but full of foliage, some weeds, some plants that needed transplanted and whole lot of rocks. The dirt has a lot of clay in it and random rocks embedded in so tilling was a chore. Thankfully, I didn’t have to do that bit. This whole gardening business is literally backbreaking work. I hope we get lots and lots of veggies! This earth mama seriously needs to see the fruits of her labor! I planted green beans, lettuce, corn, zucchini, cucumbers, bell peppers and tomatoes…nom nom nom.

My loving husband constantly laments over his hope that I settle down and have time to do all the things I say I’m going to do with this garden. He’s already said we need to set aside a day for the canning. I can already see that disaster of a day happening. He doesn’t handle heat well and it gets HOT in my kitchen.  I’m thinking of all the lovely foodstuff we’ll be making with our crop. Salsa, spaghetti sauce, salads, stuffed peppers, cream corn, zucchini bread and of course, pickles!  We’ll see if all this happens. I’ve already started daydreaming of eating the food.

Family Gardening

A family is a place where minds come in contact with one another. If these minds love one another, the home will be as beautiful as a flower garden. But if these minds get out of harmony with one another it is like a storm that plays havoc with the garden.

~ Buddha