Thursday, August 5, 2010

My life this summer

So much has gone on this summer. Here are a few bits and pieces of it.
  • We are getting to be rather experienced parade walkers.
  • Ken's parents were here and willingly joined in on the fun and heat.
  • We have had a wonderful summer of picking blueberries! I think we have picked around 7 gallons this year which is way more than ever before. Thank you God for the bumper crop!

  • We have picked some raspberries too.
  • I missed the strawberries and Juneberries however. The u-pick strawberries cost more than I wanted to pay and I was busy anyway. We did get about 5 from our garden- the few we found before the chipmunks did.

  • Terry (Granddad) gave swimming lessons to Jonathan. He still has quite a way to go but progress was made. Mara has enjoyed swimming this summer.
  • Terry also took the boys on their first ever sailboat ride. A very fast one too they said.

  • I got up early one morning and together with Concha and Mary made breakfast at 5:30 am for a bunch of bikers headed off on a bike tour. They spent the night at our church building and we also cooked supper for them the night before.

  • The kids with Granddad and Nana (and Matt who they enlisted at the last moment when Megan dropped out) put on a Bible story skit for Sharing Sunday night.

  • I spent many hours trying to get the quilting done on our quilt so I could take it to the fair. I gave up finally the hour before entering would close, I should have quit much sooner and saved us all some stress! I am working on it so it will be all ready for next year.

  • Mara made a quilt to send to an orphanage in Africa but she took it to the fair first and won a ribbon on it.
  •  We ended up taking a total (between all of us) of 94 items to the fair.
  • We got a few ribbons (these are some of most of mine and Mara's but none of the other kids') and got nearly $100 in premium money. Mara also got an additional prize of a $25 gift certificate to Ben Franklin.
  • We spent quite a bit of time at the fair. Ken had a booth and I helped him and we also helped with this Republican booth.
  • We also had fun looking at the baby pigs. Aren't they ever so cute?
  • I have had fun talking to some people at the farmers market about raising bees. I was also excited when Alysia sent the link to her husband's new blog where he tells about being a beekeeper.
  • I have had weddings to do flowers for nearly every weekend lately. That run is almost done and I am rather thankful for the break.
  • We are still having a lot of fun with our home school baseball games. Last week we didn't have quite as many kids but it was still plenty for a good game. 
  •  I helped a friend alter her wedding dress. The shop she bought it at said that it would cost over $200 for them to alter it ( more than the cost of the dress), we found the supplies needed which cost her less than $9 and then we got it done in a couple of hours. We were excited about all the money we saved.
  • Megan has been enjoying having a "New friend" here to live. Minnie Mouse was a gift that she received from the friend I helped alter the dress for. She has been going everywhere with us lately.
  • Megan has also been enjoying writing letters.
  • There are a lot of weeds in my garden.
  • There is a lot of yummy food too! God has been causing our garden to grow quite wonderfully!
  • I am learning how to use more fresh herbs.
  • In an effort to make myself use what is in our garden and on our shelves I am challenging myself to limit my spending on food to $50 for the month. I will let you know how this goes. :)
  • I am working to get back in the mode of menu planning.
  • I am feeling thankful for the many, many blessings God sends our way!

How is life going for you?

3 comments:

Jackie said...

It looks like you've had a great summer. I can't believe how many projects your family took to the fair! Are you doing some fancy quilting stitches or patterns on your quilt? I am sure it will be beautiful when it is finished.

Seeing the baby pigs reminded me of when I was a girl. At one point my parents raised 500 hogs. When they were shoveling out the barns my mom would often put me with the baby pigs to play.

All in a Day said...

Wow, I guess we should have come down there to pick this year. We only have 10 quarts of blueberries in the freezer.

Thanks for the update on things. Good luck on your grocery challenge. I wish I could do the same. :)

Nola said...

How fun! We've been busy too. We went away to a rental cottage for a week, and also lots of berry picking (we did strawberries at a u-pick, raspberries at a friend's, and wild blueberries...we're still working on those and did some more today). My garden is going fairly well, but it could use some more attention too.

I was considering entering some things (that I already do anyways) in the fair here this fall, but thought about how it would be stressful for me. Instead I am going to enter a few things of my daughter's for the kid's sections just for fun for her. Your talk about the fair where you are reinforced to me that if it causes a lot of stress, its taking away my joy...and not worth it! Not an easy lesson to learn, is it? I sure struggle with that too. But this time I am going to say no. :)

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