Apple Pie Filling for the Whole Winter!

I thought that I would try something new this year in the apple department!  I have always done applesauce, and apple butter, but I saw it on pinterest, and just had to make apple pie filling too!  I found a couple of different recipes, and then made one to suit me!

Apple Pie Filling

50 medium size apples (what ever one is your favorite!) pared, cored, and sliced

4 cups of water

1 cup lemon juice

3 cups of brown sugar

3 tbsp cornstarch or arrowroot powder

3 tbsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp allspice

This recipe was calculated to make to make 6 quarts (I was having so much fun with my new parer/corer/slicer too I may have done more, and ended up with 7.5 quarts, still tasted fabulous though.) 

Sterilize canning jars, and lids!

In the large pot that you are going to put all of the apples into cook, add water and lemon juice first, then the apples as you pare, core, and slice. Stir around to keep apples from browning, and getting mushy.

Add brown sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice.  

Cook on medium heat 30-45 minutes. Sauce will thicken, and apples will soften. 

Fill sterilized jars will filling, and place them into your canning bath for 25-30 minutes.

And all winter long you will have apple for pies, crisps, on pancakes, or with ice cream,  from apples that you, yourself picked from trees in the fall!

Happy Canning!!!

All of these pictures were taken by me, and filtered using Instagram. You can follow me there, my user name is lbmomma!

Apple Picking Time!!!

I was all ready to curl up on the couch, with knitting in hand, movie marathon list to go, and copious amounts of tea to drink, when it stopped raining, and the sun tried peeking out!

Not wanting to waste the warm days that we have left, the couch was abandoned, and the apple orchard beckoned!

Here is Ky and Shawn entering the apple orchard. I have taken this picture, baby and dadda holding hands as we go into the orchard, every year since she was two!  When I asked Ky to hold her Dadda's hand, she rolled her eyes a bit, but did not argue the fact, she knew it was a no-win situation! 

Here is the tree that we  descended upon to pick our glorious bounty! (Sorry, national pirate day was yesterday, and I just have not seemed to be able to get that out of my head yet!) There was one other tree we picked from, but sadly we forgot to take its picture! :( Sorry tree! 

Just two trees, and about 20 minutes later, we had about 70lbs of apples, and Momma said, "Enough!"  That's a lot of apples to process! Then many suggestions of what Momma could make everyone was listed several times, until paper was at hand to make sure none of them were forgotten! :)

We decided to stop at a local farm stand/market/deli, and grab some lunch, fresh veggies, and news update!

We took our lunch, and ate at the local docks, where we watched the rain come back in...

So, we did manage to have dinner, and a movie, while Momma knit, and Dadda sketched, and everyone had tea, at the end of the day!

Shawn took a couple of days off and...

...now the living room has finally been finished!

Got up with sun, said goodbye to the old mocha walls of the living room... 

Moved everything out of the living room, and off Shawn went to ripping down the ceiling, and walls!

Next to go was the old insulation.  The old insulation was made from balsam and wool!

Everything gone...

...new insulation (yeah, everything happened this fast!:)

New walls, trim, and window casings!!! Ta Daaa!!!

Ceilings have been left opened to expose old post, and beams!

In reality I have to say that my husband worked for three days straight to get this done!  And I love our new bright, and airy living room!

I think Shawn did beautiful job, he's happy he got to work with his hands, and I am blessed to have a husband that works so hard for his family!

It's Been Way More Than a Month!

I sat down today to put something new on the blog to see how long it has been since I last posted!  Whoa!  I had put a lot of emphasis on actually living life this summer, and to be honest, I am so busy living it, I have not been here very often! Not for way over a month it appears!!! I have lots to share, in all sorts of different areas!  However, for the moment I will pull a few things at random, and hopefully everyone will enjoy!

This year my sunflowers are all over 7ft tall! They have kept a great bee population around to keep everything pollenated, and productive!

Sad state of affairs, but this is all of the knitting that I have done this summer!  This owl was for Ky's birthday, and it blended in on the shelf so well, I forgot it was there, and she received it a couple of days late!  

Blueberry season is here!  Hot, humid, hazy, and lots of berries this year!  This picture is of a random field, and is looking pretty good!  I did see some fields that were blue carpets, but I found myself without a camera, and a lot of farm equipment to navigate.

Went to the Gentlemen of the Road Concert this year.  Mumford and Sons, and seven of their favorite bands. Heard music from 2pm till nearly 10pm!  Awesome day!  It was held in Portland, ME, on the Eastern Prom overlooking the harbor! 

Kylie enjoying her grandmother's birthday clams!  She ate a pound by herself!

Had fresh peas from the garden all July long!  This was pretty exciting as most people's peas rotted in the ground this spring, due to it being extra wet, and had to replant.  Second plantings had a difficult time in the heat!  So, we thankful for this blessing!

Ky cooked dinner for me and herself, all by herself for the first time!

Little birthday present for me!  It is still waiting for me to pick it up, and create!  I am waiting until it is a bit cooler!  Don't need sweat mixed in with the lovely smell of wool!

My sister loves sushi, so Ky tried sushi!  She loved it! :)  Thanks for the exposure to new things Auntie!

Bunnies have become big and fluffy, and even had their first hair cuts!!! I am not yet a "good hair cutter," so I am saving them from embarrassment by not showing the after pics! I promise to work on my technique!

Yup, I am a rooster! Started crowing last week!  This picture is from about 3 weeks ago, and the girls and boy are bigger yet! Going to go have to snap some new pictures! He still needs a name!

Well, it seems that 12 chicken were not enough!  I got three more!  These are Barred Rocks, they are the chickens that I wanted in the first place, and could not get. I found them at the local feed store when going in for rabbit food!  They are bigger now too, and my older girls accepted them into the flock with ease! Need names too!

Much fun, much action, family and friends = serious napping!

That's what I have for today!

Love and Blessings everyone!

Meandering Thoughts

"A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken." ~ James Dent

Summer is  definitely here!  93 degrees yesterday, humidity through the roof, and an afternoon rain shower to cool things off by about 20 degrees.  This morning sunny skies with wispy clouds, and the humidity is at bay for now.

The combination of heat and rain means that I should mow the lawn today, but it is too nice, and I enjoyed a morning walk instead.  It gave me some much needed reconnection to nature, as I found myself seeing birds and wild flowers I had yet to take notice of this summer.  There is fantastic amount of natural beauty that surrounds our dwelling!!!

Here are Wild Valerian (they have a thick smell like lilacs, but are much sweeter!) springing up through some Sea Roses,

A lone Black-Eyed Susan beneath a Spruce Tree,

The road outside my front door is lined with Sea Roses as well,

And across the street is all Blueberry land as far as the eye can see...these fields were full of tiny, white flowers (and thousands of bees) earlier this spring, they will be blue with fruit by the end of the summer, and in the autumn will turn red as the leaves on the trees show true colors as well.

This is the current view from my home office/craft room!

I had planned on doing a little more writing this morning, but nature is calling me back outside to rejuvenate my soul, and marvel in its wonder!

Namaste`

Getting a Bit Greener

"Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature, is a help.  Gardening is an instrument of grace." ~ May Sarton

The garden was finally put in completely a couple of weeks ago, I have been anxiously awaiting green to start appearing in nice little rows where only soil once was.  And things are sprouting, and growing in good fashion!

Peas were planted early!

Looks like I may actually be able to eat some on the 4th of July!

Sunflower in progress, reseeded from last year.

Zucchini! 

Pumpkins!

Pole Beans, going to have to put polls in quickly!

I should have learned from last years lettuce debacle that when given a seed packet to my daughter, it will end up in a "line" and all seeds will be used immediately, I hope that there are many of you out there that will help with our radish issue this year!

The weather continues to go between, hot and humid, leading to thunderstorms, cooling off and continuing to rain, then building up to hot and humid again.  I see a lot of growth happening quickly, and a lot of weeding in my future!

"A weed is a plant that has mastered every survival skill except for learning how to grow in rows." ~ Doug Larson

"A good garden may have some weeds." ~ Thomas Fuller

I Believe We Have Boys Hiding in Our Midst!

I noticed something interesting in the coop this morning...something going on with my Buff Orpingtons...

Anne,

Emily,

Charlotte??? Oh, maybe a name change is order!

Then I took a look at my pictures more carefully, and methinks perhaps that may not be a Katherine either! :o

We will be watching closely! In a couple of more weeks we will know for sure!

Summa Is Heah!

Oh my goodness folks, summer has come in with a bang!  It has been in the 60's for the last 4-5 days, and today it hit 95 degrees in the blueberry barrens! I was going to take photos today of garden growth, development of chicks, and let the bunnies run around in the grass.  At nine this morning it was 80 degrees and plans were changed!

Fresh water has been given to all of the animals throughout the day, bunnies stretched out and laid as still as possible, chicks still peeped and ran around (played in the waterers all day,) and dogs laid in front of the air conditioner and fans, and only showed life when nature called.

Pole beans and pumpkins jumped out of their slumber and shot up about and inch, peas are steadily growing at a couple of inches a day!

I would like to think that I would be able do follow through with my plans tomorrow, but the same hot and wicked humid weatha is forecasted for tomorrow as well.  I am just waiting for one rocking thunder and lightening show to happen!

So, all I can do is report on yesterdays activities, here you go:

Here are a couple of pics of bunnies out of there regular cages (which were being cleaned,) and awaiting their turns to be groomed!

We have decided on the name Leo Petit for the white bunny!  After my grandfather, he makes me laugh, can be a little pushy with his brother to get his own way, and loves a good meal!  Leo Petit, and Felix are growing boys, and when they are out of food, they through the feeder around and thump! Hay is gone in the wink of an eye as well!

This is Felix's coat up close, it is tri-colored!!! We will see if the first color is just baby fur and a one time only deal or if it continues to change.  As you can see from about Felix's ears are gray.  I have also seen bunnies that have different colors alternate between gray and taupe as well, I wonder if he may be one of them!

Shanti loved getting out of her cage, and running about on the grass.  She hopped around for a good 10-15 minutes before slowing down, then started to climb the sides to see if she could get out!

Shanti settles right down when she is held close, and even allowed me to pick a couple of mats out of her coat, behind her ears, with very little fuss!  She is so excited to see me come to her cage everyday, get out, and get hugs and pets!  She does not like having to go back in the cage!  So, I come get her as often as I can!

Here, in the direct sunlight, you can see how Shanti's coat is getting lighter, and that white is coming in underneath, this is going to make one beautiful, light, gray fiber!

Well folks stay cool! Hope to be able to document some more very soon!

I will end with a quote that struck my fancy today:

"As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over again the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives." ~Henry David Thoreau