Dearest Daughter

Nelly was my great grandmother on my fathers side.  She was a homemaker, mother of five children (four son's and a daughter), devoted wife and well educated woman who took great pride in her country.

She was involved in politics and education.

"Dearest Daughter" is the first post of many where I will share a few quotes from her letters to her daughter, my grandmother, sharing her views on the current politics, education, and child rearing. 

I just crack up sometimes as I read her letters!  She told it like it was! Other times, I shutter to see the same feelings and issues of her day being repeated in the here and now of our day! 

(Nelly with her daughter, Acelia with the swim cap, and son )

Ocean City, NJ 

                                                                                                                                July 9,1962
                                                                                                                               Monday Eve

"Dearest Child,

I received your letter today written July fourth.  I guess conditions are the same all over the country regarding business all over the country and will be as long as those hairy apes are running the country.  I am afraid tho' like so many presidents of Kennedy's political party the next move for prosperity, war and blood money will be his answer to the chaos he has brought to our beloved county. "

Father son excursion

 TJ will be heading off for college at the end of the month.  So before he takes off Scott and TJ planned one last hoorah!

The 100 mile wilderness hike!!

Not my cup of tea, but hey, they were excited and they've been talking about it for two years!

So I woke up early yesterday morning, made my coffee, watched them gather a weeks worth of supplies, and then drove them to the trail!

I heard from them yesterday afternoon and they completed 14 miles.  Scott twisted his knee, but stopped and iced it in some streams.  I just got a call this morning from Scott and his knee is not hurting at all, but he is babying it just to be safe!  All is well with them and they are having fun!

Peachy

 My mother and I spent all day making peach nectar!

We used a combination of honey and coconut sugar to sweeten the nectar.  You can pour this out into a glass and drink it straight or add it to the blender with a banana and some ice for a super quick smoothie. 

Finally!! A recipe that they will all eat!

You know how everyone tries desperately to get rid of their zucchini at the end of the season?

Or the desperate search that takes place to find different dishes and ways to hide zucchini or prepare it so our families will consume it and we don't have to throw it away.  Well I stumbled upon this recipe and made this soup.  It didn't last 20 minutes in the pot and it was GONE!!! GONE my friends and they were complaining that there was no more!!!!!!! I am hoping to can this soup for my shelves this fall!

Zucchini soup!

I stayed up late roasting some beets I picked up at the farmers market to freeze.  I plan on using them in a salad with feta cheese and toasted walnuts!

I have been reading like a mad woman!  

Beet Pasta

I went to a farmers market the other day and grabbed 3# of beans and 5# of new potatoes, a great start to the question "What am I going to make for dinner?

...then I added lots of swiss chard and beet greens.....

It was a huge hit with my family and the scoffed everything right down

with the attitude of an angel....NOT!

 (Drying the sheets of Beet Pasta)

Here's something you can do with your leftover beets!

Beet Pasta!  I went here for the recipe, The Italian Dish.  It is one of my favorite blogs!

I couldn't believe how easy it was to make!! 

Just a side note, you really need to dry your "sheets" of pasta before you cut them.

Fettuccine anyone?

A little warmer.....

I had a bit of an attitude yesterday about the temperature.  I am a little spoiled with all the heat and humidity we've had around here lately.  After keeping the fireplace going all day yesterday,  the house is finally pleasant to wake up to this morning.  

To recap the past two days......my daughters horse, Honey, was diagnosed with COPD driven asthma.

She had been coughing and coughing, which she does in the spring, but this year it's worse and now that summer is in full swing, she should be better but she isn't! 

I noticed on our really humid days she wasn't coughing, but now that the air is drier, she can't seem to stop coughing.

Oddly enough ( what are the chances we would have a horse with the same type of issues I have?) I have asthma as well, and for the past few years have been doing some research of my own.  I've read of all the herbs and oils I should be taking and of the diet I should be on.  To my surprise when I started reading about Honey's diagnosis she should be taking the same herbs and oils as me!!

So here is the plan......Honey Bear and moi are going to start taking the same herbs and oils on a regular basis.  We are attacking our immune systems first and here is what we are taking...

Spirulina powder

Kelp powder

Rose Hips

Dandelion leaf

Garlic

Apple Cider Vinegar

Don't even ask me how we are going to get Honey Bear to take the apple cider vinegar (or myself for that matter), but we are going to give it a try.  I am a FIRM believer God made theses animals, and they know what they need to self medicate!  When something NATURAL is placed before them that is good for them, that their body needs, they will take it.

So the above is a start to attack the immune system for us both!   I ordered all the herbs through Bulk Herb Store.   

I recently went to a farmers market and came home with a couple of huge zucchini.  Here's the recipe for my Chocolate Zucchini Cake.

2 1/2 Cups Flour

1 tsp. soda

4 Tbl. cocoa

1/2 cup butter

2 eggs

1/2 cup oil

2 tsp. vanilla

1 3/4 cup sugar

2 cups shredded zucchini

chocolate chips

Spray a 13 x 9 inch pan.  Preheat the oven to 350.  Mix the first three ingredients together.  Mix the remaining ingredients together in a separate bowl.  Add your dry ingredients to the moist and mix.  Pour into prepared pan and sprinkle liberally with chocolate chips! Bake for 40- 45 min.  Enjoy!

I'm off to do the regular cleaning....laundry, wash the floors, vacuum, cook.......never ending!

July 20th!!!!!...........

I got up this morning and built a fire.........need I say more?

Lemon Drop Iced Tea

I received my Bulk Herb Order yesterday! Yay!!

The first thing I did was to make a cup of Lemon Drop Tea....

Then I put it over ice and oh my!!

Just a hint of sweetness when you add the recommended 2 tsp per cup...

Perfect!!

My kids have renamed it "Fruit Loop Tea" because that is exactly what it smells like!

Just a good ol' boys...

Let me explain what you are looking at...

At the corner of the fence is a live trap...

....containing Pep Pe La Pew!

This is Dean...

Holding a blanket...

A blanket that will never be used again!

This is Scott, aka the instructor in this mission....

...and Dean aka the student!

The goal?  Drape the blanket, ever so carefully over Pep Pe without getting sprayed...

TOO LATE!!

Notice Scott's position?

He is telling Dean to try it again....."Just do it quickly!!"

DONE!! 

Tucking him in!

Inhaling some fresh air.

There taking it to a remote location to "release" it.

Well.....at least their smiling.

There were green fumes trailing off the back of the pick up!

Flowers

Earlier this spring I went to a green house with Denise.  We grabbed a few of these flowers for our hanging baskets, and mine are really starting to fill out and cascade down over the sides.  I'm sure Denise's are dragging on the ground by now! She has such a green thumb! :)  

I did lose one of my baskets of flowers though.  I don't know what happened, but they all shriveled up and died! They were watered and fed just like these ones.  

I love the vibrant colors and they are really pretty on the front porch.  

These are going in my garden journal so I will make sure and buy them next year!

Randomness....

Over the 4th of July we attended the local craft fair and my husband found this!

Perfect for the barn to hang the bridles on.

Speaking of the barn...

Let there be light!! We have lights in the hallway, in each stall and outlets (that work) outside of each stall too.

This chicken was passing by while I was in there ...

I love my chickens so..... "click"...

The lighting was good so...."click" "click"

This is one of our freedom rangers that wasn't doing so well, but now she is .....

How's that for randomness?

A little politics?

No picture, nothing fancy, just my thoughts.....here goes......

I went to the tea party meeting last night with my daughter (she asked to go).  Why would I want to do this you ask.  Well a few different reasons, (1) I have been under some conviction to get involved in politics on a small scale (I think my brother and I come by it rightly after reading Nelly's letters and reading the passion they had for God and their country)  (2) I am feeling there is no hope or future in America (3) I am feeling there is no hope or future in my state (4) I don't want to be the person that gripes all the time about our state or country, but wants everyone else to do something about it ( I also don't want to convey that to my children) (5) I heard my brother make two comments about the government (a) "It took 200 years to run it into the ground, it's going to take some time to fix it." (b) "I asked every member to bring something positive happening in the state or country to the meetings so we don't get discouraged." I thought to myself, "This is what I need", "This is what my children need" We need to know that there are people out there that think that God, The Bible, the Founding Fathers, and our Constitution still mean something, and they are getting involved, they are taking the heat, they are standing up for God, The Bible, and our Constitution.  They believe in America, they are patriotic, and they have pride in their country.  I had the privilege of having my voice heard last night about the East West Corridor.  My very loud and my arms going everywhere type of voice.  My daughter is still in shock and awe! She didn't think I had it in me.  I was nervous, I was frustrated, I was feeling my voice didn't matter.  I'll spare you all the details.  If I get going on the East West Corridor this post will be too long.  My point is this, I feel this morning my voice was heard.  I feel there are people that want the same things in their state and country that I do.  I feel when the worst comes they are going to be there, standing for what is CONSTITUTIONAL!! It brings me a small glimmer of hope.  Of course, as christians, our hope is built on Christ, and we know that it is He that brings all things to pass.  He appoints the leaders BUT I think our duty is to be praying for our leaders (current and future), and getting involved in what ever way we are being led to.  "The only thing evil men need to triumph, is for good men to do nothing." ~  Edmund Burke
So there it is.....my first political rant on my blog! At least I think it is, maybe I've ranted before :)

Just where you least expect it.....

I went for a walk down back to check on some herbs that I grew in a loam pile.

On my way down there, these beauties caught my eye!

Foxglove!

I'd like to think I am brave enough to go in there and dig them up and move them up to my

garden.....

but I'm not...

They are in a bunch of tall grass right beside the snake rock wall....I can only imagine the horrors that are living in that rock wall.

So it looks like theses beauties will stay where they are and hopefully take over the weeds that are there.

Grow baby grow!!!

I'm getting all impatient and down in the mouth about my garden...

I do it every year.....

"I won't have enough".....

"It won't be fully grown in time".....

"It's not growing!!!"....

etc...etc...

I don't know why I do this, because every year I have way more than enough, and it is all grown

in time for harvest, and I look back and say "Cool it Kerri, don't act like this next year"...."See

everything worked out, and your shelves and freezer are full!"

My garden is one of Gods tools to teach me patience and to trust in him.

I am doing better than I did last year, I know that!!

I also know I have a lot of improving to do in the area of patience and trust! 

King of the north peppers.....

I have no idea! Broccoli I think....

Amish Paste tomatoes....

Broad beans......

Buttercup squash.....

Marketmore cukes and pea pods......

More cukes.....

Can't remember the variety, but I LOVE the color......

One Cortland apple.....I picked them all off this spring to send the nutrients back into the tree...

WAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!

Wild blackberries.....

Drying times.....

These are "drying times" here at 4 arrows.  My garden is begging for a drink of water and it's going to 

get it tonight.  I just returned from the local hardware store with a sprinkler.  I am sitting here wonder why we don't own one!!!  Well, we do now and with the extended forecast, my garden is going

to thank me.

I've been picking this and drying it like CRAZY.  It is totally out of control and I LOVE it.  I go out in the cool of the morning and gather up all the ones that open and 

leave them to air dry on a big piece of screen.  I have almost a quart jar full!  

I love spreading it out on the screen and seeing the pretty colors.  After growing Calendula this year for an herb, I think I'll always keep it around.  It's fast growing and really easy to keep.....

not to mention beautiful!

Atomic Red's

I ordered these Atomic Red Carrots from Bakers Creek this

spring!

Yummy!!

Yummy!!

Yummy!!

I am absolutely in love with their color!  The outside is a deep Red/Purple

and the inside is a vibrant orange and yellow with the streaks of 

red that bleed through into the orange when you cut them.....

They are going to be in my heirloom garden every year!