Update From the Country!

Greetings and blessings to everyone! I pray you had a safe and blessed week-end. 


I cannot believe where the time has gone! I have been working forty-hour weeks and then trying to get fruits and vegetables canned when I can. I haven't had a moment to sit down and write much less breath, until today. I have started this blog several times... I hope to finish it today. 


I have been getting some reading done, on my lunch hour, so I have been trying to get the reviews posted. Be sure to go to www.latawniakreviews.blogspot.com and see what I have been reading. May be you will get a couple of ideas for the book worm in your family!


Well, let me get you updated on what's been going on here in the country....


The chickens are doing well, and laying lots of eggs. I am gathering at least 10-14 eggs a day. Since they still don't have nesting boxes and they like to hide them, my count isn't the same every day. My hard-working husband said he will try to build the boxes this week. 

There is one hen who always follows me around when I gather the eggs. She is one of the black sex-links. She talks to me and allows me to pick her up and pet her. Sometimes she will hop on my back when I am bent down gathering the eggs! She's really quite sweet, for a chicken. Then one of the leghorns likes to try and take the eggs out of the bowl. She wants to keep them. I think she's the one who likes to bury them so I can't find them.


I have been trying to think of different ways to cook eggs.... I have also been giving them to family members and I have started to sell them. I have eggs everywhere! What do you do with a dozen of eggs a day? I think I am going to see if there is a community food box place in town where I can donate some of them. 

I have also been canning. (The above picture isn't of my work.... it just a picture I found. I haven't had time to take pictures of my work!) I have canned several pints of beets pickled, carrots pickled, and plain carrots. I have also frozen many quart bags of rutabagas and beets. I am getting ready to freeze corn next. I cut my fingernails down because they were turning various shades of brown and purple! Oh, don't let me forget... I also put up 5 quarts of applesauce. I still have lots of apples, so I still have lots of applesauce to make. I am also going to try and make apple butter. A good friend of mine gave me a website where I can find a recipe for apple butter in a crockpot. I can't wait to try that!


Well, the computer has decided to not work right again.... Lord, I need a new computer! 


I was trying to find a picture of a tractor like the one we have so I could post it but the computer went stupid, so no picture.


The reason for the picture was because I wanted you to see what I was driving this week-end when I got sunburned! I was helping my husband working down on the neighbor's property. This neighbor hires my husband to dig ditches, move dirt piles, clear brush and other things. This past week-end we were filling in a ditch with dirt we had moved from another ditch that was dug a month ago. (I got to drive the dump-truck when we did that job.) 


I was down there riding on the excavator with Calvin when he decided he needed help moving the dirt. He went and got the tractor and I drove it for five hours, moving dirt down to the other end of the ditch we were filling in. Oh, silly me didn't were a hat or put on sunscreen. So I got nice and burnt. It was such a beautiful day that I didn't even think about getting sunburned. I was just enjoying the day, driving the tractor and happy that I could do something to help my sweetheart with this job. 


When I got home and looked in the mirror I realized how burnt I was. Let me tell you, next time I will wear a hat and long sleeves!! No wearing just a tee-shirt for me! 


Well, my dear friends and family, it's that time for me to go. I hate to cut this short... but I have to get ready to go to work. Until we meet again, I pray that Jesus, our Lord and Savior, will bless you this week with His sweet presence and He will strengthen you when you need strength, give you the words you need to speak of His grace and mercy and supply all your need.


God bless all of you!


"How sweet are Thy words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" Psalm 119:103 (NASB)

Update From the Country!

Greetings and blessings to you from the country! I pray you had a restful week-end. And I pray that our Lord and Savior made Himself evident in your lives.

My week-end was fairly busy. Friday I got to visit with my dear friend, Mary. That was a wonderful time. We hadn't seen each other in about 14 years, so we had a lot of catching up to do! I showed her the chickens. I even caught a few of them for her so she could pet them. She got to see the pheasants in the house. And we had spaghetti for dinner. It was a good time all in all.

Saturday was an absolutely beautiful day here in Forest Grove. The sun was shining and it was nice and warm. It was perfect for weeding the garden. I spent a good three to four hours out there. Then I not only got a blister on my hand, but it broke, so, I had to call it quits for the day. I still have a couple of rows left to weed. 

I did ride my quad around the trails here on the property. It was the first time I rode it since my husband and I took a spill on his. So it was a bit scary at first. I just rode the easy trails and took it nice and slow. I was experimenting with shifting though and got myself in a little of trouble.... to shift to higher gears you push the shift lever up with your foot. To shift down you push the lever down. Well, I was going through some especially muddy area (lots of fun!) and instead of shifting down I was shifting up and well..... I went around the corner on three wheels yelling, "Help me, help me... I'm going to fast!" By the time I got shifted down to first gear again I was stuck, in the mud. But it was fun. I got it out of the mud hole and was back on the trail again!

Sunday was a wet and raining day. That was a bit disappointing, especially after such a beautiful day Saturday. So, even though we didn't do much, (I did laundry while my dear husband took a nap) I did get to rest. I have been having a lot of pain and numbness in my hands and wrists and arms due to the carpel tunnel. Saturday working in the garden took its toll on me. 

We did manage to get the seed potatoes in the ground yesterday. So that was a good thing. It did it in between the rain showers. There are now about 30 little hills in the garden with seed potato in them. I pray they do good. 

I am praying for a bountiful harvest. I want to be able to give many vegetables away to families in need here. The fruit trees are loaded with fruit, so I will also be able to give fresh apples and plums, as well. I also am praying for good egg-laying chickens. What a blessing for those who can't afford to buy eggs. They are almost too much for me to pay for! 

We still need tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber, snap peas, broccoli, cauliflower, onion (if I can find some seed onion) and a few other vegetables. I also still need to get more hoses (4) and sprinklers to attach to the hoses, to water the garden, when it isn't raining! 

Oh, may the Good Lord bless the garden and chickens so I may bless others with the harvest. 

REMINDER: This is the last week to enter the drawing for "The Heart Mender" by Andy Andrews. So be sure to go to my blog www.latawniakreviews.blogspot.com and enter. Sunday, June 13, 2010 is the last day. I will be announcing the winner Monday June 14, 2010 and getting the book into mail as soon as the winner sends me his/her snail mail address. So get your name in the drawing!

Well my friends and family, it is time for me to go. I must get ready for work. Please keep me in your prayers as I keep you in mine. May the good Lord bless you and keep you and yours until that Day. 

Just A Note From The Country

This is a picture I took here at home. The date is incorrect. It should be 03/21/2010. I forgot to reset the calendar date when I changed the batteries. I also found lots of trilliums on the property. Most of them are growing down by the creek. In some places they are in bunches of 12 or more. I had forgotten how beautiful they are. 

I am not the best photographer, but I hope you can see how pretty it is. Unlike daffodils and other spring flowers that return each year. The trillium is actually a very fragile plant. You can pick daffodils and their cousins through out spring and they will keep putting out blooms. If you pick a trillium it takes years to come back.


I have found lilac shrubs on the property. I can't wait for them to start blooming. Nothing smells as good as lilacs. 


The war between me and blackberries has been going in earnest. I think I won the battle over the flower bed that my mother-in-law had established many years ago. I discovered a hydrangea bush that was being strangled by the blackberry vines. I also found some hens and chicks. 


It's been raining here pretty good for the past week or so, so I haven't had a chance to check on the flower bed. 


I did get to transplant some strawberries that were down in the garden. I wanted to move them to the strawberry box up by the house so I could keep an eye one them. And I was concerned that my husband, Calvin, would accidentally run them over with the tractor while he was tilling the garden.


My vegetables are ready to plant. I have a garden growing on the kitchen table while I am waiting for the nights to get a bit warmer. It's still too cold for them to be in the ground.


Well, it's time for me to get some housework done before I go to work. I am very excited...I have a new mop head for my mop. Now maybe my floors will actually be clean!


Until I get to write again...May you all have a blessed week and a safe one.