Peaches!

Peach season is here on the farm! Oh the excitement! Today, Shannon picked peaches from the Saturn peach tree and shared a couple with the chickens. Lucky girls! The other peach trees are almost ready. Earlier in the season the hardest part was waiting for them to ripen. All I could think about was biting into a juicy peach fresh off the tree while sweet, peach juice dripped down my chin. Yum! When peach season arrives, I start to think of peach pies, cobblers, muffins, pancakes, crepes, canning, and other treats. I have to admit that my favorite way to eat a peach is still fresh off the tree.

Throughout the early summer our sons would often ask if the peaches were ready. Now they can finally pick and eat peaches fresh off the tree themselves. It's exciting to watch them bite into their first peaches of the season. Of course we will share with the chickens, and Max the dog too. Oh the joys of farm life.

Max the jingle dog!

One of the great things about the Christmas season is the prep work. In our home, it usually starts the day after Thanksgiving, and sometimes that night. It first starts with the lights that are strung on the outside of the house. Shannon does an exceptional job hanging them. Then it migrates to pulling out all the plastic totes filled with the previous years  decorations. The childlike excitement and wonder begins to fill our hearts. Max gets excited about what is in all the boxes. While going through boxes we find that one exciting object! It's his beloved jingles. It's a cute red and white collar that has bells on it. The excitement! He perks up and is so excited to wear it . When we go to the local Christmas tree farm to cut down our tree, we take Max with us. It's pure joy to see him so excited to wear and show off his jingles. He also tends to leave his mark on the little trees for future holidays. He he! 

The Journey...

The smell of Fall is in the air. This morning I was walking Max (our sweet little Corgi), and the crisp morning air made me realize how fast Autumn is approaching.  The fact that the leaves are starting to blanket the ground did not help. I am not ready; I still have tomato sauce to can, and green beans to pick-so many things to do to prepare for Fall and Winter. I was feeling a little behind, then something made me stop and enjoy the journey. Shannon often reminds me to enjoy the journey and not focus on the end result.

This morning I was walking down the hallway, and out of the corner of my eye I saw something that brought tears to my eyes. Last weekend while Shannon was running errands he stopped at an estate sale and found a beautiful antique rocking chair (he also bought a huge, cast iron frying pan). Next thing I know he called me and told me he found a few things for the house. When he arrived home he pulled the beautiful rocking chair out of the back of the truck. I knew exactly what it was for and where it was going. Last night he brought home a handmade flannel baby quilt from our church's penny auction. Sitting in the corner of our room with the baby blanket draped over it, the rocking chair is quietly awaiting the pitter patter of little feet, waiting to rock a child to sleep-bringing sweet dreams to a precious child. For now, it soothes the awaiting Papa and Daddy. Thank you rocking chair.

Peach Jam

Ross and I made peach jam today from peaches grown in our very own orchard.  So far we have nineteen half-pints made from our yellow peaches (the other seven were in the water bath at the time of the photo).  We were discussing canning some white peach halves tomorrow. We also froze a whole bunch to use in baking (along with the rest of the blueberries!).  Today is the first real payoff we've gotten from having dug those big tree holes in our rocky, Connecticut soil.  Now if we could only get the apples and pears on board…

Oh, and by the way, the best way to eat our homemade jam is on Ross' homemade bread, fresh out of the oven and warm.  

Summer Bounty.

What a haul today from our backyard.  Peaches, blueberries, potatoes, tomatoes, eggs, and if you look very closely some bell pepper seeds (for next year).  This doesn't even count what Ross used in making dinner-salad (lettuce), parsley potatoes (potatoes, garlic, and parsley from the herb garden), and sausage and peppers (bell pepper).  The only cost to our dinner was the sausage, some butter, and the fuel to cook it all.  While Ross did some chicken herding this evening, I picked the blueberries and the peaches.  This is the first really productive batch we've gotten from both fruits since we planted the trees and bushes several years ago.  God has been good to us this year.  I wish we could say the same for all those suffering in the drought!  Bless you all.