Category Archives: Family

Blackberries

Canning, Family, Garden,

Blackberries are going full steam right now. Late this afternoon, we headed for the berry patch. Most of us went to pick. Isaac informed us he was not there to pick…he

was there to eat. I think he ate his fill because he pitched in and picked a bunch of berries as well. Both kids were a tremendous help in the berry patch. We intend to return to it on Tuesday evening and every couple of days as long as the berries hold out.

After about an hour of picking, we got 4 and a half quarts of berries. As soon as we got home, Abigail, Emily and I started making jam. We got a total of 9 half-pint jars of jam. We’re really enjoying canning our harvest. Emily and I both have a lot of fun doing it and have decided it is our favorite hobby to do together.

We saw a couple of cool things while at the berry patch too. When we first walked up, we happened upon a deer eating OUR BERRIES!. Isaac scared her off of course. The other cool thing we saw was a 6-foot black snake. Isaac wanted to pet it but the snake had other plans. We’ll keep an eye out for him next time!

Rain? Water?

Family

We went swimming with some friends at the Charleston Tennis Club today. We’d never been to their facilities before but the pool area is very nice. Anyhow, about 15 minutes after we got there, we heard thunder and had to clear the pool. We grabbed some snacks and decided to wait it out. We tried the water again and were cleared by thunder before our teeth began to chatter. At the end of this storm, a young hawk flew in and landed on the diving board. We were able to walk to within arms length of it which was pretty neat. Eventually, he just flew off and we hit the pool again. A third round of thunder came through and we decided to heard for the house. Somehow we were able to get sunburned so it wasn’t a total wash. Speaking of wash, we couldn’t when we got home. The feeder line that serves our road was leaking like crazy. The water company was able to fix it pretty quickly but we were without water for an hour or two. Water was our problem today!

Independence Day

Family, Garden,

What an Independence Day! Isaac and I walked in the woods with some friends this morning and had a lot of fun discovering all sorts of things while Emily and Abigail worked around the house. We started some ribs smoking around lunch in preparation for a 4th of July feast at supper time. Bud and Donna came over and ate ribs and corn and salad and taters and Hinora’s Stuff with us. Hmm…what is Hinora’s stuff? Here’s the core recipe (add whatever else is garden fresh): 

 

Hinora’s Stuff

1 diced, unpeeled potato per person

1 green pepper

3 small green onions

1 tbsp butter

2-3 jalapenos

1 yellow squash

2 cloves of garlic

half a small head of cabbage

1 green tomato

Cut it all up, pitch it in a skillet and fry till tender. It sounds so-so and looks so-so but tastes SO, SO good!

We messed around after eating until the city fireworks started. We headed outside and watched about 5 minutes’ worth until the rain poured. Some of us endured the rain and viewed it as a much needed shower. As the finale wrapped up, our teeth reached full chatter, our boots were filled with water and the rain stopped…perfect timing as usual!

Learning about plumbing

Family

Emily and Abigail walked past the compter while the pipe screen-saver was active. Abigail said, “oh look, Daddy’s computer is teaching him more about plumbing!”  Come to think of it, by looking at my actual plumbing, I can see where she might think she discovered the source of my plumbing knowledge!

 

 

Another reason I love to live in Charleston, WV

Family, WV,

My brother-in-law and sister-in-law were out of town this weekend so we agreed to let their dog out during the day.  Of course, it rained off and on all weekend and we had to let the dog in and out according to the storm schedule.  The nice thing is, we live 1 minute from them. 

Last night we played cards with Emily’s mom and dad while the kids messed around and watched movies, etc.  A storm popped up so I ran over to put the dog back in.  The dog was 1 minute from Emily’s folks’ place too.  Things are just closer here.  We used to live near Nashville, TN and nothing was close…or even if it was close, there was too much traffic to “get there” in a reasonable amount of time.  We could see the grocery store from our first apartment in TN but it sometimes took us 1/2 hour to get there.  In Charleston, life is just easier.  We have most of the same things as any other city but it’s easier to “get there” from here.  But more importantly than being close to stuff, is being close to people…we’re closer to family and friends here.