A clean house; fresh apple butter; and happy shooters...

It is such a good feeling to have a clean house, isn't it? :) Ours smells of Apple Butter tonight, so it's extra pleasant! Here is a picture of the apple-butter-to-be, before I stirred in the spices and honey... (If anyone would like the recipe, just let me know and I'd be very willing to share it with you.)


There were various different things going on around our farm today, but probably the most enjoyable, for the guys anyway, was when they decided to take advantage of the sunshine and go out to practice shooting some clay pigeons (or skeet, as they sometimes call them.) I got this picture of them shortly before they took off. When my dad and brothers returned, they reported several hits and said that they had had a very fun time (and now they want me to go with them tomorrow and try to hit some clay too!)

I made something new (to me) for supper tonight--a recipe that Mom said she used to make a lot when they were first married, but I don't remember ever having it. Basically, you make some corn-bread and spread the batter in a pan, then cut some hot-dogs in half and press them into the batter. After that, you put some ketchup, mustard and pickles in the opened hot-dogs and then bake this for about half an hour (putting cheese on top during the last few minutes of baking time.) The guys said it was very good, so perhaps we'll make it again soon so that Mom and I can have some too. :) (We only have 2 more days to go on this cleanse--hooray!!! I'm so hungry for something other than water, lemons, maple syrup and cayenne pepper!)

As I was looking through the pictures from today, I realized I didn't have one of mother, but had one of everyone else, so I went back a few days and found this picture to share with you... :)

And now to a more serious topic...
I just remembered what "Holiday" it is tomorrow and just want to ask you to pray with me for the safety of everyone--especially children..... We researched the origins and traditions of Halloween many years ago and were horrified by what we learned, but I won't share that with you here as it's too_____yucky. One good resource we've found has been the Chick Tracts (written by Jack Chick) about Halloween. You can visit the website here to read these cartoon-format tracts for yourself... The ones specifically about this time of year are: Happy Halloween; The little ghost; Boo; The little princess; and there may be a couple others by now. One family tradition we have had for as long as I can remember is, on the 31st of October, we watch "It's a wonderful life." We love to celebrate life on this day of darkness and....death. Care to join us?