At Calgary...

Mother is now in Calgary, Alberta Canada. She said her flights went very well, the one plane being very crowded and the next very empty. She's trying to adjust to using Canadian money currently and said the coins were a little confusing... I hope her Canadian bed is soft and comfortable tonight. :) Tomorrow the class starts, so Mom is very excited---now that the plane ride is over with, for the time being.....

Here at home, Dad went "Up North" this morning and loaded a load of hay that he sold down South again. He and the boys worked in the shop the rest of the day, except for when Jacob came in and helped cut up some apples and set the table.....

Andrew's very happy because he was able to get his Sheriff car indoors and he's started tearing it apart already. Dad and Jacob moved the pool-table over to its permanent location and got it leveled out (and played a few games too, so I hear...).

Meanwhile in the house, I was very busy cleaning and cooking. I worked quite a while on cleaning the laundry room and pantry, as they were very out of sorts! For supper, I made chicken enchiladas (with freshly made tortilla shells), apple raisin salad, and fruit pizza. Yummy! Want to drop in and have a bite? I made a big pan full.... ;)

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?

The end of a busy week~

~On the ninth day of blogging, my conscience said to me,
"You almost missed posting...
Wow, what a sunburn!
You've got to hurry,
Post something practical...
You--are--so--blessed!
Will you share God's peace?
Can you share God's joy?
Are you waisting time,
And can you blog-and do it hum-bl-y?"





Friday is usually the busiest day of the week for us ladies, as we do our house cleaning then and cook up enough food to last us 'til Saturday night. Today, my mom & I made Chicken Enchiladas (with home-made tortillas) and cheese cake---my 2nd attempt at making a home-made graham cracker crust. The last time I tried making the crust, it rose so much during baking that there was more crust than there was topping! When I mixed up the dough today, I eighth-ed the recipe and it turned out just about right.





Today was a very special day in the life of Ella (one of the neighbor children whom I did a lot of babysitting for last year)---it's her 5th birthday! I got to see her briefly yesterday when we were down at the local farm/parts store in Kintyre for their Customer Appreciation meal and got a hug. Here is a picture of "My" little people that was taken in March. "Happy birthday, Ella!" I love you!

May you all have a restful weekend.~