TAE BO!

Started to take my customary 2 mile walk and realized that the sun was only an inch above the trees (well, not AC-tually), so I thought to myself, "Self. I don't really want to be walking home in the dusk when all the skunks come out to play, do I?" And myself said, "No."

SO, after walking the .1 mile from my driveway to the walking trail I turned around and went home where I popped in my "Tae Bo Amped" DVD and did the 31 minute Core Express workout.

This is my first tae bo workout of the season. I usually do this for my winter exercise because it's too darn cold outside. It is a lot more of a workout than walking, so I'll be feeling it in the morning. Maybe even sooner.

Hi-YAAAH, y'all...

music practice...

I had a little alone time and I finally got in a little practice on my guitar, fiddle and tinwhistle. I posted a few videos on my "Practice Time" blog (see link in my left-hand column) to show what songs I'm practicing. Of course, they don't sound like this when I play them. =0)

Now I'm off to make those tomato preserves! Easy recipe, so it shouldn't take too long.

Vaya con Dios, Mama!



Me on the trail.



Jordan preparing to go horseback riding with Micah!

Good worship song...

Tomatoes everywhere!

We're getting a bumper crop of tomatoes off of my few plants! I've got cherries, pears and a couple of varieties of standard size tomatoes. With the cool summer we've had just a small dribble of tomatoes at a time, but as we experienced a few warmer days toward the end of summer they've ripened all at once.

I've taken a sliced up tomato with Ranch dressing to work in my lunch several times, and it's great, but I can't keep up! My hubby loves them, but they're too acidic for him to eat very many. So, I decided to try my hand at tomato preserves/jam.

Here are a couple of recipes I'm going to try in the next couple of days. I think I have enough tomatoes to make both recipes. I really like the idea of using apricot Jello in one of them! Anyone else game?

Tomato preserves

Ingredients:
2 1/2 pounds tomatoes
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 pounds sugar
1 box Sure Jell
6 jelly glasses

Directions:

Peel and cut the tomatoes into small pieces. Simmer for 10 minutes.
To 3 cups cooked tomatoes, add lemon juice and Sure Jell. Bring to a full rolling boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Add sugar and again bring to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, skim, place preserves in jars and cover. Process in hot water bath for 15 minutes.
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Tomato jam with lemon or apricot gelatin

Ingredients:
1 package (3 oz. size) lemon gelatin
3 cups tomatoes, chopped
2 cups sugar

Directions:
Combine the tomatoes and sugar in heavy saucepan. Bring to boil and boil for 12 minutes. Remove from heat and add the gelatin (Jello). Stir well. Put in pint or jelly jars. Seal while hot or put wax over the jam in the jars. Store in a cool place. Try apricot gelatin for a taste treat, also.

It's been an ouchy week...

School's started, without us for the first time. As I drove to work this morning and met a big yellow schoolbus, it occurred to me that we would never again have a child in the local public school. Hooray! My apologies to those who love the thought of school, but I'm so glad my kids are finally free to live their lives and make their own decisions. Even though we homeschooled for the most part, there was always the "presence" of the public school hovering in the background...watching. Or so it seemed!

Two of my children are now in college, studying things that interest them deeply. The third is considering doing the same. I'm so jealous! Someday maybe I'll take a class or two!

My daughter, Missy, came to visit last weekend. She and my husband went horseback riding on Saturday and enjoyed it so much that they went again on Sunday. Wish we could turn back the clock. Missy's horse decided to bolt and she (Missy) ended up with a concussion and fractured ribs after a bad fall. She missed some work, but seems to be on the mend. Not a great ending to what was a fun weekend!

Then on Sunday I slammed the sliding door on the deli case at work on my little finger. It looks a little mangled and is taking a long time to heal. It also effects my typing a bit, but nothing compared to Missy's aches and pains! So I'll stop whining.

Otherwise, I've been working a lot and not getting my exercise in. Maybe tomorrow?

My youngest daughter, Micah, is spending the night. She has a horse show tomorrow. (4-H Regionals) She's studying Equine Science at a community college about 90 miles away. Her husband, Adam, is studying architecture. She came alone since he has to work. It's always fun to catch up on what they're doing.

It's late, so I'll sign off for now.

Shalom!

Man Executed in Jerusalem...

2000 years ago a man named Yeshua was executed outside of Jerusalem. Unlike most people who were sentenced to death, He died because He chose to. He gave up everything so that we wouldn't have to die, too. He died to give us life.

Why would someone have to die for us to have life? Because somewhere way back at the beginning we were broken. When this man, Yeshua, breathed His last breath the veil in the temple tore from top to bottom (Matthew 27:50-51). The temple veil had more in common with the curtain that covers a stage than the ones on your windows. It was about 60 feet tall and woven together layer on layer so that no light could pass through. It separated the Jewish people in the temple from the Holy Place where God's presence stood. It tore because He took the brokenness so we could come home again.

Coming home is a two way street. Most of us have our own veil inside. We've been broken and glued together so many times that our hearts look like a paper mache of blood and bandages. Now, we know that we can come back to God, but it's up to us to decide if He can come in or not. We may have thrown a curtain over some secret in our life that we don't want to get rid of, but don't want anyone to see. Maybe more than anything, we hang a curtain around all the pain. Everything that people told us, we believed, and everything they called us, we owned. The bandages are soaked through and they stick.

If you hurt, there's a man here who wants to treat your wounds. Someone broke you, but not this Man. He's knocking patiently on your door to come in and see you. There's blood dripping from His hands, but it's not yours. He knows all about pain. It's time for the curtain to tear. It's time for a fresh start. Our God is the God of new beginnings.

(This blog was written by my son, Josh. I thought it was kind of good...so I copied it and put it here!)

CRABAPPLES!!!

My little crabapple tree yielded a 5 gallon bucket of apples! Time to make Lisa's Crabby-Apple Jelly!


Not to mention Wild Plum Jelly! (Though they're still a little under-ripe.)

My dad bought me two little crab apple trees about 10 years ago and they just started bearing fruit about 3 years ago. I was so surprised at that first crop! They are a nice way to remember him since he passed away a few years ago.

It's fun to have jelly-making to look forward to, since the vegetable garden is pretty much done for the year. I'll try to work on that Monday, on my day off. Hopefully next year we'll have a chest freezer so I can freeze more vegetables and maybe even butcher some chickens.

Happy harvest all! =0)