More Harry (Harry-er?)

(Pet bed from One Yard Wonders)

Our growing family.....

Meet Harry, the newest addition to our family.

Harry is a 5 month old Terrier mix.

We rescued him from the county animal shelter.

Nathan said we had to rescue him because he was getting beaten up by the other dogs in his kennel.

He is a sweet, well behaved little guy.

I'm sure you'll be seeing more of Harry around here soon.

Pumpkin Harvesting In Our Own Backyard

Happy Halloween!

Nathan as Raichu

Scraps

I have scraps.

Lots of scraps.

A basket full of scraps.

A bin full of scraps.

I won't show you the grocery bag full of scraps.

I think you get the idea.

So, I'm going to do a little scrap busting....

Can't wait to see what projects Jodi has planned.

Third grade......

is tough on little boys.

Finished Projects

A large bag to carry a display board for the Volunteer Department at Optimal Hospice

And a new wrench case for hubby

Summer Photo Roundup

I've had a personal request (Hello Mum!) for more family photos on my blog. So, here are a few of my favorites from this past summer.

Sparklers on the 4th of July

Boating on Huntington Lake

Monkeying around

Paddling in Huntington Lake

In Red Bluff, California along the Sacramento River

Nathan inside the Ticket Blaster at Chuck E Cheese

Nathan's 8th birthday party

Nathan the Rock Star

In the garden

First day of third grade

Mmmmmmm

I've been canning again.

My first attempt at jelly making.

And I must say, it's pretty good.

I took out all of the seeds and veins, so it isn't very hot,

but very tasty on toast with peanut butter.

Mystery Photos

I uploaded photos from our camera tonight and came across some mystery photos that I thought I'd share.

:: the couch (possibly) ::

:: leaves ::

:: my backside (ahem!) ::

:: grass ::

:: george in action ::

:: aha! the photographer's self portrait ::

Swap Goodies - Sent

I recently participated in A Midsummer Night's Dream swap with Sweet Goodness Swaps. Our inspiration was supposed to come from warm summer nights, soft music and romantic Shakespeare.

I struggled a bit with the inspiration, so I went with a midsummer evening picnic theme. My swap partner Sue, is a multitalented farm girl in Tennessee. Check out her farm website and her blogs. She keeps herself pretty busy with crops and dairy goats and all sorts of farm critters.

Here's a look at the goodies I sent her:


A few thrifted summer themed cookbooks, locally made caramels (one of her favorite sweets) and some pretty notecards in Sue's favorite colors.


You can't really tell from this photo, but there are homemade marshmallows in that jar. I followed this recipe and they are fabulous! (Nathan ate 7 of them at one sitting!)

And finally, a picnic blanket to use on a sunny summer day or a starry summer night. I used the leftover quilt blocks from the quilt top I made for myself last summer.

And the back of the picnic blanket.

Overall, I was very happy with the package I put together for Sue and so was she. I'll post photos of my goodies when the package arrives. Speaking of which, I better go check the mail. :)

Just Peachy!

Not bad for my first canning season. So far, I've put up 4 quarts plus 3 pints of peaches and 9 pints of tomatoes.

I've got more tomatoes ripening, so there will be more of those. And I planted some more zucchini.

No, I'm not crazy. I want to try making bread and butter pickles with zucchini instead of cucumber. We'll see how that works out.

Oops

My MIL gave me this cute little sign for Christmas:

I think it was a premonition of this:

Poor little steaks!

I shouldn't be allowed to use the barbeque anymore.

An unexpected harvest

Let's say you're going on vacation for a week or so.

If you have a Roma Tomato plant in your garden, do not leave it unattended.

If you do, when you return, the plants will be loaded with fruit.

Loaded with fruit that looks suspicously like.....

Yellow Pear Tomatoes!

Not the Romas I was anticipating. Not even close.

So much for delicious homemade red sauce.

Any recipes for Yellow Tomatoes?

Oh, and those Red Bell Peppers I planted?

They're sneaky too.

If you turn your back, they produce these......

My guess is that they're really Anaheim Peppers.

Any recipes for those?

Well, at least my other tomatoes are behaving themselves.


I think it's Salsa time!

Weekending

Photo highlights from a family camping weekend at Huntington Lake.

Nathan captaining a rented boat out on the lake.

A refreshing dip in the lake.....toes only! (It was very cold.)

A beautiful day to be out on the water.

My turn as captain.

Happy boater!

Hanging out at the campsite, playing DS.

Camping is hard work!

Breakfast time.

Huntington Lake Regatta

(I was amazed to see so many sailboats on a mountain lake.)

A quick paddle in the lake before heading home.