Prepare - A Christmas Countdown - Week One

Today I was out shopping and was shocked to find a full displays of Christmas decorations. I wasn't quite thinking it was time for Christmas lights yet.

On the other hand, my husband would tell you that I'm already talking about Christmas. I know some of you don't celebrate Christmas but here in our home we choose to enjoy this celebration of Christ's birth with special times of worship, service, and family gatherings. I've learned from experience that I like to start planning for Christmas early to eliminate (or at least lessen) the holiday stress.

A few years ago I found a holiday timetable that I adjusted for my use. To me, a little planning can maximize the joy of the season. This timetable gave a specific project for each week. Last year we were looking forward to a new baby in early January (who ended up arriving on December 31st.) That gave me motivation to not only prepare for Christmas but also catch up on other household tasks. I loved starting out the new year feeling prepared, not frazzled and behind.

Since both our families live nearby, typically we neither travel over the holidays nor do we host overnight guests. Some of you will add packing to your to-do list. Others will have extra cleaning to prepare for hospitality. Though my lists include neither, feel free to adapt to your needs.

For the next eight weeks I plan to share every Monday on preparing for Christmas. The eight weeks will end in the first week of December giving adequate time to finish any uncompleted tasks and enjoy the season before Christmas Day.

I don't want to add to your guilt and give you more to do. Don't expect photos worthy of Southern Living (because I do almost no holiday decorating). Hopefully this will give you some ideas of how to plan ahead and lessen your holiday stress.

So we'll start in with...

Prepare - A Christmas Countdown 

Week One - Goal Week - October 13-18

Sit down with a pen and paper (or keyboard) and jot down the answers to these questions and any ideas they bring to mind. This is best done with your husband - and maybe your children too.

1. What would my ideal Christmas be like?

2. What activities are particularly important to our family this Christmas?

3. Is there any activities that can have a lower priority?

4. How can I use this holiday to point others to Christ?

5. How can I build in times to rest during the holiday to reduce the stress of busyness? 

A note on the last question...I'm thinking of not just a nap (thought that can be good too) but times of spiritual refreshment. I know the first thing I lose when I am busy or when routines get upset is my time with the Lord. What steps can I take to make sure my spiritual health stays priority?

And last...out of curiosity I looked in a Bible Concordance to see what it has to say about preparation - and I was encouraged by what I found, so each week I'll share a Scripture that includes the word "prepare" or similiar.

 "For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him." Isaiah 64:4

What a promise! God says that I can't even imagine what He has prepared for those who wait on Him.

Want to join me in preparing our hearts to wait and listen to Him these next weeks? Sometimes I go from the busy summer harvest season, to busy school season, to busy holiday season, always looking forward to some future day when life will slow down, not realizing that God wants a heart that is waiting on Him. Today. Now.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on how you keep a quiet God-focused heart in busy seasons.

Goal Worksheet - a free printable

Visit to Northern PA

Last weekend we were camping in northern Pennsylvania in Tioga County. This is a lovely part of God's world.



We stayed at Hill's Creek State Park. The accommodations in the tiny camping cottage was very simple (only beds and a table) but far better than tenting and we like to cook outdoors.



The park was lovely. A short walk from our cabin found a beaver lodge and signs of beaver like this young cut tree that still had green leaves. In the morning, the lake was shrouded in fog. While Ed cooked breakfast, the children and I sneaked down the trail to the lodge in hopes of catching a glimpse of the beaver. But before we saw them, we heard a huge splash. And all we saw were ripples.



Summer in Pennsylvania's forest is a deep silent green. But fall in the woods has a completely different feel. The golden leaves pulls down the sunlight. There is something vivid and alive in the autumn forest even though I know that the coloring of the leaves is a sign of winter and the leaves demise.

Though we were a week or two before peak leaf color, we don't think we could have picked a better weekend. The weather was perfect, not cold, not hot. The leaves were just beginning to turn with the red, yellow, and orange maples set off by green oaks and pines.

We began our trip with a visit to the Anthracite Museum in Scranton. We learned about mining and immigration. This museum is part of the Pennsylvania Heritage Trails. We had purchased a one year family pass and have enjoyed many of the museums and historical sites this year. We definitely have gotten our money worth and learned more about Pennsylvania's history. If you live in or near PA - this is a good deal! Check it out here.

We drove from Scranton to Tioga County by way of Rt 6, a lovely scenic road in northern Pennsylvania. We spent the remainder of our day enjoying Hill's Creek. Ed thinks it would be fun to stay at every Pennsylvania State Park that offers overnight accommodations. We have never been disappointed in any park we've stayed at. I think this is our fifth park. Only about 65 more parks to go! Maybe we should change our goal to having a picnic at each park instead of staying overnight!



We attempted to find several geo-caches during the weekend - but were not successful at all. We have never had such poor results. Maybe part of our trouble was that we were a little wary of rattlesnakes at this time of year. Digging through leaves and rolling over rocks made me skittish.



The second day found us at another museum on the Pennsylvania Heritage Trail - the PA Lumber Museum. The museum was moving into a lovely new building and we couldn't view the indoor exhibits but were able to tour the outdoor collections.



Then we went to Colton Point State Park to enjoy a picnic and awesome views of the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon from the western rim.

 

Then we went down to the canyon floor to bike the Pine Creek Rail Trail.

Anyone with children knows how hard it is to get a photo with the whole family. I didn't even pack the camera along on our bikes since I figured I wouldn't even try to get any pics. But we ran into some friends who happen enjoy photography. So thanks Carolyn, for offering to take our photo and emailing it to us.

The Pine Creek is lovely and many bikers were out enjoying the perfect weather. A highlight was watching a bald eagle ride the thermals.

We ended the day with a trip to the Leonard Harrison State Park on the eastern rim of the canyon. We hiked the overlook trail which was quite a bit steeper than I had expected. We were all ready to head back to our cabin for a late supper.

Saturday we headed up to the Tioga/Hammond Lakes Recreational Area. Once again we biked, picnicked, and hiked. (And failed to find geo-caches.) The four-mile hike, much of it over rough trail or steep climbing, was a challenge but sure made us all feel good when we made it to the overlook.

I think that it can be good to push our children a little bit past what they think they can do. The next time will be a bit easier and they will hopefully be willing to tackle other hard tasks.

Hmmm...Maybe that is what the Lord is saying when He gives tasks that look too large? The challenge will be good for my child. So thankful that He walks alongside with encouragement.

September Garden

We were camping for a few days - and when we got back we found that an accident in front of our house had snapped off the pole. Thankfully the power was back on by the time we arrived home. But our phone and internet wasn't restored until yesterday.

But I still wanted to share these photos of our September garden. Even if it is now October.

And maybe I should thank you.

Often my energy disappears by September and the garden is abandoned. In the spring I am pulling out the old tomato cages and discarding old broccoli plants and wondering why I had not taken care of them months earlier.

But knowing that I was going to take a photo of my garden and share it with friends and strangers was motivation to get out to the garden and do some housekeeping. Besides the weather has been so lovely the last weeks that I hated to be indoors.

Maybe the reason that the garden often doesn't get cleaned up in the fall is because I'm waiting for the first frost to kill the peppers and tomatoes. Until then, I want to enjoy every last bit of harvest.

But not this year. My tomatoes were nearly dead with blight anyway. The few remaining tomatoes were just hanging there inducing guilt that I was not preserving them. So in a rash act (which I have not regretted) I picked all the ripe tomatoes and peppers and pulled the plants out of the ground. I chopped up the peppers for the freezer, dehydrated the tomatoes, and could call that part of the garden finished.

I'm not done, but I'm farther along in garden clean up if it had not been for you.

So thank you. And here is the garden tour.

In the lower garden I had taken out the old strawberry patch and planted late corn. I didn't expect to get much harvest but the corn did well. It was fun to have fresh corn in September - long after our corn is usually finished. It inspired me to do better at multiple vegetable plantings next year. But I know that the generous rainfall this summer is what made this corn planting so successful.

 

My next job is to cut down this corn and clean out this area. Next to the corn is broccoli, cabbage, and kale - almost ready to pick. To the right is the worn-out green beans and zucchini plants. Another area that has not yet been cleaned up.



This is a shot of our larger garden. It is looking rather barren. In front is more broccoli hiding under row cover. We just finished harvesting the carrots in this area.



In the middle of the garden was the pumpkins which were planted to closely to the  potatoes. They grew all over the potato patch, but actually I think it worked out okay. As the potato plants died back, the pumpkins took their place and we had fewer weeds than usual. But it was rather difficult to dig the potatoes. I thought the pumpkin vines would eventually die back but the vines continued to root along the stem and send out new blossoms and baby pumpkins. Finally I started digging through the vines and found that we had a huge number of pumpkins that were already mature enough to pick. There was no need to continue to wait for more pumpkins.

 

I started picking pumpkins while the children hauled them to the porch. We ended up with over 50 long-neck pumpkins! With them out of the way we could start digging the potatoes. We only have about half dug so far but already got three bushels of potatoes. It looks like we will be eating potatoes and pumpkins this winter! If you live locally and want a pumpkin that makes wonderful pumpkin pie - please come visit us and take some off our porch!



This photo is from the far end of the same garden. I'm battling thistles in the strawberry patch, determined to get ahead of them but so far I'm failing and considering changing the location of our strawberry patch next year. It is so hard to eradicate thistles once they are established in a strawberry patch.



The red raspberries out did themselves this year. I picked a gallon of berries - several times a week. And some of them went to waste because I couldn't get to them. I froze them loose on baking sheets and stored them in bags. I feel so rich when I think of the many bags of berries in the freezer. I hope to make jam sometime - but it didn't get done this month. The berries are nearly over so another job will be cutting down these plants and giving them a good layer of mulch for winter.

So that is our garden this past month. How does your garden grow?

Popcorn

Random glimpses of life at our house the past weeks.

The best word I can use to describe the last two months is abundance. Over and over I have been filled to overflowing. Sometimes it was physical - such as this wagon overflowing with our onion harvest.

After allowing the onions to dry, I braided some, dehydrated others, and cut the tops off for storing.

For years I have had trouble keeping onions. The onions would look fine when I pulled them but the inner rings of the onion would start to rot and would go bad from the inside. I have asked many gardeners how to solve the problem and received many suggestions including spraying for blight and planting seeds instead of onion sets. The lady at the extension office thought that maybe the culprit was lack of consistent watering.

I still don't know what causes it but this year we had the nicest onions ever. The Stuttengarten onion sets (the variety we usually plant) have showed no signs of rotting - and typically by this time I have already lost more than half the crop. Could it be that the abundant rainfall we received this summer was what the onions needed? The red onions were not going to store as long so I tried Quinn's canned carmelized onions. It was a fun project - though made the house stick for two days!

 

We picked and ate zucchini until we could eat no more. We successfully made zucchini relish and pickles - then I turned the children's creativity loose. They carved a whole village of zuke people along with bowls and other artifacts!

The first half of August was rather quiet and relaxed. The cool weather slowed the garden and I wondered if I would ever have enough tomatoes to can as they slowly died of blight.

But the speed of life ratcheted up a few notches at the end of August. Then September hit with hot weather. Suddenly my canner was in full time use. In two weeks, the shelves filled with empty jars were transformed to bearers of jewel toned jars of tomatoes, pears, grapejuice, carrots, and more.

 My sister-in-law generously gave me several bushels of tomatoes so I could make dozens of jars of pizza sauce, ketchup, BBQ sauce, and juice.On the week that I was most overwhelmed with canning two sisters (one a birth sister and another a sister from church) called and asked if they could come and help me for a day. What a huge blessing. Not only was it nice to have an extra set of hands - the conversation made the day fly.

 Several readers have stated that they would love to have a big kitchen where they could can - so I thought I'd show you my kitchen. I love my kitchen - but it isn't large. Maybe you can see from the photo that there is a tiny counter between the stove and sink (barely big enough for a dish drainer) and another small counter between the sink and fridge. I don't think I'd survive without the island to the left. This is where I line up my jars or roll out bread dough. To take this photo I was standing next to another small counter, large enough to hold my cook book and the blender. You really don't need a huge kitchen to preserve food.

But it sure helps to move some projects out to the picnic table - like straining tomato juice - a very splattery job.




 And here is the view at my feet on the kitchen floor. Pure sweetness. (And don't worry, when there are hot pots around, I move her to another room. At this point she isn't mobile and stays where she is put. It is a joy to have such a content baby; some of her siblings would have never been so content to sit and play with toys - or maybe it is because she has so many eager entertainers and doesn't need to go exploring.)

 We had a great carrot crop.

 Carrots are such fun to pull!

 I've never enjoyed coffee but this summer Ed found a way for me to join him with his morning indulgence. Cold-brewed coffee combined with milk and chocolate syrup has been a yummy start to many of our mornings. (If you ask I'll give more details!)

Yes, I'm spoiled. In lots of ways. Especially when I think of all the events that somehow we didn't take photos of the past weeks. We've enjoyed  bike rides with family and friends. I soaked in the teaching and fellowship at campmeeting and the Oasis Ladies Retreat (and loved seeing many of you!) There has been sacred moments at church, fun sing-alongs on the couch, and even hard times when God's grace was abundant for our need.

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 And then there is the sweetest part of summer...watching dear babies turn into even dearer girlies.

In some ways I hate to see summer ending -the close to the long evenings and sun-filled days. We are back to school now and every afternoon finds us rushing outside to soak in the brilliant blue sky and sun's rays.

So if I have been absent recently, and you are still waiting for a reply to your email - now you know why.

Flo's Cakes - Sour Cream Pumpkin Coffee Cake

Just yesterday I was making Flo's Lemon Raspberry Coffee Cake. This was the third time I made this recipe since I keep sharing it with others or taking it to a fellowship meal so there is barely any left for us! I was also cooking the first pumpkin of the season so had fall food on my mind. I started thinking about coffee cake infused with pumpkin and spice and wondering if Flo had a pumpkin coffee cake. 

Imagine my delight to check my email today and find this recipe from Flo. Mind reader! I can't wait to try it. I'm skipping out of my blogging vacation (I will be back to blogging! Promise. When I put away my pressure canner...)  so that you can try it too.

Thanks Flo, for delighting our taste buds again.

Sour Cream Pumpkin Coffee Cake

Cake:

½ cup butter

¾ cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

3 eggs

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup sour cream

Streusel:

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/3 cup butter

2 tsp cinnamon

1 cup chopped nuts

Filling:

1 ¾ cup pumpkin (solid pack)

1 slightly beaten egg

⅓ cup sugar

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Preheat oven to 325˚. Grease a 9x13 pan. Make streusel; set aside. Cream butter, sugar, vanilla and pumpkin pie spice. Add eggs. In another bowl, combine flour, baking powder and baking soda; add to butter mixture alternately with sour cream. In another bowl, combine pumpkin, egg, sugar and pie spice. Spoon half of batter into pan and spread to edges of pan. Sprinkle half of streusel over batter. Spread pumpkin mixture over streusel. Carefully spread remaining batter over pumpkin mixture and sprinkle remaining streusel over remaining batter over pumpkin mixture and sprinkle remaining streusel over top. Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. 


Florence lives in the northwoods of Michigan with her husband and three preschoolers. Her hobbies are writing and baking coffee cakes. A few  months ago she published a book titled My First Deer Hunt. This is a children’s story about the time her husband took their oldest son (then four-years-old) to the woods for his first hunting trip.  Email Flo at foxden @emypeople.net.

Meadow Tea Punch

 

I love cool summer drinks - though typically at our house we stick with just plain water.

When I was young, one of our neighbors served Meadow Tea Punch at every neighborhood gathering. No community picnic was complete without her punch.

Last summer I went back to my parent's community to attend their community summer picnic - and there is was - meadow tea punch. It is still THE summertime beverage in Welsh Run. Some things are too good to change.

Recently I had a craving for meadow tea punch and with a phone call found how simple this is to make.



There is a more detailed recipe but basically Meadow Tea Punch is a mix of equal parts of meadow tea, lemonade, and orange juice. If you want a small batch, mix a quart of each. If you are serving a crowd, mix a couple gallon of each. It couldn't be simpler.

For the lemonade you may use fresh squeezed, frozen concentrate, or the dry powder mix.

Similarly the orange juice can be frozen concentrate (diluted with water, of course) or whatever orange juice you have on hand.

But I don't know any shortcut to get meadow tea then to carry a dishpan and collect a bowl full of mint.



In our area, many farmsteads have a patch of mint growing along a shed somewhere. I was pleased when we moved here to find a patch already established by the garden shed. Mint is very invasive. Do NOT plant mint in your garden unless you want to fight it forever. The best place to plant mint is somewhere you can mow around it. Along the back of a shed is perfect.

I don't have a recipe for meadow tea. I fill my big pot with water (about a gallon and a half), bring it to boil, throw in a dishpan full of spearmint (maybe some peppermint too), remove from heat, and allow to steep for half an hour. Remove mint and strain tea. (Use a cheese cloth or an old sheet.) Sweeten with sugar or stevia as desired. Cool. Add water if it is too concentrated.

Meadow Tea is great just as like that but adding orange juice and lemonade definitely makes it special.

For me it is a taste of nostalgia. It is the taste of orange juice with an after-taste of tea. My husband says that it is super refreshing on a hot day.

If you have a patch of mint taking over your herb garden, try it.

Kitten Love

A post for our local friends...

We are loving on these kittens - but Daddy says that five kittens are too many.

Very tame. Child-friendly. Ready to leave their mother soon.



Would you like to take one home?