Farm Favorites

October 29, 2011 in Filed Under: Family, Travel 2 Comments

Fall trees

We’ve had a nice visit here with Grandpa and Grandma Sipes. The farm is so peaceful and quiet, I think it’s almost impossible not to feel rested after spending any amount of time here. I sure do love being here each time we come. Even though we are ready to be back home, it’s always hard to leave. We plan to be on the road early tomorrow morning. In between packing up what we can today, I was looking through some of my favorite pictures from the last week.

Red leavesYellow woodsSoy beansDandilionLady bug on tirePear tree

Jesse has really enjoyed the few small projects he got to work on in the barn with his dad and his grandpa. Grandpa completely returns to his old self when he’s out there working with his hands.

Working on tractorJesse driving tractorGpa in barnGpa with tractor

Jesse has taken hundreds of amazing sunset pictures. Several nights this week he was out after dinner taking pictures of the sky.

SunsetsSunsetSunset 3

One of our most favorite meals is Grandma’s beef and noodles. We got to open up some of the beef we canned the day before for lunch yesterday. I brought my own noodles to make with my portion. We just couldn’t leave without having that meal.

Beef and noodles

Jesse earned his keep by doing one of his favorite chores: trash burning. I’m not sure it qualifies as a chore for him… he has too much fun doing it.

Jesse making fireJesse burning trash

It’s been below freezing when we wake up the last couple of mornings. Jesse got some pretty neat pictures of the frost covering the farm before the sun had a chance to warm things up.

Frost on grassFrost by the barnFrost on wind vane

Possibly my favorite picture of the week is one of Grandpa and Grandma. Jesse and I have plenty of great marriage examples to aspire to, but theirs is definitely at the top of the list as it is one of the longest. Jesse and I just have to giggle when all Grandpa has to do is look over at Grandma for her to know what he wants, and she’ll get up and get it for him. I guess that’s what happens when you’ve been together as long as they have. They’re amazing!

Gpa and Gma in chairs

Canning Beef – Family Style

October 27, 2011 in Filed Under: Family, Travel 4 Comments

I’ve helped Grandma Sipes can several different foods now. When we left here last time I said we would have to can meat next time, since we hadn’t done that yet. Sure enough, we were able to fit that into this trip. It was a family affair… we each took turns cutting beef and stuffing the cans, Grandma added salt and arranged the cans in the pressure cooker, Grandpa sharpened the knife periodically as it got dull, and Jesse was behind the camera documenting the process.Beef to canEmpty cansMildred cuttingMe filling cansGrandpa sharpeningMe cuttingMe cutting 2Jerry cuttingGrandma adding saltGrandma filling pressure cookerMe adding cansGrandma sealing pressure cooker

Fast forward about two hours…

Cooked beefGrandma emptying cookerGrandma emptying cooker 2Finished cans

The beef sure smelled good when it came out of the cooker! We had enough to make 18 cans, plus extra to put in the freezer. Grandpa and Grandma should get plenty of meals out of all that meat. Yay for more canning!

This post was linked to Domestically Divine, Teach Me Tuesday,and Hearts for Home. Be sure to check out their blogs to see what many other fabulous women have shared.

Nuggets: Cold Rainy Day

October 19, 2011 in Filed Under: Family, Nuggets, Travel 5 Comments

The light rain started last night, continued all through the night, and all day long without stop. Needless to say we didn’t get to spend any time enjoying the outdoors today. At home it’s usually warm when it rains, but here it was quite chilly. So instead we stayed warm and dry with some indoor activities.

::Grandma did some more canning first thing this morning. She was given some grapes that she made into grape juice. I’m still pretty fascinated with the preserving process. I did freeze plenty of fruit this year, but I haven’t been brave enough to try canning on my own.

More canningGrape juice

::The men worked on manly things together in the barn this morning. They got our car ready for the next leg of our trip, changing the oil and the wiper blades.

Changing oilMen working

::I spent more time looking out my favorite, big kitchen window. I just can’t get tired of seeing Fall outside. It’s so pretty, and this is the first time I’ve been here at this time of the season. I’m really hoping the beans get harvested before we leave. We’ll have to wait and see if it gets dry enough.

Favorite viewWindow view

::We brought a huge pile of jackets… the one I want is always at the bottom. They are all different thicknesses for however cold I am at the moment. I’ve been wearing two at once to be warm enough outside since I don’t have a super thick jacket.

Jackets

::We have a high volume of pills in this family. Everyone has their own pill containers, I even have mine for my daily allergy medicines. Mildred noted today that we all happen to have different ones, which is good thing so that we aren’t trying to take the wrong pills.

Pill containers

::Family meals have been interesting this week. With each person having their own dietary restrictions I don’t think there has been a meal yet where we’ve all eaten the same thing. It’s worked out just fine though. We’ve each had plenty to eat.

Family dinner

::Tonight ended with a game of dominoes. We always play dominos when we’re here and we only play when we’re here. Mildred won by far. We tried to gang up on her at the end, but it didn’t work. It’s been a while since we’ve played all the way through each number, but we had started early enough tonight that we had enough time to finish.

Dominos 1Dominos 2Dominos 3

We leave in the morning to head to Niagara Falls. I’m so excited for the next couple of days that we will spend there. I’m sure we will be taking tons of pictures to share. Time for bed now to be ready for our early morning.