Crab Apple ( or Apple) Jelly Recipe

This is apple time and one of our traditions is to go picking and make crab apple jelly each year. My ds Luke and I are allergic to pectin so this is a perfect jelly for us. It is so scrumptious and I have to say it is beautiful too. I love how it seems to glow and glimmer in the sunshine. [o= If you don't have a source of crab apples then you can use this same recipe and make Granny Smith Apple Jelly but it won't be the same red colour. So here is the recipe!

CRAB APPLE ( or Apple) JELLY RECIPE

Fill a large pot with ripe cut in half crab apples or cut in quarters Granny Smith apples that had stems and ends removed. (peels and cores need to be included for jelly to work)
Cover with water so it just covers apples & bring to boil on medium high heat.
Simmer for 50 minutes until mushy-soft.

Place cooked crabapples & liquid in strainer (lined with cheesecloth)
over large bowl until juice is strained. Later I gather the cheese cloth and tie a string around to close then lift and hang it above a bowl or pot to get every last drop of juice. ( I will show a picture later today or tomorrow to demonstrate this)
Measure juice = __ c. (Make note of this quantity for later.)

Sterilize canning jars , 10 minutes in boiling water.

Combine prepared juice in large pot. Add equal amounts of sugar to juice. Stir on med-high heat until it comes to a full rolling boil. Boil hard for 40 minutes, stirring once or twice, testing for jelly stage near the end. Skim off foam if necessary.

Pour into hot sterilized jars to within 1/4 inch of top. Wipe rims clean for a tight seal. Put on lids and screw tops "finger tight". Allow to sit overnight on a tea towel on counter to seal.

Joining my sweet friend Lori in...

Loading Them Up

Today is a hard day for this mama. My 1ds Philip and his bride Essie are packing up and moving to the coast. I know it isn't that far away but it is another heart string this mama has to let be cut. Philip will be going to chef school in the spring and so they want to go and establish themselves with jobs and such before April comes and school starts. I pray many blessings on them and I know that Essie will love being close to family , their church family there and the fun of city life. It will be strange knowing we can't just drop in and visit but we pray many blessings on them in this new chapter in their marriage. ( October 23 will be their one year anniversary! [o= ) I am so thankful for these two and will miss them more than they know.

Boot Camp and Continuing my Journey to Better Health.

I am now ready to say that I have started T-tapp boot camp yesterday and I'm loving it! Are you asking what in the world is T-tapp boot camp ? Go HERE and find out. [o= I cannot not rave about this enough. I have suffered from back problems my whole life and I feel if I keep this up I won't have to go back to a chiropractor. After just learning how to do the exercises I can see changes in my shape already. Teresa recommends doing the Instructional workout #1 for seven days before start your boot camp. I am hoping to loose at least 3-4 clothing sizes so my boot camp ( doing the 15 Minute Basic Plus Workout) is going to be 14 days and then every other day for 6 to 8 weeks. And if I had not met my goal yet then I am to do the basic plus workout one day on and two days off till I meet my goal. After that to maintain what we have accomplished then we only have to do the work out 2 ( to 3 times ) each week. ( depending on what I eat [o=) I have seen some amazing testimonies and I am really excited about this. You got to understand that I was a trained certified Fitness Specialist in my early 20's and I don't just jump into any program or diet. I REALLY weigh it out and research it. I will be updating how it is going on Monday's. That is my measuring day. We are suppose to go by our measurements and not our weight. Muscle weighs more so the scale isn't a good tool. Plus I am soooooooo thankful we don't have to count calories and we just need to eat healthy. Her diet suggestions are very similar to the Maker's Diet and I love how I am already eating that way. [o= Please go look at t-tapp.com if you are wondering what this is all about.

What is T-Tapp?

T-tapp Hoe Downs

Hoe downs increase your memory and it balances your blood sugar. ( diabetics MUST go see this exercise! ) You can do Hoe downs twice a day. Most people find their sugar level drops an average of 50 to 65 points within ten minutes of doing Hoe Downs, amazing.

One of my favorite testimonies are...

Charlotte's Story

(watch the whole testimony and she looks like a totally different woman!)

I will keep you posted on how I'm doing each week. I feel the Lord is now taking me on another level of my Journey of Better Health. The first time I cried out on my knees he showed me I had adrenal gland fatigue and let me heal for a year. Then I cried out again on my knees and the Lord showed me the Maker's Diet and I lost eleven pounds. And recently I cried out again for I was stuck and not loosing what I needed. That is when he showed me T-tapp through two blog friends Jane and Tracy. Their testimonies really impacted me to try it. It is nice to know someone who has tried it and what they experienced. With in the first couple of days I couldn't believe how my back felt. For just the relief it gave me with my back is so worth it but I can't wait to loose the inches now. I will keep you posted. [o=

::right now::

::making goals and a to do list, adding and crossing off constantly.

:: seeing piles of books, papers, laundry, and stuff that need to be dealt with.

:: remembering that the time with the boys and my man are most important.

:: planning bite size and realistic goals for each day.

:: taking time to read aloud to my boys and spend sweet time with my hubby each evening. ( I still need to plan that evening at the hot springs with him.)

:: looking forward to slow evenings of knitting and sipping tea. But for the next few weeks I will sip some tea as I do some beading of knitting and crochet stitch markers for the upcoming craft fair instead. ( I really do enjoy beading as much as knitting [o= )

With all this business of bringing in the harvest and preparing for the craft fairs will be done soon. I am thankful for this busy time b/c the Lord has blessed us with a harvest and it will be a blessing this coming winter. I remind myself it is short lived. Before I know it it will be November 20th and I will get to slow down and hibernate and teach my boys and knit tons this winter. I just want to say I am human and I do feel tired but I feel blessed with what the Lord has given. I just take one day at a time. I loved the quote that my friend Lisa gave today. It is a must to go read. I laughed and then cried because I could relate to is SO well.

My New Kitchen Helper

It is that time of year again and we are starting the apple harvest. The first apples to be harvested on our homestead is the Transparent apple. It is a family tradition of picking the these apples and making apple sauce ( go here if you want to know how to ) out of them.

But this year I have a new helper. Ohhh what a good helper this little guy is. I have been making apple sauce for many a year and this has to be the easiest year yet because of my Kitchen Aide saucer attachment. Every year after my craft sales we invest in something to make homemaking easier or something for my crafts. Last year we invested in the saucing attachment and it was worth every penny. I have struggled with tendinitis for years and cranking apple sauce through a food mill has been hard for me. But with this I can sauce tons and it won't hurt my wrist a bit. Thank you Lord.

Whats next on the agenda? Crab apple jelly.

I LOVE blog gadgets [o=

My Family from WiddlyTinks.com
I have to share a new blog gadget I found. It is such a fun one! I have posted it at the bottom of my blog but I had to draw attention to it because it is so neat. Maybe have a bit of fun today and create your own family silhouette by going HERE.

Going to the Fall Harvest Fair

"Fall Harvest Festival"

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It was a busy, fun week-end getting ready and sharing a table with my friend at the harvest fair. I am sooooooo thankful that my sweetie helps me in the making of the rhubarb and rhubarb raspberry juice. I don't think I would have got it done at a reasonable hour if it wasn't for him. I have forgotten to share that it was my hubby who taught me to can food years ago. His mother cans so much and when he grew up he and his brother were expected to help so they would have food to eat for the winter. Hmmmm I think I may do so changing around here and get the boys in the kitchen with me on this. [o=

At the fair was Irish dancing, people playing instruments and lots of singing. While you watch the slide show hit captions and it tells a little bit more. I did pretty good this fair. I sold out of the juice and fudge and the candle sale a bit slow this time. But the good thing is I can take the left over candles to the next fair. Now I only have to make some tapers , twisted tapers, tea lights, and some votives for November. Plus I will be making more juice and fudge too. I am planning to add to the November fair some beaded work like....beaded bookmarks, knitters and crocheters beaded stitch markers and some beaded earrings. I think that will keep me busy enough to stay out of trouble. If all goes well at the end of the two fairs I will have enough money saved up to buy my new camera, Lord willing.

I hope you enjoyed my little slide show. And I might suggest to play this song video while you watch. Enjoy!

Recipes for Garlic Syrup and its Benefits

I am DIY kind of gal and had to start doing some research for a recipe to make my own garlic syrup...among-st all the other things going on. I tend to do this when I get overwhelmed and have to flake out for a few minutes,lol. [o= And here is what I found!

Benefits of Garlic Syrup

• This remedy is an immune stimulant
• lowers blood pressure as well as cholesterol
• leads to fewer colds and infections
• helpful in conditions such as gout
• arthritis, and joint aches.
• It is also a good tonic for the digestive tract
• and benefits the skin
• and is helpful in weight loss.
• It is beneficial for a wide range of conditions as it is a general immune stimulant and enhancer.

Garlic Syrup Recipe #1

4 bulbs garlic (approximately 50 cloves)
1 quart apple cider vinegar

Directions:

• Peel and chop garlic. Place in a sterilized quart jar, cover with vinegar.
• Refrigerate.
• Shake jar daily.
• Take 1 tablespoon up to 3 times a day (adult). Sweeten as you like if needed.

Garlic Syrup Recipe #2

3 bulbs garlic (peeled)
2 cups water
1 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup honey

Directions:

• Add garlic and water to a non-aluminum saucepan and simmer until the water reduces to 1 cup (garlic should now be soft).
• Remove garlic and place in a sterile jar or airtight container.
• Add both the honey and the cider vinegar to the water in the saucepan and boil until syrupy. Pour over garlic, seal and refrigerate overnight.
• Refrigerate and take up to one teaspoon daily.

I will be trying these out next week and if you try it out let me know how it went. [o=

Craft Fair Update:

• The beeswax gourd candles are made and boxed
• fudge is made, cut and wrapped
• and now I am cleaning jars and prepping to make the rhubarb juice and raspberry rhubarb juice. ( and believe it or not having to blanch and freeze veggies and can apple sauce that are demanding to be harvest too, lol)

Joining my friend Lori in...

Garlic Festival Finds

Ohhh the beginnings of fall is here. Fall festivals, windy cloudy days, change in lighting outside, feeling overwhelmed with all the harvest jobs on top of trying to get schooling into a routine and getting ready for the fall festival. ( all at the same time LOL)

But I have to share my treasures I found while rubbing noses with the farmers and artistians on Sunday. We went to our Garlic Festival in our area and oh how fun it was. The sad thing to report was once again my batteries in my camera ( after leaving home, ((sigh)) ) were dead. So no pictures were taken at the festival. ((double sigh)) It was a beautiful sunny day and all kinds of good things to see and taste. [o=

The main thing I had set out to find was a fair trade African basket, and I found mine. Then I went around the fair filling it up with treasures. What kind of treasures do you ask? Well, let me tell you. In the picture you will see yellowish blocks in the basket. Those are my beeswax blocks I found at a honey booth. I got talking and asked the bee keeper if they also sold beeswax and they just happened to have some but just forgot to put it out. Ohhhh blessed me! I needed some to top off what I needed for the Craft fair in November that I am in. I am thankful and so blessed that the Lord took care of this for me.

We got a 10 lb string of onions, 6 lbs of garlic, two 40 lb bags of wheat berries for baking, and put in a order for our 15 butchered chickens ( not shone) , bag of carrots and some garlic syrup. Now this garlic syrup is amazing. You can use it in marinades and salad dressings or as a tonic for colds and flues. I just happened to start getting a sore throat yesterday and I took it right away. I also like the taste. [o= But you may not want to get too close after I have had some, lol. I bought a head band and necklace. I have a weakness for lamp work glass and when it is in my favorite green how could I resist??? I am very pleased with my finds this year.

As we were walking around I kept my eyes open for some decorative gourds. My candle molds that I caste for these candles are sadly beginning to tare. So, I will have to make new ones for the coming year or two. Last year I couldn't find any but I did this year. [o= And here are my sweet gourds that will soon be caste into molds. ( in a week or two) Aren't they cute...worts and all?

Sunday Song~ Heavenly Sunlight

::right now::

right now...

:: marveling that I made 50 gourd candles in 2 days, whew!

::planning still to make fudge, rhubarb juice and raspberry rhubarb juice to sell at the fall fair on the 18th.

::feeling like the house is looking like a tornado hit it, sigh.

::hoping things will slow down in a week and couple days.

::wanting to settle in our homeschooling and spend lots of time having cozy read aloud's with the boys this fall and winter.

::thinking I need a date with my sweetie at the hot-springs near by after the fall fair. [o=

:: reminding myself take one day at a time and just do my best and not fret about the rest.

:: listening to the wonderful quietness this morning before the boys wake.

:: thankful for all the Lord has blessed me with... my men, good home, good food.

:: enjoying living a simple life. Simple doesn't equal easy but it does equal no worries and chasing after materialism.

:: thinking I need to sit down and write a rough schedule of when to make things so I don't have to do it all in the month of September, lol.

:: will be... picking and making crabapple jelly this or most likely next week.

:: stopping from time to time and taking a deep breath and being still and know that He is God.

The BIG Hike Pictures

"Hike To Kokanee Lodge and Saphire Lake"

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I wish I was sitting next to you and pointing out where the hike trails are in some of the pictures. There were a lot of times I could barely tell where the trail was and the rocks made me feel like a mountain goat hopping up the mountain trail, lol. I hope you enjoy these while I am finishing up making my candles,juice and fudge for the fall fair( I have a week left to get ready!). I might just surprise you with a post tomorrow if I can. I hope to wright ( oops I mean write, lol) a ::right now:: post. [o=

Coming Up For Air

I am coming up for air for a moment to let you know I survived the hike(s). [o=

But my camera batteries died just shortly after starting towards the lodge. ((sigh)) I still need to download pictures from my MIL's camera and hoping to post a slide show in the next day or so. There was a lot of hiking and I didn't get to sit down to flake out much but we did get to see lots of God's beauty. Oh boy did I get lots of sun too. Well too much sun actually, I had ring around the neck when I took off my necklace, lol.

I felt like I arrived home running. Yesterday was my youngest's birthday. I made enough cake for the big family get together. ( seventeen people) Nicolas turned 11 and he feels like he met a milestone. He is officially 1/2 inch taller than mom. [o= I am recuperating and trying to have our first day of school today.

I hope these pictures are enough of a teaser to get you to come back to see the slide show. Until then enjoy.

A Homeschool Mother's Journal

In my life this week…

Today we are getting ready for our BIG 4.7 mile hike up to the lodge and stay for two nights. ( I won't be around till next week to visit ) It is a lodge that is run'd by BC parks. We have to pack all our food and bedding (bunk beds are there) in and hike all our garbage out. All what we need to cook on is there. ( PTL) I am also trying to preserve any of the fruit and veggies today that cannot wait till we get back from the hike.

Here was our trip in September 2008

In our homeschool this week… I am not starting till next week.

I am inspired by…all the posts that I am finding on lacto fermenting. ( pickling without canning)

My favorite thing this week was… on Monday when I got to spend the whole day with my DIL chatting and drawing. She is getting me motivated to pick up my drawing pencils again. It felt good just to sit and draw.

Things I’m working on…making lacto fermented pickles...cucumbers, dilly beans. And I am drying zucchini and green beans.

I’m reading… More Charlotte Mason Education...A Homeschooling How-To Manual by Catherine Levison.

I’m cooking… well it isn't really cooking it is making. I am Making lacto- fermented dilly beans and mixing frozen slice and bake cookies to take up to the lodge. We will bake them there. [o= What kinds you might ask? I am making oatmeal cookie dough and Molasses Ginger Cookie dough.

I’m grateful for…the abundance that finally came out of the garden. Better late than never.

I’m praying for…a very good year of closeness and lots of learning in our little homeschool.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

Learning to Be Still

I have been trying to learn to be still and know that He is God. I fidget and squirm and can't seem to settle. Then it came to me. I find it so easy for my mind to go into automatic when I knit. I sort out what is going on in my life and emotions that are built up inside and verses come to mind and I pray without working hard at it. This morning when I was trying to be still it came to me ...I can be still while I knit. Thank you Lord for giving me this revelation this morning!

I don't think that I am the only one who struggles with this and I know it isn't limited to knitting. A person can knit, crochet, make bread, draw, needlework, mend clothes, maybe bead, just some kind of handiwork with your hands. I think you could even take this and apply it to walking, running, swimming, gardening, anything that is repetitious and lets the mind relax. What do you like to do that will help your mind relax enough to let you hear the Lord talking to you?