So, we got two new dogs.  MK has been a little apprehensive about losing them to the road.  Understandable since we lost the last four that way.  So she ordered an invisible fence package online.  It came this week and her wonderful, loving, understanding, and long-suffering younger brother has been working hard the past two days to install the fence so that her canine friends will be safe from all the traffic on our road.  Of course he is enjoying the challenge of solving the problems inherant in how to get the wires under the two driveways in the front and across the driveway in the back.  How to get it from the house to the front to start it around the perimeter of the area that they are going to fence in, and the particular manly skills needed to break up the paved part of our driveway to hide the wires underground are all an enjoyable part of this labor of love. 

While they are out tackling that little chore in the bright sunshine that God is so graciously sending us today, I am baking zucchini bread and banana bread.  There are six strawberry-rhubarb pies sitting on the table waiting for someone to enjoy them.  I think that may be reward enough for this latest endeavor.

Outside my window.........I really don't know.  It's too dark yet but I know it's cool and the moon hasn't set yet.  Looking forward to another lovely day.  But it will be Monday so I know what will be in store........laundry, laundry, and more laundry.

I am thinking..........after such a long hiatus why is the insomnia back?  But I am also thankful that it was gone for such a long time.  Maybe I just wasn't busy enough yesterday........NOT!

From the schoolroom...........Matthew and Brett have a Biology test today on the immune system.

I am thankful for........my family.  My husband who works hard even when it is supposed to be his day of rest putting in poles for my last grape arbor and my oldest son who had to put down his beef heifer and did it like a man even joking about all the beef he was getting out of her.

From the kitchen............fried chicken, fresh broccoli from my garden and salt potatoes.

I am wearing............tinkerbell pj pants of Mary-Kate's and a blue tank top.  Too early to think about being ready for the day yet.

I am reading...........finished with Three Cups of Tea and have started in on an old favorite The Four Loves by CS Lewis

I am hoping............that there is no rain in this week so we can spend every minute of it outside.

I am creating...........plans and more plans for the coming school year

I am praying...........for Matthew to get all he can out of his upcoming trip to Magdalen College for their summer program.

Around the house............I think I am glad it is dark right now.  Since yesterday was so nice not much got done and plenty go undone so there is a lot to do around here.

One of my favorite things............eating an ice cream sandwich while laying on my back looking at the clouds.

A few plans for the rest of the week...........take Doug to the dr today, Mass every morning, holy hour Tuesday and Friday and keeping up with my gardens the rest of the time.  Maybe a little more girl time with Mary-Kate.

Here is a picture thought that I am sharing with you..............

Saturday afternoon Mary-Kate made her debut playing the organ at church.  The look of concentration is precious.  She tries so hard to  please.  She made a timing error on Saturday but everything was perfect on Sunday.  If I can figure out my digital recorder maybe I can download her playing.  We are very proud of you MK!!!

Ever since I was little I have been exposed to canning and freezing food.  My grandmother and mother both spent all of the summers of my life preserving the bounty of the harvest for the cold winters to come.  I wouldn't say that we were poor but we were certainly not rich.  If there was one lesson that I learned from my mother and learned well it is that a wife is charged with making her husbands paycheck go a far as she possibly can no matter how large or small it may be.  So when we were married one of the first things that my husband and I purchased was a freezer and a canner.  I felt like a queen. 

Then with the generous gift of jars from the ladies who were second mothers to me when growing up, I set about following in the footsteps of other women before me who preserved the harvest in the best way that I knew how.

Here are the tools of the trade.  A bowl to stand my jar in as I fill it, my handy jar lifter that I use to take hot jars from the oven to the canner then from the canner to the counter to cool, my canning ladly, and the canning funnel.

I have had many canners over the years.  With all of the work that they do you can imagine that they don't last long around here.  A few years ago I invested in an extra pressure canner and now use that for a boiling water bath canner too.

Of course you have to buy new lids each year and replace any rings that are too bent or rusty from over use.

I use my dishwasher for washing and sterizing the jars.  It is good for holding them in while I fill the jars too.

Then, the full jars go into the oven at the lowest heat letting since everything must be kept hot.

The canner holds seven jars at a time for processing.  Here I am making strawberry jam.  It has to process for 15 min. for quarts.

Finally the jam is taken out of the canner and placed in a draft free place and left to sit for 24 hours so that the jars can cool and the seal can complete.  My daughter always locks the back kitchen door so that no one can come in or out that way and cause a draft on the jars that are sitting there.  The next day we will put them all away to be opened when the weather turns cold.

Before he left for work this morning Doug trimmed the long grass around the pig-yard fence.  It had grown up considerably since the sows had been locked in the barn for farrowing.  Today they were going to be let out into the yard along with the piglets.  All of the piglets are sold and Monday people will be coming to pick them up.  It is my job to sit in my chair in the front yard and keep an eye on the little ones so they don't get into the road.  They are small enough to go under the bottom wire without getting a shock.

Their presence in the yard will bring on all the sightseers.  That's what we call all the people who routinely stop along the side of the road and gaze at our animals and take pictures of them, especailly the piglets.  If I stand on the front walk when they are out there you can here them ooohing and aaahing about how cute the piglets are and about how large the sows are.  I have learned to stay at the house and not approach the cars anymore unless the people call out.  It is difficult for non-farmers to face the fact that those cute little creatures are going to get as large as their mothers some day and that very likely someone is going to enjoy the hams, bacon, and pork chops that they produce as they grow.  Oh well, enjoy the cuteness while it lasts.  Maybe I should  charge admission?

Southwestern Lasagna

1 1/2 pounds ground beef

1 1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 tbl chili powder

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp red pepper

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1-16oz can diced tomatoes

10-12 corn tortillas

2 cups small curd cottage cheese drained

1 c grated pepper jack cheese

1 egg

1/2 c grated cheddar cheese

2 c shredded lettuce

1/2 c chopped tomatoes

3 green onions chopped

1/4 c sliced black olives

Brown ground beef; drain thoroughly.  Add cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, red pepper, salt, pepper, and tomatoes; heat through.  Cover bottom and sides of a 13 in x 9 in x 2 in baking dish with tortillas.  Pour beef mixture over tortillas; place a layer of tortillas over meat mixture and set aside.  Combine cottage cheese, jack cheese and egg; pour over tortillas.  Bake at 350 for 30 min.  Remove from oven; sprinkle rows of cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, green onions, and olives diagonally across center of casserole.  Yield; 6-8 servings.  I serve this with sour cream and salsa.