Uncharted Heritage

For years John and I have built and decorated a gingerbread house together as one of our Christmas traditions.  This year was the first time we decorated gingerbread as a family of three.  Sera was very excited to be involved.  We picked out a train this year, and though it never actually went together exactly the way it was supposed to, we all had a fun time together getting messy with icing and candies. 

We hope you all had a very merry Christmas!

Our baby girl is quite the ‘little helper.’ She is so eager, insistent really, to be involved and to learn. And I want to take the time to make the learning fun for her, to cause her to want to continue to be involved and helpful. And while I am taking the time to teach her, I also want to take the time for myself, to enjoy these moments that will become cherished memories in my own mind. It too often is these simple moments of chores or other usual daily activities that we tend to just take for granted. I don’t want to take these moments for granted - the time is going by too fast, and my baby girl is growing up!

Did you enjoy the [Geminid] meteor shower last night? It was a first for us. I cannot remember ever seeing anything of comparison. Dozens of ‘shooting stars!’ It was absolutely amazing. If you have never taken the time to look to the heavens during such an event, I would urge you to! (The news has reported that you may still see some showers tonight, even though the peak was in this morning’s early hours.)

“…The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.” ~Psalm 19:1B (KJV)

We wanted to share a link with you for a documentary that was a blessing to us.  Mr. Gautschi causes you to really think about gardening differently, both physically and spiritually. 

"BACK TO EDEN shares the story of one man’s lifelong journey, walking with God and learning how to get back to the simple, productive methods of sustainable provision that were given to man in the garden of Eden." 

So, if you are interested and haven't already seen it, you can click on this link to see the documentary free. 

From one season, to the next. It seems like just yesterday we were entering the fall season, and now, already, winter is only weeks away. The time has gone by so fast. And in such a blur.

Since the seasons have changed [in our personal lives] we have seen the persimmons ripen and the leaves fall from the tree. We anticipated the ripening and harvest of our pecans and walnuts, but unfortunately with everything that happened we missed the gathering. We ‘forgot’ about our small garden and in our absence it seemed to flourish on its own with some beautiful greens. Since the loss of John’s Dad we have had to re-organize the family business and we have been busy taking care of some land that his Dad had in Tellico. We have celebrated Thanksgiving with family, and now preparing our hearts for the upcoming Christmas. We have many blogging plans that we hope to bring to you in the coming weeks and months. Thank you for sticking with us and for your patience. Sorry it has been a bit crazy around here.

Firstly, I want to apologize for our absence.  It feels like it has been so long since I have been here.  So hard to believe that a month has went by!  It isn't that we haven't had anything to blog about.  There have been posts swimming around in my head for a while, but the timing hasn't been right. 

When John's dad passed away, John and his brother were left to take over the family business.  There has been a lot to figure out and still some hurdles that must be crossed.  I have been back to work, helping at the business as much as I can, so I haven't had as much time to work on blog posts, and neither of us have even had much of a chance to think about all of our homesteading projects that were started months ago.  We are just now getting some of our focus back, along with some new ideas because of our new circumstances.  Truthfully, we have been so busy and so rushed lately that I haven't even had a chance to walk to our little garden in a couple of weeks.  I finally got out there today, just to check on things, and I was excited to see how well our lettuce and spinach is doing.  

We want to thank you all for your prayers and understanding.  We miss being here, and are looking forward to getting back on track.   

This week has been such a whirlwind. Unreal. A shock. Sadly, and very unexpectedly, my husband’s dad passed from this life on Tuesday, October 9th. Our world will never be the same.  We appreciate your thoughts and prayers.

We are keeping a journal of what we are learning, so that in our next attempts we will know areas to change and improve upon. For now the soil is extremely rocky and very dense and likely in need of a lot of nutrients.

Our goal is to stay organic, so we will be doing some research on organic fertilizers and will continue with composting in hopes to build the soil’s richness and, just maybe, with what we learn, our spring garden will produce a much better yield.

Linking up with: Crafty Garden Mama's "Tuesday Greens"

We had a cold, but, nonetheless, a lovely and peaceful weekend in the mountains, visiting family and enjoying the start of the fall colors.  Weekends just are never long enough, and there is still a lot that needs to get done today, so for now I am going to leave you with a few pictures from our Saturday.

  

While working out in the yard today, my daughter and I found a little treat - some wild strawberries.

Wild strawberries typically have a much stronger and sweeter flavor than the domesticated versions and are highly nutritious containing iron, potassium, calcium, sodium and high contents of vitamin C. And not only are the berries edible, but also the stems and the stalks. You could also make a tea out of the leaves by placing about two handfuls of the fresh green leaves into about a quart of boiling water; allow to steep for about five minutes and then serve with some fresh lemon juice or some sweetener.

 

Fun Fact:  Wild Strawberries are a part of the Rose (Rosaceae) Family.

Yes, I am referring to a spider. And I will start by saying, I don’t like spiders in my home, but this little guy and me have an agreement – as long as it stays outside, we can be friends.

On our hiking trips, John and I noticed some spider webs that were weaved into funnel shapes, beautiful works of art, absolute masterpieces. I had never really seen anything like them before. Then the other morning when I came outside I noticed a new, rather large web stretched between a window and chair, and behind the window’s shutter was the familiar funnel. I finally got to see the spider up close…and we had a little scare, the two of us. This species of spider is extremely fast! I believe I startled it just as much as it startled me, but it was so much fun seeing this spider up close.

From my research, I have found that the spider is appropriately called a “Funnel Web Grass Spider.” These spiders typically are non-aggressive and generally do not bite unless they feel threatened without option of escape. Just maybe, while ‘my friend’ is staying with us, it will take care of a few other insect pests.

Our Saturday plans were a bit skewed because of some rain, but we made the best of it. It was warm enough this morning and the rain turned to a drizzle – a perfect time to play in some puddles! We had a blast.

By the way, did you know that September 24th through September 30th (annually) is “Take a Child Outside Week”? Unfortunately, I was a little late learning about this ‘annual event,’ but wanted to share with you the organization’s website (http://www.takeachildoutside.org/). I was excited to get some new ideas on activities that are both fun and educational and targeted towards different age groups. They share some great resources.

We don’t fry a lot of food in our house, but okra is just one of those things you want fried every now and again. I came up with this recipe recently, while experimenting and trying to change up the usual, and, I will have to say, this is now my favorite way to have fried okra.  And even my husband, who isn’t the biggest fan of okra, really likes it.

Ingredients (sorry, “my country measurements” are listed, but these should be adjusted anyway to personal taste preferences):
*Okra (approximately 1 ½ cups chopped)
*Banana Pepper (2/medium)
*Cayenne Pepper (1/average)
*Cornmeal (approximately 1 cup)
*[A couple of pinches of] Kosher Salt
*[A dash of] Black Pepper
*[A dash of] Paprika

Cut the okra and peppers into thin slices. Rinse and blot/dry the okra. Mix together the cornmeal, salt, black pepper and paprika. Add in the okra and pepper slices and mix until fully coated.

Preheat some vegetable oil in a pan at a medium-high heat (I prefer to fry okra in a cast-iron skillet, but you can use whatever you feel more comfortable with). Slowly add in your okra mixture, be careful not to overcrowd the pan. Flip/stir occasionally, giving time for the batter to crisp. Cook until golden brown.

Most morning glory flowers unravel into full bloom in the early morning with vibrant color that fades during the heat of the day. The flowers usually start to fade a few hours before the petals curl/close. Morning glories are generally considered perrennials in warmer/frost-free climates and tend to spread rather quickly. Our flowers are taking over the fencing.   

Who doesn’t love a giveaway!?!

So what are we giving away? A handcrafted/blacksmith-made bottle opener.

   

Today we went back to the nature park. We are working to increase our endurance by traveling new, more difficult trails and longer distances. Since the new trails were much more quiet and not traveled as much, there were more signs of wildlife, which of course was exciting. Today we hiked 4.6 miles with our lunch break at the “Hidden Lake” again, under ‘our shade tree.’ The day was absolutely beautiful and peaceful.

Here is our day in pictures…