Neighbors come a calling.. LOUDLY

Morning time is such a glorious time on the farm..

The lighting here in the valley is very peaceful

and joyful

and bright and .. BEAUTIFUL…

It's also time blessings wake up

happy and READY for a NEW day!

Eager to HELP, and be noticed for BEING Helpful

Here is my morning breakfast pal..

eagerly up

and ready to feed the ducks

and Guinea Hens..

We have some nice cooked potato

and apples for them

and to it we will add some feed…

not much..

as they forage all day long!

Little Man LOVES dumping the bucket

into their food bowl..

it's a REALLY cool material

that won't ever freeze or get brittle…

and it's EASY to clean

(LOVE my True Value!)

We wait and see how Daisy Poppy and Lilly

deal with the Guineas this 

the FIRST morning with them..

and all appears well..

occasionally the Guineas will SIT in the bowl

and hog the food

but then the ducks will just MOVE THEM

with their big beaks

the Guineas 

(typical bullies)

are in fact QUITE cowardly

and they will run run run away… 

it's hysterical…

so after Little Man and I enjoy this we hurry in the house

to TELL Big Kids what happened!

Whilst telling the story

we hear LOUD noises…

I mean LOUD!

looking out the window..

WHAT do we see?

Neighbors come a calling…

yep..

Our Amish Neighbor's have Guinea fowl too!

and they 

the Guineas.. not the Amish..

have arrived BRIGHT and EARLY 

to meet their new neighbors

There is a LOT of Guinea talk

several QUACKS

a LOT of investigations into this thing

that separates them all..

It reminds me of the book

Watership Down…

The free Rabbits trying to TELL the caged rabbits

about FREEDOM

ah..

you will all be free soon enough..

right now my darlings need to KNOW that 

BLESSINGS FARM is their home

give it a few weeks.. 

then they can come out and play with you ..

silly birds!

Learning with Survival Girl!

Way way way back

before shows

like "Survivor"

my Machine Man and I had a friend...

who was SO into the whole survival thing..

she was in Service of our Country,

and is quite the Patriot to this day.

Princess and Ms.S.G. 

are cut from very similar cloths..

That said

WHY did it surpise me to learn on Facebook

that Survival Girl

is quite the canner?

who KNEW !?!?!

When she learned I am on the path to learning 

NEW skills

and that canning was on my 

"must learn" list

she invited me right over to start my learning

on some yummy jam!

here's all my ingredients..

don't freak out that those berries aren't from the farm

or that my sugar isn't organic..

it's class people

i am fully prepared to fail at this..

FAIL

First

Attempt

In

Learning

i am just fine with the idea of my failure in this..

I just want to LEARN it

Here is Ms.SG's cool pot..

liking the color... 

here she is printing up the recipe I have chosen

because like

EVERY newbie

and naughty student..

I forgot my assignment.

but..

brought all my supplies..

(that should make up for it!) 

first we have to sterilize my jars... 

here is one of her favorite Canning Magazine..

Watch out all you fashionista's

I didn't even KNOW this existed! 

here are the things we will need

FRESHLY washed 

lids.

they can't be re-used..

soooo didn't know that

and so bummed..

what a waste! 

filling the tub o'water

beautiful

black berries... 

fresh lime...

sounds yummy doesn't it? 

washed, sliced

and ready for action 

jars being steralized 

hot and steamy

and the smell?

WOW

so yummy

PINCH ME 

yummy! 

see the slivers of lyme?

we are just following the recipe... 

there's my lids

(nice english right? ) 

here is Ms.SG's amazing funnel

mine is NOT so cool..

(Dear Santa.....) 

and here

is the jam..

OH my! 

scraping the bottom..

so so so yummy! 

putting the lids on 

ever so snug 

carefully placing each jar of 

summer yummyness,

into the bath of HOT water.. 

see the happy jars.. 

they are in process!

this gave us more time for chatting..

they are ready! 

now what?

well now we sat at stared..

waiting for the thrilling sound of the 

POP

after that? 

after that, you thank each jar..

really?

Look..

I am just reporting the facts..

THIS is how it is done..

you THANK the jars...

weird but TRUE

just do it! 

next batch is Raspberry jam

yes

the aroma is beyond yummy

I feel giddy just from being near it.. 

here my dear pal is explaining to me how you

skim off the filmy icky scum 

from the top...

and get down to the YUMMY glorious beautiful

deep red..

of the summer berries

picked from Ms.SG's garden 

there is the ick 

and there is the YUM!

oh please people,

why haven't I been doing this forEVER? 

LOVE this woman! 

here is the set up..

busy

busy 

PINCH me

this is beyond fun..

but..

then I learned something tragic...

and well..

i thought i would share this funny interchange with you..

that sort of "grasps" my whole "jarring" experience...

well, i am uber NEW to the WONDERFUL world of canning.. 

and all I knew about is the 'water bath canning system" as seen in every walmart in america...

  I finally BOUGHT this whole set up, 

and got together with my pal 

Survior Girl, for my lesson on "HOW to can"

 only to learn, that soups, and a HOST Of other sorts of things can NOT be canned with this method... 

and I am all like.. ??????? huh?

 She was all.. "yah.. i KNOW" 

and I was like.. "can you teach me THAT too?" 

and she was shaking her head no..

 So i talked to this ramdom Amish friend I have.. 

and she just giggled... 

she thought it was Sooooo funny that I didn't know ANYTHING about a pressure canner.. 

or that it is SO different than a pressure cooker..

 (seems they are NOT interchangeable..)

 now... i like jams.. a LOT.. 

but I make soupls like a mad woman... 

and I would LOVE to learn to can these... 

so NOW I have even MORE exciting skills to obtain..

 such as 'pressure canning"...

 here is one I am looking at.. 

(note: I have NO idea what size i need.. just beginning researching..

)http://www.lehmans.com/store/Kitchen___Canning_and_Preserving___Canners_and_Cookers___Lehman_s__Best_Pressure_Canners___910?Args

Lehman's® Best Pressure Canners

www.lehmans.com

Lehman's® Best Pressure Canners; Our pressure canners are more expensive than some but they are a once-in-a-lifetime investment

That said..

I think..

perhaps..

this is Canning 101

next up..

Canning beyond....

singing alleluia

she sits

and watches

listening

in her quiet way...

the valley is filled with the glorious sounds

of souls swelling up with adoration to our Lord and Savior Jesus 

and the singing forth of His glory and majesty

albeit in a somewhat foreign tongue..

worship and praise 

is 

worship and praise

no matter the language you sing it in.. 

The Amish neighbors are hosting church

both Sunday's in May

(they only gather bi-weekly for church)

and Church

we have learned is an ALL day event!

singing

sermon

singing

playing

eating

more playing

more eating

and it ends with MORE singing

we LOVE Amish Church..

and seeing as I speak a little German

I especially LOVE the singing !

Pinch me, we have PIE

we LOVE Blessings Farm

everything about it pretty much...

we love our wee little town

our lovely region

we EVEN love our neighbors!

and their amazing skills!

and the blessings they bestow upon us

the best of all, their friendship and prayers!

One of the fantastic skills Mrs. M has is baking

and THIS is her latest GIFT to our family!

She baked it fresh

and brought it over warm

sorry the lighting is bad..

it just.. well.. was bad

but this pie..

was not

it was DELICIOUS

wonderful

really delightful! 

it was also Raspberry Pie!

Raspberries are one of my ALL time FAVORITE ever!

Thank you Mrs. M

though you will probably NEVER read this blog

you are LOVED

and so wonderfully well thought of!

Pinch me,

we have PIE!