It's been awhile

Wow I haven't blogged in so long where has the time gone? We have been so busy harvesting and preserving our bounty, and what a bounty we have this year. The growing season started out very slowly this year. The Summer was very mild in Western Washington this year. Only a few day this summer hit the 90's. I didn't think anything would grow. I waited along with everyone else with baited breath and pleaded with the tomatoes to grow. They finally started to grow. I would get one or two tomatoes a day for awhile, and then they came on like gang busters. I also went to the Barn in Portland Oregon to supplement what we were growing. Then in September my DH and I went to a garlic and tomato festival in Richfield WA. Amazing!!! The tomatoes were so awesome that we bought #60 and I canned all the next day. I put away about #300 of food this year. We have been so blessed by Christ. We have our 1/2 of cow and are getting a lamb in about 2 weeks. I also canned #50 of chickens. I guess I could do another #20, but I am getting tired. I have to put our garlics in the ground today. I grew some a couple of years ago and they did well fingers crossed this time. We will be putting in our wood stove this month and then I will feel snug as a bug in a rug. We got our wood stove on craigslist last spring and now we have to install the darn thing. I will keep you posted on the garlics and how they are growing. Earlier this year God but it on our hearts to get back to the basics...ie the simple life. I have been studying peoples lives during the Depression of the 1930's..Boy they ate better than we do now and had far less. I got some depression era cookbooks and have been making amazing meals. On YouTube is Clara she is in her 90's and with the help of her Grandson has a cooking channel. http://www.youtube.com/user/DepressionCooking if you ever have time check out her channel. I ordered her cookbook and her DVD. What great stories and great recipes.http://www.greatdepressioncooking.com/ yes she even has a website. Getting back to what I was typing before. We (Michael and I) have to save save save. So looking back on how people who had less and lived on less, the common thread was that they were happy, and most of them made it through the hard time, they didn't give up, I guess it wasn't in their DNA. The sense of God, Family and Home, were the most important parts to the family structure and that is falling away with Internet and cell phone wii and all of the other crap that has bombarded our lives. Well I will not be trading up on my cell phone, we have become so attached and plugged in that we feel like we can't function without them WRONG! I am so sick of driving somewhere and people are talking on the phone and driving. Cell phone are growing out of our ears like a cancerous sore. Remember when average income families could not afford a cell phone. Now 8 and 9 year old have them. Why? I have not clue....