Death to the little buggers.....

but first.....we interrupt this thot for a quick few pictures of the hats that the lovely yarn that I had posted a few days ago...finally got one hat of each color done of the striped yarn...a couple of those skeins were just plain yarn and that isn't for hats...or at least not these hats

here it is...one of every color that I have...I think I have one of every color that Bernet puts out in this jacquard yarn...I love it for these baby caps

Now on to the regularly scheduled post...or I should say what the title was referring to.

I have been cutting and dehydrating fruit for several weeks now....and with fruit comes the little buggers that annoy the heck out of any normal human. I think these guys multiply by the millions in a matter of minutes...I get them under control only to have millions more appear. Right now they are all over my kitchen as I am almost finished using up the peaches that I got..that sometimes means a bit overripe fruit and that is the delight of these buggers........
But...thanks to the internet and able to search ways to kill the little buggers I set up a couple of these bottles with apple cider vinegar in them...and don'tcha know...it works....
Sorry for the graphic pictures...but...well...deal with it :)
You can see the buggers on the top trying to decide if they want in or not...and then you can see their friends and family who have succumbed to the temptation and went for it....into the jar via the holes in the top...to be trapped forever.

I don't really feel sorry for them...they have been bugging me for a bit now and these jars work...I need to empty them again and refill them with the wonderful smell that they can't resist....you can see them on top and on the cup that is beside the jar

and even sitting on this candle that they can't even enjoy....but within a few more hours/days they will be gone to that great bug heaven in the sky where there is a multitude of fruit that they can feast on and leave my measly little bit of fruit for the humans that want to consume it :)

Hopefest

Hopefest....wow....we stayed for a few of the bands and to listen to Linda Smith, founder of Shared Hope International, click on the link to learn more or to contribute to this foundation that is helping save girls from being used and abused...not only in third world countries but also in the United States....and surprisingly...possibly...in your own state...or even in your own neighborhood. They are working to get legislation passed to punish the guys who use services of these young girls and more importantly to restore the girls who have been used.

Danica, Aaron and Randy pre concert

My new friends from Texas :) I guess he would be my uncle in law? not really....but sounds good....danica looks like she ate a stink bug in this picture :)

Cam with pre-performance jitters :) or silliness

mr cutforth...the organizer of this event

Aaron has sensory issues so he wears these noise blocking headphones...but you could feel the music in your body so wonder how he was doing with that? altho he did quite well even with the loud music

My son in law, Jason....don't tell him but he is a real sweetie :)

Cameron is so his father :)

he was so enjoying himself

Jessica playing keyboard



Linda Smith of Shared Hope International...what this was all abouta

Linda telling stories of girls caught in human trafficking

One of the other bands...the encounter

Did it again :)

I did it again...man I can't resist a good sale AND free shipping....so I stocked up my "hat" yarn cubbie with these luscious yarns....love love love the way they make into those tiny hats. They actually come out with a pattern instead of random stripes or bits of color here and there...guess it is time for another picture of finished product as these get knitted into hats :)

this one was included just cuz I thot it was kinda cool...had set my camera on action to get pictures of the puppies the other day and didn't change it for my first shot...but love the way they look in normal coloring without the flash...ah...someday I will actually learn how to use my handy dandy cool camera with all its settings :)

How can you mend a Broken heart

This song has been going thru my head and heart all day today....my heart is feeling the pains of being broken in two and refusing to stay mended...sometimes it is hard to press on thru the pain and keep doing what you know is right.
Pain is a funny thing when it isn't of the physical sense. It grabs you at the worst moment and wrenches a knife that is sticking in your heart-twisting and turning making the pain almost physical. You find yourself consumed in thot on the pain and wondering how you could have avoided it or seen it coming and side stepped it...or how you can shove the pain down and make it not matter. But none of my coping skills are working so I sit here with a broken heart.
My one saving factor is that I know the Mender of Hearts....altho He sometimes doesn't work as fast as I would like Him too or solve the problem in the way I think it would be best...His ways are best. So right now all I can do is cuddle with the Lord of my life and know that He shares my tears....He holds me and the situation in His Mighty Right Hand and will bring glory to Himself. So for now I live in the verse:

My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. ¹⁰That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Cor 12:9-10


How Can You Mend A Broken Heart-Bee Gees
I can think of younger days when living for my life
Was everything a man could want to do
I could never see tomorrow,
but I was never told about the sorrow

And how can you mend a broken heart?
How can you stop the rain from falling down?
How can you stop the sun from shining?
What makes the world go round?
How can you mend this broken man?
How can a loser ever win?
Please help me mend my broken heart and let me live again

I can still feel the breeze that rustles through the trees
And misty memories of days gone by
We could never see tomorrow,
No one said a word about the sorrow

And how can you mend a broken heart?
How can you stop the rain from falling down?
How can you stop the sun from shining?
What makes the world go round?
How can you mend this broken man?
How can a loser ever win?
Please help me mend my broken heart and let me live again

To the Mighty God who holds me in the palm of His hand....be glory and honor and praise forever!

Sept 11

As I was thinking of a title for this and thot I would put the date down I remembered the importance of this day 9 years ago. American soil was violated by some people who thot they would take us down. How sad to have such hate in your heart for a country that helps others more than any other country...and has probably helped the country that these men came from. How life changes in an instant sometimes. My thots and prayers are with those who lost loved ones or know of people who lost loved ones in the building or in the rescue efforts.
As for my day starting, I awoke to the squeak of a puppy. Put Bailey in my room last night and this morning she started having her pups...she kindly waited until 7 to do it...altho she woke me up several times during the night I slept on and off in-between...not thinking she was ready to deliver because she was very quiet when she had the pup :) Oh well....
Here is the proud mama with her new boys...yep they are all boys!

here is a close up of the brothers just before the switch from the whelping table to the pen where they will have their mom's full attention

Suzi Homemaker

Suzi Homemaker, Suzi Homemaker...bet I got that jingle going thru your head now..that is if you are old enough to remember it :) It is going thru mine that is for sure...today...but just for today I changed my name to Suzi :) What a productive day...I made banana/blueberry muffins...nummy

Then I made jam...I borrowed my daughters pot..altho it was way too big for the size jars I had but it worked...while I had the water all boiling hot I made raspberry jam and two batches of nectarine jam....

Am feeling kinda Pioneer Womanish...for those of you who don't know who she is her blog is a great read.
So there was a picture of the time left in bubbling the nectarine jam...made it two different ways...one where you just boil down the jam without pectin and the other with pectin...you sure get more when you use pectin...think I got a full pint extra without bubbling it down...will see how they both set up

Doesn't that just look yummy????

was sitting down to start this blog post and saw the I had cut my finger nail...I had already clipped off part that I had cut before but then i saw that I had gotten myself again...it is kinda above the 'a' in tomato...there is a cut in my nail...darn it...gonna be a bit before it grows out so that I can cut it

We interrupt this post to show a quick picture of my mom to be...she is getting close to her time...she may even be in early labor...time will tell

My stash...the one on top with too much space is the left over from the two batches of nectarine jam I made....wish I had made more raspberry as that is my favorite...seeds and all

Carnage from the day of jam making...if I had really been Pioneer Woman I would have taken pictures along the way :(

yesterday's stash...peach jam...but thot I would include a picture of those jars too....

Listening to the sounds of jars pinging as the vacuum is pulled......aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!

Quietness

Wow...it has been a while since I posted anything new...or even anything old :) Life has been quite chaotic and emotional here for a bit but I thot some of my cyberfriends needed a new post from me...I sometimes envy those who keep up on their blog daily...it must mean that they have something to say each day....ha...for me that would be just rambling in my mouth to do. Altho each day His mercies are new, my thots aren't :) Sometimes life is just a jumble and a will to survive...others it is float along on a low flying cloud :)
One of the things I have been doing tho lately is getting fruit and dehydrating it...unfortunately my husband is eating it almost as fast as I can dehydrate it :) I have already done like 20 pounds of nectarines (with none to show) and 40 pounds of peaches (with only a small bag left). Have tried lots of different things too...some times it works and other times it is a total bust...like peas...yuck! or uncooked sweet potatoes :) So before this wonderful fruit goes totally out of season I got some more nectarines and peaches and am working on dehydrating and hiding it.
I got this handy dandy hugeramous dehydrator...it is expandable too...yikes...right now I have 6 trays but it can go up to 20 trays...that would make it so much easier or should I say quicker to do 20 pounds of fruit...but hey..what else do I have to do with my days? :)

Right now in it are some of these luscious nectarines...they are good to eat just like this but am trying to not eat them all but get most of them dried and saved....hum...that is going to mean stealing back my food saver from my daughter....9/10ths possession is her rule to live by :)

here are the peaches...they need a short bit of ripening here but they will soon be reduced to a bag of sweetness that will be shared during the winter time when I am craving a good peach

here is what is left of the peaches I had already dried...hum...maybe I need a lock on the pantry cupboard :)

Oh...my favorite fruit dehydrated is mango....love love love the bags of it from Costco but one of the top ingredients listed on the bag is sugar....and altho they are really really tasty...that isn't what i am trying to fill my body with...and I can so easily sit and eat half of the bag of those sugary sweetness mangos.....so I now will have my own to eat when I get that craving...no sugar added :)
Enjoy the harvest while the weather still permits it!