Peaches, Poultry, and Pumpkins, Oh My

A nice couple from church gave us a bag full of peaches this past week. I decided to can them for the winter. I canned jam with my mom earlier in the summer, but this was my first ever time doing canning on my own. I showed the kids the neat trick for peeling peaches that I only learned a few weeks ago myself. They were impressed.

It's hard to explain, but I do feel connected to the earth, the past, and my grandmother when I do things like make homemade bread and can peaches for the months ahead. I like that my kids are learning that progress doesn't mean we have to forget the ways of the past. I hope that they are a little more appreciative of the food we eat than when every bit came in a package from the grocery store. Will they ever use these skills in their future lives? I don't know, and it really doesn't matter to me. I know that they now know there is more than one way to get a loaf of bread and a can of peaches.


We were invited over to Uncle Kenn and Aunt Diana's for a bit this afternoon to meet their chicks, goslings, goose, chickens, and second chihuahua. Basia held this gosling and one chick for a very brief time, but she preferred to watch them in their box. She is already asking when we get to go back.

Brishen is a pro at this (vegetarian version) poultry farming. Maybe he won't be an Egyptologist after all.

Their grown goose was pretty sure that Basia was another goose playmate. When Basia would flap her arms, the goose would flap its wings.

There are things that you know only happen in your own family. Here it is, July, and we had a family get-together with Jello Easter eggs and a jack-o-lantern. My mom carved this pumpkin from her garden, and I made the eggs with the kids since they found the molds that hadn't been used in years. We wished we had some Christmas cookies to go with them!