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I really don’t know what I was thinking starting another blog. Pffffft.

On the other hand. I keep reminding myself that he is six months old already. Six months. Oh how fast this is all going…again. The same thing happened with my daughter and I’m sure it will happen with the next little blessing when God chooses to bless us again. It goes so fast, too fast. I try to remind myself of that each time I get up in the middle of the night. He’s so independant already that these are the only times he will sit still to be rocked with his mama. Little babies do not stay little babies for long.

Christmas has always been my favorite time of the year. Always! No, not for the presents, for the family, for the traditions, the food, the snow! Since moving to PA I find I get an achy pinch in my heart around this time of year. I watch my all time favorite Christmas TV special, Emmit Otter’s Jug Band Christmas with a sort of happy meloncholy. Oh come on, are you really surprised? Followed closely by White Christmas and Meet Me In St. Louis. Even now, I can feel that cold tight ache in my chest as I type this. Since moving to PA my husband and I have tried to plan going back to NY to celebrate Christmas with my family, but every year it doesn’t pan out. Something always happens and we end up making last minute arrangements to get together after Christmas. I miss it all.

My mother and I were discussing what was so special about Christmas in our house. Oh where to begin. Do you know the noise that machine makes that puts the lug nuts on tires? My mom has an electric cookie press that makes the same noise. When you hear the sound of lug nuts in the kitchen you know Christmas isn’t far away. She bought me the same model off of Ebay last year. I can’t wait to try it out with my family. Then there was the nativity. My mom painted this beautiful ceramic nativity set when she lived in KY. I remember every time she put it up I was read the riot act that while she was unpacking it and setting it up my butt was to be glued to the couch. It was always put up high where I couldn’t reach it and it always had a string of white lights running behind and around it giving it a heavenly glow…until we added the silver garland.

Oh there are so many wonderful things, I could go on and on. Yelling “Christmas Present!” when opening the door or answering the phone, wrapping paper fights, eating leftovers the night of Christmas and so much pie you’d burst, watching movies Uncle Craig style while Grandpa snores through them, playing board games and teasing Gigi about the ice cubes. Laughing until the tears run down your legs. Oh boy we are a fun loving nutty bunch. I miss the snow too. Now it’s been a while even for upstate NY to have a white Christmas, but your chances are better in NY than in PA.

We have been talking about going to NY for Christmas this year. Oh Lord, please, let our plans come to fruition this year. Please?

I am a Christian. I know that I have a spiritual and moral duty to vote for the man that best represents my biblical beliefs. Right now there is one belief that is more important than gas prices, economic relief, foreign policy, and healthcare. That is the sanctity of life. I know that there is only one supreme being in this world who can create and allow life to begin and that is almighty God. I believe that life starts from the very moment of conception. I believe that life should be cherished and given the right to live. It is not mearly a mass of cell tissue, it is the divine growing day by day. It is a child, a human, a creation of Yah.

I can not in good conscience or good faith vote for a man who voted to let the survivor of an abortion die alone and unattended in a hospital and who has a tract record with such little regard for human life. I am standing firm in my beliefs today and I know they are not popular and many of my friends and family do not agree with those beliefs and they can think of me what they will. I do not judge anyone I know and love, because I know it’s not my job. I do believe we will all stand in judgement before Almighty God some day and have to account for all of our actions. I will not vote for Barack Hussein Obama today. I have enough explaining to do to Yah as it is.

I’m going to go to the hardware store this afternoon and buy a couple of tubs of night crawlers to dump in there. I’m sure they will appreciate not ending up on a fishermen’s hook!

At one point Travis was standing inside the bin and said, “Well? What do you think?” So I replied, “Hmmm, I’m still a little worried you will be able to jump the fence, but I think it will do.” Hee, hee. We do have fun, the two of us. I am so glad he took today off, he needed it. I’m going to make sure he takes a nap too! He needs that as well.

Here is a picture of our supervisor. He just loved laying out in the leaves and the sunshine. This is Simon, and he will be retiring with our family in two weeks. He will be moving up to NY to his “retirement home”. We live on a teeny spit of land on a busy road and Simon is very much an outdoor dog, he loves to run in the woods and play in the creek, and we have none of that and can’t give him that without a car ride. So he is moving in with my daughter’s grandparents who adore him. Simon has always been their “granddoggy” and has always been welcome. I can’t wait, I am so happy for him, I know he will be missed, but he will be a much happier doggy.

I ended up on the other side of the mountains where the leaves were absolutely stunning. It’s odd because on our side of the mountains they are so uninspiring, they just drop without really turning. On this side though, they were beautiful. I prayed that my mind would be quiet so that I could hear God speak, but He didn’t tell me anything new. I am always terrible at trusting God without the details. I want to know what His plan is. He also knows this…so He never tells me right up until the last minute what His plan is. What better way to learn to trust Him. And now, I am obeying Him as well, I am getting ready.

I have a bushel of carrots to can this week, a bushel of pears to can. I bought three heads of cabbage that are bigger than basketballs to make saurkraut with. I baught several stalks of brussel sprouts to freeze and I finished it off with a 25lb bag of onions to put in the basement. I’m thinking a few large bags of potatos in the basement would be good too. My husband and FIL are going to make me shelves and I really can’t wait for that to be done. We are also selling my husbands truck at the end of this month and we will be using that money to insulate the attic to help with our fuel bill this winter. God is good to us. He is providing in ways we never thought possible. We are walking the narrow path and listening to Him. Come what may, we will get through this.

This past weekend my mom and Gigi (grandma) came down from upstate NY for a visit. After dinner one evening we decided to take the baby and go for a walk up the road. While passing our Amish neighbors house I noticed that their pear tree had an abundance of pears still on the tree and many on the ground. So I told my mom I wanted to stop by the next day and ask if I could pick what was left when they were done picking. Monday afternoon we walked back over and I knocked on the door. Mrs. Amish neighbor answered and shortly after Mr. Amish neighbor joined her on the porch. I asked if perhaps I could pick off of the tree when they were done using it. They said that they hadn’t really planned on using them because she had already canned 3 bushel of Bartlette Pears, and to help myself.

This led to us visiting on their front porch for nearly an hour. We talked about the economy. Our house, my husband’s great great grandfather owned a buggy shop that used to be in our backyard. We talked about my hometown in upstate NY, which they knew of and had visited while it was flooded two years ago. Small world! It was really great. Mrs. Amish Neighbor and I talked applesauce. I proudly told her I had canned 20 quart last weekend. She smiled and said that she, her mother, and eight sisters canned around 1,000 quarts a few weekends ago, 300 of which were her family. Wow! Can you imagine? 1,000 quarts of applesauce? They don’t buy apples by the bushel, they buy them in one of the large bins which hold approximately 25 bushels.

Oh what I would have done to have been there to help. The women singing, the smell of the apples, the tiny pops of all of those jars sealing. I plan on being less of a stranger in the future. I would really like to learn more from this family.

When we had said our goodbyes and were preparing to go get the car so we could pick, Mr. Amish Neighbor said as we were leaving, “Well, I’m glad we have that pear tree!” I am too. It was nice to finally meet them instead of just a passing wave when they go by in their buggy. What wonderful folks. And I have a bushel of kieffer pears on my porch just ripening into pear butter, pear sauce, and maybe even some canned pears.

2 tlbs. coconut oil

3 tlbs. baking soda

5 drops peppermint oil

5 drops spearmint oil

1/2 packet (a good pinch) of stevia

I used candy flavoring oils rather than essential oils as the original recipe called for and it came out good, but I had to use a few more drops. Stevia…ah, google it if you don’t know what it is. It’s really great stuff. Everything I needed I found in my cupboard or at the local bulk foods store.

I put it in a little plastic tub (reuse, reuse, reuse) and labeled it “toothpaste” and it’s sitting next to my hubby’s tube of toothpaste in the drawer. My pearly whites feel great!

It worked much easier than I thought it would and really did a great job of cleaning. I just fill the sink with water and then swish my ivory bar around in the water a bit and scrub my sponge a bit with it also. I put about a quarter cup of vinegar in my rinse water to keep everything extra shiny. Any tough spots on pots and pans get a scrubbing with some baking soda paste. All in all, it works great! I have nice clean shiny dishes and no more plastic bottles! Yay for frugality! Yay for the environment! Yay for Ivory! I still hate doing the dishes though.