There is a farmstand...

The last image is my favorite. I hope you are enjoying summer!

xoxo~

Abbie

Bounty

 

  

  

 

 

 Images from around our home.. tomatoes (beefsteak, heirloom and grape), grasshoppers, spiders, apples, corn, zucchini, and beans. Not in that order.

xoxo~

Abbie

Blackberries

When we cleared our land six years ago to build our home, all along the edge of our woods grew blackberry brambles. Everywhere.  

 They are just now starting to ripen.. and if you look (not too hard), you can find some sweet, juicy berries.

  We still have about a two week wait for the real windfall to happen.

The kids and I eat what we pick right away. The berries don't even make it inside!   

I'm always amazed at the variety of sizes.. we have jumbo goliaths (my name) and teeny weenies.

Nothing can quite match the sweetness of the itty bitty ones, but when you find one the size of your thumb, it's amazing! The large one is the biggest we could find the other day, but we have some almost twice that not quite ripe yet.

Blackberry facts:

 If there is even one red/pink tiny fruit on the berry, it's not quite ripe yet. Don't pick it unless you are looking for a tart, snappy taste.  It won't ripen after being picked. the softer and plump it is, the sweeter the berry.

Each tiny ball is a single, individual fruit with it's own seed. Hence all the seeds when you eat them. Think of them like teeny weenie grape clusters.

They are filled with anthocyanins, powerful antioxidants and are said to help prevent cancer.

You can use them in any recipe calling for berries, like muffins, jams, jellies, tarts, etc...

They make fun ammunition in Berry Wars.. yesterday my children fired them off at each other and smeared them everywhere!

Just thought you'd like to know...

xoxo~

Abbie

We went to the ocean...

We went to the ocean. That is my husband and son. Waaaaaaaay out there where the waves were breaking. Isn't the sparkle fabulous? We had the most gorgeous weather, it was so warm the ocean was almost tolerable. Almost.

xoxo~

Abbie

Pansies

I love our pansies.. unfortunately so do the chickens, and the moles. Oh, and also the chipmunks. 

I took these photos a few short days before all of my pansies were decimated. Completely destroyed by edible flower loving critters. But, as a consolation.. I have set the Have a Heart trap and caught two moles thus far.  Something else they love? My lillies. :(

Strawberries

Can you tell what I have been up to? I took the kids strawberry picking the other day. We picked 15 pounds of berries in about 20 minutes. Phhffeww! That was a lot of berries! After a lot of boiling we ended up with 25 +/- pints of jam. Mind you, 15 pounds of berries didn't yield all of the jam, there were ohter berries from other days. We have already gone through 2 jars.. jam doesn't last long in this house. A staple breakfast for the girls is organic peanut butter on organic whole wheat bread with jam. PB&J. My mother used to say I was going to turn into a PB&J sandwich when I was a child, I ate them so much. That and jelly filled donuts. I could slam down a six pack of jellied filled donuts in one sitting. Yum. Ooo... I also love jam on my pancakes, with lots of butter. Hhhmm.. and on Brötchen with a bit of cream cheese.  Time to go see what I can now dig out of the pantry as I have made myself hungry.

xoxo~

Abbie

A face only a mother could love..

What is that fuzzy little thing I see?

Uhh.. wow. so ugly they are absolutely adorable!

The wee babies are just so tiny! How can an egg that is so pretty have these strange little critters in it? :) More pics to come soon.. these images were taken on Monday before we left on our trip. Now they have some fluff to soften their edges a bit.

xoxo~
Abbie

Yellow.

I love yellow rubber boots, especially when they are tending to our lillies.

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend!
xoxo~
Abbie

Happy 4th of July!

Having grown up in a military family (my father served almost 30 years, my grandfather marched across France in WWII, and now my brother has served in Afghanistan) the 4th holds a special place in my heart. This weekend, enjoy your families and the freedom to practice any beliefs that you hold dear. Remember that men and women have lost their lives so that you could have the freedom to gather and celebrate!

The images above are for you, just right click to enlarge them and then save them to your computer. For more patriotic clip art visit my other blog, The Vintage Moth.

Have a fabulous weekend!

xoxo~

Abbie

Robin's Egg Blues Just For You

A neighborhood Robin decided that a nest with a view was the most desired home on the block. He chose one of our hanging baskets on the front porch. Oh, she couldn't resist! The yellow blooms were so pretty!

Hung safely out of the reach of predators, the only thing that annoyed them was the crazy lady with the camera!

Protected from the rains, and wow! have we had rain here in NH lately.. most nests would not have survived the storm..

But their sweet home is flourishing, except the yellow blossoms, they are not fairing so well.

It's just too difficult to water a hanging basket with such precious cargo!

I hope you are finding shelter from the storm!

xoxo~

Abbie