Summer Provisions

It has been a summer of plenty.

Peaches, Strawberries, Blueberries

Vegetables a plenty

Picking corn

Pies, Muffins, and Cakes

Our Netflix Experience

I am a member of a great group of bloggers called the Frual Blogroll. (The list is located of the right of the screen) These bloggers encourage me in the pursuit of living on one income in a two income world. I have learned many tips and hints reading from their insightful writing. I am going to make a conscious effort to submit tips that our family practices in order to be worthy of this noble group. :)

A new service our family has tried out is Netflix. We choose our movies online and have a running list of what we would like to have sent next. It is delivered by mail, we watch the movie whenever we choose and then send it back in the postage paid envelope. It is so easy and very fast. We send it out one day, they receive it the next day and we have another movie on the third day. New releases may have a waiting list and could take a longer

We live in a town with 1 movie rental store. It has mostly new releases and the older movies are very limited. Plus, I hate going into movie stores! I do order from our library system but that is also limited. We have not been disappointed in the selection from Netflix. If you live in a rual area, you will love this service!

We have the extremely basic cable, and Netflix provides a great selection of movies from the History Channel and Discovery. We are currently waiting on a number of the IMAX films. (Minus the big screen.) We have watched a few old comedies like, You Can't Take It With You and some comedies my husband and I remember from our childhood that the children had not seen. We actually started this membership because I could not get the movie Miss Potter locally. That particular movie had a waiting list and it did not come immediately.

All in all, it has been a good experience. Watch your trial membership though- it runs out quickly and you're an automatic member before you know it. We have the membership that allows us two movies at a time with an unlimited number of movies per month.

So there it is. Happy viewing.

Yet Another New Toy

At an auction last week, we bid on a canoe. It was not in great condition, but we thought we could have some fun with it. A reliable source (the teenage owner) told us it was sea worthy. But, the bidding went up higher than we were willing to pay and we lost it. We were disappointed but decided it was not meant for us.


Yesterday, I received a phone call saying that the original owners, who have now moved out of state, wanted us to have the canoe that was still sitting on their property. Yippee! Now we are hoping to take it out on the high seas next weekend. (High seas in Central NY means a nice, calm lake) At this point, we will be "up a creek without a paddle" unless we find some necessary equipment. We also plan to stay very close to shore. More exciting details to follow.......

A New Toy

I got this juicer at an auction last Saturday. It was the deal of the year- $7.50. (I know! I feel a little guilty.) Now we are experimenting to see what our family likes. We have made some great fruit mixtures and now we are ready to go on to vegetables. I would love to know what has worked for you and your family. No need telling me about plain carrot juice, I already know how to do that. I also need ideas for FRUGAL juicing. (Even carrot.) Please share!

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EIGHT!!!!!

Checkerboard cake

New chair, new rod

Goin' fishin'

We love 8-year-olds!

Garage Sale Find

Kelli is hosting Show & Tell Friday. My show and tell may not seem too exciting but my family was delighted this week with my .05 cent garage sale purchase.

It is an ice cube tray that makes ice "tubes" for plastic water bottles.

This may be an item that everyone knows about but one of my daughters commented, "Where has this been all of my life." Simple pleasures!

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Goin' to the State Fair

The girls won ribbons for their projects at the county fair. Here is what was chosen to go to the New York State Fair:

Our little cloverbud won ribbons at the county fair but cloverbud entries don't go to the state fair...... next year!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

My children are not singing and dancing around the house these days. School is beginning and the smell of new erasers is not inspiring anyone. What's a mom to do?.........

Solution 1: Start a fun lapbook on Bees with the 3rd grader.

Solution 2: Quickly put together a picnic with friends for the afternoon. (after school is finished)

Playing in the creek in the afternoon will improve everyone's spirits, including mom's.

Homeschooling- In August?

There are three full weeks of August left...... only three! Where has the summer gone? Tonight we are discussing what subjects in homeschooling we will start tomorrow. I have learned, over the years, that my family does not do well starting homeschooling all at once. We begin with one subject one week, add another subject the next week, add a third subject the third week, and then by the fourth week we are going full time. This system allows for several "mini-meltdowns" instead of one major meltdown. You homeschoolers know the kind of melt down moments I mean:

~ We have no pencils with erasers on them.

~ I thought I ordered Explode the Code 7 and 8 but I ordered 5 and 6 which she completed last year.

~ I didn't know that the printer has been out of ink for the past month.

~ A friend calls to say she'll be by to pick up the Algebra 1 book I borrowed from her last

year. Didn't I buy that book from her at the used book sale?- guess not. I literally have to pry it out of the hands of my student while I am placing a bid for it on ebay.

~ I need to get to the grocery store, plan dinner, catch up on the weekend laundry and try to remember how I used to do everything before summer started.

So, I take a deep breath, whisper a prayer for strength and patience, and make a trip to Walmart. Can I possibly make my way through all of the little melt-down moments and look forward to seeing how God is going to make all things possible through Him?

Show & Tell Friday

Kelli at There's No Place Like Home hosts Show & Tell Friday. People post something from around their house to "show and tell", just like kindergarten.

This week, I have spent two days working on my enclosed, front porch. The walls needed scrubbed, the furniture washed, a chest painted, and the floor painted. I wanted to get this done in preparation to begin homeschooling. We love having school on the porch in the fall. It is now fresh and clean.

However, there is one item on the porch that sticks out like a sore thumb- my converstion piece. It is a shoe mold that belonged to my great-grandfather. The story goes that it is what he used to repair his children's shoes (my grandmother). That's the story and I'm sticking to it.

Tea on the Veranda

It was a perfect day for tea at the Fennimore House in Cooperstown, NY

Some of the ladies from our Bible study.

Off to college. We'll miss you!

Ahhhh summer!

Tacky Lawn Ornaments

I am not in the habit of collecting these type of lawn ornaments, but this one has special significance. When my three oldest girls were under 5 years of age, I tried numerous times to line them up and get them to pose like this: hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil. It never worked. Someone would fall off the couch, hit someone, cry, refuse to cooperate, etc... And I would end up saying, "Just forget it!"

Well today was a special day. I actually got the picture I wanted for so many years. It's only 12-13 years later than I expected.

(Note: No teenagers were hurt in the photographing of this picture)

Happy Birthday Tom!

My hero had a birthday this week!!! Unfortunately, the camera broke (a very sad time for me) and I was unable to take pictures of the birthday dinner. Carissa used the china she got for her birthday, and we were able to put on quite a nice looking spread.



The menu:
Grilled Herbed Salmon
Corn on the Cob
Salad
Watermelon
Green Tea Lemonade
Saranac Root Beer
Dessert? Of course- Mom's Cheesecake with Pineapple Topping

Mom's Cheesecake (makes 2 pies)

16 oz cream cheese

2 cups cool whip

1 cup sour cream

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

Beat cream cheese, cool whip, and sour cream together with sugar until smooth. Add vanilla. Place filling in refrigerator.

Pineapple Topping

1 can crushed pineapple (19 oz.)

1/2 cup cold water

1/2 cup sugar

4 Tbs. corn starch

Drain pineapple juice into saucepan. Set aside. Add water and sugar to juice and cornstarch and bring to boil. Stir constantly until thick. Add pineapple. Cool.

Put cream cheese filling into 2 graham cracker crusts. Top with pineapple topping.

We love our hero!

C.S. Lewis on Friendship

"Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, 'What! You too? I thought I was the only one'."

C. S. Lewis