It's Pumpkin Time

Grand daughter in 2009

 It's pumpkin time once again in Indiana. How do you plan on using your home grown pumpkins? Are you going to make pumpkin bread, Pumpkin soup, Pumpkin pies or simply going to carve a face into it?

Ex-Large pumpkins are great for carving a jack-o-lantern, however, they can still be used in baking.
If you do use a large pumpkin to make some holiday pies, what do you do with the rest?
The answer is freeze it for making other recipes later on in the year. 
Read more: Freezing Pumpkin

       

Goats Goats and More Goats

Goats, goats and more goats.
So many goats, as well as other abandoned animals have been rescued, given a home and loved by my big brother John and my sister-n-law Sue.

Casey's General Store ran a contest and with the prize being $5000.00, Sue declared  herself the Crazy Goat Lady.
Many entered the contest, however, Sue along with 2 others are in the top 3. All 3 are talented and or famous in there own right. My thoughts are; anyone that can love animals as much as they do, rescue abandoned animals no one else wants, they will love their fellow man. Who better should be named Casey's Famous Person? Please consider voting daily for the crazy goat lady.

To read more on Seekyt: Crazy Goat Lady-Animal Rescuer

Family Fun with the Grandsons

Myself and 3 grandsons

Proverbs 31:28-29 Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: “Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.”

Youngest 2 grandsons

Oh how I feel blessed to share my cottage and weekend with my boys. It has been a month and I missed them so much. This is only the second time they have been at the cottage this summer.

They do love each other

Found coat in closet

The oldest grandson is now 10-years old and once came with me all the time. He actually helped grandpa build the railing for the deck. We found this coat in the closet in case we needed it as it was very breezy afternoon. It was, I believe, a size 4 and he wanted to see if he could still wear it. It still kind of fit and gave us all a smile. Family fun is so much fun, it makes a grandma so happy.

Kristin and Eric Larrew's Wedding

Dave and Kristin

On September 1, 2012 my grand daughter, Kristin Schwartz was united in marriage to Eric Larrew. With Hurricane Isaac hitting Louisiana forcing heavy rains to head north, the planned outdoor wedding made the Facebook pages with a late breaking news bulletin. The Larrew wedding was now being re-planned and headed indoors.  

Z putting down feathers

Our 3-yr old grand daughter was the feather girl.  Instead of going up the aisle just once, she did it a couple of times. She knew she had an important job to lay down the feathers so Kristin would have soft things to walk on. She would have kept going if I had not stopped her. She had plenty of feathers left.

Kristin looked beautiful as her dad, David Wayne Schwartz 11, my son-n-law; walked her down the aisle of the Martinsville Church of the First Born.

The Big Kiss

As Eric and Kristin shared their first kiss, the whole congregation looked on and cheered. The wedding, despite the weather and change of venue, was great.

Here for the first time is  Mr and Mrs. Eric Larrew.

Kristin and Eric Larrew

Read about Wedding Cupcake Stands on Seekyt

31st Annual Sisters Camping Trip

We decided very last minute to spend our 31st Annual Sisters Camping Trip in Alamo MI at Spring Lake Resort. Right before we left the campground Sunday, we remembered we hadn't taken our annual picture. Sister Anita grabbed a lady to take our picture. 
We had a pond in front of the camper that looked more like a swamp and this frog was setting on the edge trying to hide from us. 
We played a game, I believe they called Hillbilly Golf. 

If you play Hillbilly Golf be careful, several games later the balls landed in the tree creating a new adventure called how do we get it down.                    

Angie thought using Trish's shoe to knock down the ball was a good thing to try. Oops, now we have 2 things to retrieve.



After Anita attempted to ride Angie's back to knock the balls down with a broom, we decided using the truck to boost her up higher was the best thing to try. The balls for the game (and Trish's shoe) were retrieved and the girls played a few more rounds. I did play one round, however, I am not good. Fun was had by all, especially the good sales at yard sales and Good Will. Oh, we did knitting, crocheting and relaxing too!

Gluten-Free Peach Bread

Summer time and all the fresh fruit and veggies are a bakers dream. Recipes, whether it be the made with regular all-purpose or gluten-free flours are being baked. One great recipe, for example is Gluten-Free Peach Bread. My peach bread recipe is a low sugar power packed dessert for people that are gluten intolerant or has celiac disease. 

Read more on Seekyt

 
This post linked to Frugal Food Thursdays

Weaver Annual Family Camp

My 4 biological grandchildren

This year we had our annual family campout August 2-5, 2012 at Hoffman Lake Campground in Warsaw IN. Although we weren’t exactly thrilled with the rudeness of some of the seasonal campers and the management of the campground, we loved being together. 

Cousins don't always share!

Daddy loves giving rides to his baby girl

Z enjoyed the 4 wheeler

Big brother loves his Sis

Our campouts began in 1997, the year our father passed away. We did not go very far, in fact we camped out in mom’s backyard. We have been to four different campgrounds trying to find something that fits the needs of all. Since I believe we agreed never to return to Hoffman Lake Campground, we are once again in search of a place for my big family to go.

So So Sorry

This Indiana summer has been so hot and dry. My husband and I find ourselves watering our big garden daily. I am praying we get a harvest for all our hard work. Between the dry conditions, and the bugs that's laying eggs on all our squash plants, so far it's proven to be our worst garden since we moved in our home in 1991.

However, we praise Jesus for everything he does for us, and are praying for our neighbors who are farmers, and their lives depend on a good harvest. 

With all that said, I am so so sorry I had  not posted to my blog for a while. We've been a tad preoccupied.

Exploring Northern-Central Kentucky

Greeted by Baby Girl

Since my husband is on vacation or shut down in the RV business we once again headed south to visit my daughter and family. My 3 1/2-year old granddaughter was counting down the days. Sis said she asked numerous times throughout the day about when we would get there. She came out greeting us with I love you grandma! Aw how it can melt a grandma's heart.

 As it was so hot, we soon decided to cool off in the kiddie pool. Trust me, it was good enough for me, I cooled off. 


Saturday morning we decided to explore KY. We headed to the Swope's Auto Museum in Elizabethtown first. It is an awesome free car museum. If you are planning a vacation this should be on your to do list. Here my husband is looking at the trunk saying his mom has one in the garage much like it. Of course baby girl had a hard time not wanting to touch all the cars however for 3 1/2-years old she did very well. 

Here she is posing with my daughter or her mom. After the museum we headed to historic Bardstown KY. We started with a picnic and proceeded to walk to see the town. We did get warm so stopped to have a cone at Baskin Robbin's. As it was warm, Z's chocolate cone did not last long. She did get quite a bit of chocolate on her face.

Trail guide in tap shoes

Let's go!

Sunday after church, lunch, nap and Nascar race we decided to check out Taylorsville lake. When Z heard we were leaving she was ready to go tap shoes and all.  With her walking stick she points out we were on the red path. Trust me, she was looking for the red to keep us on track. She had one minor incident with the tap shoes putting her on her bum but did not let it stop her. She made a wonderful trail guide.

Walked 1.5 mile red trail and picked pine cones

Monday morning as we were packing up to leave, even though baby girl was reluctant, we stopped to look at the blue Morning Glory she planted from the seeds we purchased for her last trip south. Then I noticed she had grabbed the olive can and that's what she was eating for breakfast. Grandpa was spoiling her, by purchasing them and taking them, knowing she loved them.

She tried to stow away

Well heading home is rough, however, it has to be done. I didn't shed a tear in front of her as she didn't want us to leave or she wanted to go with us, but man my heart was breaking.

Grandpa and Grandma ready to leave!

Lavender in a Bucket

As I was pulling weeds around my lavender, I accidentally broke off a sprig so I instinctively put it in a bucket of water to see if it would take root. The birds have landed on the edge of the bucket numerous of times and enjoyed the water, I have to admit, I'm not sure I want to plant it or leave it in the bucket to view when I walk outside my door.

According to UMM.edu, "The name lavender comes from the Latin root lavare, which means "to wash." Lavender may have earned this name because it was frequently used in baths to help purify the body and spirit."

 

I love the smell of lavender whether it be the essential oil or the plant itself. I find it very soothing. 
After I accidentally pulled up the lavender sprig, I inserted some into my Himalayan Salt Lamps. It not only looks nice but gives off a bit of a fragrance too.

 

Read More: Himalayan Salt Lamps on Seekyt