Autumn and December

 

 It really is the most wonderful time of the year for me. A lot of beautiful memories are centered around Autumn and Christmas. 

  
The weather here is getting chillier, but not enough in my opinion. South Louisiana is just as warm as Texas, with only two seasons. Summer, and a few days of cold Winter. I still love it here despite the lack of season change. 

 We didn't get to put up a Christmas tree this year. Before we moved, we stored most of our furniture and belongings in Texas. We made do with garland that we hung on our dresser in the living room. We bought a few cheap stockings and hung them around it. Red and white ribbon with an array of fake berries and lights makes it more Christmasy. It is as close to a Christmas tree as we'll get this year.

 

I took the leftover garland and wrapped it around the front porch. I made a few bows from the extra ribbon, but I could only make three. Two are sitting on the railing of the front steps, and the last one on the rail of the front ramp. Daddy can't stand that there's only one ribbon, so he's going to get more for me to make the rest of the bows. 

         

The leaves are falling off so fast that our yard is covered in them. The trees are starting to grow barren from all of it's green fullness, and the sky is cascaded with a gray haze. I think fall is my favorite season of them all. At least, until the next one comes along!

Socks and Blackberry Inn

 

I finished blocking and weaving in ends to my socks, and I am pretty pleased with them. They would have matched almost exactly, but I added one too many rows on my second sock, messing up the stripes. Ah, well. They turned out nice any way. 

 

I am trying to finish reading Lessons at Blackberry Inn but I have been fairly busy with being graduated and all. I still find it very soothing to read, finding myself wishing I could live canning jars of tomatoes, and teaching my children. One day. 

 

 

Completed Projects and Reading

 

I have been quite busy of late. I recently graduated from high school, and I am so relieved that I am finally finished. Since then, I have been into reading and knitting and even have a finished crochet project. 

     

I have been enjoying Lessons at Blackberry Inn by Karen Andreola. It is a fictional story based in the nineteen thirties, but the story is to encourage mothers on schooling their own children. I have been interested in homeschooling methods and such, partly because I myself have finished homeschooling. It never can hurt to learn such things, even before marriage and children, for having the proper mindset and education on educating can help me when I do. 

I have just started reading Ephesians, a book of the bible I intend on studying in depth. I didn't want to overwhelm myself on studying a long book in the bible, and I feel Ephesians is the perfect length to start practicing. I've only read one chapter, but I already know it will be chock full of lessons and convictions for me to apply to my every day life. 

 

A dear lady from our church has been crocheting pineapple shawls for the women in church. She hasn't made any for the younger girls, or given me one, so I took it upon myself to make one. I love the way it turned out, even though it has countless mistakes in it. I love wearing it all the time, as it's such a pretty shade of blue, with hints of green undertones. It reminds me of the ocean, and the colorway is called Sea Foam. 

     

I love having finished projects, don't you?

 

  

Dune and Pretzels

 

I was bored, and to the kitchen I fled. I haven't ever made homemade pretzels before, and I had everything for them. They turned out amazing! Way better than any pretzel vendor at the mall. Here is the recipe. 

 

I ate mine with mustard. Prior to my making them, Momma had made some caramel sauce for coffee, so I dipped my pretzel in the caramel.Oh my gosh, was it tasty.

 

I picked up a few books at the bookstore the other day. Dune, by Frank Herbert, was the one I decided to read first. It's considered a science fiction classic, and I am really enjoying it. It's definitely much calmer of a story than books I've read in the past, so it's a wonderful winding down book.

A Very Lengthy Update to Make Up for Procrastinating

A few weeks ago when our grandparents visited, we had a craw-fish boil

We've been pretty busy, but not enough to keep me from blogging. But let's see if I can make up for that, hmm? 

 Kat ended up having five little kittens. We weren't feeding her too much after all. In this picture they are only a day old. Aren't they precious? 

 

A few weeks ago, Tom here made himself our second cat. He's far more playful than Kat; when you pet him he bats you with his paws, and playful nips at your fingers. We don't know where these cats keep coming from, and nobody else seems too keen on taking them in. We're starting to attract more, which we are not happy about.  

About two weeks ago we transferred our chickens to their coop. They absolutely love the outdoors, and each time Caleb finds a worm, he rushes to feed it to them. They all end up chasing the chicken who got it first, hoping to steal it from her beak. 

"Say what?!"

We think all of the chickens are hens, but unfortunately the leghorns (the breed of chickens we have) are really hard to tell a pullet from a rooster. So we just have to wait till they are older to see if any of them crow. 

We planted, in pots, three cucumber plants. These are the same heirloom seeds we bought a few years ago, and they thrive in this hot humid air. We planted a few pots with tomatoes and jalapenos, but they are too small to take pictures of right now.

 

Last week, rain came down in torrents, and didn't let up till a few days ago. As you can see here, our backyard was completely flooded. The water came up to our ankles. Thankfully the chickens were on higher ground, and didn't even notice they were trapped on an island surrounded by rain water.  

Animals

 

     For some odd reason, this cat seems to love us, therefore it never leaves. We've named her Kat, short for Katrina. Kat is the sweetest, docile, laziest cat I have ever seen, and she will climb all over you in order to attract your attention. She loves to be petted, and follows you around when you take a stroll.

      Kat does seem to be happy here, and is gaining a little belly fat from all the food.

     Because of our two acres, we've decided to attempt raising some egg laying chickens. We purchased this chicken coup for that, but we think it might be too small for the amount of chickens we've bought. So we're praying that it works out okay! Hehe.

     The feeding trough, that we bought for the eight chicks, seems to be their favorite napping spot. Aren't they adorable? I can't wait for them to grow up and start producing eggs!

Waffles

Finally, after weeks of promising the best waffle recipe, its finally here! We found this recipe on the King Arthur Flour website, but unfortunately they took it off, therefore I cannot link the original one. We also double the recipe for our family of seven.
     Without further ado, the waffles. 

 

     First things first. You are going to combine one and a half cups of flower with two teaspoons baking powder, half teaspoon salt, and two tablespoons sugar. 

 

     After all your dry ingredients are combined, start adding your wet.

 

     Stir in one fourth cup melted butter (I forgot to take a picture of the butter), one and a half cups milk, and one egg. 

 

     Once you have your batter, you are ready to cook some waffles. 

 

     We like to use a round waffle iron, but you can use whatever kind you have. 

 

     For this size we cook about three minutes. For smaller square waffles I would do about two minutes, but it all depends on if you like crunchy or soft waffles.

 

     Top it with butter and maple syrup and you are good to go! Seriously, the best waffles ever.

Waffles

Servings: 4 

1 1/2 c flour 

2 t baking powder 

1/2 t salt

2 T sugar 

1 egg

1 1/2 c milk

1/4 c melted butter