I Love Summer

I love and look forward to summer: the sun and fresh air and different activities it brings.  I also love the exciting season it is on the farm.  Just stop to look at the trail dust behind a tractor, the towers of straw bales stacked neatly in fields, tractors working in unison- it is all so beautiful.  While I'm not involved on a full-time basis working on the farm, I still love the satisfaction of helping out: filling blueberry orders, and helping prepare meals for the guys working long hours.  The last month or so has not been normal with being down with my eye for a week, then my ankle, and most recently, our whole family had the stomach flu.  Crazy stuff!  We have enjoyed summer, but I'm ready to get back to enjoying it again before it is gone.

Sweet Girl was helping me with some blueberry orders and I thought it was time she learned to drive.  After all, she is six now!

What a pro!

P-man has spent hours working with his Daddy and is becoming a wealth of knowledge about all things farm.  You would think a three-year-old would have a limit to how many hours he could ride in a tractor, but the little man does not tire of it.  He insists on getting the field finished and comes back from 'work' beaming!

Hauling peas with Grampy

Peter Pippin of Great Britain, Olga Bolga of the Ukraine, and Analee of the U.S. at the Olympics this year:

Buck bringing the dock in for us: 

Jules is getting so grownup, but I am savoring these last few months of her as the baby.

As you can see, she is quite independent, helping herself to blueberries, putting on her own shoes, and learning to be a little mommy with cousin Josiah.

This is me now; we are getting close.  Baby boy is due in October.

I made some bow ties for him and his older brother last week.

I'll end this quickly with some random shots.

Olivia's clothes line she made with her jump rope.

 A tired girl

My hardworking, adorable Mama

hardworking, adorable son

Olivia making kimchi with Aunt Holly

 Excuse me, I must finish getting down with the laminator for homeschool prep before getting OUTSIDE!

Apples

Will our picking adventures ever end? 

Hey, we still have a month or so of summer and you know what Proverbs says about storing up for winter!:)

The kids were in charge of picking up the windfall apples. 

Oh, and tasting them!

Good thing these were the sort outs!:)

Here is an apple recipe we made this week.  One of our favorites!

Apple Pancake

from What's Cooking America (my favorite cookbook that I bought as a teenager while delivering berries)

1/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

3 eggs, beaten and room temperature

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup milk, room temperature

7 tablespoons butter

1-2 green tart cooking apples, thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In a small bowl, combine sugar and cinnamon; set aside.  In a large bowl, combine eggs, salt, flour, and milk; Beat until batter is smooth.

In a large, heavy ovenproof frying pan or a cast-iron skillet over medium heat, melt butter, turning pan to cover sides.  Add apples and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon mixture.  Stir and let cook for 5 minutes.

Pour batter over apples into pan and bake 25 minutes or until puffed above sides of the pan and lightly browned.  Remove by flipping upside down onto a serving platter (apples and cinnamon will be on top).  Serve immediately. 

We like to have this recipe with a side of breakfast sausage as the apple pancake is fairly sweet! 

YUM!

Harvest!

There is nothing like harvest time!  My stomach has been excited/nervous for the guys as they have been working around the clock on the farm.  See the picking machine above?  They have started picking at 1 a.m. and work until 4 p.m. (15-16 hour days) for several weeks!  There are other guys swathing during the night and then others yet who are combining all day until late at night. 

It is crazy and fun all at the same time!

I realized when I went and got my first desk job as a young adult that I do not know how to pace myself.  When I work, I go gang-busters (like we've always had to do for harvest), and then would wonder why I couldn't go home at 4 p.m. when I'd exhausted every possible task at my place of work!  It also drives me crazy when people don't work with their "eyes in the flat and with minimal talking".  He, he!

Both nuts got to help drive the combine!  Thank you, Uncle Zach!

Peyton took his job very seriously!

Make sure to pull way over for the farm equipment driving down the road and give them a big smile for me!

Happy Harvest!