Pluto, Charon and Pluto's two moons from the Hubble in 2006. GORGEOUS!
Hard apple cider (corked bottles)
WAITING TO BE FILLED (uncorked bottles)
Now that Paul has been laid off from work, perhaps all those apples in the back of his car will turn into juice, jams, butters and such! Or maybe he'll have to look for work ... hmmmmm.... fish or cut bait ?????
We dusted off our engineering degrees (NOT!) and have begun assembling the loom (!) Shay gave us from Elise's craft treasure chest. I have wanted to learn to weave since I was 5 years old. I'm so excited I can barely wait for Prince Charming to wake up so we can finish putting this together (a feat I don't seem to be able to achieve on my own!) ...
Man cannot live without trailers and trucks filled with wood around here. We have been blessed with good friends who are aware of our need for wood! This is a trailer filled with apple wood (which is great for smoking meat - which we will give to Bruce, our next door neighbor) and hickory, which Paul has been splitting and stacking. This was from "Apple Butter making at Nana's house" Saturday of last week. (that would be Charles's Nana, Lula Belle. (see below)
Another treasure chest find !!!!! A Kiln!!!!! We have to get wired for 220 ... but hey, what's new!?!?! Electricity is a running issue for us. (HA, no pun intended) Anyway, this too is an exciting "can't wait to do!"
Two warm kitties, staring at the wood stone, and sleeping on Paul's work boots. They're so funny.
Paul & Charles - Apple Butter making day at Nana's
72 jars by my count ... there was bunches! Many more containers than we get out of our little crock pot when we make it. There are many recipes to making apple butter. Nana uses the old country recipe with cinnamon oil and red hots.
Quite an assembly line. L to R are Charles (red shirt), Gene (Sabrina's dad) sitting and stirring with what looks like a canoe paddle, Paul pouring into jars, Nana (with her back turned) wiping down the jars tops and Sabrina putting on the lids. Then I put them in the cases and onto the porch to cool ... then they went to the root cellar for storage. Well run operation, even if I do say so myself!
Nana is definitely in charge!
Apple butter cooked in cauldron over wood fire around here ... another difference from ours!
Some of our more interesting carrots from the garden!! One of these is the "normal" shape, which we have pounds of ... good job, Paul! But some of these are absolute works of art, aren't they????
Halloween hay ride for the Adams brothers and their cousin Bobby! Cade is in the forefront, with Bobby on L and Austin on R in the black costumes. Aren't they the most handsome kids you've ever seen!?!?!
May I present to you, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Ballard!! (Charles and Sabrina) I am working on getting better images of the wedding pics, so you will see more coming soon.
There are about 12 hours missing from each day as I see it! I just cannot seem to keep up with everything that I want to. I suppose that is normal, but it is still anxiety producing. I'm going to try to hit the highlights and hope for the best!!!
* It is birthday season big time for our friends and family. Last week we wished happy birthday to Pennisu and Valerie Marozzi!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY OUR SWEET FRIENDS!
This week we wish Happy Birthday to Molly (Shay's daughter) who turns 19 today (I believe ...) Dwayne in Orlando! Best of all things to you both!
* We went down to Anderson and helped Shay try to begin the HUGE task of organizing and rearranging the condo that was Elise's so she and her children can move in and begin life once again. I cannot even begin to put into words how monumental of a task this is for Shay and her family. So PLEASE send good thoughts to her for a speedy transition .... whatever that turns out to be for them. They have opportunities out the ears, just "what to do" is the major starting line issue. And for Shay, good health thoughts please! life for those of us with the normal stuff is tough enough sometimes, but when you add the extras on, it's a bit over whelming. Most of us are dealing with recent loss of loved ones, Pennisu and Scott with their mothers and Shay with her mom in particular. We think of you all every day and ask for your hearts to heal as quickly and as completely as possible. Hugs, hugs and hugs!
* Paul, along with 25% of his company nation wide, was laid off from his job Thursday night. We now have our adventure back and rocking and rolling! There are several different paths for us to go in now. Please keep good thoughts in mind that we might choose the "right" one for our adventure!! We are currently in the process of installing a wood stove furnace system for our house. It requires a HUGE cylinder (similar to 55 gallon drum) to hook up to our vents ... the fire is made in the cylinder, which is installed in the basement just like a regular furnace, vents out through the chimney that is currently used by the oil furnace, and it circulates through the ventilation system. There are lots of conversions and such, but for 2 years we have been researching what is the best answer for us. Now that heating oil is astronomically expensive; we have determined wood to be the warmest heat we've found; and we really are trying to be more "self sufficient" as our electricity has gone up 15% this month from the company. Since we live so far up in elevation, trucking is also ridiculous. So our gasoline is at $2.49, while my sister in law in the suburbs of Atlanta is enjoying 1.99/gallon. Our groceries are effected, as well ... it costs money to truck everything up this blinking mountain! SO ... we are ever so diligently trying to adjust our needs (basic and otherwise) to what we feel we can live with and without. If you have any ideas that might help us with our updates, please feel free to offer them up!!!!! Paul has suggested we start a food co-op, which we might just do here to be able to afford what we cannot grow, can or freeze! I know there are many who are saying "why don't they just move?" ... well,
when you are ready to leave the cities because you must, we want you to have someplace warm and safe to come to! :-)
For those of you who know me well what I'm going to launch into now will not surprise you. For those of you who are sure I'm a weird-o nut job, you can skip this particular paragraph. What I don't know, etc., etc.
Pluto is now moving into the sign of Capricorn. Saturn and Uranus are basically "squaring off" for power and position. From November 4, 2008 thru 2010 (forgot the exact date) things promise to be very interesting. The astrologers are likening the times to 1967 in regard to political happenings. My advise to all of you who I love and adore is, HANG ON TO YOUR HATS!! You ain't seen nothing yet! If you follow astrology at all or are interested in it, check out Eric Francis's Planet Waves Astology at http://planetwaves.net/. He and his staff are amazingly clever, and very talented and gifted astrologers, as well as writers. They address the current stuff ... as well as fun and frivilous as he believes in FUN!!!
* As miracles do happen this is testimony to that: Paul and Nina have begun communicating again. We thank time and the universe for whatever put this reunion together. Amen.
On that note .... Prince Charming has awakened and I must go make tea.
OUR very best to you all,
Paul & Cheri (but mostly Cheri for this post!)
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