Peter Rabbit Party.

Esther and Ember celebrated their 5th and 3rd birthdays together this year. We did a Peter Rabbit theme. We love taking what we have on hand and turning it into something special! 

For a centerpiece we used our watering can and a bunch of pots from the garden shed, plus one of the kids' stuffed animals and a borrowed doll's coat!:-)  We added some flowers from the yard and -Ta da! A sweet scene that looks like it could be right from the book.

The blackberry cobbler was a real hit.

Easy favors for our little guests.

To make serving the goodies easy, we tied utensils and napkins to each plate with scraps of peter rabbit fabric. We put them into an old drawer to keep them tidy.

Chamomile tea, just like the story:-)  Only ours was iced and sweetened with honey!

We put the presents in an old wheelbarrow. A few were just too cute to wrap!

Esther enjoying her new kazoo:-) 

Ember was so excited!

 It wasn't her party but she sure had fun! Our sweet Lillian.

Here is the invitation. You can do so much with so little for parties, Just think of the things you love and chances are you will have enough related  stuff around that with some creative ideas thrown in you can throw an awesome shindig of you own for very little dough. The possibilities only stop with your iimagination!

Ember's Birthday present : Princess and the Pea Quilt

Janet speaking : This was a really neat project that was really easy. I got the idea from a Land of Nod blanket I saw in a magazine. In the end I loved mine much better than the one I saw! That's what I love about being Home-Made-Home.:-) Above I was laying out the different colored " mattresses".

Here I'm working on embroidering the princess. I traced her with pencil from one of my own drawings.

The finished princess. I made her hair reddish to match little Ember's.l also made lazy daisies all over the quilt instead of tying it.

The bed frame is also embroidered. I love the way the bed skirt turned out ; I found a ruffled piece of lace in my scrap box that worked just right.

The finished quilt. There are some funny shadows in this photo but I think you will be able to see what it looks like. I used lots of different fabrics and textures: velvet, satin, rickrack, lace. Ember loves fingering it and seems especially happy with the SOFT fleece backing. 

To see more of my original embroidery check out my sewing board at www.pinterest.com/homemadehome90

Black Berry Picking.

Last week we went berry picking with our good friends the Goodwins. They had found a patch like nothing we had ever seen! The berries were so thick that we stuffed our selves and came home with plenty to can and make preserves with. They say a picture is worth a thousand words - so I'll let them do most of the talking. :-) 

Dustin came up with an innovative way to be able to pick with both hands simultaneously. He ended up with twice the berries Janet picked - though that may have had something to do with her chasing little ones :-) 

As you can see, more blackberries went into little mouths than into little baskets!

Look at that mother lode

Above is Sara - she was a real help with the kiddos. Below is Atlanta ( her sister-in-law) with her sweet baby Marian taking a little break at the truck.

Check out the harvest! We ended up with about three gallons for just our family.

And they were so big! Many fruits were over an inch long.What a fun day. I'd say summer is truly upon us!

How does the garden grow? - Beautifully!

Our garden is growing so fast! It seems like just yesterday we were plowing and now look at it ! The pop corn is already almost three feet high!

And the flowers! It seems there are flowers everywhere. As soon as one variety fades, another begins to bloom.Who says a working farm need not be beautiful?

 There are flowers in the herb garden, too. The Echanacia really did well this year. Below are some of the small but lovely flowers of St. John's Wort.

Let's head across the creek to the bigger garden, there is a lot going on over there!

Look at all those vegetables! That wheelbarrow will be loaded down with them soon, Lord willing.

Will you be kosher dill ? sweet? bread and butter? The possibilities are delectable!

Pole beans.

Banana peppers.

This kind of trellis for tomatoes is something new we are trying this year. It's very simple, just place the river cane poles well into the ground around the plant , then tie together at the top. You then tie support strings around the plant at intervals ,tying to canes as you go to hold the plant inside. We laid poles along the top for a bit of added stability, but it's not really a must. So far this method is working great.

Yellow squash.

Such a pretty view to a homesteader's eye. We see the rows of plants, but we also see the hours of labor, the blessing of sun and rain,and the hope of a bountiful harvest.  We see food on the table, on the pantry shelves and boxes of goodness to send home with friends and family.

Canning Summer Squash.

First off, so sorry to everyone that its been so long since we posted anything-We have been so busy here on the homestead that there has not been much chance to get to town( no internet service at home) and blog about it! One of the things we have been doing a lot of is canning zucchini and yellow straight neck squash.

Here are some little zucchini on one of our plants. They grow so fast that the tiny squash on this plant will be canning size in another day or two at the most. They have been coming in fast around here!

Clean canning jars ready to fill.

I leave about an inch of head space . Then I add half a tsp. salt and just cover the squash with cool water.

Ready for lids and bands.

Summer squash , like all low acid foods, must be pressure canned. Check with the local extention office or check the Ball "blue book" of canning for the most up to date canning times and pressures.

It is so satisfying to see all those pretty jars lined up in the pantry:-) . We like to use canned squash in soups and to make fried squash patties. Mmmm, mmm!

That's all for now, but more on what else we've been up to coming real soon!

Blackpowder Pistols.

Just a short post to show a couple of muzzleloader pistols that Dustin has refurbished. He also did the beautiful incised carving on both.

A view of the other side.

Close up of the locks.