Thanks and Praises

First and foremost I would like to thank all of you that have expressed sympathies over our loss of our beloved Rosie. I have pretty well mourned all weekend but have tried to stay busy. I have resigned myself to the fact that she is gone and try not to look for her still. The entire family came for the burial of Rosie. O Wise One, Baby O, daughter Fred, grandchildren Gracie and Baby Hank and  I all circled her grave in the flower bed in the back yard and told stories of her life. Gracie laughed about her stealing her popcorn at movie time and sneaking sips out of our tea glasses when nobody was looking. About how she loved to watch tv and above all hunt. She lived a life as a farm dog running the fields and forests of these 72 acres hunting rabbits and patrolling the hayfields for mice and voles. She killed moles in the garden and possums and skunks around the chicken yard. That is what Scotties were originally bred for and she enjoyed her life. She was loved totally and completely. Never hungry or cold.  We could have kept her in a fence and confined her but her heart wanted to roam. She always had to see the next field as there just might be an animal to hunt there. And when her day was done she always returned to mama's arms to be loved. Many times with her prey still with her. Mama needed presents too.  She was my own little personal gift from God at a time when I needed her most and for that I will always be thankful. But I will move on. I still have Riley to care for and he misses her more than us all.  So we shall move on.

On a lighter note Autumn has indeed arrived I think! The temperatures are cooling down to the 50's at night here in The Holler. I still can tomatoes a little at a time and have a batch in the crockpot cooking down to sauce as we speak. Once it has thickened I will put it in jars and hot bath. The Blood Indian Peaches are starting to ripen. So I will make wine with them once they ripen a little more. I want them good and sweet. I will do a post on them as they are such a unique peach and we love the taste of them.

The sweet potato vines are huge and soon we will be digging sweet potatoes as they must be dug before frost. The pumpkins have pretty well invaded the garden and we have just let them. We have no idea how many pumpkins are under all that foliage but we know there are some. We just hope they are able to mature before frost.  There are just a few more shell beans and watermelons and catalope left and then the front garden will be ready to disk under.

There are still apples on the trees. And I continue to use them fresh and make pies and crisps almost daily. We have shared some with the neighbors. And we will also share peaches with them. Any with bad spots or bruises are going to the chickens. They are loving it.

The walnut trees have very few walnuts this year. An untimely frost nipped the blooms. However I still have plenty in the freezer from last year for baking. The pecan trees have pecans but we will have to fight the squirrels for them again.

The chicken house will have to be cleaned out and fresh straw laid before first snow . The gardens plowed under and put to bed. And we still have chickens to butcher once it cools down a little more. The freezers must be cleaned out before deer season to make room for venison.

So as you see life moves on. And there is always work on the farm to be done.

I must admit I look forward to cooler temperatures as it has been a brutal last month or so heat wise.

Again I thank you all for your out pouring of love and support!

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter