Canning tomatoes

Washing tomatoes

One of Mom's plans for the week was to have her girls help her can tomatoes. Monday morning Julie and I picked blueberries, but in the afternoon all of us girls canned tomatoes. Even Lauren arrived in time to peel tomatoes. Mom spent the afternoon selling blueberries and sweet corn at the market with Logan, while we girls put up fifty-four quarts and four pints of stewed tomatoes.

Sterilizing jars

Blanching tomatoes

Cooling tomatoes

Peeling tomatoes

...and peeling

...and peeling

...and peeling

Fastening lids

Jars of tomatoes waiting to be processed in the pressure canner

Blueberry fingers

As blueberry season near the end, picking has become more difficult. We search in the middle of the bushes for clusters of berries previously overlooked. We sort stems, leaves and squishy berries from our buckets, and by the end of the morning our fingers are stained with blueberry juice.

Satisfy

for he satisfies the thirsty

and fills the hungry with good things.

Psalm 107.9 NIV

Grapes

Green is turning to purple. Soon we will harvest clusters of grapes to eat and turn into juice and jelly.

Chickens

Their days are numbered; Libby is trying to convince us to help her butcher them.

Janessa

Blueberry picker

Concert

Sunday was our church's annual outdoor concert. One Sunday evening in the summer we set up chairs and sound equipment on the lawn, and then watch the sky for rain clouds. It was cool Sunday evening as neighbors and friends gathered. But there was no rain and it wasn't too windy, and we had a pleasant time making and enjoying music together.

Birthday balloon

Kaelyn gave her Grandma balloons for her birthday. Judith and the girls were up for a few days last week and helped us celebrate Mom's birthday.

Very good

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.

Genesis 1:31 NIV

Pink

Faces

(The blueberry farm is open all day on Saturdays from eight-thirty in the morning until nine at night. These photos need no other explanation.)

Better

"I think God has something better for both of us than we would be for each other," Julie said, explaining the reason for the end of her relationship with Irvin.

Macro

The next best thing to having a camera lens yourself is having a friend who has the lens. My friend Bianca visited yesterday and we swapped lenses for a few minutes. I played with her macro lens, capturing butterflies and kitten whiskers, while Bianca focused on goat kids.

Bad berries

Why are the bad ones the most interesting?

Form

Consider

When I consider your heavens,

the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars,

which you have set in place...

O LORD, our Lord,

how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Psalm 8.3,9 NIV

Zinnia

Rather than planting petunias or marigolds, this year Libby planted zinnias and dahlias in the flower garden bordering the sidewalk. The last few years Libby has planted rows of zinnias in the garden beside the vegetables. The soil is better in the back garden near the lane, but having the flowers near the house allows us to enjoy their beauty right outside the door.

Boyfriend flowers

Irvin had never bought flowers until my sisters informed him that it was his duty as a boyfriend. Since then he's presented Julie with several bouquets. When he was visiting last weekend he purchased bunches of flowers for each of us girls and Mom from the farmer's market.

Culprit

After the coons destroyed Dad's first planting of sweet corn, Mom bought a trap at the hardware store and Logan succeeded in catching a couple of the thieving rascals.

Bountiful

Bench seat

There are advantages to the old diesel truck.

Reflection

Our family, at Sunday dinner, reflected in the base of the chandelier.

Light

I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen:

not only because I see it,

but because by it I see everything else.

~C.S. Lewis

Melon

This year is a melon year. Every year Dad sets melon plants in the garden, but it's not every year that he harvests melons. We've had a warm summer with plenty of rain and the plants prospered and produced fruit. Before he sliced open a melon for breakfast, Dad posed in the garden with his harvest to document the melon year. This year is also a zucchini year...but that's a totally different story.

Barn

My nose almost starts to itch as I look at the field corn and Queen Anne's Lace that almost obliterate the barn in the background of this photo. This often photographed barn is located on the dirt road near our church building. Usually after the service some of us walk down the road and look at the farms, while we wait for the rest of the family to finish their conversations.

Blue