Emily, Seth, Evelyn, Sofia, and Evan (in the canoe) were enjoying a lake in Oregon on a camping trip.  

These are some photos from our vacation on Olympic penninsula.  The wildflower pictures don't do justice to the flowers we saw, because where I saw fields of orange paintbrush, we couldn't pull off the road.  But they were so beautiful.  Val and I had lunch with a deer and about 15 Clarks nutcrackers (birds) who sat on our laps and ate from our hands.  Also a crow sat at our feet.  The animals were so tame.  We fed them vegetables and fruit.

Wheat Chile Recipe

This is a recipe my kids grew up on .  It is really yummy! Use a large kettle, as it makes a lot.

Ingredients

2 c wheat berries

6 c water

2 lb ground beef

1 large onion and bell pepper chopped

1 t salt (or to taste)

1 T chili powder

pepper

16 oz can tomato sauce

large can tomatoes

8 c beef broth

2 t dried oregano or fresh oregano to taste

4 cloves garlic

Instructions

Cook wheat in water for 1 hour until tender.  Brown beef.  Drain off fat thoroughly and brown onion, pepper, garlic, and seasonings.  Add wheat and all the rest of the ingredients.  Simmer uncovered 1 hour or more until the desired consistency.

Add

1 can small white beans and 1 can small black beans, drained.

optional: Add cohopped cilantro.  Correct seasonings.  Serve

some recent garden pictures

I just put away my canning things for awhile after canning many quarts of apricots and applesauce, making jam, drying apricots, freezing apricots for pies, and helping a sister in our ward can apricots.  I need a break from canning until the peaches are ripe!  Our apricots were huge this year and plentiful, and I gave most of them away.  I just can't use them all.  And I don't want to see another apricot for a while.

This is Holly and Isaac and part of the applesauce we canned the other day.  My apple tree is ready to share, but most importantly, I am happy to teach young mothers to can fruit.  Holly is very anxious to learn.  Home canned apple sauce is delicious and nutritious, right off the tree.  Its taste is incomparable when compared to that store-bought stuff.  And it costs so little.  

I have been teaching mothers like Holly to can this summer.  Do you realize that in the winter that the fruit we buy in the supermarket is shipped here from South America.  It is picked green and trucked up to the states and loses its vitamins in the process. It is grown and picked in less sanitary conditions than the USA (I've been to Mexico, and the fields smell like urine).  Yet we consider this produce "fresh."  Our home canned fruit retains its vitamins and is picked fresh off the tree.  In the winter it is healthier for us to eat it than the stuff on supermarket shelves.  

I've also helped several families start gardens this summer.  It is important in these times to have a little garden, some fruit trees and vines, and grow some of what we eat.  We will save money, eat safer food, teach our children to work, and teach them to enjoy the food Heavenly Father has given us from the earth instead of from the package in the store.  I am a crusader for this and have told anyone who will hear me at church that I will come over and help them with their gardens or to learn to can, and I am proud of any family who is ready to start.  Gardening is a way to save money, get great exercise, peace of mind, satisfaction, health, nutrition, and family togetherness.     

Last week I built new cabinets for our kitchen (well....assembled ones I got at Target, originally meant to be bookshelves).  This was a large task for me and took two days!  Val doesn't do home improvement; his talents lie in mowing lawns, digging holes, and cuddling on the couch.  Anyway, it turned out quite well I think and opened up the kitchen, giving me more room on my countertops.  Next to the cupboards, not shown in the pictures, I took the door off the pantry and added a cute cloth blue shower curtain that really adds a lot to the decor.   Meanwhile I went through the cupboards and carted away several boxes of things I don't use anymore , freeing up more space.  I like my kitchen now.

We have been harvesting our garden and putting up fruit.  The cherry tree was the first tree to ripen.  We bottle cherry juice and make sour cherry jam.  It is peaceful to go out on the patio and pit the cherries, as in the picture below.   The weather has been so beautiful, and I watch the quail come and nibble on the garden.  We picked two gallons of currents and about that many raspberries.  The strawberries are so small this year we pick the biggest ones for breakfast and let the quail have the rest.  We have an abundance of beets, lettuce, and chard and are enjoying our vegetables.  I get up and work in the garden from 6:00 until 9:00.  That may change when it gets hotter, but it is such a nice way to start the day.

Below are perennials foxglove (digitalis) and below that yarrow and lavender.

We have pictures of Jon and Josh, neighbors for years and lifelong friends of our family.  Josh is marrying Lisa, and Jon is joining an immigration law firm.  I don't put last names on the blog, but you all know who we are.  What beautiful people!

Today I "bagged" my fuji apple tree (see picture).  Fuji apples produce late (October) which necessitate many sprayings for the apple maggot.  I like my apples unsprayed, so I am following an organic practice of bagging them.  You put a little bag over each apple and staple it.  It stays on all summer.  Orchardists say they have 100% success with this method and have nice big juicy apples.  The only problem is that it is time consuming.  Thank goodness my tree is small.

I also thinned the chard,  beat the quail to the strawberries and got a quart of fruit, and sprayed the cherries with spinosad.  I don't like worms in my cherries so I use spray on them alone.  It was a beautiful day outside, so I brought Cuddles, our parrot outside to enjoy the weather (see side column)

INTERESTING HEADLINE IN FRIDAY'S PAPER: "TRI-CITIES' JOB GROWTH RANKS FIFTH IN THE NATION"  Imagine that!  Our little community of Tri-Cities.

My recital was held last night.  And syllabus adjudications were held here in my home yesterday also. All and all it was a very busy day.  Both were successful.  As always, the recital was a bit long because I have so many students, but I can't bring myself to break it up.  I like them to see and hear each other play.  Here is a picture of them from last night.  And below it is a picture of my youngest student, a darling five-year old who stole the show.