Sour kraut is a staple dinner item in our home, so we love making it.  Eric's grandma Minnie gave us her recipe.  We have enjoyed her kraut for years and making it is easy.  Our cabbage didn't do too well this year, but Eric's grandpa Brantie graciously gave us 6 heads of cabbage.  They were all huge, this one is the size of a basketball.

 

 Eric cut up the cabbage and ran it through a food processor.  Cole was his little helper.

I stuffed the jars with the cut up cabbage.  Its important to pack the cabbage really tightly in the jars because the cabbage shrinks during fermentation, just like when it's cooked.  I use a long plastic utensil to stuff it in the jar and then pack it down with a small cup.

 Once the jar is packed tightly, slowly fill it to the top with water.

 

Add a "heaping" teaspoon of canning salt on top and put the lid on tightly.  That's what Eric's grandma said...."heaping."

We put the jars on old cookie sheets because during fermentation liquid seeps out through the top of the jar.  We canned 20 quarts and 1 pint with those 6 large heads of cabbage!!

We place the jars on our front porch and cover completely with towels.  No light can hit the jars.  We leave them outside for at least 23 days to ensure the fermenting is complete.  That's it, your kraut is ready to enjoy.



Wrapping up the nursery decorating.

This is Cole's revamped dresser. Mom made the ceramic owl on the left and Jason (Frankie's boyfriend) bought the name train from the Greenbrier.

 Mom drew this Woodland Creatures pictures, which is displayed nicely over the crib.

 My sister-n-law, Casie, made this wall art.

 Frankie made these two pennants, "Baby Cole" with owls....I love them.  They were shower decorations also!

His room is pretty much complete.  I have one open space that I would like to fill with some type of bookshelf and/or a toy chest.  I might have to come up with a combination of the two for my father-n-law to make!  I'm so blessed to have such a crafty family.  I wouldn't trade his homemade decorations for the world!

Beginning of Baby Room Decorating

Now that our house is practically finished it's hard to post new & appropriate stuff to this blog.  But, now I'm working on decorating the baby's room.  I've managed to clean out the closet, give away the bed and desk, and move a dresser to another room.  Saturday, I received the wall decals and today, mom, dad, Eric, and I put them on the wall.  I absolutely love them!

Here's the room before:

 The beginning of the tree:

Dad and Eric double teaming:

And the final product: 

I'm so excited to get this part completed.  Now, I plan to take the leaves to Lowes, get some paint matched and paint a dresser.  I hope to find small additions (chair cushions and such) that match the wall art to make the room come together.  Stay tuned for more to come.

Signs of Fall on the Farm

 We finally got our customized rock!  It took 3 months and I just couldn't be patient - I was excited for our rock and also to give Mom & Dad & Teddy & Diana theirs.  Mom, Dad, Teddy & Diana all helped us so much on our house, we wanted to get them something special to show our appreciation.  I'll try to get pics of theirs sometime.

 I think they did a great job!  Eric plans to set it in concrete and fix up the surroundings a little.

 Our pear tree has lots of pears, they are currently hard as a rock but, will soon be perfect for eating - I can't wait.

 It took a while for our sunflowers to bloom.  I love them - don't pay attention to our weedy garden.

 Here's a picture of the side of mom and dad's house.  They're are installing Harding Siding on the upper floor - it looks really good but, it's a slow process.

This is the front, these two dormers will eventually hold beds.

Summer Lovin'

I love summer.  One of my favorite things to do is to go to yard sales.  A few weeks ago there was a big one at the highschool and I scored the following:

The frame on the right was a Christmas gift from Eric's cousins, John & Teresa.  I just love it.  Teresa has one like the frame on the left and I always wanted it too.  Well, I found it at a yardsale for $3.  I'll fill it with a good picture of Eric and me soon.

I found this little 4th of July decoration at Big Lots - I love it.

Log furniture: Big Lots.

Eric decided that our garage was getting too junked up with his lawn toys, etc.  So, now we have this:  It's only half finished and eventually, it will be a large metal building with a picnic shelter on the front.  

That's all for now.  Enjoy your summer - I am!

More Spring Additions & Celebrations

Our bucket of flowers accidentally turned over and the flowers, still continue to bloom.  Well, it didn't really accidentally turn over.  I found this old bucket in the woods on the farm & created the "accident".

 Eric has been working really hard on our garden.  He planted tomatoes, beans, peppers, cabbage, cucumbers, and squash.  The deer have stayed away so far but, a rabbit ate a few of the cabbage plants.  So, we placed chicken wire around the ground, which has kept the rabbit out, so far.

 This is my small herb garden.

 Our flowers are blooming pretty good.  I know you're probably thinking that some mulch would really improve the looks of our flower bed.  But, with all the wood in our house, I think it would be smart to keep mulch away b/c it can easily be infested with termites.  I'd like to buy some pretty pea gravel to place around the flowers.  But, that expense can wait for now.

 This past weekend was full of celebrations.  My lil' cousin (Baby) Danny graduated from high school.  Mom and I ran out for his graduation ceremony & his party.  His momma is so proud!

I celebrated my Sweet double 15, in Eric's words.  I had my party at the campground on Sutton Lake.  It was an awesome party.  My aunt, Vera, had this banner made, which I just love!

 My sister fixed up this game, which was really fun!  You tossed a ball and tried to get it in the cup, if you did, you got the prize in the corresponding bag.

 Mom made a chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream and caramel drizzled on top!  It was delicious and perfect for a hot day!

 My friend, Kristi, drove from Harrodsburg, KY for my party.  I was so thankful to her & everyone that came.

 Even little Trent got to play the game, with the help of Eric.

Yesterday, was also a joyous occasion.  It was my & Eric's 3rd Wedding Anniversary.  He was off work Monday night, so we got to wake up together Tuesday morning.  I had something to take care of after work so, I didn't get to see him before he left for work that day.  But, when I got home, I was surprised with flowers, a card, and dinner.  It was such a sweet gift.  I love my husband so much and I guess he loves me so much too!

I'd like to give a special thanks to Mom, Frankie, Dad, Vera & Boyce, Eric, Kay & Jason, Diana, and everyone else that helped make my 30th birthday a very special day.

Spring Additions

A few weeks ago, when the water line was being put in, Eric's grandpa transplanted some bushes for us, from our old house in Strange Creek.  These are burning bushes and there are also two shrubs by the porch steps.  Mom said, they make our house looks like, it's been there forever.  Also, we purchased 10 Azalea bushes from the Clay Farm Store. Eric planted a few in the front and planted more today. 





This is the arch that Eric & I were married under.  That is a VW bug bird house, which has yet to be inhabited by a bird.  And there is a rose bush planted underneath, which was trimmed back very far, so likely no roses will be appearing this year.

Mom gave us this lovely potted plant for Easter.  I've been watering it every other day and it seems to be doing well.

Our West Virginia furniture finally made it to our new home.  See, Eric's cousin recently moved into our old house, so we finally had to get all of our remaining things out of there.  Eric finally got all of his "stuffed" animals, I mean the mounted "real" animals down in the basement.  I will share a picture of that once we get the basement painted.

Eric also added this old fence for some nice decoration.  I made the wreath & mom & dad helped me attach it to the fence.  I added a little more grapevine but, it needs a lot more, which I will work on when I have a chance.  We plan to order a customized rock with our name on it to place in front of the fence.  I can't wait to get that.  Stay tuned for more spring additions!

Also, today Dad helped Eric plow up the land for a garden. Soon, we'll be planting veggies!

City Water in the House!

We've had city water in our house for over a week now!  It's wonderful!  Last Friday I got home from work with Eric on the tractor with his thumbs up!  We have water in the house.  Halleluja!  At first our washer didn't want to work but, with some work, mom and I fixed it!  So, last weekend I did 6 loads of laundry - it was so exciting.  Plus, I get to use my dishwasher, which is hard to get used to b/c I've hand washed my dishes for a long time.

I am so thankful to Dad and everyone that helped with the water line.

Lattice, Landscaping & Water

I'm sure most of you are aware that Eric and I have water issues out on the Kerr Farm. Last year when we moved into our house, the old well was producing plenty of water. Then one day, there was no water. So, for the past several months, Eric has been hauling water on his days off. Sometimes, we would run out & that is a horrible feeling. We got several estimates from contractors to dig a ditch for a water line to run city water out our driveway that is 0.7 mile. We had prices from $10,000 to $25,000. Well, my dad, being the incredible person that he is, found a good deal on a ditch witch and decided to take this task on himself. I am praying that this huge piece of machinery can do the job. I have faith in my dad & I'm sure he'll get it done. The day I have city water running through my house will be a joyous day! This is a beautiful piece of equipment to me!

Eric and I both had President's Day off. I work for the state and it just happened to be one of Eric's days off. Eric had the notion to go to Lowes and buy lattice for around our porch. When we got to Lowes, their wooden lattice looked crappy, it was full of knot holes and wasn't very sturdy. So, we looked to the next shelf at the plastic lattice. It's is guaranteed not to rot away, so for only $40.00 more dollars, we decided to go with it. With the help of Eric's dad, we got it up & I love it. We also put landscape timbers down as a frame for a flower bed. Right now, we only have two stacked up. After all the materials and tools were put away, Eric decided that another row needed stacked up - so we're not completely finished. With pretty weather not too far away, Eric will have flowers and bushes blooming away.

I'm so proud of our little house! It's truly a blessing! I can't wait for spring & summer - are you with me?