Anyone Else?

 Do you throw away egg shells?  Or do you clean them out, dry them, and use them for plants/compost?

Me ~ I am somewhere in between.  I tend to use them as a natural fertilizer, pest control, and additive to compost.  Sometimes I just rinse them out and gently rub the inside to help get rid of leftover egg, rinse again and let them air dry.  Sometimes, they'll get "baked" in a low temp oven, 200 - 225 degrees for 20 - 25 minutes.  Either way is important because it will deter animals that like raw eggs and help prevent various things caused by raw eggs.   Below are the current round of shells drying off.  Ignore the major need of caulking!  

Peach Sorbet?

 Oh my goodness!  Made peach sorbet this afternoon. It tastes awesome.  Here's the short version of how it was made:

• 5 cups diced or sliced peaches with skins on
• 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar

• blended it all together in my ninja blender
• then got it going in the Cuisinart ice cream machine
• once thick, scooped into a bowl and covered it
• let it sit in freezer until it is as hard as you'd like

Here is the link to the recipe I followed, loosely: https://www.aheadofthyme.com/3-ingredient-peach-sorbet/

And here photos of my version.

Skipped June Completely!

 Yeah, June came and went!  There was a summer cold in there that dragged on forever.  There was VBS at Burke Community Church.  There was a lot of putzy little things getting done. That was June in a nut shell.

July is promising to be more jam packed.

Have decided, that while I look for a full time, paid job, I am deep diving into big jobs around the house and smaller, quicker fun jobs.  Last week brought 5 days of purging and reorganizing our file cabinets.  By Friday, the file cabinets were a little leaner and better organized.  Smaller, fun jobs have been sewing, making jam, making pickles, reading, and I am sure I have missed something. These are usually posted on instagram (@jennifermbrock).

In weekend news, I have been working at a local Farmers Market for just over three months.  The perks of this are: the vendor I work for is Chase Your Tail Bakery, so Charlotte has been getting her favorite treats for free, being able to hug a few friends since COVID restrictions have lifted, and reduced prices at some other vendors (our fridge and freezer are getting stock with good produce and dairy).

Peaches are coming into season and now I want to try this sorbet recipe:

https://www.aheadofthyme.com/3-ingredient-peach-sorbet/

There are a few other links to fruit deserts I want to try as well in the above link.  One has watermelon and another has strawberries.  

For now, that's the most current "joy".  Catch ya on another day.

Strawberries from a few weeks ago.  Made jam, tons of jam, and froze a lot too!

The Monday After

 It is a rainy Monday morning, after our last child graduating high school this past Saturday (5/22/2021).  Last night was the first night, in a long while I felt like I slept through and woke up feeling well rested.  Didn't know it would take graduating all my children before I'd sleep well.  That is something to be thankful for.

Today brings changes.  The last of cleaning up from Saturday (I vegged pretty much all Sunday), writing out to do lists that are totally different than any other in many years, packaging up the last of our homeschool journey, preparing for the next era in life.  Had thought I would be more nostalgic over all of what has happened, but I am more thankful for the journey and that it happened than sad that it has ended.  I look forward to how my relationship with each man cub is changing and developing more of a mentor/friend relationship with them.

Here are a few photos from Saturday.  We need to recreate some family photos.  I'll either drop those in this post later or write again soon.

Keon & Ian

Ditched the cap, gown, and nice shirt quickly!

Reading "Oh The Places You'll Go" that various folks wrote in!

Discovering Joy ~ A New Chapter

 In just a few days, our youngest will be graduating high school.  

It is an end of an era!  Fourteen years of teaching and learning along side our boys. Surprisingly, I am cool with this.  Have been mentally preparing all school year.  The last few months, have been pondering what is next.  Though Busy planning and prepping for graduation, have a few ideas.  Most involve the arts, getting out there and practicing photography and paint.  

Tell be about your passions!  Would love to hear about them.