Veggie packs and a canoe outing!

Another busy week, although I don't have many photos to show for it!

I was given some rhubarb so I cooked it up and put it in jars. I decided to re-use my jam and bolognese jars as I'll need my canning jars for tomatoes and applesauce in the next few weeks. And by having the jars hot and the rhubarb hot, they all sealed bar one. Which we had that day! Yum…well the few people in this house that actually like it!!

Wednesday was our veggie pack day! We put together over 600 bags of veggies. I started off shredding carrots but was soon 'transferred' to making the mix ready for bagging. Just to give you an idea of what goes in a baggie; for the basic mix: 28 cups of carrots, 24 cups of celery, 10 cups of onions, and 3 cups of parsley. This is all dumped in a blue tub and mixed up. This then gets divvied up in to bags with each bag getting 3 cups of mix. On average we get 20 bags per mix. After the basic mix quotas are completed, I then had to make the mix for the deluxe baggies which included capsicum (peppers), leeks and cauliflower. It was a fun day with lots of laughs. Lunch was also included with two lovely soups and buns.

We've had rain and sunshine this week. The trees are losing their green color and turning into beautiful shades of orange and brown.

The pumpkins are growing. The race is on as to whether they'll still ripen in time before the cold weather sets in. Can you see the one in between the foliage?

On Saturday morning, Steve and Anthea, along with a couple of guys from our church, canoed along the Nooksack river starting in Everson all the way to Lynden. It took two hours with a break in-between. There was heavy fog but the outing was enjoyed by all!

Recently, Mrs Eisses turned 90 years old and so this afternoon, they had a birthday reception to celebrate! There was yummy food and savories to feast on. It was a pleasant afternoon. Here she is with some of her children and the birthday cake! And it tasted just so good too!!

That's the recap of this week. Thanks for looking!

Canning and the Soccer Carnival!

Canning in Lynden and its surrounds is quite a popular thing to do and when you haven't got too much freezer space because its been taken up by bags of corn, and veggie packs plus all the mince meat and other things you buy in bulk and need lots of room, canning is a great way of preserving all the surplus fruit and vegies and having it available at a moment's notice! You just need the space to store the jars. Well, where we are, we have a canning room which has shelving on one wall. So I have the space, and after using up all the jars I had picked up secondhand etc, I went and bought some new ones. So now we need the food! Well, last week I had some plums, peaches and tomatoes. So canning them took up my week. The tomatoes I made into a sauce which I can use for tomato soups or a pasta dish.

I intended the plums to become jam, however it didn't set, so it become dessert topping instead! 

It tasted delicious!

And finally the peaches. In future, I know to pack more in a jar! They still turned out delicious! And together with some strawberries, raspberries and blueberries I had in the freezer, the plum topping, as well as a sliced fresh banana, we had a delicious fruit salad with icecream for dessert. It certainly reminded us of home (Mum)!!

Tuesday morning was our first Bible study morning. We had a great attendance and are discussing the book of Joshua. Story hour for the kids 3 years and older is held at the same time. Taleesha was very happy to go there! However, this time she won't have her big sister around, which is not a bad thing!

Thursday was silly hat day for the elementary (primary) grades. Shantel wore a doggy beany. 

Taleesha got some paints for her birthday, so one morning she put her artistic talent to paper and painted!

Look at those master pieces!!

Thursday and Friday we had rain and it was a bit miserable. But Saturday morning, we had clear blue skies. And just as well, it was Soccer Carnival! It was well organised and lots of things for the kids to do. Both girls got their faces painted, held baby chicks, jumped in the bouncy castle and even went on a roller coaster(!). Ok, the last one wasn't a real roller coaster; just a bench with a rail in front and a great background just to make it look like you were on one!!

The carnival here is not held at the culmination of the soccer season, but rather one or two weeks after the season has started. This is more because of the likelihood of inclement weather if it was held much later. Both Jaclyn and Stefan are playing again this year.

On the roller coaster!

Hester had a blast!

Even Eddy braved the ride!!

Quite a few farmers in the area have started chopping their corn. Where there were walls of corn along the roadside and you couldn't see what was behind, is now flat and level with views to boot! 

Dad, this one's for you: on the corner of Telegraph Road (the five point intersection). We

travel on the road on the left hand side of the photo towards Fabers. 'Our' mountain is in the distance.

Next week is Veggie Pack week so come Wednesday we'll be cutting celery, onions, capsicum (peppers), cauliflower, leeks and carrots, mixing them all together and dividing them into ziplock bags. These are great to have in the freezer and so handy for soups and casseroles.

Monday is the official start of fall (autumn) and already the leaves are turning yellow! The evenings are cooler and the sun is setting sooner. Truly a beautiful time of the year!

A fire was a lovely conclusion to the summer and week!

Well, that's another week gone again! We are very thankful to our Heavenly Father for His care over us all. We are richly blessed here in the ARC community. 

We also hope this finds you in good health in whatever corner of the world you may be in.

Thanks for looking!

Taleesha turns 4 and the Golf Tournament/dinner!

On Wednesday the 10th, our youngest, Taleesha celebrated her 4th birthday! She had a few friends over for a party and was very spoilt! 

PS I apologise for the blurry photos. I use my iphone but lately they haven't been very focused.

The birthday cake made by Anthea. It was a princess dress made from cupcakes!

Her card from Vincent!

After the gifts and the cake, the kids sat (or stood) around the table and could choose playing with playdough or tap tap nails!

Josh

Kaitlyn

Taleesha

Thomas

Cassie

Vincent

After everyone had gone home, Taleesha was allowed to play with her barn set. It's been a hit with the young and the old!

Little Miss with her gifts!

And some pics of Taleesha growing up! 

The following day Bernice and myself made 20 jars of applesauce. 

On Friday night we had the Staff BBQ for the Cornerstone Christian School. It was a pleasant evening with lots of good food!

And Saturday was the Golf Tournament and Dinner fundraiser for the school. We were in a team with Henry and Corrie Klos which made it 3 novices and 1 pro! We started out a 1pm and did 18 holes of varying difficulty. We had a blast. The balls did land in the most unexpected places such as the lake when we weren't even aiming for it! Houses adjoining the golf course should check their gardens as they most likely will find a ball nestled in their bushes! But we did all (occasionally) connect with the ball and the ball went flying!

At around 6:30 we had all completed the course and headed to the restaurant for dinner. There was a silent auction with varying prizes from photoshoots, iPads, webbers and hamburger mince (plus a lot more!). We had a wonderful dinner and then all the scores were read out. We were 9 over par. To put it into perspective on par score was 72 so we got 81! But we did it just for fun.....and fun we had!

Thanks for the organizers (including Stefan) who put so much work into this day. Thankful for a wonderful day and such beautiful weather too!

And the corn..... must be twice the height of Steve! I believe it will be cut in about a week's time!

We are enjoying glorious weather at the moment! It even gets quite hot! But we're loving it so no complaints from us!

Four pretty girls enjoying the sunshine after church.

On Saturday Anthea and the two little girls picked all the beans from the garden. Today (Monday) I canned them. I did a total of 17 jars today with 21 already done making a grand total of 38 jars! Wow! That should keep us supplied for the year!

My little helper!

So that's another week gone by! Thanks for looking!