Everything

I have a nice little disease affecting me lately. It's called postphobia.

The symptoms are: lack of good posts, pictures, and updates.

The causes are numerous, including but not limited to: busy schedules, stress, no access to computers that can upload pictures (agh!), and little time for computer.

This blog has been on my mind a lot lately. I am concerned that the focus here continues to be honoring the Lord with the work of our hands. In my own life, I am thinking about that very thing quite a bit lately. I want to be so careful, that the goal of everything I do is to further His kingdom and bring Him glory. I don't just want to write about food, plants, fabric, and people. I want to write about Him. More specifically, I want to learn how physical things that I do and create can be used by Him and for Him. Of course, that topic takes in many things, including food, plants, fabric, and people. :)

Just so y'all know......I have been wanting to say this for awhile....Clarification: YES, I DO MORE THAN JUST SPEND TIME IN THE KITCHEN. I realize that many of my recent posts have been about kitchen things, and that is purely coincidental. I honestly do have a balanced life; it just so happens that kitchen things have been what I've been in the mood to write about. I apologize to those of you who want to hear about other things once in awhile. I have about half a dozen posts circling in my head; all about sewing, quilting, painting, instrument playing, singing, woodworking (honestly), gardening.....ahhhhh! I have to stop. It's so frustrating to not be able to type everything in one post. :)

Hey - wait. Can I just give a one-or-two sentence update on each subject? Would that be crazy?

~ Sewing: Okay, too broad a topic for the moment.

~ Quilting: Nope, can't talk about this one until I upload the pictures.

~ Painting: We've been painting the outside of our house this week. Sigh. I have pictures for that too, but....you've guessed it! They're not uploaded.

~ Instrument playing: I've been inspired by Sarah to get out my fiddle again. I haven't touched it since getting my mandolin. Thanks, Sarah!

~ Singing: We had some lovely fun with another family this morning. A friend of ours offered to give our two families singing lessons. Between our two families, we have 12 children - quite a choir!

~ Woodworking: Pictures for this are also sitting on the camera, waiting to be uploaded.

~Gardening: My squash plants have officially died. I know; it's sad, isn't it? I have missed the squash so much this year. I still can't believe they didn't flourish; we usually have squash coming out our ears.

But our cucumbers produced well....which brings me to my next topic: the Relish Story.

Okay, so it's not that big of a deal, but I promised to share some pictures of the relish-making, and here they are:

I started with this little heap of shiny green cucumbers (or, as my little sisters say "raw pickles.")
Not a ton, but enough.

Here's a picture of my work station. I had this side of the table. In the top left corner, you can see a bit of corn cob. My mother and three youngest siblings were freezing corn while I was making relish. What a busy, noisy, happy kitchen!

Also, take a good look that that neat little gadget in the bottom right-hand corner. It's called a Bononzi chopper; Mom gave it to me as a gift last year, and it's so fascinating. This is what it makes:

Isn't it beauuuutiful, the way all the pieces are the same size? They weren't quite small enough to make real relish - it was more like tiny pickles - but it still tastes good.

This is cooking the mixture....

...And, can you believe it? I didn't get a picture of the end product! I did, however, learn one thing. Do not use wooden spoons to stir pickle brine. The acid in the vinegar will turn the wood a bright yellow. (See above photo for a comparison between a yellow spoon, and one that was not used for pickles.)

But then, what would a time in the kitchen be, without learning something?

I can't think of a good life-lesson to draw from relish-making, but I know I've personally been learning a lot lately about redeeming my time, and getting a lot done in one day. Relish was a part of that.

...So....

What have y'all been doing lately? Please forgive me for a rather crazy, hectic post, and tell me how life is out your way. I love hearing from each one of you SO much. It makes my day to get a comment. And I'm sure that what you have to say would be more interesting than yellow spoons! *grin*