Ball Jars and Their Uses

Well, I will just start off with this. I have been trying to post today for a couple of hours. Has everyone else been spinning their wheels trying to get pictures uploaded? I finally found the correct spot to type in my question and I read "change back to the old editor". So now I will try again!

I have quite a few Ball Mason Jars in my home that I put to many uses. Mostly I fill them with preserves or vegetables as that is what would be their normal use.

This week I picked up apples and have made applesauce and am waiting for a newly found recipe for apple butter to be ready to can. At the rate I am going on this post, I will probably be able to let you know if it is any good or not. This is where we store all our canned goods.
The last picture was dark but I wanted to show you that I have one shelf left. I usually fill every shelf but for some reason I have came up short this year. I must have been slacking.
These jars are also great to store craft supplies in. I have a lot of ribbon and trims stored in some.
And if you can find one of these lids
you can put together a pretty floral arrangement.
And what a ball I had this past weekend with some friends that came to spend a girls night at my home. This is the first time I have hosted this type of event and I was having so much fun that I totally forgot to take pictures except for one that the ladies suggested that I take. We all pitched into the dinner and when it was all on the table we had quite the spread!
I made Sloppy Joe's, Oven Sweet Potato Fries and a Bean Dip. My friends brought along an oriental salad, buffalo chicken stuffed jalapenos (poppers) and banana bread. We had a little wine with dinner and spent the remainder of the evening crafting. I so wish I would have taken pictures because these ladies are very talented. There was knitting and sewing going on. The next day we visited three local quilt shops and a primitives gift shop that was having a fall festival. We all had a ball! I know, where are those pictures? I'll do better next time.
But of course I am linking up with this weeks letter B at Alphabe-Thursday.


I hope everyone is having a wonderful week! As always Blessings to you all.

P.S.
Yumm...I am eating toast with Apple Butter that I made in a crock pot. If anyone is interested in the recipe let me know and I will post it in the next couple of days. I have bought a couple of jars of Apple Butter in the last ten years and have thrown it away after hardly making a dent in it. This taste like the Apple Butter of my childhood.

Sunday Praise

Good Morning Friends!  I have much to be thankful for and want to shout to the Lord and let him know I am thankful.  Have a great Sunday!

The Return Trip

Isn't it wonderful to take a little vacation trip and find a spot that you truly want to go back to just because you enjoyed it so much.  Hubs and I have gone on a few short trips and have always enjoyed each of them but a few years ago we stayed in Michigan's Upper Peninsula in a town called Grand Marais which is on the shore of Lake Superior.  Since it is Autumn it was a little chilly this past weekend and I was so glad I took a light weight winter jacket along with me thinking I would maybe need it in the evenings.  I wore that said jacket most of the day because we were either walking on the beach, in the woods or by a waterfall, chilling.  To get to Michigan's Upper Peninsula you have to cross the very long Mackinaw Bridge.

Once you have crossed this bridge you are going to slow down and enjoy the beautiful scenery.  We stayed in a lodge that was just over a sand dune from the beach.  Since it is Autumn there were not bathing suits or shorts and as you can see by the waves in the next pictures it was too windy to do our usual sitting on the beach with a book.

But hubs and I like to walk the shoreline and pick up pretty rocks and there are an abundance of them on Lake Superiors shoreline.

We were hoping for a little more Autumn color in the trees but we went a little too early in the season.  We spent some of our time visiting some of the local falls.  There are many of them and if there was not a road closure we probably would have continued further down the coastline to the west and saw a few more.  This one is Sable Falls.  It is a 75 foot waterfall and tumbles over several cliffs until it reaches Lake Superior.  We followed the path to the falls and then on to the lake shore and back.  We missed the sign that said no pets allowed and took Ladybug with us on our walk.  We are not rule breakers so we felt guilty when we saw the sign on the way back to the car.  But the Bugs sure enjoyed her walk.

She was ready to move on here, I was still taking pictures.
We also visited Tahquanenon Falls State Park on the Tahquamenon River.  "Longfellow's Hiawatha:"by the rushing Tahquamenaw Hiawatha built his canoe."  These are some pictures of the Lower Falls.

And here are some of the upper falls.  As you can see I was trying out some different color settings on my camera.  Hubs and I really like the waterfalls taken in the sepia setting.

They allow pets in the Tahquamenon Falls State Park on a leash so Bugs got a really good workout as well.  She was even almost to tired to give a yip every time she heard someone open and shut a door down the hall.

While Ladybug took her nap hubs and I played some Cribbage and Yahtzee.

I lost every game.  But hubs is an excellent Cribbage player and I have only won a handful of games against him.

Homeward Bound

It was a wonderful Autumn trip!  Now you ask why is she highlighting Autumn all the way through this post?  It is Alphabe-Thursday time again.  The letter is A this week.  I was not prepared and this is the only post I had in mind this week.  I may be named a cheater by the new instructor.  If you want to check out this fun game and maybe even join in take a look see.





Hope you are all having a wonderful week!  Blessings!

I Need Your Help Please!

Still working on that same room...I have a set of vintage quilts that I bought at a estate sale a few years ago.  One side is solid lavender and the other I would call a celery green.  I cannot decide which side I should use.  I am making quilts for the beds and have one started but in the meantime I need to use these.  Hubs says if I use the green side that I have way too much green in the room.  The lavender is not the same shade as the paint I put behind the headboards.  I have each of the beds made with the two different colors and I thought I would leave it for a couple of days until I decide. I think one will probably grow on me more than the other.   I have a couple more pillows to add after I decide. 

I value all or your opinions and hope you can help me with this decision.  We are going on a short vacation the end of the week.  I hope to show you the before and after as soon as I get back.  Have a great week!
Blessings!

Sunday Praise

Well you know the saying better late than never.  Have grand daughters this weekend and have been playing and making breakfast and just remembered I have not posted Sunday Praise.  So enjoy, it is another favorite of mine.  Have a blessed Sunday!

This Week

Here is what I have to share for the week:

The Feathered Ladies have had some freedom.

Looks like Florence is having a little chat.  Maybe something like "I do not know why she does not let us out of the run to roam more often.  We stick together and do not cause any trouble at all." 

And we are getting some of our first eggs this week.

 They are small but I was able to fry these up for hubs.

Managed a half of an egg sandwich for him.  I got a bite, yumm.

I went to the flea market on Labor Day with my best friend. We live over an hour away from each other but we try to spend at least a day a month together.  Sometimes it is hard to make it work with each of our schedules.  We have a weekend coming up this month that I know will be great fun but I will post about it after it happens.  We did not spend to very long at the flea market because it rained and it rained some more.  This is what I came home with.

I really like this enamel pan.  It has a different colored rim than I've seen before.  I bought it to put cracked corn in for the hens.  They were loving their cracked corn the last couple of days!

I also bought this basket.  Most everything was covered by plastic within minutes after we got there to save the treasures from the rain.  So we had to pick up the plastic to peek under it. 

I had a basket to put guest towels in the bedroom that I have been working on for the last month.  But this one just called to me so I found a better use for the basket I was going to use.

I tossed all of Ladybugs toys in it.  She was not quite sure that was a good place for them.  Just like a child they started getting pulled out about as fast I put them in.

I spent two evenings until midnight cutting fabric up for a class that I was taking this week at our local quilt shop.  This is the start of a quilt as you go quilt.

This quilt is going to go on one of the twin beds, again in the room I have been working on.

I took some excess eggplant from our garden over to my middle daughters home.  While I was there I took some pictures of her hen house and some of her feathered friends.  I thought I would share them with you also.

Too cute for words.

Her husbands grandfather made the tall wooden chicken couple.

And here are some of the occupants.

I know.  What a lot of quack!  I just thought I would share a few of the last weeks highlights.  The grand daughters are going to have a short visit this weekend and I have a few more finishing touches to put on the room before the full reveal.  Hubs and I are going to take a short vacation over the next weekend and I have to admit that I am looking forward to it a lot.  Have a great weekend everyone!  Blessings!

Since I have so many feathers flying around this post I think I'll join the barnyard bash over at Happier Than a Pig In Mud.  Check it out!