New wheels

OTD got some new wheels this week. He thinks he's hot stuff now. of course, he only goes in reverse, but i'm sure that will change soon.

Weekend of Fun and Family

This weekend, my mom and dad brought ATD back from 2 weeks in Georgia. Both sets of grandparents live there, so he was spoiled rotten for the 2 weeks. It may take a month to get him back to normal! He had a blast there and was not ready to come home....well, he was ready to see his little brother, but that was it.

Mom and dad brought back a carry on suit case full of fresh veggies. There garden is several weeks ahead of where we are. I would have taken pictures, but we ate it all too fast! They brought us 2 1/2 dozen ears of corn (we froze 2 qts, and ate the rest), about 1 dozen cucumbers, a bunch of hot peppers, a couple eggplants, some squash and lots of tomatoes. We enjoyed it all..thanks mom and dad.



While mom and dad where here, i wanted to get a family picture. here are some of the attempts. When #3 arrives, i'm not sure there will be a good one for a while!


and for those of you who read Tom's blog entry, I got the canning books out...

Hot, Catching up, and a Retort

Summer has dropped on us here in Kansas. 97 yesterday, and more of the same today. It was such a wet n' mild spring we hopped maybe the summer would be the same. Although, even with our brief experiences of KS weather we knew we where setting ourselves up for disappointment. Anyone who hasn't lived through the special hell that is the month of august here on the plains is just missing out.

We've been back from our week long vacation for a couple weeks now and I think I'm finally caught up and back in the swing of normal life. Garden veggies are trickling in with regularity now. Sorry I don't have any pics but we're eating everything faster than the camera can focus. The chickens are spending the heat of the day lounging in the tall weeds along the fence. Speaking of chickens, yesterday we went to a sale and came home with 3 new additions. We have added two Indian Runners, and one Hookbill to our farm. More on them later... They deserve their own post.

Now, to set the record straight. The other day my beautiful wife stated that I "accidentally" bought her a pressure canner. And she also may have led you to believe that she had no idea what to do with it... I allege that these statements are untrue! Ever since we decided to take on our great adventure of "homesteading", "living off the land", "being hillbillies" or whatever other name it might be given, we have been very methodical in our approach. In fact when we started talking about pressure canning last summer I went out and bought two books on the subject. Of course if theres one thing I've learned there is a big difference in reading these books and actually doing. But, I know my wife, she can accomplish anything. As long as we don't blow the kitchen up we should get a bunch of jars put up for winter. :)
Besides, what woman wouldn't love to receive a beautiful canner for her wedding anniversary?
love you honey!

Earlier this week one of our favorite blogs gave us an Honorable mention. see here. To say the least, here at the world-headquarters of the GreatAdventureHomestead we are very flattered.

Anniversary Present?

About a week ago, Tom was sitting at the computer and said "Oops. i think i just got us a pressure cooker/caner." We had talked about getting one, so that was fine. In the past we have frozen garden goodies, but this year we were talking about canning some things. To make a long story short, he was on eBay and saw a pressure cooker/caner with 2 min. left in the bid. He put his bid in thinking somebody would out bid.

So it has been a week and we were wondering when our new "toy" would arrive. Later that day, Tom went to get the mail. He walked in with big box and said "wait, don't open it yet, I need to get the camera." The only thing I knew that was coming in the mail was the pressure cooker, so I was a bit confused. He came back in the room and said Happy Anniversary! Still a little confused (our anniversary is a month away) I opened the box and it was a.....pressure cooker. Boy have presents changed in 9 years of marriage!!

Anyways, I have no idea how to use it and it did not come with a book. Anybody with any tips??

Fun at the Pool

Tom took some time out from the battles to play at the pool. The boys loved it. You will not find pictures of me 24 weeks pregnant in a bathing suit. Sorry to disappoint, but a girl has her limits!!

July 1 - July 3, 1863
General Lee has led his Army of Northern Virgina successfully through the Shenandoah valley for a planned assault of the north. We began to collide with union forces around the Pennsylvania town of Gettysburg. By day two of the battle both armies had assembled great forces, we fought at Little Round Top, the Wheatfield, Devil's Den, and the Peach Orchard.

After nearly a full day and night of trying drive the northern army off Cemetery Ridge Major General Pickett lead 12,500 men on an assault of the center of the Union lines. Over half of the men involved in Pickett's Charge were killed. We have retreated with General Robert E. Lee back to Virginia. I fear that our armies spirit is broken, we may never recover.

Today
History shows that the Battle of Gettysburg was the beginning of the end for the confederate revolt. This year marks the 145th anniversary of this 3 day battle that left more Americans dead than any other battle of the Civil War. Around 50,000 total!
We have spent the past week in Gettysburg participating in the reenactment of the battle. We walked the field where so many men gave their lives for what they believe. It is good to remember our darkest hours. Hopefully we as Americans can prevent their repeat.

This monument represents the "High Water Mark" of the Confederate Army

Flight 93 Memorial

This year for vacation we drove to Gettysburg, PA for the 145th Civil War Reenactment. Before we moved to Kansas we did several reenactments with Tom's parents. Now my idea of a good vacation involves a beach, but this was a way we could visit with Tom's parents. Instead of trying to fly with all the civil war stuff, we decided to drive. It is about an 18 hour drive from here to Gettysburg. On the drive there we broke the drive into 2 days. On day 2, we decided to take the "scenic" route because we would be driving by the Flight 93 memorial. I'm not sure what i was expecting. It was way off the main road in the middle of a mountain like area. Once you turned off the highway, you drive down a dirt road until you think you must have missed a turn when you see it. It is in the middle of a field. You can only see one house and i kept thinking about what those people must have been thinking that day.



As with most people, I remember the day pretty well. ATD was 3 weeks old. It was about 10Am and I was triing to sleep (because ATD was finally asleep). The phone rang and I was praying the phone wouldn't wake the baby. Then the long message began from our friend Tommy (again I'm thinkng please make this short so you don't wake the baby). He was in New York on a busness trip. He called to let us know that a "bomb" had gone off in the World Trade Center but he had left earily and wasn't in the building. He wanted us to know he was OK and would call us later. At the time, all I was thinking was thank goodness he didn't wake the baby!! I had no idea what had really happen until Tom called me from work and told me to turn on the TV.

We did not really prepare ATD for what we were going to look at. It was hard to explain to him what had happend. I didn't want him to be scared to fly since he will be flying home from Ga in a week. I think he is still a little confused, but all the questions ( and he can ask alot) were answered.

There will be more on the vacation in the next couple of days...