Oh, My!

I knew I was behind in blogging, I just had no clue HOW behind!  Lots going on between now and last I posted, 6 weeks ago!  I have continued to post over at Mother Earth News and you can see all of my blogs HERE.

The annual dessert auction to raise funds for needy Seabee families and to decorate the children's ward at the Portsmouth Naval Hospital came and went.

My basket of jams and jellies 'only' raised $75...  last year it went for over $200.

But the basket of 'DIY Dessert' items, including homemade vanilla, our own eggs, and maple syrup from my brother's farm in NH went for $125, so that was great!

Our Autumn Larder Swap had us trading up a storm.  My favorite this time around was the Monkey Butter made by my neighbor, Lisa.

Our church had a "Community Service Day" last weekend, and while my husband and youngest daughter were landscaping/raking at her school, my oldest and I sewed bags for kids in the foster system.  It turned out to be more complicated than I thought (serger?  I don't know how to do that!), but after fighting with my machine, Abby got to at least sew a few seams and get the feel for things. 

The next day, she made some napkins for her school lunches.  I had started the project awhile ago but had a few more to finish, so she sewed them up like a pro and was quite proud of herself!

I've been experimenting with using the Stevia that I grew, dried, and ground.  My first attempt at homemade sugar-free chocolate pudding was a disaster, but I'm determined to figure it out!

And, I am in seed heaven, because the new catalogs have started to come in.  The first one was from Baker Creek, and is a much bigger version than their normal one.  It's on sale at bookstores, so you can run out and get one if you'd like.

Yesterday's mail brought a catalog from "High Mowing Seeds" which is out of VT.  Highly recommend it for those in New England, as if the seeds do well in VT, they will probably do well anywhere near there.  It's for that same reason that I prefer to use Southern Exposure Seeds here in VA.  Unfortunately, that catalog hasn't yet come, but I did get to buy most of what I want from them at the Heritage Harvest Festival.

I guess that's it in a nutshell.  I'll have more posts soon, I promise!