Shadows Potpourri

Progress Was Made

Yesterday went smoothly. All three orders from Walmart arrived on time and everything was actually correct! Only two substitutions were made and both were reasonable.

My fridge has never been this organized. Normally, its semi haphazardly arranged. Currently, everything is in it's proper place. Maybe because there is so MUCH stuff we had to fit in there.

So, the progress was as follows:

5 stalks of celery (it was on sale for 88 Cents a stalk) was cleaned, the leaves and tops removed and saved for soups and salads. Then ALL of it was diced. I filled two gallon size freezer bags. I kept one bag for the fridge and one for the freezer.

10 pound bag of carrots - cleaned and half was quartered into sticks, bagged and put in the fridge. The other half were diced into "coins", bagged and frozen.

Three bunches of radishes were cleaned, quartered and bagged.
Three baskets of mushrooms were cleaned, the stems removed and bagged separately, and the mushrooms were sliced and bagged. Half went into the fridge and the other half along with the stems were put in the freezer.

Two POUNDS of jalapeno peppers were halved, seeded and diced. I filled two plastic peanut butter jars with them and one jar went into the freezer, the other got some vinegar, water and spices added to it and put in the fridge.

TODAY our TO DO list includes (but isn't limited to)

Boil both 10 pound bags of chicken leg quarters and de-bone it. Jar up the chicken stock.

Make two batches of cornbread & one batch of whole grain oat bread

Make a pot of "cream of" soup base for the mushrooms and celery.

boil two bags of the frozen fresh cranberries along with applesauce, brown sugar, vanilla and cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. Simmer until it makes a thick sauce. Then make pie crusts and make mini cran-apple tartlets.

Bake four loaves of pumpkin bread.

And that is probably all we will have time to do today. To save time and not have to cook dinner, I have a cabbage and ham hocks in the crockpot and that will slow cook all day and be ready this evening when we are ready to eat. Our dogs LOVE cabbage and they will enjoy the ham hock bones!

On a different note, I think things with my husband are leveling out and God has smoothed things over. He seems to have changed his mind about leaving and has been talking about next year and our plans. So, he doesn't talk like he's planning on leaving any time soon. I think he figured out just how hard it is "out there" and realized he is better off where he is. He has undertaken a huge project himself, and I really am proud of him. He has decided to HAND WRITE the ENTIRE Bible in his own handwriting. ....Now, I know what a lot of people would think...why? Big deal? What is the point of that?

Well, my husband reads on a second grade level...and writes on about a fourth grade level. I read ALL our mail to him and fill out everything if it needs filling out. Sitting down and reading, or writing has never been something he was good at. He doesn't have that kind of attention span. He is brilliant in other ways...he can fix anything with a motor and he is brilliant at fixing electronics...and he never went to school for it. He is just naturally mechanically inclined. But for him to sit and read...and sit and slowly hand write anything.....is very demanding and hard for him. But, he said he thinks by writing it word for word, it will help him learn it. So, I've been encouraging him. It has taken him about four weeks but he has finished the first few chapters of Matthew. Each time he finishes a chapter, he always brings it in to show me....he is taking his time and writing very neatly, and I always make sure and praise him for his wonderful work. He seems proud of what he is doing...so I want him to continue doing it.

For Christmas, I have ordered him a few nice notebooks, some pens, and plan to get him a Geneva Bible. I also got him a Wonder Bible, which is a device that has an audio recording of someone reading the entire Bible, so he can listen to it. Since he had been sick and feeling horrible the last week with an abscessed tooth, I felt sorry for him and gave him the Wonder Bible early. I told him it was an early Christmas gift. He loves it and has been listening to it for hours at a time.

SO, that is the update for today.


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