Harvest Begins

Soy bean harvest started this week.  So far everything is going very well.  Knut’s long hours have begun, and we’re bringing food out to him at least once a day.  I’m having a tough time managing the enormous feat of getting food on the table, as we are so often in town these days, and when we are home, I’m working on harvesting my own little garden, and preserving what I can for the winter.  It leaves very little time for cooking…or laundry.  We’re headed into birthday season in our house too, so I don’t see any sign of catching up with some freezer meals put away anytime soon.

So what ends up happening is I spend several hours canning tomato sauce, only to serve macaroni and cheese from a box for supper.  I spent a lot of time yesterday just going through my recipes and finding all the ones I could that could be prepared in 30 minutes either in the morning (crock pot) or evening.

We did some driving today to pick up a pig at a butcher about an hour away.  Another homeschooling family in our circle has a 10 year old that raises pigs as a side project, and we bought half of one from him, and went to pick it up.  My freezers are now full of hams and bacon, and sausages, ribs, roast, etc.  We actually had to borrow freezer space from a neighbor.  I think in 3-4 weeks my freezers should be clear enough to get it back.  Sooner if I can find some time to clean one of the little ones out better.

There is such an enormity of things going on behind the scenes in our lives right now.  I went for a walk outside last night to take some pictures.  When decisions are to be made, and a lot is on my mind, I find that taking pictures is a great way to capture the beauty of the moment.  It allows me to take my mind off of things, and just see what God has given me for just that time.  It’s just beautiful.

Have a lovely weekend everyone!  We’ll be celebrating David’s birthday, as well as one of my nephew’s birthdays.  We’ll have some company over, and keep plugging away at this garden produce. Don’t forget to look for the beauty in each moment.