Black Cap Picking

Today we went searching for black caps. Goat-milk pale and basket in hand, Mama, the little boys, Ella and I, left the Kubota on the path and walked around the perimeter of the cornfield to the heifer pasture. It's just the beginning of black cap season...

The first bushes were all in a tangle along the fence with some of the tallest thistles ever. Luckily, Landon and Jonathan brought their wooden "swords" and slew a few. There was some over-under fence crawling or jumping, but we did our best to lift leaves and pull away thorns to uncover most of what was plump and ripe. 

So many are still red! The next week will be full of black, juicy berries. 

Wild berries in a home-made pie. ^_^

Drying Dill -- Results

Approximately two weeks later, after processing the dill for drying, here are my results!

I took the three little bundles out of their paper bags and rubbed all the dried pieces off onto wax paper. A couple little long bits had to be picked out. It looks and smells wonderful! Still lush green, and perfect. I have four more bundles drying now, and hopefully will get all the dill in the garden dried before it's too big and goes to seed... which means I'd better hurry!

Love is Eternal

I have said it before, and I will say it again.
You cannot un-love someone.

I do not believe in falling out of love.
Oh, we can forget, and we can let the fire of romance dim over time, perhaps. We humans fall victim to the rut of boredom. We constantly believe the lie of laziness, and just give up the effort of fighting for someone, for the love you have with them, either because we don't see them as worth it anymore, or we think we've found something better and more worth our time.

But really, I don't care what your excuse is.
Either you love someone, and always will; or you don't love them, and never did.

Let's start with this basic root of reason:
God is Love.

We all know that to be true, right?

Alright, then how about:
God is eternal.

Yup, we pretty much all know that...

Then let's try this:
If God is Love... and God is eternal... then Love is eternal.

What do they call this is geometry? The Transitive Property of Congruence? (Yeah, I looked that up.) Basically, it says that "If AB = CD, and CD = EF, then AB = EF".
(I'm a little grumpy to admit that math actually plays into real life.)

So, back to my point.
Don't say you used to love someone. False. If you seriously don't love someone now, then you never did. Love doesn't work that way- it's permanent, and immortal.
Now, if you're certain that you really did love someone, once upon a time, then believe this: you still do.

You might not feel it. But it isn't about fuzzy feelings.
You need to fight for it back. You need to make that first step toward the effort of redeeming your love, because it is the most precious thing you will ever have on this physical earth. It's also the only thing you will have that lasts beyond this earth. Look past the lies of laziness, hopelessness, and anger.
Those things are going to burn up in the end.
What really matters?

Love is the fulfillment of the Law. Love covers over all wrongs. God is Love.
God gave us His Son. He gave us His All. He gave us His Love. It's all we need, it's what we were made for.

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."

Those words are telling us how to Love.
So we are shown how to Love, and we are shown that we should Love, all demonstrated by God and by Jesus His Son.

What are we waiting for?

PS. Loving someone isn't about what you're going to get back from it. You're most likely going to be hurt somewhere along the way. But when we Love, we draw closer to God and we become who we were created to be. We live for Him, we Love for Him. And only Good comes from that.

The First Harvests

Dill, lettuce, and catnip. I already blogged about the dill-drying.

Yesterday I picked a whole bunch of lettuce.

Pablo and Mantilia are my varieties this year. The Pablo is the redder type, and Mantilia is the springy green.

In the past, I've always had trouble with lettuce tasting bitter and gritty. So I started growing spinach, and now I really prefer that. But I wanted to at least try lettuce again this year, so I read the descriptions in the seed catalog pretty closely and went for the types that were described as sweet or tender. I haven't been disappointed, either. I drizzled ranch dressing over one helping, and it was delicious. They're both good, pleasant lettuces. 

Pablo Lettuce

Mantilia Lettuce

I pulled up several clumps that were bursting out of their pallet rows, twisted off the roots, and washed them separately. The goats were happy to get all the little loose leaves afterwards. After the lettuce dried, I stuck it in a plastic bread bag and it went in the refrigerator. 

We'll make lots of salads this year... :P

I won't pull up all of the lettuce plants. I'll let some of each kind grow up and bolt, so I can save seeds for next year. I actually just found out how to save carrot seeds, and found out some really cool stuff. I'll share that in due time, too.

Next we have catnip...

 I want to dry a whole bunch of this to give my barn cats in the winter, or stick in a sock toy for the kittens. 

After you cut it, it wilts fast. I got a couple of clumps and used the same paper bag method as with the dill. I didn't cut the slits so big, though. Enough to give it a little air. 

Its supposed to be kept dark, dry, and warm. When it gets crisp, I can rub all the leaves off and keep it in a jar.

After finishing the siding job with my grandpa the other day, we came home and went up on the hill with him. I found a couple of old- yet salvageable- buckets in the dump in the woods. I can use them for planters... and I have a couple pepper plants Owen started that need homes. (Dork moment: I referred to them as "Pepper Pots" and then realized I had named Tony Stark's girlfriend.)

Mama found me this little sign at Joann's, 90% off. :3

Alyssum is growing and thriving, as his her namesake. ;)

Mama's flowers along the chicken coop are gorgeous...

Everything is sprouting, blossoming, and ripening. It truly is amazing to be able to watch it, use it, and learn more. My appreciation grows. 

Siding A House

Since Spring, Emma and I have been helping Grandpa re-side his house in Whitestown. Goodness, we've learned a lot! The job took quite a while because near the end he decided to extended the roof, delaying the project a few weeks. On Thursday, we finally finished the two peeks. And the job is done. It looks great!

It went from a light green to this mist color. First the old siding came off, then the cardboard insulation, followed by prying off all the old shingles. Then the new insulation went up, the windows got fixed, and the siding was replaced. Em and I have officially "graduated nailing school." 

And I've certainly gotten a few hours of driving in, all added up.

Drying Dill

The dill was the first thing in my garden to get going this year (all on its own), and so it's way ahead of everything but the catnip. Well, before it gets too tall and stocky, it's time to harvest and dry it. 

I started with three clumps of the tallest dill. Ella kindly loaned me a couple of her bracelet rubber bands to hold the stems together at the ends. 

I'm using brown paper bags because Mama was saying how she didn't like drying dill and ending up with it all brown. I read online that being in the paper bag will keep sunlight from bleaching it, and also keep off dust. 

The dill needs a lot of air flow, though, to prevent mildew. I cut slits in the bottom. 

Slip the dill into the bag, up-side down. At first, I tried to staple the stem end to the bag to keep it closed and all held together, but that doesn't quite do the job, unless your clumps are much smaller. Instead, take a toothpick and start a couple holes through each side on both sides of the dill, then feed a twisty-tie through to secure it and close the bag. 

This is what it should look like...

The dill is supposed to hang for around two weeks or until brittle to the touch, in a dry warm place. My room works. I bound the three bags to a wooden ladder with pipe-cleaner. 

This was all two days ago... and then yesterday, when I went to the Goodwill with my Grandma and Emma, look what I found!

Old fashioned nails and everything; it's too cute. So the next time I dry herbs, I'll try some tiny clumps hanging from this. 

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Update: See the results!