Awesome Walk ...

The family spent their day walking for Autism Speaks ...
setting a goal of $400
Daigen was able to raise $1,250 for his school ...
Westview School ... in Houston, Texas
Congratulations Knight Family ... !!!

Walk for Autism Page

Wedding Rehearsal Day ...

September 19, 2013 

It was a busy day ... shopping ... going out for lunch with the Roberts family ...
waiting for Ian & his family to arrive ...
all the kids jumping in the pool for some fun time ...
later Daigen & Nixon giving out birthday presents to Ella ...

We were at Dan & Nikki's house for the rehearsal dinner ...
later going inside as it started to rain ...
Nixon was so amazed with this pet lizard ... 

 

All the kids keeping themselves entertained ...

 while other activities were going preparing for the wedding ...

It was a great night ... excited for the big day ... !!!

Snow Has Fallen ...

A glimpse of the sun ... rain had stopped ...
clouds had lifted ...
displaying the new fallen snow on the mountains ...
Hard to believe winter is on its way ...
as we near the end of September ...

Breakfast in LaCrosse ...

September 19, 2013
 

Arrived late the night before ... into LaCrosse, Wisconsin ...

for Dan & Nikki's wedding ...

Katie and the children came to pick me up at the airport ...

it was great to see them and get lots of hugs & kisses ...

After a good nights rest ...

we met for breakfast in the hotel restaurant ...

also celebrating Ella's birthday ...

giving her cards from us and Oma ...

Oh Happy day for her ... she could go shopping ... !!!

We spent the day visiting ... 

shopping and waiting for Ian and his family to arrive ...

Birthday Purchase ...

 

I was delighted to receive this picture of Ella ...

with the gifts she bought with her Birthday money ...

A new guitar and Tea Set ...

hopefully by the time we go to visit the family ...

Ella will entertain us ...

as we are enjoying our a cup of tea ... 

Play and sing your little heart out Ella ... !!!

My Winnings ...

I was so excited when I received a call from the girls next door ...
I had purchased a raffle ticket to help support their school ...
and they had drawn my name ... 
the girls were just as excited as I was ... they knew how much I was wishing for it ...

 

Today was delivery day ...

Mike (neighbour) brought the load up to the back of the property ...

where it can be easily accessible to buck up ...

then be hauled down to the woodshed...

It was nice for Mike ... as he didn't have to haul the load a great distance ...

he was home (next door) in a matter of no time at all ...

after unloading the logs ...

Salsa Time ...

The day before leaving for Wisconsin to attend a wedding last week...
I decided to make some salsa ...
with the abundance of tomatoes from the garden ...
and once again going up to the neighbours ...
to get some fresh garlic and hot peppers ...
chopping all the ingredients ... placing them in the pot ... simmering until thickened ...

Filling up a few mason jars ...
placing them in the canner to be processed ...
and voila 30 mins later ...
Fresh Garden Salsa ...

Congratulations Daigen ...

Daigens first award he won at the scholastic book fair. 
He had to guess how many flip flop erasers were in the jar. 
Daigen said there were 50 in the container ...
He had guessed correctly ... 
and was able to pick out a free book ...
Mom & Dad were so proud of him ...
Good job Daigen ... 
Grandma & grandpa are proud too ... !!!

Bright Colours ...

 

What a beautiful surprise ...

When I looked out the kitchen window ...

and saw this beautiful double rainbow ...

over the whole field ... 

Daily Pickings ...

 

 

Every day I venture out to the garden ...

and come back to the house ...

with bowls and buckets ...

filled with fruit and vegetables...

AND ...
I wonder why I have been spending time in the kitchen ... !!!

Canned Plums ...

 

There was an extra amount of plums left over ...

decided to preserve them ...

to be enjoyed at a later time ...

seems ...  I am spending quite a bit of time in the kitchen lately ... !!

Horse Play ...

I was able to visit with the horses ...
the day I went to pick plums ...
it was a special treat for me ... that they all came to say hello ...
of course they more interested in getting their special treats ...
of corn stalks and apples ...
I enjoyed talking with Bonnie ... learning the about their horses ... !!

Zwetschgenknödel ... Plum Dumplings ...

Gathering the ingredients together ...
preparing the potatoes ... adding the flour ... salt ... baking powder and egg ...
mixing to form a soft ball of dough ...

Rolling the dough into a log ...
cutting pieces large enough to hold a plum ...
flattening the dough ... placing the plum ... pinching the edges ... forming a ball
Ended up with 48 plum dumplings ... !!!

Brought a pot full of salted water to a boil ...
adding the dumplings ... cooking for 10 mins ...
in the meantime ...
browning a mixture of butter ... sugar and breadcrumbs ...

 

After the dumplings were finished cooking ...

took them out with a slotted spoon ...

and rolled them in the breadcrumb mixture ...

I only cooked enough to eat and share with a mom ...

and a few friends ...

the rest were frozen and placed in vacuum sealer bags ...

then stored for a later treat ... !!!

Picking Plums ...

Once again I went up to the neighbours ...
this time to make a delivery ...
and ended up picking plums ...
as they were ready ... with the sunshine we have had ... ripened them quickly ...
Great ... as I have been hungry for ...
Zwetschgenknödel - German Plum Dumplings ... !!!

It was a beautiful day ... out in their orchard ...
 I also came away with a few apples and some fresh Bok Choy ...
perfect for tonight's dinner ... with all my other veggies ... !!!

First Day Of School ...

This was Daigen's first day of school ... and he has to wear a uniform now...
Daigen is loving his new school ...

 

The school bus comes right to the door to pick up Craig, James and Ella ...

All three are enjoying school ...

happy to have met some kids to play with ...

So proud of all our grandchildren ... this is a whole adventure for them ... !!!

Lots of opportunity to learn new things ... new cultures ... see new sites ...

Excited to hear all about it ...

*Happy Birthday wishes for my dear friend ... Dagmar ... !*

Canning Tomatoes ...

 

Time to process the ripe tomatoes ...

doing them in small batches to keep up ...

now with this burst of sunshine coming our way ...

there will be lots more ripening ... !!

Warm The House ...

It was a rainy ... cool ... day ...
what better way to warm up the house ...
than to bake and put on a pot of soup ...
all veggies from the garden ... simmered ...

then thickened with a golden brown roux ...

 

Zucchini Bread for dessert ...

New Party Dress ...

Wishing you a Happy Birthday Ella ... !!!

Love your new party dress ... a beautiful Birthday present ... !

See you soon ...
Love Grandma & Grandpa ... !!!

Spreading Gravel ...

It was a cool day for working outside ...
using my trusty tractor ...
to take the gravel pile from the side of the house ...
down to the garden ...
and then raking out the rest on the driveway ...

It was easier using the tractor ... than using the wheelbarrow ...
from the house ... which I did at first ...
Had this part of the garden done by lunchtime ...
planned on finishing in the afternoon ...
 

I did have one stoppage in the afternoon ...

was working earlier out in the rain ...

with my rain gear on ... but then it turned into a torrential downpour ...

had to wait it out ...

it didn't last very long  ... so I was able to finish ... all done by 3:30 pm

spreading the gravel in the garden ... 

anywhere from 2-4 inches deep in spots to level it out ...

A big job done ... not much gravel was left ...

will use it to touch up any areas that need a little more ...

with this rain it should pack down quite nicely ...

Another job to stroke off the "to do list" ...