~love~

"Love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God,

and knoweth God." 1 John 4:7

"Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another,

if any man have a quarrel against any." Colossians 3:13

"Oh, might we all our lineage prove,

Give and forgive, do good and love;

By soft endearments, in kind strife,

Lightening the load of daily life."

J. Keble

"We may, if we choose, make the worst of one another.  Every one has his weak points.  Every one has his faults.  We may make the worst of these; we may fix our attention constantly upon these.  But we may also make the best of one anther.  We may forgive, even as we hope to be forgiven.  We may put ourselves in the place of others, and ask what we should wish to be done  to us, and thought of us, were we in their place.  By loving whatever is lovable in those around us, love will flow back from them to us, and life will become a pleasure instead of a pain.  Earth will become like heaven, and we shall become worthy followers of Him whose name is Love." A. P. Stanley

Taken from 

Daily Strength for Daily Needs

by Mary W. Tileston

peach jam ~and~ peach jelly

I was up to my elbows in peaches last night,

with some yummy results!

Have you noticed at the grocery,

that peaches are at their peak right now?

They were $0.98 a pound at my HEB grocery 

and then I found them the next day at my Wal-Mart for $0.67 a pound!

Between the two stores I purchased 6 pounds of peaches for $5.00.

What did 6 pounds of peaches make?

Well, first I peeled them, chopped them up

and made 14 jars of peach jam.

I used the recipe for peach jam

in my Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving.

But...I wasn't done after making the jam!

This is the coolest thing -

you can boil the peach peelings and pits

to make peach juice and then

turn that peach juice into peach jelly!

I used the directions I found here

and it worked like a charm!

10 jars of peach jelly!

Not bad for $5 worth of peaches and a few hours of work.

Are you wondering what exactly do you need to can jams and jellies?

First, you need a canner and rack.

I originally just bought a canning rack

thinking that if it didn't fit in my large pot, 

it would definitely fit in the largest stock pot

that I already had!

No!  Not big enough.  

I did use both of these pots during my jam making - 

the large stock pot to keep my jars hot

and my regular pot to make the jam in.
I returned the canning rack
and bought the canner and rack together as a set.

You also need your canning jars,

rims, and new lids.

(You have to use new lids every time, 

but the jars and rims/bands 

can be used over and over.)

I debated on buying this little set,

but ended up being so glad that I did.

It included a funnel that fits right in the jars, 

the jar tongs, 

a magnetic lid lifter (really handy!) 

and a combo bubble remover/head space ruler -

all priced less as a set than if bought individually.

And you need your ingredients for 

your chosen recipe.  

I needed peaches, lemons,

sugar,

and pectin - liquid was called for in this recipe.

After I canned the jam,

all I needed for the jelly

was the peach peelings and pits,

more sugar, a bit of butter

 and some powdered pectin.

With six pounds of peaches I made

two batches of jam

and two batches of jelly.

That's plenty for our family for a year

with several leftover for gifts.

~yummy!  summertime in a jar!~

Linked to Homestead Revival, Mom's Crazy Cooking, Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop #61

Patriotic Perennials

When we planted our garden back in March,

I also planted some wild flowers seeds in the cutting garden bed.

But, due to the extreme drought in our area,

nothing ever sprouted.

Mr. H. knew how disappointed I was, 

so right before the 4th of July 

he surprised me with 

"patriotic perennials"!

red 

white

and blue

Love langue?

 Spoken...

fluently!! ;-)

Bible Quiz Day 78

Answer to question 77 - Joseph of Arimathea ( Matthew 27:57)

Question 78 - King __________ said to Paul, "Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian."