On this, the 2nd day of advent, we celebrate the birth of Christ. Many of us are familiar with the biblical story of the birth of Jesus, but I always love to read it and refresh the details in my mind. Matthew 1:18-25 and Luke 2:1-7 tell that Joseph and Mary, who was with child at the time, traveled to Bethlehem the town of David, because Joseph was of the house and line of David.
While they were there, the time came for her firstborn son to be born. Because of the census and the crowds, there was no room for them in an inn, so Baby Jesus, God’s one and only Son, was wrapped in swaddling cloths and placed in a manger.
The Son of God, come to earth as a helpless babe.
Let us prepare our hearts to celebrate the birth of Jesus.
On this, the first Sunday of Advent, we celebrate the prophecy found in Isaiah 9:2-7. This prophecy foretold the coming of the Messiah, God’s one and only Son.
And He will be called Wonderful. Counselor. Mighty God. Everlasting Father. Prince of Peace.
Let us prepare our hearts to celebrate the birth of Jesus.
Our garden produced a bumper crop of pumpkins this year. Maybe because I replanted them over and over due to the mysterious disappearances of seeds, sprouts, and evidence of any plant life! You can read our final pumpkin counts here.
Decorating around the RV, Huckleberry Hutch, and sending home numerous glorious orbs with the grands and their parents helped disperse the wealth. But also, I baked two. Only two so far, as there are three more that remain unfrozen I can bake.
Just in case you are wondering, once the outside pumpkins freeze, I do not cook them. But after the season, we give our outdoor fall decor to the turkeys, chickens, geese, and goats who live next door. They LOVE harvest as much as we do.
From the baked pumpkin, I made 1/2 cup pucks. That’s what I’m calling them. Pumpkin pucks. Most recipes seem to call for 1/2 cup pumpkin. So there you have it. The pucks remain nicely frozen in the freezer, and I pull one out whenever I want to use one. They don’t even take that long to unthaw.
Et voila, pumpkin scones! We love these spicy treats. Any pumpkin scone recipe will work. Just double the spices. I’m serious. We love that burst of flavor. I double all the spices. We use whole wheat flour and my husband prefers his without the pumpkin spice glaze.
From pumpkin, to puck, to treat. Delish!
What is your favorite pumpkin treat? I have plenty of 1/2 cup pucks to try it!
Today is World Kindness Day and the perfect time to consider how I can extend kindness to others. Not just today, I hope, but as a growing habit as I journey through this life with the people around me.
Random acts of kindness are always nice, and I’m thinking that going the extra mile to make that personal connection would really make someone’s day. The day is just beginning, so I’ll have to keep my eyes open for ways to show kindness.
Whenever I hear the word “kind,” I think of the days I was a kindergarten teacher at Harrah Community Christian School. One of the Bible verses we learned together was Ephesians 4:32a. I often combined motions and movement as we practiced our verses, and for this one, we marched around the room, urging each other to “Be kind and compassionate to one another (Ephesians 4:32a).” I don’t know about the kindergartners, but every time I see that reference or hear “kind,” our rhythmic rendition pops into my head.
So today, how will you be kind and compassionate to others? I’d love to hear.
Go forth and be kind.
Be Kind, Make Friends is available at WMUstore.com.
Despite the disappointing beginning of repeated plantings, low number of sprouting seeds, and nibbling of sprouts by bird and pest alike, we had quite a successful pumpkin harvest. And I say bring on fall! I love pumpkins and I love autumn! Decorating with homegrown pumpkins is so rewarding.
Read to the bottom for the final count. The photo above shows the “big” pumpkins from the garden. In the carving world, they really are medium sized to small, but in my garden, they are the big ones. Also notice the random yellow squash. I harvested 2. I replanted zucchini and yellow squash multiple times. The end results were zucchini: 0. Yellow squash: 2.
The table above was one of our distribution points. Pumpkins available for adoption were placed on the lovely garden table made earlier this year by my honey.
Above is yet another adoption table, covered with the big pumpkins. This table was also made by my honey, but a few years back, so it has lovely weathered wood.
Above is the first harvest of the minis. So cute and adorable, and perfect for every nook and cranny. I will definitely plant these again. They are so much fun, and pretty aggressive climbers. We watched them creep up sunflowers, pine trees, and any other item taller than themselves. Note, this is another table made by the honey. This one is fresh and needs weathering.
The hand belongs to my grand, Donavyn. He is the one who arranged the minis by color. I loved that! Donavyn and Autumn were thrilled to help with the pumpkin hunt and retrieval.
This is the final harvest from the new planting box out in the pasture. Whoa! A surprising number of big and small pumpkins. Plus, I had tossed in sprouting potatoes and other compost at the “fill the box with stuff and dirt stage,” not thinking what might happen. Potatoes happened! I pulled out the “weeds,” and potatoes were attached to the bottom! How fun is that! That’s why I like experimenting in the garden.
Drum roll please. The final totals for pumpkins harvested this year are:
It’s fun to go back and look at pictures to see how things have changed over time. Our garden area is constantly changing.
The garden started with three simple garden beds placed in the pasture, which used to be mostly dirt and weeds. As you can see, it was already looking good with “greens” growing.
Frequent feathered guests foraged in the pasture and wide-open garden beds. Which transitioned into even more visitors, of the furry and voracious garden eating variety. The chickens were fine with me, but when bunnies ate down all of my plants, something had to be done.
My honey put a low fence around the whole lot. The main purpose was to keep the bunnies out. It worked great! Actually, the fence is so short, most of us can easily step over it. But the bunnies were befuddled and my plants could grow free.
And then. I found one of those old metal chain-link fence gates while visiting my buddy in Seattle. One of those “free yard sale” treasures! Guaranteed to make my honey whisk his eyebrows up when I drove into the yard with my little Mazda packed to the gills. Gate included. So, we added an easy access gate. By we, I mean him. 😉
And then. I really wanted an arbor. Over that awesome gate. We had this other piece of metal junk hanging in our shaded car park area. Just an old rusted metal grate of some sort. I think it was left on the property from the previous owner. And ta-dah! Instant unique arbor! Instant for me. A bit of hard work for my honey and Taylor.
I might add how HEAVY that thing is! And I am blessed to have 2 strong guys to let me come up these wild ideas and they make it happen. Oh, and it’s rusty. One of my favorite garden colors and textures.
My honey bought me a honeysuckle plant for Mother’s Day. You can see it above just starting out. Below, you can see I’ve been working on training it up. It’s nearly reached the top!
And here we are today. I just took this picture. It smells so good! Last week I stood and watched a hummingbird feast on the fragrant blooms, for so long that I wandered off before it did. That is my kind of garden.
Ahhhh. The garden continues to grow and change.
What about you? Any big changes in your garden or yard over the years? Any cool rusty items??
Love, Laughter, and Life 