Common Sense Home Good News Letter 7/16/22
“A child’s world is fresh and new and beautiful, full of wonder and excitement.
It is our misfortune that for most of us that clear-eyed vision, that true instinct for what is beautiful, is dimmed and even lost before we reach adulthood.” — Rachel Carson
My sons and I spent part of Thursday afternoon helping a friend sort through junk left of her homestead by the previous owners, loading up scrap metal for another friend to take in with her truck and trailer.
The piles left to sort through are intimidating, and everyone pitched in to try and get it cleaned up – including the neighbor’s three and a half year old daughter.
She was as bright as a little beam of sunshine in her sturdy little sun dress with pretty pink bows. At first, she stayed carefully back out of the way as we moved the bigger items.
Then, she was determined to help, so she went inside to get gloves, since everyone else was wearing gloves – and came back sporting a pair of winter mittens.
The rest of the group made sure she stayed out of the rough areas, and found smaller pieces for her to safely load. Once everything that could be loaded was, we all sat down on the grass together for some homemade lemonade.
It was a good day.
On other days this week, we had friends come over to help us with mulching, and another friend stopped by who ended up helping to send the last of the broiler chickens to freezer camp.
Those were also good days.
Every task feels a little lighter when shared with friends. This week was a good reminder to see things with fresh eyes, and to ask for help when needed – and be ready to help others.
All our best to you and yours,
Laurie (and August IV, August V, and Duncan)
This week’s featured articles…
I love it when I can get two harvests from one garden plant, so garlic scapes are right up my ally. We just clipped the scapes from our plants, so I put together an article on how to use them. (Duncan is making up some stir fry for dinner with them as I type.)
Read “Garlic Scapes – Tips for Harvest and Use”
We are down to our last jar of these pickled green beans, and the new harvest isn’t quite ready yet, so next year we know we need to put up more jars.
Duncan has taken to adding them to all sorts of things, from toasted cheese sandwiches to macaroni and cheese. They add some zip to more mellow foods – plus you can process them in a water bath canner.
Get the recipe for pickled green beans here.
Don’t want to do canning? Try these fermented dilly beans.
Normally I’m a fan of spiders, but if you live in an area with venomous spiders, sometimes you want to keep them out of certain places – like your bedroom.
This article provides a list of natural spider repellents to keep areas safe without hitting the hardcore deterrents.
Popular on Instagram this week – kittens and assorted berries from our homestead.