Today is the last day of August. This summer is flying by so fast, it seems. I have tomatoes, pickles, and red beets to be put in jars. I will probably make salsa with the tomatoes that I have picked. The plants are loaded with more. How thankful we can be for this bountiful harvest. We can now enjoy the fruits of our labor.
Last week we canned 42 quarts of V-8 juice, which makes a good drink. I make ours spicy by adding extra hot peppers, but I also make some that isn’t spicy so I can use it in soups when the grandchildren come home.
Yesterday daughter Lovina and I and daughter Loretta and seven-and-a-half-week-old baby Denzel went to daughter Elizabeth’s to assist her with her cleaning. We used our horse Midnight and Dustin and Loretta’s buggy. Their buggy is pretty neat. It has a lift in the back run by a battery charged by a solar panel on the buggy. So I could push a button, and it lifted Loretta and her mobility scooter into the buggy. There were many times when Loretta didn’t want to leave because she didn’t want us to have to lift her in the buggy. So now she can leave with us when Dustin isn’t along.
Daughters Susan and Verena were also at Tim and Elizabeth’s helping, and so were Susan’s friend Ervin and the children. Ervin mowed the grass, and we cleaned the kitchen, bathroom, and windows. Church services will be held at Tim and Elizabeth’s house on Saturday instead of Sunday. This will be baptismal services for son Benjamin—Lord willing. Services will be held under a tent.
Elizabeth was glad for all our help. With four children ages five and under, it’s hard to get everything done. I want to go help her Friday again.
Granddaughters Abigail and Kaitlyn came home from school together. It was so cute to see them with their backpacks. They are really getting attached to each other.
The little boys enjoyed the day together. They were playing by the window well, and Ryan, three, slipped into the well. There was a toad in there, and he was screaming because he was scared of the big toad. When Loretta went to see why he was crying Isaiah, four, and T.J., three, were pulling Ryan out of the window well. It was so sweet how the two little boys were helping Ryan.
Granddaughter Andrea, six and a half months, gets around everywhere in her walker. I was cleaning the stove, and she kept coming up to the stove, trying to grab the racks I had sitting there. She’s a sweetie and has the biggest eyes and smile.
Jennifer, four, and Allison, two, were playmates and kept each other entertained. Most times, they play doll, and Allison is Jennifer’s little girl. It’s funny how the little girls and little boys have different interests. Curtis, two, likes to hang close to wherever Susan is. He’s really attached to her already. He also likes to play with baby Denzel and Andrea.
Kaitlyn, Isaiah, and Curtis are Ervin’s children, but they already seem like my own grandchildren. They are so easy to love.
Loretta went to see the doctor again, and she still has some blood clots in her leg, so she still needs to take a blood thinner and keep them elevated often. She will have an ultrasound done again in the future.
Meanwhile, Denzel seems to keep growing. He weighs almost 10 pounds already. He really smiles and is very alert.
Friday, September 2, our youngest child Kevin will be 17 already. It’s hard to believe!
God’s blessings to all!
V-8 Juice
15 pounds of tomatoes, cut into chunks
4 celery stalks, cut in half
4 carrots, diced
4 onions, diced
4 cucumbers, sliced
4 green peppers, each cut into about 8 pieces
4–6 hot peppers, jalapeños, or whatever your preference; left whole with stems removed
6 garlic cloves
Combine all ingredients in a 20-quart kettle over medium-high heat. Cook until soft, stirring often (around 30 minutes). Remove celery stalks. Put through a Victorio strainer and pour juice into jars. I add 1 teaspoon of salt to every quart of juice. Seal jars and process them according to recommendations from your county extension office or the National Center for Food Preservation website.
Lovina’s Amish Kitchen is written by Lovina Eicher, Old Order Amish writer, cook, wife, and mother of eight. Her newest cookbook, Amish Family Recipes, is available wherever books are sold. Because Lovina is Old Order Amish, she does not have email or a telephone in her home. Lovina does not respond to comments on this website, if you would like to contact her directly, click here.
Hi good afternoon I’ve heard that it’s good to lay on the floor with your bottom against the wall for 20 min a day so I’m wondering if Maybe God willing it’ll help get rid of the clots! She puts her arms by her side!!! Supposedly it helps with circulation! I pray it works!!!!! Please keep me posted thank you ? much! Kathy Hartje
Ooooops dear me I forgot to say her legs walk up the wall until they’re flat against the wall!! Keeping her legs above her heart ❤️ helps!
I so admire the spirit of all helping to clean for Church services, my mom and a neighbor did that when my mom was going to have her sewing group meet at our house, it was all hands on deck to get everything clean and nice looking, my mom was born with a heart defect and she wasn’t really up to washing windows m our house was cluttered at times , we lived in a 3 bedroom house with one bathroom, my moms dad lived with us and her sister did also for months at a time, we had a family of 4 kids plus all of the relatives, my mom opened our home to any family member in need, and our family that lived out of town would come to town shopping and left the kids with us, we had a loving home even though that poor house was bursting at the seams, I lost my mom and dad when I was 13, oh how I mourned our happy crowed home,I was sent to live with relatives that were not nice to me but I survived , had 7 children, went to nursing school when the youngest started school, so glad I did, I hated to have to retire when my husband died and we had to close our clinic, but I guess it was the Lords plan.