Fall abundance. This is and will be a common site for the next few days, canning equipment on the stove! We have canned plums, plum jelly and juice, grape jelly and juice, tomato juice-soup-spaghetti sauce and stewed. This is good although very hard on a kitchen! My girls were fussing about their hands turning blue from the grapes and I told them it wears off……. in about a week! I always tease them about the skills they will have on their “wife-resume” form!

To Everything there is a Season

One of the things I adore about northern Wisconsin is our change of seasons.  I welcome the changes of each season with it’s uniqueness.  My favorite season is upon me…. Fall through Winter.

Fall brings me back to what is dearest to my heart; being with my children more, the hope that the summer work is done, supper tables with candles lit, reading by the fire, digging into God’s Word consistently and canning the produce from our gardens and the gardens of those who love us.   I enjoy Fall sunsets which are more pink and blues than the summery orange and leave the sky in a pale yellow for some time after the sun actually sets.

I admire God’s artist supremacy as I drive down the roads comparing all of His reds and oranges or hunting in our acreage for the deepest colors to wax and keep as treasures, reminding me of this awesome Creator that I love.

I am humbled by the blessing of abundance as I can jars of tomato sauces and tomato soup, chopped tomatoes and juice.  I can beautiful pink plums and rose colored jelly from gifts given to my husband.  Fall brings out love and sharing as he came in the house last night, arms laden with squashes, organic eggs, deep purple plums.  All thank-you gifts for his generous blessings of fish given throughout the year.  It’s the continuous cycle of blessing….  one thing given out of love for another gift of love.   It is community at it’s finest.

There is another season of life going on as well.

It is again the season of loss,  these are the days of loss as I remember the loss of my dear friend Donna five years ago and the loss of my dear friends daughters 3 years ago and a few others as well.

It is also a season for my family where we are reckoning with the loss of our dearest Father as his health is declining rapidly.

I tasted this season last Spring, sitting beside his bed, praying with him and wondering how long.  This season is back and I am torn between tears of sadness for knowing I may not hear his voice for long and a satisfying happiness that my Dad will walk again, hip restored, muscles strong, nerves healed, body redeemed as well as his soul.   Our faith is always lined with that thread that keeps us tied to the eternal, the heavens, that place we do not know yet long for with all of our hearts.   A heart heavy with earthly things and yet hopeful for things I know of only through faith.

God, in His infinite wisdom will control when this season will be over, for He knows and loves best.   In God’s cycle of love He gave His Son which my Father received and in return lived his life to serve God out of his love for God.  Now my Father will receive again when he enters heaven to be with his Heavenly Father to enjoy Him for eternity.   God is so good and I praise His name.

I am blessed to have seasons in my life and I will enjoy them,

Joyce

Simple Sunday meal. Tomatoes and beans from the garden, some fresh cheese and roast.

It’s a miracle. I have not been able to grow radishes in years, and I mean years. This year they are growing in abundance, if only my family would understand my accomplishment!!! :)

This is for you Mom!

My sweet mother has been hinting to me that I have not written a post, I have just been throwing pictures at this blog instead.  She is such a support to me and so today I am responding.

This also gets me out of doing all those reports to my left on the desk and the pile of forms at my back, and the kitchen that looks like a bomb went through it or taking down the  clothes on the line that went through the night out there…..  you see my life

I will do summaries of events.

Nephews:

We had the most wonderful time with our nephews while they visited the first two weeks of July.  They are WONDERFUL guys.  They came on a weekend when all of our children and Jason were home as well, due to the 4th.  This was planned and not supposed to be a problem…… but, as my life tends to roll, the shower that we ordered to go in the bathroom so it would be decent for guests……….. didn’t arrive.  So, 3 days before the boys arrive Rick came home and needed to tell me something.  He walked to the other side of our eight foot table to tell me that the shower did not come on the truck.   This may give you the impression that I am a violent person, on the contrary, I am not.  Rick just thought that if there was a limit that I could be pushed to where I might get angry, well, this might be it.  I did not.  I just started to let my mind think about 11-12 folks all using our master bath for four days…. then I decided I had better not go there either.  So, everyone arrived and we made shower lists where you had to sign up for a time slot and stick with it.  Of course there were a few who did not sign up as in Alex and Rick!!!!  Always a few rounders.  They had to sneak in between gaps.  Sunday morning was a hoot to say the least.  We survived.

I enjoyed the guitar playing and Matteo singing a beautiful song while playing his classical guitar only to find out the song was an Italian love song in which I believe  a Maffia leader had an unfaithful wife and she had to be killed!!!!  The music was SO beautiful and then to find out the story line was such amazed me.  So, don’t be taken in by some handsome Italian singing some beautiful music…  the lyrics might be fatal….  Just Saying!!

We took the boys to the races, to Lifest for their first concerts and mosh-pit experience!  One of my favorite memories was coming home from either of these places.  We were driving north of Sturgeon Bay and the boys were in the back of the suburban and they were raising their hands as if they were on a roller coaster ride.  Alex explained that in Miami it is flat, as in absolutely flat without hardly a small hill or bump in the road.  Here we were driving 60, I mean 55  ;)  miles per hour over our rolling hills and they said it felt like as roller coaster ride.  So cute!

The boys cooked us a wonderful Italian meal for which they will be forever welcomed in our home, as long as they promise to cook like that again!  :)   I enjoyed times of talking and discussing things like politics and books that Matteo read from my library, or music etc..   These are intelligent guys and we enjoyed hearing them share their knowledge with us.  They also have girlfriends so it was fun to see them looking for a spot in our home where theit phones would get a signal so that they could call their girls!  Verizon people, Verizon!

I am missing their voices, Alex constantly tattling on the girls for picking on him… poor baby.  Alex walking, or should I say strutting through the house with only a towel on…and hearing a boy’s perspective on life in the Johnson house.  I miss looking at the boys and seeing their Mom and then missing her, and Floriano too!  I miss their help as they were a great help on one of our huge job sites where they showed some muscle and worked for hours doing landscaping.   I miss their humor and banter between themselves and our girls, it is so good to laugh together.  I thoroughly enjoyed the boys challenging their Uncle Rick to a racing competition on go-carts in which Rick showed them that although he lives with a bunch of females he can dominate testosterone as well!!!  Fun, it was just plain fun.  The girls loved having the guys here and we hope that they can do it again!

Door County:

Living in Door County in the summer as a local is always a trip..  a long one.  For the months of May- Oct. all three of our businesses run at full speed.  It is good as we like to be busy and we want out children to have a good work ethic so these businesses give them the chance to learn it well!

It is not all work, our days are filled with friends visiting from all over.  As each friend makes their yearly visit, we scramble to connect with them for coffee or a cook-out at our house, time snatched away from the normal hours of work to grow these precious relationships with those we love.  It is a joy to be loved by so many  :)  You know who you are !

Fishing continues to be exciting, what a life of faith where God continues to be faithful over and over again.  Our dream of being debt free is getting so close and we can’t wait.  While he was here, Matteo mentioned how diversified Uncle Rick is in his work.  That is something we have prayed for and one of Rick’s qualities that I am so proud of.  My man can do SO many jobs and it has lead to many avenues of work and meeting so many different people who hire us which has brought more opportunity to bless and influence!  God is SO cool.  While the boys were here Rick was dealing with political issues as he is the elected representative for Commercial Fishermen before the local DNR, State DNR and the Governor.  When new legislation is being worked on that may effect fishing, our home and email is inundated with messages and people’s opinions and conference calls of which Rick has to head up and use discernment as he speaks.  It is interesting to hear him in action but I learned years ago that there are some areas of his life I am not to give my opinion on unless asked.  This is one of those areas!

Gardening:

It has been a wonderful summer, but the coolness has had it’s toll on the garden.  Many of my first seeds did not sprout,  What did is doing beautifully and my second plantings are doing very well.  I also have an issue with some insect that eats my plants in June, but later plantings do not get bit at all.  Over all things are looking good thanks to many waterings.  We have started canning so from now until Nov. canning jars, rings and lids will be a permanent sight in our kitchen.  I will be doing raspberry and cherry jelly this afternoon.  Love it!

Wedding:

As you know, we have a wedding in the making and that is going well.  Quite a new experience in EVERY way.  Jeni and Jason are really doing everything themselves as far as decisions.  Then, I find out what we need to work on and go from there.  I have learned lots.  Last weekend Jeni had her first wedding shower given by Jason’s mom at their church in Zion.  The girls and I drove down to be with her and work on wedding things.  We stayed at the home where Jeni works as her family always tells her to invite us down and use the house.  WHAT a treat.  This beautiful home is so peaceful and we enjoyed it so much.  Jason and Melody played the WII together which made her day, he is so loving to all of our girls!  We stayed up late singing around their grand piano in their living room.  The acoustics were perfect for three part harmony!

One of the things we worked on while there was making the bridal and bridesmaid bouquets.  We bought two different types of roses and I wrapped each set ending in colored ribbon.  We then set them in water to watch them unfold.  I am glad we did this little test because we have a really good idea of the time frame for making them and it won’t be last minute as we had thought. This will also save us hundreds of dollars for the wedding.  They turned out beautifully and we got so excited to know that we can pull this off.  We also listened to a song that Jeni had chosen for the wedding and the words are so powerful about the commitment of marriage, it will be beautiful.  The shower was lovely and so much fun.  I had such an emotional moment that morning as I was thinking about one of our six treasures being taken in to another family.  Jason’s family is wonderful and love Jeni so that was not the issue.  In fact, I can’t explain it as my husband can attest .  Our treasure being given.  Rick and I are not materialistic in any way….  well maybe I am about my library….  anyway, our children are our treasure, that’s it, they are what matters most and nothing compares with them. So, there is this deep emotion in the letting go and having her under her husband’s care and authority.  It is a good feeling as Jason is a wonderful, strong, leader who loves God, but it is a force to be reckoned with none the less.  All the letting go through the last 6 years was really practice for this time when the “two become one.”   God is good, His ways are perfect, He can be trusted, He is our final answer and He will be their final answer and, ultimately they are God’s treasure first and last, He has much more at stake in them then we could ever.  It is all good even when it is emotional.

P.S.

Yesterday Rick and I went to Green Bay to pick up some things for that never ending bathroom project.  As we headed out I mentioned that we needed to go and buy a good suit for the wedding.   Rick kicked into high gear about all the reasons that he did not need a suit, would never wear the suit again, blah, blah, blah as only he can reason!!  Now don’t get me wrong, I believe in being a submissive wife, but every wife over the years of marriage learns that moments come where we have to take a “little” stand on things and tho the husband may mutter under his breath, he will be glad things get done or decided.  This was one of those times.  So, after wandering Home Depot making decisions and frying my brain on cabinets and tiles of which Rick and I are complete opposite in taste, we headed to Men’s Wearhouse.

Rick just about broke into a sweat when we walked in.  He hates shopping, hates being measured, you get the picture.  After an hour of trying on black suits, pants, shirts and shoes, we walked out with a beautiful black wool suit and new shoes.  Everything was on sale, and tho it was slightly more than renting the tux, he owns it!!   He will wear it again, and it should  last for years. Might I add that he looked stunning.  He may steal the show at the wedding….  Just Saying!  :)

Dad:

My dear Father is home, being cared for by my Mother.  We talk as often as I get a chance.  His spirit is sweet as ever although his voice is weaker.  He has been fighting an infection for 2 months that gets better for a few days and then reappears.  It is not easy on either of them but we continue to pray for God’s will in all of this.  We are hoping Mom may make the wedding but nothing is for sure in that.  Thank you for all the prayers for them.

So, life is busy, fun, challenging.  It is good and we are blessed.

Joyce

I will now put on my accounting hat and deal with these papers floating around me!

Grapes, how God provides!

The other day Melody and hiked to the area we have picked wild grapes at for many years.  There were very few grapes, in fact the whole wild mass of vines looked terrible.  My heart sank as we have had more difficulty each year finding vines with adequate amounts of fruit.  I see more and more vines along the highway but the organic side of me screams “don’t even be tempted!”  

So while visiting with a friend I mentioned that  I was looking for grapes.  She said that her SIL’s property has an abundance and that I should go pick there.  My friend had been told to pick and she is a gardner but not a canner.  

My favorite work-crew ( my beautiful girls) and I went up to scout out the situation and found the most beautiful grapes I have seen in years.  There were so many!  We picked and picked and came home with at least a bushel.   

There is something spiritual about making grape juice, maybe it is because the fruit of the vine is what Jesus used to represent His blood.  I do not know what it is, but when I squeeze the huge bag of cooked grapes and I watch the dark juice drip out into the pan and turn my hands red I think of the cross every time!  The color and the amount pouring over my hands does a small flip in my stomach.  To think of the the powerful blood of Jesus running down wood and mingling with the dirt and rocks at the foot of the cross moves me.   Jesus told us to be reminded of Him and His death when we drink the cup of communion.  I can see why He said that….

The squeezing and twisting of the bag, the thoughts pondered in my mind last for a few minutes, and then the job is finished, that experience stored away until next year’s grape harvest.

The juice and jelly turned out beautifully.  The juice will be for Christmas breakfast, birthdays and the Seder meal at Easter time.  We are having some juice this morning to celebrate the harvest!

I already have 6 jars of the jelly spoken for as some folks make their wishes known the minute they know I am canning some wild grape jelly.  

I also canned 6 qts. of our spaghetti sauce that Rick likes.  It turned out delicious, we all had to taste it of course and give opinions on what might be needed to be adjusted.  In the end we let it be and decided that the taste was just perfect.  God still does miracles!

So the harvest continues.  Today will be plums, green beans, and more spaghetti sauce.  I am making a turkey for supper so the house should smell wonderfully by the end of the day.

Wild grapes clusters, most beautiful grapes that I have seen in years!

Picking the grapes off of our friends old barn.

Beautiful bounty,

Stained hands from the work, sign of a productive day!

Who needs the store when you can go right out to the garden to get what’s needed for supper? Ok, so I have to get a little meat from the freezer for the carnivores!

Summer Flowers

Annie, making and tasting her raspberry jam!

Annie’s first batch of Raspberry jam.

Yesterday was another first in our house, a continuation of passages in a Johnson girl’s life……..  learning to can.

Annie, 14, picked the raspberries, mashed, measured and made the raspberry jam.  The only thing I did was pour for her.  It turned out beautifully.  She is really coming into her own as far as stepping up to the new responsibilities that come with her age.  I am so proud of her and thankful for her.  She is also VERY funny.  She makes the best faces and funniest comments which keep me laughing.  She is also deep, she has a great mind and strong emotions and I like it so much when she shares her heart.  God has allowed her to be tested and it is a beautiful thing to see her grow in her faith and love for the Lord.  She shines SO bright!

 

Yesterday was hot.  Last night after worship practice Jeni and Jason took the girls to the neighbor’s pool to do a late night swim.  Jason is a water front director at the local Christian camp and so the girls played drown the lifeguard but they did not win…….  yeah Jason!  I was in the house talking to our friend and could hear the laughter and the shouting.  They had so much fun.

Packer up-date —    It is not looking good for reconciliation with Favre.  Even Jeni was surprised at the attitude he took yesterday.  He is losing face daily.  So sad for someone who has been a Wisconsin icon.  Jeni is still standing by her “man” but on shaky ground.  Jeni now has a Cubs baseball cap,  we knew allowing a Chicago native to “invade” would cause problems but who knew it would come to this!  ;0

I am off to make scones to go with our delicious raspberry jam. 

Today’s list

laundry, office, weed some in the garden, mow lawn, mop the floor and then off to the races and the county fair.

I am debating about taking dramamine as the girls will want me to go on some rides and I am not sure I could handle it.

It is going to be fun,

Blessed

Joyce

Hard working girls.

Washing the cukes in the cooler then packing into canning jars, don’t they look happy!!!

Ally and Kristi in their aprons, ready to can pickles. Aren’t they cute?

Beautiful Georgia peaches

Precious tools, these two pieces of canning equipment were purchased our first summer married when we canned together our first batch of grape juice. They are precious to me as they represent 28 years and thousands of jars of canning to help meet the needs of our family.

Melody dropping the peaches in boiling water to slip the skins, she was excellent at this job!

Catching up

This is going to be a very random post due to time and so many subjects to cover…….

Jeni-  got the job in Evanston, she will be a personal assistant/nanny/house supervisor…….. basically everything that I do except she will get paid for it!!!     She and I took a quick trip down to Evanston last Thursday so she could meet with the former nanny and learn some things about the job.  We stayed in the families huge house as they are in Egypt for  three weeks.  It is a beautiful house and the job will keep Jeni very busy, but the work will look good on her “wife-resume”  HA HA.    We also spent most of Friday looking at apartments, going up and down stairs and meeting managers on a very HOT and HUMID day.  She applied for one apartment that we both felt would work but will not know for a few days whether she gets it.  Jeni starts work onthe 18th and can stay in the home as long as she needs, but of course it would be nice to get settled in he own place as soon as possible.

Mandy has now sold three cars and continues to love her job.  She works with some great people which has made the job so much fun.   She is doing well.  She and her friend Anna sang a duet in church called The Wonder of the Cross.   It was beautiful.

Last week I canned peaches and raspberry sauce and jam.  The end of the island is starting to stack with boxes of canning. The peaches were from Georgia and they were the most delicious I have tasted in years.   Today I will can pickles.  I have to go swipe dill out of other peoples gardens due to my lack of it……..  don’t worry, it is a common practice in Gills Rock to do this, and also to leave any unwanted produce on other peoples porches, usually at night while wearing black!  I always find out who does it to us when they ask for just one jar of whatever I am canned from the produce!

Cleaning jobs continue……. keeping us very busy.  This week we start dog sitting for a five day stint.  It works out well because as the girls walk and care for the dogs I will clean the house.

We finally made it to the beach for our first breakfast at the beach Monday.  It was so peaceful.  We hope to head out the door soon for today’s trip.  We only go for two hours but at least there are two hours of rest in the week and being together with my girls.

I am making no headway into preparing for school, all I have is a list of what we will be studying and am now needing to make sure we have the books needed.

Saturday night we Jeni and Jason took the younger girls to pizza and then came over to visit.  Jason rode on Lilly thus squelching his fear of horses, not uncommon to most humans!  We played games and then they watched something on TV but I went to bed…… just to tired.

Yesterday was a great time of worship in our church, God really blessed the music.

I did steak for dinner because it was Jeni’s last Sunday dinner with us.  The girls and I all ate under the trees in our backyard and talked and laughed.  I took out my camera and took some pictures Jeni and Many as they were still dressed up nice.  Then they got on the trampoline in their dresses and it turned into a wild and funny moment.  Our girls are NEVER boring.  Took the girls swimming and then after church we had a few young adults over to watch a DVD and sing around the piano.  I just love it that my girls can now pick up even a new song and put the three part harmony in on the spot.  It was glorious.  We pulled out an old song, For Those Tears I Died, and worked it up for Jason as it is one of his favorite songs.  I had forgotten that song but the words are so good.  When he came to the house we sang it for him and he was blessed.

This week–

Clean TL’s house and sit for their dogs

Clean cabin

Can pickles and more raspberries.

Mow lawn and garden lawn

Go to the county fair on Wednesday and see Rick race

prepare music for Don Piper meetings at church this coming weekend

visit with a few friends that are in for the week

get a grip on office area  :)

get house cleaned

have fun

Blessed

Joyce

PS…  Pictures coming later, maybe tonight

My Mother’s Day plant, still blooming after all these weeks.

Strawberry Freezer jam

Busy Busy Days

We are in the crunch time of our year.  Our care-taking business requires that we open up and spring clean many of the homes that we manage.  It is a huge job as usually there are other work jobs on each site, fixing, doors, decks, windows, etc..  I am  so blessed to have a husband that can handle all of these needs and it pleases the owners as well making for less people going in and out of these nice home.  

The down side to this time of the year is that we have to stretch school out into June because we go to part time school/part time working.  The up-side is that the children are learning home management/yard care/laundry as a business and are getting big bucks for it as well!  This business is going to settle down in about 5 days and then we can get our home in order and school finished.  

Our cottage is just about finished, and in the nick of time as we have our first renter in 10 days.  Rick has to install an air-conditioner in the next few days.  It may be cold here now, but our summers have been getting hotter and hotter.  People come to Door County to get away from the heat so we need to make sure they can cool down in the cottage especially at night.

Our garden is only a quarter of the way done because the cultivator we borrow from a friend blew up!  The good news is that when our community mechanic looked at it he said that it was old and due to die any day from the look of the engine.  We will go 50/50 with our friends to purchase a new one, due in on Friday, so I can get the beds tilled and planted.  It has been so cold and damp that I do not think I will be to far behind.  

I want to have a good gardening/canning season as the food prices continue to rise here in Door County.  They always do in the summer as the tourists season starts, but add the extra costs on top and it is getting a little scary.  I am highly motivated to fill the pantry with every canning jar I own……  we’ll see.

Living for Him

Joyce