Slow Sundays

I love lazy Sundays like this.  We had a great day...some productivity but lots of laying around.  Elmer and Buford got baths this morning so we had a little photoshoot. Elmer wasn't paying attention.  

I put a little flower hair clip in Buford's shaggy hair.  He left it there for about an hour.  I really need to give him a clip because his shaggy coat tends to collect things.

Even the boys like to relax on the couch on Sundays.

Elmer and David love to snuggle on the couch. It's rare that David lays on the couch without Elmer right next to him (or in most cases, right on him).

And while the boys relaxed on teh couch I finally canned up the batch of tomato sauce I've been working on.  I got 7 quarts canned, and froze 2 quarts (since I didn't want to have to put a load of only 2 cans in the canner). 

I think I'll spend the rest of the evening working on my Foxtail sweater.  The windows are open and the cool breeze is blowing in and it's a perfect time to sit on the couch and knit!

A Winner!

Thanks to the help of random.org, the lucky winner of the lotion bar is Elizabeth Downs!  Elizabeth, just email your address to purlandjune@gmail.com and I'll mail out your lotion bar!  

Purl & June Lotion Bars-A Giveaway!

I am so excited to finally share these with you!  This is our newest product, lotion bars!  These bars are made with great ingredients (cocoa butter, shea butter, avocado oil, beeswax, and essential oil) and they really make your skin nice and soft. 

There are three kinds available: Lemongrass, Lavender, and Plain June (no essential oil). 

You just hold these bars in your hands and let your body heat soften the oils a bit, then rub them anywhere you like.  I walk around barefoot much of the time, so my heels get a little rough.  I just rub the lotion bar on them at night, and when I wake up in the morning my heels are soft and smooth! 

They come in a reusuable tin, and the size is great. You can carry them in your purse or even a pocket.  Can you tell I really love these things?

In fact, I think you'll really like them too!   To celebrate, I'm going to offer one as a giveaway!   Just enter a comment and tell me what kind you'd like (Lemongrass, Lavender, or Plain June) to be entered.  If you post it on Facebook, you can get a second entry.  And if you blog about it on your own blog, you can get a third entry.  Please be sure to leave a second and third comment if you post it on Facebook and blog it!

The giveaway will close on Sunday, September 16th, and I'll announce a winner on Monday the 17th.  Good luck!

It's Breeding Season!

 It's breeding season here!!  This past weekend two handsome fellas joined us.  The first is Mammoth.  I bought him three years ago from a breeder in NC.  I sold him after that fall, and his owners are nice enough to let me borrow him again!  I'm really excited about him, because he's turned into quite the handsome buck.  Smelly, but handsome.  He's grown up a TON since you saw him last.   He's smitten with Ida and June, and hopefully there will be some action soon. 

 As you can see, he's trying hard to woo the ladies. 

The next young man to join us is this Southdown ram lamb.  He belongs to the breeder who sold me Darla, my Southdown ewe.

He's a good looking guy, and built very "clubby" like the club lambs you see in shows today.  Perhaps I'll sell some lambs to 4-Hers next spring.  He's not as stocky as last year's ram, but he does need to gain some weight.  Hopefully he won't work off too many calories chasing the ewes around. 

  

I love the Southdown breed's sweet faces. 

He's already enthusiastic about his job as well!

Now I only have to wait until the girls are bred, plus 5 months so I can see the babies.  That'll fly by. Right?  Right? 

In the Shop!

I'm so excited for fall, so I decided to make a fall inspired coffee cozy!  It's in the shop!

Reverend Matt

I met Matt (the one with the ball cap) while attending the University of Maryland.  He was an Animal Science major, like me (and the rest of the gals in the photo).  He's one of the coolest and nicest guys I know.  He's got something in common with everyone in the picture, besides going to school together.  Know what that is?  He married us all! 

Matt got ordained a few years after graduating, and the first of our group of friends he married are Annabel and Steve (the couple with the cute twins!).  Then he married David and me, then Lindsay (with the dog) and Kevin (Virginia shirt).  Most recently he married Jenny and Josh (Jenny's the cute preggo chick). He's also married other people, but not in our circle of friends (that I know of). 

We had a pig roast (more on that later) a few weeks ago, and Matt realized that with the exception of one married guy there, he had married all the rest of us!  I made everyone take a picture because I just think it's so cool. 

I think it's special that a good friend and a great guy married us, and I think it's extra special he married so many of our friends, too! 

Laboring on Labor Day Weekend

 I took advantage of the long weekend and did some food preservation.  I've really been wanting to pressure can some soups for some ready-to-go meals, and I finally got around to it.  I decided to use the last of our BBQed pork (more on that later) and made a pork and bean soup.  I ended up with 2 quarts and 6 pints (one didn't fit in the canner, so it's in the fridge) of soup, which will be great for quick meals. 

















David and I also bought a bushel of peaches, so I needed to use those up.  I canned some peach halves (8 quarts) and made a really great peach topping with cinnamon and sugar and nutmeg (3 half pints and 1 pint). I also dehydrated lots of them, and froze several gallon bag fulls. 

 This is where we keep our home canned goods, in the cellar part of the basement.  The shelves are filling up.  I really love to see canned things, because they just look so pretty.  The top shelf has 1 quart of applesauce, a couple quarts of stock, several quarts of pigeon peas, a couple quarts of venison, and several smaller jars of tomato juice.  The second shelf down has a couple half-pints of peach jam, 2 quarts of pickles, a couple pints of pickle relish, several smaller jars of jalepeno jelly, a couple jars of pickled jalepenos, some apple butter, cherry marmalade, peach topping, and halved peaches.  The next shelf down has the soup I just made.  Oh yeah, and paint, but we won't eat that. ;-)

I'd like to can up some more soups and stock, so they're ready to go when we're feeling lazy or in a hurry and need a quick meal.