Each year, a local county holds its annual county fair. Many years ago, my mom, aunt, and I entered some things into the fair’s competitions. My mom entered some home canned pickles, my aunt entered some home canned zucchini relish, and I entered some amateur photography of flowers and butterflies, as well as a crocheted baby afghan. I do not…
Visiting Some of Pennsylvania’s State Parks
The state of Pennsylvania contains over 120 state parks. One of the great things about these is their free admission! Some states surrounding Pennsylvania charge a fee to enter the park and use their facilities. Thankfully, Pennsylvania grants access to hiking trails, picnic facilities, beaches, and pools for free! Over the years, my family has visited about 15 different state…
Realizing the Natural Beauty Around Us
This is slightly different from my other posts, but I thought something new might be a nice change of pace! The other day, I was driving home from grocery shopping. Since we do not live extremely close to any kind of grocery store, I only go shopping maybe once per week, sometimes even less. It forces me to really compile…
Blue Ribbon Home Canned Dill Pickle Relish
Over the weekend, my neighbor came over carrying a bucket of pickling cucumbers. She told me her husband planted too many pickles and she was overrun, and she asked if I could use some. My husband and I had not planted pickles this year because I have never had much luck canning them and getting them to taste good. They…
Tips for Your First Kayaking Trip
Just over a week ago, we went kayaking with some friends of ours. We were going to be on a creek I was unfamiliar with and a lot of rain had fallen recently, so I was a little apprehensive! Kayaking is a very popular activity in our area. It may be more widespread than that, but my reaches don’t go…
My First Yard Sale Attempt
This year, I decided to venture into the fun world of yard sales! Each July, our “town” has two days of community yard sales. I knew I had some clothes and cleaning products that I no longer had use for, so I decided to try to have a yard sale. My first very own yard sale! When I was young,…
Homemade Fresh Salsa
I am so excited to be moved into my own website! Trying to get everything set up was an experience, to say the least! There are still a few things I need to adjust to my liking, and I am learning as I go, so thank you for sticking with me! So anyway, we had a picnic a few days…
Oven Roasted Sugar Snap Peas
As I am writing this blog post, I am laying outside in our driveway, soaking in some vitamin D! Today is such a beautiful day! The sun is shining, but there are some clouds and a breeze keeping it from getting hot. All the windows in our house are wide open, allowing the fresh air to whisk away any stale…
Archery at Hope’s Haven
Three years ago, the small private school I teach at began forming an archery program for the students. Because I had some previous archery experience, I became the coach. This year, we officially joined the National Archery in the Schools Program and had nearly all of our middle and high school students involved in the program. Our middle school team…
A Few of My Favorite Running Things
As I sit here with sunburned legs and a twinge of soreness in my quad muscles, I have been thinking about some of my favorite things to use when I run. There are all kinds of reviews out there, both positive and negative, for all sorts of running products. I have used these reviews in the past to decide whether…