Beautiful Scenery Around Galena

Here are some reasons we love Galena! So pretty!

It's that Time of Year..... Again!

Leaves are turning gold, the wind is brisk and chilly, moose season is upon us..... Yep Fall is here. Even though the Lower 48 are dealing with heat and hurricanes, we are in the heading into the busiest and most stressful time of the year...Fall.

 It's that time of year that we realize that winter is fast approaching and we didn't quite get everything we needed to get done during the summer. (Though this summer was rainy and cold and I didn't get nearly enough sun soaked up.) I didn't get shelves put up in my shed or have a garage sale to get rid of stuff we never use...like a 20 pound turkey roaster. Haven't seen any turkeys flying around here lately!=)  

It's that time of year where school starts back up again and we all try to learn and readjust to schedules. Waking up early has never been a thing of mine but I have come to the realization that for the next 18 years or so I won't get to sleep in at all except on weekends and summers. Making breakfast and setting out clothes, waking kids up and heading out the door. Schools back in secession!

It's that time of year where the temperatures drop and you harvest all your veggies before they freeze. Trying to find space for 35 cabbages....HARD. They are not exactly the SMALLEST veggies that grow. Blanching broccoli and cauliflower, vacuum sealing and freezing it all. This year we bought a new freezer just for veggies and a fridge just for cabbages. Friends here say they keep their cabbages till April in the fridge! So we are going to try!

It is that time of year when you have to batten down the hatches, because winter is coming and if you don't put things that are in your yard away in a few weeks they will be covered in snow and you won't be able to find it till spring next year.

It's that time of year again that you make sure your wood pile and wood stove are ready to go and working. We got a new wood stove this year that is suppose to be amazingly efficient and will heat the WHOLE house and not just the living room. Our last one would heat the living room and then work its way to the rest of the house. Keith loved this because he like to be cool at night but I didn't like it at all because I love to be warm and snugly in my bed. As we speak I have 3 quilts on my side of the bed and Keith just has a sheet. But I am super excited for the new wood stoves that with all these complex words and descriptions that Keith could tell you, I just know it will heat my bedroom! YAY!! And it will use less wood more efficiently. And here saving wood and having your cutting trees, hauling, cutting stacking wood  is AWESOME!

It's that time of year when men and husbands are scarce. Getting meat for the winter is a MUST and hunting moose becomes the priority of most households. Most men head out on weekends and hunt for moose. Keith has been hunting in the evenings after work. Having a moose in our freezer is essential, and it puts pressure on everyone in the village. I find this season is the most stressful of all the other seasons, due to the fact that we NEED meat to make it through winter. (This sounds like a line from those reality shows about Alaska...Insert Dramatic Music NOW..dun dun dunnnn) 

But even with all the stressful events, It's that time of year where a community joins together and helps people out. Moose hunting together, community potlucks to Welcome the new people to the community and other things go on like cranberry picking. My boys and I decorated the house with fall leaves and turkeys and scarecrows. We enjoy hot chocolate on cool evenings. Even though this season is always a bit stressful and busy, I always enjoy it! This season always reminds me of this verse in Proverbs about working hard like an ant.

You lazy fool, look at the ant.

Watch it closely; let it teach you a thing or two.

Nobody has to tell it what to do.

All summer it stores up food;

at harvest it stockpiles provisions.

~ Proverbs 6:6 ~

 (from the message)

I don't want to be a Sluggard, I want to work like an ant and get everything done before winter.
 

Tasty Tuesday~ Pumpkin Gingerbread

Fall is quickly approaching... wait I think it is already here. But with it's arrival comes one of my favorite times of year. Yes I love Christmas and winter but I LOVE Fall and the golden leaves, chilly air and pumpkin everything.... I think I could live on Pumpkin. Today's recipe is one of my FAVORITES because it makes a lovely loaf of bread that welcomes in the season very well. Make some and I guarantee it will make your home smell delicious and it won't last long sitting on the counter. My 1 year old almost 2 , who can reach just above the counter and will grab this loaf and RUN with it! Thus the reason my loafs are usually always broken or have chunks missing! =) But many times when I have made this bread, I have wanted to run with it and hide in my room in my closet and just chomp down and eat it WITHOUT sharing, but my soon to be 5 year old has figured out how to open my closet so I don't get very far. =) So now I usually double the batch and while my kids are begging me for some of this delicious smelling bread I think to myself and say "OH WELL" and we munch down on a loaf and spoil our appetite before dinner. As I said OH WELL!  But this bread is delicious and smells SOOOOOO good. It is like Thanksgiving in a Loaf! Try it and don't try to restrain yourself to just one piece, you won't be able to! =)

Pumpkin Ginger Bread

3 cups sugar
1 cup oil
4 eggs (this bread works great with Egg Replacer)
2/3 cup water
1 can Pumpkin Puree
2 teaspoons ginger
1 teaspoon all spice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
3 1/2  cup flour
2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
 (You can add nuts to this too and make it even more yummlisious!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 2 loaf pans.
In a large mixing bowl combine sugar, oil and eggs. Beat till smooth. Add water and beat till well blended. Stir in Pumpkin, ginger, cinnamon, and All spice.

In Medium bowl combine flour, soda, salt, and baking powder. Add dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture blend till all mixed. Divide into pans Bake about 1 hour till toothpick comes out clean.

Then hide them because they won't last long!=)

Galena Agricultural Fair 2012

Well it is hard to believe that Galena Harvest time is approaching already. I am still waiting for summer to arrive. With the rainy and cool temperatures that we have had this summer I feel like we never had any summer and jumped right in to Fall in May!  I guess I will have to wait until next year to warm up! But the harvesting time of the year is upon us and Keith and I both get excited for the end of August to get to go to the annual Ag Fair of Galena. It is so much fun to see what people grow and see if anyone will break any records for GIANT veggies. This year was a success. Giant cabbages, Zucchini, Cucumbers, pumpkins, Cauliflower and turnips...And many more that I can't remember right now.  We get to see all the crafts, quilts, jams, breads, and other cool things that people have made this year. We play games and fellowship with people. It is a lot of fun! 

 Keith's Giant Cabbage in the back of our truck

 

 Keith, Kaden, Ross and his girls getting ready for the Old Car Road Rally.

 Loading up

 Larry's Giant cabbage = 42 pounds biggest one on record

 Keith's Giant Cabbage= 18 pounds. That's A LOT of Cabbage

 Giant  Vegetable Table

 Giant Cauliflower, Turnips, Zucchini, and all kinds of fun stuff

 Keith's Pretty Cabbage

 Keith's Zucchini~ He got 1st place

 Produce tables

 Craft Tables

 I got 1st place for my ornaments

 

 Jams jellies, salmon and homemade beer table

 Flower Table

 The cool shirt for this years Ag fair~ The moose is eating the carrots.... that is about right!=)

 Fun and Games. Tug of War

 Kids vs Parents

 Doing a great job

 Isaiah with the giant cabbage

 Isaiah inspecting daddy's cabbage

 Keith's first place for broccoli and zucchini

 My beaded Christmas ornaments I got first place!

 YAY!!

So Long, Fair Well..... Goodbye

One thing that my life seems to be full of is goodbyes. They are NOT something I like to do at all!! But even with goodbyes, It was wonderful to have such a great time with my grandparents and Uncle. It was nice that they came so far to see us. We are so blessed! I love my family! Here are some of the pictures of the last day they were here.

 In front of our house

 Checking in

 3 World Travelers~ And they are! Uncle Mark went straight from South America the day before he came here. He was trying to get over Jet lag here.

 I LOVE YOU!!!!

 Love my family!

Looking for Gold....Or Rocks!

One of the fun things we like to do here in Galena is to go out to the "beach" and look for cool rocks. There are so many different pretty ones and we always come back with pockets full of rocks. Or in my case with Kaden, rocks sticks and really "cool" mud. I just have to double check pockets before putting clothes in the wash.  While My grandparents and Uncle were here we took them down to the beach and walked looking for cool rocks. Gold has been found here too along with mammoth teeth and bones.  While I was looking for small teeth, I asked Keith what Mammoth teeth looked like and he holds out his hands to indicate them to be about the size of a big rock. I was NOT expecting them to be THAT big!  We didn't find any gold or mammoth teeth but I did find a cool fossil and we did have a fun time.

 Daisy enjoyed running around and getting her feet wet.

 For being a Black Lab, she doesn't like getting in water.

 

 Uncle Mark

 Isaiah wishing he could just jump in that COLD water

 Skipping Stones... Kaden learning from Uncle Mark.

 Isaiah didn't skip stones but he could make big splashes!

 Kaden got cold and ended up wearing my jacket.... then I was cold!=)

 My little water boy

 "Grandma look at this cool stick!"..... This boy loves sticks!