Greene Valley Homestead

Through the winter I made a total of 10 quilts. These quilts were made out of precious fabrics into patchwork quilts. It is so special for me to be able to create something to hold memories for others to cherish. Some hold memories of past sport teams, loved ones who have passed away, or old baby clothes. After taking all of this time to make these quilts for others, I realized I never made a quilt for myself! For Christmas I was gifted a quilt top from an antique store that needed to be finished, so I took this opportunity to make some memories of my own! As Jesse naps, I stitch away on my homemade quilting frame my husband lovingly put together for my as a birthday gift. I listen to sermons online as I work. (usually John Piper or Voddie Baucham) It is a good quiet time with God as I accomplish work in our little home. I have a passion for marriage sermons/ sermons about family life, so this is usually what I end up listening to. (I will link some of my favorites in future...

The rain has set in for the weekend as Jesse and I fight off spring colds. Cabin fever is also starting to set in, so I am reminiscing back to last week when I planted so many flowers and vegetables in our garden! I have been reading this book since Christmas to learn more about what, when and how to plant. It has been a huge help and I plan on using it in the future if we get bees, chickens, and a milking cow or goat. Some green bean, corn, okra and squash seed we picked up from the feed store. Local is the best to use for green beans and corn. The rest of our veggies and flowers were purchased at your typical garden/outdoor living store. I transplanted my cucumbers and tomatoes that had been growing inside for the past month and were ready for more space to grow. My cucumbers have done great! The tomatoes are getting used to the garden. I used the lazy gardeners approach and planted them as seedlings instead of plants... we will see how they do! My grandparents ...

Winter has officially ended...and that means grass! No more having to load hay and silage to feed cattle everyday. A farmers work is never finished though, so my husband and father-in-law spend the spring days walking fence and spraying weeds to get the fields ready for grazing cattle. Boone and Lenoir seem like they stay in two different seasons with a 10 degree difference in only about 45 minutes drive time. This makes even more work for them as they have hay fields and cattle spread out over Watauga and Caldwell County. Being fairly new to farm life is something I am still getting used to. I am not afraid of the hard work, but about this time of year most people are graduating, celebrating and traveling with their families.  The truth is, I've been longing to see the beach.  My husband, Edward, finished a big carpentry job last Tuesday and told me he was taking the rest of the week off. You can guess the first thing that came to my mind.... spontaneous vacation!...

Baby Muffins I've seen all kinds of recipes for baby muffins that have oatmeal, avocado, spinach and applesauce in them. Any way I can hide veggies in a muffin is a win in my book. I took a lot of recipes and made them my own.  Recipe: 1 cup self rising flour (any flour of choice) 1 cup oatmeal baby cereal 1/2 cup applesauce 1 egg ( can omit and add more applesauce if allergic) 1 banana 1 avocado mash all ingredients together and put in lined baking cups (or spray pan).  Bake at 350 for 20-25 mins until goloden brown on top. Break into pieces for baby.  Jesse liked these, and it's good practice for getting used to solid finger foods! they will keep in the frig for about a week. This is the muffin batter. I didn't get a finished photo because it was time to eat! 

 I pulled out a lot of old church cookbooks right before our wedding over two years ago and snapped a bunch of photos of some great recipes. This week, I had some squash that was about to go bad andI thought of this yummy souffle! Two recipes in one for those of you who are into trying new things. It will also be nice to switch things up once we have an abounding crop coming in from the garden. This is how I have to cook now that Jesse gets his hands into everything facing forward. I think it's easier to use a food processor to mash the cooked squash, but a good masher would also do the trick. I used two large squash I had leftover and it seemed to be enough. I whisked my batter over med/low heat and it took about 15 mins to start getting to the thickened consistency you're looking for. After digging through our pantry, I realized we didn't have any crackers. I did have some bread crumbs on hand, which worked well and added some extra flavor! Yummy...

I am striving to find my Purpose in Christ during this season of life as I spend most of my days at home with Jesse and our dog, Oakley. At times I feel as if my role as a stay at home mom is a mundane journey of laundry, dishes, and diaper changes. I must look to Christ every morning as my feet hit the floor to start a new day.  I am fulfilling God's plan in Scripture each and everyday that He gives me life on this earth. Surprisingly, staying home with a baby has given me more time to do different things that I would not have dreamed of doing if life had continued on in my daily work, home, family, sleep routine. Most of the projects I get done while Jesse is napping. I am taking advantages of this season of many naps! My main purpose is to learn and study more scripture and impress it on my heart and the hearts of my family. As we adventure through the first few years of Jesse's life, it begins with training him up in the ways he should go.  The Greatest Command...

Boone, NC is finally seeing spring weather as we enter into the month of May. I've been itching to get my hands in the garden for months and was so excited to watch my husband plow the ground a few weeks ago. So far, I have harvested many grass clumps. This first year is going to be a fight against the freshly plowed soil. I have already planted red potatoes and onions with love and hopes of at least a small harvest of food (instead of grass). Everyone says to wait until after Mother's Day to plant a summer garden in the high country, when the last chance of frost is out of sight. That hasn't stopped me from planting some seedlings indoors with the hopes of a thriving transplant to the garden in the next couple of weeks. My husband, Edward took an entire day off recently to plow the garden and build me the clothes line of my dreams! I have tried to motivate myself to do some spring cleaning, but it always gets pushed to the bottom of the list of daily To-Do...

Starting this new journey in blogging as I adventure through this new chapter of life that started 9 months ago with the birth of our first son. Today, we have a sweet and curious baby who is on the verge of crawling and walking. After reading my share of what seems like hundreds of mom blogs, I can tell myself I have parenting figured out. I can start my own mom blog! Public Service Announcement: I do not have parenting figured out and never will. This is not a mom blog. What I did learn from my endless searches on Google and scrolls through Baby Center chat is that I worried way to much. I also needed to do some major self reflection. Where are my priorities? . 1. Mama- I was definitely putting motherhood first on the list. It's kind of hard not to when you have a newborn in the house who is so dependent on you. 2. Wife- I quit my part-time job when I became mama to Jesse. Having a Godly husband who works hard to provide and lead our home is such a blessing. His willingne...