I celebrated a birthday milestone in September... 50 years! It's been a wonderful month celebrating my birthday! We celebrated at a local state park with family and friends, and it was a very special day for me! I don't feel any different, but it was wonderful to visit with our family and friends!
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Happy 50 years to me!
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So hard to believe that I have reached the milestone of 50 years - although I have told everyone,
I don't feel any different! God's goodness is so good to me, day after day! |
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The garden has been full of bounty this year! Tomatoes are in abundance! I've lost count of how many jars of tomatoes I've canned into salsa, sauce, and juice!
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I love to freeze my zucchini - I use it through the winter in soups, stews, and casseroles. I blanch the zucchini after either slicing or shredding it, do a cold water bath, drain, and then place it in freezable ziplock bags, which I freeze laying flat. This makes an incredibly easy way throughout the winter to add them to spaghetti sauce, soups, and casseroles. I don't like to let anything go to waste!
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My husband and I are following the low-carb eating as much as possible. So, we enjoy soup now, without potatoes. Let me tell you, soup is just not the same without potato in it! But, with all the fresh garden veggies in our soup, we have learned to really enjoy soup. This chicken soup has all these veggies from my garden: carrots, zucchini, kale, cauliflower, and broccoli... I added 1 small container of cream cheese spread, and it just blends all the flavors together so beautifully!
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| We went on a weekend camping trip about an hour north of where we live. It was marvelous because we have finally gotten some rain, and we were able to have a campfire! |
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We "bush-camped" alongside a roaring creek, and it was truly a special getaway. The beauty of the creek and the music of its waters was speaking my soul's language of love!
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We camp with no facilities, bring all our own water, etc. We were camping in grizzly country but saw no wildlife of any kind other than a deer and her fawn.
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Sunlight danced across the shadows of the creek, filling the air with its late summer warmth.
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| Back home, in my garden, a bee napped in a dahlia's rich blooming bud. |
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| Canning has commenced in earnest! |
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I never tire of the scenery that greets me each morning as I walk!
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The garden is full of bright blooms - food for my soul!
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Mountains of tomatoes - how I thank the Lord for this abundant harvest!
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So for now - you know where I'll be... in the kitchen - as busy as can be! :)
Blessings to all of you!
Let us not become weary in doing good,
for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest
if we do not give up.
Galatians 6:9
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Happy Birthday Marilyn! You are still so young. There's nothing like a camping trip in the great outdoors. And setting camp alongside a creek or stream is even better. That soup looks delicious, and perfect for the cold days coming. Yes, potatoes are filling and wonderful to put into soups and stews. Your birthday cake looks Yummy, and I hope your special day was filled with all the things you love.
ReplyDeleteLovely Autumn days to you, Marilyn.
~Sheri
Happy Birthday blessings to you! LOve the pics. Love camping although I no longer do it at age 63. My back can't take it!! We rent cottages now or stay in an Inn.
ReplyDeleteI remember turning 50 (Dec) and then that next April we celebrated by taking our then 16 and 11 yr old daughters to Paris! We were also celebrating our 20th Anniversary that year so that was a truly memorable trip!!
I hope you enjoy all that canning, preserving from all of your produce. We LOVE homemade veggie soup. Sometimes I toss in just a handful of orzo to replace the potato.
Enjoy AUTUMN!!
How wonderful! Happy birthday, Marilyn! Looks like you've had a busy and fun September!
ReplyDeleteSo glad that you've had a great abundance of produce. :) What a beautiful camping spot!!!
May God bless you,
Valentine
Happiness and blessings to you throughout your birthday year.
ReplyDeleteHAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY
Joan,Marion and Marilyn
Happy Belated Birthday Marilyn! A great age to be....50. Oh I remember that milestone... I still felt (and looked) so young! 50 is very young! :-) Your wonderful bounty is such a blessing.. and you did such hard work to receive it! I love using frozen zuchinni in soups and stews and making zuchinni bread or muffins. I was thinking for your soup, maybe add some cubed sweet potatoes or yams.. those are supposed to be healthier and lower carbs. I think it would really add to the taste! That soup looks delish! And what a wonderful treat for a birthday... to go camping and be able to have a campfire! Now that is half of what camping is about. Fall camping is the best! Your campsite on the creek looks and sounds heavenly. That cake looks very tempting, for this gal who can't eat gluten anything! I do make a pretty mean gluten free cake though.... take care.. have fun canning! xoxoxo Marilyn
ReplyDeleteHaha...as busy as CAN be! Good for you for using all the bounty well and storing things up for future use. It is a busy time of year wrapping up your garden for sure. Your time celebrating and camping looked very special. Happy October to you!
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday, Marilyn. I hope the coming year is wonderful for you and your family.
ReplyDeleteBelated Birthday blessings Marilyn! What a wonderful celebration for you. Loved seeing your bountiful harvest and how you utilize everything. I noticed that you also have a Coleman travel trailer- we have a 2018 24’ Coleman and love it. We were hoping to get out one last time before the weather changes, but think we ran out of time. So thankful to have you as a blogging buddy and bible study sister.
ReplyDeleteLove, Noreen
Beautiful photos as always! I love seeing all the tomatoes. The Dr who is the head of the practice I work for has a big garden and has been canning like crazy. She also had so many tomatoes, lots of them heirloom variety and they were so pretty. I don't know how she gets all that canning done while working long days.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday! You are just a baby.. I'm about to turn 63. The years go by so fast!
Happy Birthday!!!! 50 is fun! Lovely photos as always, my friend!
ReplyDelete💞
ReplyDeleteHappy, Happy Birthday Marilyn! It looks as though you had a lovely party. The cake is beautiful. 50 is young! I'm 63 and don't feel any different than I did back then. Your camping spot is just perfect. Such a beautiful place to relax and enjoy the beauty that God has created. My goodness you have a LOT of tomatoes this year! You are going to have plenty to enjoy throughout the long winter. We have one last camping trip planned for next week at a park in Iowa that we've never been to. I'm hoping the fall leaves will be turning while we're there.
ReplyDeleteTake care my dear Marilyn. Enjoy all of the northwest beauty for me also. :-) Oh, how I miss those mountains.
Blessings and hugs,
Betsy
I passed that birthday milestone 18 years ago, Marilyn. It was a memorable birthday, for sure, and I'm glad you celebrated yours in style! Happy Birthday, and my God continue to bless and keep you!
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday my dear friend.
ReplyDeleteWe went camping twice so far this summer season and we hope to go one more time here in October.
Carla
Happy Birthday, Marilyn!! It looks like it was a wonderful month...and that looks like some very delicious chicken soup!! Wow...makes my tummy rumble just looking at it! Enjoy the fall!!
ReplyDeleteHappy Happy Birthday 🎈🎈🎈
ReplyDelete50 is indeed a big occasion.
I like all the veggies, especially your lovely tomatoes.
Beautiful skies too.
Granny M
A happy belated Birthday to you. Wow you sure have had a great harvest for sure and it looks like it is keeping you quite busy, we only had one tomato plant and 3 green pepper plants this year so I had a little bit of freezing of my green peppers but that is all :)
ReplyDeleteIt looks like you had a lovely 50th celebration! Happy Birthday, youngster, lol. And canning like crazy, how wonderful this food will be in the up coming winter. Lynn and Precious
ReplyDeleteOh, sweet friend! I am so thankful you had such a wonderful birthday celebration! Your life is a gift to the world. I am so thankful for you, your friendship, and your prayers and presence in my life. May God bless you with many, many more happy, healthy years, in Jesus' name!
ReplyDeleteSuch beautiful photos and what an abundance of tomatoes! You will be enjoying them for years to come!
ReplyDeleteHappy Belated Birthday, too!
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday!! Your photographs are beautiful! It is so nice to see all the wonderful canning and preserving you are doing. Such a blessing!
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday, Marilyn! Oh, I loved my 50s! Such a great time in life. I'm now loving my 60s! I enjoyed all of your photos, you have a great eye. The camping trip looks like such fun. One day, we hope to get up to Idaho with our camper! Great job on the canning.
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