Smells Like the End of Summer

After a few weeks of researching and dreaming, I picked up a new hobby and it might be one of my favorite hobbies, yet. My husband and I began canning recently! I started by visiting 5 local produce stands, collecting goodies from each one. We started with dilly beans, and have gone on to do dill pickles and preserved green beans. It's definitely a labor of love, and I like it. Every part of the process is joy-giving for me.

Nick joked that Piper is going to remember the beginning of a new school year smelling like dill and vinegar. I hope we all remember the end of summer smelling this way, really. I hope this becomes a tradition for our family - something to share with our girls as they grow.

Now that we're into canning, we are already dreaming about what we should plant next Spring. Gardening and canning is for every season. Whenever you can't actually plant or tend to your harvest, you can plan and prepare. It's a process rooted in every season. It feels right and true.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: 

2 a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; 

3 a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 

4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 

5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 

6 a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 

7 a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 

8 a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.

Piper is set to start school this week. We are all experiencing that excited-nervous feeling of a new school year. 

I hope to share more blog posts on Wednesday and Friday but, if I'm quiet on the blog this week it's likely due to settling into our new routines.