We have had rain this past week, almost every day.  I am thankful that we have had rain this summer even when it is typically very dry.  It has kept things green and lush here.  We have also seen our share of snakes this summer.  On Saturday Bryan killed a copperhead, and a few days before that we found a little cottonmouth (or water moccasin) in the little filter basket in our pool.  That one had to be killed as well.  Whenever we find a harmless snake like a king snake, we leave it alone as it eats the poisonous snakes.   An interesting note about snakes is that when you decapitate them, both the body and the head still move for quite some time.   The head still opens and closes its mouth as though it were trying to bite.  I suppose it still could bite if you touched it. I think that I had heard this, but I really didn’t realize how freaky and true it is.  It really reminds me of Satan – how he has had his head crushed and has been mortally wounded by our Savior, but yet he is still moving around and trying to bite people!  It may all be over for him, but he is not going down without a fight, and trying to take every last person with him that he can, and he will seek to undermine the Father’s plan as best he can.  But God!  May we all seek God and submit to Him, and resist the devil so that he will flee from us!  Yes, remember James 4:7, and go ahead and read through to verse 10:

Submit yourselves therefore to God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.   Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.  Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts, ye double minded.  Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep:  let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.  Humble yourselves in the sight of the LORD, and He shall lift you up.

I find great comfort in drawing nigh unto God, and it is the safest place to be.  When things get tough and confusing in life, let us run quickly to Jesus like the baby chicks do to their mother.  Let us draw nigh to our Heavenly Father and be safe with HIM!

Blessings to all,

Christine

As you may have realized, the Fair Hills Farm website has undergone quite a change.  We were having considerable problems with our yahoo site, and so we changed over a few weeks ago.  In the process, we have super simplified everything, and at this point, this particular page is mostly a blog.  We have plans to expand gradually, but it will take a bit of time because my web person (daughter Amanda) has a lot going on.    A lot of information we had on the other site is no longer here, including some earlier blogposts.  I will try to retrieve them or re-write some of them, such as the one with the horseradish recipe.  I am currently working on my e-book, Nurturing The Generations, and making it into a study guide with recipes, and worksheets, etc.   This is going on while I am tending the garden, cleaning out and organizing the house (which is really a perpetual job, isn’t it?) and carrying our 9th baby, which is due around December 5th, the Lord willing!  We are all excited and delighted, and I keep thinking of things to add to the e-book.  I hope to add a section on the joys of being an older mom (since I am 46).  I really am enjoying being pregnant, which I have not always done in the past.  I think as you get older, the surge in hormones is such a delight to your body that you really feel better than when you did as a younger person.  It seems that way for me, at least.  I marvel at how the Lord God in His awesome plans can do the most wonderful things in allowing women the privilege of bringing forth life, by His hand and with His help.  He is so worthy of praise!

We have been enjoying some wonderful dishes from our garden.  Last night we had a meal that consisted of a grass-fed beef roast, mashed potatoes and cauliflower,  fresh zucchini and onion gently simmered on the stove and seasoned with butter and sea salt,  fresh tomato relish, and homemade bread.  I think the tomato relish is my favorite way to eat tomatoes, and it goes so wonderfully with practically everything.  If you have never heard of this dish, I will share with you how we make it.   I was telling my husband that I never had any such thing until I ate it at his grandparent’s house, perhaps 24-25 years ago.  He told me he thought it was just a family recipe, but I am certainly going to include it in Nurturing The Generations.  Very simply, you cut up 4-5 fresh tomatoes, 1 onion, 1-2 cayenne peppers (sliced open, with seeds removed, then chopped).  Add to this some sea salt to taste and a dash of raw apple cider vinegar (or plain white vinegar if that is all you have on hand).  Mix well and let sit for a few minutes so the flavors blend.  This is a spicy recipe, but not too hot.  Even my four year old daughter likes this!  I will have Abigail down load some pictures (she is my photo person!) so you can see what it looks like.

Another simple recipe for a delicious raw, fresh garden food, is cucumbers in sour cream with dill.  We just wash our cucumbers and then slice them up (3 or 4 of them), add a little raw onion chopped as well, and then toss with a few tablespoons of sour cream.  To this add some dill weed and sea salt, and voila, another dish that I think my children could eat forever.  One interesting thing to note is that cucumbers, watermelons and cantalope contain a wonderful amino acid, citrulline,  which is a precursor to human growth hormone that the body makes naturally.   These have anti-aging and rejuvinating properties.  Citrulline is also found in walnut seedlings, flaxseed, and in the milk protein casein.  Flaxseed is another thing we consume in our house – I put it freshly ground in our bread dough, and sometimes we eat it freshly ground mixed into some fruit juice.  It is very nourishing.

If anyone has questions for me, please e-mail me at info@fairhillsfarm.com  ~ I hope everyone is having a good summer and may the Lord bless and keep each one of you!

Christine

Tomato Relish

Cucumbers in Dill Sauce

Beth with the chickens in our backyard

4 year old Beth in the Bradford pear tree in our front yard

3 year old Benjamin with Rex in our front yard

New Flower Garden

Other side of the Flower Garden

Flower Garden

Path in the Flower Garden