Sounds like a delicious idea, but I won’t be making salsa unless I buy some tomatoes as we have had no luck with ours this year.

Do you have high winds I your area?

We have tried a camping stove but getting the temps high enough can take a long time.

I want to use my pressure canners also out of doors.

We do not have central AC and it has been around 105/109 some days at 5:30 pm.

Looks good and with a glass of homemade lemonade it is perfect.

I love homemade fresh salsa. I never make batches big enough to can (because I eat it all) but I’m hoping this year I will have enough tomatoes so I can. I am not a big fan of spicy so I add sugar to make it sweet! On Wednesday I made a small batch of mango salsa and it turned out delicious. Looking forward to when my tomatoes are ready to be made into salsa. Thanks for sharing your recipe!

Love salsa and won’t forget my first time i made it…i turned the mix by hand and couldn’t feel a thing for three days….the heat from the halapenos took away my migraine but my hands couldn’t feel a thing for days. Remind people to wear gloves when you cut and handke the peppers for the salsa, because the halapeno pepper are hot.,,.and you don’t have need to use more than four for the recipe.

Hello Dori, I wanted to tell you how good your salsa recipe is! The only problem is – we ate it all☺ lol. Am going to have to make more soon and double the recipe! Hope your summer is going good! Thanks for the great recipe. Looking forward to your next post☺ Ellen

Great life !

my dear Dori:
the first blooms of spring are wonderful!!! the photos brighten my day. And again, I wish I could experience them personally 🙂

You brightened my world with your beautiful flowers! We had a late winter so nothing much blooming here, hopefully later. And WOW the quilting room looks like great fun!! An update will be nice. Thanks for sharing from my fav state. God bless.

I love flower season! Like always I wish I lived closer so I could purchase some of your beautiful flowers. I have had a few of my own flowers come up and decided I would go cut my own bouquet today to brighten up my kitchen table. It’s amazing the wonderful feeling you get from having fresh flowers in your room. I hope your business is successful this flower season. I love how the girls quilts are turning out, very bright and beautiful! I’m excited to see how they look next time.

Oh, I would love to have a flower cart such as yours near to me! I’d buy two every week- one to sit on my kitchen table and another at my work desk.

Hello Dory, I wanted to tell you how much I enjoy all your posts! You inspire and encourage me with all you do. Thank you and have a happy day. Ellen

I just love your porches! I dream of one day having large porches like yours! Our current deck is small, uncovered, and very hot. My little guys love playing on our deck so we use an umbrella to help with the sun and heat. Just the past couple of weeks my husband and I have been talking about remodeling our deck. We would love to make it longer and wider as well as adding a roof covering. No official plans are set in stone, but I’m hoping to get started before the heat of the summer hits! Rocking chairs will also be a must for my deck when it’s finished.

I don’t care what we talked about! Just sitting and relaxing, drinking tea or coffee, becoming aquainted. Eventually conversation would drift to grandchildren I am sure! And hobbies, and collections, and sewing projects, flea markets, recipes, antiques….friends don’t need topics, it just happens!

I have always loved porches but not always had one, so your post was so enjoyable. I imagine our conversation would touch on how we got where we are, the beautiful valley below your porch, the trout stream in front of mine……..and spiders! I had to laugh about that last one because when we finally got our mountain home with porches the first thing I noticed was how prolific the spiders were; spinning and creating their own art every evening. For some reason I have many more on the front wraparound porch than the back porch. Maybe it is something to do with the wind? Anyway, we would have plenty to talk about. Enjoy your porching season!

Dori, I also wanted to mention I love what you are using for a flower pot on the porch. I remember those pots very well, as we used one on the farm growing up, and when I lived on a pig farm and took care of the owners pigs. We didn’t have indoor plumbing at either of these places. On my family’s farm, our outhouse was inside the barn which was up the hill in back of our farmhouse and not something we would use at night, hence the pot. On the pig farm the outhouse was below the house and a ways away and no one wanted to walk to it at night either. Those were some happy days though we didn’t have much we had fun all the time. Memories are precious.

Thank you for sharing your porch. As far as the spiders are concerned, have you tried peppermint? I read in a book concerning home remedies that spiders will stay away from peppermint. Have a great time on your lovely porches.
Marilyn

Dori, you are living my dream with your lovely porch! Thanks for sharing and Thanks for the tour!
~shannon
@browngirl_og

Porches, beautiful porches! I was raised with porches and always have had at least one my grown up life. Your’s are simple wonderful! I cleaned my front porch today, back porch tomorrow. You know, I think we would have some super conversations about everything from A to Z, especially quilts and quilting. Then just quietly enjoy the special Tennessee air. Thanks for sharing. God bless.

Sitting on a porch is just a perfect thing to do on a sunny Sunday afternoon. My farmhouse has a front porch and a back deck. Unfortunately, our house sits close to a road and I don’t like the noise of an occasional vehicle going by, but the back deck is perfect. Our property falls down in the back to a river, so sitting on the deck I feel like I’m in a tree house and listening to the river rush by makes for a perfect afternoon, book in hand, tea on the side table.
As a side note, I love when you share your house through blogs, your love for the property signs through, and that’s a wonderful thing to share.

Love your porches, I like to sit on my porch early in the morning drinking my coffee , by noon it is too hot to sit on front porch. At your place we could just walk around to the other side.
Till next time
Cheryl Turner

Oh, how I would love to share the view from one of those porches! They are absolutely beautiful. As to what we would talk about, I’m sure we could start with that…. the view. Then we could move on to our projects, past, present and future. Such a lovely place.

I love your porches,Dori, they are what I hope to have some day. I have a Verandah on the back of my house and I do ,one to sit out there. I have a table setting out there and some potted plants and our bbq, but one day on my own porch I’d love to have some rocking chairs, a porch swing and a hammock and a day bed as well as my outdoor table setting and bbq. A real relax place to unwind and treasure time.
I’d chat with you about anything and everyone, your favorite plants, life, sewing and whatever else we felt like chatting about, all with home baking, I’d bring some too, and some lovely tea or coffee and later a glass of wine. There’d be no rush to our time together and we’d savor the conversation and time together.
Blessing to you and yours
Denise
Australia

I just love your porches! I dream of one day having large porches like yours! Our current deck is small, uncovered, and very hot. My little guys love playing on our deck so we use an umbrella to help with the sun and heat. Just the past couple of weeks my husband and I have been talking about remodeling our deck. We would love to make it longer and wider as well as adding a roof covering. No official plans are set in stone, but I’m hoping to get started before the heat of the summer hits! Rocking chairs will also be a must for my deck when it’s finished.

I don’t care what we talked about! Just sitting and relaxing, drinking tea or coffee, becoming aquainted. Eventually conversation would drift to grandchildren I am sure! And hobbies, and collections, and sewing projects, flea markets, recipes, antiques….friends don’t need topics, it just happens!

I have always loved porches but not always had one, so your post was so enjoyable. I imagine our conversation would touch on how we got where we are, the beautiful valley below your porch, the trout stream in front of mine……..and spiders! I had to laugh about that last one because when we finally got our mountain home with porches the first thing I noticed was how prolific the spiders were; spinning and creating their own art every evening. For some reason I have many more on the front wraparound porch than the back porch. Maybe it is something to do with the wind? Anyway, we would have plenty to talk about. Enjoy your porching season!

Dori, I also wanted to mention I love what you are using for a flower pot on the porch. I remember those pots very well, as we used one on the farm growing up, and when I lived on a pig farm and took care of the owners pigs. We didn’t have indoor plumbing at either of these places. On my family’s farm, our outhouse was inside the barn which was up the hill in back of our farmhouse and not something we would use at night, hence the pot. On the pig farm the outhouse was below the house and a ways away and no one wanted to walk to it at night either. Those were some happy days though we didn’t have much we had fun all the time. Memories are precious.

Thank you for sharing your porch. As far as the spiders are concerned, have you tried peppermint? I read in a book concerning home remedies that spiders will stay away from peppermint. Have a great time on your lovely porches.
Marilyn

Dori, you are living my dream with your lovely porch! Thanks for sharing and Thanks for the tour!
~shannon
@browngirl_og

Porches, beautiful porches! I was raised with porches and always have had at least one my grown up life. Your’s are simple wonderful! I cleaned my front porch today, back porch tomorrow. You know, I think we would have some super conversations about everything from A to Z, especially quilts and quilting. Then just quietly enjoy the special Tennessee air. Thanks for sharing. God bless.

Sitting on a porch is just a perfect thing to do on a sunny Sunday afternoon. My farmhouse has a front porch and a back deck. Unfortunately, our house sits close to a road and I don’t like the noise of an occasional vehicle going by, but the back deck is perfect. Our property falls down in the back to a river, so sitting on the deck I feel like I’m in a tree house and listening to the river rush by makes for a perfect afternoon, book in hand, tea on the side table.
As a side note, I love when you share your house through blogs, your love for the property signs through, and that’s a wonderful thing to share.

Love your porches, I like to sit on my porch early in the morning drinking my coffee , by noon it is too hot to sit on front porch. At your place we could just walk around to the other side.
Till next time
Cheryl Turner

Oh, how I would love to share the view from one of those porches! They are absolutely beautiful. As to what we would talk about, I’m sure we could start with that…. the view. Then we could move on to our projects, past, present and future. Such a lovely place.

I love your porches,Dori, they are what I hope to have some day. I have a Verandah on the back of my house and I do ,one to sit out there. I have a table setting out there and some potted plants and our bbq, but one day on my own porch I’d love to have some rocking chairs, a porch swing and a hammock and a day bed as well as my outdoor table setting and bbq. A real relax place to unwind and treasure time.
I’d chat with you about anything and everyone, your favorite plants, life, sewing and whatever else we felt like chatting about, all with home baking, I’d bring some too, and some lovely tea or coffee and later a glass of wine. There’d be no rush to our time together and we’d savor the conversation and time together.
Blessing to you and yours
Denise
Australia

The quilt you made using MaryJane’s fabric is beautiful! I love how bright and cheerful the colors are in that fabric collection. Also, that’s some wonderful donations from each and every one of those designers. It’s very generous of them to share such wonderful fabrics. Now I really can’t wait to see how each of the girls lap quilts turn out! Your going to be an awesome teacher! Your coasters are so cute! Love love that red one! Congratulations Ann on your wonderful surprise!

These are gorgeous quilts and coasters, Dori. I can’t wait to see how your girls put them all together. Very exciting you’ve got your project classes off the ground. I’m sure it will be a very rewarding experience for both you and the girls who do your class, in confidence building, knowledge and skills. So glad you’re doing this.
Wishing you a blessed Easter season.

I think you need to do this for adults also!! I would love to come take a basic quilting class, because that is about how much patience I would have would be a lap blanket!

Lucky girls Dori

Edee

So wonderful that you are sharing your considerable skills with these girls. I feel it is so important to impart the skill and joy that quilting brings to our younger generation. Sadly, these skills don’t seem to be taught in schools anymore, so your efforts are even more important. I can’t wait to see all the finished quilts. Who knows you might be teaching a quilt artist of the future. Above all, you have fun too, I know it is a lot of prep work, but I promise you the reward will be in the joy you and your class will share.

Dori, what a wonderful start to summer for you and the girls. I love all the fabrics but my favorite is the Playground by Amy Sinibaldi – partial to blues. I want to make a quilt or more than one actually but I was thinking of cutting up material I have on hand like older clothes no one wears anymore or sheets or cases that are a bit worn in places, or drapes etc. You get the idea! I lucked out at an auction and picked up a lot of polyester batting which I intend to use as the filling. I also want to use some for stuffing in a couple of dolls I hope to make also this summer. So glad you are starting the quilt season off. Looking forward to more exciting things from you and the girls.

So excited to follow along with your sweet class! What a wonderful learning experience for these girls…with beautiful finished lap quilts as the results. Your fabulous idea to contact fabric companies was spot on! Can’t wait to see the next posting!

Dang, I wish you were around when I was a little gir.

Good luck with this class!! I hope they will be a new generation of family quilters! On a recent shopping trip I bought several yds. of a fluer-de-lis fabric that inspired me to promise my sister-in-law some quilts (she is from the New Orleans area). What apprx. dimensions will your classes lap quilts be? I recently googled lap quilts for nursing homes (another project my club is doing) and read of several dimensions!! Do you have any experience or suggestions on them?? Thank You and love reading your blog!!

What beautiful items! Thanks for your sharing and giving heart!

I’m passionate about fiber arts of all sorts. I try and make time for it. I find it very relaxing!

My passion is photography. Although I am not a trained designer, I also love to seasonally decorate our home. It may not meet the standards of a professional, but I sure do enjoy myself (and the family seems to enjoy it too).

Hi Dori, thank you for a post that puts a lot of my thoughts and feelings of being a maker/creartist into words.
I know the fear feeling p, mine comes from worrying I’m going to ruin the thing, whether it’s the material, or a painting or drawing, whatever. It’s hard to take the first step and out the fears aside and just do because. I try to change my thinking toward what I’m about to do, to one of, I’m going to hav some fun now and put the worry thoughts aside. Easier said than done, I know.
Love your materials for your twin quilts, I look forward to seeing them made when the time is right for you.
I’m more of an artist I guess, though I do it for myself, and I doubt and compare myskef a lot. I’ve done one commission for a friend, and she loves it – which is a good confidence boost when I’m feeling down on it. But on Instagram I’ve chosen to follow lots of artists who all paint differently and so I turn a negative into a positive and can begin painting just for the joy of it.
I like sewing, cooking/baking and gardening too and do some knitting from time to time.
I’ve made a patchwork doona cover years ago from different scraps of material I had and clothes I cut up to out in it. I still have it, though it is showing real wear now.

I try almost every day making someone feel loved and valued.

What beautiful items! Thanks for your sharing and giving heart!

I’m passionate about fiber arts of all sorts. I try and make time for it. I find it very relaxing!

My passion is photography. Although I am not a trained designer, I also love to seasonally decorate our home. It may not meet the standards of a professional, but I sure do enjoy myself (and the family seems to enjoy it too).

Hi Dori, thank you for a post that puts a lot of my thoughts and feelings of being a maker/creartist into words.
I know the fear feeling p, mine comes from worrying I’m going to ruin the thing, whether it’s the material, or a painting or drawing, whatever. It’s hard to take the first step and out the fears aside and just do because. I try to change my thinking toward what I’m about to do, to one of, I’m going to hav some fun now and put the worry thoughts aside. Easier said than done, I know.
Love your materials for your twin quilts, I look forward to seeing them made when the time is right for you.
I’m more of an artist I guess, though I do it for myself, and I doubt and compare myskef a lot. I’ve done one commission for a friend, and she loves it – which is a good confidence boost when I’m feeling down on it. But on Instagram I’ve chosen to follow lots of artists who all paint differently and so I turn a negative into a positive and can begin painting just for the joy of it.
I like sewing, cooking/baking and gardening too and do some knitting from time to time.
I’ve made a patchwork doona cover years ago from different scraps of material I had and clothes I cut up to out in it. I still have it, though it is showing real wear now.

I try almost every day making someone feel loved and valued.

Hi Dori!
I’m so glad you blogged about this happy time for your family and your farm. How wonderful that you’ll all be together on your farmland! Those grand girls are so very lucky for this country upbringing and having you and your daughter ( dad’s too) to pass along all of your family values and talents to them. The old farmhouse is adorable. I can see why it sold so quickly! Just wonderful!
Hugs,
Deb ( Beach Farmgirl )

What a beautiful home they have made in the farmhouse! I am thrilled they will be living near you though.

Dori, I am so excited for all of you. Growing up next to family is so precious. I am so glad for you.

So happy for all of you! An exciting time! So lucky they are so close!Truly a blessing to have the love of children and grandchildren! What a wonderful time in all of your lives! God bless!

Happy for all of you! God works in mysterious ways.

What a great story with a very happy ending! So happy for you. Her little farmhouse was so beautiful. I can’t wait to see the new house they are building. I am very happy for you and your daughter and grand children.

What a sweet story…thank you, your daughter’s former farm house was beautiful… Loved the pictures…

Oh, you lucky lady! To have your family that close is truly a blessing! How wonderful for all of you.

Dori, that is such a wonderful story. I am so happy for you! I can only imagine the feeling. My husband and I have talked a lot about buying some land from his uncle on the farm to build our home. We really want to raise our boys on a farm and teach them to work hard and care for animals. We hope this will be a dream we can accomplish soon. I am interested in seeing how this process goes, so I will check out your daughters blog! So happy for your family.

So so happy for you. I miss my only grandchild so much, I only get to see him about twice a year and they grow so fast. My husband has 5 more years until he retires before we can see him more often. I have chosen though to be content where the Lord has us and wait upon Him to give us our time together. 🙂

I am so excited for you to have your family close. I have one daughter that lives 8 miles away and I wish she lived closer. My other daughter lives an hour and a half away. To have them all and my grandchildren on our property would be a dream come true. You are so blessed and I can tell you know it. I’ve followed your daughters blog for years. I was so sad when they sold their farmhouse until I heard they were building on your property. What a great adventure for you all. Hope all goes smoothly with the build.

Your story brought tears to my eyes for sure!! My daughter and her kids are just 2 hours away in Tulsa, but wish they wanted to be here on a farm and enjoy the good life! Maybe some day—

How nice to have them near you. You will not miss your beautiful granddaughters growing up.
Marilyn

Love your story! And am so happy for you–having your family close by!!
Isn’t country living just the best??!!

Oh my dear friend, if I lied nearby I would request to be your uneducated gopher for this camp!!! Then I could learn with the girls! What a delightful project ❤

You are the perfect person to do the camp! Best wishes. I think your plans are doable! You go farmgirl!

I will look forward to your posts on this project. I commend you for wanting to share quilting in a summer camp setting. I work with kids teaching origami at a county home school group and so many little things come into play when working with kids. Their attention spans are shorter but can be stretched as their competency increases. And often with origami some of my students will begin, after having completed the original model a couple of times, by following the creative process that’s deep inside them and creating a totally new model. I don’t make resolutions myself but I do set goals. I list these on one or two small sheets of paper and keep them in the current week of my calendar/journal. The hard part is “look at the list, Marge, pick something and work on it!” ‘Self’ talking to me. But it’s the most helpful method that I’ve found for both short-range and long-range goals and, sister, the satisfaction I get when I cross out that finished or accomplished goal — priceless!

check out the tutorials on the Missouri Star quilt company’s web site. You’ll be amazed at the way blocks can be simplified. Best of luck with your endeavor, it’s a life long joy to sew and the girls will thank you over and over. Many Blessings

What a great goal! It is so great to be able to pass on some old timey skills and have some fun at the same time! I used to teach children decorative painting in my studio and I have to say they are the best students, they soak it all up like a sponge. You never know, one of your students might become the next great quilt artist! Wishing you all the best and looking forward to photos!

You are some kind of SPECIAL!!! I was raised by a Great Aunt, Grandmother and Aunt; I learned how to quilt starting at 5. They all pieced and quilted by hand, I have started piecing some by machine but for some reason some do not go together as they do when by hand. I do so love that you are ‘learn’n’ these girls to quilt, they will always be grateful for having the experience. Love the choices of the blocks, they should go together as a super sampler. I have shared many of the older quilts but still have 1 queen (I made) 8 doubles 5 crib/lap and 2 wall hangings (they are whimsical – Garden girls) lots of fun applique (by hand). Well now I wish I could be a fly on the wall to enjoy all the wonderfulness that will be happening and look forward to you postings. God bless you.

Dori, This is like being a 4-H leader. Might I suggest you check out Missouri Star Quilt Co. They have a great selection of Tutorials for beginners. I started quilting just 3 years ago and it really is easy. Just plain geometry. I have sewn all my life and wish I had started machine quilting a long time ago.

As to cutting out the pieces ahead that is part of the learning how it fits together process too. I believe there are rotary cutters that have safety guards for the older girls or at least use scissors after all that is what our Grandmothers and Great Grandmothers used so it must work as those are great quilts.

I find “stitch in the ditch” the easiest way to machine quilt also.

Have fun and take pictures for them to enjoy when they are older.

Even doing a doll blanket/quilt can be a good kid project

What a great goal and so exciting to be teaching young ones to quilt. I taught my 12 year old granddaughters to quilt and they did an awesome job. I have that book A People and their Qjuilts. My husband actually bought it for me thinking I would love it when we were in Tennessee last year, and yes I love it 🙂

Oh, I’m with you Dori! Homemade is best! I’ve been sewing up a storm! Your recipes look outstanding. I’ve never tried to make lemon curd, other than for the top layer of lemon bars. Yours looks delicious! Thanks for sharing.

Dori, I sew:) agree with you. Gifts from the heart!!! Thanks for sharing your feelings about this. It’s so nice to know someone else feels this way.

Stay warm and well.

That looks and sounds delicious. I love homemade gifting too!♡

I make cranberry pumpkin loaves and give away and my homemade canned hot pepper mustard and some crackers…i am so anxious to make your recipe and i like how you decorated yours to give away..Thank you for some new ways to fix up my homemade gifts….MERRY CHRISTMAS…

I’m about to make the lemon cake. But, mostly I wanted to mention your sweet mother. I “look” about like her. The well worn hands etc. I have those same “beautiful brown spots” from many years of gardening, freezing, canning and eating the produce. I’m 81 and still have a large garden on our farm here in central MN, lived on the same property for 62 years–4 children, 22 grand-children and 12 “greats” (two more on the way) later. 🙂 I am also a 24/7 care-giver of my wonderful husband. My moto is “Together is the best place to be”. God bless you AND your mother. I might just make the Mexican food also!!