Cornerstone Acres Farm 

Towards the end of apple and tomato season I was running low on jars and the will to continue canning. So to save both dishes and time, I decided to pull out the dehydrator. I ended up drying 6 quarts of apples (would have been at least triple that had I canned them in syrup). I have yet to try them in a pie or crisp, but will be sure to let you know how they turn out. I will say that I definately like them as a nice snack. I love to eat vegetables, but tend to be less inclined to eat fruits. I like the flavor of fruit, but I think I prefer the crispness of vegetables. Dried fruits are the best of both worlds for me. I also dried 3 quarts of tomatoes - at least quadruple that had I canned them. The time I saved was well worth it. I didn't even bother to skin the tomatoes or apples. We'll see how the work out that way in future recipes. Once I finished off preserving my harvest, I moved on to what I could find at the grocery store. I often find mushrooms at our local Meijer store marked down 40%. I don't always have an immeadiate use for them so decided to buy them up and dehydrate them. Got a quart so far. I also found some bananas and strawberries towards the end of their shelf life. Buy cheap and preserve - what a savings. Banana chips are pretty good as a snack too.

Did I say I was low on canning jars? Not anymore. Thanks to a nice lady advertising on Craig's List, I received 209 free canning jars!! Sweet score!!

My birthday was this week - happy birthday to me!! I'm now...well....older than I was last week. Although I'm not as "well preserved" as I would like to be - I'm holding my own. My lovely husband bought me a few items to help me stay some what more preserved. I of course received a Belle, the wonderful new Belgian mare. She will hopefully give me many years of equine activity in both her smooth ride and fun driving activity. I received a new Carhart jacket - this one allows me to retire my VERY old Carhart barn coat into the trash barrel. That one was purchased around the time my son was born 20 years ago. My current "going to town" Carhart is now for the barn and my newest one is deemed the new "going to town" coat. Here's to 20 more years before I need to buy a new coat!! I also received a "fancy" set of boots to go with my "going to town" coat. Tennis shoes just don't cut it when there is 3 feet of snow on the ground, the chore boots draw too much attention with the smell and chunks of frozen manure falling off them and the heavy duty boots are just too darn heavy to trump around in while grocery shopping. And last but surely not least, I received a brand new pair of Muck boot chore boots!! Whoot Whoot!! My old ones, while not lasting as long as my Carhart, had been with me for going on I'm guessing 10 years or so. My mom and dad bought them for me when I first got into horses. There is just not enough space or time here to extol the virtues of Muck boots. Anybody who has livestock should own a pair for sure.

Charlie, Charlie, Charlie. I really just can't say enough good stuff about this boy. With minimal handling - other than frequent loving up - until age 4, he is soooo cooperative and intelligent. Within 5 minutes Greg had him walking right in and out of our two horse straight load trailer. He's gotten a good grasp of basic riding behavior. Charlie has now taken the second ride of his life. We brought him to an Amish trainer just north of us. He'll be getting some educational road miles put on him and a bit of experience hooked to harness.

Speaking of Craig's List and learning, I would like to take some time to put together a small educational lecture. Although I am certainly NOT a professor in English, I would like to make some comments about the spelling in your CL ad that will help sell your item. Or more specfically how NOT to spell words so that you look like a competent seller. By no means do I mean offense to any readers, I just know what turns me off when I'm reading an ad.

Keep in mind it's:

1) purebred not pure bread

2) a Boer goat not a Boar goat

3) a boar (male)pig not a bore pig

4) a trailer not a trailor

5) a palomino not a palameano

6) best not to use all capital letters.

7) a Nubian goat not a newbean goat

8 ) a Pekin duck not a Peking duck (unless you are posting a chinese menu), Pinken or a Peeking

9) important not to make the entire ad one long run on sentence

10) a weaner pig not a weiner pig (although I suppose it could someday be a weiner)

11) rode down the road not road down the rode

12) for sale not for sell

13) a filly not a philly

14) a sorrel not a sorrow

15) a haflinger not a halflinger

16) quiet (as a noun) when referring to something as calm while the word quite (as an adverb) is something quite different

17) gentle not gental

18 ) a puppy, baby or pygmy not a puppie, babbie or a pygmie

I know there are quite a few more that I'm not thinking of right now. I suppose I already bored you with enough of them anyway. (If you read this and would like to leave a comment with a few of the ones that are your own pet peeves - please do so. I'd love to hear them.)

Please remember Google can be your friend, just type in "spell XXXX", just use your best guess on the spelling and remember to read the use of the word and that will help you decide which spelling is correct for your needs. I also realize that perhaps many of today's smartphones are just really not that smart, but please double check what your smartphone auto corrects for you.

Until next time......