Making soup like 90 years ago/Bean harvest begins/The parsonage across from the Church/The poor on our doorstep

Have I mentioned too many times how glorious it is to step out the front door of "the parsonage" and see our beloved Church right there?  It is such a JOY to see it there in the bright sunlight today after sharing mass as a family of 11 and then caramel rolls in the church basement.

It is so fun to have 2 of the grandkids stay behind to help clear tables and they can just walk across the street to go home with the family.  Yesterday, Rose went to server practice and Ruth was working on the house and so she could just walk across the street when she was done.

I have been informed that next weekend it will be Rose serving with big sister, Mary and brother, David.  And Simon will be cantoring.  "Lanoue family serving at mass!"

Getting a tour of the changes at the house slowly happening.  Tomorrow some "construction guys" are set to come and help.  Pat and Tom found the only place to sit...

Tom bathed in the light of the window - loves the pretty doorknobs.  He and grandpa are dressed alike again today.  

Paul put up some sheetrock in this bedroom after the electrician put in some outlets.

Recessed lighting in the dining room is done and now putting up the ceiling will complete the job before painting the walls and new windows.

Roughing up the walls so that tile can be laid there and then the sink and cupboards can come back, and the kitchen start to take shape.

Sweet Joy Jean had to come and show grandma that she wore her Little Sister blue dress for mass.  "Grandma likes me to wear this dress because it reminds her of The Little Sisters."  Yes, Joy!

The Gospel today really touched our heartstings when Fr Shawn reminded us that we need to be aware of and help out the poor on our doorsteps. Yes, the Gospel was Lazarus, the beggar covered with sores laying at the doorstep of the rich man, who totally ignored him and had more than enough of everything.  Father reminded us to be aware of these in need of us to give from our gifts and all we have.  

Jesus said to the Pharisees:
"There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen
and dined sumptuously each day.
And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores,
who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps
that fell from the rich man's table.
Dogs even used to come and lick his sores.
When the poor man died,
he was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham...  Luke 16

Thirsty and beautiful mums. 

Pat and I discussed how this poverty - being poor can be actual needs for food and shelter, and can be not knowing Jesus and The Truth but blindly going down the wide path to destruction as the rich man did in the Gospel.  Yes, he too is poor in his Faith and living the Gospel!  Lord, help us to be aware of those we are called to give of our plenty!  

Tom playing with the canning rings on our huge canning day yesterday!  12 hours from picking our 6 1/2 pails of tomatoes, cleaning them and juicing them, cooking 3 canners of vegetables - carrots, celery and onions, and blending them and putting them through the colendar.  We have learned that we need to follow precisely the 90 year old recipe we have.  

Pat's mother overheard it on the party line when she was a young woman.  Lately we have been having some go bad on us, and we realized that we have been cutting a few corners, so we went totally by the book yesterday!  Pat was there to keep up honest and get the soup to a rolling boil and fill to the top of the jars and lid them right away!  "I remember mom being very precise about these steps of canning the soup."  Yes, honey and thank you for all your help yesterday even when they started combining beans across the road!  

We have 6 canners and we still ran out of room!  I had to go and buy 2 brand new pails at Runnings for juice in order to get the vegetables mixed together with the juice!  They will be washed and kept with our canning supplies from now on.  

Ruth is saying that she only wants to plant 10 tomato plants next year so that our canning days are less crazy!  Time will tell.

Bean harvest has begun.  Prayers for the farmers to stay safe and be nice to each other.

Pat learning that a watched pot never boils especially when there are 15+ quarts of soup in it.  He was the keeper of the recipe to the dot!  

The first 72 quarts and then we had 50 more!  A total of 122 in one day!  A new record and hopefully our last record as Ruth is wanting to back off a bit and have more reasonable canning days! 

Grandpa and Tom having tomato soup and grilled cheese for supper on our canning day.  The kids said it was good!

Tom's first soup, and he liked it!  

Tomato soup face and smile in the arms of his big wonderful hard working grandpa Pat.  I was really tired, and Pat said that for him it was an easy day.  I guess that says something about the physical workout he gets every day on the farm.

Another 50 jars - that will do for this year!  The Little Sisters love our soup, and hopefully Nancy and I have fake plans to go there for MEA!   How we love our fake plans!

So special to see this memory of sweet Romeo's Baptism day 8 years ago!  How I love to see 2 year old Patrick in his white shirt on his brother's Baptism day!  I was the one that Baptized Patrick after his traumatic birth in the midst of NICU in El Paso, TX!  He was not dressed in white, but in his birthday suit as he was one of the sickest babies in NICU.  He got better daily and is a happy healthy boy to this day!  

Family Soul Story - Choose Life!: The story of little Lamb - grandson Patrick 

Happy 8th Anniversary of your Baptism into The Catholic Church Romeo Joseph!  Another day of new birth!

I borrowed these great pictures of Adoration for the youth this week! I was deeply moved at mass to have Ruth's family behind me singing with great conviction and joy at mass!  It so reminded me of our girls - their mother and siblings singing like Protestants.  Yes, I was raised Presbyterian and we sang out loudly - and it has now carried forth into the 3rd generation!  LOVE!

Jesus!!!!  

So intimate and special as Jesus deserves all our praise and glory!  Hallelujah!

"My Lord and My God!"

Oh wow!!!

Farm kittens are found!  Simon showing me the one he has chosen as his special pet.  

Luke likes the black one!  

My wedding present from Pat's siblings 44 years ago.  The handwriting was on the wall!  It has canned thousands of quarts over our 44 years!  Just this year alone we have done about 300 quarts and more to do with apple pie filling and more tomatoes to can!  

Ruth's command center looking out on the farmyard while we toil in her canning kitchen with my wonderful wedding gift!  I doubt there has been many others that can say they have used a gift this much!  

Yes one of the lid handles is gone, and I do not pressure can with it anymore.  Just hot water bath of 7 jars at a time over and over!  The icon is from Hallel's Community of the Lamb - "Wounded, I will never cease to love."  So true of married life, right?

Full of an entire 5 gallon pail of tomatoes and probably over a dozen quarts of juice.

Thanks, Melvin, Grace, Joyce, Ed, Margie, Paul, Don, Mary and Ida.  And thanks from the bottom of my heart to Pat's mother, who taught me all I know, and got us our wonderful 90+ year old recipe for soup on the party line.  A lady known as being a good cook!  We agree!!

Ruth's farm sink full over and over.  

David and Luke helping run the colendar and making juice.  We have learned to put them in the blender first to get every last bit of goodness.  Pat was sharing how hard it was to put the carrots, celery and onions through without the blender help.  So much easier now and much less thrown away!  

Grandpa and David team...

5 year old Joy takes her turn, too!  

It certainly is a family project and we enjoy our time visiting and working to make food for our 6 families including our Little Sisters in KCK!  It makes me so happy deep down to think that our nun daughter can taste some of our homemade food made with love!  

Pope Benedict XVI on Marriage today .  

So sweet from Brother Victor today - Fall is busy on the farm, and also beautiful all around us.  Jesus, we trust in you.  Bless-bless, Barbara and the 54 - 34 with us and 20 in heaven.  

Danielle Rose