Last week we had a bit of a scare — we woke up at 2am to the smell of smoke.  It was definitely electrical and the house had a “haziness” to it, but no real billowing smoke.  After some frantic looking for possible obvious wires/plastic melting, we made the call to 911.  Our teens sons and I started to grab things to put in the cars.

I really wasn’t worried about the house burning down, but I was concerned about water damage once the fire department found the source of the smoke!  We had longer than usual to get some things together.  The smoke wasn’t bad, but we didn’t want to make too many trips in and out of the house.

I always wondered what I’d grab if there was a fire.  The first things I reached for were my back-up hard drive, photo albums, box of pictures, purse, keys and cell phone.  I made one more trip in and grabbed the important papers (birth certificates, etc.) we keep all together in a folder, my Bible, and my computer.  Even though the Fire Department did let my husband go in the house with them to help guide their search, I elected to stay out.  It ended up being a short in the central air conditioning unit that sits on our roof.  They disconnected it and turned off the breaker, so we were safe.

I’m so thankful — it could’ve been much worse!  As I’ve reflected on the events of that night, I find it interesting that, although I could have went in and grabbed more items, I didn’t.  Yet, there are so many “things” I cling to — that I think are so important.  Obviously not important enough to make another relatively safe trip back into the house that night.

Don’t get me wrong, there are many heirloom items I own that are precious to me.  I’ve been reminded that that, while I’m blessed to have many “things”, they are just objects and not what matters most in this world.

A wonderful cast iron tea kettle found at the thrift store.

The tea kettle was a “treasure” I picked up while visiting thrift stores with my hubby one weekend.  I enjoyed finding some cool and useful items for my homestead, but what I enjoyed most was spending time with my sweet husband  Faith and family — the really important things in this life!

I told myself I wasn’t putting up peaches this year.  We still have jam from last year!  It not only takes time to put up preserves — the process also uses electricity or, in my case, gas, to cook and process preserves.

So, what happened?  I couldn’t resist a bargain at a roadside stand we drove by on the way to my favorite place for antique shopping.  I tried to pass them by…really, I did!  We didn’t stop on the way to our destination, but they were still there late in the afternoon on the way home.  We stopped, I bought Georgia peaches at a great price, and yesterday I made peach butter.

I used the recipe at Pick Your Own.  Because I use a Vitamix blender to puree the peaches before cooking, I don’t peel them.  This saves a time consuming step, and you can’t tell the peaches weren’t peeled.  It took quite a while for the peaches to cook down, but boy did my house smell great.  I ended up with 13 – 8 oz containers.  My canner only holds 8, so we’re eating one right off, and I froze the others.  We have enough to share with friends and to enjoy long after peach season is over.