Jelly Making -or- Taylor living dangerously ;)

Something our family really enjoys about being in TX in the fall is making Prickly Pear Jelly, that is, jelly from the fruit of the prickly pear cactus. The fruit by itself is flavorful, but not at all sweet and full of seeds, which is why jelly is about the only thing people make from it. (Cattle, on the other hand will risk a face full of stickers to eat them off the cactus pads, especially in a dry year when the grass is scarce.) On our way home from our camping trip in Mason, we stopped to harvest a bar-ditch we had seen on the way in. (as noted above, the cows had eaten most of what was on their side of the fence.)  Today, Glory and I finished making the jelly. Hurray for Fall!

Camping / Hunting trip

Sorry they are late, but here are a few pictures from the trip we took to my Grandparents' land in Mason, TX. It was so much fun hiking around! Glory's favorite was wading in Dog Branch Creek, which reminded me so much of MY childhood camping trips there! :)

 

The boys liked "hunting" around the cabin. 

A bit of natural science education. :)

 The kids are still asking when we can go back...it makes me happy that they love being out there so much. :D