$aving Money!

It has always been a quest for me, to save money.  I was raised by a single mom.  Dad left all four of us with Mom when I was pretty young, and we scraped and scrounged for everything we had.  Still, we were clean, lived in a nice home and were never hungry.  We wore hand-me-downs that came from our cousins.  Even though they weren't new, they were new to us, and were cared for by the previous owners.  We ate a lot of ham, drank a lot of milk and the oatmeal.............eww. 

But, we always had enough.  I don't really remember being sad about not having something in particular.  I do remember being sad because we were "broken", so to speak.  But, my sweet Mother kept us on our toes, kept us in church every Sunday, made us do our lessons, allowed us to play one sport and we loved each other completely. 

When I married and began having children, it was hard.  We both worked like dogs, opposite shifts in food service and factories.  We were babies having babies.  We were happy, and we had enough.  We had enough and were happy because I was used to having second-hand things, still do.  My three children were clothed with hand-me-downs, yard sale clothes and Walmart shoes.  My mom always bought my kids their winter coats.  As our jobs got better and our incomes began to improve, our spending habits didn't increase.  I'm really glad.  We never went without, we just went without the best. 

Now, we're older.  We have much better incomes.  Two of our three children are out of college (with very little debt, I might add) with good and satisfying careers.  Our youngest will soon begin her senior year in high school. 

I thought I would share a few of my money-saving habits:

 - Visit those resale shops for those household items.  Just last week, I bought a used Foreman grill in perfect shape for $4.99.  Visiting those resale shops are the best way to recycle!  You can pick up nice, clean bread pans, tupperware items and even sets of dishes. 

 - When you buy dryer sheets, buy the largest box you can.  When you get home, open it, grab a handful and cut them in half...cut them all in half and put them back in the box.  The half sheet does as good of a job as a whole sheet! 

 - Stock up a good pantry.  Keep plenty of food on hand.  When you  go to the grocery store to buy a can of corn, pick up an extra can...or more.  I buy "flats" of some items when I shop and store them in my downstairs pantry.  I do can my own food from the garden, but I buy bulk items like those "cream of"soups,  pinto beans, macaroni and cheese, tuna, pork n beans, etc.  These items will come in handy when you have a week or two when the paycheck doesn't make it to the end of the month.  Before you know it, you'll have a well-supplied pantry!

 - Hang out your laundry!  A clothesline will save you an incredible amount of money for 3/4 of the year!  I have used my dryer once or twice all summer, and nothing beats the smell of those line-dried sheets!  Yes, your bath towels will be a little stiff, but that's a small price to pay if you are saving money! 

 - Make your own!  Buying things at the store that you can make yourself is foolish and very expensive.  I make my own dog treats, my own chocolate syrup (better than Hersheys!), my own soap, bread, hot chocolate mix, vanilla extract and other things.  It's satisfying to know you can do this and it's more delicious! 

Some of the other obvious money-saving strategies are eating at home rather than eating out.  Do not buy on credit.  If you can't pay for it after saving for it, you don't need it.  Credit cards and other unnecessary credit will not only suck the life out of you, but it will land your credit rating in the gutter.  Aggresively pay off your debts and don't take on any more.  Find fun things to do for entertainment that cost nothing, such as picnics at the park, swimming in the creek and growing a garden. 

Life is short, folks.  God didn't intend for us to be so worried about money that we forgot to enjoy the bounty that He gave us.  Plus, the more you can save...the more you can give to others who aren't quite as lucky as you are.

Peace.

Sometimes I just.....

....want to be alone.
....want to retire and stay home every day.
....want to sleep all day.
....want to meet new people.
....want to attend a different church.
....want to live in the middle of nowhere...absolute nowhere.
....want to hire a maid.
....want to throw away all of the socks and buy new ones so I don't have to mate them.
....want to eat cake for supper.
....want to find another person to help.
....walk through the woods and talk to Him.

Peace.

The Harvest

What an odd year it has been here in Central Missouri.  This past Winter was very dry, hardly any snow and very little cold temperatures.  Then this Spring/Summer is the hottest ever recorded.  Trees budded out and flowers bloomed much earlier than what we call normal.  The garden was planted early, as is our harvest.  Now, in early July, I have majestic oak trees in my front yard that are all brown, like a late Fall day.  I hope they are only going dormant, and not dying from the drought. 

But, whatever God gives us, we accept it with gratitude.  We manage.  We make it enough. 

So, with what we were given this year, I began my preserving.  First, the cherries.  Oh my, the cherries.  Once again, my daughter and I visited Thierbach Orchard and picked gallons and gallons of red tart cherries.  We pitted them all, and canned them in pint jars.  Now, I have cherries on the shelf for the next year.


Then came the garden harvests, one at a time.  The cucumbers came first, but very slowly.  Only one or two every few days, so not enough for pickles.  That's ok.  We ate them for dinner, and I dehydrated some.  I dehydrated them into small chips and then ground them into a powder to add to dips, soups and just about anything else I might make.  The kids will never know, and I'm adding healthy ingredients! 

The peaches are usually ripe in mid-August here, but they came ripe in July!  I purchased a half bushel and canned up peach pie filling for the year!

 They were smaller fruit, but just as tasty as ever!  I'm hopeful that I can get another 1/2 bushel for jam, but if not...I still have some from last year.  It'll be enough. 

Now, our sweet corn was the best ever.  We planted enough corn this year for two families.  We harvested it last week.  Savor the photos....I'll wait for you.



Feel better?  I thought you would!  I've been grating and freezing zucchini in quart bags.  I have also got about 8 quarts of green beans canned, as the plants aren't producing a lot at a time. John dug the potatoes, and thankfully we ended up with a five gallon bucket of beautiful yellow potatoes. 
Hopefully now that the weather has cooled some and we've gotten some rain relief, the beans, okra, green peppers and tomatoes will start being friendly. 

John is plowing the garden again where he picked the corn and pulled the stalks, (the heifers loved the stalks!), and just today planted some of the Fall garden crops;  turnips, beets and ........something, I forgot.  Oh yes, more beans!  As my tomatoes start ripening, we'll get to the tomato sauce, tomato juice, spaghetti sauce and salsa. 

So, by the end of the Summer, around Labor Day, we'll have fresh milk if good the Lord blesses us with a healthy Jersey cow andcalf.  With that, I'll have butter and a little more money in my purse.

There's a bit of satisfaction in your soul when you successfully plant, grow, preserve, freeze and eat all of that fresh food, milk, butter, eggs, beef and chicken from your own farm. 


Let me leave you with this:

"Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God"   2 Corinthians 3:5

Peace.

Cherries!

I officially began the 2012 canning season yesterday with my first trip to the orchard.  We visited Thierbach Orchard for the second year in a row to pick our pie cherries.  The picking was easier than last year.  We easily picked 12 gallons of cherries in less than two hours.  I took my oldest daughter, Becky, with me this year to help pick. 

Once I arrived back home, we proceeded to wash, pit and can the cherries.  Back up a bit....last year, I pitted 8 gallons or so of fresh-picked cherries with a bobby pin.  This year, Becky used my new cherry pitting device that I ordered last year, the second I finished with the bobby  pins.  It went flawlessly! Although it did take an hour or so, it was so easy!  She filled the device and literally "stamped" each cherry!

Once we had all of the cherries prepared, we got the canners boiling, the lids simmering, the jars cleaned and ready to go!  We created a cherry canning assembly line, right in the kitchen.  We surely don't mess around.  I prefer pint jars.  My recipe for a cobbler calls for two pints of red, tart pitted cherries.  But, oftentimes, I like to make just a pie, which would just call for one pint.  My recipe for the mouth-watering cobbler will be at the end of this post.  I hope you try it.

I fill the pint jars very full, then pack them down and fill more.

After filling the jars and packing them tight, I add hot simmering simple syrup (I do a light syrup) which is basically six cups water to one cup sugar, simmer til dissolved, keeping hot.  Fill the jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.  Add previously simmered lids and rings.  Process in water bath for 25 minutes.  Be sure to wipe the cooled jars with a clean, wet cloth to remove any residue from the processing.  You sure do want pretty jars in that "winter pantry"!

Aren't those cherries beautiful!  I canned up 24 pints and 5 quarts of cherries this year, and I'm very happy with the result.  I have a shelf downstairs in my "winter pantry" that is beginning to fill up. 



After wiping jars, I labeled them and put them away!

 Gloria's Cherry Cobbler

2 pints red tart pitted cherries

1 can cherry pie filling (from the store, if you must) 

3/4 cup to 1 cup sugar (more for a sweeter pie)

2 tbl flour

pinch of salt

2 tbl butter

pie crust for 9x13 glass pan

Prepare pie crust for the cobbler pan.   Sprinkle the 2 tbl flour on top of the bottom crust.  Mix all above ingredients together (except the butter) and add to bottom crust.  Add about 4 "pats" of butter, then cover with top crust.  Decorate as you wish!  Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes.  Decrease temperature to 350 degrees and bake an additional 45 minutes. 

Enjoy!

Peace.

Making Maple Syrup

The first batch of syrup is sealed and cooling on the dining room table.  We began our season last week, tapping over 13 trees nearby our home.  Tapping the trees should happen when the night temperatures are below freezing, and the daytime temps reach 40 degrees or more.  We have had a very mild Winter, so we worried that we wouldn't get to tap this year.  Luckily, we got six inches of snow last week and the trees started producing!

An old Maple tree with the tap.

We collected 40 gallons of sap prior to today's cook.  It took around a week to gather this much sap.  Some days the trees produce a gallon of sap, and some days they give very little.  Our 40 gallons of sap will boil down to about 1 gallon of delicious syrup.

We use empty milk jugs for collecting the sap at the tree, and old cooking oil jugs to store it until it's time to cook.  John and I gathered around eight gallons of sap from the river bottom trees on this particular day.  The view from the river bend was also beautiful. 

John cut the wood yesterday for the all-day cookdown.  This is elm, and John says it burns hotter and longer than oak, which we used last year.  The pot is a 25 gallon cast iron boil pot, which John cleaned and carefully placed on a stand.  He built the fire underneath the pot and put some sheet metal all around it, so that the fire concentrated directly beneath the pot.  Sometimes, the wind makes it harder to cook, so the sheet metal really comes in handy. 

This morning, John built the fire at 6 am.  He had half of the sap cooked by noon.  We had two fires going all day.  One cooking the sap under the cast pot, the other on a little gas fish cooker.  The small one heated the cold sap up and then as the cast iron pot cooked down, John added the hot sap from the smaller cooker.  This keeps the sap hot through the entire cook.  If you pour cold sap into a boiling pot, you've lost cook time.  This process works well for us.

John added wood and cooked the syrup down until nearly dark.  When he had all of the sap cooked down, and had only about 1 1/2 gallons left, we moved it from the cast pot to a smaller pot and cooked it down til we had about one gallon.  We test the syrup on a cold plate.  If you put some of the sap on the plate and turn the plate up, the syrup should run about an inch and then stop.  This is how we decide that it's done.  Then, we strained it through four pieces of cheesecloth and once more through a clean cotton towel. 

And, this is the finished product.  Wonderful, beautiful, delicious maple syrup. 

Peace.

They grow up so fast!

My youngest, Kelly, is a junior in High School.  And, like most other parents, by the time you get to the third child, you've been there - done that, seen it all, nothing suprises you anymore.  You seem to be a little more trusting, a little less stressed that the world is coming to an end every time your child wants to go somewhere after dark.

Well, my youngest has proven (so far) to be a very responsible, level-headed teen.  So, this week was easy to enjoy with her.  Homecoming week at SHS consists of choosing a queen candidate from each class, decorating a "Wall" in the gym that represents the theme for the week, daily dress up events and collections of pennies.  Last night, the Homecoming festivities came to a close after the basketball game of the year and the queen coronation.

But, let me back up to Tuesday...... "Hippie Day".   I think this was my favorite dress up day for her.  She borrowed a hippie outfit from her boyfriend's mother and she looked so groovy!


Groovy "Hippie" Day!

Next was "Hip Hop Day" and she surprised me with her originality here! 

Then we had Spirit Day with the school colors.

And, last night was the dress up event!  Here she is in her pretty Homecoming dress!  She looked so pretty!

My little girl. 

Peace




Farm Visit

This morning, John and I set out to visit a friend's farm about 20 miles away.  I was given directions from Tonya, wrote them out and read them to John.  John, on the other hand, needed to check the route online, and came to the car with his own set of driving directions.  We were to be there by 10:00 for the milking.  Well, his route got us lost!  We found ourselves on a logging road, I think....turning around, searching for signs.  *sigh* MEN!  We were so lost, I actually peed in the woods.  We went 10 miles our of our way, but finally arrived at 10:30, highly stressed.  Well, I was anyway.

The reason for our visit, was to meet the cow that Jerry and Tonya want us to "cow sit" for a couple of months in the Spring, while Jerry recovers from a hip replacement surgery.  He wants to bring the cow to our farm and let us "have" her until he heals up.  Before promising anything, I wanted to meet this cow.  This cow that stands there all by herself, and doesn't move a muscle while you easily milk 3 quarters, in no time!  She is about 7 years old and so absolutely sweet!  I am excited that I am considered for this honor by our friends. 

Our Cinnamon and Bambi are currently at another friend's farm "visiting" with their bull.  They have been there for two months now.  I'm missing my girls, so getting to milk this cow this morning was a real treat.  I also brought home some fresh milk to enjoy.

I love having such wonderful and caring friends.  Tonya and Jerry are always so ready to help, to answer questions and offer anything that you might need.  And, having self-sufficient homesteaders like them as friends, makes them even more special! 

So, in the Spring, I might share some photos of Josie, if I am lucky enough to get her for a while.

Peace

Garden Work in January!

Today, John decided that we needed to start the clearing out of a few trees near the garden plot that are preventing the sun from getting to the garden in the early part of the day.  So, we finished our morning work and set out to cut some wood.

We have a fairly large garden plot, approximately 1000 square feet, but before today, it only got the hotter evening sun.  So, knowing which of the trees needed to come out, John started cutting.  He's been cutting wood since he was old enough to say "tree", so he fell two right off the bat.  Put them right where he wanted them.  He cleaned up the wood and cut it into lengths perfect for our wood furnace.  Then, it was my turn to help!

We pulled the wood splitter (the greatest thing since sliced bread) right over to the wood and away we went!

We had that wood split in absolutely no time.  And, we could see immediately that the garden would benefit greatly from our labors.

Now, for the stumps.................. and that's another day.  But, for now, we have a nice supply of green wood to season for next Winter, a good feeling inside and a sore shoulder.  :)

I ended the work day with this.............

Peace

My Christmas "Ah-ha" moment.

As I study the scripture this Advent season, I dwell on one particular aspect of the story this year.  During a devotional time at my women's group a couple of weeks ago, the text mentioned "swaddling clothes".  We talked about what we thought swaddling clothes were in those days.  Being a group of women ranging in age from 45 to 82, we had all read the stories hundreds of times and we have all decided in our minds what swaddling clothes were.  We came to the conclusion that they were strips of cloth wrapped around the newborn child, probably a little firmly (like a newborn blanket is wrapped tightly around a baby in the hospitals today). 

Strips of cloth.  His mother wrapped Him in strips of cloth.

We finished our devotional, went on to our yearly Christmas dinner and then finished up with our gift exchange.  I received a nice cookbook from my secret pal and a pretty ornament for my tree.  But, during all of this holiday celebrating, I couldn't put the thoughts of the "swaddling clothes" out of my head. 

When I arrived home, I picked up my Bible and looked up the burial of Jesus' body after He was crucified.  They wrapped His body in strips of clean linen cloth.  "Ah-ha!"  The Lord was wrapped in the same way at His birth that He was wrapped at His death. 

Strips of cloth.  I have no doubt that His mother, Mary, helped wrap Him in strips of cloth, once again.

I'm sure most or all of the people in those days were wrapped the same way as Christ was, but for the Bible to put this picture in my mind, at this time of year, leads me to once again think of why Jesus came.  He was born to die.  He was born for me, to die for me.  The parallell of the "swaddling clothes" brings the Birth story full circle again.  I always knew this.  But, just having it justified once more, in scripture, in a new way, gives me another reason to really again celebrate Christmas this year.

And while we will have gift exchanges on Christmas morning and a trip to the extended family's home an hour away, lots of food and visiting, my Savior will not be far from my thoughts.  As I unwrap my gifts, and as I watch my family unwrap their gifts, I will think of Jesus as my Savior that was "gift-wrapped" for all of us.  Twice.

Merry Christmas to the Christ child.  Happy Birthday to my Lord and Savior. 

Good tidings of great joy to all of you.

Peace.

Another favorite! GRANOLA!!

I am going to share another of my favorite recipes with you today.  Homemade Granola.  John and I eat this with milk in the morning for breakfast and in the evenings for a quick snack before bedtime.  It's so good.  But, the best thing about this granola is you know what you're eating!  Here goes........

Begin by adding the butter....YUM!!  Real butter, not that fake stuff.  Melt it in a medium-sized sauce pan, very slowly.  When it is completely melted, add the honey and salt.  Do not boil this mixture.  Set aside.

In a bowl, mix the oats, brown sugar, cinnamon/sugar, wheat germ and nuts.  I prefer pecans and almonds, but you can use what you love the most.  Tonight, I just used pecans. 

Mix this together and add the butter/honey mixture.  Stir well.  All of these ingredients are gonna get to know each other very quickly.  Pour this wonderful-smelling concoction onto a well-greased (I spray with canola spray) cookie sheet pan.  Spread it out evenly and try to pat down with the back of the spoon. 

Bake this for 10 - 15 minutes, until it looks like it's browning a bit, remove from the oven.  Using a spatula, press down while hot.  Let cool, remove from pan and store in air-tight container.  Remember, to prevent the granola from sticking to your pan (and having to pry it out with a hammer and other barn tools), remove from the pan when it's cooled enough to touch.

                                                                            ENJOY!!!

Homemade Granola

3 cups of uncooked oats
1 stick and 1Tbl butter
2/3 cup honey or sorghum
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 tbl salt
1 Tbl cinnamon/sugar mixture
1/2 cup wheat germ
3/4 cup nuts, any type

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Follow directions above. 


Peace.

Happy Thanksgiving

As I spend the day before Thanksgiving preparing the pumpkin for the pumpkin pie, making the cranberry jello salad, pecan pie and cherry cobbler, I am reflecting on the things and people that I am truly thankful for.  It's been a tough year for me spiritually...within the walls of my home church....but I remain faithful to my Savior.  I am thankful that He is with me in times of trial and in times of joy.

Today, I also reflect on the other things for which I am thankful; my loving family.  No doubt, second to my Savior, my family is truly my rock.  They are the ones I crave companionship with and they are the ones I depend on for advice, love and support.

My job has been faithful to me as well.  I have a great job that allows me to support three thriving families.  I am thankful that He put me there at the right time. 

I am thankful for the good health of my loved ones.

Then, I can't help but think of those who are hurting.  My sister's stepchildren are about to lose their grandmother.  Cancer is an ugly thing.  I pray that she knows her Savior too. 

Pat lost her brother this week after a long illness.  Bill will face a surgery in the coming days.  Sharon lost her dad this week.  Willie struggles with her faith.  Bill has found a new church family, but his wife attends a different one to support her mother.  April leaves her job and faces a new journey.  Anita still searches for her father.  My father struggles with lonliness, one that we cannot fill.  Two families lost their sons to suicide last week in the community in which I work. 

These folks will be in my thoughts for a while. 

I rejoice that an older man, without family, will join our family for the big feast tomorrow.  Boy, is he in for a trip!  But, I also pray that he sees our love of family while he visits with us.

So, to anyone who might read this.  Give thanks for the important things, things you cannot buy.  Open your heart to someone who needs you.  Give thanks around your Thanksgiving dinner table, one person at a time. 

Leave it alone! Get rid of 'em! Stop it! Shut up! I feel better.

This time changing stuff that happens twice each year really gets to me.  I hope that one day they just leave it alone, one or the other. 

This political stuff that's going on right now is disheartening to me.  They all are self-serving.  They all want credit.  They all want the glory. In the meantime, everything is going to %^&*.   They all need to go.

High school bullying is everywhere.  I want it to stop and I want respect for all kids.  I want the school administrators to grow some balls (did I really just say that??) and take a stand against it.  I want them to get this problem taken care of.  Now! 

I want cancer to get cancer.  We can send a man to the moon.  We can create human life artificially.  We can create a phone that talks to us.......but we can't cure this.  I want it gone too.

And, I hope that someday I can make a difference in this world.  I hope I can be just one half of the woman my mom is.  I hope that I've done a good job raising my children to love their fellow man and the Lord.

That's all.  I feel better now.

Peace 

No-Shave November

It's that time of year.  John is preparing for his two-week-long deer camp with his closest friends.  Each year, they all get together (weeks ahead of season) to sight in their deer rifles and have "discussions".  Then, they cut firewood, pack the campers, load the food, buy the beer, stockpile the ammo............and they stop shaving.  They talk about things they don't talk about all year long, until this time of year....menu planning, generators, deer sausage, and......they stop shaving.

Well, you know what?  He leaves on Thursday.  And, for the next two exhilarating, wonderful weeks, I'm not going to shave either. 

The guys think we wives are miserably lonely while they're out there sitting around a campfire, drinking with other stinky men.  (Did I mention that NOT bathing while at deer camp is considered camouflage?   Deer aren't stupid, they can smell stench. 

Well, we wives are really on vacation during this blessed time of year.  I, for one, plan to sleep in the middle of the bed, with the dog.  And, the fan will be in the OFF position.    :)

I also plan to throw a few things away while cleaning up in a certain person's area.  This happens on a yearly basis during No-Shave November. 

I think I'll keep the house a nice, comfortable temperature.  And, I'll put the sauce ON the noodles....in the same pot, if I so choose.

I'm gonna have Cream of Wheat and toast for supper.  Maybe every night. 

So, after making him promise to call home every night to check up on me, I'll happily answer the phone ( at the agreed upon time) and tell him how much I miss him.  I'll tell him how quiet it is at home, ask him if he's having fun.  He'll tell me who killed  a deer today, who's was the biggest, and what he's having for supper.

Then, we'll give our kisses goodnight over the phone, say our "I love you's" and hang up. 

Days of our Lives on the DVR.............priceless.

"No-Shave November" is really "Dear" Season..............get it?   *wink wink*

Peace.

An evening in the lower 40

The many years of parenting are slowly coming to an end at our house.  Danny is 26, Becky is 24 and they both live out on their own.  Our youngest, Kelly, is now 16 and a Junior in High School.  She is in sports, has her drivers license and a part-time babysitting job.  So, John and I have a lot of alone time. 



 Tonight, we enjoyed a four-wheeler ride down through the farm, crossing the creek,  and we ended up in the lower 40 (acres).  We recently purchased this part of the Century-old family farm from the estate of my beloved Uncle Buddy. It joins our property and we are honoring the lease that he had with a man who farms alfalfa hay, cane, pumpkins and corn.  We "keep an eye on the place" about once every 2 weeks or so.  Tonight was nice.  We slowly made our way to the lower 40, walked up the wooded hills and then back down to the fields.  It's beautiful down there. 


The lower fields which are leased out.  The sights are breath-taking.



More than 100 years ago, this beautiful pond was an iron ore mine.  Now, we can sit by it and dream of the life of Grandpa Marsh.  I think he would really love this place.

As we came back up, we stopped at the old barn, that was (about 120 years ago) fully utilized as a dairy barn, sheep barn, hay loft, etc by my grandfather.  The old barn is nearly falling down, but we love to walk through it and pretend that we know exactly what it was used for, and I imagine grandpa milking "Butter" in there.   

We will soon be taking the old barn down, as there isn't enough to save, and building a newer one for our small herd of beef cows.  We plan to bulldoze the old brushy fields and make them workable again.  I'd love to have the farm be a working farm once again, just like grandpa used to have it.

This is an old dry creek bed.  It's so gorgeous this time of year. 

We will plant a nice orchard, raise some beef, cut hay, and fish in the old pond.  When the old house just can't be lived in anymore by renters, we'll probably take it down too.  I might just have to build a little farm house where the old house stands now.  I think Grandpa Marsh would like that.

I don't want to wish my life away, but retirement sounds so good........

Peace

Hot pepper hands

Today, I learned that you should never EVER chop jalapeno peppers without gloves.

Peace.......

Comfort food

When the seasons change from the hot and humid days of summer, to the cool and rainy temptations of autumn, comfort food comes to mind at my house.  I knew when I woke this morning to the sounds of a steady rain, lightning and thunder, that I would have something simmering all day.  I take every Wednesday off of work to be a mom, a wife, a volunteer, a daughter.  I use this day, in the middle of the week, to prepare a hot, nutritious meal for my family.  I get my laundry caught up, I dust, I sweep.  Sometimes, I get a nap. 

Well, today is no exception.  I got up and made my bed.  I had a bowl of Cheerios and began the pot of ham and beans.  I prefer white navy beans.  That's what my sweet mom made for us when we were growing up.  John likes the brown beans.  So, I switch it up now and then so that he's happy.  Today, it was my turn.  I washed the beans, took out some ham that I had put in the freezer from a previous meal, added a little salt and pepper and then let the stove do the rest of the work.  The beans have been simmering all day, and I've cooked them down so that there is a rich, thick gravy.

The cornbread, probably my favorite part of this meal, is baked in my old iron skillet.  The cookies, (Hillary Clinton's recipe) is my family's absolute favorite cookie. 

So, in less than an hour, we will sit down at the table on this cool rainy September afternoon, and enjoy a delicious, healthy, comforting and home-cooked meal. 

Peace.

Am I a Homesteader? I sure hope I am!

Millions of Americans have joined the band wagon in getting back to the land, growing their own food, (or at least knowing where it came from) exercising, and just "doing the right thing".  I am no exception, except the exercising.  For the last five years, or so, John and I have made strides in creating and building our homestead here in Central Missouri.  In the past, we've had sheep and goats.  We have moved on from those two species due to them not being a good fit for us.  Now we have beef and dairy cows.  We also have chickens for meat and eggs. 

In addition to our livestock, we have been working on building an orchard.  So far, our orchard sports a peach tree, two apple, one pear, two cherry and three plum.  The late frost got all of my apple tree blooms, so it was bare.  My peach tree found the same fate.  Our cherry tree gave us a handful of fruit,  and our pear tree will give us about 10 pears.  But that's ok!  Our orchard is only about 3 years young.  We also planted four blueberry bushes last fall, and they don't seem to be growing at all.  This fall, I will heavily mulch them with seasoned manure and a layer of mowed leaves. 

The garden gave us corn, green beans, okra, cucumbers, tomatoes, green peppers, jalapeno peppers.  We canned that bounty.  Hopefully, next year will be bigger and better.  But, I'm satisfied and thankful for what we did get.   I also processed two bushels of peaches from the local farmers market. 

The milk cow gives us more than we ever imagined.  Fresh milk, heavy cream.  With that, we make our own butter, cheese, whey.....and I can my excess milk.  That canned milk can be used for gravy, pancakes, and other recipes calling for milk...even pumpkin pie!

Fall is coming soon.  We will soon be working on the wood pile.  We bought our hay for the winter and have it under cover.  We might even put a few of the older hens in the freezer.   I feel good.  We feel good.  I'm thankful. 

New to the family......

Meet Bambi!  Bambi is a 13 month old jersey heifer and she will be joining our farm on Tuesday.  I am very excited to have found this gem.  While in Houston MO, at my daughter's high school softball tournament, I called the number on the ad.  The advertisement was enticing...."13 month old.....gorgeous....ready to breed....mom on site.....mom is extraordinary..."  And, being that close to the owner, I had to go look.  Boy, am I glad I did.  Bambi is a fantastic-looking heifer.  See for yourself.....

Bambi

Homemade "Rotel" tomatoes

During the cold winter months, we eat a lot of hearty meals such as chili with cornbread and taco soup.  It just sticks to your ribs and makes you feel all happy inside.  Last summer, a friend of mine shared with me her recipe for homemade "rotel" tomatoes.  You can buy Rotel tomatoes in your grocery store.  That is the brand name.  They're very good, but they're not homemade.  And, when I can make something myself, I try to do so.

Today, my countertops were covered (and I mean covered) with jalapeno peppers and tomatoes from my garden.  Since I ran out of rotels last year, I decided to make another large batch.  Here's how I do it.


1 gallon tomatoes, peeled and chopped
3 green bell peppers, chopped
7 to 10 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped (7 for medium or 10 for hot)
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup white vinegar
2 Tbl canning salt

How 'bout a few pictures?

Chop all of your peppers and onions in small pieces.



I like to peel my tomatoes by scalding them in boiling water til the skins begin to crack.  Then, the skins peel off easily!



 Put all ingredients into large pot and bring to a boil.   Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring frequently.


Look at all of those delicious colors!





After 30 minutes, everything just comes together.

 Put rotel mixture into prepared jars.  I use the 8 oz jelly jars, as it is the same size as the store-bought cans which are used in my recipes.  Process in boiling water bath for 10 minutes.  This recipe will fill  approximately 12 of the small 8 oz jars.  Sometimes more, sometimes less.    I guess it depends on how juicy your tomatoes are? 

Look at that!

Now, all of those tomato peels can either be dehydrated and ground into a powder for use in stews and soups, be fed to the chickens, or put on the compost pile.  See, no waste!  Now, if you're like me, you didn't read the entire recipe before you began.  If that's the case, your fingers will be burning about now because you didn't wear gloves when you chopped the jalapenos. 

Enjoy, my friends......

Peace.

Another lesson learned, the hard way

My sweet Cinnamon ( my Jersey milk cown) is sick.  She hasn't been feeling well for two days now.  Yesterday morning when we went out to milk, she had no milk.  The calf (June) was spry and happy.  We figured June drank it all and was letting us know it by her antics in the field.  Cinnamon wouldn't come in to the barn.  We thought it odd, but figured we'd just chalk it up to the calf needing more. 

We took a trip yesterday afternoon to the local feed store to stock up on her dairy feed, and for the second time this week, they were out.  Once again, they sent us home with a beef cattle mix.........ok then.

Yesterday afternoon, Cinnamon was looking like she wasn't feeling well.  She wouldn't eat, the water trough wasn't missing any water, and she hung her head a bit.  We all have days when we don't feel well, right?  I felt her ears, no fever.  She seemed as if she had worked all day and just wanted to be left alone for a good long nap.  Well, for John, that's ok.....for a dairy cow, it's not.  It's a sign of illness.

Upon checking in with her again last night, we knew something was not right, and decided to call the vet first thing this morning if she wasn't better.  So, after a long and sleepless night for me, this morning she was worse.  It took me a long time to get her up.  After an hour of prodding, and waiting for the fog to lift (I thought I'd just throw that fog comment in), she finally got up around 7:00 am.  She wouldn't eat or drink.  She had no milk.  I called the vet. 

Well, he just left.  He gave her a calcium drench.  A calcium drench is basically shoving a tube down a cow's throat and pumping in gallons and gallons of a white chalky substance that looks like milk of magnesia.  Two grown men vs a 1000 pound sick cow.   Get the picture?  Mr. vet says that Cinnamon should be feeling much better by tonight. 

Changing her feed, to a second-rate feed to tide her over until her good stuff came in, proved to be the reason for her calcium deficiency problem.  Dairy cows with a calcium deficiency will show signs of joint pain (which she had), milk production decrease (which she had), along with the not eating/drinking/feeling well.........

The vet also "pumped her full of antibiotics" due to the raging pasture pneumonia in our area....just as a precaution.  So, we were told to "dump the milk for 3 days."  I can do that.  What I will NOT do is feed her anything but the best grain, ever again.  We have always given her the best grain, the best alfalfa hay, and the cleanest water.  To have the healthy, happy cows...we must do this.   If the feed store runs out again, down the road I will go.

Peace.