Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
This is one of those "take the plank out of your eye before you go to your brother about the speck in his" for me. I easily pick out when someone uses God's name in common conversation as an explicative or exclamation, but yet, I can do the same thing and not catch it until it comes out. This is getting better as the Holy Spirit has made me more aware of things such as these. I thought I would listen to an audio file on the internet of one of the local churches and just clicked on one. Within the first 20 seconds, the student pastor used the Lord's name in vain. I don't even like when a teacher/preacher uses gosh. I think this just becomes a very bad habit and we are not paying attention to His name. That is HUGE isn't it? We ought not be so lackadaisical this high on the list, should we? This is commandment 3! I want to be more aware.
I wonder how often it is spoken on television. I am fortunate in that I only have about 10 channels-yes, basic local TV through the phone company, none of those fancy schmancy channels with nudity, violence and language...oh, wait, that is on the local channels too now, isn't it. I think tonight, if I have time, I will watch a 30 minute show and see if the Lord's name is said in vain and tally it up. I will let you know.
Thursday, August 27, 2015
Tuesday, August 25, 2015
To Do 8/25/15
Last week: Finally got the wood stacked. It looks so nice. The drywall is up and no more insulation is exposed. Daughter is ready for college! Burned a small wood pile behind the chicken coop. Nothing worth mentioning in the kitchen :( I ordered border samples for the dining/sunroom.
This week: Hubby is to start mudding/taping or whatever the drywall. I think I will do the sanding and painting while he works on putting up a wall between the kitchen and the office. I have GOT to mow...the entire the yard. The goats have been so badly behaved that their grazing time has been cut down. They would rather destroy birdfeeders and eat duck food and sneak in the chicken coop. So I will have to mow. I would like to start cleaning up the deck where hubby cut all the drywall and there are bits and pieces of it and wood out there. I also need to consider bringing in some houseplants, possibly repotted ones and where they need to be until the dining/sun room is ready for them. I would like to get some paint on the deck, but some lantana, Leyland cypress and holly bushes will have to be trimmed way back before that can be done comfortably.
We will be going on a short vacation to "back home" in the Midwest, so I don't want to get too involved with anything. Once we return, hubby has another week of vacay that we can really focus on some pre-fall cleanup and projects, such has painting the deck, washing the siding, building cold frames, creating a fence for Max and finishing putting the black plastic on the garden to kill off some of the centipede grass that has gone wild.
I am so ready for September and less heat and humidity!
This week: Hubby is to start mudding/taping or whatever the drywall. I think I will do the sanding and painting while he works on putting up a wall between the kitchen and the office. I have GOT to mow...the entire the yard. The goats have been so badly behaved that their grazing time has been cut down. They would rather destroy birdfeeders and eat duck food and sneak in the chicken coop. So I will have to mow. I would like to start cleaning up the deck where hubby cut all the drywall and there are bits and pieces of it and wood out there. I also need to consider bringing in some houseplants, possibly repotted ones and where they need to be until the dining/sun room is ready for them. I would like to get some paint on the deck, but some lantana, Leyland cypress and holly bushes will have to be trimmed way back before that can be done comfortably.
We will be going on a short vacation to "back home" in the Midwest, so I don't want to get too involved with anything. Once we return, hubby has another week of vacay that we can really focus on some pre-fall cleanup and projects, such has painting the deck, washing the siding, building cold frames, creating a fence for Max and finishing putting the black plastic on the garden to kill off some of the centipede grass that has gone wild.
I am so ready for September and less heat and humidity!
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
To Sam's or Not to Sam's
My personal experiment of doing most of my shopping at Sam's has taught me a few things already. As I delve into my initial contrasting reactions, let me give you the run down on a few pros and cons for me.
Pro: I have a pantry full! I have a freezer full! I have Zip-loc storage and freezer bags under my bed! (Especially now that I use my baggie tree to reuse them.) I have all basic ingredients for cleansers and personal hygiene. (Even some toilet paper for those with aversions to family cloths.)
Con: I have spent close to $400 at Sam's, as well as another $100+ at "regular" grocery stores for small items. True, these small item purchases at the grocery stores led to unnecessary purchases of items that were different and exciting, AKA impulse, not in the budget... Pro: Even though I have spent at least two month's budget on my one month purchases, I do have such an inventory that could feed us for another three months even though it would be extremely repetitive; nonetheless, we would survive. Con: Another issue that I had not anticipated-cluttered pantry, cluttered mind. Yes, the old adage cluttered home=cluttered mind. And I am finding that this overflowing abundance of food is causing unwanted stress. Where do I put it? Where DID I put it? I already had one opened! This has to be used TODAY! It will take me a few minutes to get this out of the pantry I just have to move this and this and this, now I have to store the rest of this in the fridge, under the bed, in the bench..Man! Can't we just have sandwiches??? I keep thinking less is more, less is more.
So my dilemma is...how much money saved is worth the hassle and brain stress? Do let me clarify right now that no number of home canned jars of food affects me this way. Perhaps it is the work involved that provides the opposite effect of great personal satisfaction. A #10 can of tomato sauce, even though purchased for $2.08, does not bring joy when I pull it out of the pantry like my jar of strawberry jam that costs more than that after all is said and done. Is it that I am not doing the proper work to get the satisfaction? Maybe I should take that can of tomato sauce and immediately make jars of homemade spaghetti sauce. Then I have saved money and have my stock that I worked hard for, especially since my garden did not produce enough for me to have my own tomato sauce. Should I take my 10 pounds of flour and immediately make biscuits to freeze, pizza dough to freeze, pie crust to freeze (not my forte!), and bread to freeze? Leaving only what will fit in the flour bin. Would that make a difference? Or would I still be confused by the amount of doughs in my freezer when I go looking for a bag of frozen peas, bag of cheddar, stick of butter or chicken breasts? Hmmm. Sounds like this experiment is not over. Maybe a good week of nothing but kitchen organization would help. Maybe it's just all the time I spending outside this summer is making me lazy inside the house. Maybe I am overthinking it...
What a conundrum!
Do you shop at a wholesale / bulk store? Why or why not?
Pro: I have a pantry full! I have a freezer full! I have Zip-loc storage and freezer bags under my bed! (Especially now that I use my baggie tree to reuse them.) I have all basic ingredients for cleansers and personal hygiene. (Even some toilet paper for those with aversions to family cloths.)
Con: I have spent close to $400 at Sam's, as well as another $100+ at "regular" grocery stores for small items. True, these small item purchases at the grocery stores led to unnecessary purchases of items that were different and exciting, AKA impulse, not in the budget... Pro: Even though I have spent at least two month's budget on my one month purchases, I do have such an inventory that could feed us for another three months even though it would be extremely repetitive; nonetheless, we would survive. Con: Another issue that I had not anticipated-cluttered pantry, cluttered mind. Yes, the old adage cluttered home=cluttered mind. And I am finding that this overflowing abundance of food is causing unwanted stress. Where do I put it? Where DID I put it? I already had one opened! This has to be used TODAY! It will take me a few minutes to get this out of the pantry I just have to move this and this and this, now I have to store the rest of this in the fridge, under the bed, in the bench..Man! Can't we just have sandwiches??? I keep thinking less is more, less is more.
So my dilemma is...how much money saved is worth the hassle and brain stress? Do let me clarify right now that no number of home canned jars of food affects me this way. Perhaps it is the work involved that provides the opposite effect of great personal satisfaction. A #10 can of tomato sauce, even though purchased for $2.08, does not bring joy when I pull it out of the pantry like my jar of strawberry jam that costs more than that after all is said and done. Is it that I am not doing the proper work to get the satisfaction? Maybe I should take that can of tomato sauce and immediately make jars of homemade spaghetti sauce. Then I have saved money and have my stock that I worked hard for, especially since my garden did not produce enough for me to have my own tomato sauce. Should I take my 10 pounds of flour and immediately make biscuits to freeze, pizza dough to freeze, pie crust to freeze (not my forte!), and bread to freeze? Leaving only what will fit in the flour bin. Would that make a difference? Or would I still be confused by the amount of doughs in my freezer when I go looking for a bag of frozen peas, bag of cheddar, stick of butter or chicken breasts? Hmmm. Sounds like this experiment is not over. Maybe a good week of nothing but kitchen organization would help. Maybe it's just all the time I spending outside this summer is making me lazy inside the house. Maybe I am overthinking it...
What a conundrum!
Do you shop at a wholesale / bulk store? Why or why not?
Saturday, August 15, 2015
Getting My Jam On
Strawberries were on sale and since my berry plants were chicken fodder last fall and I never replaced them, I decided I had better get some before it is WAY past season. I decided to make both water bath and freezer jam. This is the first time I have made plain old strawberry jam. My strawberries were always for slicing, sweetening and putting in freezer bags for the cold winter months.
Break time and clean up time before round two freezer jam!
 |
| 8 cups of berries |
 |
| Mashed berries |
 |
| Added Surejell, boil, add 7 c. of sugar |
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| Boil again for one minute |
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| Ladle into hot jars and get ready for water canner |
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| After about 10 minutes, time to cool |
Break time and clean up time before round two freezer jam!
Friday, August 14, 2015
Food Friday 8/14/15
We have had some unexpected expenses in our budget and so the food budget is a bit less than normal for this payday. Hopefully, I have done enough preparation and bulk shopping in the past few weeks to sustain us, although more preparation is to be done.
This past week I have:
Made trail mix using a variety of ingredients.
I put said chicken salad in jars for grab and go lunches for the guys (and girl).
And I made strawberry flavored vinegar with leftover strawberry stems to make fruity salad dressing with.
This past week I have:
Made trail mix using a variety of ingredients.
Daughter and I made more PB&J sandwiches for the freezer.
I cooked up some extra chicken and made chicken salad.
I put said chicken salad in jars for grab and go lunches for the guys (and girl).
And I made strawberry flavored vinegar with leftover strawberry stems to make fruity salad dressing with.
It is time to inventory and get a new menu and list together for the next month, but with a very limited budget this time.
Thursday, August 13, 2015
Deodorant Review
The homemade recipe deodorant that took two minutes to make...AWESOME! My first test day included outside laundry at 8 am, jam making at noon, donning a bee suit with smoker at 2 pm, and doing son's pre-soaked laundry at 4 pm. A day of being sweat-soaked at least 4 times, and yes, several nose-to-armpit checks. (I am pretty sure I saw daughter shake her head in shame at me. I offered for her to check for me, but she refused, so...)
I would definitely recommend this recipe to try.
You can find it here: http://lostarrowacres.blogspot.com/2015/08/underarm-stinky-stuff.html
or watch the Southern Homesteading original YouTube video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IXNRP8JOgU
I would definitely recommend this recipe to try.
You can find it here: http://lostarrowacres.blogspot.com/2015/08/underarm-stinky-stuff.html
or watch the Southern Homesteading original YouTube video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IXNRP8JOgU
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
Back to Bible Basics: The 10 Commandments #2
6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
I am not going to lie, this is a scary and a bit confusing one for me as I first read it. I guess all commandments should be scary to us though. Does this mean we should not have anything in our homes such as stars on the outside of our house, angel statues, pictures of our animals or fish mailboxes? Okay, nobody should have a fish mailbox, maybe Kevin VanDam, but that's it. (Just kidding). Or is it okay to decorate my kitchen with roosters and hens as long as I don't "bow down" to worship or exalt the napkin holder? There may be people in other countries that still do make alters with different "deities" and actually bow down at those alters for worship. And I certainly do not want to do anything that would cause the Lord to be jealous and punish me and every generation to my great-grandchildren because of my disobedience. I do, however, want His mercy.
Below is a short, logical explanation that I found on YouTube that I feel speaks truth and reason. What do you hold as your standard for the second commandment?
I am not going to lie, this is a scary and a bit confusing one for me as I first read it. I guess all commandments should be scary to us though. Does this mean we should not have anything in our homes such as stars on the outside of our house, angel statues, pictures of our animals or fish mailboxes? Okay, nobody should have a fish mailbox, maybe Kevin VanDam, but that's it. (Just kidding). Or is it okay to decorate my kitchen with roosters and hens as long as I don't "bow down" to worship or exalt the napkin holder? There may be people in other countries that still do make alters with different "deities" and actually bow down at those alters for worship. And I certainly do not want to do anything that would cause the Lord to be jealous and punish me and every generation to my great-grandchildren because of my disobedience. I do, however, want His mercy.
Below is a short, logical explanation that I found on YouTube that I feel speaks truth and reason. What do you hold as your standard for the second commandment?
Sunday, August 9, 2015
Underarm Stinky Stuff
This has been an extraordinarily hot summer; maybe it is hotter than I remember because I worked inside of a sterile, cool hospital department. Nonetheless, with new animals on the homestead and grown children that don't participate in the chores like they used to, I have sweat like a pig every day. Part of it is due to the fact that when I get up, all fans, air conditioner and any thing else that I don't need is unplugged and turned off to try and help with the electric bill. It stays comfortable in the house until about 10 am ( about the time my outside chores are done ) and then I concede to the heat around 1 pm to 3 pm, depending on the humidity and turn on the AC and the bedroom ceiling fan. By the time Hubby gets home, it is tolerable. By bedtime, the bedroom is very comfortable for sleep.
Being outside doing the chores (animals, laundry, watching the garden die) in triple digits, I am finally used to the sweat dripping off of me- well, occasionally a drop of sweat will drip off my arm and onto my leg and I get scared thinking it may be a wasp or uninvited insect, screaming slightly, hoping that Hercules is the only one to judge me. But I don't feel "icky" like I used to when I got that soaked with perspiration. To be honest, I rarely use any deodorant. I try to take an evening shower before Hubby gets home for the sake our marriage and it is cool enough that I won't sweat too much by that time. There has been a time or two that I thought the neighbor put chicken fertilizer on the field or that something was rotten, only to find the aroma followed me and became quite strong when I would hang out clothes or any other chore that I had to lift my arms up. I do try to be considerate when I am out and about in town-, church, the feed store, Sam's club or wherever we may need to go.
I have long ago discovered the warnings about all the highly scented deodorants and now "clinical" strength deodorants and aluminum. I heard that if you eat the right foods you won't have body odor. I have no idea if this is true or not, I am not a strict organic vegan by any stretch of the imagination. Anyway, I have decided to try a very simple recipe that I saw on YouTube. (Thank you Southern Homesteading Channel.) I will let you know my "review" within the next week, as our temperatures are back in the upper 90s to 100s. *Sigh*
The original recipe used 2 tablespoons each of corn starch, coconut oil and baking soda with 20 drops each of tea tree oil and lavender oil. I don't have lavender oil, nor the money to spend on it, so I left it out. Also, because I didn't have a cute little jar, I just used a jelly jar and doubled everything except for the tea tree, I used about 30 drops.
Being outside doing the chores (animals, laundry, watching the garden die) in triple digits, I am finally used to the sweat dripping off of me- well, occasionally a drop of sweat will drip off my arm and onto my leg and I get scared thinking it may be a wasp or uninvited insect, screaming slightly, hoping that Hercules is the only one to judge me. But I don't feel "icky" like I used to when I got that soaked with perspiration. To be honest, I rarely use any deodorant. I try to take an evening shower before Hubby gets home for the sake our marriage and it is cool enough that I won't sweat too much by that time. There has been a time or two that I thought the neighbor put chicken fertilizer on the field or that something was rotten, only to find the aroma followed me and became quite strong when I would hang out clothes or any other chore that I had to lift my arms up. I do try to be considerate when I am out and about in town-, church, the feed store, Sam's club or wherever we may need to go.
I have long ago discovered the warnings about all the highly scented deodorants and now "clinical" strength deodorants and aluminum. I heard that if you eat the right foods you won't have body odor. I have no idea if this is true or not, I am not a strict organic vegan by any stretch of the imagination. Anyway, I have decided to try a very simple recipe that I saw on YouTube. (Thank you Southern Homesteading Channel.) I will let you know my "review" within the next week, as our temperatures are back in the upper 90s to 100s. *Sigh*
The original recipe used 2 tablespoons each of corn starch, coconut oil and baking soda with 20 drops each of tea tree oil and lavender oil. I don't have lavender oil, nor the money to spend on it, so I left it out. Also, because I didn't have a cute little jar, I just used a jelly jar and doubled everything except for the tea tree, I used about 30 drops.
 |
| Ingredients ready |
 |
| Mixed with spoon (I didn't want to get my finger yucky later in the evening) |
 |
| Mixed and ready for cooling/hardening in the bathroom cabinet |
 |
| Wait...pretty it up with left over apron material...now we are ready |
Do you have a special deodorant recipe that you use?
Thursday, August 6, 2015
DITL
I love watching Day In The Life videos on YouTube-it's not like I have anything else to do, right? Occasionally, when I am feeling a little lazy, this can be motivating; when I am feeling quite lazy, it is a wonderful waste of time. Although I don't have a YouTube Channel as of yet, it is coming in the near future. So, instead of video, I am doing a post of a DITL on Lost Arrow Acres, a not so typical day when we have the car for errands.
5:45-Up with Hubby who is taking the farm truck today so I can take Daughter to work and head to town ( a very rare event).
6:00 Hug Hubby bye and back to the bedroom and strip down the bed. Tomorrow is hand washing laundry day, so today I am washing jeans, towels and bedding that is more efficiently washed in the washer. In goes the blanket and pillowcases.
6:15 Read the Bible and prayer for family's protection as we venture off the farm.
6:40 Check out e-mails, internet ads to get a headstart at town. Get distracted by other websites, JoAnn's, Sam's, the list goes on...Back to reality as the dog barks. (Thank you, Lord.)
7:10 Open the fridge to see what leftovers there are. Phone rings. Hubby called to wish me a good day and tell me he loves me and assure me he made it to work in the old Dodge.
7:20 What was I doing? Doesn't matter, the washer has been done and it's time to put in Hubby's to-work pants. He changes there but has his old ones he wears to and from work. I am going to fill the laundry basket and hang everything out at once.
7:25 Back to the fridge to pull out the cucumber salad that is almost gone and put it in a smaller container. Rearrange the leftovers, moving the oldest ones in front to be eaten first.
7:30 Dog barking strangely. I go to the bathroom window and ask him what is wrong? Hercules does not reply but I do see that two ducks (Bo and Luke) are outside of the main garden fence. Err!
7:31 Knock on Daughter's door and tell her I probably will need her help getting the ducks in.
7:32 Muck boots donned and out the door. We try to corner them on the small strip of ground between the greenhouse and their original yard. They pace back and forth. Daisy and Cooter look on until they take off running when the late-blooming rooster jumps over the chicken wire (worthless height!) and starts chasing Daisy full speed. I hop the fence, pick up the feed tray and waylay him before he catches her. According to Daughter, I hit him hard enough to flip him; I was picking the tray back up and preparing for more battle, but he flew back over the fence and I chased him back past the tree. Then I realized I had duck poo on my hands from the bottom of the tray-ewwww!! Girl moment. I rinsed them in the 5-gallon bucket that catches the water that leaks from the hose connection. I picked up the tray and realized it had a hole in it. Humph! No longer a good feed tray. The ducks made it back inside the fence by themselves. Really!?!
7:38 We go ahead and feed the animals. Ducks get fed in their broken tray. Daughter turns on the hose and fills the pool. Rabbits get food and water and covered back up by the shade cloth. Then comes the hard part. We get Max out and Brie and Mollie in so we can feed them and let them eat somewhat peaceably. Daughter stays out and makes sure Max doesn't do anything stupid, or at least watch him do something stupid. I go ahead and shake the chicken tube feeder and feed and water the rabbits. No eggs yet in the nests. Once the girls, Brie and Mollie start fighting a bit, we know the food is gone. At that point we lead Max back inside the goat yard and put more food in the large rubber feed bowl so all three can start out eating and then Max wins and the girls go off. While I was feeding the rabbits, apparently Max was headbutting and actually bit the dark gray rabbit's ear. We have 3 or 4 free bunnies that wait by the feed shed for us to finish up so they can have a bit of pellet food too. Well, I checked his ear and I don't think Max did it, but there was a big old scrape on his inner ear, so I go in and grab the animal medical bag and a glove. I spray Blu-Kote on his ear as he and the white bunny are eating their kibble. Of course, the spray hits the ungloved hand. Errr! Back in to finish laundry.
8:15 Hang out bedding, work pants and bee suit on the line.
8:30 Blog about the morning so far...to be continued.
1:55 Back from town. Between 9 and now, I got ready to go to town. Daughter got ready for work. I went to Hobby Lobby and picked out material for my apron. I hit the dollar store for a few things (foam plates for our art projects to put paint on, latex gloves for cleaning and animal care, drink additives (Hawaiian punch packets) for Hubby's lunch, a couple of containers for a variety of size for leftovers). I got a loaf of bread at Aldi's. An older gentleman let me and the woman in front of me go ahead because we each only had one item. I thought that was very kind and asked the cashier if I could contribute my change of four dollars to his grocery bill. I hope that blessed him half as much as it blessed me. I made a stop at Wal-Mart and got some more sewing items, treats for the family and did not get a dehydrator that I had hoped. There wasn't one in the store. So, I will wait a bit. I made it back home around 1:15 and after putting all the bags in the house I immediately went to ice the bunnies and give the animals fresh, cool water. I came back in and had lunch.
2:00 Clean the kitchen back up. Turn on air conditioner and fans.
2:15 Get the clothes off the line and finally make the bed.
2:35 Vacuum house.
3:00 Talk on the phone with mother.
3:45 Check out facebook-update cover and profile pics.
4:30 WHAT?! Where did the time go?? Son home from work. Time to go pick up Daughter from work.
5:20 Setting up ironing board and pre-washing my fabric.
5:40 Talk to kids a bit, even though both buried in cell phones. Toast and burn buns while making hamburger patties.
5:50 Scrape black of buns and shrug.
6:10 Answer door. Folks from church stopped by. One of them bought some honey with comb and told us about Saturday night out at a local BBQ place. (Saving money for a night out with some ex-coworkers so won't be able to afford that.) See them Sunday.
6:30 Supper finally ready and Hubby home.
6:45 Eat and clean up.
7:00 Take care of animals. Dry fabric.
7:30 Iron fabric and look for good scissors to cut out pattern. Hubby and daughter joined in the search to no avail.
7:45 Pout because can't find good scissors.
8:00 Play on iPad, looking and listening to new ideas, while Hubby watches TV.
8:30 Shower and get ready for bed.
9:00 Sleep tight in clean bed....ahhh! Good Night and God Bless!
5:45-Up with Hubby who is taking the farm truck today so I can take Daughter to work and head to town ( a very rare event).
6:00 Hug Hubby bye and back to the bedroom and strip down the bed. Tomorrow is hand washing laundry day, so today I am washing jeans, towels and bedding that is more efficiently washed in the washer. In goes the blanket and pillowcases.
6:15 Read the Bible and prayer for family's protection as we venture off the farm.
6:40 Check out e-mails, internet ads to get a headstart at town. Get distracted by other websites, JoAnn's, Sam's, the list goes on...Back to reality as the dog barks. (Thank you, Lord.)
7:10 Open the fridge to see what leftovers there are. Phone rings. Hubby called to wish me a good day and tell me he loves me and assure me he made it to work in the old Dodge.
7:20 What was I doing? Doesn't matter, the washer has been done and it's time to put in Hubby's to-work pants. He changes there but has his old ones he wears to and from work. I am going to fill the laundry basket and hang everything out at once.
7:25 Back to the fridge to pull out the cucumber salad that is almost gone and put it in a smaller container. Rearrange the leftovers, moving the oldest ones in front to be eaten first.
7:30 Dog barking strangely. I go to the bathroom window and ask him what is wrong? Hercules does not reply but I do see that two ducks (Bo and Luke) are outside of the main garden fence. Err!
7:31 Knock on Daughter's door and tell her I probably will need her help getting the ducks in.
7:32 Muck boots donned and out the door. We try to corner them on the small strip of ground between the greenhouse and their original yard. They pace back and forth. Daisy and Cooter look on until they take off running when the late-blooming rooster jumps over the chicken wire (worthless height!) and starts chasing Daisy full speed. I hop the fence, pick up the feed tray and waylay him before he catches her. According to Daughter, I hit him hard enough to flip him; I was picking the tray back up and preparing for more battle, but he flew back over the fence and I chased him back past the tree. Then I realized I had duck poo on my hands from the bottom of the tray-ewwww!! Girl moment. I rinsed them in the 5-gallon bucket that catches the water that leaks from the hose connection. I picked up the tray and realized it had a hole in it. Humph! No longer a good feed tray. The ducks made it back inside the fence by themselves. Really!?!
7:38 We go ahead and feed the animals. Ducks get fed in their broken tray. Daughter turns on the hose and fills the pool. Rabbits get food and water and covered back up by the shade cloth. Then comes the hard part. We get Max out and Brie and Mollie in so we can feed them and let them eat somewhat peaceably. Daughter stays out and makes sure Max doesn't do anything stupid, or at least watch him do something stupid. I go ahead and shake the chicken tube feeder and feed and water the rabbits. No eggs yet in the nests. Once the girls, Brie and Mollie start fighting a bit, we know the food is gone. At that point we lead Max back inside the goat yard and put more food in the large rubber feed bowl so all three can start out eating and then Max wins and the girls go off. While I was feeding the rabbits, apparently Max was headbutting and actually bit the dark gray rabbit's ear. We have 3 or 4 free bunnies that wait by the feed shed for us to finish up so they can have a bit of pellet food too. Well, I checked his ear and I don't think Max did it, but there was a big old scrape on his inner ear, so I go in and grab the animal medical bag and a glove. I spray Blu-Kote on his ear as he and the white bunny are eating their kibble. Of course, the spray hits the ungloved hand. Errr! Back in to finish laundry.
8:15 Hang out bedding, work pants and bee suit on the line.
8:30 Blog about the morning so far...to be continued.
1:55 Back from town. Between 9 and now, I got ready to go to town. Daughter got ready for work. I went to Hobby Lobby and picked out material for my apron. I hit the dollar store for a few things (foam plates for our art projects to put paint on, latex gloves for cleaning and animal care, drink additives (Hawaiian punch packets) for Hubby's lunch, a couple of containers for a variety of size for leftovers). I got a loaf of bread at Aldi's. An older gentleman let me and the woman in front of me go ahead because we each only had one item. I thought that was very kind and asked the cashier if I could contribute my change of four dollars to his grocery bill. I hope that blessed him half as much as it blessed me. I made a stop at Wal-Mart and got some more sewing items, treats for the family and did not get a dehydrator that I had hoped. There wasn't one in the store. So, I will wait a bit. I made it back home around 1:15 and after putting all the bags in the house I immediately went to ice the bunnies and give the animals fresh, cool water. I came back in and had lunch.
2:00 Clean the kitchen back up. Turn on air conditioner and fans.
2:15 Get the clothes off the line and finally make the bed.
2:35 Vacuum house.
3:00 Talk on the phone with mother.
3:45 Check out facebook-update cover and profile pics.
4:30 WHAT?! Where did the time go?? Son home from work. Time to go pick up Daughter from work.
5:20 Setting up ironing board and pre-washing my fabric.
5:40 Talk to kids a bit, even though both buried in cell phones. Toast and burn buns while making hamburger patties.
5:50 Scrape black of buns and shrug.
6:10 Answer door. Folks from church stopped by. One of them bought some honey with comb and told us about Saturday night out at a local BBQ place. (Saving money for a night out with some ex-coworkers so won't be able to afford that.) See them Sunday.
6:30 Supper finally ready and Hubby home.
6:45 Eat and clean up.
7:00 Take care of animals. Dry fabric.
7:30 Iron fabric and look for good scissors to cut out pattern. Hubby and daughter joined in the search to no avail.
7:45 Pout because can't find good scissors.
8:00 Play on iPad, looking and listening to new ideas, while Hubby watches TV.
8:30 Shower and get ready for bed.
9:00 Sleep tight in clean bed....ahhh! Good Night and God Bless!
Tuesday, August 4, 2015
Tuesday To-Do 8/4/15
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| Baggie drying tree |
This week: Move wood to pile. Create menu. Make jam. Make laundry detergent. Paint garden bench with oops paint (barn red/burgundy), paint address sign for gate. Finish apron. Clear wild blackberry briars from around garden. Snacks! We are down to a weeks worth of trail mix and no sweets for my sweets. I need to make trail mix, no bake cookies and some granola bars this week. I think Hubby's oats are fine. More of Daughter's school things to finish up in the Big Town. Freeze eggs.
Hubby is still putting up our kitchen drywall; it hasn't gone to quickly with all of our other weekend chores that arise and take priority. I do need to clean up the dust, nails, screws and glue that is around there, as well as the pile of "no-home" things that have collected, such as tools and other things that have been displaced during the reconstruction process. Enjoy the journey, right?
Hope your to-do list is a short one this week!
Monday, August 3, 2015
Is Today Easter?
The caveat to free ranging chickens is the possibility of rogue nests. That's what I found, a clutch of 10 eggs between the front step and the imprisoned killer dog, Hercules. Daredevil hens! A couple were small, so the new girls are picking up some bad habits. I have plenty of eggs right now, so instead of freezing them like the frugal wife should, or even giving them the float test, I decided to just take them to the pond and sling them over the now tall bushes along some of the edge.
I started slinging them and off flew four ducks. Awww! If I had known I wouldn't have disturbed them. I do hope they come back, considering both neighbors are avid duck hunters.
I left one egg with specks in the nest so maybe they will continue to lay there and not move to another unknown place. Of course their nest boxes would be nice. They did find a nice little hole between the holly bush (ouch) and the old fashion rose (ouch). Kudos for that. I still get three or four in the nest boxes a day and thought maybe our hens were suffering from the heat a bit. If I were selling them to regular customers or low on stock, I would keep them penned in their coop until later in the day, but since neither of those scenarios apply, eh, let them do their thing.
I started slinging them and off flew four ducks. Awww! If I had known I wouldn't have disturbed them. I do hope they come back, considering both neighbors are avid duck hunters.
Sunday, August 2, 2015
Saturday, August 1, 2015
Food Friday 7/31/15
I know, I know. I still have not done my menu for the next month. There is just still so much in my freezers. And I have tried very hard over the past few weeks to change my mindset regarding the NEED to go grocery shop every week. And it has pretty much worked. I still see so much food to be used that I can't imagine without writing it down what I actually NEED. I did do an inventory of freezer and pantry and it filled a sheet of paper.
We are going to the Big Town today for Daughter's Orientation and other college to-do's. So we are heading to the bee supply shop for a smoker and Sam's for strawberries, so I am going to try and get a decent list together for efficiency.
I will let you know...
No strawberries. I picked up some produce, including fresh greens and spinach, cherry tomatoes (as mine are completely gone now), green peppers, apples, cantaloupe, organic green grapes, frozen banana berry and frozen blueberries, as, again, mine have been used up in muffins, parfaits and just eating, and some pinto beans, cottage cheese, and canned peaches.
I have jarred up some salad (greek, house and chef); I have peaches and cottage cheese to jar up as well as parfaits (greek yogurt, oats, blueberries, honey, and either apples, melon or other fruit as a top layer) for breakfast or lunch or even dessert. I also made some spaghetti sauce in the crock pot for a couple of uses.
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| Frozen marinara, ground beef and canned mushrooms in the crockpot |
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| Blueberry oat apple parfait |
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| Salad in a jar for a quick lunch or supper; I add flax oil and red wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar or good old lemon juice |
I didn't purchase any meat yet. I still have quite a bit of everything: pork loin and bacon for the family ( I am going to avoid this myself), chicken, both ours and some breasts I bought, hamburger still divided for meatloaf, meatballs and whatever else we need it for, I still have the turkey that I need to cook (Thanksgiving dinner does not appeal to me in 115 degree heat index-call me crazy!), still have some deer burger and some beef chuck for a roast and strips for a salad or whatever. So we are set for at least a week or more!
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