Me The Hypocrite ?

You all, I mean Y'all, know that my life's goal is to live as close as I can in the Ingall's fashion.  The simplicity, the hard work, the faith and love that comes across the Hallmark channel every day from 4 pm to 6 pm.  Yes, the tear-jerking television show that has much of my generation thrown into nostalgia nausea, whether it is just memories of our childhood innocence when we begrudgingly watched it with mom and dad Wednesday nights, beginning on 9/11...1974 or the longing for the simple life without smart phones and the treadmill of surmounting stuff we try to attain for convenience sake.

As I was out feeding the ducks in the misting rain that had been falling for a few days (thankfully), it hit me that my homestead was not as "working" as I would like it to be.  In fact, a loved one has coined it as more of a "petting" farm.  And it's true- for the most part.  Mad Max, our Nigerian dwarf buck, is not my favorite to pet, but he is a necessary part of the farm regardless.  Every animal on the place has a name, except one gray rabbit that is less friendly than the others, but still waits by the feed shed every morning.  When I open the back door, the animals begin walking, hopping or waddling to the shed.  Some wait for me impatiently at the door.  Others will patiently wait for me to go ahead, just to make sure I don't back out of feeding them, I suppose.  Others still walk beside me waiting for me to ask them how they are. And I do.  The older rabbits that we let loose late this summer to live the last bit of their lives freely are the first to stand on my boots and try to stretch up to the shed floor, making it very difficult to maneuver from bin to bin and bag to bag.  But we manage.  Some of the young hens fly out of the coop and come running to hop into the shed.  A few just strain their necks up as far as possible to see if anything has dropped on the floor.  Poor Shirley got her head squished by the door when Hubby wasn't paying attention.  It took her a couple of minutes to recompose herself-poor thing.  I feed the goats first, and hopefully Max, being the bully that he is, will push out of the gate so that I can then lock him out until the girls have had sufficient amount of grain.  Then he can come back in for his share.  (Yes, I am saving money for a fence so he can be separated; life will be better for all caprine when this occurs).  I also check the chicken tube feeders to see if they need refilled while I am in there.  Then I give the rabbits just a dash of rabbit chow on the barrel lid in the back yard.  Black, white, gray bodies circle the lid like a not-so colorful daisy.  (Rabbit chow has gone up in price so much, I am really reconsidering how much food to buy when we invest in new stock to be caged next spring! and how to make rabbit runs for most of their dietary needs.)
Speaking of Daisy, and her boys, the ducks noisily follow me back to their area by the garden where I feed them and refill their pool.  Then of course when I let the goats out for fresh grass, weeds and saplings, where do they go?

Knock, knock, knock

"Anybody home?"

"I see you in there."

"Don't you love me anymore?"

I began thinking about how this person was right.  This is probably not the right way to homestead. I probably will not be eating any of the Duke ducks.  I am letting the rabbits grow old without worry of being fodder for the freezer; the coyotes are a different story. The hens that we have had over three years?  Am I going to stew them up before they die of natural causes just because their laying is dramatically slowed?  I am not sure.  Isn't the point of the lifestyle I am choosing to eat what you grow instead of buying it at Sam's Club?  We have enjoyed several roosters and of course the egg-eating hen for Sunday dinners, but with all the time and money invested in these meat animals shouldn't we be spending more time at the "cone?"  Shouldn't our dinner plates have a different look than the rest of the modern world?

I am starting to think that I may have to make some adjustments in my actions to sync up to what I believe in and am striving for.  Yes, hypocritical...

The time that I spend in the kitchen is already huge, particularly on the weekends when lunch is a must; breakfast ready at 5:30 for everyone who is going out the door to work and of course lunches packed, or lunch as soon as the buns are done cooking for hamburgers, and moving straight to supper that has to cook in the oven for three hours, cleaning up as I go (dawn to dusk)...how much later is supper going to be if I have to butcher the chicken that day or skin the rabbit?  But, isn't that the reason that I am here, at home, so that I can have the time to do it. 

I guess painting my nails will have to wait...

Prep Day(s)

Saturday morning brings shopping.  Shopping brings groceries.  Groceries bring prepping.

(I have given over all finances to hubby, which he has ungraciously accepted.  Frankly, my dear, I don't give...well, let's just say that I am very happy to have a new budget (although I would have given myself a bigger one) to only worry about groceries and household things. I think this will be such a load off my shoulders. )

We hit BI-LO, Aldi and Sam's.  Oh yes, and of course the Dollar Tree for his Hawaiian Punch packets.  I now have a budget of $120 for 2 weeks.  Yes, approximately $60 a week.  This should be interesting; I like a good challenge, but will they like beans and rice three days a week ?  Just kidding...for now.  Because we have had much food saved up while on MY budget and our mothers (both his and mine) sent us home with a bag of Midwest meat, we should fare fine for a while.  I am hoping that anything left over from the budget will add up to some Zaycon purchases.  It might take a while.

I spent $12 at BI-LO.  I spent $40 at Aldi.  I spent  $44 at Sam's.  Yep, I have $23 for next week. One item that I was not happy with was buying $10 worth of pepperoni at Sam's.  We used all of our last bag but I have since stopped doing pizza day once a week.  Guess I will reinstate that one!  I did divvy it out into smaller bags, as I do all things, and got about 25 snack-sized bags for at least two uses each.  I will try to stop complaining about abundance.  I would have been happier buying a smaller package and using the remaining cash on something else. 

Hubby did stop at a local feed and seed and let me get these 6 clay pots and saucers so I can repot several of my plants.  They were 50% off.  I got everything for just over $10 bucks!!  So great!

After feeding the family lunch, I began prepping a bit.  The two bags of chips are bagged into snack-sized bags and in the pantry ready for lunches.  I finished all the peanuts, raisins and dried cranberries for the trail mix.  I bought a bag of chocolate chips at BI-LO for $1.50 today so that should last until I can get a huge bag at Sam's next month.  Hubby was down to two bags of work oats, so I whipped up a batch and got 20 more bags for him, but I did deplete most of my oats.  No-bake cookies may have to wait until next payday.  There is still plenty of beef jerky that I made left.  I divided my pork loan from Sam's into five meals: 3 roasts, 1 chops and 1 chunk for stir-fry eventually.

Hubby will be off hunting this evening so I may do some more prepping.  What do I have left to do?

Buttermilk biscuits (to freeze)
Sandwich bread to bake
Vanilla pudding
Granola bars
Mayonnaise
Rice cereal candy
PB&J sandwiches
Pimento cheese spread
Cheese snack crackers
Pizza dough (bulk)
Garlic bread and hamburger buns will be made on the day we eat it.
Pie filling done
Eggs washed and crated up, ready to boil, fry, scramble or bake. (Only 5 more dozen in the fridge-time to freeze too)

I will dehydrate some apples and make some PB&J sandwiches before Notre Dame plays and then prepping time is on hold.  Tomorrow is sounding like a bake day for sure! 

Enjoy your weekend, everyone!
 

Good-bye Summer!

Change is in the air, even in South Carolina where the temperatures are still relatively warm.  There is less humidity and everyone feels and sees the change of fall approaching.  Hubby watched several squirrels frantically hauling off acorns as he sat in his tree stand the first few days of bow season.  The hummingbirds are visiting the feeder less.  Once the last little bit of sugar water is gone, I will be taking the feeders down.  I watched Canada geese fly over most likely heading even further South. One can only begin to feel the urgency that comes with winter. The cooler evenings are a blessing.  To me it is invigorating, energizing.  Maybe that feeling is ingrained in us so that we have one last chance of surviving winter.  We have more energy to prepare to keep ourselves warm and fed.

Unfortunately, our garden did not do well and there is very little that we harvested.  I have, instead, been canning the apples we picked up from North Carolina into sauce, butter and pie filling, canning potatoes and beans that I bought in bulk at Sam's or a local flea market.  Because the harvest was so bad, I feel I need to bring in more income somehow to cover the food costs that will be incurred because of it.  I will still be trying to build a cold frame or two in the yard to attempt year-long greens and other cole/cold crops.

We may mow one or two more times this year.  The animals will be restricted more, by keeping them in their coops, pens and cages, instead of the free-range, free-love vibe of summer where rabbits, ducks and chickens can eat from the communal blue plate.  The goats, however, are not allowed to join in until the plate is empty of all foods or put in the shed for future use.  All security measures are to be taken to protect from hungry winter predators both on the ground and in the air.  We would like to order one more batch of broilers for the fall, and this time we will add a Silkie hen or two, AND an incubator, since none of our fertilized hens have turned out broody. 



Daisy, Bo, Luke, Cooter, Millie, Mary Bird, Buffy and Rock dining

 

There is much to get done over the next few days to weeks and I will let you know what we accomplish, and what we don't.  Please tell me what you do to prepare for winter in your hometown.
Time to pull the plug on those space bags under the bed and start airing out those flannels!

 

Weekly Agenda 9/20/15

It is that busy time of year again.  I wish I could say that I was busy harvesting from the garden...but, no, not this year.  This year will be different for me as I have no "school-age" children; yes, daughter is in college, but there will be no chorale concerts, no National Honor Society banquets, no award programs to miss because of work...sometimes I wish I had a redo button on some things, don't you?
This year I can focus on family and farm things.  Oh, I hope my ADD doesn't kick in. Focus...focus...

So what is on the agenda for this week.
Well, first and foremost is my mom's birthday.  I need to get her gift ordered and the card in the mail.  Not that I trust the mail...but, I will mail it anyway.
It is going to be a huge kitchen week.  Since we have been on vacation our kitchen is even more of a mess than usual.  (We didn't get to work on the dining/sunroom during our vacation because all four of us suffered from a cold or sinus or sore throat issue that lasted several days!)  I have already cleaned out the fridge and had a bucket of chicken scraps, rabbit scraps and compost.  I am planning to can black beans and pinto beans, freeze any extra that don't fit in my small canner or my jars.  I need to bag up chips for everyone's return to work (yay! Did I say that out loud?). I am going to get my dehydrator out and dehydrate the last of the apples and the beef jerky that is marinating in the refrigerator right now.  I am going to make some buttermilk biscuits to freeze for future use.  I am going to make bread for us to eat and buns for hamburgers on the menu.  Yes, I have a menu again.  It seems like weeks since I have had one.  I missed it sooo badly!  I also bought sandwich bread to make PB&J sandwiches to put in the freezer. 
I am going to attempt to set up a table this next week at the farmer's market.  One is in our hometown and has a cute little carport but I have never seen anyone there for the last two years.  So, I thought I could make some bread, cookies, rolls and maybe a pie and throw a sign there Friday afternoon and maybe sell something for some extra cash.  If not, I will head to the next town over where there are a few more people that set up on Saturday morning and see what arises there.  So Wednesday, Thursday and Friday will be major baking days.  Worse comes to worst-we have extra sweets for lunches and co-workers.
I need to finish covering the garden with the plastic film to kill off as much of the centipede grass as possible for next spring, as well as throw some compost on my one raised bed that I am keeping.
I would like to build a cold frame to put in the front yard-between the rosemary bushes and the honeybee hive. 
I would like to start some lettuce seed indoors so when that cold frame is ready, I have something to put in it.
I also need to start working on a wheatgrass/fodder system that we can grow throughout the winter for the animals for some extra nutrition-and if I feel yucky I might just juice some myself. 
My berry bushes need some pruning and mulching and mowing around.  Not sure if I will get to that just yet. 
It is almost time to put some bulbs in the ground for spring too.  I am going to keep my eye on any daffodils or grape hyacinths that might be priced nice.
I think that is a good start for this coming week.  Hopefully, my cold/sinus issue will be 100% resolved by Monday so I can dig right in!

Back to Bible Basics: The 10 Commandment #4

⁸ Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
⁹ Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
¹⁰ But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
¹¹ For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.


We are at the last of the commandments that are God-relational.  The last six are people-relational.

Do you remember the days when Sunday was sacred.  No gas stations were open, no grocery stores were open.  You went to church and the family dinner that Mamaw cooked and that was it, or maybe to the park to play on the teeter totter.  If you forgot to get gas or needed something for the fried chicken dinner, you had to deal.  I think we also had closer relationships with neighbors and family that could help us out with some shortcomings and we them.   Then suddenly gas stations were open.  Then the grocery stores.  And now even the liquor stores can sell libations.  Boy oh boy do we need to take a step back. 

Of note, I do believe that the first Sabbath was Friday sunset to Saturday sunset and that changed with Constantine in the Roman empire days a few hundred years after Christ.   And we can get all bent out of shape in "man's tradition" and the paganism behind the change to Sunday, etc.  At this point in my own spiritual growth, I am not ready for all that.  As you can tell, I am still working on the first 10 Mosaic commandments!  And in the KJV that I read, sabbath is not capitalized, so I am taking great liberty and saying it will be Sunday...for now.  But I am trying to keep one day holy; the rest will come, God willing.

Nonetheless, I got hubby to go along with me this week to do a true sabbath. The kids were gone and did not participate.  Although we did not go to church, we did not do extra work and I did listen to a sermon online and read my Bible with more awareness.  I made a crockpot meal the night before so that no cooking was done.  The only thing that we had to do was to make sure the animals were fed and watered (and that the ducks were run back into the fenced area that they escaped from, twice!). 

I am not going to lie! This was hard. It was very hard to relax and just keep God in the forefront of my mind.  I would slip into what I need to do and what I should do and, yes, even once, Hubby had to ask where I was going when I wanted to do a little work.  I was checking the clock more and more as sunset approached.   At 8:17pm, I was washing dishes and starting the laundry. 

Hmmm, I think this is going to take more prayer, as well as preparation.  Paper plates, Saturday chores doubled or at least thoroughly done.  I do feel that God will bless the works of the six remaining days, but I need a little bit more practice and heart in it.  Not to just do the law/commandment, but to do it with the right heart.  I have some work to do on this (ha-ironic).

Do you keep the Sabbath?  How strict-do you use electricity?  Do you do leisure activities?  Do you remain in your PJs?  What is it for you to keep God's day of rest sacred and set apart?  

Back from Vacay

This Labor Day holiday was probably the longest vacation I have had in several years.  One doesn't get to take vacations when on the homestead, but one also doesn't have to ask a boss for time off if she wants a day or week off. 

We went back home to the Midwest and visited family.  We took an extra day on the way home just for fun.  We stopped at Sky Top, a North Carolina apple orchard and picked up 1 1/2 bushels of apples to can up, freeze up and preserve.  Our property is filled with lots of cedar trees and I have been unable to grow apple trees because of cedar apple rust; and I will not use a fungicide every year or any year.  Besides, it gives me a wonderful excuse for a day trip to the mountains.

I have spent the last couple of days getting things back up to par.  The kids ate quick and fast foods while we were gone so real food had to be inventoried and restocked or composted.  One of the great things about having a homestead is nothing REALLY goes to waste.  I have only canned up 4 pints and 4 half-pints of cinnamon applesauce so far.  I only used up about half of my 1/2 bushel bag of Mutsu. My next batch will be all-day apple butter.  I also plan on drying a few, making canned and frozen apple pie filling.  I did get a 1/2 peck of Candy Crisp, strictly for snacking on.  Shouldn't have to see a doctor until 2016.  (An apple a day...get it?)

I would say I am back on track, but Hubby is still home for another week and deer season opens Tuesday, Notre Dame season is also here, so...no...I expect many diversions in normalcy still.
But, at least I now have my daily routines in a labeled notebook-that's a good start, isn't it?