Abundantly Blessed Momma

Chicken Coop Mystery

2012-01-06T18:06:00.001-05:00

I wanted to tell you of a little mystery we had in our coop. As you know, we have big chicks and little chicks, the little chicks are our sweet little bantams. This story concerns the cute little black and white bantam in the photo above. Well, the boys went down to check on the water, food and egg situation and my youngest came running in the house yelling, " come quick!" Well, the look on his face let me know, something bad was wrong, only I thought surely as scared as he looked it had to be something wrong with his brother! My heart came up into my throat and I started to run, asking him, what was wrong as we ran. Thankfully, his brother was fine, it was one of the bantams that was the sufferer of the harm this time. Something had dug in under the side of the pen and had taken down this sweet little hen. She had a foot that turned on it's side, just a little, and it made her kind of hop along. I don't know if that's the reason something targeted her or not. She was laying in the center of the little coop and she had a hole about the size of a quarter ate completely through her neck and all her blood was gone, not even a drop was on the ground. I know that weasels will drink a chickens blood , but the thing that puzzles me is, where are her feathers? She had her tail feathers and the feathers on the top of her head, but the rest were gone. She was a clean plucked bird. I wouldn't have thought too much of it except there were no feathers in the coop, nor any outside the coop. We walked all around the field and barn lot and couldn't find any of her feathers. I want to pose a question to all you veteran chicken raisers out there, what takes the chickens feathers? Now in my mind I can see this weasel carrying a sack into the coop, plucking my sweet little lady clean, then stuffing those feathers into his sack and flinging it on his back heading for home. I think he must have had a feather tick mattress that was getting a little flat and he wanted to puff it up. I guess you can tell, I read too many children's books. Really, if anyone has had this happen, could you please let me know what has been in my coop? I want to make sure it doesn't come back after feathers for it's pillows.

http://homesteadrevival.blogspot.com/2012/01/barn-hop-44.html

Back with Pictures

2012-01-05T17:31:00.001-05:00

(Our Kitchen Tree)

Hey, hope all you good folks are doing well. My very frustrating computer has finally let me get back on here, hopefully it will stay up to get this posted! As I had mentioned in my last post, we had a mostly homemade Christmas and it was great! I wanted to show a few pictures of what I did, I know it's a little late, but as they say, "it's better late than never".

I tried to make things out of what I had on hand. Loving all kinds of crafts as I do, I have materials of all kinds. I really had lots of fun making all these things for my kids and I think they enjoyed knowing momma made them just for them:)

These hats and headband worked up really fast and turned out very nice. I even had time to make a hat and scarf set for a birthday gift right before Christmas.

I found the I spy page at a very neat blog that has lots of free printables. I decided to make an I spy game. First I drew off some of the little pictures onto small squares of paper then I placed those squares on colored card stock and then covered them with clear contact paper. I did the same thing with the big picture except I layered it with a thin piece of cardboard for stability. I found some pretty ribbon and tied it up.

I had a scrap piece of thin lumber that had a slight bow in one corner, so I decided to make a game board for my oldest son. The game is the English version of Board Solitaire. I know my son loves history and the U.S. so I chose to paint it up patriotic. The game pieces are those little clear rocks you can buy for flower vases. I had an old vase with some of those just sitting in the bottom and nothing else in the vase, so why not use them, right? I made a little bag out of felt and stenciled the same flag design on the front as on the board.
I was very pleased with how it turned out. My son really likes the game, so does my oldest daughter and I must admit so does momma. It's really fun.

I made this doll with the Black Apple doll pattern. I used one of my 4 year daughters old dresses. It had a petticoat made of muslin which was perfect to make the doll. I used some felt to make the hair, hat, scarf and purse. I didn't put on a face, that way my daughter can pretend she is asleep, awake or what ever mood she wants her to be in. I think she turned out nice.

My youngest son loves little books. He also loves to create stories, pretend he is a scout in the army or a private detective. So I made him a set of little books with blank pages. So simple but he loves them. He has asked if we could make more.

I found some drawing lessons on the internet for children so I printed them off and cut them apart and made my son several drawing books. I still plan to buy him his own set of charcoals and nice water color pencils, but for now he is content using mine.

I made my sons these lanyards from a tutorial on the internet, it called for paracord, but I had to use what I had on hand. They were pleased just the same. They are long enough to clip onto their belt and them slide into their pocket so when they don't want keys jingling they can keep them quiet.

I admit I'm one of those people who love little mice, as long as they are stuffed! I made this little family for my daughter and then found them a home at our local Goodwill shop. The little vintage mailbox was perfect to place a nest of fiber fill, and it only cost a quarter. My youngest son loved them and asked for a set of his own, so he got brown mice family. I also found a cute little green house at the Goodwill for $1. I brought it home and removed the stickers from the outside and it made another lovely house for my daughters mice family.

I know the house was for the Tinker Bell dolls, but it looked like a woodland house for mice to me.

Don't they look right at home?

I also found several free to print vintage paper dolls. I printed them off and covered them with clear contact paper, then I added magnets to the back of the dolls and all their clothes. I found very nice little tins at the Goodwill to place the sets into and it made a great gift.

I just love shopping at thrift shops. I found these stuffed animals at Goodwilll for .50 each. They are from Carter's and look like new. The duck is musical, I looked on the internet and he sells for well over $25, I think my .50 cost is a good deal.

I found many Ty items and several lambs(my little one loves lambs) I think I need to make her a Mary doll to go with the lambs.
Here are a few pictures of some of the stuffed animals I got for just a couple dollars.

We also found lots of antique and new books. We are homeschoolers and we love books. As I said our Christmas was wonderful even though we didn't spend lots of money. We focused instead on Jesus and his love for us and then we shared that love with our family. We bought a couple things new, but most were homemade or passed along. I had a star necklace that I have had for years, but never wore because it looked like a kids, so guess who got a new necklace? My 4 year old loved it. My husband had a longsleeved camo/ black tee shirt that he had never worn and my oldest daughter loves camo tees so she received a new shirt. She also loves her tee shirts to be a little big so the size was perfect.
It's amazing what you can do with so little money and everything still be very nice. Well my computer is acting up(it just erased part of my post) so I better hurry to get this posted. Hope you have enjoyed seeing a glimpse of our frugal but wonderful Christmas. God Bless

Wishing you all A Very Merry CHRISTmas

2011-12-22T13:32:00.000-05:00

I'm so excited that we are again blessed to be able to celebrate the birth of my LORD. I know many will never stop to think about the real meaning of this season, but for me , it's a special time to share the love that is in our hearts. My computer is experiencing some troubles so I am trying to get in a quick post before it shuts down again. I just had to tell everyone Merry CHRISTmas and I pray that the next year will be filled with love, joy and peace.
As many of you know we had a fairly rough year financially. But we chose not to get discouraged about money, but instead, to treasure the meaning behind this season and do things from the heart, not the wallet. I'm hoping to be able to share with you soon what we have been up to, it's been so much fun! We are having a frugal, mostly handmade Christmas this year and I'm excited! Well I'd better get this posted before my computer shuts down again. Until next time God Bless

Oh by the way, I WON THE VINTAGE FASHION CARD GIVEAWAY! I'll post more on that later.

Nice Vintage Look Coloring Cards Giveaway

2011-12-09T23:59:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to let everyone know about another nice giveaway. Hope over at http://pleasantsimplicity4u.blogspot.com/ is having a giveaway for some very nice vintage looking fashion coloring cards. I just love the vintage style! It's so nice to see pictures of ladies back when they looked like ladies. Today it's sad but sometimes it's hard to tell whether some people are male or female by the way they dress. So I find it refreshing to see these cards with the ladies in very feminine attire. My little 4 year old was looking at them with me and she said that she thought they were pretty and that she would like to color them, I think I would too. They would be very nice colored and framed in the sewing room. Well I hope I've said enough to peek your interest, head on over and take a look and sign up. When you do please somewhere in your comment let Hope know you heard about it from me and it will bless me with another entry. Then post about it on your blog and if someone signs up from your blog you will get another enrty. Here is the link to the giveaway and have fun. God BLess
http://pleasantsimplicity4u.blogspot.com/2011/12/merry-christmas-fashion-color-cards.html

What's for Breakfast

2011-12-05T10:22:00.002-05:00

I don't know about you, but finding something different for breakfast always puzzles me. Of course my family loves bacon and eggs, or sausage, biscuits and gravy. For myself I love those things too, but I do like something a little different, something that doesn't lay as heavy as biscuits and gravy.(smile) I have found a few recipes that we have been enjoying for quite sometime. Of course we like granola flavored with all sorts of goodies and there a literally hundreds if not thousands of granola recipes out there, they are as varied as the people who make them. The recipes I'm going to share are simple, quick, and even my children like them. They're not expensive to make most of the ingredients are things that stocked pantry probably already has in store. These are not my creations, but ones from the internet or books that my daughter and I have collected (someday I'll have to show our collection of recipe books)(smile) I didn't write down the source, which I wish now I had, so if you are reading this and recognize a recipe as your own that you have shared on the internet, Thanks a bunch for sharing! Let me know and I'll give you the credit.

Blueberry Oat Muffins

1 cup quick-cooking oats
1 cup sour-milk (to sour add 1 Tablespoon white vinegar to your milk and let sit for about 5 minutes)
1 cup flour
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup blueberries
Combine oats and milk; let stand for a few minutes, ( do this first and let stand while you measure out your other ingredients) In another bowl combine the dry ingredients. Stir egg and butter together after butter cools slightly and stir this into the oat mixture. Add oat mixture to the dry ingredients and stir together until moistened. Gently fold in the blueberries. Pour into a greased muffin tin and bake at 400 degrees for about 15 to 20 minutes.

Amish Baked Oatmeal served with Peaches

1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
1/2 cup sugar (may use white or raw cane sugar)
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract ( we add more than this, do to your taste)

Combine the first 8 ingredients and mix well. Spread evenly in a greased 13x9x2 inch baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes until edges are golden brown. We love this served with peaches. You could add any topping you like: strawberries, bananas, preserves, or even you favorite yogurt.

Whole Wheat Pecan Pancakes

1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon cane sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1 1/2 cups milk
( I also add a small amount of yellow cornmeal, to give a little crunch)

Sift the dry ingredients together. Mix in pecans. Add milk and stir until moistened. Cook in a lightly oiled skillet, until browned to your tastes. Serve with your choice of syrup. We love either maple syrup or a fruit syrup.
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Pecan Sticky Muffins
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (we add alittle more)
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/4 cup oil
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla (we add 2)

Topping:
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 packed brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans

In a large bowl, combine first 4 ingredients. In another bowl beat eggs, milk, oil, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Stir this into dry ingredients just until moistened. Into each muffin cup, spoon 1 teaspoon of melted butter, 1 teaspoon brown sugar and 1 heaping Tablespoon of pecans. Top this with 1/4 cup of your batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes.

These muffins are great! All warm and gooey from the oven.

I hope you enjoy these recipes, as I said before they are pretty economical( especially if you have your own pecan trees). If you would like more recipes posted, please let me know. I know there are a lot of recipes on the internet, so I'm not sure if you all want more or not. I'll be glad to post them if you would like. God Bless

http://homesteadrevival.blogspot.com/2011/12/barn-hop-39.html

Was asked to link this post up to Frugally Sustainable blog hop, I hopped over there and took a look around, Looks like lots of good, informative reading. Hope you all will check it out too. I'm going to go back now and read all those interesting blog post that are linked up. Thanks Andrea for the invite. God BLess

http://frugallysustainable.blogspot.com/2011/12/frugal-days-sustainable-ways-4.html

A cute Giveaway

2011-12-03T17:26:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to pop in to give you the news about a very cute giveaway over at: http://ajoyfulchaos.blogspot.com/2011/12/little-giveaway.html She is giving away some of the sweetest memory cards I have seen. Oh I hope I win, I know a little four year old farm girl who would love them! Anyway I know whoever does win them will adore them. Go over and enter. God Bless

An Interesting Series

2011-12-01T23:47:00.001-05:00

The past few days I've been trying to catch up on my reading. There are so many wonderful blogs out there and I can't find the time to read as many of them as I'd like to in a days time. I found out that Quinn over at
http://onjustacoupleacres.blogspot.com/ has posted a wonderful video series from BBC called Tales from the Green Valley, it's about 5 people who lived on a 17th century farm for 12 months and worked the farm as it would have been in the 17th century. I will caution that the people do say a couple words that I didn't appreciate hearing, it isn't words alot of people consider curse words, but words we just don't use in that manner. All in all we have enjoyed watching them and Quinn has been so nice and put the whole series on her blog so you can watch it with your children without all the pictures that show up on youtube. I must say I found myself being a little envious of the folks getting to live on the farm of that period and putting into practice all the things we read about in history. I do think there were a few of the foods I can live without such as blood pudding, yuk! I have always enjoyed reading recipes from days gone by and thought it was neat that they used old recipe books from the 17th century to cook their food. I know sometimes you can download old recipe books from amazon, for free. The spelling in the old books can take some getting use to, but they make for some interesting reading. It's nice to know you can actually use them to cook by today, sometimes you just need to substitute a few ingredients. My sons love history and they have enjoyed watching these videos. I don't know if you remember, but I posted a photo sometime ago about the wattle fence my sons had built in the yard. They had seen these fences in history books and on movies. They decided they wanted a fence around their "fort" so they built a wattle fence. I was very surprised when I saw it, they built it all on their own and they did a very good job. Children can sure surprise you with the knowledge they have that you didn't know they had. After my sons saw these videos, now they want to build a wattle and daub wall like the one on the cow barn in the videos. We'll see if that one happens(smile). Well I could rattle on and on, but I think you get the hint that I enjoyed these videos and thought you all would too. God Bless
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After I wrote this post, but before I got it posted, I found more videos by BBC on you tube that I thought you all might like. One is The Victorian Farm and another is The Edwardian Farm. I'm in the process of watching the Victorian Farm and so far it is good, very informative about the time periods. Hope you all check them out and enjoy.

http://deborahjeansdandelionhouse.blogspot.com/

Knowing the Value of Your Calling

2011-11-30T12:44:00.004-05:00

Our day got started a little later than normal. When I woke up, the house had a chill so I went and threw in a couple pieces wood on the fire and went back to bed. My youngest had crawled into my bed and said she was cold, so it was snuggle time! My youngest is 4, and she always kicks out from under her covers at night. I cherish the mornings she gets in my bed and wants to hug momma, I know the day is coming when she will move out of my home and into a home of her own.
As the house warmed up we all started moving around and got started on our day. There have been giggles and chases, tickling and hard laughter, oh the sweet sounds of home.    Sometimes I get caught up in the day to day things that need to get done and I forget to cherish the moments that are one by one passing by. This morning I was checking in to see what encouraging words had been written on the blogs and over at A Wise Woman Builds Her Home she had written a quote by Charles Spurgeon:

You are as much serving God in looking after your own children,

training them up in God’s fear,
minding the house,
and making your household a church for God,
as you would be if you had been called to lead an army
to battle for the Lord of hosts.
- Charles Spurgeon

As I think about this quote it really speaks to my heart. I know for my self sometimes I think what I do isn't really noticed by anyone. I will look at those women who have chosen some big career or even those who do great works in the church and I feel as if I don't measure up.
I'm so glad that the Lord sends gentle reminders to let us know in our hearts that what we are doing in raising our children really matters and He is taking full notice of everything. My husband has been in ministry for years and I know it is a big responsibility and every minister wants to be able to reach as many people as possible. There is a tendency in ministry to compare yourself with others who seem to be reaching more than you. I've witnessed ministers who are very passionate about reaching the world, but they are neglecting the ones in their home. The same is true for their wives, always trying to make a difference in someone elses children while their own are left to themselves. Now I'm not trying to condemn anyone, I'm just saying that is how it goes so many times. As I said before I sometimes find myself slipping into that category. As Charles Spurgeon said We all need to realize the importance of our own home and the ministry that's within it's walls. If we were to reach a million people in our lifetime with the gospel and everyone of them came to know Christ that would be wonderful, but what if we failed to reach those the Lord put within our own home?   It's my prayer that I will really start looking at what I do day by day as Kingdom Work. As the word says;
And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ (Colossians 3:23-24)
I wonder why, I will think I have this verse, and before I know it I have lost sight of it again. I guess we feel so pressured to measure up to what everyone else expects from us that it crowds out of our minds and hearts what the Lord expects from us. I'm so thankful for other Sisters in Christ who are there to give us a reminder of our important work as women in God's Kingdom.
I pray that today you will find joy in your roll as wife, mother, daughter, sister or just as a Daughter of God. May we all see that what we do in showing others His love no matter how small it may seem to the world, to God it's important.

http://proverbs14verse1.blogspot.com/2011/11/called-to-lead-army.html

Early Morning Trouble

2011-11-28T09:41:00.001-05:00

Life on a farm is never boring, there always seems to be some excitement somewhere. Early this morning my mom called and while we were chatting our dog starts barking and jumping around like she was just so excited. She acts that way when the horses are doing something in the field that she thinks they shouldn't be doing, like running too much:) Well, when I looked out the window I saw our 2 year old stallion chewing on a plastic shopping bag! There's a 2 lane road that runs along the side of our field and someone had thrown this bag out, you know how nosey horses are, they will pick everything up and chew on it. My oldest son and I were able to get to him in time, he held him while I forced his mouth open and reached back in his mouth to pull the bag out of his throat. My concern is there was only half of the bag, I'm not sure where the other half is, He may have swallowed it or it may have only been half of a bag to start with. I've watched him for some time and he is picking away at the grass and seems to be breathing OK. Hopefully that will be all the excitement for today. I don't know why people throw things out in pasture fields, but you see it all the time. I'm not sure if they just don't think or if they do think and do it with the intent to harm the animals. At any rate, I wish people had more sense and more heart. I thought I'd share a photo of my nosey horse, he is the last baby we have from our big stallion that passed away last year. I think he is a pretty one and I do believe he is going to have his dad's personality, you know, kind of like Mr. Ed, he just doesn't talk in human language. But all you horse owners know, they can talk if you know their language.

Doesn't he have lovely eyes? Hope you all have a blessed day and enjoy all the little details of your life. God Bless ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://homesteadrevival.blogspot.com/2011/11/barn-hop-38.html

Followers are still lost

2011-11-27T23:41:00.000-05:00

I wanted to do a quick post to say I still can't see my followers! My followers list has been missing for a long time and I don't know who you guys are, you just don't show up on my blog nor my dashboard. If you all would be so kind as to leave a comment and let me know who you are and where I can find your blog I'd be ever so happy. I enjoy reading about what's going on in your life and what is important to you. Thank you for being here and being interested in my little corner of God's beautiful world. God Bless

Still Here

2011-11-27T18:42:00.012-05:00

I want to start out with a huge I'm sorry! It has been so long since my last post! I'll give a quick update on all that has been going on and hopefully you will understand my absence. As you know hubby had his surgery, although he still has pain(which they say could last a year), he is now back at work after 3 months of no work. As I said before money has been almost non-existent, but we made it through with only a few more grey hairs added to our heads. We ended up selling our calves and one of our horses to help with our expenses. I along with the children was very sad at having to sell our horse, she was born here on the farm and we had gotten very attached to her being here. She had a sweet personality although she was a bit mischievous. I pray that she has found a good loving home, where she will be loved and spoiled a little like she was here. That's the hardest part of raising animals, you get so attached to them it's sometimes hard to let them go. Here are a few photos of Jubilee, her full name is Miss Glory's Jubilee:
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During my absence for blogging I have done the decorating for a ladies conference and also decorated the church and fellowship hall for my brothers wedding. It was a lot of work but also a lot of fun. I'll try to post a few photos of that when I can get them uploaded to my computer. Of course there was garden work and the everyday things to do. We were able to go on a few family outings to nearby places and enjoyed family time and looking at the splendor of fall. I have some nice photos of those trips to share later also. We experienced some sick days here and there and my father in law had a stroke from which he is still recovering. He is in a wheelchair and has very limited use of his legs and arms. I would appreciate if you would keep him in your prayers.
My little 2 year old cousin who had cancer has now finished her chemo and the doctors have now said she is cancer free! Thanks for the prayers for her. We still have had no news on what happened to my cousin who passed away suddenly, they said it could be 6 months or more before there was news from the autopsy.

Remember I told you about the roosters getting aggressive? Well they are still at it, we have tried for the longest to get them broke but they are very mean, adorable, but mean. I think they are going in the pot soon. They are getting their spurs and I don't want them to hurt one of the children. They are so aggressive that if you walk along the outside of their pen they will flog the fence. I had read that barred rocks were docile, has anyone else had this breed and what were your roosters like?

Isn't that a beautiful rooster? I think they are the very image of a farm yard rooster, so far my buff orpington rooster is calm, hope he stays that way.
Well that's pretty much what has been happening, along with homeschool days of course, so I hope you will forgive me for not posting in a while, life has been busy. I look forward to the long evenings in the house and hopefully I can really catch up on reading every ones posts and post about our life as well. God Bless

Prayer Request

2011-08-26T22:09:00.002-04:00

I wanted to take a moment and check in and let everyone know we are still here. :)

There is so much going on I find it difficult to get a post together. The main resaon for my being on here tonight is to ask for everyones prayers. We got the call this afternoon that a cousin had died unexpectedly, he was 44. I grew up with this cousin and we all lived within walking distance from each other, we used to play basketball at my aunts house until way in the night(the goal was under the street light), Lots of memories! Please pray for my uncle and cousins they really need God's comfort. I also want to thank all of you for the kindness you all have shown in past hardships and thanks for all of your prayers. God Bless

2011-08-09T21:31:00.002-04:00

As I posted earlier, darling Hubby has had his surgery and is coming along fine. He had therapy today and did great! Praise the Lord! I just wanted to pop in and give a praise report and thank all of you for your prayers. He has at least 3 months of therapy and Dr. appointments ahead so my posts may be sparse for a while longer as we have also started our new school year. I've started my youngest in what we call "preschool" and she loves it! She finishes what ever I give to her and asks for more "school". I pray as she grows she will always be this eager. The boys are getting familiar with their new books, and my 8th grader is learning it gets harder as he gets older. There is more responsibility placed on him to be in charge of his learning. Isn't that what homeschooling is about, teaching them how to learn for themselves. My time was divided today between the children's school and hubby's therapy appointment, my oldest son stepped up and helped his younger brother in math. I was so proud of them both. The oldest wouldn't let his brother get up and play until he corrected what he had gotten wrong, the youngest got a little mad, but then did as he was told and corrected his paper. When I came in, they were both proud of the way they had conducted themselves while I was gone. (Now before anyone thinks I left them by themselves, my 22 year old was here taking care of them). Anyway, they did their school as if I was here and that's what I hope they would always do.
As I've said before, for the next 3 to 4 months we will be living on a very reduced income. I am trying to think of ways to really stretch what we have, now is the time to start living on what we have in our food storage. We are a long way from being self sufficient, I have to buy dairy products, (now I really wish we had a goat), some toiletries, dog and cat food, etc. but I'll go as cheap as possible. Hopefully at least under $75 a week for our family of 6. This past week's grocery bill was a little under $100. I know others can probably buy a weeks worth for less, so if you have any suggestions, please pass them along. I so love hearing from you dear readers. God Bless

Oh the lovely pear

2011-08-04T14:31:00.005-04:00

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My family loves fresh fruit, canned fruit or dried fruit, I was so excited that this year one of our pear trees was loaded with fruit. It was so heavily loaded that a couple limbs broke(that's what happens when you put off tying up the limbs). I was looking forward to canning up pear slices, and making pear butter. Today my mom and I went down to the garden to pick tomatoes and I noticed my pear tree, which grows beside the garden. All my beautiful organic pears were gone!!!! There were only 6 pears left on the whole tree. All I have left now of this years harvest are the photos that were taken several weeks back. The pears had started getting the rosey blush on them that meant they were almost ready, now they are all gone. I was so upset, I have tried to think of what could possible have gotten them all in a matter of a couple days. There were no pears on the ground, no left over cores where something had eaten on them, no nothing, just vanished. Has anyone else had this happen? I really hate to think that someone came into my back yard and picked my pears, I don't think it would have been a bear, or it would have broke branches, because the branches are not that big yet. Anyway I am very disappointed that there will be no pear harvest this year. What ever took them I hope it ( or they) gave thanks for the bumper crop. God Bless
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Where are the Followers?

2011-08-03T23:55:00.003-04:00

I have a question? For the last while my followers are not showing up on my blog or on my dashboard. Is anyone else having this problem? When I try to view my followers list it just comes up blank. I can see the number of followers but that's all. If you are a follower I just want to say thank you for stopping by and I so enjoy sharing glimpses of my life with you all. I pray that something I say will make you smile and bring encouragement to your heart. God Bless.

EGG-cited!!

2011-08-02T21:55:00.008-04:00

Well, it finally happened, yesterday my son came into the house all smiles, he had his hands behind his back and asked me to pick one...of course I was thinking he had some kind of bug, but no he had 2 EGGS! Our first! I had been told that it would probably be at least another month, if not two, before my first bunch of chickens started to lay. I was so thrilled. What an anniversary gift, our 25th. Today there was no egg, but we are on our way to having fresh eggs.

Here are the eggs, not bad for the first ones!
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My darling hubby had shoulder surgery . He has a lot of trouble with being very sick after being put under anesthesia, and this time was no different, he's been very sick. But thankfully he is feeling some better tonight. Now it's months of physical therapy, and on medical leave for about 3 and a half months. Finances once again will be very slim, so it's time to pull out the knowledge I've gleaned from all you good folks about living frugally.(Even more so than normal) Life is a great adventure, you travel the road before you and you can either grumble over the rain, or rejoice in the beauty of the rainbow that comes after the rain. I choose to rejoice! Keep us in your prayers, God Bless

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Couponing Update

2011-07-26T22:33:00.004-04:00

I just thought I'd share about my couponing experience. I know there is a lot of excitement about saving money, and
I'm right there with ya on that, but I have to say I have been a little disappointed in couponing. I really went all out trying to save money, I would load up on the Sunday paper to get the coupons and therefore the deals. Several times I bought papers and some of the coupon inserts would be missing. Another thing that bothers me is the coupons are seldom for real food. There is coupons for toothpaste, deodorant, gum, dental floss, etc. but how much of these do we need to stock up on? I have to say I did get in on a good deal on detergent, I got it for under a dollar a bottle(32 loads). I do use bought detergent, someday I would like to get into making my own, but is there a way to make it that really cleans tough dirt from clothes? I also got in on some bath products free. Like I said before I don't need tons of these items and that seems to be what is in most of the coupon inserts. I would really love to save money on items like... honey, peanut butter, meat, dairy products, apples, strawberries, etc. Maybe I need to take the money I spend on the Sunday paper and by extra groceries. Just a thought. If you are saving money on items you use and not just toiletry type items, please share how, and also does it make a difference where you live as to what types of coupons you get in the paper?
I may from time to time still get a paper or two, but I'm not sure about buying several and then not using half the coupons inside. I saw an insert from last week and they are still having almost the same coupons they had a month ago, not much that I buy. Well we'll see how it goes in the future, does anyone have any thoughts on couponing verses buying in bulk? God Bless

Trip with friends

2011-07-26T12:37:00.016-04:00

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I was blessed this spring , I went on a day trip with my mom and two sweet ladies from church. We went to North Carolina and onto the Blue Ridge Parkway. The day was kind of overcast and rainy, but we had a wonderful time. We had breakfast at a nice little place called The Tartan Restaurant. A very hearty breakfast at a reasonable cost. This was the only expense I had for the day, we took a picnic lunch. It is such a blessing to be out with dear friends and enjoy God's creation. It is such an awesome thing to know that the mountains and all I see were spoken into existence by my Father. Hope you enjoy going along on our trip.
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This was a beautiful place owned by the Cone family. It's hard to imagine one family owning all of this, Talk about having enough land to be self-sufficient.

This is a photo of the couple who lived here.

The house is gorgeous. Looks like something out of an Alcott novel.

This was the carriage house, now it is where the restrooms are located. There are still carriages inside along with a display of farming instruments, along with an apple press.
There are miles of carriage roads to walk or ride through on horseback or bike, even the orchard is still there, very nice place. You could spend a whole day just exploring in this one place. We had to do a quick stop at all our stops in order to keep it a day trip(I had to get back to the children:) can't stay gone too long)

All along the mountain the wild azaleas were blooming. Absolutely gorgeous!

We went up to Mount Mitchell, the air is thinner there and we had to walk a little slower, kept feeling out of breath. While we were at the summit it started storming, the thunder sounded so loud, like you were surrounded by it. It was actually very pretty to see all the clouds so close and swirling around you on the mountain top.

Here are a few photos of our time on the top of this beautiful mountain.

I love these mountains that my ancestors called home and I still call home today. Someday I hope to be able to go see the mountains out west and up north. I think the ocean is beautiful, but there is just something about mountains. I look at them and I can just sense the powerfulness of God, His steadfastness and strength. Thanks for going along on our trip, I have a few more trips to share with you hope you will come and go along. God Bless!

Chick Photos

2011-07-25T23:26:00.011-04:00

As I promised here are some photos(finally) of my beloved chickens. Finding time to put the photos on the computer and then to get them uploaded onto the blog seems to be such a hard task these days, thank you to all my readers for being so patient.
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This little gal is the smallest of our flock. She is so tiny, although she is the same age as the other bantams.
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We have 2 beauties that are brown and black and one that is black and white.(sorry I didn't get a photo of the black and white) A dear friend has a little black and white rooster she is giving to me for my bantams.
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The buff orpingtons are fat and pretty. Can't wait for them to start laying.
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The gorgeous rooster who is starting to act aggressive. I sure hope we can break him from this and not have to put him in a pot, at least not yet. He is just the picture of a barnyard rooster.
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Here is a photo from a few months back. My daughter was looking at this and said she wanted more baby chicks, they're just not as cuddly now as then. I have to agree, although I do enjoy listening to the rooster crow and the hens cluck. And I will really enjoy the fresh laid eggs for breakfast. Yum!

God Bless!
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Gearing Up Again

2011-07-20T12:15:00.007-04:00

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Well, it's getting that time of year again, time for our new Homeschool year! Yeah! I get so excited when the new school books arrive in the mail. I have to say my children don't share the same excitement. I really wish they did. Sometimes I feel as though I'm doing something wrong, or they would love it as much as I do. Then again, when I was their age I didn't love school either. After I have grown and matured(at least I hope I have) I have a great appreciation for learning, I now enjoy learning all kinds of things. I think I finally have "A love of learning". I adore history, I now find it fascinating. I remember in school I thought, "who needs to know all of this". I am now forever and always reading history in some form or fashion. Higher math still causes me alarm, I do well with elementary math but after that I really need a good teachers guide. I struggle with making our learning fun and exciting, and we easily fall into a rut. If someone knows how I can stir my children and instill a love of learning, please share your advice. Don't get me wrong, they do their work (with minimal complaining), but, I want to see joy in their eyes when we start each day.
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Now on to other matters. My rooster is now showing signs of being aggressive. My children told me he ran at them when they went to feed and then when they walked past the fence. I thought that maybe he was just excited, then I went in and he came at me with wings held out and neck feathers all ruffled. I scolded him and he backed off, but he ran at my oldest son again this morning. I really hope he stops all of this and settles down. If he doesn't it will be the stew pot for him. He is such a pretty rooster and until now has been fairly gentle. Do roosters show these signs of aggression when they start maturing and then calm back down?
My garden is now full of grass, again! We have still been having lots of rain, so the grass and weeds are growing well and fast. Everything seems to be doing okay except for my okra. I have planted it 3 times this year and finally there are a few plants starting to grow, but very slowly. My tomatoes have been loaded, but a lot of them are rotting before they are ripe. I have been able to can several jars so far. Back to the chickens, does anyone have bantams in with the large breed birds? I have 6 bantam hens and am getting a little rooster from a friend, is it okay to have them all in one coop or do the small breed chickens need to be separated from the large ones?
Until I have more time to write, God Bless, and I pray your life is filled with joy and laughter.

A Quick Update

2011-06-27T06:52:00.005-04:00

I finally had a chance to get to the computer for a few minutes and thought I'd let everyone know we are still alive. We have been busy with the day to day events of living, gardening, fixing broken fences,tending animals, Vacation Bible School, and to top it off now a stomach virus. I'll not go into detail, but all 4 children and myself have been miserable for days, praying hubby doesn't catch it. Keep us in your prayers, you mommas understand that caring for your family when you are very weak and sick yourself can be kind of hard. Thank the Lord for parents who go to the store for you and bring back, sprit and gatorade.

I have several things I want to share as soon as I'm able to spend more time on here.
I do have some photos of what we have been doing around the homestead as soon as I can get them uploaded to the computer. The chickens are really growing and my rooster is starting to crow! We have all laughed at him, he sounds like he is strangled. We have had a lot of rain here lately and some really bad storms. We have actually seen what looked like the start of another tornado trying to form, but thank the Lord it didn't. My garden is starting to grow since it has rained, so hopefully it will produce some goodies. The wild raspberries that grow along the road and along some of the fields have been loaded this year. But, wouldn't you know it, the highway crew came through and cut the ones at the road down to the ground, right before they were ripe. I have to admit, it made me mad. Those raspberries were not hurting a thing, they were not even out to the road, we kept it mowed along the side, but I guess they own the right away. I keep telling my hubby we need to move the briar's so they are away from the road, maybe one day.
Well I need to go back to the wonderfully sweet, but not feeling sweet, little blessings, I pray everyone else is having a very blessed time. I hope to post more along with photos soon. God Bless

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An Update

2011-05-19T23:37:00.015-04:00

Well, I'm finally taking a few moments(well more like half an hour or so) to post an update from around the home place. We are very busy most days, there is the forever chore of weeding the garden, pulling weeds from among the flowers and bushes, animal chores as well as all the things that need to be done inside the home. The weather here has been quite chilly and rainy so some of my vegetables are not coming up as fast as I'd like, but the weeds are growing great! Here are some photos of how my little helpers and I try to keep the weeds out of our veggies.
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My Dad bought me this high wheel cultivator, and I love it. It does take some muscle to push through the earth, but it does a good job and uses no fuel, except for our muscle. I hope to lay down some straw over most of the garden when everything is up and growing, so I shouldn't have to use all my muscle pushing the plow, but can save it for another use.

Here is my sweet little boy helping with the plowing, he is such a sweetie.

Of course little sister had to get in on the fun. We just have to make sure she doesn't take out the veggies. I suppose they are never to young to learn the value of hard work.
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We all love peach cobbler and I'm so excited that this year I should be able to pick peaches from my own trees. In the past the peaches all fell off and never ripened, but so far this year they still look good. We also have pears on our pear trees.

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My chickens are really growing. I have transferred the buff orpingtons and the spoiled little chick into the coop with the barred rocks. At first the barred rocks didn't like the intruders but they are doing okay together now. Today my sons and I tried to place the little bantams into the coop, but the barred rocks ganged up on them and were really pecking them. We took them back out and back into the basement for a little while longer. I may have to have a separate coop for the small breed chicks. Has anyone else had a problem with mixing large breeds and small breeds together in one coop and run?
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We have had some sadness on the farm, one of our calves didn't make it. He was sick when we bought him and we have had him doctored and was hopeful he would survive, but he didn't. He was such a pretty little thing and at times seemed to be doing well. We had turned all the calves out on pasture, but had him separated from the others just in case. Here are some photos from his last week. My little girl went to the barn with me today and asked where he was, I reminded her that he had passed away a few days ago and she said,"oh and he won't be coming back." She seemed to understand and just went on about her business.

My sons were trying to get him into the barn, he kept running around his lot so they tried to lure him with his bottle. We have lots of coyotes here and were afraid that they might try to get him in the night, so we would fasten him up in the barn.

He was such a friendly little guy.
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The other calves are doing great.

Life has it's ups and downs, but life is good. I'm so thankful for each new day and also thankful for the days that have passed. The Lord is so good to me and I can never thank him enough for all His blessing in my life. I hope you have enjoyed our update, I've sure enjoyed sharing. God Bless

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A quick question

2011-05-18T21:51:00.002-04:00

As many of you know I'm still not very computer smart. I have a quick question that I hope some of you can help me with. I have noticed in the stats for my blog some strange referring URLs are showing up, ones that I have never heard of before, and I have checked some of them and some of the sites don't make sense. Can anyone tell me what this is all about, I've read that sometimes inappropriate sites will link to your blog, how do you stop it and what damage can it do to your blog? I know in one instance I found parts of my blog on another site with words added into what I had wrote, it really made no sense at all. Why would someone want to do this, what is their purpose? Any information concerning this is greatly appreciated, I need to know what I can do about all this. It's very frustrating. God Bless

Beautiful song, Prayer request and other thoughts

2011-05-17T11:53:00.003-04:00

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while, life is really busy at this time. I hope you all understand that I may, at times, have a space of no posts. I have many things I want to share and hope to get some posts together soon. This morning I had a couple minutes and just wanted to share my thoughts, there are so many things happening in peoples lives that are quite devastating. The little 2 year old who has cancer has been very sick from her treatments, please pray for Kassie and her family. There is a little 1 year old who is deaf and has had the Cochlear implant surgery, please keep her in your prayers, God has given doctors an amazing gift, that will help her be able to hear. Yesterday we were told about a young 17 year old who was thrown from a horse and the horse stomped her in the face. She has all the bones in her face broken and has severe head swelling and trauma, please remember her in prayer. My uncle is having test to find out what is wrong with him that he is staying so sick and has become very anemic, keep him in prayer. There are so many more that I could write about, as you can see my heart is heavy for all these precious people. If you know the value of prayer I ask that you please remember them. I have been thinking about how much I need the Lord in my life to make it through, so I thought I would post this song, because it is my hearts cry, "that I need him more than anything". Sit back and focus on Him and hope this song blesses your heart. God Bless

Heavy Heart

2011-04-29T22:49:00.002-04:00

I wanted to take a moment and ask everyone to pray for the Lee family. The tornadoes that passed through so much of the southeast Wednesday claimed the life of the father. My heart is broken for this sweet family. Please keep them in your prayers. You can read their blog here:
http://barnhousenews.blogspot.com/

You can read about what happened here:http://www.visionforum.com/news/blogs/doug/2011/04/9416/

My heart is heavy for all those suffering from all the devastation of these storms. There are no words to say that will make the pain less, only God can bring the comfort these families need.
God Bless

A Night Of Storms

2011-04-28T11:38:00.002-04:00

Last night we had some severe storms pass through. We spent several hours in the basement waiting for storm after storm to pass on. There were a couple tornadoes that passed, but thank the Lord none touched down at our home. They did hit in our town and caused damage but again thank the Lord no loss of life as far as I've heard. One of the tornadoes was said to have been an F4, but it passed without touching down. All around us in neighboring counties there have been loss of life, I'm asking everyone to pray for those who have lost homes, and loved ones in these storms. The local high school was damaged and I've heard they might not have anymore school this school year. I'm sure as the days pass there will be more damage reported. For myself I'm so glad for the protection of God, with storms such as those last night it could have been much worse. God Bless

Harvesting Begins

2011-04-27T18:16:00.011-04:00

I just love harvesting something to put away for fall and winter use. Although I have already made some jellies this spring I really love it when some of my herbs start getting ready for harvesting. This week my peppermint has been large enough to harvest the tops out of it, also my chamomile. Growing and using herbs has been an interest of mine for years. I have read lots and lots of information and have gleaned some things from my grandparents before they passed on. It's amazing how much knowledge our ancestors had. My papaw Ken(who was born in 1900) was a wealth of knowledge in anything to do with the mountains of N.C. and TN. He lived in them all his life, and walked many miles over the mountains. He never drove a car, and he walked everywhere he went in his younger days or floated down the river on a raft. He had Native American ancestry and his grandfather taught him a lot about herbs and getting food from the wild. It has been said about him, that you couldn't starve him if he was in the mountains. He knew what trees you could use the bark from for a tea or to chew on, what roots to dig to eat and what plants to use for medicine and food. He also ate a lot of the wild animals that people don't eat much anymore. I remember one time as a youngster, he talked me into eating some groundhog with him, I can say I didn't care for it at all. He just laughed and kept on eating. He was truly a remarkable man, with so much knowledge of the old ways of living. I regret that I was young and really didn't think to write down a lot of what he told me, he never learned to read or write so he shared everything through spoken words, which I have forgotten a lot of. I can remember bits and pieces of things he said, but have forgotten so much. I now wish to hear those words again so I could take more notice, but since he passed away in 93, I have to learn what I can from others and in books. I still find that I'm very leery in using a new herb or plant, I'm always very cautious. I don't want to get hold of something and cause my family harm. Trying to learn about wild plants from a book can sometimes be very frustrating. It's hard to find a really good book with photos that actually show you the details of the plant, and there are several look alikes in the wild. So for now I'm still sticking closely to the old, tried herbs that most everyone is familiar with, and I'll go slow on branching out into the wild plants as I find other folks who can actually show me the plants themselves. Unless I know for sure the plant is the right one and not a harmful look alike, I'll leave it alone. Anyway back to my chamomile, here are some photos of my small patch, it's starting to fill the raised bed in nicely.
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I just pick the blossoms off and take them inside and give them a quick rinse to get dust and bugs off. It has a very light apple scent, kind of sweet, as you pick it.

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Here is how I dry my chamomile blossoms. As you can see it's a dehydrator tray, but I just hang it over the glass knob on the lid of a pedestal cake plate. I space them out so none are touching and plenty of airflow can get to them, and set it in a corner of the kitchen away from bright light. After they are dry, I store them in canning jars in my pantry, checking them periodically for moisture. So far I have never had any problem with moisture in my jars of dried food or herbs. You can usually pick chamomile blossoms every day or two, or as long as they are opening, the more you pick the more they blossom, or that's my experience. A good relaxing cup of chamomile in the cool of fall and winter is so welcome. Although I enjoy chamomile anytime of the year, I like knowing I'm taking advantage of what God has blessed me with in the spring and summer, storing it up for the winter. I'm doing what the ant does.......
Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:
7Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler,
8Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest. Proverbs 6:6-8 KJV
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Proverbs 6:6-8 (New Living Translation)
6 Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and become wise! 7 Though they have no prince or governor or ruler to make them work, 8 they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter.
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Proverbs 6:6-8 (New International Version 1984, ©1984)
6 Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! 7 It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, 8 yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.
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I have always liked this verse. It helps me to remember to not be lazy. It lets me know that I am suppose to be industrious and not wait for someone to tell me what has to be done. God blesses us with so much bounty in the spring, summer and fall months that I know he intended for us to put up that bounty and use it in the winter when nothing grows(at least where I live). This verse gives me a sometimes much needed push to get up and get busy. Sometimes I do have a lazy streak, I'm still working on overcoming this, but am not fully there yet.
I'm looking forward to seeing what you all grow and put up for the winter in your households. May we all be like the ants and stay busy preparing in the summer for the coming winter. God Bless!

Glorious Day (Living He loved me) ~Casting Crowns

2011-04-23T14:43:00.001-04:00

Living He loved me,dying He saved me, buried He carried my sins far away, rising He justified freely forever, one day He's coming... Oh Glorious Day!

Arise My Love by Newsong

2011-04-23T13:53:00.001-04:00

I sat down to write and tell every one to have a VERY BLESSED RESURRECTION DAY! Several years ago my daughter performed a drama to this song with some young people, and I have always loved it. I found it on youtube, so I sat down to watch the video and the Lord has Blessed me again with this song. As I watched I thought about what love Jesus has for me that he would come and give his life freely so that I could live. I sat here and cried like a baby, just telling him how much I love him and thank him. You know sometimes we go through our days and never really think about his love, we just let it slip to the back of our minds and don't really let it sink down deep in our very being what a great and wonderful love he has for each and every one! I think if we truly understood the depth of his love, our thoughts, actions and words would be very different. The way we treated each other would be more in character to Christ, and from the greatest thing to the least thing we would always strive to please him and never do anything to cause him sadness. I just want to take this day and tell the world, I love Jesus Christ my LORD and my Savior with my whole heart, and I thank Him for all he has done for me. If you haven't told him how much you love him lately, please take the time to watch the video and let it really sink in what he has done for you. All because he loves you! God Bless

A Little Disappointed

2011-04-23T00:12:00.002-04:00

My daughter and I started the day with excitement, we were going shopping and we were going to use our coupons to get cheap and free merchandise. Or so we thought:(
I had several coupons that were suppose to help me get some great stuff that our family uses. There were coupons for: men's body wash, women's body wash, toothpaste, dental floss, tooth brushes, tape,and some cleaning supplies. We went to the first store, they were all sold out, went to the second store, also sold out of most everything, I did get some cleaning supplies at a discount. It was that way every where we went. The only things we did get with our coupons, was a dollar off our tube of toothpaste, 2 free packages dental floss, a dollar off a box of fabric softener sheets, .50 off butter, and a couple dollars off cleaning supplies. I was disappointed that everywhere we went all the tape was gone, all the body wash was gone, and all the tooth brushes were gone. The lady at Walmart told me that earlier in the day a woman came in and took every bottle of body wash they had off the shelves and had them order more for her, she must have had a lot of coupons. (The woman had told them she was not having to pay anything for the body wash, so she took it all). It would have been nice if she would have thought of everyone else who would be coming in with a couple coupons looking to save a little on their budget. I did find out that I really do not care for the running all over town trying to find the items. I felt like I had wasted a lot of time and gas in the process.(I know there are those who say they are natural born shoppers, I'm just not one of them) Also I learned if there is something you really need and want, and there is a coupon out for it, you had better go very early in the week to make your purchase. I will still go ahead and get the Sunday paper in a couple weeks and see if there is something we could really use in there at a good bargain. I know now to go early, and I know how it feels to look at empty shelves wishing I could get in on the deal, so I know I always want to be mindful of my fellow shopper and never take all that is in the store, no matter how cheap or free the item is. What is it the Word of God says... Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Oh how much better the world would be if everyone lived by those words. God Bless!

Clarifying My Intent

2011-04-21T21:27:00.003-04:00

I wanted to clarify my intent for using coupons. Since I posted my last post I have seen quite a bit about the show on TLC about extreme couponing. So I thought I would clarify what I meant. I want to be able to stock our pantry with what we will need for a few months to a year on some items, I'm not going to the point of having hundreds of the same item. I kind of know how many bottles of mustard our family goes through, so if I could get a really good deal on mustard and have enough to last for a year, I'll stock up. But, I wouldn't want anymore than that. I do enjoy some of the extreme couponing blogs on the internet, they have a lot of useful information and tips on how to get the best deal. One lady that I read her blog also donates lots of what she gets to local food pantries and shelters. I think that is a wonderful way to use the extra coupons you may have, or giving to elderly folks, or struggling families. There are always some people who go to the extreme on everything, either one way or another. I just want to be a good steward of what we have been blessed with, and make it stretch as far as we can. I have no desire to buy just for the sake of using a coupon, I'll only buy what our family uses. I know there are some who probably go to the stores several times a week, but that just isn't me. I'll go my usual 1 trip a week. For some that is just their way. I would love to be able to use extra coupons to get good deals on items to give to others who may be struggling. I know you can get good deals on body wash, cosmetics and such. There have been times in my own life where I couldn't afford any kind of luxury just for myself(such as a sweet smelling body wash, and lotion) if it wasn't for the whole family I just didn't buy it. It would be wonderful to buy some of those items to give to some wife and momma, just because she deserves it. Anyway I think you all probably understand where I'm coming from, but I just wanted to explain a little. I'll post what deals I can find in our little rural town. God Bless!

Coupons and being Frugal

2011-04-21T12:54:00.003-04:00

I wrote a short post a while back that I was wanting to learn the coupon game. Well I went to a class on coupons earlier in the week, and learned quite a bit. I'm still a little uneasy about going to the store and going up to the cashier with a buggy full of things and then maybe they won't accept the coupons. I've been watching several ladies on you tube who do the extreme couponing, it's amazing that they actually get things for free. This week will be the first time I will have ever tried this, I'm excited and a little scared. I don't want to do things wrong and then not have enough money to do what I need to do. One of the ladies at the class said she had an experience like that, she said she had coupons for some items and then something was wrong so she owed far more than she had expected.
I refuse to let fear stand in my way, after all they can't eat me, right. I know there are lots of people saving a lot of money with coupons and I want to get on board and be one of them. I would love to save money on the household budget and then use that money to help pay off a debt or maybe take the children to some fun places this summer. Maybe even buy some of those books or dvd's we've been wanting, but seem to cost a little too much. I'll post about my experience with doing this and please drop a comment and share how you do coupons. Such as: where do you get your coupons, do you get multiple coupons of the same item so you can stock up on that item, or do you just use one, any advice is always welcome. As they always say, A penny saved is a penny earned, and we need our pennies. God Bless!

Another beautiful song

2011-04-17T17:09:00.003-04:00

Here is another beautiful song from New Salem. I'm so thankful for the blood Jesus shed for me. Because of his love, I've a new life in Him and Thank God I'm not the same person I use to be. Hope you enjoy and God Bless!
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A Wonderful Reminder

2011-04-17T16:57:00.002-04:00

We had a special singing group at church this morning. The group is made up of a mother, daughter, son-in-law, a grandson, and a granddaughter. You can tell that they love the Lord, and have such a sweet spirit about them. Their songs were uplifting and reminded us of Jesus and his love. You all probably know that not all songs do that anymore, so there was such a sweet refreshing spirit there this morning. I thought you all might enjoy hearing this precious family also. May you be lifted in spirit this day, and may you have a reminder that no matter the trials, God is good and greater than the problems. As the song says, once we go through the valleys and are standing on the mountain tops we do understand more and know that," through Christ who strengthens me all things are possible". I've learned this in my own life, through many hardships and heartbreaks. Through miscarriage of triplets I thought my heart would break and for quite a while it did, but the Lord held me through that time and now I can say that even though I miss the joys of raising my 3 little ones here, there is a day coming when I'll get to hold them. I don't have to worry about them here and I know they will never suffer, they only know joy in the presence of the Lord. Even though I still don't understand everything, I have peace in my heart that God knows more than I do, He knows the beginning from the end, I only see the here and now or the past. I'm so glad that God knows my future and I'm putting my trust in Him. Only with Christ could I have this peace in my heart. I pray that each of you reading this, has that peace in your own heart today. God Bless ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Quick Boys Project

2011-04-14T18:57:00.012-04:00

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My boys are like most little boys, they love to make things. They are forever and always outside making something out of branches or scrap pieces of wood. My oldest son loves to draw and his drawings are getting better with each one. Of course my youngest wants to do everything his older brother does. I'm glad they enjoy being crafty, it will come in handy as they become men. I've watched my own father and my husband do a project and have to be creative in how they accomplished it for lack of funds or materials. Just as young girls need to learn different craft skills pertaining to the inside of the house, so do little boys need to learn manly craft skills. As you can see my sons love knives. They are 110% little boys and love knives, swords, hunting guns, etc. We teach our sons about being safe with their knives. They know that a knife is not a toy, but is a useful tool and that it can be very dangerous or even deadly if mishandled. As with all tools children need to be taught how to use them. All my children who are old enough, have also taken the hunters safety course and obtained their certificate of safe gun handling. My sons love to carry their knives when we are outside and they found some kits for carrying cases at Hobby Lobby. They were fairly cheap about $10. for 2. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The kit came with everything they needed except for the dye and leather stamps if they wanted to use them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is the color of the leather before stained.

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This is what we used to stain or dye the leather, it's just what we had on hand and it works great.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here is the color of my youngest sons case after rubbing 2 coats of shoe polish on it. He was well satisfied with the color. You could of course make it darker with more coats. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here my oldest is lacing up one of the cases. (As you can notice from the picture, my poor table has had lots of use. There have been many craft projects, canning days and the like done on this old oak table.) The boys are quite happy with the cases they made for themselves. My youngest has worn his on his belt for days. I'm sorry I forgot to take a photo of him wearing it, I'll try to post that later. It's funny, you don't really have to spend a lot of money on your children to give them something they are happy with and enjoy. I think my sons take more pride in something they do for themselves than they would if we just went to the store and purchased it. They really want to learn how to tan hides themselves to make their own leather. I have brain tanned leather in past years and want to teach them this skill, but for now, that's a lesson for another day. Teaching them a skill is something they will take through their life and perhaps pass along to their children and grandchildren. Isn't raising a family wonderful! God Bless! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Preschool Thoughts

2011-04-14T15:52:00.011-04:00

As our school year is winding down, I start thinking on next year. I don't know why I can never seem to just stop thinking "school". I spend my summers thinking of all I want to do in the next year for each of my children. This year my youngest is getting ready to start her preschool learning. I love the preschool-1st grade years, they are so much fun. There are so many wonderful sites on the Internet for those years, you could never go through them all. One of my favorites is http://confessionsofahomeschooler.blogspot.com/ Erica has so many wonderful things on her blog for making learning fun. I really like her letter of the week curriculum, she has her printables online for free! I've been buying little things to help make our learning fun. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I purchased these wooden magnetic letters and numbers from our local Dollar Tree store. It's amazing what you can find for $1. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I bought these tiny clothespins at Walmart in the craft supplies. I've painted them pretty colors and we will use them for various learning activities. Such as the ones Erica has on her site, for learning numbers. And large colorful paper clips are a wonderful tool. As in the photo they work great for doing patterns or for counting. I get so excited with the early elementary years of schooling, I wonder if it's because it's more my level:). I do find I sometimes struggle with the higher grade levels, I am always wondering if we are doing enough. From years of talking to and learning from older homeschooling families, I'm learning to lighten up and enjoy the homeschooling years. I now have one child who has graduated, and I remember when we first started homeschooling her, I thought graduation was so far away. Now that it has come and gone I see how fast those precious years fly by. Even though I encourage others to slow down and enjoy these years, I really struggle with doing that myself. I'm praying that God will help me to trust our homeschool into his hands, and that he will lead and direct our steps. He knows exactly what each child needs, and how and what they need to learn. I don't want them to learn a bunch of facts this week and then forget them in 2 weeks. I want them to love learning and become a lifetime learner. I'm looking forward to writing more about our homeschooling journey, maybe in sharing I can stay on track and enjoy our days. God Bless

The girls move to their new home

2011-04-14T14:33:00.015-04:00

Well the first batch of chickens have officially moved into the big coop. It is still not completely finished, but it is livable. I think they are really starting to enjoy all of that room. The first day they were in there they kind of huddled into the corner, but now they roam all over. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I was a little shocked at the price of the hanging water bucket, $30.00, But it should last for many years. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Looking out from the covered run into the open run(only chicken wire over the top). I guess you can tell it was raining on "move day". ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Aren't they turning into such lovely ladies! (Well, there is suppose to be 2 gentlemen in the flock, I guess they are handsome):) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My sons like to go visit with the chickens, hopefully to keep them gentle and easy to handle. Well on this occasion my youngest was giving the chickens, piggy back rides around the run yard, and he found out first hand what consequences his actions have: (Hope that doesn't gross anyone out) As you can see big brother really got a kick out of this. So far we are enjoying this adventure with chickens. Making fun memories as we go and hopefully we can catch more memories in photos to laugh at in years to come. God Bless. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The New Babies

2011-04-13T18:09:00.016-04:00

I have just purchased some of the most adorable little chicks. I went into town to our local co-op and purchased 6 buff orpington pullets and 5 assorted bantams(straight run). They are all so cute. I wanted to bring all of the little bantams home. My mom and I went together and she also purchased some. When it came time to separate them out, I had a hard time desiding on which ones to keep. Mom wanted one that had feathers(or Fluff) on its legs, it was the only one we saw in the whole bunch. I can't wait to see what it looks like when it's grown. All of mine look different so there are possibly 5 different breeds of bantams. So exciting! As before the children have all claimed at least 1 as their own. It is so much fun to raise these little creatures with my children. I enjoy watching my kids play with them and laugh at the silly things they do, so worth a few dollars. Here are some photos we took of the newest additions. Enjoy! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is how they went to sleep this morning after they ate. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is the smallest one in the bunch, co cute. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I thought this was cute, looks like it is giving the little one a hug. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My son likes this little one and has laid his claim.

Busy, and Absent Minded

2011-04-11T13:54:00.010-04:00

I sat down to post and have went totally blank. Times are busy and I find that sometimes my mind goes blank when I sit down to write. I'll have all of these wonderful thoughts and ideas running around in my brain for days, but then they seem to run right on through and out somewhere. Hopefully I'll catch them in a few days and be able to share them with you all. I have a feeling every one of you who write know what I'm talking about. At church yesterday the message was upon the Love of God. God's love is not dependant upon what I do, or what I don't do, He loves just because He is God. I'm so thankful for that, because sometimes I think I fall short. I know I'm not always up to what people think I should be, but it is so wonderful to know that God loves me even when others don't. Now, I'm not saying you can live any ole way and everything will be alright, there is a correcting side to God, just as with any good parent, you correct out of love. I'm just talking about what others expect out of you and what God expects are very different. Anyway I just wanted to share that and say, rejoice in the knowledge that no matter what, God Loves You ! Here is a photo of a beautiful butterfly I saw the other day. Hope it's beauty makes you smile. Spring is really here! Yeah! God Bless! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Butterfly Wishes Yesterday a butterfly Came floating gently through the sky. He soared up through the atmosphere Then drifted close enough to hear. I said, "I'd love to fly with you And sail around the way you do. It looks like it would be such fun To fly up toward the summer sun. But I have not your graceful charm. I haven't wings, just these two arms. I've been designed to walk around. My human feet must touch the ground. Then magically he spoke to me and told me what his wish would be. He said, "What I'd love most to do Is walk upon God's Earth with you, To squish it's mud between my toes Or touch my finger to my nose. I'd love just once to walk around With human feet to touch the ground, But I have not two legs that swing, I haven't arms, just these two wings." And so we went our separate ways In wonder and surprise. For we'd both seen God's precious gifts Through someone else's eyes. Author Unknown ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I'm linking up with the Barn Hop today even though I didn't have anything about barns or animals to write about, hope you don't mind. I can't wait to read about what you all have been doing. God Bless! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Excitement with a Calf

2011-04-07T21:17:00.014-04:00

Well today has been a beautiful day. This morning when I checked in to my blog, I had some nice comments, which by the way, I love to receive. Even if you just say hi, and let me know you came by. Jan over at http://bitofsoil.blogspot.com/ left a nice comment and asked about our calves. I haven't put up a post on them in a while, so I thought:" I'll have to get one together". Well I didn't have to try to find something to post about them, one of them (the one in the photo up top) decided to give us something to write about. This afternoon my hubby was going to let them out one at a time into a small fenced in lot in front of the barn. You know a time to get familiar with the surroundings before we turn them out onto pasture. Well my oldest son and I were hanging up some laundry on the line when we saw the little darling start to run one way and then the other. Next thing we knew she had run through the fence and was in the big pasture heading for the road. We threw the sheets and blankets we were hanging and ran, my husband started to run as well. The chase was on. When we got to the front of the house we saw her coming toward us, there was a fence in between, but that didn't stop her. She came through it also. Well I had no idea I was going to be chasing a calf all over the mountain, and all I had on was slip on shoes, you know the kind with no back. I was running full speed when somehow I started to lose my balance. I knew I was going to fall, but I tried to keep my dignity and tried to balance myself, I stumbled for about 25 feet before I hit the ground belly first. My lovely daughter was on the porch laughing, I bet I was a sight. (I wonder if I'll be sore in the morning) I had to laugh at myself and get up fast and keep going. The spry little thing headed up the mountain,so guess who else had to head up the mountain behind her. I really found out... I'm out of shape! I was so out of breath I thought my chest would explode. Anyway, she went waaaay up into the mountain and my hubby followed her, my oldest son and I stayed in the upper pasture and waited. I was really worried that if we didn't catch her the coyotes would. We have lots of them around here, plus cougars. My daughter talked to my parents and told them what was going on and my dad came to help. My lovely daughter couldn't stand for everyone else to be having so much fun, and she took my youngest 2 children to their mamaw. She couldn't wait to get in on the chase. We ran that little heifer for over 2 hours. She was in my brother in laws field, up on the mountain and in my husbands uncles fields. Finally she went through the fence on our uncles place into his herd of cows. My husband was able to get in there and corral her in some brush and caught her. I'm happy to report she is safe in the barn again. She is doing fine, but she does have a few scratches. And so does my hubby and my dad. I told my hubby this could either be viewed as all bad or we could look at it like this, we made a memory. Something for the kids to tell their kids about someday.

Here are some photos of the day, sorry they are not the best , but it was hard to take photos on the run.

My hubby trying to corral the little darling. Go honey, yeah you caught her! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The walk home. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Safe in her stall. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Getting her dinner. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here are some photos of the other calves. They are growing and are so cute. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This little fellow has had some kind of cold. He's been treated with antibiotics , but is still coughing when he eats. I sure hope he gets better soon. Tonight he seemed livelier than he has in days. We have him separated from the others, just in case he has something contagious. Well that's what happened on our little farm today. I'm sure glad it had a happy ending, and I'm glad it doesn't happen everyday. I'm not sure I could handle it , I'm starting to hurt in various places. It's amazing how many muscles you have that you don't use very much, and when you do they protest loudly. Hope you have enjoyed your visit and maybe had a laugh or two. God Bless. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spoiled Little Chick And Random Thoughts

2011-04-06T23:09:00.014-04:00

I wrote a few days ago about the new little chicken we were given. Well she has stolen everyone hearts. I say she, because we're hoping it is a hen. She is just the sweetest thing. I am amazed at how friendly she is, compared to my Barred Rocks that are now several weeks old. I went to check on them tonight to make sure they were all right and got pecked twice. I still have them in the makeshift brooder in the basement. (No heat lamp now) They have now feathered over and are really growing. My hubby has the coop almost ready for them, and then I will use the brooder for my Buff Orpingtons I'm getting on Wednesday. I have tried to get new pictures of them, but they keep attacking the camera, I say attacking but really they are just curious. I was wondering what breed do you all find the friendliest? My children try to play with the Barred Rocks every day but they are skittish, they run from your hand and squawk and holler like your killing them if you pick them up. Here is a photo of the little abandoned chick that is so sweet. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ She loves to sit on my children's knees while they do school work or play a game. I have been very surprised at this little ones actions. I'm not sure what they are going to say when it's time for her to go to the coop. Speaking of coop, here is a photo of my hubby and sons working on ours, they are putting the tin on top. Sorry it's not an up close shot, it was taken from our back porch. The roof is now on and all that's missing is the wire around it's run. I'll try to post closer photos when it's all finished. It's taking a while to get it done, darling hubby has to work on it when he has spare time. Anyway it's closer to completion now than it was a week ago. Here are a few more spring time sights around the home place. Hope you enjoy your visit. God Bless. My sons love to get outside and make things, like this little fence around their "fort". I think I'll get them to put a wattle fence around some flowers and herbs this summer. I think they could do a fine job. I'll get them some photos to look at, then let them work and I'll have some new fences. They did this one on their own, I wonder where they came up with the idea. I was surprised when they showed it to me, it's a lot like the wattle fences you see in historical gardens. Children are truly amazing, the knowledge they already have , that can only come from God. Makes you sit back and say, "how did they know that"? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here are some of the turkeys that live here, they're not "domestic", but they are not all that wild either. I love to watch them strut their stuff in the spring.

Love the Critters

2011-04-04T00:07:00.011-04:00

Well, over the weekend, our farm family has grown by 1. A neighbor called the other day and said that one of her Bantam hens had hatched out 9 little cuties. It has turned cold here and the hen left the babies and all but 1 had died. She wanted to know if I wanted the little abandoned chick. Well, I guess you know the answer to that, and here is a few photos of that sweet little baby. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It is so cute, and such a love bug. My children all said, "that ones mine." So, we'll see who is willing to help take care of the chickens without grumbling after they get big. I have to agree, it is a very precious little thing. It loves for you to hold it close. When you put your hand into the box, it doesn't back away like my other little chickens do, instead it runs to your hand and climbs into your palm wanting to snuggle. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This photo shows how we finally got the chick to go to sleep without being on someones hand. We had to get an old dishtowel and make it a kind of tent to get under. I guess it thought it was under it's mommy. Poor baby. Since the other chickens I have are several weeks older, and a bigger breed, I can't put this little one in with them. And one chick by it's self is so lonesome. So I guess you know what I'm trying to do now.., you got it.., find some more Bantam babies. I need to get at least 1 or 2 more to keep this one company. I laughed and told the children that when word got out that we would take in farm animals, there was no telling what all would come our way. Now if only a good milk goat or a sweet gentle milk cow would come along, and my darling hubby would get bit by the farm bug like the rest of us. (I think it has bitten, he's just a little slower in responding) All in all I'm pleased with what we have and I have enjoyed our new little blessing as much as the children. I'm hoping it is a girl, I guess I'll just have to wait and see then announce whether... It's a Girl or It's a Boy. Thanks for stopping by and letting me show off our newest blessing. God Bless!

Teaching Children New Skills

2011-04-02T15:36:00.017-04:00

I was over at Homestead Revival this morning and she is having a link up for a preparedness challenge. I really liked a comment she made, that we are all dependant upon God. I know if it wasn't for God I would not breathe my next breath. Being self sufficient doesn't mean we don't need God, to me it just means we are using the knowledge and resources he's given and trying to live a life closer to the way he intended in the beginning. I find it is much more fulfilling to do something for myself, than if I just went to the store and purchased something. This morning my children and I did something that my mother and grandmother did when I was growing up. We made butter! I know there are lots of you who make butter, and I'm so glad you all do and pass on your knowledge to others. I have not been blessed with any dairy animals as of yet, so I can not make butter with our own farm fresh milk. I decided that just because we didn't have them yet, that was no reason we couldn't learn and experience butter making. So this is what we did: First I picked up a quart of heavy whipping cream from the grocery store. Then we started out with a quart jar and a marble(well cleaned) the marble helps with the churning action. Pour your cream into the jar and drop in the marble, place a lid on tightly and you are ready to start. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Then you get some people ready to help and you SHAKE! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ And You SHAKE! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ And you Shake some more! About this time we decided that the quart jar was just to small do allow for much movement, so we switched to a half gallon jar and added a few more marbles. By this time it was very thick but still no butter. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ So it was back to Shaking that jar! In time this is what we saw: BUTTER! At last! Now it is time for straining off the milk from the butter. The milk we will use in biscuits. I'm using an old strainer that belonged to my Granny. I love using old things that hold memories. Next we run cold water over the butter until the water runs clear. One thing I forgot to mention, don't forget to get all the marbles out! We thought it was funny when I started moving the butter around and found this blue marble still inside the butter. Next you can add a little salt or leave it unsalted. Now find a container to store your butter in and place into the fridge to chill. I really want to get a butter mold like my Granny had, my mom has it now. But for now a plastic bowl will have to do. Now it's time for some beans and corn bread to go with our fresh butter! I love teaching my children skills that most young people know nothing about. If the older folks don't pass on this knowledge it will be all but lost to most of the people. I'm glad to be sharing what I know and learning along beside my children in what we need to know. Life is a wonderful journey and I'm so happy to have my family to travel along with me. God Bless! I almost forgot to say it took us about 45 minutes to make our butter, and that is including the switching jars time and also some giggling time! If you make butter with your children, I promise you'll be creating a memory. Have fun and God Bless! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ P.S. I thought I'd also link this up to the Barn Hop. I know there are others out there like me who are still dreaming of dairy animals. Maybe this will encourage them that we can still be learning and enjoying skills we will use, even though we are still waiting. By the way, we have enjoyed our butter this weekend. It is wonderful on hot cornbread and also makes great grilled cheese sandwiches. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yard Sale Goodies

2011-04-01T09:29:00.012-04:00

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I just love finding a treasure that someone else is ready to discard. Living on one income means there isn't a lot of extra money floating around, so I try to find ways of being thrifty. One of my problems is, I love to do crafts! As any of you who craft know, supplies are expensive. I wanted to share a wonderful treasure I recently picked up at a yard sale. In the photo above you can see some of the yarns, thread, and lace trims that were in my treasure box, there is also a pair of country curtains and a hand crocheted doily and cute wall paper border for a sewing room. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In this photo you can see a little green bench shelf that hangs or sits, a cute country peg shelf with heart cutouts. I can't wait to repaint these. There was also more old hand crocheted lace that has been cut off of old clothing, the material it came off of is so delicate and soft. There is those two floral pictures, I think they may be old Home Interior. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here we have more of the treasure pile. There is several bags of hand crocheted lace trims, perfect for pillow cases of a little girls dress. There is a very cute unfinished quilted print of a turkey will make a nice Thanksgiving wall hanging. Some cute vintage green and white dishes. If you can see in the upper middle there is a lovely little creamy white basket with a gold handle, and two little figurines. There is crocheted doilies of all sizes, some round and some long. And one of the things I like best there was a load of craft books. Dozens of tole painting books, etc. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

More of the many books. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A better view of the figurines and little basket along with a very cute tin. I love blue birds and also Morning Glories so this little tin really caught my eye.

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I adore this wire thread holder. I have always wanted an old treadle sowing machine and this is so cute. This shows more of the lace and also there is a pattern for a prairie style skirt in the pile. I hope you have enjoyed looking at my treasures with me, Oh I almost forgot, Guess what I paid for all of this? The Lady only asked $10.00 for the whole bunch, I was so pleased I gave her an extra $2.00. After all she was making up money for her sisters wedding. I just love finding goodies like this. Yard sale season is such a fun time of treasure hunting. God Bless! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rainy, But Beautiful

2011-03-30T17:50:00.012-04:00

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This afternoon as my oldest son and I went to the barn to bucket feed our calves, the air was crisp and it was misting rain. As we walked I took notice that the birds were singing, and I looked around at all the fruit trees blooming and the spring bushes in full bloom. It kind of reminded me of what I have read about the English countryside. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My children have the Beatrix Potter "Tales of Peter Rabbit" DVDs and I just love the opening of these precious little stories. With those images of a rainy afternoon, a little cottage, and a fireplace , in mind, it makes me want to curl up in front of a fireplace, pour a cup of hot tea, and write a letter to an old dear friend. So that's what I did, except instead of a letter, I posted a blog post to all of you. I know we all complain about the weather from time to time, and I'm as guilty as the next. But something occurred to me this day. We shouldn't complain, but we should always look for the good. Tonight I want to encourage each of you to snuggle your children and your spouse and let them know you love them. Then be sure to thank the Lord for all His Love and for the many small blessings He gives. Such as the raindrops on leaves in the photos. WE remember to thank Him for the big things, but how often do we say thanks for the small things. Psalms 147:8 Who covereth the heaven with clouds, who prepareth rain for the earth, who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Job 5:10 Who giveth rain upon the earth, and sendeth waters upon the fields: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Psalms 147:7-8 Sing unto the LORD with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God: Who covereth the heaven with clouds, who prepareth rain for the earth, who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Leviticus 26:4 Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Isaiah 55:10-11 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ That is just a few of the scriptures that pertain to rain, there are many more. It's amazing how a rainy day can remind us of the word of God, if we stop and listen with our heart. So no matter the weather look for something in which to give Him praise. I hope you have enjoyed your visit. God Bless.

Violet Jelly Update

2011-03-29T11:51:00.013-04:00

I made more violet jelly and this time I was able to get better photos. I thought I'd post them so you could see more of the beautiful color of this delicate jelly.

Here is the infusion after sitting for 24 hours. Kind of a dark blueish color. Another photo of the blue color. Now we are going to add the lemon juice, this part is fun with the kids. They enjoy seeing it change colors. Notice the beautiful blue color is now a beautiful purple. Next you place the infusion into you stock pot. We love this photo. Did you see the surprise we saw in this one. Look closely, there is a heart in the bottom of the pot. I guess it just shows when you do things out of love for your family, even the food you are preparing knows you put a little of your heart and love into your efforts. Next you add your pectin and bring to a boil then add your 4 cups of sugar. Stirring to smooth, let come to a full boil and boil for 1 minute then jar it up. Here are a few more photos of the process. Just look at that pretty color. This is a wonderful jelly to serve with some warm scones at a tea, or just with biscuits at the family breakfast table. Hope you enjoy making and eating this old fashioned jelly as much as my family does. Well I guess I need to go outside and look for some more "weeds" that we can turn into food. God Bless!

New Kitchen Curtains

2011-03-29T01:41:00.005-04:00

Laura over at http://goosehillfarm.blogspot.com/ had a post a few days ago about her pantry curtains. You may read about it here: http://goosehillfarm.blogspot.com/2011/03/pantry-curtains.html I thought she did a wonderful job on her curtains. I also liked her choice of color. It's the same as I chose for my own kitchen curtains. We both used sheets from Walmart instead of trying to buy yard goods. I've found sheets to be a wonderful alternative to expensive material. You get a lot for your money, when you are going to cut up the sheet for what ever you want to make that would take cotton fabric. I made up my own pattern based upon the measurements of my windows and how long I wanted my curtains to be. It was pretty straight forward sewing. Sorry I didn't think to take photos of the process. Here are the finished curtains, all made from a twin flat sheet. Sorry the quality of the photos isn't that great. I am thinking about using sheets to make skirts. Has anyone else done that, (I'm sure they have) there are so many crafty people out there. Well I hope you have enjoyed a peek at my kitchen curtains, I've enjoyed sharing them with you.

Dandelion Jelly

2011-03-29T00:08:00.018-04:00

I love to try new things in canning and preserving. This jelly is new to me, but I think it has been around for a long time. I found the recipe for it several years ago, but I can't remember where it was found. Dandelions are considered by many as a pest and an unsightly blemish in their lawn, but they have many virtues. Dandelion greens have long been eaten here in the south as a spring tonic. There are health benefits from eating them, but I'm no expert so I'll not post about that. There is alot of good information out there about the health benefits of "weeds", just do a google search and you're sure to find lots of info. Going out into the fresh air to gather your harvest is half the fun of making this jelly. My children, my mother and myself harvested the golden little gems for this batch of jelly. My youngest two were a big help, even though they did squash a few blossoms. We had to pick quite a few in order to get enough, around 4 cups of them.

You only want to use the yellow petals in making your infusion. The green parts of the blossom will make your jelly bitter. I found that by pulling the center of the blossom out first the rest was easier to pull off. This will most assuredly turn your fingers yellow. Just washing my hands in dish liquid took off most of the stain, and the rest wore off in a day or two. Be prepared to sit for a while, unless you can get help with the plucking of the petals. It does take some time, but you will end up with 2 cups of little yellow petals. You will then place your petals into a canning jar and pour two cups of boiling water over them, let them steep anywhere from 30 minutes up to 24 hours. Then strain off this infusion. You should have 2 cups of a dark brownish color liquid. You can then make the jelly right away or put the infusion into the fridge for up to 24 hours before use. When you are ready to make your jelly, place your infusion into a stock pot along with 1/4 cup lemon juice, heat until starting to bubble, then add 1 pouch of pectin and stir to dissolve and bring to a boil. Then add 4 cups sugar and dissolve. I used a whisk for this, it seemed to smooth it better than a spoon. Bring mixture back to a full boil and boil for 1 minute. Then place into jars and seal. We tasted of this jelly after it was made and it was good,I really can't describe the taste, other than it was sweet and light in taste. When I smelled the infusion I thought it smelled bad and was worried the jelly would taste that way(kind of like greens cooking), but it didn't. My mom made some, but only let hers steep about 12 hours and she said hers smelled kindof like honey. Mine steeped for 24 hours. I hope that as this stuff sits on the pantry shelf it will still have a good taste in a few months. I guess that's a wait and see thing. If anyone has ever made this jelly let me know what your experience was like. All in all I think I'll probably make some more, if for no other reason,than it was just fun to get out with the kiddos and make memories while making something you don't find sitting on store shelves. If you try this, please drop by and let me know how your batch turned out. God Bless!

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A BIG Heartfelt Thank You

2011-03-25T12:03:00.003-04:00

I just wanted to take a moment and say, " Thank You" to my followers on this blog. I try to stop in and visit to see what's going on in your lives, but some of you have private blogs and I can't visit. So, I decided to post here and let you all know how happy I am that you chose to follow. I pray for God's Blessings on each of you. Come by and don't forget to leave a comment and let me know you visited. I love to hear from you. God Bless.

Violet Jelly Time

2011-03-24T22:39:00.012-04:00

Spring is such a wonderful time. The starting of another year of promise, and of seeing the glory of God in each new day. I love to walk out on our back porch and look out over the field to the mountain beyond and then close my eyes and hear the birds singing and feel the breezes blowing, and just be still, knowing that God is God and he is still on his throne watching over all. The weather here has turned colder again, but it is still really nice out, just a little chilly. We went up into an upper pasture and collected violets. Violets are such pretty flowers. So tiny and delicate. I love to make violet jelly out of the beautiful blossoms. The color is so pretty. This is my youngest sons favorite jelly. Here is how I make this great jelly out of something most people just walk over. There are various recipes on the web and mine is a combination I guess. I would suppose though that most recipes are pretty much the same. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I pick about 2 1/2 cups of flowers,(pick off the stems) and rinse them in cool water to remove the bugs and dust. Then I boil 2 cups of water and pour this over the flowers that I have placed in a quart canning jar. Make sure your jar is suitable to have boiling water poured into it. Then I place a lid on it and set it on the counter for about 24 hours. Next strain off the juice and throw away the flowers, they have served their purpose. This juice will be what you make the jelly out of. The juice will be a bluish color. You will then add 4 T. of lemon juice, the liquid will turn a beautiful pinkish rose color. Place this into your stock pot or whatever pot your going to make your jelly in, I use a stainless steel stock pot. Start heating the juice and then add 1 package of powdered pectin. Stir this in nicely and let it boil, when it starts boiling add 4 cups of sugar and stir to dissolve. Bring it to boil again, boil at a rolling boil for 1 minute. Pour into your sterilized jars and seal. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (Sorry these photos do not show the beautiful color of the jelly) This jelly is such a lovely jelly to serve on the breakfast table or at tea time. I hope you all will try this and enjoy it as much as my family does. My next jelly of the season: Dandelion! Yes,the pesky weed so many try to remove from their yards. There is so much we can use for our tables when we learn more about what the good Lord has provided. God Bless

http://www.deborahjeansdandelionhouse.com/2011/03/farmgirl-friday-blog-hop-2.html

Gonna Try Something New

2011-03-22T19:04:00.003-04:00

Well I've thought about it for sometime, and I think I'm gonna give coupons a try. There is a lady that I know who said she went to Kroger last week and her bill rang up $180 something and when she was through using her coupons, she only paid 48.00 (I think, I can't remember the exact amount). Anyway, it was a tremendous savings. I know I have read blogs about saving money with coupons, but I have been a little timid about trying them. I guess I'm afraid I'll do something wrong and look silly at the cash register. ~smile~ Well with groceries being so high I'm ready to look silly if that's what happens. As I learn more about this and how its done I'll post about it, so maybe it will help someone else. If you are already doing this, leave a comment so I can come by your blog and learn how you do this. I know for our one income family of 6, it will definitely be worth trying. God bless

Wonderful giveaway

2011-03-22T11:01:00.005-04:00

A wonderful DVD "Making Herbs Simple" I just found out about this wonderful giveaway, go by and get in on it. The webite has so much information and is wonderful reading, check it out. http://www.homesteaddryingracks.com/1/post/2011/03/-review-and-giveaway-on-making-herbs-simple.html

Sixth Giveaway: For Instruction in Righteousness

2011-03-21T15:43:00.001-04:00

Sixth Giveaway: For Instruction in Righteousness I have loved the products put out by Doorposts for years. I believe every family would be blessed to have these materials at home to help with training their children. God Bless the folks at Doorposts for giving away such wonderful materials. Hop over and take part in getting the word out about this blog and all their goodies! God Bless

Baby Calves!!!

2011-03-21T10:03:00.011-04:00

Well, we finnally have baby calves. I'm so excited. My hubby has tried for weeks to buy feeder calves at the local stock barn, and finaly Saturday purchased 4. They are so adorable, we have 2 heifers and 2 little bulls. My children love them. So far it hasn't been any problem getting the children to help with the feeding chores, they are always ready to go see the babies. The same is still true for the baby chicks. It's amazing how fast those little darlings grow their feathers. Having animals around the homestead is wonderful. I know it takes dedication and time, but it is so worth it. The rewards of having something to care for, and for my children to grow up knowing where their food actually comes from, is priceless. I think it is important that children learn how to do as much for themselves as possible. I wonder how many children growing up in the U.S. today even know where or how they get their food. I know of one child who thought that milk was made from flour, because they were both white. I'm happy to report that that child has since been exposed to a farm and knows where milk actually comes from before it's in a jug. Our little place is really starting to look, sound and smell(smile) like a farm. It's wonderful and I feel so blessed. Here are some photos of our new additions. Hope you enjoy your visit. God Bless. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My boys getting to know one of the little bulls. This little one is very friendly, he loves to chew on your clothes, something we'll have to stop. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Little sister had to get in on the fun. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This post has been linked to Stop by and get in on the fun!

A Farmgirls Dreams

2011-03-18T12:45:00.016-04:00

I was walking around the place yesterday, checking on how my herbs are growing. It was a beautiful day, just wonderful to be outside. I only have a few perennial herbs as of right now, I dream of having a whole passel of them. I want to have an herbal tea garden(YUM), a culinary herb garden, and a medicinal herb garden. Here are some photos of what is coming back out this spring.... My pretty delicate looking chamomile, there are several clumps growing in a small raised bed, hopefully it will completely fill the bed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My patch of spearmint, I removed the mulch and there is a lot of little plants coming up everywhere. As of right now, I have this growing in a front side yard around a light pole. I would love to have it moved into an herbal garden, if I can ever decide where to place one and how to arrange one. Decisions, Decisions. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is my bed of peppermint. It is growing in the back in a 4x8 raised bed, it seems to be thriving, even escaping into the yard. My youngest son loves to go by and grab a leaf just to chew. Better than gum, no sugar! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My strawberries were doing great last year until the wild turkeys decided to dig there for bugs. I had three 4x8 beds and now I only have about 13 plants that are surviving. I would love to see how others grow and manage their strawberry patches. If you grow a strawberry patch drop me a comment and let me know so I can stop by your blog and learn from you. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I dream of raising so many things that my husband says it would take hundreds of acres. With my little over 5 acres I guess I'll have to scale down a bit. We have reduced our herd of horses down to 3 and maybe on down to 2, one horse is a great horse for an adult, just not a kid horse. I still want to get more breeds of chickens, maybe some turkeys(in a pen) not the wild kind that destroy my strawberries. Would love to have milk goats, a milk cow and some ducks. For now, I'm enjoying what I have and still dream daily. Here are a few more photos from yesterday. My peach trees are in full bloom, beautiful. Just hope it doesn't frost. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ More signs of spring. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The baby horse in the field. His dad was our big baby stallion, who sadly, had to be put down. We're hoping he will have his dad's personality and demeanor. So far I don't think he will be as big as his dad. His dad was 1 in a million. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My babies are still all doing well. As you can see they are getting their feathers. I have two that are not only getting their wing feathers but also their tail feathers. Is that the roosters? I know I purchased 2 roosters, so does the roosters get their tail feathers first? Anyway I just adore them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We are getting ready for feeder calves. We are hoping to purchase about 6 little calves to bucket feed. My hubby has gone a few times to the stock barn, but so far nothing. We'll try again tomorrow. I hope you have enjoyed walking around our little farm with me and hope you will come back and visit again real soon. Please leave a comment, I love hearing from all of you who visit. God Bless! Stop by http://www.deborahjeansdandelionhouse.comfor a Farm Girl Friday Blog Hop! It's so much fun to visit with others who have a Farm Girls heart.

Created Blog Button

2011-03-16T20:41:00.004-04:00

Wow! I can hardly believe I did it, I created my very first blog buttons! I'm not by any means a computer person, but so many wonderful people are, and they post how tos on their blogs. Thanks! I know mine are not as fancy as some I've seen, but with practice maybe mine will get better. All I have is a basic computer, no fancy programs. Yet! wink wink. Here is roughly how I did mine. First, I found old public domain photos and downloaded them to my computer, then I opened them in paint.I found a part of the image I liked and cropped them small. I then uploaded them to photobucket and finished them there. I sized mine to 125 wide, I tried 150 and it was to large for the side bar. One other thing I did was change the url display size, the code I used had it 6 rows and 20 columns that just seemed to big so I changed it to 3 rows and 15 columns. I've noticed some don't have that visible at all, I'm not sure how to do that yet so If someone knows how please let me know. It has been so exciting and a little time consumming. I've spent far to much time on the computer today. I hope they work for anyone who wants to put one on their blog, by the way please do! On another note: My chickens are still doing fine. The children are still spending a lot of time checking on the babies. My mom sadly lost one of hers today, she said it was standing there as if it was sleepy, then it gasped and fell over. She picked it up and held it close for about five minutes before it quit breathing. Does anyone know why it would do this? Mom said she remembers as a little girl her mom having chickens who gasped like that and would die. The old people said they had the gaps, or something like that, I wonder if it is somekind of respitory infection. I pray all the others are healthy and strong. God Bless

2011-03-15T19:58:00.012-04:00

Today I went to visit my parents, I love to go and enjoy their company. I've been blessed with the most wonderful parents. When I was growing up my dad worked a full time job( and most of the time had to travel long distances to work) and farmed. We always had a big garden, a potato field, corn field for feed, and also tobacco fields. We raised chickens, milk cows, hogs and ducks. When I was in my teens my dad had to go to Florida to work, mom stayed at home in TN to care for her mom and also help with my dad's parents, so they quit farming for a while. Now that dad has retired they have started farming some again, raising a garden, cows, and chickens. I love going with dad to do the feeding, sometimes I feel like a little girl again walking with my dad. I told him one day that I was enjoying his retirement more than he was, we are creating such precious memories. I wanted to share a few photos of my time there today. Hope you enjoy visiting their little place with me. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is last years little bull, who is now a steer. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This cute little fellow is a feeder calf dad bought at the stock barn a couple days ago. He's had a bad cold when he bought him and they are giving him medicines each day, he's starting to act a little better. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Little fellow getting his supper. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A nosey cow. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sweet old Daisy ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Unfortunately I didn't take photos of their old chickens nor the new little babies, I guess that will be another trip!

Excitement on the Homefront

2011-03-14T16:58:00.015-04:00

Well, today there has been some excitement in our house, I have had a dream come true. As long as I can remember I have loved chickens. When I was growing up my parents always had flocks of chickens and I would have my pet of the flock. When I got married there were no more chicken flocks. Well, my Darling Hubby said that we could finally have our own flock. Early this morning I went with my Mom into town, we went to the co-op, while it was still dark, to pick out our babies. The chicks hadn't arrived yet and they didn't know what time they would, so we had to kill some time in town. When we went back they laughed and said we hadn't been out of the parking lot five minutes when the post office called and said they had arrived. So I am now the proud owner of my first flock of chickens. I am starting out with 6 Barred Rock pullets and 2 Barred Rock roosters. I will be getting some Buff Orpingtons and maybe a couple Rhode Island Reds in a couple weeks. When I brought the babies in the house you would have thought I just brought in the greatest gift in the world. My children have been so excited. They have visited with the chicks all day. As I write I can hear them saying things like, "Oh that ones mine", "Oh look how cute", and "I just want to squeeze it". I'm glad they are enjoying the chicks today, now let's see how they do when they have to help feed them, gather eggs and clean out the coop. I hope they will enjoy having them as much as I did when I was growing up. Of course our chickens were completely free range back then, so there wasn't a coop to clean out. I would love to let mine run but where we live with coyotes, bob cats, dogs, raccoons, etc. I'm not sure how long they would last. Hopefully I can get a chicken tractor made and move them to fresh grass each day and not leave them in the coop. I guess you can tell, I'm as excited as the children, if not more so. I truly feel so blessed to be living on a small farm and having chickens is a dream come true. Never give up on your dreams, for they really do come true. Here are a couple photos of our new additions. God Bless! http://homesteadrevival.blogspot.com/2011/03/barn-hop-4.html

I Finally Done It

2011-03-11T06:39:00.003-05:00

Well, I finally played around long enough with my blog and was able to get the outer background changed. Finally, it's all one design. I guess I'll have to squeeze in a little more computer time to see what else I can learn to do with my blog. If any of you make money with your blog and are willing to share how to's, I'd love to hear from you and learn the in's and out's. God Bless

Chicken Coop Share

2011-03-10T14:26:00.004-05:00

Since I'm going to be blessed with my very first flock of chickens, I thought it would be lovely to see other's chicken coops. If you raise chickens and would like to share photos of your flock and their "castle" please do so. I would also like to know what breeds you prefer and what do you like about them. Thanks for sharing.

2011-03-10T13:46:00.003-05:00

In the last week we have had sunny warm weather, cold rainy weather and snow. Right now it is cold, windy and rainy. The weather says we may get more snow. I think we can make it, we are close to spring, so I know its only a matter of a few more weeks until spring is here to stay. I'm so ready to be outdoors again, to feel the sun, soft breezes, and hear the birds singing. I enjoy the winter and snow also, but now I hurt so much when I'm out in the cold. I know that if I get my dream of farm animals to tend, I'll have to be out in all kinds of weather. I, as of now, think it will be well worth the discomfort of a hurting body. Do any of you have a problem with your health that makes it uncomfortable to work outside, if so how do you manage? I've dreamed of having a farm for as long as I can remember, and now that I'm middle age, I think it's now or never. My husband has finally agreed, (due to the economy and my persistence~smile~) to stock our farm with more than horses. I'll be getting my first chickens in a little while and I'm so excited. We have to build the coop and run, nothing fancy, but functional. If any of you have any advice to share, it is appreciated. God Bless and have a great day.

2011-03-08T12:04:00.003-05:00

A quick post today to ask everyone to pray for the little girl who has cancer. Today her parents are meeting with the DR. to decide what route they are going to take in treatment. Please pray for God's wisdom and direction. My Aunt that I had wrote about a few days ago is doing better, Thank you so much for your prayers. God Bless!

2011-03-06T09:46:00.001-05:00

Peonies Prints by T. C. Chiu at AllPosters.com The days are getting warmer and the birds are singing, oh the joys of spring. My daffodils are starting to bloom, as well as some of the shrubs. I'm dreaming of spring. I was at my mom and dad's yesterday, and they have bird feeders handing on the porch in front of a big window in the living room. I love to watch the birds coming to get a bite to eat. They will eat for a few minutes and then fly to a nearby tree and sing a beautiful melody. There is also a hawk who is building it's nest in a tree nearby, we can watch the activity from their front porch. It's so nice to go and relax with them and watch all the birds getting ready for the arrival of spring. They have made it through another winter and seem to be in such a happy state. My dad and I sit and talk of lots of things on my visits. One of our talks while watching the birds is how that the Lord promises to take better care of us than for the birds. Its amazing, they seem so happy and care free, I guess they just rely on Him for everything. That's the way I want to be, just carefree and happy, knowing He will take care of me. I love the Lord Jesus and thank Him for everyday and all my many blessings. May my life always be pleasing to the Lord.

Asking for Prayer

2011-03-04T20:08:00.003-05:00

I just wanted to post a little about some family members who are in need of prayer. I have a precious 2 year old cousin who has been diagnosed with cancer. They took one of her kidneys out 8 days ago and this morning her incision burst back open all the way through the muscles. She had to be taken back for more surgery. Please pray for a full and speedy recovery for this precious little princess. Also, I'd like to ask everyone to pray for my aunt, she has been very sick for a long time, multiple things wrong, she is now in the hospital with pneumonia. I had her at the Dr's. yesterday and we were there or at the hospital having test for about 6 hours. They sent her home and today they had to have an ambulance take her to the hospital and they admitted her. Keep her in your prayers, she is very sick. Praying all is well with you and God Bless.

Pretty Song

2011-03-03T18:48:00.002-05:00

Here is a pretty song and a lovely video. The images are really nice. Hope you enjoy. God Bless

Need a little help

2011-03-02T18:14:00.001-05:00

As you can see I have been playing around with the design template. I can't seem to get the outer background to change all the way down. Can someone help me to know what to do? I am by no means a computer person, so simple instructions would be appreciated. Thanks.

Sunny Day

2011-03-02T14:43:00.001-05:00

Today is a most beautiful day. The sun is shining and birds are singing. Thank You Lord for such beauty. I had started to write a post about all the hardships and problems we have gone through in the past months. I re-read it, and and it hit me, "WE'VE gone THROUGH." The things that happened months ago are in the past, today is a bright new day. I can't change how people have acted or what they are doing wrong now, I live my life , that I can change. So instead of complaining, I'm going to Praise! I Praise the Lord for seeing our family through some hurtful betrayal. I Praise Him for being there in the dark moments. I Praise Him for His Promise to never leave us nor forsake us. I Praise Him for just being who He is....JESUS CHRIST our LORD! I pray you all have a blessed day! Give Him some Praise in your life. Here is a video that I love, it's message is timeless. Enjoy!

A Needed Pick Up

2011-03-01T22:11:00.001-05:00

I want to say thank you to all the wonderful ladies who have such inspirational blogs. I was in a rather down mood and needed an uplift. I have sat here reading several blogs and feel better. I thought it interesting that over at A Wise Woman Builds Her House, she had a post a few days ago about unholy churches. The state of churches is one of the things I'm feeling a little blue about. Over the years my husband and I have been part of several churches(he is a minister). He has been in many positions of service. During these years we have gotten to know quite a few ministers and their wives personally. The sad thing is when you get to know some of them they do not live at home what they preach in church. I have known of pastors who have lied from the pulpit and then just kept on going as if nothing was wrong. I have know of some who have used the church for their personal gain and have ruined families, all in the name of being their pastor. It really hurts my heart to think that this is the state of some of the men who bear the name of a Christian and minister of the Gospel. I know it is necessary for every person who claims that name to live a right life, but I feel it is vital for the ministers. When the ones who lead our congregations are not standing upon the word, our churches are in trouble. I pray that there will be a revival of holy, righteous men of God who take very seriously their call. That the ministers will once again be men of honor and we can point them out to our children as men to be looked up to. I do believe there are men out there everywhere who live the right kind of life for the Lord, but instead of being far between, it should be every one of them. Please help me in praying for the ministers of the gospel everywhere that their hearts will stay pure and true to the Lord. That they will be an example of holy and right living, that they will once again stand for what the word says is right, whether it is politically correct or not. I am so thankful that God is not as man, and he will never lie to us or abuse us. He will forever be the Loving Father and we can go to him anytime and find comfort. As I said earlier, thank you to all of you who on your blogs stand for what is right and offer encouragement in our walk with the Lord. God Bless!

2011-01-31T12:16:00.000-05:00

Wow! I can't believe it has been so long since I posted last. Time sure has a way of flying by. The weather has been cold, wet and snowy this winter. We've had more snow this year than we have had in several years. The kids have only been out very little, it seems that at least one of them has been sick constantly this year. I wonder if the dry heat from the wood stove is part of what's wrong, I keep a pot of water on top all the time but the air is still so dry. We have been working on finally getting a bigger school room finished(still not there yet but closer). I can't seem to get everything done, trying to get the day to day chores caught up is hard enough for me let alone getting anything extra done. Sometimes I walk through the house and it seems as if everything is out of place and needs attention, I can feel so overwhelmed. Well, on to brighter things, I'm so looking forward to spring. I saw that the little daffodils are poking their heads out of the ground. I so love spring! I'm not sure how big of a garden I'm going to plant this year. I really would love a huge one but I must be sensible. I have had so much trouble with weeds in my garden spot that I'm not sure I can tend to a big garden. I know it's better to only plant what you can actually tend to well, than have a lot that you can't take care of. If anyone has any suggestions about how to take care of the weed problem (without harmful chemicals) please let me know. My garden has so many that you can't see the ground,literally. We go through on hands and knees and pull them and then carry them out of the garden area and the next thing you know they are back and seem to have multiplied. We have tried the weed blocker fabric but the weeds grew through it and on top of it so fast that we couldn't keep them pulled out. I'm really getting frustrated trying to grow that dream garden. Well, I must get back to my daily duties, sorry it's been so long between posts, hope to talk to you all soon. God Bless!,

2010-10-27T21:36:00.000-04:00

I saw this quote on another blog and really liked what it said.

"If you please man and never please God, you have nothing;
If you please God and man forsakes you, You have Everything."
Dorothy Patterson

I really understand that quote at this point in my life. Trying to please man will ultimately make you miserable and can even leave you feeling like God sees you as man does. I'm so glad that God is not like man, and as my 3yr old little girl says, God Loves You Very Much!

They melt my heart

2010-10-06T13:33:00.000-04:00

My children are forever and always melting my heart. This morning I had just finished sweeping and mopping the living room, kitchen and utility rooms, and was resting on the couch, talking to my youngest son. I have been talking about maybe getting a new hair style - kind of feeling I'm in a rut. Anyway, my son sat down and said he just wanted to snuggle for a while, then he looked up at me and said that he didn't want me to change anything, he loves me just the way I am now. I thought how sweet. To my little man, momma is just right! So I guess you can tell my heart is full and running over with love for my children. I know I say it quite often, but I'm just so thankful to be a MOM! God Bless.

2010-10-03T17:53:00.000-04:00

I just love old books! I so enjoy reading the old out of print but, (should still be in print) homemaking books. The ladies of yesteryear, before feminism, took seriously their task of homemaker. It is such a pleasure to glean homemaking wisdom for those generations. I've been organizing some of my kitchen collectibles, in the basement, on shelves my husband made for me, he's such a handyman. ♥☻ Anyway, I was setting out some of the old glass refrigerator storage containers and was thinking how much nicer they are than the plastic kind. I actually find it enjoyable to wash the old beautiful mixing bowls, or the old china with the delicate designs. There's an elegance in the vintage things that has been lost in our age of plastic or throw away. Here is a quote from an old homemaking book I saw online....

"The making of a true home is really our peculiar and inalienable right- a right which no man can take from us;-for a man can no more make a home than a drone can make a hive." Frances Power Cobbe "Duties of Woman."

That quote is really true, it does take a woman's touch to make a house a home. She adds softness and grace, sensitivity and warmth. I so love the fact that I can influence my home by my presence. I thank the Lord for all you women out there who make your house a true home. May God Bless You All.

Caldwell House, Cataloochee, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee Photographic Print by John Elk III at AllPosters.com

2010-09-16T20:37:00.000-04:00

I was looking through some photos on AllPosters.com and saw this of an ancestral home. This is the Caldwell Family home in Cataloochee, in North Carolina.
This home belonged to my mother's family. It is now part of the national park.
I just love going and visiting this place. I enjoy walking around the house and thinking about what it would be like to visit with my Great-Great-Great grandparents. I wonder would they be proud of who their off-spring are? Did they pray for the future generations of their family? Did they ever think that one day, a granddaughter would walk in their home and wonder about them?
I don't know about anyone else, but I wonder about my future grandchildren and all the generations of grandchildren to come. I pray for them now, that they will walk with the Lord from an early age and will fully commit their lives to Him.
I don't know what my children and grandchildren will pass down to the future ones about me... it may be that I loved to garden, preserve the harvest, paint, sew, laugh when others didn't think it was that funny, or that my favorite time of year was fall. All of that would be nice for my inheritance to know about me, but the most important thing I hope they will know is that I loved the Lord Jesus. That He alone is Lord and Savior. That I trusted my life into His hands. And that I loved them(the future) enough to pray for them. I like to think that as I walk in the home of my ancestors that just maybe I had someone on their knees praying for me. I encourage you if you don't already pray for your future generations, please do so, you maybe the only one who does. God Bless.

Train Them UP

2010-09-13T15:56:00.000-04:00

I had a few moments and I wanted to share a little story. I strive everyday to "Train my children" according to the Word of God. Sometimes I wonder if I'm doing things right. Have you ever been there? I have a 3 year old who is a bit head strong, she is the one who wants her own way more than the other children. My husband told me one day that I don't correct her as much as I do the others. I thought about that and I have to admit he's right. I had a miscarriage before I had her and I believe I do let her by with more because of that. I repented and asked the Lord to help me in training this little heart for him. Well last night I got a glimpse of this training. I heard her saying a prayer for her favorite baby doll that she was hugging. She said, "Heavenly Father bless my baby and keep her safe, in Jesus name Amen." One day she will be holding her own precious baby and praying those words over my Grandchildren. The fruits of our labors are indeed wonderful.

Getting things into perspective

2010-08-31T19:15:00.000-04:00

Sunday Afternoon I

I have a most beautiful life. The Lord has truly blessed me. Why is it that from time to time we seem to forget this. This year has been a little difficult due to sickness and finances. To be honest I haven't had the energy to get half the things done that I should have finished. We were late in getting our school year finished and now we have already begun a new year. There have been some troublesome things in the church world, and many other little things. When they are all combined it seems so easy to just get bogged down. To start feeling sorry for yourself, feeling like you are the only one who has such trials. Then, you start to remember the people who have been before you, the trials they had far out weigh mine. I suppose when we hit these little snags it is then that the Holy Spirit gently reminds us of how blessed we really are:

1. A warm, dry home on a cold night
2. clean clothes
3. running water
4. plenty to eat
5. eyes to see God's beauty
6. ears to hear the music of birds and children's laughter
7. arms to hold a sleeping child
8. a loving husband
9. 4 precious children who call me MOM
10. My Dad and Mom, who are still with me
11.A Saviour who gave his life for me

That is just the beginning of the list, I could go on and on. I believe that everyone reading this would have a long list too. I'm thankful that the Comforter came by to give me a gentle reminder today. And tonight, with things in perspective I can honestly say, I'M BLESSED!

I just Love this video

2010-08-31T17:37:00.001-04:00

I couldn't resist placing this on my blog. I love the happy warm feeling you get when you watch it. For those who have seen this I know you'll enjoy it again. For those who have not, take a moment and enjoy.

Long due update

2010-08-19T14:36:00.000-04:00

Wow! I can't believe it has been so long. I haven't posted in forever. Our family has been fairly busy with the activities of summer. The gardens have been productive and very weedy this year. I've dried okra, lots of squash, zucchini and peppers so far. We have jars of tomatoes,onion relish, jellies, summer melody relish, kraut, apple butter and I know there is more I just can't remember what else. My green beans were attacked by some kind of bugs, so there wasn't a huge crop, what we had was put in the freezer. On my mamaw's place is an apple tree that has the best apples for drying. This year the squirrels got them before they were ripe so the whole crop is gone. All in all this season has been a blessing.
Here's a photo of the garden when the ATTACK OF THE WEEDS began.

It is wonderful to take fresh fruits like these peaches and turn them into something like

Don't those peaches look yummy? Oh how wonderful a peach cobbler will be this winter, or maybe tonight!

I look froward to the growing and harvesting seasons every year. Although they are wonderful they do take up a lot of time. I hope to be able to post more frequently but I must keep my priorities. I do check in on everyone from time to time, but can't seem to post for my self. I look forward to lazier days when I can chat away.

2010-07-16T21:02:00.000-04:00

There are so many wonderful blogs to read that I find I spend my computer time reading instead of writing. I guess I sometimes wonder if anyone really reads what I post. I have so much that I love about life, that I just wish I could express it all in written form for others to enjoy. I read other blogs and I'm amazed at how beautifully some of them are written. Bloggers keep up the good work.

I have been spending a lot of time looking up sites for the upcoming school year.
I think I'm going to combine my sons on their history and science. We'll be doing a lot of lapbooking and notebooking. There are so many great products out there and a lot of good free stuff. I wanted to share a few sites I stumbled upon. I was looking for some preschool worksheets and coloring pages. I love the look of old fashioned children's books and it's hard to find coloring pages with that style, but I finally found some that comes close. Here is one that has delightful abc worksheets. www.learning-years.com
Here are a few more with great pages.
www.usa-printables.com
www.bible-printables.com
www.honkingdonkey.com
I have only been on these sites once and I didn't see anything offensive, but I can't promise there's nothing on them. Oh, wouldn't it be wonderful to surf the net and not have to worry about the content on the web. Well it's time for our family's movie time. Until next visit, God Bless.

2010-07-02T11:50:00.000-04:00

Hello All, it has been a while. I've dropped by and checked in on everyone, but haven't posted in a while. We are finally finished with this years school. We were a little behind due to sickness through the school year. I've been looking in the supply catalogs trying to put together what we will use for the upcoming year. Does anyone else get bogged down with all the choices? I see so many things I'd love to do, but the prices stop me. I want school to be fun for my children and at the same time I want them to get a good education. My sons are very hands on, they love to do lapbooks and other projects. I like the looks of the history/geography courses offered through Winter Promise, but the price, is out of my budget. Has anyone else used this curriculum? We use a mix of curriculum and learning styles. I was a little worried that my youngest wasn't up to his grade level. I took them to a VBS a while back and I asked his teacher(who also works in the public school) how did he do and she said he did great. I told her of my concern and she said he read better than most in public school for his grade level. And that he was polite and well behaved.(Yeah!) I guess I need to relax a little and just enjoy our school years and believe that the Lord will lead and guide us in our efforts and that my children will learn what they need.
My garden is producing wonderful veggies(and still lots of weeds) I've been putting up what I can and enjoying others fresh. What a blessing. I'm still reading and trying to learn all I can about gardening, herbs and healthy cooking. Hopefully I can get a few photos of my garden posted in a while, I so enjoy seeing others gardens that I thought someone may like to see mine. Well until next time, God bless you all.

Homesteadblessing DVD'S Arrived

2010-06-23T17:21:00.000-04:00

My Homesteadblessings DVDS finally arrived. I think I wore a path in my hardwood floor walking to the door just checking to see if the ups man had left them on the porch yet. I was so excited when I saw them there. My children and I have watched every one and most of them 2 or 3 times. Basically that's all that's been playing. :)

The West Ladies seem so sweet, I sure wish they lived down the road from me. I'm sure there are probably some folks close by who are like that, but how do you meet them? After all, someone who enjoys milking a cow, growing a garden, cooking from scratch, making your own skirts, canning, and such, not to mention making your own soap and candles, a person like this is kind of rare. I personally don't know many who enjoy any of these things, so it's hard to share your dreams with them. I'm enjoying doing these things with my mom and teaching my children these skills. Someday maybe there will be more who will enjoy these kinds of things. Hopefully.

Well we are all finally over our sickness. Thank the LORD! We were so behind in the garden that weeds had taken over. We spent 3 days(Well not full days) on our hands and knees pulling weeds. We still have a lot to get done but the ground has gotten so hard the weeds won't pull up. I really am trying to get up the roots and all hoping that it will make less weeds next year. My garden has been really bad for grass and weeds. We are getting to harvest a few things now...squash, zuchini, banana peppers, bell peppers, cabbage, and the okra is coming on. My potatoes seem to be doing great and tomatoes are getting ripe. I so enjoy the harvest of fresh veggies. I am trying to learn more about drying our harvest instead of freezing and canning everything. I dried okra and tomatoes before and they were great. The okra is a great snack right out of the jar. It tastes like fried okra. There is just so much to learn and it's hard to find the time to try all that I want to do.
If anyone has any wisdom in this area that they'd like to pass on I'd love to hear from you. God Bless

An Update

2010-06-14T11:32:00.000-04:00

I wanted to say a big "Thank You" to everyone for checking in on my children and for the prayers. Here's the update. Everyone,including myself, ended up with strep. It has treated the youngest daughter pretty bad. She ran a fever of over 103 off and on for 2 days, now the youngest son has a fever, although not as high. Everyone is on antibiotics and starting to feel some better. I keep reminding myself that this too shall pass. As all you mommies know when you have sick little ones, mommy doesn't get much sleep. I guess God gave moms a built in, extra sensitive ear, so she would always have an ear open to hear her babies no matter the time of night. And when one is sick(not to mention 4 sick) your ear is working so hard you don't sleep. I think I'll take a 12 or 14 hour nap when everyone is better. Even in rough times I wouldn't change one thing about being a mommy, except maybe to add a few more blessings. Keep us in your prayers and God Bless.

A Big Scare and Being Thankful

2010-06-10T20:40:00.000-04:00

Today started out like most days. Got up had a small cup of coffee on the back porch with hubby before he started his day. Fixed breakfast and went to town with my mom and my oldest son, that's where the scare came in! We were in the check out line at a store when my son said he didn't feel well and could I take him to the car. He took about 2 steps, turned and looked at me, his eyes crossed then rolled back in his head and down he went. He passed out! I caught him before he hit the floor, but it took about 3-4 minutes before we could get him to wake up. I was so scared, I didn't know what had happened to make him pass out. The paramedics came and checked him out but he didn't want them to take him to the hospital so I said I would.(he didn't want me to either, but I pulled rank:) They ran x-rays, blood work, an EKG, and a strep test. Well he has strep. I sure didn't know strep would make you pass out. Up until that time he had not had a sore throat or a fever. But now he has both with chills. I'm so thankful it isn't anything worse, although it's bad enough to make a fellow feel lousy. And actually I'm thankful it happened or I wouldn't have even known he had the infection, and it could have caused something more serious. I really can't describe the feelings I had as I watched my son collapse and then become unresponsive for a few minutes. I have thought all day about how I get caught up in the day to day things and sometimes obsess over things that can wait. I really need to just relax (but at the same time, keep things in order) and enjoy the days with my children. The time I spend with them will be what we remember in future years not whether all the cobwebs were swept down. As I said before I'm a thankful momma tonight that my baby is alright. Keep us in your prayers and God Bless you all.

2010-06-09T15:06:00.000-04:00

Today has ended up being rainy, again. I had planned on pulling some weeds in the vegetable garden this morning, but early rains stopped that. There was a break for a while and I went to the strawberry bed and put pots under the runners. When we made our beds last year we covered them with plastic and now my runners are just sitting on top and can't root. The only way I could think of to save them was to put little pots under them to root in and then cut them from the mother plant and transfer to a new bed. If anyone has other any information on strawberries I'd welcome your input.
I'm still battling the grass and weeds in the vegetable patch. The grass there is so thick it's like a lawn! We have borrowed a tiller a couple times and then trying to use a hoe is not working. And getting down on my knees crawling through the garden pulling each blade is impossible. For one thing the garden is too big and another I'm too old for that, my knees won't take it anymore. I guess I'll keep working on it and believe someday I'll have a wonderful garden.

On another note, today I was sweeping the living room and my 3 yr old daughter was watching and she ran over to where I was about to sweep it into the dust pan, she said, "Wait mommy you left some back over here". I looked and there was a little speck of fuzz laying in the floor. Now if only I could get her to be that careful when she cleans up her toys. I love spending time with my children, they sure can put things into perspective. Such as when I'm in a grouchy mood and complaining about all the stuff lying around the floor, then one of them will come up and give me a hug and say "Mommy I love You". Then I realize that if they weren't there to make a mess I would miss out on so much. Oh the joys of raising children. Thank the Lord for each one.

Oh I'm so Happy!!!!!!

2010-06-07T11:05:00.000-04:00

I am absolutely so excited I want to jump up and down and shout, but I already did all that!!! I think I may do it again!!! I went to the Raisinghomemakers website to see who the blessed ladies were today in their giveaway. I shouted and thanked the Lord when I read my name as winner of the Homesteadblessings DVD series. My children came running down the stairs to see what was going on. I have wanted these for so long. I couldn't tell you how many times I've watched the little video clips on the Internet about these, and I love the West Ladies song Green Beans in the Garden. The first time I heard that song and watched the video of it on youtube I actually cried. I know that sounds silly, but just seeing someone else who values home and family like they do blessed me. I'm so thankful to the Lord Jesus for making me a wife and mother. I couldn't ask for a better life than to raise my children for him. Well I could go on and on, but I'll get to a close here. I just want to say a big THANK YOU to all the dear ladies at raisinghomemakers and I pray for God's blessing upon you all.

They're at it again!

2010-06-04T17:51:00.000-04:00

The wonderful people over at Raisinghomemakers.com is at it again. They are giving away the wonderful DVD collection from the West Ladies at Homestead Blessings. I love these ladies and their DVDs. I've wanted them for so long, but finances have prevented me from having them. I have only seen the previews of them and already I'm a fan, can't wait to see the whole series. Go by and enter today. God Bless

RaisingHomemakers

2010-06-01T15:12:00.000-04:00

The new website RaisingHomemakers.com has launched! Go by and be blessed! I'm sure we will all learn a lot. This is an area close to my heart, and I love seeing others with the same heart. God Bless

2010-05-28T17:09:00.000-04:00

I have always loved to read. I love to read a variety of different things. Many years ago I started reading homesteading magazines and was hooked. I enjoy learning how to do things for my self, and learning from others, so these magazines were great. Our local library has some of these on their shelves and I guess I've read every one half a dozen times. Yesterday, a dear friend gave me a big box full of magazines. There was over 13 years of Countryside Magazines(every issue) with several more issues of varying years. A few years of Mother Earth News, Backwoods Home, Keeper at Home and Back Home. I was so excited, she said she had another box as soon as she got it together. YEAH! I enjoy these magazines although I don't agree with some of their writings. But, all in all they're very informative. Well I know what I'll be pouring over for the next few weeks. God Bless

Being Creative

2010-05-26T23:43:00.000-04:00

I have always enjoyed looking at what others make. To see what they create from what's in their mind. I love to try crafts of all kinds. I know that there are lots of people who make their living off of their crafts. I would love to be able to help with our family finances with the things I make. I live about an hour away from a tourist town and you would think it would be easy to sell your things there, but it's not. The shops have to make so much commission on each item that it drives the price so high in order for you to make a profit. There were folks who were setting up along the roadsides to sell their homemade things, such as furniture, floral arrangements, soaps and so on, but our county made a new ordnance that stopped everyone from setting up. If any of you have any advice on how to market crafts from home I'd love to hear from you. Here are a few photos of some of my crafts.

I entered this doll in our county fair and she won first place. I was so excited. It was the first time I had ever entered anything in the fair.

My mom and I like to make benches, I painted this one for my front porch.

I made this baby quilt from recycled denim and red corduroy

A felt appliqued pillow waiting to be stuffed.

I enjoy working with beads, even if it does take a long time to finish a project. These necklace and earring sets are designs I drew out on beading graph paper. I really enjoyed the graphing out of designs.

I guess I better stop for now or this could be a long post. I would really like to hear from you all about what you think of my crafts. Do you think they would sell, or do I need to continue crafting just for fun? God Bless

2010-05-24T11:15:00.000-04:00

Oh, what another beautiful day! I went out onto the back porch this morning to read the Bible, and the sun was shining, the birds singing and a breeze was blowing. Wonderful! I love times like that. There are so many things that I would like to get done today...school,laundry,floors,clean pantry,windows,clean out basement storage room, organize craft room, gardening, pick strawberries, pull weeds out of flowers, the list goes on and on. It's still early and I'm already tired. Wish I had the energy of my 3 year old.
I was looking in my recipes for something good to cook for supper. I've been kind of slacked in my menu making. Shame on me! Anyway, I came across a recipe that we enjoy for a chili, it kind of makes you think of the chili they serve at Wendy's. I know most enjoy chili and soups/stews in the fall and winter, but we enjoy them year round. I can't remember where I got the recipe, I've had it many years. It would be very easy to modify to fit your families likes and dislikes.

2 lbs. ground meat (you can use meat of choice, I normally use turkey)
2-29oz. cans tomatoes with chilies
29oz. can kidney beans w/liquid (can use your own cooked beans)
29oz. can pinto beans w/liquid " "
12oz. tomato paste
1 medium chopped onion
1/4 cup diced celery
2 t. cumin (I generally add seasoning to taste, but this is a starting point, add more to suit your taste)
3 T. chili powder
salt and pepper
2 cups water.
(can also add in some chopped bell pepper)

Brown your meat and drain off fat. (I make this in a stock pot, as it makes a large pot). Add all other ingredients and simmer for about 2 hours. Great served with rice, cheese and sour cream. Hope you enjoy. God bless.

Our Little Trip

2010-05-22T10:08:00.000-04:00

We took a little trip the other day to an amusement park. It was a lovely day. The weather was pleasant and it wasn't crowded. I was really surprised to see how many ladies were wearing skirts or dresses. I myself had on a long skirt, as I love my skirts. I do wear pants from time to time, but probably 90% of the time I wear skirts. I think they are more comfortable than pants and most definitely more feminine. I have been reading some of the blogs here and am really excited to find so many like minded people on here. I love finding out there are more folks like me out there somewhere. Sometimes you can get the feeling you are all alone in what you believe and like. So keep blogging and I'll keep reading and enjoying.

Here's a few photos of the day.

My 2 youngest enjoying the merry-go-round.

Big brother rode all the kiddy rides with little sister, she loved it.

They had replicas of an old school and a church.

My two sons, such joy.

We had a good day, but everyone was ready to head back home by 3. It's nice to go somewhere, but it's sweet to come back home.

Two Dear Ladies

2010-05-21T09:18:00.001-04:00

I just wanted to tell everyone about a couple new blogs that I know you will enjoy. These ladies have been a blessing to me for quite a while, and I'm glad there here now. Stop by and visit, I know they'll bless you.

Crystal at http://homesteadinghomemaker.blogspot.com
Shan at http://honeyhillfarmshan.blogspot.com

2010-05-19T13:54:00.000-04:00

We have had hard rains several days and my garden flooded. There are ditches cut through where my tomatoes, onions and cabbage are. A few of my tomato plants were buried in mud and one was washed away. Onions are washed out of the ground and I found beans laying everywhere out of their rows. But, let's look on the bright side, the weeds pull out so easy right now! My children and I have pulled basically every weed that we could find and they came out with no trouble, even the ones with long tap roots. My okra and corn are fine. I'll just have to replant more tomatoes and beans and reset my onions. Thankfully, I have more tomato plants that I started, that weren't ready for the garden before now. Such is the life of a gardener.
There is a beautiful red fox that has moved in at my dad and moms place. They see him going around the hillside in the evenings. Last night he started his mating call. If you have never heard a red fox do his mating call it can be scary. You would not think that something so small and pretty could make such a noise. I remember a few years ago when I heard one for the first time, it would make the hair stand up on your head. We searched the internet for animal calls and finally found out it was the red fox. God's creation sure is amazing.
I was wondering, do any of you make money from your small farm. I would love to do something to help with the family finances, maybe a small csa or something. If anyone has any ideas or advice I'd love to hear it. We have a little over 5 acres, and where we live property taxes are rather high, so to be able to make the place pay some for itself would be a blessing. I love to raise vegetables, fruit, flowers, herbs, and I love crafts of all kinds. So if you do anykind of crafts or such for extra family income, I'd love to hear from you. God Bless.

New Addition

2010-05-17T08:51:00.000-04:00

We have a new addition to the family farm! My dad and mom live about 6 miles from me, and we do lots of our gardening and animal raising together. My mom and dad's heifer had her baby. We were hoping for a little heifer, but it turned out to be a bull. He is so cute, he looks just like his daddy. Dad and mom used to have milk cows years ago, and just purchased a heifer and bull a couple years ago. This is the first time they have had a Holstein bull. The one they have is starting to act mean and aggressive. He has horns and he slings his head at everything, he gets mad and then he butts his horns into what ever is near. I think dad is going to sell him or trade him to someone who doesn't mind his temperament. I would love to have a sweet milk cow on our farm here, but my hubby really doesn't want one(as of yet).
Anyway I thought I'd share a few pictures of the baby, and also photos around our place here.

A couple garden photos

As you can see, I have weeds, lots and lots of weeds. Last year I had to abandon parts of the garden because I couldn't keep the weeds out(using only a hoe) and they took over. This year I pray will be different, we have the use of a tiller(Yeah!) also we are trying to put down straw as things are growing.

My children love the berries off these plants, they are bearing now and are wonderfully sweet. I love to watch my children play outside and then run to the berry patch for a treat. I'm so glad those berries were planted, it will be a childhood memory for my children, Momma's berry patch. God Bless.

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T16:22:00.000-04:00

I wanted to wish all you Mothers and those Ladies who have a mother's heart a Happy Mother's Day!! I truly am blessed to be the mother of my precious children. The Lord showed me years ago that the only thing that I'll ever have in life that is eternal, is my children, everything else will vanish away. So I take my role as mother very seriously. It is a great responsibility that God has given and I'm so thankful He counted me worthy. My darling husband surprised me this morning in church, he opened up the service by reading about the Proverbs woman, then he went on to say sweet things about me and that he wanted to say in front of the congregation how much he loved and appreciated me. I thought that was sweet. After church I got to spend time with my mom. She is truly a special lady. She is not only my mom, she is my best friend and sister in Christ. We have such good times together, she is fun to be with and always makes me laugh. We have those belly roll laughs sometimes over nothing at all. I am truly thankful she's my mom. This afternoon our church took off for families to be together with their loved ones, so I am going to spend time with my- mother-in-law. She is another sweet lady in my life, I can say that in the over 23 years I've been her daughter we have gotten along great. She is a loving and caring person. So, as you can see God has truly blessed me and I could never thank him enough. Blessings to all.

2010-05-05T15:56:00.000-04:00

I have a quick question, How do you put a playlist on your blog. I've tried to put one on here but it just hasn't worked. When I try to embed the code it says there is an illegal character. Any help is appreciated.

2010-05-05T12:24:00.000-04:00

How do you get it all done? Now that's a big question, I'd like to know the answer. I have such dreams about having everything nice and clean, all the school work done, the gardens growing beautifully(with no weeds), something delicious and nutritious going on the stove, all the children reading a good book or working on some industrious project while I sip tea listening to soft music. Oh what a dream. Now for reality..... I never seem to get it all done. I seem overwhelmed at all there is to do, and I don't have the energy to get it done. I hear others saying the same thing, so I know I'm not alone. I sure could use some encouraging, someone to urge me on. I know it's one step at a time, just keeping at the task and you will get it done, but when it's pretty outside I'm like a kid, I'd rather be playing. I would love to be in the mountains hiking and playing in the creek. I don't know if this is called reverting back to childhood or just wanting to enjoy the life God has given me. Do any of you, experience the same thing?
Well enough of that....

My lovely daughter is making a wet coconut cake for her dad, she is such a blessing. I'm so thankful that when she was younger we took the time to teach her how to cook and bake. Sometimes it wasn't easy, because at that time she really didn't want to, but now she loves it, and I reap the rewards!

I'm so excited!!! I have my first follower on my blog... Goose Hill Farm. I want to say a big welcome and hope you enjoy your time with me. Well, I hear my duties calling so I'll say farewell for now, God Bless.

A Question

2010-05-04T18:07:00.000-04:00

How do you all get the scripture and pictures onto the sides of your blog? I have tried to copy and paste several times but nothing is showing up. Maybe i have chosen a template that can't be changed I don't know. Any help is appreciated.

While I am on here I thought I'd share a few photos of my world.
The photo is of our late Stallion he had to be put down last year and we all miss him. He was kind of like the horse on Mr. Ed, he sure had a personality. We have a young colt from him that we are hoping will be like his daddy.

This is the view off our back porch, it's so peaceful here.

This is one of my peach trees, they had lots of bloom this spring and so far no frost has harmed them. They are not very big yet, but I'm hoping to get a few peaches this year.

This is of my precious blessings, the Lord has been so good to me. I am so honored that the Lord made me a mother to these children, each one is soooooo special.
Hope you have enjoyed a peek into my world, hope to share more with you all.

Hello Everyone

2010-05-04T12:49:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone, I have enjoyed several of your blogs for quite a while now and thought I'd join you.
I'm a homeschooling mom of 4 blessings. My oldest is a 21 year old stay at home daughter, who is my helper. She blesses me and enables me to homeschool her siblings. I have 2 wonderful boys, 12, and 7, who are a pure joy in my life. My youngest is 3, she is our little princess. We have 3 more already in heaven due to miscarriage. I am married to a wonderful christian man who is the love of my life. I hope to share some of our everyday life and happenings with you all. As I have said before I have learned of some special Godly ladies on here and look forward to getting to know more of you. Until next time, God Bless