Thursday

I took this picture this morning as Hubby and I were sharing our morning coffee on the front porch. You all remember our glassed in front porch we worked so hard to redo not too long ago. It definitely gets lots of use. We have our morning coffee on it, the girls and I do school out there, we love it.

The Horn’s came over for a visit today. I had to show Vicki our new chicks. They are doing very well. We were a little concerned the other morning when we got up our temperature was 17 degrees. That was the actual temperature not the wind chill. I went to check on them but they were all nice and warm under the heat lamp. So I am hoping this means they are hardy little ladies.

Yesterday was beautiful here. Sunshine and temperatures in the upper 50’s. Today we are getting some rain. It is still warm though- upper 40’s. I tried a new recipe for supper last night. It is called Crockpot Teriyaki Pork. I got the recipe from http://homesteadinghomemaker.blogspot.com/ It was very good. I will definitely be making it again. Sorry about the print being different. I’m not sure what is going on.

Lunch is over and time for school to start. Enjoy your day and God bless.

March 8, 2012 2

Busy

Hello ladies. I had intention of having pictures to go along with this post but somehow managed to completely forget to take any. Sorry. Anyway, yesterday the girls and I attempted something new for us. We rendered fat into lard. What I thought would be fairly easy, of course, WAS NOT. Things are usually more difficult the first time you try to do it so we are hoping-if- we try it again it will go smoother. First off, we tried to do it on the propane burner we use for canning. We couldn’t turn it down low enough without it going out. Then we put it into the crockpots. That went better. We have 3 crockpots. We filled them up and let them simmer for about 5 hours. Then we strained the fat through a colendar and a cheesecloth. We then had enough to fill 2 crockpots with fat and start the process again. We finished last night about 8:00 P.M. Long day. I’m not really positive we did it right though. I was probably about 14 the last time we butchered a hog and my Mom was in charge of rendering the fat. I think I should have paid more attention.

Then today we went to Jessica’s and attempted to make soap. Key work, attempted. We have made soap before with lard purchased from the store but not rendered lard. For some reason, we could not get the soap to trace. We finally just poured it into the molds and said a prayer. We’ll see how it turns out. We made regular lye soap and a laundry soap bar. Even if it doesn’t turn out, we sure had a lot of fun doing it. I’ll keep you all posted on the outcome.

Well, it’s been a long two days and I am tired. I hope you all have a great evening. God bless.

March 6, 2012 3

They’re Here

We got the baby chicks yesterday afternoon. Aren’t they cute? We have 22 of them. 5 are Buff Orpingtons and the others are Rhode Island Reds. They had sold out all the Buff’s but 5 when we got there. We took the last of the Reds that they had. The lady said they would get more in on Monday but didn’t know what breeds they would be. The odd one is a Ameraucana. I think they are also known as Easter Eggers as they lay colored eggs. We are hoping this one is a hen. The girls thought it would be fun to get something different. Anyway, they spent the night in the kitchen next to the wood fire. It was pretty cold here last night with rain, fog and wind so we thought they might be better off inside the house. Today, we moved them to the coop with a heat lamp for warmth. The house seems quiet without their chirping.

The girls and I are off to Sam’s and Lifeway today. I hope you all have a great day and God bless.

March 3, 2012 7

Chicks Coming Soon

The girls and I have been busy today getting Mr. Rooster’s coop converted to a chick house. We have been planning on getting new chicks this spring. Jess and David are going in with us to get them. The girls and I went over to Tractor Supply the other day to get a new wheelbarrow tire. The breed of chicks we wanted to get were already there. We are getting Buff Orpingtons (not sure I spelled that right). We also are getting a few black chickens which I have forgotten the name of. I thought they would give the chicken house a little different color. We plan on putting them in Mr. Rooster’s coop for temporary.

The inside of the coop.

This is the area the chickens from last year are in. They will soon be moving into another house and lot area. (As soon as we get it ready.) Then the new chicks will move into this house and lot. When they get old enough we will combine them all together.

The day was absolutely beautiful here. Lots of sunshine and temperatures in the low 60’s. While we worked, as you could see from the previous pictures, we had lots of help from the chickens. Sometimes even jumping up into the new coop. Our ladies are very curious. We also had these visitors. They did not come very close though. We hope they decide to nest on the island again. The mallard ducks have also been checking the island out. Spring-I think- is definitely on its way.

We hope to get the new chicks tomorrow!! Enjoy your day and God bless.

March 1, 2012 4

Julie and Grace’s Sewing Projects

The girls finished their Sunday night sewing projects. I have mentioned before that Mrs. Sally, the pastor’s wife is teaching the girls to sew. The above picture is the dress Julie finished.

This is Grace’s shirt.

Look at the cute little label they made for Grace’s shirt. I think they both did great jobs. I wonder what their next project will be.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

January 30, 2012 7

Wednesday

Monday afternoon the rain stopped and the wind really picked up. The girls finished their outside chores and wanted to stay outside for awhile. Do you see the two little dots in the distance? Well, that’s them. I took these this pictures from the house as they were walking the field.

They are never out without company. The cats always follow them any time they walk outside. I zoomed this picture in so you could see them better.

And, of course, Shadow. He would never dream of allowing them to be out of his sight. I’m not sure why this picture turned out so dark but you can still see him.

Yesterday was a beautiful day. The girls and I were at Jessica’s. The temperature at her house was in the 60’s so I know it was probably in the 50’s here. I love this weather-makes me think about spring. Today is supposed to be nice too and then rain is in the forecast. The girls and I are going to the Horn’s today after school. YEAH! We are soooo looking forward to it. Enjoy your day and God bless.

January 25, 2012 5

Ice

Yesterday morning we awoke to this. Ice was everywhere. We think the fog froze as we had lots of fog. It was slippery here but once we got on the road it was fine. We awoke this morning to sleet. YUCK! Thankfully, the temps warmed up enough to melt the sleet before Hubby left for work. The rest of the day so far has lots of rain and fog but no sleet. The girls and I had planned on going to Sam’s today but we have postponed that trip until later in the week, for just in case. I do not want to take a chance on running into slick roads.

We have been doing school today and, of course, a little house cleaning as well. Supper tonight will be beef roast with potatoes and carrots and homemade rolls (which I better get busy making). I will leave you all with one more picture. This was taken yesterday about 5:00 p.m. while we were on our way to church. Still a little icy with a little fog.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

January 23, 2012 7

Saturday

Today is a rainy day here in Floyd. It was raining last night when we went to bed and still raining this morning when we got up. I think it is supposed to rain most of the day. Julie and Grace have been watching a young neighbor boy occasionally. He will be coming over today while his parents go to a funeral. I think it is good experience for them and gives them a little spending money of their own.

I made several new recipes this week. The first one was kielbasa with cabbage and noodles. It was very good. Last night we got really adventurous and made mexican rice with homemade flour tortillas. I sauted kielbasa, onions, garlic and mushrooms to serve with the rice and tortillas. We ate our supper in the living room while watching a family movie. The girls helped me with the tortillas. There really were a lot of fun to make. A little time consuming but fun. We will definitely be making them and the rice again.

Well, I wanted to share the recipes with you all. We will be having homemade pizza for supper tonight using the pizza dough recipe I used last time. I hope you all have a great day and God bless.

January 21, 2012 2

Snow

We have snow here in Floyd. The girls are very happy. It was not a lot of snow but hopefully enough for snow cream later today.

I worked on aprons most of the day yesterday. I made 4 little aprons and 2 adult size. I made the adult one a little different and was able to get one child size and one adult size from one pillowcase.

I made the back much shorter. It just comes over the shoulder and that gave me enough extra material for the small waist apron.

This one has a child one to match. I didn’t take a picture of it because I didn’t get it completely finished yesterday. I ran out of the white binding.

I was prowling around in the trunk where we store extra material the other day and found this veggie tales material. There was not a lot of it but enough to make these two little aprons. I think they are very cute. Anyway, that was my day yesterday. I wanted to make a few different styles of aprons to kinda get an idea for what sells the best.

I cooked a deer roast on the wood stove yesterday for supper. We had baked potatoes, home canned green beans, fresh homemade rolls and home canned applesauce for supper. It was very good. I think today I will shred the deer roast and have deer bbq and fries. I already have buns baking as I type this. I made a buttermilk chocolate cake the other day so that will be our dessert. It all sounds pretty easy. There was not church today because of the snow so I think today is a take it easy kind of day. I will leave you all with one more snow picture.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

January 15, 2012 7

Jess and Sam

We have had a BEAUTIFUL day here in Floyd. The temperature right now is 60 degrees!!!!!!!!!!!! I absolutely love it. The girls and I worked on cleaning the house this morning, then we started on school. Hubby is working on a chair design for us. He made our kitchen table several years ago and he made benches to go with it. Well, you know how we women are, now I want chairs instead of benches.

After he worked some on the chair, he decided to cut wood. He went up on the hill and cut wood while we finished school. Then we all worked together splitting the wood and stacking it. It was a great day for outside work. My menu plan for tonight has changed. I had planned on meatloaf, fried potatoes and pinto beans but it is a little too late to do meatloaf. Hubby said he would like hotdogs so we are having hotdogs and pintos. Tomorrow we will have the meatloaf.

I hope you all have a great evening and God bless.

January 6, 2012 4