Rhubarb

Our rhubarb is coming up!!! We love rhubarb. This variety comes in early in the spring. We have another variety up in the garden that comes in later in the summer. Today has been a nice day here in Floyd. Sunshine and temperatures in the mid 50’s.

Jess had to do some more work on our soap. We did some research and tried something called rebatching. We think (hope) it is going to work. I wanted to let you all know I really like the orange cleaner I made. It smells really nice and cleans good. I have another batch making now.

Well, not much going on here today. I just wanted to let you all know about our rhubarb. Enjoy your day and God bless.

March 11, 2012 5

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

Maple buds

Grace took this picture of the maple buds last time we were down at Jessica’s.

Today has been a very beautiful day here with lots of sunshine. Temperatures are in the upper 50’s and the wind has finally laid down. Very nice. We had planned on going to the Horn’s today after school but Grace is getting a sore throat. So we decided not to go. Hopefully, it is nothing serious and we can go over there on Thursday. That’s the plan anyway.

I have found a new curriculum for school and was wondering if any of you all were familar with it. It is http://www.clp.org/christian_light_education It seems pretty good and I am thinking of going with it for math especially. Their teacher books have the solutions to the problems, not just the answers. I need that especially now as we are getting into geometry and alegbra.

I think I will go enjoy some of this sunshine. Enjoy your day and God bless.

February 27, 2012 5

Orange Cleaner

I wanted to share with you all something new I am trying. It is homemade orange cleaner. I got the idea from http://isabellaanddorinda.blogspot.com/2012/01/homemadecitrus-cleaner.html Mine has been made for less than a week now but it already smells so good. I will let you all know how it turns out.

Today we finished with school and had plans for doing some outside work. However, before we could get outside, it started to rain. This, of course, required a mad dash to the clothes line. Thankfully, we got the clothes-which had already dried-off before they got wet. I think our outside work will have to be put off for another day. We are planning to expand our chicken lot and purchase more layers this spring so we have much to do to get everything ready. Maybe it will dry off enough later to work on it some.

I also wanted to share another bird picture. Grace took this picture yesterday. Mr. Woodpecker has been a regular visitor to our feeder for the past few days. Isn’t he beautiful?

Enjoy your day and God bless.

February 24, 2012 7

Crocuses

Look, everyone, what is blooming at our home!!! We were all so excited today when we saw them. I just had to share them with you all. Also yesterday, the red winged blackbirds came back. They are always one of the first birds to return to our area in the spring. Every year, they stop at my feeder in the dogwood tree and spend the day there. We wanted to get a picture of them but everytime we would get close to the window they would fly away. Grace did however get a picture of this sparrow.

Today has felt like a spring day. Warm temperatures-60 degrees right now. Amazing! I LOVE it.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

February 23, 2012 6

Snow

I thought I would share with you all a few pictures of the snow we got on Sunday. It was (in my opinion) the perfect snow. It was beautiful to look at, it didn’t get bitter cold after the snow and it is already melting off.

We have been working on school and getting housework caught up. I wonder how it is that our house got so dirty when we were not even here! Well, you know what they say, “a woman’s work is never done.” But I love it. It really makes me happy to look around our home and have things be in order. Speaking of which, I guess I better get busy with our day. Tonight’s supper will be tuna cakes, pinto beans, fried potatoes, rolls and (maybe) a peach pie for dessert. Enjoy your day and God bless.

February 21, 2012 7

Finished

Hello ladies. We are finished with our part of the redo. Here we are getting ready to texture the ceiling.

Hubby does the rolling.

I do the stomping.

The finished ceiling. There are 11 recessed lights in her kitchen now. When we started it was pretty dark in her kitchen now it is very bright.

Here we are just starting to put down the floor. Now I must say, this floor just about did us in. It took us 2 days on our knees to get it down but it was definitely worth it.

It looks beautiful! David’s sister will be coming tomorrow to paint the walls. Jess chose buttercream for the walls. After the walls are painted, the next step will be to finish taking the doors off the cabinets and stripping off the laminate. The cabinet doors will have to be sanded. Then the cabinets themselves will be ready for paint. Jess has chose black for the cabinet paint. I will continue to show you all pictures as the process comes along. I think it will all look really great.

Well, that’s about it for today. I have lots of catching up to do with everyone. Enjoy your day and God bless.

February 19, 2012 5