Saturday, March 17, 2012

Updating home


We are updating our home. We moved into my inlaws home four years ago. Talk about downsizing! We went from five bedrooms, three baths to three bedrooms and one bath. I still think it was a good move because it also has a barn and pasture. I no longer need the house to keep up and I love being outside in the garden and canning. However, the house needed some work. We are making one of the bedrooms into a larger bath. Have you ever worked with your husband on diy projects? My husband and I are always working together. It doesn't necessarily get easier, we just know there will not actually be deaths and at the end of the day we sleep in the same bed! We hope to finish the bath and get the tile down in the kitchen before nice riding weather. The rest of the kitchen diy will have to wait till next winter. We only work on indoor projects when we can't do anything outside.
Most of the work, at this point, has been done under the floor putting in new plumbing and updating old plumbing. I will take more pictures as things progress. This will not be a "high end" bath, just a bath that will, hopefully, take care of two people getting older. I have to laugh when I watch DIY and see them with a $30,000 budget? for a bathroom. Hello! unfortunely I live out here in the real world.


Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Playing Catch Up






Up early. There must be something about getting older(not old, just older) that wakes you up. I have always been a morning person, but there is something about the quiet and getting things done that seem to matter more to me now.
I will try to download pictures that show some of what we did last year and will try to do better this year!
I made cheese from my goat milk. I was very pleased at the results. My husband made a press from plastic pipe and several weights, which, althrough crude looking, worked great. The cream cheese was really good and I use alot.
The eggs are probably a dead loss, but then I never intended to make money. Just have fun and eat healtier. My hens are restful to watch and they even seem to like me, which could be a mistake on their part. This fall, after the new chicks are laying, it will be time to make and can chicken noodle soup and just plain canned chicken.
We got two hives of bees last spring. The jury is still out on this venture. They were bought late so we didn't get any extra honey. Hopefully, they make it through winter and we can share the honey this fall.
It was windy and rainy this year when we made applebutter. For the first time since we began making it, We were force to move to the screenporch and use the turkey fryer for cooking. If you have never used a turkey fryer to can with you don't know what you are missing. Don't buy new, watch yard sales. Did I mention I'm cheap?
My granddaughter and I made two bushel of apples and 25 pound of flour into pies and froze them. It was the first time she had ever made pie crust and she did a fabulous job. Flaky and tender! She is the official pie maker at family dinners.
We raised cane this year!!! Well sorghum cane, that is. Raising the cane was the easy part. We don't have the equipment to squeeze the juice or the pan to cook it down with. More importantly we do not have the knowledge. Luckily we have a neighbor down the road that makes it every year. He allowed us to bring our cane and play at his house for a week. The outcome is that we are raising cane once again this year!!
Must go for today. Remember............don't just wade through life,pan for GOLD.




Monday, March 12, 2012

i'm Backkkkkk

Well, fellow bloggers, it has been almost a year since I have talked to you. I had just gotten into this when I had some health problems. By the time I recovered enough to keep up with everything else and write, too, it was garden time, canning ,etc.
I had just started milking goats when I quit writing to you. I thoughly enjoy milking! It is so rewarding. Due alot, i'm sure, to a very loving and well trained nanny. I can't take one iota of credit for that. Whoever had her first did an excellent job. In my opinion, that will make or break a new milker. If you can take your bucket and sit down and milk while admiring the morning fog across the field or the sunset at evening that will make the rest of the day so much nicer. I, however, will get back to you about that, because this fall my bottle baby I raised last year will need milked! I am more than a little apprehensive about my ability to train her correctly! Any advise will be greatly appreciated.
Canning went well. I tried some new receipes( baked beans and chili). I love to go to the closet and freezer and fix a meal that does not take a lot of time or money. Mind you, I like spending money and try to keep mine circulating to avoid a depression, i just like to pick what I spend it on.
I will try to update pictures! Must fix breakfast now.