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.

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.

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.

It Must Be Raining Goats?

Well it is raining and I do have another goat. My goat was walking around crying and not eating all day, so I came up with the idea that she was lonely. Goats are herd animals after all. The up shot of this is that I bought another goat to keep her company. This is an alpine bottle baby. The problem is, she doesn't seem to know she should take a bottle. I wind up wrestling her into a headlock and more or less squirting the milk into her. She is very pretty. I'll take pictures when the rain stops. I'll dry the milk off first.!

I raise Pekingese puppies to sell. I am not advertising, I have a question to ask you. Has anyone ever advertised through the paper and the net and been approached by scammers. Out of four replies to my ad I got, you guessed it, four scammers. I used to work, part time, at the city police station, so I have seen quite a few and these are so old I couldn't believe they were still around. My granddaughter said if I had been selling dobermans instead of small fluffy dogs it would never have happened. lol

Now that I have plenty of raw milk, I am going to try to make cheese. I have thought about it for several years. If anyone out there has any advice or recipes, please, feel free to share! I may be getting in over my head since I haven't even made yogurt!

Thought for the day: You hear so many people talk about the end of the time. When you die, that is the end of your time and that is really all that matters. Make the most of the time you have, don't waste time on bad decisions.

Sunny at Last

This is the second nice day we have had. We were able to clean out one bay of the hay barn. Hope to clean out another bay tomorrow.

I bought an alpine milk goat today. She is very gentle and gives approximately one half gallon twice a day. I like milking goats much better than cattle. The leg reach is much shorter and doesn't pack near the punch of a 1200 lb. cow. Yes, I have had a few bad experiences with breaking a cow to milk and milking cows from the beef herd that, just for a few days, have too much milk for the calf. When you have to rope the cow, you somehow know it isn't going to be pretty for either party.

My goal is to almost eliminate going to the grocery store. So far, I have eggs, milk, vegetables, beef, pork, and by fall, honey. We raised corn and ground our own cornmeal last year. I would like to be able to get my wheat ground fine enough to make lighter bread. My bread tastes good but is dense, even for whole wheat bread. If anyone has an idea I would really love to hear from you.

Thought for the day. "When you talk to god before the day starts, it is easier to handle the stress."

Easter

Eight o'clock Easter evening and all is quiet. Like the rest of you, holidays carry a mixture of happy and sad memories for me. Having had three brothers and one sister we didn't need anyone else to have an egg hunt. We played with them till they wore out! My children did the same with neices and nephews included. The field between our house and my MIL's house had stray eggs in it for weeks.

Had a small glich in dinner this year. All the things I normally do the evening before had to wait till today, because the electric went out when the storms went through about 5 o'clock and didn't come back on till about 5 this morning. I don't think they missed deserts too much.

I think you know these pictures are not from Easter. It is in the fall, when we make apple butter. Just ran across the picture and thought you might enjoy it. The piece of tin is around the fire because the wind was making it hard to control. Children, grandchildren, and great grand- children, everybody works for apple butter!

Time to go put up th chickens and feed the puppies. Remember " If you wake up in the morning you have a whole new shot at this thing called life."

Another Rainy Morning

This is, so far, is a slow morning. When the weather is better I will probably not talk to you for periods of time. Lke the children, when the sun shines I run outside and play.

I will attempt to tell you a bit about myself. I am married and mom and stepmom to five children, all grown. We live within about five miles of each other, which satisfies my mother hen complex. I have seven grandchildren and one great grandchild. Not long ago I retired from driving school bus. I have worked most of my life so that was tricky.

My husband and I ride a Gold Wing and horses. Seems like an unlikely combo, but we manage. This is a picture from a ride we took one sunday last summer.

We also have a pretty large garden and either freeze or can anything possible. I love to come up with quick meals in a jar, so if anyone has any ideas please share.

Well, people are getting out of bed now, must cook. Until next time remember"Don't just float down the river of life........pan for gold!"