Looking Ahead

As we get nearer to Christmas, I start looking ahead to what comes next.  I love Christmas and all the cozy things that go with it.  Winter feels warmer in the month of December.  I have no meteorological evidence of this, it just seems that way because everybody is in a good mood and there are smells of yummy food and pine everywhere.

Then comes January.  All the warm coziness of the holidays and their decorations get packed up for another year.  As much as I love decorating for the holidays, I equally enjoy the putting away of all the extra stuff in the house.  Everything feels clean and tidy, especially after all the Christmas presents find homes and get put away.  

In January, my oven gets a break.  There is nothing left to can, no cookies to bake.  I can just enjoy the quiet of winter.  I fully intend to get some reading done and practice knitting some more.  I'd like to actually complete something, even if it is only a dish cloth.

I am not a big "New Year's Resolution" person.  I think one can make a change at any time with no need to wait for the new year to begin.  However, I do have some things to work on starting with January.  More because it is a new month than because it is a new year though.  I am looking forward to getting my household budget back on track.  I have really slacked off on this and it shows.  

I am going to get myself set up with a day planner and keep track of which bills are due when and pay them all on time every single month.  This may lead to some tight(er) weeks, but it will be worth it to have the peace of mind that everything is taken care of.

This year has not been a bad one overall.  Things have mostly gone smoothly in my everyday life.  However, I always get excited for a new year to come and wonder what lies ahead.

Wishing you peace, prosperity and good health in 2013.

Canning. Again.

I think I may need an intervention.  I can't seem to walk past a sale on produce without buying as much as I can afford and canning it.

It all started years ago when my friend told me that's how they fed their family while her husband was a graduate student.  They were on a limited budget and when she saw rock bottom prices on seasonal produce or meat, she would buy as much as she could afford, then can it.

I don't have a nifty closet or cupboard to keep all my canned goods in, so they are stored in the boxes the jars come in, under my bed.  Its starting to look like Doomsday Preppers in there.  I just can't seem to help myself.  I started making jams out of any free fruit I could get my hands on about ten years ago.  This year it has gone to a whole 'nother level.  I made gallons of applesauce, every kind of jam and jelly I could come up with and now I have made some pepper relish and, most recently, a dozen pints of cranberry sauce.  Oh, and I have two turkeys waiting to be cooked and canned too.

Canning is a way to stretch my grocery dollars, but it is also something I get a real sense of pride about.  Canning makes me feel useful, resourceful, self-sufficient.  I like knowing that I can spend $6 on fresh cranberries, add a little sugar and come out with a dozen jars of cranberry sauce made with minimal ingredients and nothing artificial.  Six dollars for twelve jars is also a rock bottom price for a sauce that we use regularly, even if you factor in the roughly $1.50 worth of sugar added.  The same can be said for wild berries that we pick along the roads in the summer and the apples that we have unlimited access to.

Strawberry jam from the summer.

I do hope to get the nerve up to can some vegetables next year and maybe even try pickles again.  I did some dill pickles a few years ago and I wasn't thrilled with the results.

One more thing, I really like anything in jars.  If you have read previous posts, you may have noticed that I keep lots of things in jars.   I kinda have a thing.

Jars, they aren't just for jelly anymore...

The above picture is a sliver of my cupboard that houses all my spices/seasonings, coffee and other beverage mixes.  There are many more jars in there, but I thought it made the point to show you one part and not show the whole thing.  Just in case it causes anyone alarm and you feel the need to have me committed for treatment.  Hi, my name is Lisa and I'm a jar/basket/organize-a-holic.  The first step is admitting it right?

Bonbon Day

Yesterday Natalie and I went to my Aunt Iris's house for our annual Bonbon Day.  We have been kicking off the holidays with a candy making day for the past several years.  Neither one of us remembers how many exactly, but I think it started before Natalie was born, so at least seven years.  

Bonbon Day got started when I asked Iris to show me how to make her coconut bonbons.  They are my favorite most yummy thing on earth.  Really, how can you go wrong with sugared coconut balls dipped in chocolate? 

Each year we make a slightly different assortment of candies, but the main attraction is always bonbons.  This year we did homemade marshmallows, two flavors of divinity, chocolate fudge with white chips and walnuts, and of course bonbons.  It was a busy day to say the least.

Naturally, I didn't check the batteries in my camera before we left and they were dead when I decided to snap a few shots.  This was a bummer for me because I wanted to get a few snaps of  Iris teaching Natalie how to dip bonbons.  

Natalie has been coming with since she was old enough to reach the counter (with the help of a stool).  This year was something else entirely.  She is so much help.  She just dug right in and mixed up the bonbons all by herself.  All I did for her was put the ingredients in the big bowl and she worked it all together with her hands until it was ready, then she rolled it into dozens of little balls.  When the bonbons were all done and dipped, she helped me with the marshmallows.  It is truly amazing to me the difference that extra pair of little hands made.

Divinity was something new for me to see this year.  I remember that Iris always made it at Christmas when I was little, but have never actually seen it done.  It is not nearly as complicated as I thought, but I think I'll watch for another year or two before I try it on my own.

Bonbons (top left), mint divinity, chocolate fudge,
raspberry divinity and marshmallows

Since I didn't have a working camera with me yesterday, I had to settle for a picture of a sample plate of our creations.   Next year I will get some pictures of the actual candy making process.  

Getting Big

We recently celebrated Natalie's SIXTH birthday.  People often say that it seems like only yesterday that their children were babies.  I don't feel that way with Natalie.  It feels like she has been with us forever.  Honestly, it's hard to remember life before she came along.  

Newborn Natalie

We had her parent/teacher conference last night and were very proud of her progress.  Her teacher says that she is very detailed and tells great stories at sharing time.  Miss Carlson said that Natalie is well on her way to mastering everything she needs to know by the end of the year.

Natalie at 6 years old

She is very happy to be six years old.  Being six, she is old enough to go to school on the bus.  She is learning to spell and read.  She is making new friends, but still prefers to hang out with her original gang of kids.

Natalie & friends having snacks at her party

Natalie & her bunny cake

An innocent enough looking line of kids waiting for turns at the pinata

Innocent no more.  They are all scrambling for parts
of the newly dismembered paper mache burro and his contents.

We had a very simple party and she was thrilled.  She had her friends, a bunny cake and a pinata full of lollipops.  What more could a girl ask for?

Indian Relish

Every year, my office holds an online auction with proceeds going to our local United Way.  We all donate things to go up for bids.  One of the ladies in the billing department makes a fabulous salsa type relish called Indian Relish.  I had not tried it before, but thought it looked yummy.  Naturally, I did not win that item in the auction.  But, she was kind enough to sell me a jar.  Then she gave me the recipe.  

Before I bought the ingredients to make it, I decided I had better give it a whirl.  Our birthday potluck at work seemed like the perfect place to test it out.  It was a winner!  It reminds me of the Pepper & Onion relish from Harry & David we had at my mom's a few years ago.  I have made two double batches now.  This recipe is not a secret, so I thought I'd share it with you.

Indian Relish (or Pepper & Onion Relish if you prefer)

4 red bell peppers, or a combination of red, yellow and orange

2 large sweet onions

2 cups white sugar

2 cups white wine vinegar

4 Tablespoons red pepper flakes (more or less depending on how hot you want it)

2 Tablespoons powdered pectin (if needed)

Finely chop the onions and peppers.  Put all the ingredients, except the pectin, in a big pot and boil.  Once it comes up to a boil, reduce the heat and then just let it simmer for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.  If the liquid looks like its thickening up, just let it cook for 5 more minutes then put in jars.  If it is not getting thicker, then add the pectin and let it cook the last 5 minutes.  

Pour into hot jars.  Process in water bath for 15 minutes.

Makes 5 half pint jars, plus a generous sample for taste testing.

To serve, whip an 8 oz. pkg cream cheese and mix the relish in, or simply pour over the block of cream cheese and serve with crackers or corn chips.  

Isn't that pretty?

Be prepared for people to think you are a culinary genius.  When they ask how you ever made this wonderful dip, act mysterious.  Say its really complicated.  They'll be impressed.  Nobody needs to know that you dumped a jar of tasty relish into a tub of cream cheese.  Oh, and serve it in a pretty bowl.  That'll throw them off ;)

The Farm News Report

It is hard to believe that it has been SEVEN weeks since I sat down and wrote on my poor neglected blog.  As I think about what to write, I smile to myself thinking that our daily goings on sound like the Farm & News Report at Noon that I used to watch with my Grandma.

Two days after my last post, we were surprised with a litter of baby bunnies.  The biggest part of the surprise was that we thought we had two female rabbits.  Clearly we were mistaken.  I have never had rabbits as pets until this past summer when we got them for the kids.  I panicked.  I Googled everything I could think of to get information about how to tell who was who and what to do with these bunnies.  I was trying to find homes for six of the seven babies, knowing we couldn't keep all these rabbits.  Sadly, finding them homes became a non-issue when they all died four days later.  We still don't know what happened.  We do know that the mother rabbit is young, there were in fact TWELVE babies (!!)  And that she probably became stressed when we removed the male from the hutch. (Did you know female rabbits can breed again the same day they give birth?!)

Baby bunnies, one day old.

In another case of mistaken gender  (Man, I'm bad at this stuff), our little Pippy the peeper grew up to be a rooster.  Over a few weeks, she got really tall.  She was far leggier than the other females of the same breed, though no other features of a rooster were evident.  Then she started growing sickle feathers and saddle hackles, you know, rooster feathers.  So much for adding another laying hen to the flock.  So now my Pippy is just Pip.  

l-r: Pip with T-Roy (the daddy rooster) and two hens

We also have been getting some projects off of our never-ending to do list.  We finally finished in the inside of our chicken coop.  It is now all insulated and the walls are covered with OSB.  Matt also fixed up the roof with some tar paper and shingles we had left over from when we did the roof on the house.  It is now all ship shape and ready for winter.

Freshly re-vamped chicken quarters

Last week, a deer got into our vegetable garden and from the looks of it, had a heck of a time getting out.  When I went out to feed the rabbits on Friday morning, the whole south end of the fence was laying on the ground and the center post was broken.  Matt and I talked about what to do with it and decided that we are going to move the garden to a new location next year, so he took the fence down on Saturday.  That side of the yard certainly does look different.

Chickens pecking in the old garden

Yesterday, Joey and I let the chickens out to feast on the remains of the garden.  We have had frost most nights and several light snowfalls, so nothing is growing anymore, but  the cool weather plants are in the ground to use as treats for the critters.  Joey and I were out digging around to see what was still there and we found a few nice radishes for the rabbits and a handful of carrots for us.  The chickens seemed most delighted with the remnants of the lettuces and rutabagas.  Oh and they all took the opportunity to get in one last nice dust bath before winter.

Joey with his "nice fat carrot"

We have also had a two birthdays, grouse hunting, trick or treating, deer season, a school conference, and a bit more canning in this time.  More on those in my next few posts.  If I wrote it all in one sitting, it would take an hour to read. :)

Catching Up

So many things have happened in the nearly three four (!) weeks time since I last posted.  Good things for sure.  But lots of things.  *Please note that I did not do all these things in one day.  I wrote this post over a period of several weeks.*

Natalie officially started Kindergarten.  She absolutely loves it that the bus comes to her house every day and picks her up.  It seems to be her favorite part of school.  She is getting the hang of the classroom, and is warming up to her teachers.  She prefers cold lunch to hot lunch because she can eat right away, and not wait in line.  She has recess before lunch, so she's very hungry by lunch time.  This girl is no fool..

It is full on harvest time. Last week, we picked corn, broccoli, green and yellow beans.  This was way more than we could eat fresh, so most of it got blanched and frozen.  Apples have been coming in and there is a good crop this year.  The past three Mondays I have spent part of the day canning applesauce.  This weekend, we switched gears as my friends Maria and Randy gave us a pile of concord (I think) grapes.  They make the sweetest jelly.  And jelly they have made. About 17 pints worth.

Nights are colder now, so I tackled a project that has been on my list all summer and started to mend one of my favorite quilts.  It is a wonderful cotton quilt that my friend Erin gave me for Christmas about ten years ago and it is showing its age.  Two of its corners are completely shredded, thanks to my dear husband's whiskers and his habit of sleeping with blankets up around his face.  So, today I cut and pressed some cotton twill fabric to reconstruct the two damaged corners, then pressed two yards of some pretty yellow and cream colored cotton into new binding for the edges.  Wouldn't you know that two yards was just a little short?! Grr.  Lucky for me, nobody else noticed this cute fabric that was marked down to $1 a yard and I went back the next day and bought the rest of it.  I am happy to report that it is all finished, two weekends later, but that is beside the point.  I will not be winning any prizes for straight stitching, but there's enough thread on that thing now that the middle will fall apart before the edges do.

Yesterday, on our way home from church, Natalie and I stopped at this little shop called The Kindred House that happens to be right on our way.  I went in to buy a few fat quarters of homespun fabric, since my other fabric option in town, WalMart doesn't carry it anymore.  Natalie found this cute little stuffed cat (naturally) that she just had to have (naturally).  It was pretty darn cute, but it was also $22.  This also happens to be a shop that specializes in primitives.  We looked this cat over, and I told her that I wouldn't buy her that one, but she could pick out some cloth and I'd make her one.  You know she held me to that right?  The minute we got home, I had to start on it.  Thank goodness it was an easy shape.  The longest part was putting the face on.  It took me about an hour start to finish and cost me about $1.25 to make.  And my girl has a new favorite toy.

And now, one more quick sewing project, a little pillowcase, and then its back to the apple harvest.  I think I'm going to do some pie filling today.  And a few more quarts of applesauce.

Labor Day Weekend

This past weekend was Labor Day.  Official last weekend of summer vacation for many.  Last chance to travel, camp and bask in summer.  In keeping with our theme of the summer, we stayed home.  We relaxed. Matt worked on his vehicle.

Natalie and I went to the Farmer's Market and Goodwill on Saturday morning and made a good haul.  

A pair of little milk glass flower pots from Goodwill 99 cents each and some of the sunflowers we picked up at the market.

The sweet afghan I picked up for 3.99, easily big enough to cover a twin size bed, and a sliver of the gingham check napkins I got the set of 4 for 99 cents.

A cute little picture that says "tea time" for 49 cents.

The kids got to play with their friends from next door.

Our big girls racing down the road.  Full speed ahead.

The little neighbor girl (she's Joey's age) trying her best to catch up to the big girls.

The kids made up a new game with the baby swing that I'm not entirely sure about.

We went to church on Sunday morning then to my dad's for some burgers and fixings with my brother and his family.  Joey and I made an impromptu pizza with our yummy fresh tomatoes and basil from the market while Matt and Natalie sneaked away for a little fishing trip.

The weather was beautiful.  Definitely more summer than fall.  But its coming.  See the leaves on the ground in the picture above?  There are more today and lots more to come.

Kindergarten Practice

Tuesday was Kindergarten orientation at Natalie's school.  We were so excited.  She had her clothes picked out, backpack packed and lunch ready and in the fridge the night before.    

She was a little bit bummed that she wasn't getting picked up by the bus on the first day, but pretty glad that Mom was there to schlep all her stuff into the school.

We found her classroom at the far end of the hallway and went in to find a room filled with the excited/nervous energy of 23 Kindergarteners and their parents.  

We met her teacher and a few of the other Kindergarten teachers, the Principal, the lunch lady and the secretary.  

We went on a practice bus ride.  This must have been Natalie's favorite part of the day because she decided that she wanted to be the last one off the bus.  She missed her transfer at the Middle School and wound up riding her bus all the way to the end of the route and back to the bus garage.  She thought it was pretty fun, but a little scary.  Apparently, she wasn't the only Kinder with this plan because there were several of them (and students from other grades) waiting for their parents at the bus garage when Matt got there to pick her up.

All in all, it was a good day.  My girl was brave.  There were so many new things and she just jumped right in.  We can't wait for school to start for real next week.

Oh, and she was really tired when she finally got home.

I'm a Pretty Lucky Gal

Its funny how it is far more acceptable to talk about how much one's husband annoys them or does irritating things than it is to say that one's husband is a good man or a good father.  I have done my share of griping over the years but I just have to say that I married a really nice guy and I think I love him more now than I did almost 13 years ago when we got married.  

Occasionally someone will say to me that I do way too much for him.  Maybe to some people it looks that way, but he does so much for us too.  Things that maybe don't always get mentioned in the day to day small talk of "what did you do last night" type conversations.  There are many things I have learned to appreciate about him over the years.  

Teaching Joey to operate the garden tiller

Helping Natalie reel in a fish

He's a very patient teacher.  I knew this when he spent hours with me in our little boat teaching me fishing techniques while we were dating.  He has never lost patience with me or the kids when teaching one of us anything, like letting Joey help till the garden or letting the kids take turns driving the boat, even when they turn us around in crazy loops all over the lake.

Building with Joey

He's very handy.  I don't think I could calculate the thousands of dollars we have saved over the years by him doing almost all of our mechanical repairs.  This is not just oil changes on the car either.  I couldn't help but admire the way he just jumped in and tore apart our sewer system last week when the pump went out.  This was a nasty job, but he did it.  Took all the pipes apart pulled the pump up, got new parts and put it all back together.  This was in the evenings after long days at work and it was not a pretty job to do.  But he did it and he never complained.  And he saved us about $500.

Turning the sharp corners under on th roof of the rabbit hutch so the kids don't get hurt

He is always busy.  This man doesn't sit down until the days work is done.  He is always doing something.  Sometimes I have a hard time determining exactly what he's doing out in that garage of his, but if I ask, he'll show me an actual project that he did, like hanging shelves or making something for one of the kids.  This summer, he spent an entire weekend in the steamy 90 degree heat building a hutch for the rabbits that the kids were dying to get.

He is very tidy.  Since we live in a small house, this means a lot.  He likes things to be orderly just as much as   I do.  Occasionally I find socks lying at the end of the couch where he stretches out at the day's end and have to hunt for the tv remote in the morning, but not often.  He is our chief vacuum operator, and does a way better job at it than I do.

In return for all that he does for our family, yes I make his coffee (almost) every morning, bake his favorite treats and try to have things in order at home when I get there before him.

Does this mean that we have never had a fight?  No.  We have had our share of hard times and growing pains as our relationship has developed over this past 15 years.  What I am saying is that we both do the work to keep our friendship and our marriage going.  And so, maybe I do a few extra things for him.  He does a few extra things for me too, like tilling that garden that he couldn't care less about.  I'm quite certain that nobody ever got divorced because after a decade of marriage, their spouse appreciated them too much.

Apple Picking with Grandpa

I love apple season.  The weather is still warm enough to be pleasant, but not hot enough to melt me into a puddle.  Last week, Natalie went to play at a friend's house and Joey really wanted to go see Grandpa Dennis and pick apples.  So, that's what we did.  Joey picked and picked.  And we got in a good visit too.  Matt's dad gets a real kick out of the kids and loves telling them all about flowers and trees and bugs and birds and anything else they can think of to ask him about.  

Grandpa helping Joey find an apple that dropped.

Joey showing us that he can do it all by himself.

Joey climbed up on the ATV with Grandpa.

After all this apple picking, my boy was pretty tired and fell asleep on the way home.  While he was napping and Natalie was still gone to her friend's, I peeled and chopped about 10 pounds of apples for applesauce.  By the time I was done, I had 4 quarts of cinnamon applesauce done up.  Not a ton by any means, but a respectable project for a Monday afternoon.  And my boy got some one on one time with his Grandpa out in the garden.  What more can one ask for?

Re-Mona & the Skunk

My daughter has been compared to the fictional character Ramona Quimby on many many occasions.    In fact, "Ramona (or Re-Mona as Natalie says) and Beezus" is one of our favorite movies. Last Wednesday was another one of those occasions where she pulled a Re-Mona.

Natalie on her first day of preschool

I had to work an early shift so Matt was in charge of getting everybody up and out the door.  We have had some kind of critter trying to get into our chicken coop for a few days, so he had a live trap set.  Natalie, ever the big helper, went out to check the trap for her dad.  He caught his perp in the trap and it was not a raccoon, but rather a skunk.  Natalie felt bad for that poor skunk in there all alone and decided to keep him company.  However, the skunk didn't feel like having company and told her to go away by "putting its butt out and squirting stinky water".

As this is going on, Matt is getting Joey dressed and himself ready to head out the door.  Now he also has a smelly five year old to deal with and just enough time to get to work.  So, he does what seems the most logical and changes her clothes and gets her in the car.  I would have thought this would be an awfully aromatic ride to town, but Matt said that he didn't notice that she smelled.  (He had gotten some of the spray on himself as he was changing her clothes and just thought it was him who smelled).

When I got my first break at work that day, I called daycare just to make sure that everybody got there in one piece (I'm a control freak like that) and the daycare lady was just coming in from an appointment.  She got the report from her sub that the kids told her Natalie got sprayed by a skunk.  So, she asks Natalie and sure enough, she got a direct hit.  The daycare lady asks me to please come and get her.  So, I leave work, pick the kids up (there's no way Joey was letting me leave him there, he might miss something), and take them home.  Thank the Lord that my de-skunkify solution that I mixed up worked!  I scrubbed Natalie down, soaked her clothes in it, then re-showered myself and headed back to work.

All I could think during this whole fiasco was that this was just another Re-Mona moment.  It made for a hectic day, but it really was pretty funny.

And that is the Absolutely True Tale of Re-Mona and the Skunk. :)

**In case you should find yourself with a skunk scented child (or pet), here's a really good potion to get rid of the smell.

2 c. 3% hydrogen peroxide

1/4 c. baking soda

1/4 c. dish soap

Mix all together.  Use enough to get a good coating of lather all over.  Let it sit for 5 minutes then rinse.  Repeat if necessary.  Thanks to my friend Maria for googling this for me as I was racing out the door!

Sunday Afternoon on the Homestead

Rose Geranium

I hope this doesn't sound too brag-ey, but we had a really good day.  Natalie and I went to church this morning and out for lunch with Matt's parents after.  Then we came home and had my favorite kind of afternoon.  We were just at home.  The four of us, puttering, playing, working, sometimes talking, sometimes not. It was a perfect end to an otherwise crazy week. 

Matt spent some time in his garage doing some tidying up and I was in the garden pulling a record amount of weeds.  I'm a little embarrassed to admit this, but I hauled three wheelbarrow loads of weeds out of our veggie patch today.  Wonder if I'll get that many vegetables by the time its all said and done...  The kids went back and forth and helped us both along the way and still played their games and got some of their projects done.  Natalie was a help and picked peas for me.  Joey yanked weeds and reminded me not to pick the tomatoes and peppers, they're not ready yet.

We accomplished quite a bit in our afternoon/evening home and outdoors.  I like that.  The homestead looks much nicer.  Speaking of the homestead, I have been reading a lot of other blogs lately that talk about homesteading.  A few people have referred to our little homestead as a farm. I'm flattered by this, but having been to actual working farms and seeing the work that goes into farming, it seems silly to call myself a farmer.    Maybe if we ever got a pig or a goat and our apple trees start producing, then just maybe.  I think I like the term homestead.  Homesteads have kitchen gardens and flocks of chickens and cats sleeping on the porch.  Homesteads have small houses and clotheslines and casual flower gardens.  Yep, I think we're a homestead.

Here's some pictures that I snapped this afternoon while roaming around our little homestead.

Meow napping on the porch.

My hen & chicks plant I picked up at the farmer's market.

Natalie's Strawberries

Grape tomatoes just starting to set fruit.

T-Roy.  I think he's saying "You Tawkin to Me? Huh?"

Pippy our little peeper is getting big!

On of our Barred Plymouth Rock hens.  My favorite birds.

Tiger Lilies in bloom my friend Mary Jane

Mallow descended from Matt's Grandma's plants

Gaillardia (blanket flower) blossoms from Dennis

Natalie snuggling Rosie, Joey's bunny.

The fall of the T-Rex.  History according to Joey.

Chalk animals. Clockwise from top, sheep, turtle, cow, and your guess is as good as mine.
I do like the udders on the cow though.

And back around to the porch to find Papa Stray lounging.

Lots of photos to share tonight.  This is pretty much a lap around our backyard with the camera.  A fine little homestead indeed.