Saturday on the Homestead

-


 


I am sitting here in the early morning (well not too early..  6:30am) and I am enjoying my coffee and the quietness of my home.  My 6 children and one friend who spent the night will all be up soon enough.   I can hear the sound of a train in the distance.  We live in a gorge… you know, mountains on each side and the mighty Columbia River running in between… Trains run on both sides of the river and they echo as they go through.  Usually it is such a common sound that I don’t even hear them, but at times like these I take notice.


 


Yesterday and the day before there has been a pair of visiting ducks at our pond.  They are so fun to watch.  One male, one female.. they look like Mallard ducks so Sierra and I named this little set, Mildred and Mallard.  We have 2 ponds and they are enjoying going to each and swimming.. they fly off every time we are down there and I wonder if they will return, but last night they were back again. 


 


The weather has been just gorgeous lately, sun and warmth (my favorite!).  I have had to do a mid day check on animal water supplies.  It does not seem all that warm really (mid 70’s) but the animals start drinking tons of water!  So Sierra and I make the mid day rounds and refill water containers and buckets.  


 


Today the clouds are back, and the weather cooler, can’t say that is a plus in my books and I just love the sun!  But the weather people say it will be sunny again in a day or two. 


 


Tobin is working on fencing.  He and I hiked around the 3+ acres of land that is currently fenced for our goats and found that they had eaten all of the brush..  the fact that we even could hike was amazing as prior to this the land was impassable. It is hilly and was full of underbrush and blackberry bushes that were over 6 feet high in some places. So new fencing is in order and this will not only clear up more property for us but give my little goats food to eat. 


 


On my to-do list today is make soap.  I have been so busy lately that I have neglected my most favorite hobby and before I know it my little store might be out of soap!  So I need to get this done.  Plus I need to order some supplies for making lotions, we are out and my little store is almost out.  But soap is on my agenda for today. 


 


I also want to get a batch of cream cheese started today.  I have the cultures and I have the milk.. now for the time! 


 


Dinner tonight is Teriyaki Chicken and Oriental Rice Salad (from Nourishing Traditions cookbook), and a veggie or veggie platter and homemade dip. 


 


That sums up my day on my homestead! 

Comments

  1. CarolMay 6, 2006 at 2:19 AM

    Sounds like you are having a very relaxing time, early this morning. I so enjoy reading your blog. One thing on my list to learn, is how to make soap. I have most of the ingredients, however haven't found time to make some yet.

    ReplyDelete
  2. wannabeoneMay 6, 2006 at 5:31 AM

    I really enjoyed your article on the Front Porch about the kitchen being that heart of the home. It says that it's part of 5 of a series - how do I get to the other articles?! I can't find a link anywhere.


    Please answer me on my blog, unless you want to share a link on the Front Porch for everyone else.


    Blessings from Ohio, Kim Wolf<><

    ReplyDelete
  3. DonnaJoyMay 6, 2006 at 8:24 AM

    ....to your day!!! Love those mornings!!! Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers...and always know that you are in my mine!!

    I made the Teriyaki Chicken the other day and it was great!!!!

    I have "No Peek Stew" in the crock pot now!!! See, before I met you I never used the crock pot!!!

    About to leave work and go home and get a few things done!!

    Love ya dear!!

    Donna

    ReplyDelete
  4. morningsunshineMay 7, 2006 at 7:28 AM

    that sounds so pretty. how fortunate and blessed you are.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

All messages are moderated. After approval your message will be posted. Thank you for your comments!! Crystal :)

Popular posts from this blog

Canning Chicken Noodle-less Soup

-
Image
Today was one of those busy days that it seemed I was moving from the time my feet hit the floor until this evening.. But, I got so much done and that is a great feeling! :) One of my accomplishments today was canning 14 jars of chicken noodle-less soup. I call it “noodle-less” because you can’t can noodles. They end up falling apart. So I canned the chicken, veggies and broth. When I go to use the soup I will bring it to a boil and then add a handful of noodles (any type of pasta will work) and cook it until the noodles are done. Because I plan to add the pasta after the fact I wanted to make sure there was enough chicken broth to do this. So I only filled my jars about half to two thirds with chicken and veggies and then filled with chicken broth. Here is how I did this…. I started off with 2 chickens that were a total weight of about 10lbs. I put them in my 14 quart stock pot… I then added 2 gallons of water.. And 3 tablespoons salt.. I brought this ...
Read more

Canning Cabbage

-
Image
I had 4 large heads of cabbage that weighted about 25 pounds. We had some really hot days and I figured I better get the last of them picked soon. My daughter Sierra and I ended up processing 3 of them yesterday and I have one left for a meal on my menu this week. I made pickled cabbage and then canned up the last of the cabbage. Here is the recipe for the pickled cabbage (according to how I made it)… 8 pounds cabbage 1 large onion 1 ½ red peppers 1 lb carrots ¾ cup salt 9 cups water 12 cups white vinegar 10 cups sugar 1t mustard seed 1t celery seed Slice cabbage thinly. Slice onion and peppers. Grate carrots. Mix all veggies together in a very large bowl. Sprinkle with salt and mix in well. Let sit for 2 hours to soften veggies. Rinse veggies well.  In a large stock pot (mine was 14 quarts) combine water, vinegar, sugar, spices. Bring to a boil. Add cabbage/veggies. Bring to a boil. Fill hot pint jars with veggies using a slotted spoon. Fill jar with brine...
Read more

Canning Beef Stew

-
Image
In my last blog post I shared that I had bought 10 pounds of beef roast. I cut it all up and used 4 pounds in 2 crockpot freezer meals ( http://homesteadinghomemaker.blogspot.com/2012/02/two-more-crockpot-meals-for-freezer.html ) . I used the other 6 pounds of meat along with potatoes, carrots, onions and celery to can beef stew. Here were the general proportions I used in canning 7 quarts of beef stew.. 6# beef 2# potatoes 2# carrots 1# onions 1# celery After I cut up the meat and got the freezer meals done I moved to the beef stew. I peeled and cut up the potatoes and carrots. I chopped up the onions and sliced the celery. I pulled out 3 quarts of veggie stock from my freezer to use for liquid in the stew. You can use beef or chicken stock or you can use water. I did not add anything to thicken the liquid as usually thickeners don’t hold up in canning. You can thicken the broth after it is opened if you would like. I added 1 teaspoon salt to each of my ...
Read more