Updates from the Homestead

-
 


This last week flew by.  I kept busy with housekeeping, laundry, updating my website, time on my boards, and time in town.


I was in town twice last week; once with Tobin for our weekly date and later in the week with my girls for grocery shopping.  Before we got going on the shopping we went to a local community college so Emily could take her next CLEP test.  The test was History I and she passed with flying colors!  I was quite pleased.  She is now heading onto History II.  The course had a lot of dates and wars and info to memorize.  She is really putting into practice the study skills she learned when she first got started.  She emailed her coach when she got home to let her know she had passed. We received a call last week from her degree planner to make the specific plans for her accounting degree. She will know next week specifically what classes she will be taking. Right now she is working on all her general classes. I am very proud of all her hard work on this, on top of working full time.   


Leanne leaves in about a week and a half..  yikes! It is coming up too quickly for me!  We need to do a practice packing job to make sure she meets the weight limit and make adjustments if she does not.  Our church informed us that they would be giving Leanne the last part of the needed funds for this missions trip, which was a real blessing to all of us and I am very thankful for this.   


Can’t remember if I shared or not, but my oldest daughter, Carolyn, is having a boy. They will all be here in a few weeks for a visit and I am excited to see them.   


We are still waiting for summer to start here in my little corner of the world.  Today is about 60 and cloudy and they predict wet and that is the way it has been, with the exception of yesterday.  It was actually sunny.  I went out on my deck and just soaked up some of the afternoon sunshine. It was not real warm, but the sun sure felt good.  But other than that little bit of sun, we have not seen much.  I joked with my hubby that we need to take another vacation so we can have some more heat and sun!  LOL..  But I know eventually summer HAS to start..  right?   


Today I have some soap business stuff to do (package and label), laundry (already have one load done), housework and put something simple on for dinner. It will probably be a pot of soup to help warm up the house.  Tobin and I will be heading to town later on today for our weekly date..  love those quiet times with my honey..   


Hope you all have a wonderful Monday!

Comments

  1. beccasue1029June 9, 2008 at 3:54 AM

    Crystal, I will gladly share some of our 90 degree weather!


    ~*Becca*~

    ReplyDelete
  2. gabbie427June 9, 2008 at 4:19 PM

    Goodness you have been busy!!!!


    God's Blessings,

    Amy Jo

    ReplyDelete
  3. Char5June 11, 2008 at 2:36 AM

    Congratulations and best wishes to all of your girls, they must be such a blessing to you and your hubby.

    By the way, TAG, you are it. I was tagged by Farmgal35 this morning and posted the answers and instructions on my blog. Stop by and visit.

    Hugs,

    Char5

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousJune 11, 2008 at 3:24 AM

    Crystal,

    Do you have the coupon for 1.00 off muir glen products? If not you can go to youandyourfamily.com and register then go to coupons and down to muir glen and print off as many as you want. they expire 9-30-08

    debbieo

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousJune 13, 2008 at 2:43 PM

    This soup looks so delicious. I've really enjoyed your recipes. I received your breadmaking cd for Christmas and printed the pages out to make a cookbook. I put the sheets in page protectors and put it in a white binder. I love being able to just go through the recipe or flip through the pictures. I'm very visual.


    I added sunflower seeds and flaxseed to my bread last night and got compliments from my family and our guests. Thanks for teaching me how to make this wheat bread.


    I've just added you to my new blog's list of favorite blogs. Please come and visit.


    Laura of Harvest Lane Cottage

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousJune 13, 2008 at 2:44 PM

    Hi again. I guess I should have told you where you can visit me!


    http://harvestlanecottage.blogspot.com


    God bless!


    Laura of Harvest Lane Cottage

    ReplyDelete
  7. ushappyokiesJune 28, 2008 at 6:37 PM

    I really have enjoyed logging on and reading your blog. IT's so neat to read your recipes and homesteading tips. What a busy season in your life !!! I ordered some soaps and CD's (can't wait to try our soaps.) God bless you and your family.

    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