Homemaking on the Homestead

Hi Friends! My latest video is out :) Come and spend a little time with me on my homestead enjoying some beautiful fall days! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xF0JYr6gqWQ

I really enjoy my daily trips to the barn. I'm down to only 2 goats and a few barn cats nowadays. They are always happy to see me when I arrive. The cats want their food and the goats eagerly wait for the daily treat of grain. How different it is today than it was a few years ago when my barn was filled with goats and daily milking and busy children helping to do the barn chores. Now I'm the one who does it all and am happy to have it small and manageable. Most days I haul water to the goats, rake out their stall, feed them, talk to them and they talk back :) and it is peaceful and pleasant. It is a nice time to do the chores and think and ponder many things. One thing I've learned over the years is that it is so easy to grow way to big on a farm. It is easy to take more and more on, but harder to keep up with and manage it all. The maintenance and up keep can become overwhelming. I don't really ever read or hear that end of it when I read homest...

In the past I lived in 3 apartments and a house with no kitchen window. I was so happy when we moved into our little homestead to see that I had a kitchen window above the sink.. I spend a lot of time at the kitchen sink. Over the many years I've lived here I've seen a lot out my kitchen window. I've watched kids playing and growing, goats and horses up at the house eating the grass.. I've enjoyed the morning sunrise coming through my window. I've seen my whole view covered in white snow in the winter, I've watched my hubby and boys mowing the grass and working on the property, I've watched the UPS man coming up my driveway to deliver my packages, I've seen visitors driving up to see us.. So much of life happens right outside the kitchen window. Today, I was at the sink, once again, washing a few dishes.. I looked up and this is what I saw...   Life right outside the kitchen window.. priceless...    

In the midst of daily busyness I’ve found something that I think is valuable as a homemaker. Every now and again give yourself a little reward. Something that makes you smile when you see it. I’m not talking about anything huge. In fact small and simple sometimes brings me the most joy. I love mums. I was in the grocery store a few weeks ago and saw a pretty pot of mums for $2.99. I bought it and it now sits on my back porch. I enjoy seeing it as I walk in and out of the house. Another one: these pretty candles. My daughter Sierra made them for our table using items we already had in the house. Very simple: wine glasses, coffee beans, tea lights.  Find joy in the small things in life!  

I’ve made a few trips to the Midwest. My hubby was raised in Chicago and we would go and visit family. One thing I vividly remember from my trips is summer thunder storms. The humidity levels would soar, the clouds would come and it was quite a display of thunder, lighting & rain. Then it would end almost as quickly as it began. This was something I did not see often here in the Northwest. We have our rain, and plenty of it, but summers are usually dry and the rain is saved for the rest of the year. On Friday the humidity levels were higher than what is usual for the PNW and the prediction was for a thunderstorm. Early in the evening the storm began. It was quite an awesome site. As the sun was setting in the west the storm was rumbling and rolling in from the east. We could hear the thunder boom but what made this storm so beautiful was how it made the sky look. With the sun setting and casting it lights against the incoming storm the colors that appeared were brea...

This morning I woke up early. I looked outside to see it overcast and cloudy. Not really what you want to see in the middle of July. Where is the sunshine? The weather man has assured me that it will burn off and the sun will be out once again. I have some hope! :) While out on my deck taking the above picture I saw my poor little plant. It is supposed to be an indoor plant. I’ve nearly killed it countless times since it was given to me. I do great with a garden but horrible with keeping any indoor plant alive. However despite how it has been battered and mistreated it continues to live on! I saw those beautiful blooms a sign of hope as well today! At times life can throw us all curve balls and unexpected bumps in the road will happen. Let’s never lose sight of hope! Psalm 16:9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will rest in hope. Psalm 31:24 Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart, All you who hope in the LORD. P...

Here is a look at a few homestead moments from this week.. On Sunday we were blessed with a dry day (the second of two) and the garden was dry enough to rototill. I cleaned up some of the plants that were left behind in October and Tobin rototilled. I am so excited to get the garden season going!! Muffins.. I had a few overripe bananas that needed to be used up. I made a double batch of my banana muffin recipe: http://thefamilyhomestead.com/bananachochipmuffin.htm   and used 3 large bananas and added a handful of chocolate chips to them. They make a great easy breakfast or a quick snack. I put a lot of them in the freezer.. muffins freeze very well…   Ever have a slow running drain? Well my bathtub drain was draining a bit too slow. I had Isaac remove the overflow and clean it up but it still drained slow. So I poured a ½ cup of baking soda down the drain and then poured some vinegar down the drain (did not measure.. just poured some in).. and it fizzed ...

Today’s homestead moment was all about sunshine! We have had so little sun lately that I almost forgot what it looks like.. in fact a couple of days ago I had to laugh at myself.. I got all excited about the fact that the cloud cover was lighter that day! I have been seriously sun deprived.. :) But today I totally enjoyed the sunshine and thanked the Lord for this blessing…  

This morning my homestead moment made me smile. It was my first real sign of spring. Despite the fact there are still patches of snow on the mountains that I see out my windows, I saw two ducks in my pond. Every spring it seems like a couple of ducks take up residence in our pond for awhile. When I see them I know spring is on its way! I went out on my deck to try and get a picture of them but as soon as they saw me they took off! So all I ended up with for this “homestead moment” was a blurry pic of them flying away.. aww.. bummer.. Well maybe the ducks are not my real first sign of spring. This always gets me excited about spring…. The gardening season is on its way… :)

This morning I woke up to a chilly house and got a fire going to warm the house. When it was light enough to see outside I noticed snow on the top of the hills across the way. Soon I heard my daughter Emily get up. And she came and joined me in the living room. We enjoyed a wonderful cup of coffee together and some awesome chat time. My daughter Leanne then joined us as well. I find these times with my daughters such a treat. Emily is 21 and Leanne is 20 and both have busy lives working and socializing, coming and going. So when we do have a moment where our schedules meet together it is a time to discuss so many things; issues in life, work, friends, family and more. As my children are growing up and moving on with their own lives these moments we spend together are special indeed.

  I got up early this morning, as I typically do (I am a morning person by nature). I love the peace and quiet of the morning. My hubby was already up and working on plans for remodeling the kitchen in a rental we have. We enjoyed a cup of coffee together and then he went back to work on his plans and I moved on to my responsibilities. As I was sitting here in my living room getting ready to write this post I was looking out my 3 large living room windows at the dark and thinking of Proverbs 31:15, “She also rises while it is yet night, and provides food for her household, and a portion for her maidservants.”. Aside from getting breakfast going for the family, today is a grocery shopping day for me. I smiled at that verse, yep, time to provide food for the household! My youngest son Isaac who is 13 just finished his Saxon Algebra ½ book on Monday. Everyone gave him a round of applause for his diligent good work! Now it’s time to move onto the Algebra 1 book af...