It's Green and Beautiful!

We hardly had a spring this year. It seemed like one day it was winter and then suddenly it was summer. Things have been moving at high speed since my post in April. Here's a walk around the homestead this week, we'll start with the front porch and look at things in order of a walkabout.


These two beauties came from an Amish greenhouse we like to frequent. We've been buying our tomato and pepper starts there for several years. Their payment counter is in the flower greenhouse - I'd be OK if I didn't have to pay for my veggies. Once I get in there I usually end up taking home a basket (or two) or some flats of posies.

These Million Bells remind me of small purple roses.

And this basket overflowing with pink Petunias is almost three feet across!

Along side the driveway is a very large mulch pile that has been aging for almost two years. It's at its prime this year and we are using it liberally. It is about six large truck loads of chipped deciduous trees in leaf. Moist, rich, and life just wants to spring from it, like these pretty little mushrooms. There are colonies of more than one kind to be found.

Across from our driveway the side of the road is awash in Purple Phlox in bloom. It was hard to get a picture as we had a nice breeze this afternoon and everything was in motion. 

The Bleeding Hearts, Lilac and Ornamental Quince have all come and gone but the Bee Balm was quick to stand in their place. The distinctive blossom has such a lovely color. And it is aptly named, the bees seem to love it. 

And I think there are more Columbine blooming in my front garden than I ever saw during my entire time in Colorado. They are eager and proud little bloomers. I will be transplanting them this year, so I hope they are hearty, as well.

And the Rhododendrons are spectacular this year. I think the sudden summer without the false starts of early warm ups followed by freezes suited the woody ornamentals. I love the perfect bouquets held out on friendly stems. I feel a connectedness to the Rhododendrons - they communicate with me all winter long with their posture and leaves. The colder it is, the tighter the leaves curl up into little cylinders. Who needs a thermometer when they are so willing to keep me informed? And I admire their tenacity, when all other green leaved bushes have turned to barren twigs - they keep their green on. 

And how about that raised bed - the one where I was sure things would grow in my last post? It's got a wire hoop frame to keep the chickens out and life is growing enthusiastically in it's safe bounds.

Tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, onions, carrots, radishes, snap peas, beets, lettuce, basil, chives and dill are filling out and will soon fill it up. And just like every year - I am captivated by the tiny seeds and fragile stems that persist and burst with life until they are strong, sturdy plants.

Kent has been tackling a big job and he is succeeding. The blackberries and raspberries were getting out of hand and had taken over our little grape vines (our "vinyette") and created an unruly mass of impenetrable, spiney canes. He has recovered the grapes and is taming the blackberries. The raspberries were sacrificed for the greater good.

They don't look like much but these grape vines already appear to have miniature grape clusters growing on them.

And the blackberries are just covered in clouds of white blossoms! A super abundance that bodes well for blackberry pies and jam. 

Their nearby neighbors, the pear and apple trees, are not to be outdone. Tiny apples and pears are beginning to bulge with expectancy.

And one final picture for now - the Locust Trees are in bloom all around us. The air is sweetly scented and the trees are striking in their finery. This makes the bees very happy. And we are happy to have a new swarm take up residence in our hives today!

The green is here and with it the humidity, the insects, and the heat. But I have resolved to stop my whining and revel in the abundance of life that thrives in this warm climate, rich soil, and lavish moisture. There is a chaotic party of plants and creatures determined to celebrate life! I'm going to join them!

Ready for the Greening

After a winter that has lingered and loitered, we are getting antsy for spring to come to us in earnest. It was still snowing this past week - even creating light accumulations. But today dawned bright and clear and though the temps were in the 50's the sun made it seem warmer.

Caleb and the kitties found some daffodils getting ready to bloom. Even without blooming, their green makes a lovely splash of color in an otherwise brown world. Without his bright scarf and Duey's white markings, the pets would all but disappear into the browns and greys of leaves, stones and branches. The winter is leaving but spring hasn't taken its place yet and so we wait for the greening with hopeful hearts.

We prepared a raised bed to receive seeds for radish, salad greens, onions starts and sweet peas. I can't wait to put fresh veggies on the table!

The chickens have been enjoying the fresh air and scratching for their lunch but I'm sure they are as eager to eat fresh greens as we are. After suffering the loss of Foghorn, the rooster, to a neighbor's dogs we are in the market for a new leader and protector for our girls. They continue to lay delicious eggs but more than once we have been grateful for a rooster to guard and protect them. He was doing that very thing when he met his end and thanks to him we didn't lose a hen that day. Or the day he wrestled with a fox. He was very good at his job.

And now the bed is ready for the hoop top we will build to protect from frost, chickens, and curious cats. We'll get our hands in the dirt along with some seeds and wait for the miracle of new life to unfold. Spring brings so much hope to us here on the homestead!

The Hazards of Raising Your Own Meat

Now, not everyone will tell you about the hazards of homesteading. I have often shared One Girl's Rant on the Hazards of Raising Hens. Here I am going to elaborate on the hazards of raising turkeys.

Case in point, you look forward to a delicious turkey dinner. Yes, I know it's January and most people do this in November but that is the beauty of raising turkeys. They're not just for Thanksgiving anymore. Anyway, you look forward to roasting your bird and then this happens.

It doesn't fit in the roasting pan

But we are undaunted. We made foil ramps to extend beyond the edges of the pan and channel the drippings back into the pan. We've got this. Now lest you think that we chose a small pan, let me put this in perspective for you. Here's the bird with Kent.

Turkey: Dressed weight - 33.4 pounds

So we've established that the pan was of typically sufficient size but the bird was a tad large. We slathered it with mayonnaise and covered it with foil and put it in the oven. Just.

I'm glad it wasn't any larger

On the lowest rack setting the turkey is still kissing the top of the oven. The foil is not tented. It's wrapped right around it. And lest you think that perhaps this is a small oven, let me dispel that idea. This is a three rack 5.6 cubic foot oven. Actually over-sized for the average oven. Do you see the rack sagging a little under the weight? Did I mention that it's 33.4 pounds? So that is hazard #2. #1 - Pan too small. #2 - Oven nearly too small.

And hazard #3...
We put the bird in at noon thinking we'd have it for dinner.

Looking good!

Looking good but still not quite done. Do you see the clock behind that bad boy? Yup 7pm and it's not ready. But the mashed potatoes, corn and cranberry conserve were ready. What to do?

Well, hazard #4 is that you almost always seem to have some turkey on hand. So we popped open some home-canned turkey stock and some jars of home-canned, home-grown turkey and made turkey and gravy to go over those taters. And we'll put that bird outside tonight to chill and have turkey dinner again tomorrow. Hmmm. Would that be hazard #5? Turkey. Again.

I don't mind living this hazardous life.

Winter's Many Moods

I can't help but notice that even though it's a white world out there, the moods never stop changing

This morning as it got light there was a softness to things, covered in frost and misty, like a picture that is fading. And I knew it would.

And then it was light but filtered through clouds. This world of high contrast black and white hides the subtleties of dark green pine needles and the purple/blue shadows.

But then the sky clears to blue and the sun shines and it feels so clean, clear, fresh and full of promise - reminding me that beneath the snow is a fertile, slumbering cornucopia awaiting spring.

 Yes, I played around a bit enhancing my photos, I don't deny that. I wanted them to portray more clearly what it looks like through my eyes. I'm not yet tired of winter. I look forward to spring and renewed life around here but for now I am taking my clues from the season and allowing things to rest a bit.

Menu Planning Central

For years I've been working on refining my menu planning system. I've read so many tips and techniques, seen and even tried some subscription options, and implemented many helpful tools but I have always felt like it wasn't quite right for us yet. It didn't quite work for me as I hoped.

Some elements are very important to me, such as:

• Eat whole foods and make our food items from scratch
• Shop from my pantry first
• Use what is in season in both my garden and the grocery store
• Stay within our budget
• Plan ahead
• Make foods my family truly enjoys and anticipates

Things not so important to me:

• Someone else making my grocery list
• Super speedy meals
• Menus designed for avoidance of dairy, gluten, sugar, etc.

I came across an amazing resource recently that inspired me to remodel my current system and it is already working so much better for me/us. I encourage you to visit Don't Waste the Crumbs and find a totally win site full of menu planning helps and ideas. She even offers a subscription service with monthly menus, shopping lists, prep lists, and helpful tips. I'm still mining the depth of her content and I have finally found a great match for our family. And Tiffany, the site owner, has such a winning way about her - she's gracious and full of encouragement.

Her recipes, thus far, have been hits and very much like the foods we already enjoy. They are seasonal and use items that should be fresh, abundant and priced right. They are whole food meals that don't lose sight of having a budget to work within and put priority over serving your family real food rather than focusing on high priced and hard to find items. It may not all be organic but it is all doable, all delicious, all real food, and all a refreshing reality check.

So that leads up to my new Menu Planning Central. Incorporating my past favorite techniques and tools with those gleaned from Don't Waste the Crumbs, I've moved my Thirty-One organizer from the quilt studio to the kitchen and populated it with all the tools I need to keep putting delicious real food meals on my family's table without soaking the budget or my time.

 Top left - pantry and freezer inventory; top right - "white board" for reminders of tasks in the kitchen; Middle - Monthly menu; Middle left - recipe cards to use and file; Bottom left - Printed daily and staple recipes; Bottom right - Prep and planning lists and printed recipes to file.

And I was looking to replace the small dry erase board I had on the fridge. It was too small and the magnet were not strong so it kept shifting and falling. I mentioned to my husband that perhaps I would just put white paper in sheet protectors and tape them to the fridge. In addition to the one I keep for leftovers that need eaten, I wanted to add one for perishables that need used. That is when he pointed out to me that our kitchen walls are actually just like white boards.

So I've started writing on the wall with my husband's encouragement. How strange. So beside the fridge we have this:

We've been having great meals and I don't have to spend all day worrying about what to make or spending it in the kitchen. Win! More time to quilt.

Sewing Assistants

After much training and constant reminding, we finally have a working arrangement. While my quilt studio is not small, it is oddly laid out and has a "bump out" (I believe that's the technical term) in one corner. I adopted that as my location for the three tables that make up the heart of my work. The serging station, mini pressing/cutting station, the sewing station and a partial fourth side that is a floor to ceiling bookshelf to hold tools and reference material. I can access them each from my chair in the center. It's a great setup.Very efficient. Except for the fact that the dogs seemed to think it was where I needed them to be whenever I was in the room. Of course this is with tails, ears and paws laying dangerously in the path of my chair's wheels as I scoot, with my attention riveted on my project, from one task to another. I know this because there was a good bit of yelping and jumping about involved.

But I was determined to train them to stay out of "The Sacred Sewing Square" as I dubbed it. So training commenced and after weeks of ordering, pointing, sharply speaking and 1,000+ times of asking them to leave...     I finally put a dog bed under the cutting table so that at least Simple Dog would stay put and out of harms way. Helper Dog feels guilty about everything (and I mean everything, including crop failures in the Midwest) and so was easier to train. She is also larger and didn't find the confined space as comfortable. So I had assistants and the training was obviously effective. On me. Everything seemed to smooth out until my sister's dog came to stay. Special Dog, we'll call her, seems even more confused by life than is Simple Dog.

Training commenced again. Especially since running over a very small dog with only three good legs seems more than cruel. However, this time the training was effective in much less time. In only 24 hours I had taught her learned that another dog bed needed to be squeezed into the SSS.

And so here are my sewing assistants providing much needed help as I work.

It really is a dog's life.

Cabin Fever?

Nah. I get out plenty. I go out and fill the bird feeders, water and feed the chickens, carry buckets of hot water to the cows and toss them hay. And by then I'm all warmed up and I just take a little time to enjoy the spectacularly single-digit world of snow.

Actually, I was thinking of going out to the quilt shop this afternoon. I told my husband I'd wait for him to get home since we are running our wood furnace vigorously these days just to keep the house warm. I wouldn't want to leave it unattended. He suggested I might just need to get out since I hadn't left the house all week. That's not entirely accurate. I won't say I haven't left our house but I can say I haven't left our property in 9 days. And I don't feel bad about that at all. Just think of all the money I've saved on gas and groceries. I've been happily cooking from the pantry and freezer. I'm only interested in the quilt store because of some fabric I need to get. I really am a home body. I love keeping the house warm and cozy and having a delicious hot meal ready when Kent and Steph get home from work and school.

I also look after the animals. While that necessarily means the laying flock and beef cows, it also means I can't let those wild birds sit outside my windows huddled against the 6 degrees and not give them some extra fuel to burn.

It's a popular gathering place. I've counted as many as 9 different types of birds at once but generally they seem to gather in groups of select varieties at various different times. This was a colorful get-together full of Mr. and Mrs. Cardinals and Blue Jays with at least one woodpecker thrown in. This is the view out a kitchen window, it's quite distracting when I'm cooking. And I do keep a bird identification book on the shelf with the cookbooks.

And then there are the indoor animals. I promised my brother I'd post a picture of my adorable cockerspaniel, Caleb, in the sock monkey sweater my sister gave him. He wears it pretty much all the time and seems to enjoy putting it on when it gets really cold. Though he also has a winter coat that my daughter got him for when he goes outdoors. It really does help - me at least. His fur is so like a human's and gets soaking wet when he gets in the snow.

And when I'm inside I don't have time to get bored or have cabin fever. I'm practicing my quilting and working on projects. Here's one in progress and nearing completion. It's a growth chart for my niece. I was "trying on" the patchwork binding I made to see what I think of the look. And now that I think about it, I'd rather be quilting!

I hope you are staying warm and finding something creative to do during these long short winter days. Would you take time to comment and tell me - "What do you like to do when you are home keeping warm?" "How long can you stay home before you get antsy and need to get out?" You'll help me get that much needed personal interaction so I don't go stir crazy.

Merry Christmas

 

Christmas and sewing just seem to go together. I love making things for my family and friends. I guess it's only fitting that the tree ended up next to my treadle sewing machine.

I hope that you have had a Christmas filled with friends and love and hope. 

And now I'm looking toward the coldest days of winter and time to sew without feelings of guilt that I should be mowing or gardening or canning or... you get the idea. May the warmth of the holiday be yours into the New Year and beyond.

Blessings, Kristine

My first craft show

I finally did my first craft show. I'm an introvert at heart and getting out there with people was a little intimidating. How would I handle a whole day of crowds? Well, it didn't hurt that I set up shop with my long time friend - and it wasn't her first rodeo.

  

It also seemed fitting that my first time out was for our high school alma mater's marching band. It is a large, annual show hosted by the student members of the Cambridge Springs High School Marching Band. They were a great bunch of kids, hardworking and with such good attitudes. They hustled our boxes and bins in and out of cars to our table space, played holiday music throughout the day, served food and generally kept hopping.

We set up our space together and it turned out to be a really fun day. Lots of friendly folk enjoyed strolling the aisles and taking in the festive spirit.

 

I was very pleased with how our space came together. We paid for three tables but requested only two be set up, that gave us room for racks to hang my quilts and her afghans.

 

 

It was a very positive experience and lots of fun to work together - still friends after 37 years!

 

I'm glad she encouraged me to do this and I was so appreciative of the feedback from the show patrons. After spending hours and hours working by myself on projects, it's nice to hear encouragement from real people when they get a look at my creations. I was energized by comments on the quality of the work (a quality I strive to put in every stitch) and on my color and fabric selections and combinations (I often hope that what appeals to me isn't too far out of line with what others might enjoy).

I'm so glad I stepped out of my comfort zone and participated in a worthy cause!

Reality in the Digital World

When I began blogging, I had no idea what I was doing. It was a sort of journal / family sharing concept for me. And because of that, I highlighted what I thought family may find interesting or what I wanted to remember. Another aspect of blogging, one I hadn't anticipated, was the network of acquaintances you can develop as you receive comments and comment on the blogs you read.

I found as I read blogs I frequently felt overwhelmed, inadequate, or challenged. So many people out there doing so many things that I found worthy, interesting or helpful. How to do it all. Their lives looked so perfect. I once commented on this to my sister and she pointed the finger right back at me - the point being that my blog could make it look like my world was so smoothly oiled and full of fulfilling things. Ouch. I guess in my quest to be a positive voice, I didn't realize I was not presenting the entire picture. So if I'm going to make posts, I think I need to keep it real.

As I have been for a couple weeks now, I'm canning today. I'll include the picture of my 16 pints of peach jam that turned out very nicely today.

What sweet success! It tastes great, very peachy. Look at the shine on the clean glass jars and rings. Sigh. Now I'm thinking, as I read the blog post, "Oh, I should can some jam. I wish I was (fill in the blank) so that I had some pretty jars of jam on my counter." But wait! Maybe you have something better to do today than toil over jam.

Let's back up a bit and see if this is still as appealing. (Spoiler alert - my life is not all shiny)

Now before this picture could be taken, there was the actual canning. It involved hot, steaming cauldrons of water on this nearly 80 degree day. And not being one to enjoy long exposure to sauna-like conditions, I do all that I can to mitigate that sweltering situation. Like rig up a way to wedge a box fan into my kitchen window to send as much heat outside as possible:

Three nails and some kitchen twine later, I've got this beautiful creation over my canning stove. I know, you want me to do a tutorial on how to achieve this look. Maybe later.

And not only are the pots hot but the contents, as well. Now if this was a perfect, shiny life, I'd be doing this jam canning in a sundress with stylish apron and some pretty sandals. But since I have a fear of boiling jam adhering to my legs and feet when I clumsily spill a pot someday, I look more like this:

You know, your basic cold winter gear on a hot summer day. Jeans and hubby's slippers. (Don't tell him. I actually was wearing shorts and flip flops when I started out this morning and, being lazy, kicked them off and stepped into his slippers for the dangerous part of the canning). Is your jam envy waning? Mine is.

And of course, there is the spooning, measuring, stirring, etc. which results in countertops strewn with sticky, goo laden pots, bowls and utensils:

 

 Oh yeah, that's gonna be fun to clean up. And as long as I'm being brutally honest, here's another side effect of the canning - trash:

Yes, the trashcan is heaped with empty sugar bags, pectin boxes and I've decorated around it with vinegar jugs that need to be put in with the recycling. (As a side note, jam takes a great deal of sugar. And the more jam you make, the more sugar you need. I know this because it turned out that my quadruple batch of jam needed 30 cups of sugar. Oy! I emptied a large bag, two small bags and, getting more and more desperate, emptied the sugar bowl and most of my organic kombucha sugar to get enough to make the recipe. Oops. I'll be more prepared next time. Right.)

Now, I won't subject your poor eyes to pics of my trashcan every post, but I guess what I'm saying is that I don't want to contribute to that digital phenomenon we experience on blogs, Facebook, and Instagram. Always try to keep in mind that we are seeing the "greatest hits", not the entire recording session.

Now I'm going to go can some green beans. They leave a much less sticky mess behind.

Stars, Bars and What Ever Became of...

Wow, just 367 days since my last post. I'm on a roll for sure! I thought maybe, just maybe, I'd give this another go. I do miss having a log of "what's happening" here on the homestead. We try keeping an actual pen and paper journal to note items of significance but even that hasn't been updated since June. I felt like I spent far too much time trying to write about what I actually needed to be doing. My niece turned me on to PicMonkey.com and that may make this whole thing a lot easier.

So here's today's post:

What ever became of that chicken in the crockpot? I'm sorry to report that none of the other eggs ever did hatch. However, the one chick we got lived for a time in a cat carrier in the laundry room. Then she graduated to a dog kennel in the chicken coop. Until finally the day came when she was big enough to hold her own and make her way into the flock pecking order.

Here she is this morning sitting in a nest box. I'm wondering if she's gone broody since she still seems to be sitting there this afternoon.

She's a beautiful bird. We don't know her provenance although I have a guess. There is one hen with a black body and gold head. And of course her paternity is pretty sure since there's only Cogburn roostering around here now. I don't like to name my chickens because I become too attached to them. I like to cycle through a few choice chicken names that I use as they come to mind on whatever chicken I may be addressing. But we often referred specifically to this bird since she was the "new chicken". In fact, I guess you could say that for a long time her name was "New Chicken". That got to be a bit much and I changed it to "NC". That one change put me on a slippery slope and soon she became "Nancy".

I don't think I could have avoided getting attached to her, though. She walked around my desk while I worked when she was just a chick. She's the one who squeezes through the fence to come see us in the front yard when they are out free-ranging. She's the nosiest, most curious, and often off-doing-her-own-thing chicken in the flock. She makes herself stand out. I'm pretty convinced it's because of her unconventional upbringing.

And why don't I like to name my chickens?

This is why...

"What's so wrong with that?" you might ask.

What's so wrong with all this fluffy cuteness? These are the stars and bars... one day old Red Stars and Barred Rocks.

 What's wrong is that these are my new laying flock. New suggests that there must be an "old" laying flock. And there is. And since I don't run a retirement village for chickens here, that also means they will soon be the "late" flock. Also known as "chicken and biscuits" or "chicken soup".

It's life and death here on the homestead. I invest a lot of myself into my layers. I treat them with kindness, tenderness and give them the best care I can. I like to see them happy. I like to see them running around the yard enjoying the day. Or cozy in a warm coop on a cold day. I make them flock blocks in the winter to relieve their boredom. I hurry vegetable peels and cuttings out to them to see them get excited. When they are injured I nurse their wounds. I protect them from predators and weather. I tramp out to the coop before sunrise through the dew and damp to open them up to their yard. I head back out at nightfall to tuck them in. I scrub gross waterers and shovel soiled bedding and clean nest boxes. None of it glamorous. I get a lot of joy out of happy chickens. But I always know that eventually, when they lay so few eggs that I can't justify the expense of feed with little to show for it, they will move to the freezer and from there to the dinner table.

It's very, very hard. I've been steeling myself for butchering day for a couple of weeks. We do the deed this weekend. And yet I also take satisfaction in knowing that they have had as good a life as I could give them. They have lived a life without want, with room to move and flap and chase and explore, with little stress and lots of fresh air. I'm going to eat chicken. As, likely, most folks reading this will. I figure I have two choices:

1. Anesthetize myself to the suffering that goes on in commercial meat production. Think about it as little as possible and just grab some plastic wrapped chicken from the meat case, think about my recipe and not what life the chicken had, think about putting a nice meal on the table and not about what kind of diet that meat had during its life. I could go on but my point is not to insult or make anyone feel bad. It's just that I can't do that anymore. I think especially not since we've been raising our own meat.

2. Get my meat wrapped in feathers and fur. Love it, give it back scratches, worry about whether it is comfortable in the heat/cold/rain/wind, and then humanely and quickly dispatch it and waste nothing that can be used.

I'm pretty certain that if I could no long raise my own meat or find a source of locally raised meat that I trusted, I would become a vegetarian out of necessity.

Wow, didn't mean to get long winded or depressing. Just something that I've come to know is now a part of who I am. And I get to have lots of fun and excitement along the way. Try doing that with a leaky package of drumsticks.

Chicken in the Crockpot

Admit it, you are expecting a recipe or a review of a delicious dish.

 

Well, this IS chicken in a crockpot but I hope you won't want to eat it. Let me first provide a brief history of how we got to this place...

 

We have a largish flock of Buff Orpington chickens and one of the reasons we selected this breed was because they are said to be more broody than some other breeds. We thought it would be nice if our flock could self-propagate. We recently, as in 'for a couple months now', have had a handful of broody hens at any given time. A few weeks ago we hatched the idea of letting a couple of the hens sit a clutch of eggs each. I could go on at some length about how not to go about doing this, which is exactly what we did. It was a whim more than a plan. And we watched as musical chickens took turns sitting the eggs. At all times, someone seemed to be shouldering the responsibility for warming and turning and we just thought we'd see what happened.

 

Forward to this late morning when I'm checking nest boxes for freshly laid cackleberries and I find a partially hatched chick. With a hen who seemed to think this soggy, weak, completely confused speck of a chicken was some sort of danger, I had to make a decision quickly and, for better or worse, I chose to remove the emerging chicklet and the other eggs to a different location. Like a crockpot on my dining room buffet. Oh, that does sound bad, doesn't it?

 

I've been cycling the crockpot on and off of the Keep Warm setting to maintain a warm enough but not too warm environment.

 

I decided to use a wait-and-see approach and let her continue to work her own way out of the shell. A friend arrived and took one look and said, "You DO know you need to keep them moist, right?" Well, if I DID know that, then they would probably have been moist at that point. I asked her to lend her expertise and she helped the chick out of the drying shell and membrane and it captured her heart. I don't know if the chick think's she's her mother, but my friend does.

 

Here's the newly released bird resting and drying out. My friend acted like a mother hen. Really. She kept fussing and making sure the warmth was at the right level, helping it to sips of electrolyte mix. The whole nine yards.

And it is now a fluffy and lively little chick that gets very excited each time my friend peeks in on it.

As for the other eggs - we're waiting to see if they will hatch as well. I'll keep you posted!