Canning

We have been putting our pressure canner to good use. I think my husband is enjoying it more than I am .

I get the cans ready & load them & then I go hide while he sets the pressure & watches the time.  The thing is really cool but very scary in  frankenstein-blow-up-your-kitchen sort of way.

So far we have put up 3 quarts of ham & bean soup, 3 quarts of spaghetti sauce, 13 pints of turkey broth, & 6 quarts of turkey soup. Pretty nifty, huh?

We have more turkey simmering away on the stove for broth &soup. It is very gratifying to watch your store of food grow WITHOUT going to the grocery store.

You should definetly try this! (but make sure your husband is close by .)

Blessings.

More pics

Here are some more pics from our day. They are kind of "food centered" , hmmmm, what does that say about us?

Coming in from chores

Breakfast preparations

Mmmmm.

Pie anyone?

Brotherly love

Turkey, yum,....

Feed us, feed us, feed us!

Queen for  a day

Merry Christmas Blessings

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everybody!

Here are a few shots of our morning so far

A white Christmas! Woo Hoo!

The loot

The crew

More soon.....

Blessings

Fun in the snow

 

What a week

It has been an interesting week. It started out with temperatures well below zero which froze my washer. Then it moved into severe storm warnings & white out conditions. We managed to burst a pipe under the house & be without water for a day; until my poor husband drove home thru the whiteout conditions just to crawl under the house & cap the pipe.

The washer still isn't working, going on day 5. It's getting ugly. The plan is to move it into the house as part of our pantry remodel but a certain amount of demolition has to happen first. If it doesn't happen today I am going to have to visit the dreaded laundro-mat .

I am working on day 4 of a cold which keeps me up at night. Not that I have been sleeping anyway since late pregnancy also keeps me up at night. Why does it seem like your body conspires to keep you up just when you crave sleep the most?

We had a fabulous Christmas gift planned for the kids (a pony!) but it is over an hour away, over a mountain pass which we can't drive over because of the weather. And it is supposed to keep snowing for the next 2 weeks. So yesterday we had to go actual Christmas shopping with our "B" list. I really don't enjoy shopping, crowds or feeling like I "have" to buy something but it was just me & my husband & we had fun. It was almost like a date .

We are going to rent some x-country skis to have over Christmas as a fun family thing to do. Our oldest is home for the week & I don't think he has ever gone x-country skiing before. He is a snow boarder so this should be fun. And yes, I am planning on skiing. It should be very interesting  . Maybe it will encourage labor. I am totally primed for a Christmas baby.

Oh, we bought the coolest thing! Stock tank de-icers! Now, all you city folk are probably scratching your heads, saying "huh?" But all you country folk who have ever had to chop ice so your animals could drink, YOU know. We bought 2 to try in the big stock tank & we are going to pick up a new tank for my cow so she can have one. We are even going to get one for the chicken water. So, soon, we shouldn't  have to chop any ice at all or even switch out waterers. Except for the rabbits. They do have heated water bottles for rabbits but at $20 each & we currently have 10 or so rabbits, I think the kids can keep switching water bottles.

That's about it from the homestead. Hope you are staying warm.

Blessings.

Christmas Traditions

One of my favorite Christmas decorations is manger scenes (or 'creches' as I grew up calling them). I have several I have collected over the years. And this year, when I am really not doing much by way of decorating ( I am 8 months pregnant ) I still had to pull those out.

So I thought I would share.

This is the one I have grown up with & put out every year of my life. My grandmother bought it for my mothers first Christmas 74 years ago. It is my favorite.

Sorry for the horribly blurry pic. My camera doesn't like close ups. This is my 2nd favorite.  The pieces are only about an inch or so & I just love the simplicity.

I ordered this one from a catalog several  years ago. All of the pieces fit inside the "barn" & the whole thing folds up for storage.

These last 2 my children picked up at Goodwill a while back. They each wanted their "own".

That's our little collection. I don't have too  many other family tradition decorations as I grew up in a non-believing home, heavy on Santa Claus. So many of the decorations & books I grew up with, we no longer use. Our newer traditions center around baking & decorating with fresh greens & pine cones.

And of course, praying for a white Christmas . How about you?

Blessings.

Got my camera back!

Woo Hoo! Back in the picture business.

I have never understood people & their rabid hatred of fallen leaves. As they rake & blow & shred & stuff it all into plastic bags to go to the dump .

A. those 'annoying' leaves are some of the best free compost you're ever going to get! You can use it to insulate flower beds & gardens against the winter cold. B. They are sooo much fun to play in  & C. if you hate it that much--just leave (ha! ha!) them where they fall. They'll mulch your lawn.

We never do the crazed leaf removal. I rake up what I need to insulate my gardens. Throw some on the compost & the rest stay where they fall. After a few leaf fights of course.

So if you aren't snowed under yet....go jump in some leaves!

Blessings.

Eureka!

I found it! Well, actually, my husband found it because he has it with him! But he is on his way home so I should have the ability to post pics in just a few short hours. Good thing too 'cause I was going thru withdrawals 

Blessings

Have you seen my......

I am so frustrated! I cannot find the cord to my digital camera & I want to post pictures! AAAAAAAhhhhhhhhh!

Anniversary

Today is our 13th wedding anniversary. To celebrate we took our 12 yr old to the orthodontist to find out how much of our life we have to sign away to straighten his teeth .

We really DID do that but that wasn't all. We also did some window shopping & went out to lunch. I did tease him at lunch because he sat there on his computer or his cell phone for most of it . It wasn't his fault tho, it is a work day & he had to send in his sales report. But it was still funny.

And for a present he bought me a pressure canner. We have been wanting one so we could put up chili & stew & so forth. I am excited & terrified at the same time. I have never used one before & I find the whole idea a little freaky. The only impression I have of them comes from "Breakfast at Tiffany's" where Audrey Hepburn explodes rice all over the kitchen. And that was a pressure cooker not a pressure canner.

But it will be soooo cool to be able to put up our own "convenience foods."  Sometimes you just want to open a can & dump in a pot & have that be the extent of your cooking, ya know?  So imagine a pantry full of home made, home canned, chili, soups,  & stews.

If I can actually muster the energy & get some canned in the next few weeks, they will come in very handy after the baby.

So that's our romantic anniversary story .

Blessings.

Bouncy Boy

We have 1 bathroom. So, for obvious reasons, The Little Man has a potty chair in the living room. After he uses his chair, he takes it into the bathroom & dumps it in the toilet. Well, he's very into bouncing right now, and the other day he decided to bounce on his way in to dump his potty.  You can imagine the results. We had a little talk about NOT bouncing with a full potty. Now, every time he goes to dump it, he reminds me that he shouldn't bounce with it. But as soon as he dumps it & it is clean, he grabs it & bounces his way back to the living room .

It's great to be 2.

Blessings.

Pheasants forever...

The men went pheasant hunting over the weekend. A good time was had by all (except maybe for the pheasants )

 

Two of the puppies went to their new homes over the weekend. Only 3 to go.

We also had a surprise visit from my best friend & her boyfriend. They were vacationing in the area & came over Sunday after church. We had a really nice visit & went out for Mexican.  (Hey, JD!  the shop teacher with the yogurt was Mr. Lampman )

Visiting old friends & remembering Jr High & High school always makes me so glad I homeschool

Blessings.