The Backyard Farmwife

Beach Combing (Well… Shopping)

2012-02-20T23:07:00.001-08:00

I love poking through all the little shops when we go to the coast! You always find the neatest things that you don’t see anywhere else. Some have to come home with you but some are better just left on the shelf…

Here are some of my favorite finds this weekend!

Ok, don’t mind if I do… ;o)

Bruce’s Candy Kitchen has the best salt water taffy on the coast!

I just love all the test tubes of sprinkles!

Smitten with these egg cups!

The boys thought this would be fun!

I wish I had someone to read these to…

Really???

This is another example of “better on the shelf”… Ugh!

I just couldn’t leave this on the shelf! Now to decide what to do with it???

I can’t show you my FAVORITE thing I bought at a shop called The Man Cave because they are my birthday present and I’m not supposed to forget my hubby bought them for me until May. But I know exactly where they are… LOL

I think I like shopping a little more than I let on… ;o)

Cleaning Closets

2012-02-01T22:13:00.001-08:00

The first “extra” cleaning chore on my list for 2012 was cleaning out closets. After having a pretty productive purge less than 6 months ago, I really didn’t think it would be such a chore. I was wrong! It took two weeks and 3 more trips to Goodwill (I’ve taken 6 van loads since Christmas) to finish! But I am so glad to be done and have this happy and satisfied feeling every time I hang up my coat or get a box of cereal from the pantry… If only I could be assured that it would last! ;o)

Since I know it can’t last forever, I’m going to enjoy it while I can. So here’s a look at how they turned out. I would post before/after pictures for a more dramatic effect, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to be that candid and honest. LOL

The coat closet

The pantry

I love the shoe holder idea I found on Pinterest! (of course!)

I also love my dry-erase labels I made from removable dry-erase locker stickers and my label punch.

I turned the storage closet under the stairs into a photo studio for my youngest son. He does have to share it with all of the holiday decorations though.

All the stuff from under the stairs got relocated to the furnace closet along with all of my fabric…

The linen closet got a majority of the keepsake boxes but a few had to go into my son’s closet…

and into the game/sleeping bag closet…

Geez! We have a lot of games!!!

Even my craft closet ended up with a few keepsake boxes. Believe it or not, we went from 30 to 20 boxes of keepsake stuff!

This meant I found room in the other boys’ closet for the rest of their stuff! Yay! I can’t remember the last time their room has stayed clean this long!!!

I have mixed feelings about the newly found space in my closet… I was able to get all my clothes for each season into one box each. How? I got rid of a whole lot of clothes that I outgrew… :o/

Please let it last… Please let it last… Please let it last…

Keeping Keepsakes

2012-01-20T22:35:00.001-08:00

I am cleaning out closets, and I mean really cleaning out closets. Organizing, sorting, tossing, giving away… The van is full of stuff for the thrift store!

Pretty much every closet in the house had at least one box of what I call keepsakes in it. You know, that stuff you just can’t let go of. The stuff that is tied up with all the memories and emotions of times gone by. We had 22 boxes of memories! Twenty-two!!!

These boxes contain 40 years of combined memorabilia that have been packed up, loaded on moving trucks, shipped to new houses and new states more times than I care to admit to (ok… 14 houses in 4 states). Every so often they are added to. But whenever they arrive at a new home they are just stuffed into some closet or garage and never looked at again.

Sometimes when I am in the closet and happen to catch a glimpse of one of these boxes, I am haunted by a quote I heard years ago on one of those organizing shows on TLC. “If it is that special to you, why is it shoved in a box instead of out where you can see it and enjoy it?”

Why did we keep all this stuff? It isn’t as if I ever look at it. In fact I wasn’t even sure what was in some of the boxes??? Was any of it that important???

I wouldn’t know unless I started to actually open the boxes and see what treasures I had stored away for all these years…

Twenty-two boxes hold a whole lot of treasures!

Some things I looked at and wondered what I was thinking when I kept it. Like 20 copies of our wedding invitations…Really??? 20 copies??? Some things I didn’t even remember where it came from, or who it belonged to. Those were easy to part with…

Other things were not so easy! I know I don’t have them out to admire but that doesn’t make them any less special. But how do you display a box full of old baby clothes or your letterman jacket from high school??? Just because I don’t want them hanging on the living room wall or sitting in a glass display case doesn’t mean they aren’t special and I don’t want to keep them…

This was our cake topper and a map of our new apartment that Chris mailed to me.

The outfit we brought Andy home from the hospital in

A book Will wrote about me in Sunday School for Mother’s Day.

The dance contest trophy that Andy won because the judge liked his Colorado shirt (Andy didn’t dance at all but the judge was from Colorado)

Will’s favorite Winnie the Pooh hat!

A hand crank He-Man flashlight that my grandpa bought me when we went to the Toys R Us for the very first time! He told me I could buy whatever I wanted to in the store and I chose that??? I think my head was spinning from the sheer awesomeness of a store filled with only toys!!!

The snake Will picked out as a memento from our last Diamondback’s game.

Baby Scarecrow. Zack loved him to death! Obviously…

The elephant made by the sweet little old lady volunteers that they gave to Zack in the ER before he went in for x-rays. He had swallowed a quarter and they wouldn’t let me in the x-ray room with him because I was pregnant. They were so nice to him and spoiled him I don’t even think he noticed I wasn’t there… LOL

The Steiff bear I bought in a little toy shop in Melsungen, Germany when I was 15.

The stuffed tiger I bought Chris on our first Christmas while we were dating. He loves tigers!

Mr. Ugly was my brother’s baby toy and a favorite of all of my boys when they were babies!

With all that reminiscing, it probably took a whole lot longer than it needed to… but when all was said and done I had condensed it all into 12 bins, all neatly organized and labeled!

MUCH BETTER!

I don’t know how often I’ll break into the bins, but it’s nice to know that each one contains a lifetime worth of happy memories! :o)

Snowpocalypse

2012-01-18T12:43:00.001-08:00

The snow officially made its appearance on Sunday but wasn’t a very impressive show. At only 369 feet, we didn’t get much. Although it continued to snow off and on for three days, we didn’t have that much, it would just melt in between the very short snow showers.

But last night was forecasted to be the “Big One”. While it did start snowing at about 4:00 yesterday afternoon and didn’t stop, we still didn’t have any snow on the driveway or on our garbage cans when we went to bed…

I had lost hope completely and wasn’t holding my breath on school being cancelled for Zack and Andy in the morning. The forecast was calling for rain by 8am and 40 degrees before noon.:o(

I woke up at about 6:10am and couldn’t go back to sleep. I figured I might as well take a peek out the window and see if it had stopped yet…

Nope! I hadn’t stopped yet!!! So I figured if it was still supposed to rain by 8:00, everybody had better get up and see this school or no school.

It is amazing how quickly even teenage boys get out of bed when you open their door and say, “Look outside. It’s snowing!”

What happened to my planters???

It’s like a candle made out of snow

It was just too beautiful and enticing to not enjoy! Despite the dark and early hour, we all donned our snow gear and headed out to play in the snow!

the front yard looked pretty much like the back yard

the van had a bit of snow on it…

this is the snow that accumulated on the rear wiper of the van

making snow angels in the driveway

the garbage can was bare when we went to bed

perfect packing snow make a big snowball FAST

it barely SQUEEZED between the cars

started the next one on the uphill side of the street

even so, it wasn’t long before he needed help pushing

our house from across the street

the house looks so pretty in the snow!

our quiet peaceful street

Watching the sun come up doesn’t seem so bad when you’re out in the snow! ;o)

About the time the sun came up, the rain started… Just a light rain though.

It looks like a lot of snow, even in the light!

the deck steps disappeared

the chicken coop looks so much better in the snow!

the snowman eventually needed a ladder

Snowman sentry #1

Snowman sentry #2

Unfortunately, our poor woodshed couldn’t take the weight of all the snow and the water… The boys thought a car crashed into something or a firework went off.

After all the playing, and building and shoveling and clearing we came in for hot cocoa and warm homemade sticky buns for breakfast! I love snow days!!!

It’s ORANGE!!!

2012-01-16T20:07:00.001-08:00

The living room has been done for a few days now and I still love it!

It isn’t too dark. It isn’t too bright. It didn’t make the room seem smaller. It isn’t like being the wife of Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater either… ;o)

It’s perfect! It just makes everything in the room pop! All the art work on the wall looks prettier! Even my old crappy mismatched furniture looks beautiful! ;o)

The pics make it look much brighter than it really is thanks to the two very large windows on either end of the room and the fact that we have had some very sunny days… Yay!

Before

After

I made a new cloth to cover the table

I feel I need to interject with a short story here before anyone thinks that we smoke or allow smoking in our living room… ;o)

About 5 years ago we went to the County Fair. My hubby wandered up to one of the carnival games, took some quarters from his pocket and asked what I wanted him to win for me. I replied, “Anything but an ashtray.” Guess what he won??? I just keep it for sentimental reasons…

I love the way the tp art looks above the chair!

Not bad for some cut up toilet paper rolls and some craft paint, huh?

Before

After

The computer station is absolutely adorable thanks to the owl print from an estate sale and this wreath that was a Christmas gift from a very sweet friend who knows my affinity for owls!

Aren’t they adorable???

I chose to paint this on the wall of the dining room because it was what my grandparents prayed before meals when I was growing up and it is also the prayer my boys have chosen to say before meals.

Well, that’s the tour… If you ever want to come see it in person, I’d love you have ya!

Craft/Music Room Art

2012-01-08T21:44:00.001-08:00

Now that the schoolroom is no longer a schoolroom I decided it was time for some new art on the walls… Well, some I kept up because I am sentimentally attached to it. The large laminated map of the world, on the other hand, was out of there!

So then there was the dilemma of what to put up in its place??? I’m still waiting for my uber cute calendar to come in the mail but I still had quite a bit of space to fill from the map.

I found some embroidery hoops while cleaning and organizing the craft closets and recalled a cute idea I saw on Pinterest (yes, every so often I actually DO the things I see on Pinterest). I dug through my fabric stash, found a few of my favs, put them in the hoops, put some nails in the wall and viola… fun and colorful art work in a flash!

Then when I am tired of those prints, I’ll change them out and have all new art!

I also needed something for the music side of the room. I wrapped some fabric around an old canvas painting and had fun new guitar art!

I guess there’s a couple of banjos in there,too ;o)

I also grabbed some of our cd jackets and hung them from the memo line on the wall under the window. I chose some of my favs from 10+ years ago. Great memories!!!

There, that’s better!

Casserole Cozy Contest Winner

2012-01-07T21:01:00.001-08:00

I noticed today that my Facebook page has reached 350 likes! So that means it is time to choose a winner! Yay!!!

The randomly chosen number is #195! And the winner is… (insert a long and frustrating 30 minute pause here because the new Facebook made it ridiculously difficult to find my list of fans. Arrrr!!! But don’t worry, my hubby was able to find it!)

Lisa A.

I will be messaging Lisa to get her address and have her choose the cozy of her choice from the following selections…

#1 (on left) #2 (on right)

#3 (on left) #4 (on right)

#6 (on left) #7 (on right)

Thanks for liking my page and hope Lisa enjoys her new casserole cozy!

Leingang Home Makeover 2012 Edition

2012-01-03T23:17:00.001-08:00

Just before the new year, my hubby and I sat down and made a relatively realistic list of things we would like to do to the house this year. Some of these are things we said had to be done immediately after we moved in… 6 and a half years ago! ;o)

To be fair, we have never lived in any house this long! Our previous record is 2 1/2 years…

After the list was made, I started to feel a little bit excited about all the things we were finally going to do! At the same time I already started to feel a bit overwhelmed by all the things we were finally going to do… My husband, on the other hand, was raring to go! Right now!!!

Before I knew what was happening, he and the boys started moving furniture… Step one was underway and it wasn’t even 2012 yet!

Here’s what we did:

The musical instruments needed to move out of the family room where the woodstove is.

the piano is going as soon as spring comes and the backyard dries out enough to take the piano out to the truck

But where to move them to??? The schoolroom…

In order to move them into the schoolroom, we had to move the boys’ desks out. Oh, and my sewing table… which is now the computer station in the picture above of the family room.

One of the desks became my desk. One of the desks became my new sewing table. Andy’s desk went up to his room where his couch used to be…

it was hard to say goodbye to the nasty old green couch that we’ve had for FOREVER!!!

My desk became Will’s desk in his room…

no pic because their room was a bit too messy for the blog ;o)

While I was doing a bit of work in the ~~schoolroom~~ craft/music room, I bit some organizing, too! I also took TWO van loads of stuff to the local Goodwill!!!

Now I can see all my fabrics!!!

Maybe I’ll make more of the fun crafts I dream of making now that I actually know what I have???

I enjoyed this new change for about 4 days and then decided to tackle our first room of 2012… the living room!

Some of the prep work is done and paint should start going up tomorrow!

Christmas Decorations 2011

2011-12-18T22:24:00.001-08:00

So here is a tour of all my new decorations (purchased or made) for 2011. I have to admit this may be my favorite year yet!!! Thank you Pinterest and Dollar Tree! ;o)

When I look at the pictures, I realize it looks much better when you see it as a whole in person! Probably because I am NOT a photographer… LOL

My hutch got a garland intertwined with musical Christmas bell lights. then I filled my crystal bowl with red and gold balls that match the rest of the dining room.

Just to the right of the hutch is the fireplace. I love the gold glitter decorations from Dollar Tree! But I really wish I had a mantle…

But my favorite new living/dining room addition is the ornaments and ribbons hanging from the chandelier! They look especially nice with our new gold tablecloth and red chargers!

My mom bought me this lovely vintage tablecloth last Christmas! It’s perfect with its matching soapdish!

On Black Friday I bought a giant Christmas paper pack and did quite a few paper crafts for decorations around the house…

covering over pictures in frames was a quick, easy, & inexpensive way to “Christmas” a room

This bird garland looks so cute in our beach-themed bathroom of blue and red.

I added a few more blue and red touches to the bathroom, that turned out great!

blue canning jars filled with fun Christmas do-dads

A vase filled with blue lights, topped with a blue float really set off the glass ornament that my youngest son brought home from his cruise in Hawaii a couple of years ago. Looks much better here than lost in the shuffle on the tree!

I doubled over a string of blue lights and tied it together with strips of white, red and blue fabrics! It even makes me look better in the morning! LOL

This fun and easy window display is just some garland wrapped around a cheap tension rod. Then I tied on some glass ornaments, added a red bow, kept the lantern right where it was… Love it!!!

In fact, I loved it so much I did a variation of it in my bathroom! (which my boys thought was ridiculous since only my hubby and I see our bathroom… but I don’t care! I love seeing it when I wake up in the morning and it’s still dark outside! Maybe I should leave it up all year??? LOL)

The family room got a few new touches, too!

I doctored up some old red records with Christmas paper and hung up an old Christmas record in the music corner.

All kinds of new fun stuff on the wet bar!

I took some burned out bulbs and glittered them! I love how sparkly they are but not how sparkly everything they touch is… ;o)

The kitschy wreath-o-presents was just what the wall needed! And it was only 50 cents!!!

The tree got a new skirt made from a vintage round tablecloth I picked up for a whopping $2!!!

I also made up some craft stick snowflakes for the fireplace downstairs… again, no mantle, but I love they way these look against the brick!

Here’s just a bit of miscellaneous stuff that didn’t fit anywhere else in the post…

These colors were just so pretty, I had to have them!!!

Christmas lights and bright colored Christmas ornaments stuffed into a glass tree make a very pretty nightlight in the upstairs bath!

I even put out some of my great-grandma’s Christmas postcards on my grandpa’s school desk bedside table!

Well, I think that just about wrapped up my Christmas tour. Hope your home is festive and fun and full of things you love!

Drinking Vinegar

2011-12-15T22:52:00.001-08:00

I can’t believe I’m saying this… but I have drank a cup of organic apple cider vinegar every day for about two weeks. This just proves that I will do just about anything if I think it will keep me from getting sick! ;o)

Before you get the idea that I am just taking a few swigs out of the bottle I should tell you that I do doctor it up a bit before sipping. And I didn’t come up with this idea myself. I have several friends who do it and I finally decided to give it a shot. (Reading posts from numerous friends about nasty coughs, sore throats and barfing didn’t help.)

Apple cider vinegar is good for lots of things that ail ya from colds, to cancer, diabetes, cholesterol, blood pressure, weight loss, digestion, arthritis, fungus, yeast…

This isn’t for whimps! I can’t convince anyone else in my house to do it at all. (Babies!) But there are a few tips that I have learned over the past two weeks that I believe has made it a bit easier to swallow…

Pour 1 Tablespoon of organic apple cider vinegar (unfiltered & unpasteurized) in a large mug. Don’t use anything smaller than 8 oz. Diluting it helps.

Add 1 heaping teaspoon of raw local honey. (also good for allergies)

Fill mug with hot (not boiling, I think that makes it taste worse) water. Stir to dissolve honey.

Drink up! Repeat once daily (if you can…) ;o)

Down The Drain

2011-12-06T23:23:00.001-08:00

While we all hope not to have to use this, we all have to eventually… This is a really great DIY alternative to Liquid Plumber!

All you need is:

Baking Soda

Boiling water

Vinegar or Bleach

First fill your clogged or slow drain with baking soda.

Follow with vinegar or boiling water. Vinegar works better for more stubborn clogged drains. The whole foaming action works really well for clearing clogs and erupting volcanoes for a first-grade science project!

Let sit for 10 minutes. If you used vinegar, follow up by pouring an entire kettle of boiling water down the drain. If you used boiling water, follow with some vinegar or bleach.

Before you know it your drain will be flowing once again!!!!

Library Wish List

2011-11-21T21:24:00.001-08:00

While at OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science & Industry) today with my youngest son, we stopped in at the gift store to kill some time while waiting to get into the Body Worlds exhibit. (Yes, it was AMAZING!!!)

One of my many weaknesses is books, and they had some really cool ones that I would love to add to my collection!

This had some really useful information on raising chickens in your backyard. I especially liked how they rated the different breeds.

I so want to do bees someday… HONEY!!!

This shows you how to make the most of the space in your yard. Beautiful and practical!

Because you just never know…

These sound like a super fun class to teach at co-op!

I don’t really want either of these books but I did find it interesting that they chose a phone cord to be the female brain and duct tape for the male. LOL

With Christmas coming up this just might be a hint… ;o)

Chicken Lessons

2011-11-16T22:41:00.001-08:00

This post is about lessons I learned about chickens and lessons I learned about myself this past week…

1. You can buy a lot of eggs for the cost of what it takes to raise chickens!

This is really what sparked this entire epiphany. When my girls molted and stopped laying I started to contemplate exactly how much they were actually costing me. I came to the realization that they aren’t really cost effective (I think I already knew this deep down) but just love having chickens anyway!

I figured the best use of my money was to butcher them now while they were still good for eatin’…

2. I am a practical, old-school kind of farmer.

I love having a farm in our backyard! I love having animals! But I also love raising my own food! And I raise chickens for food… Whether it is eggs or meat, that is their purpose. It’s not cold or heartless, it is what I raised them for.

3. I get a real sense of pride and satisfaction from raising my own food!

It is really cool to fill my freezer full of meat that I raised from babies, collected eggs from, butchered and cooked all by myself (with some help from my fantastic family and friends)!

4. I will not be buying chickens with black feathers anymore!

While black-feathered birds look gorgeous in the coop, they don’t look so nice in the roaster! Ugh! All those black feather ends don’t look very appetizing…

5. Flock rotation sounds like a good idea!

The city only allows me to have 8 chickens in my backyard. I think that this year I am going to buy only 4 hens. Then the following spring I will buy 4 more. This way in the future I will always have 4 prime laying hens and 4 for the freezer. I think this will be a much better plan! We’ll see how it goes…

6. I am going to miss having chickens!

: o( But I will be glad to have babies again this spring!

Casserole Cozy Giveaway

2011-11-07T21:46:00.001-08:00

Today I reached 300 fans on my Facebook page! So in honor of the momentous occasion I am doing another giveaway! It’s about time, right???

With Thanksgiving right around the corner and the Christmas season close behind, I figured it was the perfect time of year for casserole cozies! They are so handy for taking a green bean casserole to Thanksgiving dinner or a tray of cupcakes to the school party. I’ve used mine for oval casseroles, pies and even salad bowls. Extra padding on the bottom makes it safe for dishes right out of the oven. Velcro tabs and carrying handles makes it easy to take with you without the worry of it slipping out.

Here’s the catch: I won’t give it away until I reach 350 fans on the FB page. Sorry, but I need more time to finish a few more cozies for you to pick from… ;o)

If you are already a fan, you are entered in the contest.

If you are NOT a fan, go to my Facebook page HERE and push “Like”.

You can also enter by leaving a comment on this post. Tell me your name (first and last) and your favorite dish to make in a 9x13 pan.

If you are a fan on Facebook and leave a comment, you are entered in TWICE!!!

But remember, it won’t happen until we reach 350!

Here’s a peek at the one I made this afternoon…

Good luck and I can’t wait to hear (I guess, read) your favorite dishes!

Autumn At The Creek

2011-10-30T22:34:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we got to go to our family’s pumpkin party for the very first time! What fun! Tractor rides, campfires, s’mores, pumpkin carving, tempting treats, friends, family and gorgeous fall colors…

my sister’s airstream pumpkin

We also got to check out my dad’s new root cellar. It is amazing!!! I know where I’ll be storing my veggies next year…

Maybe we should just move down to the creek??? Look how pretty it is in the fall…

Can I Be Done Now???

2011-10-27T21:09:00.001-07:00

I think I am finally done canning for this year. At least all the big canning jobs. From here on out it will be small batches of jellies, chutneys, mustards and other little goodies. In reality I have to be done with the big canning because I am out of big jars, all I have left are the sweet little ones.

But it’s ok because I am glad to have my kitchen table back…

and my canning shelf full! In fact it was too full and I had to make room on the shelf next door.

When I look at the shelves it doesn’t seem like that many jars. But it sure seemed like a whole bunch of ‘em when I was canning. ;o)

Each year I learn more about canning: what we eat, what we don’t eat, how much of it we eat. It doesn’t do me any good to have jars full of things no one will eat, does it? Maybe one of these year’s I’ll get up the nerve to use the dreaded pressure canner???

Cider Press

2011-10-24T22:36:00.001-07:00

We realized that this year was the fifth year the boys have gone to press cider with the Cummings. This year I decided to tag along. It was fun to see the process! Usually we just see the results strewn all over the kitchen floor when we go to pick them up.

The past couple of years have not been good for local apples, so they ordered another bin of apples this year and had it delivered from Yakima. Six hundred pounds is a whole lot of apples!!!

Will obviously took the first picture! Unfortunately he got caught up in the fun and quit after this one.

It was just fun to be part of a bigger community getting together and having fun. Kind of like a quilting bee or a barn raising… In all we pressed (and drank) about 60 gallons of cider!!! We had to quit because we ran out of containers!

Even the rain didn’t deter these guys!

Some of those apples were really BIG!

First the apples get chopped and then they get pressed.

Then we strain the cider through cheese cloth into our containers.

A couple of neighbors had some apples to share, so the kids went over to glean some more for us to press…

Sometimes just climbing the tree works better than ladders

We also picked some grapes from the grape vines and threw them in, too. Apple & white grape cider is mighty tasty!

When it was all said and done we had a whole lot of cider! And it didn’t take long at all with all that good help…

Everyone worked hard but they still found time to play… especially when it came time for clean-up! ;o)

the leftovers don’t look so appetizing

Pressing cider is much easier when you can use a hose for clean-up. Too bad we couldn’t have used it on her poor kitchen floor!

The best part of cider pressing… having a fridge full of cider! We brought home 10 gallons!!!

Thankfully the shelves held up until we could get it all canned! Whew!

Thanks again, Cummings family! It wouldn’t seem like fall without cider…

Something Smells Fishy Around Here

2011-10-18T23:28:00.001-07:00

This is a flashback post from October 2008. This was the very first time we were gifted live crab. We’ve done this a whole lot of ‘em since then but we still do it just like this…

Well maybe not fishy, but definitely , crabby. Last night, a couple in our church gave us a gift of 5 live, large dungeness crab. It was quite a treat and we were all excited, but had no idea of how to go about cooking live crabs.

So, what do you do when you don't know what to do? You call your parents. My parents go crabbing and I knew they would know exactly what I needed to do.

Warning! The remainder of this post is not for the squeamish or faint of heart.

They did know exactly what I needed to do and I wasn't all that excited about doing it. But you can't let $50 worth of crab meat go to waste, so...

Crab tastes better if you kill it before you cook it. And then you don't have to hear it "scream" when you drop it into boiling water, either. Therefore, the first thing we had to do was the killing.

Andy helped me by wielding the rubber mallet while I held the knife. You cut the crab in half while it is on its back.

Then we pulled off the shell and cleaned out all the undesirable parts and put the legs in the bucket of cold water. This made for an interesting lesson on crab anatomy during school today. We learned that we were right, it was the heart.

After everything is cleaned and removed, into the boiling salt water they go for 15 minutes.

Followed by an ice-water bath.

Then the picking begins. With four of us working, it went pretty quickly. Much thanks to Andy for his ingenious idea of using our fondue forks for removing the meat. It worked great!

In order to freeze the crab, it gets frozen into another saltwater bath.

You can also freeze the legs whole after they are cooked and cooled. Then you just boil or stem them to reheat.

It was a lot of work, but the crab cocktails at supper were well worth the effort.

But we now know why my parents do all of their crab cooking out of doors. It's really difficult to get rid of that "down by the docks" smell! It was like being at the beach, but not in a good

way. :o)

Now we do the whole messy ordeal out on our deck. It is usually dark and cold but being able to hose the whole thing down and not deal with the smell is worth it!

Rendering Lard

2011-10-17T21:57:00.001-07:00

I finally got around to rendering the lard from our pig, Chester. And I have to admit that I’m glad I did!

Tip #1- Do it outside!

We have had lovely fall weather this past week which was perfect for working out on the deck! Sunny but not too hot…I am also glad that my SIL advised me to do it outside. I would not want to do that in my kitchen!

Tip #2- Freeze your lard before cutting it up into chunks!

But the best thing of all was having a huge bag of frozen lard. Surfing through blogs about rendering lard made it look like the slimy, slippery, yucky mess that it would be if your fat was not frozen…

Tip #3- Collect your supplies before you start!

Here are the supplies you will need to get started:

Cutting boards

Sharp knives

Roasting oven / stock pot and outdoor burner

Tables

Large bowl for cut up lard

Large spoon

Small bowl for holding the spoon in

Tip #4- The smaller you cut the pieces the faster the lard will melt

Partially frozen lard is the easiest to cut but you don’t want the chunks to be too big. The smaller it is, the better! If you can get your butcher to run it through the grinder, do it! It will save you a whole lot of work…

I filled the bucket after my roaster oven was full

Tip #5- Fill your roaster oven and turn to about 250. Lower temps are better to avoid burning.

Tip #6- Stir about every hour to keep it from scorching on the bottom and to speed the melting process.

the lard is beginning to melt down

Tip #7- Gather and prep supplies for jarring your lard.

I just washed up some quart sized jars in my dishwasher and prepped my canning lids like I would for canning.

Here are the remaining supplies you will need:

canning jars

lids/rings

saucepan for heating lids

ladle

canning funnel

wire sieve

cheesecloth (cut into a square to fit into sieve)

Tip #8- Carefully ladle the melted lard into the jars.

Set your canning funnel into the jars. Lay your sieve into the funnel and place your cheesecloth into the sieve. Ladle the melted lard into your jar with a 1” headspace. Top with your warmed lid, screw on band.

Tip #9- Not everything will melt down!

Eventually the stuff that is left in your roaster will not melt anymore. This is all the meat that was in your lard. I know you can do things with all that, but I just chose to toss it… Wasteful I know, but I just didn’t want to deal with it! If you want to, you may want to do some research…

Tip #10- Don’t worry if it isn’t white right away!

At first it will look a lot like chicken stock. Let your jars cool completely. They will turn white when they are cool. After they are cooled and white, then check your seals.

See how nice and white the ones at the end are!

Tip #11- Don’t worry if your jar doesn’t seal!

If some of your jars didn’t seal, don’t worry. You can pop one in the fridge to use right away. The others (if there are any) can be resealed. Just heat up some new lids, melt the lard in the microwave right in the jar. Take the lid off first! Make sure you can feel heat coming off the top of your jar before resealing it. Just screw on the new lids and let them cool.

Tip #12- Freezing is best!

I did some research on storage of lard today. Some say you have to pressure can it. Some say to boiling water bath it. Some say it is fine just the way it is. But I read that the best way to do it without getting water in it is freezing. Frozen lard will be good for 6-9 months.

Tip #12- I’ll have to let you know how it works later… I haven’t tried it yet!

First on the agenda… biscuits!

Master Make-Over

2011-10-04T22:44:00.001-07:00

Eventually we will get all the rooms in this house painted…. but now the master bedroom is done. And it looks FANTASTIC!!!

I was inspired by a family tree photo display I saw on Pinterest but I still needed the right wall color. My friend Megan gave me all of their left-over house paint and it was perfect! I knew it as soon as I slopped a bit of it on the wall over the bed!

I so wish I had better before/after pics of this. Why do I never remember to do it until after I start the project and it is too late? Here’s the best one I could find… And yes, the room was as boring as it looks in the picture.

Here’s what it looks like now…

this art work is also inspired from Pinterest, just scrapbook paper mounted on boards

We used to have this on a sign above the closet, but I like it so much better painted above the bed with baskets for our books and such!

I love being reminded of this every morning when I get up!

This will be our first night in our new room and I am sure I will sleep even better than usual! And I usually sleep really well…

Farmwife Fitness

2011-10-03T21:37:00.001-07:00

There are two things I really miss from my pre-children days: 1. bikini abs (yes, I did have them once…) 2. bladder control (don’t sneeze unless you’ve just gone to the bathroom). Sorry, that was probably overshare!

While I’m pretty certain I can’t do much about the bladder thing, I would really like to get those abs back. Having your grandma tell me that I “look so cute and pregnant” in an outfit isn’t exactly a compliment.

Ideally, I’d like to just take a big rubber band and squeeze all that fat up to my chest where it would actually look good. Yeah, that’s not happening either…

Then I found this on Pinterest…

ATTENTION ALL GIRLS: We ALL know that the lower stomach is one of the very hardest places to burn fat and tone. These are some terrific exercises to do in the morning and at night to burn those hard to tone areas! Do this every morning when you wake up, and every night before you sleep. I guarantee you’ll see results in a week flat!

I can’t tell you how excited I was! Now I should now that when something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. But I was too preoccupied with reminiscing about my 19 year old abs…

I have just completed my second week of doing these nine simple exercises twice a day… or just about. The first week was easy! All I could think about was what kind of results I would see at the end of the week! After seeing the results I found it a whole lot harder to motivate myself the second week, busy mornings or really tired bedtimes made a really easy excuse.

But I think I really need to be fair here. She doesn’t say what kind or how much of a result we’ll see. And after all, it did take me over 15 years to get this way and I’ve gone up two pants sizes in the last 15 months, so I’m guessing it’s gonna take longer than 2 weeks. I guess there’s always next summer…

Brick Farms

2011-10-02T21:53:00.001-07:00

On Saturday we took our youngest son and his best friend to Brick Con in Seattle. Brick Con is the Lego convention held every year at the Seattle Center. Here every Lego enthusiast comes to showcase and sell his wares to other Lego fanatics. Will has wanted to go for a few years now and the opportunity finally presented itself…

I have to tell you that I have never seen so many little boys concentrated in one building ever in all my life. I would be willing to wager that for every little girl there were about 200 very excited and bright-eyed little boys dreaming of a room full of Legos of every shape and color, mine included!

Here you could buy or admire just about anything you can imagine made out of Legos! So you can imagine how excited I was to see that Lego geeks even do farms…

I could see living here!

this farm was complete with a slaughter house and trailer park…

Hey, should I be offended??? ;o)

Thanks Brick Con for an amazing and inspiring day! We will be back next year…

Bathroom Salsa

2011-09-29T21:27:00.001-07:00

I just love going into the bathroom and collecting bowls full of red tomatoes! In case you are wondering what in the world I am doing with tomatoes in my bathroom, you’ll have to check out my previous post HERE.

Today and yesterday I collected enough of them to can another batch of our favorite salsa after supper tonight! And as you can see from the above picture, they were really green only 4 or 5 days ago…

this is only one of the three bowls I got

You know, “our favorite salsa” isn’t a very creative name… Maybe we should call it bathroom salsa? Kinda like bathtub gin, only totally different. We don’t have a tub in the basement bathroom and I don’t bootleg my salsa. ;o)

Goodbye Garden

2011-09-26T22:46:00.001-07:00

It was time to say goodbye…

I had to come to terms with the fact that the stuff that grew was done for the year and the stuff that hadn’t produced yet wasn’t gonna. Last year we had great squash and no cucumbers. This year it was good cucumbers and no squash. Next year we are NOT doing corn! Corn has NEVER done well here, so I’m going to quit wasting space on it. Beans, peas, carrots, beets, onions, potatoes and tomatoes all did well though!

The hardest part of yanking up the garden is deciding when it is time to give up and pick the abundance of green tomatoes. I hate making that decision! I always second guess myself. I am always sure I should have waited a bit longer to see if the sun pops out again. And then when it does, I always kick myself for not waiting… I’m pretty certain I’ll be doing some kicking by the end of the week.

But for better or for worse I have three very large bags in the basement bathroom (it’s the only place I can keep them away from kittens and puppies that are just sure they are, in reality, balls) trying to turn red.

Threw some apples in the bags to speed them along a bit

If it doesn’t work out I have a few green tomato recipes in cookbooks and on Pinterest I can always fall back on.

Now my gardens just look sad and brown. But I’m already plotting and planning for next year… Can’t hurt to plan ahead, right???

Farmwife Fashion

2011-09-21T22:51:00.001-07:00

While we were vacationing at Lincoln City, us girls hit the outlet mall TWICE. I haven’t been to an outlet mall in ages!

Our first stop was Claire’s. I never get to go to Claire’s. Most trips to the mall involve GameStop or Big Five or Sears, but never Claire’s. They have so many cute earrings, it was almost impossible to choose just one. Thankfully, they were having a sale and I didn’t have to! : o)

I just loved the owls and trees!

The first night, I didn’t really find much until I got to Christopher & Banks. I fell in love with this green sweater!

It really isn’t gray, it just looks that way in the pic

The first time we went, Zack and Will came with and it was only an hour before closing. So we had to hurry! Not that the boys minded.

The mannequins at Old Navy kinda creeped the boys out! LOL

With only an hour, there were still so many stores we hadn’t seen. So Mom and I went again the next day, too! And this time we walked into the sweater sale at Dress Barn. Immediately we spied an adorable long chocolate brown sweater that we loved! But as we continued to walk around we discovered that we were surrounded by hundreds of adorable sweaters that were all on sale! It was almost like a dream! I didn’t know clothes shopping could be fun! Usually my shopping trips involve lots of thoughts/comments like, “Who thought that was a good idea?” or “I can’t imagine anyone in their right mind wearing that.” or “That would not fit me in a million years!” Maybe that’s why I prefer shopping at Goodwill? LOL

I was actually hard to decide. But after several trips to the fitting room and looks in the mirror, we found the perfect ones! Not only did they look nice on the hanger, they fit like they were made just for me!

I got my hubby to take a picture of me in this one, but he gave me a strange look when I asked and then I knew he wasn’t going to appreciate being a fashion photographer. So the rest of them are just lying on my bed… : o)

This one is my favorite!

I loved this one because it was just so soft!!!

Oh, and when you shop at stores where no one else has worn the clothes before they put them in pretty bags! ; o)

Not exactly working in the garden or mucking out the chicken coop attire, so now I’ll have to go somewhere fancy to wear them!

POTATOES!

2011-09-20T22:17:00.001-07:00

"P-O-T-A-T-O-E-S, Boil em, Mash em, stick em in a stew." Samwise Gamgee

This year we planted potatoes for the very first time. And they grew great! In fact the plants grew so tall and bushy that I was quite certain that they must have put all their energy into growing up instead of growing potatoes. They grew so large they crowded out everything else that I had planted around them. My suspicions were even verified by other gardeners. But I let them go, figuring I’d wait till they started to die off and see what pathetic little taters I would find…

This wasn’t even taken when they were at their peak

In the last week or so they finally started to turn yellow and fall over. I translated this into it was nearing time to pull them up and see what we got. Imagine my surprise (and delight) when I yanked up the first one and found these two behemoths hanging off the bottom!

Ok, so I was wrong! Andy and I got right into pulling and digging up the rest of the plants. The soil was obviously just right for growing potatoes! I’m thinking we probably should have harvested them sooner.

Now we just have to figure out how to store them all for the winter…

Oh Just Can It!

2011-09-18T22:28:00.001-07:00

I have spent the last two days (well… last week) canning. I’ve already done some canning but this was the all-day marathon type of canning!

I had the revelation that canning is a lot like having a baby… The results are so wonderful that we totally forget how much crazy-hard work it is and we go and do it again. ;o)

After two days the kitchen was a disaster, I was hot and sweaty (thanks to the fact that summer decided to finally show up just when canning season really got into full swing), but I now have a good start (but just a start, mind you) on my canning (and freezing) for the upcoming year…

Sometimes I go into the laundry room just to stare at it…

The kittens just love standing in front of the open freezer to cool off!

Whipped Laundry Soap

2011-09-06T21:28:00.001-07:00

I’ve been making my own laundry soap since May of 2008. I’ve made both the liquid and the powdered varieties but was intrigued when I came upon this recipe for whipped laundry soap from The White Silk Purse on Pinterest.

It just looked so much nicer than mine… Especially the liquid stuff! It just looks like snot! (Sorry, but it does!)

This one is quite a bit of extra work, so I hope it is worth it!

For the full recipe, click HERE. But here is the shortcut version…

Grate Fels Naptha

Melt in water on the stove

Add in Borax and Washing Soda

Pour into jars and add water. Let sit overnight or for 8 hours.

Remove from jars and whip in mixer until light and fluffy

If it didn’t seem so soapy, you’d be tempted to lick the beater ;o)

Pour back into jars. Use 1 Tablespoon per load of laundry.

I’ll let you know what I think of it later…

Harvest Time!

2011-08-25T21:53:00.001-07:00

I love this time of the year in my garden! I love going out and finding new things to pick almost every day! I love having fresh beans or grilled zucchini for supper! I love making and canning our year’s supply of our favorite salsa!

This year’s harvest is quite late… But what did I expect when it wasn’t warm enough to plant until the beginning of July! I’m just hoping the warm weather sticks around long enough that I get a crop of everything I planted. Well, I’ve already given up hope completely on the corn and jalapenos. : o(

On the bright side, I’m home when the crops are ready! In the past I come home from one of our annual summer vacation weeks only to discover that whatever-it-is was ready 5 days ago and is now well past its prime… Always disappointing!

Here are just a few of the things I have picked so far this year…

This was our first harvest of the year from the garden! I now have in second crops of beets, carrots and radishes.

As you can see below… the above picture was just the tip of the iceberg of the peas.

Four days later we picked two even bigger bowls of peas than these! And we’ll have more in a couple of days from now!

Now the beans, tomatoes, cukes and zucchini have begun…

Yup! I love harvest time! All that hard work really pays off!

Berries and Beans

2011-08-22T23:04:00.001-07:00

Today I finally got to go over the river to Thorneberry’s Organic Blueberry Farm to pick blueberries! At only $1.35 a pound, I couldn’t pass it up! I called a friend and we headed out to pick with our boys…

There were TONS of gorgeous big blueberries just waiting to get picked!

My youngest son took time from picking berries to take these lovely shots!

When it was all said and done we had all together picked about 45 pounds of blueberries!!! The farm owner inquired if I hired the boys out…LOL

Then Zack and I went to the top of our hill and picked the first of the blackberries. Hopefully there will be a whole lot more in the next couple of weeks!

All that picking worked up an appetite! So I whipped up a quick spaghetti and meatballs with the first beans of the year from the garden. It just hit the spot!

Now what to do with all those berries???

2011-08-21T23:04:00.001-07:00

This is an invitation. Should you choose to accept this invitation, just know that it comes with a warning. Pinterest is the archenemy of productivity. It is also a magnificent way to make a picture file of all those phenomenal recipes and ideas you find on-line and organize them and then share them with others.

It is an invitation to Pinterest. You can follow me, Backyard Farmwife, (see my link on my sidebar to the right) and your other friends who have been sucked into the time sucking void of pictures and ideas that you can really only dream of doing… Just kidding, you’ll find time eventually! ;o)

Hope to see you all soon! Happy Pinning!!!

Bringing Home The Bacon

2011-08-12T21:16:00.001-07:00

What’s better than bacon? Before today my answer would have been, “NOTHING!” Now it’s, “bacon from your very own pig!”

Last night we brought home our half of our pig: That means roasts, ham, chops, ribs, sausage, and BACON!

It has to also share space with our crab, chicken, jams, produce and a HUGE bag full of FAT.

This morning for breakfast we cooked up a package of bacon. It is so thick and tasty! I wonder how long it will last???

Next is rendering lard… LOTS of LOTS of lard!!!

Cooking To The Classics

2011-08-11T22:30:00.001-07:00

I have fallen in love with listening to books on cd’s (or Playaways from the library) while I cook or do other chores! I especially enjoy the classics… You know those really thick books that don’t have any pictures and were written by people long since dead! I love ‘em!

I love baking bread while listening to the tragic life of Jane Eyre or digging weeds in the garden while listening to the adventures of Long John Silver! These stories take me to places and times that I would love to see and live, and immerse me into lives that I sometimes feel could almost be real.

Here are some of my favorites I’ve read while canning, cooking, kneading, sewing, folding, weeding or lying in bed the past couple of years…

Little Women: I could read this one over and over! I went into labor with my middle son while watching the movie at the theatre! So it’s a bit sentimental for me.

The Good Earth: A fascinating look into pre-revolutionary China.

Swiss Family Robinson: This book made me wish that my husband and I had been shipwrecked on an island with our three boys!

Wuthering Heights: I just wanted to read this one to find out what kind of man is named Heathcliff… Now I know.

O Pioneers: I like stories about pioneers.

Treasure Island: Way better than Pirates of the Caribbean!

Jane Eyre: One of my favorite books ever! I was intrigued when I discovered that the last line of this book is “Maranatha”. I was not disappointed!

Ben Hur: An amazing story of ancient Rome! Exciting, romantic adventure! WAY better than the movie!!!

Mrs Mike: Before I read this book I watched “Pioneer House” and was sure I would be a fantastic pioneer wife. After I read this book, I was convinced I could NEVER be a pioneer wife! It totally changed the way I viewed those amazing women who left everything to follow their husbands into the great unknown!

Return of the Native: Still not finished but I can’t wait to see how it turns out!

Grab a good book, a cup of tea or a mp3 and a pair of earphones and get away in a great classic novel! You won’t regret it!

If you want to check out my Pinterest board of books I love, click HERE.

Sheet Dreams

2011-08-09T19:18:00.001-07:00

I admit it… I adore sleeping on clean new sheets! If I had tons of time (or a maid), I would wash and change the sheets every day. It would be a frivolous waste but totally worth it!!!

This past winter we were introduced to the fluffy warm luxury of polar fleece sheets! When you heat entirely with wood and your bedroom is in the far back of the house, they are an absolute must on cold winter nights! I was quite positive that I would never find sheets quite as lovely ever again…

I was wrong!

If cotton and silk were to have a baby, these sheets would be their offspring. I wish I had kept the package because I honestly can’t remember what they are and I’m not sure what they are made of??? They are almost weightless and just softly drape over you while you sleep. Perfect for hot summer nights! And I love the delicate almost toile-like pattern!

I know it’s silly, but I can hardly wait to go to bed tonight! Maybe I’ll turn in early and do a bit of reading before I go to sleep???

County Fair 2011

2011-07-31T22:53:00.001-07:00

Ever since they started having free admission to our county fair, we’ve gone! Why not??? It’s free! And the farmer in me is always inspired (or rendered momentarily and completely discontent with our house in town). Why, oh, why won’t they let me have a goat??? Even Seattle residents can have a miniature goat!!! Ok, don’t get me started… Back to the fair.

This year was even more fun because Will entered some pictures and we were all anticipating a fine showing in the ribbon department! And we weren’t disappointed! You can check out his winnings HERE.

After collecting his prizes, we checked out the rest of what our fine county has to offer!

Of course there was rides, and games and sugary and/or deep-fried goodies!

There was also animals, produce and other such farmy stuff…

After seeing all these gorgeous birds it made me wonder what would possess someone to want one of these???

I also want to find out what kind of chicken lays these lovely dark brown eggs! They are just delicious!

But I don’t just love the feathered farm animals…

I would be thrilled to have any one of these creatures come and live in our backyard farm! Well, maybe not the cow…

With the unusually cold wet season here, the produce entries were a little lacking. But the cold weather crops seem to be fairing (pardon the pun) quite well and I always enjoy the grange displays!

These two were my favorites! There is just something so homey and comforting about all the canned goods and produce on display!

I love dahilas! We had them at our wedding and this combination of fuchsia pink, pale yellow and purple was just stunning!

Since we get in for free and we don’t have much in the way to money to burn, we treated ourselves to a monster bag of cotton candy and a couple of games of Bingo to benefit our local PUD charity.

All in all it was a very good day at the fair!

Picking Suckers

2011-07-30T21:46:00.001-07:00

It’s hard to believe that only two years ago when my friend Megan told me that I needed to pick the suckers off my tomato plants that I hadn’t the foggiest notion what she was talking about…

But when I got home from being gone for a week and saw my lush, thick, green tomato plants the first thing I thought was, “I’ve got to pick those suckers!”

The plants had become so big and bushy that the tomatoes and blossoms were not getting much sun! And this year, they need all the help they can get.

I’m not terribly methodical or exacting when plucking off suckers. But it’s never been a problem and there isn’t much help on the internet on the subject. Gardening experts don’t really seem to agree much on technique, timing or even whether to do it at all. So I just got by my gut.

Any branch coming off the main stalk that is only leaves goes. I may leave one or two if the plant is looking spindly but I pay special attention to those that seem to be blocking the most light from the blossoms and fruit.

When I was done I had quite the pile of stems and some nicely groomed tomato plants! Now if only weeding were as quick and easy…

Those aren’t ALL tomato branches. I also pulled up a very large cabbage plant that bolted… :o(

Now they can breathe again!

I think it helped already! This afternoon I found two new ripe Sungolds!!!

Look What Grew

2011-07-27T22:29:00.001-07:00

Wow! Everything on the farm grew a lot while we were gone!

The puppy grew…

The kittens grew…

and the garden grew…

Unfortunately, so did the weeds… :o(

Maybe the weeds will be easier to pull if they’re big???

I’m Blessed Monday

2011-07-18T13:35:00.001-07:00

Today has been so hectic (heck, this entire past week has been insane!), I almost forgot about “I’m Blessed Mondays”!

I’m afraid there are no pics but I’m sharing anyways…

This past week was our church’s VBS. The two weeks before God gave me the verse from the parable of the talents, “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ “ Matthew 25:21. We are to be faithful with God has given us. Large or small, He still declares “Well done, good and faithful servant!”

While our VBS was pretty small (but bigger than most of our years), it was full of wonderful children and opportunities to reach out to the children in our community and tell them about Jesus! And I thought about the stories of Elijah in a whole new way last week!

I just feel blessed this week for the kids we got to have and the seeds that were sown!

Kittens – 1 Week

2011-07-14T09:13:00.001-07:00

The kittens have grown quite a bit in their first 9 days! They eat all the time, crawl all over one another and sleep quite soundly all day! I think they’ll be opening their eyes soon…

Summer Treasures

2011-07-12T23:08:00.001-07:00

This summer has already resulted in some super treasure hunts and finds that I just had to share!

First there was the youth group garage sale. Every year I tell myself, “only take, don’t bring home”. But I have yet to follow that rule… Here is my favorite rule breaker:

I love the label!

I probably would not have gotten it if it hadn’t been in such pristine condition!

One of my favorite thrift stores is at a retirement community adjacent to our Bible Camp! I go every year with friends and find just the right thing (or things). This year I was extra fortunate to have a friend who was willing to cover my tab when I went WAY over my budget! :o) Here is what I picked up there…

I don’t need another cookbook but it was free!

And it had such cute pics like this one!

I just love these things and this one had the original cork! ($1)

This pot just needs to serve chai tea! ($1)

I can’t believe I bought more dishes (or that my hubby let me)! But the whole set was a bargain! ($5)

Thanks to Kate my hems will now be much straighter!

The JoAnn’s clearance aisle is just dangerous! Especially when it’s 70% off and really cute farm stuff!!! How could I NOT get it???

And sometimes sweet and lovely people just know what I would love and offer it to me… Those are the best!!!

Tablecloths from my SIL!

This little gem came from a lady at church who brought her mother’s Sunday School flannelgraphs in them and said I could have them!!!

I wonder what treasures the rest of the summer holds???

Goodbye Chester

2011-07-11T23:03:00.001-07:00

This is the next episode of “Where Your Food Really Comes From”… Again, this comes with a pretty pointed warning:

This post contains GRAPHIC PICTURES of hog butching! Those with weak constitutions or those that really love pigs should not continue reading!!!

The day after Independence Day (aka 4th of July), we headed out to my brother and SIL’s backyard farm to butcher our pigs. Thankfully we don’t have to do any of the dirty work, we leave that to the professionals and their super spiffy livestock butchering truck! Willie does a phenomenal job!!!!

I like that our pig has lived a happy, albeit short, life thanks to Frank, Amy and Ada! Amy did a super job explaining to Ada what we were going to do and Ada did great until it came time to actually do it. She didn’t see anything but she did cry and feel very sad about saying goodbye… :o(

The whole ordeal is relatively fast thanks to Willie’s expertise!

First they give it a good cleaning

Then they make a quick job of skinning it

All I could think of is all that gorgeous white lard and all the lovely things I will make with it!!! :o)

What are they going to do with that behemoth???

Oh yeah, we’re only getting HALF a pig!

Yum! Look at them ribs!!! Spicy honey BBQ will be just what they need!

Then they load up both halves into the refrigerated truck to go to the butcher. We went ahead of our pigs to the butcher and ordered our cuts. I bought some of their bacon to sample… Let’s just say I’m really looking forward to our freezer full of meat! Two hundred pounds hanging weight, baby!!!

I’m already dreaming of pork chops, hams, bacon and roasts!

I’m Blessed Monday

2011-07-11T08:52:00.001-07:00

Summers are so insanely busy in our family that I was tempted to just not take the time to do much blogging… But then I realized I would actually go insane! ;o) So, posting may be a bit spotty for the next couple of months but I am going to do my darnedest to remember how I am blessed every Monday!

Today I am feeling blessed that my husband took us out to eat TWICE yesterday! It may sound a bit silly and frivolous but I needed it and he knew it! Sundays are always crazy but the Sunday that is the first day of VBS at church and the beginning of a super busy week was exponentially so!

So I am blessed by a hubby who pays attention to my needs and is teaching my three future-husbands to do the same! I hope they’re paying attention and taking notes… LOL

Don’t Mess With Momma

2011-07-06T22:34:00.001-07:00

It’s no secret that our kitty does NOT like the new puppy! Actually, that could be the understatement of the year! She HATES Max!!!

In a way it is sort of a turning of the tables for Tabbi… Betsy hated her when she was a tiny kitten and now she hates Max. Now that I think of it, Betsy hates Max, too. Poor Max!!! :o( But we love him!

My boys were sure that the source of Tabitha’s animosity towards Max is due to her raging pregnant hormones! And they may be right… But the random attacks and hissing was getting old FAST!

But the feud reached a head when Zack arrived home from Bible Camp about 5 hours ahead of the rest of us. (He rode back with a friend.) While having supper at Applebee’s, 4 + hours north of home, I receive a breathless phone call from my oldest son asking what he should do.

Tabbi had been resting on his lap and Max decided to join in the fun; only the cat didn’t think it was fun… She went NUTS! Like super psychotic wacko nuts! She jumped on Max’s back and started biting and scratching. The panicked puppy took off running and yelping with Tabbi still on his back. Zack raced off to save his puppy from certain doom only to get bit by a very frantic and crazed momma-to-be.

My advice, take her bed, food, water and litter box and banish her to the garage! Then clean up the wounds and make something to eat.

All the way home I tried to figure out what had snapped in her little feline brain??? My guys tried to tell me she was just going to have her babies soon. But to go that postal just because she was going to deliver kittens sometime in the near future? It seemed just too extreme…

We arrived home very late and absolutely exhausted! Everyone went straight to bed and forgot all about the banished kitty out in the garage (which, by the way, is one of her favorite places to be)…

Until the next morning when Zack went out to open up the garage and out comes a very skinny Tabbi!!! Deducing that the kittens had to have arrived during the night, Zack ran out to the garage and heard the tiny little mews from her three tiny babies…

Here they are right after we found them

We quickly picked them up to put a clean towel in their box and settle them into the laundry room. Thankfully momma cat didn’t mind a bit!

All settled in back in the house

Despite the fact that everything went just fine and mother and babies are doing well, I feel awful that I booted my poor laboring kitty into the garage to have her babies! :o(

Now that things at home have settled down to a normal routine, Tabbi has settled right into her role as a new momma. She is also enjoying having her own quiet space AWAY from the dogs, especially Max! :o)

There are two black & white kittens and one that looks just like Tabbi

We are giving them their privacy for the most part, so names and genders will be coming soon…

I’m Blessed Monday

2011-07-04T07:45:00.001-07:00

It’s time for another “I’m Blessed” post! Be sure to visit “He Sows She Sows” for more posts or share your own…

I just spent a whirlwind week at Bible Camp and I was totally blessed! Blessed by the teaching, the worship, the weather (for the most part) and by friends! It seems that everywhere you turn there are people to greet and hug, to chat with and catch up with… It’s the best!

This year I was doubly blessed by the fact that the district Women’s Ministry president hosted a lovely tea for the pastors’ wives. What a gift to be able to share and pray with women who know what you are going through. The tea was made even more special because my friend Amy just moved to the NW from Florida! The Prices are now only about 3-4 hours away!!!

I’m Blessed Monday

2011-06-28T11:18:00.001-07:00

It’s time for a second installment of “I’m Blessed” for the He Sows She Sews blog carnival.

Today I am posting while sitting in our little trailer at Family Bible Camp. We arrived a day early and I am enjoying the break from every day life and the busy-ness of camp beginning tomorrow. Right now I am listening to the birds singing in the trees and watching a buck eat blackberries out my window!

Yes, that’s the boys’ tent in the background! :o)

Yes, I am blessed to get to be at Bible Camp this week! It is so fun to see friends, listen to some great teaching and sing with a big group of people. But camp hasn’t started and this post is supposed to be how I’ve been blessed the past week… I’m getting there, I promise!

Getting here is my blessing of the week! I am thankful that all the little details came together. I am thankful that we have people staying at the house and taking care of our critters. But most of all I am thankful for our drive here!

Before today, every trip we have taken with our trailer has been a real nail-biter for me! It doesn’t make for an enjoyable ride. That is until today…

This week my sweet hubby spent an entire day working on the trailer with the help of a good friend! They installed a weight-bearing hitch, new lights, fixed the bumper, put on new tow chains, hooked up the new brake controller in the van, and put new tires on the trailer.

Now it pulls like a dream! This week we are thankful for the way we’ve been blessed by great friends and fancy stuff for our poor old trailer! :o)

Puppy Training Tips

2011-06-23T22:11:00.001-07:00

This could also be titled, “How to Turn Your Puppy Into a Great Dog in Two Million Difficult and Time-Consuming Steps”. LOL Great title, huh???

I won’t lie to you there is no easy quick way to train a puppy. In fact, I am fairly sure that my three boys were never as much work as one little puppy!

But here are some of my favorite “tricks” for raising a puppy and keeping your sanity: REMEMBER! YOU’RE THE BOSS!!!

1. Never let your puppy out of your sight! This one is a tough one but if you don’t want your new shoes chewed to bits or your carpets soaked with pee, you’d better do it! :o) This way you can also watch for signs that puppy needs to go out. If puppy starts sniffing about, it’s a pretty good sign that it’s time to go out.

2. Don’t let your puppy chew on things! Back to your new shoes. If you don’t want them chewed to bits or don’t like to be the favorite chew toy yourself, always have something on hand to stand in your place. If puppy decides to chew on some forbidden item, be right there with a toy to stick in his mouth instead. It may take about a billion times, but it will work eventually. If puppy insists that you make a better teething ring, try holding puppy’s mouth shut and then offering the toy. Be sure to have lots of interesting toys for puppy to choose from! Right now our puppy’s personal favorite toy is a bowling ball! :o)

3. Routine! Puppies like to have a routine schedule. If at all possible make wake-up, meals, snacks, walks and bedtime all on a schedule. Puppy will know what to expect and will learn it quickly!

Routine also helps for house training. If you always take puppy out after meals, when getting up from naps or after playing hard, he will learn to wait until then. Taking them to the same place every time also helps teach the puppy what to do when he has to go off-schedule.

4. Food! A well-fed puppy is a happy puppy! Food is also a phenomenal training tool! Always have a pocket full of treats (aka dog food) to use to reinforce positive behavior. You would be surprised how fast your puppy learns to do what you want when there is food involved! Always reward with praise and love, too! Then you can begin rewarding with food or praise interchangeably. Before long puppy will obey just to receive your praise!

Another great tip we learned was to avoid food aggression (our first dog had this issue as a puppy) Only let puppy eat food when you say “ok”. Make puppy sit until the food is on the floor and you give the ok to eat. You may need to hold puppy back at first and then release at your command, but they do learn what to do. The second tip is to take their food away while they are eating, make them sit, put the food down and make them wait until !you give the ok. This tip worked great! We had everyone in the family take turns doing this and the food issues disappeared! Don’t forget the love and praise when puppy does it right!

5. The Rope Trick! Our first puppy was quite a handful! In fact she was such a handful that we finally sought professional help. It was worth every penny! But the best advice she gave us was to buy 6 feet of soft cotton rope and a connector. Puppy should wear this extra “tail” whenever not in the crate. If you do it from day one, they hardly even notice it is there. Sometimes it even acts as an instant toy when necessary… LOL But its real purpose is instant obedience! If you call puppy and puppy decides it is more fun to run away from you, you have a way to stop puppy fast! You can use it to encourage puppy to come when you call, keep him out of dangerous or unwanted situations, whatever… They will get it tangled up but it’s usually an easy fix!

6. The Crate! A crate is a worthwhile investment for you and your puppy. It is your puppy’s own little den. Get a crate that is larger than your puppy so that there is plenty of room to move around in. We got one that would be large enough for our dogs when they were full grown.

Puppy can sleep in the crate (be sure to include a warm blanket and a few toys). After only two weeks, both our puppies walk into their crate at bedtime all on their own! Just say “crate” when you put them in with their toys, unhook their rope and they’re ready for bed!

Crates can also be a safe place to keep puppy when you have to go out or need to be where you can’t watch them all the time (like the shower). Just don’t keep them in too long and don’t forget the toys!

We have also found the crate to be a good place for a “time out”. Sometimes puppies and their families need them to have some time out. Neither of our dogs were ever confused about the crate or refused to go in when we were leaving or going to sleep. Puppies know when they are going in for time out versus another use. Time outs don’t include toys and we usually say “time out” when putting them in. We also do not leave them in more than 15 minutes for a time out.

We also use the crate for traveling in the back of our van.

7. Puppies Don’t Like to Be Ignored! Like naughty toddlers, who only want to throw a fit if you’re in the room, puppies don’t like to be ignored. Our trainer gave us this hint. If puppy is doing something you don’t want them to do. Ignore them. Stand up and turn your back to them! You may become dizzy from turning away from them so many times but they will eventually give up. This trick works well for young children.

8. A Tired Puppy is a Good Puppy! Wear your puppy out! Play with him, take him on walks, give him a bath when he needs one, make him follow you around the house, anything to keep him active.

One of our favorite games is called “Come, Sit, Stay”! This is best played in a large area but can be played just about anywhere. Play with two or more people. One person tells puppy to sit and treats (and praises) when they do. Another person calls the puppy and treats them when they come and sit on command. The first person (or another person) then calls the puppy to them and the process repeats. If the puppy has to run in between callers, it is even more fun! Puppies love to run! Eventually you can add “stay” to the list of commands before giving the treat. Puppy will probably take a good nap after a rousing game of “Come, Sit, Stay” but be sure to take them potty before they fall asleep! :o)

9. Love and Patience and Persistence! Don’t give up and don’t give in! Your puppy is stubborn and you have to be more stubborn. Be consistent. Decide what rules and boundaries you are going to set up and stick with them! Don’t decide they can be on the couch one day but not the next. Don’t let them sleep in your bed the first three weeks so you can sleep unless you are willing to do it forever or fight quite the battle to get them to quit! Be strong and stand your ground!

But above all just love your puppy and be patient! All of this work will pay off in the end!

Better Late Than Never

2011-06-22T22:45:00.001-07:00

I was beginning to fear we would never get our garden in this year with the horrible cold wet spring we’ve had! I decided that even if the sun wasn’t going to show itself, I’d have to do something myself to make this year’s garden bright and cheery!

So I took all of my old banisters from our ugly railing (see previous post) gave them a bit of accent paint for the fence.

Fence posts that cute needed accessories! So next I painted up some juice lids and cut up coat hangers and made garden markers:

Thanks to my sister, Theresa, for painting the words on them!

Everything was so bright and colorful that it just didn’t seem right to put in my old rusty tomato cages! But a quick coat of paint fixed that problem right up!

After all that prep work I finally took the risk and planted! And yesterday when I went to do some weeding I found REAL plants starting to pop up!!!

pole beans

Cucumbers

Squash

Even my corn came up!!!

I love this part of gardening! Every day when you go out you see new things springing out of the dirt and growing taller!

Some things got a head start in the greenhouse or from starts, but I think the garden is coming along nicely!

This year we put in a second garden where the pool used to be

Onions

potatoes

Peas along the fence

There’s also radishes, beets, carrots, shallots, & garlic

My hubby had to rig up our sprinkler in the middle in order to reach everything!

I love the way the cages turned out!

We may even have some strawberries soon!

The stuff on the deck looks so nice! Lettuce salad before we know it!!!

I also threw in some flowers under the boys’ window!

Now we wait and see what needs to be planted again… :o)

I’m Blessed

2011-06-20T08:44:00.001-07:00

Gretchen at He Sows, She Sews is having a blog carnival every Monday to share why we are blessed. All you need to do is go to her “I’m Blessed” post HERE, comment how you’ve been blessed and be entered to win her weekly contest!

So this is my post of how I’m blessed:

With Father’s Day just gone by I have been pondering how God has blessed me with both a great dad and a fantastic husband! Having a great dad and watching my hubby be such a wonderful dad to our three boys has made me feel very blessed this week! It also has prompted me to be praying for the fathers my sons will grow up to be…

My dad on Father’s Day 1982

Chris and the boys 1997

Thanks to my dad for teaching me to work hard! It has served me well and gotten me to where I am now. Not to mention, I just really like working hard! It’s so much fun!!! :o)

Thanks to my husband for being there in helping me raise our three boys to be the men God is calling them to be. I am most thankful for the fact that no matter how busy he is (and he has been REALLY busy the past 19 years!!!) he has ALWAYS made time to be a loving and involved dad!

So, how have you been blessed the past week???

Look What the Cat Drug In

2011-06-08T22:15:00.001-07:00

WARNING! This post contains rather graphic pics and is not for those with weak constitutions. (Sorry, I sent my 14 year old to take them…)

Since bringing home the new puppy, the cat has pretty much made herself an outdoor cat during the day. This is actually a good thing since she was brought her to live outdoors and hunt and not live inside as a spoiled little princess. ;o)

I think her princess days may be over and she is finally settling into her role on the “farm”. This morning, when I went to feed the chickens there were three little treasures by the back door for me!

I’m so proud of her! Keep up the good work Tabbi!!!

100 Fans Giveaway

2011-05-31T19:00:00.001-07:00

I have decided that it is about time I do a giveaway… It seems like it is what everyone does and I’d better get on board if I don’t want to get left behind. (Whatever that means?) :o) Plus it just sounded like fun!

So, here’s the deal. When my Facebook page (click HERE for the link) gets to 100 fans, I am going to put all the names in a hat (or a very cute basket) and pull one out to win a prize.

While I couldn’t come up with any ideas, you all came up with some good ones! Since it is quickly becoming summer and one of my favorite parts of summer is hanging our laundry out on the line to dry, (I know, what kind of weirdo likes that???) I chose to give away one of my patchwork clothespin bags with coordinating laundry bag.

The winner may choose between the turquoise and purple set…

Or the red, blue & yellow set…

So pop onto The Backyard Farmwife on Facebook, push “like” and invite your friends to do the same! The sooner we get to 100 fans, the sooner you can win!

*If you aren’t on Facebook, leave a comment here and I’ll add your name to the drawing. Just be sure to leave a way for me to contact you in case you win…

Puppy Love

2011-05-30T17:15:00.001-07:00

I’m a sucker for a baby! So when the puppy showed up at the church picnic yesterday, I fell in love! And I wasn’t the only one who did…

I admit that I have been thinking about a puppy lately. The boys are getting older and Betsy is getting older. I figure the best time to get a new puppy is while both Betsy and the boys are still around to help show it the ropes.

We decided our only male pet needed a good strong name: Maximus, after the greatest gladiator of all times! :o)

Contrary to our expectations, Betsy did pretty well with the new little brute! Tabitha on the other hand, did not!

Come on Tabbi! How could you not love that face???

Meeting Betsy

He’s not sure about the steps…

Fortunately for Maximus, the boys fell in love with him right away! And the feeling is mutual. He already follows them all over the house…

Playing outside with the boys!

Puppies play hard and sleep hard!

We pulled up some pics of Betsy the day we brought her home 7 years ago… Look familiar???

The Snowball Effect

2011-05-26T21:37:00.001-07:00

You know how in the winter you roll a snowball for the head of your snowman but you sometimes start too far away? Then by the time you get to your snowman, his head is now 4 feet in diameter and weighs 125 pounds and you know that there is NO WAY you are hefting that thing up there! You never intended for it to get that big and out of control, it just ended up that way.

Yeah, that’s what happened to my two-day painting project!

Before painting even started, (I had done the prep work) I realized I just couldn’t stand the thought of painting our ugly banister railing behind the couch! I just couldn’t! Plus I still had a bit of birthday money and a Lowe’s gift card from my sister burning a hole in my pocket. So while everyone else was gone for the day, Will and I went to do a bit of investigating at the home improvement store.

Now, keep in mind I didn’t go with the intention of buying anything. I was just looking and pricing…

I priced all the most economical supplies I could find and discovered that my ingenious plan was within my budget. And reason told me that it would be easiest to do while everything was already prepped for painting. The timing made perfect sense! So Will grabbed a lumber cart, we filled it up, had a gallon of black paint mixed and headed home…

While construction is very rewarding and satisfying, there is just something about destruction. It is not only empowering but it has just that hint of danger and thrill knowing that you are doing something that you probably really shouldn’t be doing. And it’s just plain fun!!!

First thing, get rid of the rail… Will and I made quick work of it with a hammer and cat claw! Will is very good at destruction!!!

Do you see why it had to go???

Going…

going…

still going…

GONE! (that last post was really a bugger!)

Just about the time we finished cleaning up the mess from the now absent railing, the rest of the family came home…

They probably would have been less shocked if they had known what I was contemplating before they left. But, hey, I didn’t even know I was going to rip out the railing when they left!!!

My sweet, patient and supportive husband didn’t freak out or get angry at all! I love that guy!

I set right to work building my new stylish and attractive wall feature! I even got some of the boys to help…

Building projects sure do take a whole lot of measuring and stuff… But it looked just like I wanted it to!

Again, my sweet and supportive and patient husband, gently pointed out to me that my wall had a couple of slight defects. For one, it was a bit of a safety hazard… Too much space between the bars! Secondly, it just wasn’t very stable.

This meant another trip to Lowe’s for more beams and more screws…

But the finished project was MUCH better! My hubby is such a smart fella!!!

Now that I had this fantastic new wall, I just HAD to get rid of our completely unattractive chandelier! The problem was that I had already gone over budget with the extra wood and my favorite fixture was $160!!! I had to do something, even if it was temporary…

Again, my handy and talented husband came to my rescue. He took down the ugly chandelier, let me take it apart and then rewired it and put it back together…

I added a little bit of texture, a few coats of shiny black spray paint and viola… a whole new entryway light!

I think it looks quite snazzy with the new black “wall”…

I didn’t use the highest quality lumber money could buy. Remember, I was on a pretty tight budget. Thankfully, black is a very forgiving color and does a pretty slick job of covering up flaws from a distance. Maybe that’s why I like my little black dress so much???

I wish I could say that our entryway was all put back in order, but the snowball was at the top of a hill and it was starting to pick up speed…

White Walls

2011-05-25T21:50:00.001-07:00

This story started 10 days ago with what was to be a simple two day painting project of the entryway. I should have known better. After all, there was no way I could prime and paint in only two days! Our entry has two paneled walls and a really high ceiling…

After 5 coats of primer, a really TALL ladder, breathing paint fumes, and a whole lot more than two days of painting; it was finally done!

Thankfully Will was there to help with the stirring!

It was really high up there!

It was the wall over the downstairs steps that was the hardest! There was just one little section that I just couldn’t reach…

But Andy and I came up with a solution involving duct tape, a yard stick and a paintbrush!

It did the trick!

After the entryway looked all clean and white, the downstairs hallway looked horrible and dingy. So I repainted it while everything was still out and I was still in the mood.

As you can tell, it really needed paining… and the hallway was WORSE!

I also painted the doorway to the kitchen. Our dinner bell is pretty tough on the paint job! So to protect my fresh new paint, I laminated a fun piece of scrapbooking paper to put behind it.

I also put the coordinating sheet of paper in a frame for the other side.

The painting was done but I wish the story ended here…

One Down… One To Go

2011-05-24T22:50:00.001-07:00

When Dad was tilling our new garden plot, he promised me that it would “be like quicksand” when he was done. I have to admit that I was skeptical until I took my first step in…

I felt like Neil Armstrong! :o)

With soil like that, it was the perfect place to try some root crops! We haven’t exactly had any luck with them in the garden up top.

Today we got a reprieve from the rain. I knew it was coming, so I was prepared! Yesterday I made my seed tapes and picked up my seed potatoes and onion sets and mapped out my plan of attack.

Seed tape for about 30 radishes and 200 carrots!

With any luck, these should yield 20-30 pounds of potatoes!

I admit that I was actually giddy thinking about getting my garden in today! But I had other projects and chores that needed to be done… So after supper, Andy and I headed out to do some digging in the dirt!

The potatoes, onions, scallions, garlic, beets, radishes, carrots and peas are all in! Whew! Thanks Andy! I couldn’t have done it without you…

Now we just wait and see what comes up???

How Long “Till” We Can Plant???

2011-05-22T22:48:00.001-07:00

This rainy wet spring is starting to wear very thin! I was beginning to lose hope of ever getting our garden in. But then last week God blessed us with some gorgeous sunny weather! So my dad finally set my tilling appointment for this afternoon; just in time for the rain to start up again…

This year I decided something had to be done about the clay problem in our garden. The solution (I hope), SAND! And it just so happened that we had a whole big pile of sand in our yard thanks to the flooding we had a few years back. We sandbagged the church (which was thankfully unnecessary) and guess who got to bring them home??? :o) While I wasn’t excited about it at the time, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise and not just the giant litter box for neighborhood cats that I expected.

So with the garden covered with a nice layer of sand, my dad set to work on getting it all tilled in…

And that baby can till!!! But I didn’t know how really impressive it was until he started in on our new garden plot…

Last summer was the final year of our swimming pool. With three teenage sons, crazy busy summers and the cost and work of upkeep, we decided it was time to let it go. But it did leave us with a big round dirt spot covered in sand! And why plant grass there when it is the ideal spot and soil for a garden???

After I spread on the last of the chicken poop compost, he set to work tilling it up! It was amazing!!! And now I have this plot of rich, dark, newly tilled soil that is just screaming for me to plant something in it SOON!

The forecast is calling for a bit of a break from the rain on Tuesday. So I suppose I know what I’ll be doing that day…

The other one will just have to wait and dry out a bit first… But don’t worry, you’re next!

Clean Routine – Part Two

2011-05-20T23:05:00.001-07:00

Back in March I posted about how I keep our home at a reasonable level of cleanliness. While a picked up house does look cleaner, you do still have to clean at some point. Eventually the toilets become a bit nasty and most of your furniture will build up a dust barrier that could protect it from nuclear fallout.

I like a clean house as much as the next guy (or girl) but I do NOT like to spend one whole day cleaning! I really prefer the do-a-little-bit-each-day method. That way the house is always recently cleaned and doesn’t ruin an entire day each week.

I just figured out a schedule of which rooms to clean each day. When we lived in smaller houses or apartments, I had a schedule where all the rooms got cleaned each week. With a bigger place, I decided which rooms needed cleaning every week (bathrooms, kitchen, hallway, family room, etc) and which could be done every other week (laundry room, living room, bedrooms). Then I just divvy them up and make a schedule.Right now we only clean three days a week and do 3-4 rooms each of the days. I also have an emergency schedule of how to clean the whole house in a week (4 days).

When I didn’t have so many helpers (or just weren’t quite as helpful), I did fewer rooms each day and cleaned every weekday.

I mentioned in my last cleaning post that I enlisted the boys to help as soon as they were old enough. There are some chores that they do 365 days a year (making beds, putting laundry away…) But some we do on a rotating schedule. Some chores change every 3 months. These include which parts of the bathrooms and kitchen each of them is responsible for. It is posted right next to the cleaning schedule. (see picture above)

Other chores rotate weekly. These include doing the dishes, helping with cooking & taking out the garbage, or setting the table. Also in the weekly rotation is dusting, glass, and vacuuming. I write these on a chalkboard and write the boys names under the appropriate chore and list what week in the schedule we are in (week 1 or 2).

Now I confess that the boys do not do as thorough of a job as I would but it’s not bad. But every 3-4 months I take a week or two and do heavy duty cleaning. I only do a room or two a day, but they get really clean! Closets and cupboards are cleaned out, things are put back to where they really belong or to a new place altogether, sometimes windows are cleaned, occasionally the carpets are shampooed. These weeks always result in a very full garbage can and a rather large pile of stuff for the Goodwill.

Wow! When I go back and read this it sounds really complicated. But when I’m doing it in real life it seems really simple and goes smoothly (most of the time).

Happy Cleaning! And remember “cleanliness is NOT next to godliness” it is next to happiness and sanity. ;o) Just kidding!

Starting The Garden

2011-05-20T00:22:00.001-07:00

This year’s gardening season is off to a very late start. But thanks to a stretch of sunny days, I had enough hope to go ahead and get some seeds planted in my paper pots (click to see how to make your own). My poor pots were probably beginning to think they were never going to be used. They’ve been sitting in the front window for almost two months just waiting…

First, I picked which seeds I wanted to try to start. This year’s nominees are: Danish Ballhead cabbage, Orient Express cabbage, cilantro, broccoli, and jalapenos.

In order to keep all those little guys straight, they needed their own name tags. And I had the perfect idea! All I needed was some of my scrapbooking tags, some floral wire and a pair of pliers.

First bend the tip of the wire down

Then bend the end in the opposite direction to create the hook for the tag

Write the name of your plant on the tag

Insert the tag into your pot and no more guessing as to what that little green shoot is! (and you can use them again next year…)

Thanks to my very sweet and garden-y neighbor, this year’s starts are going to get their start in a real-life greenhouse! As you can see, she is quite the gardener! I’m sure my starts are going to be quite disappointed when they have to return to the slums over in our yard… LOL

Hopefully in a couple of weeks the weather will continue to improve, the garden will get tilled and my little guys will be ready to move!

Grow big and strong little starts! Life’s tough in the great big world out there!!!

Off With Their Heads!

2011-05-04T21:30:00.001-07:00

Today was butchering day and God blessed us with a gorgeous sunny day! My brother and his wife graciously agreed to raise a dozen Cornish Crosses for us.

While I can’t say that I enjoy killing the chickens, I DO enjoy the process. I like getting together and working with family. I like the sense of community and coming together to help one another. I like knowing WHERE our food comes from. I like knowing that our chickens had a good life, albeit a short life. They got to live in a cute, clean little red chicken coop and have my niece Ada for company.

WARNING: Here’s where it gets a bit bloody…

These are pictures of our butchering process in no particular order.

Most of us did all of the jobs but some of us became a bit more specialized…

We also got to enjoy a 360 view of the mountain while we worked!

William was good at gutting and removing the lungs

Andy was very skilled at skinning

Dad did most of the scorching with the blowtorch

Frank and Will did most of the gutting

I was in charge of making sure they were nice and shiny clean

I love this shot of Ada and Zack walking back to the house!

It was a very good day on the farm! I love having two shelves of chicken in the freezer!

Menu Planning

2011-05-02T11:01:00.001-07:00

I often wonder how much of our day we waste in asking ourselves and deciding on “What’s for dinner?” And how much frivolous money do we spend because we often don’t know or don’t have what we need to make what we want for dinner?

About 16 years ago (yes, about the time our second son came along) I decided that whatever amount of time I was spending on it was too much. I didn’t have that kind of time or money to waste. So I started a menu.

This plan is much easier to do in 1-2 week segments. More than that gets a bit overwhelming!

I just write down all the days and meals on a piece of paper and then start filling in the blanks. I always keep in mind our calendar; simple breakfasts on busy mornings, crock pot meals on crazy days, homemade bread on the rare days that I’m home… I also always buy one or two frozen convenience meal for those “I didn’t see that coming” days.

I also make a note of desserts and snacks that I want to make.

I try to incorporate any items (especially meats) that may be on sale that week into the menu.

Sometimes it is hard to think of that many meals. Sometimes I am just not inspired. While it is a BAD idea to grocery shop while hungry, it is MUCH easier to write your menu when you are hungry. There are weeks when I skip a meal, knowing I have to plan our menu later in the day. :o) I also keep a running list of ideas for menu items: recipes I read on my Google Reader or find on FB, things I have a craving for, meals the guys request…

Then I make the shopping list, including any items I need to make the meals on the menu, my convenience foods, any killer deals that I just can’t pass up that may be on sale that week, and of course any staples that we have run out of.

The hardest part of menu planning for me is writing it on the menu every morning. I started doing this to avoid the nearly constant question of “What are we having for….?” It really did work! Eventually they did learn that they could just look at the menu and see what we were eating that day. It helped that I refused to answer and instead just pointed at the menu until they got the hint and went to look. :o)

It may be a little more time and effort in the planning stages but the time you save on a daily basis is well worth it!

Happy menuing!

Drinking Jar

2011-04-29T23:04:00.001-07:00

I LOVE my new drinking jar! It’s practical, unique and oh-so-country-cute!

All you need for this project is a wide-mouth canning jar and a grommet punch. Oh, and a drill with some really BIG bits! (I used a 1/2” bit for my grommet hole)

I drilled two holes in my jar lid, one small and one large. But I think it would still work with just the larger hole for the straw.

I would have taken pics of the drilling process but it wasn’t pretty and I’m sure any one of you could come up with something a little more efficient.

Then you just use your grommet punch set to attach the grommets in the lid.

My 1 1/2 pint-sized jars are my favorite for this but any wide-mouth jar would work. You could even do a half-gallon Super Big Gulp jar, but you’d have to acquire MUCH longer straws! :o)

I love the way it looks with fresh strawberry lemonade in it! (I was enjoying it too much to take a picture of it! Maybe I’ll take one next time…)

Cleaning Your Glass-top

2011-04-28T18:19:00.001-07:00

I have a glass-top stove and I love it! I wanted it because I was sure it would be so much easier to clean up all of my cooking mishaps. Then I read the instruction manual, including the LIST of all the things you shouldn’t do on your stove top! Anything that would actually work was forbidden.

Then my friend Kate came to my rescue! Her stove looked great! What was her secret??? SHHHHH! Don’t tell the manufacturer! They’ll probably come and take away my stove if they knew…

It’s these cute little springy stainless steel pads (or should I say wads).

All I do is spray on my grease-cutting cleanser, let it sit for a bit, scrub it with the “wad”, wipe it with a clean cloth and it is sparkly clean!

Now I’ve only done this for a couple of months but Kate has done it for years and her stove looks none the worse for wear. And she uses her stove A LOT!

I pick them up at our dollar store whenever I see them because you never know when they’ll stop carrying them…

Go get some of your own and be the envy of all your play-it-safe-with-your-glass-top-stove friends! :o)

Birthday Gifts

2011-04-27T17:56:00.001-07:00

I know I post quite a bit about gifts I get, but I love that my family and friends know me so well!

Here are some of the sweet little things I got this year…

My Easter basket from my mom was full of sewing notions! Fun and better for my teeth than candy… (I’m not saying I don’t like candy!) LOL

Decorative fencing to spruce up the beds in the back and hopefully discourage chicken damage???

My grandma saw this bag and thought of me…

My sister-in-law gave me these adorable condiment jars! I really thought the green one would be relish… I feel like I should paint relish on the other side. :o)

My sister bought me this fun little egg cup and even made her a hat!

She looks right at home with all my other egg cups on the windowsill

The round pink egg slicer is just too cute to use and looks PERFECT on my pink and turquoise wall!

Baby Chick Basics

2011-04-26T14:22:00.001-07:00

With it being chick season, I thought I would do a quick post on the basics (really basics) of raising chickens.

1. Housing: Use a large plastic bin (like Rubbermaid). This is so much better than cardboard! My friend Megan gave me this tip and she was so right! Get one big enough that they won’t outgrow it and when it gets really dirty, just hose it out.

2. Bedding: Line the bottom of your box with a few layers of newspaper and sprinkle with a bit of shavings. There is some debate about what to use for baby chicks but we had good luck with it. If it was good enough for the feed store than it was good enough for us!

Just remember that baby chicks are MESSY and you will need to change their bedding often. Don’t worry, the smell will remind you of when it is time. We did ours just about every day.

3. Lighting: Red lights are the best for keeping your babies warm. Adjust the height of your lamp according to how warm your chicks are. If they all bunch up together under the light it is too high and it needs to be closer to their floor. If they all stick to the sides of the box to keep out of the light, it is too warm and it needs to be higher up.

As they get older place the lamp a bit higher up every week. Our chicks moved out to the coop at about 5 weeks old and I put the heat lamp out with them until the weather was warmer at night.

4. Food and Water: Just have food and water for them at all times. They are pretty rambunctious and will probably spill them quite often. To reduce the waste of food and keep the bedding dry, we put our feeders and waterers up on blocks off the floor. The food and water containers will also have to be cleaned quite often.

I also recommend giving them at least one bag worth of medicated chick feed. It just helps them get off to a good healthy start. After 60 days or so, you can start giving them layer feed.

At about 6-8 weeks, you can start giving them scraps to eat. While they will eat just about everything there are a few guidelines you should follow. You can check them out HERE.

5. Lots of Love: Don’t forget to play with your chicks and give them names! They will become great pets if you socialize them right away!

Enjoy your new little ones and you will have eggs before you know it!

Spring???

2011-04-26T09:53:00.001-07:00

In the Spring I expect, and long, to see butterflies and bumblebees flitting from blossom to blossom in the bright sunshine. Instead I almost step one these two guys making their way across our driveway this gray and drizzly Spring morning…

I suppose I should just be relieved that with the Spring we’ve had that I don’t have salmon swimming up our driveway to spawn…

WHERE ARE YOU SPRING??? WE MISS YOU!!!