Life on Hackberry Road

Repurpose #2 is a little 'Unmentionable'

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 17:15:00 +0000

With this post you might think I have gone totally off my rocker. That's okay. I've been off my rocker before and it is a comfortable place for me.

Armed with a pile of t-shirts that both my girls have outgrown, this pattern by That Darn Kat, a bit of thread and a little time I made these for Clover:

I've used this pattern before and it is really well written. Most important my little gal *LOVES* these.

Yes, I can afford to purchase new store bought undies. No, I would not make her wear these if she didn't like them so well. No, I do not sew undies for the whole family. Yes, I get a sense of being resourceful, Eco-friendly, and quite creative when I see these in the laundry.

Clover did need new undies which is one reason I chose this project. She likes them enough that she told her teachers at school that I make her underwear. At first I was quite embarrassed and couldn't imagine what they must be thinking, because of course they had no idea what homemade undies are like. Of course, I quickly got over the stigma and could care less at this point. I mean really, they just turned out too cute!

Repurpose #1 and a Little Info

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 17:35:00 +0000

I love repurposing old items into something new. It reminds me of that saying "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without." I suppose I could call this the beginning of my spring decluttering because it is due time that I get to repurposing some of the many items that I've been storing away. Two full tubs of clothes in fact! Large tubs... that take up a lot of space in my craft room.

Over the next few days I will be posting what I've accomplished. To begin I want to share a few guidelines that I am sticking to:

It must be useful or gift worthy.
Stained garments can not be used. Especially if the item I'm making will be given away. Every thing that is really stained will be cut into rags and used in that capacity.
No spending extra money on any projects. Everything I use must already be in my stash.

Note: Every year we do Christmas shoe boxes to send to children through Samaritan's Purse. I always, always wait too long to get started on items for the shoe boxes. Most of the softies/dolls that I am making will be put aside for those boxes. I love adding a handmade doll to each box and I'm hoping I will be able to do that this year.

Repurpose #1 Sweater Lambs- The main body is from super soft sweaters. The legs, ears, and nose came from a pair of pants and the arm of a shirt. The ribbon even came from a pair of pants. I'm still looking for something to go around the green lamb's neck. The pattern is one I tore from a magazine several years ago and I'm not sure the magazine is still in print.

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 16:36:00 +0000

Ah... snow. We've had so little of a true winter this season that I look out with amazement at the falling flakes this morning. Maybe it is because I know that in a day or two they will be gone. Maybe it is because they remind me to be thankful for the warm coziness inside these walls. Whatever the reason, I plan to enjoy its splendor while it is near.

I have a huge challenge that I have imposed upon myself. With the intentions of repurposing, I have two large tubs are full of clothing that I have saved. Some are pieces I've picked up at yard sales and then they didn't fit, some the kids have outgrown, and some I just loved the fabric or pattern and thought I could surely find a use for it. Well the tubs have filled up and they are taking up a lot of room, so for the next couple of weeks I am working hard to get all that "repurposing" done.

I went through all of my patterns, bookmarked pages, and Pinterest ideas and made a list of items that could be made quickly (1-2 hours), in half a day, and in a week. I am in the midst of a huge mess, but things are slowly coming together. I've tried to be practical with my ideas... they need to truly be useful in some way. It does no good to take a pile of stuff and just make it into another pile of stuff!

I can't wait to share what I have been working on. I plan on having the first post up later this afternoon. We'll see what you all think of my latest creations. I'll be enjoying this nice snowy day in more ways than one!

Crochet Sweaters and More

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:49:00 +0000

Does anyone else have a whole host of unfinished projects lying all over the place? It is quite honestly one of my downfalls. I just can't work on one thing from start to finish and quite often have at least 4 crochet and 5-6 sewing projects in the works at the same time! I think it might be an illness.

Of course, occasionally I get a huge urge to work and work until several of the projects are finished. Then I give myself a thumbs up or a pat on the back and the chaos starts all over again.

Anyway here are a few things that I did get finished last week (thumbs up, pat, pat...)

3 simple dish/wash cloths for my gift box

A Surrey belle scarf for ME! Yeah! The yarn is Yarn Bee Snowflake Wool blend in the color Rosebloom. (Huge Shout Out to my friend Sarah... I love this pattern!)

This is a Swing Set Cardigan in Caron Simply Soft color Pistachio. This is for Clover. I wish the picture was truer to the actual color. It is more of a bright "new grass" kind of green. (More info on pattern below)

A Swing Set Cardigan with matching hat. This went into my gift box. (More info on pattern below)

Yoked Cardigan for Clover. (more info below)

The 3 sweater patterns came from the book Little Crochet by Linda Permann. I adore this book. It is one of the few crochet books in which I would love to work up every pattern. While the patterns are geared to babies and toddlers up to size 4, I found them easy to adapt, although I am just a novice at adapting patterns. For Clover's Swing Set Cardigan I figured out how many stitches she was adding per size and also went up a size for my hook. It fits really good with a little growing room.

For the Yoked Cardigan I only went up a hook size. I had to add 4 rows to the length of the arms and a couple to the length of the cardigan. (I should have added a couple more.) Then I added a row of scallops around the wrists and bottom. This made it very girly and cute. However... it just fits with no growing room.

Scallops at wrist

I would like to try another Yoked Cardigan and see if I can size it up by adding stitches. Always something new to try! Also, I did get the buttons sewn on each sweater, I just didn't retake pictures. I gotta say that it feels good to get them finished.

Dehydrating Foods- My First Attempt

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:46:00 +0000

About a year ago, I purchased an Excalibur Dehydrator. I had it in my head that this would indeed be a good purchase and as gardening season approached I knew I would welcome the opportunity to dry some goodies after I was completely numb with canning.

But as luck would have it, I had just enough produce to can a few items before the drought took over the garden and that was that. Game over.

So my lovely new toy kind of just sat. And I began to feel bad about that. It takes up a good amount of counter space and it was not an inexpensive investment even if I did get an excellent deal.

I purchased this book (review of book on yesterday's post) and with renewed excitement I decided to jump right in and practice with whatever was sitting in the fridge.

That particular day the fridge held 1/2 a can of pineapple in its juice and a wrinkled apple. As advised in the book I used the pineapple juice to soak the apples briefly so they wouldn't turn brown. Then I placed the apple that I sliced in chunks the same size as the pineapple chunks and put both fruits in to dehydrate. When done, I threw them in a bowl and left them on the counter.

The kids were a bit skeptical and I wondered if they would even try them, but by evening the small bowl was empty... hence, no pictures. The two youngest raved about how good the fruit was and well those reviews fueled my fire.

Next trip to the store I found bananas marked down!

So into the dehydrator they went.

After drying, those 3.6 pounds of bananas fit into 3/4 of a quart jar! Talk about space saving!

Frozen bananas take up such a big space in my freezer that I am thinking this will be the way to go from now on. We didn't care much for the texture of the dried bananas. They aren't even close to the store bought dried bananas. I'll keep trying and even if we don't eat them for snacks they are easily reconstituted and can be used in banana bread or muffins.

When apples recently went on sale at 8 pounds for $4.00 I thought it was a good time for another experiment.

I peeled the apples, sliced them and gave them a soak in some leftover orange juice. Once dried the whole 8 pounds fit into 3 quart size jars.

These were Red Delicious apples. By the time I got around to dehydrating them they were beginning to get a mealy texture. They really didn't taste that great fresh. The dehydration process actually sweetens fruit as it dries it. These were fantastic when finished and one jar is already gone.

After checking it out at the library, I went ahead and purchased this book also:

If you are interested in dehydrating, but don't have a dehydrator... this book gives directions for both sun drying and oven drying. The author shares a really easy recipe for "dried apple pie" that I can't wait to try... after I find a good sale on baking apples of course!

I am really looking forward to gardening season again. Until then, I am keeping an eye out for good produce sales and also putting up those items in my fridge that are a touch past their prime. While I will still can and freeze most of the garden fare, dehydrating opens up a whole new option.

Do you dehydrate foods? If so, I would love to hear what you dry and what you really dislike preserved this way.

Books Read in January

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:23:00 +0000

I mentioned in yesterday's post that I had read 9 nonfiction books this month toward my goal of 30 for the year. Here is a list of what I read and my thoughts on each.

The Ten Commandments of Money by Liz Weston- This book is based upon the principle of 50/30/20. The author encourages using 50% of your income for bills that are NEEDS, 30% of your income for WANTS, and 20% to SAVING. While this is a nice concept, I can't even imagine living on just 50% of our income as a "one" income family, nor spending 30% on entertainment and wants. The book is a finance book and reads as such (a little dryly). For me personally, I didn't take away much from it although it has good reviews elsewhere. (library book)

Debt Free U by Zac Bissonnette- I was really looking forward to gleaning information from this one. The author shares how he paid his way through college without much outside help. His main idea is for a kid to work at a job and save his/her money for college with parents contributing a small amount. He often uses the example of working a job for $8-9/hour. I have to say that in the area we live, a high school student is going to be hard pressed to find a job making that hourly rate. A large part of the book is also filled with "debunking" myths about colleges. I will say that he has some unique ideas for earning money while in college that we hadn't considered before. Keep in mind this is the author's story of how he made his way through college. It is not a "help" guide although he does share some thoughts on grants and scholarships, it should serve more as inspiration than how-to.

Taking Care of the Me in Mommy by Lisa Whelchel- This book was given to me for Christmas and I found it a pretty easy read. We all know that as a mom it is easy to get burned out and to forget about "ME." The author breaks down the book into taking care of your spirit, your body, your soul, time for yourself, and time for others. She shares great tips on how to truly take care of yourself by attacking each area with little easy to follow bites, so to speak. She does not convey a "total makeover" but kindly leads and offers ideas on how to change one small thing or one habit. You will not feel overwhelmed by what she shares, but instead inspired and motivated! I really enjoyed the ideas on taking care of the spiritual side and look forward to implementing other ideas as well.

be thrifty (...not cheap.) edited by Pia Catton and Califia Suntree- I found this book at our local Tractor Supply during their Dollar Days sale. For $5.00, I found this book to be a gem. I can't even begin to describe all the information packed into this hand book... homemade cleaners, how to barter, how to do basic plumbing, pictures of how to do different haircuts (which I loved!), pictures of where cuts of beef and pork come from, how to cut up a chicken, great basic recipes, gardening, canning, how to change a flat tire... it goes on and on. While it is a mere 372 pages it is full of great how-to articles. This will be one I turn to time and again, especially for some motivation. If you can find it for $5, grab one!

Fix, Freeze, Feast by Kati Neville and Lindsay Tkacsik- I purchased this book with birthday money. This book is based on Warehouse Shopping, so be prepared for large amounts of ingredients. With that said, the recipes can easily be halved or cut in thirds. As you can see in the picture I have already marked multiple recipes to try. While I don't have a lot of freezer space right now, I can see this book being a great asset to my recipe library. I should also mention that none of the recipes contain "can of something" soup. The recipes are from scratch but easy enough for those that don't want to spend hours in the kitchen. Most of the recipes make 2-3 entrees at one time. While I haven't had a chance to make anything yet, it gets really good reviews on Amazon.

The Money Saving Mom's Budget by Crystal Paine- As a long time reader of Crystal's blogs, first Biblical Womanhood and then Money Saving Mom, I was anxious to read this. As expected, a lot of the information has been shared before on her blog. Still, it is a good read for anyone needing a face lift on their budgeting skills. As we have a good budget in place, I found that I enjoyed her chapters on goal setting and finding contentment to be the best. Even if you are die-hard frugal, I think you could enjoy what she offers. For me it was a pretty quick read as the chapters on shopping with coupons didn't really apply to my situation. For many of my friends trying to keep their heads above water or finally committing to getting their finances more streamlined, I would recommend reading this.

Food Drying with an Attitude by Mary T. Bell- I purchased this book with birthday money. I have a fantastic dehydrator, but I really haven't used it as much as I thought I would. So this book was an effort to learn a new skill. I have to say that I do like this book. On the flip side, I wish it had a little more detail. For some veggies, the author says to blanch them, but doesn't offer any advice on how long to blanch them. Actually, I think the chapter on veggies is sorely lacking. I will say that I appreciate her idea that produce need not be "perfect" to dehydrate it. A wrinkly apple works fine... and she is right because I tried it! There is extensive info on jerky, also.

Food Drying by Phyllis Hobson- After reading the above book, I checked this out at my library. I really love this one! Jam packed with good information about dehydrating AND some really good looking recipes on how to use dried food, too. I like this one so well that I recently purchased it. Along with the book above, I have a pretty good start on learning yet another way to preserve food for my family.

The Feast Nearby by Robin Mather- This book was purchased with birthday money and it is HANDS-DOWN my favorite read this month. After she lost her job, and her husband wanted out of their marriage the author moves to a small cabin in Michigan. This book is her journey during the first year toward eating locally on $40 a week. It is charming and witty. Almost like sitting down with a friend. She also offers several recipes at the end of each chapter... a few which I hope to try. Would I persuade you to purchase it? No. But if you get the chance to borrow it... definitely. I will likely read it again in the future.

There you have it my friends! I hope you were able to fill your minds with some good reads this month too!

January Goals Update

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:53:00 +0000

Here it is the last day of January 2012. My goodness how the month did fly! With the last day of the month slowly ticking by, I thought it was time to share what we were able to knock off that hefty goal list of mine.

Personal Goals~
Exercise 3-5 days a week for 15-20 minutes per day (I started out really well and kind of fizzled. Three days seems to be where I've settled for now.)
Read 30 nonfiction books (I read NINE books this month!) Will share about them tomorrow.
Begin and keep up with a daily Bible study and read the Bible in one year (I purchased a new bible just for this goal and I have indeed been able to keep up.)
Memorize 2 Scriptures a month
Commit to 4-5 small craft shows (Researched and found 4 shows I would like to commit to along with contact info for each)
Make annual check ups for myself by March 1 (I'm great with this for the kids and put off check ups for myself)

Finance~
Have our Will in place by March 1
Rollover retirement fund to an IRA by March 1
Rebuild our 3-6 months expenses (Were able to set aside a small amount towards this)
Start college funds for our 3 youngest by June 1
~~Pay off the remainder of our cattle loan by Jan. 31~~ (DONE!! Happy dance, oh happy dance)
Save cash needed to cover oldest daughters 1st semester of college (fall 2012)
Fully fund our Christmas fund by Oct. 1
Make principal payment on a new loan (more on this later)

Kitchen/Household/crafts~
Make one "gotta try it" project bi-weekly (list to come later)
Back to weekly meal planning
~~Make a household schedule to get myself on track~~ ~~(This may sound silly, but I'm very UN-disciplined. The only way I'm going to reach my goals is by forcing some structure.)~~ DONE!
Plant a large garden
Start a second garden plot?
Preserve as much as I can (Started experimenting with dehydrating foods)
Purchase items from the local farmer's market that we do not grow well. Example: sweet corn/enough to freeze for winter/spring
Raise a beef cow
Raise two pigs
Raise 24 meat chickens
Purchase 3-4 new pullet hens for egg laying flock
Purchase large freezer for garage
Continue working on material/yarn/craft supply stash- making ahead gifts for my gift bucket (Added a few items)
Plan ahead better for gifts needed

Business- Farm~
Put up a barn (hence the new loan mentioned above) (Materials awaiting the building crew!)
~~Hold back our heifers to begin rebuilding our cow herd.~~ (Held back 4)
Allow 3 youngest to purchase their own cow to begin building their own herds
Look at options to earn more income from our farm

Business-Home~
Start my own craft business
Commit to 4-5 craft shows by Sept. 1 (Researched and found 4)
Research marketing and booth ideas
START MAKING ITEMS TO SELL (Found several patterns to make. Farmboy also built shelves in the garage for storage as I get items made up.)

Home Improvement~
~~Put in a wood boiler heat furnace that heats both home and garage (hence new loan)~~ DONE!!
Put in all new windows (hence new loan)
Add lean-to to garage (Poles are set)
Finish painting laundry room
Update couch and one recliner

We had a couple of setbacks- OR maybe you could call them a "CHANGE OF PLAN" this month. We originally held back 10 heifers to rebuild out herd and spent an evening and almost a full day trying to catch several that kept getting out. Needless to say one is still missing in the neighboring wildlife reserve and 5 jumped in with our neighbors herd. Said neighbor offered to purchase the 5 troublemakers and we gladly accepted. That money is now earmarked for building up our hay field in the next few months hopefully making for a better crop.

While herding the trouble making heifers the transmission in Farmboy's truck was slipping and caused wiring in the truck to catch on fire. Yes, I said 'The truck caught on fire.' While we had ten heifers running around going nutty we also had the fire department and sheriff sitting in our field. Ahem, enough said. So we are now awaiting the bill to fix his truck, which thankfully was not a total loss and less expensive to fix than buying a new one.

On the positive side we got our new furnace in and working. Along with this project we also now have electricity and heat to our garage. We are now fully off of propane which is higher per gallon than any other year we've lived here. We do have the option to use it as a backup however.

And the poles are up for our garage lean to:

We made some progress and I feel like we are off to a good start!

Small tasks. Great accomplishment.

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 15:43:00 +0000

This morning came about as cold and brisk. I heaved a prayer as I headed out to let the chicken girls out of their coop for breakfast. There is not a breeze upon the air. Yesterday was not so kind. The North Wind made claim to the day and ripped and roared through every crevice it could find.

The week has been both busy, unscheduled and fruitful. While I tried earnestly to stick to my daily schedule, there were several unexpected situations that took the wind out of my ambitious plans. Additionally, I found that many days I had unbridled "ideas" pop into my head. You know the kind that just stick there until you do something about it? So I found that I spent much time organizing areas of our lives and contemplating how in the world I can begin to achieve some of the goals I set.

That is why I didn't ignore those crazy ideas that kept popping into my head. Let me explain.

Monday morning as I was packing lunches for the kids I realized that 1) I had never made a menu plan for the week 2) the refrigerator needed cleaning BADLY 3) the week ahead was extremely busy. After getting the kids on their way, an unusual prompting led me back to the fridge.

I began to pull out every bowl, pan, and unidentifiable object. After discarding what I knew was past its prime, I had incredible opportunities in front of me.

A pound of round steak and 1/3 of an onion became Beef & Noodles for dinner.
Six flour tortillas, a cup of scrambled egg (plus 5 more eggs) 1/2 cup sausage and a tad of sausage gravy became Breakfast Burritos
Leftover sloppy joe meat, 2 TBS ketchup left in the bottle and 3 TBS tomato paste became Pizza Burgers for the following night.
A slightly shriveled apple and 1/3 of a can of pineapple went into the dehydrator for a yummy snack.
One biscuit, one heal of bread and the crust off a sandwich became Croutons for salad.
A hunk of chocolate and almond candy (made during Christmas break) and a snickers bar became Chocolate Chip Bar cookies.

Suddenly I had a very clean fridge, 2 dinners, breakfast for 2 mornings, and snacks! It was a great feeling. If I had ignored that prompting, the food would have gone to waste in another day or two.

Looking around I found area after area that needed a little TLC. Paperwork that needed tossed or filed. Bookshelves needed organized. Through it all I kept thinking, "Is there another way to use that?" And so the week went with idea after idea filling my head.

Here is a short list of what I plan to do or have already done:

Old papers will be shredded and used to supplement the pine flakes I put in the chicken coop cutting down on the cost slightly.
Broken crayons will be melted down and poured into molds to make new ones. These fun shaped crayons will go into my gift box.
Fatty pieces of a whole ham I sliced were saved as a special treat to add to the dog and cat food on these extremely cold days. (Just a bit for a treat.)
Beef bones from a roast were thrown in the crockpot with spices to cook overnight into a thick rich broth to be frozen for later.
Jeans/pants with life still in them were mended.
Small crochet and sewing projects were completed and leftover yarn and fabric used in scrap projects as I've had time.

The same theme has run through my mind as I've completed these tasks all week: I have greater abundance than I both need and deserve. Being mindful of what we waste is something that I need to have greater responsibility in. Making new from the old is both rewarding and necessary in reaching greater goals.

In the past year, I've easily slipped away from such a frugal, yet creative attitude. It has felt like such an accomplishment to reawaken that side of me. Do you have areas of your life that you feel like you need to reawaken and get back into action? I'd love to hear what they are.

My Scheduled Day, Part 2 and a FREE Schedule Download

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 15:18:00 +0000

If you missed the first part of My Scheduled Day you can find it here.

I had originally thought I would share my Friday list, but Monday's list seemed to have more information. My Friday schedule is a whole lot of finishing tasks that I didn't get to during the week and preparing for the weekend.

To begin let me just say that this schedule is set up based on my goals and daily tasks that affect life here on Hackberry Road. It certainly is not a "this will work for everyone" schedule. And because I know someone will mention it, I also know that as gardening season begins and craft show season starts I will have to tweak how this list works. It should also be noted that since I am just beginning this endeavor I'm sure that I will find that I didn't leave near enough time for some chore and had way too much time for something else.

I don't plan to live by the minute hand on the clock but instead use this as a road map for my day. If I occasionally take an old country road instead of the highway then there is no harm done. This is simply a general plan to keep me on track.

I only have a schedule for Monday through Friday. My schedule runs from 5:45 am to 6:00 p.m. Why you might ask? Because this is a personal schedule, not a family schedule. My kids are usually home by 4:15 and if I follow my list for the day... when they walk in the door I should be able to focus on my family and not chores and tasks. By 6:00 p.m. dinner is almost ready or we are at an activity. This is followed by homework, family time and bedtime routines already in place.

My schedule is based upon 15 minute increments with the majority of work in the morning. (cause I'm a morning person!)

Page 1

You can click on the picture for a slightly larger view.

Page 2

You can click on the picture for a slightly larger view.

As you can see, I don't have much on the list after 4:00 p.m.

A couple things to note:

I have set up time to clean specific rooms each day. (will share more later)
Certain days have more time for baking or errands with less work/research time.
Work/research time pertains to my home business.
Personal project time pertains to sewing, crocheting, or crafting for myself or others. I will also use this time when the chicken coop needs cleaned or chores that can't really be scheduled.
Free time is my down time to relax and gear up for the family to come home.

After printing these out, I slipped each into a page protector sheet. Using a dry erase marker, I can write out my menu plan or grocery list. Under blog time I could pencil in a topic I want to write about. Under project time I could write down a pattern to try. See how that works? Then each new week I can just erase my markings and start again.

I know this is a lot of information so if you have a question please ask. For a day to day detailed list of my schedule you can click here. If you would like to download your own BLANK version click here. If you have any trouble with the link please let me know. This is the first time I've tried uploading printable documents. If I can't figure out the problem then email me your address and I will email a PDF version to you. Happy Scheduling!

My Scheduled Day, Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 17:02:00 +0000

I recently shared my hefty list of goals for 2012. It is so easy for me to sit back in my comfy recliner and list my dreams for the upcoming days and months. What is not so easy is hauling my behind out of that comfy chair to tackle the steps that is takes to cross off those goals.

I'm not generally a schedule type of person. When my kids were little I pretty much just went with the flow. Days full of nursing, changing diapers and potty training don't necessarily fall into an orderly fashion.

It is safe to suffice that after so many years of having my days follow the flow of littles, I'm ready to reign in my free spirit.

One of my goals was to make a household schedule. I can gladly cross that off my list. And, hey it only took me the greater part of a day to make a schedule and fill it in to my liking.

Before I share my schedule (which I'll post tomorrow) I wanted to give some reasons about why I am so ecstatic that this will work for me.

While I'm not usually a schedule kind of gal, I am very organized... for the most part. I like everything to have its place and I am less stressed when there is a general tidiness about our household. Upon waking my head would be filled with all the things I needed/could accomplish... finishing a craft project or starting a new one, a few minutes on Pinterest, a loaf of bread that needs baking, meat needing defrosted for dinner and we have a game tonight, the house needs deep cleaned and the chicken coop cleaned, and there's that new recipe to try AND...AND... AND!!

I'm being completely honest when I say that I would get absorbed in one project to find that it is too late to defrost meat. I would put off the bread baking until the kids walked in the door only to find that they all needed my attention. The bread never got baked and I needed it for 3 lunches tomorrow. We'd head to the ball game and eat $.25 popcorn for dinner or an array of cold cereal and leftovers when we came home. I forgot to throw my hubby's work clothes in the dryer and he woke to find soggy britches.

Oh the guilt factor!! I felt guilty for sewing instead of doing laundry and guilty for folding clothes when I should be baking and guilty for baking instead of reading that book I've longed to read, and guilty for reading when I should update my blog, and guilty for not accomplishing much of anything with so many hours in my day. In fact, I was indeed wasting precious time.

I soon found that my good intentions with no follow through were leading to a self-inflicted stressed out mama!!

Therefore my daily schedule was born. I literally sat down and listed all tasks that I found important, fulfilling, and that I had to accomplish at some point in my week. Examples:
I needed time to exercise.
I needed time to do daily Bible readings.
I needed to keep my home clean & organized.
I needed to keep up on baking and laundry.
I needed time to research and work as I set up my home business.
I needed time to do personal craft projects.
I needed time to read.
While these are just a few, I realized that they were all important to me. I feel fulfilled, less stressed, and a sense of accomplishment when all of these things are part of my day or week.

Tomorrow I will share my Friday schedule with a bit more information. I also hope to have a blank schedule for you to download if you like. With that said, my blogging time is up!

Goals for 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 22:55:00 +0000

A new year that is already 3 days old... a refreshing, exciting, new year... a clean slate just waiting to be filled!

Aw... but the old year is just now past and I have to admit that 2011 was not one of the finest I have experienced. There were many goals made and as much as I hate to admit it... very few were crossed off the list. Ahem *cough* very few.

There were multiple vehicle repairs and unexpected medical bills that kept us from building up much savings. There was a terrible drought that made gardening a struggle. There were so many activities and doctor appointments that I threw the menu planning out the window. Then, I have struggled greatly the last few months finding some sort of order and purpose now that all my kids are in school. It sounds ridiculous even as I read it myself. We have struggled with our church relationship and we have struggled with some personal relationships and while it was not the year we had hoped it to be... we won't call it a total loss. We learned a great deal.

So we look upon 2012 with wholehearted excitement and it is only fitting for me to share my

~2012 GOALS~

Personal Goals~
Exercise 3-5 days a week for 15-20 minutes per day
Read 30 nonfiction books
Begin and keep up with a daily Bible study and read the Bible in one year
Memorize 2 Scriptures a month
Commit to 4-5 small craft shows
Make annual check ups for myself by March 1 (I'm great with this for the kids and put off check ups for myself)

Finance~
Have our Will in place by March 1
Rollover retirement fund to an IRA by March 1
Rebuild our 3-6 months expenses
Start college funds for our 3 youngest by June 1
Pay off the remainder of our cattle loan by Jan. 31
Save cash needed to cover oldest daughters 1st semester of college (fall 2012)
Fully fund our Christmas fund by Oct. 1
Make principal payment on a new loan (more on this later)

Kitchen/Household/crafts~
Make one "gotta try it" project bi-weekly (list to come later)
Back to weekly meal planning
~~Make a household schedule to get myself on track~~ (This may sound silly, but I'm very UN-disciplined. The only way I'm going to reach my goals is by forcing some structure.) DONE!
Plant a large garden
Start a second garden plot?
Preserve as much as I can
Purchase items from the local farmer's market that we do not grow well. Example: sweet corn/enough to freeze for winter/spring
Raise a beef cow
Raise two pigs
Raise 24 meat chickens
Purchase 3-4 new pullet hens for egg laying flock
Purchase large freezer for garage
Continue working on material/yarn/craft supply stash- making ahead gifts for my gift bucket
Plan ahead better for gifts needed

Business- Farm~
Put up a barn (hence the new loan mentioned above)
Hold back our heifers to begin rebuilding our cow herd.
Allow 3 youngest to purchase their own cow to begin building their own herds
Look at options to earn more income from our farm

Business-Home~
Start my own craft business
Commit to 4-5 craft shows by Sept. 1
Research marketing and booth ideas
START MAKING ITEMS TO SELL

Home Improvement~
Put in a wood boiler heat furnace that heats both home and garage (hence new loan)
Put in all new windows (hence new loan)
Add lean-to to garage
Finish painting laundry room
Update couch and one recliner

Whew! What an ambitious list. Hopefully I'll be able to mark off more than a handful this year. I'm sure going to try.

After all: My dreams won't work, unless I do!

Happy New Year!

Handmade Christmas Gifts 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 15:57:00 +0000

Hello everyone! I know, I know it has been ages since I have posted anything. Did everyone have a Merry Christmas? Are you gearing up for the New Year?

Our Christmas plans were thwarted when a bout of the stomach flu came to visit. We missed one of our family events which we all hated to miss. Thankfully for now the kids are on the mend.

I don't know about you, but it seemed that our "theme" for Christmas this year was "Practicality." Almost everything I made or gave had some practical function. With that said I think it was one of the nicest we've had.

Of course I had to share some of the things I made as gifts. There were several small things I didn't get a picture of... even with the best of intentions I was finishing things last minute. When possible I've included the links to all the patterns.

Bird Seed Wreath for my dad

Peanut Bird Feeder, made from a slinky and a hanger, also for my dad

Tote bag (Quilts and More magazine summer 2010) for my mom

Front

Back

Side Ties

Soft as Lamb scarf using Caron Simply Soft in Navy

This is one of 6 scarves I made. This was given as a teacher gift.

Caitlin's V-stitch Scarf using Caron Simply Soft in Off White

This was also given as a teacher gift.

Ditty Bags pattern by Keyka Lou patterns

These bags are so cute and fun. The pattern comes in 3 sizes. These are the large size and I used them to put the teacher scarves inside. Will be trying the other sizes soon.

Fox pattern from Dolls And Daydreams

Ok, I saw this pattern a few months ago and fell in love with it. There are several from her site that are just too adorable and I hear she is releasing a lion pattern in 2012. This little guy was given as my daughter's class present.

Zebra pattern from Dolls And Daydreams

Given to my niece only after assuring Clover that I could indeed make another exactly like it.

Another fox, given to my niece.

I also made an art caddy tote by Gingercake, Pleated pouches by Keyka Lou, and the Surreybelle Scarf by sarahsweethearts. Sarah's scarf pattern, by the way is one of my FAVORITE patterns and she offers it for free. I have one that is almost complete so I will share it later.

There you have it! The bulk of the handmade items I actually accomplished. Can you believe I already have several things bookmarked for next year?

The Frozen Egg Experiment

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda) — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 13:07:00 +0000

An abundance of chicken girl eggs prompted me to search for information on freezing eggs. It is a pretty simple concept with just a few rules to follow:

Do not freeze eggs in their shells.
Egg whites and yolks should be thoroughly mixed together. (think scrambled) Don't just crack the egg and freeze.
Add 1/2 teaspoon salt per one cup of egg mixture.
Do not add extra water or milk. As they thaw they will have a little extra moisture in them.

I wanted to be able to freeze my extra eggs in two ways.

1) In 2 egg quantity to be thawed for baking. 2) In 12-15 egg quantity to be used for scrambled eggs.

My first attempt at the small quantity I used an ice cube tray. Each "cube" held only one egg and I figured that would be okay. The trouble was that after they were frozen they would not come out of the tray. I dipped the bottom of the tray in a little hot water. I did get them out of the tray this way, but the bottom of the cubes had thawed due to the water and it was a huge mess.

Not ready to throw in the towel just yet, I started looking around for small containers I might have with a bit more flexibility or give. I had a few one- cup ziploc containers. It had to be worth a try. I'm glad to report that it worked... really well!

I whisked 2 eggs together and poured the mixture into one container and then repeated for the amount I had to use up. Then I put them in the freezer until solid.

I wanted to be able to reuse the containers not have a bunch of little bowls all over my freezer, so I dipped the bottom of the container into a bowl of WARM, not hot, water. Then I just popped out the frozen disk.

All of the disks went into a freezer bag for future use. One disk= 2 eggs.

For the 12-15 egg quantity I just scrambled them all together and poured the mixture into a gallon size freezer bag and froze it. To use, I will thaw the mixture inside the bag, snip off the corner and squeeze the mixture into a pan to cook. No mess!

This would be a great option if you find a good deal on eggs at the store, too.

The End of the Harvest

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 16:38:00 +0000

Brisk Breeze stopped by for a visit this morning. Rain was supposed to visit, too, but hasn't made an appearance yet. Rumor has it that Colder Air will stop by tonight and stay for a few days. Freezing Temps might come along and so with such visits inevitable, harvest days are nearing their end.

It wasn't the grand gardening season I had hoped, still it would be ill of me to not be blessed by what came my way.

Our beef cow, once a scrawny bottle calf, has grazed merrily all summer long with special grains as a sweet treat. We are ever mindful that her sacrifice will keep us feed for months to come.

Bags of tomatoes were pulled out of the freezer and properly canned. Jars of tomato sauce grace my shelves. Some found their way into a second batch of salsa along with the final peppers from the garden.

A few cucumbers made their way into pickles and relish (my favorite) before the heat of summer turned them hollow and bitter.

Today I found enough lettuce and spinach for a nice size salad, while rosemary and lemon balm dry on the counter for future use.

The local farmer's market supplied sweet juicy corn, much which was frozen as a yummy reminder during the cold winter. We also purchased extra honey.

While my green beans faltered in the heat, my dry black beans did well and produced almost a half gallon jar of dried beans.

Since most of my strawberry plants were new they produced only a small amount of berries. We anticipate next year, even with a few tucked away for long months ahead.

Extra eggs made their way into the freezer for future scrambled eggs and some for baking. I'll be sharing more about this tomorrow.

While cleaning freezers and pantry shelves applesauce, peaches, and sliced apples from last harvest still remain. This was a great find since few peaches and apples grew here this season.

After my opportunity to stock up on bulk grains and whole grain pasta I am amazed at how blessed we've been. I'm not sure we saved any money on gardening this year as high water bills ate up most savings. Still how can you put a price tag on the taste of sweet corn in December or a gooey apple pie in January all from the labor of the past months?

Few may understand this need of mine to raise and grow and labor and can and freeze with my own hands. But when I look at these red stained fingers or wash away tomato juice that found its way to my elbow... when I look at the smile on a small face from picking surprises out of the garden... or when a finicky teenage boy takes a bite from the night's humble cuisine and conveys quickly how "good" it is... that's when I look at these hands of mine and know that a job I love has been done well... thank you Season of Harvest for gracing us once again.

Where I Stand Today

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda) — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 15:09:00 +0000

My kids went back to school just a little over a month ago... yes, we have an extra long summer in our district. With the beginning of the school year, life for me has changed a great deal... hence, the lack of posting.

This year my youngest started kindergarten. Long before the marked first day I received significant inquiries about my future. When was I returning to work... what would I do with all of my free time... how was I going to handle being home all alone...

At the same time my youngest son was diagnosed with an uncommon condition. Life altering changes could have been in his future... rest assured at this time he is doing well.

With the start of school we have found ourselves rarely at home in the evenings or on weekends and the time seems to fly with two boys in football and our oldest daughter being a senior... there is no shortage of activities or homework.

To make the story a bit more interesting I gave notice for my at home job. For the last two and a half years I have served as our church's secretary working from my home. This provided a small monthly income and allowed me to be at home with Clover. For deeply personal reasons Farm boy and I decided it was time to walk away from that job. While I still have a few weeks left... I know in my heart that it was a good decision.

I must say that my time at home the last month has not been what I expected it to be. With kids at home, their needs tend to guide your day. Being at home alone during the day I have experienced euphoria, guilt, energy highs, energy lows and a feeling of loss. I have always known my place in the world and now that it has evolved into a new spot it feels a tad bit uncomfortable.

As I begin to find my footing, I am really excited and nervous about the future. Farm boy and I have so many plans in the works... you really won't believe where we are headed with our farm life.

I am also on the verge of starting my own business... something that I have been encouraged to do for years... and now I know the time is right.

I feel a renewed faith in God right now. With a smaller monthly income, a busier schedule, and taking chances with starting a business in such an unstable time I know that many trials are ahead. However, I feel like my feet are on solid ground. I feel equipped to take on the challenge.

I truly apologize to my readers for the lack of posting, but I know you all understand. I promise you that there is still much to be shared and I will be back in the saddle on Monday morning.

This Day...

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 16:45:00 +0000

Tomorrow may be unkind (we've had a few of those), but this day I will not take for granted the blessings laid there for me.

Tomorrow there may be too much rain, no sunshine and a too soon frost. This day I have new zucchini plants reaching for sun rays, bean plants emerging, pepper plants coming back to life and tomatoes blooming, again.

Tomorrow the air may turn cold, the chicks will quit laying, the garden will succumb and I may be too hurried to enjoy simple chores. This day 6 chicks each gave an egg, peppers produce, and I have time to can tomatoes.

Tomorrow there may be fewer pennies in my pocket, my children may be ill, the car might not start and worry & burden may vine into my mind. This day, just as it is... will not be taken for granted.

Amish Bulk Food Store

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 13:14:00 +0000

Over the past weekend, farm boy and I took a quick little trip for two. We headed west about 3 hours to see one of our favorite Christian bands in concert.

Almost as fun as the concert, I persuaded farm boy that it was indeed safe to turn me loose in a sweet little Amish Bulk Food store...

I wish I had snapped a couple pictures of their pretty shelves lined with every grain, legume, & baking good all bulk packaged in several sizes to choose from.

I did very well and stuck to what was on my list for the most part. I thought their prices were incredibly reasonable and managed to fill most of our tiny car trunk.

My favorite splurge was the "micro-mini" marshmallows. If you took a mini- marshmallow and cut it into thirds... you get a "micro-mini." Fun!

I also purchased:

50 lbs Hard White Wheat berries {chemical free} (for grinding flour)

15 lbs Organic Rolled Oats

10 lbs Organic Soft Wheat berries

10 lbs Amish grown popcorn (for eating and grinding into cornmeal)

4 lbs Hershey unsweetened cocoa

1 lb Rumford baking powder

1.5 lbs of pectin (for jelly making)

(did you know that popcorn makes the BEST cornmeal?)

It is probably good that this store is 3 hours away! I am thankful we had time to visit and I am so happy to have a good supply of baking goods on hand as we head into fall and winter. Do you have a bulk food store close by? I'd love to hear if you do.

A Summer to Remember (or maybe not)

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda) — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 14:05:00 +0000

Is anyone else ready for this summer to take a new turn? Here in my little part of the world, we have had days upon days of excessive heat. It is the driest that it has been in years. The crops did not produce due to lack of rain and all the heat, the gardens have dried up and we have stopped believing the weather man when he says cooler weather is just around the corner.

While it has been a difficult summer in so many ways (more of which I will share later) I find myself looking forward with excitement.

I can almost taste the first bubbly pot of chili made with homegrown beef, tomatoes, and beans- I smile at extra eggs in the freezer from the hard work the little chicken girls have put in- and I am still resolved that just maybe there's a chance that it will indeed soon cool down and there will be time for a fall garden.

In the thick of this heat wave, I find that we might have been forced to bend but we did not break. We might not have been blessed with abundance in crops, but we used creative ideas and hard work to save all that we could.

While many aspects of this summer and life in general have been draining I find myself making plans for the fall with hopeful excitement. How was your summer?

Complaining

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda) — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 13:37:00 +0000

There has been a lot of that... complaining... I mean, going on around these parts.

A mama with too little sleep, kids going in all directions, a sick little one, Farmboy working sun up to sun down, equipment breakdowns, a garden too wet, a garden too dry, a garden that needs weeded, a garden that needs harvested, a harvest needing preserved, clothes needing washed, hungry tummies, bored kids, bickering kids, outside sources tugging at my low energy reserves, the price of gas, the price of groceries, too much time, not enough time, a mama with too little sleep.

Yep, that about wraps it up!

I enjoyed Laura's post today about complaining and I thought you might also. The reminder to face this day with a grateful heart was just what I needed. How about you? ~Miranda

Blog Construction....

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda) — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 14:52:00 +0000

Just letting you know that I am working on my blog today. If things look a little out of kilter then it is because I probably don't know what I am doing. Will be back in service in a day or two. Thanks!

Here's a Little Sunshine

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda) — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 18:56:00 +0000

The humidity is about to boil up another summer storm in these parts. Seems to be an every other day event right now. So here is a little garden update with a smidge of sunshine on the side:

Read more »

Summer Totes

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda) — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 22:05:00 +0000

I've been wanting a new summer bag~ Something simple and cute that would be perfect to grab and take along on one of our many outings. I really liked this bag found at Grosgrain via Noodlehood.

I knew if I was going to use this tote most of the summer, then I wanted an inside pocket for keys and my phone. After a light bulb moment, I remembered I had bookmarked a tutorial at Sew Mama Sew that detailed how to add zippers to a bag lining.

Read more »

Top for Me from a Dress

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda) — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 13:15:00 +0000

I immediately bookmarked this tutorial as soon as I saw it. That looked just like my kind of summer top... simple and comfy. The problem is that I can't purchase knit material around here. I have to admit that I am a little hesitant to purchase knit online, just because I'm such a novice at the different types of knit... I'm not really sure what I would be getting.

I thought if I could find some XXL sizes in t-shirts I might be able to make it work. So far I haven't gotten far with that idea. Then I spotted this dress at the thrift store:

Read more »

My First Self Drafted Pattern Attempt

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda) — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 13:00:00 +0000

*WARNING- The photos below are mostly of a headless and armless child, such named as Clover. Some days are just not worthy of the terrible sad expressions a child might display when asked to model mama's newest creation. The delight of the mother is not always solely expressed by the child. So you will see only the dress and not cuteness, because there was no cuteness to share. No children were harmed in the cropping of these photos.

Absolute inspiration floats all over the web when it comes to those
creating clothing for their children and self-drafting their own patterns.

Read more »

I Was Very Bad...

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda) — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 13:00:00 +0000

I've been working so hard to decrease my lot of craft supplies... especially material. My project list is longer than a lifetime.

Then I stopped by the thrift store... which rarely has nice material... and at $.69/yard I couldn't pass up this stack of linen, wool, & heavy weight material.

And when I stopped in again a week later, I didn't expect to find this beautiful stack of quilting cottons at $.29-.49 each...

Nor could I pass up 3/4 a yard of this bug print for a mere $.59

Oh, and since a master home seamstress can NOT walk away from a cool ruler like this... certainly not when it guarantees "it only takes seconds to custom fit any pattern to your figure"... and well, my figure does need some custom fitting... well...

a girl just has to be bad once in awhile!

~Miranda