Life on Hackberry Road

March Goals Update

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda) — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 16:00:00 +0000

I realize it is mid-April and I am just getting March's goal update finished. The past three weeks have been trying to say the least. We didn't get too much accomplished, but at least we are still moving forward!

March Accomplishments

Personal Goals~
Exercise 3-5 days a week for 15-20 minutes per day
Read 30 nonfiction books (I'm now up to a total of 11 books for the year.)
Begin and keep up with a daily Bible study and read the Bible in one year (Keeping up... so far so good)
Memorize 2 Scriptures a month
Commit to 4-5 small craft shows
~~Make annual check ups for myself by March 1~~

Finance~
~~Have our Will in place by March 1~~
Rollover retirement fund to an IRA by March 1 (We still haven't had a chance to do this. We have several updates to make per our trust so I think this will get done soon.)
Rebuild our 3-6 months expenses (This has been a 'one step forward, two steps back' situation. Trying to stay positive and keep moving forward no matter how little it seems.)
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) (We have heard from one college offering full ride tuition and fees renewable for 4 years. She would need to live in the dorm which would be at our expense minus any scholarships. Her school of choice just began their process and we are knee deep in paperwork.)
Fully fund our Christmas fund by Oct. 1
Make principal payment on a new loan

Kitchen/Household/crafts~
Make one "gotta try it" project bi-weekly
Back to weekly meal planning (I've been doing monthly meal plans. This just makes things so much easier for me with life being so busy.)
~~Make a household schedule to get myself on track~~
Plant a large garden (I have my tomato and pepper plants started. Since this picture was taken they have been repotted and are doing really good so far. We have also planted 4 rows of corn, green beans, onions, potatoes, lettuce and peas.)

Start a second garden plot (Our second plot is in. It will be mostly corn, squash and maybe my dried beans.)

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 (She is out to pasture. We'll see come fall how she looks and whether we need the meat or the money)
Raise two pigs (Decided to maybe put this off until next year. We haven't had a chance to get shelter built and with so much going on right now it doesn't seem feasible)
Raise 24 meat chickens (Same as for the pigs)
Purchase 3-4 new pullet hens for egg laying flock (Since we had such a mild winter my chicken girls have never stopped laying. We get at least 3 dozen eggs a week. For right now I think I will hold off on getting more.)
Purchase large freezer for garage
Continue working on material/yarn/craft supply stash- making ahead gifts for my gift bucket (ongoing)
Plan ahead better for gifts needed

Business- Farm~
Put up a barn (Still waiting.)
~~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 (Started working on this a little harder. I plan to start selling what ever I can to help bring in a little more money. Toying with a few different ideas.)

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
Add lean-to to garage (Poles are set)
~~Finish painting laundry room~~
Update couch and one recliner (The recliner is dead. Hopefully we can get this replaced soon. It's atrocious.)

At this point I am looking forward to school being out for the year. We have just had illness after illness. The kids get better, go back to school, and come home with something different. With my oldest daughter graduating in a month it has really been a whirlwind of activity and paperwork. I can honestly say that I feel like we are treading water and just taking each day at a time is about all we have been able to do.

Repurpose #5 Cloth Envelopes

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda) — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 14:11:00 +0000

Years ago when Farmboy quit his job in education and started farming we started using Dave Ramsey's envelope system for budgeting our monthly expenses and all those "extra" expenses that can come out of the blue.

When I saw a tutorial at Just Imagine Heaven for cloth envelopes to go along with this budgeting system I thought it would be a fun idea to use up some of the items I'm trying to repurpose.

I started with 3 pairs of too big pants

grabbed some muslin, stamping ink, and letter stamps

then added 2 more colorful fabrics plus some lining fabric in bright green, pink and mauve and ended up with

twenty seven pretty little cloth envelopes. Now if they would magically fill with cash upon demand!

Boys Room Redo

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda) — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 14:00:00 +0000

**My apologies for the poor pictures. The zoom button on my camera seems to have broken which makes it difficult to get a good shot. It either zooms really close or really far away.

Farmboy was home for a bit over the past weekend so we kind of jumped into this project. I wish I had remembered to take some before pictures, but think of a mini tornado hitting a kids room and you have a pretty clear picture.

Problems areas:

My boys are 13 and 11 and share a small bedroom. They had little space to call their own.
They had a bunk bed. The younger brother was constantly being awakened by the older brother since their bed times are different. Inevitably the whole bunk bed would shake when the older one got into it. Older brother also likes to listen to the radio to fall asleep and younger brother does not.
They shared space under the bunk bed for personal toys. It was always a mess and many items would get shoved back and weren't reachable.
There were too many odd and end pieces of furniture.
They have a TV with an Xbox and Wii. The games were always on the floor and the remotes were rarely put away.
The top of the dresser was a clutter catch all.
The younger brother loves building lego sets and didn't have a place to keep them once finished.
One wall has a huge window in the center so there is no extra wall space along that wall.

We plan to paint their room this summer when we have more time. For now this is how we tackled some the the problem areas.

We took apart the bunk beds. Older brother's is on the left and younger brother's is on the right. Older brother has a small night table with clock/radio. He can still listen to music, but now that younger brother is farther away and has a fan going, younger brother doesn't hear it as loudly as before. Also, no more bunk bed shaking when big bro goes to bed.

There is little wall space for bookshelves or dressers, so we installed this adjustable shelving. The shelves can be moved up or down if needed and it makes use of the vertical wall space we have thanks to vaulted ceilings. We were careful to place the shelving high enough so that growing boys wouldn't conk their heads in the future. Each boy has 3 shelves. Notice the empty space in the center? Extra space is good.

This is a closer picture of older brother's shelves. Special items are displayed and organized. We were able to eliminate a cheap plastic shelving unit freeing up some floor space.

Their dresser was moved to the short wall between the exit/entrance door and the closet door. Each boy has a side to the dresser and one small drawer. We also placed their TV in the middle of the dresser and each boy has a side for personal items. The middle drawer they decided to use for...

games for the Wii and Xbox. The controllers also fit in the drawer.

Above the TV and dresser we added another set of shelving. The X box sits here and some accessories for the gaming units. The top shelf is mostly empty, but again it is nice to have the extra space. The great thing about the shelving is that we can easily add a shelf if needed later on. We were able to eliminate a small table that the TV sat on freeing up more floor space.

Since there are two doors in the room (closet door and entrance/exit door) I put up two over the door hangers. Each boy now has his own hanger for jackets and hats. They also each have a nice area under their bed for storage. There is one more shelving unit that I am working on, but it will have a post all of its own... can't wait to share it.

While the rooms in our home are not Better Homes and Gardens worthy they are shaping up to be functional even if they are a bit minimal. The boys love their new space. It cost us around $85 for this makeover and that was mostly for shelving. Seems like a small price when it adds so much to the room. Then of course we will have the cost of paint when we get around to that.

We hope to get to Clover's room in the next week or two!

Repurpose #4 Reusable Snack Bags

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda) — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 17:05:00 +0000

Remember way back in February when I posted this:

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 totally missed the March deadline, but I am still working away! I have gone through both tubs, cut out a few patterns, saved back a handful of items for future projects, made stained items into cleaning rags and have finally finished up a few more projects.

A quick an easy project was Snack Bags! It seems I have packed more lunches for school this year than I ever have. In fact, Clover takes hers almost every day. I have gone through a ton of ziploc bags. Yes, I know I could wash them, but that is one frugal endeavor not high on my list of priorities. Instead I decided to make up a few reusable snack bags.

I used the snack bag tutorial at i have to say. The fabric I used was from 2 pairs of pants plus a shirt from the tubs. Muslin was used for the interior lining. Velcro and muslin I had on hand.

The tutorial is easy to follow and it didn't take much time at all to sew up 8 little snack baggies.

These will be used for "dry" snacks although I could see using them for apple or carrot slices also.

I wouldn't be surprised if some little girl snags them for "treasures" either.

Laundry Room Redo

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda) — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 16:30:00 +0000

After last week's successful craft/family room update I just couldn't stop. I have wanted to paint and reorganize my laundry room for a couple of years. Oh, but seriously, I could only imagine what a pain this was going to be.

My laundry room is the most ill thought out room in the house. Basically you walk into our back door and are greeted by the dryer. The room is tiny for one thing and because of an alcove of sorts it consists of 8 short walls & 4 doors (one outside, one to the hot water heater, one to the furnace and one to the bathroom). As a family we use this entrance/exit exclusively. Every muddy shoe, every dusty dirty pair of work clothes, every wet drippy item comes through that room. The walls were white with green & maroon stripes (yikes!) The floor is white linoleum. Mud + dirt + dust+ white walls and white floor= headache.

Starting behind the door, (we'll call this wall #1) I had this household hanger in which I kept my broom, clothespin bag and reusable grocery bags. First of all I *love* this household hanger that we got a few years ago from Home Depot. It isn't "decor" status but it is extremely functional and inexpensive.

Next, we were using this flimsy wood rack to hold 4 pairs of coveralls and several jackets and coats. The pegs come out straight and items were always sliding off onto the floor. It just wasn't working.

I moved all the coveralls to the rack behind the door. There is substantial room for them to hang, the hooks on the rack angle upward so the bulk doesn't allow them to slide off onto the floor. There is also room on the floor below for boots and shoes.

Wall #2 is the doorway to the furnace. No extra space here.

Walls #3, 4, 5 are part of the 3 wall "alcove." The door that you see in the picture below leads to the hot water heater. The alcove is the perfect spot for this tiny freezer. Even when the freezer is full I can easily pull it out if necessary. Originally, on wall #3 (on your right side) I had a tall shelving unit for storage. Of course if we ever had problems with the hot water heater, we would have to move a whole shelving unit, also.

My solution was to hang 2 household racks (on wall #3) to hold jackets, coats, etc. Again, the hooks angle upward so the items won't slide off. I staggered these so my six year old could reach the shorter one. Walls 4 & 5 are empty although I will put up a spring loaded shower rod above the door so I can hang clothes up to dry.

Wall #6 used to hold that flimsy coat rack. Now it has the shelving unit. I am getting ready to use two of these shelves for seed starting.

Wall #7 is the wall where the dryer and washer reside. Somehow the dryer vent was caught up in the power cord in a way that meant the dryer was nearly a foot out from the wall. I pulled the dryer out and straightened it all allowing me to push the dryer back a good six inches. Wow! Instantly there was more room coming in the door. You can see that there is a bit of space to the left of the dryer. Just wait...

Wall #8 now has 2 household racks... I'm telling ya... I love these things. The lower one holds my broom, grocery bags and clothespin bag. The upper one holds all our various keys.

And that space to the left of the dryer?

You have no idea how many times this mama has almost broken an ankle by stepping on a loose basket ball. Total cost for my little update was $37 for half a gallon of paint and 4 household racks. (plus tax) I'm not sure of the color of paint, but when wet it looked like melted chocolate ice cream. It is the Behr brand primer and paint. I'm hoping the rich tan color will help hide some of the grunge. Next room to get a make over... the boys' room!

February Goals Update

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 14:51:00 +0000

Another month has passed so it is time to share what I achieved goal wise in February.

Personal Goals~
Exercise 3-5 days a week for 15-20 minutes per day (Doing well with this... walking almost every day and doing sit ups, push ups and some cardio exercises off and on throughout each day)
Read 30 nonfiction books (I only got one book read this month for a total of 10 for the year.)
Begin and keep up with a daily Bible study and read the Bible in one year (Keeping up... so far so good)
Memorize 2 Scriptures a month
Commit to 4-5 small craft shows (Worked on this in January)
~~Make annual check ups for myself by March 1~~ (I not only made appointments to see the doctor and the dentist, but I've already gone to each. Both went well, but unfortunately I need to have 2 wisdom teeth removed and I have an appointment for a surgical consultation on some health related matters next week. I'm thrilled to have found a new doctor and dentist that I like really well.)

Finance~
~~Have our Will in place by March 1~~ (We have met with a lawyer and are setting up a trust. This should be complete within the next week or so)
Rollover retirement fund to an IRA by March 1 (Missed the mark on this one, but it is next on our to-do list)
Rebuild our 3-6 months expenses (were not able to save any this month)
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) (Been working on financial aid to give us a good sense of what our out of pocket cost will be)
Fully fund our Christmas fund by Oct. 1
Make principal payment on a new loan

Kitchen/Household/crafts~
Make one "gotta try it" project bi-weekly
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.)~~
Plant a large garden (Have all my seeds purchased and will be trying to start many of my own plants this year.)
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 (One of the heifers we saved back in January seems to be slightly smaller than the others. We are thinking we may fatten her for this year's beef)
Raise two pigs
Raise 24 meat chickens (Found plans to make a portable coop. Thinking we may only try 12-18 this year instead.)
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) (Should start in the next month or two.)
~~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
Add lean-to to garage (Poles are set)
Finish painting laundry room (Just purchased some new paint as I didn't like the original color I chose)
Update couch and one recliner (Found a way to fix a couple holes in our couch. We will probably try to keep the couch, but the chair is going to need to be replaced soon)

Our son Red developed strep throat this month and that was an unexpected doctor's bill and medicine. Although not a large amount it was unexpected all the same. Honestly there were a lot of unexpected incidents this month and some of them could have been less costly if I had planned better. Then I decided to spend a bit of money getting a few areas better organized. You can see how I updated my craft room. I'm thrilled to look at this list of goals and see how many have already been crossed off or are very close. I also have a couple of new items to add!

Start all new flower/herb beds around front porch (We put up some new edging and have weed cloth down. I hope to get new dirt in them in the next few days. I plan on planting some perennial flowers and medicinal herbs in this area. It looked really sad and overgrown so this will should be a huge improvement.)

Make over boys bed room (Now that they are older they really don't care for their bunk bed. They also have very little space for their stuff. I'll be working on updating their room in the next few weeks.)

Put cement pavers in 1/3 of the chicken run to make a more permanent coop. (Originally we intended to move the coop and attached run from place to place. I really like the spot that it is in now, but it gets muddy and poopypavers in the area that is hard to get to. I will then be able to spray them clean as needed. The front (more accessible) part will have pine shavings which work really well.)
Very excited to see what I can get done in March... so many great things are in the works!

Craft Room Redo

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda) — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 16:52:00 +0000

It always hits me about this time... the not quite done with winter, longing for spring but it's not here yet... time of year. Yep, the organizing bug hits me. I tend to move furniture around, declutter, and organize. Along with that comes a list of "I wish I had the money to do this or that." Normally I quickly talk myself out of spending any hard earned cash and try my best to use what we have. After 13 years of trying to make it work, I've given myself permission to purchase a few things *inexpensively* to get more of the look I want.

Granted, I'm working with a small budget, but I think with a bit of hard work I can achieve the look I'm hoping for.

I started in the family/craft room. This room is rarely used other than for my sewing and craft projects. Even though it was rarely used, it was full of junk. Overflowing! We had two tall bookcases, two desks (one is used for my sewing machine) a storage cabinet and my 6 foot craft table. The room was full of bulky furniture that didn't work together and it caused the room to feel small although it isn't.

Problem areas:

Too much furniture in the space... stuffy & crowded

Small bookshelf had all of kids books, not enough room for it all

Large bookshelf had some collectibles, all of my fabric stash, books belonging to hubby and I, container of cards and gift bags, and all my craft books plus jars of buttons. Too much!!

Extra desk was a catch all for junk.

The 6 foot table was shoved against a wall in the corner... quite often it was a catch all and unusable. Half of the table was used for my tabletop ironing board. The corner is dark even with the light on.

Solution:
I discovered that the small bookshelf would fit perfectly against a small wall in my bedroom. The books belonging to hubby and I (less the craft books) were all moved to that shelf.

The extra desk was moved to a tiny corner in our dining room. Often homework gets started while I'm fixing dinner. One child in particular always gravitates to the dining table to do homework. When it is time to eat he has to move papers and books from table to the counter and back again and there is generally grunting and huffing and puffing involved with this move. This is now the homework desk. It sits directly next to the table. The kids are close by if they need help and there is no shifting of paperwork involved.

The large bookshelf used to dominate a small wall. In fact, it took up most of the wall space which made the room look small. It was shifted over to the large wall in the room. The large wall is about 9 feet long. The shelf looks great in this spot. It breaks up the long wall, but there is enough wall space to still look open. All of the kids books were moved to this bookcase. I also brought out their most loved board and card games from the hall closet and placed them on the shelf. Clover loves this. In the closet they were too high for the kids to reach and it was always a mess. This opened up a lot of shelf space in the closet also.

Next I pulled the 6 foot table out from the wall. (after a huge cleanup from junk ON the table) I purchase two inexpensive book shelves from W*mart, one tall and one short. I organized all my fabric & craft books on the tall one. On the short one I put some of my card making supplies and items that I wanted to have a little more accessible. These shelves were place against the wall & corner where the table once lived. I love being able to use 3 sides of the table. This will make cutting out patterns incredibly easy. An antique sewing table was placed on the wall where the large bookshelf used to stand. I moved my ironing board from the 6 foot table to the antique table. This opens up the whole 6 foot surface of the craft table. Love this! (I don't use the antique table for my sewing machine because it has a really cool old robin's egg blue machine that still works. It needs a little TLC to be fully functional. I have every intention of getting to full working order one day.)

There are still several "little" projects I want to make for the room to be complete. For now I really love the new look. There is so much open wall space that the room looks twice the size it originally did. Thanks to a nice big window there is plenty of natural light also. Instead of the catch all junk room it really feels like a craft "studio". The total cost for this was $45 for the two shelves.

The next rooms on my list are the laundry room and the boys' bedroom. Can't wait to get them finished.

Repurpose #3 The T-shirt Quilt

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 22:05:00 +0000

This was my BIG repurpose project. In fact, I've had it in mind for quite awhile. My plan was to use a bunch of the kids t-shirts that were predominately our school colors... Orange & Black... and put together a small quilt to take to games. There is always a need to cover cold football bleachers or for a little extra warmth as the sun goes down.

(pieces cut from various t-shirts and old sport wear)

All would have turned out fine if I had followed directions. Most of the t-shirt or "scrap" quilt instructions will tell you to iron on a light to medium weight interfacing to the back of your knit pieces. This will keep the pieces from stretching and shifting as you sew. But no, I didn't listen. I didn't have any interfacing of that sort and I told myself that I wasn't purchasing extra supplies for the repurpose projects.

(back was made with some black corduroy, gray corduroy, and a flannel shirt all my my stash)

(I used up some black and gray thread also. Wish I had paid closer attention and used black on black and gray on gray. Oh well.)

SO... I had read some quilting directions that used freezer paper ironed on to the back of the pieces so that you could keep your quilting lines straight. I knew from freezer paper stenciling that the paper will peel right off without leaving any residue. Aha!! I had a whole box of freezer paper.

Long story short, it was perfect for the initial blocks. It worked fine as I began sewing rows together. As the quilt grew larger it became heavy and bulky and my machine didn't want to sew through 6 layers of bulky weight.

When it was all sewn together, I had to peel off hundreds of rectangles and triangle and squares! Some of the paper pulled stitches. Some little flecks were impossible to remove at all. Thankfully, the hot dryer made most of the pulled stitches shrink back.

In the end, it turned out great for its intended purpose. Mark my words, I will NEVER, EVER try to use freezer paper to make a quilt like this again. Don't even try it. It was dumb, dumb, dumb. Next time I will spend a few dollars on interfacing. Next time... Red and Blue...

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.