Little Homestead

How We Homestead - Part 2: Living Simply

noreply@blogger.com (Meg) — Wed, 22 May 2013 15:08:00 +0000

This is Part 2 in a 5 weeks series called "How We Homestead" hosted by Staci at Life at Cobble Hill Farm. You can find Part 1 here. Be sure to visit the other lovely women, linked to at the bottom of this post.

We found this spot on a trek in the mountains. I wish it was my view!

This week's topic is about living simply and how we've tried to simplify our life.

This is such a regular, ingrained part of my life that it's a little hard for me to think of specific things we do. We just do it!

Let me start with a little background. I grew up in a house in I guess what you could call the middle of town. It was my grandparents house, and it housed them, my parents, by brother and sister and I, and my great-grandmother. Starting when I was about 8 and continuing over the years, my grandparents converted a one story, 3 bedroom house (I think it was a 3 bedroom) to a 3 story, too-many-rooms-to-count house. On top of that my grandmother loves to buy people things, so if we ever mentioned anything that we might or might not have wanted at one time, she would get it for us.

Needless to say, I did not grow up very simply. I grew up in abundance and consumerism, and in the end I think all it really did was stress me out. You know all those stories you hear about people who had everything they ever wanted but still weren't happy? That was me. (I am very thankful to my grandmother. She was very sweet and just wanted to make us happy. It just didn't feel right for me.)

I don't like clutter, and over the years I've realized I don't like having too much stuff because it takes up space in my brain thinking about caring for it. It's more stuff to clean and find a place for. And while I'm not a super hippie, there is the part of me that says "this is so wasteful and unneeded."

Another place I wish was my view. :)

So part of our homesteading journey has definitely included living simply. I'll explain how we live simply in certain areas.

Simple Living in our Finances:
As of 2011, we are debt free aside from our house. I can not begin to tell you how this has given both of us a sense of freedom. It has given us the opportunity to pursue whatever we please, because we do not have to worry about what we owe to people. It has also made our actual banking much easier, because I just pay our few utilities at the beginning of the month and then things like gas and groceries come out when we need them. It's also allowed us to look into the future without worry or stress.

Simple Living in our Home:
We try to live very simply when it comes to stuff. For little purchases we usually ask ourselves (or each other) "Do we really need this? Will we actually use it? Does it serve a purpose?" before we purchase anything. This really helps in keeping the clutter and excess at bay. For the big purchases we make sure we save and budget for them, which in itself is a good deterrent for keeping unneeded things out of our lives. We have just enough clothes for each of us to wear, and a few special outfits for everyone. We don't have a ton of stuff, and the things we do have are things we love. We are fairly minimalistic and just like having our special things, not just things that fill up the empty spaces.

We also like to make a lot of the things we have or use. It allows us to spend less money, while opening our creativity at the same time. I can food, bake, and knit. Ben is an artist with metal and can make just about anything, or make some broken work again.

Add to all that the fact that we don't spend a lot of time out of the house doing things - we'd much rather be home, enjoying sitting together on the porch and watching the kids play - and I would say we live a very simple life indeed.

~ * ~

Visit the other women of the How We Homestead series:

Staci from Life At Cobble Hill Farm

Daisy from Maple Hill 101
Tammy from Our Neck Of The Woods
Amber from Making A Home

A New Day

noreply@blogger.com (Meg) — Tue, 21 May 2013 18:30:00 +0000

Thank you all for the sweet, wonderful, encouraging comments you all left yesterday. I try not to be whiny on the blog because... well, honestly who wants to read whiny posts? But it felt good to get it out, and it was so nice to hear you all say you've been through the same, or you understood, or you just sent hugs. Thank you so much. (And extra thanks to Misses T - I got your hug via my brother! :) )

Today is a new day! I feel so much better today. With all your comments I was on the mend, and once Ben got home I was starting to feel better. And I have decided that I will let go of the things that are not super important right now. I was starting to make myself crazy. (Like dealing with the berries. They are in the freezer and can stay there until I have a chance to do something with them.)

We got the kids over to Mimi's house and she watched them while we went out. We went to the bank and were able to get new cards for our main account without any hassle. My business account will take some time because I have to dispute some of the charges. So am without a bank card until that is over. Thankfully I still have PayPal if I need it. So, that is taken care of.

We went to Home Depot to get new toilet parts, and got a new seat while we were at it since the hinges were broken on our old one. It looks like a brand new toilet! (Is it weird I'm kind of excited for a fixed toilet? haha.) Ben even scrubbed the whole thing, and I told him it was the best anniversary gift. He's very good at cleaning. Better than I will ever be!

After we ran our errands we had a wonderful, delicious dinner at Olive Garden. I had an amazing Lobster & Shrimp stuffed cannelloni. It was SO GOOD. I highly recommend it.

Then we went to Goodwill and got Ben some new jeans and a belt. By the time we got back with the kids, it was bed time so straight to bed they went and we got to keep our evening going with quiet (and toilet fixing, lol) until we went to bed and I passed out and got a full nights sleep. I haven't slept that well in over a week. It was a wonderful evening.

Today, I am baking, which always seems to take the blahs out. It's faster than knitting, and I get to eat stuff when I'm done! :D So far I have sandwich bread rising, and a loaf of applesauce bread in the oven. I think I will make granola and maybe a sweet as well. I also pulled some pumpkin out of the freezer just in case I want to make pumpkin bread as well.

Make sure you come back tomorrow for the next installment of the How We Homestead Series!

Happy Tuesday!
Meg

In Search Of Peace

noreply@blogger.com (Meg) — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:49:00 +0000

This is how I feel.

Warning: I'm feeling whiny today.

Would you like to hear about my weekend?

On Thursday we spent the afternoon at my in-law's house to start setting up for the wedding (it was in their front yard). Munchie didn't get a nap. Bad mojo.

On Friday morning I was updating our check register and doing online banking when I found a charge for $353 dollars that I didn't recognize. A call to Ben said he didn't know what it was either. A call to the number on the charge told me it was for a skateboard (that I certainly didn't order) and I found out that yay, someone had stolen my bank card number. Woo.

A call to the bank got the card blocked and out-of-service so that left us with the few hundred dollars in my account that I used for my business, and the little bit of cash we had in the house. Ok, not a super big deal, we didnt' have big spending plans for the weekend. Just needed diapers really and we got that with cash. The bank told me that since the skateboard company was refunding the money, all we have to do is come get new cards (rather than file a dispute over the charges and go through some big fight before we can get new cards.)

Friday night, more setting up, the rehearsal and dinner, and Super Angry Munchie of Doom who had yet again, not had a nap. Super Bad Mojo.

On Saturday morning our toilet broke. Thank goodness we have two bathrooms.

On Saturday evening we pulled off a beautiful, wonderful, sweet, flawless wedding. It was amazing and it was so sweet (and a little sad, in a good way) to see my sis-in-law take the next step and get married. She was a beautiful bride, and if I get a hold of pictures and permission, I will share them later.

On Sunday morning I thought maybe I would feel better now that it was over. I've been crazy stressed out the last week (I know, kind of silly since I wasn't getting married, but I think we've all been a little edgy trying to get it all done). Sadly, I woke up Sunday morning not really feeling better, but worse. Maybe I am just trying to come down from it all.

We were talking about how our car needs gas, and Ben was stressing about it a bit (remember, our bank card is blocked) and I said it's ok, I have a little bit in my knitting account that we can use.

I decided to access my account online to see just how much I have in there...

It's.

All.

Gone.

All but $19 left in my savings account. Wiped. Completely.

I just started to cry.

(I'm pretty sure it happened because of this, since it is the only place that I have used both of my cards. I am extremely ticked off.)

It was a whole bunch of charges to Experian and Transunion (the credit unions)...

A call to Experian yesterday resulted in them very nicely refunding me all the charges (and I found out that whoever this (pardon me) douche bag is thankfully doesn't have my social. They were all for a different name, just using my card to pay for it.)

A call to Transunion this morning left me with nothing but them saying that they are sending me an investigation questionnaire in 7-10 business days and they won't refund me anything until they get that back and go through it. Thanks.

I didn't sleep for crap last night. I feel like a bundle of nerves and stress and I'm on the edge of breaking.

So this afternoon we get to go down to the bank and get new cards for our main account. But I won't be able to get a new card for my business account until those charges are refunded. Oh and a new float thing for the toilet.

I want to crawl in a hole and hide.

Forever.

I feel like I have no peace. I have been so busy for 2 months, doing something nearly every weekend, and our schedule isn't going to let up until at least the end of June, and now this stupid crap on top of it all....

And guess what? Today is our 7th anniversary! Not the way I wanted to be spending it... At least I get to go to dinner with Ben for a bit (after the bank and getting toilet parts) and try to forget about all of this for awhile.

I hope this week gets easier.

If not, I'm going to run away.

Garden & Wedding

noreply@blogger.com (Meg) — Thu, 16 May 2013 16:26:00 +0000

My sister (in-law, but just as close as my blood sister) is getting married this Saturday.

That's three days.

I'm in the wedding.

I've also been dubbed the official coordinator.

My kitchen table has been covered with my computer, clip board, and lists upon lists for the past week. We have a very busy three days ahead of us, starting with making centerpieces and flower arrangements tonight. That is why you get nothing buy glaring, unedited pictures of my garden.

On top of all that summer is creeping upon us and the gardens are producing and I have so much to do here at home. And not enough time. All of my delicate greens are starting to bolt, and I will have to just sadly let them go as I don't have time to mess with them. The cilantro I will just say was intentional, with the idea that I will get coriander. ;)

I spent two hours on Tuesday picking berries. 10.5 pounds of berries for that day alone. There are more ready today.

Here is my berry trellis. I wanted you to understand the full, behemoth madness that we planted. This trellis is eight feet long and over 6 feet tall. This year after the harvest it is getting hacked back to just a few canes.

Oy.

I need to make jam. I am just putting the berries in the freezer until next week when I can get to them.

I just finished cooking beet greens that were on their way out.

My grandmother gave me a gigantic bag of basil last night, so I need to make pesto today.

I can feel the panic of too many things and not enough time creeping in, but I am working hard to keep it at bay.

My hair is up.

My apron is on.

Let's go!

~Meg

How We Homestead - Part 1: How It All Began

noreply@blogger.com (Meg) — Wed, 15 May 2013 07:00:00 +0000

This is Part 1 in a 5 weeks series called "How We Homestead" hosted by Staci at Life at Cobble Hill Farm. Be sure to visit the other lovely women, linked to at the bottom of this post.

~~ Before we begin I want to say Welcome! to all the followers that have joined me in the last week. I'm so glad you are here! I also want to say thank for all the sweet comments on yesterday's post. You are all so wonderful and encouraging. I am so blessed. Now, on to the post! ~~

I think homesteading for me began a long, long time ago. I've always had a love and desire for "the old ways", simple ways, and doing it myself. I love the idea of farming, raising your own food, and living off the land as much as possible. Thankfully, I married a man who shares my desires and love of old ways and things.

Honey Whole Wheat bread

I think it officially began when I made my first loaf of bread. The twins were little little, we were in our second place, our second year of marriage, and we didn't have a ton of money. We ate a lot of bread between toast and sandwiches and I realized it would be a lot cheaper if I made our own bread. It was all downhill from there!

I loved it! Getting my hands into the sticky dough, kneading and punching and working, smelling that intoxicating, heavenly aroma as it baked, and finally tasting the sweet, chewy, scrumptious end product of my work. "I made this, and this is awesome!" I was so proud of myself. And I couldn't help but think of all the woman of generations before me who did the same thing, providing food for their families. It was just bread, but it sort of grounded me, and encouraged the part of my soul that said homesteading was the way it should be. This was right.

Blueberry Freezer jam (I was feeling lazy that day)

A little while later I decided to make and can jam. We had been using store bought grape jelly and I was kind of sick of it. I grew up with a grandmother that put up a lot of stuff every year when I was younger, so I was no stranger to canning (well, the idea of it anyways) and I wasn't afraid.

And it helped that I had a box full of plums from my mom-in-love and I had to do something with them.

That first batch was an interesting experience. My pot wasn't big enough, so the jam boiled over and made a mess of my stove. I didn't having a canning pot, so I had to make do with my large stock pot and a towel on the bottom to prevent the jars from breaking. I didn't have a canning funnel so jam dripped all over my jars, and I didn't have jar tongs, so I ever so carefully and precariously lifted jars in and out of that pot with regular cheapo tongs, which resulted in a lot of burning of my hands. But I made jam! And it too was awesome. All the work and pain was worth it. (And we haven't bought a thing of jam since then.) A little while later my grandmother blessed with me a brand new pressure canner (which I can also use for water bathing) and the tongs and funnel. I was one step closer!

Our first three years of marriage were spent in an apartment. I can not even begin to describe the ache I had for a little bit of dirt to grow a garden. It was painful. I wanted to plant. I needed to grow something. I'd never planted anything in my life, but that didn't matter. I had watched my grandmother's luscious gardens produce more veggies than she knew what to do with. I wanted that.

The before. Everyone thought we were crazy for getting such a fixer upper.

In April of 2009 we bought our little house, on our little 6500 square foot lot (actually I think it's less than that), and a year later we had our little garden and raised beds set up. I haven't been able to grow much, as I work ever so slowly to improve our dismal soil. But I was growing something. (If you want to feel accomplished, plant a zucchini seed. It will grow anywhere, in any soil, and you will start thinking you're living out Little Shop of Horrors.) And it was wonderful.

Once we moved here and I was able to really dig in, that was it. My heart was gone. Forever in love with homesteading and doing things ourselves. Over the past four years I have read and researched and thought about this way of life and how much I love it. It feels good to work hard and provide as much of our own food and things as I can, even it means still having to buy the ingredients, but making the end product myself. I've picked up soap making, sewing (a bit), cheese making, and a few other skills.

As I said, I was blessed with a man who has the same thinking, who shares my dream, and I've been doing this since the boys were babies, so getting my family on board hasn't been hard at all. Ben's mother, my precious mom-in-love, did all of these things before me - she baked and ground her own flour, canned and put up food, made soap, and sewed. His dad builds and fixes things and does it himself most of the time. They aren't ones for waste. He grew up in that, so that is just "normal" for him. (In fact he told me the other day that I am severely under quota for soap. I didn't even know there was a quota. ;))

And here we are now, a little ways in, with so much farther to go!

~ * ~

Visit the other women of the How We Homestead series:

Staci from Life At Cobble Hill Farm

Daisy from Maple Hill 101
Tammy from Our Neck Of The Woods
Amber from Making A Home

~Meg

It's A Wonderful Life

noreply@blogger.com (Meg) — Tue, 14 May 2013 15:22:00 +0000

This past week has been extremely frustrating in the emotional department. It seems like nearly every person I've talked to (who isn't family) has said nasty things about their own children, or been shocked and disgusted when they have found out that I have four and I stay at home.

The protective side of me wants to yell at them and tell them how awful they are and that I love my children deeply and wouldn't trade anything. But I know that arguing with these cruel people won't get me anywhere.

So instead, I'll just say

You sad people have no idea what you're missing.

~Meg

The "How We Homestead" Series

noreply@blogger.com (Meg) — Thu, 09 May 2013 20:06:00 +0000

I'm so excited to tell you about a project I am going to be a part of!

Staci from Life at Cobble Hill Farm had the idea for a little series on Homesteading and I will be joining her and 3 other women in sharing our journey, how we do it, and where we are hoping to be in the future.

We are starting next Wednesday, the 15th, and will post each Wednesday for the next five weeks.

The other wonderful women who are a part of it are

Daisy from Maple Hill 101
Tammy from Our Neck Of The Woods
and
Amber from Making A Home

I'm so honored to be a part of this and I can't wait to learn about the others and their stories!

Meg

The Picking and Eating of Berries

noreply@blogger.com (Meg) — Wed, 08 May 2013 19:35:00 +0000

The boysenberries are upon us! This morning I picked two and a half pounds, and that is just the first harvest of the season. There are SO MANY more to come, all in various stages of ripeness. This is when I start picking berries every two to three days. I think they are better this year than they were last year. They are so sweet and tart, I think I ate a half pound just while picking.

I have many plans for berries this year! I will be making jam, both with and without seeds, and I would like to make some syrup as well. I'll be freezing some for cobblers later, and I think I might make a tart or galette for dessert tonight.

The berry plants we have are Thornless Boysenberries. This is what Wikipedia has to say about their origin:

In the late 1920s, George M. Darrow of the USDA began tracking down reports of a large, reddish-purple berry that had been grown on the northern California farm of a man named Rudolph Boysen.^[4] Darrow enlisted the help of Walter Knott, a Southern California farmer who was known as a berry expert. Knott had never heard of the new berry, but he agreed to help Darrow in his search.
Darrow and Knott learned that Boysen had abandoned his growing experiments several years earlier and sold his farm. Undaunted by this news, Darrow and Knott headed out to Boysen's old farm, on which they found several frail vines surviving in a field choked with weeds. They transplanted the vines to Knott's farm in Buena Park, California, where he nurtured them back to fruit-bearing health. Walter Knott was the first to commercially cultivate the berry in southern California.^[4] He began selling the berries at his farm stand in 1932 and soon noticed that people kept returning to buy the large, tasty berries. When asked what they were called, Knott said, "Boysenberries," after their originator.^[5] His family's small restaurant and pie business eventually grew into Knott's Berry Farm. As the berry's popularity grew, Mrs. Knott began making preserves, which ultimately made Knott's Berry Farm famous.

Fun Fact: My dad used to work at Knott's Berry Farm when he was younger! I have still yet to visit that theme park.

Finding the perfect time to pick a berry is hard. I've found that they are perfectly ready when they give a bit of resistance, but still come off easily. If you are smashing the little cells when you pull, they aren't ready yet. Give them another day or two. If they cover your fingers in juice when you barely touch them, they are past their prime.

When you bring them inside fill your sink or a bowl with water and a splash of white or cider vinegar. Let them soak for a bit, swishing them gently as you put them in the water. The vinegar will kill a lot of the little bacteria that accelerate spoilage, making them last a bit longer in your fridge. When you do store them, place them in a shallow dish so that you have only two to three layers of berries. Any more and the ones on the bottom will crush. They should last a few days that way, maybe a week if you are lucky.

One of my favorite ways to eat berries is fresh, and maybe with a bit of sweet whipped cream if I'm feeling naughty. ;)

Are you harvesting anything yet?

Meg

The Big News, And Other Things

noreply@blogger.com (Meg) — Mon, 06 May 2013 19:04:00 +0000

Morning Glory

Blueberries

Boysenberries

"Mmm mmm"

Well, I meant to post our big news last week but we got caught up in Life and Stuff! It's probably not as awesome to everyone else but:

Ben got a new job! He started this morning! Hurray!! If y'all have been following for awhile, you know that he's been working 10's and 12's six days a week for nearly three years now, and we finally couldn't take it anymore. There was no end in sight.

And this new job? 40 hours. Period. They even say that if you get called in on a Saturday, you get Monday off.

Even better? We found out Thursday that during the summer they change their hours to compensate for peak energy hours. So instead of getting off in the early afternoon, he's getting off even earlier than we thought! He'll be coming home while the kids are still taking a nap! I'm so, so excited to finally have him back, and awake. It's been a very hard past few years of him falling asleep as soon as he sits down after dinner and being exhausted and at work all the time. I'm very thankful for this new job and I hope it works out as well as it sounds like it will and he will finally have time to rest and relax.

We were at the beach over the weekend, for the "men folk" in my family to take my grandfather on a fishing trip. It was his Christmas gift from my brother-in-law. It was a nice little trip and the weather was beautiful.

We came back to a monster dust and wind storm. On the stretch of road from the freeway back into town the dust was so bad you couldn't see past maybe half a mile. It was crazy. I have never seen dust that bad. Once we got into civilization the dust wasn't as bad, but the wind was still whipping things around. My poor grapes are so wind burned and sad looking. I think I lost most of my bunches that were blooming. I'm really bummed about that. But today is beautifully breezy and cool, with puffy clouds floating through the blue sky.

The blueberries and boysenberries started ripening over the weekend. The boys and I wandered around after school this morning and munched on berries. Munchie loves berries. I would say "Do you like the berries? Are they good?" and he would reply with grunty "mmm mmm"s. The first week or two of boysenberries is wonderful. The weeks after that are a little tiring once we're swimming in berries. And there are a LOT of berries coming this year.

I didn't get a lick of knitting done while I was gone. I spent our sitting time just relaxing, doing crosswords (my brain needs exercise haha) and enjoying the weather and the company. We squeezed 15 people into a tiny little two bedroom house. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, and it was nice to have so many people around to play with the kids, so I could really unwind and not be on alert.

Well, I think that's enough babbling for now. Ben will be home in a few hours! :)

Happy Monday y'all!
Meg

Knitting and Reading

noreply@blogger.com (Meg) — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 18:52:00 +0000

Sorry I've been so quiet lately... Just not much to post about! We've been busy with life and play, and working through the rest of our school year. Only 6 weeks left and I'm so excited!

I have been wanting to knit myself a sweater for a very long time, and for whatever reason, it just never happens. Well I finally purchased yarn exactly for this purpose, picked and bought a pattern, and I'm about 7 inches in! :D The pattern is the Woodburne Cardigan by Carol Feller. I am loving it so far. There are just enough cables to keep me interested, but not so many that I can't pay attention to anything else while I'm knitting. I also love the yarn (Cascade 220) - I've never tried it before! It's really nice to be knitting on something with larger yarn and needles after so much of that lace shawl (which, no, is not done). Plain ol' wool is my favorite fiber. It is just cozy and warm and I feel so down to earth when I have it in my hands.

The reading is Walden by Henry David Thoreau. I just picked it up from the library yesterday and started reading it late last night, so I am only a few pages in. I have been wanting to read it for a long time, as I've been curious about it, and I am excited that I finally get a chance now. I'm also reading a book called Good Food Revolution by Will Allen. It's been a very thought provoking book as he tells his story, the story of others in his life, and how he has gotten to the point of being in charge of Growing Power.

I was finally able to get a picture of one of the babies. They are getting so big. Mama is starting to teach them to flap their wings and get them ready for flying. I am so glad she made her nest in that flower basket. I can watch them from the kitchen window as I am working at the sink. It's been so much fun to watch them as they grow.

I have some wonderfully wonderful, wonderful news to tell you - but I can't until it's officially official. (It has nothing to do with babies, just in case you were wondering.) But it has me very excited!

Linking up with Ginny's Yarn Along.

Happy Wednesday!
Meg

Thankful

noreply@blogger.com (Meg) — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 18:45:00 +0000

Today I just wanted to say how thankful I am for all of you sweet, wonderful ladies who have been through it all before and are such an encouragement to me. For understanding about kids, and housework, and life and telling me to keep going and not give up. You've been leaving such sweet comments and they make it so much easier and make me smile. I feel like I've been blessed with a bunch of extra moms and some really great friends and wonderful mentors.

I never thought I would get this kind of support and love out of blogging. I've thought many times about stopping, because I think I'm silly for just talking about myself. But then I would lose my connection with all of you and I would hate for that to happen. I'm so thankful for everyone of you who visit and talk with me all the time. :)

And now the boys want a tent, so I guess I'm done being sappy, lol.

Happy Saturday!

~ Meg

Going on Around Here

noreply@blogger.com (Meg) — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 17:03:00 +0000

This is half ours and half from the farmer's market

First thing from the garden this year: sage and a head of lettuce, plus two tiny little radishes! We also got an artichoke the other night that Ben and I split.

The garden is... well it's coming along. I'm still waiting on sprouts from a lot of stuff, and I'm battling slugs and reseeding on other things. See the headless sprout in back right there? Yeah... This is going to be a year of war!

Draining curds

I made some Farmhouse Cheddar last week, and after it sat over the weekend to develop a rind...

It was waxed on Monday. Now it needs to sit and age for at least two months. I'm pretty excited about this. I've done a hunk of Parmesan that won't be ready until October, but I'm afraid it won't turn out because I didn't have optimal conditions for it's rind developing process. It got a little cracked and dried, so we'll have to see what happens.

I have no idea what Jack is doing

Mr. Munchie has been walking more than crawling now. This is one of my favorite stages, because he looks so adorable in his awkwardness. This little montage is what I call Baby Jaws. ;)

After my woe-is-me post about aching for land, I've been gently reminded of my post about blooming where I'm planted, and to be content where I am at the moment. You know who you are, and thank you. :) It was also reinforced when I got to the very end of my current Countryside magazine with a tiny little article entitled "Being Content Right Where I Am... For Now".

Yep, message received! I will try harder to be content with where we are.

I've been researching places to find lard for rendering. The few places I've called have just said I can get some if they happen to have it that day. So I will have to get lucky. I need to make good friends with a butcher and have him hold it for me.

I've started the edging of the shawl, which is good since it's due next week. The last part of the pattern is a little shorter than I had planned, but I ran out of yarn. I think I might release this as a mystery shawl pattern at first... We'll have to see.

And, I may or may not have ordered a plethora of yarn... I'd like to make a sweater (you know, cuz summer is coming...) and I thought it would be good to build my worsted weight stash... and Webs is having their Anniversary Sale... Which might have been the thing that swayed me.

And today, it's Friday!

Huzzah!

~Meg

A Mini Vacation

noreply@blogger.com (Meg) — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 18:18:00 +0000

Sorry for the grainy iPod pics - forgot my camera

I just got back from this. And it was wonderful!

This was the first time Ben and I have been away by ourselves in 3 years, and it was very much needed. Nana kept the kiddos while we went and recharged. I feel so much better. My mind is clear and I am so much more relaxed.

On Saturday we decided to go walk around and visit all the shops we've never gotten to before. So we parked at one end and walked up and down the streets looking at all the different little places. I found a nice little health food store and I am still kicking myself for not buying the raw milk I saw. I have still yet to taste raw milk.

One of the shops was a big antique store and I found this beautiful, gorgeous, well used and loved hutch/work space.

I wish I had a place to put it (and that it wasn't so expensive) because I would have snatched it up right then... And gotten it into the car... somehow. It was so beautiful and all the dings and scratches made me wonder what its story is.

I've enjoyed being away from the internet and electronics so much for the past few days that I think I will keep avoiding them for awhile. It's good for my brain. :)

Happy Monday,
Meg

Links For You

noreply@blogger.com (Meg) — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 21:13:00 +0000

I've been finding a few nice things over the past week and I thought I would share.

Tonya at Plain and Joyful Living is participating in a series called "Get Real", where her and a few other ladies are sharing how life really works for them in different areas like dinner time, gardening and homesteading, etc. They started last Tuesday with dinner time, and will continue for the next few Tuesdays. It's been really nice to read from other women how their lives aren't as perfect as we think, and that I'm totally not alone in the craziness. I've found some other great blogs through it.

One of the other women is Aubrey at This Blessed Life at Rootsong Farm. I had to share her Get Real on homesteading, because it was so inspiring to me. It was so wonderful to read about their journey, and to be reminded that it really can happen, it just takes some patience and trusting. I have been going back and reading it and looking at her pictures. (I've also been looking at real estate in Idaho... *cough*) Some days I get so frustrated being stuck here in between our neighbors (sweet as they are) and their noise and their cigarette smoke, dreaming and aching for land. It really does honestly hurt some days, I yearn for it so badly. But I know we will get there eventually, and homesteading is not just about place, but about one's heart and attitude.

After reading and hearing about soil blocking, and noticing that all of the information was very positive, I decided to order myself one of these. I'm curious to see how they work. I am excited about it for the money saving alone. I wouldn't have to buy little peat pots anymore! (Yeah, they're cheap, but they add up.)

I've found a great site/blog that offers free Photoshop actions. It fuels my laziness in actually learning how to doctor photos myself. ;) (I used "Golden Afternoon" and "Boost It" on the picture above.)

While looking up inspiration to design my own canning jar labels, I found these heat shrink ones, which I thought were totally cool.

That's all for now!

Friday's almost here!
Meg

Blooms, Buds, and Doves

noreply@blogger.com (Meg) — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 19:16:00 +0000

Apple Blossoms

Cherry Blossom

Grape Buds

Boysenberry Blossoms

Tomato blossoms

Funny - I didn't notice the other little unopened buds on the tomato until I looked at this picture.

Things are blooming! The blueberries are completely done with blooms, and the little fruits are forming and becoming round. Hopefully I will be making jam and muffins and freezing blueberries here in a few weeks. Or just eating them all off the bush.

I was able to see yesterday that Mrs. Dove has two little eggs in her nest. I am hoping we get to see the little ones hatch and grow. I am wondering if I can set up some kind of Dove cam... I will have to figure it out. She's up just high enough that I can't see without climbing on something. I can zoom in pretty well with our video camera.

I should be cleaning, but I am dreaming of land...

How is your Tuesday?
Meg

Easter Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Meg) — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 18:28:00 +0000

I hope y'all like pictures of my kids... ;)

Mrs. Dove has taken up residence in one of our hanging flower baskets. She lets me get fairly close because she is sitting on eggs, but her eyes get very, very big.

We had a wonderful, lovely Easter weekend. How was yours?

My long weekend started Thursday when I got all my seedlings transplanted into the garden. Then on Friday I got all my seeds except the corn and green beans planted. I need to rework and add compost to the bed the corn will go into, and I need to set up the green bean trellis and dig the ground.

On Tuesday we found out that Ben would be getting Saturday off, so we got our Farmer's market and grocery shopping done quickly Saturday morning, then we came back and Ben put a corned beef into the smoker to make pastrami. Then we spent the rest of the day being lazy and hanging out. It was so nice, and dinner was delicious. Did I tell you he is back down to 10 hour work days? He was able to talk them into letting him go down, since he keeps up with his work and is not as busy as everyone else. It's been so nice having him back and alive because he is actually getting sleep now.

In the morning the kids got up and found the baskets that the "Easter Bunny" had left them at their spots at the table. They were really excited. They had a few pieces of candy and some plastic eggs filled with a few pennies. Munchie got his own basket with some graham crackers and eggs filled with raisins. He enjoyed that.

We had a very tasty breakfast of pastrami hash and scrambled eggs, then Ben hid eggs and the kids got to hunt. The boys are old pros now, but Munchie had a good time finding his two eggs, and then spending the rest of the time trying to devour them. Then they convinced daddy to hide them again.

We spent the afternoon/evening with Ben's family having dinner, communion, and egg hunts. It was a very nice weekend, and we even got some rain in the afternoon which was so nice. We're supposed to have a fairly warm and cloudy week, so we will see how all the plants do.

How was your Easter weekend? Did you do anything special?

Happy Monday!
Meg

Yarn Along

noreply@blogger.com (Meg) — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 19:02:00 +0000

I have been so busy lately, but I've had nothing to blog about! I figured I can only give you step by step of my garden progress a few times before you get bored. ;) Thankfully, there are wonderful people like Ginny who give me things to post about!

We are on spring break this week, so I have been prepping and digging and getting ready for planting on Friday. I got my bean trellis set up and planted all the tomatoes I can stuff into my garden yesterday. I have 6 plants left over so they will have to find a new home. I will ask my neighbor next time I see him.

My grandmother (we call her Mimi) told me that her mother (Great Grandma Lola, who passed away early this year) used to plant on the Thursday - and I later confirmed Friday as well - before Easter. Mimi said Grandma used to call them "Twin days" and she always had very lush and productive gardens. That is when Mimi plants, and I decided it would be good to stick with family tradition and so I will be planting on Friday as well. I like the idea of planting on Good Friday, and the thought that my harvest will be blessed from the beginning. :)

It is also good information for next year, in that now that I know when I'm planting I can better plan my seedlings.... and not have three foot high tomatoes because I started way too early.

Anyways, back to the point of the post...

For knitting I am trying to work on the shawl for the auction. I think my deadline is the middle of April but I need to double check on that... I was about half way through when I took a good look at my design and really, really didn't like it. It just didn't look good. So I reworked the design... and ripped back a lot. =\ It might put me behind and cause me to miss the deadline, but I would rather contribute a shawl from my stash that is already finished than to contribute something that I don't feel good about. No half-arsed work here!

The reading is, among other books, The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. I am about three chapters in and so far it is very interesting. There has been a bit of history on the life of corn, how it got to this point of being processed and reproccessed and is fed to both animals and humans, and how big industry uses it for... well for evil. Haha. Those are my words, not his. The point of the book is for him to try to follow corn from the farm to the end product, and the journey on which that takes him. I am enjoying it, when I find the rare moments of quiet to read it. I hope I can finish it before it is due back to the library.

Well, for not having much to post, that sure was long...

Linking up to Ginny's Yarn Along

Happy Wednesday y'all!
Meg

Brain Freeze

noreply@blogger.com (Meg) — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 17:49:00 +0000

Do you ever feel so overwhelmed you completely stall out and just can't go forward?

I have felt like that the past few weeks. I have SO MUCH to do in all aspects of my life that I just can't seem to get my act together because I don't know where to start. Which is really weird for me, the queen of spreadsheets and getting things done.

I have so much to do in the garden, my house needs so much cleaning, I have so many library books to read before they are due, so much knitting on the shawl that needs to be done...

And lately I consider my days a success when I can just get school done and feed everyone three meals. Ugh.

So, yesterday I sat down and made a big list of everything that needs to get done for the garden this year. It's a long list...

And then at nap time I put everyone in their beds, grabbed my gloves and went outside to get started. I figured if I could just pull a few weeds then I would be at least a little step ahead.

Well, that was the little kick I needed, at least for yesterday. I got the left side flower bed completely weeded, mostly mulched with compost and planted a third tomato.

I also set up two trellises that will hold melons this year.

Is it just me, or is a bed covered in compost really pretty?

I've been so frustrated at not having enough room for all the things I want to grow, and then it hit me: If I can't grow out, grow up! I've been doing lots of research on growing melons and squash on trellises and I think I have a pretty good idea of how to do it. Just attach to the trellis as the vine grows, and make sure to support the fruit with a fabric hammock so they don't break off. I'm pretty excited about this new experiment.

Ben also had the idea to make boxes that we could hang on the fence, covered with lattice, and grow things through the holes of the lattice, like lettuces and spinach and such. That would also give us a lot of space.

And then last night I grabbed a dust rag (in a fit of my-house-is-so-stinking-dirty rage) and got the house dusted after the kids went to bed.

I think I might be getting past the stall out. I hope.

Happy Tuesday!
Meg

Birthday Surprise

noreply@blogger.com (Meg) — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 04:48:00 +0000

All these photos are by my sister, Rachel Wolf

Today we had a little surprise birthday outing for my birthday boys.

I had been planning this for over a month. Since they are really into planes right now, I thought it would be cool if I could get us a tour at one of the places at the airport. I didn't call the airport itself, but I called a jet fueling and maintenance business that is right on the airstrip. They were more than happy to let us come check out some planes, and so we marched ourselves down there at 9:30 this morning.

Now, I wanted this to be a surprise, but it was so hard to keep it secret when they kept asking "Can we go to the airport?" I kept having to tell them "oh, I don't know if we'll go this week. We'll have to see."

So today, when cousins showed up at our house and I told them to get in the car they kept asking "Where are we going? Where are we going?" I repeatedly told them, "Don't worry about it!" And they came up with all kinds of guesses like seeing pirates, or astronauts.

By the time we pulled onto the road to the airport, of course they could figure it out, but today was way cooler than any other day we've tried to see planes from behind a chain link fence.

As we walk around the side of the building to the entrance, one of the men was pulling out a private jet and wheeling it around for refueling. They all had to stop and watch and thought that was really cool. While they were doing that I went inside to let them know we were there. Now, as this was going on after I came back outside to wait for our tour guide, I noticed a few "Army Mans {and woman}" (that's what the boys call them) walking around but didn't think much of it.

Our very nice tour guide Ken, came out, said something to the man fueling the jet, and then turned around and said that if we wanted to see, there was a Black Hawk about to take off.

Umm. Yes! Talk about really cool timing for us. And that's when I noticed, as we walked through the lobby to see around the jet, the Black Hawk helicopter that was sitting at the end of the pad right near the airstrip. That explained the Army men and woman. I thought that was cool just by itself.

Well they were very nice and said we could go out onto the sidewalk to watch it take off. So we walked outside and watched the soldiers do some pre-flight check stuff. That's when Ken and the very nice lady who's name I did not catch came over with a golf cart and asked who the birthday boy was. I pointed out Jack and Ty and she said that if we hurried out there we might be able to ask them for some pictures. Sweet!

So my sister, who mans the camera, the boys, and I hopped on the cart and sped our way out there. She asked the soldiers if the boys could have some pictures before they took off, because it was their birthday, and bless our soldiers they were more than happy to let the boys climb on board.

They got out, hoisted the boys up and let them climb in, giving high fives to the soldier who was still in the back of the chopper.

Now here I have to take a little break and just pour out my heart of thanks for these men and women who serve our country. They sacrifice so much for us, and they have such wonderful hearts and it was just such a big deal to my boys (and me) to be able to do that. I don't know if they'll ever see this, but if you're out there and you do: THANK YOU! For what you do, and for making my boys' day. You are all amazing people.

As we were going out there Ken was getting a second go cart for the cousins and Brett, so everyone was able to climb in and check it out and get their picture in the Black Hawk. I think that, right there, was it for me. That made my day so much, and I was so excited about it. (Can't you tell by my rambling on and on already?)

After that we came back to a safe distance were able to watch them go through the rest of their flight checks, and then finally take off. It was SO COOL.

Once the Black Hawk was gone, Ken showed the kids to the jet that had been sitting there and the kids got to climb in and have a look around.

That was a pretty spiffy jet! When we were all done Ken walked us back inside and handed out some little squishy airplanes to all the kids.

It was a wonderful experience, and the people there were so nice and sweet to let us do that. It made me want to work there, or come back and visit all the time, they were so sweet.

After all that we went the local town history museum to play at a children's center they have there. It's a place I used to go when I was younger (which kinda trips me out bringing my own kids to it). They have a learning room with things like maps and mirrors and light boxes, and they have what they call "Kid City" which is a room with a bunch of little booths that are the different buildings in the "city". They have a restaurant, a police station, a hospital, a theater, a news station, a bank, etc.

They all ran around and had lots of fun for awhile, and then, since our admission paid for both the kid's center and the rest of the museum we decided to go walk the grounds.

This museum is a collection of houses and buildings that are part of our county's history and have been moved to this location and preserved. It's always been one of my favorite places in town, because I love seeing the old buildings and they way people used to live.

The kids... Well they were moderately amused, but you know how kids are. They would look, go "hey cool!" and then run to the next one. :)

They did stop for awhile when Brett found the locomotive engine, which just made his day.

After we toured the whole place we found a spot to sit down and have brownies and do birthday presents.

It was such a nice day and the excitement of it has been pumping through me all day.

As my sister and I were walking out of the jet center she said "I miss field trips!"

I agree.

We need to do this more often!

Happy Weekend,
Meg

A Tiny New World

noreply@blogger.com (Meg) — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 02:28:00 +0000

I love spring!

~Meg

Six

noreply@blogger.com (Meg) — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 16:53:00 +0000

Already 6.

I'm pretty sure someone is messing with the speed dial on this whole time thing.

Six years ago at this time I was so, so sick* and we were about 12 hours away from an emergency C-section that brought our kiddos into this world three months before they were due. That was an absolutely terrifying day, and the three months that followed were equally as hard and scary.

Today, they bounce off the walls, are always jabbering, and are growing out of their shoes. Thank God for His miracles.

I have really enjoyed seeing the different ages. (Except three. I hate three.) Five has been very interesting as their brains open up to the world around them and their imaginations turn on.

I'm excited to see what 6 brings us, as they are trying more and more to become little men and do things on their own. Every day is an experiment in independence. This should be a very fun year.

Happy Wednesday!
Meg

*For those of you who watch Downton Abbey and saw Sybil die of eclampsia - that is exactly what was happening to me. As the doctor on the show is explaining that the only way to save her would have been an emergency C-Section, that is still true to this day and is the only thing that saved the lives of me and our boys. I am so thankful for my stumbling onto the symptoms way ahead of time so that I could see them in myself, and very thankful as well for my doctor who listened to me and took very good care of me. Unfortunately, although this disease has been around for a long time, we still don't know exactly what causes it and it takes the lives of many women and babies every year. If you'd like to learn more about the disease, you can do so here: http://www.preeclampsia.org/health-information/faq#zero.

Wet Saturday

noreply@blogger.com (Meg) — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 18:48:00 +0000

Well-watered lettuce

It's been raining for the past two days.

On one hand, it's been wonderful! I love the rain!

On the other hand, my lettuce was completely under water yesterday, and it kind of put a crimp on my hardening off schedule for my seedlings, and my plans for planting today. Which I will take as a sign to wait. I think today is a good day for baking instead.

It's funny how this year, as I try very hard to become a decent, successful gardener and provide food for our family from our property, I pay more attention to the weather and what is coming.

In other news, Munchie took his first unassisted steps to Daddy last night! I was cheering and jumping, and he was looking at me like I was a crazy person. It's such a weird experience to be so proud, but a little sad at the same time.

Happy weekend!
Meg

Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Meg) — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 18:32:00 +0000

I am really posting just to show you my stinkin' adorable shoes that I got on Saturday while having a little girl time with my sister... But I guess I'll post some other pics too. ;)

I've started hardening off my plants. I hope I can do this right and don't stunt them all terribly. I don't think I'm going to put them in the ground until after the middle of the month, maybe closer to Easter, but I need space on my washer and dryer again, so I figure once they are hardened off I can leave them outside, and bring them in if we had a bad weather warning.

In my reading about starting seeds and gardening, I found mentioned a few times that you can help your seeds sprout by keeping the humidity up for them, which is usually done by adding a plastic grow dome, or even wrapping the flat in a plastic bag.

I started my marigolds in a take out box that I had kept, and I decided to put the lid on them to see if the extra humidity really does indeed help them. The package says the seeds should germinate in 7-14 days.

Two days. They sprouted in two days. I planted them Friday afternoon, and when I checked them Sunday morning I they were sprouting! I couldn't believe it!

We've had a bit of a peanut mystery around here for the past few weeks. I kept finding peanut shells in the garden, and I couldn't figure out where they were coming from. We do have a bag of shell-on peanuts that I let the kids have for snack sometimes, so I figured maybe they had wandered around and dropped the shells. Turns out one of the resident Scrub Jays has been bringing them in from who-knows-where. Last night we watched him fly up to the neighbors roof, bang them on the roof line, and then fly over the garden and drop the shell. I should ask him to drop them straight on the compost pile.

Not much else going on - we had a terribly lazy and wonderful Sunday. We pulled a few weeds, Ben cooked a chicken, and that was pretty much it. It was so nice.

How was your weekend?
Meg

Handwork & This Week's Round Up

noreply@blogger.com (Meg) — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 17:07:00 +0000

I always hate the day after a birthday, no matter whose birthday it was. After all the hype and excitement of the day before, the day after just seems so... boring. Haha.

We don't do much for the first birthday - I know that sounds terrible - since we (or I should probably clarify, I) figure they won't remember it much and yes I know birthdays at that age are more about mama than they are baby, but I just like spending time with my kids and having them around every day, not just on their birthdays. So I make a big deal for the one's who understand, and the babies just get snuggled as much as they usually do... maybe a little more. ;)

The kids did spend all day telling him "Happy Birthday Munchie!", Auntie Rachel brought him Ritz crackers for his present (she knows him pretty well), and we had a nice big dinner that included mashed potatoes, which are currently Munchie's favorite food. I thought about making him wear a birthday hat, but figured he wouldn't keep it on for very long.

We've been doing a little "Home Ec" this week...

The big boys learned how to make their own eggs on Monday, and excitedly continued to do so on Tuesday and Wednesday as well. Aside from smashing the eggs a little too much, they can do it all by themselves with nothing but supervision and a little coaxing which makes me both extremely proud and a little sad at the same time...

And now it is Friday!

I am sitting here with a lovely iced coffee, I just pulled chocolate chip muffins out of the oven, and now it's time to show you what I've been working on.

For any of you who follow the Little Homestead facebook page, I posted this picture the other day with the intention of using it in starting an embroidery project.

Well I did! And here's how it's going.

I just love violas. They make me so happy! Ben says it's funny that I like the tiny little ones that nobody else likes - since apparently everyone likes the larger pansies - but I just love tiny little flowers. I think because they make me think of fairies and the tiny unseen world of what could be.

I just pulled the picture up on my computer, laid the fabric over the screen, and traced with a fabric pen. I really like the first set I got done. It's so cute and fun.

Yesterday I finished potting up my strawberry plants. I have 2 whole 1020 flats full of pots- 36 plants! I also potted up some more peppers. Today I will finish the rest of the peppers and the few herbs, probably start marigolds (and maybe some other stuff, even though I don't have room, because I'm addicted), and try to get outside to do some weeding and bed prepping.

I also need make bread today for the weekend. Busy busy!

What's going on at your place?
Happy Friday!
Meg

One

noreply@blogger.com (Meg) — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 14:48:00 +0000

Happy Birthday my littlest one!

On this day one year ago you came into our family and hit the ground running. You've been a blessing and a joy to us since before you were born.

I can not believe you are already one year old. I just had you yesterday. I clearly remember bringing you home from the hospital. But then, your bubbas are nearly 6 and they are still babies to me as well.

I'm so proud of you already! You are so smart, and I love how you have decided that you are "one of the guys" and won't let things like lack of walking keep you from doing what your bubbas do. I love to watch you figure things out, my favorite being "put it in the bucket and take it out". I love to watch the little wheels in your head turn. I love your goofy little grin you get when you are so stinkin' proud of yourself. And I love the way you light up and snuggle on my shoulder when I scoop you off the floor.

I love you more than you can possibly ever know. You've come so far already, and I am excited to see the little boy, the young boy and the man you will eventually become.

But... try not to grow up too fast.

Love you always and forever,
Your mama