Off the Grid at -30

An Ending and a Beginning

2014-03-11T14:33:00.000-06:00

I've been putting this post off for a long time. At first I thought I wouldn't have to make it. Surely the doctors would come up with a solution. Nope, it wasn't to be, so here I go.

Last year I started to run into a few medical problems. Nothing that I thought was serious. During a routine medical exam my doctor noticed something not quite right and actually called me personally, twice, during a time when she knew I was out of the country. That kinda worried me but she assured me it was just something that needed to be followed up on and I shouldn't be too concerned. OK... A doctor telling you not to worry is kinda like a cat being told not to chase a red dot. Suffice to say things went downwards from there. So far I've seen five different doctors and had more medical tests than I care to count and still there are more to go. The bottom line is this, at least the way I understand it..... I'm not dying, well at least not yet, but I will never be back to my normal self again. In fact, life as I know it is pretty much over.

So, there it is in black and white. No sense crying about it, nothing to be done but move forward and see where it goes. Which comes to the hardest thing I have ever had to do. Sell our much loved homestead. If you've been following along on our journey you know we've had some amazing times and lots of fun but since I can no longer live that life I have to let it go. So, I am....

If you know of someone who is looking to live an off grid lifestyle, who isn't afraid of getting their hands in the dirt and doesn't mind the winters let them know of this opportunity. Just because my dream is ending doesn't mean it can't be starting for someone else. http://offgridparadise.net/

Off Grid Paradise For Sale

It's someone else's turn to enjoy this beautiful spot.

Taking a Brief Hiatus... maybe... sorta...

2012-09-05T08:53:00.000-06:00

Sorry for leaving you in suspense wondering where I was and when I was coming back. (You were wondering right? Or is that just my overactive imagination at work again?)

My unexpected trip turned out to be very fruitful and we are now in possession of a "newer" car. One which gets approximately 900 km (559 miles) or more per fill up. I can't tell you how excited I am about that! Fuel prices continue to rise and spending $20 every time we needed to make a trip into town was killing our budget.

Now that I am back however, my poor garden is looking rather overrun and I am in full blown "prepare for winter" mode. Along with all the other farm chores I am slightly (insert quite) overrun on a daily basis and my list of things which must be done now keeps getting longer. This has given me quite a dilemma. I spend at least 1.5 to 2 hours daily on my blog and FB page. This is time a really don't have to spare right now.... sigh....

In order to keep my sanity (although many will say that left me a long time ago) I will be scaling back my time writing and concentrating on my garden and winter prep for the next little while. I'm NOT going away! Just have to get everything done before it freezes!

We started our first fire of the season in our wood stove last night. While it was wonderful to feel the heat and listen to the fire crackle I also felt sad that this wonderful summer has come to a close. Fall is now in full swing and the geese flying overhead are urging me to hurry ever faster to stack the wood in the woodshed and bring in the harvest.

Please be patient! I will post as often as I have time.

Killing Three Birds With One Stone (No birds where harmed in the writing of this blog)

2012-08-29T09:00:00.000-06:00

First came the house, then the barns and out buildings, now, five years later it is finally time for Mountain Man to start building his shop. But wait! We still need a summer kitchen and a green house! Uhg! So much to do on such a small budget!

Winters here are usually so cold you can't spend much time out of doors which creates a closeness which can be lovely at first but by January we are both ready to pull each other's hair out! Not literally, but we always get a bit of cabin fever in the winter and tempers become a bit short... OK... once in a while if the winter is particularly long, a lot short. Hey, the sun rises at about 9 am and sets at 3:30 pm, I blame the sun....

When you are doing everything on a shoestring it can take a long time to build anything. So, my ingenious man has come up with a plan. He will get his shop for those frigid winters and I will get a summer kitchen for all my canning as well as a green house area to start my plants. He is very busy in the summers and won't spend much time in there anyway.

Being that we are off the grid and power is always at a premium and depended on the sun the windows on the south side for the "green house" are necessary for light as well. We are just making them a bit bigger than the original plan. The wood stove will go in on the side where the garage will eventually be and the pipe from the stove will go through the wall and into the garage side to heat it just enough so the cars will start at -30 and colder. We have traded out or bartered for a lot of the materials so far since cash is always in short supply. (Gas for the vehicles is now up to $1.26/liter ($4.76/US Gallon) and it costs us $20 for every trip to town)

When Mountain Man first came up with his plan I must say I was a bit surprised. How many men would willing choose to share their shop (substitute private domain) with their wives? I'm a lucky woman.

Frugal "I Did It!" Tuesday #7

2012-08-27T22:19:00.001-06:00

It's that time again! Time to check out the frugal things that everyone has been up too. I don't know about you but I have been so busy canning I haven't had much time for anything else. Tomorrow I will take a day "off" from canning or at least attempt too and spend some time reading all the wonderful posts and gleaning wonderful ideas.

The most popular posts last week were.

The Unexpected Benefits of Financial Difficulties by Second Chance to Dream

Guide to Free and Cheap Produce by Healthy Frugalista

and

Slow Oven Roasted Cherry Tomatoes by Mamal Diane

Now, on to the blog hop!

A few rules (I really hate rules but we must have a few)

1. Link up anything that is: Something you made or did that is frugal

2. Link back. Please ensure you put a link back to this page. You can grab the button below or just post a link somewhere in your blog.

3. Visit a few of the other links on the page.

I will share a few of my favorite posts on my Facebook page this week! Enjoy!
If you are receiving this in your email click here to view all the postings.

What Is That Sound?

2012-08-27T09:08:00.000-06:00

For the last few days I have been hearing a wonderful trilling call. I only hear it two times a year. The first time it thrills me as I know spring is truly here but this time it sent a chill and a dread through my body. Fall.... Fall... Already? Where did the time go? How can it be fall already when I have so much to do? The tomatoes have not yet yielded up one delicious ripe fruit and yet the call I am hearing is unmistakable.

I went back to peeling and coring apples for canning with a bit of a heavy heart. For many Fall is a lovely season filled with beautiful colors and wonderful harvests. There is no disputing that. For me however, Fall while beautiful is also brief and heralds the time of mind numbing cold to come. I refuse to think about it. It can't be fall yet! The trees are still as green as the tomatoes on the vines.

The calls came again and I in my desire to ignore them turned up the radio and bent my head to my task. Not half an hour later Mountain Man burst through the door, told me to grab my camera and my boots and hauled me out the door. This is a normal occurrence here. He will not allow me to wallow in my self pity but insists that every day, every moment must be enjoyed for what it is. So, we ran... and ran... Across the field which is almost a good quarter mile wide, him spryly and making silly faces at me while I huffed and buffed behind him angry with myself for being out of breath. When did I get so out of shape? Then we stalked silently through the woods and to the edge of another field being careful, so careful, not to make too much noise. There they were! Those shy birds we only see in passing. Sigh.... How can I feel anything but joy at the sight of them? Sandhill Cranes. Wow! I wish my pictures would have turned out better. Perhaps today I will take the time to try to get closer.

With a wing span of up to 7 feet these are huge birds!

At first we thought there were only a few of them. We were so wrong! There were at least fifty scattered throughout the field.

And then we got too close and they took off.

On the way back to the house we spotted this flock of geese heading South. It is official. Fall is here. Sigh.... No more pity parties! I will enjoy every minute of it!

A Cherry of a Problem

2012-08-24T13:05:00.001-06:00

If you are a member of my FB page you probably know about the bounty of cherries I was able to glean from a neighbors yard. I love cherries so was pretty ecstatic to get them. There was only one problem... I don't own a cherry pitter, the store is an hour away and I have no plans to go there any time soon. What to do?

I tried numerous make shift items. A skewer with the end blunted. a pen without the tip and finally my fingers. What resulted was a bit of a mess. My finger nails are pretty short due to not wanting to have the milk bucket kicked over by my lovely ladies in the barn. Most of the cherries ended up split apart pretty badly but I kept at it determined to get it done. I was getting a bit frustrated and seriously considered just smashing them all with a rolling pin a few times. About 1/3 of the way through I to called my mother in law to ask for one of her recipes. While on the phone I asked her about an easier way of pitting them. When she told me the implement to use I was shocked and felt just a bit stupid. Why didn't I think of that?

To capture my feeble attempts to perfect this cherry pitting machine I decided to do my very first video. After all why not? I have to hit this milestone some day. So... here goes! No comments about the state of my fingernails allowed! After all these poor gardening hands might get a complex. Don't mind the poor camera angles... its hard to video when you only have two hands and need them for the demonstration. Hmmm... I need to rig a holder of some sort for around my neck.

Also seen on: Deborah Jean's Dandelion House,

Recipe Thursday - Zucchini Relish

2012-08-23T09:12:00.001-06:00

I've never been a great fan of relish. I'm not sure why. I guess I just never saw a need for it. Ketchup and mustard were all I needed on a hot-dog or burger. Mountain Man however loves relish. So, for the last who knows how many years I have continued to avoid purchasing it and he has asked, "Is there any relish?" anytime we have burgers or hot-dogs. Then I ended up with a bumper crop of zucchini. He can't stand the stuff and although I have found ways to stuff it in recipes, short of taking it to my neighbors in the dead of night and leaving it on their doorsteps I had to find a way to use it up.

I would probably have gone with the dead of night leavings but figured the neighbors would realize it was me anyways and just bring it back as I have offered it to everyone I meet. Then while thumbing through an old Company's Coming cookbook I came across a recipe for zucchini relish. I was making burgers and salad for dinner and Mountain Man just happened to ask for relish... again... finally a light went on in my fuzzy canning addled brain. Relish! Zucchini! Yes! I can do that! So I did. The results were nothing short of amazing. I love this stuff! What was I thinking? Relish is fantastic!

There were some things I did change just a bit. The recipe calls for everything to be ground. How do you grind vegetables? I don't have a way to do that so spent a lot of time chopping everything really small. It was time consuming but very worth it. I also doubled the recipe and used one less cup of sugar than called for.

Zucchini Relish

Ingredients:

10 cups zucchini, ground with peel on
4 cups onion, ground
5 tablespoons course pickling salt
2 small green peppers, seeded and ground
2 small red peppers, seeded and ground
2 1/2 cups white vinegar
4 cups granulated sugar
2 tablespoons celery seed
4 teaspoons cornstarch
3 teaspoons dry mustard powder
3 teaspoons turmeric
3 teaspoons nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Start by grinding, or in my case chopping really small, the zucchini,

and onion

Can you just picture me crying for 1/2 an hour? Thankfully I noticed my eyes quit watering after that even though I was still chopping. Hey! Those little spuds were slippery!

Now place the onions and zucchini in a large bowl or pot and add the pickling salt. Cover it and let it stand on the counter over night.

Then drain and rinse in cold water. Drain again and turn into a large sauce pan. Add the remaining ingredients. Heat on a medium to high heat until it boils. Make sure you stir it often. Boil for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thick.

Pour into hot sterilized 1/2 pint jars to within about 1/4 of an inch of the rim.

Wow! I sure am messy!

Process in a boiling water bath adjusting for altitude. 10 minutes for 1/2 pints, 15 minutes for pints.

Place on counter to cool for 24 hours before moving to storage.

Now, finally when Mountain Man asks for relish I can say a resounding Yes! This is a pretty big recipe, you will end up with anywhere from 10 to 12, 1/2 pint jars.

Also seen on: Deborah Jean's Dandelion House

What's All The Fuss About?

2012-08-22T09:47:00.001-06:00

My babies are not babies any longer. That fact came home to me this morning as I looked out my window, tea cup in hand, to see what the commotion was about in the chicken run. There was one of my "baby" Buff Orpington roosters covering a laying hen I had put in with them. Whoa! My cup almost ended up hitting the floor! That's a first! Of course on the farm animals don't hide when they decide to mate, they do it outdoors right where anyone can see it. He seemed pretty pleased with himself but now I am wondering when I will be able to butcher a few of them as I have way too many roosters and pretty soon they will be bothering the hens all day long.

One proud rooster

"What's all the fuss about?"

So, me being me, I decided to wander outside to take a few pictures of my not so little babies. I'm happily snapping away when another hen, whom I had just put in the run last night, decides to lay me a nice egg for breakfast and then announce her pride to the world. She was making quite a ruckus in the coop and it was echoing off the walls nicely.

The Orpingtons who were used to a nice quiet laying hen, who just laid her egg and left it there silently, couldn't seem to figure out what all the fuss was about and clustered around the door to see what was going on. It was so comical I wish I would have had a video option to record it for you.

At least I finally was able to capture a picture of the whole gang together! She was so loud and noisy even the goats came to see what was going on.

Life on the farm is never dull.

Frugal "I Did It!" Tuesday #6

2012-08-20T21:49:00.001-06:00

Yeah! Tuesday it here! This is really getting to be one of my favorite days as there are always so many wonderful posts and ideas to read. Despite my hectic canning schedule I plan on reading every single one.

Here are the most popular posts from last week.

Six Tips for No Stress Canning by A Separate Path

Thrifty Breakfast & an Update by Kathe with an E

and

Apartment Homesteading: Eco Friendly Laundry Tips by Natural Living Momma

Now, on to the blog hop!

4:40 and All is Not Well

2012-08-20T09:15:00.000-06:00

I've been tired lately. Really tired.... I think it is just because there is so much to do and I am continuing to try to can at least one if not two canners full of produce daily along with all my other chores. Never the less the reason doesn't matter, when my head hits the pillow I am fast asleep. Which is why when I heard barking at 4:40 am it took me some time to register what was going on. At first I thought it was part of a dream then when I realized there was a dog barking right outside our door my sleep fog started to lift. Picture me sitting up wide eyed in bed and saying, "Dog? Dog? We don't have a dog!" "There's a dog barking at the goat!"

Mountain Man who had been snoring so loudly it is a wonder I heard the dog was instantly awake. (How does he do that?) He jumped out of bed and dashed outside waving the shotgun. Some of you may think this was a bit of an over reaction but remember where we live. We don't own a dog and our lovely Daisy (aka Nasty) is not locked in the barn at night due to her inability to stay in a fence or get along with other goats.

The barking continued and then there was a loud BOOM! Which probably could have been heard miles away. Silence. Lovely silence. Mountain Man came back to bed and promptly fell back asleep muttering, "How can a man get any sleep around here when you send him out to fight zombies?" ZZZZZ. The snoring began and I lay awake until the alarm rang laughing to myself. I sure hope the neighbors dog received enough of a scare that he won't be back again.

I've always found it very frustrating that their dogs wander at will all night long but there is nothing I can do about it. I've talked to them a few times but they just laugh it off as if it isn't a big deal. Thankfully all the other livestock is locked up at night but if they ever get so brazen as to come during the day and attack or kill some of my animals it won't be just a warning shot that is fired.

Daisy seems none the worse for the experience however and is her usual Baaaing self.

Recipe Thursday - Canning Mixed Veggies

2012-08-16T08:59:00.000-06:00

This time of year everything is all about preserving the harvest or preparing for the coming winter. My days are sun up to sun down busy, busy, busy. No time for anything else, however, when all is said and done I will have a lot of prepared foods which will make for simple easy and nutritious meals all winter long. One of the things I am trying year is canning mixed vegetables. Last year I made the complete soups before canning but I have a much bigger garden this year and the produce seems to be ready to harvest all at once which means a lot less time to preserve it all.

The other day I harvested a few vegetables that couldn't be canned separately because there just wasn't enough of each vegetable to make many jars full. I decided to make them into mixed vegetable jars for soup. It will be so easy to open a can of veggies and a can of meat and make a meal in a few short minutes.

The most important thing to remember when canning vegetables is that you have to adjust the canning time to suit the vegetable which needs to be canned the longest time. Remarkably I had harvested vegetables which all required the same amount of time.

These were the first ones harvested. I went back and grabbed some carrots too.

I washed them all extremely well and then washed them again before cutting them up in bite size pieces.

Prepping the veggies takes a bit of time.

I boil my jars in an old canner to keep them hot. Then fill the jars to about 1 inch from the top. Add about a tsp of course pickling salt. Don't use table salt.

Fill with boiling water to about 1 inch from the top of the jar.

Remove all air bubbles and refill with water if necessary.

Place the preheated lids on and process according to your pressure canners instruction. For me it was 10 pounds of pressure for 40 minutes. Pretty easy!

Wasps!

2012-08-15T09:08:00.000-06:00

Yesterday evening I finished up the evening chores and was sauntering slowly back to the house, milk pail in hand and thinking I really didn't have much of anything interesting to blog about when I heard Mountain Man's voice call to me from the window in a tone I don't hear often. "Go around!" he said in a loud voice, "Go around!!!" OK..... Not sure what all the fuss was about I walked the long way around to get back into the house wondering all the while what the commotion was about. There didn't seem any reason to take the long way but I have learned to trust him even when he tells me to do something kinda strange.

When I arrived all he did was ask for the baking soda. Puzzled I found it for him and watched him quickly make a paste of baking soda and water and apply it to his ear. At this point my curiosity was starting to get the best of me and my patience wearing just a bit thin.

Thankfully once he had his ear covered in this paste he explained. Wasps had build a huge nest behind the wheel of his tool trailer. He had needed to move the trailer and they had become angry and attacked him. Luckily he moves very fast and was only stung on the ear. He had yelled at me to keep me from going near the nest while he treated his ear and decided on a course of action. One thing was sure, they could not be allowed to stay. Finally armed with a large bottle of wasp spray and a long stick he directed me to stay back while he sprayed the nest and then knocked it down.

He was right, it was huge!

This was my first real look at the inside of a wasp nest. Talk about elaborate! I had noticed an excessive amount of wasps in the area but they are always a nuisance here so as long as they left me along I didn't think too much of it.

Now I've been stung many time by wasps so was very glad to see them gone but I had never heard about making a paste of baking soda and water to treat it. Turns out that was exactly the right course of action as it takes the sting out of it almost right away. What a smart guy. Lets hope we don't have to use that remedy again anytime soon.

Frugal "I Did It!" Tuesday #5

2012-08-14T06:03:00.000-06:00

Tuesday is here! Thank you for being a part of "I Did It" Tuesdays. I can't wait to see all the wonderful posts!

The most clicked on posts from last week are:

Vegan Cold Process Soap by Good Clean Food

5 Years to Finish by Kadidids

and

How to Make Coconut Butter by An Organic Wife

Now on to the blog hop! So glad you could join us.

I look forward to reading each and every post!

A few rules (I really hate rules but we must have a few)

1. Link up anything that is: Something you made or did that is frugal

2. Link back. Please ensure you put a link back to this page. You can grab the button below or just post a link somewhere in your blog.

Coming Soon To A Road Near Us

2012-08-13T09:53:00.000-06:00

Brrr... I can't get warm this morning. Temperatures have plummeted in the last week and there is a nip in the air I'm not liking. While this cool snap most likely will not last long, yet. It is a reminder that fall will be here soon and we must hurry to prepare for winter. Winter.... That word makes me shiver even more! I refuse to start a fire though. It's the middle of August and I am being stubborn, after all this is supposed to be a hot month so there should be no need for a fire! Excuse me while I get some more hot tea......

Back...

For the last five years we have had this for a driveway.

Not much to look at and wait until it rains! Usually we end up leaving the vehicles at the road and walking or quading the half mile to the house. When it gets real bad even a four wheel drive can't make it through the mud. Five years! That is a long time to deal with this but since trucking gravel in and building up the driveway is so expensive we didn't have an option. Until now.

We knew we had some nice gravel on our land but thought the cost of digging it up might be pretty high. Enter a wonderful neighbor who owns a track hoe and would like us to do him a favor. In exchange he brought his equipment over and went to work. Yes!

Look at all that beautiful gravel! That right there is quite a few $1000 worth of gravel if we were to have it trucked in and he isn't finished yet! So excited! Not sure when we will be able to spread it but just to see it happening is exciting.

Not to mention when this is finally completed we will also have a wonderful swimming hole or fish pond! I sure do love it when a plan starts coming together. Thank you to good neighbors!

Everything Old is New

2012-08-10T09:30:00.000-06:00

We love old things, the more ancient the better. Now many people love antiques, but we love them not just to look at or to own but to use. If we can find an antique that is still in great shape and we have a need for it, it will be coming home as long as the price is right.

There is a reason for this. We have found, as you might have, that everything from "way back when" is made better. It is sturdier, heavier, it won't fall apart, the knobs won't jiggle and it won't break anytime soon. Things just aren't made that way anymore. Society has changed. Now products are made, not to last, but with an expiry date so you will have to purchase another one in the not too distant future. The pride of workmanship is, for the most part, gone.

That is why when I looked out the window and saw Mountain Man trundling down the road with something in the back of the truck I got excited. What was he bringing home? He is always surprising me with something! I love presents!

Now many people might look at this stove and go... too small, too old, too something. Me? I went "YES!!" and jumped up and down. I know when it is completely restored it will be a thing of beauty.

It is solid! I help unload it and it weighs a tonne. Well, OK maybe not that much but still... Everything on it still works like when it was new all it needs is some tender loving care and it will be all set for my summer kitchen.

Even the timer works! I had to laugh at myself the other day as I was very busy in the kitchen and needed to time more than one item. I actually went out and turn on this timer and used it. While I probably won't have a summer kitchen until next year I'm so excited to see things starting to come together. I won't use the propane stove a whole lot as I prefer the wood stove but on real hot days it will be wonderful!

Recipe Thursday - Zucchini Skillet

2012-08-09T09:17:00.008-06:00

Many years ago when I was a young girl and visiting a friends house, her father made something he called Zucchini stew. I have been trying to duplicate it ever since. Up until that point I hated zucchini and went out of my way to avoid it at all costs. No more. This year I planted about 5 plants and they are producing like wildfire. I can't keep up! 5 plants is way to much for two people. However, I am going to be trying a lot of things with them and hopefully will be able to use up most of them. Can't give them away up here, although many try.

This recipe is as close as I have ever come to duplicating that wonderful recipe I tried so long ago. Mountain Man, who isn't exactly fond of zucchini loves it and will even eat it stone cold.

Zucchini Skillet

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp preserved garlic or 1 or 2 cloves chopped
1 medium to large zucchini, grated. (I just use a hand grater and grate it up like cheese, works great!)
1 can diced tomato's, 28 oz
1 can tomato paste, 5.5 oz
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Chili hot sauce to taste (optional)
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Brown the beef

Add the garlic

and the onions. Saute until soft.

Add the shredded zucchini and saute until cooked through

Add the Tomatoes,

Tomato paste,

and spices.

This is where it gets a bit tricky. We love spicy food so I add a huge dollop of chili sauce. Be careful with this as it can get hot but it sure makes it yummy!

Once all the flavors are blended nicely (about 5 more minutes or so) add the Parmesan cheese. Stir in well and give it another few minutes to cook.

YUM! Can't get enough of this stuff!

This recipe is also linked in at: Frugal by Choice, Cheap by Necessity, The Prairie Homestead, The Nourishing Gourmet, Doodles and Stitches, Deborah Jean's Dandelion House, Frugally Sustainable and Mind Body and Soul.

The Challenge For Today

2012-08-08T09:25:00.000-06:00

Today is going to be just a bit busy. The refrigerator is full of milk again, so I must make cheese today but that will have to take a back seat to the Alfalfa harvest. In the old days large families would make this light work but it's just the two of us. Thankfully we have that fantastic neighbor who with the tractor and necessary implements to cut and bale for us. Yeah for fantastic neighbors!! He gets sixty percent for his labor and we take forty percent. Way more than we need for our eleven goats so it looks like we will have hay for sale this year.

What a year it has been! I don't think I have ever seen the fields so lush and the bales are coming fast and thick every 15 to 20 feet.

We are doing square bales this year thankfully! For the last few years we did the big round bales but when you are feeding goats it gets to be a huge amount of work to feed with those bales since we don't have a tractor to move them around. This year the hay will go straight into the barn and stay nice and dry. We can't do that with the round ones and end up losing almost half the hay to the weather.

We do however have to hurry.... See those clouds? The forecast says sunny all day. Hmm. I'm still wondering if they are ever going to be right.

Maybe some day we will have our own equipment to do all of this, but for now I am so thankful for good neighbors.

Frugal "I Did It!" Tuesday #4

2012-08-07T05:49:00.001-06:00

Tuesday is here! Thank you for being a part of "I Did It" Tuesdays. I can't wait to see all the wonderful posts!

The most clicked on posts from last week are:

Making Mayonnaise That Keeps from A Life Unprocessed

$40.00 DIY Farm House Table from Second Chance To Dream

And

Apartment Homesteading: Make Your Own Cleaning Products, from Natural Living Momma

Now on to the blog hop! So glad you could join us.

Doing Dishes Can Be Harmful To Your Health

2012-08-06T09:48:00.006-06:00

Last Wednesday I made a huge mistake and while I really hate broadcasting my mistakes to the world I think if I can save someone else from possible death or injury it is worth it.

It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining around big fluffy clouds but it wasn't overly hot and there was a nice cool breeze. I live for days like that so thought it might be a good time to clean out the storage shed and get at some canning jars I had stored there. Much to my horror I found the boxes had mouse droppings in them. I really hate mice! Oh well, no big deal right? I will just bring them in and give them a good scrubbing.

I piled some of the boxes on the quad and trundled off to the house, put water on to heat and did a bit of house work while I waited. No hot running water here, it all has to be heated but I am used to it. I just means a bit of planning before doing dishes and cleaning. No big deal.

Once the water was boiling hot I filled the sinks. One for rinsing and one for washing. Then I dumped in some soap and deciding that these jars really needed to be sterilized some bleach as well. What happened next is a little fuzzy.... I remember stopping at one point to call my mother-in-law as we hadn't chatted in a while and talking to someone while doing dishes can make it go faster. She wasn't available so I continued my chore reminding myself to call back in about 10 minutes or so as requested by Pop.

I had not brought in all the jars at once but had to continually go back outside for more. Each time I went outside I got a dose of fresh air then took the jars back in to wash. Finally the last jar was shining clean on the kitchen counter. Yeah! But I felt tired, really tired, and my chest felt funny, actually it was hurting a bit... strange... maybe I will go up and just take a short nap? I started up the stairs when I remembered I hadn't called Mom back. Sigh, I better call, my nap can wait a bit. Only once they answered the phone a weird thing happened. They couldn't seem to understand me. Was something wrong with the phone line? They kept asking me if I was OK. Pop said something about maybe I had, had a stoke as my voice was funny. I felt fine... Well my chest hurt a bit but no big deal. I couldn't figure out what they were talking about and was getting very frustrated. I finally promised them Mountain Man would call them back as soon as he got home and hung up. Again I wanted to go upstairs and take a nap but remembered I hadn't checked for eggs so outside I went. I remember getting sidetracked and looking at my tomato plants then wandering back into the house where Mountain Man found me sitting and staring out the window a bit later.

Here's what actually happened: I mixed Palmolive dish detergent with bleach creating a toxic Chlorine gas which was used in WW1. It requires a 1000 parts per million to be fatal and destroys the lung tissue. You can read about it here. Palmolive has an ingredient called Ammonium C12-15 Pareth Sulfate, which is what mixes with the sodium hypochlorite in the bleach creating the Chlorine gas. You can find a list of ingredients in Palmolive on their website here. While I had no idea what was wrong this gas was working away in my body depriving it of oxygen and damaging my lung tissue. 5 days later my lungs still hurt although to a much lesser degree.

Palmolive does have a warning on their bottle. Of course it is on the back of the bottle in small print.

I have often used small amounts of bleach in my dish water before this. Only difference this time is I put in more than usual. Mountain Man has now taken away all the bleach.... silly man. He continues to joke that he can't even leave me alone long enough to do the dishes.

Morel of this story? Please be careful with mixing cleaners. I never would have thought dish soap and bleach could cause a reaction like that.

A couple other links regarding this topic you might find interesting:

What's Inside Palmolive Ultra: Killer Bubbles (while I didn't use the Palmolive Ultra the active ingredient, Ammonium C12-15 Pareth Sulfate, is the same)

Killers Lucking Around Your Home

Cleaning Won't Kill You, (Maybe)

Please share this with your family and friends. You never know who you might save.

This post is also link in too: Wildcrafting Wednesday, Tiny Tip Tuesday, Homestead Barn Hop #73, The Morris Tribe Blog Carnival #19, Mostly Homemade Monday's , Take a Look Tuesday.

Happy Friday :)

2012-08-03T08:27:00.003-06:00

Ahhh Friday! So glad you are here. I will again be spending the day with my wonderful Mountain Man. I had a rather unfortunate incident which happened on Wednesday and while I am fine (I think) he refuses to let me out of his sight. Literally!

So since I won't be here to write another entertaining (hopefully) post maybe I can entertain you with a few pictures we've taken in the last while. Enjoy your weekend! See you on the other side.

What do you mean you didn't bring us a treat?

Lovely water lily

My favorite critter in our mosquito infested area

The first harvest of sour cherries, pucker up! They sure do taste good and sour!

Recipe Thursday - Saskatoon Pie Filling

2012-08-02T08:44:00.004-06:00

Saskatoon pie is my favorite berry pie. If you have never tried it and you have an opportunity don't pass it by. Mountain Man will pretty much do anything to get some as he has a bit of an addiction to it and I can't say I blame him. Since I had so many wonderful berries I decided to preserve some of it for pies in the winter. I don't do a lot of baking in the summer as the wood stove makes the temperature in the house unbearable. Making pie filling preserves is pretty easy and while I'm not sure if you would want to keep it in jars for more than about eight or nine months chances are it won't last that long anyway. Not that it would go bad necessarily but pie filling made with cornstarch has been known to turn a bit runny after a long time. This has never happened to me personally but consider it a warning. Pie filling in our house won't last through the winter so I never worry about it.

When it comes to canning, pie filling is one of the easiest things to make and the results are always fantastic. Just because it is pie filling doesn't mean it will just be used in pies either. Think topping for your favorite cheesecake or ice cream! Yum!

Only a few ingredients needed.

Saskatoon Pie Filling

4 cups water

1/2 cup lemon juice

12 cups Saskatoons

3 cups sugar

1 cup cornstarch

Bring the water and lemon juice to a boil in a fairly large pot.

Add the Saskatoon berries and bring back to a boil.

Mix the sugar and cornstarch together making sure to break up any clumps. You want this very well mixed.

Add the sugar/cornstarch mixture to the pot.

Whoops? Did I forget to take a photo? Sorry!

Stir and cook until the it thickens and the juice becomes clear.

Just look at that! Can it get more yummy?

Pour into pint or quart jars and process. 20 minutes for quarts, 15 minutes for pints.

Makes 4 quarts or 8 pints

While the pints are processing scrap the pot and gobble up the remains.

Go ahead! You know you want too!

Also linked in too: Mind Body and Soul, The Nourishing Gourmet, Doodles in Stitches and Frugally Sustainable blog hops.

More Rain?????? Really???

2012-08-01T09:00:00.000-06:00

We were sooo excited to see a forecast with four days in a row of beautiful sunshine and not a hint of rain. It is a big deal around here to have a week like that this year, especially when the hay in the fields is way past being ready to harvest.

Since we don't have any equipment of our own yet our neighbor shares our crop with us. He gets 60 percent for his trouble and his cows and we get 40 percent. I like this type of sharing as it allows us to get way more than we need for the winter and we don't have to purchase expensive equipment. He doesn't have to own the land but reaps the benefits in hay for his cattle.

This year with the unbelievable rain we've had means the crop is very high and thick, but it also means difficulty in getting it off without it getting rained on. His cows don't care too much but goats are pretty picky and need high quality feed.

This morning however we realized the forecasters were wrong.... Here comes the rain, and as I type this I can hear thunder in the distance.

Our poor lovely hay is about to get dumped on... sigh.... for the fourth year in a row! Sure wish I could send these clouds down to the many folks who really need it!

Oh well, I will console myself with the lovely wild flowers Mountain Man picked for me. What a guy!

ps. If you haven't already make sure you check out "I Did It!" Tuesday. Lots of great posts there from many wonderful bloggers.

Frugal "I Did It!" Tuesday #3

2012-07-30T21:15:00.001-06:00

Wow! Tuesday is here already? Seems like the last week has flown by. I sure am looking forward to seeing all the wonderful posts this week. I have to say, I am learning a lot and loving it. I hope you are able to take a look at a few of the wonderful and helpful posts this week.

Here are a few of the most clicked on post from last week.

Homemade Sore Muscle Salve from Prudent Living

Natural Treatment for Heat Exhaustion from Natural Living Momma

Using a Natural Salt Crystal Deodorant from A Life Unprocessed

and last but certainly not least..

Freezing Organic Veggies From My Garden by Little Homestead on the Hill

And now it is time to share a view those wonderful fugal posts for this week! So glad you could join us.

We've Gone To The Birds

2012-07-30T08:29:00.000-06:00

A pair of lovely barn swallows took up residence in our wood shed this spring and as they tend to do they hatched five lovely baby swallows. Mountain Man wasn't sure if he should let them have a nest in the shed but as they were always serenading him he thought they were cute so allowed them to continue.

He spends quite a bit of time in that shed as he had a lot of work to do on it and since it isn't full of wood right now most of his tools are in there. The birds became quite used to his presence and would often sit withing a few feet of where he was working. He of course thought this was pretty cool, but whenever I went to the shed they would scream at me and dive-bomb at me trying to make me leave. Silly birds.

Well, about a week and a half ago these little beauties flew for the first time. They were so cute! Mountain Man saw them perched on the edge of the nest and made sure to leave the door open so they could fly. Which they did, and we eventually went back to working. Me to the garden and he back to work on finishing the shed. Closing up the eves and putting the tin on the roof. Pretty soon the only way into the shed for the birds was through the front door so we made sure to leave it open for them.

That is until a few days later when Mountain Man was in a hurry to leave for town and I was out in the barn milking. There I was walking up to the house with my milking pails and all of a sudden my head is surrounded by birds! They are yelling and making a horrible racket. Then they all few to the fence and landed there while continuing to scold me. What was the problem? The door to the woodshed had been closed! I opened it and in they flew. All 7 of them. I just shook my head and went about my day.

Later that evening Mountain Man being home he finished up putting some tools away and sat down on the deck for a breather. No sooner had he sat down than five little birds were flying around his head and chirping at him. Three of them hovering there about a foot from his face and making funny noises. He just stared at them in astonishment. Then it dawned on him what was up. He had closed the shed door and they couldn't get in.

Later that evening we had a good laugh over our birdy adventures. He had closed the door to the shed thinking they weren't using it anymore as the nest had fallen down and they had been flying for at least a week now. Oh well! I guess it will stay open all summer now.

A Break From Chores

2012-07-27T09:47:00.000-06:00

These days we are so busy we don't have much time for really taking a look around. Our summer season is so short in this north country so we must hurry around like busy bees trying to get ready for the coming winter. However, even on the busiest days I am conscious of how wonderfully blessed I am to live in a place with so much to offer and such an abundance of wildlife. While we haven't seen any of the bigger creatures lately (other than moose tracks through the garden) we sure do have a lot of birds this year. I do mean a LOT! They are also being very prolific a procreating as well and I do love seeing babies.

Our lovely lady in the outhouse has a second batch hatched already!

We finally decided to take a break the other day and take a ride to see what we could find. I was pleasantly surprised to see several batches of baby ducklings. It seems too late in the year for babies but there is no mistaking it as I have the proof in pictures!

There were about 4 batches of these little ducks, all more or less the same age.

Momma and Pappa for these lucky little ducklings

Most of the older spring babies are already almost full grown. Don't know what happened to this poor pond but it is now completely covered in algae.

I really felt sorry for the poor little ones trying to swim through it!

Happy Friday everyone! Hope you all have a fabulous weekend. See you on the other side!