Sunday Hymns

~Thou Art Worthy~

Thou art worthy, Thou art worthy,

Thou art worthy, O Lord,

To receive glory, glory and honor,

Glory and honor and pow'r;

For Thou has created, hast all things created,

Thou hast created all things,

And for Thy pleasure they are created:

Thou art worthy, O Lord!

Revelation 4:11

May your Sunday be blessed!

Twirl Skirt

Timber has been begging me to sew for the last few days. Each day I have felt overwhelmed with the tasks that need done and have been putting it off. So last night when she asked after supper, we began.

She said she wanted to make a skirt.

And I said, "One that twirls like your dress?"

"YES! YES!" she replied.

So with no pattern (as evident from the photos!) we began cutting fabric. Fabric she had picked out of my stash. We almost got the entire skirt sewn before bedtime. This morning we put the elastic in the waist and it was complete.

Then she asked if she could wear it outside. Wyatt said as she walked out the door, "Mom, are you sure Timber can wear that skirt outside? It's her new one!" I thought about it for a minute. After all, it did rain yesterday and the day before and all we have around the property is gravel, grass and MUD.

"Yes, it's o.k. that she wear it." I replied. After all, how fun are twirling skirts if you only get to wear them once in a while? It's going to get already dirty. Now it's officially broke in. And she loves it.

the getaway

Last Saturday our family had the opportunity to head WAY back into the hills. Ya know, the kind of place that no one wants to go because it is too far of a drive and there is NOTHING around for miles. Well, nothing but God's creation and a bunch of old mines... and blue butterflies! Everywhere!
and fishing holes/swimming holes...
and wildflowers...
I told my husband that when we go camping there this summer I want to stay for at least a week....maybe a year.

Hoop Houses and Other Happenings Around the Farm

*I use the term "farm" lightly. Growing chickens, turkeys, hogs, gardens and kids on one acre may classify as a small farm I suppose.*

We've been working around the homestead hoping that the sun we're seeing (in between the bouts of rain) really is a sign of spring...with a summer on the way.

So, what have we been up to?
Well, first let's do a poultry count. These numbers aren't pretty folks. Over the last 2 months we've lost 2 ducks, 1 turkey, 1 hen and 2 chicks to different causes.

(A few of our older chicks that are in the coop already)

The last one though was hard to take. While the smallest chicks were free roaming just outside the barn the other day, it was breezy. Maybe more like windy. Windy enough to blow down a small piece of plywood that was up against a fence. Guess what was standing right under the plywood when it fell? Yep. Layton's chick for fair. How is it possible that out of the 14 or so chicks that are in there, the board had to fall on his one fair chicken??!

Well, it's a good thing that mama has learned from experience and when we got his chick for fair, we also got back up chick #1 and back up chick #2. While he still has a chicken to show, he lost all the work he had put into handling the first chick. Thankfully fair isn't until August so he still has time to work with this new one.
With the losses, we're currently standing at: 8 laying hens, 1 rooster, 22 chicks and 2 ducklings. I'm praying for no more losses!

Part of our problem with losing poultry is that the back of our property is not fenced. And around here, some folks allow their dogs to wander about the county without any thought. Dogs that like to kill chickens.

So, instead of sitting out all summer with a .22 we cross fenced the back.My husband is amazing. Have I ever said that? He is. His hands produce the most wonderful things. And our fence was no exception. Now all we have to do is fence the back of the property and I've got an amazing area for a small goat barn and pasture. Then I just need to convince my husband that goats milk really is wonderful.

Have I also mentioned before that we have a very short growing season here? Not Alaska short, but short. We start to plant late May/early June (when most of you are all already harvesting your first round of green beans and peas) so growing tomatoes here is difficult to say the least. Unless you grow cherry tomatoes in your garden. And we do. They are wonderful. But sometimes a girl longs for a huge, ripe, sweet, slicing tomato to add to a summer sandwich.
I think this may be my summer. We are going to build this hoop house:

The plans are from here. Just incase you want to build a quick, inexpensive green house for yourself. We're talking less than $150.00.
I can already taste the sweet goodness!

And it looks as if I already have my Head Waterer for the hoop house.

Sorry that this post is so long but I find that as the weather gets better, and the Lord works on my heart more about my jobs here at home, that I have less time to blog and therefore need to pack as much as I can into one post!

Homestead Blessings Recipe Review: Part 2

Have I said that this is one of my favorite cook books? It is! And it's not even because of how the recipes turn out. It's because everything is made from scratch. Do you know how hard it is to find a recipe book like that now a days? Every time I see a picture of food, with a recipe following it and think, "Ooh, that looks good" I'm only disappointed to read the recipe and find that it calls for something like 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup, or 1 package Crescent Rolls, or 1 box cake mix, or 1 box vanilla pudding mix, etc. The list could go on and on.
It makes me want to scream, "DOES NO ONE COOK FROM SCRATCH ANYMORE???" Food isn't about what's the fastest to prepare! It's about the ingredients that go into it. And since we're a no MSG, GMO, BHT, Red #40 (and all the other colors too) eating family that pretty much eliminates all pre-packaged foods (with the exception of some organic ones.)

Here's what we've tried recently from the cookbook:

Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookies: WOW. And WOW again. I don't think that my family will ever ask me to just make regular chocolate chip cookies again. They all LOVED this. I have to admit, it is pretty good and much easier to make since you just put all of the dough into 1 skillet! Certainly a time saver.
Georgia Peach Pie: I really liked this and have made it 3 times already in the past couple of weeks. After all, I did need to start using up all those quarts of canned peaches lining my shelves! It has a different look because of the use of eggs in it, but we all enjoyed it.
Best Pie Crust Ever: Another winner. I have used the recipe for pie crust from Nourishing Traditions for years but this one has it beat. It will be my go-to pie crust.
Jasmine's Miracle Mayonnaise: I have been making this for about 2-3 years (since watching The Art of Cooking video from the West Ladies where this recipe is included) but I wanted to share the review because it is the most wonderful mayo recipe I have ever used. It works every time and tastes great! As a note, I use sunflower oil instead of olive oil.
Easy Healthy Ranch Dressing: This recipe has the same explanation as the one above. Except the recipe on their video is just slightly different. Instead of using the sour cream, I make the mayo above and use it with the buttermilk. I also add herbs like parsley and basil. It is my go to ranch dressing recipe. YUM!
Old Fashioned Banana Pudding: Finally! A banana pudding recipe from scratch- totally! Except, I didn't make it that way. ;) I was in a time crunch on Thursday night to get to Bible Study and so instead of making the graham crackers to go with it, I used some of Back To Nature's Vanilla cookies instead. Everyone loved it and I'll surely make it again.

Scalloped Potatoes: This was another "time crunch" recipe so I left out the bacon. The potatoes were delicious even without and bacon would only have made them better. It was certainly less time consuming to leave the bacon out but if I had extra left over from a breakfast, I'd gladly add it in.

Graham Crackers: It would have been helpful if I had made these before the Banana Pudding. I made them the day after. My kids love graham crackers but I buy them sparingly because, 1. organic ones are super expensive and 2. they're made of wheat. We're not gluten free by any means, I just try for us to not be eating wheat constantly. And my kids would eat graham crackers constantly if allowed. The recipe didn't give any directions on how thick to roll them out so I guessed and rolled the dough about 1/4" thick. That was too thick. I'd say somewhere between paper thin and 1/4" is good. These were a little bland but were o.k. and would be perfect in the banana pudding as suggested.

I'll have a Recipe Review -Part 3 to share with you in a couple more weeks!