Happy Fall Y'all! I just finished up a craft fair in Ferndale, CA where my friend, Michelle, and I had a booth. I have some quilts left over from the show and am working on getting them listed in my shop. It seems to be a long slow process for me since our internet here at the house isn't fantastic.
But... I press on!
I hope that all of you have a wonderful fall and Thanksgiving time!
Things at the homestead here are good. Kids are still growing, the rooster is still crowing, and we're ready to settle into a long cold winter, Lord willing!
We just passed our 1 year anniversary living on our off grid property. Where has the time gone? The Lord is constantly reminding me that my days have been numbered and that I should not allow the time to slip through my fingers.
The kids working on their 4-H Bucket Calf project
We dealt with water issues this summer. Both of our hand dug wells went dry at the end of June. But the Lord provided! Oh, how He provided! We have a creek on our property....way down at the bottom of it. Before we had moved I had watched the Wranglerstar video on ram pumps and had tucked that little bit of knowledge into the back of my mind. And in May, I showed the video to my husband, not fully knowing that we were going to actually need to use the information held in it.
Building our third ram pump. (They got smaller as the creek went down.)
I was out of town with the little ones visiting my grandparents when the wells went dry. My husband and our oldest son went to work on building our first ram pump. Not only did they build one, but they had it up and running, pumping water, before we even got home from the visit!
At this point, it's not as sustainable as we'd like. Because of the distance from the creek (and the elevation change) the ram pump is pumping into a holding tank about halfway between the creek and our home. A submersible pump is them pumping from that tank up to our holding tank above the house.
Knowing that the submersible pump is not going to work if we couldn't access fuel, we are hoping to resolve our water issues this winter with a sustainable alternative, or two.
Our water issues were temporarily solved but I was sure that the creek would dry up by late summer. Our rain/snow fall last winter surely couldn't be enough to keep that creek going. I prayed. We'd have to haul water up here if the creek dried up. But the Lord is good isn't He?? Even when things don't look good, He is good. And I am thankful for His faithfulness.
I'm eager to add more animals to this homestead but as my husband reminds me...if we barely have enough water for us, how are we to water more animals as well? And he is right. And so, I'm patient. I'm patiently waiting for the Lord to give us the direction that we need to take for a sustainable water supply. I know He will.
We were able to add one small animal to the homestead this summer though and that was Thomas. My daughter is in love. We all enjoy the kitten but he is especially HER baby. We have a horrible problem with mice and rats here and Thomas is still young but he's caught one small rat already (that I know of) and I am thankful for that!
Kitties sleep in the most interesting positions.
Our garden did amazing this year. Amazing! For what we had to start with I was sure that if a single green bean grew I would be thankful. I didn't hold out much hope. But again, I prayed. "Lord, this is your garden, not mine. You are the One that makes all things grow, I'm just a tender of it. If it be Your will, make this garden bountiful." And it was. Faithfulness. Again.
Mini watermelon
Garden 2014
Helping can green beans
Early on in moving here we realized that while we had a few neighbors that we liked there were no like minded families up on this mountain. I prayed that the Lord would bring up a family. There are quite a few pieces of property for sale up here. I can currently think of 3 or 4 just off the top of my head. I wrote my prayers down in my journal, praying that it would come to pass. And it did. He brought up a Christian, homeschool family of 9 that bought the place for sale that borders ours! Of all the places up here they could have moved (and they really MOVED, from southern California to the mountains of northern California - from beeches to backwoods!) the Lord planted them right next door. I can walk to their house! Faithfulness. Again and again.
And so I'm encouraged to pray even more! Lord, one family a year, that's what we're going to ask for. One like minded family a year. And not only will He be hearing that prayer from us but also from our neighbors too! We're praying for a Christian agrarian revival on this mountain!
Wanna move? :)
Layton has proven himself quite the dedicated fisherman. While the rest of us are enjoying the river swimming in it or from it's banks, he is out in it, up a ways from us, waist deep, right by a riffle casting in his line. The entire time. Catching little ones and the occasional keeper like this one...
The big one!
He has the natural talent from his father. And if he keeps at it, which I'm sure he will, one of these days he'll be as good a fisherman as his daddy is too. In fishing am thankful for the lesson he receives from taking the time to do a job right, learning that the reward comes to those that are willing to stick it out and work hard. He is learning that success isn't always instant and that patience is a virtue.
Treadle sewing.
As for quilting (which is primarily what this blog was to be about, even though it's often not) I haven't had much time this summer to sew. As usual. I was able to finish up a few things this late spring and I'm already planning my quilts for this winter. This one, this one, and this one are on my list. I was happy about finishing up a civil war sampler (below) that my mother in law and I began over 5 years ago. How nice it was to get it quilted by Kathy and put the binding on it! It is serving as a second quilt on our bed already this fall season.
Butternut and Blue Quilt
I could go on and on it seems like but you've probably had enough as it is. Hopefully it won't be so long before I can post again. We'll see how it goes!
Things have been wonderfully busy here. I can't even begin to express how much we are loving living here. The sunrises over the hills, the peace, the sound of the creek flowing, the bees that are flooding the plum trees, all of God's handiwork around us. It's amazing. And humbling.
And I for one am just downright thankful.
{Driving home}
We've been doing some clearing around the homestead and besides that there isn't much news around the property. Except that we finally added another rooster to the flock. And that we added 17 (which turned out to be 15 after they arrived) new chicks to the homestead. Timber and Layton now have their birds for fair and we have some new hens for the flock.
As far as the off-grid brooding, I took the easy way out....and we have the chicks at a friends house until they fully feather and can head up here.
I finally finished the top of a block-of-the-month quilt I did with my mother-in-law....which we began back in 2008. Yeah, I know. That's sad.
A special little girl turned 6 recently. Her Auntie made her a special cake.
She got a new bed from Grandma and Grandpa for her birthday.
And everyone helped to put it together for her.
She also got a new sewing area, compliments of her Nana and Papa.
The only problem is that the generator must be running for her to use it.
Which has been our sewing problem since we moved here.
So, to resolve that somewhat this got added to the homestead....
Mercy, I am in love.
I could go on and on about this machine. But I think that's for another post.
It is amazing though and works beautifully. I have already sewn curtains on it and have begun piecing my first quilt on it.
Now Timber says that she needs one in her room. And I think we're just going to have to share.
I've also been soap making. I got a new mold that makes a 1/2 batch of my normal soap recipe and love how it allows me to try different things in smaller batches. Now I only have 8 bars (plus the ends) in a batch instead of 15!
I think that's about it for now. I hope that all of you are well. If you're still here and still reading, thanks!
Wow. Where do I start? The last time I blogged anything was back in June. 4 months ago.
Part of that was due to the garden/summer season. And I knew it would happen. It does every year. My sewing machine collects dust- literally- and we spend out time outside and busy with warm weather projects.
At the ocean
Riding one of Uncle's horses
Let's do a quick recap:
Our county fair this summer was really fun. I'll have to apologize though for the lousy phone camera pictures.
Timber and her prize winning arrangement
Layton showing his calf
The garden and green house both did well. Layton grew the best corn we've ever eaten! We got about 25 pumpkins off our pumpkin vines and our fruit trees were amazing.
The Lord really blessed us this year with a bumper crop of everything. What a wonderful last summer to remember at our old home.
Main Garden 2013
And speaking of old homes, did you read that we were moving?
Oh, this has been such a long, patient process for our family. My husband and I have been looking at property for close to 5 years now. Looking and waiting. Waiting for the Lord to provide the right time and the right place (not to mention something affordable so that we're not in debt for very long!)
We are purchasing a 5 acre parcel with a fixer upper, off grid home. We are beyond thankful to the Lord for His provision of this piece of land. It is going to take a lot of work and a lot of fixing (home and land wise) but we are excited about the possibilities that await us. If any of you have ever read Michael Bunker's book "Surviving Off Off-Grid" then you'll know what we are shooting for with this new homestead. If you haven't read his book yet, may I humbly suggest that you get your hands on a copy and read it. Then re-read it. And then apply it to the best of your ability.
Mason and Oakley Mason is wearing his "mountain boy" shirt I made this summer using a pattern from here.
A few other notes...
I have read the book Trim Healthy Mama and am using the methods in it to change my eating habits. So far (about 8 weeks into it) I have lost nearly 17lbs. I am thrilled and am well on my way to being a healthier mama for my family. It was easy for me to employ the eating methods in the book since we already eat a organic/whole foods diet. All I really had to do was cut out the sugar (which everyone should do anyway) and reduce my grains significantly. I then used the way my body burns fuel (fats and carbs) in the S and E meals to lose the weight. It may sound a tad bit confusing but if you read the book, it becomes clear.
I was also supposed to cut out whole raw milk. That made me sad. So instead of being ultra strict with the diet, I now consume much less raw milk than I did before, maybe drinking 1/4 cup per day. I still want the beneficial bacteria and all the yumminess whole, raw milk has to offer, I just don't need all the fat.
We started school in the beginning of September. This year I have a Jr. (in high school), a 1st grader and a kindergartener. Wyatt is using a combo of Apologia, Rod and Staff, Journibles, and Notgrass American History.
Layton and Timber are using Heart of Dakota. Mason is just hanging out, being an almost 4 year old.
I found some of these at Fred Meyer a few weeks ago.
If there are 2 things I am a sucker for it's quilts, canning jars,.. and bowls. Wait, that's three.
Anyway...
I restrained myself to just purchasing the one 6-pack of them.
I canned Spiced Apple Peel Jelly in them. I used Quinn's recipe as a starting point and then altered it from there.
I took my peels and cores and poured water over them to almost cover. Then I strained that, added the ACV and a handful of cloves and cinnamon sticks. I placed a cover on my pot, brought it to a boil, turned the heat off and infused the spices in juice for about a half hour. I then strained the juice, removing the sticks and cloves. From that point I pretty much followed the instructions in the Pomona Pectin box for jelly making. For sweetener I used a combination of coconut sugar and evaporated cane juice.
From 20lbs of apples, the peels and cores made up a nice finished 6 pints of jelly.
Signs of fall
So far hunting season has been a bust. Well for the most part. My dear husband has been so incredibly busy with work this fall that he hasn't had the time to go hunting on his own. Hunting this season has included mom (me), a 16 year old, a 6 year old, a 5 year old and a 3 year old. All piled into a truck. A loud, diesel truck.
Or walking along paths, breaking sticks underfoot, jumping, laughing and generally running off anything within 500 feet of us, 2 minutes before we even get there.
So here is the fruit of our labor so far...
One Grouse.
This coming weekend is the last weekend for bucks here in Northern California's B zone but thankfully upland game bird and bear season continue.
(Oh, and as a note, the 3 year old is holding a bottle of ROOTbeer. Just to clarify.)
Roasting hot dogs
The perfect skipping rock
The Creator's creation is simply amazing. All through out the year but especially, in my mind, in the fall. The crispness of air, the changing colors and temperatures. Stunning.
Thank you, Lord.
Lastly, quilting.
I have started a bit more here and there. I wish I could share some of the finished tops here on my blog but alas, I have readers (family and friends) who will be receiving some of these come Christmas and I'd hate to spoil the surprise. It is wonderful to hear the hum of my machine again though.
I will say though that I am working on another quilt for our bed. I'm using Jenny Doan's tutorial below. It's quick and easy. When you're making a quilt to cover a CA King bed, you want quick and easy. At least I do. I dug through my fabric stash and found the perfect fabric for this quilt... Wildflower Serenade by Kansas Troubles Quilters for Moda.
Yes, I know that the line is about 5 years old but I don't try not to stash fabric unless I know I'll use it at some point in the future.
My Bible study group is currently going through Wayne Mack's book, "Reaching the Ear of God; Praying More... And More Like Jesus" and it has been such a wonderful study. Challenging, eye opening, and convicting to say the least.
We're currently reading Chapter 11 and Mr. Mack shares some thoughts from Charles Spurgeon. After reading this quote, I had to share it. I am so in awe at how the Bible was relevant at it's beginning for the people of the day and is still completely relevant in 2012. And at how godly men such as Spurgeon can look at the world, as it was then, give a speech and still have those words resonate over 100 years later.
Would it not be a vile crime if a man had an eye given him, which he would not open? Or a hand that he would not lift up, or a foot that grew stiff because he would not use it? And what must we say of ourselves when God has given us power and prayer, and yet that power lies still? Oh, if the universe was as still as we are, where would we be? Oh God, Thou hast given us light by the sun, and the sun shines with it. Thou hast given light even to the stars and they twinkle. To the winds, thou hast given force and they blow. And to the air, Thou hast given life and it moves, and men breathe thereof.
But to thy people, Thou hast given a gift that is better than force and life and light, and yet they permit it to lie still, forgetful almost that they wield the power, seldom exercising it though it would be blessed to countless myriads.
Weep, Christian man. Constantine, the emperor of Rome, saw that on the coins of the other emperors, their images were in an erect posture triumphing. Instead thereof, he ordered that his image should be struck kneeling for he said that's the way in which I have triumphed. We shall never triumph till our image is struck kneeling.
The reason we have been defeated and why or banners trail in the dust is because we have not prayer. Go, back to your God with sorrow, confess before Him that you were armed and carried bows but turned your backs on the day of battle. Go to your God and tell Him that if souls are not saved it is not because He has not power to save, but because you have never travailed as it were in birth, for perishing sinners. Wake up, wake up! Be astonished, ye careless ones! You who have neglected prayer, you sinners who have been at ease.
Wake up, wake up, yourselves! Wrestle and strive with your God, and then the blessing shall come. The early and the latter rain of His mercy and the earth shall bring forth plenteously, and all the nations shall call Him blessed. Look up and then weep.
Oh, how that convicts my soul. Prayer is the most valuable and powerful tool that He has given me and yet I often fail to use it!
Lord, I pray that I would use the power you have given me to its fullest extent. That I would be more mindful, in prayer, not only of those around me and those connected to me but of those that are lost and need you. Thank you, Lord. Amen.
"The Lord reigneth, He is clothed with majesty; the Lord is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is established, that it cannot be moved. Thy throne is established of old: thou art from everlasting." Psalm 93:1-2
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