We're Moving! And some other random things...

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.

 

 

Have you ever used a tutorial from the Missouri Star Quilt Co.?

 

There is more but I won't go into it for now. If you've made it this far you must be dedicated.

 Did I hit you with enough stuff?

Thanks for sticking with me.

 

Hopefully I can post again before the year is over.

 

I hope that your fall is full of His wonderful grace and blessings!

The County Fair & Camping & Everything Else

Wow. Over a month since a post. You know it's summer!

Here's what we've been up to........

 Layton and his ribbons from fair.

 Miss Timber Ann and hers.

 Our county fair was the first weekend in August and we entered a number of things. Our most exciting entries though were our chickens! Both Layton and I entered hens this year in the fair and Layton also entered our drake Magpie. We had a great time. As with every fair, there were things that we entered that we were sure would be first place winners.......which got nothing! and then things that we didn't even expect to be noticed that won first! Each year is a surprise!

We've also been camping.

 Picking blackberries from a small patch in the field.

 Cooking hot dogs for our second nights meal. The first night we were treated to....

TROUT! Caught by the world's best 5 year old fisherman! (And yes, the barefoot 2 year old is flailing a hatchet. Thankfully it's rather dull.)

Watching Daddy gut the fish and then cooking it. After it was cooked and we divied it up, I asked Layton if he wanted any. He looked at me and said, "No Mom, I caught that for my family to eat." His heart just melted mine. What a sweetheart.

We spent 4 wonderful days in the back woods and loved every minute of it. Well, except nap time in the tent when it was 90 degrees outside. Thankfully our tent was mostly shaded. And the creek was less than a 1 minute walk from camp.

I took a survey of all the trees there and found that most of them were very straight. I mentioned that to my husband and told him that we could probably easily build a cabin with what was available there. While he liked the idea, the hour and a half drive to work everyday turned him off slightly.

The garden is finally producing. We're eating peas and green beans and broccoli along with some strawberries and spinach. The hoop house is like a jungle and we've been getting lots of cherry tomatoes and a few plum size ones too. I have a huge Brandywine in there that I am waiting on so very patiently. I can't wait till it's red! The Delicata squash is also looking great. I can already taste the buttery nuttiness of it paired with some wild rice this fall.

And speaking of fall........are we already almost there?! Hunting season starts this month. Archery begins this weekend and rifle starts next month. Here's hoping we'll have some venison to butcher too!

 Last but certainly not least, Wyatt and his BMX bike. He's 14. Have you had a teenager? O.k., then you know what it's like. He specifically asked me if I could post these pictures on my blog. He also wanted to know if I could upload videos. I think he may be thinking of hijacking it and turning it into a blog all about BMX.

 Ya gotta love that kid!

I hope that your summer has been wonderful!

Fair 2010

Our family loves the fair! The rides, the exhibits, the rodeo, the animals, the games and yes, even the food. Fair time is the one time a year where we let our standards on eating slip slightly.... o.k., ridiculously. Here are some shots from our fair time fun!
First, here is Layton's calendar. For about 3 weeks before he kept asking, "When is the fair coming???" We resolved that 5x/day question with a "countdown calendar." Each day he got to put a sticker on the calendar. He could then count the days remaining until fair. When it was full of stickers- we were off!

This is Wyatt's Lego entry in the fair.

Here is Layton's.

Both the boys won first place in their division but Layton was the only one who would pose for me in front of his!

Mmmmmmmm, cotton candy.

My good friend's two daughters both showed their pigs in the fair this year.

Wyatt and Layton on the big slide.

Layton driving his truck.

Timber lasted for all of 15 seconds once this ride started. The kind gentleman that was supervising stopped the ride so she could get off. She looks thrilled, doesn't she?

Mason was an angel the whole time, hanging out in the Ergo on my back.

I entered a couple of baked goods this year and took home 2 second place ribbons and 1 third. I keep all of my fair ribbons in a drawer. It's fun to go back and look at all of them, what they were for and when they were from.

Do you and your family enjoy the fair? Did you enter anything in your local or state fair this year? I'd love to hear about it!

Pictures From The Fair

Here's a few pics from our county fair.........

Layton and Lauren

The daddys and the kids on the Merry Go Round

One of the quilts I entered into the fair

Layton watching the Rodeo

Gavin and Timber

Fair News UPDATED!

Well, I've got good news and not so good news to report. Today was our first day at the fair. I took all of the kids and my mother-in-law with me. We got to see the placings of all our entries. They were as follows:

Quilts: 3 entered- 2 no placing- 1 honorable mention
Dolls: 1 entered- 2nd place- "Timber Ann"
Jams: 2 entered- 2 First Place- Blackberry and Plum
Lettuce: Loose Leaf Red entered- 2nd place
Cornbread: First place
Blueberries: no placing
Raspberries: 2nd place
Wyatt's Lego Car Entry: First place!

So, while I am disappointed with the quilts, I am super happy with all the other entries! Plus, the fair is fun to enter no matter if you win or lose. I'm already plotting for next year and thinking of all the other produce I could enter!
We'll take a day off from the fair tomorrow and then head back on Saturday when Gavin can join us. Plus the Rodeo is Saturday at 4pm. Can't miss that! I promise, this time I will take pictures to share!

A Few New Quillts and Fair News

Thought that I'd share some photos of a few of the new quilts I have recently made (seeing as I have no camping pictures to share- sorry!)
I really like the baby quilt and had some issues listing it in my Etsy shop...I wanted to keep it!
I currently have 3 new quilts that I am working on along with about 4 on the back burner of my mind just waiting to be started.

This Thursday (tomorrow) marks the start of our county fair. I have 3 quilts entered along with some other non-quilt entries such as jams and produce. I can't wait to see how everything was judged!
My Kansas Troubles Quilt (as some of you know as "Scrap Happy") received an honorable mention at the 2008 California State Fair. After I receive the ribbon for that quilt I'll take a photo to share. I wish that I had the time to make a trip down to the state fair this year to see all of the marvelous quilts and other exhibits. Oh well, maybe next year.