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!
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.
Hunting season is here, the huge Maple tree out front it turning colors and dropping leaves, the apple trees are almost ready to be harvested- it's fall!
Hot cider, warm apple pie, raking leaves, tree work and hog butchering. (Well, maybe the last two aren't a thought of fall for most!)
This past Saturday we butchered one of our hogs. I'm still working up the money vs. pound-age and final costs. I'll let you know how that turns out. The kids watching Gavin gut the hog. We're thankful for fall and all it brings.
Wow, it seems like forever since I've blogged. Oh wait, no, it doesn't just seem like it, it has been forever! We have had quite a few things going on that have kept my fingers and my mind away from the computer world. Here's what's been happening: 1. Mason. That little baby is a peach. I am so in love with that little boy. He's had a couple ups and downs though lately. A couple weeks ago he burned his hand (pretty bad) and has been having to have it wrapped (and re-wrapped) twice a day. It is healing really well though and I'm hoping to have the wrap off by next week. He has just started walking and is doing so well. He also is turning 1 this Friday, which is coincidentally my birthday as well! We won't mention my age though. And Wyatt just turned 13 a week or so ago. 2. The pigs are getting bigger, and bigger and bigger. No longer cute little piglets, they smell and I'm ready to butcher. Butchering them will have to wait until January though. 3. Speaking of butchering, the turkey's official D-day ("D" meaning death) is November 20th. Only 17 more days with those little ladies. Phew. 4. My dad had heart surgery last week and is now home and doing pretty well. The surgery went well but there are still a few things to be worked out in the next month or so. 5. We've had a bear coming around that has been creating quite a few problems for us and the neighbors. I guess this year is pretty bad with bears here. Overpopulation, not a good thing with bears. 6. All 3 of my little kids were sick with the flu in the last week. That wasn't pretty. 7. Gavin and I have been volunteering on Wed nights at church with "Kids JAM" and it's going well. Love to see the kids hearing about the Lord and having a great time too! 8. I'm still working on covering up most of the garden. The herbs stay where they are though and I got garlic in the ground about 2 weeks ago. 9. I've had a little extra time to read and have been reading this book by Debi Pearl. Wow, it's good and while I would say that I do most of the things in the book that Debi talks about, she really enlightened me in a few areas that I need to improve. Great read. I'd highly recommend it to all wives! That's about it here. What have you been up to? Since it is fall I wanted to share this recipe. I actually got the original recipe here and then had to modify it quite a bit for what I had on hand. The results? Pretty darn good if I do say so myself. Perfect for fall.
Pumpkin Cake Bars With Cinnamon Icing (my way)
For the Pumpkin Cake: 1 1/2 c pumpkin pie mix (that eliminates the honey and spices) 1 c peanut butter (because really, almond butter is WAY too expensive here) 2 eggs (from pastured hens!) 1 1/2 t baking powder 1/2 t baking soda 1 t vanilla extract
For the Cinnamon Icing: 1 box instant icing (as pictured below) 1 tsp cinnamon
Preheat your oven to 350F. In a medium sized bowl, combine all the cake ingredients and mix thoroughly to combine. Pour into an 8×8 oven safe baking dish (I suspect you could squeeze 12 cupcakes out of this recipe if you use a muffin tin). Bake until completely cooked through, about 30 minutes. I baked mine in a 8.5" pie plate and then made my frosting after the cake was baked. When cooled, I frosted it. Then we inhaled.
The only thing I would do next time is not put as much frosting on. It was too sweet for me. If you have a HUGE sweet tooth though like my hubby then it's, "just the right amount." One of the greatest things about this recipe though is that it's grain free! Yep, you read that right- no flour! And if you follow the recipe for the icing that's in the original recipe then it can be milk free too (in case you have someone with that allergy.)
I'm going to try and quilt some more in the next few months and the next thing I'm planning on sharing here is how to bind a quilt (just for you Lisa!) Keeping my fingers crossed that I can get to that in the next few weeks. Plus, I'm planning on a book giveaway later this month. Stay tuned!
I was just here, for waaaaaayy longer than I should have been. Looking at all the generous items that were being given away made me want to share some fabric too. So here we are, another giveaway! This month I'll be giving away 1 fat quarter pack of the Thimbleberries fabric October Glow. This fabric is out of print and super hard to find. There are 21 prints in the collection.
Here's what you can do to enter: 1. Leave a comment here, 1 entry 2. Blog about this giveaway, 1 entry 3. FB or Tweet about this giveaway, 1 entry
If you'd like to follow along with my blog, please feel free to do so! I'd love you have you along for the ride. You do not have to follow though to enter. Those giveaways always irk me. Honestly, if I have to follow your blog to win, I'll just pass. Unless of course, I already follow and love your blog immensely (that's you Amy!) Anywho, this giveaway will be open until October 15th at midnight. Make sure I have a way of contacting you if you win. Winner will be chosen by Random.org on October 16th. Hopefully that will be enough time for me to get these to you and for you to make something for this fall.
I made these muffins this morning and the smell of sweet cinnamon and apples filled the house. Perfect for fall! Not only do they look scrumptious, they even taste it! I always bake from scratch (unless I'm just really craving brownies and need them in a hurry!) and these muffins are simple to whip up.
Wanna make some of your own this season? Remember to try and use organic ingredients if you can! Here's what you'll need: 2 c flour 3/4 c sugar 2 1/2 t cinnamon 2 t baking powder 1/2 t salt 1 c milk 1/4 c butter, melted 1 egg 1 1/2 t vanilla 1/2 c apple, diced 12 caramels, unwrapped and diced
Here's what I did this morning: I forgot to add the salt, I added more apple and less caramels. It's not how I would always do it, that's just how it went this morning. Actually, you could leave out the caramels all together if you wanted to. There would be less sugar in the muffins then and they would still taste yummy. :) And my cast iron muffin pan only has 11 slots instead of 12 so I just got slightly bigger muffins.
In a bowl, mix the first 5 ingredients. In a mixing bowl, combine milk, egg, vanilla and butter. Slowly combine dry mix with wet mix, just until blended. Toss in diced apples and caramels. Pour into 12 lined muffin slots and bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Pretty simple.
About 5 minutes after they came out of the oven this is what was left. And then a few minutes later there were even more gone. They were certainly a hit with my family. Hope yours enjoys them as well!
Now I have to wash all that melted caramel off of my cast iron!
Oh, and last Friday I made a cookie dough cheesecake that was out of this world! I'll certainly be making that again soon!
I'm having a Fall Sale in my Etsy shop! This is the perfect time to get some of that Christmas shopping started or just to pick up something nice for your home as the cooler weather sets in!
For all purchases over $200, take $30 off! For purchases from $100-$199, take $20 off! For purchases from $50-$99, take $10 off!
The sale will run starting today and go through October 19th! Happy shopping!
My mom is always saying, "I want to see more pictures of the kids!!" So here ya go- get ready for picture overload!! Oh, and a brief warning, the pictures at the bottom here will have a dead deer in them. If you don't like seeing dead animals, I'd suggest skipping those shots! :)
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