Some Good Things

Lately I've been finding some pretty good things over at Nourishing Days.

First, let's start with this apple pie.

It's gluten free and honey sweetened.

Now I know, for those of you who aren't gluten free or sugar free, your initial response goes something like this, "Um, no. I'm pretty happy with my sugar filled, wheat crusted, delicious pie, thank you very much."

 

And that would have been my response too, just 6 months ago. After all, if you have something that works, why change it? But since going (almost) gluten free thanks to this, I have found that I actually enjoy being gluten free. There are some wonderful recipes out there that taste phenomenal and are actually easier on your body.

So really, if you have the chance, try this recipe.

 

It will knock your socks off. Not only will you only eat apple pie like this for the rest of your life (and your body will thank you with each bite) but you'll decide that the amazing crust recipe must go into the family book to be used for all future pies as well.

 

 

My second good thing found over at Shannon's blog are these.

Even if you're not off-grid and you just want to have a few reliable, battery free flashlights around, for when the power goes out....or when the power grid finally fails...ya know, whatever reason, then these little gems are great.

While these are great for indoor/outdoor regular flashlight use, they also work well for general room lighting when stood up on the flat end, with the light facing the ceiling.

I charge ours on our windowsill and haven't had a problem with them yet. Plus, they are reasonably priced. I like that. You can read Shannon's review of them here.

 

A few more good things...

{Clearing brush and burning it}

 

                      {A brother and sister on a tree daddy fell}                     

 {A seven year old boy with a torch. Wait, is that a good thing?!}

 

And a 7th birthday celebrated.

{A Filson hat just like daddy's}

(Sorry for the low light but my phone camera and oil lamps don't make for great photos. Oh, and by the way... yes, Shannon's pie was so good that I not only made it for a church function, but also for Layton's birthday!)

Last but not least....

I got this idea from Tonya over at Plain and Joyful Living. We had no where to hang our stockings this year and I haven't yet put anything up on our walls, so this fit perfectly. Thanks for the inspiration, Tonya!

Little Homestead Update

A quick update on the new homestead in pictures....because between our lack of good internet service and this laptop, I'm not to keen on staying on the computer any longer than I have to.

I will try my best to get some more pictures up in the next month or two. I am excited to take lots of "before" photos to then compare them in a year or two to the "after" ones!

{Moving things with Daddy's bucket truck...who needs a moving van?}

{A special little boy turning 4}

{Wyatt loving the snow}

We got our first snow back on the 6th of December and boy were the kids excited. So excited in fact that they were outside, in the dark, at 6:30am playing in it!

{The front door}

{Frozen pumpkins...now I know why Ma Ingalls stored pumpkins in the attic.}

{All the foul have survived - so far! The off-grid brooding of baby chicks in 2014 is going to be interesting. Any ideas?}

{Snowman courtesy of Timber Ann}

{Hunting for our Christmas tree}

{We found it! Less than 200 ft. from the back of the house!}

 

{Merry Christmas from our family to yours!}

 

May the blessings of the season, the remembrance of a gift given in the form of a baby, and the joy in knowing our Lord and His Saving Grace, warm your heart and your home this Christmas.

 

Blessings to you!

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!

Quilty Barn Along ~ Barn #8

Timber inspired the making of this barn. She just said, "Mama, let's sew."

I had other plans.

But encouraging her to sew is something I want to do. I don't want to discourage it.

So, I laid all other plans aside and we set up our machines and went after it.

Here is barn #8.

 

 

I'm feeling better now about this quilt along. I'm not so far behind...only 1 barn still left to make. (The one where I need to come up with my own block for the barn wall.)

I'm working on it. Slowly.

 

Now it's time to get back out in the garden.

Have a great week!

Quilty Barn Along ~ Barn #7

Barn #7, you say. What happened to #6? Did I miss it somehow?

No, I'm just (again) behind on the barns and I wasn't a huge fan of the sunflower block on barn #6. So that means that I get to make my own block for that barn...which, I have....not....done....yet. Phew. Who knew it would be so much work to build a dozen barns? ;)

 

So, here is my barn #7, just finished today.

 

 

Now I've got to get onto barn #8 and then still figure out barn #6.

Wish me luck!