HAPPY NEW YEAR-CHANGES (I HOPE)

As all of us usually do at New Years, I am taking an assessment of me. My health, my life, my attitude, my home...everything.

Over the past few weeks I am begun readying myself for the new years routine. I plan on working out every day after work. But realized that just that and just a healthier diet wasn't enough.

Someone recommended the book Staying Healthy with the Seasons. I know that even if the bottom doesn't fall out of the economy, I want to live closer to the land and seasons. I want to not eat so much out of season things in spring and fall.

As I read this book it had what I feel is the perfect starting point. Detoxing has been foremost in my mind lately but I didn't know how to start. This book has a recipe for a Master Cleanse. I know this won't be easy, or fun. But I hope at the end I will be better ready to begin my new healthier lifestyle.

So I start tonight. It is a little spicy so I will have to alter the cayenne pepper amount.

Also, as I look around, I realize that I don't want my year to be spent in a dirty home. So as I begin my 10 day cleanse tonight, I will also work on finishing laundry and putting it away, cleaning the house, doing floors and if I have enough energy, I may put away the christmas decorations.

Although I may turn the tree on and enjoy it one more night. Too bad I can't keep it up all year...and just change out the decorations to match the seasons....hey.....who says I can't. I will have to really think about that for a while...maybe a day or two!! I might at least leave my little village up until spring. I wish they made seasonal villiages....hm....I might be onto something here.

Ok, I picked up the mail and it really did feel like christmas. Two seed catalogs. I will hold off on reading those until tomorrow.

The people who own the barn where I keep my horse left me these wonderful new kitchen towels for christmas. I really like them.

What is in store for tomorrow? We will just have to see since I don't have to go to work.

JACKPOT FREE FROM CRAIGS LIST

HAVE YOU EVER HIT ONE OF THE FREE ITEMS FROM CRAIGS LIST, FREECYCLE, OR SOME OTHER SOURCE THAT JUST MADE YOU FEEL AS IF YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN A TREASURE? THAT IS WHAT I FELT LIKE TODAY. HERE IS WHAT I GOT FREE ON CRAIGSLIST:

SUNDAY: CHICKEN AND RICE

Well the Cowboys were playing so bad I left and came home from my sisters, put in Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring, put on an organic chicken to bake, and will make rice and peas.

Getting dark out. Chooks are going back into the house. I plan on being up late and getting up early. Tomorrow will be a huge day at work. I will work only Mon-Wed. I am not sure if I will have Friday off or not.

Advertised on Craigs list for someone to come and service my old tiller. It look awful but it worked great the last time I started it. I am working on some No Till beds and also will till some other areas up and add the partially composted rabbit poo from this summer. Then I will start a new compost pile with fresh poo.

I am going to begin bringing home bags of goat poo also from the barn where I store my belongings and my horse. If I have the energy I will also bring home horse manure.

One way or another i will build up these beds so they will drain.

I found a website that advertises cocoa fiber runners to use as mulch. I would like to use this in the isles because fabric breaks down way too fast.

I also found a wonderful website (http://www.sandhillpreservation.com/) with a ton of heirloom vegetable. No photos but I am ok with that due to the variety.

I HATE POSSUMS!

THIS REALLY IS THE ANIMAL I LIKE ALMOST LEAST....ALMOST AS MUCH AS I HATE PIT BULLS.

SITTING IN MY RECLINER TONIGHT AFTER FEEDING THE CATS I WAS MINDING MY BUSINESS THINKING THE CAT WAS REALLY ENJOYING HER FOOD ON THE FRONT PORCH. AFTER ABOUT A HALF HOURS OF VULGAR CRUNCHING I FIGURED OUT THAT IT PROBABLY WASN'T THE CAT.

I TOOK THE FLASHLIGHT OUT AND FOUND A FAT UGLY POSSUM TRYING TO GET AWAY FROM ME ON THE FRONT PORCH. SINCE I SCARED IT OFF THE PORCH, IT WILL PROBABLY END UP GOING TO THE CHICKEN HOUSE!!!!

HAVE I SAID I HAD POSSUMS YET???

STORMS COMING

I woke at 6am to the distant rumble of thunder. I figured I better get up and get coffee and do some other stuff before it hits. Might not be bad but then again...

While drinking coffee my cat Flash went over and sat under the tree. When I took his pic with the angle, and looked at it on the computer, he looked like another ornament. His eyes match the lights.

Wow the wind is really whipping.

TIME TO WORK OUT!

I CAN'T BELIEVE HOW BAD OF SHAPE I AM IN! ALL I DID WAS CLEAN A LARGE GOAT PEN, TRY TO FIX THE LARGE METAL GATE THAT BLEW OFF IN THE WIND, TAKE THE 3 BAGS OF GOAT MANURE HOME, GO GET 8 VERY LARGE BAGS OF RABBIT POO AND TAKE THEM HOME,


PLANT 10 PINYON PINE TREES,













AND EMPTY THE 3 BAGS OF GOAT AND TWO OF THE BAGS OF RABBIT POO IN THE NEXT RAISED GARDEN BED.







I SIMPLY DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH ENERGY TO DO THE REMAINING 5 BAGS!

IT DOESN'T HELP THAT IT IS 80 DEGREES! IN DECEMBER!

ALSO: WHILE I WAS IN A NIQUIL INDUCED COMA, I RECEIVED THIS WONDERFUL ORNAMENT FROM PATRICE. I THOUGHT IT WAS A DREAM! TOO MUCH NIQUIL. THANK YOU PATRICE!!!

OK...NEW YEARS REZ#1; WORK OUT 5 DAYS PER WEEK RIGHT AFTER WORK.

HEN PATROL

Ok this will be short. I don't have a pic of this but thought it would crack you up. I have said before that the birds like to frequent the compost pile due to the sunflower seeds in there and now leftover chicken food. Well when the chickens started free ranging they liked to scratch through it too for the same reason.

Well one of the auracana's has decided that the piles are hers and the wild birds should not come there. I really wish you could have seen her with her feathers poofed out running after each little bird that landed on the compost pile. They would only fly as far as the fence and as soon as she turned her back they would fly back.....and here she would come plowing up over the pile wings out spread, chasing them away again. This went on for at least two hours and then I had to leave for dinner. So I guess she did it til dark. I will find a way to get a video of it.

ROOSTERS AND LIONS

The wind outside must be in just the right direction. As the sun was coming up I could hear the lions roaring just like they were in the front yard. I don't know who has these lions but they are African and it sounds like 2 or 3. Sometimes their roars are subaudible and you can only feel them in your chest like bass.

Out back Stud Muffin is crowing up a storm. I believe he thinks he is solely responsible for the sun rising.

Merry Christmas to all of you. I have been out to the chicken house and collected Oreo's 7th egg. I provided them a tray of left overs that I cleaned out of the frig. Pumpkin pie, turkey, potatos and carrots, and a half of an avacado. The sun is out and as soon as they are done eating I will open the door and let them out.

My son called at the crack of dawn to give me an update of their Christmas morning at Ft Bragg. It sounded so wonderful. The kids loved their presents. But they had gotten mom and dad up at 4:30! Oh I remember those days. By the time we were done talking it was about nap time.

I am going to do laundry this morning, drink coffee, clean the chicken house, cut up some starter wood in preparation for the upcoming cold front, then go feed horses and goats, clean stalls and pens and go to my sisters for Christmas dinner tonight.

The sun is so bright I can't stay inside any more. Please feel blessed if you are reading this....because you are.

"NEW" FREEZER

I worked til 8pm tonight and will probably work until at least 5 tomorrow going in early. Hey at least I have a job! Winter storm season. At least we got a tiny breather between this and hurricane season.

Outside right now the wind is howling at about 30-40 mph! Crazy stuff.

Well with the new pay decrease with the new company, I was not sure when/if I would be able to get a freezer. I cleared a spot for it in the kitchen (ok well kind of...the empty spot tends to get filled up with stuff). While talking to my parents I was telling them about how many gallons of frozen broth I have in the refrig freezer. I told them that I didn't want a 5cu ft but could probably make due with a 7cu ft. Really I would love to have a giant full sized freezer because I am completly confident that I will be able to grow stuff this year!

Mom said she wished that I would take the freezer in the garage that they weren't using.

They offered this before but I didn't think I had room. We all went out to look at it. It is about 5 ft high and stands out from the wall about 2.5 to 3ft. It is the perfect size for me! Hopefully it will run good but they have never had a problem with it.

Now to find someone to move it for me. I am so excited! I can stock up on chicken and beef broth with bones purchased from the local farm. When I find a good deal at a local farmers market I will be able to freeze it.

My vacume sealer works very well. I will be able to cook meals ahead and vacume seal them and freeze them.

Possibly I will be able to purchase larger quantities of organic pork, lamb and beef when/if I can afford it. That will make it cheaper per pound. And of course with my plan to buy 100 meat roosters from Cackle Hatchery this spring, I will need the space to put them in the freezer. That vacume sealer is going to come in very handy this spring.

Endless possibilities. Being old it will make my electric bill jump but I believe it will be worth it.

Winter? Photos added

It is 38 degrees out and will be 18 degrees tonight. The wind is whipping!

The fresh bread is out of the oven, the crock pot is full of organic grass fed chuck roast, presents are wrapped under the tree, and a roaring fire is in the fireplace.

Man I can smell the chuck roast. It is sitting in pool of yummy savory thick gravy. Pop is bringing a pumpkin pie. Mom is coming too! She is so cold all of the time. I think I might give her her present early.

Mom, Dad and I aren't exchanging presents until Christmas evening. Today is for my daughter and grand boys because they are going to Oklahoma on Tuesday and won't be here for Christmas.

I will post pics later. So far no egg! Must be too cold for Oreo.

I can't wait for the boys to open their present!

MY ROOSTER FOUND HIS CROW!

I FEEL LIKE I HAVE A REAL FARM. I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! HE IS CROWING UP A STORM OUT THERE LIKE HE KNEW HOW ALL ALONG AND JUST DIDN'T FEEL LIKE IT!!

I WAS WORRIED....UNTIL KNOW EVERYTIME THE ROOSTERS DOWN THE ROAD WOULD CROW.....HE WOULD PRIMP! NOW IF HE PROVES THAT HE CAN SIRE SOME BABIES, I MIGHT GIVE HIM A BETTER NAME THAN STUD MUFFIN!

THE GRANDBOYS WERE SO EXCITED. THEY FOUND AN EGG IN THE NEST BOX. THANK YOU OREO.

HARVESTED 1/2 POUND OF DANDELION ROOTS. CLEANED THEM AND GROUND THEM UP. ALSO CLEANED AND GROUND UP ORANGE PEELS AND GINGER; THEY ARE MIXED TOGETHER ON LOW HEAT IN THE TOASTER OVEN. WHEN IT IS DRY I WILL STORE IT IN A JAR AND GRIND IT WITH A COFFEE GRINDER AND MAKE COFFEE OUT OF IT. WITH CREAM AND SUGAR IT WILL BE A WONDERFUL CLEANSING WINTER DRINK.

It was 70 degrees this morning but now the wind has switched around to from the North. Not a blue Norther but the temps are on a steady decline and by tomorrow morning it should be 28 degrees.

I am ready. The fireplace is cleaned out and the bucket is full of kindling. Brought a new load of fire wood and am getting ready to go get more.

QUIET EVENING; KIND OF

We have had a fun evening. Home made turkey stew and home made bread after searching for an egg from Oreo. She didn't lay one today. Maybe tomorrow. I will leave the chicken house door shut until noon in case she is getting lazy out in the yard.

Then a little candy for the grandboys because they ate all their turkey stew. Then a ripping game of Pirranah. Dakota won!! Jayden second.

Then we read 5 chapters of #1 of the Magic Tree House Books called Dinosaurs before Dark. Very cool. Jayden thinks he has already read them.

Then a lesson in tooth brushing, flossing and rinsing with watered down Listerine. I want to keep my teeth, so does Dakota but Jayden proudly anounced that he does not. (we all know he wants the tooth fairy here a lot)

Then we go to their room and clean it (because they didn't clean it when they left the last time) and everybody knows you can't crawl into an unmade bed, so Jayden and I made the bed while Dakota folded and put away the clean clothes and shut the drawers.

Then I lifted Jayden onto my shoulder to change the light bulb in the closet. It happens to be a magic light bulb that keeps monsters away. It is the most important light bulb in the house.

Then two little rug rats crawled into bed with lots of hugs and kisses and more hugs and kisses.....

Now I am sitting looking at the christmas tree in the dark, typing on my computer and listening to quiet giggles coming from the back room.

Do you remember how wonderful your grandmothers bed was...the smell of the clean sheets, the sounds downstairs of the adults talking softly, maybe playing a guitar or a banjo softly, the smell of cherry tobacco smoke from grandads pipe, and outside sounds too...sometimes cows lowing....sometimes a train going down the tracks and in the summer time the smell of honeysuckle blowing in through the open window and bull frogs in the pond? What kinds of memories do you have of your grandparents? Are they good or not so good?

This weekend I will make some memories. Tonight I corrected a misunderstanding with my oldest. He thought chores are something you do when you are bad. When I asked him to help me make up the bed, he asked, "What did I do?" I almost cried and laughed. I explained that chores are something that everyone in the house does because we live here and dirty the place so we all do chores to straighten up and fix. He said, "Oh". Then he happily went about helping me make the bed and when he laid down in the soft clean sheets, he had a smile on his face.

Tomorrow we are going to walk around the yard with trash bags and pick up the trash that the wind storm blew around and we will fix his tent in the plum orchard because the wind blew it kind of side ways. We will fix the toys inside too if they need it.

Then we come inside and they will help me make apple pancakes. I will let Dakota dip the apples in the batter and i will let Jayden flip the pancakes.

They they will be able to go off and play while I try to fix the broken back door. Then around 11 or so I will call them in and we will make sugar cookie dough. I may not have time to do this with them. This will need to be rolled into rolls and put in the refrig to chill. They have a Christmas party to go to around 2 and a magic show to go to around 12. We will make cookies when they get back from the party.

There is nothing more fun than mixing up the icing with food coloring, decorating the cookies with sprinkles candies and frosting, and then showing them off to everyone. And of coursed eating them.

Sunday my parents are coming over for dinner by the fire. I am going to cook the organic chuck roast, with potatoes, pearl onions, carrots, homemade hot rolls, iced tea and maybe a little egg nog with bourbon.

God seal these good memories in the minds of my grandchildren.

Thoughts for the future: and other stuff

I know that all who follow me will be stunned to know that although it is 70 degrees out and sunny for a change, I poured myself a glass of iced mint tea and went out into the yard and just sat and watched the chickens scratch.

On my farm something usually makes me laugh. My cat Flash helps. This is what I found when I went to get an iced tea glass.

Well my 10 pinyon pine seedlings arrived from Peaceful Vally Farm supply. I was very happy with how healthy they are and how quickly they arrived. I will be planting them in the next day or two. I will wait until this next cold snap is over.

I think I really love baking bread. I want to make healthier bread than white but I figured if I could get the white down, then I could do anything. One of these loaves had an air hole in the middle. So I am not that good yet.

While cleaning out the cabinets I found some old recipe cards. One of them was for apple slices dipped in pancake batter and fried. I am making them tomorrow morning for my grandboys. The picture is fuzzy but you kind of get the idea.

The future:

Ok I was thinking that I really need to wean myself off of grocery stores and other stores as much as possible. How to do this? How do I become more dependant on my farm? Some people already do this. I will have to learn.

Beginning in the spring when the salad greens are growing well, maybe by March, I will begin picking one day a week where everything I eat must come from the farm. Whether it is home grown or wild grown.

I know it will be a long time before I am in a position to grow things like wheat for flour etc. If ever. But I do have cat tails growing and the roots can be harvested for a flour substitute. I have a ton of wild garlic that grows in the fields along with dandelion and hundreds of other greens that I need to learn.

With the chickens producing, and my decision to grow my own meat chickens, this should be an attainable goal. When I get used to 1 day, I will graduate to 2 days and so on.

Eventually I will have trees that produce nuts and fruit, a garden that is producing or has produced and has been stored, and 3 acres of wild growth. Eventually I am going to deepen my pond and who knows, maybe I can stock it with some fish for a change of diet. Crawfish too maybe.

I wish I had started this process in my 20's. I wonder how far I would be now instead of just starting out.

2nd Thu Post--proud of Oreo!!

3rd day, 3rd egg! she even came back to the nest boxes from free ranging!!!

I will post a pic of the bread when this warm kitty decides to get off my lap!

Thursday: Day 6 of "Vacation"

I can not believe that the 6th day of vacation is here and this is the first day that I am better. What a waste of time being sick is.

New Years Rez #1: Get healthy so this doesn't happen again!

Ok I have bread rising in the kitchen. We won't talk about why I need to bake more bread. Lets just say that I need to have my glasses on when I turn on the oven from now on because bread doesn't bake very well under the broiler.

Quit it! I can hear ya'll laughing!

Today is a cool day and I will have to add pics later. My friend Tabitha is supposed to come out for the first time to see the farm. We won't have much time to visit because I have to go to work....yes work on a vacation day. Tabitha is kind of a city girl/tom boy. I think she really likes the city.

The wind blew tons of stuff around the yard and I need to get out there with a trash bag and start picking up before she gets here. I can't wait to see if I have another egg!

Rainy Wednsday: updates-1

Well today has started off busy. The weather shows a warm up so I need to bake some bread today and make use of the warm area by the fireplace so the bread will raise quickly.

I got up, made coffee, fed the hungry kitties, and then realized all my bread making bowls had been put to use holding chicken and turkey stock in the frig. Today was freezing day. so I got to work filling every small useful container with defatted broth including the ice cube trays. That freed up my bread bowls. This will be the first time I have frozen broth so I don't know how long it will take to freeze solid. Probably til tonight.

I added my yeast to warm sugar water to proof, and then grabbed my coffee and a tray of turkey fat and bones and went out to say hello to my chickens. Oreo was already in a nest box!!! Way to go Oreo!

Today is drippy and cold but not freezing. It is already 38 and will get up to 48. Almost too hot for a fire. I may need to let the fire die anyway because I have to empty some ashes and I don't trust the metal bucket that I have. It looks rusty and I am afraid the bottom will give out half way to the door.

I will take a picture of my second egg if Oreo feels so inclined. Today I will be working on CE classes online for my job and/or prep classes for the two half day training classes tomorrow and Friday. So I guess I better get after it! Bread first though.

UPDATE #1

Ok I went out at 11:30 to let the chicks out since it is not that cold and what do I see on the high wire behind the chicken house? I am not sure what these are but I know they are not vultures. So that leaves eagles or very large hawks.

So I opted for making the chicks mad at me and waiting a while to let them out.

Went into see if Oreo left me a present and look what I found!! This is like Christmas every day!

I am at the 2nd stage of rising. I really need to work on making my loaves prettier.

2ND POST! FIRST EGG!!!

SOMEONE BLESSED ME WITH MY FIRST EGG TODAY!!! THANK YOU SANTA FOR THE WONDERFUL NEST BOXES. WHO EVER LAID THE FIRST EGG....OREO I IMAGINE...PICKED HER FAVORITE BOX...SECOND FROM THE END.

THE TREE IS UP

My Christmas tree is up and really pretty. Have you ever been amazed at what a few lights and ornaments can do to a little Charlie Brown tree?

As I listened to carols talking about the birth of our Lord Jesus, I thought about something rather profound. Have you ever thought about the fact that Mary could have said no?

I also thought about how the tradition of Christmas came to be. A little research found this:

Traditions: Christmas Trees and OrnamentsThe fir tree has a long association with Christianity, it began in Germany almost 1,000 years ago when St Boniface, who converted the German people to Christianity (OF THEIR OWN FREE WILL I AM SURE), was said to have come across a group of pagans worshipping an oak tree. In anger, St Boniface is said to have cut down the oak tree and to his amazement a young fir tree sprung up from the roots of the oak tree. St Boniface took this as a sign of the Christian faith. But it was not until the 16th century that fir trees were brought indoors at Christmas time.

Artificial trees: also originated in Germany to help prevent deforestation...these were called feather trees and were made of feathers.

Pagan celebrations: Solstice celebrations held by Japan, Finlin, Sweden, Norway, Pakastan, and many if not most countries are very similar to the christians Christmas celebration.

It is no wonder some believe Christial holidays to be paganistic.

SLOW FOOD

Ok after my "freak" chicken that I bought at the store, I decided that I am done buying meat at the grocery store. I went on a quest to find a local farmer who sells real meat. Boy did I find it. I went online to Local Harvest and found Rehoboth Ranch in Greenville. http://www.rehobothranch.com/

I just got back. What an amazing ranch. It is winter and it is beautiful. I can only imagine how beautiful it will be in the summer.


The home is modest. I called ahead and told the owner I would be there, so when I arived, I saw the little store next to the house, and it had smoke coming from the chimney. The inside was very clean and had a wood burning stove.


I felt the prices were very reasonable considering I was buying organic grass fed beef, organic eggs and chicken. Wow do these chickens look different that the ones you buy at the store. They have color. I also bought a bag of soup bones. There is a lot of meat on these bones. I will cook those up today into stock. Fighting this cold I need broth. 2 doz organic eggs and a jar of local honey.



The beef is so red and beautiful. I can't wait to taste it.


The little store had some other things on the shelves. But it was sleeting outside and I had a long drive home. I didn't want to get caught out and have the roads get slick.


I am baking a turkey tonight. I will serve it for dinner and then freeze the left overs for later.


IT IS SOOOO COLD HERE. Gotta meet the vet to give my horse her shots and then come back and build a fire.

HOMEMADE BREAD

Well since I can't get up and do anything for more than a half hour, and I don't have a whole lot in the shelves, I decided to try my hand at home made white bread. I have failed at this in the past.

Since my house is cool, it didn't rise too good. I had just unloaded a load of dishes and the dishwasher was still warm and humid so I put the bowl in there. In 15 minutes it was done with the first rising.

I made rolls and a round loaf.

The house smells so wonderful. Think I will have a roll with my Niquil.

WIND!

I hate being sick. I feel like it is a wasted vacation. Saturday was a wash. I went down into the pond riding the little tractor. I was tired before I ever got there just gathering my tools. Then after a quick survey, I found hidden stumps under the cattails, so I could not use the mower. I also realized that this was too big of a job to do by hand. This needs heavy equipment. I will have to plan on hiring a backhoe to dig out the pond.






Today I took Niquil at 5:30am and slept til 10:30. I felt better so I ate oatmeal and went outside to see if I could get a little done.


Well, I knew it was windy but didn't realize how windy. I fought the plastic to cover the winter garden and got it covered which lasted approx 30 seconds. Then it blew off. I reatached it twice and then gave up and just laid it on top of the garden with a few sticks. This won't work for very long. I will have to think of something else.








Then I went out to the chicken house. My plans were to fill the water and feed and rake it out. Only to find the wind had detached the plastic on it too. I HATE WIND.


I reatached it the best I could with my staple gun but fought the wind the whole time. Don't know how long it will last. Filled up the larger waterer since the chickens are going through the water twice as fast since I switched food. I cleaned out the house and filled the food so they should be good to go for a few days.


Cold weather is coming. It is 73 degrees today! But the high tomorrow is supposed to be 39! So I also took the saw to the front yard and cut up some smaller wood that was laying in a pile and broke up starter wood and filled the box that i keep it in. Since it is not calling for precip I should be good to go. I will keep the fire going and should only have to start it once tomorrow morning.


I really hope that the wind dies before the temps drop. 40mph wind on top of 39 degrees will hurt when I go out to get wood for the fire.

COYOTES AND VIRUSES

I woke up sick!! Runny nose, sore throat, cough the whole nine yards. I am very bummed. And I don't have one bit of garlic in the house! I took the last of the dayquil and tried to go out to do some of the work I wanted to do and just can't. I was standing watching the chickens scratch around my feet and looked up and about 30 yards away was a big coyote running along my fence line. I had a saw in one hand and a garden fork in the other and took off around the side of my chicken house. We met around the corner of the chicken house (there was still a fence between us so don't worry) and I started yelling and screaming like a mad indian and shaking my weapons and banging on anything I could. He tucked his tail, laid back his ears and took off like a shot. He looked back only once when he was about 100 yds away.

Yep first thing on my list is a shotgun. Time to get pro-active.

VACATION DAY #1--HERBAL TEA AND A GOOD BOOK

Right now I am sitting in my recliner, covered with faux fur and listening to the tea maker clicking away making my custom mix of Fairy Garden, Mint, and some other kind of tea mix that is good for your heart.

At 4:30 my vacation started. You know how they go so since I got home after dark, I am going to do nothing but drink tea, read my book Dragons Blood by Todd McCaffery, and think/plan.

This is what I bought at Sams as my start of stocking up:

25# of flour

8 cans of evap milk

3# coffee

36 rolls of tp

1# yeast (good for bread and the septic tank)

Ok this cost $42! So this is going to be a process. I will need to plan well. What I was wondering is if I know that I need beans, flour, corn meal, canned veggies, canned fruit, assorted canned items, etc etc....should I get 100 cans of peaches first, then buy 1000 rolls of tp, then buy 500# of flour.....or do I buy like I did here....an assorted variety of stuff?

Also on my mind is that I will have to think up some kind of storage of water. Here in TX we don't need a shtf situation...we all know that right around the corner is another drought. Water rationing is a given. I have got to plan for this.

One mistake that I have made in the past is to buy things that I don't normally eat....like dehydrated eggs and powdered tomatos. Please! I would rather work on a good strong flock of chickens for the eggs and have a sealed bag of heirloom tomato seeds.

Anyway....I do have to go to work this week on Thu and Friday for half days of training in a new system. I am bummed. But it only cuts out 1 full day. I will still be able to get a lot done.

I am planting the Black Seeded Simpson tomorrow and adding plastic to the winter garden. It got so cold last week that I may need to replant what I just put in the ground.

VACATIONS AND CAT TAILS

Ok as of tomorrow at 4:30 CST I am on vacation for 9 days! Now it is calling for rain for half of those, So I need to get my outside stuff done Saturday and Sunday and get prepared for possible winter precip.

One of the big things I am going to do is bake cookies and bread. I wish my grand boys were here to help me decorate. Anyway I went to Sams and bought a 20# bag of bread flour. I also bought a pound of yeast, fair market coffee, tons of toilet paper, and evaporated milk.

I don't need to go anywhere for the whole week. With coffee and projects galore, I am going to be a happy sore girl. I have the oversized bottle of Aleve and the monster bottle of Advil sitting on my dresser ready. Vicks vapor rub, first aid kit and midol. I am prepared for anything!!!

So besides baking bread and cookies, here is my honey do list for myself during vacation:

A. CLEAN OFF FRONT PORCH TO GET READY FOR THE LAST DAY OF PAINTING
B. COVER THE WINTER GARDEN WITH PLASTIC AND MAKE A "GREENHOUSE"
C. MAIL PACKAGES
D. BUILD WOOD RACK FOR THE BACK PORCH
E. FILL WOOD RACK
F. CUT AND BUNDLE STARTER WOOD
G. PICK UP PINE CONES
H. CLEAN FRONT YARD
I. FINISH TAKING DOWN THE FENCE AND CUTTING TREES

Now added to this when it is cold out and the sun is not warm, is a trip to the barn on the 15th to pull out some of my stuff from barn storage, and hike down into the pond which is mostly dry now and cut down the trees growing down in it and try to dig up the roots. Also Bull plowed down the tons of cat tails and those need to be raked out of the pond and up away so they can be burned or composted. If I have any energy left at all I might try to dig up the cat tail roots. I don't know if you know this but cat tail roots are a staple food. Once they are washed they can be whirled in the blender with water and then soaked some more until the inside which looks like white fibery powder, floats to the bottom. Then filter out the big floaties and whirl it again and wait for the white to sink. Once the top water is clear carefully drain off the clear water and pull out the white paste and dry into flour. This can be used in any flour recipe.

No one should starve in the wilderness with cattail about.

HOME MIXED CHICKEN FEED

Ok I got a recipe for home mixed chicken food and as any good cook I altered the recipe. I needed more protein than the feed at our feed store contained:

50lb laying pellets 20% protein ---I USED 16% LAYER
25lb of rabbit pellets 18% protein --16% RABBIT PELLETS
10lb black oil sunflower seed --I USED 20#
25lb whole corn ---DIDN'T ALTER
25lb of a good scratch 12% protein --9% PROTEIN
AS THESE WERE ALL TOO LOW PROTEIN I ADDED A 50# BAG OF WHOLE OATS

Sissy's Birthday and Sleet on the Stove Pipe

Well today is a great day. We woke up to temps at 68 and coming out of work at 4:30 the wind was howling and it was about 38. As I sit here and write, I hear sleet hitting the stove pipe. Guess it is getting bad again. I am glad I am snug inside. I hate to admit to it but I did turn on the heater. Trying to keep my daughter away from the thermostat. For some reason she things 68 is cold! Love this TX weather. Warm and wet one moment and cold and icy the next. It did storm last night but not bad.

Today is my sissy's birthday. We just ate at a Japanese place that was very yummy. But outside while we were eating it started to sleet. Our cars where covered when we came outside. Nothing sticking on the ground. Here is a picture of her and her favorite pooch Stuey.

When I came home I found that Santa had yet again come to the chicken house. He did some winterizing.

Patrice I wish you had a place that you would build a "greenhouse" for your chickens in the winter.