Down on the Homestead - Jan 16 - 22nd

[homesteadmamma]

Good morning everyone. Its another cold morning here with -48C Many churches have been cancelled due to the cold weather. It is so sunny and beautiful out though - incredible.

Today I need to bake bread. I need to do a search on what I'm doing wrong because my bread continues to fall in the oven. I know it has something to do with the whole grain part because when I use regular flour it doesn't happen.

I'd like to finish my sewing room too, although I'll have to see how I feel. My back was a bit sore last night so I'll play it by ear.

Tonight its off to clean the post office.

Have a great day everyone.

[DaisyLady]

CJ~ stay warm and I hope your back is okay.

Good Sunday afternoon all.

It is cold and sunny here although not even half as cold was where CJ is. I went to church this morning.

This afternoon I am catching up here at the village and I may go to the library later as some of the books I reserved are in. Band for William was cancelled so I don't have to drive him

We are having a roast pork, mashed potatoes and turnip for supper tonight. Not thrilled about the pork but I couldn't get a beef roast at a decent price this week. I am still trying to find some one locally who raises grain fed beef. I know they are out there but I guess it is the wrong season. Hopefully, I will have more luck in the spring.

DH was playing with our dog Mitzy last night and discovered one of the missing porcupine quills just starting to make it's way through the skin on her abdomen just behind her front shoulder. So I guess we will be making another trip to the vet this week. He is closed until Tuesday so I hope it will wait until then. The animal hospital in town is very expensive.

I just remembered that I need to make Josh his special muffins this afternoon too. Guess I better get moving.

Have a wonderful and blessed day.

[forestdale]

Hi everyone. Another warm day ahead here.

Chriss, if you have any peroxide in the house, dilute a small amount with 8 parts water. Pour some of this on Mitzy's wound where the quill is. It will bubble up upon contact with the skin and will remove some of the debris around, and maybe in, the wound. It's also a mild antiseptic and it might keep you going until Tuesday. It's an old fashioned remedy but it works well.

My friend Susan phoned yesterday. She's down here at the beach with her family and wanted to come over and play. I had to put her off till today because I was so busy. I'm busy today as well but she can come with me while I go to the craft store and do a few things around the place. Then we'll come back here, have lunch, relax and catch up. I'm looking forward to seeing her. My friends are very important to me.

Not much else happening here. I'm still stitching like the dickens and I work at the store again tomorrow while DH helps Diane unpack our container that's just arrived from Bali. It'll be exciting seeing what's in there to sell on ebay.

Stay warm my friends.

[kimmee]

Hello my friends!! happy Homesteading!!
Its ccccold outside - and its making Sammee all friskee. He keeps bouncing all his girth at me sideways when I go out with garbage or whatever. He's just playing but I can't standup when he hurls his 200+ pounds at me and he is getting so ruff with his headbutting - LESSON LEARNED (to quote a popular Village girl )never play headbutt with alittle lamb that you intend to keep through the sheep years!! I am going to have to start wearing armor outside!!
Just cleaning and washing clothes to a fabulous level of clean with my awesome new machine!! It works beautifully!! I feel like I am renewing the color in all my clothes!! No more straining the dirty water down through the clothes after they are supposedly washed and rinsed!!
tonight is Mexican food night - yummy!!
Tomorrow is Toddy's (my brother who passed) birthday - I usually drink a few beeries for him - but I haven't decided yet as to whether I will have a few.
Tuesday I have to take Mom to the doctor which is 160 miles roundtrip and of course I would rather shoot myself in the foot than do that but maybe he will give me some tips on how to deal with some of her 'behaviors'.
I got a new plant catalogue INTER-STATE NURSERIES out of Bloomington, IL. - I was wondering if any of you have had any experience with them as they have awfully good prices and they are having a huge sale right now on their peonies and sub-zero roses. I got my Jackson & Perkins Catalogue to and all I want is one of everything! I desperately want two of these!!   http://www.jacksonandperkins.com/cgi...%20collections  No, NO back away from the catalogue Bad KIMMEE!!
I hope you all have lovely days on your homesteads - I am off to go change my laundry as my delightful dryer just said "beeep" hee hee

[Michele Annette]

Hi Everyone!

I was finally able to catch up on all other threads today. Although, that means I have been on this computer for over an hour! I work on a computer all day I usually hate being on a computer on the weekends. So I must get back to it. I hope you are all having a great day and will report and respond to all of you tomorrow.

Have a great Sunday!

[QuilterMom]

Chilly, partly rainy, windy day here. I just got back from having some "me" time. I went to Dollar Tree and Beall's and took my sweet time browsing. I ran into a friend at Beall's that I've been playing phone tag with for a few months so it was fantastic to see her for a few minutes.

Dh is doing major work on the first bathroom remodel today. It's going to take longer and more than originally anticipated though because we keep discovering 'stupidities' on the part of whoever built the house (probably the original owners is our guess). The drywall has to be replaced for the walls because the idiots used liquid nail (I think that's what dh called it) to adhere the vanity top and backsplash so when he removed those it ripped huge chunks/pieces of the walls out with it. He is also replacing all the piping for the plumbing and has very unhappily discovered that they ran the line from the water heater all the way to the far end of the house to the bathrooms and then back to the kitchen (it should have been done just the opposite) so he's having to correct that as well which means it's taking longer. He's not the happy camper. I have visions now of this house remodel turning into the 'money pit' (anyone remember that movie?).

I can't cook, wash clothes, etc. for at least the next 2 hours or so while the water is turned off so I'll play around online for a bit and then probably sit down and read.

Have a great day everyone!

[Heather]

Hi everyone!

Snowy day here and cold...I slept in a bit this morning and did not make it to church. Had a leisurely breakfast and make some goodies for the afternoon. My Mom and Dad came for the afternoon and it was wonderful to see them again, even though it was just Christmas time since we seen them. Lots of talkin' and laughin'

DH made supper so I rested on the couch after my parents left....ahhhh....it was so nice, could get used to that. (DH cooking AND me on the couch....lol!!)I got to thinking how nice a Sunday afternoon nap would be every week.

I am still in "happy" mode from my good news from the doctor on Friday. I am working very hard on getting this body back into shape and getting well. I'm changing my eating habits and learning more about what my body needs as far as vitamins and supplements. My Mom brought me so many goodies...organic apples, carrots, pears, romaine lettuce......almond butter and an herbal remedy for Cancer patients...well, really for anyone to boost the immune system...Essiac. I have a bottle but Mom can get it alot cheaper over her way.

Happy Homesteading ladies!

[MarshHen]

Chilly here today as well. I welcome it though since it is winter and I want to enjoy my fireplace. They say it may get down to 20 Tuesday morning, so hubby went out into the garden and picked greens and cabbage to take to friends at church, and I will call a few neighbors tomarrow to see if they want any.

Hubby had to work tonight so after church and dinner today, he took a nap while Mickie and I made a pan of brownies and watched a little television. They headed back to church while I stayed home with my knee elevated because it started swelling again. It's feeling better now, so I think that maybe I just tried to do to much yesterday and I was up and down alot today during children's church. LOL, the three, four, and five year olds sure keep you hopping!

Wishing everyone a great day tomarrow!

(((Hugs)))

[DaisyLady]

Good Monday morning all,

It is still very dark out here. We had a light snowfall overnight so it looks like everything is wearing a white blanket and sleeping in this morning cept me of course!

Kids are just getting up and moving for school. As usual I have to keep going and prodding Andrea every few minutes. She is not a morning person

It is back to child minding this morning. I have her for five days this week. Her mom promised to send over a few things like computer games and books to keep her occupied. Tomorrow we will probably go to the library and find some books. I usually try to download and print out some worksheets, colouring pages etc too.

This afternoon I am hoping to finish up some crochet projects, work on my book keeping and go over my knitting lesson for Wednesday again.

We have no outside activities tonight so I plan to knit in front of the tv.

Rhonda ~ thanks for the tip for Mitzy. I do have peroxide.

Have a blessed day everyone!

[dmvezina]

Good morning!!
It is very cold here this morning. We got a little bit of snow last night. They predicted 1-3 inches, but we only got about 1/4 of an inch.

[dmvezina]

I accidentally clicked the submit button!! I wasn't even close to being done!! lol
So, anyway,

I've missed all of you. Things were just soooo hectic around the holidays. Then it's one of those things where you don't do something long enough, you end up forgetting about it!! Then I posted last week and then the puter caught a virus and really screwed up the computer!! We finally got it fixed, de"bugged" and up & running again yesterday!!


Well, let's see, for breakfast this morning I served oatmeal and a doughnut.
LUnch will be a sandwich, crackers & blueberry cheesecake squares.
Dinner is beef roast, rice and carrots.

I have so much to do today!!!

dust
vacuum
mop
clean glass on door/mirrors/tv screens
put clean sheets on bed
x clean coffeemaker
scoop cat box
bleach toilets
tidy desk
declutter magazines/newspapers
clip coupons
polish livingroom furniture
clean livingroom windows
dust tv & lamps in livingroom
wipe fingerprints from walls & lightswitches in livingroom
clean wall decor & picture frames in livingroom
clean livingroom ceiling fan
clear cobwebs from livingroom
clean under couch & chair cushions
move furniture & vacuum
clean out chiminea
straighten books/magazines in livingroom
wash knick knacks & shelves in livingrom
clean end tables in livingroom
wash slipcovers & table coverings in livingroom
wash livingroom floor
make cupcakes

My 16 yr old dd wants me to bring her to pick up some job apps too. And my 13 yr old dd wants to go to Walmart to spend a gift card she got for Christmas. I also need to pick up my 12 yr old ds from his friends.
It's certainly going to be a very busy day. And I suppose I should get on with it!! lol

I hope you all have a great day!!!

[sherrykay]

wow sounds like you have a ton of stuff to do Dawn, enjoy your busy day!

[DaisyLady]

Ooh Dawn, I'm pooped just reading about all you have to do today! Don't forget to take some time for you

[QuilterMom]

Good to see you again, Dawn!

Not a happy day on my homestead. The neighbor is working on his entryway and fence again today so the music is blaring away. This is NOT how I envisioned my peaceful country life would be. Hopefully it will all end when the work is done, but dh said the way they are doing it will take a long time. Double I have been singing Christmas carols (LOL) at the top of my lungs all morning, we've listened to a songs of the humpback whales cd and currently have an ocean waves cd going - anything to try to block the noise. I can't concentrate on homeschool much less ds!

We're forecasted to have a high of 62* today. It's currently 66* inside my house. Perfect day for baking something so I'll have to decide if I want to make an old standby or try a new recipe. I also need to gather everything up that needs to go back to the library tomorrow and continue working on decluttering and our household inventory. Have a great day everyone!

[guest2]

Hello all!

It's been a busy weekend here and I'm so thankful to have today off from work and school! We had some gorgeous powdery snow and spent lots of time sledding and snowboarding in it. Good thing because today it is all raining off! The boys are out getting in the last few sledding runs before there is no snow left.

DH and I broke down and bought a Costco membership on Saturday. I'm really glad we did though because we were able to recoup our membership cost with the savings we got on this trip alone in vitamins, supplements, soap and a few other items. We also ran into an old friend of mine from college whom I had not seen for years now. I was so happy to hear that she has remarried and was at a great place in her life. I also met her youngest daughter who is a carbon copy of her fun loving momma!

Yesterday Jaysn helped a friend fill their lawn mower (they had a snow blade on it to plow snow) fill their gas tank. The gas container had a leak in it and it got all over Jaysn's winter coat, snow bibs and gloves. We washed his things in hot water 5 times and the smell was still there. I looked online and read that adding baking soda would get rid of the smell. No Dice! So we are trying the add half a can of Coke along with the detergent and seeing if that works. Oh yes, in the process of all this, Jaysn's snow bibs got caught on the aggitator and were ripped to shreds! It was his only pair and he feels so badly about it. I let him borrow my only pair and told him if he ripped them I'd be ticked!

Since today is a holiday, the boys and their friends are hanging out together. It's nice to have our home filled with all their friends after the boys were grounded for all last week. I missed the kids! I'm sure they will all be popping in and out for the day.

I have more reading to do and baking to get done. We are expecting freezing rain later so I need to have bread made in case we lose power. Poor DH is out working in this nasty weather and I feel so badly for him.

Pryaing you all have a blessed day!