Down on the Homestead September 4th-September10th

**AmyBoz** · 09-04-2005, 11:03 AM

Well, this is it...for me, summer is officially gone.

So, since we were at the block party last night, the kids slept late. Patrick woke me up around 7:00 (very late for us) and he and I made pancakes from scratch for the family. When they were ready, we woke up Rob and Julia and had a nice family breakfast.

Then, Rob took Julia to church and Patrick and I headed to ShopRite. The bill wound up being $101, but we got meats and produce and really stocked up on some sale items that we had coupons for that we'll stockpile and use throughout the schoolyear (applesauce, cereal, canned ravioli, popcorn, etc.)

Patrick is about to go down for a nap, and I've asked Rob to go through his computer games so we can sell many of the ones he no longer plays. I'll be doing laundry while he does that, and Julia will probably keep playing with her little Sweet Streets village.

When Patrick wakes, we'll have lunch...probably sandwiches or soup or something from the pantry. Then, my parents have invited us over for dinner, so we'll go over around 2:30 ish and hang out on their deck for the afternoon and then eat dinner there. My mom made a big roast with mashed potatoes and green beans for us to eat. The kids will be thrilled.

I want to cut Patrick's hair tonight and am hoping to trim Julia's a bit as well. We may borrow a movie from my Dad to watch after the kids go to sleep.

I think it's going to be a good day!

**baxjul** · 09-04-2005, 12:05 PM

Hello!

Not doing too much today. Just sitting around reading, cleaning here and there, goofing off. Sundays are usually pretty lazy here. Tomorrow we are having our friends over.

I'm feeling pretty homesick. We have one set (a couple) of friends that we have here, and I am starting to miss everyone back in PA. Phone calls, etc. are just not the same. There just isn't anyone here that I can really talk to! So, I'm just feeling sorry for myself today!

I think I might crochet something later, I have a whole dresser

full of yarn that I need to use up! Maybe I'll start some Christmas gifts.

Well, enough of me rambling on, I hope everyone has a wonderful Sunday.

**forestdale** · 09-04-2005, 03:29 PM

Cooee ladies!

It's pouring outside. What a sweet sound that is.

I had planned on doing laundry today but that can wait till tomorrow. I'll bake bread, work on my website, draw, vacuum the floors and clean the front verandah. If it stops raining later, I'll do an hour's gardening.

Enjoy your Sunday, Amy. It sounds like a good one.

Julie, I hope you can pamper yourself today. Being homesick is not fun.

**Mom23boys** · 09-04-2005, 04:57 PM

Hello ladies.

Amy, I hope you enjoy your final days of summer.

Julie, I think making homemade Christmas presents will be a great way to use up your yarn.

Rhonda, enjoy the rain you are getting. I love the sound of rain too, plus we need it here.

Woke up this morning to make homemade pancakes from scratch. There wasn't one left. I am glad everyone enjoyed them.

I sent Richard and Chris to pick up the Sunday paper while I cooked. I was wanting the sales ads.

Dakota and I made a trip into town to rent a free movie with a free coupon. I think we will watch it later on this evening. Then we went by CVS to pick up some items. Total before coupons and CVS EB was 27.31 and after was .21¢! I think I made some people made in line behind me because it was taking so long to scan the coupons. Dakota kept watching the register and saying, "it's going down and down and down". I was thrilled that it only ended up being .21¢!

I have bread rising and will be making 2 loaves here shortly.

DH is feeling somewhat better. He is still in a little pain, but he has been up moving around which is good. Maybe he will be good as new soon....or close to it.

I hope you all have a great Sunday.

**forestdale** · 09-04-2005, 05:01 PM

Good to hear your DH is up and walking around, Michelle. Enjoy your Sunday.

**baxjul** · 09-04-2005, 06:19 PM

Michelle, great savings at CVS!!!

**AmyBoz** · 09-05-2005, 07:54 AM

Originally posted by Mom23boys

Dakota and I made a trip into town to rent a free movie with a free coupon. I think we will watch it later on this evening. Then we went by CVS to pick up some items. Total before coupons and CVS EB was 27.31 and after was .21¢! I think I made some people made in line behind me because it was taking so long to scan the coupons. Dakota kept watching the register and saying, "it's going down and down and down". I was thrilled that it only ended up being .21¢!

Great job, Michelle!

Yesterday was a really nice day, and today is shaping up to be that way as well.

Dh is making us french toast for breakfast and the kids and I are playing while we wait.

I've got some laundry to wash and hang and am going to set aside all of the stuff that needs to go to school/daycare with the kids tomorrow. I've got some online sales to wrap up and get ready for the post office as well.

After Patrick's nap, we are going to my father-in-laws for a Labor Day get together with all of Rob's brothers and sister and families. So, the kids can play with their cousins all day and we can hang out with the adults. Hopefully the weather holds out so we can be outside. 12 grandchildren and 9 adults gets a little crowded in the house.

As I said, breakfast is french toast from the fridge, lunch will be something from the pantry, and dinner will be at my father-in-laws.

Nice last day before heading back to work.

**homesteadmamma** · 09-05-2005, 09:54 AM

Good morning everyone. I woke up to a very dull looking day with quite a bit of fog in the area. It should clear off by noon and warm up. We've had some really hot days lately.

The weekend went well. I got lots of quilting done and I'm almost finished dd's wedding quilt. I only have to quilt the border and do the binding. That should be done by tonight.

Dh did some painting for the neighbour and bartered deer meat for payment. The neighbour doesn't have a lot of money, however he has lots of deer meat. He has more painting to do for the neighbour so we will be getting more deer meat to put in our freezer.

I need to pull the rest of my onions and get them dried. I should do my potatoes as well, however its just too hot right now to store them in our basement. Even our evenings aren't cool enough to cool down the basement yet.

Tonight I need to head over to the po and clean, then home to read.

Michele, glad to hear your dh is recovering.

Amy, nice to see your pantry.

Rhonda, love your free sample of your art.

Julie, being homesick really is hard. I always found if I could get myself busy and do some quilting, it helped. Hope it all works out for you.

Have a great Monday everyone.

**baxjul** · 09-05-2005, 11:26 AM

Good morning!

I have the cabbage cooking for cabbage rolls! Trying to clean all of the corners of the house, because my friend that is coming over today always has a comment if she finds any dust.

Still feeling kind of homesick, talked to dh about it, and I might fly back to PA for a visit next month. My FIL is moving down here next month, so things should start looking up then. He is our official babysitter. Since I have been here, since June, I haven't been anywhere except work, without dd. I would love to go for a bike ride with dh. I asked above said friend to watch dd, and she said no. She hasn't been the best friend since moving here.

Sorry to ramble on!

Rhonda, I love your artwork!
Michelle, glad your dh feels better.
Amy, I love your pantry, you are so organized.
Cathy, good luck at your new job.

Cj, I would love to learn to quilt, it must be beautiful!

I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

**Mom23boys** · 09-05-2005, 12:23 PM

Good morning/afternoon to all!

Amy, enjoy your Labor Day get together with your family.

CJ, your DH is a great man. He seems to help alot of people in your area.

Julie, I hope you are able to take your trip next month to visit "home".

Woke up today in time to take Chris to football practice. They will practice for 3 hours.

DH said he may BBQ today depending on how he feels. He is getting better everyday.

If he doesn't I will do it.

Dakota has football practice this evening. I enjoy watching him.

I have some laundry to do and I need to finish up getting my rebates in order to mail.

I may make some granola bars today. They are always good to have for snacks.

I hope you have a great day.

**Michele Annette** · 09-05-2005, 12:44 PM

Good Morning Everyone!

We had a wonderful trip camping and seeing my Aunt and family! It was worth every penny in fuel. DH was selling one of his motorcycles to someone in PA over the weekend as well, but the person couldn't make it to meet us to pick it up. So my Anunt and Uncle were so kind to keep it locked in one of their barns for two weeks, when we will then make another trip back to my Aunts, to have DH get the bike to the new owner. We will also get to spend the night and visit a lot more. It was such a great time seeing our old friends again from highscool that we usually see once every two years. (Not enough!) I loved seeing DH's cousin and his GF. Then my Aunt, Uncle, and two cousins who I haven't seen in three years.(Too long!) I can't wait to see them again in two weeks!

My Aunt and Uncle were so very generous. They made us a big breakfast. Gave us so many fruits and vegetables from their orchard and garden. We could have taken as many apples and pear and grapes as we wanted because all the rest of it would be going bad becasue they weren't using it (the fruit trees).

We also didn't have a lot of extra room in our car. (we decided it was cheaper to take the car...long story :roll

We picked about 10 lbs. of Jonathan apples, 6 lbs. of Criterion apples, 4 huge heads of garlic, 5 green bell peppers, three red bell peppers, lots and lots of hot banana peppers and jalapeneos, two large watermelons and there was so much more for the taking and I didn't want to seem greedy even if they don't use it. They have the most beautiful grape orchard and don't to anything with it.

The sad part is my Aunt doesn't can or dehydrate or stckpile much. She said that she doesn't want to do all that work.

They live our dream life and my Uncle grew up on a farm and loves it and my Aunt likes to garden, but she doesn't stockpile much which doesn't make sense to me, but to each is own. They are wonderful people though and I love visiting them and their orchard.

Camping was beautiful! We went to Watkins Glen State park. We hiked and ate and had the most wonderful time. For a relaxing two hours I traced my square template on my precut denim pieces for the futon project. Then I cut them all out. I got every square that I couldl make cut out (31). I could have made many more, but I didn't bring enough material. Oh well. It was fun and relaxing though. Hiking the gorge was beautiful and energizing and we ate wonderful homeade foods from scratch. We have three of us that like to cook, so it's really fun!

It's such a beautiful day today. I already retied my tomatoes and watered them, started laundry, made coffee and had an apple for breakfast (YUM!) Plan on: Looking through flyers for my grocery shopping and list making, possibly grocery shopping today if I have time, roasting the red peppers, frying the hot banana peppers, making my stockpile list and adding it to my grocery list, making my Costco list for this month, working on my sundress if I have time, dishes, shower and cating up with the news online. Then to a friends house for dinner. We have a nice bottle of wine to bring and I called to ask if I could bring anything else.

I hope you are having a wonderful day.

**Michele Annette** · 09-05-2005, 12:48 PM

Sorry about all the typos. I can't seem to edit!

**Michele Annette** · 09-05-2005, 01:52 PM

I can't keep away today!

Tammy- Thank you so much for the perogie recipe! I can't wait to try these and I actually think I might try them tonight for dinner. DH and I both LOVE perogies, but I have always thought of them as difficult to make without even trying to make them.

If I may ask a few more questions, What should the consistancy of your dough be?, How thin should I roll the dough?, How much filling in each? Can I freeze these? Do I just freeze them individually and then can I put them in a freezer bag? How long should I boil and bake them? and at what temp? I love mine too on the grill brushed with olive oil and salt and black pepper. I can't wait to make these, thank you!!

Michelle- I hope your DH will be feeling better very soon. I will say a prayer for him and for you and your family as you have to so much on youur plate right now.

CJ-I haven't had a chance to peer over in the quilting or sewing threads. I can't wait to see your DD's wedding quilt!! We haven't made a decision about the land because the realitor still doesn't know if it has high speed internet which is manditory for my job. I will let you know as soon as anything new is happening with our living situation!

Rhonda- Glad to hear you are getting rain and working on your website. I'm still chicken!

Maybe next year.

Amy- hope you are having a nice time with your family!

Julie- Why would a friend make a comment about your dust? I'm sorry your're homesick.

Cathy- Hope you have a great day for your first day of work!

Tina- I Wish you the best on working with the insurance companies.

Now I will be baking an apple pie for dinner. I'm also bringing a watermelon and fresh whole apples to my friends. The roasted and fried hot peppers will be going with the spaghetti Scott is making us. He's cooking Italian for me, I love it!

So I better get to that pie.

**Strawberry** · 09-05-2005, 02:36 PM

Hello everyone

Dd arrived home Saturday and we've spent a lot of time talking. She had a wonderful time and we'll be talking for days catching up with all her news.

Not much has happened around here but visiting. Today I need to do some baking and plan lunches for the week. It's going to be strange around here with ds#1 working, and both ds#2 and dd in college. After 15 years of homeschooling, I'm done. It's been so weird not getting school stuff ready. I'm on to a new phase in life.

Hope you all have a great day

CJ - Don't you just love bartering! I glad it could work out for you and the people your dh is painting for.

**forestdale** · 09-05-2005, 03:28 PM

G'day ladies.

It was nice to read everyone's news this morning.

Michele, it sounds like you and your DH had a wonderful trip. Lucky you being given all that fruit and veg!

Amy, what a perfect way to finish summer.

CJ, great news about the deer meat. It will be a wonderful addition to your winter menus.

Michelle, I hope you enjoyed football practise and the BBQ.

Julie, tell your judgemental "friend" to take a running jump in the lake. No wonder you're feeling homesick with a "friend" like that.

Tina, good to hear your DD is back home again. I bet she has a lot of interesting stories. WTG on being an empty nester! You, me, Margery and Darlene should all hit the town and party. I have to be home in bed by nine though.

More webpaging for me today, and more drawing. I did a really nice chicken, eggs and apples pattern yesterday.

The rain's gone so I'll get all my laundry done today. I might make an orange and coconut cake too.

Enjoy your day.