Reading

I'm a reader.  Books, magazines, blogs, forums, email, billboards...you name it, my eyes are scanning and reading it.  Since I find so many things interesting, I'm subscribed to a number of blogs and email newsletters.  I have them sorted into folders as they arrive-homeschool ideas into the Homeschool folder, and general ideas to help me be a better wife, mom, homemaker go into the Mom Stuff folder.  The homeschool one I can usually keep up with, but the mom one gets way more messages and I get behind.  If I delete w/o reading, I feel guilty, or like I've missed something.  This is, of course on top of email that doesn't fit either of those categories!

Lately, I've been taking advantage of Tony's night time music jobs by sitting on the couch with my laptop while TJ watches a movie.  He feels more like I'm spending time with him, and I get to catch up.  I made a big dent in the total number of messages weekend before last, as Tony played out of town both nights.  I was almost able to keep current after that, but today/tonight I managed to clear ALL of my folders of unread messages!  Trust me, that's a big accomplishment!

I didn't do any meal planning or homeschool prep, but I do feel good about this being done!  I even learned several things and have stuff I want to research too.

So now it's off to bed, where I'll read a few pages from Dumbing Us Down: the Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling by John Taylor Gatto.

Locavore

It's an interesting idea, but not one I'm eager to embrace.  I don't think chocolate grows around here!  Regardless, I do prefer to buy locally when possible and growing our own is the bigger goal.  Last night while eating dinner I realized everything had come from within 50 miles of home.

Pastured chicken from the farmer's market (been in freezer), green beans from a friend's garden, squash from the U-pick farm, and a pomegranate from the farmer's market.  Milk from our goats rounded out the meal.  I didn't take pictures.

Paradigms

No, not that kind of paradigms, but I couldn't resist.  Sorry.  Lame, slapstick humor.  The kind that I often choose to not even grant the obligatory eye roll/moan process when my husband does it to me.

I'm talking about the belief system that we all have regarding just about everything in life.  The way we think about a topic or view the world around us.  In the last year and a half or so, many of my personal paradigms have been knocked on their duff.  It's sent me on a journey that is changing my life and the way I process new information now.  My eyes have been opened to so many new ways to see things, but it does get hard and confusing. 

For instance, most of us were told (popular media influence, school texts, etc) that to be healthy we needed to restrict our saturated fat intake and consume more carbohydrates.  Many obediently pursued the low fat approach, trusting that this would lead to a healthier life, reducing risk of heart disease and obesity.  I for one, never asked to see the research, nor looked at the daily evidence that there's now actually more heart disease and obesity than at any time in modern history.  Why?  Why is the advice of many research studies and government programs not working?  Perhaps because those studies are funded by businesses that have a vested interest in the outcome, and reports are skewed?  Do I sound paranoid yet?

I've come across a lot of new information during this journey and it can be so overwhelming that I just want to shrug and say, "oh well, I'll just keep doing what I've been doing".  However, that might not be what's best.  Instead, I've learned to run the new info through this filter test. 

• Who stands to gain from this line of thinking?
• How was it done before the Industrial Revolution?
• How did God design the process?

Is it foolproof?  Not as long as this fool is involved.  I do think it's a better way of digesting all the conflicting, and sometimes misleading, information that's out there though.  After answering these questions, I can determine the route I think is best for me and my family.  That won't necessarily be the route that's best for you and your family, but I do want to encourage you to at least consider when something new comes along that it might be valuable.

I'm noticing, however, that many people simply to choose to keep on believing what they've always been taught, not questioning it at all, and I think that's a sad statement on our society.  We've grown complacent and we just accept the way things are done in this country as normal, a standard to be reached.  I say we because I know I'm just as guilty as anyone.  I'm trying to change that though, and want to encourage you to do the same.  The next time someone comes to you with info that sounds corny, conflicts with what you've always believed, or any of a multitude of reasons for why you'd tune it out, try listening and running it through your own filter.  Listen with an attitude of "this person must believe this, or think it's worthwhile, maybe I should examine it too."  Maybe the person presenting it to you cares about you so much that they want you to know what they've discovered.  I'm not suggesting that the new info will always be better, just that it's worth it to consider why it was brought to you in the first place. 

For myself, I feel betrayed by the very institutions I once trusted and wonder why someone didn't show me what I've been discovering with my own research.  It's with that attitude that I bring new info to those around me.  I may sound nuts, but it's a risk I'm willing to take.  If I think it can help you live a better life, I'm going to say something.  If you don't like what I say, that's certainly your prerogative, and I won't spend time trying to persuade you.  I will continue to present new ideas as they come to me though, because I care.  Not because I think everyone must do it my way, but because the info was so profound to me, that it changed the way I live, and I want to share this new discovery to give you the opportunity to perhaps improve your life!

Here's to growth and improving one's life and the world around us!

The Look & Feel of a Blog

I liked the old Blogger design tools better than the new system.  What I'd like even better than that is the knowledge to make and create blog backgrounds and layouts.  Some of the blogs I follow are so nicely layed out. 

Amy, at Homestead Revival has a very homey and welcoming blog.
At A Wise Woman Builds Her House, the site is beautiful and the music complements the blog substance.
At Keeper of the Home, Stephanie has a clean, crisp look.  Here's another at Small Notebook.

I like my blog to be welcoming, pleasing to the eye, and easy to navigate.  It's also a source of reminders for me, like the side bar constants that I just cleaned up.  I used to have a home business teaching and training home users and small business owners how to use their computers.  In all that time I never learned even basic HTML.  I've tried a few times, but it just doesn't make sense to me.  I'd love to create a look for my blog that truly represents me and my goals.  Got any suggestions?

Cod Liver Oil

Yes, cod liver oil, or CLO for short.  I've been reading about its health benefits, and even tried to consume it daily, but just couldn't get past the ick factor, regardless of the health that might come from it.  I'm encouraged to try again after reading this review at Kitchen Stewardship, but the giveaway would be helpful.  The good stuff is expensive, so it makes it harder to part with the cash and then not be able to "stomach" it.  Her review is funny and uplifting, so take the time to read it.

In my defense, I am taking a high Vitamin A capsule daily, and that's one of the nutrients in CLO.  What about you?

One Deal, One Giveaway, and Then She Found More

I love winning free stuff, don't you?  Since there's usually just one winner at a giveaway though, discounts are a nice consolation prize, right?

The first giveaway is the book, "In the Kitchen-Real Food Basics eBook".  I read the six page preview and ordered it!  It's only $5.21 with the current promotion.  If I win, she'll refund my purchase price.  Now that's good business sense! 

How about a wholesome family skincare goodie basket?

At another blog I follow there's a discount for Family Fun magazine.  It's 30 Minute Martha and the price is just $3.75!

I just found this while exploring this evening.  For the Love of Pie free eBook download.  Or Fun, Fabulous and (mostly) Free Preschool Projects.

Adventures in House Hunting

Some of you might remember my post on the pros and cons of a house we found a few months ago.  We decided not to buy the one in the post, but have been searching continuously-mostly online until we find something interesting.  A month ago we did find something interesting and made an offer several days later.  The listing agent still hasn't responded, and all kinds of twists and turns have arisen since then.  It's still in the works, but we're looking for other options too.

Thursday our son was with my parents, and Tony just had a bug to get out on the road.  Me, I was looking forward to a day at home without my son, getting stuff done.  By the title of the blog, you've probably figured out who won. 

Our agent had sent us a list of homes that had been served with a trustee's sale notice and I went thru it to see if anything on it met our needs.  There's a 10 acre parcel listed, but with a trustee sale, opening bids aren't released until the day before the sale.  The county lists parcels with previous and current years valuations, so I use that as a guide.  This 10 acre parcel was valued at $93,000 last year, and $1,000 this year!  OK, now my curiosity is aroused enough to consider leaving home.  It was a little hard to locate on the map because it's in an undeveloped area.  We found the names of a couple of dirt roads and knew we could get to it.  What we didn't know was the condition of the roads...

This is what we were faced with after driving over a couple of hills with washouts as deep as the one on the left of this photo.  Did I tell you it was a narrow road?  With a steep enough drop-off to make me quite nervous?  Or that the ruts were situated such that we had to drive as close to that drop-off as we could without falling off?  What about the fact that the road is rocky granite?

You might be asking why we stopped and got out. 

The road we were on ended and there was a three foot deep, five foot wide ravine before the next one started.  That's Tony making a rock bridge for the tires to drive across.  I would have helped, but I was busy taking pictures and limping around.  Yeah, as soon as I stepped out of the car I slid into that rut on the left side of the picture.  Tony couldn't see me and didn't know I had fallen.  I wasn't sure I could stand up with sliding more.  It was kinda funny!  Here's my injury:

This is from the day after.  The one I took at the scene doesn't really show anything.  I got familiar with the contents of the first aid kit kept in the van.  Glad I bought one when we bought the van!  Did you know neosporin stings??

That was just the beginning of the adventure though.  Once we got onto the other road and wound our way around a couple more hills, we took two month's worth of rubber off the tires trying to climb back out.  We could smell the burning rubber.  I prayed.  God answered!  The granite on this road wasn't ground up and rocky.  It was large rocks and small boulders.  Driving from one to the next, hoping we wouldn't start slipping back down.  We got over that hill, came back to where the other road joined this one and kept on going.  Turns out this road has been taken care of, and it's the route I suggested we take in.  I agreed with his route because it was shorter.  Yikes!

We got out of there and continued on into the next series of towns to look at houses that Tony had researched.  Keyed the addresses in to the GPS but "she" wanted us to go a different way than what Tony had written down.  We went miles out of our way, drove by 2 houses he thought we might like (we didn't) and then tried to find two more.  One was empty, so we got out to look around.  Not bad.  Not in the area I'd like to be, but it sat on a hill looking out over the valley.  I decided not to be so firm in where I want to live and told Tony we could investigate this one more.

Darkness had now come upon us, but we tried to find the 4th house anyway.  It didn't exist.  Or the address in the instructions didn't.  We gave up and decided to go eat.  He said there were photos of the one we looked at online so I was eager to get home and see them.  Know what the listing said?  2500 gallon water tank to store hauled water.  You don't know Tony so you don't know how ironic that is.  The reason we haven't left the area we're in is because water is a prime requirement of his for any property we buy.  The town we live in has irrigation ditches, and most of AZ does NOT.  I couldn't believe we were in the car for 6 hours to look at 4 houses and one parcel of land, with one of those houses not even having water!

I think I was a good sport about it though.  I didn't rub it in too much, but I did remind him that I'm supposed to be the navigator.  :-)

The Least Among You

This movie is a based on a true story that I was not familiar with prior to ordering this for review purposes.  I prefer "based on a true story" movies over fiction more often than not, and this was no exception.  The storyline was a bit slow moving, but who says it has to be high speed to be good? 
Set in 1965 following the Watts race riots, Richard Kelly finds that he is unable to take the job with the big computer company that he was so proud to get.  Instead, he'll be spending "time" at an all white seminary as the only black student in their history.  In the process he learns about reverse racism, forgiveness, consequences, perseverance and loyalty.  To tell you anything else would give away too much, so let it be known that I enjoyed the movie and recommend it to all.  It's an important life lesson learned.

Cause & Effect

I requested a copy of this 4 disc series of Adventures in Odyssey to review and find out if my son enjoys listening to the show.  I know the suggested audience is a little older age range than he is, but I figured it was worth a try.  To my surprise, he was really paying attention!  We listened while running errands one day and he wanted to wait in the car while I went into the grocery store, so he could keep listening!  I didn't let him stay but he reminded me as soon as we got back that we needed to turn the story back on.

I found myself even being curious as to what would happen next.  We've listened together and enjoyed everything we've heard!  I like the morals and values that are expressed throughout the stories and the way the shows wrap up with a recap of the lessons taught.  This set is something we will listen to over and over!  If you've got young children, I recommend this set for "edutational" purposes.

Tyndale House Publishers provided me with a complimentary copy of this CD to review in exchange for my honest opinion.

Lasagna

This morning I made my first successful batch of ricotta cheese from the whey left after making chevre.  I only got about 1/2 cup (little errors on my part) but was wondering what I'd do with it, so it wouldn't just sit in the fridge and spoil.  I decided we'd have lasagna for dinner, but 1/2 cup of ricotta wouldn't be enough.  So, I found out how to make ricotta straight from the milk rather than from whey.  We had Italian sausage from the 1/2 hog we bought a few months ago, but everything else would have to be store bought. 

This was the first time any of us assembled a lasagna and we were quite excited to take on this adventure together!  I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

Ricotta curds draining in butter muslin.

Goober Gus and Dad frying the sausage and beef.

A huge bag of fresh basil from a neighbor.  What else can I do with this?

Layering the ingredients.

Goober mixing the egg and seasoning into the ricotta.

More layering.  My artistic husband made sure it was very eye appealing.

The ricotta goes on...

Ready to go into the oven.

The mess!

More of the mess.

I even did the dishes after dinner-I hardly EVER do that!  Just ask my mom...

Goober cracking the egg...

Follow Up to Previous Goat Posts

Fifty Minutes.  50.  I just don't see how one person can milk 4 goats in less time, unless I didn't care about measuring and recording each girls' daily contribution.  From the time I prepared the treats to putting the jarred milk in the fridge, it was 50 minutes.  However, if one considers the VALUE of the quantity of milk, it's a very worthwhile endeavor.  A quart of goat milk retails for $3.69 around here.  I get a minimum of 3 quarts just from the 2 Alpines, so that's $11.07, and they're done in 25 minutes.  That's over $26/hr I'm "earning" for milking those goats!  We won't even go into the cost/value of raw goat cheese at $24 per pound.

The other thing I wanted to mention is I've repeated the outcome of thick, creamy yogurt with Nubian milk.  Today we're going to reinforce the fence around the backyard and send the doelings there to wean them and HOPEFULLY get more than 12 oz of milk from 2 goats. 

Learning to Milk With Two Stands

When we took Annie to our pasture to spend a month with our buck, Tony built a second milking stand to leave there.  I used it a couple of times before the neighbor asked if they could "foster" the goats for a while and decide if they want to get dairy goats.  Sure!  The 3 of them got a new pasture of grass and I didn't have to go over there daily to milk!  I taught him what I do, bought the feed we want her to have at milking time, and set them up.  In exchange for milking her, they got to keep the milk.

Well, her month is up and the neighbors are leaving town, so the gals came back and so did the extra stand.  It occurred to me this might speed up the milking process.  It was taking me close to an hour total to get the job done, milking 3.  With Annie back it would take even longer, and she gives the most milk.  I've tried it for two days now, and I'm not sure it's really speeding anything up!  It's funny to watch me (I'm guessing) and it's funny to watch the goats' reaction when they see an extra stand.  I don't have any photos to share, but they all want to go to the familiar stand, even when there's already a goat there!

So how does a dairy maiden use two stands?  I start with the first goat and milk her out.  It takes her longer to eat her goodies than it takes me to get the milk, so that's generally the time consumer-waiting for her to finish.  Before bringing the next girl up, I empty and measure the milk from the bucket.  Back out again, I can bring #2 up to the second stand, but #1 is done eating before I've finished with #2, so she starts getting antsy.  At this point, I don't get much from #2, so I finish her fairly quickly and measure her milk before exchanging #1 for #3.  #3 used to be Belle and she HATES being milked.  I've trained her to the point of being able to milk one handed while holding the bucket with the other-makes it easier to get it out of the way before she steps in it-but she still stomps a lot.  However, since Annie has returned, she thinks she should be #1 (used to be) but I wanted her to be last because she smells like a BUCK IN RUT!  I was successful at making her #4 yesterday, but not today.  Are ya with me here, because I've lost track of what I'm doing, hahaha!  Oh yes, so #1 goes back and #3 comes out, rinse, lather, repeat.  I think you get the picture.  It still took me about an hour today, though I have to admit to not noting the time when I started.  Tomorrow I'll make a point of timing it all, starting with soaking the feed.  Maybe it'll be my daily goal to get as much milk in as few minutes as possible and see if I can beat the previous day.

OK, seriously, I think I need a better hobby!  Although, if ice cream and cheese made from Nubian milk is as good as the yogurt, then this is a fabulous hobby!  We need to take the two doelings out of the pen and see if that increases output from the Nubian mamas.  We're going to try putting them in the backyard and see how hard they try to get out.

Oh, and the whole reason I decided to write about this is that today when I brought Belle out, Peaches was on the familiar stand still eating.  Belle ran to it and tried to push Peaches out of the way.  I had to grab her and get her to the second stand before she broke poor Peaches' neck.  In the process I stepped on a small branch on the ground and cut my foot (silly me-I wear flip flops for this job because I don't like lacing up the boots when it's hot out).  It's not that bad, but it's in a spot that makes it hurt with each step.

Best Yogurt Yet!

I've been making goat milk yogurt for close to a year now, and have just kinda gotten used to it being thin with lots of whey, and quite tangy.  I generally only use it in smoothies, since it's so thin and tangy.  It makes a good orange juice and banana smoothie.

Back in the Spring, when we came to the realization that our cow wasn't going to let us milk her, we decided to expand the goat herd by adding Nubians.  We found sister Nubian/Boer cross goats, one had recently given birth and one was pregnant.  I started training both of them a few months ago-boy are they skittish!  The older mama, Peaches has calmed down and her baby, Cream is old enough to take to the buck, so I've been getting all of her milk for a month or so now.  It's not been much-average of 12 ounces a day-but Molly's production really shot up when I tried to dry her off for the last two months of her pregnancy, so Peaches' milk has been going in its own jar.

Yesterday I decided to use her milk to make the yogurt.  I was a few ounces shy of the 2 quarts needed, but figured it was close enough.  We had to use store bought yogurt for the starter culture and all I could do was hope for the best.  Well, I got it!  After incubating for 8 hours and cooling in the fridge over night, I opened the container expecting the usual 1/2 pint or so of whey, but found a layer of thick, creamy yogurt.  I grabbed a spoon and dug in to see if there was whey below.  Nope!  Just 2 quarts of thick, creamy (and yummy) yogurt!  It's as thick as the store bought, and it's NOT tangy.  I could actually eat this!

Time for Action

Regardless of your position on milk (raw vs pasteurized) I think all agree with the freedom to choose what's best for each individual.  There are those that want to take that freedom away under the guise of food safety, namely S510.  I've already contacted my senators to express opposition to this bill, but there's more to do. (If you haven't done so, please consider contacting your senators-the language in S510 is so broad that your backyard garden could be illegal.)  A fellow blogger posted about an "inspection" going on at a dairy in Missouri.  Their blog has the details.  One reader has suggested an "un-cheese" party to help support them.  She says:
************CYBER-SPACE UN-CHEESE PARTY!*************
Here's how to SPONSOR A CHEESE:


The average price per pound is $5. You can send your sponsorship checks or money orders directly to the dairy. Just let them know what the money is for, and a note of encouragement would certainly be appreciated.

Morningland Dairy
6248 County Road 2980
Mountain View, MO
65548
Or PayPal:  You can paypal your cheese sponsorship to morningland@centurytel.net
Now, folks, this is a PARTY, so INVITE YOUR FRIENDS, your neighbors, your mere acquaintances to join us!
Plaster the message on other boards you frequent, put it on your Facebook Status, make a YouTube video and hey! maybe it'll go viral!
We have to stand together as raw milk consumers and producers, or we WILL see the day where we can't even grow food for our own consumption!

Let's get Morningland back on its feet -


SAVE THE CHEESE!!!

A related story about this is found here:


MILK IS A TOXIC SUBSTANCE?

I've read several stories of raw dairy farms being "inspected" simply because their milk is raw, yet far fewer people get sick from consuming raw milk than pasteurized.  If you're not familiar with the benefits of raw milk and would like to know more, I suggest starting at the Weston A Price Foundation's website.  Still, regardless of your thoughts about raw milk, contact your senator to oppose S510 and consider sending $5 to the people at Morningland Dairy.

Another Tattler Lid Giveaway

Don't ya just love a good giveaway?  I won two things from blogs, back to back, think I'll win again?

Here's the link to Keeper of the Home and the giveaway.

Want some free bakeware?

Then visit The Food Renegade.  She has a giveaway that ends this Saturday.  Paula's Bread is giving away the stainless steel muffin pan and jelly roll pan.  Why are you still here?  Follow the links and enter the contest!

The things we do for our goats...

The power company has been in the area lately trimming (and shredding) trees that are touching power lines.  When they got to the side road north of our property, I asked if they could just pile the trees on our property so we could use it for goat food.  The foreman was happy to fulfill my request and instructed the guys to save all the branches from trees that the goats like.  They've been here a few days now, and we've got at least as much as they'll eat in the time the leaves will remain green. 

Then I though, "hmm, what do they do with the chipped stuff?"  I asked, and they're leaving a load of that tomorrow and we'll use it as nesting material in the hen house!  Gotta love free food and bedding material!  Maybe I should suggest that APS start a "bed and breakfast" for farm animals, hmm, another business venture.

This is one truckload, there were two like this, then they cut this total again:

Time for a Change

I'm just not satisfied with the tools available to change the look and layout of my blog since they added the new template designer.  It's probably because I don't understand HTML and really need drag and drop capabilities to do it easily.  I think I managed to give my page a new look though.  I don't have time to teach myself all these cool things, and really shouldn't be sitting here right now! 

I have company coming for dinner and the house needs to be cleaned.  So what do I do?  Clean out the cabinet where my plastic containers are kept.  Yeah, that's a priority when visitors are coming!  It's done though and I'm glad to mark it off my mental "to do someday" list.  Maybe now I'll sleep at night, lol!

We've been busy driving around neighborhoods within about a 90 minute radius of us, and it's crazy how much time it can take to peruse a neighborhood.  We stumbled across a great deal online recently and have put in an offer.  I'll come back with details when we get word of acceptance (or not).  Trying not to get my hopes up just in case the offer isn't accepted.

OK, I need to walk away from the computer.  Hope you're all having a great day!

The Edge of the Divine...

...Where Possibility Meets God's Faithfulness by Sandi Patty.  Feeling as though I needed to get closer to the Divine God I serve, I picked this book from the titles available for review from Thomas Nelson Publishers.  As I started reading I wasn't sure it was the right choice.  It's a bit autobiographical, and Sandi has struggled with her weight since childhood.  The story focuses on this portion of her life and her journey through Lap Band surgery that's supposed to help her return from being severely, morbidly obese.  I've got some weight to lose, but for most of my life have been thin and athletic, so I started thinking I may not learn much from reading her story.

However, I realized that her struggle with overeating isn't really any different than the struggles each of us face, so I kept reading.  She shared the commitment it would take-that the surgery wasn't a quick, easy fix, but rather a tool in her arsenal that would help her get control over this addiction.  She learned that she used food to stuff her negative emotions, and once she stopped that habit, she found she needed to learn how to gently express those negative emotions. 

She spends time taking us to the edge of extreme situations in life and showing us how God is there to take the bad and use it for good.  She shares stories from her own life, as well as from the members of her band.  She helps us see that trusting God is always better than trusting our circumstances and experience.

It's the last chapter that really affected me.  It's simply called Enough.  In a story of an alcoholic acquaintance's journey to sobriety that survived the loss of his, he tells of his own discovery that the abused substance is never enough.  Never enough to kill the pain, forget the bad memories or satisfy the longing deep within.  But GOD is enough.  He promises to meet our needs, and offers to share His abundance when we draw close to Him.  I remember for a few days, thinking that I had enough.  I had enough stuff, I had enough time, I had enough blessing.  Could I truly be satisfied, content, while living in circumstances that I didn't choose?  While struggling with a situation that I couldn't control?  In the midst of less than ideal health?  Is God enough for me?  Is He enough for you?

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

Looking for New Property

Be forewarned: I got carried away with details-it's LONG!

We've been looking at property and coming up with ideas since before we were married. We've had some grand ideas that we could never afford, but the process can be fun. We had a strategy for paying for the more realistic ideas, but Plan A got kiboshed before we could ever put it into play. Plan B was a bit more of a challenge and would take time, but we could build in phases with that plan. Well, the economy nose dived and the source of those funds dried up too. In between those phases, we bought what we thought was the perfect parcel. Two acres of irrigated land for the price that many people were asking for one. The bonus was the other 3 couples making up this investment group were all part of the church we go to, and people we'd actually want to be neighbors with. We managed to get the cash for the buy in and then we really started dreaming/planning! We'd been renting since getting married and were eager to set down roots.

(Would it help to know that we got married in 2006?)

 

Thru an odd exchange, we ended up with a home to live in while building that had no mortgage. It was supposed to be temporary-like 6 to 8 months. It's now been two and a half years and we aren't any closer to building than when we moved in! There are several reasons why, but I won't go into all of that in this post. Suffice to say that had I known we'd even be here a year I never would have agreed to the set up. It's just not adequate to call a home. I've tried not to complain too much, as it is paid for but I feel like I'm holding back on things until we have a "real" house. Every few months we look at what's available in our area and quickly realize there's nothing wonderful enough about any of the places to make us want to go into debt. However, I'm getting weary of tripping over every day items because there's nowhere to put them. Oh, and the balloon payment on that marvelous piece of property is due November 1st. Nothing like a large sum of money coming due to change one's perspective.

I think I mentioned last week that we even drove to TN last December to see if we'd want to live there, because it seemed like an ideal place for us and prices are like a 10th of what they are here. We've looked at other parts of AZ, but where we are has water. Water means plants and trees. Plants and trees mean food and shade. Food and shade mean happier family. Need I say more? So I tell you all of this because we found a place that is almost perfect, but the parts that aren't are enough to make us really examine our motives and desires and continue to seek God's guidance. That's where you come in. We've made a list of the pros and cons of each place and I'd like to present it for examination. Maybe you will see something we haven't thought of or have some wisdom and insight we don't.

For the record, we make quarterly payments on that piece of land we bought a few years ago. The cost of this place we're looking at would give us a mortgage of roughly $200/month less than what that quarterly payment works out to be-if they accepted our low ball offer. We're also aware that the mortgage would now be on our primary residence rather than a bare piece of land that we could let go of, if needed. So here's the list:

Current Residence Pros:

1. no mortgage
2. irrigation
3. creek
4. easy drive to town
5. 1 acre
6. central heat & AC
7. wood stove
8. hen house
9. fenced garden

 Current Residence Cons:

1. tight floor plan
2. no storage
3. old bath fixtures
4. highway noise
5. drafty construction
6. cracked window seals
7. can't remodel
8. can't take more foster kids/no siblings for TJ
9. can't have guests
10. no room for crafts
11. bad flooring
12. one bathroom
13. no linen closet
14. funky thermostat
15. I could go on, but I don't want to be reminded!

Proposed Residence Pros:

1. hen house
2. barn with stalls
3. hay loft
4. mechanical room (could be used as milking area)
5. pond
6. pasture
7. fenced
8. cross fenced
9. fenced garden
10. music work shop
11. root cellar
12. cheese aging room
13. evaporative cooling
14. storage
15. workshop
16. wood stove (s)
17. trampoline enclosure
18. swing set up
19. irrigation
20. 2 acres

Proposed Residence Cons:

1. mortgage
2. no AC
3. small master bedroom-not so bad except it's 1 of only 2 bedrooms-foster care makes this a challenge
4. tight floor plan-would be a challenge to remodel to our liking
5. old bath fixtures

 If we simply look at the numbers of pros and cons on each, the decision seems easy, but some of the cons are big at the proposed place. This post is already long, but I'll take a bit more time to say that once TJ's adoption is final, he can't share a room with foster children unless they are the same age group and gender. I think the dividing line for age is 6, so that gives us a year to find a way to have another bedroom for more kids. Once a child is adopted, the rules no longer apply. TJ really wants a brother, and we think it'd be good for him to have one, so that's a big consideration too. Children two and under can share our room, but we're not sure we want any that young. There's a bedroom in the basement, but it can't be used for foster children because there have to be two exits to the outside from any room they sleep in for fire safety. This room has no exits to the outside. The master bedroom being small isn't so much the issue as sharing the upstairs bathroom is. Our thought was to build a master suite on the main level so that both upstairs rooms would be kids rooms. Oh yeah, and when my parents come to visit, they can't go up and down the stairs, so there isn't anywhere for them to stay. Here I go talking myself out of a place that I really want! Well, I really want all the outside amenities and the basement. And the huge workshop for Tony's instrument building-along with another workshop for everything else. Did I mention storage? We'd be able to buy in bulk and save money. And with two acres we'd have enough grazing area for all the animals we have. And that pond-not having to fill buckets for the goats several times a day-how much power does that feature get?? I didn't tell you the barn stalls are configurable-the gates swing either way to make various size stalls. If we had to buy hay-we could buy in bulk and save again!

 

Now do you see why this is such a hard decision?  Maybe floor plans will help:

 
If you've read this far, you're a real trooper and I thank you!

 

Midnight Surprise!

We stayed up a little later last night than we have been, and by the time we went to bed, we were both worn out.  Still, I couldn't fall asleep and stay that way.  After a couple of bouts of waking up, I distinctly heard scratching at the door that leads outside from our room.  The cats (and rabbit) have a pet door to the backyard in the back door, so I couldn't figure out what was making the scratching noise.  Sometimes one of the cats will try to get us to open the bedroom door, but it's accompanied by loud meowing.  This was just scratching.  I finally got up to look (there's a window in the upper half of the door) and couldn't see anything.  Once I turned the light on the scratching wasn't as persistent, but I could still hear it.  I wasn't keen on opening the door without being able to see anything, but I wouldn't be able to sleep not knowing and getting rid of it.

Well-after about 10 seconds of looking around I finally saw it-a SKUNK!  Just to the left of the door hinge eating pecans that are stored there.  All I could see was the white stripe down its back-good thing too!  Had it seen me, I'm certain it would have been startled and done the deed.  I quickly closed the door and decided to turn the fan on to overcome the scratching sounds.  Whew-there's a blessing to be grateful for!

The Marriage Project

This book by Kathy Lipp is a great resource for helping any marriage to be a happier one.  Ours has been ruled by chaos lately, so it was quite helpful-and we haven't even done the projects yet!  I requested a copy back in January to review, but never heard anything.  Then a few weeks ago Kathy emailed me to see if I had done a review yet.  Once we got the confusion cleared up she put a copy in the mail.

The premise is like The Husband Project.  There are 21 days of projects to do with your spouse.  The day I read the book I wasn't a very happy wife, and the thought of putting out effort to improve my marriage wasn't very appealing.  But something happened as I read the introductory chapters.  My attitude started changing.  I’m happy to report that with some prayer and the first few chapters of the book my attitude improved. Nothing else was different, just my attitude, and that made plenty of difference in our interaction and improved things without even having read what the projects are, let alone actually do them. Now I’m looking forward to DOING the activities!

I've now read the first weeks' worth of projects and am ready to engage in the full 3 weeks with Tony.  He doesn't know that yet, but the projects are fun and he'll want to do them.  I think we'll go on a date Friday night and talk about it!

Farm Blessings

I didn't take a picture of what we bought at the local farmer's market on Saturday, but since then we've acquired this nice array of homegrown wonders!  We spent more time today looking at property and on the way home passed thru a neighboring small town and remembered their farmer's market is Mondays 3-7.  We almost didn't stop, but I'm glad we did.  We got the 4 varieties of cucumbers, nectarines, grapes, apples (just a couple, we still have gobs from friends) pears and plums on the vine-aren't they pretty?  The tomatoes and onions in the box came from another friend at church, and the eggs are ours-just thought they added to the photo.

I'm trying to remember something I read recently about not refrigerating certain types of produce because it dulls the flavor.  Citrus was on the list and it seems like tomatoes were too, but I can't recall.  Anyone else ever hear that?

Weekly Farm Report

Let's see if I can remember major events for the week as they pertain to the farm...

It might be easiest if I start with today and work back.  We made it to the farmer's market for the first time since July 24th.  I didn't do any bartering, but bought grass fed bratwurst (they are SO good), salad tomatoes, a giant sunflower head for the chickens, some purple beans and carrots and sourdough bread.  I put it all away before I took pictures, so sorry. 

After the market we went to check the critters at the pasture and noticed a yard sale sign.  We followed that and ended up at a friends house!  They want OUR house.  I can't believe anyone would want our house.  The property yes-the house no.  Anyway, they want to downsize so they seriously are interested.  We'll be having dinner next week to talk about possibilities. 

From there we went to look at some property that Tony found while TJ and I were on vacation.  It's for sale by owner, and the owners moved to 57 acres in Arkansas.  The husband comes back once a month to maintain the place-seems like a LOT of driving.  Anyway, we started with the outside and I was getting excited!  There's a pond (used to have bull frogs and turtles in it); a hen house and run; a stable and tack room; lots of mature trees and grass; and a fenced garden area.  It's fenced enough to keep animals on one side and people on the other.  There's a large garage/workshop that would be good for Tony's work, a drive over oil change pit, and a separate workshop from the big one.  Then we went inside.  The outside looked cute-has a nice covered patio and is two stories (TJ wants stairs).  I have to keep in mind that they haven't lived there for a while, but I was disappointed with the house.  The main level has a bathroom, kitchen, living room and office.  None of it very big.  The living room is two stories.  Upstairs is the master bedroom and a kids room, with just one bathroom.  I think there was a linen closet too.  It also has a basement.  I almost got excited again!  Half of the basement would be perfect for aging cheese.  Then the owner pointed out a leak.  Not so good for a basement.  It was more like seepage, but won't seepage become a leak?  There's also a pantry and another bedroom.  No windows in the bedroom though.  Wouldn't work for foster care.  All rooms for kids MUST have two exits to the outside.  They're asking price is a bit high for the area, but it is two acres of irrigated land, away from town and traffic noise, with nearly perfect out buildings and set up for animals and gardening.  Too bad the house falls short.

Wednesday we took Annie and Cream over to the pasture to meet Boots the buck.  Boots got quite excited-hopefully the girls will come into heat and let him have his way with them.  If I haven't posted pictures of him before, here he is.

Having Annie at the pasture means gathering up all the milking supplies and going over there to milk.  Tony built a new stand so that there's one at each place.  By taking Cream away from Peaches, I'm getting more from her.  Not a lot, but more.  I got 11 ounces one day.  She stands still for me though, so that's good!

Tuesday we drove to Payson to meet my parents and celebrate my dad's birthday.  We drove thru a big rainstorm that followed us into town.  We sat on the patio at the restaurant and watched it blow in, then had to go inside just before the meal came because the wind was blowing so hard.  We drove around looking at property there too.  We found a 3.75 acre parcel in a little spot filled with people that garden and/or have critters.  There are some out buildings and incomplete house on the property, but the house has a cracked foundation, so that would just come down or be turned into another out building.  We talked to the neighbors and it sounds like a great place!  Too bad that owner wants too much money too.  It's in a cooler climate, but not so cold that winters would be rough.  I think we're going to take another trip that direction and look at some properties further up on the Mogollon Rim.  I told Tony it would be colder there, but he's OK with that.  Might find a place on one of the creeks there.

We got a good portion of the garden weeded and have some mystery squash plants growing.  We don't remember planting anything there, and there's nothing on my map in that area.  We never watered there, but when we had a few weeks of rain, they popped up!  Tony planted some potatoes from a friend while I was gone.  We pulled a beet, and I made a juice drink with that and 4 carrots and 2 apples.  Not bad!

Oh yeah-Mr Redford got out of the yard.  Tony was putting one of the younger hens in the hen house and couldn't close the gate.  I got there while he was still near the gate but he hopped away.  We were sad, but hopeful that he'd come back on his own.  I'm happy to report that's just what he did.  Now he's learned to hop onto a chair and then over the fence.  I was milking this morning when he came hopping up from who knows where.  At least he knows how to get back-we just worry that a predator would take him.  We moved the chair.  :-)

So I guess our farm report is more of a moving report.  Or would that be property search report?

The Little Things

I doubt anyone reading this can say they enjoy cleaning out the fridge, myself included.  However, since acquiring chickens, it's not a totally dreaded task any more.  They eat just about anything I throw out there, and they come running with such eager anticipation that it's one of those small joys to see.  They run headlong from all across the yard to see what kind of treat I've just tossed.  It's also not so bad to see that something has been in there too long, knowing that the chickens are going to enjoy it so much!

Geranium Essential Oil

Wow-I know we learn something new every day, but this one is big for me!  This is taken from a post at Keeper of the Home:

Last but not least, Geranium is all about balance. Made from the leaves of the plant, the South African native works by stimulating the adrenal cortex which is the hormonal center. Thus, it is widely used in the treatment of both anxious tension and depression as it has the unusual quality of being both a sedative when you need to relax (as in tension) and a stimulant when you need a lift (as in depression). And, what it does for the psychology, it also does for the skin as well – tempering both the oily and dry.

Do you have breast tenderness? Try a compress with geranium essential oil: add a drop or two to some hot water, submerge a hand towel. Wring it out and lay the warm towel over your chest for 10 minutes.

Last but not least, Geranium is all about balance. Made from the leaves of the plant, the South African native works by stimulating the adrenal cortex which is the hormonal center. Thus, it is widely used in the treatment of both anxious tension and depression as it has the unusual quality of being both a sedative when you need to relax (as in tension) and a stimulant when you need a lift (as in depression). And, what it does for the psychology, it also does for the skin as well – tempering both the oily and dry.

Do you have breast tenderness? Try a compress with geranium essential oil: add a drop or two to some hot water, submerge a hand towel. Wring it out and lay the warm towel over your chest for 10 minutes.

I'm tempted to run out and buy some right now!  I need stress relief and balance!  I think I'll take a nap first though...

I'm Back!

Maybe.  Well, OK, I am back from vacation, but I don't feel like I'm back in the groove.  Did I ever have a groove?  My goal while gone was to create one, but that didn't happen.  We plan to start our homeschool year on September 7th and I want to have some good routines in place and have an obtainable rhythm figured out by then.  I see so many things I want to do. 

A member at GNOWFGLINS posted a question about making sourdough english muffins and her pictures were enough to make me want to do that tomorrow morning!  I'm reading Health Bread in Five Minutes a Day right now and like the theory.  I barely started reading it though, so not ready to try it out.

We want to get a second round of seeds into the ground this week too, and take two of the goats to the pasture where our buck is so they can be bred.

There are some "back to school" sales and events coming up too.  I'm really looking forward to this Scholastic Book Fair Warehouse Sale.  Barnes and Noble also have some educator activities and kid stuff.

Now that I'm back, I can't wait to catch up on all the blogs I missed!  I glanced thru the list once when I managed to get online and I've been missing some fabulous posts.  Blogland, here I come!

Disconnected

I know I rely heavily on my computer and access to the internet for many things, but it's really highlighted when that access is cut off.  I've been away from home since evening time on July 30th.  We left our home to go spend the night at my parents house so we'd be closer to the airport for our Saturday morning departure, plus mom was going with TJ and I.  We got to Idaho mid day and left Sunday for a 4 night camping trip up in the mountains.  Didn't even have cell phone service there!  I thought once we got back to the Boise area I'd be able to spend some time at the local library or McDonald's to use their wi-fi while TJ played.  Friday morning we headed out, ordered food that I didn't really want, TJ started playing, just to find out that their wi fi had issues.  I could connect to any of the 3 networks available, but none of them allowed me to actually use the internet.  Big let down!  So I found a coffee shop and sat in the car (to me, coffee smells like skunk spray, so I wasn't about to sit inside) to upload 2 posts I had written the night before.

My aunt has internet access for her computer, I just can't connect it to mine, and there are things I can't do w/o my laptop, or just simply prefer to do with my own computer, so I've been able to check email, but not really read all the newsletters I get, or connect to my dashboard here, or other forums, because I don't want to take up that much time when we should be visiting.  This morning my mom and I decided to go looking for a place where I could do some of the things I was hoping to do while gone-namely planning.  So I've been sitting on the patio of a coffee house for over an hour and the only real planning I've done is to decide which children's books are going to be the weekly focus for the first 4 weeks of homeschool.  I logged in to my library's web site (something I couldn't do easily on someone else's computer) and placed holds on the books we don't already own, and on accompanying items like books on tape and video.  Since my mom is with me, and she's already drank a cup of espresso and had biscotti and read the local paper, I guess it's time to go.  She's getting bored.  My aunt kept TJ with her, so at least he's not here slowing down progress.

A good portion of the planning I want to do can be done without internet access, but it's so nice to have it just in case!  I could sit here all day (well, not really cuz there's not an outlet and the battery won't last that long) and plan, read blogs, reply to email, watch video's from online classes, and call it a great day!  Maybe when I get home Tony will give me that gift before we get back into the rhythm of life at home.  My goal while gone was to have assessed what's working and what isn't in order to create better harmony at home for all 3 of us.  Maybe I can still do it.

Down Time

I hope to spend some time over the next few days praying and coming up with a schedule that allows for housework, exercise, animal care, home schooling and fun time. This might help me have relaxing time on a daily basis and get closer to good health. I’d like to be able to implement it shortly after returning home, with schooling starting the day after Labor Day.


While out camping, my aunt brought paints and wood crafts for all of the little kids to paint. TJ hasn’t been interested in that kind of thing in the past so I was curious to see his response. He chose to paint a door hanger in the shape of an elephant and actually did a pretty good job. Then he wanted to paint a bird house and covered it quite well too. Then some of the older kids started looking for rocks to paint and he found one that looked like an alligator and painted it green, and gramma put wiggly eyes on it. On the last day he found a stick that he called a “soldier gun” so that got painted brown and green in an attempt at camo design. Now I’m glad that we bought him a couple of simple wood models to paint and a set of paints at the back to school sales. Hopefully I can continue his interest in crafts after we get home.

My down time will hopefully consist of some blocks of internet time (if you’re reading this, I at least got a few minutes of internet time-I’m writing at another aunt’s house, but she only has dial up and I don’t think my laptop even has a dial up modem); some time wandering at the farmers market Saturday; and some planning time. I think I operate better when I can take periodic breaks to assess the current system and make necessary changes. Right now I think a lot of changes need to be made, and being away from the normal daily routine should help highlight those things.

I miss my CaféMom friends and blog land. If I get at least one block of internet time I’ll be able to do a little catching up. I’m thinking I can take TJ to a McDonald’s that has a play place and internet access and both of us will get to do one of our favorite things!

Real Food vs Vacation With Extended Family

Our real food journey began over a year ago as I investigated the cause of my adrenal fatigue. We started with chickens for fresh eggs, added goats for raw milk and started eliminating processed foods. I can’t say that we’ve “arrived” but after a few days of camping with extended family I can say that we’ve ventured far off the beaten path of convenience and food-like stuff. Actually, it was noticeable as soon as we boarded the airplane to fly to Boise. I’d already decided that since we’d be on vacation and I was basically just along for the ride (not involved in the planning and not wanting to be difficult) I’d graciously eat whatever was offered and lovingly prepared.


Less than 24 hours after leaving home we’d broken just about every food rule we’d been following. Including:

High fructose corn syrup*hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils*cottonseed oil*pasteurized milk*artificial colors*processed eggs*white bread*extruded grains*microwave*chemical laden produce

I’ve consumed popular sodas, spreadable margarine, white bread, miracle whip, potato chips, red vines, white bread, fruity flake cereal, Crisco, way too much candy, and probably things I’ve already forgotten! We used paper plates, paper napkins, paper towels, plastic cups, plastic utensils, individual plastic water bottles, and soda cans. I haven’t had any probiotic foods or drinks, coconut oil, fish oil, whole wheat bread, fresh eggs or raw dairy. We won’t be home until the 11th, so it’ll be a few more days before I get any of that at home. I might be able to get some of those things before then, but what I’ve realized is that my journey hasn’t reached the point of being able to travel and keep eating real food. My tinnitus seems a little worse and therefore the accompanying headache is too. I feel fat, out of shape and fatigued. We were camping and I couldn’t really relax. Not sure why-just sitting around not doing anything, so I should have been relaxed.

This blog is part of Fight Back Fridays at The Food Renegade.

Blah

Is that even a word?  Can I use it for a blog post title?  I think I have mental constipation (sorry if that brings about an icky image).  I had all these things I wanted to share here, but no time to write.  Now I have a few moments but can't remember any of the things I wanted to say.

I'm terribly frustrated-more so than usual.  I keep trying to carve out a little time for me, so I can improve and feel refreshed and stop being a tired grump all the time.  It doesn't seem to matter what I try, nothing has worked so far. 

In April I learned of a "Mom Telesummit" full of speakers and topics that interested me, all online.  I signed up and even paid the $39.95 to have access to the MP3 recordings and PDF files of each class.  I think there were 10 during one specific week.  It's now July, a full three months later and I have listened to one whole class.  Yes, just one.  My son went to VBS for a week and I scheduled 3 or 4 for that week.  Didn't get to listen to a single one.  He went to my parent's house for a week-same thing.  My husband promised to give me two hours "off" every Friday and that hasn't happened yet.  The one I've watched I just put Goober Gus in front of the TV with a movie and "took" my class.

When reality that my husband was not likely to follow through with his support plan, I decided I'd pay someone to watch him for a few hours each week (my son that is, not my husband-ha ha) but since we're leaving in a few days for vacation, I haven't started that yet.

This morning we came to the library for their weekly children's program and it occurred to me that since he likes to play the computer games here, and there's free wi-fi, I could bring my laptop and headphones and listen to a class while he plays.  I was super excited!  Then another family came in and it got noisy.  What happened to the days of whispering in a library?  My son will sit quietly playing the game until another child comes in, then he's just as noisy, if not more so, than the others.  I couldn't hear my class-they were so noisy they overrode the sound going directly to my ears.  It was mostly the other 3 kids, but I did get up and tell my son that if he didn't start whispering we'd leave.  I'm happy to report that he started whispering.  Not that it helped, the other kids ignored the instruction that their mom finally gave to be quiet.  I realized that I had listened to 20 minutes of the class and had no idea what she said.  In frustration I turned it off and decided to do something where sound isn't an issue.

So my question is, how do you get a little quiet time at your house?  If you're an early riser, I'm jealous.  I've tried that route and it doesn't work.  I'm either in a fog for the entire day and worse off than usual, or darling son wakes up hours earlier than he usually does and there goes quiet time.

Vent over, advice greatly desired!

Update to Weekly Farm Report

I made my report too soon.  Tony took the truck out this afternoon to collect broken tree branches from yesterday's storm.  The goats love them and it's free food!  While he was out, someone gave him three HUGE garbage bags full of apples!  We just finished sorting them and were able to save about 2 bags worth.  The other will be goat, cow and horse treats.  So now to ask for YOUR favorite apple recipe.  The recipes in my Home Canning book include:

• apple butter
• conserve
• syrup
• jelly
• juice
• pie filling
• preserves
• apple-rhubarb chutney
• wedges in cinnamon red hot syrup (yum!)
• studded with cherries and raisins

I have lots of canning jars AND plenty of freezer space, so let's hear your ideas! 

Yes, there are so many we washed them in the bathtub!

Weekly Farm Report

OK, so I made it for a second weekly report.  It's a start!  This is what I got at the farmer's market today.  There's 4 pounds of apples that I got in exchange for 2 dozen eggs; 3 bunches of purple and white carrots that normally go for $3 per bunch, I got all 3 for $5 because it was getting close to quitting time; the purple plums and beets were received for a pound of garlic chevre; the yellow plums I bought because it was a new vendor and I wanted to make friends; and the pickled zucchini just looked fun!  The owner of the apple orchard will trade me apples for eggs every week.  Not pictured are 2 giant sunflowers to go into the garden and hopefully help feed the chickens this winter, and a baby willow tree.  The willow tree was a gift from the people we bought the stevia and mint plants from a few weeks ago.  The chickens ate all the leaves and I was asking if they'd come back with just roots there.  She wasn't sure and doesn't have any more mint or stevia, and Tony had shown interest in a willow when we were there, so they gave me one.  It's been great getting to know the people at the market.

When we arrived, my son says, "hey, it happened again" but I wasn't sure what he meant.  He could see the people at the market and was excited because the beef vendor has a 3 year old boy that he likes to play with.  He calls him his new friend, so today we got his name.

I went to the pasture twice to check on critters (Tony goes every other day) and the day I took my camera, Elsie and Jasper wouldn't stand up.  Today they were grazing together but I didn't have my camera. 

We had quite a rain storm yesterday afternoon and then last night when I locked up the hen house, one was missing.  I haven't seen her today (thinking maybe she roosted elsewhere with the rain) so I think a coyote got her.  Everyone else seems happy though.  Goats included.

So that's it for this week.  Hope ya'll are well!

This Heat is Killing Me!

Maybe not literally, at least not yet, but I can hardly do anything!  I don't even have the energy to prepare meals, so I'm doubly knocking myself out.  It's a downward spiral, that's for sure!  My head is heavy and groggy, my thoughts are fuzzy, my ears are ringing more than usual.  But I don't sleep well because there was hardly any physical activity during the day, and that adds to the trouble too. 

Fridays are my new "afternoon off" according to Tony.  He said he'll give me time off every Friday from 3-5, and today I'm thinking of taking the laptop to some local place that has free wi-fi, where I will either begin planning a routine to fit in more essentials and fun stuff, or just read blogs and catch up on stuff like that.  So I'm thinking I ought to go force feed myself (did I mention that besides not having the energy to prepare food, the heat also kills my appetite?) so I will have the energy and brain power to enjoy my time off.

There's a heat advisory in effect here today.  Telling people to stay inside with air conditioning and drink plenty of fluids, and check on elderly family and neighbors.  Tony won't care and might still try to take our son out to do something so I can just stay here, but I think it would be better if they had a cooler place to hang out.  I say cooler because we don't use the AC from noon til  because the rate goes up during that time.  However, even my cheapskate-ness has limits and if it gets too hot inside the AC's going on!  It's hard to say what temp that is, as our thermometer is not accurate, nor is the inaccuracy consistent.  We've tested it against a digital thermometer and when it's cool in here-like winter time, the temp can be off by as much as 10 degrees (reads high).  But in the summer it can show 90 and be 86.  So I just don't trust it, and go by feel most of the time.

This sure turned into a long post for someone who hasn't done much this week, therefore doesn't have much exciting to share.  Tomorrow I will go to the farmer's market and trade a pound of cheese for a few pounds of plums, see what other deals are out there, and then go to a used curriculum fair for homeschoolers.  Next week we go to the statewide homeschool conference, with lots of vendors and more workshops than I can fit into the time allotted.  Speaking of that, perhaps I'll pour a cold drink, grab some cheese and finally choose just which workshops I'll go to!  Stay cool, everyone!

Weekly Farm Report

Maybe if I call it weekly I'll remember to do it every weekend?  OK, so where to start?  The deal of the week, probably...

The last time we were at the farmers market (as shoppers) I took a little of my goat cheese and the owners of the grass fed beef company tried it.  She said it was a little too strong and she wanted it to be creamier, so I agreed to try a few things and contact her.  We missed the following weekend, so yesterday was our next trip there.  I had made two batches of goat cheese-chevre and fromagina- with the freshest milk I had.  I took notes of what I did so I could recreate the environment if it were successful.  The chevre was creamier, and not so "goaty" and Tony mixed it with a dab of olive oil, garlic and salt.  Even creamier!  I didn't season the fromagina.  She tried them both-and I traded her the batch of fromagina for a pound of new york steaks!  They were on special for $8.45 per pound, so I got that per pound on my cheese!  The man at the neighboring booth likes the chevre so I told him I'd make a special batch for him Monday and trade for a few pounds of his fresh plumbs.  I feel a cobbler coming up!

Elsie and Jasper came home last night.  Look how big he is now!  It was dusk, so I couldn't get good pictures, but I'll get more this week.  See how the flash captured his eyes?  They got off the trailer and RAN all over the 2 acre field.  The 2 horses were wild at that point too and poor Boots (we changed Bolt's name) didn't know what to do.  Just as we were leaving the pasture the neighbor caught us and asked if we wanted to pick some apricots.  Um YEAH!  We got several pounds, plus cleaned up what was on the ground to bring to the chickens.  I made a batch of jam last night as soon as we got home.  I need more sugar now before making any more though.

My step son was here for a few days with his girlfriend and his cousin.  They borrowed the truck Tuesday to go to a local watering hole and burned out the brakes.  They found a ride home but we had to go repair and retrieve it Wednesday.  The yucca were blooming along the road and Tony got some great shots.  I've never seen red in them before.

Friday night we were hot (we don't use the AC til after 7 when rates go down) so we went to the store for some fresh fruit and drinks and drove around looking for downed tree branches to use in making a goat playground.  We stopped by the pasture to make sure the water tank was full and this was our view!

I think that's about it around here.  The monsoon season is in preview mode, meaning we get the heat and humidity without the wonderful cooling rains.  It was in the 80's already at 730 this morning, ugh!

Never a Dull Moment

Especially when there's a 4 year old boy in the family!  Yesterday we stopped at a little hole in the wall taco place for lunch.  Our darling son thought he'd be cute and slide the highchair to our table to sit in.  We told him he was too big, but he proceeded to try and climb in anyway.  He got stuck.  Literally.  I couldn't pull him out.  Tony and I together couldn't pull him out.  I was laughing quite hard by now.  We tried a different tug and he finally slipped free.  We tried to use it as a learning moment, but based on today's events it went in one ear and out the other.

He's had a stuffy nose for a few days.  It usually happens when he has lots of water play time, so a week in the pool at my parents house was good cause for it.  Today he kept making snorting noises but when I'd ask if he was blowing or sniffling he couldn't answer, and would never do it when I could see him.  That should have been my first clue.  At dinner it looked like he had a blob of mud in his nose so I got a tissue to have him blow.  Nothing was coming out.  I tried pulling on it and realized it was hard-so I thought he had a rock in his nose from playing in the mud.  Nope.  It was most of an almond.  He had a bowl of mixed nuts at 11 this morning.  For 8 hours this thing has been in his nose and I couldn't see it until tonight!  Why does a child even think  about stuffing things up his or her nose?  Is it a boy thing?  Tony says he never thought about it as a kid, and I know I didn't, so what causes this insane behavior?

I don't think the detailed version of what a doctor would have to do to get it out had any affect on him either, as he'd wait for Tony to stop talking (a miracle in itself) and then say something totally unrelated.  It wasn't until after  I had the nut out that I thought about taking a picture.  No shortage of blog material around here!

Storm Warning

Storm Warning is a book by Billy Graham.  It's a revised and updated edition.  I've been trying to read it for weeks, and just can't muster up enough interest in it.  Maybe it's because it reads too much like a list of facts rather than telling an interesting story with those facts.  There are too many other books I want to read, so this one is getting a thumbs down and I'm moving on.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Juvenile Hens Make Their Own Roost

Our five juvenile hens are still returning to the backyard to roost in their baby coop, but yesterday I walked out to see that they had knocked over the ladder and are roosting on it.  We haven't moved them to the hen house yet because they probably can't reach the roosts and to make lower ones puts them under the other hens and they'd get well, pooped on.  They need a good spot in the hen house, don't ya think?

Just Some Info

Tonight I just want to share some links with you that I've found helpful.  I also want to say that I haven't been able to read any of my friends' blogs since last Friday and scrolling thru my reading list it looks like I'm missing out on some fun stuff.  I'll get back to reading soon, but for now, here's some links to share:

The Stress Cure for Busy Moms Am I the only one in desparate need of this?
Mama Goes Green Reusable lunch packaging-NOT plastic!
Non-Toxic Toothpaste Made with coconut oil-something REALLY good for dental health.
How to Keep Healthy Living Practical A good reminder.

That's it, short and simple.  Hope all of my friends in blog land are healthy and safe!