Food all around us!

Did you know that there is literally food all around us? We don't know what plants are edible anymore because we've grown too accustomed to the drive-through at McDonald's. So what if McDonald's vanished - and the grocery store too. Could you eat that "weed" at your feet? Visit my friend's blog for an awesome give-away. I need these books. I need to learn! Link: New Life On A Homestead

Friday...On My Walk

Beautiful little yellow moth enjoying my wildflowers - caught him in mid-flight. Have a beautiful weekend!

Cleaning House!

I've been on a mission lately to concoct my own cleaning supplies. Laundry is a BIG deal with a family of six and it seems that I was always scrounging around for coupons to buy detergent – the stuff is not cheap!! I also wasn't happy with the way cleaning supplies deducted from my grocery budget. I want to but more food – not Tide! So, I wanted to share with you a perfectly wonderful detergent recipe – I didn't invent it, but I love telling everyone about it! We have a High Efficiency washer, and my hubby really wanted to stick with liquid detergent. No scientific rationale, he just felt the liquid would perform better in our machine. He did once have a job as an engineer at Whirlpool, so I don't question his expertise!! I found the recipe here – Liquid laundry Detergent! If it works on all the 19+ Duggar family, then I was sure it would work for mine. It is working wonderfully! So, go on over to the Duggar family site and make some laundry detergent! My bucket will probably last at least 6 months!

On another note - I LOVE the Duggar family!!

Now to the dish soap. This is soap to hand wash dishes, not for the dishwasher – that's next on my agenda. I'm currently testing a recipe and it still needs some tweaking. While suds don't clean the dishes, I would like a few more suds. I'll post a recipe when I perfect it! At least it looks pretty!

Friday...On My Walk

Finally caught a photo of this beautiful Heron on our pond. He only stops by about once a week, and my kids usually manage to spook him before I get a photo. Not this time!

Quilting = Happiness

I love to sew.

If you know me, you know this fact and it's very old news! I learned to sew clothing for my daughter, out of necessity really, but now it's just plain fun. One problem that I have encountered is that my daughter simply has too much. I don't NEED to make her yet another dress. However, I still have the burning desire to CREATE – I NEED to be creative. As a natural progression of things it seems, I'm turning into my grandmother – and I'm quilting. My father's exact quote to me a few days ago, “You're turning into my mother.” I never met my father's mother. She died a few years before I was born. She canned, farmed, sewed clothing, quilts – sounding familiar? Maybe she had a talk with me before coming to this earth and encouraged me to continue her work, preserve a dying art. Maybe a bit of her is living inside me. I can't help but picture her smiling from above. This is one of her quilts – with my dad's hand print at age 4. It is a precious possession. Here's my first attempt at quilting – not perfect but you have to start somewhere. I already have ideas for more in the works. Quilts make me happy! My babies will be warm and cozy this winter!

Growth

Sometimes growing is fun – new freedoms, new opportunities. Sometimes it's painful – new consequences, new responsibilities. Once thing is for sure though, we all NEED to grow. Growing and learning is what can make our lives fruitful and fulfilled. I read somewhere recently that a day without learning is a day wasted. Our days are limited on this earth. The older I get the more clearly I see this. The cycle of life comes around at its own chosen pace, ready or not. I don't want to waste the minutes and days that I've been given – I want to grow. As I've chatted with fellow homesteaders (rookies and pros), there is an underlying theme that pushed them to continue – even when times get hard. They all want to be prepared and they all want to learn. Learn about different ways to grow crops, learn about better ways to care for their animals, learn more healthy recipes for their families, learn how to make their own soaps and cleaners, the list goes on and on. Homesteaders are a community of learners and growers. I think this is why homesteading how so fully “sucked” me in. I like and have a great respect for the people who make homesteading happen – the people who live everyday to learn, grow and prepare. They are among the elite, and I strive to be like them.

Our growing fall garden - it's really taking off!

The roof is up on our chicken coop!!! I'm so excited!!

Friday....On My Walk

Didn't do much walking this week. Spent most of my time tending the sick. Our house was wracked by a nasty stomach bug for the last few days. I'll spare you the details, but let's just say I've done more than my fair share of mopping, scrubbing, washing - you get it. EWWWWWW. The highlight of the week was my peach vanilla fruit leather created in my dehydrator. It's still sitting, waiting for us to be well again to actually enjoy it.

A photo of one of our sweet kitties. My shutter awoke her from a nap. Life is hard, huh.

Friday...On My Walk

This is my spot. MY spot. Of course, it's only mine until someone discovers I've gone missing - and they know where to look to find me. When cold weather comes I'll have to find a new hiding place - I mean, a new "spot." Or maybe I'll just take a quilt to the hammock.....

Planting!

We've been working! Of course, every time we planned a time to get our fall garden going – it rained, and rained. Finally we got a sunny Saturday and got a good start. I'm really wanting to plant some pumpkin seeds, but that's all we have left to find. The kids loved it – and were especially amused at slipping and sliding in horse manure. I've read mixed reports about horse manure, but it was aged (for the most part), and it was free. We live surrounded by our neighbors horses (oh, how I love them!) and they let us wheelbarrow out as much as we need. We also bought a load of topsoil and mixed everything very well. We've planted cauliflower, cabbage, romaine, carrots, and broccoli. Now I would love some herbs and pumpkins! When it comes to gardening (and many other aspects of homesteading) I feel like a kindergarten student on the first day of school – I don't really know my way around or what to expect – all I can do is keep trying. Funny thing is – I'm SO enjoying this journey, manure and all!

Friday: On My Walk

My babies started school yesterday. I sit here in a WAY too quiet house waiting for the pressure cooker to heat up so I will be able to can some yummy glazed carrots. Just a few photos of my youngest - savoring the last few afternoons before a new school year.