Issu

Some of you may have already discovered this - I just found it today.  Issu, where you can read publications...online.  Free.   World, Sweet World is one such publication.  There is a slew of information available, some of them partial books (like those from Llewellyn), which is great if you want to get the 'feel' of a book before making that purchase.



This appears to be on the 'up and up'; if I have this wrong, please let me know.  Happy reading!

Pine Cone decorations

Remember the other day when I said I was going to make a pine cone door decoration thing?  Voila.  We had both red and burgundy ribbon so the front door received eight cones and red ribbon (coordinated nicely with the red door) with the back door receiving burgundy ribbon and three cones.

The Give Thanks garland was completed and draped across the piano - notice anything odd about it?  While K15 was reviewing pictures on the camera, she noticed that I had spelled give wrong - in this picture is is GVie Thanks.  LOL  I corrected here and left the picture as is - real life humor.

The only item made ahead of time was the cranberry sauce; ours is a combination of different recipes:

• 1 - 12oz. bag of fresh cranberrys
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 cup of water
• 1 tsp of cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp cloves

Combine the water, sugar, and spices in a pan and heat to dissolve.  Add the rinsed cranberries (be sure to look them over and pick out the stems and/or already-going-bad berries).  Bring to a boil and simmer til the berries begin to pop.  Keep a lid on it (or mostly) to keep the mess down.  It will 'jell' up as it cools so I just put mine into a bowl and then into the frig. Normally orange juice is included - didn't have it and the sauce was tastey just the same.  

The turkey finished thawing over night and went straight into the oven.  With better planning, next year will have a brined bird in the oven.  In addition to turkey and cranberry sauce, we also had mashed potatoes, & gravy, mashed maple sweet potatoes, green beans, fresh bread, cole slaw, and a slew of cranberries salads and various deserts.  Ten people total were over to help eat all the food with containers leaving with various families when it was all said and done.

Some much needed rain is now falling, the cookstove is warming the kitchen and that turkey carcass is getting cook down into broth.  Today looks like a recuperating day mingled with crafting.  I hope your thanksgiving was as enjoyable as ours!

Happy Thanksgiving/Thursday

A different post was planned for today (menu, crafting items,etc) and decided a thank you was in order.  Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving/Thursday (for non U.S. readers).  Be mindful of blessings, even the small ones.  Thank you, to all of you, for following, reading, and just listening to my ramblings.

Bread Love

This recipe from the Simple Green Frugal Coop (Heather from Beauty that Moves) is my new favorite bread recipe.  It still calls for dry yeast; for some reason starting my own sourdough starter is too much of a challenge for me, at the moment.  I did not see anything about showing the recipe, in it's entirety, here, so if I messed up, please let me know.  Heather shares another recipe for Chocolate sauce that is just wonderful so the whole post (and the blog for that matter) is definitely worth a read.  I used unbleached flour and the loaves turned out wonderfully - just beautiful.

Our Sandwich Bread
2 cups warm water (110F)
1/2 cup agave nectar (honey or sugar is fine)
1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
1/4 cup light vegetable oil (your preference)
4 cups all purpose white flour (we use organic white whole wheat, germ still in)
2 cups whole wheat bread flour

1. In a large bowl, dissolve the agave in the warm water, add yeast. Allow to proof until yeast resembles a creamy foam, about 10 minutes.
2. Mix salt and oil into the yeast. Work in 6 cups of flour. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Use a little more flour if needed. Place in well oiled bowl, and turn once to coat the entire surface of the dough with oil. Cover with a clean damp cotton cloth. Allow dough to rise until double in size., about an hour.
3. Punch dough down. Knead for a few minutes, and divide in half. Shape into loaves and place into two well oiled 9x5 loaf pans. Allow to rise for 30 minutes.
4. Bake in a 350F oven for 25 minutes. When you thump the top of the bread it should sound hollow.

Photo Credit

Photo Credit

Our Thanksgiving crowd is going to be smaller this year; family and friends headed in other directions.  That's ok.  It has not changed my desire to decorate for the occasion and in addition to those cute little mason jar tea light holders, I am making this banner and will use some perfect pinecones gifted to us by Mom to create this door decoration.  Indi Fixx has other great idea posted here.

So Bright

This weekend was filled with a mixed bag of successes and non successes.  As you know, the girls were not able to get past Nelson in the State semi-finals, however, K15 tried out for the Nationals 15 yo team AND was asked to try out for the 16 team.  While the 16 team loved her, they felt she would get better exposure on the 15 team, so there she is.  Better exposure translates into College recruiters.  Her coach will drive her to practice two days/week - insane, yes? Anyway, we'll see what happens there.

In other, closer-to-home news, the new floor is laid and mostly trimmed out, the front and last row of slate for the cook stove is down and 'grouted' with slip, and Ronnie put together these cool lights for the kitchen.  I found a picture online (Pottery Barn) and he created the light with $30 in parts from Lowes.  This is not a project I could do myself as I do not speak electricity.  Computers, yes... electricity...no. The materials for the floor redo cost a total of $0.  Yup, the best possible price.  Everyone needs a Ronnie - someone who knows people, can acquire materials for nothing  AND have the expertise to install for the same low price of $0.  It is good to be loved, eh?

These little tea light holders are more my DIY speed.  I've seen these beauties on several different blogger sites and thought, simple, easy, cute - I can do this.  These jars are the stout little salsa jars with the labels soaked off.  We do not eat that much salsa - I save jars and lids for later use and this is one of those 'later' uses.  Often times, there is some leftover sticky residue from the label removal - baking soda paste and a scrubbie bring it right off.  A skiff of white glue along the rim topped with heavy duty jute twin to hide the twist-on rims, 1/2C rice to hold the tea light and voila; recycled glass.  Add some punched paper snow flakes and jingle bells for a little yuletide dress up.

This quick little tea light project and 'new' kitchen have me inspired to recycle other items I have lying around the house.  And that, my dears, is material for a later post.

2011

Nathan Jurevicius (artist)

Perhaps just a little early to think about calendars for 2011; perhaps not.  My Owl Barn has a calendar creator where you decide which owl artwork you want displayed for which month. There are over 30 artists from which to choose.  Once selections are made and the calendar is created, it will auto download.  I wanted to share the selections I made; the .pdf is password protected, which prohibits sharing.  You'll just have to trust that mine is uber cool.

The girls played Nelson County today and lost in 4 sets; sad yet great that they have gone to state two years in a row.  Good job Lady Chargers - we are so proud of you!  Oh, and my two are in the paper again, this time it is a picture of them giving each other a hi-5 with the caption reading something like "the Chargers sister act...".  Too funny.  Now I have picture proof that they can get along with each other.

And then . . .

Tuesday night the girls won the Region C title for their division and will play this Friday in Richmond, VA.  An early dismissal from school today (you know they are hatin' that!) allows them time to travel to Richmond, check into their 5 start Hotel (it helps to have the daughter of the Homestead President on the team), followed by a practice at Hanover with one of the top AAA highschool volleyball teams, dinner and snoozing.  Go Chargers!

Now to the kitchen; several more pictures were taken, showing a reduced number of 'dust' particles, each with their own design, though no blatant numbers - not that my limited software shows. We did, though, discover that a corner of the original flooring had been cut out; Ronnie's super smeller says it smells something like an old wood fire - I wonder if, at one time, there had been a fire in the house that damaged this corner of the floor??  The rest of the oak appears to be intact.  Yes, that black is coal dust; We talked about using new planks to fill in where the floor is missing and decided that may look a bit odd.  He was able to acquire oak planking from a friend (she no longer needed/wanted) so we will overlay the newer planking on top of the original boards.

Needless to say, our kitchen is mostly out of commission except for the sink and cook stove.  All surfaces hold pans, utensils, drawers, and food. Seeing everything laid out prompts me to give away some of the pans; many which have been replaced by cast iron.  Donating to a local, charitable organization would be ideal though not available in my area.  I called one of the local churches and as it turns out the Christmas Mother has received requests for pots, pans and such.  She explained that if the funds are not available, these requests will not be met so if the items are in good shape, though used, they will give these to families that can/will use them.  SCORE!

I have to say that 'peeling' back time, making discoveries about this house, brings me great happiness; to wonder at the lives this house has protected, the stories protected within it's walls.  *sighs*  Wish I were a house whisperer.

My dust is numbered

I never know what to expect when I get home on class nights.  Last night  found the kitchen dismantled; everything, including the electric stove, was in the living room.  The plan is for one more round of slate around the cook stove with the remaining heart pine floors receiving a stripping (I hope).

The brown paper currently over the wood floors is roofing underlayment a.k.a. tar paper; or that is what it looks like.  If that is the case, I understand why this was laid down under the vinyl squares (insulation and leveling); does not make the stripping any easier.  Ideas?  We'd rather not use chemicals as we are living in the house while this 'renovation' is going on and the chemical smell would be too much in a closed-up-for-winter house.  I had an idea that 'hey, if this is paper, perhaps when wet it'll come up like wall paper'.  Umm.  No.

Take a look at this picture - see the 'dust' mites?  My lens is not dirty.   Look at the lower right of the picture;  Why would one of them have the number 8 inside?

Oh, and did I mention, that we are having family over for Thanksgiving on Thursday?  Thank goodness I do not have class next week and can help get the kitchen reassembled.  Ronnie's Mom is going to come over to help clean on Wednesday.  *whew*

Meatless Mondays

This post is brought to you by my winning a giveaway over at the Little Blue Hen - my very own year subscription to the Vegetarian Times.  Yippee!  I cannot wait for the first issue. For the last year, Monday's have been a bit meatless as it is class night and leftovers from the day before are pretty rare.  Breakfast for dinner isn't a bad thing.

Yesterday's visit with my Mom and Grandmother was enjoyable though we ended up dismantaling part of the garden fence to spread the horse poo while Mom and Grandmother watched.  Bell, our Belarus tractor, is really to big for our garden and we do not have a plow for her so a friend of ours is bringing his smaller tractor to plow the garden thus incorporating said poo.  If the weather holds up, this weekend we will go to the Homestead Stables and collect a load of poo for both our garden and the neighbors.  Yup, the poop fairy is coming to visit the Ward House!

Our newest addition, the piano, continues to be a big hit.  Suprisingly, it was easier to find a piano tuner than a piano teacher.  Our friend, Debbie (a retired music teacher) said she taught students to learn how to read sheet music first, then move to the keyboard.  This will be a challenge for Ronnie and I; nightly he sits at the piano, practicing scales and I sit and just begin stumbling through, hoping my fingers will remember what my head does not.  On, and since I know you are wondering why not take lessons with Debbie?  She no longer teaches 'cause menopause took away her patience.  LOL  

Slithers… Not!

The other evening, as I as bringing kindling into the house, I saw this.

There was a scream and kindling  thrown down.  Upon closer inspection I realized it was the paper wrapper from old electrical wiring. 

 

*whew*  It took several minutes for my heart rate to return to normal.  I thought that my luck, at not having a close encounter with a snake, had run out.

We were also able to locate a piano tuner person, who charges $85 a visit.  I was about to ask if that price sounded right and then realized, around here, it probably did not matter; its not like there are a lot to choose from. 

An old friend

Not an original from our family; a gift from my friend (thank you Heather!).  She and her husband even loaded it up and brought it all the way to Hot Springs.  This lovely lady is a Brewster New York Cabinet Grand, complete with original ivory keys and an amazing sound.  Heather’s family is growing and this lady was sitting unused and occupying needed space.  I was so excited to receive her that once installed in the living room, I ran next door to borrowed a hymnal from the neighbor.  My Mom and Grandmother are coming to visit this Sunday and promised to bring additional sheet music then. 

Thank you, Mom and Dad, for the music lessons.  I can remember not wanting to practice or go the lessons; something I look forward to as an adult.  My hope is to take some refresher classes and, since Ronnie wants to learn, find him some beginner classes.

Other exciting news!

The Chargers won regional play this past Wednesday and Thursday and so will host the quarter final State playoffs here in Bath County. Whoo Hoo!  Winning Tuesday places them Richmond on Friday for semi final State with Saturday being the finals.  So exciting!  I’ll keep you posted.

The Advent

Melissa, over at the Inspired Room peaked my interest in the upcoming holidays - something I usually put off until the last minute.  Each year, when the holidays come around, I feel nostalgic for Christmas music from a vinyl (dating myself here), a tree, advent calendars, and an orange in the toe of my stocking.  Now that I am older, Christmas time is challenging; lots of commercialism and no money.  I think A16 and K15 understand the economics of things and each year they each get one gift.

Picture courtesy of Julieree.blogspot.com

This, though, is not about the gifts; it is about advent calendars.  For some reason, I have a real fondness for these and not because of the candy or prize that was waiting behind door # __.  Ours did not have treats, just a new picture.  Decorating for the holidays gives me a good feeling and I thought to make an advent calendar this year with the rule that it must be made of items that are already around the house.  Well, well, well.  Look what I found.  The template for these little beauties can be found here.

I was looking for a pattern or something to make one of these... hmmm.  Don't believe there is enough time to knit this together.

Garnet Hill

justsomethingimade.com

There are some other cool advent ideas here, and here.

allsorts.typepad.com

My plan, at the moment, is to work on the little truffle holders at the very top.  However, I do have a slew of extra yarn and the second garland appears to just be knitted/crochet'd rectangles folded like an envelope.  Has anyone made something like that before?

Yes honey, you are right.

Picture courtesy of
equintconsulting.com

Ronnie and I had an interesting conversation yesterday evening; it is not uncommon for us to get onto the subject of what is going on in the U.S. economy as a whole and how we will adapt - it was during this chat that I had a light-bulb-over-the-head moment.

My rant was about how none of the current politicians have the desire to make the unpopular though desperately needed decisions to turn the economy around. Who in their right mind would give up a cooshie income?  Notice how I did not use the word 'job'?  Career politicians, imho, do not have jobs; they have a guaranteed income as long as they do not loose their gift of gab.  Anyway, as I ranting about how they do not want to have the uncomfortable discussions and make the hard but necessary choices and in mid rant I noticed Ronnie looking at me with that 'so why are you handling your own girls with kid gloves' look.  I do not like that look; it oozes I-told-you-so, a bitter drink that a spoon of sugar does not sweeten.

He is right, though.  Yes honey, it is in print for all to see - You are right.  As a person I avoid conflict almost at all costs; I try to provide the understanding and leniency that was missing from my growing up years.  There are times, though, when the blatant behavior gets to be too much (K15, make sure you turn out the light BEFORE I pull into the drive if you are going to pretend you are asleep).  *sighs*  Both girls will outgrow this attitude as they mature.  Pretty sure I did (or like to think so).

Which brings me to, having the difficult/confrontational talks are necessary and important, especially for the future.  When, how, and vocab are all important.  You remember the sticks and stones idiom?  Well words can and do harm the soul; be mindful. Once spoken, a word can NEVER be taken back.  EVER.

In looking for the exact sticks-n-stones phrase heard several years ago (how words are ____ that harm the soul), I found this interesting article at epistleus. It contains some biblical references, so if that is not your thing, well, ignore the link.

The red light is on!

As promised, the red light hen house and Mrs. Simmons cobbler.

Mondays

Vintage Mermaid ornament

Goodies have arrived in the mail (or are on the way)and I wanted to share news of my good fortune with you.

• A vintage mermaid ornament from Mermaiden Creations.   This piece is even more lovely in person!  
• Renaissance magic giveaway over at Runesoup (on its way).  I have to say that this author, in his Slouching towards Bethlehem post has me rethinking some of my thoughts about Christ and the church.  He will step on toes so this post is not for everyone. 

Another wonderful giveaway is being sponsored by Little Blue Hen - a years subscription to the Vegetarian Times.  With the price of everything, especially meat, going up, becoming more vegetarian is going to be the way to go - more healthy and cheaper especially since we grow so much of our own greens here.

After all that work, I ended up with 3 quarts of kraut (lost one to a broken jar), and 3 pints of apple butter.  A quart of fresh applesauce went to Ronnie's mom so she could cook up some applebutter.  Oh, and that recipe from Mrs. Simmons was an amazing success!!  Not overly sweet, just right.  I have a picture saved to the other machine, so it'll get posted tonite... maybe.

The girls are on their way home from visiting their dad and will have practice this morning and into the afternoon - all in preparation for regional play that begins this Wednesday.  Please pray for all teams to have safe travel and no injuries.  Remember, even the opposing team's players are someone's daughter; I'll pray for those daughters as I hope someone would pray for mine.

Down the gravel road

Reminds one of a country song, eh?  Friday, the girls left school early to watch Randolph Macon play volleyball at Hollins College – yes it was school approved since the girls were playing district games yesterday (Saturday).  This left me with two options: to wait for Ronnie to get off work and pick me up on his way home or walk home (2.3 mi).  I decided to walk.  It was a beautiful late afternoon and, even with a brisk breeze (wind), it was enjoyable. 
Saturday morning I seeded the clover and then lay down 3 bales of straw to keep the mud from becoming impossible.  The afternoon and into the night was volleyball district playoffs at James River Highschool; our girls placed 2nd in Division 2. A16, even though she had 300 more assists than the first team selection, made 2nd team. – am I bitter??  eeh hem.  Because our girls were 1st in the division, not winning district did not take them out of regional play – that occurs this Wednesday at East Montgomery.  In this picture, #s 20 and 24 are mine (as if I own then or something).  =)
Yes, we remembered to turn the clocks back an hour, which makes more sense.  Why do we even have daylight savings time?  Mountain time doesn’t participate, so why do we?  Today Ronnie is installing electricity in the coop so we can use a heat lamp to keep the water from freezing and I am canning kraut, freezing carrots, making apple butter,and apple cobbler while playing sporadic games of plastic bottle with Odis. There is still so much I’d like to get done today (studying, cleaning, etc) and will do what I can.  *sighs*
Is anyone else still canning or is it just me?

Charger Volleyball

This just published today, for those that are following along.

Chargers

Apple cobbler

One of the local lady's shared a bag of cooking and a bag of no cooking apples.  The difference being that the cooking apples are easy applesauce; they melt when cooked.  The no cooking apples hold their form and are better for cobblers and such.

When Mrs. Simmons stopped by today, she left with me the following recipe - I cannot wait to get home to try it!  Baked in the cook stove no doubt.  =)

• 1 C flour

• ½ C sugar

• Enough milk to make a thin batter (or as thick/thin as you want)

• A touch of vanilla

• 2 ½ tsp baking powder

• Sprinkle cinnamon

 In the bottom of a baking dish, melt butter; 1 stick for a large pan (13x9) or ½ stick for a smaller pan.  Pour the batter into the pan, add your fruit and seasonings (sugar, cinnamon, and a shake of allspice).  Swirl together and bake in a preheated, 400˚ oven for 25-30 minutes.  The top should be golden brown. 

I enjoy talking to the older generation and learning about how cooking was done 'back in the day'.  So much know how on how to make do and use what one has.

I feel blessed.

A giveaway

Yes, these have been on the slim side only 'cause I don't know how interested everyone is in the latest contest. This one is offered by Rune Soup; a new blog discovered today and being read most intently (by  me) - thank you for the intro Mrs. B!

Make up your mind. . .

As shared by Marta @ m.writes:

Happiness is a mind set and a choice; not always an easy choice, especially when there is more month at the end of the money.  I choose to be happy.

Yes, I've been doing many reposts from various bloggers; posts that touch me, get me out of living in my head to living in the 'real world', posts that remind me of just how little time we have here.

Snow is on the schedule for the next few days and we were hoping to sow white clover seed in the garden and in the large dirt patch that stretches between the stacked wood pile and the coop (it is now a muddy swamp).  I am torn on whether or not to go ahead and throw the seed and straw down and see what happens or just straw and wait 'til spring to seed.  In case you are wondering, I did not buy this seed online but at the Farm & Fuel in Covington (40 minutes south) and paid 4.99/lb.  Seed online looks to be running about 3.99 for a 1/4 lb. Ouchies!
Advise?  I am in a zone 5/6.

Anyway. . .

Living simply is a tough sell.  Recycling is a tough sell.... where I live.  Pat's theory is intense and calls into question many of the standards I hold close and follow 99% of the time.  Yes, I slip.  Convenience kicks in and that burger from Hardee's is a quick fix; something I pay for later in more ways then one!  What indigestion...This ethical muster takes me back to Missions vs Goals; my mission is to live more simply (broad) and to do that my goal is to not use the dryer (a milepost).

Pat's Theory of Anyway as relayed by Sharon:

Pat's Theory of Anyway turns this around, and points out that what we do, the way we live, must pass ethical muster first - we must always ask the question "Is this contributing to the repair of the world, or its destruction."

So if you told me that tomorrow, peak oil had been resolved, I'd still keep gardening, hanging my laundry, cutting back and trying to find a way to make do with less. Because even if we found enough oil to power our society for a thousand years, there would still be climate change, and it would be *wrong* of me to choose my own convenience over the security and safety of my children and other people's children. And if you told me tomorrow that we'd fixed climate change, that we could power our lives forever with renewables, I would still keep gardening and living frugally. Because our agriculture is premised on depleted soil and aquifers, and we're facing a future in which many people don't have enough food and water if we keep eating this way, and to allow that to happen would be a betrayal of what I believe is right. And if you told me that we'd fixed that problem too, that we were no longer depleting our aquifers and expanding the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico, I'd still keep gardening and telling others to do the same, because our reliance on food from other nations, and our economy impoverishes and starves millions, even billions of poor people and creates massive economic inequities that do tremendous harm. And if you told me that globalization was over, and that we were going to create a just economic system, and we'd fixed all the other problems, and that I didn't have to worry anymore, would I then stop gardening?

No. Because the nurture of my piece of land would still be the right thing to do. Doing things with no more waste than is absolutely necessary would still be the right thing to do. The creation of a fertile, sustainable, lasting place of beauty would still be my right work in the world. I would still be a Jew, obligated by G-d to Tikkun Olam, to "the repair of the world." I would still be obligated to live in way that prevented wildlife from being run to extinction and poisons contaminating the earth. I would still be obligated to make the most of what I have and reduce my needs so they represent a fair share of what the earth has to offer. I would still be obligated to treat poor people as my siblings, and you do not live comfortably when your siblings suffer or have less. I am obligated to live rightly, in part because of what living rightly gives me - integrity, honor, joy, a better relationship with my diety of choice, peace.

There are people out there who are prepared to step forward and give up their cars, start growing their own food, stop consuming so much and stop burning fossil fuels...just as soon as peak oil, or climate change, or government rationing, or some external force makes them. But that, I believe is the wrong way to think about this. We can't wait for others to tell us, or the disaster to befall us. We have to do now, do today, do with all our hearts, the things we should have been doing "Anyway" all along.

Barter and bling

In light of my desire to increase others awareness of bartering, I'd like to share a barter offer from Tribal Horse Designs - she does not know I am doing this.  Check it out here; perhaps you can exchange something you are not using for something to give this holiday season.

I'd also like to thank Rue for passing to me the Prolific Blogger award.  To copy Rue, I too am thankful to those who pass along these goodies and acknowledgments which are often not passed along or mentioned in a timely manner.  If you have not yet met Rue, be sure to visit her site!

Despite the Halloween festivities, we accomplished quite a bit at the house: finished splitting the furnace wood, split more cook stove wood & kindling, used Bella to dig out the topped layer of mulch she had in her garden  (she requested) and placed it in the gully between our two properties.  With all the digging and since Ronnie and I were both out in the yard, I decided to let all the hens out to wander about the freshly dug dirt - talk about happy hens!  They stayed close and ate a slew of worms, grubs, and other insects.  Getting them back into the run was no problem - a few good shakes of the grain bucket got 'em runnin!

Silly girls.