This week... So far...

My freezer quit. It was not even 4 years old. It was full. I had no idea it could hold so much. I filled over 70 jars to can. And fed the chickens very well yesterday and today. :P 

   I am so thankful for the beast. My 20 qt canner. 

This would have been a much more dreary task with out him. He was worth every penny. I love him. 

I won't replace the freezer. I don't like them enough. I've am always scared they will do as this one did.  We have a chest freezer in the shop. And honestly it is the one that scared me. Mainly cause it is outta sight outta mind. But I only have 1 half gallon jar available. All other canning jars are used. Again. 

   I think I am getting ahead. Emptying jars for summer. Just to fill them again. :/  I had just ordered garbanzo beans to can also... For summer time fast food. We love hummus. But now canning the beans will have to wait. :/ 

    I need more jars. Honestly I would like to add 500-1000 to my stash. But our house is small. With no cellar. So finding room is hard. But I am amazed I can still fit some in. 

   My washer also gave out this weekend. Sears appliances stink. In the last 4 years we have bought a washer,dryer, fridge, freezer and ride on mower. All. Died.  In under 4 years. We even bought the 3 year warranty s. had to call them out so many times to fix them. I was certain they would call a couple of them lemons and replace them. But they DIdNT. 

    I know a family of 9 uses a washer way more than most families.but even if i used it three times more it should have lasted that long. And the fridge and freezer?  How can you be too hard on them?Their stuff is junk. Never again. I have a wringer washer I am getting fixed. But for now hand washing. I kinda like it. And my clothes are cleaner than the HE washer ever thought about doing. I am only on day two. ;)

     So if you have jars. Or know someone who does... Let me know! I'm interested. Very.

Next years goals

1: finish greenhouse

2: breed Fawn

3: get guinea hogs and Shetland sheep

4: find more canning jars

5: help Malachi start in bees. 

6: plant more fruit trees

Sugar cookie day!!!

Today we had a morning of cookie baking and decorating. My sisters and their children ( ok one is yet to birth her first. But he counts. < don't really know his gender. But I'm banking on a boy. ;)> ) 

We all brought dough and dug in. 4 'batches' worth of sugar cookies really isn't very many. Do people that make these recipes not give them as gifts? Or does the volume of people in my house warp my view too much?

We had lots of fun. And tried to clean up Aunt Cs house before we left...

Sweet E and Wisdom. E was a magnet for anything left in her reach. I think she has a sugar finding antenna or something. ;)

I thought I got more and better pictures. But these just have to do. ;) hope it inspires you to go make some yummy fun with your family! 

   

Reading and game week.

This week for school we are going easy. 

Reading practice. 

Story of the world reading/ workbook. 

Games: 

trouble --- so the youngest get faster practice in recognizing colors and numbers. And taking turns. 

Bananagrams--- for spelling. And letter recognition. 

Crafts:

 

  Pipe cleaner snowflakes

Peg dolls. For fun. Then they will be used for school games later. 

White felt heart banner. 

And likely more art or craft things. As the children are making gifts. They are baking, crocheting, knitting, painting and more on their own. 

I love weeks like this. I am thinking most of the mth might look like this. But I'm not planning any time off. 

   

   Joelle has been doing higher grade school work with no issues. But I'm starting to push her harder in things like science due to her love of herbalism and nursing. So her schedule might be a little more involved. 

We also will be sending out a family photo next week. So they will be addressing them. About 150 of them. If you want one be sure I have your address. You can send it to simplycleansing at gmail .com

Thank you!

Milking

I think of it lots. I miss it. All of it. I miss the companionship with my cow. I miss the barn smell. I miss the quiet work. I miss the milk. Physically I am really seeing the loss of milk here. Grocery bill has grown. I have on several occasions looked into buying a cow. But the ones I see have problems. Too old. Dry quarters. Part Holstein. Tendency toward mastitis.  Unknown mutt breed. Etc. 

  My friend Tabitha said it well here : http://omelay.blogspot.com/2009/11/dreaming-of-milk.html

" Milking is intertwined with our hearts, like our chickens and pigs and garden and home. Being without it has been necessary and humbling. We needed this break so, so badly. Sometimes I am certain I can wait no longer and I must find a cow to milk. Other times I feel so afraid of how quickly we will be doing it again. Our journey has been largely positive but the negative experiences stick with me. What if? We can only do our best. Who would have thought this would be such an emotional thing, just milking a cow."

   The whole post was good. But this part. This part I could have written. 

   My goat is going to kid soonish. She is getting large. This time she should give twins if she follows her pattern. I'll milk her from the start. And bottle feed them her colostrum then switch them to milk replacer. Any buck kids  will go to auction with a grown buck i already need to get rid of. I need real milk again. And driving to find it doesn't get done. So looks like I'll be keeping 2 goats. And any nannys she has. 

    I don't want to be a goat milker again. But milk is worth it. And knowing fully how they are fed. Is worth it. In a year. We will have milk again. Full jersey cow milk. And I can't wait. But yet I can. Cause I'm terrified. 

I love these girls.

Spinning... Rambling...

Met a lady online the other day. She has 8 children. And spins. She mentioned that spinning is 'about the bestest and funnest form of meditation I can think of'. 

    I love spinning. Alot. My wheel was a gift from my mom. A year or so ago. I'm not great at it. But I'm decent. I can produce yarn that I love. If I had known how much I'd like spinning I would have bought a wheel 15 years ago when I kinda wanted to. 

    I hadn't spun in a few mths. And last I had it was warm and sunny out so I always took it outside. Coming inside now I felt rusty. And my chair-- I tried a few-- was too high. Uncomfortable. It took me forever to find my groove. To start getting anywhere with it. It was annoying and frustrating. But I got there. And I also looked online for spinning stools. ;) hope to find or order something soon. 

    But I thought of her words. And knew just how right she was. I often think I have to get something done or it is just play. Then I feel guilty for 'wasting my time'. So spinning, sewing or the like is my kinda thing. But my sewing machine keeps children awake when they are ready to nap in the afternoon. Or at bedtime. So I avoid it during those times. Then regret doing that too. So getting out my wheel was perfect. I had also put it away for a while due to shoulder pain. But mostly that is better now. 

    It amazes me all the thoughts that go through my head when spinning. It is nearly a silent hobby. Leaves so much room for thought. I love that. 

   Also oddly like sewing I have to do it with one shoe off and one shoe on. No idea why. But I can't seem to focus otherwise. Weird. 

    My thoughts were everywhere. I thought about all my children. And where they are in life. What things they each needed prayer for. Plans The Lord has for them. And fun things I need to make time for with them. 

   I thought of wise sayings that depending on who says them and in what context they are said in can be really foolish. But we hear the words and think wow so wise. And propel them further down the wrong way with our encouragement. It is sad.  A example might be 'getting rid of things that hurt me is so freeing' which can be wonderful. Or horrible. It might mean leaving behind alcohol.  Or it might mean abandoning a child or killing someone. Context is huge.  And often times we need to read into things a little to understand them.  Or ask the person what 'they' meant by what they said. 

    I thought of hurts I have caused. And hurts I felt. And i thought of what I could have and often should have done. I thought how it hurts to have thought you were friends with someone. And they just walk away. Never saying a word. You just hear from someone else they are done with you. And you rack your brain and heart to know why. But in the end just leave it alone. And hope one day they want to rekindle a friendship. And pray your heart is still open to it. And leave it to The Lord to heal it. And try not to wonder about it too much. 

    The feeling I have when I spin is so reflective. Internal. And deep. It is healing. Comforting and joyful. 

  I have struggled the past few mths being content in parts of my life. I like being home. I rarely want to leave. But I crave quiet times. I miss my cow,Jocelyn. She was a great quiet time for me. Twice a day. I  laid my head against her. And milked. I needed that quiet time. Just me alone with her. About 40 minutes a day. It was so hard to dry her off this year. Cause everything I said about spinning I could easily say about my time with Jocelyn. And more. 

   And now she is gone. I don't have my quiet reflecting times each day. I need alone. And I feel guilty trying to find a way to get it. I 'had' to milk her. We had no choice. It was a need on several levels. No other task was like that. I said before I felt lost coming back in the house after she died and I had spent the better part of two weeks outside with her. I dint like coming back in the house. I DIdNT know what to do with myself. So I worked on changing over the house and moved on. But it was hard not having a good outlet for my thoughts. I needed something. Badly. My head was hurting. 

    I have found myself online too much the past while. About since I dried her off. And I hate that. It always leaves me empty and wanting more. I think maybe. Maybe I can find spinning to be just what I need to take the place of my girl. In the quiet time area. People drain me. I need a recharge. And this. This just might help. I felt so much better after spinning today. <3

Gluten free baker

Lil has to eat gf. She has taken it on herself to bake her own recipes. She is a dump baker. Whatever sounds like a good idea. She does well. These were plain muffins for chili. :)

This is the way he fell asleep.

Isn't it adorable. 

This guy is great!  He played hard today. Nap was needed. :)

Shifting

For many years I've wanted to figure out how to do this parenting thing. And be a good housekeeper. I couldn't figure out a balance of chores and play and school. It was not fun or easy. It wasn't working. I did fine with 2,3,4 children. Then my pregnancy and nursing with Malachi changed everything. It was rough. Really rough. We either had a clean house or a really messy one that was craft littered. Neither worked for us. Both were stressful. 

   But the last mth we have had a clean house and lots of fun. Many crafts and school. And mostly fun. We have a system. It is really working. Even though I had 6 sick children since Friday afternoon. My house is still mostly picked up. We have a load of dishes to do. And the girls room needs a little work. But it is really not messy. And I'd not be embarrassed at all to have any company. ( but wait a few days.. We are not yet fully healthy after this bug. It was a rough one. But if you are really brave. Or maybe stupid come on over. I'll give you some chicken soup. And pray you don't get sick. ;) )

    The children argue less. And create more. They get jobs done faster. I am not totally sure what all changed things. But our house is flowing. I am focusing on art more. And the children do so well cleaning up afterwards. 

    Right now 5 children are making items from a great baking clay Joelle made. I'll post a recipe later. It is really nice. Bakes up hard and doesn't crumble at all. Not sticky to work with. We are loving it. And one is painting handmade cards with a watercolor set. 

     Time is more available. We all have plenty of time to follow our interests. And can keep up on the house. Except for mopping. I'm bad at that... Just don't look down please. ;)

Tonight

Tonight the diffuser has thieves in it. 

Tonight we all feel terrible. 

Tonight everyone has an empty bowl. 

Tonight I pray we get better sleep. 

Tonight I pray for healing. 

Tonight I hope for empty bowls. 

Tonight I'm glad it isn't worse than it is. 

Tonight I am thankful for our Lord Jesus. 

Latest quilt project.

I was waiting to post this til they received it. And I am pretty sure they have. 

Joelle,Rhyyan and Lilley helped me make this. It was fun until blocks vanished... And time seemed to be running away from me. But we pushed thru. Made replacement blocks. And finished with time to spare. 

    Rome is a friends son. He is 6. And is going in for a surgery November 12th. I can't imagine my 6 year old facing this. We are praying so hard for them. This quilt has a few of his favorite things on it. The Forrest, ocean ( I really wish the first ocean block hadn't disappeared, Joelle had done fish, jellyfish, seaweed and more. If we ever find it we plan to send it to him as a pillow) bunnys, and we included what we hope looks like Romneya poppies. A white California poppy he was named after. And part way thru we realized we could do 6 of things for his age. 

   It was fun. I like doing projects with the children. You lose ability to have things 'just right' but you gain quality time and they gain great learning in sewing etc. soooo worth it. I'm thankful. And I think it turned out ok. We like it. 

    That was the 5th quilt we had a part or a whole in, in the last 2 mths. So we have moved on to other things. We are currently done with quilts. I think. ;) currently knitting has taken my interest as well as Rhyyans. Her a scarf and me a hat. I just finished one. Third way thru a second. And then I have one more that I am hoping to do before I lose interest. I'm good at that. ;)

Painting

We are low on paints right now. So I let them make one color at a time. 

They started out making nice designs. 

And quickly it became a goal to cover the board. They had so much fun! 

And today the board is dry. So they can paint the other side or paint over this. Yeah! Reusing craft mediums! My fav!

Yesterday

Yesterday was full of crafting. And laundry... But ignore that. Crafting. It is fun. Laundry isn't. But it is nearly caught up! Above Rhyyan was starting a paper mâché piñata. She loves making these. This one will be used when friends come at the end of the month. The girls have grand plans when they get here. They are some of our dearest friends. 

Cards and coloring the pumpkin. Boys joined in. But I guess I missed their picture doing it. Oops

Lil has a story to go with each picture she makes. That is my favorite part. :)

Begging?

And here they wait for treats.... I haven't figured out how to deny them yet...

When girls get ahold of a camera...

Missing these two. Love them both so much!

Root chips! 

We made beet, potato, sweet potato (all from our garden) and yucca root. Yucca was yucka. The fall roots are bitter.oops

Thin and crispy. So yummy. Great dinner. ;) ok we added in leftovers too. But nearly free food! Bought the coconut oil and propane only. Love it!

Cedar cone fire starters.

I have started this...

http://omelay.blogspot.com/2010/03/sourdough-bread.html

Moving slow as I am pushing it to be enough starter. I need a larger crock. But we are excited. Soooo ready for yummy bread!

Getting sourdough going again

Oven is fixed and working well. So I started a nice sourdough a couple days ago. I will be making bread tomorrow if I can fit in. But I am so excited!

Great day today.

Long day too. But blessings in every corner. I need to start carrying my phone again. I don't use it as a phone. But I can take pics with it. Been saying for mths I need to do that though. 

   Took care of animals and got children ready for church. Forgot to get Patrick and I something to eat though. Oops. 

   Church was awesome. Zach's dad and several siblings made it to church. So we had a big prayer time for them. And then another prayer time for many other issues. With a little preaching in between. It was a great blessing. No one is going thru as much as Zach's family right now. Makes my heart ache. He moved out of the ICU today. Again. Praying it only gets better from here and he regains his weight, strength and mobility. Guillen barre is a nasty thing. And is terrifying. Watching this makes other issues seem so small. But they aren't too small to pray about. Church was just so encouraging. Wish I had been warned to bring more tissues. ;)  our God is mighty. And he cares for us. Hallelujah. 

    We also got to get hugs from some very special people I love. They are missionaries in Ecuador. I miss them so much. She is wonderful. And her wisdom and grace amazes me. She is gifted. And is someone I pray is blessed as much as she has blessed. A great woman to look up too. She points it all back to The Lord. She was only here for a week with her husband. But we saw them twice. I am grateful! 

    Then we met up with a dear sweet couple we call Uncle and Aunt. They are neighbors (yes they moved to Tennessee. BUT they still count as neighbors for us. Their house is still here and we love them too greatly not to call them neighbors... Rabbit trail...oops.)  anyways they are neighbors great uncle and aunt. And the drove in just to see us today. They are so sweet and we were so blessed to see them. So giving. She retired many years ago. Yet still works 50 hrs a week doing home health. They are a feisty couple. Married nearly forever. So wonderful. Wish you all could met them and get a hug from them. No one could not like them. No one. 

    From there we headed out to a birthday party. It was originally supposed to be a girl party. Then grew to be lots of families. It was so fun. We saw friends we rarely get to see. They had games. 3 headed race. ( like the three legged race. Only with 3 people. ) apple bobbing, wheelbarrow races, and more. Chili feed and western was the theme. So the night ended with a nice hay rack ride. 

   But once we got home our motion sick girl, Lil,  got sick. And our Judah had a fever. So we canceled our going outta town plans for tomorrow. Which is a bummer. But Mondays don't seem to be the best day of the week anyways. Plus friends are. Coming out to get the horses tomorrow also. So house cleaning, school and friends tomorrow. Maybe even some sewing. I need to get sewing done...

  Full full day. But so nice. Felt like a blessing allll day. Long. Thanks to Jesus who planned our footsteps. 

Our horses..

Once upon a time we decided to try and be horse people for our girl. But we aren't horse people at all. So thunder and lightening are moving out Monday. Poor thunder also loses his studlyness that day as well. Poor dude. 

   But we are thrilled. C is so excited to get them. And we are excited to put out less money in feed and hay. And the pasture will last longer for Fawn. Now to get the neighbors to remove their horse... And sell off the goats. 

   My homestead is shrinking all around. But we are cow and chicken people. I adore and love goats. But I love fruit trees more. ;) 

   It has been a good week. A bump in the road started it off. But it has been full of daily fellowship. Sometimes twice a day. So wonderful! 

Soft pretzel baking...

In crazy picture order. 

Momma! Take my picture doing this!

Always adorable he is.