Life goes by so swiftly. The days turn into a month, the months into years, and the years into decades. Life gets full. We fill our times with tv, shuttling the kids to and fro, the Internet, and so much more. At the end of a day, many of us have had many hours where we could have accomplished so much more. This is a real challenge with desiring a simper life from what is common.
Family is our core. God is our cornerstone on which our lives need to be built, and for which we desire. Second to that is our marriage and then our children.We have to make a point to have family time. SO much can get filled into our time slots. Good things, but maybe not beneficial things. Simply by lessening our physical belongings we have freed up time as we no longer have to care for them. By moving to a smaller home, the same thing...more time.
For me, living more simply has afforded us the opportunity to be with each other. The very best benefit. Our expenses have also lessened. We cut our home payment by $500 a month, not to mention the power bill is dramatically less. We moved to the city, lessening our gas bill by what I would guess is perhaps $400 a month. That is a benefit.
Working together is also a great benefit of our family being our top priority. We get to care take our home together, rake leaves, all those good things that our kids need to learn and we need to do. We had to cut out some, and all for a while, of the activities our kids were in. I was worn out & they were going, going, going. I still feel guilt over that at times. But busyness cannot be substituted for time, quality time that is. I know my kids. I know them very well. They have time to be kids...to be "bored" and therefore create and use their imaginations. My marriage is strong, because of God's grace, and the time we spend together. Time I cannot take if I am caught up in too many things.
The last benefit I will mention is that of crafting for others with your time and talents. To bless others. I can buy someone a gift (and I am a big gift giver! I think it is so fun and I so enjoy shopping!) but if I craft a card of encouragement for someone, lend a listening ear, bake for them, clean our home, invite someone over for fellowship, or any manner of things, I give something of myself, something that is sometimes deeper than just a gift off a shelf. That is a blessing to almost everyone, when you give of your time and talents for them, with no strings attached.
Friday, December 30, 2011
Breadmaking 101
The aroma of freshly baking bread you crafted with love and time waifing through your home, the warm melt-in-your-mouth buttered roll filling your families tummy's,...there is not much better in life!
I began making bread years ago. I read about it and tried it. I was pleased with my results overall. I continued my baking on and off until a few years back, when I began baking breads much more often. I studied more, and thought I had done pretty good improving. Little did I know! Then I watched a video with The West Ladies. I thought it was pretty stuff I knew as I knew the way to bake breads (pride before...), but I gleaned so much from the simplicity of their teaching and technique (...the fall!). It was the beginning of my skills really improving to a much better end product. I gleaned from lots of other sources also, but their talent of making it homey and not just scientific was a blessing. Now years later, I am still improving my ability, but have been able to provide my family and friends with lots of yummy bread.
I am going to share some things I have learned below. (I do recommend that you try to get the West Ladies dvd. They have a series on dvd on many wonderful homespun creations.)
1) No bread machine is ever needed. I've never used one.
2) You don't have to kneed. You can kneed it a few times in the bowl, or just jostle it with the mixing spoon or fork and you get wonderful bread!
3) Rolls are easier for little hands to manage and leave fewer crumbs. I make a pan of them to munch on.
4) You can put your dough in the fridge and use it for about a week. Pull out what you need when you need it and then you have freshly baked bread with little hassle.
5) You don't have to panic if you miss the rise of the bread. It will re-rise. Over and over! In fact, we have found that it gives it deeper flavor this way. I try to deflate it myself if I won't be getting to it for a while, but if you are out and can't get to it, no worries. (to note: don't leave dough with egg out...)
6) If you are in a hurry....turn on your oven for a few min, to get it warmed. Turn it off and place your bread in there to rise. Turning on the light to the oven helps to add warmth also. Add extra yeast if you are in a big hurry and it will rise quickly.
7) I butter the tops of my bread when they are hot out of the oven. It makes them glisten and softer.
8) Fresh bread molds much faster than store bought! Don't bake 6 loaves and think they will last two weeks on the counter. No preservatives!
Happy Bread Making and Baking!
I began making bread years ago. I read about it and tried it. I was pleased with my results overall. I continued my baking on and off until a few years back, when I began baking breads much more often. I studied more, and thought I had done pretty good improving. Little did I know! Then I watched a video with The West Ladies. I thought it was pretty stuff I knew as I knew the way to bake breads (pride before...), but I gleaned so much from the simplicity of their teaching and technique (...the fall!). It was the beginning of my skills really improving to a much better end product. I gleaned from lots of other sources also, but their talent of making it homey and not just scientific was a blessing. Now years later, I am still improving my ability, but have been able to provide my family and friends with lots of yummy bread.
I am going to share some things I have learned below. (I do recommend that you try to get the West Ladies dvd. They have a series on dvd on many wonderful homespun creations.)
1) No bread machine is ever needed. I've never used one.
2) You don't have to kneed. You can kneed it a few times in the bowl, or just jostle it with the mixing spoon or fork and you get wonderful bread!
3) Rolls are easier for little hands to manage and leave fewer crumbs. I make a pan of them to munch on.
4) You can put your dough in the fridge and use it for about a week. Pull out what you need when you need it and then you have freshly baked bread with little hassle.
5) You don't have to panic if you miss the rise of the bread. It will re-rise. Over and over! In fact, we have found that it gives it deeper flavor this way. I try to deflate it myself if I won't be getting to it for a while, but if you are out and can't get to it, no worries. (to note: don't leave dough with egg out...)
6) If you are in a hurry....turn on your oven for a few min, to get it warmed. Turn it off and place your bread in there to rise. Turning on the light to the oven helps to add warmth also. Add extra yeast if you are in a big hurry and it will rise quickly.
7) I butter the tops of my bread when they are hot out of the oven. It makes them glisten and softer.
8) Fresh bread molds much faster than store bought! Don't bake 6 loaves and think they will last two weeks on the counter. No preservatives!
Happy Bread Making and Baking!
Little Home, Little Housekeeping, Little Posessions
So after our move from 2400 to 1000 sq feet with 4 kids and two indoor dogs, I found a beautiful thing. My little home requires much less housekeeping time! I can mop, sweep, and clean all needed things in a matter of an hour, not hours! It is great! One potty to clean...that is a good thing. It does require a bit of tidy keeping, but that is true in any home.
When we moved we sold, donated, or just got rid of probably over half of our possessions. All that we owned (aside from our appliances & one bed) basically fit into a little storage pod...like the pack rat or pod. ONE of them for our move was all we had. That was a big, big ,big downsize. We move a lot so I am constantly thinning out, but this one was the biggie. I had to decide what was important. What I wanted and what we needed. (TO NOTE: I am not a minimalist. I like my home to be cozy, warm, and welcoming. I like pretty things, unique things, and totally un-purposeful things.In fact, I think those things are needful for our hearts and minds!) I had to let go of a lot of things I had paid a pretty penny for. But in the end it had worked out beautifully. Our home is unique, eclectic, and we love it. In fact we really like it more that the decor in all of the new(er) and bigger homes we lived in. Simplicity. It is a beautiful thing!
When we moved we sold, donated, or just got rid of probably over half of our possessions. All that we owned (aside from our appliances & one bed) basically fit into a little storage pod...like the pack rat or pod. ONE of them for our move was all we had. That was a big, big ,big downsize. We move a lot so I am constantly thinning out, but this one was the biggie. I had to decide what was important. What I wanted and what we needed. (TO NOTE: I am not a minimalist. I like my home to be cozy, warm, and welcoming. I like pretty things, unique things, and totally un-purposeful things.In fact, I think those things are needful for our hearts and minds!) I had to let go of a lot of things I had paid a pretty penny for. But in the end it had worked out beautifully. Our home is unique, eclectic, and we love it. In fact we really like it more that the decor in all of the new(er) and bigger homes we lived in. Simplicity. It is a beautiful thing!
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Hawks and Chickens...Very Bad Combo!
Today as I was preparing to make lunch, I looked out over our back yard...and I saw a dreadful site...a hawk with it's glorious wings spread over our beautiful brown chicken. Thankfully my husband had just gotten home, so after seeing me get all my feathers ruffled, he bounded to the back yard! We were able to rescue our chicken, and were so sad to realize that another one was missing...apparently the appetizer for the hawk. After some looking, and some tears from our littlest child, we were delighted to find our brown chicken was actually not as harmed as we had feared. In fact, it appears she is just fine! We watched the hawk sit and watch us. We looked in our many neighbors yard to see if our other dead chicken was there, or if the hawk had dropped her alive. It was not, so after getting the hens settled back into a locked inner coop within their pen, we set off on how to protect our gals from future attacks.
We ate lunch and I was feeling a bit gloomy...my kids each named their chicken...and we had no plans to eat these chickens, they were for eggs only, though we did say maybe in the future we would consume them. Now one child's was lunch for a hawk, or so we thought. Our yard is sparce, not much place for a hen to hide aside from the coop and ONE very small shrub. We have planted many things since we moved in, but they have not grown to a large size yet. So after we ate we went to talk about covering the chicken pen...and my husband gave the neighbors yard one more look over our 6' wooden fence. He was trying to get a view of a neighbors yard that was blocked by their shed and looked in the one tiny shrub that was in our yard in the corner...and much to our delight~it was Flour, our large white chicken! She is such a fun gal, and completely unharmed! It was such a blessing to not have lost one!
Living in the city affords us a lot of opportunity..like few raccoons and other animals that prey on chickens. We have a friend who has lost over 20 chickens to such things, as he lives in the "woods". But we got a good challenge with this Hawk!
So now we are going to cover our gals about 10' x 22' pen with plastic netting. That will allow them to get light and air, but keep the hawk away. Their coop is fenced on all sides, but it is too small to keep them in for their good health. We were having our hens in our yard (which caused so much damage, but they could hop their fence~another story!) so this solves two things...no more escapes into the yard and will keep them safer.
I do fear this upset will cause our hens to not lay. A huge bummer as they began only about a week or two ago laying! Time will tell.
We ate lunch and I was feeling a bit gloomy...my kids each named their chicken...and we had no plans to eat these chickens, they were for eggs only, though we did say maybe in the future we would consume them. Now one child's was lunch for a hawk, or so we thought. Our yard is sparce, not much place for a hen to hide aside from the coop and ONE very small shrub. We have planted many things since we moved in, but they have not grown to a large size yet. So after we ate we went to talk about covering the chicken pen...and my husband gave the neighbors yard one more look over our 6' wooden fence. He was trying to get a view of a neighbors yard that was blocked by their shed and looked in the one tiny shrub that was in our yard in the corner...and much to our delight~it was Flour, our large white chicken! She is such a fun gal, and completely unharmed! It was such a blessing to not have lost one!
Living in the city affords us a lot of opportunity..like few raccoons and other animals that prey on chickens. We have a friend who has lost over 20 chickens to such things, as he lives in the "woods". But we got a good challenge with this Hawk!
So now we are going to cover our gals about 10' x 22' pen with plastic netting. That will allow them to get light and air, but keep the hawk away. Their coop is fenced on all sides, but it is too small to keep them in for their good health. We were having our hens in our yard (which caused so much damage, but they could hop their fence~another story!) so this solves two things...no more escapes into the yard and will keep them safer.
I do fear this upset will cause our hens to not lay. A huge bummer as they began only about a week or two ago laying! Time will tell.
Stay At Home Mom
I have chosen to be a stay at home mom. Actually, I chose this long before our first baby came to us. I quit my job a few months after we married due to the commute. Then I did work two jobs for a while in the few years after that, but just for months at a time, so they really don't count! I have to note that we did not have a lot of money...in fact I guess many would think we were on the lower tier, and I guess we were. But God is good and it all worked out! It was great because it set us on a one income path from the start. Going to work was not really ever an option. It amazes me know.... I really don't feel like we have to do without, in anyway. We desire the simpler life. To us that means it is all about family, serving the Lord, using our time to create special memories for others, giving in various ways, and supplying for ourselves as we can from the labors of our own hands. It is like the old saying...Posses the possessions, don't let them posses you!
Chicken Keeping & Dogs with Chickens!
Chickens are a big craze...loads of people have them now, even those like us that dwell in the city. Laws are generally favorable, just check your local ones before you start! We can have as many as we desire here, but chose to start with 4 teenager birds, all girls. We value the neighbors we have and a rooster, though legal, would be a pain to them!! We prefer to keep the peace where we live and be respectful.
We got our girls from a chicken breeder (is that what they are called?!?!) Apparently due to the move & the adjustment, our girls waited about 5 months to begin laying, vice the two they should have taken. Chickies take about 6 months to begin laying if you get a baby.They are lovely creatures, but have managed to escape their spacious coop and tear up our newly landscaped yard....repeatedly! So we are still deciding as to how to handle that situation.
We began our chicken keeping by ordering a coop...it was expensive. If I had it to do over again & the time (we were moving,remodeling, and my husband was away on his job for 6 months in the time surrounding ) I would build one of some type. I am happy with what we have though. This spring we plan to get some baby chicks for our hens to raise.
I have found chicken keeping very easy and inexpensive. They have consumed about one round of feed (a bag of layer & a bag of whole corn) over the 5 months. We also feed them veggie scraps, fruit scraps, some oats (I just pick up a can at the grocery store when on sale and feed it to them from time to time) and oyster shell. The oyster shell lasts for a very long time....with just four chickens, I think that we our bag would last for two years, at least. We have changed to cracked corn and a grain mix in addition to the layer since they have begun to lay eggs. They have gained a lot of weight and all of our eggs have been intact (no soft shells). They are pretty easy as far as day to day care goes also...we clean the coop when needed, change nesting box material when needed (not too often), and they have a hanging feeder for the layer and two waterers. We just give them a toss of the grains about every day.
Our dogs (a beagle and a morkie) would get a little intense with the chickens at first. But after several months and some chats with the dogs, all is peaceable and we can even leave them all out together. We had to watch and correct the dogs for a while when the chickens were out.It was a bit of work, but worth it to have all the creatures live in tandem. If in doubt, do not allow them to be together. Once a dog kills a chicken, you have harder issues to deal with and that will upset your hens...thus hindering egg production, which can last for months. Give it time!
We got our girls from a chicken breeder (is that what they are called?!?!) Apparently due to the move & the adjustment, our girls waited about 5 months to begin laying, vice the two they should have taken. Chickies take about 6 months to begin laying if you get a baby.They are lovely creatures, but have managed to escape their spacious coop and tear up our newly landscaped yard....repeatedly! So we are still deciding as to how to handle that situation.
We began our chicken keeping by ordering a coop...it was expensive. If I had it to do over again & the time (we were moving,remodeling, and my husband was away on his job for 6 months in the time surrounding ) I would build one of some type. I am happy with what we have though. This spring we plan to get some baby chicks for our hens to raise.
I have found chicken keeping very easy and inexpensive. They have consumed about one round of feed (a bag of layer & a bag of whole corn) over the 5 months. We also feed them veggie scraps, fruit scraps, some oats (I just pick up a can at the grocery store when on sale and feed it to them from time to time) and oyster shell. The oyster shell lasts for a very long time....with just four chickens, I think that we our bag would last for two years, at least. We have changed to cracked corn and a grain mix in addition to the layer since they have begun to lay eggs. They have gained a lot of weight and all of our eggs have been intact (no soft shells). They are pretty easy as far as day to day care goes also...we clean the coop when needed, change nesting box material when needed (not too often), and they have a hanging feeder for the layer and two waterers. We just give them a toss of the grains about every day.
Our dogs (a beagle and a morkie) would get a little intense with the chickens at first. But after several months and some chats with the dogs, all is peaceable and we can even leave them all out together. We had to watch and correct the dogs for a while when the chickens were out.It was a bit of work, but worth it to have all the creatures live in tandem. If in doubt, do not allow them to be together. Once a dog kills a chicken, you have harder issues to deal with and that will upset your hens...thus hindering egg production, which can last for months. Give it time!
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Homesteading Inside~Breadmaking
Homesteading can mean lots of things to lots of folks. To many, it basically means being self-sufficient and providing as much as you can for your family via your own labors & getting back to the simple life. We wanted to have a farm, but as life often goes, sometimes we can't have what we want when we want it! Several years ago we found ourselves with our homesteading urges, but no real ability to have large outside projects. So we had to look inside. I have baked bread for years, so it was a good place to start.
We decided to purchase a Mill to grind grain in. That gives our family a more nutritious bread and we get to be more involved in the production of our food. {If you are interested check out Pleasant Hill Grain online for mills and grain.} It is nice for our children to see that the bread flour that we have bought at the store is nothing like actual grain that is ground. And we can now have fresh grain ground daily for a nice loaf of bread if we so desire. This was our first major financial investment in homesteading. It might work that one day we can grow our own grain...that would rock! But for now we buy it in 5 gallon buckets and thru smaller quantity vendors.
There is something really great about providing a loaf of bread or pan of rolls to guests, kids, or yourself! Some honey bought from a local supplier slathered on a hot roll... it just does not get better.
It is a craft, and like many things in life the more you try the better you get! I would encourage everyone to try it at least a handful of time and you just might get addicted! And if you are an inspiring homesteader, you can easliy start with breadmaking.
Have a happy day!
We decided to purchase a Mill to grind grain in. That gives our family a more nutritious bread and we get to be more involved in the production of our food. {If you are interested check out Pleasant Hill Grain online for mills and grain.} It is nice for our children to see that the bread flour that we have bought at the store is nothing like actual grain that is ground. And we can now have fresh grain ground daily for a nice loaf of bread if we so desire. This was our first major financial investment in homesteading. It might work that one day we can grow our own grain...that would rock! But for now we buy it in 5 gallon buckets and thru smaller quantity vendors.
There is something really great about providing a loaf of bread or pan of rolls to guests, kids, or yourself! Some honey bought from a local supplier slathered on a hot roll... it just does not get better.
It is a craft, and like many things in life the more you try the better you get! I would encourage everyone to try it at least a handful of time and you just might get addicted! And if you are an inspiring homesteader, you can easliy start with breadmaking.
Have a happy day!
Adjusting to our Little House & Homesteading
Life is full of adjustments...anyone over the age of 2 knows that! We have been going thru a new one...our move from 2400 sq ft to 1000. I was most concerned about two things...privacy and going from three bathrooms to one! I had maintained that the move would not begin to take place until the new addition containing a bathroom was at least on the drawing board, especially because we have 4 gals and 2 guys in our family. But much like we humans tend to do, we fret when all works out okay in the end! We are now all cozily settled into our Little Home, and now I know that we don't need any additions or major modifications.
We are want to be homesteaders, however, being a military family, moving frequently has been somewhat of a hindrance! Each move brought excitement and new terrain, but not the land nor the time we thought we needed. Nearing retirement, we are choosing to just take a risk and go ahead and do as much as we can. It might work out that we never reap the harvest of all our labors, but the learning and trying are a big part of the experience.
After 8 months in our home ~it is on a 5 lane road in the city~we have had the delight of our children running outside to eat fresh raspberries off the vine, have garden boxes, and in our fridge sits a basket of eggs that our chickens have provided us.
I hope to share with others things we have learned, ways we have learned to make a small home work for a large family, both functionally and for the heart and mind. It was a dream that we had wanted for years and now we find ourselves in it! We have a long way to go!
We are want to be homesteaders, however, being a military family, moving frequently has been somewhat of a hindrance! Each move brought excitement and new terrain, but not the land nor the time we thought we needed. Nearing retirement, we are choosing to just take a risk and go ahead and do as much as we can. It might work out that we never reap the harvest of all our labors, but the learning and trying are a big part of the experience.
After 8 months in our home ~it is on a 5 lane road in the city~we have had the delight of our children running outside to eat fresh raspberries off the vine, have garden boxes, and in our fridge sits a basket of eggs that our chickens have provided us.
I hope to share with others things we have learned, ways we have learned to make a small home work for a large family, both functionally and for the heart and mind. It was a dream that we had wanted for years and now we find ourselves in it! We have a long way to go!
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