Post from 2012- The chicks are coming!

Sorry for the fuzzy picture...
Oh my gosh! I was so tickled to see 8 little guys swimming around in they're shells out of 9 that I put in the incubator is AWESOME! I was amazed and of course I'm a big sap, so I was teary eyed! I'm such a nerd.

I even texted my family to let them know they will be Aunts and Grandparents to a few feathered chicks. HAHA! Thank goodness my family tolerates my silliness!

So, praying everything turns out alright with these little ones that we will have a new flock of little one's running about soon! Now, of course I have an itch to try another breed if all turns well with these little ones.

Of course the girls are doing a wonderful job with laying eggs. So far, production is at 4 eggs a day. I never realized how often I do not eat eggs! They are piling up rather fast in the fridge! I hear a baking day coming up in the next day or so.

My canning adventure was fun and a neat learning experience. I almost hate to pop the jars open because how pretty they look! We have spaghetti sauce, salsa, pumpkin (Which my darling Sister Amanda did for me), Acorn squash, stewed tomatoes, and a few other things. I am glad our garden is small this year for the practice. BRING ON SPRING! I'm already itching for next summer!

Our harvest went well considering the garden size and I was pretty pleased with it!

From June 2012 to September 2012

Acorn Squash- 12

Watermelon-10

Pickles- 2 lbs

Cantaloupe- 2- I was disappointed at that number

Roma Tomatoes- 1lb

Beefsteak Tomatoes- 2 lbs

Cherry Tomatoes- 1 lb

Corn- 10 ears

Popcorn-

Hybrid corn-

Broccoli- 1 lb

Cauliflower- 2 ½ lbs

Turnips- 8

Radish- 6

Zucchini- 12

Strawberries- ½ lb

Kale- 1 lb Rabbits/Chickens

Carrots- 6 mini

Green peppers- 2 lbs

Leaf Lettuce- 1 lb

Pumpkins- 14

Cabbage- 3 heads Cabbage worms- Chickens loved them!

Gourds- 50+

Herbs various- 2 lbs

Potatoes (Yukon Gold/Red/Idaho)- 1 lb

Onions Variety- 2 lbs

Garlic- 6 heads small

Peas- ½ lb

Green Beans- ½ lb

The game plan is to expand and plant more and space out the plantings better. We were blessed to have some free veggie plants at the end of June but they didn't fit so well in the garden and it was like Melons Gone Wild in the garden! Not to mention the pumpkins had a mind of their own. 

It was fun! On occasion a very happy chicken would fly into the garden and nibble on something yummy but for the most part a lot of insects and moths made homes in much of the cabbage and some other veggies. I'm pretty pleased! 

 

I sold enough of my pumpkins and watermelons to make my seed money for them back! YEA! Really anxious for next year! Did I say that already?

Over due super old posts

November 2013! From our www.redrumhotel.blogspot.com

Since last posting, we had added ducks, guinea hens, an adorable set of bantams but we have lost many of our feather flock due to coyotes, foxes, hawks and not sure what else! We do currently have 12 chickens and many have them (Blk Astralops) have been gifted by my sister- Ms. Amanda! A neighbor could not keep one of his Americuna roosters so we got one that we all Bruce! The Django and Hilde were added to the mix but Django was taken by a hawk recently and Hilde appears to either fell to her death from a rafter or froze during a bad cold snap a few weeks ago. We felt horrible! Mr. Buttons did recently get added to our mix! He is an adorable chihuahua!

I snagged a job again earlier this year and I was unable to do as much as I did last year. Terry is "Mr. Mom" and has been working on Aquaponics, Wind turbine and some really neat home projects.

I have dabbled in educating myself with different canning recipes, "Cowboy Jam"(via the amazing Jen Cox), watermelon rind pickles, Green pepper/Jalapeno jam, Apple pie jam to name a few! OH! Our apples came in like crazy! We had Mulberries and Raspberries too! We invited many of our neighbors, friends and the public to pick apples and there is are a bunch!

Terry is going to finish a small green house shortly before winter really hits us and he has been a guru at repopulating our chicks! Honey next year! We left the honey for the bees to winter over and I got to tell you that I am super excited for next season.

Next season will have a bigger garden, with more herbs, corn, variety of beans and more!

I also started schooling myself Reflexology and Energy work. Do I hear any volunteers for a foot rub? Learning and training to become a Reflexology practitioner will help out greatly in our household. I had a great seminar that taught the basics and it was just enough to make me dangerous! I continue to learn about herbs, making my own lotions, salves and healing  concoctions. Also crystals for healing, I have always loved rocks and crystals!

Terry was awesome enough to take me to Michigan to go to Gypsy Soul Retreat a few weeks back. It was a weekend trip and a blast! Hoping to go in Spring but it's a we will see thing. All in all life is good. There are some dark times (Those are saved for www.hopewhentherewasnone.blogspot.com).

More to come! Stop by and visit coffee is always on! Also our little vintage/thrift sale will be back next year with new stuff and great buys. But if you need a gift on the fly feel free to call me and I'm happy to open up for you!
God bless!

We're moving!

***Old post! We have since moved to our forever home!*

It's been so long since I have been on here. My poor blog!

It's just due to plain laziness! A bunch has happened since I last wrote. The long and short of it:

We had to get rid of Blue as she killed all but one of our chickens. We have been through at least another few dozen or so since then. Unrelated lose from a Fox, Hawk, Raccoon and Owl. We also added and subtracted Guinea Fowl, Bee's, Rabbits and my Ducks.

We had disheartening news about our small farm we are renting a few years back. The news was a bump up in our rent and the probability we would not be here longer than 5 years without some kind of interesting change. This meant a big change to our dreams of a mini farm/CSA/B & B and other plans.

This took the wind out of our sails and we switched gears. I went back to work for Republic Services as a Customer Service Representative. I loved my co-workers! They made every day tolerable as the daily workload and customers could be brutal! You never knew what the day would hold! I would dread going in. My PTSD went crazy. I had ticks, twitches and panic attacks. My stomach was on fire!

It is not too surprising many of my fellow workers are on anti-depressants or alcohol to help a unwind at the end of a intense day. It's pitiful! I never realized how hard that job would be. 

It's time Spring! Come on!

My seeds have finally sprouted, they are doing wonderful! They promise our family, food, an occassional "Oh or Ah!", a bit of income and a plan to store their goodness as the weather turns cold again.

Re-capping last year:
I loved canning! I enjoyed learning how to do it, enjoyed the bounty of a job I did with my 2 hands! OK a down side was that my back did hurt from standing so long at the stove or prepping them to use. I love gardening but my sciatic was killer!

All in all that was a small price to pay for happy faces, popping open a can when I had forgotten to "buy" a jar of spaghetti sauce or salsa.

I'm going to do it more!

Bees coming soon! We added ducks and a few more chickens. Terry is now Mr. Mom and I started to work outside the home. He is really digging the whole experience.

More to come! Have a happy day!

2013 Goals

Read my Bible- At least 1 chapter a day- 1 book of the Bible a week
Pray more often- Get a prayer journal or notebook
Spend more time with my Love
More 1 on 1 time with my Lil' Squeezes
Play! Family game night
Read my daughter's stories
Exercise (3 to 5 times a week) Trouble right now since my back is out
Drop 10 lbs- I have been doing it backwards, I gained 10 lbs :(
Practice Self Defense
Practice shooting (my gun~ I do have a permit and need this for in case my ex comes too close)
Learn Archery
Learn to fish (I hate worms so this will be a big thing for me!)
Learn to gut something we catch
Rent a antique spot for all of my cool stuff!
Buy some storage units
Plan our garden
Order seeds
Order Bee's/Take Bee class first! (See a Dr about an Epi pen in case :) )- I did order them and they are arriving on 4/20! Also joined local Beekeeping group!
Order Buck-eye chicks
Order Lamb (s) *See my friends Mom about raising and other things
Take lots more family pictures!
Craft more! Finish my PH D (Projects Half Done)/Sew clothing! Finish crocheting my blanket!(A lady from church has been teaching me the stitches!- I am doing really good on my blanket, it's about 2 ft long now.
Take a First Aid course- DONE!
Create a new vision board-DONE but still working on it here and there
Plan my Mom's herb garden
Tape my family history (Grandma)
ACTUALLY read books off my growing bookshelves and sell after I read or just sell others- Read 4 books- 2 were library books. READ- The 7: Seven wonders that will change your life- Glenn Beck,
Killing Kennedy/Killing Lincoln- O'Reilly, and Little House on the Prairie.
Write my story!- Still working on this one. I have had a hard time writing it due to the emotions it brings out. I have had a reporter do a story on me recently and a dear friend did allow me to write a short bio about me too!
Make Cheese/Yogurt
Pay off- Kids school book fee's/ Pay something on my student loan (Medical Assistant that I still didn't find a job doing~ GRRFACE!)
Do something off my Big Bucket list!
Learn electrical and woodworking!
Camp out side with the wee monkey (in the yard)

Sustaining your family

An amazing news on the status of many friends right now is a foreboding or feeling of impending incident that is on the horizon. Some could be the after effects of disappointment on politics not going as planned but what if it's more?

In many of the blogs, messages and even on Pinterest I have seen a surge in prepping or become self sufficient. This is a topic that I have been interested in for sometime, which in some respects has kept me quiet about the subject due to opinions of others that I could be a religious nut (which to some level I am), in a cult, radical or militant (No gun hoarding here!).

So where do I fall? I believe in preparing for the uncertainty of the times we are living in. Whether it be from crazy storms or economy collapse or a future war (Oversea or on our soil). I see no reason that one shouldn't know simple ways to get along if the power goes out for the weekend or longer.

I have wrote on Preparedness in older posts, check out my Labels!

Where do you start?

The easy stuff-
Candles/Lantern
Matches
Flashlights
Extra batteries
Spare clothes
Easy to prepare food
Battery operated Radio/Hand crank NOAA Radio
Hand crank for cell phone
Blankets
Child needs
Womanly needs
Water
Gas/Kerosene/Lamp Oil
Generator
First aid kit
Can opener

The longer the outage or problem on top of the above items you may want to add other things.

Check out your local library/thrift/antique shop for books on:
Homesteading
Living off the grid
Prepping
Herbs/gardening
Canning
Farming
Small scale/backyard farming
Blogs
Pinterest- OH MY GOSH SUPER ADDICTING. Watch for the time warp. I swear I lose hours drooling over the ideas that I will never do. BIG CHEESY GRIN!

Call local Extension Center, State Park, Boy/Girl scout (kids) for information outdoor skills, canning or survival. Don't break the bank these things! Start small! Buy a few extra canned goods or dry goods a week if you can swing it. Start canning all year around when produce/meat is on sale. Look to yard sales, rummage sale/thrift/antique stores to find things you needs. Freecycle.org is great to find things and to also get rid of the clutter in your home.

I can't see paying hundreds or thousands of dollars on some of these homesteading/survival seminars. Educate yourself. There are a ton of blogs on these subjects! Network in your area with like-minded folks. Be safe and keep aware of local and world wide events once in a while.

Now as long as it's not zombies we are all good! Joke around here. My biggest fear, besides my ex, is zombies...

God bless!

Mel

Back in the saddle again!

Boy oh boy! I have felt so BLAH for so long it's pitiful! Now I run between this blog, my hopewhentherewasnone blog, littlecriesandlullabiesdoula and redrumhotel blog. And I have been neglecting everything lately. No excuse really. Just have not felt like doing much of anything.

But I have made Rose water (which I forgot to put in the fridge and it molded DUH!), Oil of: Oregano, Rose, Lavender, Orange, Lemon, Cinnamon. Also, Coop refresher (Lavender/Peppermint), and 6 Quart jars of Apple Cider Vinegar. I also canned several things over the summer!

I did propagate my African Violet and made 3 little plants a few months ago! YIPPEE!

Call it a pity party for me, but sheesh already, I'm tired of feeling tired!

So! Today I-

1) Surfed the web- a horrible habit and my addiction to Pinterest is way too crazy!
2) SSSHHHH!- I wrapped a few gifts I have been collecting here and there.
3) Went outdoors to muck out the chicken coop... and checked on the new meat and 2 hens also the eggs I have incubating (my last batch was sad and out of 9 only 2 hatched but died SAD FACE!) Cleaned they're cage too!
4) Checked on the new additions to our bunny hutch! Jess's bunny birthed 2 little one's yesterday.
5) Started domestic stuff- Laundry, dishes
6) Started dinner- Chicken chili and Cream of Potato soup (Panera copy cat)













7) Broke open my Sewing machine and repurposed 3 T-shirts into bags, repurposed a kitchen towel into an apron for Mini Man and made a bread bag. Now I'm itching to do more! I see an Owl of some sort in my future!




















I feel more accomplished today. A few projects out of the way.
Planning on a few more smaller ones perhaps tomorrow.
Keep your fingers crossed!