Blessings From Home

Final Storm Preparations & Oh Yeah, The Ants Were Right!

{ Posted by amanda }
{ 07:13, Friday, September 5, 2008 } { Posted in On the Homestead } { 4 comments } { Link }

Family & Friends~

It seems that Hanna is heading our way. We are now under a Tropical Storm Warning/Hurricane Watch. The forecasters say that we should "feel" the brunt of the storm during the early morning hours of Saturday.

I like it much better when these kind of storms come in during the day. Just listening to howling of hurricane force winds with no lights on in the house is a scary experience.

We won't evacuate for this storm. We'll ride this one out. We made it through Fran with 120 mile an hour winds. Hanna's winds are expected to stay between 65-75 mph. We feel safe enough where we are and that's about 45 miles from the coast.

Now, that other storm out there, Ike, looks to be a different storm altogether. If that one keeps up its wind speeds and heads our way, we will be evacuating. We live in double wide mobile home and know that winds in the excess of 120 would tear our home apart. Sweet Lord, please keep all of us safe and in your hands!

Here goes the list of the final preparations:

Wash all clothes
Bake some brownies (hurricane comfort food)
Clear the yard of all debris
Put up all of my hanging baskets
Clean the house (I do that all the time)
Get ice and fuel (hubby is taking care of that)
Fill tubs & washing machine with water (for flushing toliets)
Precook extra meals to be put into the coolers for dinner if power goes out
Make up extra gallons of tea
Get radios fitted with new batteries

I really should have paid more attention to those ants that invaded my home earlier in the summer. They really are a sure sign of a hurricane in our area. They have ALWAYS shown up in the house, everywhere, before hurricanes come. I should have listened to hubby. (Read my post about the ants from earlier this summer. Trust the ants people!)

Please keep us all here in southeast NC in your prayers. I know that The Lord is in control of all. I just get a wee bit apprehensive when these storms come our way.

Bless all who pass this way and for those who are in the path of this storm, stay safe!

Amanda <><
II Corinthians 5:7

The Wheat "Harvest"

{ Posted by Farm Wife }
{ 09:50, Friday, September 5, 2008 } { Posted in Show and Tell Friday } { 15 comments } { Link }

Our sweet Mary hosts Show and Tell. Click the graphic to join in on the fun!

For those of you who are keeping up with our little wheat project, we harvested our trial plot this past week. Took about . . . 7 minutes. LOL
Here are a couple of pictures and a parable "come to life."

Yep, this is it. Our entire wheat crop for 2008:

Here I am using the latest in harvesters: a pair of scissors. We stuffed the wheat stalks into a big garbage sack for hauling to the West Side for threshing (another S&T sometime).

Look what I found growing in with the wheat! Boy, was I surprised!
Wheat on the left; "Tares" (AKA weeds) on the right.

I found these "tares" (weeds) around and mixed in with the wheat, but no where else in the area. Explain THAT! (It reminded me of the weeds in my corn patch that look just like baby corn plants). They looked exactly like the wheat stalks until I looked closer and discovered they are shorter and the "heads" are not really heads, but fake. Amazing! The parable of the "Tares mixed in with the Wheat" took on new meaning. For sure you wouldn't want to try and pull them up while both are growing together. But now? When we thresh (AKA whack) the wheat, there will be no wheat grains from the "tares" and they'll end up with the empty stalks of wheat to be "burned" (well, not really. We'll compost them). But the idea is the same.

Benefits of the new day and perspective

{ Posted by Amy W }
{ 1:17 PM, 2008-Sep-4 } { Posted in Homeschooling } { 0 comments } { Link }

And so dawned a new day.
Thankfully yesterday is but a pale distant memory.
Add snicker here.
Well, it’s enough of a memory.
Today was a much more FANTASTIC 2^nd day of school.
I thought to try my schedule for Mr. Conductor one more day before trying a revamp and I’m glad we did.
Today was great. We did everything on the schedule and had so much fun together. Plus we were done in 45 minutes and he was off painting his latest masterpiece with his new watercolors while I worked with the girls. In order to work without much interruption with Mr. C, I assigned Sassafras to read one of her assignments to herself rather than doing it with her. It went well.
The only blip is that it seems I have misplaced one of Maiden’s grammar books. I didn’t do the frantic search like yesterday- just a quick one- but fruitless all the same. We decided to make it a matter of prayer and pray that it shows up within the next day or so----- or my memory becomes equally clear as to where I may have put it . . . . . .
That could be a bit of awhile.
No matter- today was a good day. We enjoyed our learning, had great discussion and just plain fun doing it.
It is my hope and prayer that we have many more days like today than days like yesterday.
To do that one needs to have perspective.
Perspective.
It starts with me- if I wake up in a lousy mood it’s a pretty safe hypothesis that we’ll have a lousy day.
If I sleep in and don’t get up ahead of the children and have my coffee and quiet time . . . . . well, it’s just not good, people.
Today could possibly have gone down yesterday’s road if I’d let it- what with the missing grammar book and all that.
But it didn’t.
It was icing on the cake to have Mr. C do so well- but I was also prepared to let him run off if it was necessary.
There is only so much one’s sanity can take.
I continue to learn that even in the small every day stuff it is necessary- no VITAL, for me to go to God’s strength first and not go “own my own”. I work with the children to make it a habit to commit our day to the Lord first and ask Him to help us to accomplish all that He desires for us today.
We are never suppose to go it on own strength and then go to God when we’re burned-out and strung-out, gasping for air and begging for mercy. That’s backwards. He is our strength even in the mundane day-to-day-ness of each 24 hour period.
He’s my strength when we’re just starting the day and we’re eager to crack our books and get started.
And He’s my strength when I’m juggling teaching 3 school levels and the doorbell chimes along with the ring of the phone.
He’s my strength when we stretch one meal to two- including leftover for Mr. Steady’s lunch.
Just as He’s my strength when Mr. Steady takes the wrong container of leftovers to work and it throws off the dinner plans.
He’s my strength when Mr. Steady and his brother take turns driving to work to both economize on gas.
And He is my strength when Mr. Steady reveals to me that he put the spare tire on his car because one tire was so bald he thought it would blow-out.
Amazingly enough- I have no idea what kind of strength I will need for each day but I do know this---
What I have on my own will never be enough.
Not ever.
And so being the ever practical sort- I find it best to lean on and invite God’s strength at the beginning of each new day.
Sure I’ll still have those bad days- those Oh-I-just-want-to-go-back-to-bed-and-start-over-or-just-skip-it-and-sleep-through-it days. I’ll have those days when I “forget” to commit the day to the Lord and ask for His strength to lead me through.
And I will fall completely flat on my face.
Good thing God makes each day new.
Thank you Lord for the chances and opportunities each new day brings.
Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and forget not His benefits. Blessed be the Lord. Who daily loads us with benefits. Psalm 103:2, 68:19

Thursday

{ Posted by Shan (Sweetie) }
{ 03:01, Thursday, September 4, 2008 } { 0 comments } { Link }

Today has been a better day. I spent the morning reading Scripture until I had quelled the stress I am thinking by not focusing on what I need to do and let go of the rest to God. I emptied the clothes that have been in baskets in 3 locations in the house and started through them. First, to sort out what needed to be washed and donated, for wrong sizes or needs. Then to particularly do the towels and sheets, for nothing is nicer than coming home to freshly made beds and towels after a long day. Then daughter baked popovers and they were not only tasty they were pretty such as were in Little Women. I love their steamy goodness with honey. Now I am taking a break as there are still 4 loads or so to do and they are sorted on my kitchen floor. We homeschooled from 12-3 and that worked well for us today, so we got our chores done in the morning after my reading time.

I live in an urban area. I am a modern wife, mother, but the longer we are here, the more I realize I need to focus on being me, his wife, and their mother, and let the rest go. We're not jetsetters, nor weathy, nor do we wish to be in competition for anything....and the sooner I learn to be content in my own life the better.

Tonight is Dh's birthday. It will be a quiet night at home, but how thankful I am to have him and to know he's not in Iraq nor Kuwait this birthday! God is good!

Of bad beginnings

{ Posted by Amy W }
{ 7:42 AM, 2008-Sep-4 } { Posted in Homeschooling } { 3 comments } { Link }

And so it begins.
We have officially begun our 3^rd year of homeschooling.
The girls are studying early American History and Mr. Conductor will be spending these first 9 weeks studying about farm life.
We successfully completed our first day back to school.
I say successfully because yes, we did complete everything for that day.
Other than that it wouldn’t rank real high on the Success-O-Meter.
In fact, we all agreed it was the worst First Day we’d ever had.
Everyone sprang out of bed, got dressed and started school.
Breakfast was behind because the special First Day Coffee Cake was taking extra long to bake. In hindsight I should have offered them a mini-pre-breakfast treat.
The first 2 hours went well. The girls were rolling right along- Sassafras was almost completely done and Maiden had knocked out quite a bit of schooling. Mr. Conductor was, however, deciding that my version of school and his were not compatible and promptly left the table after completing half of what I’d planned for the day. He was disgruntled and let me know it.
Then Sassafras went to get her reading book (that she’d taken off the school shelf last week to get an early start on) and could not find it. We then spent the next 45 minutes tearing apart the bedroom in a desperate and ultimately futile search. Now, the book was found- but not in the bedroom—instead it was found after the room was purged, sitting back on the school shelf with a very nice bookmark proudly saluting me. The book search and subsequent bedroom purging did not improve my mommy temperament- in fact it did quite the opposite. Sass was suppose to have cleaned etc. her room and an initial quick inspection made it look like it was- but then our searching upheaval- which included taking off her mattress and setting her bed on its side, lead to a gi-normous hidden cache of miscellaneous (and some forbidden) stuff. And I use the term stuff lightly. That 45 minute search included 1 large trash bag, 3 boxes for the temporary storing of stuff and the hauling upstairs of the vacuum cleaner for a total clean sweep.
And so- to find the book pristinely sitting on the school shelf after I’d threatened with the Mom Voice demanding repayment and retribution for items found in the cache was completely unnerving and did not bring the sweet relief it would have had it been found sooner. After that harrowing 45 minutes and me sitting there in my dirty, nasty- sweaty disgust, well let’s just say it was a bit hard to get back into “school’ mode.
And yet-
We did finish and I believe we were all relieved.
Very relieved.

Granny for Daughter

{ Posted by Miss Bee }
{ 10:15, Thursday, September 4, 2008 } { 2 comments } { Link }

Chas wrote a Granny Square Tutorial today on The Front Porch, and so I thought I would do a show and tell of the Granny Square afghan that I made for daughter's birthday this year.

Do you like it?

If I could Turn Back Time........

{ Posted by Paula }
{ 09:32, Thursday, September 4, 2008 } { Posted in Homestead Happenings } { 2 comments } { Link }

That song has a new meaning for us. As I have spoken of before, our home was built in 1890 with an addition added by 1910. In living here, Joe and I have often talked about the remodeling that we would like to do.

This morning, the remodeling discussion took on a whole new turn that I am very excited about. Last week, 2 of the 5 circuits in our electric box went out. We have had no electricity in the kitchen, other than the 220 outlet for the stove. The refrigerator is being run temporarily by having a heavy duty extension cord run from another part of the house. The only other electricity that we have in the home is in the laundry & bath which share a circuit and the dryer which is on a separate 220 circuit.

This has been a very eye-opening week. We have found that we don't need the electricity as much as we thought. After the first 2 days, no one has missed watching TV. That brought us to this morning. I had 2 oil lamps lit and placed on opposite sides of the room. Joe came in, getting ready for work, and noticed how much light those lamps provided. He was surprised to see how well they did are providing enough light to do what needed to be done. That was when he made the comment that changes everything. Instead of replacing the circuit box with a larger one, we are going to wait another 2 weeks until next pay day. If we are still finding that we don't miss the electricity, then we are going to a small circuit box. We will then be putting electricity in only 3 rooms of the home.

Kitchen: In our kitchen, we have an electric stove (220 volt circuit) that I use when the weather is too hot for using the wood cookstove. We also need a 110 circuit to run the refrigerator.

Laundry: In our laundry area we have our water heater and clothes dryer that share a 220 circuit. There is one plug and we simply plug in which ever appliance we are needing to use. We also have a 110 outlet for the washing machine. We will keep these, but he plans to add a second 220 outlet so we don't have to switch out the dryer and water heater. If they are not being used, we can unplug them. They will each have their own outlet however for the times when we do need both to be used at the same time.

Livingroom: This room will have a single 110 outlet to have available for the computer and my sewing machine. The computer is a necessity since we will be using it as an income resource. Eventually, I will have a treadle sewing machine, but until then the electricity will be needed.

This weekend when he makes a trip to get supplies, Joe will be buying a few more oil lamps and oil. Making this change is a huge step for us. It is one that we are finding to be easier than we would have thought a few years ago. As time goes on, we will likely find we can use even less electricity. In the meantime though, this step alone is bringing us closer to the time when we will easily be able to manage our electricity needs with only a wind power system.

The clothes dryer & washer are appliances that are seasonal. Whenever possible, I will be hanging the laundry on a clothesline to dry. Days like we are having right now when it is raining, the dryer will have to be used. The washer will be replaced with a wringer type as soon as we are able to do so. While I still am wanting to hand wash as much as possible, I am being realistic about the arthritis in my hands and planning ahead.

We will always have the option of adding another circuit box later if we find that we have need to do so. I am very optomistic however that it will be unnecessary. It seems that the more time we spend doing things the "old way", the more we realise the modern ways are not as essential as we would have believed them to be.

Eventually, we will be using a wind-power system to provide our home with the electricity we need. Cutting back now on our usage will be a good preparation for that time. The size and type of system we use can be adjusted to fit the actual need.

Musings...of Autumn?

{ Posted by HandsNHearts }
{ 09:36, Thursday, September 4, 2008 } { Posted in Women of the Homestead } { 3 comments } { Link }

You know, in just a matter of a handful of weeks now, Autumn will officially start.

Yes, I know I do this every year.

I get rather melancholy this time of year. Every year it's the same thing. September begins and I start thinking with excitement about things like

combines harvesting the fields,
fertilizers being spread on those large farmsteads,
cooler evenings,
the surprise of a cool breeze during the day,
air conditioners being used less and less and windows opened with softly blowing curtains around them,
apples ready to harvest,
pumpkins starting to perk p for picking,
leaves slowly beginning to turn all those magnificent colors of deep rust, brighter red, rich orange and brilliant yellow,
the gathering of firewood for that first lighting of the woodstove,
those wonderful autumn smells...ever notice how pies and breads just smell so much better, so much more homey during the autumn than they do in the summer?
the starting of school and those big yellow buses rolling along the lanes early morning. No, my children aren't riding a bus, but there is just something that touches my heart and says autumn, in a nostalgic sort of way, about those yellow buses on the road after a summers' absence.

There are preps being made everywhere it seems...
folks are finishing off larger portions of their gardens and clearing them for a winter rest,
chickens are growing and seem to know time is limited for gathering those bugs and greens before the snow flies,
barnyards are freshened and hay mows filled with the last of the hay harvest before winter.

There are just smells and actions that speak autumn all over.

But, it's a bittersweet time for me. I miss all those things I've just mentioned. I know it's all a state of mind, really, but I have not been able to wrap my mind around a changing of seasons since moving here. Everything stays so green...and so wet...this time of year around us. I can pull out the autumn colors in flowers and garlands to decorate the house and give an illusion of autumn, but it's just not in my heart. I am just too wrapped up with seasonal changes.

Yes, I have so many friends here in the South who would argue vehemently that there are changing seasons here, and there is a definite autumn. I guess my trouble is, I only know one kind of autumn in my mind. It's the only one I've ever known. It's hard to change a vision that is ingrained in a nearly-40 year old mind.

So, this weekend, we are going to try to bring autumn to the homestead. I am gathering the fall fabrics to tuck here and there on a table, along a bookcase and near an oil lamp. I'm putting up a simple garland of flowers...all those beautiful rich tones I so love this time of year. We will be doing our evening devotions with the lanterns lit instead of the regular lighting...sort of creating that cozy feeling that autumn brings with it.

My eldest daughter says that's fine...as long as I don't crank up the a/c so we all have to don sweaters and thick socks to really bring that feeling of autumn to real life!

Granny Square Tutorial with Pictures

{ Posted by HSB Front Porch }
{ 09:50 AM, Sep. 4, 2008 } { Posted in Craft Day } { 4 comments } { Link }

Alright my friends, I am going to attempt my first EVER sewing tutorial!

I told you that I was taught how to make a granny square while I was on my Ladies Retreat. It was so much easier for me to learn from the ladies teaching than it was for me to look at a book and try. The picture quality is not wonderful, I just saw some of the pictures I took last night, but hopefully you will get the hang of it as easily as I did and you will be turning out some beautiful squares as well!
If you are a Newbie to Crochet HERE is a site to help you with basic stitches, you will see me refer to several in this tutorial... Chain, Slip Stitch, Double Crochet.

Step 1: Chain 5

Cool, you got that! Alrighty we are on our way!

Step 2: You want to turn that chain into a round so you will go to the first chain and slip stitch...

Now we have our center, we will build on from there! Woohoo!

Step 3: Chain 3

Here we are building out from the center and we will begin making a larger circle to build on from here

Step 4: Two(2) Double Crochets and chain 1

Alright, here we are in process of making our circle, so what we are going to do is we are going to double crochet 2 times and then chain 1. The chain will make the space we need to help us along in future steps...

Step 5: 3 Double Crochets and chain 1 (3 more times) slip stitch to complete the circle

Now we have a circle!! Yippee... but wait I told you we were making Granny Squares right? Ok, bear with me we will get to the square in a minute.
So to make sure we are cool to this point, counting the first 3 chains as one DC (double crochet) you will have 4 sets of 3 double crochets with one chain in between.... clear as mud??

Step 6: Chain 3 and then double crochet 2, chain 1, double crochet 3 and chain 1 in the same hole

If you will look at your round you will see 3 double crochets and then a hole/space in between each set of 3. This space is where you will go into to make your next layer or sets of 3. Does this make sense... I am trying!

What you are doing now is building your edges... we can't make this granny square stay a circle any longer, we are going to put some corners on it!

Step 7: Look for next hole, double crochet 3 and chain 1~ 2 times in each hole. (You will do this in each hole till you meet back up with your first set. This will form your first square. Slip Stitch to complete the square and now you are ready to build on.

Step 8: Chain 3, double crochet 2, chain 1

You will notice that there is now a hole between each of the four edges, you are going to do almost the same thing in each hole... meaning you don't want an edge you just want a set of 3 dc's to fill the hole.
So dc three times and chain one and move to your edge.

Step 9: Double Crochet 3 times, chain 1, Double Crochet 3 times, chain 1 in corner hole.

Again, you are making corners for this square, you should be catching on to a pattern if I have successfully portrayed this to you. So in each of the corners you are making 3 dc's, chain 1, 3 dc's, chain 1. Simple!

Step 10: Slip stitch to join the square together

Step 11: Finish out your next layer of the square the same way as in Steps 8 and 9, the only difference is you will find 2 holes in the in between each edge this time... no big deal just dc 3 times and chain one in each.
***REMEMBER, your first chain of 3 counts as your first dc in your first set.***

Step 12: All the way baby... go all around just as I told you, come together again, slip stitch and tie off your end.

The lady who taught me only does 4 layers, but of course you can do more if you like.
Now you want a bunch of these... so get to it!

I don't have nearly as many as I would like to have had done by now, but remember I am teaching myself to hold the crochet needle/hook in the proper way, so I am SLOW JOE right now.

Once you get several made you can do all kinds of things with them...
Make them into an afghan by stitching them together, make potholders out of them by putting several layers together on top of each other and stitching, use them as coasters, make a pillow cover, make your dd a doll blanket out of a few... whatever you like.
I hope you enjoyed and understood my attempt of spreading the knowledge that I received this past weekend. If you see a mistake, feel free to email me or message me and I will change it, and now go get your yarn and your hook and go for it! If I can do it YOU can do it!

With Love From My Homestead to Yours,
~Chas~
Chasity L. Burrell
Senior Editor Homesteadblogger
Heritage Acres Farm

A Gift of Remembrance

{ Posted by Miss Bee }
{ 09:43, Thursday, September 4, 2008 } { 0 comments } { Link }

My Aunt sent me a photo last night --

She's going through all the old pictures and making an album for each of her children for Christmas. this one included my brother and I. My mother and my aunt are eight years apart and yet each had a son only two weeks apart, and then a daughters five months apart.

This was all so much a part of my childhood and memories that I actually cried last night when I opened the picture. I guess I'm getting a little old.

My brother and I are on the right.