From Mess maker to Homemaker

I've been busy trying to absorb all the daylight I could while we had it. Well, really just absorbing rain drops, but at least it was light out while it rained:-) We had one of the coldest summers in history up here...only 2 days above 70 degrees. That is really rediculous and scary for me because of the lack of light. I'm bringing in as many of my plants and things as I can to help things look more like sunshine inside.

I'm not going to try to catch up all in one post because that would be more like a book. I'll just start from today. Isn't God awesome? I have a new bible study book called Balancing the Sword that is so fabulous. I love it because it doesn't tell me what to think, it directs me to compare scripture to scripture and gather what God thinks. I was a little apprehensive because I lacked confidence to be able to think my way thorough all this without commentaries, but God is so very faithful. I'm learning so much about His Word. I'm going to start going through it during our bible time in the mornings with the kiddos today. I'm so excited to see what we learn and discuss.

We have 2 new foster kids. They are both boys and have found a mighty special place in our hearts. Today is fs2's birthday. Should be a fun celebration. He turns 3. It's been a very long time since I planned a bday party for a 3yo. It is so fun!

Meg's 15th birthday is in a couple of weeks. Yep, I'm old enough to have a 15 year old. I dont' feel that old...when did that happen anyway? Her party is this weekend and it is going to be so fun for her. I dearly adore my daughter and am so thankful to have her around. We are having a sleepover with several of her friends and lots of games, food, and movies. Should be a great time! I even really like Meg's friends. What a blessing to have a daughter who wants to serve the Lord, and who has friends who want to do the same.

Dusty and Cam are also doing awesome. Dusty has been working this summer and has saved to buy himself a truck. We are getting it today. It was cheap and is a fixer, but he's got 2 years to get it all fixed up before he'll be driving on his own. Boy, does he have big plans! Cam is a little bummed because fishing is about done for awhile. Things will start freezing up soon and we'll have to stay off the water until December sometime. He and Gene are hoping to take the boat out this weekend for the last time before we put it up for the winter. He still talks about the ocean trip we took. I'm so glad that worked out.

On the homesteading front, lots of new news. The addition is coming along. My bedroom is mudded and we'll  hopefully texture tomorrow, primer on Wednesday and paint Thursday and Friday. Lay the carpet this weekend and move in??? That would be so awesome! The other bedroom will need to follow that schedule as we will only rent a carpet stretcher once. Guess we'll be busy! It will be so nice to have more space. 2 bedrooms for 7 people is just crazy! I'm tired of the couch.
Guess it froze last night, so the garden is officially finished. I'll pick the rest of the peas to give to the horse and chickens. The pigs and chickens will be butchered in a couple of weeks. Oh, I almost forgot, Gene is getting a goat! He's always wanted one...we will pick it up this week.

Guess I did try to catch up some. That's what 's new around here. Enjoy the pix of the garden! I didn't do much for lack of sunshine but we do have green beans and carrots coming out our ears, more lettuce that we could possibly eat, and peas to beat the band. Can't complain...

God Bless you, my online friends!

Tan

HI JEANNIE

Okay all you lower 48'ers. You're being a bit selfish and I'm asking you to share a little of the warmth with us Alaskans, please. We've only been to 70 degrees a couple of times...and unfortunately, May and June are typically our nicest months. I hope this doesn't mean that we don't get any summer. Please, Please...share! :-) See, we get way too much winter to have a year without summer. I don't think we could bear it if we can't get stocked up on our vitamin d. Then there's the problem with the garden...see, it won't grow without sunshine....even if we do have 24 hour daylight. When the daylight is behind clouds, it really doesn't help:-(

Okay, enough on that subject...All is well here. I do have a question or two to pose to you-all.

1. I would like to use less ziploc bags and more containers. But, I don't want the made in China cheap plastic containers, and I have very little money to spend. I've been saving jars from spaghetti sauce and other sauces. Have any of you ever wrapped a sandwich in waxed paper? Does it stay fresh? I do reuse bread bags from when I buy bread. I'm just looking for some cheap and creative alternatives.

2. Do any of you work from home? What do you do? I really don't want a sales job, but I'd love to do just about anything else. I waitress at a local cafe and have off and on for several years, when I'm needed. They are getting ready to relocate and it would be at least an hour drive for me. So, that won't work much longer. I love waitressing, but I have noticed such a decline in the number of customers..I assume because of the economy. I'm not making near the money I used to anyway. I do have a couple of side things that help. I am a raw milk coordinator for the area. What that means is that I pick up everyone's milk and earn mine for free. I also sell extra eggs so my chickens can pretty much pay for themselves. I also have a small vitamin business, but I have such a hard time selling. I know how much the vitamins help me and I love to talk about it....but only if people show an interest. I also tell people how to find things for cheap or free so they dont' need me, really. LOL
I need to work for another year and a half at least. My husband has just switched careers and is now an apprentice. He will get out of his apprenticeship program and get almost an $8 raise a year from November. We just have to hang on that long. I'd love to revamp the Alaska Railroad apprenticeship program to something that's more workable...but they don't ask me:-)
I would love to hear what you do to help your budget. I have cut back in every way possible, so just saving won't do it. Really, Gene's wage is way low...we qualify for lots of public assistance but I'd rather work. Any suggestions would be fabulous! There are tons of work at home ideas online, but I don't have the time or money to weed through the scams. I just want to know of things that are tried and true.

THANKS for the input!

Tan

Today I'm taking Cam fishing! We're going to Big Lake/Fish Creek. The littles and I will play at the park some, too. I really have a hard time playing with my kids or taking the time to take them to do something they really enjoy. But I am willing to work on it. My reward was seeing Cam's face when I told him that we were going fishing today. It doesn't get any better than that. Guess I'd better work the horse, too since Meg is gone. I'm sure not very good at that. She's way more brave and skilled than me. I am looking forward to a horse that doesn't need worked or trained. Just an old plug who takes me on trails and back without any excitement.

I better go...need to make bread and jam before we go. Have a blessed day,

Tan

Yesterday, I called the guy we get our hay from to see how long it would be before the hay is ready. I admit, I had alterior motives. Since we can't afford hay this year, I was also calling to see if we could work off some of the hay. He was thrilled! He has some work needing done and would love to pay us in hay instead of wages. How do you like that? God's providing so I'm not worrying. Well, I'm trying not to worry.
We also have to come up with an extra $1100 in July. Since we barely have enough every month, I was pretty worried how that was going to happen. Gene and I worked on the budget and made a little room but certainly not that much. The good news is that we have already gotten $300 saved up by selling some things we didn't need anyway. We'll get my in-laws paid off in plenty of time. What a relief since this has been a real thorn in their side for the last couple of months.

Cheesemaking was really fun. Oneida and Pam were our instructors and they are a real hoot. We made cheddar, mozzarella, and cottage cheeses. It really seems pretty easy. And it is SO GOOD! And I have some whey in the freezer for bread!

I miss Meg and Dusty already. They are biking the Denali Hwy. They left last night and won't be back until Thursday. I hope they truly have so much fun! Letting go takes a conscious effort for sure.

Oh, there is one more new thing. The foster kids are leaving around the first of August. It will be hard, but I do think it is best for them. It sounds like they are going to a real neat family. We are all in agreement that we want to see them go somewhere safe where they will thrive, and that we are ready to let them go. It will sure be strange not having them around. They will be missed!

Today, Cam and I and the littles go get milk, make stuff with the rhubarb and whey, and clean house. Oh, and work this afternoon and evening.

Hope you have a blessed day,

Tan

Today I am hosting a cheese making class for the ladies in my milk co-op. My friend Pam will be instructing us on the finer points of cheese making. She said we will make Colby, Cheddar, Mozarella, and Cottage cheeses. Sound wonderful? It really should be so fun.

The rhubarb is ready for its first picking! Any recipe ideas? I've heard that rhubarb juice is wonderful so we will try some. If we like it, I'll make some concentrate and freeze it up. Then we can have a taste of summer during the dark days of winter!

My goodness, I had a mountain of laundry to do this weekend. I'm so thankful to have it about wrapped up. Should finish it up this evening after the cheese class. Then, the house is in pretty good order. I'll start on the kitchen cabinets next:-)

And my dear man and Cam started a new raspberry patch. My goodness, it looks great! We have 46 new red raspberries, and 23 goldens. Apparently we could have had more red ones from our little patch and my neighbor gave us the goldens and said she has more, too. We'll be raspberry wealthy! I'm sure the moose will love the new bushes!

Think that's about it. I'm going to go do my bible study. God has just been so gracious to us. I want to get my walk squared away this week. Friday and Saturday were some of the worst days we've endured in a very long time. But the good news is that we were able to look to God and see Him working all through the day.

Have a super blessed day.

Tan

I am just so thankful and thrilled with what's new around here. God is just taking such good care of us in such a personal way this last couple of months.

First of all, when I killed all of the plants we had been nurturing inside to prepare for the garden, God provided the funds to buy new plants. That certainly helped me to keep my eyes on Him. I was so sad at our loss...the fuschia I had wintered over that was blooming so beautifully, blooming tomato plants, Cam's huge corn and green beans which were also blooming...and more. But, the reality is, we had to rely on God to replace the plants for our winter's store..and He did! Everything in the garden looks great and it's all coming up well.

Then, we needed to purchase greenhouse plastic, Gene was offered some overtime. The OT he worked was just enough to buy all we needed for the greenhouse, inside and out. Perfect!

There have been so many other ways, too. It is so amazing how God works so individually in our lives. Homeschool curriculum, berry plants, gas for my car...it's all being provided as we need it.

****By the way, remember how I said I needed shelves for the utility room to finish up in there? I was able to move things around and empty a cabinet which was moved in there....AND, Dusty has some leftover wood that he doesn't need that he said he would turn into shelves. I'm overwhelmed.

So, I'm not going to worry about the extra $1100 that we need for July to pay back a loan from Gene's parents. We're going to work hard and rely on God to provide what we need.

Keep looking up!

Tan

Okay, on my last post, one of the things I said I would do is to completely clean the utility room. Well, I'm finally finished. Granted, there are a couple of things that still need to be done but they are not the things I've been proscratinating on for so long.

See, I am a master procrastinator. The things I have been avoiding are cleaning out my cabinets and organizing the countertop. I made a vow to myself  not to blog until I had it done. That way, I knew I couldn't put it off forever.

Ahh, it worked!

It is done! I still need to buy shelves to put on the wall to put the big things like the crock pots, pasta maker, and extra milk jugs on. But I consider the utility room finished because the jobs that are left are fun and relatively simple.

Now, I want to put in 20 entries to catch up on all that's happened around here! Hope you like to listen because I love to talk!

Tan

Today,  I join a challenge.

Jeannie over at Honey Milk Heirlooms has posted a challenge that is not only going to be profitable, but inspirational, too. It is keeping a Proverbs 31 Heart. She said to choose 1 or 2 categories, but I am already working on 3 so I will post them all. This is just so exciting. These are areas I am working on, but I never thought to post it here for accountability. Maybe if I get really brave, I"ll post pictures of my progress:-)
Okay, here goes:

For My Lord: This one really speaks to my heart. We've just been surviving lately without any vision or direction from our Lord. All of us. I've been able to read my daily bible lately and it is overwhelming to me how humanity works, and it scares me because I'm just like them. In Joshua, the Israelites were victorius. They were listening to God and following Joshua's leadership whole heartedly. Then in Judges, they started going off on their own. It says several times that they did what was right in their own eyes. Boy, that's me. So, I plan to keep reading and praying for wisdom. Looking to the Lord for my answers instead of my own notions.

Managing the Cleaning: I have 2 areas for this. First of all, I am committed to cleaning thoroughly the laundry room. This involves putting our heavy snow stuff in the crawl space and cleaning out the cupboards. I have some old canned goods that I need to feed to the pigs and make space for new this year. Everything will fit in there, but I have to use my space wisely. It will most likely be Saturday night before I'm through, but I know I can do it!
The second area is outside. There is so much to do out there, but if I can just get the strawberry beds cleaned up and the wildflower patch ready, I will be content this week. I think I can...I think I can...I think I can:-)

For the Family: We have decided to implement "date night" with each of our kids. One day per week, we take one of them aside for something special. They get to choose who they want to be with, either their dad or me, and they get to choose what we do. It can't cost much and needs to be somewhat close to home. We start with Meg this week. We'll see what she has planned! What I haven't told them is that while she is gone, we're going to do something special for her here. If she chooses to go with me, Gene and the boys are going to work on her horse trailer to continue fixing it up. If she goes with her dad, then the boys and I will snazz up her room. Should be a blessing to her. Weekly, this is what we will do with each of the kids. Then the 4th week, Gene and I get a turn.

Are you ready for a challenge? Link over here to check out Jeannie's blog and join in!
http://homesteadblogger.com/GypsyFarmGirl

Have a blessed day,

Tan

I am a waitress for a local cafe and our black beans are so so yummy:-) I would love to share the recipe for our black beans. You can eat rice and beans at the cafe for $5.00. It is super nutritious and so filling. Not often you can get fast food that is this good for you and so cheap and quick.

16 C. dried black beans

1/2 C. cumin

1/2 C. salt

1/2 C. garlic

6-10 quarts water.

Start with 6 quarts water and boil 2 1/2 to 3 hours or until beans are tender. Slowly add water as needed.

Simple, good for you, and so tasty!

Of course, this is a huge batch, which you can can in pint or quart jars for later use.

Have a super day,

Tan