fabraholic

~Women Professing Godliness~

Update on Us: Oct 9th 2008

I shoulda, but I didn't

do anything with the last of the tomatoes today.  We picked them and pulled the vines a few days ago.  Hubby has mowed the garden and is working on the tiller to get it all worked up for the winter.  Anyway, the tomatoes were top on the list for today, but I seemed to find enough other things to do all day.  I really wanted some more canned and now that I have them, I can't seem to make myself get to them. Why is that?  They are not real nice, most very small and some have bad spots, so I think I will make juice out of what I can salvage now.  It will NEED to be done tomorrow as we will be gone all day Saturday.

We will be going to an exotic sale Saturday, it is held near here 3 times a year.  We always enjoy it, you just never know what might be there.  We do not plan to buy much.........famous last words, I know.  The only thing we are really looking for is a couple of doves.  We got a really neat big cage this spring and have not gotten anything to put in it.  Usually things sell really cheap at the fall sale as folks are thinning out before winter, so it is a good time to buy if there is something we need. We don't have anything to take to sell this time either.  We are going to take the last puppy we saved from Sophie's litter and see if we can give her away.  We intended to keep her, but just do not need one more dog to feed.  She would make someone a good farm dog and we want her to go to a good home!

I spent the afternoon redoing the fence in one of the goat pens.  I only started out to take out a gate and replace it with a cattle panel.  Well, all of it was in need of some fixin up, so ended up changing out the walk in gate and redoing all of the T-posts.  I also started to enlarge their pen on the other side, got a couple of panels up, but decided to wait to move the rest of the fence............this old lady was getting tired!

We got the last freezer cleaned out this week.  Well, it wasn't defrosted like it should have been, so I should say straightened out.  It was sad to throw out all that needed thrown out, but it had to be done.  Some things weren't marked or dated and some were just old.  There is a bunch of misc. meat that I will thaw out and give the dogs along. We are doing a much better job now, always marking and dating before putting anything in the freezer.  I am much more aware of the importance of keeping up with that job recently.  One of the freezers is empty for the winter and all cleaned out, so we have it turned off now.  Hubby stocked up on ground beef yesterday before he went to Farmers Market. 

Market was very quiet yesterday, it is winding down for the year.  I am glad the one I have here is over, I enjoy baking, but the pressure every Friday gets tiring. 

Yesterday was  our Grandson's 15th birthday, Happy Birthday Bodhi.

Today was another perfect fall day here, I wish I could order about 2-3 months more of them so I could get everything done outside I want to and need to get done!

I am tired and ready to head to bed.............Good night to all.

Country Blessings,

Marilyn~at Heritage Hill Homestead

Anyone know where Christine Duncan is ?

Wordless Wednesday

UPDATE on the chicken killer

Living Green Can be Simple

Does it ever confuse you why green living can be so complicated? Some practices are almost a deterrent from incorporating this into our lifestyles. I have found that I desire to use green practices, but not at the cost of sacrificing my simple life practices. But there is one good thing that keeps me from feeling guilty, simple living often incorporates green living by its essence. Having less, means less garbage, less waste, less cleaning products to care for stuff, less time to care for stuff, less stuff to replace, etc. But how can you do more when you are already struggling to incorporate my simple living practices into your life?

Be thoughtful before you purchase an item. Do you need it? How will it affect the environment and now and in the future? Will there be continuing resources to purchase with using the product? Is there an environmentally friendly way to do this? Some products are now environmentally friendly due to companies making it easy for you. Refillable items, sold in recycled easily disposable items that are poured into a permanently re-usable dispenser are a great example of this. Technology companies often offer an easy method to recycle items such as ink cartridges and batteries by including prepaid envelopes to send the old and empty containers back to them in.

Wash your clothes in cold water only. This completely eliminates the heating of water. I have not found any significant difference in the cleanliness or stain removal of our clothing. I have not used warm or hot water for years. Once you get into this practice, if you have to purchase a new washer, you can often save money by purchasing a model that has fewer options. Additionally, with cold water I have noticed that I can use significantly less detergent to clean a load of laundry.

If at all possible, try carpooling for different activities. Even if you can’t use this practice every day, try finding ways to incorporate carpooling one or two days per week. You will save money, and be able save the environment at the same time. When you can’t carpool, consider sharing errands with a friend or neighbor. If you and a friend both have a designated errand day, that fall on different days, call each other the night before to ask if the other needs anything. This will help eliminate the need for you to make an extra trip out for some forgotten, but needed item for you AND your friend. This saves, time, gas, and emissions!

There are lots of ways to being incorporating green practices into your life style in a simple way. As with other simple living practices, don’t wait, and get started today, with just one idea that you can change this month!

These are my thoughts.

Leslie Valeska

~Contributing Writer~

Leslie Valeska is the lucky wife of Thomas.  With children ranging in ages from 4-16, she has had a lot of time to learn and experience much of the fine art of homemaking.  

For FREE daily tips and a FREE E-zine on simple and frugal living visit her blog Journey to Simplicity. Need a source of encouragement, inspiration, and support on your journey to Godly womanhood? Visit Simple Journey Ministries (she has a FREE E-zine too!) Of course, don’t forget to visit the Simple Journey Bookstore!

Check Out this Greenhouse!

Little House and the Big Garden posted these great pictures of their new greenhouse, go check it out!   They did a good job, and I know it will be a blessing to their family.   I am definitely showing this post to my own husband for a little "inspiration" .  The greenhouse that a friend "donated to my cause" was in such bad repair that it wasn't worth salvaging, which was very disappointing.  Perhaps we just might find room for one of these somewhere in our new yard. 

There is a link in the post to the book they got the plans from for my fellow book-lovers, too! 

Blessings,

Catherine

Making Apple Cider Vinegar at Home

Kristin Hoffman homesteads with her family in the hills of East Tennessee and blogs about alternative energy, family farming, and home schooling with her husband at www.solarfamilyfarm.com. She can also be found cooking in the kitchen with her homemade apple cider vinegar.

a dad gum war zone around here is what it looks like

Yesterday, to my horror, I found 3 dead chickens in their pen.  This morning hubby found 6.  We have thought and thought and looked and checked over the chicken yard high and low. No signs of entry whatsoever.  The only clue is that hubby says he's smelled the faintest hint of a skunk late at night and early in the morning for a few days.  So we started looking at how a skunk might could get in.  There was a small space around the top between the roof and the top of the coop wall that we boarded up.  The only chickens that have been killed are the little bitty bantam Mille Fleurs.  We only have 3 hens and 2 roosters left.  Only 1 of those is from the new batch we hatched last spring.  I'm sad and so mad I could cry and then cuss.  11 chickens total dead within a few days.  I don't think a dinner out on the town is gonna make me feel any better.