Oaky With a Hint of Sophistication

It Was a Dark and Stormy Night...

Actually it really was. We have been in our new country place only about five months and experienced our first real winter storm. What a WILD night!! I couldn't believe the force of the wind out here. The man we bought the house from told us that when the wind gets going it's whips around the house like you wouldn't believe because it sits atop a hill. Boy, he wasn't kidding! The wind blew stuff on our property all over the place! I am amazed the power stayed on. That was a good reminder to get my fanny in gear and get together provisions for a power outage. I have many candles and dry wood for the stove, but we could use alot more in the way of emergency food and water. Our county is in a drought, so the rain is wonderful. I have been praying for rain and will pray for more. I will have to head down to see how the horses fared soon. We knew the rain was coming and cleaned the stall so our horse could take cover. He's such a knucklehead - he stood in the rain despite having a clean warm place to be. I'm sure he went in later though, because he is terrified of thunder. We had a fair amount of it last night - poor guy.

As, wild as the weather was, my oldest daughter and I decided to brave the storm and attend a candle making party/cookie exchange at our church last night. I will try and remember to post a picture of our cute little country church soon - it's SO charming and quaint. Anyway, we were taught how to make all natural soy candles. It was so much fun! I made two and my daughter made three. My peppermint scented candle is burning cozily on my desk next to me as I write. We decided with the ingredients we had on hand to take Cherry Icebox Cookies and Walnut Snickerdoodles for our cookie exchange contribution. We brought six dozen and ended up giving quite a few away to a gal who didn't have time to make her own. Even so, we came home with a ton for our family and plenty to share with my husband's uncle who watched the other littles for me. And, we made a pretty Christmas candle to cheer up his wife who wasn't feeling well.

Today, we will be finishing up lessons for the week, keeping the fire going (brrr), heading up to town for ingredients for a main dish to take to a Christmas party at our pastor's house tonight, then doing some cooking and tidying for the weekend. I looked on recipe zaar and found a recipe for a Sausage Ziti bake that sounded really good. Sounds easy and yummy. I may even have time to do some prep work for tomorrow's breakfast because hubby loves a big country breakfast on Saturdays .  Have a great weekend!!

Monday

The baptisms were really nice - there were more than a couple teary eyes. It was emotional in a very good way. My 14DD cracked everyone up as she sat in the baptistry, ready to be dunked - the pastor asked her if she had taken Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior and she exclaimed in an eager voice "YES SIR!!!". The congregation got a chuckle over her exuberance. After the service, my in-laws took  us out for a nice Sunday brunch to celebrate. It was a good morning to say the least. And, a family friend offered to have the baptisms filmed for family that was unable to make it.

As for today - we will be doing schoolwork and taking care of some household chores. The washing machine broke last week, so DH replaced it over the weekend, and the laundry has backed up quite a bit. Our firewood supply was replenished over the weekend, so we are ready for more cold weather. And, we found out that our broken washer was actually repairable after we bought the new one, so DH decided to hook it up as well after fixing it so we can have two washers running. That will be a boon to this large family. DH also arranged to have a neighbor weld two large t-posts for a clothesline he designed for me - so in the near future we will have increased drying ability too! Yay! Maybe the laundry monster will be defeated at last ;O)

Lastly, I hope to go down to see our horse (he is stabled at my husband's uncle's place next door) and just hang out with him for awhile. He is a sweet natured gentle giant (16.5 hands) who we are trying to rehabilitate. He is a three time world champion halter horse who tore his shoulder open and had to retire. We took him and are working with him to get him rideable again. Halter horses are apparently encouraged to grow quite large quite fast through super-nutrition, etc and I guess it can cause leg and foot problems when they mature (he is only five but seems to have some pain and a strange gait). We are relatively new to horses and are relying heavily on my DH's aunt and uncle's knowledge. We are also going to have him checked out by a very good equine vet in the next week or two. We are really looking forward to his input.

Better get to work! Have a great day!

Brrrrr!

It is getting chilly! Last night we had a wimpy fire (kindling issues) that just didn't cut it. So, when we woke up this morning our house was so cold! We are in an area where many folks heat their homes just with wood stoves (our house doesn't have central air/heat or any other means of heating).  We are used to just toggling a switch and setting the thermostat so this is a big adjustment! We have to really plan ahead - do we have enough wood? Have we moved wood to the porch so as not to have to traipse across the yard to the wood pile in the freezing dark? Do we have enough kindling (not last night!!)? We will probably get the hang of this just in time for spring ;O).

Today we are cleaning house. The pastor is due to drop by today or tomorrow as three of us are getting baptized this weekend. So, we have been busy sprucing up the house, detailing the kitchen and cleaning the entryway, porch and livingroom. It was so clean last weekend for Thanksgiving - how can it get so messy so fast!! The inlaws will be coming in on Saturday for the baptisms so we will also be deep cleaning a room for them to stay in.

Other projects today include cleaning out the ashes in the woodstove and putting the ashes on my new honest-to-goodness compost pile (woohoo!), overhauling the laundry room (my oldest son removed a really ugly counter in there and I am replaing it with a pretty white dresser to hold laundry essentials), and lastly my DS12 will be checking around doors and windows for leaks where cold air can come in so we know where to add weather-stripping.

Dinner will be hamburgers with all the fixings, baked beans and a green salad. That's what's going on around here - how about you?

Pleased to meet you!

We are a family of six who have recently made a big lifestyle change and have moved from the burbs to a rural homestead in the Sierra foothills. We will be journaling about our adjustment to our new way-of-life and hopefully learning much from our fellow bloggers.

To introduce ourselves, we are Christian homeschoolers. We have five dogs, four cats, a bunny and a horse. We like to garden as a hobby but are hoping to start growing much of our own food. We will be adding a flock of chickens in the spring and will likely buy a heifer as well. Over the last year we have tried our hands at various new skills in the interest of preparing to live the homestead life. We have added knitting, sewing, canning and wood-working to our list of skills. We hope to try our hands at quilting and soap-making very soon.

So far, our homestead adventure has been a roller-coaster of emotional ups and downs. We have marveled at the beauty we are surrounded by and stood amazed at God's generosity. And, we have cried tears of homesickness as we longed for familiarity and the creature comforts so readily available within a few minutes drive in the city. We have been humbled by the harshness of the environment in its season and charmed by the simplicity and friendliness of a small, tight-knit community. Slowly, without knowing exactly when it happened, this strange, new place has crept into our hearts and begins to feel like home.