WE HAVE ELECTRICITY AGAIN!  There were several "Thank you, Lords" and "Hallelujahs"  spoken (loudly) around here by my hubby and I when the power came back on yesterday at 5:pm!!  I even found out today that at least one of our grocery stores is up and running and has replenished what they lost.  So after being shut in for days I'm off to the bank and the store today.  I hope I never take those things for granted again...try going for very long without your bank, grocery store or gas station...

As for my daughter, Summer, she is expected to be in the hospital on into next week we know.  They are trying to reach her Urologist but haven't been successful due to the phone systems being down in the city where he is.  They have found that one of her kidneys is not emptying like it should.  It's emptying at about half the speed her other one is and there is a blockage.  That's probably why she's been swelling so much.   All along it's been kidney stones and infections but now kidney function?  That worries me a lot.   Poor thing.    Thank you for remembering her in your prayers.  God bless you for that!

are a fond childhood memory!  Today hubby had a Dr. appointment so we were off to Topeka for most of the day.  I went to Goodwill while he was at the Dr. office, more on that in a minute, we then ate a very late lunch and went to the grocery store.  In passing the candy isle I noticed right on the end a bag of chocolate stars.  I mentioned to hubby when I caught up with him that I saw them and hadn't seen them for a long time and didn't even know if they still made them.  Ok, we stop at another little store on the way home to check out any specials they might have and you guessed it, I saw another bag of chocolate stars...............I really am not looking for chocolate stars, honestly.  I said, "there are chocolate stars again".  Next thing I know hubby has grabbed a bag and we are on our way to the check out.  (Not too fast, I ran into an old friend and we had a nice little chat.)  So on the way home we snack on......Chocolate Stars!!  Now, for the meaning behind this story.  When I was little and my folks and I would go to Emporia shopping Mom would buy chocolate stars and we would eat some on the way home.  My Daddy really enjoyed them.  So they brought back a very fond memory for me. 

Well, I had a great Goodwill shopping trip.  I found 6 pair of slacks in various colors that fit me!  I tried on a couple more that didn't fit perfectly so put them back.  Most times I would be happy enough with the way they fit and made do.  I couldn't believe what was available today.  Also got 2 knit tops and a pretty little soap dispenser for the bathroom for 68 cents. 

The phone rang this morning with the news that our chicks were at the post office.  We had plenty of time to get them settled in before having to leave.  They seemed pretty happy when we got home, had only lost one.

I was very thankful that they did not come yesterday as the weather was COLD!   It was 52 when I got up and never got above 57 all day!   Today started out pretty chilly, but this afternoon the sun came out and was really nice later.

That cool weather made for a nice day to work in the kitchen.  I made 6 batches of grape jam, it is yummy!  Got 6 peach pie fillings frozen.  And one ready to use tomorrow.  Also am working on 14 day sweet pickles this week.  I hope to get apples picked tomorrow.  However since we were running around today, I didn't get any baking done for Saturday's Market..........so tomorrow will be a busy day.  One good thing (I guess) is that we don't have produce to get ready now.  That really takes a lot of time to pick and wash.

Better get to bed as I need to get up and going fairly early in the morning.

Country Blessings,

Marilyn~at Heritage Hill Homestead

I made Elderberry jelly today and its the first time I made jelly that didn't come out. Now I've been told you can re-batch it but does that mean I have to add pectin again or what? I could use some help here..Thanks..

Brenda

Oh, yes, it's part of this whole self sustaining lifestyle we are trying to lead.  Well, the pigs are getting bigger and they love and I do mean love to try to get out of their pen.  My honey built them this nice big pen in our barn that keeps them sheltered from heat and rain.  Do they appreciate all of his hard work?  No.  I guess the grass is greener on the other side , as they say.  So honey has been doing all sorts of fence mending, LOL, to try to keep these little devils in.  They are still so small that they can squeeze their little bodies through the hog wire.  So yesterday hubby wove barbed wire through the holes.  Well, this was the scene this morning.

I think Betty and Wilma were getting the best of him.LOL

So now the love of my life, has wood pallets lined up all over the pig pen.  It looks horrendous but oh well.  It's just until they are too big to squeeze through the holes.  We will soon have our garden spot fenced in so that they can graze on it.  We will have a door on the side of the barn for them to go in and out.  That way they will have shelter and be tilling and fertilizing my garden spot. 

We fared very well from the hurricane.  We got lots and I mean lots of rain.  My yard is a sopping wet mess but it could have been so much worse.   Here's a pic of the horses yesterday.  I think they were just tired of the rain but they wouldn't get out of it.

We have had so much going on here since the buying of the new homestead.  We love it so much here.  Here is the hammock that my DH put up for us before the rain came in.  The kids love it!!!  They will take their pillows and blankets out and read a book in the hammock.  I hope to see them out there a good bit between now and winter.

Since the purchase of the house, groceries and gas have tripled.  This has really dipped into the budget.  We have not had the resources to buy all of the supplies that we have wanted for the new homestead.  However, we did read in the Market Bulletin this past week that a guy wanted someone to come and take down a shed and do the cleanup and you could keep the materials from it.  Dh went over to look at it today.  It was an old smoke house.  So he and our son will go start to take it apart in the morning.  We are so thankful.  We will be using the siding for our garden shed and hopefully the roof will be used for a new chicken coop this spring.  We hope to triple our flock but we will need a new coop.  This will put us on our way. 

Like I said, we have had a lot going on.  One thing as of late, is our muscadines and pears are ready and I have been making jelly and jam.  I am so thankful for what the Lord has provided.  These will make wonderful Christmas gifts on a very tight budget.

I hope you are all doing well and bless you!!!

All my hens are laying now.  I just love all the different colors I get each day.  I knew I'd be getting pastel blue, green and pink, and of course brown and white, but I'm loving the deep olive green eggs.  Those were a surprise to me.  Look at that tiny brown egg in the basket!  I put it in the pot when I was boiling eggs for potato salad and egg salad today and snapped a picture of it in a teaspoon right before it got salted and peppered and popped in my mouth!  Mmmm-good!

I was beginning to get quite a number of eggs in the refrigerator so I knew it was time to freeze some.  Recently I have cracked bunches of eggs into a big bowl and scrambled them, added a little salt and poured them into a freezer bag to keep until I needed them for a scrambled egg breakfast. (or supper!) 

Today I wanted to freeze them individually to use in recipes like cakes, cookies, pies, so I emptied out my ice trays and cracked an egg into each section and this time added a pinch of sugar and broke the yolk of each egg.  {Always remember to add a bit of salt or sugar before freezing.} Once they're good and frozen solid I'll just pop them out and put them into a freezer bag.  This will keep me in good supply of farm fresh eggs even if my hens stop laying for a time.         Just eggcellent!

The sun has come out today and it's pretty hot.  We're still without electricity.  I hear there are places here and there getting power back on.  Walmart had power yesterday but someone told me there was no fresh produce or frozen or refrigerated food or bread, etc.  I got out and picked up a few limbs in the front and some around the chicken coops today.  It will take a lot more work plus a power saw  to get all that mess cleaned up.  This sunshine will dry things up I hope.  Thank you for your prayers and kind words and thoughts everyone.  It does cheer me up.  And it was great hearing Kitty was alive and well and she asked that I let everyone know here at HSB and asked for continued prayers during her very trying circumstances.  My daughter was able to be admitted into a  hospital ast night thankfully and her doctor has started another IVP and has called in a Urologist.  Please keep her in your prayers.

I was able to talk to Kitty today.  She and her family are doing okay.  Her house withstood the storm and I think they lost a shed and maybe some things outside.  She is fortunate to have a generator but they are only running it a little while at night.  As we are finding out too, the gas to keep one of these things running is very expensive.  She said where she lives took a direct hit from the hurricane and they are without power and may be without for 6 weeks.  I sure hope that's not the case!! 

Her mother is in need of prayer.  She is not doing well at all.  She is considering calling an ambulance today.   It's very hot  in her house, yet she's cooking a lot of food, rather than it going to waste.  I think others in the area are coming over and eating at their house. 

Let's all continue to keep Kitty and her family, her mother especially, in our prayers.  They are going through such a terrible time.

Hello from NC.

At first, I thought I'd tack this onto another blog, but since it was TOTALLY unrelated, it seemed better to just make a new one! 

If you are toying with the idea of milling grain, using more whole grains or just want some good free recipes...and visual steps to see how you CAN do it, please consider looking at and subscribing to this...

Millers Grain House Video Channel.

It should be updated about once a week so no one gets overwelmed OR bored!

Come and visit...

Best Blessings in our Risen Messiah!

Donna