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Blessings Sister Brenda

This past week has been very hard.  It is empty with out Marty here. For the first few days I hardly got any sleep, like 6 hours in for days. E very time I would close my eyes I would see him.  When we took  him in I did a a lap blanket and I have had it in my bed with me to try and help.  I still smell him on it and I love to snuggle it, but it also make me miss him so.  On the 13th Janet my best friend for 25 years came out with her daughter Mya and it has helped, but they miss him too.  This is the first time in 13.5 years that he was not here.

Here are a few pictures of Marty with HIS grand babies:

Marty with Maddie and Jeffie riding him:

As you can see he loved those babies of his.  I am still looking for more pictures of him we have found a lot but a lot more are still waiting for us to develop them.

God Bless, mj.

Thank you for all you prayers and kind words it helps more than I can say.

I do not llike venison.  I have never liked venison.  It's funny what a tight budget  can do to you.  I'll eat it, but I won't like it! 

 A couple of years ago, we used to turn down venison that was offered to us.  My husband and I had a hard time with the taste.  Now, we feel so blessed to have been given, not one, but two, whole deer.  The deer, plus the turkeys and chickens we butchered, almost fill the freezer.  It feels good to know that we are eating such healthy meat. (I still don't like the taste.)  There'll be a lot of slow cooked venison with beef broth.  I'm canning up a bunch of small pieces today.  I like it that way.  So if you want to get rid of any gamey taste, canning does it.  I'm also going to put a few trays of jerky to dry in the dehydrator.  I like the jerky.  I may try to make some sausage out of the venison burger we have.  Anyone have a good recipe?

Totally  different note- One of my Angora goats came into heat today and I put her in with the buck.  I can't wait for babies.  We're bringing our Alpines and our Icelandics to get them bred also.

And lastly, my honey just got home from town and brought me a bag of Doritoes, which I am consuming as I write.  Now if that doesn't just top off a perfect day....

God is Good-You know-all the time.

Love,

From Glory Farm.

Rhonda

for all of the comments on my cinnamon roll questions!  I also received a really good recipe by email, I will check to see if she minds me sharing it here.  That is the one I used.  I have a recipe that I have made many times, but this one looked so good, I just had to try it.  I ended up cutting them thicker and putting 6 in a 9x13 pan, that made a nice size roll.  Now we will see what the lady I made them for thinks?  I made a cream cheese frosting that was yummy too!

This afternoon I glanced out of my kitchen window and saw the most amazing sight!!  One of the brightest full, double rainbows I have ever seen.  I had just come in from outside and it wasn't even rainy then.  I noticed sprinkles on the window and looked out to see this.  One surprise was it was a north window, I don't ever remember seeing a rainbow in the north sky.  I grabbed the camera, but you would know the batteries were dead.  I hadn't used it for a while, so I had better get them charged up again.

Yesterday I baked 3 pies along with the cinnamon rolls, today 2 pies.  One for the restaurant and 1 a surprise for someone special. 

Our calves have been getting out, but just hanging around not bothering anything,  yesterday morning they had taken a stroll down the road.........so we drove along the fence and found a couple of places they could have easily gotten out.  So I hope we fixed them.  They have 20 acres but the old saying is so true the grass is always greener someplace else!

I need to get to bed, we will be up bright and early tomorrow to go to an auction.  It is in an area where we lived before moving here, so I hope to see some people we have not seen in a while.  It is supposed to be really cold and windy tomorrow, but most of this should be inside, so maybe not too bad.

Country Blessings,

Marilyn~at Heritage Hill Homestead

I was looking around at some other blogs this afternoon and I ran across one where the post was a question to the rest of us fellow bloggers asking us what we are doing to prepare for the financial crisis ahead because she is afraid of the days to come.  My initial thought was to comment at the end of her post, but I really felt like I wanted to post about it myself.  So here are my thoughts about preparing for what I believe will be a depression worse than the great depression.

First of all, I have to think about worse case senario, and prepare for that mentally.  I think we will lose our business and our house.  This is ok!  God is in control.  We choose to use this time to grow closer together as a family and to grow closer to God.

Ok, now for physical preperations.  Man needs three things to survive: water, food, and shelter.  I will start with shelter.  If you lose your home, where will you live?  You need a place that is owned (not mortgaged).  My hubby's grandparents have a four bedroom house that they own.  They would gladly open the door to us and the rest of my hubby's family, if the need arises.  It will be tight, but like I said - we will grow "closer" together as a family!   The problems there would be water since they are on city water, which might not remain available, and food.  There are a few creeks nearby where we could draw plenty of water from.  Our business sells Chlorifloc which is a water purifier, and we have access to it by the loads. (The city of Los Angels, CA buys all their chlorifloc from us to keep in their city's emergency stash).  Bleach and also GSE (grapefruit seed exctract) can also be used as water purifying agents.  Take some time to learn how to use them, and then stock up on it.  GSE has numerous other benefits outside of water purification and I would recomend having a bottle or two of it on hand for any situation.  You will need something in which to both collect and store water.   

Ok, now you should have in mind both a place where you can live, and a way to have clean water.  Food is still a problem.  We must assume that food as we know it will not be able to be able to be shipped in from outside the local area.  That means that you are going to have to provide entirely for yourself.  At my hubby's grandparents house, there is a very, very small yard.  We could stock up ahead of time, which we plan on doing, but it is just not going to be possible for us personally to store enough food to get us through more than a few months.  So, we will stock up first on things that take the most space and or time to grow such as wheat, rice, oats, and beans.  Electricity may also become unavailable, so we will not buy anything that must be kept cold.  Canned goods are next.  Stock up on what you can. 

For what little garden space we would have, I would plant things that grow quickly, provide abundatly, and can easily be stored and do need to be canned (pressure canning cannot be done over an open fire or on a camp stove).  I see potatoes as a must.  They are nutritious, versitile, easy to store, and are filling.  If grown above ground in tires, you can maximize space.  Carrots are the same as potatoes, except they have to be grown in the ground (at least, to my knowledge).  Winter squash will also provide wonderful nutrition thoughout the winter if you have a long enough growing season for it in the summer.  Many other things could be grown indoors year round.  They may not grow to their prime, but it's better than nothing.  Among the things I would grow would be lettuce and bush green beans.  Two things are necessary for gardening to continue year after year (remember, the Great Depression lasted ten years!) One: keep every bit of garden scrap and leaf that falls as compost to return vital nutrients to the soil, and Two:  All of your plants must be grown from heirloom seeds, otherwise you cannot seed collect and hope for them to grow again next year.  Also, be aware of plants that cross pollinate.  You will not get good seeds from them.  I will stick to potatoes, carrots, and pumpkins for my outdoor plants, and lettuce and green beans indoors.  It may not provide much variety, but it will be filling and nutritional.

For dairy, I would plan on buying a goat.  This takes some foreplanning.  You need to know what kind of goat you need, where you can get her and where you can breed her.  You also need to have a goat proof area with a shelter for her.  You need to know how much all this will cost and put the money aside.  I plan getting more chickens to add to my small flock.  Know where you would buy and keep you chickens.  Both goats and chickens can be fed fairly easily on human scraps and neighborhood greenery.  If managed wisely, you could possibly have milk and/or eggs to give away or even possibly sell. 

For meat, hunting is a good source for us.  My hubby could conceivably walk to a place where he can hunt.  Meat rabbits is also another great idea.  You should know where you can get them and how you can keep them.  They also are easy to keep fed.  The trick with meat is keeping it from spoiling.  Assuming you have no fridge or freezer, you either need to smoke it, dry it, or share it.  Have a plan.

Study up on how to make your own pasta and bread using absolutely only the bare essentials.  Use sourdough for bread and you don't need to stock up on yeast!    Save every bone to make nutritious broths with. 

If still there is not enough food for everyone, we will have to move out to the grandparents 80 acre ranch, which sounds better anyhow, except there is no house.  There is a small shed or two, but both are infested with rats.  Still, if that were to be the best option, we would be wise to have a little bulding plan and enough money set aside to build it; even a 20 x 20 ft shack would suffice.  Then there would be plenty of space for a garden and animals (even a cow!), and there is even a well for fresh water! 

In any case, have a plan.  Where are you going to live?  How will you get drinkable water?  How will you have enough food. 

For light, I am stocking up on candles, and kerosene for my oil lamp.  I will purchase an Aladdin lamp if I can afford to.

I will also keep a good supply of baking soda (25 lbs) and vinegar and homemade soap for cleaning home, clothes, and body.

A good first aid kit is also important.

I also plan keeping a bolt of denim and a bolt of muslin fabric and plenty of thread and needles to take keep my growing children clothed, as humbly as it may be.

In addition to the essentials, I plan on keeping my favoite wall picture and embroidered table cloth to add some cherryness.

All we can do is prepare to our best ability, and then trust God for the rest!

Happy Trails and God bless you all!

Just saw my earlier post when posting the last one!  If you want the recipe, it is going out in our newsletter this Monday (11/17) with pictures and all! So go sign up at: http://www.eatgrains.com to get your FREE monthly recipes!

"This picture has nothing to do with the post...just thought it was adorable"

The last couple of days have been extremely busy...busy in my kitchen and at the Mall...Yes, can you believe it "at the Mall"...now I know why I hate shopping so much.

So first...in my kitchen I have been cooking and baking up a storm...baking bread and more bread....made Chicken Pot Pie and yes, my crust was from scratch.  Dh said it was the best he had ever tasted...and I didn't even have a recipe.  Baked Ginger Snap cookies, chocolate chip cookies two different kinds of squares, Buttermilk cake (because I had leftover buttermilk to use up).  It's great to fill the freezer with all these wonderful things, so on days when I have to be at the Mall, I don't have to worry.

The Mall...well, I took the van in to have a tune-up and a few extra's (should have only taken an hour or so). So Stephanie and I walked to  the Mall across the road but ended up being their from 9:30-2:00pm...talk about a long day. I was completely exhausted.  There wasn't anything exciting to see except for "people watching"...and I've now had my fill of that for a while.  And of course we went into "EVERY" store Stephanie wanted to go into. Couple of highlights (and there should always be something positive to say), I purchased 200 sheets of Christmas tissue paper for $4.00...Yahoo!  And the Christmas decorations have started to make their way throughout the stores.  It was looking very festive...and of course Christmas being my favourite time of the year.

On a sunny note...the sun is shining bright and the wind is blowing just like I enjoy it...the leaves are all gone now, but who cares the sun is out and we are in a free country...no wars here, food on our tables, roof over our head and clothes on our backs...not to mention, money to pay for my vehicle to be fixed....and the fact that I have a vehicle.  Gifts from above.

Made grilled porkchops for dinner with mashed potatoes, salad and carrot casserole with Horseradish sauce.   Well, that is about all for now...I am off to polish up my piano playing as my kids want to begin singing Christmas carols..and I am incredibly "rusty" on the Ivories. 

In light of the fact that the U.S. has a major depression coming its way, I am curious as to the price of a Jersey cow.  Does anyone know what I might expect to pay for a good Jersey?  Also, where might I find one?  I live in Colorado, but we mostly have meat cows here.

I hope you all are also preparing for the financial trials ahead.  The parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25 has been the Lords prod to me!  Not that I'm suggesting that this is the end of the world, but we are to always be prepared for everything.  My current favorite quote is "Over prepare, then go with the flow!"

Happy Trails!

A question for the expert bakers on HSB......

Does anyone make very large cinnamon rolls like some restaraunts sell?  I need to make some and am wondering how they do it?  I usually put 12 in a 9x13 pan, if I only put 6 in the same size pan will that do it?   Should I not roll them as tight?  Or just cut them bigger?

Next question:  Does anyone have a tip for making them stay fresh longer?  Mine seem pretty dry the second day.  It would seem like I might add too much flour, but I only add until the dough is not sticky and is workable.

Any other good cinnamon roll tips would be apprecitated..........

Thanks!  And Country Blessings, 

Marilyn~at Heritage Hill Homestead