Windy Acres

Catching up

Where has this past week gone?  Time flies when you are having fun, right??  Well, I guess I have been having fun then.

The auction I talked about going to on Saturday was very cold!!  We got a truck load of stuff for a total of $12.  A large cooler we can use for Farmers Market, several boxes of canning jars, a table, and the best of all..........an arch way that I have been wanting for a long time.  This one had been used for wedding decorations, it has roses, tulle and lights on it, however those will come off and I will put it over the gate into the poulty yard and I will plant honeysuckle on it!  It cost a dollar!  Since it was so cold things went very cheap.

We stopped and got Kaylan and she came home with us to spend the night.  Then on Sunday there was a surprise party planned for Ryan celebrating him finishing his college class.  He still has some elective classes to finish up hours before he will actually graduate.  But he completed an 18 month business class and a huge paper.....so he deserved a party.  However, he was not particularly happy with the idea at first, I guess he doesn't like surprises, he was happy by the end.  Part of the problem was it was a beautiful day and he had plans to spend it outdoors.  Anyway, happy or not, we are very proud of you Ryan!

While in the area, Mom and I picked up pears.  I had wanted to get some and was afraid they may all be gone by then, but there were a lot of nice ones on the ground.  So, they are waiting on me to make something of them now.  I want to make pear honey for sure, maybe can some, not sure what all.

Monday I took Mom to see a very close friend that had a stroke about 3 months ago.  It was really hard to see her, but at the same time, she looked good and responded to some conversation.  She has come a long way and with therapy, and continued prayer she will improve.

Tuesday evening we attended a meeting in Emporia for local food providers.  I think they called it Growing Local Foods. Anyway, gardeners, livestock producers, etc. came together to talk about marketing ideas in our area.  It was a good meeting and we made a new acquaintance that lives near us and has many similar interests. 

Wednesday was the most perfect fall day, Thursday was winter!  Today not quite as cold.  We made a shopping trip today.  Stocked up on baking supplies mostly.  Sutherlands had their fruit sale today, so I got 15 pounds of Granny Smith apples, they were 69 cents a pound.

Speaking of bargains...........gas today in town was $1.65.......how about that!

Sunday we will celebrate Thanksgiving with a dinner following the service at church.  We are making a big pan of dressing, and I don't know for sure what else yet.  I suppose I should make deviled eggs as we have plenty right now. 

Well that about brings us up to date around the homestead.

Country Blessings,

Marilyn~at Heritage Hill Homestead

Cinnamon Roll Recipe

Finally I am back with the cinnamon roll recipe I mentioned.  I have made it 3 times now and it has turned out well.   They seem to stay soft for several days.  I am making them for the  same resturant that I make the pies for, so I wanted them to be really good!  Apparently they do like them as they have ordered them twice this week.   Thanks to LaJuan in Colorado for sending this to me and allowing me to share it here with you.

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This came from "Favorite Family Recipes - The Martin Family". They are a conservative (horse and buggy) Mennonite family out of Barnett, Missouri.

(Note: I baked them at 375 for 20 minutes)

Marilyn~at Heritage Hill Homestead

Thank you.........

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

Cinnamon Roll questions??

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

Thank you Veterans!

Thank you to all that have served and are currently serving our country!  My Uncle, Daddy's brother, gave his life in WW2.  Since I never knew him it doesn't seem very real to me, but I know it was very real to his family at the time. 

On Monday evening, Golden Corral will provide a free meal to all veterans.  We have gone the past 3-4 years, but didn't know about it before that.  So if you have a Veteran in your family you might take note.  I have to pay for my meal, but hubby's is free.  It is a very nice gesture that they do each year!

Saturday we went to the auction I mentioned.  I got a few canning jars and a nice little table to go beside the bed.  Things went cheap, and I passed up a few things I would have like to have, but still even cheap isn't good if you don't really need it.

Sunday we missed church.  We met our daughter and family for breakfast.  They were only in the area for a short time.  We had a nice visit with them, probably won't see them over the holidays, so this was a nice surprise visit.  Some exciting news, or at least a possibility,  our granddaughter that will graduate this spring is thinking of going to college in our area!  That would be wonderful!  She is getting the paper work going now, so we will see.

Yesterday and today have been sooooooooo  gloomy and dreary outside.  They said the sun may come out tomorrow afternoon, I sure am ready.  I know I have said this before, but I have a hard time getting anything done without sunshine!!!

I did finish up the apples yesterday by making Caramel Apple Butter.  I intend to try homemade vinegar with the peelings, hope that happens tomorrow.  Today I made pies all morning, not much this afternoon sad to say.

That is about it for tonight..........

Country Blessings,

Marilyn~at Heritage Hill Homestead

Grandkids having fun

I just got these pictures tonight and had to share them with my friends here.

Three of our kids and their families went on a sand dunes trip last weekend.  This is one of Maddy's first 4-wheeler rides.

It looks like she worked up quite an appetite!

And here is our Nick, what more fun could a 9 year old boy be having!

Country Blessings,

Marilyn~at Heritage Hill Homestead

Friday

Nothing exciting around the homestead today.  Mostly just the usual stuff...........a little laundry, some dish washing, vacuuming, chores..........

Hubby and I did make it into Mom's late this afternoon and got her living room carpet cleaned for her.  We put all of the furniture back in place and hung things on the walls and it sure looks nice.

There was a special program at the school this afternoon for Veterans.  I thought we would try to go, but hubby didn't feel the greatest after lunch so he rested for a couple of hours instead.

Tomorrow I am taking my Aunt and Mom may go along too, to an auction.  I love auctions, so it will be fun.  The seller is a good friend of my Aunts who has just moved quite a ways away to be near her daughter.  I hope her friend will be there, not sure if it would be too much for her health wise to attend or not. 

Got an email from our daughter saying they are coming up for the weekend from Springfield.  They want to meet us for either breakfast or lunch on Sunday.  It will be nice to see them.

Rlyn and Kaylan are coming down tomorrow too, but I don't know if I will get to see them or not since I am going to the auction.  One nice thing about this time of the year........deer hunting season.......Rlyn makes it down to our area most every weekend as he has a feeder set up and sometimes a camera to get ready for hunting.  Last year they spent most of a week with us while he was hunting, it was a lot of fun.  But he doesn't have much time to take off of work this year.

Hubby is going to cook breakfast at the restaurant in town in the morning, so he has the alarm set for 4:15 and is in bed already.  I don't think I will stay up that early, but sure hope I don't go back to sleep for long as I will need to get morning chores done before heading off for the day.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Country Blessings,

Marilyn~at Heritage Hill Homestead

The kids went to bed tonight

all by themselves.............the little chicken kids that is!  I spent a good amount of time 3 evenings this week at dark picking up each little pullet and placing her on the roost.  Well, tonight they just marched right in and found their spot and went to bed!  There was still an awful lot of chattering going on, but they have finally got it.  Sad note though, I somehow did not fasten the gate to their pen this morning, and when hubby came home several of the young pullets were out.  They can't go far, so not a real problem, however later I found "a dog" chewing on something and you know it was a pullet!  BAD DOG!  I know they have not been loose before, but this dog has not bothered the older hens for months, so I would have hoped that he would leave the young ones alone too..............but he didn't.  I sure hope the scolding he got will discourage that behavior again!

It was really quite chilly here today, I do not like it!  Enough said.

I had a pie order late yesterday afternoon.  I was in the process of making a batch of applesauce out of the last of the apples, but I got 3 fruit pies done and evening chores finished before going to Bible Study.  When I got home I made 3 single crusts and put in the fridge.  Then this morning I intended to get up really early and finish them......well, it was a little after 7 when I woke up, so not so early.  But, still got them made and chores done in time to get them to town before lunch time.

Hubby had gone in to Mom's while I was baking and started painting her living room.  He did the trim work, which I just hate.......so then when I got to town, I was able to do the rolling.  Got 2 walls done and then had a lunch break and finished afterwards.  I was really surprised how quickly it went.  Glad it is done, I was not looking forward to the job.  She is just "tickled to death" so that makes it more fun.  We are going to try to get the carpet cleaned tomorrow while the furniture is moved and then the room will be finished.

I am ready to call it an evening, so

Country Blessings,

Marilyn~at Heritage Hill Homestead

German Chocolate Cake Bars

I saw Paula Deen making this on Good Morning America today and just looked up the recipe, it looks like it would be worth trying, so I thought I would share it with you.

Marilyn~at Heritage Hill Homestead

Happenings of the past week

We have had several really beautiful fall days here!  I am so thankful for each one as we never know when it will be the last??  Pretty breezy today and the leaves really went sailing off of the trees.  The crunch of them under foot as I walk across the yard........fall indeed.

My cousin farms the farmground here and he harvested the beans last week.  So, that means new adventures for the goat girls (and 1 boy), I turn them out to eat grass, weeds, leaves and what ever tastes good to them along the edge of the field.  They have so much fun running from one thing to another thinking the next spot will be much better!  They can go under the barb wire fence and get to the road, so I pretty much stay out with them.  This afternoon I was walking along the fence row thinking (dreaming) about someday having it fenced for goats..........when I saw honey bees on a tree.  I quickly moved away, but one stung my cheek, ouch!  It really didn't hurt that bad and I can't even tell where it was now.

I moved 50 of the young pullets into another part of the chicken house last night as they were outgrowing the area they were in.  There are roosts in the new place and so last night at dark I was out there placing each one on the roost.   Tonight of course the same thing, I wonder how many nights it will take for them to remember where to sleep???  The noise those little girls make when they are in a new place and it is getting dark..........anyway, it reminded me of having 50 little kids to try to get to go to bed and be quiet!  Once they were all settled, they quieted right down.  Very cute really.

Hubby is working on the new chicken house for them, so we will have to move all of them soon.  It is supposed to turn cooler again and rain the end of the week, so hope to get it enclosed at least enough to use by then.  The outside pen will not be done. 

Speaking of hubby, we have never heard anything of the test he had over a week ago, so I think that no news is good news.  Thanks to those of you who left comments concerning his heart troubles.

Not so many pies being baked recently.  I only made 5 last week and have 2 to make tomorrow.  BUT, the cook didn't show up on Friday evening, Saturday evening or Sunday noon.......so the owner called hubby to see if he could possibly come in and help out.  He has much experience cooking in restuarants and used to really enjoy it.  But with health issues has not done it in quite a few years.  He was glad to help her out in a bind, but was really tired.  He laid down Sunday afternoon at 3:30 and got up at 7 this morning! 

Friday we had been in Topeka most of the day, Mom went along and we took her Goodwill shopping.  She didn't think she needed much, but she got in the spirit right away and ended up with a cart full!

We got 3 more rabbits today, a friend wanted to get rid of them so she gave them to us.  Two of ours should have babies this week, so I got their nest boxes in place today and got the new ones settled in this afternoon.  We had just enough cages for everyone. 

Mom has paint for her living room, so that is in the plans for one day this week.

I finally made the Caramel Apple Butter that I got the recipe for a while back on here from someone....I am bad about writing down recipes and then not adding who's blog I got them from......anyway it was good!  I will probably make another batch of that this week.

Supper tonight was fried chicken breasts and mashed potatoes and gravy and green beans.........tasted pretty good.

Tomorrow is the election day!  Finally it has arrived after so many months of hearing them fuss at each other back and forth.  We voted by mail so it is done.  We have to drive to another town to vote, which isn't a huge thing, but just in case something came up and we might not make it I decided to go ahead and use the mail.  

 Please, please be in prayer before you go into that booth and do vote!

Country Blessings, and I pray for special Blessings for our Country at this crossroad in history.

Marilyn~at Heritage Hill Homestead