~ New Look ~

I have gotten a little bit of my blogging mojo back since Jairden was diagnosed with cancer. There have been so many things that I have wanted to share and write about but I was just plain exhausted.

My header picture was of our last snow fall, the most snow we got at one time this year. Hubby got me a new camera for Christmas and it has a panoramic setting on it. Such a cool picture. I am hoping that it will green up here pretty soon so that I can add a spring time shot of the same spot, then a summer...you get the picture (haha).

I have been going through and editing old post, some are smashed together so bad you can't even read them. Its kind of amusing to read back through my old posts and think that anyone would ever want to read them.

Well, its is now 12:15 am, well past my bedtime. As my children would say, "Sleep tight, don't let the zimpa-rumpa-roos bite".

~ The Blogging Bug ~

I have so many thing that I want to write about and no time, its driving me crazy. I think I have over a months worth of posts just waiting to be written, lots of new homeschooling links, farm stuff, updates on Jairden, recipes... Hopefully I can slowly work into my schedule a little writing time.

~ Crazy ~

Craziness does not even begin to describe the atmosphere around here. From the moment my feet hit the floor until I go to bed I am busy. The upside to this is my days go really fast. Sometimes I feel like I am getting nothing done, just running in circles but little by little it is coming together and starting to look nice.

~ Oh Me, Oh My ~

So much to do so little daylight. I raked leaves until I couldn't see what I was doing last night. I have a ton of pictures but they will have to wait because we have church tonight. I having been making the tried and true recipes lately but have a few new ones to post. Maybe tonight I won't be exhaused and just fall into bed!

~ Busy Week ~

I can't believe the week is almost over. I was really excited for the Ultimate Blog Party and then we (I say we but I really had nothing to do with it) had a baby calf and moved the baby chicks outside (yay!!!). It has started to get really nice outside so I have had very little time to check out new blogs or even blog on my own blog!

 This was early morning, hard to believe that by afternoon they were all running around in t-shirts! Jairden is a farm boy through and through. I swear he can hear that tractor start from the next county over.

For all those who visited from the UBP and left comments know that I am coming to check out your blog soon! I stole a few moments today and whipped up a reusable produce bag and will find time to make a couple more for the give away!

The asparagus plants that I started from seeds came up, so much for ten weeks till germination. All of my seedlings are doing really good and I will have to pot up the tomato and pepper seedlings soon. Now that it is nice I can make some hoop covers to start warming the dirt for my melon plants. I am determined to get melons this year. Last year was just to cold and rainy. A few very small melons were harvested but nothing big enough to eat.

Our homeschooling is still going well! There are weeks that are not as structured (no structure?) but full of practical application, like cooking and baking to learn fractions and Celsius/Fahrenheit or building chicken coops for wedding presents to learn about architecture.

My Little Cowboy!

~ Spring! Its Finally Here!! ~

The house is totaled but its nice outside so...off to see if I can work up the dirt and get ready to plant peas. Moving the leeks into our little green house. Child screaming for me...Hoping to get pictures up later and hoping you are having a great day!

~ Breaking the Silence ~

Wow, it has been a few days since my last post but my mom duties were calling. Our school room was looking more like the...I don't have a word for it, only pictures. Also, the laundry monster needed to be taken care of, everyone running out of underwear causes a bit of an uproar in this house.

Before

After

Our kitchen has been rock'in in the lacto-fermentation department too! Mayo, ketchup, ginger ale, kombucha, sourdough, kefir, and water kefir.

We have also made cookies for church, soaked flour English muffins, chicken wild rice soup. I have a recipe for Italian Spaghetti Squash and one for Rice Custard to share, but Grace and I have been reading out loud the story of Rose Wilder (Laura Ingalls Wilder's daughter) at bedtime and I want to see what happens next as much as she does!

~ Christmas Gifts ~

The hubs and kids gave me a great gift this year for Christmas. It wasn't diamonds but almost as good. A new blender/food processor combo. I think I have used it everyday, what a time saver. We think this was my great-grandmothers ring but we are not sure. I had it cleaned and the bands totally reconstructed because they were so thin and frail. I love the detail and two toned looked, my wedding ring is a mix of white and yellow gold too. This was a bit of a present to myself, I have had the rings for eight years waiting for the money to have them repaired. Adam at Stonehouse Jewelers did the work for me (and he fixed my wedding ring when it went through the blender).

~ Getting Back in the Groove ~

I had a small secret goal for the month of December, to post every single day. I almost made it, but between most of my family getting that really nasty stomach bug (the week of Christmas), the four Christmas gatherings we had, and New Years, I didn’t quite make it. I have a rather long list of things that I would like to blog about, including this months Carnival of Natural Parenting and the new Crafty Carnival : Cuddling. Blogging has become my “mom time” and I love it. I get to share all that I am passionate about which is important to me. I also started joining linky parties to share my blog with others online and in the process have found lots of other great blogs. If you have a blog you really like and I don’t have it listed, me let me know so I can add it to my favorites list. I am in the process of putting together a book list of must reads and must haves, so if you have a favorite real food cookbook, alternative healing books, AP parenting books, organic gardening/farming book, crafty books or home school resource books, let me know. I will check it out and add it to the list. If you would like to do a guest post please let me know, I would love to have others share their personal experiences on the subjects that I am passionate about. I have learned so much from others who are willing to share what they know.

~ Merry Christmas ~

I know I am technically a few days early, but wanted to say Merry Christmas to all of my new followers and all of old followers. I have been linking to other whole food blogs this past month and have discovered quite a few new blogs with lots of yummy recipes and feel like I have made some wonderful connections with other moms who are on their own "food journeys".
It is also a bit exciting to see I have gained 6 new followers in the past two weeks. I did have 16 and couldn't figure out who left, but just realized it was my little sis. Get your butt back over here!
So, I have a favor to ask, it would make my year if I was at 25 followers by the time January 1 rolled around. I am planning to write a bit more about our homeschooling adventures and we may be having a new baby calf come February! Could you share my blog with someone you think would like it? My end goal is to make enough money with sponsors to put up new fence, fix the barn, start some u-pick fruit patches and have enough veggies started so that I can go to the farmers market next year and offer really good food at an affordable price. Maybe even be able to purchase another milk cow in the spring.
Ultimately, I would love our farm to be a place were people can come and learn what farming and gardening are all about, so that we can get away from our modernized food system and come back to our traditional roots.

~ -16 Below - Brrrrr.... ~

Morning temperatures + the totally crazy day yesterday = staying home this morning. I totally copped out and didn't milk this morning, let the calf have it all. Hubby was a wonderful love and did all the chores. I got lots done but still have a mountain of laundry to do. I didn't have a washer or dryer for a week because we were finishing the laundry room floor. It is heated and I think I am going to make myself a few pillows and take up residence there. Makes me wish our whole house had infloor heating.

It is highly unlikely that we will ever totally rebuild, but if we did we would totally have infloor heating. We may build a sunroom on the back and make it our bedroom and that will have infloor heating guarunteed. Of course I didn't get a chance to take a before picture. Just think concrete basement floor and there's your picture. I will post a picture when its done. I have 10 loads of laundry to fold and put away with at least 7 more to wash. That includes sheets and towels so some of it is easy folding.

This is how I make kefir cheese.

One bedroom is being share by three people even though they don't have too. It is a mess with a capital M, but they are having fun playing and have set up the way they like so I am not too eager to disrupt their fun.

My kitchen was rock'n this morning. I recharged my kombucha, fed my sourdough starter and its ready to make bread, made more yogurt, made homemade pumpkin spice yogurt cream cheese, making another batch of yogurt cream cheese, started another jar of kefir, unload a batch of dehydrated apple slices and cleaned out my fridge. What's happening in your kitchen? I need some dinner ideas!