First, thank you all for your good thoughts and prayers. We are both feeling better, but boy the fatigue is dragging on and on. My day starts pretty good, by by afternoon I am feeling exhausted.
Rest was/is on the top of the list, but one food item I totally forgot about (when sick) is applesauce. Home canned applesauce, from our apples. The raccoons got our apples this year, as it was a drought year. Any other year, they leave them alone.
When it's a very dry season, we seem to have more of a wild animal/rodent problem. Thankfully, we can buy apples nearby, but still not the same.
I had it on the canning radar, but it totally slipped my mind with our overly busy October. It's back on the list. It truly is the best tasting, but if we are too late for our area's apple season, I can atleast stock up a few jars of organic apple sauce.
I can also check with one new (small, within a tolerable drive) self sufficient farm for a bartar or sale (I found out the wife cans and pressure cans).
Applesauce is not only good for when you are feeling ill, but for baking/cooking and for simply enjoying.
I typically have more soup options on hand, so adding more to the freezer is on the agenda - chicken and rice soup and maybe one more.
Keeping bread in the freezer is on the agenda as well. I have stopped baking it, as my husband has no self control when it is baked. I will be trying a few new einkorn recipes maybe, and even possibly sourdough yet.
I will be making a list of seeds we need for our medicinal herb garden as well.
On the sad report of the post - a hawk killed my buff orpington sometime late yesterday (before sunset). I have not seen, nor heard a hawk here either.
It's the first time in all the years for a hawk to get one. We had let them out into the run, and headed to go get some supplies (more on that later) and we may have even interrupted it when we got home. Hard to tell, other than we'll be needing to build the new run (with a roof on it) as soon as possible. Not to mention, that I will be needing the brooder box in the spring now too.
I think my husband feels bad, because I kept explaining to him that they are not protected from predators in the current run.
I have no carpentry skills to work on it by myself, and I'm sure he'd say I cannot unless someone was here anyway. I will be working alongside him, so I can learn more. He does have a full time job, but we can't delay this any longer, and more projects are underway now.
Feeling Better ~ Sort of ~ Hen Killed © November 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart
8 comments:
happy that you are on the mend. Yes that fatigue is really a game changer. Applesause yum from real apples yum! Can this be made in small batches, does it have to be canned? Can it be frozen? So sorry about your chicken, the buff orpingtons are so pretty. We have hawks here all the time, and we live in a large city ( unfortunately) when I don't see any birds, squirrels they must be around. Sometimes I see them overhead.
Faith, I use instructions for a certain weight of apples, in order to can a certain number of jars. I am assuming you can make applesauce with any amount, but I am not certain about freezing it. I used to make applesauce with a strainer pan, from my grandparent's apple trees. We just enjoyed it fresh. I have frozen pumpkin butter successfully.
Faith, I have made applesauce in my crockpot before and have frozen it successfully. Very simple to do.
So glad you're starting to feel better. Good idea about the applesauce. Sorry about your chicken though. Hawks in the area always worry me. Fortunately, we have an extremely observant rooster and when he squawks, they all run for cover.
I always froze my applesauce very successfully. When we lived in Spokane there were lots of apple and peach orchards within minutes of our house. Every fall I would go pick about 40 lbs of apples. I would make chunky applesauce, (our families favorite), and freeze it flat in ziplock bags. I then could use it for applesauce and/or pie filling. We loved that applesauce. No orchards close by here. I wish stores still sold it but I can't find it anywhere.
Love your cup and I'm so glad you're both feeling better. I'm so. sorry about the chicken. That would break my heart. I could never be a farmer.
Blessings and hugs,
Betsy
Blessings and hugs,
Betsy
Leigh, thanks. I do miss having a rooster. I had several, but when the masacre happened (raccoons?) they were all killed.
Rachel, thank you for the tip. It will be helpful for readers and for myself. I have frozen sliced apples successfully.
Betsy, thank you for the tip on freezing applesauce. We have many local orchards here, but we do prefer our own apples, pears and peaches (when the rodents don't get them). Thank you. The cup was a gift from one of my daughters. Yes, raising animals of any kind can be rough at times.
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