Reflections of 2013

 

I enjoy reflecting on the previous year, as we bring in a new year.  So grab of cup of coffee, tea, or your favorite beverage, and join me.
 

Made my first hay net. 

Click on "read more" for more reflections in no particular order, and definitely not all of them. . .

Fall Camping Trip

I'm excited to say, that we got another fall camping trip in this year.  Hubby and I decided to camp the first night by ourselves.  Woot!  Oh, we needed the time alone.  It was a relaxing, romantic, camping date night.  And surprisingly, I did not take my camera this time.

The second night we picked up a few stragglers - 2 kiddos. 

Although it had rained a bit, we relaxed in the camper, reading, knitting, drawing, one kiddo doing school homework, and chatting.  After the rain stopped we started up the fire, and had more fun with s'mores and such.

Camper's Mug Cozy

Remember when I was telling you all about how I stopped to crochet, right in the middle of cleaning up my messes?  Well this is the result.  One completed "project" anyway.  

I ended up not using a pattern (not all mugs are the same size as all the printed patterns are for), and made my own for these camping mugs.  I did not want to mess with sewing buttons on, so I simply single crocheted 12, double crocheted into the 3rd chain, counting that as the first chain in each row, and dc across.  I measured about 10 inches, before finishing off, then simply sewed ends together (just enough to secure a hole for the handle of the mug).  

Weekend Pop-Up Camping Trip #2

We now call ourselves "popupologists."  (Snort) The definition is a devotee of camping with a pop-up camper. 

Pour yourself a cup of your favorite beverage, and join us while we show you are camping adventure.

We took another camping trip.  This is the back of our campsite, where there is a secluded area for more tents or simply "chilling out."

Bringing Christmas Home

Upon leaving the campground last Monday morning, Hubby tells me the front store sells pop-up camper ornaments.

Can you hear tires squealing to a halt? 

Yup.  I made him turn the truck and camper around, and we bought the last one.  What was he thinking anyway.  Sheesh.  He should have bought it when he saw it.

Now, guess who is wanting us to camp at Christmas, so we can put a Christmas tree in the camper?

Hubby.

Sigh....

Do you think he's gotten bit by the "camping" bug?

First Camping Trip 2013 ~ Enjoying Our Pop-Up Camper

We took our first camping trip last weekend.  This was a  good ol' fashioned, cook over the fire, no electronics, hike, bike, swim, and fish, camping trip. 

Before we left, as we were packing up, the dogs got into the truck.  They wanted to go for a ride.  We felt so bad, but they would not have had a good time.  The entire 200-some campsites were booked, and there were so many people.

Camper and Clean Up

I never thought I would use the camper as my opportunity to find useful homes for things I had stored away in my house.

I bought these red dishes about 16-17 years ago, and have moved them twice, and just dug them out.  They will be perfect for the camper.  I'm not filling the landfill with stryofoam and plastic, and I'm not packing glass (which Hubby doesn't want packed in there, and I agree). 

Also in my dusty pie safe, was my grandmother's can opener.  I washed it up and it's going on the camper too (you never know).  Grandma would be proud to know it's still being used. 

Another item in my pie safe, was this vintage cup rack. At our last (city) home, I had a "coffee house" theme in my kitchen.  I had all sorts of coffee house signs, espresso cups and stand, and all the decor you could imagine.  After moving to the farm house (with very little wall space in the kitchen, and counter space), I put this in storage.  Now, it's in the camper. 

We stopped at a thrift store over the weekend, and found this old pink tupperware container, and it holds our mix n' match silverware now - $1.00.  The silverware cost us $.10/each.  

Now I have room in my pie safe for my jam maker (which was stored on top for a year).  Yay!  It's been a win-win situation. 

And because I am unable to sell my crocheted blankets over at Rooster's Crow Farm Store, I removed this one to use in the camper.  It's perfect for the couch that turns into a bed.

Update on the homemade bathroom cleaner.  I found this recipe over at Crunchy Betty's Blogspot.  I was simply searching for a cleaner that was as good as Scrubbing Bubbles, but made with natural ingredients. 

It worked great on my tub, but I have one tip.  Run your washing soda through a food processor to free up any clumps, before adding it.  Otherwise, the end result will be more clumpy, and difficult to use.

As for the "extreme clean" (the "Get'R Done" list), we had 25 things on the list.  I'll have an update on that soon too.  I'll have an update for you on what I get done without a TV anymore as well.  It rained yesterday, and I am madly doing laundry.  More rain is in the forecast (sadly) and it may put a poo poo on Farmer's Market day.

Camping in a Pop Up Camper

We haven't named "her" yet, but she's ours.  We'll be family camping, and just having a good ol' time.  She has a slide out for the table, a toilet, air conditioner, refrigerator, stove that can be moved to outside or inside, and an outside shower.  She sleeps 7-8 (6 adults comfortably).

On the Loose ~ Camper

 "Big boy" (Orion) has been getting loose a lot lately.  This concerns me with the big barn too.  He got caught up inside where the loft caved down, so we are in a much needed hurry to find a way to remove that barn.  Money is extremely tight now, with all the repairs and replacements, so I am praying we can still find someone to take the wood.

It's not "Big Boy's" fault either. 

Thrift Store and Flea Market Finds ~ Oh My!

Over the weekend, a thrift store was having a customer appreciation sale - 50% off store wide.  I got all of this (two bed sheets, 3 vintage tablecloths) for about $8.00 total.  The bedding will be saved for camping, and possibly a few of the tablecloths. 

Camping Capers

If you have been a follower on my blog, you may remember our Camping Funny Post.

Well this time, this is what happened this past weekend. Yikes!  Look at picture #1 and then at #2.  See anything odd?

We left to do some fishing and when we got back, the awning was completely blown on top of the camper.  

Hubby I took the younger two girls camping, and once again, the weather man was wrong.  Instead of warm, sunny 60's, we had cold, cloudy, and very windy weather.  We fought the weather every day, until Sunday.  Cooking over the fire was a bit of a challenge.  I am glad we could borrow the camper, as it had electric heaters that we did have to use.  It was that cold Friday night.

Either way, and although we did not catch any fish (had a few tugs), we still had a good time.  Festivities were cards, glow-in-the dark Frisbee, and journaling.  The girls spent quite a bit of time writing stories and journaling (when they could).  I of course took a book, crocheting, and a journal.

About the card game.  I played go-fish with my youngest, but was instructed that when I would say "go fish" that I had to say "meow."  And it couldn't be just "meow."  It had to be enunciated in different tones and vocals. Ha ha ha!

We are back home today, and already have one load of laundry on the line.  Hubby and I do not own sleeping bags, so our home bedding went with us.  I think the kids sleep better with their own pillows too.  

Today is Hubby's last day of vacation, so we may go fishing this afternoon yet.  Although the camping trip was for relaxation, it was also a good time for the girls to practice their fishing skills.  We hope to catch a lot of fish to supplement our meals this summer.

Someone asked what fish we catch in our area.  Depending on where we go, catfish, bass, bluegill, perch, and in some areas trout. 

I hope your weekend was great too!      

Camping Funnies ~ First Day of School

I have to share the funniest thing that happened on our camping trip.  It was the first morning there.  I got up about 6:30am and asked if anyone needed to visit the toilets.  My 10 year-old said she did.

I exited the camper.  As soon as my daughter stepped off the camper step, the camper fell backwards, and the front end was up in the air.

We first screamed in shock, then tried to hold our laughter and not pee our pants.  I whispered to my daughter, "we gotta go, I can't stay and help him (laughing hysterically)." Hubby and my 13 year-old were in the back bed. 

Very calmly we hear my husband's voice from the camper, "uh, I think someone forgot to put the jacks in."

More laughter.

Ha ha ha ha!  The back bumper was catching the back end, but we were lucky.  While we were at the toilets, not far from the camper, we watched it slowly go back down, as my hubby walked forward to straighten the camper again. 

Once we got it all set again, with the jacks in place, hubby said, "honey you can't get out of the camper before I do anymore." 

We laughed the entire weekend about it, and I think we woke the entire campground up that morning.  I still can't tell anyone the story without cracking up laughing. 

So funny.

Another funny story.  On the last night at the campground, I had walked to the toilets with my 13 year-old.  It was pitch dark and we had not taken a flash light.  We were walking back, and my husband and 10 year-old jumped out of the trees and scared the livin' day lights out of us.  Once again, we laughed the entire night.  I'm sure the rest of the campground was ready for us to leave at that point. Ha ha ha ha!

School

Today was the first day of public school.  Yesterday was the first day of college for my son.  It's kind of a strange day here today.  All of my kids are on one bus this year.  Even so, my youngest still let me give her kisses this morning.

I better get out to the garden and see what last night's rain gave us.  It's back to work for me today.  Just the thought of canning anything more, makes me want to hook up that camper and head to the hills today.  Ha ha ha ha!

From the Homesteading Journal . . .

 (Our first backyard "retreat" just before Glamping Weekend.  This is just the beginning.)

Had to cancel our glamping weekend (away from home) due to a situation beyond my control.   I promised myself that a glamped up tent would be put up somewhere on our 6 acres. We haven't done it yet.  Maybe today.

Started building the chicken tractor.

Planted 9 sweet potatoes (first time for us and a bit late), 6 straight neck yellow squash plants, the last of the tomatoes (totaling 121 tomato plants now), 6 zucchini plants (our planted seeds did not all come up), and one last sweet banana pepper plant for the billy goat (his favorite).

One daughter went to put the red hens away, and found the rat in the coop.  She said it's "huge" and scurried up the chicken wire and up through a hole in the ceiling (which we blocked with a block).  My son went out to re-set traps and saw it to.  I think he almost got it with a shovel.  It's eating our chicken eggs, so we need to get rid of him soon.  Just a few days later, before sundown, we saw it again.  This time, hubby was home and grabbed the pellet gun.  He got the rat right in the head, but it kept going.  My son grabbed a branch and used that, breaking the branch into 4 pieces, but got the job done.  We set more traps.  We should see more eggs now.

Spent several days weeding the old strawberry patch, asparagus, beets, carrots, swiss chard, green beans and some lettuce.  Thankfully, my son once again helped me.

Used the hand hoe to work up the pumpkin and watermelon patch.  This year there was no room for more melons.

(photo taken by my 15 year-old daughter)

Brindle's (black and white doeling) new owner arrives today to take her home.

Started taking inventory on supplies to tear down the emergency chicken coop.  The walls and door are being saved to make it larger.

Put the new Ball Automatic Jam Maker on the very top of my wish list.  I can't wait to own one.  We have lots of berries in the summer months.  

 A Sunday morning view from my front porch.  Good thing the dogs didn't see them.

My Other Favorite Place ~ My Back Porch

On Mother's Day, my 20 year-old son, cleaned everything off this patio.  It's what we call the back, only it's kind of the backside of the house.  It's big enough that some day we can screen in a portion of it.

You can see the grass is looking terrible alongside the rock flower bed.  That's because we had to dig and dig to find the septic tank.  It's just now growing back in.

Anyway, my son swept it all off and got out all of the furniture we still had.  He cleaned off cushions and I helped wash off table tops.

It's not "fancy" furniture, but you know our family motto.  We've been using this stuff for probably 5 years now.  Thanks to my wonderful Uncle, I have a new umbrella for the table.  Ours broke a few years ago.  The orange looking pots have seeds planted in them, and behind the table is a large rose bush I planted (moved it from under the kitchen sink).  Each week I figure out a way to make it peaceful and look nice.  I think it needs a few more flower pots.

I got one of the bird feeders up that also came from my Uncle.  Now I can watch more birds from my "other" favorite place.

Our garden continues to get planted.  Here is hubby digging weeds out of the strawberries I never got moved.  I guess I'll be moving those later in the fall (to the raised bed). 

We've planted numerous cauliflower plants, kohlrabi, cucumber, and green beans.  We ran out of plastic (yep, this pioneer agreed to plastic between rows).  No more weeding and more time for stocking up.

We may be taking a few tablecloths and aprons camping, but I am sure hubby will keep our load to a minimum.  That's okay too.  Camping doesn't come with rigid requirements, only lots of fun.

It's been a tradition for me to buy a new color of bandana for us to take camping (for two daughters and myself). 

Yesterday, despite being congested, I got my first bike ride in.  After 35 minutes of treadmill walking, I finally got a 5 mile bike ride in.  I am now working on cleaning out my garage, so I can get back to working out with the speed bag and heavy bag.  I squeezed myself in there and boy what a nice work out that was. 

Reading Back in Time, Sunglasses and Other Tidbits

Here are two copies of our local paper.  The one in the back is from 1995 and the smaller version is from this week.  Over the years, the pages have gotten smaller, and the newer paper even has less pages.  The price?  Today, this paper will cost $.75 an issue.  Back then?  I'm not sure yet.  The first half of the 1995 issues are missing.  I know it would be less than $.50/issue.  

Saving Money ~ Thrift Stores

Typically I like to take one day "off" and do something fun.  However, my hubby called from work and was having problems with his eyes.  He was using his last pair of contacts and they were causing problems.  He called to say he was heading home and asked if I would join him - road trip.

Here are the fun thrift store finds from yesterday. . .

 

I found 5 vintage jello molds ($.35), a top 30's Country Hits record album ($.25), and a pack of playing cards still in their original package ($.25).  My plan was to make pin cushions with the jello molds, however, they are so nice (and a good size) that I may even use them in the kitchen.   We plan to play the album, and it even has Johnny Cash on it.  The playing cards are for game night and camping. If we ever lose any, I can always re-purpose them too.  They have a fun flower pattern on them.

I could not resist buying this bag of scrap ribbons ($1.00).  Underneath the bag are 3 pillow cases ($.50) with country fabric patterns.  I plan to re-purpose the pillow cases.  The cost of fabric in craft stores these days, can cost too much.  I have already started a S.C.R.A.P. project using the ribbon.  Those will be posted as soon as they are finished.

Fall Campout

My hubby and I took our two younger kids to a state park fall campout this weekend.  It was a load of fun - absolutely the best camping trip yet with the kids!

I had my doubts as it rained all day Friday.  I still packed up and away we went, and headed out about 6pm Friday night.

That night we decided to skip a fire and watch the campground moonlight movie.  They have an outdoor amphitheater, and the movie was Harry and the Henderson's.  They served ice cream, rootbeer floats, and popcorn.  After that we simply went to bed.

The next morning we had trouble getting our fire going - took forever to get breakfast made.  After that we drove down to the boat launch and they offered free canoe rentals for 2 hours.  Only 4 canoes went out that morning.

My 9 year-old was a bit hesitant, so I stayed with her while hubby and my 12 year-old went out.  She later regrets not going out.


When we returned, we participated in cookie decorating.  The cookies were in the shape of a Sasquatch and they provided brown frosting and mini-chocolate chips to decorate them with.

After that they painted small pie pumpkins with paint, and then we had a short break in the day.  

While we had our break in the day, we worked on our scarecrow.  They held a contest for this event, and provided supplies.  We are new to this, while other campers brought items to spruce up their scarecrow.  We dug into our tote and used an old curtain for an apron, a hankie with clothespins to look like a pocket, braided twine for hair, flowers for eyes, nose and even put flowers in the pocket.  We stuffed her with tall wild grass.  The is sporting my 9 year-old's bandanna. 

Hubby and I took turns cooking and adding items to the Dutch Oven Chili we were making.  Meanwhile, the girls took part in a Floating Donut contest.

The had one minute to eat an entire donut off of a string to win.  Two other girls won.

Then the campground offered archery as another activity.  My girls have never done this and were thrilled to participate.  They actually did extremely well, and were consistent with their arrows.  They both want to start participating in archery and archery contests now.

 Unfortunately, this activity was for kids only.  Bummer.

Then they judged the chili cookoff, and allowed us to eat, prior to announcing the winners.  Unfortunately, ours did not win.  There is always next year.

The chili cookoff, followed by the campground potluck, was followed by hay rides.  


It did not end there.  After we had a break to go back and wash up our dishes, they offered a campfire sing-along, at the horse campfire area.  A gentleman played a guitar, and we sang songs around the campfire, and made s'mores.  At that time, they announced the winners of the Scariest, Funniest, and Most Traditional Scarecrows.  Our "Harrietta" scarecrow, won first place (tied with another scarecrow).  


We brought her home to display on our porch.  Her head is a paper bag, so she can't get wet.


Overall, our campsite was a mushy mess, but we still had fun.  It rained while we cooked our last breakfast, but we still had fun.  In fact, the girls were begging us to get them out of school, for one more day of camping.  Sadly, there were no activities at the campground today.  


We may go again next fall.


While were were camping, my two older girls took their dogs to another town, for a  Humane Society "Mutt Strutt."  They raised money for the Humane Society and were able to walk their dogs, along with many more, for several hours.  Depending on the dates of next year's Fall Campout, I may be taking our 3rd dog to the "Mutt Strutt" next year.  

First Camping Trip 2011 ~ Camping With Chopsticks

Our garden blessings went camping this year.  I was much smarter this time in packing our food.  Instead of putting a carton of eggs in my cooler, I cracked them, whisked them, and poured them into recycled glass peanut butter jars (canning jars would work too).  In the cooler it went.  We also took homemade Queen Anne's Lace jelly and peanut butter.

I also chopped all the veggies and packed them separate for our first grilled stir fry and rice campfire dinner.  The only thing I need to change on that part, is to pack them in glass jars. Our cooler smelled like onions, because I used a ziploc bag - blech.


I pre-cooked our brown rice, and it heated up nicely on our campfire griddle pan. 

Served with chopsticks

Breakfast was easier with the eggs pre-cracked and whisked.  Instead of buying main stream frozen potatoes, I pulled a bag from our freezer that contained garden potatoes.  I also pre-cut garden green peppers and onions to mix with either the potatoes or the eggs. 


Our hike was cut short this season.  We hiked at warp speed, there and back, to avoid getting eaten alive by mosquitoes. Boy are the mosquitoes are bad here this year.

We were lucky to borrow a pop-up camper, and booked a non-electric site.  The first night we had family fun by playing tether ball at the campground, followed by board games in the camper.  Other campers were smart, and had packed tents with all side netting, for a more comfortable night outside.


We discovered, that in our nook of a camp site, there were wild blackberry bushes behind us.  We enjoyed nibbling on those yummy berries, and made note of the site in our camping journal.

The first morning there, my 9 year-old woke up with a migraine.  She first thought it was a sinus headache, but even after laying down in the camper, got sick.  I'm so glad we had an emergency kit, had ice cold water to make a compress with, and extra bedding.  Poor thing.  I felt so bad for her.  After she felt better, she was like new again.  I'm sure it was lack of sleep combined with lack of water.  We brought several gallons of drinking water, but she was busy playing with a school friend that happened to be camping at the same campground.  After that, we encouraged her to drink plenty of water throughout the day.  It was pretty hot and humid.


Since we had a thunderstorm the last night at the campground, we set the camper back up at home to dry out.  We cleaned off all the mildew from last season, and the kids had one more night sleeping in it.

One last night before school starts this season.

Each year we go camping, I buy us new bandannas of a different color.  Last year it was bright pink, and this year it was a blue/green blend.  We love to use them for our hair while camping, or get it wet to cool off our necks.


There were many tent campers, and a few that brought movie players, but the campground held a "movie night" just for us.  They have an outdoor amphitheater and played Open Season 3.

Outside of the outdoor movie, we played with campground equipment, brought horse shoes to play, board games, and also took the one hike.  We planned on fishing, but forgot to grab the poles.


We made a small effort to "glamp" this year, and my husband like the nice touches.  

The table cover is actually a used pillow sham, with the backing gently removed (and saved for another project).  It is topped with a hankie I bought at a goodwill in Amish country.  The blue pot was also a good buy at a Goodwill store.   With the pot, I also got a spoon and 4 bowls - perfect for camping.  The silver coffee pot, we use to pour water with, is from Freecycle.  

This was a poor attempt to "glamp" up our camper windows.  If I can locate a nice, lace, used, valance, it would create a much better look.

Instead of sleeping bags, we took our bedding from home for the camper beds.

When I cleaned a few days ago, I found my cute small signs, one of which we took camping.

On one our trips to use the porta-potty, we spotted this guy crawling up, and going after a fly.