Pioneer Woman at Heart

I finally took the chicken necks from my freezer the other day, and today I will make homemade broth.  I will freeze it instead of can it, and most likely use about half of it before the current chickens are butchered. I have never made broth from scratch (strangely), so this is a new step for me.  I've always purchased it (gmo-free, organic) from the grocer.  However, prices have gone up to over $4/box.

Easter Sunday I decided to make my cheesy potatoes from organic potatoes (not frozen), and eliminate all the processed ingredients (canned mushroom soup, Velveeta cheese etc). The results?

To take over the goats or not to.  That is the possibility over the next 2 years.  Daughter is talking about moving out after she graduates (and go off to college) and won't be able to take the goats with her.  If she leaves them, I would have to take over all duties that she took care of. Which is everything - all goat care, milking, and soap making.  I was simply the goat milker back-up.  And of course, watered them during the school year when needed. This is only a "possibility" as I have a very large garden to plant, weed, harvest and stock up with.  Not to mention chicken duties, splitting wood and so forth.   And then there is possible employment outside of the home, and my freelance work inside the home.  And "Big Boy" is another element to the decision.  I'm not sure if I can handle his smell and attend his care.  And lastly, there is the issue of never leaving to travel anywhere, and being tied down to the homes...

W e ran into "s nags" with the goat fencing.  We could not drive t-posts , due to cement around the found ation, so we nailed up 2 x4 's against the barn and then ran the fencing out.  However, once we started getting on a "roll" we ran into needing another tool . My 16 year-old finished put ting up some last boards, to keep the stalls baby s afe, and started moving her supplies last night.  She finally finished about 9:00pm.   Do you see that little gal on the outside of the pen?  That little escape artist got throug h the boards.  My daughter had to go back out after dinner, and put metal f encing all around the stall.  We still need to board up the "birthing " stall that is on t he very right, and then the outside (temporary) fencing (back of the stall).  Thank goodness the barn has a small a nimal door that slides , that we took advantage of, and the fencing will be direct ly on the outside of that door. After that we have a ...

(my snack while cleaning yesterday...a girl has to have her chocolate) I'm not one to "blog ho p " or the like, but I found the most recent post o n Hennings en Happenings a fun one.  Here's mine: Wha t are you. . . Listening to :  the rabbit shake his watering unit , and my oldest daughter's cell phone v ibrate (she should know tha t her alarm won't wake her up that way) .  Not exciting information I know. Eating : Noth ing at the mo ment , but just ate two farm fresh eggs over easy for breakfast. Watching :  Hubby and I are in the 6 th e p is ode of 8, o f McLeod's Daughters. Reading : Nake d, Drunk,and Writing (see?  It really is a book) Making :  Another dishcloth and more rag rugs. Planning : What chickens to buy soon, what cool weather veg etables to p lant , and what ch eeses to make this year.  What to build to house our meat chic kens.  New item ideas for Farmer's Market and what da tes to attend. Doing :...

When my older brother stopped in recently, he also brough t me a bag of old jeans from his wife.  I have already started cutting them into strips for another denim rag rug.

. . . Hubby and my 16 year-old worked on buil ding th e new goat stalls.  O nly a few more boa rds to go. . . . meet the newest member o n the far m.  She's from a good bloodline of purebred lamanc ha dairy goats.  She is not named yet , but will be increasing our goat's milk, soap production, and homemade cheeses.  She's such a cutie.  This little gal follows my d aughter everywhere .  I had to laugh when Sadie (black la b mix) brought her rope toy to the goat , to play wi th.  She was even (the dog) growling at Jesse to warn him to stay away for "her" baby goat playmate.   . . . purch ased early spring seeds (peas etc) , but still need our potatoes a n d onions. . . . worked on painting more of the kitchen cup boards.   W ith the temperature change, I h ope to fin ish this project this month. . . . washed up a vintage feed sack, and reused it for a curtain for on e lower cupboard .  . . . m ixed up 5 more...

It's Monday, and I have lots of work to g et done - dishes the kids di d not do (again), pain ting, laundry, floors, b athroom , design new business cards, do research on the possibi lities ( it may not happen due to cost) of a new easy-up canopy for Farmer's Marke t , and a few quick che cks on the wee one we brought home yesterday (m or e on that later) . It's raining , d ark and dre ary today . 

I finally found a chicken saddle/apron for Lola.  Sparta has ripped out her backside feathers completely.  She is the only chicken so far, that is like this.   Lo la d oes not like her saddle/apron.  O nce the kids put it on her, she went "bananas" and squawked and squawked .  She went running a round, trying to get it off .  The other chickens followe d and chased, wondering what that thing was on her.  In the photo you can see they are all staring at her, in curi osity. However, by evening, she was still ups et.  I hop e she has gotten used to it by this morning, and will agree to wear it. Hubby was called in again for more repa irs at work.  This time it was 3:50am.  He's still not home yet, and it will be a long Sunday for him. Today we have a road trip scheduled.    A Year of Quotes: "You have to have a dream, so you can get up in the morning."   ~ Billy Wilder

This male cardinal was singing his heart out last night.  My older brother stopped in for a visit, and gifted us wood and fencing, and we were still all standing out side.  My 11 year-old daughter encourage d me to run in and gra b my camera.  B irds are th e most difficult animal for me to photograph.  They are there on e s econd, and gone the ne xt.  However, I got lucky this time.  What a beautiful sound he made too. We may have a change of plans today.  Hubby got called into work for a  repair, sometime arou nd 4-5am.  He's still not back home, so I best get started on plan B.   The weather is even better today than yesterday.  However, like most days in our state, we'll probably be back to colder da ys soon.  It 's a good day to wash the kids be dding and put it on the line.  Not to menti on, air out the house. I'm not drinking a green veggie smoothie drink, that contains spirulina, and blue green algae...

Hubby had to work late, so I decided to do foot soaks and pedic ures with the girls.  W ell, some of them.  With 5 kid dos still in the house, I plan to do m or e self -pampering for stress reducing reasons. I f ailed to get hous e work finished, but di d get the bedding on the clothesline yesterday.   I'm not stressing over it , but will writ e down what I do get do ne vs. a "to-do" list.  Then tackle what I haven't c ompleted. Also, with the older two (19, and al most 21) not being employed yet, I have a list of chores for them too - chicken coop cleaning, taki ng donations to the t hrift store, taking recycling to the recycl ing center, ta king returns to the library, picking up jugs of water, and a few other jobs.   The snow is still f alling, and i s making laundry day havoc.     W e had some st rong win d s prior to this sn ow arri ving, and have tree branches to pick up now. As you can see the days h ave been clou...

Last night I attempted to get my jammies on early (very early at 5pm), and read my new Fol k magazine.  A dear friend gifte d me a subscription, and I have never rea d this magazine before. However, last night, we had a lot of traffic in and out .  Thus, my jammies never went on early, and I didn't get to enjoy this magazine with a cup of te a. This morning, it's a different story.  I plan to read with peace and quiet, as all the kids are in school/college, but one.  It's freezing here, and snow on t he ground from yesterday, so it's a perfect day to "co zy" up and read. With so many leftovers, I won't need to make dinner tonight either.  Yay !  I do need to use up 4 more bananas. Y est erday I baked a blue berry/ban ana muffin recipe to use up bo th, then ba ked a batch of homemade granola, and then started a crock pot of beef stew.  I tossed in frozen Kohlrabi I had in t he freezer from last summer's garden too. We sold both the va...

Conversation between me and hubby: "Uh, honey? Did you know you can use a zucchini stalk like a recorder? You know like an instrument?" (Me) "Honey, you are just not normal." (hubby sighs and lowers his head with a smile, shaking his head from side to side) Crazy as it sounds, it's true.  If you still have zucchini in your garden give this a try.  According to this page in my book Log Cabin Cooking, Pioneer recipes and Food Lore" you can.  It's a ramble kind of day today.  Grab a cup of tea or coffee for this one. Yesterday I changed up my day.  I actually cooked dinner.  The family is so used to seeing me standing at the stove canning, or out in the garden.  I was not driving out for supplies, so I surfed the net for recipes.  Allrecipes is always a nice one.  I can search for recipes by the ingredients I have. I made Cheesy Sausage Zucchini Casserole , but changed some of the ingredients - used cream cheese and cottage cheese ...