Catching up....

I have neglected this poor blog....so here is a brief catch up.

We have survived some snow storms....not as bad here as around us, but plenty of snow for me!  Last week was the most we have had and severe cold temps!  However today has been in the 50's and we have snow turning to mud very quickly!!   I think at this point I can safely say that mud is better than trying to do chores in deep snow with lots of clothes on in sub zero temps!  That just wears me out!!

Hubby has had several Dr. appointments, so trips to Topeka, Leavenworth, Topeka again in the past week.  But a good report on the test he had done, so all is well. 

We helped plan, set up and decorate for the Valentine Banquet at church last week.  It turned out to be a very nice evening.

I can't think of anything else exciting in the past few weeks...

This weekend, granddaughter Maddy spent Friday and Saturday nights with us, so we had a great time with her.  Enjoyed lunch with her family today when we took her home....against her better judgement, she would like to stay longer, which makes Grandpa and Grandma feel good!

Yesterday was the monthly Winter Farmers Market.  It was a great market for us!  I made some new things to sell.....Dill Pickle Bread turned out great and sold pretty well.

Yesterday was also our 17th Anniversary....not much celebrating for us, we are kind of stay at home kind of folks!

Tomorrow Mom goes to the eye Dr. so I will take her in the morning and then work at church when we get back.  It is supposed to be a nice day again, so hope to have time to spend outdoors in the late afternoon. 

Country Blessings.....

A Great Day

but a busy one!  We had women's breakfast at church this morning, we meet once a month for fellowship and food!!

Then home to get ready for company. Jim's son from Wyoming came for a visit!!  We had not seen him for about 15 years....  We got to meet his wife, DIL and granddaughter.

Jarrod and Pam









Mary Ann



Yuki and Uncle Jimmy

Son Jimmy and his family came along too.

Also got a little more acquainted with Spencer, our granddaughter's finance.

Thank you all for coming to visit, we loved some special family time!

Later this afternoon, we sold the last 2 pups we had.  A man came for one and ended up buying both of them....will miss the little guys...well, they aren't so little!  Great Pyr/Anatolian Shepherd cross, working farm dogs.  These guys will be guarding 100 sheep, they have a big job to do.

Next, we went back to the church to make chili.  We are having a chili dinner following church tomorrow.

Then home again to do chores, finishing in the dark.

It has been a long, wonderful day on and around the homestead!

Country Blessings.......



Winter Week

Catching up.....Tuesday I finished the bedroom closet cleaning project.  Feel much more organized and happy about that!  Still have a pile of clothes to try on, and decide if they will go for a ride to Goodwill or stay?  

It was very cold this week!!  Finally today was nice, above freezing!  Not warm enough to do much melting of the snow yet.

Wednesday, we took off when I got finished working at the church office, and picked up granddaughter, Maddy.  We went to the Farm Show.  We attend most years, not much for us little guys there really, but we enjoy looking around and the atmosphere of farm families.  Always see a few folks we know.  Maddy asked to come to our house, so we picked up some clothes and she spent the night.

So Thursday, we spent enjoying the company of a sweet 3 year old....met her family last evening half way and she went home even though she would have liked to spend another night!  That makes Grandma and Grandpa happy, we will sneak in another over night visit soon!

Today we were expecting company, so I went in to work at the church this morning.  As it turned out they called and plan to come tomorrow morning now instead.  This evening I made a big pot of hamburger/veggie soup.  My mouth has been hungry for this for a few days!

We have our women's breakfast in the morning at church, always look forward to that each month! Have to get up early, so better be heading to bed pretty soon.

I want to share a great blog with you, just an amazing story for any animal lover. This man lives in our county, I have not met him, but enjoy his blog.
http://www.grit.com/daily-commute/Piglets-In-Winter-Mulefoot-Sow-Delivers-On-Pasture.aspx

I read somewhere about a book that sounded interesting, "The Goat Lady" so I ordered it from our local library.  It came this week.  Just a short childrens book, with great illustrations!  I so enjoyed it, I think you would too especially if you are a goat person....
http://www.best-childrens-books.com/the-goat-lady.html

Country Blessings.......

Winter is finally here

Wind chill tomorrow not to get above 0.....that is what I just heard the weather man say!  Yikes!  I am not ready for that.  We have had snow most of the day, and I would guess 8 inches or so accumulated.  The wind is to really blow tomorrow and this light powdery stuff is going to blow all over.  Most schools closed today and more tomorrow already. 

I hope the furry and feathered friends are as comfortable as possible.  Today wasn't bad, but I worry about them when the wind blows so hard.  They all have a shelter of some kind and plenty of hay, that is about all I can do.  Most have heated water, that is a huge help to me and them!

I got busy this morning and washed the curtains in the living room and bedroom. Did not get all the windows washed outside this fall as planned, so the curtains didn't get washed either.  Now at least they are clean on the inside.....    Also started going through the bedroom closet.  Had to stop for lunch and then hubby took me into town to work at the church for a couple of hours.  I am a big chicken about driving if the roads might be bad...so he offered to go in with me, thank you!  Had to do chores when we got home, so the closet project will be finished tomorrow. 

On Saturday morning we went to the winter farmer's market.  This is the first year a winter market has been held, and it is going very well.  We do not have any produce, but several in the area have high tunnels and are bringing some fresh things.  We had eggs, meats, jams and some dehydrated things.   Getting some ideas for things to make for future markets, during the winter it is only once a month.

Country Blessings........

Another nice day.....tomorrow is supposed to be a little cooler and windy!  Then winter returns for the weekend and all next week...still talking about snow,  after these nice days I wonder how we will survive...but I know we will.  

Hubby is making some cold frames, I have always thought I would like to try this but haven't until now. Using things already here makes this project almost free!  Still need to fill with dirt, better do that tomorrow before everything freezes.  It will be trial and error to see what will grow and if it stays warm enough?  It is located on the south side of a shed, so if the sun shines it should be a perfect location....we will see.

Thought I would share a recipe from the Hays House in Council Grove, Ks.   A historic restaurant that dates back to 1857.  A fun place to visit!

Crunchy Chicken Salad

5 cups cooked chicken pieces
1 cup celery, chopped
8 oz. water chestnuts, sliced
1 cup pineapple tidbits
1 cup seedless grapes, halved

Dressing:

1 cup Miracle Whip
1 cup real sour cream
3 Tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon seasoned salt

Serves 8

The last time I made this, it was for 80 ladies for a retreat lunch at church!  That is a lot of  chicken salad...... everyone seemed to enjoy it.   I think you will too!

Country Blessings......

Nice winter day

 Spent the morning inside finally getting the Christmas decor packed up, at least the house stuff.  Still need to organize the outdoor things and get them packed away.  Usually it is cold and I think next year I will go through it....we have a couple more nice days promised to us, so maybe....   Last year, sad to say, the outdoor decorations were just stacked in the garage until summer.  I really need to get a few more storage tubs to do things right.

Was a lovely winter afternoon....I set up a heated water tub for the young goats, and redid one by the chicken house.  That was a lot of water bucket carrying....I could have gotten the hose out, but sure hate draining those things, and decided it was a better idea to carry buckets!

Jim moved several bales of hay, pretty cold days are coming next week, so that is done and ready.  He is working on making some hot house beds.  We have a small green house, but have never figured out a good way to heat it during the coldest months.  He also worked on cleaning up and painting a wood burning stove that we were given last week.  Sure looks better!  Hope to put it in the garage one day.

I have to brag on myself.... I washed the sheets today, ok that isn't such a great accomplishment, but when they were dry I took them in and made the bed immediately....now that is the great thing!!  I always forget... and it is time for bed... and it isn't made....it makes me so frustrated with myself!  I have turned over a new leaf in the new year!

Country Blessings......

Monday.....Monday......

The first Monday of the New Year....a fresh start for the week and for the year!  Most people find it strange when I say that Monday is my favorite day of the week....the majority would choose Friday I guess.  It can change for various reasons sometimes, but for the most part I love Mondays!  It is exciting to me to look ahead and think about all the wonderful things I will get done through the week ahead! Now, all of those wonderful things don't always happen....but on Monday I think it is possible!

Some of the reason is because we worked in the food business for quite a few years and Monday was our day off!  Now, during the summer months we do Farmers Market on Saturday mornings, it is a lot of work getting ready and getting up early that morning, loading, unloading.....by Monday we are ready to relax as much as possible!

This Monday brought a new venture for me.  Our little church is growing and so needs someone to fill the Secretary spot.  So I started that part time job this afternoon!  It will be 6 hours a week, so that leaves plenty of time to do the things that need done around here, and still will provide a little extra income.  There has not been a secretary position before, so it is a see what needs to be done and figure it out type of job at this point.  I think I will enjoy it, and looking forward to serving the Lord in this new way.

Country Blessings......

Christmas Day

Merry Christmas....this has been a very relaxing day for us.  We had our celebration with kids and grandkids on Thursday evening, so Christmas Eve and Christmas Day have been very low key.  My Mom came out today and ate dinner with us, a simple but nice meal.  We will have one more little celebration next weekend to look forward to.
I received some homestead type gifts....a cast iron skillet, and some nice chore gloves! Some not so homestead type...tickets to a K-State ball game, and a gift card to our favorite eating place! 
Today has seemed more like a Sunday that we didn't go to church than Christmas.... Tomorrow will be Sunday again....in a couple of weeks I suppose the days will fall back into place.

We got a new guinea from free cycle this week.  He was living with chickens at his previous home.  Brought him home and put him in a vacant chicken house, the next day he was gone....I went to the hen house to feed and there he was happily mingling with the hens. I guess that is where he would like to live instead of with the other 2 guineas we have.

So glad we have had good weather for folks traveling!  We didn't have far to go, but some family did. 
Really looking forward to a visit from a blog friend and her family on Monday!!!  We got to meet them last year and they are planning to stop by on their way home from a visit with their family again!

I hope you and your family have enjoyed a Blessed Christmas Day and above all else have Remembered that Jesus is the only Reason for the Season!

Country Blessings....

Cooold.....and Windy....

Well....the weather people were right.....the cold front arrived this morning!  And boy is winter here....a few snow flakes this afternoon, but mainly a cold, harsh, bitter, strong, mean, did I mention cold, wind!

In spite of that I had a great day.  Our little town had their Christmas events today.  This morning at our church there was a Christmas store for the children.  Local people donated a tremendous amount of nice items, the kids brought their shopping lists and volunteers helped them pick out gifts for their family members. Other volunteers wrapped gifts for them.  I helped serve coffee, hot chocolate and cinnamon rolls to the parents as they waited in a side room while their kids shopped.  All this for a donation to go to kids in our community that have needs this Christmas season, and a portion of it goes to our food pantry.  It was a huge success.

Then this afternoon my cousin and I enjoyed the local home tours.  It is a tradition for us to go together each year. I always look forward to this little day out.  Inbetween events I rushed home and did chores before it got any colder!

Hubby went to the winter farmers market and did pretty well there, he said it was a good thing I didn't go this month as it was freezing in the building today.  I am so cold all the time it would have been miserable to stand there in one spot for 3 hours!

I am worn out and have a busy day tomorrow...meeting early at church, program during service time, family dinner, then caroling party in the evening back at church....so I am heading to bed.

Country Blessings....

One more nice day....

This time of year I always wonder if this was the last nice one??  I will certainly hope not...as I have a "few" more things I would like to do outdoors, but winter is close and I know that.   I took advantage of the weather and did some more getting the critters ready for winter.  Didn't accomplish anything really big, but was busy all day and am tired tonight.   We did get some done on the shed cleaning project...not completely, but we have to move a fence before it can be used as a shelter anyway, and I doubt that will happen before Christmas.

Looking forward to tomorrow as the local Christmas home tour will feature my cousin's home, among others that will be fun to visit.

Winter Farmers Market is held monthly and tomorrow will be the second one.  Hubby is getting ready to set up there, but thankfully it doesn't start until 10 not bright and early like the summer market!

Country Blessings.... 

Starting a new blog

Hello Blogger....I had a blog over at Homestead Blogger for a long time, loved it there because most everyone was a homesteader or wished to be one, lots of great information came from there!  Things changed and I didn't keep up with the changes, I got involved with Facebook, and while I enjoy keeping up with old and new friends there....I missed blogging!  So here I am starting a new blog here, hope you will enjoy keeping up with our goings on here on our homestead!

We had a beautiful day here, another one coming tomorrow we are told....then the cold front hits over the weekend.  Not looking forward to that.   I spent some time getting another heated water tub set up this afternoon. Trying to make things as simple as possible this winter.  All the chickens are housed together now, only 2 pens of goats, and the other 4 legged critters are going to live together over the winter....I hope anyway!  Haven't moved the llamas in with the pony and calves yet, will do that tomorrow, it should work out fine.   Only big problem is that the ducks and geese make mud soup out of the water tubs so fast, very frustrating!

Lots to do tomorrow, we are cleaning out a shed to make one section of it available for the above mentioned 4 legged group.  Have done tons of cleaning and burning and hauling off this fall.  There is always more to do, but things are looking amazingly better!  Very thankful for that.  I hope we will have a few decent days over the winter that we can continue these projects before spring busy days hit.