To feed our family...

The mad dash has begun! What mad dash, you ask? The dash to keep up with all that the garden and animals are providing for us, to process and preserve enough food to last us through the slim times of winter. The goal is to store enough and then some: some to share, some for just in case, some because it is always good to have extra, and some because sometimes you need it to last you two winters. Today: Butchered 4 Cornish chickens and put into freezer 2 jars of pickled quail eggs 1 1/4 jars of Mexican Spice cheese balls in olive oil Started the fermentation process on a double quart jar of zucchini pickles Froze 3-4 gallons of milk for soap making Started a new round of kefir cheese

Today is Fathers Day! My second son, Rhyor, decided of his own accord that he would make the Fathers Day supper. It was a superb meal, the kind that makes a mama proud! The main dish was an oven-roasted chicken that he seasoned with Herbes de Provence and garlic. Yum! Not only that, but he also made the dessert: a whole grain, lemon blueberry cake. It was absolutely moist and delicious. Did I mention that Rhyor is only twelve-years-old? Now, before you start getting the wrong idea, I am not by any means posting this to brag or toot my horn. I'm posting this to show how capable our children are, even at a young age. Several years ago, when my oldest was around 5-years-old (she's now 16), I heard a talk on CD that emphasized all that our children are capable of. And it was a lot. The talk focused on examples from history and spoke of the responsibilities children had at the time of the early settlers. I remember listening to that talk and feeling like it spoke to me on many level...

Two days ago, out of the blue, a neighborhood friend called me and asked if I wanted to transplant some parsley from her yard to mine. Apparently, her unwanted plants were quite aggressive and choking out the beautiful hydrangea bush that she actually wanted in the flower bed. I was thrilled with such a phone call! My cupboard supply of parsley has been depleted for several years now. With us having just moved last October, a good parsley harvest this season was not looking very likely. What I found when I showed up at my friend's house was a 4' x 4' spot completely taken over by three foot tall parsley bushes! Major excitement at this moment! They were definitely going to fill my parsley jars and some. These massive parsley bushes were second year parsley plants and just about to start flowering. My youngest and I processing the parsley before hanging on our solar clothes dryer. Side note on harvesting: The best time to harvest parsley for use is while the plant is focus...

Birthday girl happily painting one of our ceramic pieces at her party. In the Fall of 2015 we opened a shop called Paint It Yourself on Etsy. The shop mainly focused  on selling unpainted ceramic figurines for others to paint, with the occasional custom order for a painted item. We have been running this shop online for five and a half years now, shipping ceramics all over the world: everywhere from England to Australia, and all over the United States. Packaged and ready to go! For a family of amateur ceramicists, the shop has done really well. We've had over a thousand sales and made just shy of $25,000 during the first 5 years. Not bad for a side business. Right now, one might say we are at the top of our game with great holiday sales and repeat customers. So one might wonder why, when things were really getting going for the shop, did I choose to close it? Rylan, age 9, cleaning the seamline off of a piece of greenware This shop has been a huge blessing fo...

Today I didn't plan my day. Instead, I went from one moment to the next allowing the Spirit to guide my day. It was nice since there was no endless to-do list causing stress, just smooth transitions through the day as I sought God's guidance on what needed to happen next. Not all days are like this. There are many days where I feel the prompting to plan the entire day from the beginning, because there is more that needs to happen than I initially realize. Today was a nice change, a day to feel at peace and seek a closeness to my Heavenly Father, to know His will for me this day. So what did today look like? I woke naturally at 3:53 a.m., but burrowed deeper into my covers, hiding from the chill in the room and promptly ignored my 4:00 a.m. alarm. I sat up with my 4:30 a.m. backup alarm and read the scriptures I felt guided to read. Then came prayers, followed by getting dressed - the usual morning routine. After a dream I had the other night, I decided that I needed t...