Someone stop the world… June 25, 2008

…I wanna take a break!!

     Isn’t summer supposed to be the time of the year that things slow down and you can take it easy? 

     What happened to the lazy days of summer?  Yeesh!

     In addition to spending three days (or more) a week at the gym for Ms. Firecracker to prepare for Gymnastics Nationals, we also have VBS this week.  We love VBS.  The kids meet new people and make new friends.  They make crafts, learn new songs and just really enjoy learning about God and praising Him. 

     It is so awesome to watch the kids as they sing songs about God’s strength, mercy and goodness.  Despite all the busy-ness VBS is a very good week!

     On the homestead it has been a hard few months. 

     We have now lost all of our adult chickens.  It is driving me crazy!  They are not being picked off one at a time, here and there .  There are no carcasses to be found.  There are rarely feathers found.  It is not happening at night.  They are disappearing during the middle of the day.  There are 3-5 missing at a time.  I cannot find any tracks and whenever I have the game trail camera set up no chickens disappear those days!   So far I have ruled out possums, snakes and raccoons.  I have not smelled a fox in the area -ever.  We do not have any packs of dogs around here that I know of.  I have never known coyotes to hunt during the day and when they have shown up usually there is only one or maybe two chickens missing.    PS- this is also how we lost all of our ducks and most of our guineas. 

     Anyway, that leaves us with two adolescent chickens, 1 adult guinea, 1 adolescent guinea and 13 chicks.  Mr. Muscles and I have to sit down and come up with a plan.  A live trap is in the very near future.  Not that it would do any good with dogs or coyotes.  I will have to set the game trail camera up again. 

     It just makes me so mad.  All of our egg layers are gone and the adolescent chickens are 3-4 months away from laying eggs.  Geez, the chicks are just now 3 weeks old.  Enough whining, for now. 

     The kids and I have also been working our tushes off outside.   We have hauled 5 loads of dirt to backfill the retaining wall.  That is half of the loads that we need.  We have also built about half of the rock walls needed around the strawberries, grapes and blackberries.  I got a whole bunch of new flowers in the ground and even half of the first section of stone walkway laid out.   Oh, and I dug and built the new firepit.  We use it for roasting marshmellows and chilling around on the weekends.  

     See?  Busy but getting so much done!  I will get pictures up soon.  I would love to show ya’ll the progress we have made. 

I am off for now.  I have blogs to catch up my reading on. 

Have a blessed day!

~Rhen

Tackle it Tuesday June 17, 2008

Here is a picture of my tackle today:

We had 13 new chicks hatch out. 

They are out in the brooder box. 

They are eating and drinking so much that I need to get a larger waterer and a larger feeder for them.  

I also need to add some more bedding. 

They are too stinking cute. 

 We have 12 Buff Orpingtons and 1 Aracauna babies.

So what are you tackling today?  For more tackles visit 5 Min for Mom.

Have a blessed day,

~Rhen

This week’s agenda June 16, 2008

I am so proud that I have to share to something with you. 

I mowed the grass! 

An ordinary thing you say?  Ha!

     Over a year ago Mr. Muscles was mowing a path down by the creek and clearing some of the hollow.  When he had finished he started back up to the house.  He had only made it about 75 feet when the lawntractor ran out of gas.  Not a problem.  The ATV will easily pull it back up.  All was going well and he was almost to the top (we live in the mountains so this particular hillside is quite steep) when the rope contecting the lawntractor to the ATV broke.  For most of the trip back down the mountain the lawntractor just rolled backwards but about 20 feet in front of me, I was coming up the hillside, the thing diverted right and started fliping.  

     It was crazy looking!  The hood opened up and was bent, two of the tires were pulled off their rims and the poor thing looked bad.  Mr. Muscles did manage to get it all the way up to the house where we accessed the damage. 

     has been working on it ever since.   While it was working well enough to be used last summer I did not feel safe.  This year Mr. Muscles did an overhaul on it and now it is working like a champ again.

Our grass so high the kids could play Marco Polo and Hide and Seek in it! 

It is extremely satisfying to mow down grass that tall.  I laughed, out loud, the entire time I was mowing!

Everthing looks so much better.   It actually looks like someone lives here! 

     Mr. Muscles, the kids and I worked hard around here this past weekend and I hope to carry that momentum through the week despite our schedule.  LOL

     So, my to-do list is:

scrub and clean out the fridge

grocery shopping for the next two weeks

laundry (a little to make up after working outside so much)

finish the new fire pit

gather rocks for the rock walkway to the grilling deck

a load or three of dirt to fill in behind the retaining wall

weed and mulch the front gate gardens

weedeat

finish attaching the pasture fencing to the t-posts

finish ordering the rest of next year’s curriculum

oil all the wood furniture in the house

mulch the vegetable gardens

finish our study of the human body

help the kids to write down the last of their books for the summer reading program. 

 

I really hope I can get this list completed.  With the kids’ summer gymnastics schedule it is harder to get everything done before it gets too hot outside.   That afternoon heat is a little too much when you are trying to haul rocks around.

For this week’s menu:

Tuna Salad

Hamburgers w/ baked homemade cheesy fries and baked beans

BBQ chicken stew

Homemade pizza

Veggie night

Chicken fajitas w/ refried beans

Saturday night is our family night out.  No cooking, no cleaning and my tea glass is never empty. 

Looking for more menu ideas?  Visit Organizing Junkie! 

All of our meals are homemade and not out of a box.  If you are interested in any of the recipes I use just leave me a comment and I will post it with next week’s menu as well as email it to you.

Have a blessed week,

~Rhen

On the agenda this week! June 2, 2008

Don’t you just love the weekends when you tackle your to-do list and actually accomplish most of it?! 

This past weekend Mr. Muscles and I:

   hung 330 feet of fencing

   burned a large pile of debris

   organized the lower shed

   stacked the rest of the wood from the deck demo.

Mr. Muscles also:

   mowed the yard

   weedeated

   tightened the trim on the chicken house

   built a compost pile

   started the tune up of the lawntractor (new blades, greasing, oil, etc…)

And I was able to:

   put a bale of wheat straw in the chicken house

   restack and organize all the lumber, metal, fencing, etc. around the lower shed

   move the chicks to the chicken house

   do 4 loads of laundry

   get all the stuff in the compost pile

   get started digging out the new fire pit

   clean up the yard.

The whole homestead feels much better! 

This week we will be working on backfilling, finishing the fire pit, make a stone path to the deck, weeding the gardens, putting up strings for the beans to grow on and a few other things.

The kids will be helping, taking care their chores and working on finishing their books for the school year.  We homeschool almost year round.  The kids are now on summer schedule for dance and gymnastics.  That puts most of our gym time in the morning.  When we get home they will work on their books and such. 

I need to get out there with my camera and take a few pictures.  I am documenting all of our projects as we continue to improve and grow our homestead.  I like to go back and look at the pictures.  It is great to see just how far we have come. 

I am also going to fit my menu for the week in here.  Don’t you just love my sneakiness?  LOL

Turkey meatloaf (this tastes really good), black eyed peas, broccoli, sliced cucs and Greek salad.

Homemade pizza.  I will trying a new crust recipe I got from Joy.

Grilled BBQ Chicken, roasted corn and potato salad.

Hamburgers, coleslaw and baked beans.

Breakfast with turkey sausage, cheesy eggs and pancakes.

Beef tips with rice, green beans and sliced veggies.

One night will be our family night out.  It is one of my favorite nights.  No cooking and no cleaning!  LOL

For more great menus and dinner ideas visit Organizing Junkie.

Have a blessed day!

~Rhen

You know you are a homeschooler when… May 30, 2008

… dead critters equal a chance for an autopsy.  (We are not the only ones!)

Recently I offed a rooster.  Yep, struck him down in the prime of his life. 

Roosters are not allowed to puff up and run at me or my children.  To do so means death! 

My weapon of choice was a level.  I was working on fencing that day and had a 2 foot level in my hand at the time of his ill-fated bravado. 

I don’t think the girls (hens) were all that impressed anyway.

Mr. Muscled skinned him and then he and the kids performed an autopsy.  They identified all the organs, asked lots of questions and thought the whole thing was really cool. 

We have been studying the human body so seeing many of the same organs in the chicken, and on a much smaller scale, really helped them understand how things really look. 

Ever since then the kids have been begging me to off another chicken.  I can’t.  We have lost 8 in 2 weeks.  I am not sure what it is but the last 3 were taken during the day.  I have a game trail camera and a live trap that we will set up tomorrow.  Then we shall see what is killing our flock!

Have a blessed day,

~Rhen

This week’s plan and menu May 19, 2008

How was your weekend?  Mine was crazy busy but a good one.   We were able to accomplish almost everything on last week’s list. 

As for this week…

~ Gardening.  Things are sprouting and growing like crazy in the gardens.  There is a little weeding to do.  We are trying to stay on top of it so it doesn’t become too much.  Mr. Muscles has to till the lower garden and make a gate for the upper garden.  I have some more planting to do in both. 

~ Laundry.  I try to hang as much outside as I can.  It really cuts down on the electric bill.  I try to do 2-3 loads a day but I was not able to do much laundry over the weekend so I havve to catch up.

~ Grocery shopping.  Every other week we go grocery shopping. 

~ Projects.  I have a small rock wall to build at the top of the strawberry bed.  My work on the projects is light this week.  My schedule is a little more full than usual. 

~ Homeschooling.  In addition to our normal work we also have several homeschool get-togethers and outings.  I am still choosing curriculum for next year.  I have the handwriting and science and I know what I am getting for math but there is more than just that!  LOL 

 ~Spiritually.  I am looking to finish up my Elizabeth George book (A Woman After God’s Own Heart).  This has been an excellent book!!

~~My cleaning zone this week will be the kids’ rooms.  Our May assignment for Organizing Junkie’s Monthly Round Up is kid’s rooms.  I am very excited about getting their rooms done!  I have already been at work in the rooms and taking pictures. 

On the menu for this week:

Pasta Bake w/ garlic bread.

Hebrew National hot dogs with cole slaw and baked beans.

BBQ Chicken, potato salad and fresh sliced veggies.

Breakfast with cheesy eggs, turkey sausage and toast.

Chicken Fajitas with refried beans.

Beef tips and rice with green beans and Greek salad. 

Saturday night is our family night out.  That means no cooking and no cleaning!!

What’s happening in your house this week?  Leave me a comment with a link to you so I can visit! 

Have a blessed week,

~Rhen

PS-

All meals are homemade and if you are interested in a recipe just let me know.  I will post it with next week’s menu. 

For more Meandering Mondays visit Tiany and for more Menu Monday visit Organizing Junkie

A plantin’ we will go! May 14, 2008

High Ho the Derry-o, a plantin’ we will go!

I love my time out in the garden.

Tonight it was just God and me. 

So quiet.  So peaceful.  LOL 

Ok, maybe it was not too quiet.  The dogs barked at everything and I talk out loud to God but it was a great conversation!

I got a lot planted.  I planted the 2nd of 3 succession corn plantings.  In two weeks I will get the last one in. 

I also was able to plant 2 rows of okra, 3 of large yellow onions, 1 of 2 rows of spinach, 2 rows of peas, an area of carrots and radishes, 8 cucumbers, and a few marigolds and sunflowers. 

I use a wide row method that makes use of every square inch of garden space.  When I say I planted two or three rows they are not the traditional rows that are several feet apart so I am able to plant a hundred feet of corn in a wide row that is 20 foot long. 

I also use this method for planting my lettuce, carrots and radishes.  I have blocks of lettuce and blocks of radishes and carrots.  By planting the radishes and carrots together I am giving the carrots the space they will need.   The radishes will be ready at 21 days.  As I harvest them I am opening space up for the carrots to really take off and get fat.  The carrots from the store cannot compare to the sweetness of carrots from your own garden!

If you are interested in wide row gardening I highly recommend this book:

Also, I like to mix flowers in my veggie garden.  Marigolds are especially heplful in repeling many different pests.  I also put sunflowers in there.  The kids love them and they add such a bold splash of color and interest. 

I still have quite a few other things to either get planted (seeds) or transplant.  More tomatoes, peppers, squash, watermelons, pumpkins, potatoes, sweet potatoes and such.

I have my composted manure for making “tea”.   We are supposed to get rain tomorrow and I will make my first batch of “tea” this weekend for the veggies as well as the fruit trees, vines and bushes. 

What are you planting?

Do you have a favorite food to grow?  Mine are tomatoes.  I absolutely relish picking a big, juicy, ripe tomato and making a gigantic sandwich out of it.  Yum!

What’s yours?

 

This week’s plan and menu. May 12, 2008

Hello and good Monday!  Did you have a great weekend?  Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms!  Hope it was a blessed one.

Now onto my plans for this week.

~Yes, laundry.  I only have 2 laundry baskets.  While some might think that 2 is plenty, not for a family of 8.  One basket is the permanent sock basket and so I actually only have 1 working one.  I need a few more. 

~Gardening- We picked up the last of the fencing for the gardens and we have finished enough of the deck and retaining wall work in the lower garden to get planting there as well.  I am looking forward to getting things in the ground.  Mr. Muscles has to till in there first.

~Projects-  I have one more stretch of pasture that needs t-posts.  Yah!  Mr. Muscles is really feeling a wild hair to get the fencing done.  I am going to take advantage of that giddyup.  LOL 

~We have to get the yard cleaned up.  All of the projects and such makes for such a mess of the yard, driveway and parking area.  The kids and I are hoping to get out there Tues. and get everything put away, thrown away and cleaned up.  The yard is in need of mowing but that will have to wait.  I have too much to do this week.

~The competitive gymnasts booster club is having a fundraiser yard sale this weekend.  I am heading that up and I have tons of stuff for it.   We were already planning on having a yard sale but this will provide us with a much better location and then we can use the money for gymnastics competions for Ms. Firecracker.  We have a couple of other kids who may go competitive and I want to be ready just in case. 

~Homeschooling- the kids are really feeling the push to finish more books.  I am not pushing them but they see just how close they are to being done with certain books and subjects and they are pushing themselves.  Every once in a while I have to slow them down a bit.  LOL 

~Spiritually I am looking to finish up my Elizabeth George book (A Woman After God’s Own Heart).  This has been an excellent book!!

~~My cleaning zone this week will be the kids’ rooms.  Our May assignment for Organizing Junkie’s Monthly Round Up is kid’s rooms.  I am very excited about getting their rooms done!  I have already been at work in them and taking pictures. 

On our yummy menu this week is:

   *Chicken Fajitas with refried beans.

   *Meatloaf with mashed potatoes, peas and fresh veggies.

   *Breakfast including cheesy eggs, turkey sausage, toast and gravy.

   *Pasta Bake with garlic bread.

   *Chicken and Macaroni cheesy casserole.

   *Beef tips with rice, onions, bell peppers, and beans with sliced veggies.

   *Saturday night is our night out.  This is my favorite night.  No cooking and no cleaning!

All meals are homemade and if you are interested in a recipe just let me know.  I will post it with next week’s menu. 

For more Meandering Mondays visit Tiany and for more Menu Monday visit Organizing Junkie.

Ya’ll have a very blessed week and don’t forget to leave me a comment.  I love them and then I get to come visit you!

~Rhen

The recipes requested last week:

BBQ Chicken Stew:

Cooked chicken diced up and put into a stew pot (I use 6 chicken breasts).   Add 2 diced tomatoes, 2 cups of green beans, 2 cups of corn, 5-6 medium sized potatoes diced and 1 bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce.  Allow all of it to boil together.  If you use canned veggies the juice you will only need about 2 cups of water but if you use fresh veggies you will need 4.  You can use chicken broth instead of water as well.  Allow it to come to a boil and then simmer until the potatoes are soft. 

Breaded herb chicken.  I use a mixture of my favorite herbs (you can buy mixtures such as Italian, Lemon and Pepper) and toast that has been crumbled up.  Break 4-6 eggs into a dish and whisk them.  I use chicken breast or tenders.  Dip the chicken in the eggs and then roll in the herb and bread crumbs.  Put them in an oiled pan on the stove, cover and cook on a medium heat until they are done.  The chicken can be covered with mozarella cheese and a light dusting of herbs when they are done. 

 

This week’s plans and menu May 5, 2008

Good Monday all!!  I hope you had a terrific weekend. 

1.  ~Even more laundry.  Like it will ever end!

2.  ~Grocery shopping.  I shop every two weeks and today it the day.  I will go right after my Dr’s appt today. 

3.  ~Gardening- the last of the succession planting will happen this week.  That includes corn, beans, squash, lettuce and more.  I picked up some herb plants this weekend that need to go in the rock garden. 

4.  ~Homeschooling.  More work on their basic books and finishing up subjects.  We will also be doing a lot of planet gazing this month and planning a field trip to Amicalola Falls.  I will see if anyone wants to carpool to help with the price of the gas to get there.

5.  ~Spiritual Health-  I am reading Elizabeth George’s book A Woman After God’s Own Heart.  It is such an awesome book.  I also have the study guide with it.  I like the way she guides you by asking you particular questions about what you read and what you thought.  Very inspiring!

6.  ~Projects- We will work on gathering rocks and building the walls of the rock garden.  The garden is outlined but most of the walls have not yet been built.  I am also going to finish the last of the t-posts.  I couldn’t get to this last week because of a hand injury.  I need to get a fresh bale of hay in the chicken house, ask my neighbor to backfill the retaining wall Mr. Muscles finished and build a second chicken run. 

7.  ~My cleaning zone this week will be the kids’ rooms.  Our May assignment for Organizing Junkie’s Monthly Round Up is kid’s rooms.  I am very excited about getting their rooms done!

On our yummy menu this week is:

  *Herb breaded chicken with black eyed peas, asparagus, fresh sliced veggies.

  *Roast with sweet potato casserole and green beans.

  *Tuna Salad (nice cold meal on a warm day)

  *Veggie pizzas

  *BBQ Chicken stew

  *Hamburgers with potato salad, corn and Greek salad.

  *Saturday night is the night Mr. Muscles treats us all to dinner out.  Woo hoo, no cleaning that night!

All meals are homemade and if you are interested in a recipe just let me know.  I will post it with next week’s menu. 

For more Meandering Mondays visit Tiany and for more Menu Monday visit Organizing Junkie.

Ya’ll have a very blessed week and don’t forget to leave me a comment.  I love them and then I get to come visit you!

~Rhen

WFMW- Compost Tea April 30, 2008

It is warm outside.  The sun is shining and spring has very much settled in down here in the deep south.

  What does that mean?  I am in full gardening mode, baby!  I love gardening.  I love the flowers, the fresh food and watching as the plants grow. 

Do you have a black thumb or maybe a brown one?  Is it a little green but you are looking for supergreen?  LOL  I have a great little recipe for you to use on your plants that will help them to grow and thrive. 

It is called compost tea.  It can also be manure tea.  Both are excellent.

What you need is compost.  Rich, black, healthy compost.  If you do not have a compost pile then you can buy bags of compost at your local  home improvement store. 

You will also need a pair of pantyhose and a 5 gallon bucket.   Cut the pantyhose off at right about the knee area so you have two individual legs.

Fill the 5 gallon bucket up with water.  Your best choice is rain water if you collect it. 

Next, you fill the bottom 5-6 inches of one of the feet of the pantyhose with compost and loosely tie the top of it. 

Then, allow the pantyhose of compost to steep in the water just like you would do with a tea bag and a cup of water.  It is best to let it steep in the sun.  The heat makes it stronger.  Allow it to steep for 24-36 hours.  Periodically move your “tea bag” around to release more nutrients. 

Now the “tea” is ready to be fed to your plants.  You can either have someone strong enough carry the bucket around or you can dip the liquid gold out with a smaller bucket. 

Pour the “tea” directly around the roots of the plants and not on the top of them. 

If your bellpeppers have buds on them or are blooming do NOT fertilize them.  You will have big, beautiful plants but no peppers!  Only fertilize them when they are young. 

I prefer to use a mixture of manure and compost to make my “tea”.  70% compost and 30% manure in pantyhose.  The plants just thrive on it.  You can also buy composted manure at your local home improvement store. 

In addition to compost and manure you can also use worm castings and/ or fish emulsifier.

Do you have a tip to share with others?  Would you like a whole bunch of great advice?  Pop over to Rocks in My Dryer and check it out!