Phew!

It's been a while since I've posted. We moved back in October to what I hope is a more permanent home (one that we'll buy eventually I think). It doesn't have the huge track of land we wanted, but it has some and it will do for our purposes. Behind our property is a "green belt" which is more than an acre or trees separating us from the street behind us. It's actually quite nice and we are really enjoying out new home.

Anyway, with the move in October, then trying to get the house in order before Thanksgiving and now trying again to make sure it stays somewhat in order for Christmas, it's been challenging to say the least. I'm almost done unpacking, but I've been sort of stuck on the last 15 boxes since three days before Thanksgiving. I actually managed to unpack our entire lives in less than three weeks. Most everything has a home, thankfully and I have a few boxes that are in need of storage because I just don't have a practical place to put them right now. I came to the conclusion that we just have entirely too much stuff and it isn't frivolous junk. Camping gear alone takes up.. wow. And then the kitchen... double wow. You just never realize until you move.

So now I'm back on a limited basis through the holidays. I'm pleased to be able to sit down and actually not feel guilty for touching my computer with stuff standing around me in boxes waiting and pleading to be put away. And I've been very busy writing for Patti Moreno. Be looking forward to this coming year, I've sent many articles to her this month. Seven in total at this point!

I had a thought this past week about an inexpensive self watering container while talking to a rather handy fellow at work. We were talking about building my hydroponic system because he has the tools I'm missing and is interested in seeing how my first run at a full indoor system will work. I was showing him plans when I came across a set of plans using cut off two liter bottles screwed into PVC. It hit me at that point that I could just put the cut off top right back in the cut off bottom and fill it with water.

So I did. I poked my husband into finishing his Pepsi and then I proceeded to cut it in half, stuff some cotton into neck and filled the bottom part with water. The wicking process began. I didn't put the water in from the top because I wanted to see if the cotton would actually pull up enough moisture into the dry soil and it did. It only took a couple of hours but the bottom part of the soil started to intake the water so I felt it was a sound process. I put together three of these over last couple of days. I have lemon basil, sweet basil and garlic chives so far. Now that we're going to save our two liters (I had the kids dig through the recycling bin and grab a few others for me from the last month) I should have a few of these all over the house to see what plants respond well to this and which ones don't.

I'm very excited about this and hope it works. I'll get pictures posted of them as soon as I can.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy 2009!

MySpace Graphics




MySpace Graphics

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays Graphics provided by MUDTRAP.COM

Peppermint Patty

Make a Smilebox recipe

Irish Cream Fudge Recipe

Irish Cream Fudge Recipe

2 packages ( each package should be 12 oz. each) of milk chocolate chips 
1 (12 oz.) package semisweet chocolate chips 
2 jars of marshmallow cream, 7 ounces EACH 
2 t. of vanilla extract 
2/3 C. of Irish Cream 
2 C. of chopped nuts - optional 
4 1/2 C. of granulated sugar 
1 12 oz. can of evaporated milk 
1/2 lb. of butter

In a very large bowl, combine the 2 packages of milk chocolate chips, the one package of semisweet chocolate chips, both jars of marshmallow cream, 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract, the Irish Cream, and nuts if you are adding them. Set this mixture aside. 

Line a 10-x-15-inch pan with foil and spread lightly with butter or margarine. 

In a medium sized saucepan, combine 4 1/2 cups of granulated sugar, 1 can of evaporated milk, and 1/2 pound of butter. Bring to a gentle boil over medium heat and cook slowly, stirring constantly for about 10 minutes. 

Pour the milk mixture into the very large bowl holding the chocolate chip mixture. Stir slowly by hand to combine. It is very important to do this by hand and NOT use any kind of mixer. 

Pour the fudge into the prepared pan and chill until set.

Ya know...

Now that the holidays are over we're back to planning for our up coming move to the PNW.  I'm very excited that we've going to be moving back up there and look forward to beginning to live a more simple life.  We've been looking into work from home projects, including work from home tech support so that we have more time for our children and more time for the work on the property.  I'm very excited about this prospect, it will mean a pay cut, but there will be less money going out with this: no parking, no huge gas bill and certainly no monthly business wardrobe updates, among other things.

I never realized it before, but moving is a huge hassle when you have a house full of stuff.  And we definitely a house full of stuff, specifically the kitchen.  We're a family that spends 80% of the time together in the kitchen cooking, baking, canning, eating.  And everyone contributes, my five year old made the stuffing for our Thanksgiving and did a pretty good job at it.  Because I don't like stuffing in anything larger than a quail for obvious health hazard reasons, it was easy for him.  But because we are a family that spends a ton of time in the kitchen, we have accumulated sooo many giggits and gizmos and gadgets that we scarcely have enough room for most of them.  And I am proud to say that not one of them is a uni-tasker.  But all of that stuff has to be packed!  Thankfully, we've slowed down on the freezer foods and one of two of our freezers is already lined with cardboard waiting for the contribution of kitchen supplies we'll be packing into it.  We've got one more freezer to empty before the kids are out of school in May so we're trying to keep it at a minimum so that we're not going to end up with a ruined mess when we pull into Portland for our short stay there and then on to Vancouver.

This move has renewed my want for easier things such as the tankless water heater, an aeroponic's system, and of course my obsession with dwarf varieties of fruit trees.  But while it has renewed that want, it has also kicked into gear the other things that we want to do.  Solar panels and wind energy to help get the green incentives that the government has offered and will continue to offer to help ween us off petroleum products and big energy consumption.

I'm taken back to a time when I was a kid when the most we picked up from the grocery store was a gallon of milk, a couple of loaves of "light bread", some cans of spaghetti and some top ramen (we loved ramen when I was growing up, it meant we didn't have to cook a huge meal).  Instead of tins with printed labels, it was jars with hand written ones in the cupboard.  Two large freezers were out in the shed, one for wild game we hunted, and the other was for slaughtered farm critters.  

We were a community of people trading and sharing and helping each other with the trials of failed crops, diseased farm animals, and older folks that couldn't do what they once did.  I was talking with my father last night and he was going hunting today with a couple of friends specifically to surprise someone with a deer kill because the man couldn't go hunting himself, even though my father has already killed two bucks this year and traded a side of one of them for a hog from a local farmer.  And when my father got out of his last surgery a couple of years ago and couldn't go hunting, this man brought him fresh deer and hog kills that were already wrapped and frozen.  He also said that he'd gotten a visit from a couple of others that came by only to grab a jar of jelly and he said he probably wouldn't see them again until they ran out or they brought by some fresh something-or-nother from their own garden.

There is a huge difference in that life from the one I lead now.  I'm still a hunter and a farmer but I'm very used to my city conveniences.  I like my 24 hour grocery stores and pharmacies.  And I also like the short amount of time to get from place to place.  Living where my father is it is a 40 minute drive to Wal-Mart that closes at 10PM.  Newp, I don't want to go back to that, I'm too spoiled.

But what I do want is a place that is out of the way with an couple of acres that we can develop for our chickens, quails and rabbits with our greenhouse and our raised beds and our mini orchard.  We're looking forward to being off grid and being one more person that causes less stress on the system that we currently have and maybe we can help to convience a few people along the way to join us.  And we're looking forward to going to the farmers market with our fresh foods and giving away the stuff we don't sell to a local emergency service for folks that can't afford to feed their families.  We're not trying to change the world here, but we certainly trying to get the movement started with the helps of thousands of others like us.

Thanksgiving has brought a lot of this out.  Our children want to know what the game plan is and we've got one.  They are just as excited about this move as I am and they want to get out there and get their hands dirty.  They want to experience these things and we want them to have these experiences so that they have a better understanding of dependance and independance.

Right now, I don't have pictures of my garden to post and I know that makes a huge difference for a blog (considering no one reads this regularly).  But once we're working on our little farm and the trials that we face and the failures and successes we have, everyone that we're going to miss on the east coast will be able to watch us grow.

4th Aftermath

Whew! We had a pretty busy 4th. We spent most of our 4 day weekend with friends. We grilled about 30 pounds of ribs. We watched spectacular displays of fireworks from the neighbors and then added in our own plus some! D.J. actually went back out and bought mortars and I've never seen the guys get so worked up over explosives. But then again, why wouldn't they?







The kids had a wonderful time.



Seth with his first sparkler.



Connor running around saying "I'm a wizard! I'm a wizard!" I guess he has been watching too much Harry Potter.




We planted the pumpkins over the weekend. I found a rather large container that we figure will do just fine in keeping four pumpkin plants occupied for the season. We got them in and ran out of soil so its about three inches from the top, but husband and kids couldn't wait to get them planted so we went with it. They are doing fine and have been watered and fertilized. I'll get pictures of them up tomorrow.

Happy 4th! (Belated)

I know this is a little late but..

Myspace
Graphics- At Myspacejunks.com

Lasting Thoughts

Nothing says "I Love You" like burnt toast and crunchy eggs in bed.
Nothing says "I Love You" like a stick of butter spread on 8 pieces of toast. Nothing says "I Love You" like a six year old reading a book from beginning to end about Mother's Day to you.
Nothing says "I Love You" like a 4 year old saying "Happy Mother's Day" every 10 minutes and even a few times in between.
Nothing says "I Love You" like a tiny pink bud on a tiny little plant brought home from school in a dixie cup covered in marker pictures of you.
Nothing says "I Love You" like phone call after phone call incoming and outgoing to say "I love you."

I hope everyone had as good a Mother's Day as I had.