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“If people let government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny.” Thomas Jefferson

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Spring Cleaning

Well, since the weather is cold and bitter outside and I am trying to avoid being out there as much as possible. So this is a good chance to get some spring cleaning done. I cleaned out underwear and sock drawers yesterday. It is amazing how much can accumulate in those drawers. I had recently bought new socks and underwear thinking that I needed some because I seem to have a hard time finding any. You wouldn't believe how many loose socks had wormed their way to the back of the drawer. I wound up with plenty of socks, both work and town socks. So the new package of socks went in my need later stash in the closet. I also found plenty of pairs of underwear that had wormed their way into the back of the drawer behind my slips. So that package went into the need later stash as well. Now, if I just don't forget that they are their. Both of the children are good on underwear, but the little one loses socks like there is no tomorrow so we will have to replenish those soon. I might just wait until summer is over since we go barefoot or sandals around here more times than not. Hubby goes through socks. like crazy and I have exhausted our need later stash for him so I might need to replenish that. Today I am going through shirt drawers for everyone and also going through shirts in the closet. Hubby and I (ok mostly me) have so many clothes in the closet even though I have cleaned out things that I never wear anymore. I think I am going to put a lot of my shirts that I don't wear much in the need later stash and then when I get a shirt too messed up to be a town shirt then I can move it to the work shirt drawer and pull out a decent shirt to replace it. That way the clothes will be easier to find and I don't feel like I am getting rid of clothes that I really do use or can use. Like flannel shirts. I wear them a lot during the winter or on spring mornings over a tank top, but we have accumulated so many and they really do last quite a while. I really don't need 15 of them hanging in the closet when 6 will suffice. Speaking of clothes, I am going to work on my studio over the next few days so I can get in their and sew some pretty spring/summer skirts and dresses. I have so much fabric out there and really need to use it, plus I really like skirts and dresses and nice ones can be hard to find. I don't like long flowing ones for working around the farm because they get caught on things and dirty and ragged at the bottom. Anyway, with the cold that I am not tolerating well I am trying to keep myself busy doing something that is productive. I hate going to bed at night feeling like I have accomplished nothing. Then I lay there thinking about all the things that I should have done and didn't. That is miserable when you really want to go to sleep and you can't because your mind is wandering. I am going to try and finish up making the soap supply for the year as well. I tried a new recipe for soap that I found in a book that I had and I really don't like it. I just doesn't moisturize my skin like my regular soap does so I am going back to my old recipe. I really want to get all my soaping stuff cleaned up and put away out of site because it being out is beginning to bother me. I can only tolerate things out of order so much these days. I need to make some more towels for the kitchen and have loads of material to do that with along with some new cloth napkins. We have about worn out many of ours. They are simple to make. Cut the fabric and serge or overlap stitch the edges. In a couple of hours I can have enough made to last a couple of years. Anyway, as you can see there are just lots of little bits and pieces of things getting done around here to make the home and farm run a little smoother. These are the things that get put on the back burner when we are busy with big projects that have much more priority. Well, I suppose I had better get to all those little things. Have a great day!

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

I'm over winter

Man it really seems like I am doing a lot of complaining lately. Maybe I am, but really I am over winter. We really didn't have much of a winter and I really don't see why it needed to show its ugly self in the middle/end of March. It is cold and there is a bitter north wind blowing like you wouldn't believe. We are supposed to get a freeze tonight or tomorrow and that does not bode well for the fruit trees that are in full bloom. It might be a lean year for fruit which is why you always put up more than you think you will need when the year is a banner year. We are trying to get the garden going, but with so much rain and now this cold it is making things quite difficult. Of course, like my complaint of a few days ago the chickens haven't helped matters at all either. We finally have enough bird netting up over the fenced that they are not getting in the garden right as of this moment. Of course that might change as they are much craftier than they look. I have a hen that has hatched out some bitties for me. I am not sure how many she has but it sounded as if there were at least two cheeping away under her fluffy feathers. I will see if I can get a good count. This is the one that always has them in the big barn around the horses which is not the best place since the horses always seem to step on a few. I am thinking of trying to move them within the next few days to the chicken coop where they will be away from the horse hoof death trap. It is nice to have a couple of hens that go broody each year, maybe I will get more hens this year. Last year it seems like it was mostly roosters that survived. However, I did have a few young hens start laying this spring. Which reminds me now I am swimming in eggs...getting close to a dozen a day. Everyone is eating eggs and frankly I think we are getting a little tired of eggs. Anyway, back to the cold. I hope my little new bitties don't freeze over the next couple of days. Mama hen seems to be doing a good job of keeping them covered so we will see. I am tired of having to heat the house and I really want to close down the fireplace and open the house to air out. Opening the house might not be that great of an idea though since the pollen is extremely bad right now. With the wind blowing like it is it appears to be great clouds of yellow moving across the yard. Still I am ready for fresh air, sunshine and some degree of warmth. I guess we had that all winter and now Winter remembered that they were running behind. Brain fog seems to be affecting all of us! Oh, well here is hoping for Spring to appear soon and Summer to stay away for a few months. Blessings, Kat

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Chickens and Gardens

Why are my chickens so stinking difficult?! I think I have spent more time and money over the years trying to keep them out of the garden and it seems nothing ever works for very long. I know people who have short 4 ft. fences and not a chicken in the garden. I can have 6 foot fences and the still get over and in. I have 10 acres of land and only 1 in garden area. you would think that they could make do with the other 9 acres, but no they spend their days finding a way into my garden. We are now putting up bird netting to keep them out this year. Next year I am not sure what we will need as most of the fence is already 6 feet tall. Every year we have to do something else to keep them out as they figure out how to maneuver through our fences. I am so tired and frustrated by chickens it is unreal. I have better things to do than worry about chickens in the garden and they are always in there and they always know when I have planted seeds and make a beeline for the spot that I planted. Somedays, I really don't like chickens very much and consider eating every single one of them! Uggh, I gotta go finish the bird netting! Have a great day! Kat

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Garden Tip of the Day

My garden tip for the day comes from having been in the garden working with my tools. When I first started gardening I used what I could afford which were pretty cheap tools. Sometimes I would wear through the same type of tool and tear it up more than once in a season and wind up having to replace it. I realized that buying cheap tools was costing me the same amount of money as buying good quality tools. So, I coughed up the money and bought tough, good quality tools that can stand the abuse that I give them. I have had the same tools for several years now and they do take some serious abuse. So here is my tip, don't waste your money on poor quality tools. Buy the best that you possibly can even if it means you do with less tools. My list of very basic, must have tools for the garden is very short. Start with a good hoe, a good shovel an a good dirt fork. Work from there. Blessings, Kat

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

A Christian Seder? Really!?

Recently we were invited to partake in a "Christian" Seder. For those who don't know a Seder is a Jewish Passover celebration. It is the Old Testament Passover that they are celebrating where the Israelites were spared the wrath of God upon the Egyptians and liberated from Egypt. My question is how do you Christianize this when Jesus Christ is our Passover? Should you even try? There seems to be a huge movement within Christianity to Judaize Christianity. I simply don't see how mixing the two is possible since one denies the very essence of the other. It seems to me that by Judaizing Christianity is to deny all that Christ taught us and all that he sacrificed for. In the Old Testament we see a huge list of do's and don'ts (Leviticus and Deuteronomy. Apparently it was impossible to achieve salvation by following these numerous laws. Therefore enters Salvation by Grace...Jesus Christ. Salvation comes by the grace and sacrifice of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, not by following an immense set of rules. We failed at following the rules and we still fail at following the rules. Christ said in Mathew 9:17 Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved. And so to me putting the new wine of Christianity into the old bottles of Judaism will lead to destruction of the vessel (person). As of late, Christianity seems to be infatuated with all things Jewish. Maybe they need to take a step back and become infatuated with Jesus Christ instead. A Christian Seder? Really?! What an insult to Christ's sacrifice for us! Blessings, Kat