Busy, Busy, Busy

Well it has been really busy around here lately. I truly lucked out in the compost department, but that luck has cost me a lot of time and energy. I was at the feed farm and ran into a guy that was trying to get rid of his horse manure pile. Said he had run several ads in the paper and nobody wanted to come get it. I told him I would come and get it. I got over there and saw the pile, absolutely huge. He asked how much I wanted and I told him I would take it all. He said if I would take it all then he would get it to me. He has been bringing me a 20 ft. flatbed trailer load every single day for the past couple weeks. Each day I unload this gorgeous compost. He started with the oldest part of the pile first and that is going straight into the garden. When we get to the newer stuff then we will pile it up in one of the pastures to finish and then spread it on that pasture. I will keep this man in veggies this year, but since nothing is planted right now he has been delighted with fresh eggs and homemade bread. Believe me I have gotten my workout. I have lost 3 pounds, gotten countless headaches and my muscles hurt beyond belief. It would help if the tractor were running properly and didn't have all sorts of problems. Today I need to go and get new tires for the front. We have been nursing along on the tires we had and they finally just gave up the ghost. I hate to spend the money right now, especially since this is our no buy month. However, I have got to have that tractor for this compost. There are several tons of the stuff and I simply cannot unload it everyday with a wheelbarrow. The pastures are too wet to get the trailer into so it has to be unloaded and taken to where it needs to be. In fact, the garden is so wet in some places that I can't even get the tractor in those areas. I get as close as I can and then still have to work with the wheelbarrow. Uggh! and there is more rain supposed to come today and tomorrow. The pond is so full that it is overflowing each time we get more rain which is making that part of the wet garden even wetter. All this rain really has me worried about my spring crops that I will be planting soon. I think I am gonna have to redo my planning to put spring on the side of the garden that doesn't get so wet and wait for the summer garden to go in the wettest areas. I certainly don't want to get the planting done and then have everything drown because of too much water. It certainly is crazy after so many years of drought conditions to be worrying about too much water. It seems as if we have gone from one extreme to the other. The weather sure has been nice though, more like early spring weather than late winter weather. Makes it pleasant to be outside. It will be nice to hang clothes outside again and get rid of this clothesline in the house. By the end of winter I get tired of seeing clothes hanging in the house. I am finishing up getting the seeds started so I should be planting in a few more weeks! Yippee! I really look forward to gardening season again and being outside more in nice weather. We'll just have to see what this year brings. Have a great day and God bless.

20 Uses for Tea Tree Oil

I use tea tree oil all the time in my home. It is great for just about everything. The smell is a little strong, but diluted you get used to it quickly. So I thought you all would be interested in finding out just how versatile tea tree oil is. Here are 20 different uses for home and health:
1. Use a dab to treat acne.

2. An anti-fungal for treating Athlete’s Foot, eczema, various yeast infections, etc.

3. An antiseptic to be used on cuts and burns.

4. An anti-viral: it may lessen the symptoms of colds and flu. Try using a few drops in the bath.

5. Add to a vaporizer to loosen chest congestion.

6. Add a small amount to shampoo to destroy head lice.

7. A small amount added to your bath can help with persistent body odor.

8. Treating sinus infection.

9. For dandruff and dry scalp.

10. In the form of aromatherapy, tea tree oil is used to treat colds, persistent coughs, acne, toothaches, and sunburn.

11. To create an all-purpose cleaner, combine 2 teaspoons of tea tree oil in 2 cups of water in a spray bottle.

12. Another version would be 14 ounces of water with 1 ounce of Murphy’s oil soap and 10 drops of tea tree oil.

13. Mix the above solution with kosher salt to scrub bathtub and bathroom tiles.

14. Add a few drops to dishwasher dispenser, then fill with a green dishwashing soap.

15. A few drops added to each load of laundry leave your clothes smelling cleaner.

16. Control mold with a tea tree oil/water spray.

17. Remove mustiness with that same tea tree oil/water spray.

18. To keep germs at bay, spray it on high chairs, car seats, and other high traffic spots.

19. 15 drops in a quart of water can be an effective insect repellent.

20. Be sure to take some with you when hiking and camping to put directly on insect bites or blisters.

Food from China?

It seems that most of American agriculture has become so specialized that we can no longer grow enough food in our country to feed our country. Increasingly, there are more and more food imported from other countries. There are several reasons that this concerns me. One is that they don't have the same pesticide and herbicide controls that we do. Two, many times the food in grown in contaminated soil. And three, many times the food is fertilized with raw human manure/sewage. These are all big no nos to me and one thing I have noticed is that I am seeing labels on food in our stores saying "product of China". Does absolutely everything have to come from China these days? It is ridiculous that this once great agricultural nation now has to import foods that are laced with heavy metals and all sorts of toxins. It is ridiculous that we can no longer feed ourselves. I think my grocery store days are coming to an end for the most part. There are only a few things that I simply cannot buy locally or produce myself. Sugar is one, cocoa another (must have chocolate). A country that cannot feed its people from its own soil is doomed to one day starve or be slaves. We have been so blessed with so many varied climates in our own country and yet.....we import food. It is a sad state that this country is in. Check your labels ladies and buy local or grow your own to be on the safe side. God bless and happy growing.

Bread Making Tips

I have been making my own bread for several years now. I started with a bread machine and simply didn't like it. I didn't like the recipes and I didn't like the shape of the loaf. So, I started doing it the traditional way. Most of the time my bread turns out good, some of the time my bread turns out.....not so good. My bread tastes wonderful, but I sure would like to have some pretty loaves of bread to sit out for supper. Mine are not so pretty all of the time. I simply cannot get my bread to be consistant. So, Farmgirl Fare has gorgeous artisan breadbaking skills. She has been kind enough to post her very best tips to baking beautiful breads on her blog...Farmgirl Fare. She also has many many recipes on there and so this year, I think I will work really hard to follow her advice and have a better bread baking year. Maybe I can get it right this time, although the chickens certainly don't mind the failures. God bless.

Supporting Our Military

As the wife of a former Airborne scout, it is important to me and my husband that we do what we can to support our military. It doesn't matter whether you agree with the war or not. It doesn't matter if you agree with what the government decides or not. What matters is that there are men and women sent to do a job that even they might not agree with, but it is a job that none of us want to do. They are far away from home and many of them receive no contact from home. They feel alone and forgotten. Several years ago, my daughter and I started sending letters. Now, we send letters and care packages. These little things mean a lot. Our military men and women take an oath to the Constitution. They do their job to protect us, the people. I know many people are seeing the increasing tyranny and corruption in our government. One day our military men and women might be called to protect us from our own government. If we don't support them, why would they do that. If people don't care about them, why would they care about us. It is a lot to ask of someone to lay their life on the line so that we don't have to. So, we do a few small things to let them know that we care. If anyone is interested in doing something similar then here are a couple places to help get mail or packages to soldiers who simply don't get anything from back here at home. Many of these folks are kids. My husband was just a young whippersnapper when he was sitting in the desert. He said that the care packages from his mom were looked forward to by everybody and there were those that didn't get any. He said his mom sent a large package every week so that all the guys could get something. Even a letter means more than we will ever know. So if you are so inclined check out
Adopt a Platoon
or
Any Soldier

God bless

Downsizing the Refrigerator

Many of you know of our journey to reduce out energy needs. We are constantly looking at things and re-evaluating. One thing that I wrote a series of blog posts about was living life without refrigeration. Refrigeration is a huge part of a home's energy consumption. Freezers are cheaper to run than refrigerators. So, I thought I would update on what we have done, what we did and how everything has worked out. We did try going without the refrigerator for many months to get a good feel for it throughout the different seasons. During the late winter and early spring it actually wasn't too bad. We never had food spoil and we learned to cook just what we needed for the meal with very little to no leftovers. So that was a good thing because in the long run it saves us money. Milk during that time could be kept cool by leaving it in glass jars on the screened in porch and using it pretty quickly. It stayed cold out there. Veggies kept just fine and were used pretty quickly. There was no longer any of the buy the cabbage and use it two weeks later. We used frozen or canned veggies in between market trips or garden harvest. The problem comes with the heat and humidity of our hot deep south summers. I simply cannot drink warm milk. I like my water ice cold when the temps outside are pushing 100. Unless, I bought a bag of ice every couple of days to keep in a cooler then there was simply no way to chill anything. Greens go limp within hours of being picked in that heat. The bugs are bad. It simply was not a pleasant experience once summer set in. So, what did we do? Go back to our monster energy consuming refrigerator? Nope, we downsized. I had a large dorm sized refrigerator in my studio that I had used at my art gallery. It had been sitting there waiting for some special moment when it would be needed again. It is just the right size (so far). We can keep a few ice cube trays in the "freezer" portion and it has enough room for our milk and dairy products. The challenge will be when we butcher the goat this weekend and need to let the meat age. I think we can get it in there. At least, what will be ground can go straight into the big freezer. So basically we have combined both living without refrigeration for most things, but we have the little refrigerator for those things that simply are better being cold. We also, feel much safer this way in the summer. We have seen a good bit of reduction with the little refrigerator as it doesn't have as much space to keep cool and uses less energy. I think this is definitely the way to go for at least right now. At least, I know that if I ever had to live without refrigeration that I could even though some things wouldn't be pleasant some of the time.

Potty Training and What's in that Grease!?

I know that title really has you wondering! Yesterday, the girls and I were in town early when all of a sudden my little one yells from the back seat...."Mommy, I have to go poopoo!" Oh no! When a recently potty trained toddler says they need a bathroom you had better find one fast! The situation is urgent! I am really funny about using public restrooms. When I am in town if the girls have to go potty we go to a friend or relatives house or my friend owns a boutique and we will go there. However, it was too early for her shop to be open and my friends and relatives were all at work. As the plees for relief got more and more demanding from the backseat I swung into a McDonald's and we dashed inside. Now, I have never been one to use a business's restroom and not purchase something. Their restrooms are for their customers and not for every joe blo to walk in off the street and use. So, once the emergency was averted, I ordered 3 hashbrowns and a small coke. We got back in the car and I bit into my hasbrown....and received an awful aftertaste. Something like a chemical taste. I at first thought it was just me. Then both of the girls said something. The toddler in the backseat pronounced it yucky, while the oldest in the front seat said it tasted really funny. I don't know what kind of oil they used but I would imagine old motor oil couldn't have tasted worse(and no I have not actually tasted old motor oil). Maybe it is just that we don't eat fast food much...I don't know, but I don't think I will be returning to McDonald's anytime soon. What is in that grease?!