From Mess maker to Homemaker

Today I'm taking Cam fishing! We're going to Big Lake/Fish Creek. The littles and I will play at the park some, too. I really have a hard time playing with my kids or taking the time to take them to do something they really enjoy. But I am willing to work on it. My reward was seeing Cam's face when I told him that we were going fishing today. It doesn't get any better than that. Guess I'd better work the horse, too since Meg is gone. I'm sure not very good at that. She's way more brave and skilled than me. I am looking forward to a horse that doesn't need worked or trained. Just an old plug who takes me on trails and back without any excitement.

I better go...need to make bread and jam before we go. Have a blessed day,

Tan

Yesterday, I called the guy we get our hay from to see how long it would be before the hay is ready. I admit, I had alterior motives. Since we can't afford hay this year, I was also calling to see if we could work off some of the hay. He was thrilled! He has some work needing done and would love to pay us in hay instead of wages. How do you like that? God's providing so I'm not worrying. Well, I'm trying not to worry.
We also have to come up with an extra $1100 in July. Since we barely have enough every month, I was pretty worried how that was going to happen. Gene and I worked on the budget and made a little room but certainly not that much. The good news is that we have already gotten $300 saved up by selling some things we didn't need anyway. We'll get my in-laws paid off in plenty of time. What a relief since this has been a real thorn in their side for the last couple of months.

Cheesemaking was really fun. Oneida and Pam were our instructors and they are a real hoot. We made cheddar, mozzarella, and cottage cheeses. It really seems pretty easy. And it is SO GOOD! And I have some whey in the freezer for bread!

I miss Meg and Dusty already. They are biking the Denali Hwy. They left last night and won't be back until Thursday. I hope they truly have so much fun! Letting go takes a conscious effort for sure.

Oh, there is one more new thing. The foster kids are leaving around the first of August. It will be hard, but I do think it is best for them. It sounds like they are going to a real neat family. We are all in agreement that we want to see them go somewhere safe where they will thrive, and that we are ready to let them go. It will sure be strange not having them around. They will be missed!

Today, Cam and I and the littles go get milk, make stuff with the rhubarb and whey, and clean house. Oh, and work this afternoon and evening.

Hope you have a blessed day,

Tan

Today I am hosting a cheese making class for the ladies in my milk co-op. My friend Pam will be instructing us on the finer points of cheese making. She said we will make Colby, Cheddar, Mozarella, and Cottage cheeses. Sound wonderful? It really should be so fun.

The rhubarb is ready for its first picking! Any recipe ideas? I've heard that rhubarb juice is wonderful so we will try some. If we like it, I'll make some concentrate and freeze it up. Then we can have a taste of summer during the dark days of winter!

My goodness, I had a mountain of laundry to do this weekend. I'm so thankful to have it about wrapped up. Should finish it up this evening after the cheese class. Then, the house is in pretty good order. I'll start on the kitchen cabinets next:-)

And my dear man and Cam started a new raspberry patch. My goodness, it looks great! We have 46 new red raspberries, and 23 goldens. Apparently we could have had more red ones from our little patch and my neighbor gave us the goldens and said she has more, too. We'll be raspberry wealthy! I'm sure the moose will love the new bushes!

Think that's about it. I'm going to go do my bible study. God has just been so gracious to us. I want to get my walk squared away this week. Friday and Saturday were some of the worst days we've endured in a very long time. But the good news is that we were able to look to God and see Him working all through the day.

Have a super blessed day.

Tan

I am just so thankful and thrilled with what's new around here. God is just taking such good care of us in such a personal way this last couple of months.

First of all, when I killed all of the plants we had been nurturing inside to prepare for the garden, God provided the funds to buy new plants. That certainly helped me to keep my eyes on Him. I was so sad at our loss...the fuschia I had wintered over that was blooming so beautifully, blooming tomato plants, Cam's huge corn and green beans which were also blooming...and more. But, the reality is, we had to rely on God to replace the plants for our winter's store..and He did! Everything in the garden looks great and it's all coming up well.

Then, we needed to purchase greenhouse plastic, Gene was offered some overtime. The OT he worked was just enough to buy all we needed for the greenhouse, inside and out. Perfect!

There have been so many other ways, too. It is so amazing how God works so individually in our lives. Homeschool curriculum, berry plants, gas for my car...it's all being provided as we need it.

****By the way, remember how I said I needed shelves for the utility room to finish up in there? I was able to move things around and empty a cabinet which was moved in there....AND, Dusty has some leftover wood that he doesn't need that he said he would turn into shelves. I'm overwhelmed.

So, I'm not going to worry about the extra $1100 that we need for July to pay back a loan from Gene's parents. We're going to work hard and rely on God to provide what we need.

Keep looking up!

Tan

Okay, on my last post, one of the things I said I would do is to completely clean the utility room. Well, I'm finally finished. Granted, there are a couple of things that still need to be done but they are not the things I've been proscratinating on for so long.

See, I am a master procrastinator. The things I have been avoiding are cleaning out my cabinets and organizing the countertop. I made a vow to myself  not to blog until I had it done. That way, I knew I couldn't put it off forever.

Ahh, it worked!

It is done! I still need to buy shelves to put on the wall to put the big things like the crock pots, pasta maker, and extra milk jugs on. But I consider the utility room finished because the jobs that are left are fun and relatively simple.

Now, I want to put in 20 entries to catch up on all that's happened around here! Hope you like to listen because I love to talk!

Tan

Today,  I join a challenge.

Jeannie over at Honey Milk Heirlooms has posted a challenge that is not only going to be profitable, but inspirational, too. It is keeping a Proverbs 31 Heart. She said to choose 1 or 2 categories, but I am already working on 3 so I will post them all. This is just so exciting. These are areas I am working on, but I never thought to post it here for accountability. Maybe if I get really brave, I"ll post pictures of my progress:-)
Okay, here goes:

For My Lord: This one really speaks to my heart. We've just been surviving lately without any vision or direction from our Lord. All of us. I've been able to read my daily bible lately and it is overwhelming to me how humanity works, and it scares me because I'm just like them. In Joshua, the Israelites were victorius. They were listening to God and following Joshua's leadership whole heartedly. Then in Judges, they started going off on their own. It says several times that they did what was right in their own eyes. Boy, that's me. So, I plan to keep reading and praying for wisdom. Looking to the Lord for my answers instead of my own notions.

Managing the Cleaning: I have 2 areas for this. First of all, I am committed to cleaning thoroughly the laundry room. This involves putting our heavy snow stuff in the crawl space and cleaning out the cupboards. I have some old canned goods that I need to feed to the pigs and make space for new this year. Everything will fit in there, but I have to use my space wisely. It will most likely be Saturday night before I'm through, but I know I can do it!
The second area is outside. There is so much to do out there, but if I can just get the strawberry beds cleaned up and the wildflower patch ready, I will be content this week. I think I can...I think I can...I think I can:-)

For the Family: We have decided to implement "date night" with each of our kids. One day per week, we take one of them aside for something special. They get to choose who they want to be with, either their dad or me, and they get to choose what we do. It can't cost much and needs to be somewhat close to home. We start with Meg this week. We'll see what she has planned! What I haven't told them is that while she is gone, we're going to do something special for her here. If she chooses to go with me, Gene and the boys are going to work on her horse trailer to continue fixing it up. If she goes with her dad, then the boys and I will snazz up her room. Should be a blessing to her. Weekly, this is what we will do with each of the kids. Then the 4th week, Gene and I get a turn.

Are you ready for a challenge? Link over here to check out Jeannie's blog and join in!
http://homesteadblogger.com/GypsyFarmGirl

Have a blessed day,

Tan

I am a waitress for a local cafe and our black beans are so so yummy:-) I would love to share the recipe for our black beans. You can eat rice and beans at the cafe for $5.00. It is super nutritious and so filling. Not often you can get fast food that is this good for you and so cheap and quick.

16 C. dried black beans

1/2 C. cumin

1/2 C. salt

1/2 C. garlic

6-10 quarts water.

Start with 6 quarts water and boil 2 1/2 to 3 hours or until beans are tender. Slowly add water as needed.

Simple, good for you, and so tasty!

Of course, this is a huge batch, which you can can in pint or quart jars for later use.

Have a super day,

Tan

Okay, so I have some questions.

Do any of you pack lunches for your husbands...and what do you send? In the past it's usually been a sandwich, a fruit, a veggie, chips, and 2 sweets. Usually one homemade and one pack of graham crackers. I would really like to get rid of the chips, and get more ideas for his sweets. For one, it's expensive. And, I would love to send him all homemade goodies...more healthy ones. He works hard and is so skinny...he has a majorly fast metabolism so I have to pack his lunchbox pretty full.

Also, I am planting my garden and I'm looking for creative ideas. This may sound crazy, but I'm not sure what to plant. When we lived in Oregon, my husband was foreman for a farm and we were able to pick and process tons of produce. Up here in Alaska, alot of the things we used to be able to grow are not possible. So things like peaches, apples, and corn are no longer a possiblity. So, I'm still going with tomatoes (grown in the greenhouse), green beans, cucumbers, broccoli, cauliflower. I can fill my freezer and canning jars with all this, but it seems like I should do more. Of course, we're growing lettuce but you can't preserve that. Anything I may be missing? I'd love to just pack the pantry full this fall.

Also, I'm reading the book Disciplines of the Beautiful Woman by Anne Ortlund. How inspiring. Her suggestion to put God first, then believers (my family first, then others), then to reach out to unbelievers has been so freeing. I always feel like I should be concentrating on the lost...even at the detriment of the believers in my life. Of course, it makes perfect sense to make sure my walk with God is right on, then take care of my relationships with my fellow believers before I go work with the lost. What was I thinking? Ahhh, I love to learn and grow. I am so thankful for grace in abundance.

Today, we must be productive. I have a long list, but I know we can do it!

1. Bake something for lunches/snack----any suggestions?
2. Bake Bread
3. Organize Foster kids' clothes again
4. Put all our extreme winter clothes in the crawl space
5. Catch up on laundry
6. Pick up co-op milk and go to work
7. Really, really encourage my kiddos in school.

My kids also have a long list. It will be a busy day, but a good one. We must stay busy to stay caught up. Our social worker is coming out tomorrow. What a neat gal. She is full of good information, which I appreciate so much. Foster parenting is always an adventure!

Okay, I'm off to read my bible and get things straight with the Lord. Have a blessed day, my friends. Cling to the Lord today.

In Christ,

Tan

Good Morning. I'm back again. Mercy, where does time go? We've had every illness imaginable it seems this spring. But the weather is warming up and we're outside all the time these days. I think we'll make it now. We've been sick for more than 2 months!

I've been reading up on square foot gardening. I think we may try it out in the greenhouse. I will try to draw out a grid today and see what I can figure out in there. We have such little space and want to do so much with it...Anyone have any suggestions?

School is plugging along. We're trying to stay on track. It is hard with spring fever so prevalent in the house!

We've been continuing on the book of Joshua. It is so inspiring, the faith and trust the israelites showed in their leader, and their God. Then in my daily reading, I just finished Judges. Wow, what a contrast. It is so sad. Makes me really want to look hard at my life. It says over and over that the people didn't have a judge so they did what was right in their eyes. Lord, please don't let me do such a thing. I know I do some, and I really want to do what is right in God's eyes, not my own.

The pigs are growing. We'll get the chicks soon, I think. Layers and butcher chicks. It'll be great having chicken in the freezer. I am already praying Gene will get a moose this year.

Oh, did I mention that we're getting a couple of milk cows in the fall? Yep, we're going to be selling milk shares of our own soon. As long as we can find a place to keep the hay and pay for the silly cows. Seems there's always something...

That's about it I reckon. I'll try to get to the window story soon. I sure did get alot of messages about the homesteading stories. I'll try to keep up with them more now that we're all well.

Have a blessed day in the Lord. I encourage you to try to do things right in His sight, not your own. That's my goal this week.

Thank you, Lord, for Your grace. Thank You for not giving up on me. Amen.

In Christ,

Tan

I have been looking for something to spice up our learning in the OT. God has heard my prayers and has blessed this tired old mom who is suffering from the WORST case of spring fever.

Amy Pak has an OT downloadable lapbook that looks way too fun. I just can't wait to get the email saying my payment has gone through so I can download it. I think my kids will love something refreshing and new, too.

Right now we are studying Joshua with a chapter a day. I found study sheets from gospelway.com that have been very informative. I just feel so blessed to know that the creator of the Universe heard my prayers for my little family and is helping me to finish our school year with some enthusiasm.

What else is going on around here? Not much. The horse trainer can't come today because it is just way too muddy. I think Meg and I will hook the trailer up to our old truck today and practice loading and unloading Sarg. He does pretty good, but he's not had to stay in the trailer for any time before, just get in...travel...get out. I think we'll start working on him just hanging out in the trailer awhile as he'll have to do that sometimes, too.

Dusty still hasn't gotten his guitar. Hopefully today...Who would have thought that I'd have to pay $50 for shipping for something that didn't arrive for over 2 weeks. Rediculous, I think. We'll start tracking today.

Cam has been outside with his metal detector finding all sorts of treasures that have been buried in the snow all winter. So far, he's found  fifty cents and lots of nails. He was calculating yesterday how much he'd have by the end of summer if he found fifty cents per day:-)

It's been so sunny and warm here. I've been drying things out on the line. How wonderful! I have to go out there in my boots because it is so muddy outside but I'll not complain. Spring is finally here.

Guess that's it. Hope you-all are well.

God Bless,

Tan