Humble Beginnings

More of yesterday.....

as the picking continued.

Taking a break from all this hard work...

Everyone worked very hard and finally the day has come to a close. I was  looking forward to having my Pumpkin pie, coffee and sitting with my feet up, putting on some candles  and enjoying the silence of the evening while my children played quietly because I thought they had no more energy left....WELL......

.....the Talent Show came to an end....aaaahhhhhh.  Dh and I laughed so hard because it was the weirdest Talent Show we've ever seen.....knowing that my plans for dessert and candles had now passed, I snuck downstairs to the computer room and spent too much time on this post...

So now my "hurricane looking" kitchen awaits, and preparation for our turkey dinner tomorrow needs to get underway. I guess my other thought, of going to bed early, is also not going to happen.  Oh well, there's always tomorrow night:-)

Thank you for stopping by to visit....I'm praying that you will each have a wonderful evening and a blessed week.

Bannock Bread

I have been in "survival mode" lately.  What I mean is that I have been interested in learning more about survival and anything that would be useful to know if my family and I were stuck in the wilderness.  Sounds silly, I know, but I just think it sounds like fun.  I have decided to post a series on what I have found as of recent.  I think I will start with this article on Bannock bread.  Not only would it be helpful for survival, but it could be a lot of fun in the backyard as well!  Note: if you are truely trying to survive in the wild, you would have to have a more simple recipe, such as ground acorns for flour and purified "wild" water.  I found this  site at

http://www.survivaltopics.com/survival/bannock/

What is Bannock?

Bannock is a bread that you can cook using little more than a fire and a stick though it can also be baked or fried. Names for bannock include bushbread, trail bread, grease bread and galette.

Bannocks origins are lost in the mists of time, but some believe bannock was first made by the Scotts from the same oat flour that gave their horses great strength and endurance. With stomachs fed with hearty oat bannock those who became explorers and mountain men in the new world introduced the bannock recipe to the Native Americans and other outdoorsmen who lived in the wilderness.

Bannock

The most simple bannock recipe consists of just flour of nearly any kind and water. Kneaded into a dough and wrapped around a green stick, this most basic bannock cooks into a fine tasting bread that can be eaten alone or used as a basis for a full course meal.

There are a great many other bannock recipies that will make your mouth water and give you the impetus to try your hand at making your own. In the pictures you can see me cooking one of my favorite bannock recipes over an open fire in the forest:

Survival Topics Bannock on a Green Stick

This is my favorite way to make bannock as it brings forth the image of mountainmen from a bygone era cooking over an open fire.

The following recipe provides enough bannock for one day. Stored in a waterproof bag, it is easy to carry a week or ten day supply.

1-cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons milk powder

Mix all the ingredients well, making sure the butter is evenly distributed throughout. Sometimes I will melt the butter before adding it to the mixture. Then slowly add water while mixing until a dough ball is formed.

Cooking Bannock

Make the bannock dough into a cigar shape and wrap it around a green stick. Try to keep the thickness of the dough about ½ inch.

Slowly roast the bannock over a hot fire, rotating occasionally until it turns a golden brown. You will hear the butter sizzling and your stomach rumble as the bannock cooks.

weekend update...

We had a busy weekend!  Joseph, my fil, a cousin, and our nephew reroofed our house on Friday and Saturday.  I am very happy that it is finally fixed from the crazy wind storm we had in September!  We have a door that needs replaced and our exterior will be ready for winter.  We plan on repainting the living room in the upcoming months. 

Thankfully, I am off work tomorrow.  I plan on doing some cleaning in the morning, then working on some craft projects in the afternoon before I pick up my sweeties. 

I am very excited about a job offer I received last week.  It has flexible hours, is very close to home AND much more money than I am currently earning.  I am so excited about it!  Right now, it looks like I won't start until January. Which means at my current job, I will probably work up until close to Christmas, then take off a couple weeks to enjoy time with my family.  I do have mixed feelings about leaving my current position.  I really enjoy my job working with youth through 4-H!  I will miss it terribly...I will also miss my current co-workers, they are such wonderful chrisitan woman and we get along wonderfully, that makes it very painful to leave...but I feel in my heart that it is time to move on.  I will keep you updated...

Blessings to you~ Laura

Harvesting Day One

What an absolutely beautiful weekend it has been here....The Lord has shined on us and provided us the best possible weather for harvesting grapes.

Our extended family came out to help in the picking. It was wonderful to see everyone working so hard  together especially on this Thanksgiving weekend. All the children worked extremely hard and without a single word of complaint the entire day.  We started at 7:45am and ended 7:15pm on Saturday and the kids were right there working along side.  It was their job to take the buckets back to my SIL for weighing and giving us empty buckets to pick in....what a teaching ground for hard work, working as a team, following instructions and persevering even when your legs and arms are burning....they all passed the test with flying colours...we were all very proud of them.

 We managed so far just over 3000 pounds. 

Thanks to my family for all there hard work...and thanks Tianna for going behind the camera for me...I apolgoize for someone's little fingerprint on the lens.

The children slept like babes last night.

Saturday in the kitchen...

I like to have things in the freezer for breakfast or lunch on busy days, so I make my own "convenience foods," usually on Saturday mornings. I made stacks of pancakes (blueberry, buttermilk and carrot cake)  and froze them for quick breakfasts over the next few weeks.

 We love to eat buttermilk biscuits and would eat them with every meal! While I do enjoy cutting in the cold butter and working the dough, some mornings just do not allow for it. So today, I made a triple batch of  dough, cut it with my biscuit cutter and froze them individually on cookie sheets until firm. From there, I put them into bags. When we want fresh biscuits, I just take out as many as I need and pop in them in the hot oven. I did bake one batch and turned them into sausage biscuits for the freezer.The boys each managed to grab one before they went into the bags. :-)

 I brought in five pounds of sausage for the next several recipes, grabbed some potatoes, peppers, onions, and cheese and cooked up some breakfast burritos. Here is a fantastic recipe for homemade tortillas from a blog that I love. 

 I thawed seven loaves of bread dough and made stromboli for the freezer as well as olive cheese bread. Since I had some sausage left over, I made gravy to freeze in individual portions. After everything was tucked away in the deep freeze, I decided to go ahead and finish processing the apples into sauce. My youngest was the "taste tester" and reported that the applesauce needed no sugar. He said it tasted so sweet because Betty (the woman who owns the orchard) is sweet and she grows them. (I think he's right!)

 As a surprise, I also made come caramel apples for the boys. Youngest Son has a very loose tooth and we're hoping this will do the trick in a sweet way. It's been a very productive day. Though my apron is pretty dusty, my freezer is full, and I enjoyed every minute.

~Happy 26th Birthday To Me :)~

Well today is my 26th Birthday.......We had a lovely little brunch at home the for of us....And you know what?? My Grandma came to visit me....I was soooooooo overjoyed, I didnt think she cared really anymore but I guess I was way wrong!! I also got a lovely call from a old friend that we used too live near....Now we live 3 hour's away, I was so shocked too her from her she is such a lovely lady really! So today turned out WAY better then I could of ever asked for that's for sure....Praise the Lord on that! Im gonna post a picture of my grandma and Jack togather, There so so so cute!

Such a sweet picture! Tonight for supper we are going to have a pasta meal....Mind you just something we are going to make at home but we havent had it in age's and I love pasta!! I think we will have meatballs too as well....Yum!!

My friend Tash might stop by tonight too befor work if she get's the time....Such a hard worker she is!! Lot's of hour's for her....Plus she did make it back from her trip safe and sound....Yay!!

Anyway's just a short post.

Blessings

~Ruth

Todays Quote....Alphonse de Lamartine

Concerning Self Denial

Concerning Self Denial

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?

Matthew 16:24-26 NIV

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For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.

Titus 2:11-13 KJV

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Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

Galatians 5:24,25 NASB

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Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.

Romans 6:16-18 ESV

CHIP Program

I have attended meetings of the CHIP (Coronary Health Improvement Project) for the last two summers.  Last summer, however, I wasn't able to attend all of the meetings, but I did really enjoy the meetings I did get to attend. 

Dr. Hans Diehl is a fascinating person.  Quite warm and patient in person, yet he is quite to the point when it comes to health and can bring a person to recognize when they are giving excuses for their health.  I so loved that about him!  I suppose one could get upset that he was so to the point, but I loved it.  He does it with a smile and he still loves the person whom he is talking to.   I think I also liked him because he reminded me of my grandfather... his face was shaped much like my grand-dads and that is likely because they have similar ethnic backgrounds, plus I love his German/Swedish accent.  LOL!

Anyways, the first year I attended the meetings, my heart wasn't with the meetings.  I found them full of truth, but it was truth I wasn't searching for so it seemed so irrelevant.  This year, however, I just ate up every morsel of health information.  What was the difference?  I noticed that I was tired in the afternoons, more than normal... more like when I was pregnant... and I'm not pregnant!  I realized I had put on weight and if I let things continue, I likely would become one of the statistics on the power point presentation.  Also, my husband had a couple episodes of not being able to catch his breath very well after moving some heavy farm equipment.  He just chalked it up to getting older, but he is only 39 yo and his symptoms were early symptoms of some clogging arteries.  That got my attention!  We have a 3yo and we both want to be around to watch her grow up!  So these meetings met a need for our family.  A need to be healthy and to live a strong vibrant life, not one of tiredness and complaints. 

The CHIP program is outstanding.  I see at the website you can listen to short health presentations online.  Do so... they are very good.  I was encouraged that taking steps towards better health is possible.  I was encouraged that simple changes at home can deter one from having to partake of costly medical treatments.  I was encouraged that the simple changes produce results! 

The CHIP program focuses on a low-fat, high fiber diet.  Because of these talks we are giving up many of our white flour favorites and opting for more whole grain alternatives.  Also trying to keep some raw foods in our diet to increase our fiber intake is another way we have made changes.  Thirdly, getting that daily exercise.  There are other aspects, but the main focus is living a life that is optimal in health.  Encouragment is given for baby steps as well as the giant steps that one can make towards improving their health. 

This program can reverse heart disease, without pills, without stress (unless you really stress over the diet!  LOL), and the results can be seen quickly.  To find out more about the program, click on the link at the beginning of the post. 

Warmly, ~Melissa

Guess what dropped in to visit?

We have a new kitten on the farm.  It wasn't by choice.  Dh brought home some rams from another pasture and later that morning we found a tiny kitten in the chicken barn, about 50 feet from where the trailer was parked. 

I estimate the kitten to be between 3-5 weeks.  The kitten is so small.  He also has such gooped up eyes.  We called the guy who has the pasture and he says it is likely their kitten, and said we could bring him back or keep him.  We were all very willing to take him back to the farm, but my daughter with such a heart for sick animals wanted to keep him... at least until he gets well. 

After cleaning his eyes, it is apparent there is an infection of some sort.  His inner eyelids are red and swollen.  His left eye may be blind...it is really hard to tell at this point, because the inner eyelid on this eye is SOOOO swollen.  But Today it appears rather gray and cloudy compared to the other eye. 

We are giving him a round of pennicilin.  The shots are soo small, it seems rather a waste of the effort, but he is so tiny.  We also got a bottle and some milk yesterday as he wasn't eating regular cat food very well.  I also picked up a bag of kitten food that was much smaller in size so he could try to eat.  Well, last night we gave him his first bottle and the kitten was sooo happy.  He purred for the first time (we had had him a day by then).  Since then, he continues to eat from the bottle at 3-4 hour intervals.   He eats a whopping 2 teaspoons of milk.  Once he had about three feedings in his tummy, he finally felt ready to discover the kitten food and ate about a teaspoon of that as well. 

We are washing his face about every 2 hours.  I know I should have some eye drops of a sort, but have no idea what to put into his eyes.  I also will be looking at buying another nipple to get us through another week.  He's about chewed this first one to pieces.  But he isn't very good at lapping milk just yet... he loses his balance and falls in... which then gave him a runny nose as well.   One thing I am happy about is that he is using the litter box.  His little wets make up a nickel sized spot.  If he stayed this small forever and made these small messes , I might consider an indoor cat!  LOL 

My daughter with the loving heart went a traveling for a couple days with her older sister to see some friends and to bring a friend home to visit during her home leave from academy.   I will be glad when she returns home to do the nursing of this poor little kitten. 

Any ideas for the kittens eyes?

Warmly, ~Melissa