Well I haven't been here at all lately because we are so busy with the house! Just thought I would write and let you all know I updated my homebuilding blog and it's coming along. I just hope by this time next year we will be all settled and I'll be able to post about canning, gardening and other homestead things! Here's the link:

http://hurley1751.blogspot.com/index.html

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Just thought I would share the link to my home building site on blogger. I made if for friends and people out of town that want to keep up to date on the progress of our new home being built. Come by and say hi!

http://hurley1751.blogspot.com/

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So my husband and I have decided we want at least one goat as soon as possible on our new homestead. I think we would like to go with a Nigerian Dwarf goat. We want it for a couple reasons, one for a family pet and something for my daughter to learn to care for, and two to help us with the poison oak and brush/weeds on the property (along with regular goat feed.) Does anyone have a good website or exeperience with these type of goats that you could share with me?

The second thing is I have been reading about Guinea Fowl and how they eat ticks, small snakes, rodents etc. and are kind of like watch dogs. This seems perfect for us since we have a lot of Chaparelle with I have heard ticks LOVE, plus there are a lot of deer and that means deer ticks. However my husband has heard they are loud and annoying. Just wondering what people thought that have actually raised them. We have 5 acres so I am hoping it wouldn't be that bad.

So any advice would be great. We aren't going to get too much going as far as animals right from the get to because we will be busy building the house but I at least want to get thee things going right away. I appreciate any responses!!

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There are so many changes going on our little homestead, like for example, not having a homestead!! It all happened in less than a month. We weren't even thinking about moving (although we knew we couldn't stay where we were forever) but some property struck our fancy and we started talking. We went and saw the property, talked to a realtor and had our house on the market in a week, it sold 3 days later. The property we liked got sold in that amount of time too but we ended up finding some property that was ideal for us and now we are building!! We are currently staying at my aunt's house while she is out of town and while all our paperwork gets finalized on the new property. We are just thrilled!!

It was hard to see the old house go, it was our first house, we brought our first (and only so far) child home to it and it had such charm and so many memories. It was just getting tight though (and no way to add on as we only had .11 acres with houses surrounding us). I really feel this is what was supposed to happen for us, it just felt right, I prayed about it and always said in my prayers that if it is supposed to happen to let it happen and I was at such peace with everything that has been happening. I am not normally someone who can give things up (although I've been trying hard lately) and I always want control. So this was a great experience for me in just trusting God.

Another benefit to this experience is that we are able to get rid of ALL of our debt (minus the house payment). We were not in horrible shape but we got married young and got caught up with keeping up with what we though we should have and what everyone else had. Luckily we had opportunities to get rid of the debt and now this final opportunity. DH and I have had long discussions about not spending unless a necessity and not EVER buying anything on credit again. Not that it is such a horrible thing but we tend to get suckered into it and are not as smart as we should be about it.

Now, the downfall. In Oregon (especially in our area) house prices are HORRIBLE. To give you an example we bought our 1100 square foot home on .11 acres in 2000 for 89,000. We just sold it for 179,900 and we could have gotten more but it didn't feel right to us and we wanted to sell it fast. It is almost impossible for young couples or single working families to afford to buy their own house. So, our dream of 5 acres and a house big enough for the children we hope to have is going to cost us dearly. It's not ideal but moving out of the area isn't an option and I feel like at least with a big house payment we are investing in something instead of throwing it away to interest rates and things that depreciate. Plus I will be able to grow more of our food, keep animals that we can eat, dry my laundry outside and all kinds of other frugal things I couldn't do before. However, it is does prove to be too much for us our house, when finished, will have a lot more equity so we can sell it and start over with something smaller. However, I have prayed about it and I feel like this is what God wants for us and I am going to take full advantage of it. In the long run it may just be a learning experience for us but at least I am following my heart and what I feel God wants which is all I can do, right?

So if you got this far and I am totally grateful! That was a long post but something I have been wanting to write about lately. Stay tuned for more to come, and pictures of our property and plans on what I am going to starting in about 2 weeks! Have a great day everyone!

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I don't post often like I used to mostly because I don't have a lot of time. But I do like to read other's blogs. When I signed on yesterday I noticed a lot of people wanting to leave and some other people posting rude things on their own blogs. What is going on around here? I mean aren't we here to share homesteading ideas and tips? I still see plenty of that going on in the last 100 posts page but I think there are way too many people that are unhappy for one reason or another. I would urge those of you wanting to leave to stay because that just makes the problem worse and gives those who are trying to hurt you more power to do it to someone else.

I personally like the different views shared here. I don't share my religious views because I consider that a personal thing that I share with those that I know or see in real life, but I don't necessarily want to share it here. Not to say that people shouldn't do it here, it's just my own personal thing. I just hope that those people that are being nasty will see what they are doing and find it in their hearts to accept everyone here. Or at least stop visiting those blogs that they can't seem to stand. I would also encourage everyone to try to stick to homesteading, since I don't think we can get ourselves into much trouble if we do that!  I mean, there are plenty of other bloghosting sites you can join for free and can then write whatever your heart desires but this is homestead blogger so let's stick to that. Ok just my 2 cents since everyone else is giving theirs. Hope everything settles down around here soon.

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Well while a lot of you are in the thick of winter it's looking a lot like spring here! It's about 55 degrees and bright sunshine. It's amazing how much more motivated you are to get things done when the sun is out. I also know it's going to be short lived as it's still January and we usually will have another really cold spell before spring starts to really make an appearance. I've grocery shopped today and cleaned half the house. The other half will get done soon and we are off to dinner to celebrate my best friends birthday.

We saved about 1000.00 this weekend! How? you may ask. Well when we bought this place 6 years ago we were told to get our big tree cut down because it was growing under the foundation. Every year we would get an estimate and it would be too much money but by the next year the price would have doubled!! Finally our new brother in law overheard us talking about getting it cut down and said he used to climb trees and cut them down for a living! He did it in a few hours and we didn't have to pay them anything! They are such great people and we are so relieved to finally have it gone. My poor dh has been dealing with the aftermath of it all day, cleaning gutters, getting rid of debris etc etc. We still have to deal with the stump because it will start sending shoots off soon we know. My fil helped and we gave him all the wood he could load in his truck for his woodstove. We don't have a woodstove yet but hope to get one in the next year or so. It's hard to come by wood for burning lately so we were happy to trade his labor for our wood.

Anyway it's been a beautiful day and I need to keep up on the chores so we can go to dinner and come home to a clean house. Stay tuned for my adventures with my Kombucha Mushroom that I ordered on e-bay last night.............it should be interesting :)

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Well it's been a long time since I've posted here. I've been here, reading, learning, trying new things and commenting when I feel like it. It's just hard for me in the winter when there is not much going on. I just didn't feel motivated to do much of anything. However the last week has shown me a false glimpse of spring and I'm itching to get started again. Last year when I started posting here i had big aspirations and expectations of myself and it didn't quite turn out like I wanted. I'm new to homesteading and I think I tried to do too much too soon. Anyway in the mean time here's what I've been doing at home.

Making my own laundry soap (I never knew it was so easy!)

Making my own bread

Cooking more from scratch

Buying organic when it fits in my budget (what a difference of quality and taste)

Using more natural remedies for sicknesses

Getting my body in shape and ready for any upcoming "blessings" ;)

Anywway by brother in law proposed to his girlfriend a couple weeks back and we have been spending a lot of time with her lately and I have a lot in common with her including homesteading type things too. My dh has a big family 3 sister, 2 brothers, almost all married with children and we had a big family birthday party last night. Anyway last night I was talking to everyone about canning and how I only got dilly beans canned last year and my mil asked us if we would all like to come over and can this summer! I was so excited because my new sil has a lot of skills she can share with us and so does my mil. I'm going to make a list of the things I want to grow, can, or preserve so I can start to figure out what I need to do. It's just so overhwhelming to start all these projects without someone who REALLY know what they are doing. So i am very thankful for my mil and future sil because I know I am going to learn a lot.

Well, that's what has been going on here. I hope to start posting more. I will def. still be reading and keeping up on what everyone else is doing. So keep up the recipe, growing, canning and homesteading posts!

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Well I started my weekend on Friday. My sil and I canned 19 pints of dilly beans! I've never canned before and we were going to do regular green beans and just a few dilly beans but we found out we needed to use a pressure canner for the regular green beans and didn't fell comfortable without the help of someone who has used one before so we just made the dilly beans. Anyway I've never had dilly beans before but they sound good and everyone who has had them likes them. Sil and I are going to try and do one canning or bread baking session a week and get stocked up on things. We are both new to canning and freezing in bulk so we are excited about this new venture. I've been looking over others blogs lately and have found some great recipes. I'll have to try some of the peach jam recipes they just sound so yummy!

Picked my first ripe tomato today! I guess that week and a half of over 100 degree weather ripened them right up! It's now cooler like in the 80's and SO NICE. We have the windows open and got the house cleaned up fairly fast this morning because we weren't so hot. We do have AC but I love when i can turn it off and just open the windows and be comfortable.

In baby news I'm still waiting to take a test. I actually have been taking tests but nothing yet. It's still a little early yet but I am an impatient person (something I am working on). I'm hoping and praying! It seems everyday I hear of someone else that is pregnant, friends etc. So it will be fun to share this pregnancy with so many others, and have our kids be the same age. That's always fun. My 2 best friends are pregnant right now so I would be more than happy to join them. Anyway wish me luck!

Well my aunt is in town from San Diego and I have some errands to run before she comes over so I guess I better get off here. I think I will post the picture of the dilly beans later so youi can all see what they look like. Have a great day!

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Well today was somewhat productive. I am having the urge to preserve and stock up as much as possible. This is a fairly new concept to me so I'm still trying to figure out what I really need to can/freeze etc. My good friends' mom is selling her chest freezer so I am hoping to buy that. DH finally agreed to let me put it in the garage (his space) and says he can see how we could save money if I started freezing and canning things ahead of time.

I have never canned before, although my mom did for years but I never helped so i don't know the first thing about it. However I did find a great recipe for freezer jam and it seems to be easy enough. My husband goes through a lot of jam/jelly so I think this will be a money saver, plus i can use organic fruit and sugar alternatives so I am excited about that. So today I froze blueberries and shredded zucchini for future use. I also went and bought freezer containers and pectin so that I can do some strawberry and raspberry freezer jam later this week. I will be going to the Thursday Market tomorrow to check out the produce. I want to eventually can some green beans. We tend to eat a lot of those in the winter and it would be great to have them on hand.

Anyway aside from a little cleaning (cleaned my kitchen 3 times! I guess I cooked too much) all I did was prepare food and go for an early morning walk with friends. I guess that's productive though, huh? I'm pretty tired so I'm hoping that's a sign of a baby to come, but it could just be that I woke up early. We'll see........................................................

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Well It's been awhile since I have written but I'm here everyday just reading everyone else's blogs. Just getting ideas and enjoying finally having time at home. I am finally done with all my classes (except for an online one) and am officially a teacher. I'm very excited about that and am hoping to get a job soon. They say jobs don't really open up till August so I am just enjoying doing home things and getting my house back together after a crazy year of school.

DH, dd and I took a trip to the coast to get out of our record heat temperatures on Monday. On the way back I picked up 5 pounds of organic blueberries and am going to get them into freezer bags today to put away for muffins or pancakes or just to eat. They are so good! I think I may invest in a couple blueberry bushes next year. I think I could find room for them.

My garden is looking good. I was bummed that I didn't have time to get as much in there as I wanted but I have potatoes, tomatoes, and strawberries so that will have to do for now. I was pleased to see that the potatoes and strawberries came back from last year because if that hadn't happened i would only have tomoatoes right now! My chickens are loving being in the garden. I have yet to figure out a good pen for them but I let them out to be in the garden and driveway everyday and just cage them at night. I hope to get going on their pen this weekend or later this week. Right now I want to focus on getting my house and finances in order. My life has really sufftered this past year because of the intense school program I was in. Things are looking up though.

So, the other day I come home from working at the fair with my mom and I hear a kitten crying. I look around and finally find a little black kitty stuck at the top of a tall stack of pallets at the feed store next door. I get him out and he's so small and skinny, not small enough to still be nursing but still small. I brought him in and gave him some leftover adult cat food since that was all I had at the time. I conteplated whether we would keep him or not and left it up to dh. My daughter and he both really liked the kitty but I wasn't sure I was up for a baby animal, which is weird for me because I'm usually all for it. Anyway I put his food and water outside that night and let him sleep on the porch. I thought that if he was still there then we would keep him but if not then someone else would probably have him. Woke up the next morning and he had gotten himself wedged in my husband's trucks' engine compartment. That told me that he should be in the house! So we decided to keep him, Bayley loves him and he's a funny, sweet kitty so we have a new cat! Oh and he got his head caught in my fish food container and almost suffocated! We think his 9 lives are down to 6 and might name hime "Trouble". Seems fitting doesn't it?

And last but not least DH and I are hoping to get pregnant this month. I have  few more days before I can test but I am hopeful that I am pregnant. My 2 best friends just found out they are pregnant too as well as a whole bunch of other people I know so that would be fun. We are ready for number 2 and hope we are blessed this month. I'll keep you posted!

Well I've spend too much time here and need to utilize my daughters' nap time to get some cleaning done. Have a great day everyone!

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First, thanks to all who clued me in on where Spinning Grandma went. I found her and have been enjoying her blogs again.

Second, does anyone have any good links for organic recipes. I know I can use organic ingredients for normal recipes but I find that if I use recipes that were made specifically for using organic ingredients the recipes are healthier. Not sure why but they are. So if anyone has any good sites, or even recipes you made up, or use at home I would really appreciate it.

I've orderd Little House on the Prairie season 1 through my blockbuster mail rental and am really enjoying them. I watched the first 8 episodes in 2 nights! It's just so interesting to watch how people use to live, I mean I know it's Hollywood and everything but I think they did a pretty good job. It's a show I don't mind my daughter watching and there is always a good message. Growing up I always wanted to live like they did on LHOTP. In fact, my sister and I use to dress up and even tried to make a covered wagon once. We had so much fun! All of us on this board are trying to homestead in one way or another but we all have choices as to what degree we homestead. People that lived back then didn't. I just watched an episode that focused on Pa losing his crop of wheat. He had to travel and find work so they would have money in the winter. For us, we raise crops for our food, some rely on it more than others but I am guessing that if our crops got ruined for one reason or another that we would be able to go to the store and buy it. Or, if no money for that, could borrow from other people or rely on family. It wasn't so easy back then as everyone was just barely getting by for themselves and if your crop failed you were in big trouble. Anyway that is my rambling for the day. I'm just enjoying a simple day and thinking about how things use to be. Have a great day everyone!

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I'm not sure if anyone even checks my blog anymore since I have been gone for 3 months!! I knew my school schedule was going to get busy but I really had no idea until I was in the middle of it and stressing out! My aspirations for gaining more of a homesteader life kind of went by the wayside, and although I kept up with a few of the small things that I had changed, most of the major stuff got put on hold for awhile.

I still have my chickens and am coming up with a blueprint of their new pen as we speak. I have 3 and they are cooped up in a pen that is too small for them but that will be remedied very soon. I have decided to let them have the backside of my raised vegetable garden since it is too shaded and doesn't grow much. They will have an enclosure on one end where they can get out of the rain and lay their eggs and the rest will be open so they can run around and scratch in the dirt. I think it will be very cool. I have been letting them out every night to scratch around in the garden and they love it, they are pretty tame too and don't run away from me too much when I pick them up. For awhile they were last on my priority list and I felt bad but I just had to get my school work finished up before I could put my energy into them.

I have still been trying to make wise choices as far as foods and cleaners etc for my family. My hubby and I switched to deodorant with no aluminum or propelyne glycol and while it seems to be working ok for him it's not working so well for me. It does ok when i have a t-shirt on but if I wear a tank top I can't be positive that it will work. Kinda bums me out but I'm still on the search for a better one. I've also stopped buying yogurt with splenda or any other artificial sugar in it. In my never ending quest for weight loss I have gotten used to buying foods with splenda or such in them so that I can have something sweet without all the calories. However I found some brands of yogurt that are all natural and are not too many more calories than the ones with Splenda and they taste better! A couple of my favorites are Stonyfield Farm and Brown Cow. I also have been buying natural and organic meats at the grocery store. They can be a little more spendy but I think it's worth it, I can taste the difference and I know it's better for my body as well. One of these days I hope to raise my own animals for eating but until then the expensive meat in the grocery store will have to do.

Well this is a pretty long blog but I just wanted to check in and get back to all that I was doing before I lost my mind! LOL My mom and I have been working hard in all my gardens to get them back to where they should be since they too were neglected during my hectic school schedule. I am only doing a few vegetables this year since i missed a lot of the seen planting. I may grab a few more plants in town today but am not sure. I'm keeping it simple since I just got out of a really hard year. I need to relax a little. We are going to go get a load of bark today to go in the gardens and it should look really nice. Ok I need to get back to it. Have a great day and I can't wait to catch up with you all!

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Well I have had a productive and relaxing week so far! My house is not up to par like I would like but I am focusing more of my energy playing with my daughter and doing things outside so I still feel like I am getting a lot done. Yesterday we ran to town and got fertilizer for all the gardens (organic of course), one of those great tools that help you break up the ground, a pair of shoes for work (I have interviews coming up hopefully), lunch for me and Bayley, stopped by and saw daddy at work, and a whole bunch of other stuff. I made dinner for the third time in a row( this is something I enjoy doing but my school schedule doesnt allow me to do it often) I am just really enjoying being home and taking care of my family.

The feed store next door has chicks on order for me, I'm only getting 2 but I still have yet to get my chicken trailer made. Does anyone know of a site that gives you detailed instructions on how to make one? I looked online last night but all I found were links for books to buy and I really don't want a whole book on chicken tractors, just some simple instructions for building one. Any ideas would be great!

Well I need to get off here and continue with my productive day. I need to made bread today (Trina I will post that recipe later )  Also need to fold the laundry and put it away (is this anyone else's most hated chore?) and get the rest of the house picked up. I should tackle this office but it carries memories of the dreaded work sample I had to finish last week and I am just not ready for that reality to start again. Oh to be done with school, Only another 107 days, 4 hours, and 37 minutes! LOL No I'm not counting down the days am I? Pretty good since I started at 356 days huh?

Have a great day everyone!

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I'm jumping for joy right now because I completed my final task for this term of school and I get a small break!!! YAY! I can't even tell you the stress that was lifted from me, i can honestly say this is the hardest thing I have ever done in my life and I really feel like I've accomplished something after turning in my final project. This term had been really stressful and I wasn't seeing the benefits of all my hard work but i finally do. On the homefront....................

I have some plans for around here. I need to get my chicken coop ready and start to build a chicken tractor (Thanks Trina).  I have a garden bed that desperatley needs attention and a compost pile that needs some help. I also want to relax with my daughter and do some fun things with her. I also think we are going to the coast next weekend so I am looking forward to that.

Drumroll please...............................I made 4 successful loaves of bread last night! I used my mom's ww recipe and added some flax and gluten flour, I also added the yeast to the mix instead of proofing it first and that seemed to work really well.

Well I want to get my vacation going which means I need to get off this thing. Just wanted to update and let you know I was still around! I think I will go check up on all of you now!

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I am on my 4th batch of bread and it's still not rising! I am going to post the step by step process I used this morning and see if you see something wrong, I just don't know what to do!

First of all I would like to say that I tested my yeast and it's working. Just bought it a few days ago so I know it can't be that.

* I used Christine Miller's recipe but I halved it this time just in case it didn't turn out so I wouldn't be wasting ingredients.That's why the measurements look so weird. And this is in no way her recipe's fault, it's all me I know it, I'm new to this and just need some tips. Even though the bread doesn't rise I just know it's good bread because I went ahead and cooked it and it's SO good!

First I mixed 3/4 c. lukewarm water with 1/6 c. of honey, then I sprinkled on 1 tsp of yeast and then sprinkled 1/8 cup of whole wheat flour over the top and mixed it in a bit.

I let that sit for 10 minutes

I then mixed 2 cups of flour with 1/4 Tbls salt and added the 1/8 cup melted butter to the flour mixture. I then poured the flour mixture into my mixer and then added the yeast mixture on top. I turned my mixer onto about medium speed and let it go while I added a little flour at a time. I did this for about 10 minutes until I thought the dough was almost all kneaded. Then I took it out and kneaded it myself for about 7 minutes. I rounded it into a ball the best I could got it buttered all the way around, and set it on a folded towel that was on top of a warming oven. I covered it with a damp towel and left it for about 1 hour.

I came back and it didn't look like it was rising at all. So I left it for another 30 minutes, came back and decided to punch it down thinking maybe it had risen and I just didn't notice ;) It felt like it had some air in there so that was encouraging. However when I came back about 30 minutes later it was still flat and my hand print was still there. I let it sit a little longer and then I put it in a pan and put it in the oven. It's hard as a brick now and didn't rise at all in the oven. PLEASE HELP! What did I do wrong?

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Oh my! lol (you know like Wizard of Oz)

First of all can I just say that seeing that lovely key in my mailbox today made my day! That meant that I had gotten my package from Our Homestead Originals and my candles were here! I was so excited, not to mention surprised at how fast they got here. When I opened the larger PO box to retrieve my package I could already smell the candles and that made me really excited. Of course I opened them as soon as I got home and was pleased to see all my candles plus a coupld tea lights in my box. I currently have the pound cake candle lit (the one in the tin) and it is so cute and smells heavenly! I will have to keep it away from my 2 year old as I know she will think she can eat it! I just love the candles in the mason jars too, just too cute! One of these days I will take a pic of the candles and the shadetree cottage products because they are so pretty to look at! Thanks Lisa!

Now to juicing. I have been doing some reasearching and doing a juice fast and reading about some of the benefits of it. I bought my first juicer tonight and hubby says he wants to try a one week fast next week and see what happens. We know there are side effects when your body starts getting rid of the toxins and such but wanted to know opinions, testimonials and recipes if anyone has any. Let me know what you know. Thanks! :)

Finally after juicing just a little bit tonight we noticed all the pulp and remnants left over and were wondering if that would be good for compost. Well I guess I know it's good for compost but wanted to know some tips as I have never composted before. Are there tricks, how do you start, do you need specific ingredients? I'm a newbie help! Any advice are appreciated.

Well that's it for now, I have a pile, and I mean a PILE of laundry waiting for me on the bed and it needs to be put away before I can get to my homework and eventually bed. I look forward to your wisdom about these things ;) Thanks

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