What a nice day!

It has really been a nice day. We planted strawberries around the blueberry bushes, and put up a bird bath for the honey bees! We cleared out a spot for a small pond for the bees, and have it ready to go in the ground. We got a few flowers to plant around the porch, and have the poles and wiring ready to go for the grapevines! We also made banana nut muffins, a Hershey cake, and 2  homemade lasagnas! We hung up a curtain rod, moved a bed for someone, and straightened up a bit. We went to the grocery store, and gassed up the jeep! We fed and watered the chickens and gathered the eggs! Now I am ready for a nice relaxing evening with a fire in the fire-pit, a cup of coffee, or a glass of wine and some good conversation! A chance to renew myself a bit before work tomorrow. Its a good feeling to get so much accomplished off my to-do list. If only I didn't keep adding to it! Then I might actually be able to complete it! I can't wait to have Saturday's off as well as Sunday's! I hope that will happen very soon! Then I will have a little more time to get stuff accomplished, or more time to go camping, go to the beach, or to check out all the yard sales and craft fairs! Either way I am really looking forward to the next few months! Fire-pit nights, hammock, and swings in the afternoon. Fresh garden veggies and fruits, fresh eggs from the hen-house, and maybe, by next year fresh honey from the bees, and milk and cheese from the goats! Wow, I really have turned into a country girl..lol  Well the sun is setting, and the fire-pit is calling my name.. Have a great evening and try to relax a bit before the weekend is over!

Spring week-ends

  Wow ! Its been a great week-end! Today, what an awesome day! It was absolutely gorgeous!  I love this time of year, and I am  so ready for a camping trip! This is one of those days where it would be crazy to stay inside.Saturday I worked, then we went to Fayetteville and helped with a cook-out for the homeless. It went terrific and they all really seemed to enjoy it, we had a DJ and great food and it was really nice.Then we went to Sweet Frog's had some tasty frozen yogurt with some good friends !Tonight, we cooked out for supper, planted some stuff and helped moved some furniture.!
 On the down side, something got one of our younger chickens, we have 2 that keep escaping the smaller holding coop,the one where we keep them until we put them together with the adult ones. When Ric saw they were out and got his shoes on to put them back,one was gone! We think it was another hawk, they fly around looking for a loose one, and this is the second one they have gotten this year! I think i am going to go on and try to integrate the smaller ones in with the big ones to keep them safe. I hate losing them!
  I wish the week-ends were longer, I have so much I want to do , and try to cram in everything on Saturdays after work and Sundays ,but I never get it all done!Tomorrow will be another busy day at work,but I am thankful I have a job,and I really don't mind it , especially this time of year!Its nice to be out, with the jeep window down, a nice breeze and meeting all sorts of people. Things could be a  lot worse,working with the homeless this week end made me realize how thankful I am for the way things are in my life. When you see people who are homeless, or have no idea where the next meal is coming from because all their money went to bills to keep a roof and electricity..it makes you REALLY appreciate what you have!So remember trials make you stronger, and someone always has a worse situation then you do! Smile and make people wonder what your up too!Night..

Saturday

 Well , I should have had more confidence! When I was ranting here in my blog!  I was so upset,trying to deal with things myself, but then I stepped back and said a prayer and gave the situation to God. Its not solved yet,but it does look like it will be..I should have had more faith and know it was in His hands all along! I will continue to pray about this and wait for the outcome. Therer are people who have stepped up and tried to help me and the situastion and I truly appreciate that..So now we wait!
 On our homesteading plans, Ric planted cherry,2 apple, peach, nectarine and a pear tree. We also are planning on planting 3 grapevines today and 2 blackberry bushes. We also have bee balm to plant in preparation for the bees! We have ordered 2 pecan trees, and a walnut and hazelnut tree and more flowering plants for the arrival of the bees! The bees will get here May 11th, originally it was April 26 but due to the colder temps they did not have the starter hives available, so now we are getting a hive that's already established  with even more bees! Then we began working on the fencing for the dwarf milking goats! I cannot wait for them!Now all we need is to get our garden plowed up , I hope we can get a tiller before too long or at least rent one to get that done before too late . Maybe even find someone to come till it up for us..either way I already have lettuce to plant , and tomatoes in my greenhouse! I love spring! Two of our newest chicks are pulling Houdini tricks, and escaping the small coop, I am afraid they will get out and a hawk will get them , but it won't be long before we put them in with the older ones ,and I think that will take care of it! Well ,off to work.. I am excited about today's plans , and looking forward to a gorgeous day!

Prep Work!

 Well, its been a long day,but we got a  lot done! After work, I came home and Ric and I worked on the yard to get ready for the Easter Cookout. We picked up the yard a bit, and  fed the chickens and gathered the eggs,watered the plants in the greenhouse and cold frame. We  decided where to put the fruit trees we ordered ,when they came in.. our own little fruit orchard! Yay! Then we lit a fire in the fire pit ,made chicken foil pockets with veggies and seasonings threw them in the fire to cook and chilled a bit. It was a delicious supper after the yard work.. and really made me miss my camping trips! I am ready for some Morrow mountain tent camping! There is nothing like sitting by a fire in the woods  listening to the sounds of the night,seeing deer approach so close to your tent and just letting the rush of everyday,pass you by!But until I can get there My fire pit will definitely do! Now tomorrow will be another busy day,work,shopping for the cookout,house cleaning,yard cleaning,and maybe helping my nephew and his family move to their new house! Everyone have a great night,help someone when you can,and take a moment for yourself!

Spring Plans

Well this time of year gets busy, trying to prepare for spring! We have moved our newest chicks outside , now they have their feathers its time to get them integrated with the big guys! Ric built a small pen next to the chicken coop so they can size each other up, then in a week or so we will add them together. Last night they had an unwanted visitor. A opossum was trying to get into the coop of the younger chicks, the dogs went after it and it fell down and played dead! Ric went and got his gun and before long , he wasn't playing..lol! I am thankful the coop held up and that the dogs alerted us to the problem!
 Ric also ordered his honey bees, he picks them up April 26, so hopefully we will have honey in a year or so, and a very fruitful garden! The pollination from the bees should help us produce more produce..lol. All kidding aside though, I am a little nervous. I know that honey bees are not aggressive, but having that many that near IS a little nerve racking. I have learned a lot about them though and it really is interesting. Ric is excited and really looking forward to this new adventure.
 We have also ordered more fruit trees and  plants, and the lettuce is coming up in the cold frame. We have tomatoes planted in the greenhouse, and strawberry plants ordered which should be here any day. Now  to just get a tiller or have someone plow up the rest of the garden so we can work on it! We have plans to can a lot  this year. Last year we put up veggie soup, applesauce, apple butter, apple pie filling, tomatoes, sweet pickles and even spaghetti sauce! This year I want to do more veggies! I really enjoy growing our own food and preserving it..
 The next on my list is milk goats! I am looking at Nigerian Dwarf or Nubian goats. We decided to have Ric get set up with his bees this spring, then work on getting fencing and preparing an area for the goats through the year, and next year in spring...get my goats! I want to try my hand at making cheese, butter and even some soaps! I think some of friends and family think I have gone off the deep end! Oh well til next time!

Productive Day

Our Greenhouse

 Today has been a really great day.The weather was great and we worked outside. We transplanted our plants and planted, lettuce, cabbage, peas, onions, broccoli, carrots, spinach and a lot of fresh herbs, basil, cilantro, parsley, oregano, dill and a few more..We planted lettuce in the cold frame..built a second cold frame and plan on putting strawberries in it Friday

Our first cold frame..lettuce is in here

. We gathered the eggs and cleaned the pen a bit.. Ric made our chicken coop out of old pallets ..it did not cost anything but the nails to put it together, we used an old dog fence for the yard and it works great! We have 6 more chicks to add before long.. we will have  to integrate them so they all get along..but when they start laying we will have PLENTY of eggs to share!

Nesting box made of an old bookshelf

Chicken coop

  We also finished up a Bible devotion on debt we were doing, it was very informative and helpful..I guess we will pick a new topic for tomorrows devotion..We are reading the Bible all the way through as a family as well and it has really been a good thing for us all! We are accountable to each other.. so we don"t put it off..its great!  I think we all have deepened our faith through this..
  We have decided to try a little experiment.. one day a week..it will be Wednesday"s, we are giving up all electronics..no television,no facebook, nothing..I think we all have gotten way to depended on them, we even read on our Kindles electronic books! So Wednesdays I will post the days blog on Thursday mornings! i will be sure to let you know how it goes.It will be very interesting ..I am not sure Catie and Ric are as excited about it as I am though!
 Well its been a long day.. and tomorrow is another one..I will leave you with this thought..you can wait for something to happen to make your life better,or you can make it better yourself!!

The Prince with Snow White and Cinderella

What now?

So, now I know where I was, where do I want to go?  What do I want to work on? Well, of course my finances, as I mentioned earlier, REALLY need working on, but, I am paying off credit cards and charge accounts. I am tithing right off the top and hope to start saving soon too! Its funny though, when I give God his part, right off the top, it seems my money goes further; and I really like deciding how I can help someone; whether its sponsoring  a child and helping their family, donating to the homeless with time and money, or the food bank! I get so much off of it too, when i start looking at my problems and feeling sorry for myself, I think of all those people with no home out in the cold, those hungry folks wondering how to come up with food for their kids, or the orphans with no parents living in such horrible hopelessness. Then I realize how lucky and blessed I am. The Bible tells us to help those less fortunate, if only everyone could help out someone who is not doing as well as themselves, how much better we would all be!

   So the plan I have come up with to help myself and others is to work on developing more of a homestead, back to the basics, so to speak. I have gotten chickens and we get our own eggs. We get about  43 eggs a week now, and have 6 baby chicks that will be laying before you know it. This allows me to not buy eggs and give some to others as well. The next step? Bees! My son, Ric, will be starting a hive next month. If things go well, hopefully we will have honey, beeswax candles and such before you know it! Then I want to get Nigerian Dwarf milking goats! We will be able to get our own milk, cheese, butter etc.and hopefully, after a while, have enough to give others as well.

  Last year we started making our own bread.. We haven't bought a loaf of bread in almost a year and we started canning soup,tomatoes and other garden goodies we grow. It is such a great feeling of accomplishment to grow your own food, not to mention how it cuts your grocery bill! I believe in giving a part of this to help others too. It's a way to help ourselves and others, and it is a good feeling not to be so dependent on society to buy goods and such. Our world has gotten so self-indulging. I think we forget how God meant for us to be, to help each other, to be compassionate and to be able to able to take care of ourselves through our hard work!
 So as I embark on this journey, a step to the past as a step to my own growth, I hope you will come along with me as I walk closer to God  and try to live the life I was meant to live.