Have a peek at the life of a farmer's visually impaired wife and learn a little about self-sufficiency and saving a few bucks in the process. Let's face it, the economy is challenging all of us to be frugal, so we need to help one another as much as we can.
I have just completed my
garden seed spreadsheet for 2013.
If you live around the northern KY
area, plan on starting indoor seeds March 17th which is my dear departed
Fergie's
birthday. She would have been 13 this year, but instead she will be
sending doggie angel blessings to my seeds...especially the cabbage-she
loved cabbage/kraut.
This should be enough time for a May 5th
transplanting to the outdoors.
Now of course cool weather crops can
stand to be put out sooner (cabbage, radishes, peas, lettuce, etc..) but
I'm not decided on that date yet, but it may be around the 1st week of
April.
That blasted groundhog said we were to have an early spring, so
he better be right or I'll be posting a new recipe featuring him as the
main course. That is all.
Here's a fast forward video of some quilt blocks being sewn together. I think I do a pretty good Chipmunks impersonation - especially during the trouble shooting segments. lol
3.5" x 9.5" quilt strips in 24 colors/patterns in rows on my sewing table
I have been busy working on my quilt, maybe not every single day, but most days. So far it's all been cutting the 3.5" x 9.5" strips I'll be using to make the 9" blocks. Let me tell you I have a whole new respect for quilters! Due to my limited vision, I have one heck of a time measuring, measuring again and measuring yet a third time then rotary cutting the fabrics. In order to see what I'm doing I have to get my face pretty close to the work area and my upper back and neck start aching about 10-15 minutes into a cutting session. When I feel the need, I just Quasimodo my way over to my comfy bed and have a rest while listening to a talking book for a few minutes. So far I have 192+ strips cut which is enough for 64 blocks. Unfortunately this is not enough to complete a queen size quilt. Another misfortune is - I'm out of fabrics! I figure I'll need at least another 16 or so blocks to have enough to complete the quilt. While I'm keeping an eye out for more fabrics I'm going to start stitching the strips together to form the blocks. I'll report back when I have some blocks to show you.
Close up image of a home made loaf of Raisin Oat Bread
I got this recipe from a fellow YouTuber (TheMrsVolfie) and thought I'd give it a try. It was literally the best loaf of bread I've ever made in my life! I'm not sure if it was because I used lard rather than oil or if my new KitchenAid stand mixer had something to do with it, but I'm just tickled pink either way!
Here's how you make it - or you can just watch the video below:
Raisin Oat Bread Recipe
In 3/4 cup of warm tap water add
1 tablespoon of yeast-set aside
In mixing bowl with dough
hook, add...
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup oatmeal
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup boiling water
Stir for a few seconds
2 tablespoons lard or oil or butter
1/4 cup maple syrup (you can add more if you like)
Stir
While your mixer is still on "stir" add 3.5 - 4 cups all purpose flour 1 cup at a time.After 1st cup, add yeast water and turn mixer
speed to 2.
Allow to knead for at least 10 mins
Butter the bowl (or spray with cooking oil) and put dough
back in bowl with cover to rise for 1 hour
Gently deflate dough and knead for a few turns
Place dough in bread pan making sure to evenly snug into corners
Cover bread pan and rise again for 1 hour
Bake in a preheated oven at 350
for 45 mins
Slather with your favorite spread while it's still warm for a sneak preview of what heaven is like. ;-)
Image of my dining room table with 20 Mule Team Borax, Arm & Hammer Washing Soda, Oxi Clean, Fels Naptha bar laundry soap, measuring cup, improvised funnel from 2-liter bottle, metal cheese grater & a long handled spoon.
One of the many ways I save money at home is by making my own laundry detergent. You may have even seen another internet video of someone making it... but you haven't seen MINE! I have a slightly different (and in my humble opinion, better) recipe for laundry detergent. I've been making my own detergent for about 1.5 years now and thought I'd share my secret recipe with you folks.
Everyone who makes their own detergent uses the same three basic ingredients:
1) 20 Mule Team Borax
2) Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda (not baking soda - two different products folks)
3) *Fels Naptha's laundry soap bar.
*There are other brands of laundry bar soaps, like Zote, Kirk's Castile, etc. Even lye soap or regular Ivory soap will work for this. You DO know lye soap is milder and gentler than any commercial soap out there, right?
I have also noticed several variations in the detergent recipes out there in cyberspace. Some folks say use 1 cup of each powder and 1/2 bar of the soap while others say use an entire bar of soap and 1/2 cup of the powders, add some water, add a lot of water, etc, etc, etc. I have tried it several ways and eventually came up with my own special recipe that I have found to be the most effective in getting our clothes clean for pennies on the dollar compared to commercial detergents.
Here are the ingredients you will need:
1) 20 Mule Team Borax 1.5 cups
2) Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda (not baking soda - two different products folks) 1.5 cups
3) Fels Naptha's laundry soap bar (or whatever brand you can find) Grate up the entire bar
4) Oxi Clean Stain Remover 1.5 cups
5) Any brand of powdered laundry detergent you like the smell of (I buy whatever's cheapest!)1 cup
6) Two gallons and two cups of hot tap water
Here are the tools you will need:
1) Clean 5 gallon bucket
2) Metal cheese grater & bowl
3) Measuring cup
4) Long handled spoon
5) Med-Large Sauce pan or pot
6) Funnel (the larger the opening the better - you can make one by cutting the top 1/3 off a plastic 2 liter bottle
7) Empty detergent, juice, pop, etc.. bottles to hold your finished product
This recipe will produce approximately 8 quarts (2 ga) of finished liquid laundry detergent.
--==Scroll Down To See Video==--
Step 1
Grate your bar of laundry soap. I have used a food processor for this in the past, but find you will need to add some borax in with it before grinding or it will gunk up the blades and not grate up as fine. It only takes a few mins with a regular ole box grater anyway and there's less cleanup afterward.
Step 2
In a med-large saucepan add 2 cups of hot tap water and the grated bar soap. Stir frequently until the soap pieces are melted. Don't get too fanatical about making sure every little bit is melted. After all, we all know what happens to soap when it's left in water-it melts all on it's own! Just don't let your soap boil as it may form hard bits that won't melt and for goodness sake, don't let it boil over on the stove - what a MESS!
Step 3
Add 2 gallons of hot tap water to your 5 gallon bucket
Step 4
Add your melted soap to the bucket of water and give it a stir
Step 5
Now add the powdered ingredients and STIR after each ingredient is added:
1.5 cups Borax
1.5 cups Washing Soda
1.5 cups Oxi Clean
1 cup of good smelling powdered laundry detergent
Step 6
After you're sure all the ingredients are well mixed, place the lid on the bucket and let it sit overnight to gel.
Step 7
Bottle your detergent! Leave a couple inches of head space at the top of each bottle to make it easier to shake before the first use. You will eventually see some water separation in your final product so shake before each use.
Top Loading Washers:
Feel free to experiment with the quantity needed for each load of laundry. If you have a water softening system, you may only need 1/2 cup; but if you have hard water, you'll probably want to use a full cup.
H.E. Front Loading Washers:
I don't have first hand knowledge about H.E. washers since I'm not lucky enough to own one, so just follow the manufacture's recommendations for the amount of soap to use and you decide how much from there.
After your clothes have been washed a couple times with your home made laundry detergent, they feel noticeably softer and more comfortable next to your skin. That's because there are no commercial detergent residues left in the fabric. So give it a try!
Image of my hands in front of a sewing machine holding a finished quilt square made with 3 strips of fabric sewn together. Color combinations are: #1 white background with small red flowers/designs, #2 solid red, #3 white background with prominent red flower designs
I DID IT - I DID IT - I DID IT!!! I finally put together my first quilt square! Only 120-something more to go...or something like that. I haven't actually counted how many I need. At the rate I'm going, I'm hoping I'll have it finished by the time next winter rolls around.
I have decided to cut all my fabric strips first because that seems to be the hardest part for me. I'm also positive I need to get more fabric since I want to make a queen size quilt. At least it should go a little faster now that I've decided to go with 9" squares rather than the smaller 6".
I'll post more updates in the future as I make progress.
Image of a cutting board with several broken pieces of french bread and a food processor loaded with more chunks of bread.
Here's an incredibly easy way to save a few bucks while stocking your pantry. Just save up your stale bread in the freezer until you're ready to load up your food processor with it. You can also add other items to the mix such as non-sugared breakfast cereal, tortillas and/or dehydrated tomatoes & veggies. Add your favorite seasonings/spices while making the crumbs or wait until you're ready to use them in your recipes. It's all up to you.
You can store your bread crumbs in a zipper storage bag, vacuum sealer bag or even in a mason jar and use your vacuum jar sealer attachment if you're looking for a long term storage solution.
Closeup image of my hand holding a red kitchen scrubbie preparing to scrub the bottom of my clothes iron.
If you watched my previous video on the Quilting Gadget Haul, you might
remember the cutesie little iron I bought that was just the right size
for a small child...but NOT MEANT FOR A SMALL CHILD mind you. That little iron
will come in handy later on when I'm pressing quilt block seams, but
since I needed to de-wrinkle fat quarters and larger pieces of fabric, I
decided to bring out Big Bertha. When I looked at the bottom of Bertha (yeah, I know that doesn't sound right) I knew there wasn't going to be any ironing just yet. The fact of the matter is the years have taken their toll on Big B and
she needed a cleaning. There was a light sprinkling of rust, water
marks and a sticky something that all had to go before I could use her. It's always something isn't it?
First I must confess that I am not, nor have I ever been a regular ironer. I always made sure to not buy clothing that would require me to iron it before wearing and as long as I had a clothes dryer, tossing an item in for a touch up was so much easier. I'm afraid most of the ironing I have done in the past, oh say 28 years, was done in the line of sewing projects - and not that many of those either.
Here's how I cleaned Big Bertha. Hopefully she'll last me another 28 years.
Close up image of purple, pink & blue fat quarter fabrics and unopened packs of sewing machine needles and bobbins.
Before I could really start getting busy on my 1st quilt project, I needed and/or wanted a few tools of the trade. I made poor hubby take me to JoAnn Fabrics since they were having a pretty good sale at the time. He wasn't the only hubby that got dragged along either. Thank you hubbies everywhere! :-D
Once there, I was really surprised at the number of customers in the store. I don't know if it was JoAnn's best sale of the year or if it was the height of "sewing season" or both, but the weak economy doesn't seem to be having an affect on their business. An unstable economy might even be beneficial for them since a lot of folks find it more frugal to repair or make their own clothing.
There are a few stores that have an affect on me like a kid in a candy store and a sewing shop is one of them. (Computer & hobby stores are also on this list.) Since I had a budget I needed to stick to, I had a mental shopping list of necessities and pretty much stuck to it. If I ever hit the lottery, look out!
Image of my sewing work station which includes a bright blue cutting mat, several fabric swatches and a rotary cutter tool.
I'm FINALLY going to do it. I've been promising myself for years that I was going to make a quilt before I kick the bucket and I'm finally going to fulfill that promise.
A Little Background: About 8 or 9 years ago, my bestest buddy Natalie and I paid for a beginners sewing machine class. If memory serves, the class was 1 day per week for six weeks and there was about 6 of us participating. We all figured we'd learn how various functions were performed on a sewing machine and possibly come away each week with a nifty craft item such as buttons sewn on a dish towel or a pillow case made from two bandanas. We couldn't have been more wrong! After making sure each student knew how to thread their machine and needle, our instructor announced that we would be making an outfit from a pattern we had to buy from the local Jo-Ann Fabrics store. WHAT?!?
To make a long story short, by the end of the class I had a so-so sleeveless blouse that I would never wear in public and a sorry pair of shorts that didn't come anywhere near fitting me. I did learn how to make button holes and sew buttons on with the machine, but that's about it. I did attempt making a nightgown on my own and to this day, that nightgown, sans sleeves, is still tucked away in my sewing paraphernalia.
Fast forward to November, 2012: Just before Thanksgiving I decided I wanted to get back into sewing. Past experience has taught me the dining room table just wasn't going to cut it for a work area. Sure as God made little green apples, as soon as I really got into a sewing project I'd have to clear it all away for a family meal. (Do they really have to eat EVERY day?) The drudgery of setting up and tearing down a temporary sewing area is enough to discourage anyone. Since I couldn't find a sewing "roadie" I had my son help me re-arrange my bedroom and I started planning my sewing nook.
Turns out I had picked a great time of year to get back into sewing. Since Christmas was approaching, I made a wish list of items I absolutely and desperately had to have, (ok, wanted) and presented it to Santa Hubby and Santa Son. I'm happy to say, I had a very merry Christmas!
I'm planning on making a hand-tied quilt using 6 inch blocks that are made up of three 2" x 6" strips (plus seam allowance). I only have a few fat quarters that I bought over the years just because I thought they were "pretty". I figured I'd use them for something someday. If you're wondering what a fat quarter is, it's a piece of fabric 18" x 22" typically for making quilt squares. They also make good liners for gift baskets, but that's a whole different topic isn't it? ;-)
Image of cast iron skillet with beef & broccoli stir fry, a stainless steel pot with white rice and a serving bowl with the two ingredients combined ready to eat.
I'm a lover of Chinese cuisine; the hubby - not so much. After re-reading that intro, I think I better clarify that I AM a fan of the hubby, he's just not a fan of Chinese food. Whew! lol If I want an oriental dish more often than DH is willing to endure at a restaurant, I have to make it myself. For some reason (probably love) he doesn't mind eating Asian dishes when I make them at home.
I didn't quite have every ingredient I would have liked in my stir fry, however I made do with everyday ingredients we all should have in our pantry's.
I screwed up and left a burner on my glass top stove going while we went to the store. Luckily, it was on the lowest possible setting. First & foremost, I'm very fortunate there wasn't a fire or any damage whatsoever; howsoever, I had a mess to deal with because a plastic bag was set on the burner. Check out the video for all the details and how I remedied melted plastic on my stove top.
I was invited to a party being held on Saturday and it was suggested that I bring some of my home made goodies as a gift if I was so inclined. I was very inclined as a matter of fact. I grabbed a quilting fat quarter and lined a cute basket, gathered up a few home canned items, thinly sliced some venison & put in a marinade to make jerky and mixed dough to make spelt rolls. Before the dough was done rising, I found out I have no way to get to the party tomorrow. Boo-hiss!
If anyone is having a party tomorrow and is willing to pick me up (and bring me home) I have a great gift to bring!
In the picture
In the basket are: Quart of tomato juice, pint of salsa and a half-pint of peach jelly - all made with my own two hands from what we grew on our little farm.
On the cooling rack are: Spelt rolls (Spelt is an ancient form of wheat and the bread is dark like unbleached whole wheat.)
The beef jerky is still in the dehydrator and won't be ready until about noon Saturday, so any party invitations will have to be for after that. ;-)
A wire cooling rack with spelt rolls sitting in front of a cloth lined basket filled with home canned items
A closeup image of the nativity scene I have in front of my Christmas Tree.
This Christmas season is extra special to us this year as I have my 23 year old son back home with me at last. My son has faced many challenges throughout his life and while he has tried to go it alone, we have decided life will be much happier for both of us if he lived under the same roof with the rest of the family.
I really want to enjoy this holiday season like no other so didn't hesitate to get a jump on decorating and preparing. The day after Thanksgiving the boxes of Christmas decorations came out of storage and we had at it. Inevitably we always find items in the storage boxes that remind us of Christmas' past, such as a booklet from a school Christmas play my son was in and several handmade ornaments he has given me over the years. Of course the pictures of my then youngster son sitting on Santa's lap are priceless. Then there's the very old and fragile ornaments of my grandmother's that were passed down to me as well as the ornaments that my own mother had given me. Finding these memories and pausing to talk about them makes decorating much longer than it should be, but we don't mind a bit.
My friends, may your strings of lights never be tangled causing you to lose your temper in this holiest of seasons. lol
Here's a brief tour of some of the Christmas decorations we have up in our living room this year:
Image of a quart canning jar filled with chunks of pork shoulder in the meat juices.
Alright, I think I've got the hang of this new video camera & editing method!
About a week before Thanksgiving I caught a good sale on pork shoulder at the grocery and bought two 10 pounders. Since I'm trying to save freezer space, I decided to can the pork. You might be surprised to know I only got 6 quarts (loosely packed) of meat from the 20 lbs I bought. A quart is plenty enough to feed at least 4 adults depending on the recipe you use it in.
Due to this past summer's drought the price of animal feed is sky high; therefore, the ranchers are going to be culling more of their herd than usual rather than pay more for feed - IF they could find feed to begin with. This means the price of processed meats is going to go down temporarily - so STOCK UP! The price of meat will surely shoot much higher than it is right now after the "glut" is over. After all, it takes many months to grow a beef steer or hog, so there won't be any meat relief for a while. Chicken may not be as hard hit as it takes much less time to raise a chicken to maturity than our four-legged farm friends but they still need feed just the same.
You might want to be on the lookout for some good vegetarian recipes and/or maybe think of meat as a seasoning rather than the main course.
.png)
