Queen's Edge Farm: Countdown to Leap Day!

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Countdown to Leap Day!

Muffin AKA Demon Dog and Twit

My mom emailed me and asked if it was okay if my grandmother had the address to this blog. I would love it if she started coming here to read what I have been up to. I am not much of a phone talker, so this is my outlet. If you are reading this Grandma, feel free to give it to everyone in the family, that way we can all keep in touch. I really miss everyone!

Yesterday was a bad day, I was not feeling well at all. I was dizzy and barely made it out of Walmart in the early morning before I passed out. I drove home carefully and spent the rest of the day on the couch. The kids picked up the living room and their dad got dinner. I am rarely this bad sick.

Today, I am much better, lots of energy. Started the day by making a fresh batch of laundry soap. I managed to clean more, work in the kitchen, and get almost all of the laundry done. I have two more loads, and that it will be it. I have packed up all the blankets and comforters and stored at the land. Everyone has one blanket and one set of sheets, and that is it. I sorted through all the laundry and got rid of holey stuff (this means it has holes, not that it is religious), and too small stuff to give away.

Rodney came home and took another bookcase, the dining room chairs, two rubber maid boxes, and some odds and ends. He would like to take everything, but I am not going to sit here on the floor until the house sells, or sleep on the floor with just a blanket. He wants everything out, that's not my goal. My goal was/is to declutter, which I have done lots of, pack, and put things out to give away to the thrift store. Taylor took a large group of give away items next store to the thrift store. The plan was to have a yard sale, but I have given up on that idea.

The stupid, little twit of a dog, used my freshly washed bedspread to pee on. Hannah left the door open to my room, where she watching tv, and the dog headed straight for MY SIDE!
She knows I hate her, and I know she did it on purpose. Chihuahua's are only good for taco meat, I swear it! I digress...

Today was a good day lesson wise for us. We accomplished quite a bit. Lauren and I worked on division with remainders, she read two chapters and finished her reading comprehension questions. We then sat at the computer and researched and discussed muskrats, the medicinal uses for Ginger root, how descriptive language aids our imagination, and three types of exercise (aerobic, strengthening and flexibility). A good discussion on what happens to a person if they are very hot and if they drank cold water quickly was very useful, seeing as they we live in a very hot climate. We talked about the body's need for electrolyes, and I explained what it was, and showed her what I had on hand (Gatorade and Pedia Lyte). Lastly we read the following Bible passages and discussed how they related to her reading assignment - Proverbs 10:5, 12:11, 20:11, 4:26, 6:6-8.

Tomorrow we plan to find a biography on Samuel Morse, read three more chapters and do the questions in her Silver Lake book. Look up "equinoctial" in the dictionary. Study the rotation of the earth on it's axis and the effect on sunrise, sunset and climate. We will talk about how we conserve water and why. Learn about the water cycle and study forms of precipitation, and more division work.

Something funny.....we were driving yesterday, and I saw a really large sprinkler in a field, and mentioned I would like to have it for my garden. Taylor said those aren't the best to use. I was kind of irritated, and asked why. He said that he learned in his Irrigation class at the community college, that drip irrigation was better, because so much water evaporated into the air, and the plants didn't get the best benefit. I just looked at him...I guess he's paying attention in class, which is good, and I admit I had hoped he would learn something useful to help out with on the land. Rodney just looked at me and laughed and said "yeah mom". I still liked the sprinkler, it was pretty, it was tall and looked like it was copper. LOL!

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Grandma's Yummy Cinnamon Rolls

2 pkgs active dry yeast or 5 tsps if using bulk yeast
1/2 cup warm water (not too hot)
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup shortening, butter, margarine
2 tsps salt
2 cups milk, scalded
1 1/2 cups cold water
10 to 12 cups flour (white or whole wheat)

Yield: 4 loaves

Soften yeast in warm water, springkle in a tsp of the sugar
In LARGE mixing bowl blend sugar, shortening, salt and milk until shortening is melted. Add cold water, cool to luke-warm. Stir in yeast. Gradually add flour to form a stiff dough. Knead on floured surface until smooth and satiny, 5 to 10 minutes. Place in greased bowl, turning dough to grease all sides. Cover with foil or damp towel. Let rise in warm place (85 to 90 deg) until light and doubled in volume about two hours. Punch dough down by plunging fist in center. Knead dough for about 5 minutes.

Roll out one fourth of dough to a 16 X 12 inch rectangle. Brush with 2 TBSP of melted butter. Combine 1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar, 1/3 cup sugar and 1 1/2 tsp of cinnamon (or more to taste). Sprinkle mixture over dough. Starting with 16 inch side, roll jellyroll fashion. Either cut into 16 1 inch slices or leave as a whole loaf. Place on a greased pan, cover and let rise in warm place until light, about 30 to 45 minutes. Bake at 375 degrees about 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Mix one box 10X sugar with 2 tbsps water. If too stiff, add more water until icing consistency, add a drop of vanilla too. Spread on baked bread while bread is still warm.

2010 Homestead Stats

Laundry Soap

Homemade Laundry Soap:
1/3 bar Fels Naptha or other type of soap, as listed above
½ cup washing soda
½ cup borax powder
~You will also need a small washpan or bowl that holds about 2 gallons.

Grate the soap and put it in a sauce pan. Add 6 cups water and heat it until the soap melts. Add the washing soda and the borax and stir until it is dissolved. Remove from heat. Pour 4 cups hot water into the washpan. Now add your soap mixture and stir. Now add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir. Transfer soap (using a funnel if necessary) into empty plastic laundry holders, milk containers (I use my empty glass milk bottles and old Fab containers) Let the soap sit for about 24 hours and it will gel. You use ½ cup per load.

Wild Mustang Grape Jelly

Wild Mustang Grape Jelly

5 cups grape juice (about 3 1/2 pounds of ripe grapes)1 (1 3/4 ounce) box of sure-jel pectin7 cups sugarBefore getting started it is best to clean the entire kitchen, making sure the sink is empty. Bleach the sink and all utensils used in making jelly (I do this as I sell my grape jelly as part of my homesteading business.)

Wash the canning jars in warm soapy water, and rinse well. Set off to side.

Place a large pan of water on the stove to heat. Once it starts steaming, place lids and rings in the bottom, and 2-3 jars (depending on if you use actual jelly jars or pints) to sterilize.

Next make the grape juice using clean washed grapes (make sure you use rubber gloves when picking or washing wild grapes)To 3 1/2 pounds of clean grapes (6 cups of grapes) add 1 1/2 cups water.Bring to a boil and simmer covered for 10 minutes.Strain and squeeze out all of the juice with cheese cloth (see paragraph below)
I didn't have cheese cloth, so I poured the grape mixture into a large spaghetti strainer with a large pan underneath. I had to stir it around some as the skins and seeds would sink to the bottom, and clog the colander up. Stirring allowed the liquid to drain out. I then used a large metal spoon and squished it some to get more of the juice out.

In a very big pan, put 5 cups of the juice (it’s okay to add no more than ½ cup water to even out amount)Add the fruit pectin to the juice.Mix well.On high heat, bring to a full rolling boil, and boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly.Stir in sugar all at once, and bring back to a full rolling boil, again boil hard for 1 minute stirring constantly.
Remove jelly from heat, skim off foam
Use a large spoon inserted inside the jar to lift CAREFULLY out of the water. DO NOT TOUCH THE INSIDE OF THE JAR OR THE RIM WITH YOUR HANDS.
Ladle jelly into hot jars, place a lid and ring onto jar (do not tighten yet).
Set jars to the side. After a while you should start hearing “pings” as the jar seals.
When jars are completely cool, tighten rings and store on pantry shelf.**SIDE NOTE: Wild Mustang Grapes are normally ready the end of June, so be prepared. Keep an eye open for vines on the side of the road, or any that friends and family may have growing in their yard. Many people just let them grow and don’t do anything with them, so it shouldn’t be hard to find a good supply. Also, the more you pick off the vine, the more the vine produces new grapes, so you probably won’t EVER run out of grapes to use until the vine dies or you get sick of making jelly. Good luck and feel free to contact me at queensedgefarm@yahoo.com for questions.