Queen's Edge Farm: Back to the drawing board

Friday, May 16, 2008

Back to the drawing board

The potential buyer that came to the house this week isn't going to buy it, after receiving feedback from the Realtor, we do a few additional, minor repairs to the house, a little more painting, and lower the price a tad.

I am really frustrated, we didn't receive the full amount of money from the IRS, so I am hoping that it will be rectified. I checked their web site, and that is what is said. If not, oh well, not much I can do about it. Just running out of money after paying the rest of the money towards the land, and buying fencing, and with one more large payment to make at closing, my bank balance is dipping drastically.

Well, off to Home Depot.

Back from town. Bought two toilet packages for $79.00 each, and a 5 gallon container of Ultra Pure White paint to finish Taylor's room, and the ceilings of the house.

Shaina, Taylor and Lauren went to see the new Narnia movie "Prince Caspian". Lauren was very excited to be included, because Taylor and Shaina are very rude and treat her like a little kid, but she's almost 11 you know! LOL! She dressed in her new jeans, white shirt, fixed her hair, and put her lip gloss on. Shaina rarely lets Lauren ride in the car with her, so it was very special to Lauren. The went out to dinner after the movie. She was on a big high when she got home.

Rodney, his dad, me and Hannah went out to the land. It had rained a lot last night. Not measurable, as we have a very stupid rain gauge. It has a tendency to blow to the side and not accurately measure the rain. The day before there was .05 inch of rain in the gauge, but there was more than that in the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket, so I think we need to tie down the gauge. Today, you could tell there was a real "gully washer" out there during the evening. My plants were beat down into the ground, and covered with mud (I rinsed them off, and they are standing up again. Debris was build up in the creek bed where the water rushed through. But not ONE drop was in the rain gauge. Go figure.

I have two tomatoes on each tomato plant. They are about the size of plums. Hannah was very excited. They need to be staked pretty badly, but Rodney and his dad told me tonight that they would put two t-posts up on each end of the garden, and stretch a piece of fencing on it. That way I can tie the tomato plants to it. Apparently, this is how my FIL does his (sigh).

Tomorrow we are going to Sea World for the Christian Family Music Day. Rodney is actually going with us. I asked him, but he had other plans with his dad, but told us tonight he would go. Lauren and Hannah are very excited!

Daisy (Rott puppy) has been getting out of the yard somehow, so they have lost yard privileges and are locked up back in the kennel.

I am supposed to pick up a breeding pair of New Zealand rabbits this weekend, probably Sunday, Monday at the latest. They are only one month old, but that's okay. So, now the rush to get the cages set up. I have one cage already, and will use a pet carrier for the other rabbit.

I also need to get a bag of Chicken Scratch, and rabbit feed.

Just wanted to ask everyone to pray for us tomorrow as we go to Sea World, my friend Marianne whose FIL passed away yesterday, my friend Faith who's daughter will have to be stopping her riding lessons due to family financial issues, and the sale of my house.

1 comment:

Temi said...: Sorry about your house issue, seems to be tough for everyone. I hope I can get this cabin paid off soon and get THAT much closer to being debt free. So what is happening in your garden that your losing your corn over and over? That one long line for a whole row of tomatoes might be a great idea. Never tried it that way.; May 18, 2008 at 7:47 AM

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.