Queen's Edge Farm: Swimming Lessons and Barn Cleaning

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Swimming Lessons and Barn Cleaning

We were up bright and early Saturday morning to take Hannah to register for swimming lessons. She had a swim test first to determine skill level. She by passed Level I and is in Level II. Her lessons are in the last session, which is the end of July. There are usually less kids in this session, so she will hopefully get more focused attention.

We came home and the baby took a nap before we headed out to the land. The girls watched videos in the bedroom, and looked after the baby. It was 100 degrees Saturday, so I wanted him kept in the AC.

I headed to the barn to sort through storage boxes. No snakes so far, but I saw a mouse, was chased by wasps and killed a brown recluse. I have a stack of items for the trash, stuff that has been destroyed by rats/mice and the puppies. There is also a stack of items for the yard sale. I think I will sell most of my linens too. I'll keep plenty of blankets, but get rid of most of my sheets. I'll keep two sets for each bed. I don't know how long it will be until a house is built or put out there, and there is limited room in the cabin. I really need the barn for other things, so downsizing my belongings is a good idea. I am about a 1/3 of the way through the boxes.
I did find a box of my pans, my new pressure cooker/canner, and canning supplies. I also found two small, white, lace curtains. I washed these in the kitchen sink, wrung them out, and hung them up at the bathroom window. They were dry in no time, and they look good. Will save me having to buy some. I took a picture and when they are developed I will post them here.

It finally got too hot and around 4:30 p.m. we all came inside to cool off and take a nap. We went back out around 7 p.m. The girls and I watered and fed the animals, and their dad finished cutting grass and weed eating. He is worried about more rattlesnakes and the girls getting bit so devoted the past week to getting it done. Everything looks really nice. There is a little bit of shredded trash that needs to be picked up, but we'll do that tomorrow.

In addition, I need to clean my two rabbit cages (one is a friend's and needs to go back to her, and the other is mine). The broody hen is collecting more and more eggs, and has already sat on a few for almost the allotted egg hatching time. If any hatch, I may take the rest to my friend to put in her incubator or buy my own. That would be easier. Anyway, Lauren and I plan to move the hen with her eggs to the cage to prevent her collecting more eggs. We also need to clean the coop really bad.

A funny story. For the past couple of weeks we have arrived to find Baeta sleeping inside the coop. Apparently the door fell open, and she went in. She really doesn't seem bothered by them, maybe because she has been living next to them for about a year. Well, last night Hannah went in to collect eggs and left the gate open. The chickens rushed out and over to Baeta's bowl, which she was eating out of. She walked away, laid down and let them eat her food! I was so surprised. I thought for sure she'd kill one. I know Duchess sure would have. Baeta has such a laid back attitude for a Rottweiler, though strange people do set her off.

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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.