Queen's Edge Farm

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

I hope no one is dissappointed when they read this blog. I like to detail everything that I do, partially for my mom, and because I have a really bad memory. It may seem a little boring to read about the weather, but I like to document the weather every so often so that I can keep a farm journal that contains temp and rain info.

Today was another day of swim lessons for Hannah. She has 3 more days until her swim test. I really believe she will pass. Afterwards we dropped Lauren off at April's. She is spending the night with LeighAnn. I surely hope she behaves her self. She is getting more and more "teenagery" and not always a joy to be around. When you bring her attention to her behavior she acts totally surprised, or irritated. I never know which one it will be.

April, Ashley and I spent the afternoon talking, drinking Starbucks and having lunch. It was really nice. Ashley moves back to Virginia this weekend, unfortunately. I really believe it is a bad idea for her to do so, but she is a big girl. I just worry about her because she doesn't have good influences in a few of her friends and many of our extended family. I hope once she finishes colleges that she moves back down, but I don't think she will. I wish my mother had never moved back to Virginia. I hate that our family is so spread out. I am really glad that at least April and Ann are here. We may irritate each other every now and then, but we do love each other, and I believe it's important for families to stay close. Something that can't be done long distance, effectively.

On arriving home, I rearranged my extension cords. I plugged the computer into the outlet, after moving the armoire and hurting my shoulder. I used the extension cord to plug the washing machine in so that I could do some laundry. I managed to wash one quilt before getting distracted by the baby. He is very fussy, I think he is teething. I gave him some Motrin, a bath and massaged him. After nursing him, he fell asleep. He should sleep until around 3 a.m. which is good. Hope it's not TMI, but I think I have Mastitis. I've also been drinking my Mama's Milk Tea to increase the milk available for James.

The temp today was 104, partly cloudy, windy.

Made Skillet Hash for dinner, very good. Trying to cook more variety. Hope to remember to put my bread in the bread machine in the morning before leaving for swim lessons, we are out of bread.

The goaties are so cute, and eating more vegetation. I love how they run after me in the morning and want me to feed them. They rub their heads and little horn buds on my leg. It's very cute. The three stooges (the three bucks) are getting less aloof and the littlest one (Curly) wanted me to scratch his head this morning.

Well, off to bed.

2 comments:

Bob Westbrook said...: Nah it's not boring. You want boring read my blog (walkedwithangels.blogspot.com) Well I suppose it has moments of excitement. Like you I use it as my memory and look forward to reading it years from now. It also is a powerful tool to let friends and family keep up with what's going on. That's why I like yours. On the pictures, download Picasa. It's free. With it you can adjust the picture Pixtel rate so there is less bits or bytes (whatever they are) to upload. I set mine at 800. That speeds things up. Plus it's set up to use with blogspot.
Hang in there Amy. Love to hear about goats and chickens cause some day we will have some.; August 1, 2009 at 11:18 AM
Amy E said...: Thanks for the comments Bob. Your blog is not boring either. We love reading your blog. I get frustrated right along with you ;-); August 1, 2009 at 6:29 PM

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.