Queen's Edge Farm

Sunday, September 20, 2009

The end of the day. I love this time of night. The kids are sleeping and it's quiet. Don't get me wrong I love my kids, but I rarely get time to eat or go to the bathroom. It's getting a little chilly. I need a blanket.

The kids were feeling better this morning, and we went to church. Our church was meeting at another church, as our pastor was guest speaker. He did a good job. Those who didn't go, really missed out.

We had lunch, and then checked the mail. Lauren was happy to get her birthday card from Grandma. She received some money and will be saving it so she can buy more paint (acrylics) supplies.

We all took a nap this afternoon, and then got busy cleaning up around the house, washing clothes and getting ready for co-op in the morning. I just remembered I have laundry on the line, and it sounds like it is raining. Shoot! One of the drawbacks of living here is that once it is dark, I do not go outside. I don't have lights by the washer and I don't want to step on a rattlesnake, plus mountain lions have been spotted pretty frequently and recently in the area.
So, I will have to re-wash the clothes, as they will be caked with mud from the dust and wind. I try not to leave the clothes out overnight as they get gritty, but I forgot.

I manged to get most of the dishes done, the floor swept, the trash bagged, sorted laundry, washed three loads, vacuumed the floor, made the bed, then finally made dinner (fried chicken breasts, corn, apple slices, cheese and crackers). I am TRYING to make the girls eat a little more healthier, and they are not cooperating.

I finally managed to find the charger for our coleman lantern. It is charging in the bathroom. I don't have many plugs, so I have to put things in strange places. The outlet in the bathroom only has two plug outlets and one is taken by the Tiny Titan water heater. I normally have small nightlight in there, but not tonight since the battery is charging. I only have one lamp, and it's in the bedroom, the other rooms I normally use night lights, or battery operated lamps.

I just remembered...I forgot to lock up the goats. They are probably laying in the pen with the door open, I sure hope the dogs protect them if need be. Man, I need some lights.

I found my box of flannel so I can get busy making the girls (and James) their flannel pjs for the winter. Lauren and I were also talking tonight about how to insulate the walls in the bedroom. Being as the container is metal, it loses and gains heat really fast. When it is in the 50's outside, it is really cold in here, plus the blankets start to feel damp. We decided we are going to take the fleece scraps and make "wall quilts". Then using thumbtacks we will attach them to the underside of the loft and blanket the walls with the fleece to help insulate the area below the loft where we sleep. I have a curtain that covers the front, so in the winter, I will just have to heat this small area with a space heater if possible, or if not, we will bed down in front of the wood stove when it's really cold.

Well, it's off to bed, we have to get up early for the home school co-op.

No comments:

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.