Queen's Edge Farm: We survived!

Thursday, September 24, 2009

We survived!

LOL! The night started out cold, but we slept great and were cozy and warm all night. The baby didn't wake up until 10 a.m. It's been raining steady all day and the sound on the metal roof is very soothing. I have been doing laundry all morning, and even made 5 gallons of laundry soap, something I needed to do desperately. Hannah brought in 3 eggs from the chickens. The goats spent most of the day hanging out in their pen under shelter, as it drizzled for most of the day. Nena is the only one of them that doesn't seem to mind the rain.

Getting ready to make bread and start my soup for dinner.

Tried to string up a clothesline inside but it's not going to work, so back to draping wet clothes over every available surface.

Well, didn't make it in making my bread and soup. We headed out to a friend's this afternoon to pick up some firestarters, and ended up four wheeling or mudding it down the road. Kind of exciting and kind of scary at the same time. I am without a phone now, so if we were stuck it'd be a long walk. We saw a coyote on the way. It darted across the road, then turned and sat on the side looking at us. Pretty cool.

Afterwards we stopped by the car wash in town and cleaned most of the trash out of the car. I need to get the excess stuff out of the car. The plan is to hold a yard sale, if possible, this weekend. For now, it will be at the land, but later in October, I will hold one at the house in Lytle. It has better visibility and more traffic. The kid's dad informed me tonight that his job is ending soon. Not what I wanted to hear...The plan is to list the house for sale, and hope it sells before it is foreclosed on. Seeking God's guidance in this area, please pray for me.

I desperately need a source of income. At least to meet the land payment and electricity plus gas for the car. If I have to I will cut out the DirecTv and as a last resort the internet. So, I need a source of income that pays:

$448 for the land payment
$150 for electricity
$49 for Internet
$75 for DirecTV
$120 gas for car
$30 for insurance for car ($60 really but if I have to park the truck then I will)

I know I'll need extra for doctor appointments for the kids and such, but I am trying to concentrate on the necessities (minus the directv and internet)

If I get a job outside the house, which is looking more and more like I will need, I figure daycare is about $400 a month, plus another $400 for the kid's school fees. So, on top of regular expenses and now work related ones, I will need a job that pays me at least $2,000 a month. I have been praying tonight, crying and thinking, along with more praying. I know what I want, just not how to achieve it..Seeking God's guidance and relying on him to provide.

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On a positive note, I am making headway into getting the laundry done, next is to get it all folded and put away. I did get a fire started and it is chugging away in the living room. The plan is that it will keep the dampness out of the air. I have the bathroom window open, because the air smells smokey in there and I don't want to kill us while we sleep.

Tomorrow we will be taking our library books back, ordering Lauren's birthday cake and dropping the kids off with their dad for dinner. They are supposed to stay the weekend but they don't want to. I think they should, but their dad doesn't want to force them.

All in all, it's been a stressful day.

I was listening to KLOVE last night, and there was a segment on about preserving marriage, about never giving up on it. The thought fills me with dread. On one hand I am not looking forward to a divorce, I've been married 21 years (today is our anniversary), and have known him since I was 11 years old, that's hard to throw away. But on the other hand I don't like living with turmoil, and the past month has been one of the happiest I have had, though financially it's been stressful. So, what does the Lord want? Only He knows. I don't believe that God wants me to live in an abusive home, but I know He hates divorce. What to do? Another area where I seek God's guidance and providence daily.

Long term goals:
1) find a way to support us from home or get a job that works for all of us
2) get a better house
3) pay off the land
4) home school the girls

Short term goals:
1) get land cleaned up (cut grass around gate area/RV parking area)
2) have yard sale
3) sell house
4) winterize cabin
5) find job
6) pick up mulch for driving pads for RV park
7) put all containers in barn (mark boxes)
8) put items for sale on craigslist
9) clean out fire pit
10) take trash to dump
11) get truck fixed
12) pay for tags for truck (list as farm truck)
13) clean out behind cabin
14) bring wood inside for stove plus kindling
15) work on making shelters for goats (use tin)
16) sell axles

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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.