Catching up

Posted on Friday, November 21, 2008 at 07:39 by Heritage Hill Homestead - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link

Where has this past week gone?  Time flies when you are having fun, right??  Well, I guess I have been having fun then.

The auction I talked about going to on Saturday was very cold!!  We got a truck load of stuff for a total of $12.  A large cooler we can use for Farmers Market, several boxes of canning jars, a table, and the best of all..........an arch way that I have been wanting for a long time.  This one had been used for wedding decorations, it has roses, tulle and lights on it, however those will come off and I will put it over the gate into the poulty yard and I will plant honeysuckle on it!  It cost a dollar!  Since it was so cold things went very cheap.

We stopped and got Kaylan and she came home with us to spend the night.  Then on Sunday there was a surprise party planned for Ryan celebrating him finishing his college class.  He still has some elective classes to finish up hours before he will actually graduate.  But he completed an 18 month business class and a huge paper.....so he deserved a party.  However, he was not particularly happy with the idea at first, I guess he doesn't like surprises, he was happy by the end.  Part of the problem was it was a beautiful day and he had plans to spend it outdoors.  Anyway, happy or not, we are very proud of you Ryan!

While in the area, Mom and I picked up pears.  I had wanted to get some and was afraid they may all be gone by then, but there were a lot of nice ones on the ground.  So, they are waiting on me to make something of them now.  I want to make pear honey for sure, maybe can some, not sure what all.

Monday I took Mom to see a very close friend that had a stroke about 3 months ago.  It was really hard to see her, but at the same time, she looked good and responded to some conversation.  She has come a long way and with therapy, and continued prayer she will improve.

Tuesday evening we attended a meeting in Emporia for local food providers.  I think they called it Growing Local Foods. Anyway, gardeners, livestock producers, etc. came together to talk about marketing ideas in our area.  It was a good meeting and we made a new acquaintance that lives near us and has many similar interests. 

Wednesday was the most perfect fall day, Thursday was winter!  Today not quite as cold.  We made a shopping trip today.  Stocked up on baking supplies mostly.  Sutherlands had their fruit sale today, so I got 15 pounds of Granny Smith apples, they were 69 cents a pound.

Speaking of bargains...........gas today in town was $1.65.......how about that!

Sunday we will celebrate Thanksgiving with a dinner following the service at church.  We are making a big pan of dressing, and I don't know for sure what else yet.  I suppose I should make deviled eggs as we have plenty right now. 

Well that about brings us up to date around the homestead.

Country Blessings,

Marilyn~at Heritage Hill Homestead

Cinnamon Roll Recipe

Posted on Friday, November 21, 2008 at 07:30 by Heritage Hill Homestead - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link

Finally I am back with the cinnamon roll recipe I mentioned.  I have made it 3 times now and it has turned out well.   They seem to stay soft for several days.  I am making them for the  same resturant that I make the pies for, so I wanted them to be really good!  Apparently they do like them as they have ordered them twice this week.   Thanks to LaJuan in Colorado for sending this to me and allowing me to share it here with you.

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This came from "Favorite Family Recipes - The Martin Family". They are a conservative (horse and buggy) Mennonite family out of Barnett, Missouri.

(Note: I baked them at 375 for 20 minutes)

Marilyn~at Heritage Hill Homestead

CONGRATULATIONS

Posted on Friday, November 21, 2008 at 06:06 by Chas - 3 Comments - Post Comment - Link

Congratulations to my beautiful sister and her wonderful family on the birth of their new little one... Greyson!
He is adorable and healthy and my sister is AMAZING!! :)

Also,
Congratulations to my winner!

#36 CHALLICE!!!!!!!!
I will contact you about your prize!!! :)
Have a wonderful weekend my friends!
My Cup Runneth Over...

Haven`t posted for awhile

Posted on Friday, November 21, 2008 at 02:50 by sheryl - 1 Comments - Link

How long has it been?

Posted on Friday, November 21, 2008 at 12:52 by Debbie - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link

Well it seems like a long time. Things in the house have been going and going and I would love to take a breather.

The new grandbaby is getting bigger finally. He was at the doctors for his check up and weighed in at 7 pounds. Boy oh boy, this kid really does not like to be put down. He cries until someone comes and picks him up. If given half the chance, he would lay on your chest all day long or be held like a football. Older brother is still getting adjusted to him, he now no longer cries when the baby does. Now he just calls " Help!" until someone comes. I give him another month and this baby is going to be old hat, and his interest will go elsewhere.

As for hubby, he is still in and out of the hospital and doctors. So far, which is good, they have ruled out anything with his heart. He will go to a neurologist in the next week for more test. At this point, we are not even going to get our hopes up. We are just going day by day and making the best of what we have.

As for me, I have been making some dishcloths to replace some of my old ratty ones. I am cutting strings off of the rags when they catch on the silverware. So far I am very happy with the waffle pattern that I chose. To me it's a no brainer to do, only four basic rows, and I like that. I have been upset though with all the news going on about our country. I knew that once the government had decided to help bail out wall street, that people were going to come out of the woodworks with their hands out. I did not put these people in those positions, so why should I bale them out. Why doesn't the government give the money as rebates to the american public instead of the higher ups. I have heard it so many times that the cuts should start at the top in managment pay so that the company can have a bit of breathing room. If you or I owned our own business, we would have to do this or just shut down. For the last couple of weeks, I have seen businesses around me shut their doors and I imagine more will follow suit. Living in a small town, that hurts.

I always remember a saying that I saw once that reminds me of how to live. It said " If you live for having it all, what you have, is never enough". If you think about it, that is oh so true. I keep telling myself when I walk by that food processor on the shelf at the store, that you know I really don't need it. I can still grate things on my metal hand grater, and if I did buy the processor, where would I store it. I would then want a bigger kitchen, and then the ball turns into a snowball, rolling along getting bigger and bigger.  Right now my belt is staying on tight and that's how it's going to stay.

Will talk to you later

Our Last Week In Mago

Posted on Friday, November 21, 2008 at 08:38 by Abigail - 1 Comments - Post Comment - Link

Things have been busy around here the last few days. The church is now almost all painted except for the Sabbath school rooms. So we will have a nice clean painted church for this weekend and all the locals will be very happy.

Memere arrived here yesterday afternoon with a load of doors and produce; she also brought 3 fundis back with her to work another week and get some things finished up here. They worked on plastering the walls of the school rooms next door today. Memere brought us tons of mangoes, 15 pineapples, tomatoes, onions, garlic, green peppers, sack of oranges, and lots of bananas. So we had a great big fruit salad for dinner last night with chips (deep fried potato chunks), which we have all come to like. Most of us have shed pounds and our clothes don’t fit anymore, Mat has had to make 4 new belt holes just to be able to cinch up his belt.

I went down and washed laundry yesterday and I finally felt better so I didn’t need help from Lisungu. Hannah helped me scrub some of the socks but soon decided they were terrible to wash and they are!

Memere had brought us margarine too so I told the kids that I would make bush style cinnamon rolls for breakfast on Friday. So I started in making dough from memory right before dinner and let it rise. Then I mixed up another batch and got that one rising. Both batches of dough did really well and were fluffy.

I began making them out last night and the pans soon filled up and the rolls were rising. Hannah sprinkled the sugar on and Bella did the cinnamon and I rolled them up and cut them. They smelled so good cooking it reminded me of being home and making overnight cinnamon rolls and buns. The kids were all begging for some before bed but they were put off till morning.

Most of us were up at the crack of dawn this morning; I needed to finish breakfast and the kids wanted to eat. I had made enough that everyone could eat what they wanted. I melted margarine on the stove with sugar and cinnamon and spooned some over our rolls. Some of the men and boys ate 5-6 rolls or more and some had 2-3. We were all happy with that treat for breakfast and the kids asked for some more before we leave. I highly doubt that will happen because it was a lot of work and some of the pans were hard to cook in.

Even though we have dropped weight we have been eating very well; very healthy eating over here-No Taco Bell!

Today I had to do more laundry because somehow I had overlooked some Chris’ and some of Mat’s yesterday. It went really quick with only a few things and the sun was out this morning so they dried quickly.

The rains finally came this afternoon and we were so happy because we needed it. The weather cooled things down nice and it dampened the soccer field out in front of the church. Today Memere picked up the bikes that we had pooled our money together to get for Yona and Barasa. Those men were so happy today and immediately tried out their brand new bikes. We all felt that a bike would be helpful for the men doing outreach and bible studies, not to mention shortening the trips that they usually have to walk. We also told Miriam that we had bought her a new sewing machine but that is had not come yet and she looked surprised and happy!

Today the sewing school had finished up all the projects! I can’t believe how hard they work and they are so fast. They sewed so many things this week that it’s hard to imagine them getting it all done, but they did. I am very pleased with everything for my girls, myself, and the items for friends at home.

Tomorrow we are feeding everyone that comes to church, kind of like potluck except they don’t bring food. Miriam and I spent most of the day preparing food and Shari came up and helped us some. We will be having quite an assortment of food and I hope and pray that we made enough for all. I am responsible for Sabbath afternoon meal so today was quite a cook a thon.

Jon, Steve, Chris, Teresa, and the kids went down and pruned the fruit trees and used a machete to cut down the tall grass in the rows. Well, its been a long week and we are all fine and just most of us still have lingering cold symptoms. Isabel is back to her old self except for a cough.

The kids are anxious to head out to Kibidula next Wednesday morning and then we will head out to do a safari somewhere. They will really appreciate it after camping out and working very hard in tough conditions.

We are all tired tonight and can’t wait to get to bed and relax. Hope everyone at home is well and that you all have a good weekend.

To Grandpa & Papa,

We are thinking of you and praying for you when you go for you surgery.

Bumpa- The kids talk about you all the time and like to tell the other kids stories, especially Mat.

Birdie- The kids have been talking about your bread and pies and hope that you will make them some!

Alanna- Thanks for the doggie updates; the kids all miss the dogs especially Bella. We wonder if they will remember us or not (Mindy will, but Rio we are not sure).

The kids are excited to bring home keepsakes for their friends and family and they keep begging me to get things but we have lots of time and we will be many places the last few weeks.

Prize 3 in the giveaway

Posted on Friday, November 21, 2008 at 05:28 by Chas - Link

My first try at ZIPPERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted on Thursday, November 20, 2008 at 10:22 by Gabbie - 2 Comments - Post Comment - Link

I am in a swap online, and my swap partner has specifically requested throw pillows for her living room couch.  We made a deal that if I make the pillow covers, she will buy the inserts for them if I make them a standard size.  That way the shipping won't be so costly.  I hope she loves them!!!  The fabric was on her wish list, so I think she will. 

And the bonus is, zippers are not that hard!!  I am thinking of  buying some smaller zippers and making some wristlets and makeup bags sometime soon!!

Here is a pic:

And here is a close up of the fabric:

I finally made myself an apron!! IT"S MINE!! ALL MINE!!!

Posted on Thursday, November 20, 2008 at 10:19 by Gabbie - 3 Comments - Post Comment - Link

I have been sewing and crafting for others so much lately (and I honeslty do enjoy it), but decided the other day to take 15 minutes to spend on my own apron.  I have had this apron laying in a stack on my sewing table 1/2 way done for 2 months or so now.  LMSO  Sad isn't it???  But alas, it is done, and I love it!!!!

Here is a pic:

Ornament #2 in the giveaway!

Posted on Thursday, November 20, 2008 at 03:30 by Chas - Link