lilith's dreams
Travalogue, chicken pox, swimming, and pancakes
I have 5 turkey carcasses in a cooler on my deck. I need to go get my pots and fill them with water for boiling. I should have done ti the moment we walked in the house yesterday..... but I was too foggy to think properly. sigh. so now, that is one day of simmering I have not got done, extending the process out later this week. I guess I shouldn't complain, since it will probably be a 7-8 day process anyway.... but still....We got to my mom's on Thursday morning. My bro and his family showed up soon after. we ate veggies and cheese and then had dinner. I made my children have 2 bites of everything - even stuff I know they don't particularly like (squash, stuffing, sweet potatoes made even nasty-sweeter with brown sugar and maple.... it is so sweet and sugary it is gaggy! anyway....) And they ate it. Good little children.
Of course, I did that as well. Need to be a good example. But I let them eat as much of the other stuff that they wanted after that, so they filled up on mashed pots and turkey. And then we took a walk to the park where we walked (or ran or played) the food off. Then home for hot chocolate and pie. I managed to score 3 turkey carcasses from my mom's neighbors. My brother, who went to massage therapy school, but RARELY ever uses his talents to bless his family, was convinced to massage my back and shoulders while I sat on mom's massage chair in the kitchen. It felt good, but my back was so tight, he could only do so much. When he was done, I just sat there not moving, and my ds7 came over to do what he saw his uncle doing. he was very good. what a sweet boy I have.Saturday morning, we left the children at grandma's to make gingerbread houses. We went to IHOP for breakfast. We went to a specific one close to the movie theater at which we had tickets fro Twilight at 10:30. Unfortunately, it is smack dab in a shopping center, and had a 30 minute wait "at least" - at 7:30 am!!!! So we decided to head to my SIL's to pick-up/drop off some stuff in the meantime. She pointed out that there was an IHOP right across the highway from her, so we went there; twice as big, and EMPTY (well, not completely) and we sat down just as dh's 30 min alarm went off. I had their yummy yummy "coffee cake pancakes" - the lemon blueberry (except I had strawberry) - and I LOVED them!
Then we went to the movie. I was very disappointed. First, let's start with all the garbage ads I had to sit through. Movie starts at 10:30. NOT. Ads start at 10:30.... movie at 11:00. As for Twilight itself, well, it was as true to the book as it could be, I like how they portrayed Charlie, the Blacks, Alice, Carlisle, and Jasper. It had a good Bella and Edward and I liked the kids at the high school. But I did not like the way it condensed the book. I guess there was only so many choices, but this reaffirms: NEVER WATCH MOVIES BASED ON BOOKS THAT YOU LIKE!!!!!!! I watched the first two HP's, but refused after that. I do not like the LotR books, so the movies were great for me. But I have not and will not watch the Narnia movies. The books are too much part of me, and my visions of them are the best, and I will NOT have those corrupted.
Then we went back to mom's for a few hours where I learned that my midwife's children have the chicken-pox. very exciting, and I was planning to head right over to expose my children.... but.... dh has never had them, and he is unsure about the wisdom of purposefully getting our healthy children sick. and, this is probably not the best time for getting the house sick with this. Especially since dh has not had it. We do not have time for THAT! Hopefully we will get another chance in the next few years. And we can decide what to do with dh in the meantime.
We went and did a bit of clothes shopping, and found our favorite pizza place closed - it was a small mom-n-pop shop with the BEST breadsticks you have ever had! They were immigrants from Bosnia, and they worked so hard to make it. Very sad. Then back to mom's where we got all the kids ready to go swimming. Oh dear, it has been too long. My little swimmer babies were afraid of the water! We used to go weekly, and my older two were swimming laps and playing in the deep (for them) without life jackets. They were 2 and 4 when we moved and quit. Friday night they would not let go of the edge. and dd2 was scared to death and would not let go of anyone. But by the end of the night, ds7 was swimming around easily (as long as he had on his life jacket) and dd2 loved the water and would "swim" (we push her away and tell her to "hum" when her face goes under) 3 feet to her other loved one. and dd4 - she refused to get out of the water until it was almost a threat of consequences. We need to find a pool here.
Saturday morning, I woke up, and took the olders on a date to breakfast (back to IHOP for more of those pancakes); g'ma came with us. we took some home to daddy and Lion (dd2) and then we played a game, cleaned up our room, packed our stuff and waved goodbye. Stopped at a friend's house for a moment, then on to home. And that was our Thanksgiving weekend.
He said it'll be quick up and back...
and six hours later we drove in the driveway:> needless to say the turkey didnt get cooked and the big football game we were going to watch wasnt even aired locally lol
It has been pretty foggy here the last few days so it was nice to escape it even for a few hours...the sun was shining and it was warm enough on the hill ,we didnt even need sweatshirts...we had a great time.. we came home with a tree that is about 3 feet to tall, (we did pretty good usually it is much more off.. funny how everything looks so much smaller out in the great outdoors), a craftsman wrench (found on the side of the dirt road we were bouncing down) and quite a few shaggy mane mushrooms, and a batch of fried chicken mushrooms...they were tasty:>
its cold and foggy back in the valley and the fog is so thick I am very thankful we are all tucked in for the night...we brought the tree in for the night so it wouldnt freeze but I think tomorrow we will be getting a new Christmas tree stand...we have been limping by with this one too long... we will make a dump run tomorrow...
The trip tip roast Dad marinates in a mesquite marinade...once its grilled he slices it... very good!
A trick I like to use to make it really good is to add a ounce or two of tequilla in with the mesquite marinade it gives it a nice little zing....
my misery
I am sick. ughheadache (I have an ice mask on right now.... but it warms so fast, and soon it will have to go back to the freezer)
earache (I put in some GOOT and that took care of the pain, but the ringing is still there anytime my children sing or hum repetatively - which is ALL the time, and normally, I love the songs they sing...)
sore throat (I am making some lemon herb tea with Eucalyptus honey - that is always good)
tired body (I am headed upstairs to sleep)
floaty head - do you know what I mean? My head and body feels like it is floating around, not really connected to anything. That probably has something to do with my ears, eh?
slight nausea - is this a symptom of whatever I have right now, or is it a side effect of all the mucus hanging out in my throat aggrevating my all-too-sensative-because-of-pregnancy-gag-reflex?
and other side effect - I cannot spell today. so I apologize for my worse-than-usual spelling. ow - I need more goot in my ears. good night.
Top Ten Tips for Saving Money - #4
Today is a double dose of money saving tips because I have this one on my mind today - replacing household items. In a 3600 square foot home with 6 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms where 9 people are living, I spend every weekend with a trip to Wal-Mart to replace some item that is worn out. From rugs, to sheets, to dish towels, to wash cloths, to cloth napkins, to blankets, to - just name it - I am replacing items on a weekly basis.
The biggest challenge to replacing these items is the time it takes to make them at home. I need a new bathroom rug right now. It can maybe hold off a little while, but I've had it for over ten years and it is starting to unravel. I can wait until it is totally out of service and see if I can pick up a cheap replacement, or I can plan now for a homemade replacement. I have been thinking and reading articles for awhile on making rag rugs. Now is the time for me to do it and avoide the trip to Wal-Mart. I'll be looking in the old clothes bin today to see if there are any scraps to use.
I am working on a quilt for my bed. My comforter could stand to be replaced but will hold up for a little longer. I am making a hand sewn quilt with a variety of star patterns. I have one more block to sew and then I have to quilt it. I think it will take more at least 18 more month to finish sewing and quilting it. It is not a quick process, but with a little pre-planning I can avoid those costly purchases.
My daughters and I are beginning to plan for the next set of quilts they will need for their beds, for dish towels, and wash cloths. I save all my scraps from sewing and we will be turning these into quilts for the children's beds. I am crocheting wash rags for the kitchen. I have some fabric I plan on sewing kitchen towels out of. The hardest part of avoiding these purchases is the planning and diligent work it takes prior to needing the item. Most of the materials I already have around the house so this is a very cost effective way to replace items.
This concept is related to the hope chest of days past. When young women prepared to be married they made up items ahead of time so that they would have everything they needed to furnish their own homes one day. I discuss this with my daugthers and we already are planning for the items that will one day fill their chests. I give them projects to work on and teach them skills that will help them one day fill those chests.
Top Ten Tips for Saving Money - #3
Health and Beauty
The overall key to saving money is to examine what you buy and figure out if you can make it, trade it, or buy it used instead. I could certainly do more in the area of health and beauty, but remember every little bit helps. I also have to be sensitive to which changes my spouse is willing to make.
Here is what I am doing. We make our own soap and use it for bathing, facial soap, and liquid hand soap. I recently began using this soap for my facial soap and have found it works great. It leaves my face clean and I don’t need to use moisturizer. If I feel my face needs a little something I rub some fresh aloe on it. In the future, I hope to make my own shampoo bars. I have also made homemade laundry soap, but I did not feel it did as good as job as I would like. I will probably try it again but for now, I am buying that kind of soap.
Another area that I have cut back on is cold remedies. I now extract elderberry syrup with alcohol and add local honey, Echinacea, and Goldenseal to make my own cold syrup. Stored in the refrigerator, I always have access to some for a child ior adult coming down with a cold or a sore throat. I have found that this works so well that colds are nipped in the beginning and we have haven’t had a full blown cold around here for awhile.
Recently I have suffering from chapped lips and little blisters on my lips. I tried all the store remedies and was getting no where. After spending money several different times, I finally whipped up my own remedy. I melted a little coconut oil in a small jars in double boiler set up with a pan. I melted some beeswax in another jar. In the coconut oil I added some herbs I had in my stash - comfrey, licorice root, goldenseal powder, and lavendar. After a little while I strained off the herbs and mixed the infused oil with the beeswax. My lips are making steady progress towards recovering.
The key is to start using herbs slowly by researching a few here and there. Many of them are very versatile so you can find a few you like and keep them on hand. Don't go out and buy a lot because if you don't use them they will go to waste. Start slowly. There is alot more that I could do with herbs, but it takes time to learn. I research and study as I have time. I particularly like figuring out what herbs I can gather in the wild and use, which is how I started using elderberries. Don't forget you can also use herbs to treat your animals and pets. Research what is appropriate but I have used herbs to treat wounds.
In the future I would like to stop buying shampoo and toothpaste. I have begun researching these items and considering how to go about replacing these frequently purchased items. The best part about replacing these items is that it is better for our health and environment when we make our own in these categories.
Thanksgiving weekend
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving.. not the traditional fare... in fact quite the opposite.. we had trip-tip roast grilled on the BBQ, scalloped potatoes, salad, stuffed celery, deviled eggs, rolls, and the usual pumkin, and berry pie. It was so yummy...
Yesterday, we did go shopping for a short while AFTER the morning mess.. but early enough to get a few good deals... bought DH 2 pairs of pants for a couple more dollars then the price off one pair. A few nice DVD's for the kids for Christmas at 2 dollars a piece, and some airborne for me.. fighting with a cold. We also went out for breakfast. When we got home I stared pulling all the Christmas decorations out of the closet, and DH started cleaning out the closet, while i went thru the decoration.. so last night when i finally went to bed I had three stacks.. one to keep, one to give away and one to throw away. I have two tubs and after Christmas it will all fit back into those or I will downsize a bit more...It will be nice to have all the boxes combined and know what we have...
Today, I am going to roast a turkey, and we are going to get up in the hills and get our tree...and watch a football game... its the big civil war game, between oregon beavers and the ducks... we need to make a dump run and a goodwill run.. so we might do the tree tomorrow...
Its white here to... but its not snow:< its fog
how to cut a [free] turkey
We are not BIG turkey fans around here, but when the local grocery gives you turkey vouchers every time you shop, and you get some extras from a friend.... well, I got a 16# turkey for $.02. Free food, really.but - we are only 5 people, who have a hard time eating a 5# roast chicken in 3 meals. So, how does one deal with 16# of meat? Even free meat. Well, a little research gives some ideas......
http://www.recipetips.com/kitchen-tips/t--436/cutting-up-a-whole-turkey.asp
great illustrations of how to butcher a turkey. Give it a minute - for some reason this site was slow to load even on my usually fast connection.
and the USU extension service has this PDF:
http://extension.usu.edu/boxelder/files/uploads/fn290.pdf. (I hope this works - I have never linked to a PDF before...)
this is cool because it claims that you do not have to fully defrost the turkey to butcher it, and then you can refreeze the portions... definitely helpful in my situation. It does mean that I will have to work fast though, and have freezer space ready and waiting. Still..... a handy thing to know.
Oh, and assuming we can manage a 5# chicken in 3 meals, a 16# turkey could conceivably last us for 10-12 meals. Not bad for 2 cents!
Have a great Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving!
To each and every one,Happy Thanksgiving from our homestead to yours!
May God bless you today and always.
My Cup Runneth Over...~Chas~
Chasity L. Burrell
Senior Editor Homesteadblogger
Heritage Acres Farm
I am the Stuffing
Okay, I do not usually do so many quizzes, but this one was kind of fun. Do not ask me what the last question means..... I am very removed from popular culture, so that might explain it! LOL!What Part of Thanksgiving Are You?
| You Are The Stuffing |
 People miss you if you're gone - but they're not sure why. |
Our Thankful Trees
We wanted to make a craft for school to help count our blessings. I love the whole Thankful tree idea... but I am ready for Christmas around here.So instead of a Autumnal tree, we made Christmas trees and on the ornaments we wrote what we were thankful for.
I know what *I* am thankful for... :)From My Homestead to Yours,
~Chas~
Chasity L. Burrell
Senior Editor Homesteadblogger
Heritage Acres Farm
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