Peaceful Valley

Garden

contrasts

We went to look at a house for rent in Mexico today.  We are feeling that our family needs a break from pioneer living before we get onto the property, there are a few months of work getting it ready for our trailer, and even then life will be so rustic that we thought a break would be a good idea.  The house we looked at in Mexico was a row house.  Two stories, concrete front and back, 3 tiny bedrooms and a hookup outside for a washer.  There were a few trees in the neighborhood but not so much as a speck of grass near this one.  So I ponder what to do.  The price is the same, I can live near pretty trees, a creek bed with lots of birds singing and bunnies running, but struggle with the lack of privacy and small quarters of the trailer, or I can have running water and a bit more space but be surrounded by concrete.

What would you choose?

Praying that there will be a third door from the Lord.

Discoveries

Yesterday we were walking and admiring all the puddles the rain had made when my son yelled for me to come see what he had found.  I walked over to where he was and saw a gigantic winged insect(moth or butterfly) lying, wings spread in a puddle.  I assumed the poor thing was dead but he was so large I wanted to show the other kids so we carefully scooped him out.  To our amazement, he was not dead, only severely water logged.  We placed him in a sunny spot and watched in amazement as his body dried to a furry reddish brown color and his wings started to operate in an amazing jointed fashion.  He had two tiny black antenae that looked like ferns and from wing to wing was about 6 inches.  We looked up moths on the internet(my husband was sure it was a moth) and discovered that it was a Ceanothus Silk Moth.  After sitting on our dinette in the sun for a while it began to fly and so my husband flung open the door and called for the children to come watch it take off.  It was flying beautifully when from out of the sky dove a bird, and carried away our friend.

It was great science, an opportunity to be amazed at His creation and a meal for a bird, to our regret.

Thanks to Ourlittlehomestead I have figured out how to put a link into the text.  My next project is pictures, but that could take me a while, I am in truth a bit of a Luddite.

Simple Living

It's so great how each month God gives me a new area to practice for our upcoming work in Mexico.  We have been living in a trailer while we work on buying the property in Mexico and until today we have been in a private campground with full hookups, that is water, electric and sewer.  So aside from the fact that my home is only about 250 sq feet, everything is kindof normal.  Now, however because it is taking a while to finalize the paperwork for our property we are in a different area without all the hookups.  I am feeling even more like dear old Ma, as I wash dishes outside in a dish pan and walk a block to take children to the potty. 

Count it all joy brethren when you fall into various trials, for the testing of your faith produces patience and patience, virtue.

Dependent Home

I have been reading a Real Goods book on the Independent Home, all about different families who lived off the grid.  We are moving to a similar situation soon, although the property is small, only a quarter acre, in Mexico and power is not too far away, we will still have an indefinite time of living without power or city water.  I am realizing every day how dependent I need to be on the Lord because although homesteading is attractive to me in principle this is a little more extreme than I dreamed of.  More like Ma in Indian territory.  The property is fairly close to Tijuana and so although it is without services now, it is not without crime,  we were even cautioned by the sellers not to park our cars out of sight, even for 5 minutes.

The more independent we get from the security and convenience of the modern world, the more dependent we grow on the Lord.

For I am persuaded....that nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus.

Frugal Meals

I tried a new recipe that I found in a Sunset magazine last night.

Everyone liked it and it was cheap, low fat and easy.

Saute 2 cloves garlic in 2 T. butter,

Add 2 cups lentils and toss to coat with butter

Add 4 cups chicken broth and simmer about 25 minutes until cooked

Stir in 2T fresh ginger

1T lemon zest

1/4c.lemon juice

salt to taste

pepper

top with a little chopped cilantro.

You could serve this with some flatbread and raita(yogurt, chopped mint and salt)  or

rice.

Easy!

Grocery Budgets

Grocery budgets and obesity

Today I was looking for examples of grocery spending in large families to see if I could find some ideas for curbing our rising grocery costs.  I am trying to give my family healthier food and although we buy few snacks and processed foods we do spend extra to buy organic milk, hormone free yogurt and plenty of fruit and vegetables.  Any ideas on reducing food costs or estimated monthly grocery spending would be helpful for me in figuring out whether our food budget is reasonable or not.

While I was searching I came across some interesting information.  In a study on childhood obesity(http://www.usda.gov/cnpp/Seminars/obesity.PDF) there was a quote stating that "Family size is inversely related to childhood obesity. Children in larger families have a lower prevalence of obesity than children in smaller families."

I would say the reasons are obvious.  We go through food much quicker in a larger family and it is just not as easy to give treats to kids when you have to multiply them by larger numbers.

So when I have a whole passel of kids, I am giving them a better chance at good health. 

Who Are They?

I am currently reading a book by Kevin Trudeau, called Natural Cures"They" Don't Want You To Know About

Such a lengthy title for a rather wordy book.

He talks at length about the principles of good health, many are similiar to the ones I talk about in an upcoming article as well as what you might see on Carla's blog.

He has a tendency to repeat himself and certainly could have used a good editor but it is interesting to note how powerful the pharmaceutical firms are and how the gov is working on making a law where we would need a prescription to buy natural remedies.  One good reason to keep reading Homestead Blogger where you can find out how to grow and process your own natural remedies,as well as preventing sickness by choosing the right foods and lifestyle.

Alcohol

I was reading through a recent The Old Schoolhouse magazine and noticed some readers had been offended at Rebekah Pearl Anasts inclusion of alcohol in her sleep sweet tincture,

While I would not be a frequent user of any non food substance with my little ones I still wonder if they have the same problem with using vanilla in their cooking, also an extract by alcohol or if they would hesitate to give a sick child tylenol, another "drug".

I wonder also if they realize that by dropping the tincture into a little hot water the alcohol would dissolve, leaving behind only the good effects of the herbs.

I am Jennifer Pepito, sometime homesteader, lover of gardening, natural food and the Lords handiwork