Philly Farmgirl: a Jewish Mama's homestead in the city

Thought for today...

In simplicity there is freedom- freedom to do less and to enjoy more.

~ Katrina Kenison, Mitten Strings for God

A Little Bit of Theatre

     This is a busy, but delightful week for Jonathan. He is going to be in the Missoula Children's Theatre's production of Red Riding Hood during two shows on Saturday.

     The Missoula Children's Theatre sends teams of two drama specialists to towns in Montana to put on a play after 5 days of practice. Their plays are amazing. Children from kindergarten to high school are invited to participate. Fortunately the smaller children only have to make about half the practices, so it isn't too much for them.

     Everything is very upbeat and very well organized. What a great opportunity for our rural small town children.

     David left yesterday on a hunting trip and will return home on Saturday. He is staying in a cabin that belongs to a childhood friend. In the past he often hunted with other men and stayed in a tent with a woodstove. Now that he's 50, he is really enjoying the comfort of the cabin, but don't tell him I said so....

     He went to the mountains and bought a little over 4 cords of firewood on Monday. He cut it into stove lengths and we stacked it on Tuesday. He wouldn't let me stack the heaviest logs and I didn't argue with him. We share a log splitting system with another family. We own the hydraulic splitter and they own the tractor to power it, so it is a great partnership. Since they live in the country, they keep it on their property, which works well with our town's zoning regulations.

     I have been plugging away on my Montana Christmas ornaments. We have a show in the town of Fairfield on December 6, so I want to be well prepared. Eventually I want to advertise the ornaments on the internet. It seems like the place to sell almost everything with the least effort and expense.

     I had better get ready to open the library, so I hope you will all have a great week.

                                                                                          Denise (prairiemom)

A Simple Thought for Today...

"The simplification of anything is always sensational." 
  --  GK Chesterton

I like that !

My Meditation for Today

The LORD is my light and my salvation-

whom shall I fear?

The LORD is the stronghold of my life-

of whom shall I be afraid?

When evil men advance against me

to devour my flesh,

when my enemies and my foes

attack me,

they will stumble and fall.

Though an army beseige me,

my heart will not fear;

though war break out against me,

even then I will be confident...........

I am confident of this:

I will see the goodness of the LORD

in the land of the living.

Wait for the LORD;

be strong and take heart

and wait for the Lord.

Psalm 27:1-3, 13-14

As disgusted, for lack of a better word, as I am with the election results,  I must say that I am not surprised at all.  This country has not been a Christian nation for quite some time, and this is just further evidence of the fact.  I am quite weary of the "God Bless America" nonsense that I hear so often.  Why, why, why would any thinking Christian believe that God would bless a country that does not honor Him?  Do I believe that He blesses "Americans", yes.  He has blessed my family more than I could ever put into words; but, it is not because I am an American citizen.  It is because I am HIS, my citizenship is in the kingdom of God, my allegiance is to Him alone, my blessing comes from being a child of God, not from living in the so-called "Land of the Free".  Yes, we do, at least for right now, have much freedom compared to other nations; yet, I see those freedoms being encroached upon more and more.  True Freedom and blessing comes only through a relationship with the Lord.  "You will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free"! 

OK, that is my one and only comment on the state of this country ;) ... I've been silent throughout the whole election, and will go back to lifting my concerns to God, and giving thanks for whatever He wills. 

Catherine

Fabulous Freebie

Homeschool Freebie of the Day has a wonderful free download today!  Little Hands Folded in Prayer is a collection of prayers for children from the 1800's.  Excellent resource for copywork, memorywork, etc.

Blessings,

Catherine

Daybook

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

OK so I have been discriminated against

Well the house we were to rent we are not getting. As the landlord put it ' I am sorry I would rather rent to a two income household"....  So here we are still living in the RV and doing ok for the most part. We did go to see another house in Lobelville, nice lady has it, only thing is the family who was living there needs to come get their things out still. Lordwilling we will be able to rent that house this week and finally have a house to live in and rent till we buy our own land and such.

Yes it made me angry that someone would think me as a stay at home mom , with a goat business, rental income and wanting to do more than that would be considered not having an income, mind you I get a small pension of my own and the kids SSI and Mark has his SSD. So where were we lacking income I am not truely sure.  I am just glad the new lady thought us to be good for tenants for the other house and it is nice too.

Sept 23rd, 2008 we made it to purebred statis with our mini nubians. We finally have 6th gen stock that are the first registered purebred mini nubians in the US.  We have 2 bucks and 1 doe that Magnolia gave birth to that morning.  I am thinking she may be rebred already as Reuben had to be kept in with her this whole time and they say that a doe can be receptive for the first 24 to 36 hours after giving birth...Have any of you heard that about goats ?

I will let you all know if we actually get the house...

Blessings

Linda

Beautiful Days in October

     Wow, we have had some incredibly nice weather lately. Saturday was very windy, but by Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, we had such nice conditions that I could keep the house doors open. Today was cooler and overcast, but I was still able to go on a bike ride.     

     David's vacation begins on Saturday. He may have to stay quite late at his office tomorrow night to prepare for his being gone,  but that's the way it goes. He will go with Jonathan and me to Great Falls on Saturday for our monthly shopping. I just got paid and plan to do some Christmas shopping for the children. I am looking for a French press for Maria. She buys some rather pricey coffee beans from an orphanage in Africa and finds that her coffee maker uses a lot of them.

     David will drive to an Indian reservation on Monday with a borrowed trailer and get about 5 cords of firewood in long lengths. Then he will cut it into stove lengths, split it with a hydraulic splitter and I will stack it by the garage. Then we will carry quite a bit of it into our basement and make a stack there.  Of all the chores we do, I find it to be the hardest. He and I wear lumbar support belts, but it is just plain hard work. But we sure do enjoy the warmth it provides all winter.

     Time flew and it is time to open the library doors. Bless you all and a special thanks to Kim Wolf for the warm welcome back.

                                                                             Denise Chalfon (prairiemom)

S'More Cookies

These sound soooooo yummy, I'm putting the ingredients on my shopping list!

No, I don't think they qualify as whole food...or even real food, but I just know they will taste great!

1 jar Marshmallow cream

24 graham cracker squares

3 bags chocolate chips

*my note- That would make a lot of cookies, so if not planning on giving as gifts, perhaps just start with a few graham crackers and one bag of chips.

Spread thick layer of Marshmallow cream between 2 graham cracker squares.  Melt chips and dip sandwiches into chocolate, covering all sides.  Cool on waxed paper and enjoy! 

I copied the recipe from a neat book, but I can't remember the title at the moment...I'll dig it out of the library basket and post it later.  It has lots of recipes and gift ideas, even gift tags to copy for your gifts!

In my efforts to eat healthy, I often try to tweak a recipe to make it more wholesome, so...

here's how I would change it if so inclined:

carob chips or at least cane juice sweetened chocolate chips

homemade graham crackers and marshmallows- Mary Jane's Farm Idea book has recipes for both!

But, for now, I'll just enjoy the junk food version and try to do better next time !

Soapy Question

OK you soapmakers, I would love some help, pretty please!

I want to make a batch of soap for the first time.  Could someone please, please share a S-I-M-P-L-E recipe for an all vegetable based soap (without vegetable shortening) please?  I have olive and coconut oils here, and don't want to invest in other oils right at the moment. 

Thanks!

Catherine