This Week on the Homestead

What a beautiful, crisp, fluffy snow we’ve gotten!  We didn’t get enough ice to bother us much, which is a wonderful blessing.  Watching the snow fall here in the woods was quite a sight to behold though.  With all of the impending winter storm warnings we received, we had plenty of time to replenish the wood pile, add some much needed insulation to the chicken coop, bed the bunnies down with extra hay, and fill the bird feeders all the way to the top.  The only thing left to do was

This Week on the Homestead

Life has been so busy with preserving the abundance of apples and pears we have been blessed with this year.  We still have some that we will be making apple pie filling with and jar up some simple Apples for Apple Cobbler.  We've made several batches of Apple Butter too, but I did it a bit different this year.  Instead of using regular sugar,

Barn Home Project ~ Part 2

Barn Home Project ~ Part 1

Let's see, where did I leave off?  We picked a beautiful spot, cleared the trees, leveled the ground, anxiously awaited getting the well drilled, brought in too many loads of gravel to count, and got everything ready for the concrete.

The top picture is of the trees being cleared for the electricity to be put in.  Believe me when I say that we fretted something awful about this part.  This location is heavily wooded and they were telling us that they would cut a 40' swath of trees.  It may not look that bad in the picture, however, nothing could have prepared us for what looked like a

Canning Over An Open Fire

Yesterday I thought I'd try this little video to give you a little more than just pictures and words on a page to share with you what I was doing.  I get so nervous during any form of recording, I didn't explain too well the steps that led me up to this point.

Barn Home Project ~ Part One

Barn Home Project ~ Part 2

To begin with, I apologize for being so absent on this blog.  I realize some of you are not on Facebook and do not get those updates.  Last fall we began a journey of building a new homestead.  We knew before we started that is was not for the faint of heart, but still, we had no idea how trying it would be.

Time to Fire Up the Grill

Apple-Butter Barbecue Chicken

One morning last week, we woke up to some glorious weather (about two days before the strange May snow storm).  The air was warm, the breeze adding just the right amount of coolness and it was suddenly spring.

Pumpkin Bread

For those of you who don't live around these parts, we have had an ice storm and snow the past few weeks.  The ice is pretty, but usually unwelcome because of the fear of a power outage.  The snow around here is pretty too, while it lasts, but usually it will melt off the next day.  That is not the case this time and it feels like we have been living in a snow globe for the past five days.  It is pretty, and we so seldom get any snow that I sure don't want to complain, but I haven't had the heart to romp around in it either.  

Needless to say, if you follow our Facebook Page, you can tell that I have had a little more time on my hands than usual!

Easy Apple Cobbler

One of our greatest blessings, is our beloved daughter.  She has such a teachable heart and she is one who lives life whole-heartedly.  Her heart is committed to learning all that she can, to be first, a Godly woman, second a Godly wife and third, a Godly mother.  As any of you know, that is quite an undertaking and a daily struggle for all of us.  She is a joy and truly always has been one.    

Crockpot Beef Stew with Sweet Potatoes

Another Christmas has come and gone.  The cold air of winter has settled in and nothing warms your bones better than a hearty winter stew!

There is something magnificent about the timing of God's creation and especially the rhythm of eating with the seasons.  I can't seem to get my fill of root vegetables and it got me to wondering about how we just had a heavy harvest of root vegetables, the weather turns cold, the sun is scarce and how healthy those root vegetables are.  They are obviously what our Creator has provided for our health through the bleak months of winter.  It makes SO much sense!