New Years Eve

Another year has come and gone.  They seem to fly by as I get older.

Many people make resolutions for the upcoming year.  I don't.  If I identify something in my life that needs to change, I contemplate & decide what it is I need to do about that particular issue.  I then make that change.

My thought processes resemble this...

Sometime I think so long and hard, I get lost in there!

I tend to meditate while I accomplish so repetitive task, such as spinning or pulling weed.  A simple but time consuming task.  Required, but mind-numbingly boring.  Exactly the activity I need to get into meditation mode.

Do you meditate?  When did you start?  I started very early in life.  Before I ever knew it was called "meditation".  I've always been a very kinesthetic person.  Sitting still is torture for me!  I must DO something....anything.  As a young child, 3 or 4, I discovered I could accomplish those repetitive tasks if I let my mind wander.  Traveling is what I called it.  My husband tells me that when I'm "traveling" I don't hear anyone talking to me.  That's true.  Because my focus is "out there", not here.

When I'm traveling, I check our property boundary, check on the spring, check on the people I care about. I try to make sure everyone and everything is ok.  Then I turn my focus inward & check on my self.  My body, my mental health.  Then, lastly, I check to see if my attention is required anywhere else.

This usually takes me about 20 minutes.  I do this every day.  It's part of my daily routine.

Christmas has come and gone... thinking about long term food storage.

The day after Christmas is a real letdown for some people.  The frenzy of gift buying and exchanging really ramps up the emotions, especially for the kids.

The three of us stayed home, warm and cozy.  I baked the pheasant our friend Erika brought us.  It was excellent.  I baked it at 350 for 2 hours, and then uncovered at 400 for 30 minutes.  I made stuffing with our homebaked bread, then covered the bird with our home raised bacon.  Yummy!

We have no plans for New Years Eve.  I probably won't even stay up... The "year" will roll along without my vigil..

I don't make a resolution each year.  I'm of the belief that I should make changes when I recognize they need to be made - not when some artificial event dictates.

I've been thinking about our long-term food storage, and I need to reorganize/inventory what we have.  Over time, I've used up some supplies & haven't restocked.  An example would be toothpaste.  My husband prefers a certain brand, and when he needed a new tube there wasn't any.  I need to pay more attention to items like that.  We have lots of band aids, not so many bottles of peroxide.

We have plenty of dehydrated fruits and vegetables.  Not much flour, because I've been using more than I have bought.  I needed to rotate through our stock to keep our reserves fresh... but I've used it all up.  I guess I wasn't paying close enough attention.

I have 4 different places I like to get my long term food stocks.  The first is Country Life Natural Foods.
The have a wonderful selection and excellent prices.

We also love to go visit Dalton Country Store. You can find almost anything here!  Bulk dried ingredients, chicken food, organic butter, pie, spices, cheese.  In fact, their deli selection is amazing!  People make a special trip just to have a sandwich made here.  The folks who run the store are very nice. And scenery along the drive is wonderful.

Smart Choice frozen foods can be purchased online through their community ministry.  We used to purchase from their selections almost every month.  But, I am allergic to legumes... and a majority of their items have either beans or peas.  If you didn't have any issues with food allergies, Smart Choice is a great resource.


Meadowbrook-Natural Foods West Plains, MO is a great store. Their wide selections of bulk foods makes it worth the drive for us.

Winter water woes

Just the other day, John & I were talking about the most difficult issue to deal with when living "off grid".  In our case, "off grid" does NOT include lack of electricity.  We're on the grid & we like it that way.

No, our most difficult issue is water.  Having pump issues, or frozen lines, really makes life challenging.  And so this morning, we have no water.  I almost feel like we jinxed ourselves!  We have plenty of stored water for drinking/cooking.  But not for showers or toilet flushing.  I can go a few days without a shower.  But not flushing the toilet isn't so good.... YUCK!

So when my hubby and son were finished with their breakfast, the started the Great Frozen Waterline Adventure...

First, they checked under the kitchen sink, where the water line enters the house.  Nope, no ice there.  So out come the winter coveralls, gloves & hat, boots (it was 8F after all).  And they trudge out to the pump house.  They wrestle with the roof/top to expose the pump & small tank.  DAMN RATS!!! Or evil chipmunks. Some little rodent-type critter has been stealing all the fiberglass insulation and now the connection for the pump and the tank are exposed & frozen.  Now, they trudge out to the workshop and get the small propane torch.  Five minutes later, we have water.

Out comes more insulation & a few packets of rat poison.  The top is back on & we're back to life as normal.

I am so glad this problem was so easy to fix.

Winter is coming!

Ten days until Christmas.  Wow. The past month has really flown by!  It's hard to believe it's been almost a month since I got back from PA.

I've been working on gifts & charity knitting objects.  And baking, of course.I haven't gotten much weaving done.  Oh well, there will be plenty of time during the upcoming winter season.

The weather forecast is looking very odd.  Here's what KAIT 8 has to say...

We have all kinds of weather to talk about over the next few days. Tonight, colder air will continue to push into Region 8 and overnight lows will go into the low and mid 20s. Tomorrow looks very cold, with many areas not warming much above freezing. Warm air surges into Region 8 LATE on Friday, giving way to a few showers and storms. We start our Saturday with temperatures in the 60s, but end the day in the 20s with a chance of light sleet or snow. Any accumulations will be light. VERY cold air for Sunday and Monday. -Ryan

Brrrr.  Sounds like I'll be staying in side this weekend.

I need to get the lamp in the chicken run, my birdies need to stay warm.  I also need to make sure the plants in the greenhouse survive.  Busy, busy.

I'm hoping to get all the packages in the mail today.

Kidney stones

I had follow-up appointment with Dr Emery, the urologist, last Wednesday the 30th, in Cherokee Village.  I had to get an x-ray of my kidneys before the appointment.

He's a very good doctor.  Professional, friendly and very thorough.  The x-ray revealed I once again have a large kidney stone in my left kidney. I was scheduled for  lithotripsy  (Kidneystones shockwave treatment ) in Batesville yesterday.  I had to get another x-ray prior to the procedure. Everything went well.  We stopped at The Pill Box in Highland (Davis Drug Store Inc ) to pick up some medications and arrived home safe and sound.

Now I just have to pass the pieces....  Fun, fun, fun!

I've been knitting away on my Christmas list. Hats for Children's Hospital, Knititng for Noggins. Knitting for Noggins

I got the slippers for my nieces finished & mailed off.  Sadly, Nevaeh's are too small.  So I'll be making her another pair.

I also ordered yarn from Knit Pics (Knit Picks.com) to crochet a blanket for Nevaeh.  I'm not sure how it happened, but she never got a baby blanket.  So now she'll be getting a big girl blanket.  Nevaeh's sick a lot, she has a compromised immune system (e-coli infection from contact with her dad's turtles).  I know when I don't feel well I always want to cuddle up in my blanket.  I'll be adding all the love and care I can into this one for her.  I'll make her slippers that fit with this same yarn.  I added this project to my Ravelry queue.  Nevaehs pink blanket

Puttering around the homestead.

The calendar has rolled around to December, and it's time to get ready for the cold weather.  Joshua has been cutting, splitting and stacking wood.  John & Josh got the air conditioners out of the windows.  I got the chicken runs covered with plastic.

Yesterday, I finished putting the plants into the greenhouse.  Then I put some empty 5 gallon buckets in, which I will fill with water.  These will help keep the humidity and temperature more stable.  I dug up one of the bell pepper plants and planted it in a container.  I also spread some heirloom tomato seeds in another container.  I dug up starts from 2 of my mint plants.  One peppermint and one spearmint. I put these in the house.

I picked all the green tomatoes still on the vines.  I have quite a few! And two bell peppers.

Green tomatoes & bell peppers

We had some building supplies in the carport that needed to be brought in to prevent freezing.

The repair technician came yesterday and made the repairs to our washer.  I asked him what he was replacing.  He told me he took two plastic hinges our and put 4 metal hinges in, so the lid could not fly off.  That would be a good thing!

Our hunting neighbor, Jennifer, took her large deer to the meat processor and had summer sausage made.  We offered to pay for part of the cost of processing so we could get some of the sausage.  This helps Jennifer with the cost, and helps us get some "non-pork" meat in our freezer.  The chest freezer is full of pork.  And I do mean full.  Both freezers in the house are full of fruit for smoothies and other meats and cheeses.

I went through our canned meat, and realized we've eaten up all the beef and chicken.  That's right.  We have a pantry of canned pork.  And the odd squirrel or quail.  I will be canning some chicken and beef in the near future.

I checked on the food stored in the storm shelter.  Our number 10 cans of dehydrated fruits and veggies are still sealed, so these will be our long term food storage.  These cans will be edible 10 years from now.  That is my idea of long term!  We also have dried fruit, bulk rice, bulk flour and dried potatoes in vacuum sealed bags & jars.  I'd say we have more than 6 months worth of food.

I asked Josh if he likes fudge.  He does.  So I decided to make some chocolate marshmallow fudge.  Well, either our thermometer is off... or I am.  I stood at the stove for 90 minutes straight, stirring the pot!  When the mixture finally reached 235 degrees, I poured it into the pie tins I had prepared.  I warned the guys NOT to touch the tins as they are VERY hot!  After several hours, I put the tins in the fridge.  Josh got one out to see how yummy the fudge was and discovered we have caramels not fudge.  He cut it into squares, and I tried one.  They are excellent! Here's a recipe. I didn't add the corn syrup, but I did add marshmallow fluff.

Mom's caramels recipe

I had an appointment with the urologist on Thursday,  I had to get an Xray beforehand.  The Xray showed I have another large kidney stone in my left kidney.  I will be having a procedure on the 8th, using ultrasound to break this up.  I had the same procedure 2 years ago and it worked well.  I hope it goes as smoothly this time.  Passing the stone fragments up isn't fun, but I really don't want to keep the fragments in my kidney either!

I finished crocheting slippers for my niece's daughters & got those in the mail.  They came out very well.

Nevaeh's slippers

Revan's slippers

I've also been knitting a variety of hats on my knitting looms.  I hope to get them in the mail to Children's Hospital this week.  They have a great program called Knitting for Noggens.  I participate every year.