Tag Archives: Homestead Kids

Daily Life #12 – Handmade with love

I love that man of mine! Every day, all day. But there are times when he does something which just melts my heart an extra bit.

Like what’s happening right now.

We are not really what you would call sports fans. But we do like to watch the Super Bowl. So in preparation for tomorrow’s game, my wonderful husband is sitting down explaining football to Princess Girl so she can follow along easier.

Be still my heart!

Yeah, I know it’s not much. But one sure way to this girl’s heart is through her children. Not only that, but I just love seeing a man being a good daddy.

And speaking of love, Valentine’s day is just around the corner.

I am almost finished with Hubby’s Valentine gift. In an effort to stick with our new, healthier ways of eating, we have decided to forgo the candy this year (I know, it’s almost sacrilegious to not have chocolate on Valentine’s day, but I think I’ll survive. Maybe.)

Anyway, I came up with some inexpensive and easy gift the girls and I can make for our main man. I wish I could show it to you right now. But it will have to wait.

I also started another bookmark for a special someone. This one is extra special since there is no printer involved. I’m drawing and coloring by hand. And I’m actually excited about how it’s turning out.

Working on these things by hand is so much more personal than just buying something from the store. No, they don’t cost much, and may not look as nice as something you can buy of the shelf, but each one is infused with love.

And speaking of love, you know what else makes my heart melt?

My three year old washing the last of the carrots from the garden. I was able to start her on the task and walk away to finish other tasks. Yes, she took forever, but she did the job and did it well. When did she get so big??

And, for those of you who have been around for a while, yes, these are the last of the carrots which we planted from seed last February. They are oddly misshapen, I think because they stopped growing over the summer, and then started growing again this fall. They overwintered wonderfully in the garden. WAY better than they would have if I had picked them. One of the reasons I live growing carrots in this area!

Maridy

“I lift up my eyes to the hills, where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.” Psalm 121

Daily Life #8 – Wetlands Field Trip

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My first guest post! The report below is written by Princess Girl, age 10, about our field trip to a wetlands park (photos are mine). It’s really tempting for me to edit her post for grammatical and spelling errors, but I will resist! It’s more entertaining the way it is anyway. 🙂

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February 2nd is world wetlands day . Me and all the family went except daddy. So we went to “Smith and Bybee wetlands” .

Ready to explore

We went there so we get a good walk and explore the area and have a picnic in the sun.

Lunch time

Picnic in the sun

So I saw some cool animals they are ,Bufflehead ducks ,mallard ducks ,coots ,nutria , chickadee, humming bird, spotted towhee or robin,Hawk, but the best of all a juvenile Bald eagle!

Watching the coots and bufflehead ducks out on the water

A nutria (kinda like a beaver) and coots (a type of duck) seen through the binoculars

Inspecting (and photographing) an old beaver log

Woodpecker holes in a dead tree

my favorite was the juvenile Bald eagle , it was so cool my first time knowing that it was a bald eagle [I was seeing]!

So on the way back flower girl fell asleep exhausted from our adventure in the wetlands, I tried to go to sleep but I could not and got motion sick, it was not fun .

So that was it for this adventure I’m sure the next one will be fun too!

THE END

Meet the Author:

Princess Girl is 10 year old and lives with her parents, grandparents, and little sister in the Pacific Northwest. She loves horses, watching youtube, playing with her firends , and gymnastics. As well as anything to do with My Little Pony. She has been homeschooled her whole life and likes learning but hates having to write. Though she did enjoy writing this, her first article for publication.

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And a few more pictures that I wanted to include by didn’t have much to do with the Girl’s report:

First signs of spring

Daffodils about to bloom!!! I have seen several plants peaking their heads up here and there, but nothing this far along. February 2nd and blooming flowers! I think it would take me a couple more years living here to get used to how early Spring comes in this part of the world.

“Take time to listen to the chorus of nature; it is the music of life itself.”

I find it ironic that this quote is at the entrance of a park which is right on a very busy trucking route. The sounds of traffic never faded completely, even though we walked 3/4 of a mile to the end of the trail. But I do like the quote. And maybe when we go back again this spring/summer as Princess Girl begged to do, the animals will be more plentiful and loud enough to provide that chorus.

Daily Life #4 – DIY Mason Jar Spout And Carpet Deodorizer Recipe

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So I’ve seen this tip on Pinterest several times and today the planets aligned and I was able to make one for myself.

And by planets aligning, I simply mean that I happened to have the need for one right when I had a nearly empty salt container.

I finally got around to vacuuming today and wanted to use my homemade carpet deodorizer (recipe below). But I tend to accidentally shake half the powder on the carpet when I try to shake it out without some sort of top on the jar. I thought about punching holes in a jar lid, but then I remembered this tip.

All I did was use a sharp knife to cut the top off the salt container, then put it on the jar in place in the lid. It worked remarkably well! It is the perfect size for a wide mouth jar. In order to use a regular mouth jar, just trace around a regular size lid and cut it down accordingly.

So, the carpet deodorizer recipe. That also is super easy.
-Fill a quart size mason jar about 3/4 full with Washing Soda (not baking soda)
-Add 10-20 drops of your favorite essential oils (we like orange and clove or lavender and eucalyptus), put the lid on, and shake the jar to distribute the oils.
-Shake the deodorizer on your carpet 15-30 minutes prior to vacuuming (test on obscure area 1st).
-Vacuum as normal.

Notes:

-Do not use baking soda, it is too powdery and tends to leave a white residue, thus why the recipe calls for washing soda. It still absorbs the odors of stinky carpets but is more granular. It can be found in the laundry isle of most grocery stores.

-You can fill your mason jar full, but then you’d want to dump the soda into a bowl, add the oils, mix, and return to the jar. Otherwise the jar will be too full to shake to distribute the oils. I prefer to just do it as stated above so I don’t have another dish to wash.

-I find that I use about 1/4 of the jar (roughly 1 cup of the mixture) per application. Depending on the size of your house you may have to use more or less. This is where the salt container spout comes in handy as I found that without it, too much sprinkles out and I invariably ended up using over half my mix for one round!

-I use this powder every other or every third time I vacuum, depending on how stinky the pets and kids have been. 🙂

I really like that this carpet deodorizer is all natural. No weird chemicals to worry about around my family.

So aside from vacuuming my house (finally!), and in between the daily tasks of taking care of the family, I started researching how to make candles from scratch. An article I read recently got my gears turning and Hubs and I got to talking about all those skills which we have a theoretical knowledge of, but have never actually tried. Like candle making. Did you know that you are supposed to treat wicks with something like boric acid in order to make them burn properly? I had no idea, and my minimalist side is wondering if it really makes a difference. So my plan is to try a couple different types of wicks and see what the results are.

So in a couple days hopefully I’ll have a post all about making candles. 🙂

Princess Girl and I also got around to mounting the puzzle we finished a couple weeks ago.

I cut a piece of cardboard the same size as the puzzle, we covered it in Elmers glue, then slid the puzzle onto it and slathered a bit more glue on the top. Then, when it had dried a bit, we covered it in plastic and put a box on top to keep it from bowing. Princess Girl is going to hang it in her room when it is finished.

And that’s how this homesteader spent her day.

Maridy

“I lift up my eyes to the hills, where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.” Psalm 121

Planting Dreams

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This is another post from our time before we moved to Oregon. I found it buried on my computer. I remembered writing it, I just could never find it. It’s the continuing story of our apple trees on the homestead (for the beginning, read here).

We finally got our trees planted! After buying them, they sat in their buckets, attached to our EZ-Up shade shelter for waaaay too long.

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It was hard to keep them watered enough with the heat and wind. And they got stressed fairly badly. The horrid windstorms we had which ripped our shade pavilion apart also ripped the apples off the trees. The last time I saw the trees, there was only one little clump left (and now we won’t get to even partake of those few since we moved, if they even survive – sad face). So, before we knew we were moving, we finally made the time to plant them so they wouldn’t die. We have so many dreams attached to those trees.

Flower Girl “helping” dig.

The Hubby and my dad taking turns digging the lower hole.

I know how to handle a shovel, for sure!

The lower tree is planted.

The girls helping tamp down the compost in the upper hole.

Princess Girl actually helping to shovel dirt into the newly planted tree.

Staking the tree so it won’t blow down (look how little she looks!)

A lot of the leaves, especially on one of them, were turning brown and crunchy and I was concerned that maybe they had gotten too stressed.

But I’ve learned through my gardening years not to give up on anything too quickly. And sure enough, just before we left for our fateful visit to the Northwest, I took these pictures of the new growth happening. I was so happy to see those signs that they were going to be ok.

And then, not even one week later we decided we needed to move to the Northwest to care for family. When I got out of the car after that trip and saw my beautiful little trees, I wept. Who would be there to care for them? They aren’t nearly established enough to possibly even remotely survive on their own. But once again, family stepped in and saved the day. My mom says that she’s willing to go up a couple times a week to water them. That means hauling a 5 gallon container of water up to the property with her, lugging it out of the car, waiting while one tree is watered, more lugging to get to the other tree, more waiting, then heading home. We appreciate her so very much! And now those little trees can grow and thrive, even while we’re gone, and when we move back we’ll have full fledged apple trees. Thanks, Mom!

Update: Mom sent me a picture on 4/17/15 and the trees were blooming! It was so amazing to see that they had survived the rest of that summer and the winter.

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And they survived the whole summer of 2015, too! Mom and God watered them as needed. Though they did get a bit stressed, they made it through. Sounds like my own personal journey. 🙂 So far this winter (2015/16), they are getting plenty of moisture through rain and snow, so that’s a very good thing. And hopefully by this summer we’ll be moved back to care for them ourselves (hey, I can dream, can’t I?).

Oh, and I DID get to eat an apple from our tree!

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The girls and I went back a month after our move for my cousin’s wedding. The apple was small and tart, but oh, so delicious! We didn’t have any apples in 2015 since there was a late freeze that came through and froze all the blossoms off everything. No one got any fruit last year. But, that’s life in the high desert. Hubby and I have plans in our heads of how to protect our fruit trees in the future. But first we have to BE there in order to do the protecting. One step at a time!

Daily Life day #3 – just a normal day

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Day 3 of my month of Daily Life posts. Not much happened. Today was one of those days I seemed to be busy all day, but didn’t get anything tangible accomplished like yesterday. I was planning on working some more outside, but I’m not feeling very well today.

I cooked three breakfasts at different times (mine at 7am, the girls’ at 8:30am, and Mom’s at 9:30am.) Took care of Mom while Dad went to breakfast with friends and then worked outside in the yard. Let the chickens out of the run to roam. Started laundry (which reminds me, I need to go switch loads.) Ummm… I’m sure there was more between breakfast and lunch. After lunch I took Flower Girl for a walk around the block.

She’s finally learned to pedal her tricycle all by herself.

Then it was home and some computer work. Helped Princess Girl with some of her school work. My wonderful Hubby made dinner, which was awesome. Then I laid on the couch and vegged with the girls and my man.

So you know, a normal, mundane type of day.

I should have done more actual work on the computer (you know, rather than Pinterest). I should have gotten up to vacuum since our vacuum was in the shop for several days and the carpets are nasty! I should have switched laundry around several more times and put clothes away. I should have documented some ideas I have for the homestead.

But it didn’t happen.

And I’m ok with that. It’s not every day I have a legitimate reason to take it easy.

And I know that realistically not every day can be blog worthy (though I seem to be doing a pretty good job of turning it into one. 😉 )

But that’s life.

At least that’s my life.

Maridy

“I lift up my eyes to the hills, where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.” Psalm 121

Daily Life #2 – Chicken Run Repairs

My Flower Princess

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Flower Girl is growing up so quickly! At three years old, she is very independent, always wanting to do things on her own and her way.

But that might have something to do with the fact that she has quite a lot of responsibility for a three year old.

Such as carrying in the eggs.

Or picking out her own outfit.

Or helping fix her own lunch.

Yes, that’s right, I’m teaching my three year old how to use the stove (and please ignore how dirty the stove is!).

But don’t worry, we are careful.

Notice how my hand is shielding hers?

So yeah, she’s growing up fast.

And while I sometimes lament the passing of her baby years, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Maridy

“I lift up my eyes to the hills, where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.” Psalm 121

Happy New Year

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I know, I know.

I’m a little late with my holiday greetings. But as I said in my family newsletter (which I just sent out a few days ago), better late than never, right?

I’ve been doing a lot of reflection the past couple of weeks, as is typical this time of year. And also looking toward the future of this year. Are any of you already planning for your spring and summer gardens? Now’s the time to order your seeds and in some cases, get them started indoors.

I just read this online article (How to Pick Your Vegetable Seeds Without Going Crazy) and it’s got me dreaming!

But alas, my biggest decision this year is that I am scaling way back on my plans for our garden. Any when you have a tiny plot anyway, “scaling way back” means that I don’t plan to do much of any gardening this year.

The reason why is actually pretty exciting. We are hoping to be in the process of actually building our house this summer. Which means frequent trips between Oregon and Nevada. And as I learned last year, my garden doesn’t do so well if I’m not around to care for it. Imagine that. 🙂

So, I’ll probably throw some carrot seeds in the ground and call it good. Those were what did the best and we ate the most of last year. And I love that they are frost tolerant and you can leave them in the ground all season and just go out and grab some as you need them.

It kills me not to really be making plans for the garden. But the trade off is worth it as we make progress on our house.

A couple days ago was a fairly mild day here in the Portland area, overcast but dry and not too cold. So I used the opportunity to get outside and do some yard work.

Almost done! And it’s a good thing, too, because the debris can is almost full!

I scooped up the walnut leaves and put them in the yard debris can. Yes, we have a compost pile, but not the right set up to cook the toxins out of walnut leaves.

Just after New Years, we had snow here. It was a rare treat for us in the Pacific Northwest. Normally, any time there’s snow here, it’s covered in ice. This was a light, fluffy, “dry” snow. At the beginning of the day it wouldn’t even compact into snowballs. The girls and I spent 3 hours playing outside.

Going for a walk in the neighborhood

snow angels in the street, because, why not?

Exploring in the park woods near our house

The wild onions are already growing! And the snow didn’t seem to affect them at all.

Our back yard looked quite different with a thin layer of snow.

A light powdery snow covering the backyard

My little 25sqft garden with the caterpillar eaten kale and aphid eaten brussels sprouts, neither of which did I harvest much of because I was too busy to deal with the pests.

Snow dusted honeysuckle vines

And then, that night, a freezing rain came in, covering everything in a layer of ice.

Same honeysuckle just 24 hours later

Icicles on the EZ-Up

Iced fence

Iced branches

A really cool ice leaf found by Flower Girl.

For this girl from the desert, ice storms are pretty magical. It is surreal to see ice coating everything. However, I am glad no one in our family had to go anywhere. One of those times I am thankful that my man works from home.

The hens don’t mind a bit of snow.

We had a bit of sad news recently. One of our hens (“Pepper”) was killed by a predator of some sort. Considering it was during the middle of the day in broad daylight, we think it was one of the many neighborhood cats.

Flower Girl with Pepper this past spring.

Now we’re down to three hens, one of which doesn’t lay very many eggs per year and none in the winter (our English Game Hen). The other two, however, have laid fairly steadily this winter (after their molt), even without supplemental lighting (for more information on supplemental light in the chicken coop, see this great article from Jill at The Prairie Homestead). I would love to add to our little backyard flock, but then I think of how much we are hoping to be gone this summer. And I think of transporting them back to Nevada when we do finally go. And I think, three chickens is enough. For now. 🙂

And in the mean time, we’re dreaming. We’re dreaming big!

Maridy

“I lift up my eyes to the hills, where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.” Psalm 121

Zucchini Oat Pancakes

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Mmmmm….

The smell of pancakes cooking on the griddle.

I don’t know about you, but pancakes on a rainy Saturday morning seem just about the perfect thing.

Oat Zucchini Pancakes with Apple Cider Syrup

It’s been years since I’ve had regular pancakes. I gave up eating wheat after learning that wheat is a major inflammatory food and it affects the arthritis in my knees.

So I went searching for a “gluten free” recipe. But I wanted one that uses normal and whole ingredients rather than processed, refined, high carb flours in place of the wheat.

I stumbled across this oat pancake recipe at www.mountainmamacooks.com. Orginally it called for a banana, but I am fresh out of bananas and I have quite a lot of frozen zucchini from this summer’s bounty. Besides, the Hubby likes zucchini better than banana anyway. (BTW, I think it’s so adorable that Flower Girl says banana like a Minion – BAN-nah-nah :-). The original recipe also called for almond milk, but we use regular milk.

The pancakes have a very moist and chunky texture, even with highly ground oats. I’ve never experimented with using quick/instant oats since old fashioned are all we ever buy. Maybe it wouldn’t be quite so chunky with instant oats?

As an aside, the girls helped make the pancakes this morning. Flower Girl helped add a few ingredients as is fitting for an almost-three-year-old. But Princess Girl helped with all of it. Not only did she help gather the ingredients, add them to the batter, do some of the mixing, and help with the cooking, she also did all the calculations to add a half batch to the recipe. She’s learning more complicated fraction operations in her school work, so this was perfect. She not only had to halve the recipe, she then had to add that half to the original. Natural learning for the win!

One thing about these pancakes, they can seem take forever to cook (thus the picture above). So I usually end up cooking them at a higher temp to speed up the process and they tend to get rather dark brown. Compare the two pics below.

If you’re looking for a gluten free pancake that is as close to traditional pancakes as possible, these aren’t them. But we all like the way these turn out. In fact, I personally like them even better. I always felt guilty eating regular pancakes. I felt that I was eating nothing but fluff and sugar – in essence, nothing more than cake. But these pancakes are filled with good quality, nourishing ingredients. And they taste phenomenal whether you use banana or zucchini!

Zucchini Oat Pancakes

2 cups oats
1 1/2 tsp baking powder (we use aluminum free)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups milk
2 cups shredded zucchini (or 1 large ripe banana)
1-2 Tbl honey
1tsp vanilla
1 egg

Directions:
Place oats in blender or food processor and pulse until it is chopped up fine like oat flour (I suppose you could also just use purchased oat flour as well). Add other dry ingredients and pulse to combine. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.

Ladle 1/4 cup(ish) of the batter onto a medium-low(ish) skillet or griddle. Spread the batter out so it’s not all clumped up, then cook until golden brown on each side, flipping as needed (time will depend on the heat of your cooking surface.)

I usually heat the oven to as low as it will go (170° on ours), place a plate in there, and put the pancakes in there as each one is done. This keeps them warm till they are all finished cooking and we can all eat together.

And that makes for a very good Saturday morning.

Maridy

“I lift up my eyes to the hills, where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.” Psalm 121

Seamstresses in the making

Castle Rock Homestead

Off-grid homesteading in the high desert of Northern Nevada.

Tag Archives: Homestead Kids

Daily Life #12 – Handmade with love

Daily Life #8 – Wetlands Field Trip

Daily Life #4 – DIY Mason Jar Spout And Carpet Deodorizer Recipe

Planting Dreams

Daily Life day #3 – just a normal day

Daily Life #2 – Chicken Run Repairs

My Flower Princess

Happy New Year

Zucchini Oat Pancakes

Seamstresses in the making

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