Necie

Got behind... busy weekend. Got DGD(13) Friday evening and she ended up staying til Sunday. We tried 🎣 Saturday afternoon (she doesn’t get up til noon lol). Just off shore in a couple places and didn’t get a bite. She had wanted pot pies for dinner, but when I asked— how about I fry up some bluegill and make mac & cheese?? — well, that helped the mood. Then we went to DG to do Easter baskets for the littles— DGS(6) and DGD(4). I let her pick the baskets and all the stuff to go in them... and one for herself, of course. Yesterday, DS2 and DDIL and kids came down and we all had fun grilling and cooking and playing in the yard. It ended up being nicer out than we thought it was going to be. Crocheted this morning. Ran to Shipshewana and dropped off soaps/lotions at flea market, then to E&S (big Amish bulk store) to get some soaping supplies. Then to a small Amish store on the way home to fill lp tanks for the camper and found large mouth Pur canning lids for $1.69/doz— got 10 of them. Leftovers for dinner and crocheted some more tonight. Tomorrow am making soap and lotion and working on more venison. and Necie

DS2 brought his new smoker/grill down and made “kicking’ chicken” thighs and “Texas twinkies” (bacon wrapped jalapeño poppers) on it. DDIL and I made cheesy bacon broccoli and Buffalo dip inside. We were all stuffed with leftovers enough for everyone.

I’m thinking of doing a few in barrels. I don’t think 5 gallon buckets are big enough..? I have 2 plastic trash cans that I think are 30-33 gallon size and 3 old plastic water tubs from when I had the goats that are 15 gallon, I think. So I could do 5 different ones. The problem is that once I poke holes in the bottom for drainage, then they’re ruined for anything else... 🥴

Got the camper to the farm, set up and plugged in. Might end up moving it later, but gonna try it with electric for now. Mom and DS1 were there. Mom worked on rearranging the living room a bit. DS1 and I hauled a bunch of our camping stuff from the kitchen to the camper. DS1 and I also measured our *tater patch* garden. My guestimations suck. It’s 16x64. One side (64’) has fence, so I need 6 stock panels to fence it in. I want to plant pumpkins/squash in it this year, but I need to keep the deer out. DS2 said he’d bring his big trailer down to haul some up to the farm. I’ll probably take extras to maybe fence part of the big garden... maybe. Then went to mom’s and dropped some stuff off in the cabin. DD stopped to drop off the case for Dad’s flag from his funeral... her DFIL made it for Mom. He’s amazing with woodwork. She also picked up some of dad’s golf shoes and stuff to donate to a lower income school for their golf team. Mom told her that if none of the grandkids wanted any of the MANY golf clubs, that she could have them too (or whatever’s left) for the school also. Then went to DS2’s to pick up more venison to get canned. Ended up bringing DGD(13) home with me. Now we’re just sitting here playing on our phones. She wants to go fishing tomorrow. 🎣 🐟 and Necie

HI @kappydell!! @Littlesister, don’t fret about the garden stuff. Just do what you can do. Little bits add up. If you get your raised beds set up later, maybe you could do some things that have a short grow season. Or if by fall, you could do some cold weather crops. Maybe put some hoops and plastic over them like a little greenhouse or cold frame. Crocheted this morning. Made another double batch of Oatmeal Milk & Honey soap and a batch of Black Raspberry Vanilla lotion. Ordered essential oils and fragrance oils that I’m out of or low on. There goes $550. Going to the farm tomorrow. Taking the camper to get it set up and ready for summer and probably work in the house a bit to get things arranged and set back up for some summer sales. Kids have decided they want to come here for Easter. DS2 wants to bring his smoker that he got for Christmas and make *something*. He also thought we should do an egg themed day... he wants scotch eggs for breakfast. I thought about trying to plan out a meal and run to the store... but that doesn’t sound like anything I want to do. So I guess we’ll just wing it— I have plenty of options. and Necie

I use both essential oils and fragrance oils. The peppermint soap and lavender lotion are both with essential oils. The Apple Cinnamon soap is a fragrance oil. I prefer fragrance oils... essential oils give me a headache. 🤕 But doesn’t matter what I like or not... gotta make what sells. Crocheted this morning. Made a double batch of Oatmeal Milk & Honey soap and a batch of Lilac lotion. Canned 10 qts of venison and 4 qts of northern beans.

Crocheted this morning. Made soap— a batch of Peppermint and a batch of Apple Cinnamon. Made a batch of Lavender lotion. Cut up venison. Well, I cut it off the bones/trimmed and DH cut it into chunks/trimmed. Have 2 big bowls full in the garage fridge. Tomorrow will cut soap, make more soap, make another batch of lotion, and can venison.

Crocheted this morning. Wrapped soap this afternoon. I think 120 bars. Or 165. But I think 120. Five more written down on the *to make* list. No rush though on those. Crocheted more this evening. On the way home from Mom’s yesterday, I stopped at DS2’s and picked up a couple of venison leg quarters that he had in the freezer. They’re almost thawed. I think tomorrow, I’ll make soap in the morning and work on canning the venison in the afternoon. If there’s time, I might try to squeeze in a batch of lotion. Nice today— 65* and sunny, but quite breezy. Tomorrow supposed to be same temp, but rain/storms and VERY breezy... they’re saying 50+mph gusts. Still no fishing 🎣— DH said maybe next week. and Necie

Good day today. Kids and Mom came down. DS2 & DDIL got here first— no kids. 🤨 DDIL wants to learn to make bread... asked if I have *a book*... We found her a good beginner book. She was laughing cuz it’s the same one she was thinking about ordering online. She also now knows that I have *more advanced books*. I also gave her a bread machine (with guide book and extra *bread machine book*) that I had in the basement and have never used. She was looking through the beginner book and said “hmmm.... I don’t have a wooden spoon”. I 😂 and said “I think we can fix that!!”— I’m a utensil freak... specializing in wooden!! 😂 DS2 brought his trailer and we loaded him up with hog panels to add on to his pig pens. 🐷 10 total. 4 were down and 6 we had to take down. Good working outside even for just a little bit. Gave him 4 boxes of dog food for dog/pigs/chickens and also 20# of the Pontiac red seed potatoes that I got at RK. Gave Mom and DS1 3 qts of green beans and a pint of sauerkraut. Hopefully she likes the sauerkraut and wants more. DD & DSIL brought pizza. They got it from the little tavern right here in town. It’s new on their menu. We were all really impressed. DH and I said that’s where we’ll get pizza from now on! @Mt_Rider sounds like you had a GREAT ride!! I can’t even imagine what getting on a horse would do to me. 🤕 It’s been ages since I rode. @Littlesister, sounds like you’re making good progress on sorting and clearing things out! There are areas where I need to work on that. 🥴 Also, good job on the rain barrels. Options are always good. I should probably store more water, but it just seems one of those things that I really don’t worry about much. We have a shallow well and hand pump if the house well goes out. Both BO locations also do. There are also alternate water sources (lakes/ponds/streams) at all 3 locations. If we know there’s a weather event coming, we fill buckets and jugs. And I also have water canned. Going to mom’s tomorrow for Sunday dinner. We used to do every Sunday, but last year we started doing once a month (sometimes more). DSIS6 is bringing pulled pork for sandwiches, DSIS4 is bringing chips/dip, I’m taking the leftover chili and dessert— leftover pies from today. It’s been difficult getting grandkids to go.. they’re all in their 20s and 30s— most with kids, and all so busy. We’ll see how many we have tomorrow. and Necie

Yesterday was kinda slow. Crocheted in the morning. Was gonna make DSIL that banana cream cheesecake, but I guess I don’t have a springform pan... or can’t find it. Decided to use my big pulman bread pan and started digging through the freezers looking for mashed banana... Nope. I know they’re in there somewhere. This is why my freezers need used up and cleaned out. I did find 5 more bags of fish in the stand up and took them out to the garage. So no banana cheesecake today. Told him I have a chocolate cream pie and a whipped cheesecake pie in the freezer for today and I’ll do the banana later... maybe his b’day in June. Took 3 boxes of jars (full and empties) to the fruit cellar. I hate stairs!! I have 4 boxes of home canned dog food that I’d made for our last lgd. I need to give them to DS2 for his dog/chickens/pigs... but he’s gonna have to haul them upstairs. Made dinner, then sat down and crocheted some more. Kids and Mom are coming down today. DD is bringing pizza!!

Chili last night. Had jars of beans and tomato juice in fridge that needed used. 2# venison burger 2 onions (garden) bell pepper (garden— I chop and freeze in gallon bags, then break off and use whatever amount looks right) 1 qt kidney and 1 pt black beans out of fridge that hadn’t sealed. 1/2 qt and 1 pt tomato juice out of fridge 3/4 pint spaghetti sauce 1/2 gallon tomatoes Only things *purchased*: salt and pepper granulated garlic comino ancho chili powder Very quick throw together and eat meal. Made a big pot full. Kids are coming down today, so they can take some home or I’ll probably can a few jars.

Yesterday was pan fried perch that I’ve been saving. We had one good bag from last fall when I got into a whole mess of them. Also jalapeño poppers.

Not really. I was in a *mood*. Kinda feeling sorry for myself. Yesterday is not my favorite day... anymore. So, I guess I punished myself by sitting and doing *nothing*. Although crocheting is work for flea market. I’m still much happier when I’m UP and MOVING doing something. Yesterday I finished crocheting my stack of towels. So I got another tote of towels out this morning and poked holes in them and stacked ready to crochet. Worked in the kitchen a bit. Then DH wanted to go to the bait store to get our fishing licenses for this year. When we got in the truck, I had a big ole grin on my face... he said “What?? This doesn’t mean we’re going fishing yet.” I said “No... I get to RIDE!!” He said “You’re always running around going for a ride.” Me: “NOOOO.... I always have to DRIVE!! I get to RIDE and not watch the road and get to look around at the scenery and all that $hit!!”. Fishing licenses went from $17 to $23, but he got a senior lifetime this year for the same amount. He also got a bobber and I got 2 bobbers and a package of hooks. Probably work more in the kitchen tomorrow. Kids are coming down Saturday. and Necie

Ummm... Jeepers?? I don’t think we can be friends. JUST KIDDING!!! We all have fears. But, sheesh, I LOVE FISH. And FISHING!!! And I feel so bad about all the fish pictures I posted!! I probably gave you the heeby-jeebies! When DH and I start fishing, I will start a whole separate post for it— “Fishing 2024”. That way you don’t have to look at the things if you don’t want to. My biggest fear is falling. I used to think it was heights. But I figured out that as long as I feel secure, actual heights don’t bother me. I can be nervous about falling on flat ground. And some of those high mountain edge pictures that people post on FB make me scroll by them really fast. Do pics of cooked fish bother you? Cuz, just a warning... I’m gonna go post one in “What’s Cooking?” in The Kitchen.

I do the sauerkraut in the jar. The recipe is in an old preserving book my mom gave me— Farm and Home Journal or something like that. I found another one at an estate sale and gave it to DDIL this last year for our dill pickle and bread and butter pickles recipes. We don’t eat a lot of sauerkraut, but when I make it, I make a bunch. It lasts for years. When I need to make more, I just grow twice as much cabbage as I usually do.

Crocheted today. That was about it.

It’s no big deal. I have to empty jars of milk to make soap/lotion... so I’ll just open the Kerr ones first. You mentioned pressure cooking meats/beans before canning... ?? Just wondering why- as canning does pressure cook them (unless you waterbath). I always do mine raw pack. Beans are my favorite thing to can. Scoop the beans in the jar, fill with cold water, slap lids/rings on, put in cold canner. So easy-peasy.

Didn’t do much today. Slept in again... weird. Crocheted this morning. Cut soap. Made a list of soaps that are getting low in inventory on the porch and printed/cut labels so I can wrap more. Then if, after I wrap them, my inventory of unwrapped is low I’ll put them on my *to make* list. Crocheted some more this evening. I don’t think I’m gonna do much soap/lotion til next week. It’s supposed to be cold the rest of the week and there’s no heat in the basement or upstairs. Maybe I’ll get some stuff done in the kitchen that’s still a disaster. and Necie

I’ve found one dozen Kerr so far!! 3 were in my empty jar boxes, 9 were still full— of goat milk!! I got 4 of those emptied. Will keep working on it.

Venison backstrap and hen of the woods mushrooms in french onion gravy on mashed potatoes. Backstrap harvested by DS2. Mushrooms harvested and canned by me. Homemade french onion soup with garden onions and home canned beef broth. Mashed potatoes from home canned potatoes. (DH makes them... my mashed potatoes from canned end up being like glue. His are perfect! )

Not quite as busy today. Crocheted this morning. Cut/stacked soap. Made soap— a batch each of Autumn Lodge and Cappuccino. Finally got to do a full batch of lotion— Patchouli. Much easier doing one scent, rather than *by the bottle*. Made supper early, then sat on my butt and crocheted some more. Kids are coming down Saturday. DSIL requested a banana cheesecake thingy for dessert. Told him I have everything for it except the fresh bananas... he said he’d bring them. 😂 Probably shouldn’t make it for him— he’s type 1 diabetic, but I guess it’s better than cake or cookies... that he won’t lay off either. Cutting and wrapping soap, and making more lotion tomorrow. and Necie

This last week I canned: 42 pints of beans— black, navy, garbanzo and small reds. 15 pints of chicken gizzards.

Ours is $3.69 right now. DH filled up my van the other day... $48. I have no idea what’s going on with pricing lately... it’ll jump .30-.50c and then slowly go back down over a couple weeks and then jump back up again. Crazy!! @Littlesister, glad you are feeling better. There’s some kind of stomach bug going around here. The kids were supposed to come over Saturday for dinner, but DS2, DDIL and all 3 kids were sick, so we postponed til this next Saturday. Mom was going to have Sunday dinner today (corned beef and cabbage), but DSIS4 is sick and DSIS6 has sick kids/grandkids and she’s *sniffling*, so she canceled. Another niece and her DH and 2 boys didn’t get the message though and showed up. Mom said it was a good visit and nice to be able to be more *one on one*. Give your DGS an extra “Grandma hug”. It’s so hard for kids to watch their grandparents slip away... especially mentally. I remember my Great Grandma being so confused. I went to visit her with my 2 boys when they were little (before DD was born) and she thought I was my mom... but couldn’t figure out whose boys I had (my mom had 4 girls). After that I went by myself and she always thought I was my mom... but was disappointed that I didn’t bring *the girls*.

I. Am. POOPED!!! I actually slept in this morning. Didn’t wake up til 8:45... BUT... That’s cuz I was woken up just after 5 by this *WOOP-WOOP-WOOP*. As soon as I opened my eyes, I see red/blue flashing lights reflecting off the bedroom door (shining through the living room window by the driveway). Sat my butt straight up in bed!!! First thought: “HOLY CRAP!-IS THE HOUSE ON FIRE???” Jumped out of bed and out to living room... Those lights reflecting were so bright that I’d thought they were in the driveway outside the window, but it was just a cop had someone pulled over. The way he was parked though, headlights and flashing lights shining right straight in the window. So I lowered the blinds and closed them... but obviously not enough, cuz when I got back in bed I could still see the d@mn things! I finally fell back to sleep, but DH stayed up. He said they were out there over an hour... waiting for the tow truck. Someone must’ve either been drunk or had a warrant. Crocheted this morning. At noon I went upstairs and stacked soap. Then to the basement and cut soap. Back upstairs to stack that soap. Back to basement and made more soap. Then I did soap/lotion inventory... Counted inventory for flea market and farmer’s market. Took farmer’s market inventory to van. Counted wrapped/labeled inventory on porch... added that. Counted unlabeled lotions in basement... added that. Counted unwrapped soaps upstairs... added that. I have over 100 different soaps (some are temporary *limited edition*) and over 50 different lotions. Each one gets their own count. Unwrapped soaps upstairs alone, I have 21 boxes that hold 120 bars each (I consolidated as I counted— emptied 8 boxes). I got done at 8:00, called Mom, made me a peanut butter sandwich. I. Am. POOPED!! Oh... and did I mention... I HATE STAIRS!!! Back at it tomorrow... gotta cut soap and make another batch. When I cut that batch, my shelves will be full until Friday... so can make another batch on Thursday. Might fit making a batch or 2 of lotion in between. I might just be ready for markets before they start. 😃 and Necie

@Mt_Rider, WOW!! I do not miss winter chores!! The worst winter we had was 2013/14. It started snowing in December and didn’t quit. My BIL drives county plow truck— it would snow Thursday/Friday and he’d have to work every weekend. We ended up with one side of the driveway plowed shut cuz there wasn’t anywhere left to push it. And FRIGID! It didn’t melt off. I always moved the bucks from their summer pen out back to a winter pen up front so it was easier to feed/water them. That year, I ended up moving them into the barn to the big kid pen thinking I could move them back out before kids needed it. NOPE!! By the end of March I had 50+ goats and 2 big dogs in 5 pens in my little barn. 😳 That’s the year that all the does learned to turn around ON the stand before jumping back off. I had a doe that kidded on March 14 and lost her the next day to a ruptured uterus (inside out kid— schistosoma reflexus). We couldn’t get her out back, let alone get her buried, so we pulled her into the bucks winter pen (that they weren’t in) and buried her in snow until it melted enough to get her out back. I do miss the goats... but not the snow and cold, and the MUD in the spring.