Creamy Homemade Butter

 It took many days for me to finally try to make homemade butter. I always thought , I won't be able to mix it long enough, or what if I get tired of shaking it. Well on a rainy non- productive day I finally put all my fears aside and just jumped in head first, so to speak.  Boy am I happy I did.

  Although, during the shaking, I thought I would be stuck with 6 cups of whipped cream but at last it started turning into butter. It's so creamy and yummy. If you never have made homemade butter before please try it you will be glad you did. All you need is a jar with lid, heavy cream, and two strong arms as you will be shaking it for a little while.  After the butter forms drain off the buttermilk and I rinsed the butter under cool water to make sure the buttermilk was out, if you dont the milk can sour and ruin the taste of the fresh butter.
 Have fun and have a Blessed day!!

butter (left) buttermilk (right)





Balancing act

   When going into homesteading, having a family,a home, animals, and a garden,  how do you keeps things running smoothly?
   If you are just starting homesteading or working your way to self-sustain your family one must have a idea of what needs to be done and when. Without a idea you could feel overwhelmed and more likely to throw in the towel.  The plan will take a while to really get control of but when the schedule is consistent you will find more time and you will also be a little bit more relaxed. Remember to make one for each season as the chores change from season to season. I also leave at least 30 minutes a day as free time, this can be taken for yourself or have it to get another chore done that needs tending to.  We also have family time everyday which usually starts around the dinner table and overflows in to evening hours.
   As for me my schedule not only changes season to season but from day to day. Most of it stays the same but on days its raining and after all the feeding is done I will spend most of the day in the house getting caught up on inside chores doing some extra cleaning, menu planning or baking.  When it's nice outside I tend to be out all day long.
   If you are feeling run down try a timeline schedule. This will help you stay on track and hopefully you will stay strong on your way to becoming more self- sustainable.

   Have a blessed day!!
  
  

Chicken venture

  I can't believe I how busy we have been here. Sorry for not posting this week but busy is really not the word. This week we were hard at work building a rabbit hutch, getting the new chickens settled in, getting the greenhouse done and Spring cleaning.
  We are gathering 4-5 eggs per day now. This morning we awoke to the chickens wondering around the yard.  mind you , I would rather have our chickens free range at all times but our neighbors have dogs that don't really care to stay in their own yard. So for the safety for our chickens, they must stay in the coop and run or the tractor. But sometime yesterday our daughter had the coop open and somehow bumped her head and in all the commotion forgot to latch the door. Oh well -  chickens were happy as could be in the new garden area - thankful nothing planted yet.
    

Weekend Refresh

We have had a busy weekend. We celebrated our 12 wedding anniversary this weekend with some time alone visiting the big city near our home. We found some great stores which has helped us decide that adding on to our home is the right thing to do for us.

If you have a HFH( Habitat for Humanity) Restore store near you, I urge you to go and take a look if you haven't already. At the one near us they had everything from kitchen cupboards, furniture, appliances, doors, windows, tile,and sinks. They are used but still in good condition items that are donated to the store and then sold for HFH. With our plans to add on to our home in the near future we were excited and pleased to have found things we could use and are Eco - friendly by not letting them go into a landfill.

3 day old chicks (bantam)

This weekend we also acquired a few more animals that we were planning on getting. We now have 2 more rabbits and 8 more chickens. The rabbits are a month old and the kids were grateful to have them. Five of the chickens ( 6 weeks) are bought for eating and 3 other chicks are 3 days old for a birthday gift.

Bottle fed lambs we fostered

The lambs are no longer here, they were reunited with their other brothers and sisters and moms. They were a real great pleasure to have fostered ( even though we lost 2 due to pnuemonia - the temps here went crazy on us) during their bottle feeding days and hope to have the opportunity to foster again next year.

  Today our cat ( Fuzzy) is at the vet having surgery. I did cry when I had to leave him but plan to go pick him up later this evening. I will post an update later this evening.

 Have a Blessed day!!!

Sunday breakfast

Awwww homemade donuts - yummy

Forever and a day

Yup that's how long it feels like I have waited for this. Although its more like 3 years but at last we finally have it. We worked hard on finishing it last night, placing panels and windows. Now that its up my potting bench and some shelves will be placed inside. We got this from Harbor Freight, originally priced $799 went on sale for $699 and with a 20% off coupon we paid $530. Gotta love saving money.
Have a blessed day!

Winter winnings

This winter has been long and truly tiring. We had a lot of snow that fell throughout the state and really cold temperatures. We had many long nights and more long days when outside the temps were too low to got out. So what is the family to do? Well the kids loved playing games and well just being kids, with a lot of snow days from school. I taught my self how to crochet. To date I have made each of the kids scarfs that have come in handy this winter,my mom a scarf, my niece a scarf for next Christmas, and I have started on a blanket that will be given at Christmas also. So I have managed to beat the winter blues by working with some vibrant colors and get a bit of Christmas gifts made. Its a win win in my book. Winter is almost over and we have a bit more snow in the forecast for Friday but Spring is coming.... I hope.

Just a little update

As of 2 days ago we have been putting up the new greenhouse. But I wanted to let you all know that I have tons of pictures and tons of posts to upload. Its supposed to rain this weekend so hopefully I can get caught up with my blog - THANKS to all those following me now we are up to 8. Have a blessed day!