Rocky-Roo

 I told you that I ended up getting 3 extra little barred rock chicks right... one night, heading to get Chinese take out, I was 5 minutes from the local Tractor Supply. I called to see specifically if they had them...and of course they did! YAY! 

I GOT THREE BABIES....  SUCH SWEET LITTLE FACES!

 

Hahahaha well, the jokes on me...

In a matter of a few weeks, one of them started developing wattles... more pronounced then the rest of them.... ummmm, 'maybe' that's a sign. A couple more weeks went by... and sure enough, the comb was bigger too! 

 

 Sure enough....  the rooster fairy visited at some point and turned one of my little hens into a rooster! 

There is something special about hearing 'cock-a-doodle-doooo' all hours of the day and night.... 

 

Shiitakes Happen In Our Home!

It has been a number of years now that Pete has grown Shiitake mushrooms... at first I wondered if this was just a fun phase or what... but they are really yummy AND, that is coming from a person who has never liked mushrooms! (well, except for the unhealthy, battered and deep fried ones!)

This was a great year for mushrooms to grow... Pete had the extra time and was able to do quite a bit of log soaking... this is the result of one of those soakings! WOW!!

After picking, they are cleaned (brushed off with a soft brush)... 

And then cut up and put onto the trays for dehydrating to be stored for later use!

                               I will be looking for some delicious recipes to make this winter!

I Tried a THING... Balsamic Sweet Onion Jam

 A good friend mentioned making this last year... it sounded odd and well, not very good at the time. We talked about it again this spring and for some reason, it sounded pretty good this time! And, good enough for me to go find the supplies to make it myself! NOT JUST ONCE but TWICE! I made two batches... shared some and will probably share it in some Christmas packages! It is soooo good on a burger and roasts and ... well... MOST meats actually! 

                                                              Recipe: (found on Pinterest)

Super easy to make! NOTE: I did use more butter then recipe called for so that it wouldn't burn... and I used more onions too... the cooking down process took longer too!

               It was SOOOO WORTH THE TIME and the ONION PEELING TIME! LOL

HOME, HOME ON THE RANGE.... I mean "Homestead"

So much has happened in so little time....

1) We got the chickens...  37 (2 extras) the meat birds arrived April 9th... so cute and fluffy! We had a really chilly spring, which is probably why we generally choose to do mean birds in late summer... they seem to have an easier start and then 8 weeks later it is only end of September or early October when they go to freezer camp!

2) We got our hens....  funny story! We got 7 little fluff balls! They shared the brooder with the meat bird chicks with a divider between them! It was amazing what 2 weeks meant in the difference in body size! I REALLY wanted to get barred rock hens, but it wasn't meant to be, so we got 3 golden wyandottes, 1 silver wyandotte and 3 Americanas (blue eggs)! A few days later I was headed to town and the thought came to me... "check out Tractor Supply, they MAY have some barred rocks!" SOOO, I did... I went to town for Chinese Food and came home with that PLUS 3 little rocks!

3) We had to build a chicken house... and help Austin and Abby build theirs too!! AND BOTH needed to be done around the same time!

4) ONE of my sweet rocks turned into a ROOOOSTER! Can you imagine!? LOL It's ok with me, some members of the family aren't as amused as I am!

5) They are all moved in! YAY

Our Homestead is Changing!

Our homestead is changing... it is springtime 2020 and with all the quarantining of the last month until who knows for sure when, we've decided to dive a little bit deeper back into animals again!

After a little bit of pondering, and at the prompting of a certain 8 year old grandson, we decided to get a few laying hens! We have had them in the past, but not for the last 6-7 years. It's time... fresh eggs and a little shared responsibility will be a good thing! With that all decided, it's time to look at some possible 'houses and yards'! (UGGGH.... I really do NOT like wintering animals!)

We are sharing an order of 25 chicks with my son and his friend... so 3 families will be having a fun spring! They will arrive next Friday (4/24) and we are excited!!

• shavings 
• starter/grower feed
• waterers are clean
• feeders all cleaned up 
• brooder all set up

NOW WE ARE AWAITING THE PHONE CALL FROM THE POST OFFICE! 

Our first phone came in the morning... 4/16

with our first batch of meat birds... we are getting 35 of them and another 50 in August!

Second call happened April 24th with our chicks... hens for our hen house (eggs)!!

I brought up the idea of turkeys again...  as I do each spring! LOL And after thinking about it for a week, it is a NO GO! The poults are $9.49 each and then 14-18 weeks of feeding and watering them... ehhhhhh, we nixed the idea! (again) 

Maybe a rabbit trio??  MAYBE a couple of piglets??  Who knows what will come next!! We have the
tomatoes & peppers all started and growing strong! In another couple of weeks, we are hoping that the night temps will be warm enough to move the seedlings out to the greenhouse! 

LOTS of busy-ness happening all over the place!  Spring time is a wonderful time of year!

 

 
 

Christmas Jam & A Lesson Learned

It's that time of year... I've only been waiting only since mid-end of winter, 

when I couldn't find any fresh cranberries in the grocery store anymore!!!

I was shopping last week and I SAW THEM!! 

They were beautiful! 

I could NOT resist and I bought 5 bags of fresh cranberries!! 

(Then of course, I HAD to buy 4 pounds of fresh strawberries and 5 giant oranges!)

I made Christmas jam for the first time just before Christmas last year and saved only 

2 small jars for our consumption! 

That was a mistake... for it is truly delicious, and I had no clue that fresh cranberries 

were only available seasonally! 

I set out yesterday to make 5 batches of my new favorite!

I bought 4 dozen jars to use as gifts ... 

the store only had 2 dozen of my 'tried and true' beloved, Ball jars... 

so I opted to get 2 dozen of a different 'off' brand. 

They were pretty enough and would make for great gifts!

It's a good thing that I water bath my jams... because 

I couldn't really tell if the seals took or not before!

 In case you are wondering about the recipe.... here it is! 

SUPER EASY, SUPER DELICIOUS 

and a 

SUPER CHRISTMAS GIFT! 

 My lesson learned...  stick with Ball Jars!! 

I Jumped Into the Deep End of the .... OILS

I had heard about Essential Oils over the past few years... but finally decided to make the JUMP into actually becoming a Young Living distributor in January 2016!

WHY are you just hearing about this now??   Well... I wasn't too sure about them. I wanted to take my time and try them myself first and see if there was something to this claim of EOs being as incredible as people say they are!! I figured for a $160 investment I could like them or leave them.

MY CONCLUSION!!! I have a long way to go in my learning, but YES, I AM SOLD ON THEM!!

My learning curve has been much slower then I would like due to distractions and demands at home but, I can tell you this....

I am still intrigued and love all the ways to use them!! 

My CURRENT favorites are:

* A roller made from Lavender & Purification with a carrier oil (oil or fractured coconut oil) to use behind the ears when you feel the fluid building.... helps to prevent ear infections! (kid safe)

* A pain cream I made using shea butter & coconut oil and a combo of oils including panaway & peppermint and a few others!

* An Antibiotic bomb!! YUP... it may sound crazy, but a combo of the oils taken in pill form work with your body to fight off some of the infections (ear, sinus etc) that creep up on us in the winter months!

AND... I can't wait to try making dryer balls and making my own dish & laundry soaps!!

Are You Curious Yet??

Are you thinking about joining me on this amazing adventure? This is the starter kit..... all for $160.00!!! PLEASE email me if you are thinking about it... I'll do my best to answer questions!!

What exactly comes in my Premium Starter Kit?

• An essential oils collection with 10 of Young Living’s most popular oils {Lemon, Lavender, Peppermint, DiGize, Thieves, Copaiba, PanAway, R.C. Purification, Frankincense}
• A bonus oil {Stress Away} to bring your collection up to 11
• Diffuser
• Essential oil sample sachets
• Essential oil sample bottles
• Essential oil sample sharing cards
• 2 packets of NingXia Red
• 1 roller fitment

THE MOST FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION.....

HOW MUCH DO I HAVE TO SPEND EACH MONTH AFTER JOINING???  

ANSWER: nothing!!   (ONLY $50 per year to maintain)   

By signing up as a wholesale member, you will get 24% off retail prices which is the only way to go!  There is NEVER, ever any pressure to “sell” anything. I promise.

You can click on this link click here  to join my group and be sure to use 
my ID # 3723539  when answering the question 'who introduced you to Young Living'!

Please email me with questions if you are interested....     

mcblake64@yahoo.com 

Girl's Night Out

I had been looking forward to this night for a LONG time...

at least 3 months and it finally happened!!

We (3 friends and I) went to Kil'n Time on 

Main street in Plymouth and we had a blast creating 

and laughing and working hard on our Master pieces!

 As you can see all the important things are here....

an easel, paint, brushes, water... more water, iced tea and chocolate!

Ta-da....  all ready to hang up and enjoy!

Can't wait for the next one!!

Bread Bowl Pizza

There was a short video that made its way around Face Book a little while ago.... 

it showed how to make a pizza like dinner using a round loaf of bread!

I have tried it TWICE actually and plan to again! 

It was DELICIOUS and easy to make!!

I used a hard, artisan bread ... 

Cut the top off and scoop out the bread from the bottom part.

It will look like an empty bread bowl!

 Now for the fun part!! 

Add what would be the toppings... but in this case

it's the filling!! I used spaghetti sauce, a mozzarella block of cheese

cut into slices, chunks of ham, peppers, fresh basil and fresh spinach!

Layer the toppings and sauce ending with the 

mozzarella cheese and put the top on!!

At this point, the original recipe called for wrapping it in

tin foil and putting something weighty on top for about 

half an hour, but I skipped this part!! Top the bread with

a grated cheddar blend (or whatever kind you like).

Bake in an oven preheated to 350* 

for about 30 minutes!!

Cool just a bit and cut it up for serving!!

I found cutting was the most difficult part, HOT and messy

but well worth it! It is sooo yummy!!

My second time making it I sauteed up some 

home made sweet sausage, vidalia onions and sweet yellow

peppers. I used the traditional spaghetti sauce and sliced mozzarella

cheese along with some sliced black olives!! That combination 

was very good too!! 

My NEXT time making this I will use an Alfredo sauce with the mozzarella

cheese and sautee' up some bacon, boneless chicken, vidalia onions and 

broccoli!! I can't wait to try this!! It is a great combo for regular pizza, so 

I'm thinking it will be fantastic in this pizza bowl too!!

That's all for tonight.... 

Hope you are enjoying whatever you

are doing! God bless you!

Bread In A Bag... with Kids

The 3 grands and I had fun today! 

Here's the end result.... then I'll show you the process!

I gave each child a quart freezer zipper top style bag and to each bag we added:

1/2 Cup flour

1/2 TBSP sugar

1 tsp. yeast 

1/2 Cup WARM water 

Squeeze the air out of the bag and seal.

Squish the bag with hands until well mixed.

Let it rest 10  minutes.... bubbles will form!

Open the bag and add :

1/2 Cup flour

1 1/2 TBSP oil

1/4 tsp. salt

 Seal the bag and squish with hands again, mixing well!

Add the last 1/2 Cup of flour and mix again the same way.

Remove the dough from the bag onto a lightly floured surface

and knead for 5-10 minutes until it is smooth.

Form into loaf shape and put into a greased mini loaf pan!
You can also double this recipe and use a regular sized loaf pan if you want.

Cover with a clean warm, damp towel (I don't usually cover mine)
and allow the dough to rise... doubling in size, about 30 minutes.

Bake in a 375* oven for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown!

Remove from oven and cool out of pans on cooling racks!

Not only is it a fun project, but a delicious one too!