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Simple Living

http://www.amazon.com/Simple-Living-days-stuff-ebook/dp/B009FKUGDW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1348455020&sr=8-1&keywords=simple+living+-+30+days+to+less+stuff+and+more+life

Here is a book that can change your life & your outlook on life!  Sometimes we all need a little help getting to the Simple Living. This book does just that! I was so glad to read the simple steps towards simplicity. I am continuing on this journey to get rid of clutter in my life.

Babies

We have baby ducks! They are Muscovies. The last time we had babies the critters got them so we are praying these will survive! There are six cute little balls of yellow following their momma wherever she goes! it is so cute!

 I had wondered how Miss Kitty was getting a drink! Now I know! She balances pretty good up there!

Lamentations 3:21-27 Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him." The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young.

Finally!

I finally got some produce out of my garden. I picked some tomatoes & a handful of beans!

This was all I could carry so I went back out with a big bowl & picked the rest of the ripe tomatoes!

Today I made salsa!

Fourteen beautiful jars sitting on my counter cooling! Yeah!

Proverbs 16:3 Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.

The Practical Housekeeper

I have some pictures from one of my antique kitchen books-The Practical Housekeeper.

I love the old artwork in my antique books! I could not get this 2nd one to turn but it is still a beautiful picture! I hope you enjoy them!

Psalm 57:1 Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, for in you my soul takes refuge.



Look At What I Made Today!

I made this cute little bag today from a pattern at made by rae! It is soooooo cute & super easy!
I USED OLD JEANS & RECYCLED FABRIC TO MAKE THIS! Sorry about the caps! The lining for the purse is the same fabric as the rim. I love it! I am going to make a bit bigger one next time!


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Saving Seed

I have been saving seeds for the last couple of years & it has been a money saver! Here is a picture of lettuce saved from last years seed! As you can see it has gone to seed & I will harvest it when the flower heads are dry! Doesn't it make a beautiful flower?

Proverbs 30:5 Every word of God is flawless; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.

Beauty Without Rain

Here is what I found blooming this morning! All with out any rain!

Isn't it amazing what God can do!

Psalm 33:8 Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.

All Without Rain

Look what I found in the garden this morning! The squash are starting to produce even without any rain or watering!

We love the yellow summer squash just lightly sauteed in butter with some garlic tossed in at the end! Yummy!
I am continuing to water the rest of the garden hoping to get something out of it this year! I dug a hill of potatoes & they are doing well also.

Black sky

Lots of wind, black sky but NO rain. We need it pretty badly around here!  The plants are starting to get yellow leaves which is not a good sign.

We lost 5 chickens to the heat yesterday! Heat index was 105 degrees.

Psalm 37:7 be still before the Lord & wait patiently for Him.

It is sooooo hard to be still!!!!

It is sooooooo hard to wait patiently! I am trying my hardest!

New Project!

Here is my latest project. Some of you may remember when we did the pantry I found hard wood floors underneath the carpet! Well today I am starting to take some of it up. Here is the before shot!

Awful 70's orange carpet!

Carpet left foam stuck to the floor! Taking it up all by hand! No power tools here!

This is what it looks like when the carpet & foam are gone!

I have one more small corner to do under the dresser-I need help moving it!!

I can't wait to start on the kitchen!!

Hot One Today!

These are my beans! They are growing but not much because they need rain! We are supposed to get close to 100 degrees today with no rain in sight! I am afraid the garden is going to be toasted soon!

Staying inside today due to the heat. I have the house all closed up & it is cool in here now. We do not have the air on as of yet! We will see what this afternoon brings!! Usually we don't have to use the air til August because it stays cool in here with all the shade trees. But once the humidity hits then it doesn't stay so cool!

Going to work on some decluttering today! I have some catch up to do for the month of June! usually I go throught & get rid of 50 things a month & so far only have 5 in the box! Better get busy!!

Prairie Flower Farm: My New "Sweet Tomato Pin Keep" Needs A Home.....Pa...

Prairie Flower Farm: My New "Sweet Tomato Pin Keep" Needs A Home.....Pa...: Good morning sweet ladies, All day yesterday I ran from the garden watered 4 tomatoes.....ran back to the house.......worked on the new ...

Isn't this the cutest thing you have seen lately!?!?

This Is How We Do It!

This is how we put up hay for our goats. We mow it & rake it. Then we pick it up by hand. We keep it in an old enclosed corn crib so it stays dry. It is labor intensive but we enjoy it! We are hoping for more rains so the hay will grow-we need to put some more up.

My husband has a collection of old tractors that we use. We don't have any fancy new equipment. We like doing the farm the old fashioned way!

Psalm 31:24 Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord.

We Got Some!

We got some lovely rain last night! Everything is so nice & green this morning! I made the rounds in the garden & picked some lettuce for supper but had to stay out of most of the rows due to the wonderful mud!!

The asparagus is doing great even though it has been dry. The male plants are putting out seed pods. I collect these after they are dried & red to plant for next year! I have had great luck starting it from seed. I don't cut anything off them for a couple of years but am enlarging my bed every year!

Here is a picture of them green. They will turn bright red when they are ready to harvest.

Isaiah 46:4 Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He, I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.

Despite the Heat

The garden is growing despite the heat! I have been watering it to keep it alive! Here is some pics from this mornings garden!

The tomatoes & peppers are continuing despite the heat!!

My chickens love when I weed in the garden as they get a salad!! HAHA!

We are still praying for rain here!

Psalm 42:11 Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.



Hot!

It is going to  be a hot one today! I got my gardening done early this morning so that I would not be out in this heat! I am trying to decide if I need to mow or not?!? It is so hot & I don't want the grass to dry up & die!

It is a good day to stay in & do inside work. I have laundry in & have listed some new items at my Etsy store. Now I have a couple of crafts to get done before this week ends sale at Coal Miners Days in Melcher-Dallas!

Ephesians 6:18 Pray in the Spirit at all times with all kinds of prayers, asking for everything you need.

Father God-we need rain for the garden & crops. Praise you for all your great works!

Good afternoon!

It has been a busy day! We had vacation Bible School today at church & kids had a lot of fun! They also learned a lot! We are always looking for fun crafts & such to do with the kids-if anyone has any great ideas let me know!

Still waiting on some rain! We got a little Saturday night but not much! Up in the 90's today!

Proverbs 30:5 Every word of God is flawless; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.

Wait

As dry as it has been the flowers have been beautiful this year! They just don't seem to last very long!
Still waiting on rain here!

Psalm 27:14 Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.

Why does it seem so hard for us to wait? Why can't we trust Him when He tells us to wait?

Egyptian Walking Onions

The Egyptian Walking Onions are doing very well this year! I think I am going to be able to sell some finally this year! If anyone is interested in some let me know!They are a perennial onion. I have had my beds for 4-5 years already! They have survived a flood & drought so they are very tolerate  to weather changes.

Jeremiah 17:10 I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve.

Search me & know me Father-let there be no evil thing found in me!

Garden

The beans are up but not by much! As you can see they are not growing very fast! We desperately need rain. It is cloudy right now but there is not any rain forcasted. I am hoping that maybe there will be a scattered one hit us sometime today!  I was so hoping to be able to share my garden this year with some of the elderly in our church! Most of them don't garden anymore because they don't want the worry about falling! Yet they are a generation that depended on their gardens! Everyone loves a fresh garden tomato, right?!?

Oh about the war! We won last nights skirmish! We screwed the doors shut & no chickens were lost! Yeah!!

Psalm 135:5-7 I know the Lord is great, that our Lord is greater than all gods. The Lord does whatever pleases Him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths. He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth; He sends lightening with the rain and brings out the wind from His storehouses.

We Have War!

When I got up to chore this morning I found both doors to the birds ripped off & 2 dead chickens! Grrrr! This means war! We have had to screw the doors shut to keep out the raccoons before so I guess we will have to go back to this for a bit!  Needless to say there won't be pictures of this today!

All the rain we got has dried up & I am back to watering everyday. I am worried we won't get much from the garden this year at this rate!

Psalm 89:11 The heavens are Yours, and Yours also the earth; You founded the world and all that is in it.

Rain!

We got some rain last night! Yeah! I don't know how much but everything is green & soaked. You can see in the picture just what a little rain will do! It makes the weeds just pop out!

These were pretty small yesterday but the rain last night they have more than doubled in size!! Whoa! Guess what I will be doing in the next couple of days!

We lost another goose last night! We have a critter who is coming & helping themselves to our birds! Grrrr! We fight this battle all the time! One year we lost 21 chickens in a weeks time to a raccoon. Grrrr! This one carries the entire bird off so it is not a coon. We are thinking a fox but not sure.  So frustrating!

Psalm 126:3 The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy!

Beauty or Weed?

Imagine finding this flower ! Just look at the coloring & the beauty of it! I think it is very pretty! But it is a weed & I must pull them so they don't take over! It reminds me of the story Jesus told of the seed that was cast & choked out by the thorns.

I so wanted to let this pretty flower grow but I know that if I do then more will follow & my crop will be ruined. So I pull & pull. If we let "weeds of life" (sin) grow up in our life it will choke out our walk with Christ. We must pull & get rid of these things!

Luke 8:7 Other seed fell among the thorns, which grew up with it & choked the plants.

Knee High by 4th of July!

I think the corn is already hip high & it is only mid-June! Now for more rain & it will go crazy!

After the one rain that we received it shot up & turned green almost instantly! It was amazing to watch!

I have been moving mulch again today in the yard. It has been a great day for it with a slight breeze to cool me off as I work!

Next I want to paint the LP tank but may have to wait for fall now. It looks pretty rough right now.

I picked lettuce again this morning for lunches. My husband likes to take a big salad for lunch every day to work! I try to vary them-Taco salad, BLT salad, egg salad, etc. This way it is not the same old salad every day! I have been enjoying a salad also!


2 Corinthians 4:18 What we see will last only a short time, but what we cannot see will last forever.

Waiting

It is another day on the farm! We are waiting & praying for rain. The clouds have been there but nothing has dropped for us! Therefore if I want anything from the garden I must water. It is a good thing we are on well water or the cost of a garden would be too prohibitive.

As you can see it all is pretty dry. I love using cattle panels for my tomatoes! They usually grow over 6 ft. tall & they are great support. I run one down each side of the row to cage them in.

The beans are finally popping up. Yeah! Now to keep them alive! The summer squash have also peaked their little heads out!

I did not mow yesterday has the lawn thankfully has not grown much either! It seemed odd for it to be Tuesday & I did not mow! We are creatures of habit aren't we?

Psalm 68:19 Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.

Irises & Spinach

The irises were just beautiful despite the lack of rain!

Here is one of mine!

It is a really pale yellow!

I love to plant flowers that come up every year! It gives me something to look forward to when spring arrives!  Every year I add more & hope to eventually just sit back (haha) & watch the color show!

I am experimenting with spinach today. I have picked a large bowlful & know we won't get it all eaten today so I am going to attempt to freeze it! I know that it can be done because you can buy it that way at the store. I have consulted my Rodale's Putting Food By book & it says to blanch it for 2 minutes then cool quickly & freeze. I hope it works because we both like spinach!

2 Samuel 22:31 As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is flawless, He is a shield for all who take refuge in Him.

Gardens

The potatoes are growing like crazy. We tried something new this year-we planted them in tires. We are hoping to see more potatoes by doing this. I will keep you posted.

Th rain we got on Thursday was great but we are ready for more. I will have to water the garden if I expect to get anything out of it this year. It only adds to more early morning chores.

Psalm 121:1-2  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.

Beautiful Day!

Finally a great day here! Working in the garden is a pleasure when the breeze is cool & the sun is shining. Going to have to pick more lettuce & spinach as it is growing like gang busters!



Dan & I went to pick up some tractor tires this am in Webster City-2 hour drive at 7am! It was great! We love to take drives & look at the countryside!

I took an order from my Etsy site into the post office & of course had to make a detour to go to the Teen Challenge Garage Sale! I love to go garage saling!!

Hope you have a great week end!

Colossians 4:2 Continue praying, keeping alert, and always thanking God.

Summer?

It is June 1st. But when I went out to chore this morning the thermometer said 40 DEGREES! THAT IS 8 DEGREES ABOVE FREEZING! How crazy is that?!? The sun is out so maybe it will warm up a bit.

This week end needs to find me out in the garden weeding! I am sure this rain & sun are going to make the weeds spring up like crazy! We are having a wonderful garden salad for lunch today! It is so nice to be able to grow your own food! Makes you feel a bit self reliant!

Yesterdays rainy day left me getting plenty done-laundry, knitting, pictures, roast in oven-YUMMY! Having the oven on warmed the house nicely! Oh the smell! Love the smell of a roast cooking!

Acts 20:32 Now I commit you to God and to the word of His grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all thoses who are sanctified.

Rain! Yeah!

Finally a nice gentle rain! The garden needs it so badly! I am hoping for this to stick around all day! It needs to soak the ground pretty good for it to help!

It is a great day to stick something in the oven- so I have a pork roast in low & slow all day! Yummy! It may be a good day for some zucchini bread also! I like to do a couple of things at a time in the oven on cooler days!

I will be working on taking more pictures of sale items for my Etsy shop today as I can't get outside to the garden! I hope to get more listed this week end.

I also have a knitted vest for a certain little boy that I am working on so today might be a good day for that! I love rainy days! It is so nice to have time to do inside stuff for a change!

Enjoy your day where ever you are!

Psalm 139:14 I praise you because you made me in an amazing and wonderful way.
There are things that God has made only for you to do-find them today!

Needing Rain

Well, the garden is in & now we are waiting for rain. I am watering the plants everyday & the rows with seeds every other day! I have beans popping up. We have the trellis already in place as when they grow they grow fast!

The goats are done having babies for this spring! I ended up with 1 buckling & 1 doeling!  But with no rain we are having to feed them extra hay as the grass is not growing very well.

The duck is still setting on her eggs so hopefully we will have ducklings running around soon!

Going out to the garden to pick some lettuce & radishes for supper!

Psalm 46:10 Be still & know that I am God.

SPRING HAS ARRIVED!

The clematis is in full bloom! It has hundreds on it this year!

Two New Babies!

Faith had her babies today! She had 2 little boys. One is black & white, the other is brown & white! The black & white one is in the house-not sucking-so will have to tube then feed him. The other one is up & about & sucking on his own!

HERE IS A REPOST OF MY FAVORITE RECIPE!

Eggs! Eggs! More Eggs! (not sure where the pics went)
What do you do when you are overcome with eggs from your lovely ladies? Why you can always make pasta! I made several kinds last week.




First you put 2 cups flour in a bowl. Make a well in the center. Add 1 1/2 tsp salt & 2 eggs. Mix with a heavy fork. As it comes together in a ball take it out & knead it until smooth & elastic. You don't want it to be too sticky so if you need to add a small amount of flour.





Next you roll the dough out to about 1/8 inch thick.



Next I lay my dough out on flour sack towels to dry briefly. Usually until I am done rolling out the other dough. The it is time to decide what shape pasta you are going to make! This is the fun part! I have several pictures of different shapes that I made last week. You can make almost anythign that you can buy with the exception of the tube pasta unless you have a pasta maker with those attachments.







Ravioli cutter











Finished ravioli.











Cutting egg noodles.











Tortellini











Finished egg noodles.





I usually let them dry for a couple of hours. Then I either cook them or freeze them. They make the best home made chicken noodle soup!! Yummy!!



Here is the finished display after the ceiling is done!

It has been fun finding things around the house to put up there.

SPRING IS HERE!

It is really almost here! I saw my first robin this morning. She was singing to me from the walnut tree-announcing her arrival!  I know when she arrives that the warmer days of spring are not too far behind. Thank you Father for helping me survive another winter!  Thank you for sending the spring & new life!

REMODEL

We have been tackling a remodeling project since December & it is soon to be finished!! It is exciting to see the progress! My husband & I have done all of it by ourselves & that is quite a feeling!!

Here are some before pictures:

This is the suspended ceiling which we took out!

This shows the 10 foot ceilings hiding underneath!

This shot is all of the wires & ceiling gone!

Here is the new ceiling fan & light!

Here is a shot of the car siding going up!

Here is a shot of the ceiling after it is painted!

It looks just like bead board!

Now I have space over my cupboards for some displaying of antique items & such! We have some trim work & painting yet to do & it will be completely done!!