Our Home on a Beautiful Day

I started taking some pictures of our home on a lovely day outside. But, unfortunately I ran out of space on the camera so I will have to take some more coming up the drive and around the home on another pretty day. The little building in one of the pictures may have been a grain storage, cold storage or water house. We're not too sure. But, we think it's pretty! Another picture is of one of our pastures that the cows graze on and the other just to the side of our barn.

Our Ugly Turkeys!!!

Here's some pictures of our ugly, little turkeys. They are actually growing on us though. When Matthew goes down each evening (as he is right now) to secure them in the stall, they come running really, super fast towards him. They look so funny! They follow him around everywhere. I think he might have a tougher time butchering them when the time comes. We'll see.....

Our New Dutch Oven

Here is a dutch oven we bought at a flea market today for $25. It is a 15 quart oven - huge! We don't have a clue as to how old this one is and there is no brand name on it. If anyone knows by looking at the picture, please leave us a comment.

I love cooking with cast iron now that I know how to season it. Having it seasoned right, you can cook an egg on it and it will slide out just as easily as teflon. Matthew worked on getting the rust spots out of it today and tomorrow morning I will season it. It will look dark and shiny like our little pan to the right of it when I am done. Here's how to season your cast iron cookware: http://www.dutchovencookware.com/lodge-cookware.html

The Girls Having Fun Together

The girls are starting to play together. I love it! They are so fun to watch and play with myself. I put them in the toy basket and tip it back and forth. They go nuts! They are truly a delight.

Bath Time

Here's the girls taking a bath. They do pretty good in there together now. It's a nice break for me that now I don't have to hold Hannah up with my left arm the whole time. Elisabeth is not a happy girl when it is time to take her out. She screams every single time. She's having way too much fun to leave!

Chickens!

Our chickens are already 10+ weeks old. They have been out in the hen house for a couple of weeks now. They are so sweet! They come running up to us for food anytime we go down to the barn. One little black chicken is our favorite. She is the sweetest as she is not afraid of us. She always comes very near us and lets us pick her up very easily. I named her Henrietta. One of the Plymouth Rocks (the black and white) we think is a rooster. He's the one with the red neck and crown. So, if that is the case we will have not only eggs but more chickens later. We both thought that they would stick pretty bad but surprisingly, there is very little odor from them. Matthew takes good care of the animals though and keeps everything so clean. By the way... we bought 3 turkeys last week, one Matthew will take care of for Thanksgiving dinner! They should get up to 35 pounds or so. We'll post pictures later. They're kind of ugly birds unless they are on your table.

Fresh Eggs!!!

They aren't from our chickens yet but we received these from our neighbor who raises chickens. Aren't they pretty? They are long gone as they were delicious.

Hannah and Mommy

Here's our big update from the past 4-6 weeks. Here's a picture of me and my little Hannah. She's almost 9 months old now. I am feeling better now. I have never had too much of a problem with morning sickness but this pregnancy I felt sick!!! Our due date changed to November 1st and so today I am 16 weeks along. I should be feeling the baby move any day now. In just over 3 weeks we will go in for our 2nd ultrasound and will find out if we are having a boy or a girl. We can't wait! We would love to have a little boy now. I have always wanted a boy where most of my friends always wanted a girl.

Yesterday I went out shopping for maternity clothes. Let me share a story with you from a post I wrote up yesterday:

"We were recently blessed with a little extra money and my husband shared with me to buy some maternity clothes. I was so looking forward to this as I've only bought them at the thrift stores with the other pregnancies and just have nothing. Since we live near the ocean, there are no maternity clothes stores around here. I really wanted to find a long dress, skirt and top or two today. So, I drove the 2 hours it takes to a major city. I went to a well known maternity shop and asked if they had any long skirts/dresses. The reply was no. Some of the dresses were to the knee and I tried on 1 or 2 but they were so much emphasizing the breasts that I couldn't even consider it. And I really wanted a long one anyways. Most of the tops I tried on were about the same. It was disappointing as it was so hard to walk out of there because they had the cutest, prettiest patterns of clothing. I tried another store and another one and found just worldly looking maternity clothes. I just wanted something pretty! So, I started driving home and a song was on the radio. I don't know the name of the song but she sang, "I choose to be holy, separated for you my Master. Ready to do Your will." I felt the Lord near me and I felt the peace of God. I knew there was something more to what happened today. I felt like maybe this is what I needed to really give me that "push" to start sewing my own clothes - and I don't know how to sew. I shared with my husband on the cell phone what had happened. After returning home he shared that the Lord spoke to him for me to sign up for sewing classes and that this would be a blessing and a joy to our family. This would be another part of being separate from the world. I was just delighted and knew this was what the Lord wanted. I then made a phone call to a quilt shop. The lady shared with me that yes, they teach sewing and the price she shared was so cheap I couldn't believe it. They also can provide me with a good, used sewing machine for $50. We are both so excited. We were prepared for me to drive as far as 2 hours away for lessons and here's a place that's local. Anyways, I remember driving home today thinking how hard it is for me to buy maternity clothes today that are modest and how it will be impossible for our children when they are older. Now I can teach our children and boy are we going to have fun. I just thank the Lord for what He is doing."

I am so looking forward to learning how to sew. The beautiful fabrics out there and patterns. I have a creative eye and know I can do much better than what I find in the stores. I will share some of my creations in a few months or so when I can actually put something together. I can't wait! Also, we ordered a electronic piano - a good one. It should be arriving in the next couple of days. I will be learning how to play that as well. So, I will have a busy summer. I think the time will fly by during this pregnancy. Matthew will start filleting fish in a couple of months again at the docks. We are planning on canning 200 lbs of tuna this year for ourselves and a few relatives. We are almost our from our canning last year. It is just the best.

Razor Clams

Last weekend Matthew went down to get some razor clams. He was home in less than an hour and I thought that he must have forgotten something. Nope, he had already limited out at 15! So, we made chowder that night, of course it was delicious - with bacon and white wine, potatoes, celery, parsley and a few other spices. Delicious! Then Matthew went back the next couple of days, limited out again and we had fried razor clam steaks breaded in panko the next night. The only thing missing was the malt vinegar. We still have 2 bags of razors in the freezer as well as leftover chowder.

As For Our Calf...

When our calf was just 17 days old, our neighbor Carol called us up. Remember, she is the one who helped birth this calf from her old cow Mary whom she had for 19 years until we bought her last year. Anyways, she wanted to know if Matthew would be willing to sell the calf to her. She wanted to buy her for her grandchildren who live next door to her (I personally think she wanted to have her because her favorite cow Mary died and this calf came from her - just some sentimental feelings there). So, after some consideration we thought it best to bless our neighbor with this beautiful calf. Matthew was sad for the first 24 hours as he had grown very, very attached to this calf whom he had bottle fed for nearly 3 weeks. But, at the first sound of laughter of the children on the hill with the calf and later him seeing them with her, his woes went away. Here she is in this picture just a week or two old.

Mr. Yuck

Sorry I haven't posted much this month. I really do have a lot to share but am feeling the morning sickness at my worst right now. Usually for most women it starts getting better about now. I haven't really had much trouble with morning sickness before but am this pregnancy. I have discovered I can't eat sweets. I can eat soup, sandwiches, cereal, eggs and diet 7up. No beef or garlic please!!!!!!!! Here is a picture of how I feel right now! Anyways, give me a couple of weeks and I'm hoping to be feeling just fine enough to post some pictures of our HUGE chickens that are about to be set into their coop, our wonderful girls and anything else I can think of. Talk to you soon!

Our Baby Calf

Here is a picture of our new baby calf at 2 days old. It's too bad the momma died, not only for the calf but we had to pay $60 for milk replacer and Carol our neighbor who used to own Mary was going to show my husband how to milk her.

Birth and Death All in One Day

Well today was my birthday and I think I will remember it for a while. I took the early morning to myself and went looking at some maternity clothes all by myself. It was relaxing, but it wasn't too long before I was wanting to be home with my kids. Especially on my birthday. I ended up buying the girls a few cute things at a thrift store... a Laura Ashley top for Elisabeth as well as a warm, outdoor vest in a beautiful blue. Don't worry, I'll get pictures! Hannah a comfy nightie.

At around 3:00 I started making my birthday cake. I love cooking and have been wanting to make a cake for some time. I chose the Perfect Birthday Cake out of Dorie Greenspans "Baking From My Home To Yours". I was just getting ready to start the delicious buttercream frosting when Matthew came up from the barn a huffin and a puffin. Our cow Mary was starting labor. He called our neighbor Carol who had Mary for 19 years and she shared that it would probably be in the next half hour before the calf would be born. So, I proceeded to make the frosting and Matthew went back down to the barn. A few minutes later he called on the cell phone and asked for a sharp knife. I didn't ask questions and grabbed the knife he filets fish with and put on my jacket and shoes and quickly went down to the barn. Carol was already coming down our driveway as something was wrong. Mary was laying on the ground in her stall and kind of panting. Our other neighbors came and they with my husband put a chain around the calfs presenting hooves/legs. They waited for a contraction so Mary would push and they would pull. Well, the contraction came and Mary just didn't have it in her to push. I think she was just to old and tired for this anymore. They pulled on the calf during the contraction and my husband started praying out loud. She started coming out and a few seconds later here she was. A beautiful, black, skinny, cute calf. We'll post pictures tomorrow or Saturday when things slow down here.

We all thought all was well. A couple of minutes later they were all trying to stimulate the calf. She was coming around. In the meantime, Mary, her mother started to expel what I thought was the placenta. In just a few seconds it was all out. I asked, "Is that the placenta"? Carol said, "I hope she didn't prolapse". I didn't know what she meant. They came over after tending to the calf and came to the conclusion that Mary did indeed have a prolapsed uterus. Carol said that it was not good (she is probably 65-70 and born and raised in the victorian house next to us. Her dad raised dairy cows, she's been working cows her entire life). They talked for a minute they her daughter who's about 41 asked how long they would have to get the colostrom out of Mary before she died. I was taken back. They were talking about our cow who we loved to feed, visit and scratch on her head, dying. They had Matthew call the butcher in Raymond to come out and went to get the gun. Carol was sad as this had been her cow that gave life to many. Mary would take any calves that would be rejected by their mothers or the mother died, onto her to nurse. She was very docile and just a mother hen (or cow). She could nurse up to 5 calves at one time.

I decided at that point to go on up to the house. I didn't want to be there when she was shot or anything. I came in the house and washed up and finished my frosting. I did some light praying and just kept busy. I was surprised at how I was handling this and knew then that I was just in my calling that God had made me to be (a farmers wife and mother) so I was able to handle it okay. I still haven't cried about it. I then started dinner. Matthew was going to make his spinach lasagna for me. I knew he was going through a hard time so I decided to get dinner together and in the oven for when it would be over. After about an hour Matthew came up and shared that it was over. The butchers came and pretty much shot her in the head immediately and they took her out to the back to bleed her. The girls were still down for their nap so I walked down after some time and they had her up in the air already. It didn't really bother me like I thought it would. It's just part of farm life I guess.

I went in to see Matthew and he was keeping the little calf warm. He was just loving it and handling the situation with Mary very well also. They had expressed enough colostrom for the calf from Mary before she died, so Matthew fed her this by the calf bottle a few times today. He's down situating the stall for the calf right now, making it really small as Carol suggested to keep her warm. We named the new calf Carol Anne since Carol lost her favorite cow, though she sold her to us last year, she's still Carols' in a sense.

My poor husband though. What a day for him. We have a chicken with a mite and it needs to be killed so he has to do away with it tonight. He's never had to kill an animal before. I feel sorry for him. But, we both know this is the way they used to do it. We love the farm life and know that there are going to be some tough times. Our children will learn a lot with life and death on the farm. It will be good for them. As Carol's daughter shared earlier, you can't help but feel close to God during situations like this. I totally agree. So, it was really a good day. A hard day for us, but a good day. We have a beautiful calf now and Matthew is already mommy to her. She's drinking like a little champ.

So, we had some of the best lasagna I've ever made and cake as well. Beautiful cake and lasagna. It was a good birthday. A memorable birthday. A hard birthday. But all good. Thank You Lord.

New pictures coming soon!

I just put up some new posts. See down below. I will be putting up some new posts and pictures within the week on our animals. Our cow is ready to give birth, our chickens are getting huge and I have to show a picture of our friend's beehive he's letting us experiment with this year. He's got nearly 100 hives around the area. So, we'll be back soon!

Hannah's Starting to Move

Hannah is coming up on 8 months already. I can't believe it! She's just starting to sit up for a good length of time and is pushing herself up pretty high on her belly. I don't think it will be too long before she is crawling. Thank God we have the house baby proofed already and we don't have to go through a lot as we did with Elisabeth last year. She showed us everywhere we needed to baby proof.

Out for a Stroll

On sunny days we like packing the kids in the stroller and taking them for a stroll down to the barn to see the cows. This day was sunny and beautiful out but very cold.

Sleeping Pictures...

Here's a couple of pictures of Hannah sleeping. I love the baby pictures where they are sleeping. They look so cute! One day I was feeding Hannah some baby food and she fell asleep! The other day I kept kissing her on her cheek and she fell asleep on me. She has been letting me do this to her for months. All I have to do is kiss her. Isn't that adorable?

Delicious Dishes

The other night I made salami/chicken pizza. It was delicious. I packed on lots of mushrooms, some onions and lots of mozzarella. All that was missing was some olives. We love our homemade pizza.

Last week I made Matthew an apple pie. This was no ordinary apple pie - I included cranberries, currants and some delicious spices. Then for the crust I made up a puff pastry dough instead of the traditional pie dough. It was delicious! I only ate one piece, Matthew already finished it off. I love the berry pies and the cream pies. Now those I better not make or my husband will be the one eating one piece while I indulge in the rest!

Elisabeth's Energy

This is what we get to wake up to every morning! Wow, who needs the coffee? She's constantly on the go, exploring and testing things (and us) all day long. She can be a handfull sometimes. But, boy she is so smart. I've never seen a child so quick to pick up on things or words.

Pretty in Pink!

Finally! I have the hardest time getting cute or pretty pictures of Hannah. Usually, she looks nothing like her pictures. She just is not as photogenic as her sister. Neither is Matthew though. But, here are some lovely pictures of Hannah. Just look at those full lips and pretty cheeks!

Our Ultrasound Today!

We had our ultrasound today and the baby is doing just fine. The image is not our baby but of a 10 week old fetus. I'm right on target for the due date of November 2nd. We got to see the baby's form really well and even got to see him or her kicking and swinging the arms. It is just so wonderful and I love how excited my husband is with each new baby. He even had trouble sleeping last night because he was so excited.


I wish I had a scanner so I could share some of the pictures we have of this little one. I still can't believe we have our 3rd on the way so soon. We knew the Lord wanted us to have a large family as He put this on our hearts almost 2 years ago when I was pregnant with Elisabeth. I was reading a book from John R. Rice a pastor from the 1930's or so. The book is about courtship, marriage and children. I read the chapter on birth control and all my years of all the lies of the world I've been told were replaced by the wonderful Truth of our Lord. All the blessings of having a large family, how unselfish the children become as they have no choice but to share and so many things were opened up to me on this chapter. We believed at the time the Lord wanted us to have 5 children. Now we are thinking He was just trying to prepare us as He may have us have more.


We will be homeschooling. Matthew is gifted in the areas of math and history, while I am gifted in English, reading and writing. Our children have the best of both worlds here. We'll take them out on frequent outings to explore the rich culture of our roots in this country while traveling to National parks in the South where remnants and artifacts of wars remain. We plan on buying a home in Tennessee and having it paid off or nearly paid off. Sixty or so acres would be wonderful. We're raising beef right now, chickens and now my husband is starting to raise bees. I just can't wait to move to really be able to walk in the vision the Lord has put before us. We are blessed to have a vision of where we are going. Now it's just waiting on the Lord to fulfill what He has showed us.


Our third child means a lot to us because we are starting to see the fulfilling of one of the Lord's promises to us - to have a large family. My body is tired, I still haven't lost all of my pregnancy weight from the last time, my age (38 this Friday) is starting to catch up to me in my knee, my foot and my back and slower pace in life. But, I love it! I can't wait for the gray hairs. I'm enjoying coming into middle age... wearing comfortable shoes instead of what's in style, wearing no makeup but some lotion on my face and a tan from being outdoors - I can kiss my kids and not have to worry about getting makeup all over them. I quit dieting finally a few months ago and only put on 3 lbs of pregnancy weight. Exercise is not doing the eliptical or treadmill anymore. I like doing chores around my yard or home to keep healthy and going for a nice walk. Baking a cake or my husband a beautiful apple pie or homemade pizza. It's time to relax and enjoy life for once. I thank God for the changes He's done in me over the years. I thank God I have a husband who knows me and sees me for who I am and I him. The Christian walk is not easy. It is joyful but not easy. And there's always hope for tomorrow.


Okay, now I am going to have to download some pictures to post in the next day or two. Kids, chickens, the bee hive and more. First, I have to get some of the other pictures up first!

Chickens Getting Bigger

Well, here's our chickens 2 weeks later. They have more than doubled in size... I'd almost say they have tripled in size! It'll still be a while til they actually go out to their hen house in our barn, but I sure can't wait to see them in there. I'm really looking forward to our first eggs. We've already thought of a couple of people to give some fresh eggs away for free to when they start coming in abundance. We've been told they start backing up quicker than you think. I think I will use a lot in my baking.

Hannah Sick, Mommy Sick!

Hannah's been sick for a week. She's fine now but she had diarrhea and vomitting for nearly a week. It was a tough time for all of us. She was hungry all the time so she started waking again in the night, more so than when she was born. I had to change her whole outfit 2-3 times a day and she had many baths. She didn't become dehydrated though surpisingly. I was worried about that.

Now why am I feeling sick? Morning sickness! Now why do they call it morning sickness when I feel it all day? Sounds silly to me! I still feel pretty sick as I speak but I am actually happy about it. Apparently many women who don't experience nausea end up having a miscarriage. So, my body is doing what it needs to do. Why do women feel sick? Because the placenta is not fully supporting the baby yet and mommy's hormones need to be in overdrive producing abundant amounts of estrogen. Once the placenta kicks in at about 12 weeks, my body won't be having to produce it all, making me feel ill.

Baby Chicks!!!

A couple of weeks ago we bought some baby chicks. Since we already have a hen house established in our barn, we thought, "Why not"? We bought two each of the following:

Rhode Island Red

Black Austalorp

Ancona

Barred Plymouth Rock

I've heard that once you eat your own eggs you cannot go back to the store bought. Apparently the yolks stand straight up and are a rich orange color. I'm excited to go get my eggs from my chickens every day. In another 4-6 months they should be producing.

The chicks are already a bit bigger as we've moved them into a big crate (they were flying out of their home here) and now my husband is building them a much larger temporary home out of some pallets and wood til we move them to the barn in a few weeks.

Homemade Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken pot pie - before going into the oven and after.

No, the baby chicks are not in the chicken pot pie!

Last week I made my first homemade chicken pot pie. It was delicious! The only problem was I wish I had made just another cup or so of the delicious filling as it wasn't the nice, round dome look that a pie should be. We loved it so much though, I think I will make another one next month. I can't wait now to make a good, apple pie with the crust. I made Matthew a pie like dish with phyllo dough layered on top. He loved it. It had apples, currants, raisins and cranberries. Added was sugar, cinnamon, cardoman, cloves and some other spices I believe, mixed with a little butter. It was delicious. He's been asking me for it again. I think I will try my hand at making my own pastry type phyllo dough since the regular pie dough turned out so beautifully. Our camera doesn't do justice to the pictures though as it's an old camera (10 years or so for digital). Hopefully sometime this year we'll get a new one and we can take some really beautiful pictures of our kids, food and farming!

Happy Family Picture

I think they all look so happy here, I just wish I was in it!

Hannah's Cute Face

Here's some pictures of Hannah's cute face! She's nearly 7 months old now. Though she's still super sweet, she's coming into a screaming mode like Elisabeth did at around this age. I'm not sure what it is that makes them want to scream and arch their back so much, but I think it's kind of funny. She is so dramatic when she does it. You'de never know looking at that sweet, innocent face of hers!

Cooking, Cooking, Cooking!

I am discovering how much I love to cook! So, I will be putting more of my love for cooking on this blog in the future. Last night we had homemade shredded beef tacos. Beef cooked in tons of cumin, salt, dried jalepeno and that's it! The tortillas we've been making for a couple of years now and we decided to make corn ones last night. They were fabulous. My favorite now! Filled with shredded beef, onion, tomato, guacamole, cheese, salsa and sour cream. My mouth is watering thinking about it now.

Okay, here's what I was going to originally post. I went in the cupboard yesterday to get Elisabeth some Gold Fish crackers to snack on and I thought, what am I doing? I could make some homemade cheese crackers and they would be better for her. I would get to enjoy making them also. So, though I don't have a picture of her cheese crackers (the first half of the batch), here's the other half of the batch with the cheese base, rosemary and parmesan. They turned out wonderful. And Elisabeth loved her little crackers. I made hers much smaller and softer. I feel safe now about her not choking on them.

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

I made these wonderful homemade cinnamon rolls the other day. They rose so well that they crowded each other out a little bit. And though I made a tray of them as well, I thought they looked prettier in the pie pan.

This is a special recipe from Matthew's mother who has gone through culinary school. The gooey, cinnamon spread (cinnamon smear) was given to Matthew's mom by her instructor Steve Mione who developed it for one of the airlines. He was paid $2500 for it. So, sorry I can't share the cinnamon smear recipe out of respect for Matthew's mother.

Dutch Baby

What is a dutch baby? It is a German Pancake to die for! I do a lot of reading on baking and came across a recipe for a dutch baby. They looked so delicious I had to try for myself. It makes our American pancakes look and taste pathetic! And anybody can make this! Here is a picture I found on the internet. We devoured ours before I could even think about taking a picture. I think I will make the next one with some very thin sliced apples. Here's the simple recipe:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2. Melt butter in glass pan or casserole dish in the oven.

3. Blend eggs in mixer for a couple minutes

4. Add milk to eggs and blend another minute.

5. Add flour to egg mixture and blend another minute.

6. Pour batter into pan with melted butter.

7. Bake for about 20 minutes, until batter has puffed up and turned golden brown. (It puffs up in the oven but flattens when you take it to serve it).

8. Serve with syrup (or butter, light sprinkling of powdered sugar and homemade raspberry jam). Delicious!

Use these quantities depending on how many people you intend to serve:

Pan Size Butter Eggs Milk & Flour

2-3 quart 1/4 cup 3 3/4 cup each

3-4 quart 1/3 cup 4 1 cup each

4-4 1/2 quart 1/2 cup 5 1 1/4 cup each

4 1/2-5 quart 1/2 cup 6 1 1/2 cup each

Homemade Yogurt - So Easy

This is actually an old picture. I'll take a new one when I make some new yogurt tomorrow.







Recipe:

4 cups milk

1/3 cup powdered milk (for thicker yogurt)

2 Tablespoon yogurt

2 Tablespoons of maple syrup (I like the flavor rather than sugar. You could use a pinch of sugar or honey or another sweetener. The sugar will help the good bacteria form but isn't necessary).

Prepare - turn oven light on and take yogurt out so it gets close to room temperature.

Heat milk to 185 degrees, stir often. If you don't have a candy or meat thermometer it is almost boiling. Cool in fridge to 100 degrees (feels about your body temperature). Stir in yogurt, syrup and powdered milk. Pour into container(s). I use 2 canning jars. Place on flat surface (pan or plate) in oven and cover with a cloth. Check in 4 hours and it should be done.

It is so easy and makes delicious yogurt. I have been doing this for over a year now and love it! I like using Brown Cow. It makes for an interesting texture and I get to eat the cream off the top. Yum! But, any yogurt will do as long as it has cultures. You can freeze a couple of tablespoons of your new batch in the freezer to use for starter yogurt the next time.

New Dish

We went to a swap meet yesterday where I found this pretty, old dish. It is a pale yellow. It is just beautiful to me because it will look beautiful on our table filled with a side dish in our farmhouse in Tennessee one day. I can't wait to start decorating country - farmhouse country. I am really discovering who I am these days and my likes/dislikes. It is fun!

Hannah 6 months old

Here's a couple of pictures of Hannah. I can't believe she's over 6 months old now!