What's in My Basket?

Eggs!  Two of them!

Usually not such an excitement, but the hens have not laid for over a month!  Usually there is a slowing down of egg production in the fall, but I have never had all the hens stop producing at the same time.

This past week I have given them more light by putting a lightbulb into the hen house and turning it on in the morning and off at about 8pm.  Obviously it has helped!  Yeah! Fresh eggs!  (I can't tell you how embarrassing it is to have to actually purchase eggs)

I'm Smelling Clean and Fresh

Who.... me?



It was high time for Kaiser to have a bath. Luckily we have a walk in shower which is perfect for not only showering us, but for entrapping dogs and giving them a wash too. Hopefully this will cut down on the weekly dust bunnies which collect under furniture. Considering the boxer is a short haired breed the certainly shed ALOT.

Homemade Dog Shampoo

2 cups warm water
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup Dawn dish liquid

I combined and mixed all in a jar and splashed on dog and scrubbed. I imagine it may be easier dispensing on said do via a spray bottle, bit I didn't have one.

Do not wash dog's head with this mixture as it contains vinegar (ouch!)

Tackling the Entry

In my latest ongoing organizing frenzy, today Husband and I worked in the garage. This is our main entry to the house that we use and also the dumping ground. I have been wanting to tackle this for a long time, but unfortunately didn't have any oomph to do it.

Before



After



Yesterday we bought some fancy new mouse traps which we set up last night. This morning we have three less mice residing in the garage. Needless to say there was also a lot of mouse poop and a big mouse nest in the garage that we cleaned up.

A project was also begun today.... we were give two buffet cabinets by Husband's mother when she was alive. The have both been stored away and today we washed one down and Husband took off the doors and hardware in preparation to give it a good sanding and new stain. Unfortunately I forgot to take a before photo, but once complete I will make sure to get a picture of it.

I am excited to get it finished so I can put in the dining room and use it to display my china which is stored away.... In the garage of course!

Baking Fun

Yesterday's baking consisted of two loaves of cinnamon raisin bread. I just use my regular bread recipe kneaded in the bread machine then I roll it out and spread the dough with butter, sprinkle on brown sugar, cinnamon and raisins. Roll it up place in baking pan and bake.

The apple pie was made with apples that I stored away in the cool garage. One of my clients had beautiful apples and plums that she said would go to waste, so my parent's and I picked her trees clean. I hate to see fruit go to waste and these apples are wonderful winter apples which keep well. I can't believe she was buying apples and was letting her own fall off the tree!

In addition to baking I have also begun cleaning drawers and cupboards out and to date I have done the pantry, the junk drawer under the phone, and the lazy Susan which houses my baking supplies and food storage containers and lids.

Control

Things in our lives haven't gotten any better. It's just a nightmare that keeps on giving. I think the worst is having the feeling of no control in the situation.

But, I realized that I can regain control in our household. I have let things slide so much over the past year and a bit as we haven't gotten any joy out of our little homestead. Not much joy period.

This week I have been baking and making soup. I haven't done that in a very long time. Tonight I dug out some pork fat and rendered it into lard for more baking.

I know it doesn't sound like much but just doing that little bit has made me feel better. Like I actually have some say and can do something in my life again.

Help Baby Lincoln

A long absence

I feel guilting not having blogged in almost a year.  I have thought about it several times but have just not been able to bring myself to sit down and write.

The past year has been a very difficult one for our family and we are still struggling with some personal issues.  There has been a lot of stress, a lot of crying and worry.  Our lives here have been turned upside down and our life on the acreage, our gardens, etc have fallen by the wayside as we try to cope.

This year we did manage to plant a few tomatoes, cukes and peppers in the greenhouse - but none that we started ourselves.  The garden has been planted with most of the surface covered in weeds at the moment.  We only put in potatoes, kale, cabbage, zucchini, radish, onion and lettuce this year.  I'm happy that we didn't plant the full repertoire of latter years - I wouldn't be able to deal with it all.  I figure we can pick up whatever veggies we need at the local farmer's market.

This year we had a tent caterpillar invasion.  There were millions crawling everywhere and on every surface.  The only way we could use our sundeck was to spray wasp killer at the bottom edge of the deck and  caterpillar's would not cross over the line.  Let me tell you it was gross!  The leaves of all surrounding trees were stripped bare, but nature is amazing and within a few weeks new leaves re-emerged.

Over the past couple of weeks we have  a couple of owls hanging around our property.  I'm not sure what kind but a fairly large grey owl which sits about 1.5 feet tall.  We hear them screetching over the day and at night.  There seems to be quite a lot of mice around so perhaps that is what has attracted them.  Feast away owls!