Good Bye May

Wow, its the end of the month already! The monsters only have a few more days of school and summer will be here officially! YEAH! Well, maybe not.... It is never a good sign to have mid 90's the end of May... It usually doesn't lead to a nice summer. But we take what we get and be thankful that its not freezing anymore., at least here.

I made a loaf of sourdough bread last night. Didn't turn out. It did if I was looking for a brick, but since I wasn't into the trash it went. I put the starter in the fridge give it a couple days to rest and see if that will help it any. I picked my first ripe strawberry this morning. It was beautiful and perfect in every way, except it was so sour... LOL! I guess that it was I get for not waiting one more day.... LOL! Since there are more out there I will wait another day or two to give them time to sweeten a bit.

I got out early and weeded the garden a little. I need to do more but I am happy with the progress so far. The only thing that failed was the golden beets. They didn't even show any sign of life. That's ok! I will be planting sugar beets tomorrow in their place. I put up a teepee for the cucumbers to grow up. I hope that helps this year. I will be doing the same for the cantalopes. I still need to run the strings for the beans. Lots to do.... I really should be out there at night doing all this work... But the last time I did that my flashlight scared the neighbor... They think I'm nuts anyways..... Because really, who plants onions and tomatoes in the front yard! Yep, you guessed it!!!

Last year I bought this little plant called soap wart. It did, ok, but it got kind of bushy when it came up in the spring. So I dug, ripped it out of the ground, tossed it into a pot and barely covered the roots with dirt. Then I forgot to water it. Yep, the half-a$$ed gardener strikes again. 

But see it turned out just fine. Aren't the flowers pretty! Plus, it is now out of the ground and in a pot so if we ever do move it can go with me!

Over the weekend we took the monsters to a civil war re-enactment at the living history museum. It was well into the 90's and here they were all dressed to the nines.

And of course I didn't get one picture of the women that were dressed up. Ah, I'm a sucker for a man in uniform... LOL! But the women were dressed very well, that much I did notice.... *wink*

Here are a couple more pictures from around the house.... These are the Dahlia's

Gotta Run,

Yart

Reflections 5-30

Outside My Window...

is a hot sunshiney day with a beautiful blue sky

I am thinking...

If this heat keeps up I will be spending a lot of time in the basement this summer and the strawberries will be ripe soon

I am thankful for...

for the heat and sunshine to dry my clothes and the dehydrated zucchini and summer squash I got dried the other day

From the learning rooms...

that there is a company in New Zealand that still makes the hand crank sock loom (didn't get a picture next time I will)

From the kitchen...

Sourdough bread (still rising)

I am wearing...

knit shorts and a tank top

I am creating...

a mess with all these canning jars

I am going...

to switch loads on the line, bake the bread and tend the garden

I am reading...

nothing really, just been going through all the old mags and taking out what I want

On my mind...

that I have been very lax on prep lately.... And how I am going to rectify that

Around the house...

grass has been cut and I need to get the rest of the strings in for the beans to climb

One of my favorite things...

Taking the monster for ice cream

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:

Put away clothes, finish up the mags, clean out old canning jars

Gotta Run,

Yart

Sunday Canning Links

Since I am gone with the family today, I thought that I should share some very kewl links.

Stout Beer Jelly

Five Simple, Natural Recipes for Homemade Pancake Syrup

Grenadine

Grape Jelly

Pear and Strawberry Bits Jam

How to make baking extracts

Skittles Vodka Tutorial

Gotta Run,

Yart

Link Love

I had a little bit of time on my hands today. Grim was at work and the monsters were with Nana. So I had some time to play on the net! I stumbled across this cute as button blog called Life's a Lasagna, Christine has a great site set up... She shares a ton of great canning recipes and well, you just go on over and have a look for yourself.

Grim installed Mouthy's fan. Yep, we had to buy a new one. The other one when we took it down, the blade holder broke and we couldn't find a replacement, so a new fan had to by bought. It is all white, so I took the blades and painted them. Two are purple and two are pink. I got those installed today. 

The chive vinegar that I made the other day got strained and jarred. Outside there were more blooms so I cut those and got them into a quart container with vinegar. So in a few days that one will be done also. The sourdough is growing. I'm looking forward to making bread or muffins.

Gotta Run,

Yart

Sourdough

Important note.... If your going to start a project at night make sure your up for the job. I decided that it was time once again to try and make sourdough. The temps are right for it. I get a recipe and it calls for white and whole wheat flour. I have the white (lots of it) and wheat berries that need to be ground up. So I pull everything out, the grinder, the wheat berries, the measuring cup, the 2 quart jar. I measure the berries and start to grind. Why did I buy a manual grinder? Does anyone remember why? LOL! Let me say that it was way more work then I thought... Plus, I am tired from cleaning today.

Once again I am in the world of fermenting. I can't wait to make lots of goodies with this living thing.... YUM!

The stores around here all are having the Memorial day sales. I picked up 12 packs of hot dogs and 20 containers of Kool-aid just add water canisters. The hot dogs went to the freezer for summer time consumption and the kool-aid goes into storage. I don't generally buy it as it is high in sugar... But I figure that the monsters would want something like this, if there was an emergency.

When I was down stairs I realized that I need to get down there and go through jars. Time is up for some of them and they are taking up space. With the season right around the corner I think its time to put some elbow grease to work... anybody got some to lend me... LOL! This canning thing has been a learning experience. I have learned that just because they will eat the store bought, doesn't mean they will eat the home canned. We have had a lot of that. This year I have the steam juicer which will make doing things oh so much easier. No more days cooking down tomatoes.

Gotta Run,

Yart

Raining again

Yesterday I didn't buy what the weather man was selling. He said that we were going to get rain. But when I went out it wasn't to bad so I got a load of laundry out on the line. Came in and did some cleaning in the basement... (dungeon).... Brought in the first load and did a second. While that was drying I headed out to the store to pick up some pet supplies and a couple of box fans.... With all the rain and the water seeping in the basement it is very humid down there. So with that task done... I got the second load in.... I had some time before the monsters needed to be picked up so I decided that it was time to make the chive vinegar.

I got out my pretties jar... Good thing it was a 12oz because that is all the vinegar I had... Need to put that on the list. I cut a good amount of flowers, brought them in the house and cleaned them.... *NOTE* make sure to clean them as I had piss ants crawling on mine.... Then I added them to the jar and poured vinegar over top. Today the flowers have shrunk and are floating. The vinegar is a very pretty pinky purple. I will strain the flowers out in a couple of days. I hope to get more flowers later this week. I would like to give this as Christmas presents.

Since I could only find two of my inserts for the dehydrator I was only able to do a small. But I did get broccoli, cauliflower, and radishes done. I did green peppers to but they seemed to burn.... So off to the trash they went. I still have some more stuff in the fridge to get through. I get another box on Saturday... so my dehydrating days are far from over... LOL!


The season of puttin' up has begun once again!


I was able to get the grass in the front yard cut. It was starting to look rag-ged. After the ugliness of the last time I cut it I wanted it to look better. Now it could be the talk of the town. Before we got going this year I reseeded and fertilized. So now the grass is like frankengrass, it has an abby-normal speedy growth with all this rain. It sure looks prudy, though!


Today, Grim was home so we got some errands done. After a filling dinner of spaghetti, he had to go to work and I got back into the dungeon. Picky and I got the one half almost decent, almost. The other half is going to be a work in progress.


Gotta Run,
Yart

Storms

Here are some pictures of the passing of the storm today.

Yep as it was raining the sun was shining.

Now the sky is a rosy color...

Pink sky's at night Sailors delight

Pink sky's in the mornin' Sailor's take warnin'

There is a nice breeze so it should be great for sleeping. I just hope the storms have passed and we don't get hit again later tonight.

Gotta Run,

Yart

Cleaning House

Yep, I have played around enough. The house needs to be cleaned. But the sun is shining and I would rather be outside. The rain will come soon enough. At least that is what I keep telling my self. I trudge through the ordeals of housework... LOL! So far the dining room has been cleaned top to bottom and I have the dehydrator running, drying green peppers and broccoli. I would have done more but I can't find the jelly trays. Only two of them were inside the dehydrator. Hmmmmm! Now where are they? That's ok, I will be running it for the next few days anyways. Lots of stuff needs to be put up from the CSA boxes. We were doing really good keeping up other then with the potatoes and onions. But now we seem to be eating less, so I don't want to have to throw anything out it will get processed. Tomorrow will be zucchini chips and cauliflower and maybe radishes? I will have to look into dehyrated radishes. Be right back! Yep, they can be dehydrated... And if I want then can be ground into a powder to use as a spice.... I wonder if I could make a dip or use instead of horseradish, milder flavor maybe? This is so great to know, because I have a ton of radishes planted. Watermelon, icicle and french breakfast!

Since I have been talking about the CSA, it is only fair that I show you what I have been getting. These pictures are from a box a couple weeks ago. I know lazy blogger.... LOL!

See what I mean by all the potatoes... LOL! Not a bad haul for $27. This week we got asparagus and corn on the cob. Yummy! I will be cooking it up tomorrow night. Honestly, I never ate asparagus until it came in the box. Now I love it and I have to fight Teenage monster for it... Who knew?!?

I need to admit something.... I am a magazine hoarder.... I usually do very well. I just keep to the few homesteading ones and the occasional woman's world. But over the past year I have been bring more and more into the house. So for the past couple days I have been going through them and pulling out any ideas (decorating), recipes or coupons and then sending them off to Mouthy's school. They cut them apart to use in projects. I still have along way to go but I'll get there. I just wish the covers weren't so appealing. LOL!

Grim and I went to the living history muesum last week. We got to see the cutes lambs. Here are two ram lambs.

Aren't they just adorable! This muesum use to be more about the living history part. I'm not sure why they don't do more now. The other living history muesum in the state is 4 hours away. They are offering classes on Fingerweaving, wildcrafting and cooking. But I'm to far away to go. That's ok, once the monsters are out of school and Grim has two days off in a row. We will be taking a road trip. The monsters love going to these places.

Well, I guess this house ain't going to clean itself... LOL!

Gotta Run,
Yart

Reflections 5-22

 

Outside My Window...

is a bright sunshiney day
I am thinking...

how kewl it is that I not only found out that my husband's family goes back to 1560 but that I found one of the cousins as well

I am thankful for...

for the time to put 300 miles on the bike this weekend for the break in period
From the learning rooms...

I learned that if you take calcium you need to take magnesium also. It helps the calcium to absorb better

From the kitchen...

any kind of Smoothies
I am wearing...

knit shorts and an oversized tank top
I am creating...

life within the garden. Everything is in the ground that I have room for.
I am going...

to play zombie lane on facebook later
I am reading...

new issues of Rare Breeds, Woman's World and a companion guide to a backyard homesteader (can't remember the name)
On my mind...

I just want to relax today
Around the house...

grass that needs to be cut yet again & laundry
One of my favorite things...

yard saling
A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:

cutting the grass, making bread, figuring out a new workout routine

Gotta Run,
Yart

Winner

Since I can't figure out how to just add the generator here is the whole screenshot for you!
Skippy was the 7th person that entered the giveaway!

Skippy, please send me your address so that I can get the book in the mail for you!

Gotta Run,
Yart

Lost information

Facebook is going to be getting rid of their old groups... you know the ones that don't follow the new and improved look! Anyways, alot of that information is going to be lost. I went through one of the groups last night and copied down some of the links to share here.

Where to buy local foods in Ontario
15 fall squash recipes
4 simple tips to avoiding GMO's
How to make fruit leather
Simple Food swaps for a healthier diet
Fat's and Cholesterol

Here is a link to Tigress in a Jam: Rhubeena
Its some type of syrup you all sparkling water to. Since I have a stupid rhubarb plant that is flowering again.... I think I need to cut it down and out... But I will use the stalks to my advantage first!

I will be trying my hand again at Kefir. If your interested in starting your own Kefir, and have no friends that have extra grains then you can order them from Cultures for Health. I have seen several reviews online from other bloggers about this company... All good! When they get here I will let you know how it goes. Hopefully, better then the last time.

Happy Simple Living has a recipe for Make your own amazing homemade cheese crackers. They look so yummy! I need to see if I have sharp cheddar in the fridge.

Since it is still a rainy kind of day, I need to get some baking done.

Gotta Run,
Yart

Two posts in one day

See what happens when the rain doesn't stop... I am computer bound... LOL!

I wanted to share with you a couple of things that happened here today.

First are the two things that I found on line that I thought were interesting.

5 reasons high frutrose will kill you

&

Celebrate Sustainablility.....On Food Day 2011

I had to be the great hunter today and kill the biggest centipede of my life. Now I'm no little girl when it comes to bugs. They may startle me if they catch me unaware. But this thing was like dinosaure huge. And of course it is running around the bathtub, I had to hit it twice before it died. LOL! Sorry no pictures I was to busy yelling for someone to get me a shoe!

Picky wanted to help warm up the house.... heat has been off for almost a month now and my bill reflects it....Yeah! But anyways, she decided to make whoopie pies... it was from a mix and I had bought the pans a couple months ago and never used it. They didn't taste to bad but you can definately tell that it was from a mix. I figure by next year she will be ready to take on cakes without a mix. Plus, that gives her time to bake through all the mixes I have in the cupboard.

There are only 27 days of school left! Can you tell who is happy school is almost out! Yep, me!!!!! Cause once school is out I only work 1 more bingo and I am done for the summer.

With not going to the gym and tweaking my diet, I think my body is leveling out. This morning I am down 2 pounds from where I was a week ago. This past week my weight was going all over the place. But that's what happens when I eat garbage. and try to do to much at the gym. I just can't believe how much weight I have already lost! 20 pounds!!! I also got the lastest blood results

May

211 total 266 in Jan

120 triglycerides 150 in Jan

37 HDL 30 in Jan

150 LDL 160 in Jan

Last time the total, HDL & LDL were all bad. Now the triglycerides and the HDL are in the normal range. And I am just borderline for the total and LDL. She wants me to come back in.... in 6 months to have more blood drawn. By then I should have lost at least another 26 pounds.... And hopefully, then I will only need to be checked once a year to see if there is a problem. Wow, I can't even picture myself that skinny. I haven't weight that much since about 3 months into my first pregnancy. Over 17 years ago.

Gotta Run,

Yart

Reflections 5-15

Outside My Window...
is a rainy, cold, dreary day

I am thinking...
how to accomplish the dream of one day owning my own farm

I am thankful for...
for my children and my husband

From the learning rooms...
Still trying to figure out how to make socks... loom and 4 needles

From the kitchen...
Tropical Fruit Smoothies

I am wearing...
Jeans, socks, t-shirt and zippered hoodie

I am creating...
a mess from the yard sale that got rained out

I am going...
to work on cleaning my half of the bedroom

I am reading...
new issues of Hobby Farm Homes, Woman's World and Organic Gardener

On my mind...
finishing up planting the garden and cutting the grass

Around the house...
sopping wet laundry out on the line in the rain

One of my favorite things...
a fridge full of healthy foods

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:
cleaning house, ordering kefir grains, sewing up more aprons

Gotta Run,
Yart

Just another day

Good day to everyone in blog land... Blogger seems to be having a temper tantrum... So like any good mother I keep checking in on it but continue about my day! And let me tell you this has been one busy day. When I got up I decided that the gym was of no use to me today. My diet has hit a snag and this time it only took me one week to see the damage I was doing. After the monsters got dropped off at school, I went to the Farmers Market Store. I spent $75 on fresh fruit and veggies. I know it sounds like a lot and it really is... LOL! But this is for the week and there are 5 of us that will be eating it.

  

Now for that type of money you want to know what I got. Well, here goes:

 

• 3 heads romaine lettuce

• 1 bag radishes

• 2 bunches of green onions

• 2 cantolope

• 2 broccoli

• 1 cauliflower

• 3 packs of mushrooms

• 2 bags of green grapes

• 2 green peppers

• 3 lemons

• 5 limes

• ½ watermelon

• 10 ears of corn on the cob

• 1 pineapple

• 1 package of roma tomatoes

• 3 yams

• 2 bags bananas

• 1 bag oranges

• 1 pound of healthy ham

• 1 pound of healthy turkey

• greek yogurt

• cottage cheese

When I got home I cleaned and cut up the cauliflower, broccoli, 1 head of lettuce, the lemons and limes, and the watermelon. I will wait to cut up the cantalope until the watermelon is gone. The funny thing is after I got home I got the list of what is coming in the CSA tomorrow. It is everything that I bought today. LOL! I guess that I was suppose to do this today.

 

I know the gym is doing its thing but the diet has really suffered. I have been at the gym an hour a day and the weight is creeping back on. So that is why I need to better monitor and have better choices on hand. My diet and inactivity has gotten me to this weight and if I don't do better then it will continue to affect my health. Let me tell you the last thing I want is to get what I want and not be able to do or enjoy it!

 

While I was cutting up veggies, my long lost brother calls and asks if he can come over. Now mind you I haven't seen him in over a month.... maybe longer... in his defense he has been working. But the free time is now being spent with the guys he works with....ahhhh, I digress! We had a nice visit. After he left I needed to take the scraps out to the compost.

 

As I was walking down the side of the house I smelled the loverly scent of lilac! I stopped to smell them and scared a ginormous bumble bee. While I watched him I started feeling something fall on my head. I looked up in time to see a robin bathing in my gutter. Guess they are full of leaves again... HONEY!!! LOL!

 

Tomorrow is the city wide yard sale. And I couldn't miss the opprotunity to get in on the action. So this week I have been pulling out stuff to sell. A lot of it needed to be cleaned up. That is what I have been doing this afternoon. I hope to sell enough stuff to buy new lawn chairs and a hammock! Now I just need the monster help to get it all out to the garage. My house is trashed. I hate when I clean like this... my poor house always suffers. But I will have less stuff to trip over in the long run!

 

Gotta Run,

 Yart

Tons to do

The past couple of days have been super busy.... First let me say that Mother's day was a joy. I hope that you all had a wonderful day as well. I got a made to order smoothie in bed, tons of cut flowers, cupcakes and a trip to the place.... It is a place that in the spring carries flowers and in the summer they become a market. So it is the place to be... Just not with three monsters on Mother's day. The place was super packed. But this year they opened up an outside register. The monsters got me dahlia's, daisy's, lavender, honeysuckle, gerber daisy's, fushia & 2 other hanging baskets. And I had to get tomatoes (romas, 4 types of cherry, Mr. Stripey, and a purple Cheroke), bush beans, cantelope, watermelon, cucumbers, a few more stawberries ( the patch was starting to thin out).

I got the fence half painted. The garden side still needs to be done. The garden is really taking shape. All the tomatoes are in, the bush beans, watermelon, radishes, beets (red and golden), red onions, carrots. I need to get out there and plant the cantelope, cucumbers, pole beans and I think pumpkins (not sure what type they are as they are the only thing that survived that I started from seed. I know crazy.... I tried to harden off the tomatoes and they all died again. I think I will start them in December this year so that they are bigger when I harden them off. Live and learn.

With all of this crappy weather that we have been facing around the country and the fields that have been destroyed, the news saying that wheat, corn and rice are going to go through the roof. I can say that I'm not feeling so good. let me explain. We are ok, as far as food goes, that isn't what bothers me. It is the cost of everything else. Like underware and socks... do you stock up on these?!? I know I didn't... (looking for a sale). Nope not being a doomsayer. Just a little bothered... and I look around at my neighbors and real life friends and they don't seemed fazed?!? It really boggles the mind.

Enough of that, there is nothing I can do about anyone else. I can only do the best that I can for my family and have a little extra for times of great need. I have already put in my request for my birthday... Mid-June.... I will be getting rabbits. Once we get the fiber bunnies situated then we will talk more about getting meat bunnies. I have been doing a lot more reading about meat rabbits. They are really worth thier weight in protien... LOL! Just don't know if I can do it... You know harvest them. But I guess that the time is coming for me to have to do it either with rabbits or some other animal. Yep, we are still dreaming of getting land and doing the whole farm thing... LOL! I know that it sounds like I'm being a smart butt about the farming thing.... I understand that it is a lot of ball-busting hard work to not only get a farm off the ground but to keep it going.... Did some of my youth on my Aunt and Uncle's farm... (haying, milking, dealing with chickens, getting chased by the geese, fearing for my life around the pigs ;o). Right now it just seems so far off that sometimes I wonder if it will ever happen.

See what happens when we don't talk for awhile... I just ramble on.. LOL! I really have a ton of things to do and they ain't getting done with typing to all of you....

Gotta Run,
Yart

400th Post & Giveaway

Before I get to the giveaway... Let me introduce my namesake

This is Yart, she is the newest edition on A Homesteading Neophyte's Homestead! Isn't she just the cutest! Thanks again Phelan, this is so kewl!!!

Wow who knew that I had that much to say... LOL! So to honor my 400th post I will be giving away a brand new copy of MaryJane's Outpost Unleashing Your Inner Wild.

Now for the rules:
Must leave a comment so that I know you want to enter
Please only US residents
I will draw the winning name on Tuesday May 17th

Gotta Run,
Yart

Long Day & Silliness

I just got home from bingo. My shoulders are so tight.... You can tell that the full moon is upon us.... as everyone at bingo tonight was wound up. I'm happy to be home in the comfort that is mine. Today we found out that Grim can pick up his new bike on Friday! He is one happy Monster! Yep, I think I neglected to share that fact with you that Grim is a monster, the last of his kind!

You see once upon a time I was a great and valiant monster hunter! I hunted them for years. I searched high and low! I found them under beds and in closets! They were always hiding where they were not wanted. And being the good hunter that I am,everyone that I killed, I ate.... Never let it be said that I let anything go to waste! Then one night as I was searching I stumbled across the biggest, silliest monster of my entire life.... He charmed me, you see as he is a smooth talker don'tcha know!

That's how we ended up with the little monsters. I always wanted them to know even though they aren't 100% they will always be monsters to me... LOL!

But on to real life stuff...I found lemon balm, pineapple mint and spearmint to replace the ones that didn't want to come back. I am very happy... I plan to try and do a bigger harvest this year, maybe two. That way I have plenty for teas.

I don't think I told you the grapes are showing signs of life.... I hope since this is the third year that I will get a bunch or two! The apple and the pear are both blooming.... I am so excited...Apple bloosoms... Now hopefully, that will mean apples!

Hey does anyone know when I grind my wheat berries am I suppose to sift out the hulls or do I just leave them in? Any help would be most appreciated!

Gotta Run
Yart

Beltane!

Blessed Beltane, Happy May Day!!! I think that May 1st is more the first day of Spring for us here in the Northern Hemisphere. We have had some signs of Spring but from here on out the weather should just continue to improve! I had not thought about the date when I scheduled the Moderation Nation get together. So here I sit waiting for family and friends to show up and the dietitian to arrive. There is 7 minutes to countdown and no one is here. Sometimes my family.....ahhhhhhhhh! No point in finishing that sentence, you all know cause you all have family.... LOL!

My bleeding hearts are bleeding.... I didn't even consider them coming back but they did! And oh, so pretty!

Picky wanted to plant flowers up front this year, I picked her up pansy's. Purple and yellow! They were on clearance at Lowe's for $5 a flat. I couldn't pass it up as they are like $12 a flat for the really healthy ones. These just need a bit of TLC and they will be fine.

My tulips are budding up and one is almost ready to open. This is my first time with them. So I am really excite to see them grow. The lilacs are doing really well. The one in the back is full of blooms but the one in front only has a couple. I think this year I will get enough blooms to bring some in to the house.

We are going to start the Harry Potter Marathon tonight... Part 1 here we come.... They were such babies when the movies first came out! I know we should be watching the Pirates movies as the new one comes out May 20th... But with Grims work schedule, we need to pick one over the other...LOL!

I'm adding two songs here that I have just come to like.... This way I can keep track of them with out having to install one of those automatic music things to the site.... If you want to hear them great and if not I won't subject you to my music choices!





Gotta Run,
Yart