Post Apocalyptic Life Skills

A couple months ago my oldest monster and I took a soap making class. Up till that point I had only ever done the melt and pour. This was the big league. It involved lye.

To say I was a bit apprehensive was an understatement. It kind of scared me. But we were to be led by a professional soap maker. It made it much easier to handle.

We purchase kits and were able to make enough soap for 10 bars each. We both really like the natural oils and ingredients. The soap is wonderful, it has a silky feel on the skin and the feeling last for quite a long time.

My daughter choose to go with blue and I choose green. 

Since the class I have purchased 3 more kits to make at home. But the weather hasn't been good enough on the days that my daughter has been off work to make outside. Lye still scares me. I am looking forward to making them. It will be enough for 30 more bars of soap and with all the hand washing that is taking place right now, it's a bonus to have on hand. Another great part is that some of the scents I use in the candles can also be used in soap making!!!

Plus, if we like making it ourselves then we might have to expand My Penny Jar LLC, candle business to carry a few apothecary items! 

Smile Loudly

&

Live Blessed

Yart

Happy Mother's Day

With having more time on my hand due to the Covid-19. When I say more time on my hands what that really means is I don't have to get up in the mornings to take the youngest monster to school or pick her up in the afternoon. She is really disappointed because she was suppose to start drivers training on March 30th. Now I can stay up and watch youtube! I have been watching youtube on and off for years. But in the last 2 months I have been watching it quite a bit more. 

I have found some NEW favorites.

Roots and Refuge Farm

Off Grid with Doug and Stacy

Fit Farmer

Justin Rhodes

Living Traditions Homestead

The Hollar Homestead

Whippoorwill Holler

One of my all time favorites and one that I've been following for years is

Baker's Green Acres

Now there are a few more that I've started following but I'm not sure if they are favorites yet. So I will amend the list as time goes by.

Smile Loudly

&

Live Blessed

Yart

5-9-2020

In my last post I talked about not having anything to say. Well, thank you Covid-19, because of you I have a voice again! I know that sounds so stupid doesn't it. Because of a virus I have gotten off my butt and gotten back to doing what I should have been doing all along. I have been dehydrating all types of food. Well, hang on... I know I tend to get ahead of myself. Let me explain.

When the shelter in place orders were looming, I went out and got my normal shopping done and picked up a few extra things. Nope, before you ask.... I was not one of the people who purchased huge amounts of toilet paper or any other items. But I will say I got a big box of those little shelf stable creamers. You know, coffee without cream is like a life not worth living! 😁

I already had potatoes and onions in the basement from the fall. That was what prompted me to pull out the dehydrator out. I was concerned that I would allow this food to go to waste and not have the ability to go out and get more. So what's a poor city girl to do you ask? Well, I'll tell you. I cleaned and cut up all the onions and got them in the freezer. I couldn't dry them as the last time I dried onions the family almost ran me out of town. So into the freezer they went. Then came time to deal with the potatoes. I haven't used my pressure canner in a couple years. So I don't even know if the seal or gauge is still good and I wasn't able to go our and get them checked. So this is where the dehydrator comes into play. I par boiled the potatoes, cooled them and then peeled. I used my hand grater because my grater attachment for the kitchen aid was buried in the closet. It didn't take to long to get that done. Then on to the trays. I honestly don't remember what temp and for how long. I can say it was at a lower temp and for a lot longer then I would have normally done it. Once they were dried and let to cool. I put them into my coffee grinder and ground them up. They are now in the cupboard as dehydrated mashed potatoes!

Since then I've done limes, oranges, pears, kiwi, cinnamon sugar apples. I found a bag of mixed veggies in the freezer and those went into the dehydrator as well. 

Now I have a confession to make. I'm not usually a fad follower, but since the pandemic and so much time on my hands.... I found that people have been buying up every bag of marshmallows that they can find. Almost a shortage situation. I know crazy right? The reason for all this is because they are dehydrating them. Well, let me tell you. I had a bag on the shelf. You know the mini type. Well, I put them in and they are going to be a mainstay in this household from now on. They are so good on there own. But to add to cereal or hot chocolate, they should be considered a food group all on their own!!!

I've got a grocery pickup tomorrow. I have like 8 bags of marshmallows in the order. Not all the same flavor. But 1 of each of 8 types. I can't wait. Especially since it is to cold for me to be messing around in the garden.

Smile Loudly

&

Live Blessed

Yart

5-7-2020

I know who knew I was capable of it. 2 posts in the same week. LOL!

See the thing is that once Grim and I came to a complete standstill because of the injury, I didn't feel I had anything useful to say or write about. So with that being the case I just stopped. I didn't want to see just how much of our lives we were missing out on. The past several years have been very tough on our family. We have been forced to give up things, simply because we physically couldn't do them any longer. Dreams we had weren't just put on hold... They were put in a box and tucked up on a shelf in the back of the closet. Don't get me wrong. Life went on. We had a college graduation, we will have another one in the next year. We have our last monster heading into her Senior year of High School. We have hit the big 50 milestone, as well as the Silver Anniversary milestone. 

I know a lot of you have faced job loss, illness, death and made it through the other side. I'm not complaining. It has helped build a resilience in me and my girls. It just sucks, its not fair & I want to hold my breath and cry sometimes.

One of those times was when I went to get my middle monster from university! I stopped at the property as its on the way. 

It is all so overgrown! There are so many trees down. All the work we put into the place to get it ready just seems like a waste of time. Can you see the Pity Party happening? Yep, I had one. But luckily I have a great Brother. We got to talking and we are going to combine our efforts with the property. We are going to set it up for both of our families to use. Now that means his sons will be able to come and help with the heavy lifting and he will be there to help me get things up and running.

Never fear Grim, will be part of all of it. He just won't be able to do any of the heavy lifting. He will be our General Foreman... You know, telling us all what to do! 💙🙅💜

Smile Loudly

&

Live Blessed

Yart

May 5th 2020

The weather here has been crazy. We have been up to 80 then back down to 30. It makes working in the yard quite the task. We have been doing what we can when we can. Since we lost our faithful companion in the fall, I decided to turn the area nearest the back door into a cottage type garden. We weren't able to use that space before because he ran the fence line and would destroy anything planted there. I moved all the perennial flowers out from behind the garage. They are now in the cottage garden. I still need to amend the soil behind the garage. That is where I will be planting the 3 sisters. I have gem corn, runner beans and honeynut squash, I am so hoping they grow well. I have always wanted to do the 3 sisters. Now is my chance. We moved an old bed. The wood is from my original raised beds from like 10 years ago. This is the 3rd and final incarnation. I will be planting tomatoes, marigolds and chives in that bed. Since I wasn't able to get out and get wood during the height of the pandemic, I reused and made due. As you can see from the photo, there are a ton of projects in various stages of completion.

I planted peas, radishes, green onions, salad mix, arugula, spinach, and swiss chard direct sow. They are all coming up beautifully. Now if I can keep them alive during the freeze coming at the end of this week. We will see. Yesterday, I direct sowed red russian kale, rainbow mix carrots, honeynut squash, lil pumpkins, zucchini, acorn squash. All 3 squash have nasturtium planted with. These are all in pots. My soil isn't the best and I really don't have room at this time to plant in the ground. So pots it is.

I bought some starts, lemon verbena, 2 types of mint (pepper & spear), garden sage,  2 types of thyme (common & lemon), lemon grass and lemon balm. I got a doggie swimming pool and a ton of everbearing strawberry starts. I wasn't going to buy starts as my daughter got bare root berries and we planted them only to have the squirrel rip the poor little pot apart. The picture is fuzzy because I took it through the screen. He had already destroyed it so I just let him finish while I took pictures..... That's the way of the world I guess.

I was even able to get some crocheting done in the down time.

This is the mystic lanterns that I started over a year ago. All the pieces are done. And now all the strips are put together. Now, if I can find more time all the strips need to be sewn up and I will have yet another completed blanket.

Smile Loudly 

&

Live Blessed

Yart

April 2020

Let me start by wishing my other half a joyous 50th Birthday!!! It was yesterday and the weather was absolutely gorgeous! We were able to be outside in the yard. I got a few things setup for the warmer weather. The deck is cleaned off and all the warm weather furniture is out now. I planted cool weather plants. Radishes, green onions, peas, salad mix, spinach, arugula, & swiss chard. Then of course it rained, hailed and even snowed a bit last night! The joys of Spring!

We like most of you are in a state of quarantine. We are limiting our outings and if it is necessary I am the only one going into the store. We are getting out in the neighborhood and walking as much as his body will let us. I have been trying to keep busy with crocheting, starting seeds inside, cooking (400 times in the last 30 days), working in the yard.

I'm sorry I am jumping around in this post. It's just the way my brain is working today. Like I need to get it all down on paper before I forget.

I ordered seed potatoes, onions, 2 different honey berry bushes for the yard, also have 5 pepper plants coming as well.. I have a dwarf banana, orange, lemon, and lime coming for the house. We are super excited about these. I have roma's and black sea tomatoes started, Then I have red and Hungarian sweet started, corn, beans, peas, squash, pumpkins and lots more. The only reason I ordered the pepper plants was because the seed peppers still hadn't started to germinate in the house so I thought I was out of luck. So I ordered. Then a few days later I started to see sprouts. It's fine any extra I have I will share with family and friends.

I have also been trying to keep busy with my candle company.  It gives me the freedom to be available to my other half as he needs me. With the social distancing that is in place right now, sales have slowed. But I am not counting out coming back stronger when this is all over. If you interested in checking it out you can by going to My Penny Jar, I have over 40 scents of candles and melts!

Smile Loudly,

Yart

Over 2 years

Not sure where the time has gone!

I hopped on here the other day to read a few of the blogs that I use to read religiously,

Some are still here, while others like mine seem to have fallen into the land of obscurity!

My life, my world has been turned, twisted and basically fallen apart over the last 4 years.

Things are finally starting to sort themselves out!

My dearest Husband is now officially retired! That happened this past March. There has been a real learning curve to all this.

I started a soy wax candle company! I've been doing well with it. Selling at Farmer's Markets and Vintage Events. I'm in the process of getting a website / store up and running to do online sales. It has been fun learning how to do this and actually do it for myself. As some of you might remember I was part of the direct sales world for a few years. I much prefer the candles to that. If you want to see what I've been doing you can find me on facebook.com/mypennyjar

We were recently informed that our youngest won't be attending university once she graduates high school. She has decided to go into trade school. It's still a 5 year program. She will learn her trade but also get a business education as well. We are thrilled for her to make this jump as both of her sisters went to university and she is the one to break the mold!

I know there is so much more to say but for now, Smile Loudly!

Hugs!

Yart