Don't Rope A Deer!

I found this on a homesteading forum. I don't know who wrote it, or even if it is true (considering it would be totally illegal!), but it had me laughing so hard I cried! I thought I would share.

I had this idea that I was going to rope a deer, put it in a stall, feed it up on corn for a couple of weeks, then kill it and eat it.

The first step in this adventure was getting a deer. I figured that, since they congregate at my cattle feeder and do not seem to have much fear of me when we are there (a bold one will sometimes come right up and sniff at the bags of feed while I am in the back of the truck not 4 feet away), it should not be difficult to rope one, get up to it and toss a bag over its head (to calm it down) then hog tie it and transport it home.

I filled the cattle feeder then hid down at the end with my rope. The cattle, having seen the roping thing before, stayed well back. They were not having any of it. After about 20 minutes, my deer showed up -- 3 of them. I picked out a likely looking one, stepped out from the end of the feeder, and threw my rope. The deer just stood there and stared at me.

I wrapped the rope around my waist and twisted the end so I would have a good hold. The deer still just stood and stared at me, but you could tell it was mildly concerned about the whole rope situation. I took a step towards it...it took a step away. I put a little tension on the rope and then received an education.

The first thing that I learned is that, while a deer may just stand there looking at you funny while you rope it, they are spurred to action when you start pulling on that rope.

That deer EXPLODED.

The second thing I learned is that pound for pound, a deer is a LOT stronger than a cow or a colt. A cow or a colt in that weight range I could fight down with a rope and with some dignity. A deer-- no chance.

That thing ran and bucked and twisted and pulled. There was no controlling it and certainly no getting close to it. As it jerked me off my feet and started dragging me across the ground, it occurred to me that having a deer on a rope was not nearly as good an idea as I had originally imagined.

The only up side is that they do not have as much stamina as many other animals.

A brief 10 minutes later, it was tired and not nearly as quick to jerk me off my feet and drag me when I managed to get up. It took me a few minutes to realize this, since I was mostly blinded by the blood flowing out of the big gash in my head. At that point, I had lost my taste for corn-fed venison. I just wanted to get that devil creature off the end of that rope. I figured if I just let it go with the rope hanging around its neck, it would likely die slow and painfully somewhere. At the time, there was no love at all between me and that deer. At that moment, I hated the thing, and I would venture a guess that the feeling was mutual.

Despite the gash in my head and the several large knots where I had cleverly arrested the deer's momentum by bracing my head against various large rocks as it dragged me across the ground, I could still think clearly enough to recognize that there was a small chance that I shared some tiny amount of responsibility for the situation we were in, so I didn't want the deer to have to suffer a slow death, so I managed to get it lined back up in between my truck and the feeder - a little trap I had set before hand...kind of like a squeeze chute. I got it to back in there and I started moving up so I could get my rope back.

Did you know that deer bite? They do! I never in a million years would have thought that a deer would bite somebody, so I was very surprised when I reached up there to grab that rope and the deer grabbed hold of my wrist.

Now, when a deer bites you, it is not like being bit by a horse where they just bite you and then let go. A deer bites you and shakes its head -almost like a pit bull. They bite HARD and it hurts.

The proper thing to do when a deer bites you is probably to freeze and draw back slowly. I tried screaming and shaking instead. My method was ineffective. It seems like the deer was biting and shaking for several minutes, but it was likely only several seconds.

I, being smarter than a deer (though you may be questioning that claim by now), tricked it. While I kept it busy tearing the tendons out of my right arm, I reached up with my left hand and pulled that rope loose. That was when I got my final lesson in deer behavior for the day.

Deer will strike at you with their front feet. They rear right up on their back feet and strike right about head and shoulder level, and their hooves are surprisingly sharp. I learned a long time ago that, when an animal -- like a horse --strikes at you with their hooves and you can't get away easily, the best thing to do is try to make a loud noise and make an aggressive move towards the animal. This will usually cause them to back down a bit so you can escape.

This was not a horse. This was a deer, so obviously, such trickery would not work. In the course of a millisecond, I devised a different strategy. I screamed like a woman and tried to turn and run.

The reason I had always been told NOT to try to turn and run from a horse that paws at you is that there is a good chance that it will hit you in the back of the head. Deer may not be so different from horses after all, besides being twice as strong and 3 times as evil, because the second I turned to run, it hit me right in the back of the head and knocked me down.

Now, when a deer paws at you and knocks you down, it does not immediately leave. I suspect it does not recognize that the danger has passed. What they do instead is paw your back and jump up and down on you while you are laying there crying like a little girl and covering your head. I finally managed to crawl under the truck and the deer went away.

So now I know why when people go deer hunting they bring a rifle with a scope to sort of even the odds.

Question for you experienced homesteaders...

S and I will soon sit down to review our plans, anticipated start-up costs, and other details to get our farm up and running. We try to do this once to twice a year to make sure we are still on track, and to make any necessary changes and adjustments to the plan, as we are always learning more. So for all of you more experienced homesteaders and self-sufficiency "experts" out there, we could use a little advice.

Our current "final" plan is to have horses, a cow for milk and to breed for beef, possibly some goats for goat-milk soap and land clearing, a hog or two for tilling and pork, chickens for meat and eggs, a vegetable garden, a salad/kitchen garden, and a fruit orchard. Because I am already very familiar with horses and chickens, we are planning to acquire those immediately upon moving in. But after that, we will pretty much be learning as we go. What order of importance do you recommend? We have our ideas, but I am really curious to hear from those of you who have been through it. Or if you had it to do all over again, whether you would change anything? Also, regarding major acquisitions such as animals and crops, is there anything ELSE you would recommend?

Thanks in advance! Just leave me a comment with your recommendations!

Self-Suffiency, Here we come!

WARNING: this post is NOT for the weak-stomached!

Yesterday was an amazing day! I feel like we took tremendous strides toward our eventual goal of being self-sufficient. It all started when I found out on Thursday that our beef was ready for pick-up. Since no one else was available to make the 8 hour-round-trip drive, I invited JR to go along with me. He jumped at the chance. He was so excited to go get our "cows," he was dressed and ready to go when I went into his room at 6:30 Saturday morning. We ate a quick breakfast, loaded up and headed out.

It was a beautiful day, with perfect temperatures, fresh mountain air, and absolutely gorgeous scenery. JR and I had several discussions about the variety, color, and creativity of God's creation in nature.

JR kept asking if he would get to watch them kill our cows (typical boy!), and I assured him the cows were already processed and we would just be picking up the meat. When we arrived at the butcher shop, it was literally an old rancher's house with a cattle pen in the back yard, a few industrial freezers in a shed, and a rig for slaughtering and butchering the cattle. No one was around the shop when we arrived, so we set off walking toward several trucks I saw near the cattle pens. When we got there, we rounded a corner to find the butcher was in the middle of skinning a freshly-killed steer--aka a bloody mess of hide, muscle, and bones. My first thought was "great, I have just subjected my child to emotional trauma that will take years to recover from." JR, on the other hand, was immediately fascinated. He started asking questions about the process and the animal itself. I answered what I could, and then the butcher took us over to the freezers to collect our beef. Our total hanging weight (for you more experienced beef folk), between the two small animals we purchased, came to 620 lbs, so the final cut and wrapped weight of what we actually took home was around 450 lbs of beef! For those of you who are not so experienced, I will give a better idea how much beef that is:

Our new 7.5 cu. ft. freezer

4 large coolers full


4 cu. ft. freezer partially filled

After getting it all arranged for our trip home, the butcher left us to return to his steer-in-progress. JR insisted we had to follow. So, I told him we only had a few minutes. We walked over to watch, and JR stood there just mesmerized. The butcher explained what he was doing, and I pointed out different parts of the steer. After a few minutes, the butcher walked over to us with a mass of intestine in his hands, reached into the center, and pulled out a perfect specimen of a heart to show JR. Talk about an unexpected anatomy lesson! We briefly discussed where the heart is, and on the drive home, JR asked more questions about the heart and its functions. I showed him how and where he could feel his pulse and what it meant. I really have no idea how much of that a 4 yr old can absorb and understand, but he seemed pretty clear when he later told his daddy about it. As if that wasn't enough, as we turned to leave, JR walked over and started pushing something with his foot. He said, "Look mom, its a sheep!" Sure enough, I hadn't even noticed a perfect complete sheepskin laying right behind us, complete with head (eyes removed, of course). This brought on more questions, which I did my best to answer. Finally I succeeded in dragging JR back to the van to leave.

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On the way home, we stopped by the dairy where we get our raw milk. Because this multi-state region is very limited in raw milk sources, this dairy is the closest source to us. Now, this particular dairy happens to be run by an LDS Fundamentalist group. I figure they have been producing raw milk for a long time to feed their own families, so it is most likely a good source. I expected a woman in a prairie-style dress and braided hair to be running the register at the dairy store. What I did not expect was an entire town of LDS Fundamentalists, with a large number of them shopping at the dairy store at the same time I was. Let me tell you that a tomboy/ wanna-be-farmgirl in blue jeans (ME!) feels VERY conspicuous in a bustling town full of women in prairie dresses! I felt like I had come from another planet and dropped onto the earth 100 years ago! Man, what an experience that was! JR, of course was oblivious to this whole issue. Nonetheless, I left the dairy with a good supply of fresh raw milk, some raw cream, and raw cheeses. Finally, we headed home.

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On the way home, we stopped for lunch. At one point, we witnessed what appeared to be a very irritated grown man half-dragging a young (7 mo?) beagle puppy on a leash down the side of the road. The puppy was panting and limping, obviously in a great deal of pain, and really struggling to keep up with the man. As much as I wanted to say or do something, being a woman alone with my very young son, and seeing the apparent irritation of this man, I decided it was probably much safer to leave this situation alone. I wanted to call someone, but had no idea who to call in this strange city (you can't use 911 for something like that). So I did the best thing I could think of at the time, and that was to try to use the situation as a lesson for my son. We discussed how God has created animals for many reasons. Some provide companionship (like the puppy), others help in nature, and others are intended for food. No matter what their ultimate purpose, however, God expects us to take care of them, love them, and keep them as safe and healthy as possible. Even though we sometimes have to kill and eat them (like our cows in the back of the van), we are to do it in such a way that the animal feels little or no pain and does not suffer. I do not know if my decision not to intervene was the right one, as I can't stand to see an animal suffer, but I hope my son was able to glean some understanding of our roles in life so at least he will grow to have a healthy respect for God's creatures.

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Upon arriving home, we immediately set to work sorting meat and filling coolers with meat for some friends who had purchased some of the beef with us. I am still in shock that we managed to fit the remaining 300 or so pounds into our freezers! Then we got this bright idea to try making some butter for the first time. I poured a little cream into a jelly jar, and gave JR the privilege of agitating the jar.

He thought it was great fun, but of course, he got bored with it after a few minutes, and passed it off to S.

S agitated the jar while reading up about making homemade butter. Then, he decided to take over bath time for the kids and let me agitate the jar while I fed N. After bathtime, S came down and took over the jar again. Finally, about 45 minutes after our agitating began, we had something!

This shows our clump of butter still in the buttermilk. Unfortunately, I realized I did not have the required strainer to strain the butter out of the buttermilk, so we used a wet papertowel as a filter of sorts. S, with his goofy tastes, decided he wanted to drink the resulting buttermilk.

Our beautiful, fresh, homemade butter.

We put the butter into a dish, covered it, and set it in the refrigerator to chill for a couple of hours. I was so curious how it tasted (but don't care to eat butter by itself), so I put some bread into the maker and set the timer for morning. We put the butter out to soften overnight. I woke up this morning to the scent of freshly baked Honey Oatmeal bread, and had a delicious breakfast of warm homemade bread topped with fresh homemade butter, and raw milk!

I love life, I love being responsible for creating food for our family from scratch (and knowing where most of that food is coming from), and I love homeschooling! Just thinking about the real-life education my son received yesterday thrills me to no end!

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God has truly blessed us, and I am looking forward very much to what He has in store for us yet!

I have arrived!!

..well, at least for this morning. With a little help from M having a little accident (there's nothing like a little urine to get you going first thing in the morning!), I was up at 5:45! I can't believe how excited I am at rising before the sun. I spent around 30 minutes just reading the wonderful Word of God and praying. It feels so fulfilling and rewarding. That alone helps motivate me to keep going. I am finding another benefit to this early rising....I am able to go to bed earlier (with S) and sleep better! Normally, when I go to bed early, I toss and turn all night. So, there is my little bit of excitement from the pre-dawn hours today! My dog thinks I am nuts and can't figure out why he can't have breakfast yet. I have to thank those of you who have become regular readers, as I feel somewhat accountable to you all. Once I post my goal here, I feel more inspired to meet my goals. So thank you for your patient reading of some of these seemingly trivial posts! Hope everyone has a great day. We are heading to the children's museum today!

A step closer to homesteading

We did it! We just bought our first chest freezer. It is just a mid-sized one to keep it portable until we retire, but it offers enough space to store some meat, milk, and a few dinners for a busy (or lazy) night.

Furthermore, I have officially ordered my first fresh beef! That is actually the part I am excited about. Fresh, natural, hormone and antibiotic-free beef, from pastured cattle is absolutely delicious. Even more delicious is the awesome price you can get by buying directly from the rancher rather than going through the store! In our case, I had to order a "whole beef" in order to buy that way, but since that can make upwards of 500 pounds of beef, that was too much for my little freezer. So, I found a few friends to go in with me. When I called to actually place the order, the rancher offered me a better deal if I was willing to buy something slightly different. He had 2 young dogie heifers (a dogie is a calf that has lost its mother--an orphan, essentially) that were smaller than normal and possibly leaner than preferred, and he offered me a steal! Of course, this meant I was looking at 550-600 lbs of beef after processing, so I had to find a few more folks who were interested. I am still working on that part. So, in a few weeks, I will be going to the butcher/processing plant to pick up my freshly cut beef. I can't wait to see how it tastes!! I hope S truly is a mid-westerner, because for the next 6 months or so, we will be eating burgers, roasts, steaks, beef broth, beef stroganoff, beef stew, spaghetti and meatballs, and any other beef-requiring recipe I can find!

So the next step will be growing my own beef! Of course, that won't likely be happening until we actually move to the farm, but I am looking forward to that!

Breadmakers part 2

I decided to test the bread maker today, cautiously added the ingredients (double checking the measuring cup), and started it. At one point during the mix cycle, there was an odd noise, but it stopped. So I waited the 3 hours and 10 minutes that it normally takes to complete the entire bread-making cycle. Here is the result:

Our dinner included a beautiful, perfectly cooked loaf of dill bread. Guess my hubby is pretty handy, wouldn't ya' say?!

Breadmakers

Have you ever wondered what would happen if you didn't put just the right amount of ingredients into a bread maker? For example, hypothetically, of course, what if you accidentally used twice the amount of water required by the recipe, but the proper amount of flour and everything else?

Well, here is my theory. Let's assume that instead of using 1 cup of water to 3 cups of flour, you accidentally used the wrong measuring cup and put 2 cups of water to 3 cups of flour. At first you probably will think the mix cycle just isn't complete, and that is why it doesn't seem to be mixing properly. Then you will see it has mixed, and seems a little more like pancake batter than a ball of bread dough, but of course, you are confident you did everything right, so you let it keep going, thinking it is just a fluke and everything will turn out fine. Then, just for fun, lets say you have about 14 people show up to your house for your church small-group time. As the evening concludes, one of these people happens to notice a burning smell, notices your bread maker sitting in the corner of the kitchen with smoke billowing out of every vent, and yells FIRE!! All the men hurriedly grab the bread maker, run it outside, and proceed to open all the windows and doors before the smoke alarms go off and traumatize the 10 or so young children running around playing. At this point, you will likely be thinking, "Guess I'm getting a new bread maker for Valentine's!" When the smoke and heat finally clear, you and dear hubby go outside and cautiously approach the bread maker. Upon opening, you see the heat cycle has caused the gooey batter to expand up and over the edge of the pan, flow down the outside of the pan, filling the bottom of the bread maker, covering the burner (thereby causing the smoke and smell), and oozing into almost every vent, nook, cranny, and screw. Of course, if you are frugal at all, you would want to know if the bread maker is salvagable, so your dear hubby would then proceed to investigate the extent of the damage to see if he can NOT have to buy a new one. So, of course, he would then dissassemble the entire bread maker, clean every visible millimeter of it, and attempt to reassemble.

Of course, this is all just my theory!

Kitchen Adventures

Something happens to my brain around this time every year, and I get into such a domestic mood. I want to bake, but since my family really doesn't like to eat all the sweets I so enjoy baking, I am always searching for other projects.

My most recent project has involved trying to make my own baby food. A is finally eating well enough that the food can have little chunks in it, and so far he seems to like my creations. So, over the last couple of evenings, I have spent a total of probably 2.5 to 3 hours cooking and blending up baby food. I discovered it is a great way to use up any unneeded produce or certain leftovers that I don't want to go to waste! I put the mixes into glass jars I have saved, label it, and freeze it for future use. Here is tonight's tally:

• 5 jars yellow squash
• 2 jars chicken pot pie
• 4 jars baked macaroni
• 3 jars carrots
• 2 bowls green sweet peas

Making baby food didn't quite satisfy my baking need though, so I decided to try my hand at homemade soft pretzels. I don't think these are worthy of passing on the recipe, but they were fun, and they are pretty good. The kids really enjoyed helping.

Reflections of the Day

I have had a busy day....many enjoyable moments like 2 of my children helping set up the Christmas tree, watching my husband work diligently on a gift for ...... (sorry, too many folks read this blog ;) ), eating some delicious leftovers from yesterday, and we enjoyed a lovely time of family worship together.

I have also had some disheartening moments. We spent quite a bit of time this morning talking with some Jehovah's witnesses. We don't usually have discussions with such door-to-door folks, but this is the gentleman's second attempt with us, and for some reason, we agreed to pull out our Bibles and compare notes. We had some interesting discussion, a great time researching the Bible, and although the gentleman left without converting us, I can only hope that God can use something from our morning to plant a seed of truth in his heart.

This evening we decided to take a VERY rare opportunity and have a "family movie." So rare, in fact, I don't think we have done such since last Christmas, when we watched "The Nutcracker Ballet" at Grandma's house. Anyway, we rented a Christmas movie advertised as PG and family comedy. I cannot believe what is now considered PG! I was actually in shock. Why is it so necessary to put swear words and sex content into everything today?! I guess the only movie I will be watching in the near future is Fireproof--a Christian film, and one I have been wanting to see for some time.

Then I decided to get on the computer and read the news. First, I read some of the headlines about the carnage occuring in India, followed by the saddening stories of people who died right here in America from the Black Friday crowds trampling and shooting each other. I would ask "what has our world come to," but I already know it is prophecy being fulfilled. Then, to top it all off, I noticed an update had been made to an article from earlier this week. Mind you, the earlier article had revealed the fact that a sample of American-made baby formula had tested positive for melamine--a chemical toxin used to make plastic, or as in the cases in China, used as a filler for food items. This chemical has been responsible for countless pet deaths from contaminated pet food, as well as a number of infant deaths from contaminated formula in that country. So, in this article (I wish I had a copy, sorry), a note was posted, basically saying (in paraphrase), "don't worry, it was an isolated case, and the FDA has already proven melamine is safe up to 250 parts per billion, which this sample was well-below." Well, tonight's article was completely different. As it turns out, while not all samples tested positive, it was not an isolated case. In fact, 2 popular brands tested positive multiple times--including the one that we use! Interestingly, this article said that "recent tests" had shown that the melamine level was now determined to be safe up to 1000 parts per billion. While it is certainly a concern, we realize we cannot worry about it. Even if we switched formula, something else could easily be contaminating a new brand. It is just further evidence that, unless you grow your own food, you just truly don't know what is being added into what you eat. It is also further support of the fact that it really is no wonder we have so many unexplainable illnesses in the world today.

Really, all we can do is Thank God for all that we have, do our best to care for our bodies with the resources he has given us, and then have faith that He will take care of us in every other way.

Follow up on "Plastic...a fact of life? "

I posted a while back on my attempt to somewhat eliminate plastics from our lifestyle. I have since realized the enormity of such a thing. In our modern, western way of life, I am about to conclude it is literally impossible to eliminate plastics. I knew big things like our vehicle, carseats, and such included them, but I have also discovered that almost every food item I buy is wrapped in some way in plastic. Even the organic beef I recently bought, which I assumed would be wrapped in butcher paper, I also found was partially wrapped in a layer of plastic. I have had to replace several of my kitchen cookware items recently. So you have any idea how hard it is to find kitchen gadgets that are plastic-free?! With Chrismas just around the corner, I have been doing some shopping for gifts. Thanks to the melamine and lead-paint scares in China-made products, I have been steering away from plastic toys and looking for silver, natural wood, and other natural toys. I have discovered that ENTIRE warehouse stores contain ONLY China-made toys.

So, in the interest of brevity, here is my current status on plastics: In our current circumstances, I cannot eliminate plastics to the point that I had originally desired. So, I am instead focusing on eliminating where I can. I am trying to avoid any plastic cookware, bakeware, storage containers, or serving dishes. I am also trying to eliminate, or at least reduce, any plastic toys that could potentially come in contact with my children's mouths.

It was a very interesting attempt though. With all the information being discovered in regards to the toxic chemical components of plastic, it has been very educational learning just how often we come in contact with these toxins. Kinda scary, really!

What brought us to this point

I had a conversation with my mom recently which got me thinking about why we are heading in the direction that we are. Why are we seeking to go to the extreme of raising our produce and meat, and cooking our food from scratch? Why are trying to collect rainwater to drink and bathe in instead of using the more easily accessible tap or well water? Why do I want to homeschool my children instead of utilizing the schools that my tax dollars are paying for? Am I denying myself and my family by living the simple life? As I got to thinking, I reflected back on some of the reasons. I know exactly why, and it is not just a whim. It is a result of many factors, but, in an attempt to keep this post to a controllable length, here are a few:

• I am an animal fanatic, and always wanted to live on a farm with lots of animals.



• My husband is an environmental tree-hugger (to a point) who seeks to take care of the creation that God has given us.



• As a diabetic, I used to drink a lot of diet soda, as it was about the only non-water drink I could have. Although I drank them in moderation, after years of this, I began to get headaches shortly after I drank more than about half of a diet soda. I reduced my intake, and shortly thereafter, the study was released in the news that linked the artificial phenylalanine chemical that was predominant in artificial sweeteners to many health issues due to its chemical nature. That's when warnings began appearing on the can.



• In 2004, my first son was born with many health problems. His non-stop screaming resulted in us being exhausted and frustrated. At just 3 weeks old, he screamed for 8 straight hours with no sleep. As a result of his condition, I was forced to supplement him with formulas. He was starving all the time, and I spent most of my day feeding him. His frequent and copious vomiting resulted in his classification as a failure to thrive, and we were on the hairy edge of being monitored for neglect. We were forced to medicate him to help control the vomiting so he could gain weight. Consults with multiple doctors and nurses left everyone baffled. When I realized he was having mild seizures, we convinced a doctor to refer us to a neurologist. By now, he was about 7 months old. Although he was on track developmentally, we were at our wits end with the screaming, vomiting, and seizures. No one would babysit, the church nursery always had me come and get him. We could hardly go anywhere. We were miserable. We knew there had to be a reason. While we were awaiting the referal, we continued to pray. After a great deal of prayer, God led S to some results from a recent water testing in the area in which we lived. While the results were within "normal" range, we saw that many of the toxins in our water were on the high end of normal. S began to do some research and found that some specific toxins in water caused a particular type of infant seizure. Symptoms of these seizures included abnormal vomiting and screaming. As an experiment, we decided to switch to bottled spring water. Just 3 days after switching water sources, it was like someone flipped a switch. EVERYTHING stopped...no screaming, no vomiting, no seizures. Just like that, he became a "normal" happy baby who began to thrive--the child that everyone knows and adores today.



• When JR was about 18 months old, he had a severe allergic reaction to penicillin. The reaction was so severe, the doctor ordered that we remove every trace of penicillin from his environment for one week to get it completely out of his system. This involved switching to all organic dairy products (organic animals cannot be fed antibiotics). After a week or so, JR was fine, but this led me to begin researching the benefits of organic.



• At the same time, I was having multiple infections. Although it was common for diabetics to have such infections, I didn't have a history of it and I didn't fit the profile of the diabetic who typically gets them. We were also working with service dogs and it seemed like every puppy that came into our house got sick. We watched one who almost died after being with me only 3 days. The only common denominator was the water. We switched the dogs to spring water, and I began to take brief showers instead of baths. The pups quit getting sick and my infections diminished significantly.



• As a precaution, when we moved shortly thereafter, we purchased and installed special filters for our tap water and our showerheads. Amazingly, my infections were eliminated.



• In 2006, I began to itch with no explanation. It started in my joints, and spread up and down my arms and legs. It was like my skin was crawling. If I scratched, I broke out in hives and left huge red welts. It was the strangest thing. I evaluated my diet and living conditions. We were in a new area, so I assumed I was having an allergic reaction to something. Since I had no history of allergies though, I was puzzled. I saw two doctors, one being an allergist, who, again, blamed it on my diabetes. I wouldn't believe that. My sugars were good, I was healthy, and I had NEVER heard of itching and hives as a diabetic complication. They put me on an antihistamine and told me I would likely be on it the rest of my life. The meds controlled the itch and at least let me sleep, but everytime I tried to wean myself off, I started itching again. Remembering what I had learned with JR's organic experience, we decided to experiment. We switched to a more natural, somewhat organic diet. Amazingly, the day we officially switched our diet was the last pill I had to take. I have never had another issue with itching and hives. We are convinced it was a build up of chemicals in my body.



• I used to irritate S because I did not like drinking out of a plastic cup. I always used our glasses. Of course, with young children, this meant occasional breakage. When he would beg me to switch to plastic, I always told him, "I can't really explain it, but my tea just tastes different in plastic. I don't like it. I like it out of a glass." We occasionally had this discussion until last year when the study results came out about the BPA contained in most plastics. Let's just say that, not only does S not mind me drinking out of a glass anymore, he drinks out of a glass now too!! If it breaks, we get out the vaccuum! LOL



• I put JR and M into preschool for one semester while I finished my degree. It was a great little private preschool, and certainly offered a great deal for them. However, within a week of attending, JR began having a serious attitude. Other mothers told me, "don't worry, it is totally normal when they start school." I had to ask why? Then JR began coming home and telling me about what some of the kids would do in class or how so-and-so didn't listen to the teacher. After attending a couple of field trips with his class, it was quickly apparent that his attitude was deriving from his peers and the fact that the teacher was limited in her ability to discipline. I did not want my child to learn those negative lessons at such an impressionable age.

Well, there you have it. I don't mean to scare anyone, but no one can deny we have encountered some pretty impressive situations and "coincidental" (try THANK GOD!) outcomes. A few other things worth mentioning....I have noticed since we began the changes in our diets and environments that I have not had a single migraine, rarely get so much as a cold, the kids seem healthier overall, we feel better and I have way more energy, and my blood sugars are actually easier to control. I will admit that I really have no "hard" black-and-white proof to my claims about our water and diet, however, I will never be convinced otherwise. My children, at least for now, seem to be heading down the path S and I desire for them, with a love for the Lord and a compassionate nature. I thank the Lord for showing us how to help ourselves in most cases, and for making it as simple a solution as just practicing what the Bible teaches! Are we denying them? Possibly. However, I can live with myself denying them material possessions and fun "things" if it will help them learn to keep a focus on Christ, develop a love for family and helping others, and an understanding that hard work and earning your keep is a Biblical and desirable trait. I do pray that I can have the wisdom to balance these lessons with fun and enjoyment, and that we provide them sufficient opportunity to develop to their fullest potential. But, I can confidently say that I feel comfortable and at peace with these principles as priorities.

So, in closing, I want to share two things with you. One is my most recent sewing machine creation. While nothing impressive to an experienced seamstress, I am pretty excited about it.......

My first cloth napkins, and to make it even sweeter, I used some extra fabric I had laying around!

And secondly, something I even more proud of, JR reading during today's lesson. (If you can't view now, try later. Processing is taking a while!)

Waste...a fact of life?

My eyes have really been opened lately to how society as a whole is wasteful of money, paper (natural but limited resource), water, and so much more! I firmly believe God has entrusted this earth to us, albeit for a time, and He expects us to be good stewards of his resources. Along the same lines as my "plastic" blog, I thought I would share a few other areas where I am hoping to make some changes in an attempt to do my part to care for God's precious creation:

• Wean us off of papertowels and move toward cloth napkins. As an extra money-saving step, I hope to make my own with some of the excess fabric I have collected over the years.
• Learn to repair clothes with minor defects.
• Grow some produce. Ok, so I can't really start this one until next spring, but I am excited at the idea of at least trying. I have never grown anything to eat, so I think I am going to attempt tomatoes, strawberries, and one or two other things. It won't be much, but it will give me an opportunity to learn for the future.
• Throw away as little as possible. First I will attempt to sell, give away, or recycle.

I feel somewhat limited by the changes I can make at this point. We have done a lot over the last few years to simplify our lives and conserve where can. But I will try to do more. I would love more ideas!

Plastic..A fact of life?

I have recently been convicted about being hypocritical. It never occurred to me before, but it was true. Here we are, claiming to live a simple life, and striving to protect the environment, and yet, we are polluting the earth--not to mention our bodies--with plastic, plastic, plastic. Assuming I have my facts straight, plastic is one of the few substances that takes upwards of 70 years to even begin decomposing, kills countless animals every year in different ways, contaminates our food and water that we consume daily, and yet, it is everywhere. It is used to produce kitchen utensils and dishes, condiment bottles, wraps, dog tags, cleaning bottles, furniture, and so much more. As a result of my internal conviction (not to mention a tremendous eagerness to start doing SOMETHING to work toward my goal of being self-sufficient, healthy, and more natural), I began to notice the items that surround me everyday that are a>made of plastic, and b>could be changed to another material. At first, I thought it would be an easy transition--just work toward replacing all my plastic with glass, ceramic, wood, or metal, all of which are naturally occuring substances. The more involved I become with this idea though, the more realistic I become as well. I have, sadly, realized that either I can't or am just not willing to give up EVERYTHING I have that is plastic. My van is full of plastic, but I consider it something of a necessity. I also can't give up things like carseats, strollers, toothbrushes, medical supplies, and several other things which offer no alternative. There are 3 big items I have struggled with, however, as I COULD give them up, but have basically decided I just am not ready at this point. One is my cleaning wipes. I LOVE those too much, and must admit, my house is SOOO much cleaner with their regular use. Unfortunately, they come in a plastic container. Another is ziploc bags. I use them for tons of stuff, and in the case of air travel, they are considered a necessity. Finally, is disposable diapers. I feel REALLY bad about this one, but I have used cloth diapers a bit when I potty-trained, and I HATE them! I hate cleaning them, I hate the frequency with which they have to be changed out, I have yet to figure out how to get a child to go through a night with drenching through them. So, for now, I must confess, I like my disposables.

WHEW! OK, now that the truth is out, I don't feel so hypocritical. That all being said, here is what I am planning to change:

• Switch all my plastic kitchen cook/bakeware to metal or wood.
• Switch my plastic food storage containers to glass (unfortunately, most of these still come with a plastic lid, but at least it helps!)
• While I won't get rid of the kids' current plastic toys, if I must buy a toy, I will aim to start buying wood or other natural type toys whenever possible.
• Become more faithful about using my re-usable cloth grocery bags, as well as try to re-use the plastic produce bags (just to prevent sending more to the landfill).
• Try to start making my own baby food. A is getting old enough he can eat more variety, and although I will still have to use our plastic ice-cube trays and ziploc bags to freeze the stuff, at least I will cut down on baby food in plastic container purchases (and save some money in the mean time!)
• Use a refillable water-bottle instead of using disposable plastic water bottles.
• As we make purchases in preparation for the setup of our farm, I will avoid plastic whenever possible. There are many ways we can do this!

I have realized there just aren't many alernatives today for some items that we use regularly. My desire here is to prevent contamination of my body, my family's bodies, and our earth where I can though. Every little bit helps, right? If you have any additional ideas, I would LOVE to hear them!! Leave me a comment!

Could the end times be near?

I accidentally happened upon this video tonight, and I am troubled by it. On one hand, I am so thankful I found it so I can prepare, but on the other hand, I almost wish I were more naive and trusting, because it is frightening how close this is to becoming reality. Most people are familiar with pet microchips. For some reason, I have always been hesitant to use them, and therefore never have. Call me crazy, but I just couldn't help but wonder if it was getting a little too close to the "mark of the beast." I didn't want to support science going in that direction. My dad always warned me that the predictions of the Bible would be introduced to the world gradually by the master thief (Satan), and they would sound good. If they didn't, no one would agree to them. I have always felt so silly about avoiding something as silly as a microchip for my dog, but not anymore. The video starts out discussing microchipping livestock. Even if you aren't interested in that though, continue watching. I hope you will be as aware as I feel about what this could mean for us as humans, individuals, families, communities, nations, and specifically as Christians. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89QC-s5uYzk

And if you have trouble believing this video, just google verichip.

Farm Life..at least for now

It has been a busy couple of weeks! We celebrated JR's 4th birthday and took our annual vacation during that time. It all started the night before JR's b-day, when I stayed up quite late assembling Nana and Grandpa's birthday gift of a Black and Decker Workshop and tool table, complete with power tools and birdhouse-building project. When the kids got up in the morning, they were all smiles with the excitement of celebrating a birthday. JR walked in, saw the gift, and with a huge grin on his face, said, "What is it?" So much for that surprise! No fear though, Nana and Grandpa! As you can see in the following pic, it didn't take them both long to figure out it was designed for fun!

That was followed by a field trip with our homeschool group. Since S had to work, and we were leaving that afternoon for our vacation, there was no time for a party. However, it just happened that the field trip was to a do-it-yourself kid's bakery type place, so it worked out perfectly to have a little birthday recognition there.

Flattening the pizza dough

Spreading the pizza sauce

Reaping the benefits of a well-earned, handmade, freshly-baked pepperoni pizza

The true fun began when they got to ice their cupcakes!

This pic says it all!

At one point, just as JR had finished icing and sprinkling his cupcakes, the "chef" came over and took one of his cupcakes. She returned with a candle in it and the whole homeschool group sang "Happy Birthday," much to JR's delight! He loved it!

Then came the big trip to the farm. We decided to make a road trip of it, which is what we have done in the past, however, this time, it meant a 25 hour drive ONE-WAY with 3 kids and a 95 pound dog. No doubt we put our little minivan to its first big test! It is so hard to believe that I haven't been in almost a year! We so look forward to our trips there, as it is so peaceful, relaxing, quaint, and generally just feels like we are stepping back in time. Of course, I must mention that "relaxing" is a relative term, as we work harder there than at home, and typically end our vacations more exhausted than we began them! But we enjoy every minute of it. We picked apples from the apple trees, did some real-life based schooling, mowed the extensive acreage, hiked in the woods, played on the tire horse swing, picked more apples, cleaned and washed the front porch, and back deck, scrubbed all the windows inside and out, went grocery shopping for a family gathering, watched some deer and turkey graze in the manger, weeded and mulched the garden, celebrated JR's 4th birthday.....and that was just the first day!

One of the apple trees

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My 3 favorite guys!

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JR's party at Grandma's

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My little farm-girl

This was the first time I had a new appreciation for homeschooling and utilizing real-life experiences. Throughout our time there, we tried to really give the kids some experiences. We went hiking in the woods and looked at different types of trees, berries, and plants (including an emphasis on the overly abundant poison ivy!). We took the kids to visit a friend with cows and chickens where the kids were able to pet the chickens and collect warm, freshly laid eggs that we then took home and cooked up for lunch. It just happened that one of the cows was in labor, so JR got to learn a bit about where calves come from, and he watched our friends as they checked her udder for milk, and educated him on how the calves drink (in case you are wondering, don't worry, we didn't go into too many details! He is only 4!! LOL It was, however, an eye opener for him I think, as, since all 3 of my kids were c-section babies and he has seen pictures, I think he just assumed everything got cut out of the belly!) As the week progressed, we did some gardening, during which time, the kids found and learned about snakes, crickets, snails, spiders, and frogs. As a mom, let me tell you, this will be the part of homeschooling I do NOT enjoy!! With the intention of (hopefully) developing a healthy love for science, I must swallow my EEWWW factor, put on a brave face and actually get close to these things! S even showed the kids how to make homemade applesauce. As if that wasn't enough, we also spent one whole morning at a historic, 1800's era village, where we watched the blacksmiths work with metal, the coopers make buckets and wood products, women cook over an open fire, sew, spin wool, and make lace, and since the setting is as original as possible, the kids got to see first hand how small and simple houses once were, and how modest the dress used to be. They also got to play some games from that era. I learned something too....Did you know that the bright orange color of carrots today is not natural? Even many organic varieties legally use a special dye that is absorbed by the carrots. I am going to have to research that! Oh, I do digress....now, where was I......JR fell in love with the games, a coon-skin hat, and a harmonica. We went ahead and bought a game and a harmonica, but I will have to think about the hat! M was obviously a little to young to appreciate the village much, but it was fun nonetheless.

The results after a day on the farm:

As always, some of my favorite moments of the trip are laboring alongside my wonderful husband, getting to go on rare dates with the man of my dreams (also my husband!), watching the deer and turkey wander around the yard, and sitting on the front porch and just reading a book or doing something quiet as I enjoy the stillness of God's creation. This trip, however, my all time favorite moment occurred after JR had gotten his harmonica from the 1800's village. Being a music lover, he loved this particular toy, and later that afternoon, I glanced out the screen door to see him sitting alone on the front porch, quietly looking out over the front yard and pasture, and playing his harmonica. It was one of those beautiful moments that represents so many of the gifts God has given us (nature, stillness, and music being just a few) and the life he intended for us (humans) before sin came into the picture (hard but enjoyable work, tranquility in nature, the innocence of a child, etc.), and I wish I could experience more of those moments.

Raw milk is making a comeback!

We have taken yet another step toward our desired future self-sustaining homestead. We recently found a co-op here that hauls in raw milk. If you have never tasted raw milk, meaning milk that is taken out of the cow, immediately cooled and bottled, then shipped to the consumer, you are missing out!! Because it is unpasteurized and unhomogenized, I was a little nervous looking at my first glass, wondering about what bugs it could potentially contain and infect us with, and even what it might taste like. I mean, this is like milking a cow into a bucket and then drinking it! Nonetheless, all my research on the benefits of raw milk pushed my concerns to the side and I took my first swallow. Can you say DELICIOUS?!!! It is by far the BEST milk I have ever tasted! It was sweet, smooth, creamy, and nothing like "normal" store-bought milk. Literally, after drinking raw milk, store-bought stuff tastes like a thick water, but with an after-taste. Even the kids love it. They keep asking for "the new milk, not the old milk." I only ordered 2 gallons, but man, how I wish I had ordered more. The next delivery is several weeks away, meaning I have to go back to the pasteurized stuff we have been getting. In case you haven't heard (which is highly possible since the FDA, USDA, and large commercial milk factories don't exactly advertise this in the name of $$$$), there are countless benefits to raw milk:

--Milk has been considered a human food since creation. Remember the Bible's description of "the land of Milk and honey?"
--When treated properly, raw milk (like raw honey) does not have to be refrigerated, but can last for years in some form or another. Even today, just think of the value of "aged" cheeses (pricey ones can be 10 years old or more)
--Raw milk from organic green-pastured cows is the best immunity support around! It is full of good bacteria that help prevent or eliminate countless immunity and digestive problems such as celiac disease, irritable bowel syndrome, Type 2 diabetes, allergies, asthma, and standard cold and illness prevention. Even lactose intolerance can potentially be eliminated with raw milk. There are a lot of technical and biological explanations behind this, but it is easy to find with even a little investigation.
--Apparently, the pasteurization process in itself (the process by which milk is heated to kill off all bacteria in commercial dairy products) is responsible for actually making the milk "toxic" in a way. When it kills the bacteria, the bacterium cell bursts open, releasing it's contents, which our body cannot recognize. Not only can we not use the contents efficiently, but they can actually make us sick. In addition, typical commercial dairies fill their cows with antibiotics (to kill off bacteria), but the antibiotics come through the milk. As a result, we wind up drinking these antibiotics, killing off some of our own good gut bacteria, in turn causing digestive problems.
--A good pasture-fed organic raw milk dairy will likely have just a handful to several hundred cows, spread out over many acres of pasture, resulting in a much happier, healthier cow. To the contrary, most commercial dairies will have several thousand cows confined in a dirt pen of just a couple of acres. This is a set up that is a haven for illness and pathogens to spread.
--Interestingly, because of the health of the cows themselves, good pasture-fed, raw-milk dairies often test negative for any kind of pathogen (bad "bugs") while commercial dairies are often forced to pasteurize due to the countless numbers of pathogens found in the milk.

I could go on and on, but we are sold! I would encourage you to do your research on what you are drinking. I think, like we have, you will be amazed and shocked at the same time! I will warn you, though that there is a bit of a problem if you decide to go to raw milk. Most states have made it illegal to sell raw milk intended for human consumption. Even if it is illegal in your state, however, there are still legal ways to get good raw milk. I would be happy to help you out, just ask!

Sewing Fool!

I am proud to report that I have completed my first big clothing project! I learned to sew by practicing on my Grandmothers old sewing machine, but I just did a basic straight-line stitch to make some curtains and a pillow. That was several years back. The machine finally got to costing too much to maintain, so I got rid of it. This year, S bought me a refurbished Bernina machine (supposed to be one of the best available) for my birthday. However, due to the move, it took a while for me to pull it out. After reading the manual cover to cover and figuring out all the switches and settings, I had to take in the waist of one of my skirts and decided to add a little elastic while I was at it. It isn't beautiful on close inspection, but from a distance, it looks great, and fits much better. Then I hemmed up S's jeans, and they looked factory hemmed if I may brag! I am quite proud if I must tell the truth!

Born in the wrong era

I have always half-joked that I was born into the wrong era. I always wanted to ride my horse into town, raise my own critters, and work the farm. OK, so I admit I like some modern luxuries such as toilet paper and indoor plumbing. According to my mom, toilet paper should not be considered a luxury, but after a recent outdoor wilderness experience where I was forced to "use" a rock, believe me, TP is a wonderful luxury!! Anyway, our family life seems to be gradually taking a turn toward the desires my blood has always had. We have our little farm, it happens to be riding distance to the nearest town, and it is perfect in many ways for "homesteading". So I have been researching how far we want to go with this new endeavor, and we are loving the idea. We have already taken our diet to about 95% organic, I have already learned to plan my meals a month at a time, I shop only once a week, we try to conserve and recycle what we can, we are pretty thrifty financially, and I have the passion for animals, while S has the passion for manual outdoor labor. This could work.

Some of you may think me crazy, but we are considering trying it all--from growing our own organic fruits, herbs, and veggies in our little (already planned) garden and orchard, to canning seasonal items for later use, to building a "summer kitchen, " to raising our own horses, cows, goats, pigs, and chickens. The chickens are good for meat, eggs, and pet food--and did you know there is a such thing as a chicken plucker now? You don't have to spend hours plucking feathers by hand anymore. The plucker does it in under 30 seconds! Pretty neat actually. It tenderizes the meat a little in the process. The cows will likely be the Dexter breed, as we have a supplier nearby with a bull, they are small and easy to manage, and they are good for both meat and milk. The goats and hogs I wouldn't be as interested in except that they are so versatile. Goats are browsers, and therefore basically eat the stuff the horses and cows won't, which is more efficient on a farm. When their work is done, they provide meat, milk, and apparently pretty good revenue from the kids. The hogs and chickens are great for churning up compost and garden soils. Hogs are later good for meat or piglets for sale. So the more animal labor we can put on our farm, the more food we have and less gasoline and modern equipment we have to use. All the animals will be grass-fed and as natural as possible. Even our predator control will likely consist of an adopted burro, as apparently they have an instinctual hatred toward dogs and other predators. I may consider a few guineas as well, as they are safer than peacocks, but make great alarm systems when predators are around. Chicken losses are a big problem on free-range homesteads. I figure with raw milk, fresh cheese, yogurt, and whatever other dairy I can learn to make, produce, meat from cattle, goat, hog, wild turkey and venison (all over our farm), I think we can basically do everything except grow our own hay and grains.

We have already started gutting the front half of our barn and have been trying to decide how best to set it up. It looks like I will keep the horses in the back half, and set up a tack room, work area, and milking stanchion in the front. The chicken coop will also likely work very well attached to a hidden corner of the barn. I am so excited to start this project! I just wish it wasn't going to take 5 years or more to see it all come together!