We started out the weekend with my dh working Friday and me trying to get our house back in order after having company. I cleaned, did laundry, washed bedding, and baked. I made cinnamon rolls, baked bread, and made tuna salad for sandwiches over the weekend. I’ve been buying real stick butter lately, and my dh likes it but hates the fact it’s rock hard if I don’t get it out of the fridge early enough before trying to spread it on toast or bread. So, in my handy-dandy Nourishing Traditions book I found a recipe for a
Butter Spread
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 T expeller-expressed flax oil
2 T extra virgin olive oil
Pulse in food processor until well blended. Cover and store in refrigerator.
It’s much nicer to spread on toast or bread than the hard stick butter.
I also made apricot butter out of NT. This turned out a little sour, but we are going to dry adding a drop of honey to sweeten it up a bit. My grandma has an apricot tree and had frozen some apricots for me, so I thought this would be a great way to use them.
Saturday, I used some leftover edging stones to make a flower bed around our apple tree. Dh hates having to mow under our fruit trees, so I’m on a mission to get beds around them to make his life a little easier. I planted chives (garlic-chives) underneath the trees in hopes of deterring pests. I still have the crab apple tree to tend too, but the peach and apple are done. We had a wedding on Saturday about 70-80 miles from our home. It was a nice wedding and great food! On our way home we stopped at the hospital to see my grandma who has pneumonia. She is getting better, but will have to stay a couple more days to ensure a full recovery.
Our Sunday mornings are now a time dedicated to rest and relaxation before church. We have about 2-2 and 1/2 hours from the time we wake up until the time we leave for church to do as we please and take some time for the things we enjoy. Yesterday I used this time to read The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It by John Seymour while my dh played Playstation (don’t ask, ha ha). I love this book and if you ever have a chance to read it I highly recommend it. It is informative, has great illustrations, and covers a wide range of topics on becoming more self-sufficient. Ironically enough our church sermon discussed the need to be more self sufficient and how things have gotten so terrible in today’s world because (as my dh would say), “everyone is chasing that mighty dollar.” He’s right, our pastor is right, and John Seymour is right about the need to be able to provide for yourself. It’s no longer possible to be 100% self sufficient due to taxes, hunting/fishing restrictions, and numerous other restrictions. However, it is possible to gradually start producing a portion of your own food, sewing a portion of your own clothing, and making some of the tools needed around your homestead. This book always reassures the possibilities for me.
After church I went to deliver Avon while my dh went to mow my grandma’s lawn and start getting the combines ready for wheat harvest. Our wonderful neighbors brought us four loads of sand in the afternoon for our driveway which had turned into a mini-marsh. They even brought down their small tractor a box blade to smooth it all out for us. Very, very nice people! I picked peas and lettuce out of the garden and took a fresh salad to mom and dad’s for dinner. Mom grilled steaks and pork chops for us, and we had a great dinner. On a sad note, Sunday evening I went to the chicken coop to collect eggs to find our baby chick had disappeared. We have vowed to put the next mamas and babies in a separate pen inside our shop/garage the next time so nothing can get the babies.
Our baby lambs are growing like weeds and already suffering from the heat. Hopefully the heat comes gradually, so they aren’t in so much shock.
I’m back at work and yearning to be home. Our garden needs so much tending to and our animals need more attention than we can provide right now. Someday I will be able to give my homestead the attention it deserves. Tonight is Roasted Chicken for dinner, yum! I hope to pull weeds in the garden this evening and try to get my lettuce patch under control. I’m hoping the grocery shopping is done for a few months. Other than odering cultures and coconut oil, I hope to live off the garden and our freezer for the season. Wish us luck!
Have a great Monday everyone!
A Simple Prairie Life 