Giving account for my self....

I bet you are thinking, "about dang time", right? Well I am alive and well. I think every day that I need to post an update on my blog and them get busy and say, oh I can do that tomorrow. Then I look and its been over 2 months since last post. Shame on me again.

As of last post I had some roosters that needed to be butchered off, well they are still alive and doing well. I did not get time to take care of them when we had some half way nice days in late fall. I still am feeding them and guess now I will have to wait till we get a weekend of well above freezing weather to do the deed. They are going to be stock and canned chicken so it wont matter much, just more meat the bigger the bird. Although I did have to separate them into another building alone so they didn't hassle the young hens to death. They don't fight among themselves and get lots of food and drink so its all good. My young layers are laying well now. I get more than enough eggs to keep us in supply and a few to sell. Actually have a few dozen in the fridge as we speak.
I left in early November to go to west Ky to work at the hunting lodge again this year. Dang, talk about hard on the body. Sure made the ole arthritis flare up pretty bad. But it was fun to get to work and visit with Karly and Glenna out there. I really enjoy that time of year. I came home as soon as the season was over. I got home the Monday before Thanksgiving late in the evening.  I came home with lots to do and a short time to get it done. I had a doc appointment each day for the next 2 days to get ready to leave again. I ended up having a sinus infection and bronchitis. Not a good combination if you plan to fly anywhere. I got meds and a couple shots and was a tad bit better by time I had to leave for Arizona on Thanksgiving day. Yep I am off and gone again. We were expecting our second lil grandson in mid December. He was due the 19th. But if like his big brother Liam he made an early appearance someone needed to take care of Liam while momma and daddy had lil Zach. So I was more than happy to do that as any grandmother can imagine. I arrived in Phoenix the afternoon on Thanksgiving day. We waited and waited for Zach and waited some more. The plan was for Rodger to drive out as soon as Zach was born so he was constantly waiting for the phone call. The long and short is Amoy was induced on December 28th after going 8 days over her due date and lil Zachary Donovan was born that evening. Such a precious lil fellow. Hes just a lil fellow but his big brother was scared to death of him at first. He is starting to like him now so I hear. We think he is perfect just like Liam.

Nothing in this world compares to the love for grand babies. I am so thankful I lived long enough to learn this fact.
As the story goes Rodger left our house on Christmas day to drive to Arizona to see this lil boy and bring me home. He arrived late Friday night because we knew Zach would be coming on Sunday. At this point I had been away and not seen Rodger for a month. We got to enjoy Liam and cuddle Zach for a few days and then it was time for us to head for home. The weather went to crap as we planned to leave. We left on New Years day headed east. We knew of the freezing rain that was forecast ahead of us but was guessing it would be gone as well ahead of us. Not the case. We spent a few hours sleeping in a rest area in Texas because we were not able to find a hotel room. Then decided to just drive on after a rest. It was late night and we hit more rain and snow and ice on I-20 thru Texas. So Rodger decided we would pull into an abandoned weigh station and just sleep till daylight. So nice gas was cheap and we could leave the heat running in the car as it was about 25 degrees. We woke up about 6 am with the car covered in ice and the whole parking lot full of semis. Well we may as well move on and see how the roads were as some of the big trucks were pulling out. They were still ice covered and slick. SO many big trucks wiped out and 4 by 4 vehicles wiped out along the interstate. So at the next exit which was Sweetwater we decided it might be a good idea to stop and get some hot food and see if we could find a hotel there and try to just sleep and hope it melted. As we were blessed we did find a room and got a hot meal and slept most of the day and all that night. We left Sweetwater early Saturday morning and headed on east. Our plans were to go see our friends Deb and Danny in Mississippi on the way home. We made it to their house about 9 or so on Saturday night. As is custom of a good southern lady Deb had a hot supper waiting for us. Oh my, my very first crawfish stew and it was so very good. I even froze a bag and brought some home for my supper the next night. Jason is a picky eater and he loved it too. Maybe Deb will share her recipe with us and I will post it for ya here. We stayed up late visiting and then started out the next day on for home. We made it here late on Sunday night January 4th. So yep, that is what I been up to for the past 2 months. I loved every minute with my lil grandsons, I did get to spoil Liam longer as I waited for Zach and enjoyed getting to see our friends in MS but by golly there is not place like home. Since we got here the farthest I have been from the house is out back to take care of my chickens. No plans for going much farther any time soon either. We have had rain all day today and then tonight they are forecasting freezing rain after midnight. So that in itself will keep me on the farm. Not that I mind at all.

So back on the farm. All is well here with one exception. While I was gone in November to west Ky Rodger called to tell me that my Luna was gone. We had her 6 or 7 years and for some reason she made a bad decision crossing the railroad and got hit and killed. Needless to say it broke my heart. I miss my big girl so much. When I go out to feed I am totally on my own to make sure some critter is not out there to get the chickens or worse, me. She was for sure my security here. Not sure I will ever find another girl as sweet and loyal as she was. Hard as it is I do plan to get another Great Pyrenees in the spring. Am thinking this time maybe get 2 girls and have them fixed. I personally think females are just better guard dogs and protectors. We do have a problem here with people dropping off unwanted dogs that can be a problem with the chickens and there is no Luna here to protect them. But life goes on with that sad note.

While I was away my freezers got filled with deer meat. That was a nice thing to come home too.With one small problem, all the chicken is in the meat freezer under about 3oo lbs of deer meat. So if we want chicken I have to do some serious digging in the freezer and that is no fun at all in freezing weather. But it is doable. We are so blessed that the freezers are full and cellar is well stocked. But once in a while we like to get a box of ice cream and really cant do that right now for there is no room in the freezers. It is a good problem to have tho.

Not much else happening here on the farm. So till next time (not as long, I hope), blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

A new plan

I think I need to come up with a new plan to get my ducks in a row or at least in the same pond. OK here's the scoop. I have been doing a blog for a few years now. I enjoy it, not good at it, but like it none the less. It gets tricky trying to share your life and methods with others (the world) and not give out every detail of your life and your goings and comings to be used to some criminals advantage. I have had lots of long absences in my post over the past year and with good reason. It was a very busy year with seems like lots of traveling. Early in the year, April a road trip to Nevada for the birth of our lil man Liam and not really wanting to "advertise" that we were away from home, I feel like I short change my readers sometimes when I hesitate to post pics and sights from these type adventures but its to try to have some peace of mind about things back home. I know you all can understand that. Then later in the year several extended trips to west KY when my sweet aunt Ann was sick. Then starting in September with working at the hunting lodge for Snipe Creek Outfitters cooking for the hunters. Then the time away when my aunt passed away. Gone again in October for 3 weeks to house sit, gone most of November for another hunting season, back in December for yet another and home for a while. When I posted last date on here I had comments waiting moderation, comments go to my email box and I then post them to the blog. I had readers that had ask questions and dammit I cant find em now. I did locate one and posted my answer in the comments for my sweet reader. I feel bad when I don't get back to someone who has ask something because it is usually someone who is making a recipe and has a question. Makes ya kinda feel like ya sittin in a room an someone ask you a question an ya ignore em. Well I didn't, I promise. So if someone has posed a question on here in the past few months, please post it again and tell me which post of mine it pertains too and from now on one day per week I will do a post with nothing but answers to readers questions. Maybe I will call it "questions and answers day". Real creative don't ya think.  I think I can do that even if I am not at home. I am so grateful for all the sweet folks who read and comment both here and on facebook, Thank you so much for taking time to read about my life of organized chaos.

Now if I can just get over this stinkin flu, it will be time to be off and running again. I had been trying hard to think where the heck I caught such a nasty bug. And ya know when the old folks use to say, "don't get out in the cold, you will get sick". Well they are right and here is my take on why. I felt bad, just tired, sluggish, like I had a bug or something going on in my body for a week or more. Even when the kids were home. But I never got really sick, I kept going. Then on Tuesday when I got outside and got cold, really cold, I think it lowered my body temp and let the bug attack full force. That is when I knew I was in trouble. Within hours of getting cold I had the fever and chills, aches and all the things flu like. Folks I have not been this sick in many years. I actually do feel somewhat human today. So I guess maybe my immune system is stronger than I thought. I feel hopeful today that I just might survive this thing. So many folks have had the flu and the strain that is going around is keeping people sick for a month to 6 weeks. I have no complaints if I can function after less than a week of it. Our Rob had the flu about 2 or 3 weeks before they came home and he probably had it long before that till it really knocked him down. Down to the point where they did a spinal tap because he had symptoms of meningitis. Thank God that was negative but scary as hell for his momma 2000 miles away from him. Just glad he had a wife that made him get seen at the doctor and taken care of. 

As for how I have treated this bug here at home. And don't laugh. I have antibiotics. I got them at the farm store. Yeas its the same ones ya give animals. And its the same stuff you get at the drug store only not in the neat tidy lil capsules. I have tetracycline and 1/4 teaspoon is about 500 mg of medicine. I mix with a lil juice and down it. I have kicked the sinus infection with it, do don't knock it. I do have prednisone that I take as needed when I have an arthritis flare up so I have taken that for about 4 days now. We also keep Sambucol which is made from elderberries and it works great for the runny nose, burning eyes deal. All natural. Just wish I could beat the dang birds to the wild elderberries here on the farm in fall and save a chunk of change. And lots of chicken noodle soup. I also take extra zinc supplements too because it helps block viruses from multiplying. I had a lot of deep congestion in my lungs yesterday that was not breaking up so last night I made a cup of plantain tea sweetened with honey. My friend Rosie told me long leaf plantain is good for deep congestion and after the tea later in the night I did finally feel the junk breaking up and am not nearly as congested as I was yesterday. I have had a more productive cough today and that sure helps the breathing.  Lots of fluids and rest keeps the body hydrated and is critical in a speedy recovery. This may not work for everyone but it has worked for me thus far.

Do you remember my post from a good many months back on water Kefir? Way back on February 5th, 2013. That is some tough Kefir right there. Mine has been neglected and went unfed for long long periods of time. Until today. After taking antibiotics for this sinus infection I think my belly is gonna be in need of some kefir. My jar of kefir grains were sitting on the counter where they had been for well over a month unattended. My first thought was, I bet its dead! I picked the jar up and it still has lil bubbles rising out of the water. It's alive!!! I strained it and gave it some sugar and molasses and put the grains back in to get then rejuvenated and making kefir water again. I really need to keep these things going for my own well being and in case anyone else here has to take meds and make a mess of their gut flora like I have this past week. So yep, so far, its been a good day.

Not much else happening here on the farm, so till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

Time flys when you are having fun

Or at least that is what they say. I just know for sure time has flown by this year. Mostly this fall. It seems like I have been away from home since early last fall. I guess I kinda have tho. Starting in September with the hunting lodge, the loss of my Aunt Ann, home for a bit, house sitting, another hunting season at the lodge, home for a few days and the final round of the hunting lodge. I think the hunting season is over for this year till September at least. Unless Carl comes up with another brainy idea. And knowing him, its possible. But I do enjoying helping out at the hunting lodge and it keeps my aunts memory alive for me.

Back at home not much to do in the way of gardening or farming. Other than keep the chickens fed and watered. Water is not much of a problem with all the rain we have had and are presently having. The temperatures are nice tho. I wont complain at all about that. It was in the 60's here today. I even had the patio door open for a while. I guess it helps that the patio door is off the kitchen and I was cooking supper adding to the heat in here. Rodger came home from work feeling like crap. He said he had been so tired all day and just felt bad. I think he went to bed around 6 , right after supper. Not normal for him. But he was up a lil bit ago and said his back did feel better. He has had several people off work with the flu and such. Some schools in surrounding counties considered calling off school due to illness. For what ever reason my arthritis has flared up pretty bad today. Not sure if its over use of my joints, the weather or just plain age. But dang, its hurty. I guess the one joint that has most of my attention right now is my big toe. OK laugh it up. But do you know how annoying it is to walk with your big toes sore, stiff an hurting? Well it hurts. I guess if that is the worst of my problems, its all good. With all the work at the hunting lodge this fall, I feel really good about my over-all well being. I did well. Not as much pain as usual. Not as much soreness as usual. I can live with this. I do still have major bouts with fatigue but IF time and events allow I can most times sleep that off. That is IF I can crash and sleep 12 to 14 hours straight. It may take a couple days but I feel better after the fact. With fibro, rest is essential or your mental clarity goes out the window. It seems life and your whole body just stalls. I guess it kinda does.

Any who, its almost Christmas time and time to spend some quality time with family an friends. In our case mostly family. Our kids, Rob, Amoy and lil Liam will be home end of this week. Cant wait to see them. We have not seen our Rob since April when we were in Nevada for Liam's birth. That lil boy has grown bunches too and is crawling, pulling up, and will probably be trying to walk soon. Time flys when ya have a lil one, they change daily. So this grammy needs to get some junk food made to spoil the lil one with while he is home.

Oh its so nice to be home in my own world, sleeping in my own bed, on the down side, I have to eat all my own cooking. I have a mental list of several projects I want to get done this winter. Yeas I said
"mental" list. I have a couple quilts I want to finish. Some crochet projects I want to work on and a few embroidery pieces I want to do. Not sure where I got the silly notion I want to make a bunch of embroidery pieces to later set up into a quilt. But the idea is kinda stuck in my mind. Although it may change after I complete one square. But those projects are for when I am house bound in really cold nasty weather if we have any later this winter. But for now I really should be in the summer kitchen getting more of our potatoes canned up so we don't have such a large loss on them. They just are not keeping as well as they should. Not sure if it has to do with the wet growing season or a disease or just what their problem is. But if I get busy and can the good ones they for sure will stay edible till spring. We had to buy sweet potatoes this fall for the first time in forever. Ours did nothing. Well they did the best they could in the grass that took over. They yielded about 2/3 of a 5 gallon bucket in 2 rows 100ft long. May as well say they did nothing. But I got those lil fellows canned up last fall too so its all good. We can use the ones we have stored fresh first before they sprout and save the canned ones will we run out of fresh. They will keep in the jar. I never did but still want to make an can some goulash like my friend Rosie makes. I still remember the taste and it was so dang good. Meat, beef or in my case venison, cooked long with lots of onion in a tomato like sauce. I remember she served it with kraut. Oh my, so good. I guess I should get her recipe to make sure I can get close to the same taste. Nothing in life is more disappointing that having your taste buds set for a certain taste and then it not meet up to your specifications.

I think tomorrow will be a chicken noodle soup day. Rodger not feeling good, its cool and rainy. Yep a good soup day. Good ole comfort food. Nothing better.

Not much else happening here, so till next time, Merry Christmas and many blessings from the McGuire homestead to your family.

Stella

Home at last

I am back home at last, at least for a while. Sorry about the long absence and lack of postings and updates. I just made it back home this evening. My uncle Tripp had ask me to house sit for him for the month of October while he was away and I did after talking with Rodger and concluding that there was nothing happening here on the farm that really needed my attention. So I headed to west Ky October 8th and just got back to my house today. It was a lil mini vacation of sorts for me but sad at the same time. I could sit on the porch at their house and felt like I was waiting on Aunt Ann to get home from work. Several times emotion overwhelmed me but at the same time I did find some comfort in being there. That big house sure is empty without her. Yet you can see evidence of her in every inch of the place. It is nice to be in my house again for a while. At least till the deer season starts and its back to the grind.

Back on the farm, Rodger went deer hunting and we have a few deer hanging that will get skinned an processed this coming week. So we have meat for the freezer. I still have some deer roast and burger left from last season in the freezer. I plan to use some of the roast in gumbo this week when I make and can more for Rodger. The burger I plan to use in making chili to can for heat and eat meals. We do eat a lot of soups, stews and chili in winter. Well actually all year round. Most weekends even in summer if we are busy we will have veggie soup or chili or gumbo for lunch or a quick supper. My version of convenience food only homemade. Rodger told me out potatoes are not keeping well in the cellar at all. I plan to go thru those this week and if they are salvageable I guess I will can up more of those. When we first dug them I did can a lot of the small ones. But dang I was so hoping they would keep in the cellar for use this winter. Guess I might invest in a big bag of Jasmine rice as our starch staple. I guess if we don't have our own taters we will just not be eating many taters.

It was too late when I got home to get to see how my cabbage were doing in the herb bed out front. I hope I have a few heads of cabbage to make a lil bit of kraut with. Kraut just makes my tummy feel so much better when I can eat a lil bit on occasion. Some fresh coleslaw would be nice too!! I could see even in the dark that the mustard and turnip greens will need to be picked and canned again this week. I just cut and canned a bunch of those before I left the early part of the month. I guess Rob and Amoy will get more of those delivered to Nevada in the spring when we make out trek out there next year. I am really sad that I have missed getting any apples at all this year to make pie filling or to freeze. But I hope I can dig in the freezer and find enough to make do till next season. Apples are far too expensive in the store to even think of buying any to freeze much less eat fresh. I do still have several jars of pie filling canned so I am good in that area.

While I was away Jason had a catastrophe at his house(the old farm house). They found a leak under the kitchen sink that had been leaking for a long long time. Water had soaked the particle board flooring underneath the linoleum and rotted it really bad. I was so worried that it may have weakened the structure of the house. So when I got home I went to check on Mary Kay, whom they had left to pull nails while Rodger and Jason went to purchase new floor material. And I was so relieved an happy to see the floor joist are as solid as the day they were put in about 100 years ago, and they are REAL 2 by 8 floor joist. Oak at that. Not to mention the sills are probably 10 by 10 inch squared timbers that are still solid as can be.  My grand dad and great grand dad may not have used a square or level to build but by hell they built strong. Some older houses can sometimes, with age, get to the point where you are almost better off to tear down and completely rebuild than to try to remodel, but I do believe this house is a perfect candidate to be remodeled. It does need a few minor repairs such as a couple floors leveled in the kitchen and dining room, the bath needs to be remodeled an expanded farther down the south side to encompass a bit more of the porch and add a utility room on. Jason would be wise to invest in doing those things and will end up with a good sturdy solid house. So the fellows will tackle the floor job tomorrow and get it fixed and as Jason has money he can do things to upgrade now that we know its on solid footing.

Not sure what I will tackle first tomorrow, get taters out of cellar and sort the bad ones out, make an can gumbo, make an can chili, just not sure yet. But I am sure I can find lots to do to keep me busy.
So till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

Life goes on here on the homestead

Life goes on here whether I am here or not. That's a good thing. I know I promised to post more often, and be dang! here it has been over a month since I posted last. Shame on me.
But maybe I can catch you up on life here. Or there. As for my health I am doing a great deal better managing my pain and RA and Fibro. I feel so much more "alive" now that I am off some of the meds that nearly killed me. I had my annual labs drawn about a month ago and now we find my thyroid is a lil on the low side. According to things I have read if you have fibro and low thyroid the levels need to be a lil bit higher than for normal people to combat the fatigue. So I go back to the family doc tomorrow to see what his plans are to deal with that. I guess there is a fine line between high and low with all labs when you have fibromyalgia.
I went to west Ky in early September to cook for the hunting lodge at the request of my sweet aunt Ann. She normally did not house hunters for bow velvet season but this year we had a full house. I spent almost 2 weeks doing that. Sadly on September 14th my aunt lost her hard fought battle with cancer and passed away. Talk about a hard week. I miss her so bad. I guess I keep waiting for her to call. Still we have carry on the lodge and cook for the hunters just like she would have wanted. So that will be what I do in November and December. It will be a tough few weeks seeing familiar faces as hunters return to hunt that have been hunting with Snipe creek Outfitters for several years and have to tell them that Ann is not with us any more. Not sure how tough I am when it comes to that. I got some big shoes to try an fill. Maybe I be best just trying to walk in her footsteps instead.
While I was gone in September Rodger kept the raspberries an tomatoes picked an taken care of . I still need to make some jam and get that done in the next few days. We got our sweet corn brought in that was left to mature on the stalk for seed. I should have enough Golden Bantam and Stowells Evergreen to plant next year.Also got some of the white corn field beans picked for seed as well. Still more of those to get off the vines as they mature and dry. I think we have a few green tomatoes left in the garden I would like to get picked an chopped an frozen to make fried green tomatoes later on. Maybe I can get those tomorrow evening after Rodger gets in from work to help me. Its getting close to time for us to get light frost. At least not too far off anyway. I picked the pears off our small tree here in the yard the other day and there is enough of them to make some pear preserves or pear honey. Or to just make canned pears. I like to mix canned pears an peaches together to eat in place of fresh fruit in winter time. Beats buying sprays stuff from the store. Hopefully next year we will have some fruit of our own to can. Our young trees should produce some fruits IF we properly care for them. Its time to start picking up black walnuts too for shelling and baking later. I told Rodger we can gather them, hang them in burlap bags in the buildings to dry away from squirrels and then shell the dried shell off with the corn sheller later. Then the hard part of cracking an picking the meats out of the shell. We also have wild butternuts here on the farm too if we can remember where the trees are that have them. They are easier to shell than the black walnuts. And have a lil sweeter taste too. Makes yummy cakes and fudge. The cabbage plants that I planted before I left to go west are looking pretty good. Had a good bit of worm damage but I think I stopped that with DE a few days ago. The mustard an turnip greens are looking really nice too. I guess I need to cut an can some of those this weekend so they can grow back and make even more. I kinda look forward to the turnips a lil later as the weather cools they get sweeter. I had some turnips that were pulled an stored in the fridge for like 2 months an they were like eating an apple, so sweet and crunchy. I still need to do more work on the herb bed. I think my plan is a go to kill back a lot of the mints and stuff an just leave patches of purple coneflower an mint and put down black plastic with mulch so in spring when it comes back out it wont look so scraggly and over grown. If anyone ever plants mint or anything in the mint family it for sure needs to be contained. Better yet, plant in containers so it don't take over. It propagates from roots an seeds and can get out of hand really fast. I started in spring with just a lil tiny sprig of peppermint and now I have a space of 3 ft square covered with it. I do like to dry peppermint for tea tho. Great belly ache remedy and sooths indigestion. I could stay busy for days on end and not get bored with things that need to be done around here.
But this week I don't plan on being too busy doing all this farm stuff. I got a lil grandbaby to play with an spoil this week. At least till Thursday till he an his momma have to go home to Nevada. Yes our sweet daughter in law Amoy an grandson Liam have been here for several days to visit. That lil man is so precious. He is the sweetest lil fellow. I guess when he goes home I will have to stay really busy so I don't go nuts missing him. Thanks for letting Liam and Amoy come home for a visit Rob. I know you miss them terribly but we certainly have enjoyed having them. Maybe we can just keep Liam and let his momma go home to keep his daddy company till Christmas when they come home to visit they can get him back. IF he is not so spoiled by then. But I really doubt they will let that happen.
Not much else happening here on the farm. So till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.


Stella

We have been blessed this year

I was just thinking today how blessed we really are here. It has been a busy year but successful one. We started the year with a nice vacation to see Rob and Amoy and spend time with them. They took us to Las Vegas for a few days. That was fun. Back home to being busy with the gardens and summer time stuff. Our gardens and crops did great this year in spite of the dry season. So thankful for that. I did can lots of veggies to last us thru the winter and beyond I hope. We did have several chickens to butcher this year as well. Still have some that need to go in the jars. I have a bunch of young roosters our setting hens hatched off that are mature enough to be harassing the hens. Much to the annoyance of the king of the flock. So seems there is a constant brawl going on in the chicken house. I am getting far more eggs than we can use. Hopefully Rodger's niece and her hubby can come get some of em soon. When I butcher off the excess roosters I think I will cull my laying flock as well. I surely don't need that many hens. I probably have 20 or more. Have not really took time to count them lately.
In November deer season Rodger came home with 3 deer total. Very thankful for the meat in the freezer. Then in muzzle loader season in December he got another doe. So more meat in the freezer. I spent the 2 weeks of muzzle loader season in west Ky at my aunts lodge again to help her out with that. We normally don't have hunters for muzzle loader season but this year she did have 8 hunters in camp. That kept me busy. And the guys were so nice, fun to talk to, just all around great guys. ALL of them have either beat cancer or some other major medical issue in their lives. So they were also great moral support for Aunt Ann. So far she has tolerated her chemo really well, not been sick, just tired and weaker than normal. But doing OK. For this I am so thankful. Please continue to keep her in your prayers.
After a busy couple weeks I am finally back home so I can hibernate for the winter. I did bring home some sewing projects from Aunt Ann's too. That should keep me occupied when the weather goes to crap. I have some quilt tops, some of which my late aunt Connie made that I would like to quilt and get finished. Also Aunt Ann gave me some embroidered quilt squares that my grandmother McKinney made. I think I might have those made into a baby quilt for a lil grand baby. I think I have enough squares to make 3 quilts. Hmmm.
Rodger spent the day getting our other corn crib cleaned out and ready to put the white corn in so we can shell and dry some to have ground into meal. And then whats left will be used as chicken feed. In winter the chickens will eat a lot of corn. It helps keep them warmer with all the carbs in it. Makes beautiful dark yellow yolks in the eggs too.
Rodger and I decided to make a trip to Walmart yesterday to get a few things we needed. Good grief, people are crazy this time of year. We did get the things we had on our list and didn't come home too broke. We stopped to see Tammy on our way home. She is coping as well as can be expected with  losing Carl last month. She still needs continued prayers to get her life back together after that sudden lose. He surely is missed by all of us. Love spending time with Tammy, wonderful lady. I am blessed to have great sisters in law. They are good christian ladies that love their families.
Tomorrow I think Rodger is gonna process his deer he brought home last week and get her in the freezer. Than maybe he can help me butcher the roosters and get them off the feed bill and stop the chicken house brawls. Just maybe. But would it be wrong to make a feller work on his birthday? I don't think Rodger would think much of spending his 55th birthday butchering. Guess only one way to find out eh? If I never update my blog again you all will know that didn't end well.
I really need to get busy in the house and do some closet cleaning and organizing. Thas what I do in winter time when I cant be out in the gardens and yard. Might even find more sewing projects to do this winter. I would like to make a big crocheted rag runner for the kitchen. I am betting if I clean closets I can find enough worn out clothes to make a big one.
Rodger did get online and order parts to fix our electric furnace today. So when we get those maybe we can get his neices' boyfriend to install them for a reasonable price and then we will have 3 sources of heat again. But even if we can fix the electric furnace we will still just heat with propane and the fireplace in the den. We find it is much cheaper to do that than to pay for electric but in the event the propane tank runs out in the middle of the night someone don't have to freeze to go switch tanks.
Not really much happening around here on the farm. But just reflecting on the years blessings and being thankful for the life we have. Till next time, blessings and Merry Christmas from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

Busy couple weeks

The past couple weeks have kinda been a blur for me. I did get to see my sweet aunt Ann and her family for a week or so during the modern gun hunting season this year. I kinda managed the hunting lodge for her. She was starting some medical treatments at the same time and was getting pretty tired. I did call and talk to her today and she is positive and sounds great. I think I will try to go see her for a few days in December before the weather gets too bad. Love her bunches and just hate she was feeling rotten. But we are looking forward to next year when we can cook for the deer hunters in her lodge again. We always had such fun doing that.
I came home on the Sunday before Thanksgiving and made it to the house just a few hours before Rob and Amoy got here. Loved having my kids home for a visit.

  

Are these 2 cute together or what? I think this lil momma is gettin a lil belly. We are sure looking forward to May and a lil grand baby.

 

These 2 are the perfect match. I am so blessed with the best future daughters in law. Both beautiful ladies. And this one has blessed us with a sweet step granddaughter as well. Love this kid to pieces.

Above is Miranda and her momma Mary Kay. Mary Kay made cake for the thanksgiving dinner on Saturday. 

We didn't have our usual family thanksgiving dinner at Tammy's house this year. It has really been a tough holiday for her an her kids. Her hubby Carl, our brother in law got injured on Monday helping an older man move an out building and lost his battle on Wednesday. It sure broke our hearts. Carl was a wonderful brother in law, husband, father and friend to all who knew him. His immediate family made his funeral arrangements on Friday and we had family Thanksgiving dinner at our house on Saturday. ALL the families were here at our house, and it was full. I think we had a good dinner and I hope everyone had a lil time to just chill and relax for a lil while from all the stress and sadness. We have 2 new babies in the family this year so Rob and Amoy got a lil practice with the lil babies. 

Rob and Amoy had to leave our house at midnight on Saturday night to get to Louisville airport to catch their flight at 6am. They arrived at 4 am or so all to find that their flight never existed. Rob was so mad. They booked their flight thru Orbitz on Frontier airlines. I would NOT recommend either of these to anyone. They ended up not getting a flight out till after 4 pm on Sunday. So they spent the whole day sitting in the airport an finally arrived at their house in Elko Nevada 12 hours later than planned. I don't think I needed the stress of them being stuck there any more than they did. I know Amoy had to be really tired an stressed an she sure didn't need that right now. 

Sunday evening we went to visitation for Carl in Irvine. Not sure I have known any man that was so loved an respected as he was. I am certain there were at least 500 people who visited the family that evening. The funeral service on Sunday was beautiful. It was a good tribute to him, sad, lots of tears shed. I know I did my share. Then it was like a sudden cool breeze in summer time, I felt peace and comfort, and after that shed no more tears. Prayers for comfort do get answered. I know they did at that moment. God does work in mysterious ways for sure. 

In the midst of all this chaos, our furnace stopped working. No heat! oh my, but at least we do have a working wood fireplace in the den an a propane stove in the other end of the house, so technically we do have heat. That is as long as Rodger can keep the propane tanks filled at work. Right now the meter is not working on the big tank at work so we have to use the propane sparingly. During our family Thanksgiving dinner, Robbie, our step neices' boyfriend works in heating an air so he looked at the heating unit and we thought we had it fixed. Not sure now what ails it. But maybe he can look at it again and see if he can fix it or replace something to get us thru the winter till we can afforded to get a different heat and cooling system.

If it ain't one thing its 3. But Josh brought us 2 deer when he came down on Friday night. We will likely skin those out this coming weekend. More meat for the freezer. Also there is another muzzle loader season coming up in mid December. Guess the guys will be hunting that one too. If Jason don't go hunting I might go just to visit with Josh's parents and maybe sit in the stands with Dana. Loved hunting with her. We have not been able to hunt together for several years since I got hurt at work. I know it would be so fun. 

Not much else happening on the homestead. So till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

Seems we gonna be busy

For the next few weeks it will be kinda busy around here on the farm. First off I have to leave on Thursday to go to western Ky to help my aunt with the hunting lodge again this year. Sure cant do the physical part of it anymore but will more or less be just keeping things in order and make sure things go smoothly. And I get to baby sit her lil dog Jack. Please keep my sweet aunt Ann in prayer as she starts her battle with cancer this week most likely with chemo and radiation. It will be tough for all of us for a while. I hope to be able to relieve her stress by taking care of the deer hunters and seeing that they are fed an have a clean lodge. I wont be back home to my house till November 18th. Rob and Amoy will be home that weekend so I must come home to spend the holiday with them. Rodger and Jason and probably Mary Kay will all be deer hunting for the next couple weeks. Not sure which ones are staying on the farm an which ones are going north to hunt. Be nice if I also bring home deer meat, ya think? I do enjoy working at the lodge but my body cant handle the long hours on my feet anymore. But back at home we will have Thanksgiving with Rodgers family on thanksgiving day and then I will fix dinner on Saturday for us here so local friends can come down and see Rob while he is here. The next week we will skin and process what deer we have harvested and get the meat in the freezer and canned up. Some time in all this mess Rodger and Jason will have to pick the corn and get it in the crib or sold, which ever comes first. We still need a few more good frost on the corn to get the moisture down so it will store well. I didn't get my sweet taters canned that I wanted to so that will get done after the holiday too I suppose. Maybe we get some snow the first part of December so I can just hibernate till spring. I just know that wont happen.

Not much else happening here, so till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

Deer season coming up

When deer hunting season comes around the fellers don't get much done on the farm. But thas OK too I guess as the deer put meat in the freezer. I didn't get much done on Friday myself except made a batch of cookies. I used the recipe shared by Mariann Tausch and her girls at the meet up a couple weeks ago. And this recipe is pretty easy and inexpensive to make as well. I divided the recipe in half and still baked about 4 dozen cookies and froze probably that many already shaped in lil balls an ready to bake. So I will share the recipe here.

Butterscotch Cookies for a crowd

3 cups butter or margarine melted an cooled
6 large eggs
6 cups brown sugar packed
6 tsps vanilla
6 tsps baking powder
3 tsps baking soda
10 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Blend all except the flour really well with electric mixer. Slowly add in flour half cup at a time beating after each addition. Roll dough in walnut size balls and place on parchment lined baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake 10 to 12 minutes till light brown at 350 degrees. Enjoy! These are really good cookies without any thing else in them. I happen to have some macadamia nuts and added a few of those chopped to the last bit of the batter before baking and those were great as well. Like I said I had extra batter that I froze. I just rolled the dough in lil balls an placed them on a cold cookie sheet and froze them on the sheet. After they were frozen hard I took them off the cookie sheet an stored them in a zip top bag in the freezer for later. This way we can have fresh baked homemade cookies anytime. I also do this with chocolate chip cookie batter as well. This works as long as I can keep the cookie dough hid from people who like to eat cookie dough.

This container was full of the cookies I baked and then that many again I froze for later use, so this really makes a huge batch of cookies. Would be great for family gatherings when ya needs lots of cookies.
I sent some cookies with Rodger Friday evening when he left to go deer hunting. After he left my friend Lori had ask me if I wanted to go to the local Woolly Worm festival with her that evening and I did go. We walked up the street in town, got up with Jason and Mary Kay, and looked at some of the various booths, nothing really caught my attention but I did notice my achy legs and back. We got a battered deep fried blooming onion and she brought me home. It was just getting dark when I got back home, so I wasn't out too long. I locked up the chickens and got the dog an cats fed an settled in for the night.  After I sat on the computer a  bit I got up to get something to drink an oh gosh, my ankles, knees an hips were so sore and I hurt all over. I guess I just cant walk on blacktop very far. So the next couple days have been recovering. Dang it an I had big plans while Rodger was out of the house. I really wanted to clean carpet but seems that was a no-go. My body so "nope, ain't happening". So I just had a relaxing Saturday. Jason and Mary Kay came by after they had went to town to meet up with extended family for a bit. It was a lil late for Jason to deer hunt but we saw several in the field in front of our house but too dark to shoot. Anyway Josh had called to tell us Rodger had got a nice big buck. He does not hunt horns but this animal was one of 3 in a group that they saw and Rodger said this one was a sure shot. There was a bigger buck in the herd but he wouldn't get a clear shot an decided to take this one. He was using his muzzle loader barrel that Danny Roebuck had given him a couple years ago. So thanks Danny. Not a bad deer.

Actually a really nice rack. And lots of meat for the freezer.We are for sure gonna mount this one. Maybe just a European mount tho. Rodger said he didn't want the whole head on the wall looking at him. They had a good weekend and he alas has fun but he got home a lil after midnight on Sunday night and was worn out. He was tired enough that he took off work today to rest up. Next deer hunting is modern gun season in November right before Thanksgiving.
Rodger also brought home another small freezer that Josh had given us. It is perfect in the kitchen to keep a stock of variety packages in the house so I don't have to run out to the building to get a pack of burger or bag of corn everyday. So thanks Josh, much appreciated.
I think at some time over the weekend we had frost here. The plants in the herb bed look like they have been frost nipped and the purple hull peas in the field across from the house are wimpy looking.But I guess it is that time of year. We are pose to have temps in the 70's all this week an our next cold day will be next Sunday with high in the 50's. With these temperature swings if a person isn't sick they will be. Its tough on allergy stuff.
Not much else happening here on the homestead this weekend. I cant get in my summer kitchen cause there is a big ole deer hanging in there for now. We actually made it to serve the purpose as we can turn on the AC and keep the deer cool enough for it to age well before we skin it an process the meat. After the deer is processed I get my kitchen back. Thas OK, its all good. At least for one week I know I don't have to can anything.
So till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

Making gumbo to can

It has been a long hard day. I made a big batch of gumbo to can and with Rodger at work I had to do all the choppin, browning, and making the roux by myself. Talk about a long day. My friend Deb from Mississippi taught me how to make it a few years ago. The recipe is here from another post on this blog.  We had fun but the fun ends when ya have to do all the work alone. I think I have cuts on every finger I own, a few burns from the Cajun napalm called roux. Not to mention the hurty feet from standing all day, and oh my aching back. I get a feeling tomorrow will be spent in bed recovering from today. Story of my life. If I can get out of bed in the morning I want to make some plum jelly. My buddy Randy gave me a quart of plum juice when we went to the meet up in central Ky last weekend and I have not had time or energy to make the jelly yet. But the hard part is done already an thas makin the juice. So surely I can get the jelly made.

Rodger will be out of town deer hunting this weekend and Jason an Mary Kay will be hunting here on the farm. I have big plans of my own. I hope to get the carpets cleaned in the house while there is no one to interrupt me and wonder where meals are. I might even get to stay up late an read as long as I want an not worry about waking anyone up. The linoleum in the kitchen needs to be scrubbed really well too. All summer of just mopping leaves it in pretty sad shape. I will have to wait an see if we get rain this weekend tho as the carpet might not dry well if its wet outside. We shall see.

I got some composted chicken manure I want to move and spread on my strawberry bed an asparagus bed out back this weekend too if time permits. Or if my body holds out long enough. I should soon be picking the last of the raspberries to get in the freezer this year. I would like to freeze more on cookie sheets an bag them up to use in cereal this winter. Oh an to add to homemade granola. Which I will likely make in a crock pot this time to save the constant stirring and risk of burning it. I really like granola with lots of nuts an dried fruit and it is very filling not to mention good for ya.

So thas my plan, now lets see how far I get. I will let ya know. Till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

No frost yet!

In our neck of the woods we still have not had a killing frost. On the mountains they have had a few light frost. We still have raspberries blooming an producing, peppers still hanging on. Not like I need any more but will give them to someone if they will come get em. Rodger mowed the field of purple hull peas down about a month or so ago an they are coming back up from the stubble and look pretty. We wont likely pick any more of them but the deer sure do like em. They are in there most every evening just at dark. I kinda see that as an investment in our meat supply. I am still in the process of drying herbs for cooking and medicinal herbs as well. Never know when those might come in handy. I like finding our about the wild plants that grow here on the farm and learning which ones are edible. Last evening when Rodger and I went to look about the pears on the big pear tree I saw a vine growing nearby that I identified as "groundnut". They are not peanuts as peanuts are sometimes called. They are indigenous to the area and when the country was first settled the colonist used the groundnuts as a protein source. They are very common near old Indian digs. The Indians dug the nuts an replanted the small ones to ensure another crop and food source. You can read more about the groundnut here and here. So if a person were lost or stranded in the mountains of east Kentucky and starved it might be their own fault. Because there is food to be had growing wild.

We finally got our new grapevines planted this week as well. We now have a total of 36 grapevines in the new vineyard. So hopefully someday in the near future we will have lots of grapes an I can make a good bit of homemade wine to enjoy. The raspberries are still producing and soon they need to be weeded an some small runners transplanted off them to make a new row of berry plants. The variety my friend gave me produce all summer but if we mow them down this fall they will come up in spring an only produce a good fall crop next year. Not sure if I want one big crop or pick smaller amounts over the whole summer. I think it easier to pick an put up small amounts than to be overwhelmed with tons of berries at one time that need picked. And if I have something more pressing I might not get the berries before they are a lose. I need to get in gear an pick the pears to let them ripen so I can get some canned up. I do like my canned pears as a snack. But my idea of a snack is to eat a whole quart of canned peaches or pears.

Our meet up last weekend in central Kentucky was a hit. We all had a great time, good food, new friends made and a relaxing event. I did a demo of chicken butchering and processing and the ladies that were interested I think came away with enough skill to be able to butcher their own birds if they choose. On Saturday evening I did a soap making demo and a bachelor learned to make his own citronella soap for summer time use to keep the bugs off him. He swears by the soap. A friend of his had given him a bar and he said he never had a tick, chigger or mosquito bite all summer as long as he had the soap to shower with. So now he can make his very own soap from the skills he learned in the demo. I do enjoy showing someone a new self sufficiency skill because I know that is one less thing they must depend on someone else to do for them.  At the meet up our friend Rosie showed us how to make tinctures and infusions with medicinal herbs. We walked around here place and she showed us several plants that grow in most every ones yard that can be eaten or used for medicine. One plant that I always thought was some type of clover is actually Oxalis or pickle plant. You can see pics an read about it here. Heck I pull these lil things out of my herb bed as weeds till Rosie showed us the lil "pickles" on the plants. If you can safely identify them have a taste of the lil pickles. Tart lil things they are. Back at home the other day I found a sassafras tree that Rodger had pushed over an there is a root exposed. I want to chop the root up for tea. I have always liked sassafras tea since I remember dad digging the roots when I was a child an mom boiled them in spring to make a spring tonic.Anyone on blood thinners must use caution when drinking sassafras tea as it is a blood thinner as well. Mostly used to purify the blood. Another thing that was common when I was growing up was picking wild greens in early spring. Some of the women that lived out on the hill an mom would go up the road an in the edge of the field an pick greens. I remember them picking round leaf or mouse ear plantain, young poke leaves, dandelion greens and others I can not remember at this minute. I have since learned that dandelion is a great plant to consume to cleanse the liver and kidneys. You can also dig the dandelion root to make tea in winter for the same purpose. My friend Rosie is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to edible plants an herbal uses of those plants. I just wish I knew half of what she knew.

So I had my lil mini vacation and back at home it was back to work. I am still working on canning some things out of the freezer to make room for deer meat when the guys go hunting. I guess thas kinda like counting your chicks before they hatch. I got the raspberries out and made raspberry jam last evening. Ended up with 14 an 1/2 pints. Now if I can just remember to thaw the stuff I have frozen for gumbo an get that made an canned up I should have a good bit of room in the big freezer. We are suppose to get rain this week so that will be a good project for a rainy day. I did find some clear gel when I was in central Kentucky last weekend so I may take some of the strawberries out of the freezer an make an can some strawberry pie filling.I sure don't need any more strawberry jam at this time. We have too many jars as it is. I have sliced an dried 2 half gallon jars of onion flakes in the past week as well. I use a lot of those things in cooking. I still have about 15 lb left that I might dry as well if they start to deteriorate. Our onion crop was a bust this year. Not sure it is worth all the work and expense to get sets an plant, weed and care for onions to still have to buy onions to supply our needs. Seems to me we might need to skip the work an just purchase a 50 lb bag in the fall to use an be done with it. But work is work, my body don't tolerate doing much of it these days. Even tho I have taken a B-12 shot for the past couple months I still battle fatigue, and some nights insomnia, not to mention pain all the time, the more I do the worse the pain gets. But I keep plugging along and doing all the things I love just less of those things now days. I am actually looking forward to winter and the long days of rest and not having to worry about being out in the garden and all those things. I still have my chickens to care for but thas a minor detail. I am not sure what the hell I was thinking but I have too many chickens right now. I have 15 laying hens and a rooster. Plus 8 very young chicks and another hen setting on a nest of eggs. I think when the smaller chicks are ready to butcher off I will cull out a few of the older layers to cut the feed bill a bit. I probably could cut the feed bill now if I shelled some corn to feed the hens. With the cooler weather they like corn more than laying pellets. I saw the young chicks out today and they were gorging themselves on the grass seed in the yard. I am sure they will make wonderful stock when they are grown. I just hate the thought of butchering chickens in cold weather but seems thas what I will be doing this year.
Not much else happening here on the homestead. So till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

Up to date and now out of town

I think maybe over the weekend I finally got some things caught up on the homestead and ready for the winter. Well with exception of the things that have not been killed back by frost. In our area down on the river we have not had a good killing frost yet this fall. My strawberry plants are still green and making runners like crazy. Really don't want to put mulch on those till they get killed back or they will freeze out when it gets cold because they try to keep living under the mulch and don't go dormant. Same with the asparagus bed. I did get the herb bed dead-headed and all the junk raked off it last weekend. It does look better and not so much like a jungle in the yard. It will get a layer of mulch as soon as we get a good frost.
I had an eye doctor appointment this morning and then left town to come to west Ky to help Aunt Ann with her hunting lodge and cook for the deer hunters. I will likely be here till after Thanksgiving.. Most likely leave the Monday after Thanksgiving and head over to central Ky to visit my friend Rosie and spend the night then on home the next day. I will only get a couple days to rest up then we butcher hogs. Maybe I can take a long break after the second week of December. All that kinda depends on whether or not Rodger gets our corn picked this week. If it is dry enough he is going to get the corn in and if not that will get put off till later. Deer season for modern fire arms opens this coming weekend here in Ky and every male I know is heading out somewhere to hunt. Rodger will be hunting with Josh the first weekend of season and then Jason will hunt with Josh the second weekend. Hopefully they will get a few deer for meat for the freezer. It cost a small amount to travel to hunt but is cheap as compared to buying the same amount of meat from the grocery and much more healthy for you. If they get more than a couple I know I will have to can some of the meat as we wont have freezer space. It will be close with some hog meat that needs to be frozen and then a half a beef in early December. But we will be set for the year. With that in mind, I may not get to rest when I get back home from working out here. I may be busy as a cat covering it up canning venison. But that's a good thing.
Will up date as the week progresses here and try to keep you all abreast of what is happening on the homestead too.
Till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead on the road.


Stella

Butchering, canning cushaw, prepping for winter

Our weather turned colder this weekend after a couple days of rain. The rain is always needed but I could live without the cold weather. After the sun came out yesterday it wasn't too bad. Rodger and I got out and got the 2 deer skinned out and the meat processed for the freezer. I takes a while to skin, de-bone and cut up the meat and grind the burger. So now we have a good bit of meat in the freezer. The deer had been hanging for about 2 weeks in the summer kitchen with the air conditioner running to keep it cool. That method seemed to work well. I had some other projects that needed to be done. One of which was butcher off the 3 excess roosters we had. So the plan was we butcher them today. Last evening 2 of the buff roosters didn't come back to roost. I guess they went across the road and it got dark and they couldn't find their way back up here. Needless to say something made a meal of one of them. But we still got the other 2 butchered and I made the stock and got that canned up this after noon and Rodger cleaned the building and put down fresh straw for the pullets. He moved the nest box in the building for them as well. They all will need it soon hopefully. One hen is already laying. While I waited on the stock to cook down I figured I may as well make use of the time I had out in the summer kitchen. I cut up and peeled 2 of the big cushaws and got those ready to can. So they were all cubed up, I washed them, packed them into quart jars, covered with water, put the lids on and pressure canned them for 40 minutes. By time the chicken stock was done the cushaw only liked a few minutes. I still had time to chop the green tomatoes that I had picked last evening before they got frosted on. I had 8 bags of those to freeze for fried green tomatoes later on. We also chopped a quart zip top bag of bell peppers to freeze. I am sure my joints will hate me tomorrow for using my hands all day. But for now I think the preserving is caught up. At least till the first weekend in December when we butcher hogs. That will be a killer big job. That will be a lot of meat to process. The hogs will both be killed the same day, then the lard rendered the second day. But if the fellers get more deer during modern gun season we will have those to process as well. Plus the half of beef we are getting too. I may can some of the deer meat for sure this year. With the beef I really don't think I will have any freezer space. But that is a good thing. We just know we will have a good supply of meat on hand to do us till next fall.
It has been a long day for sure. So till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

Still knee-deep in the garden

It has been a busy long weekend and week here. I think my days all ran together. With the passing of my aunt Geraldine, dads last sister living, and trying to visit with family during that time and take care of garden stuff it was a rough go. But even with all the goings on we managed to pick a total of 35 feed bags full of corn and I now have more in the freezer than I really need I hope. Still there will be more in a couple days as it don't all get ready at the very same time. I just had to take it a lil easy today, didn't really feel well at all. Very fatigued and sore of course. After Rodger got the mower fixed and mowed the yard I racked up a pile of grass clippings to feed the chickens and they loved it. Then I picked my lil tiny Mexican cukes and made another pint and a half of lil dill pickles. Also picked more ground cherries and when I get enough I will make more Ground Cherry and Orange jam (recipe in older post). That stuff was so dang good. Tomorrow evening after the fellers get home from work and we have supper I think the green beans will need picked again. So either tomorrow night or next morning I will be canning green beans. Maybe this weekend I will get time to get the carrots out and get those canned up. I use a lot of carrots in winter making soup and stews and such. Cant put them in the freezer cause the big freezer is already full and deer season (bow season) opens here September 3rd. Got to have a place to put meat. Not to mention I will have more chickens to butcher later on. On the farm there is alas something that needs attention.
So till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

The hunters are home

The hog hunters are finally home. Oh sure it is nice to have "me" time, but after a lil while it does get boring. The guys made it back to Kentucky around 4 this morning and took a nap at Josh's house. Jason picked Rodger up around noon or so and they headed back here to home. They brought 2 hogs home with em so there is meat. I think Josh is going to cut it up and take care of it. Then bring it down later. This winter weather has been so odd all over the country this year. They left Texas yesterday and made it here missing all the bad weather. An old school mate of mine is on facebook and posted that he had a half inch of ice at his place in Texas and he was probably 6 hours south of where the guys were hunting. So if they had stayed till this morning and left most likely they would have gotten caught in the ice and snow storm. They did well dodging it going down an coming home. Just glad to have em home.
I have had all week to do as I please and have been successful in messing up my sleep habits again. I took a good nap yesterday evening and woke up at 2 AM and didn't go back to bed. I did try to watch some news today and napped for a couple hours. But with being awake this morning I did get a few chores done that I had put off. I cleaned the kitchen cabinets and put lemon oil on them. I try to do that several times a year to keep things from building up on them. So far they have stayed nice looking for their age. I even oiled some of the antique furniture that I have while I had the oil out. I guess I could call this spring cleaning. That's about as much of spring as we will see for a few days. We are supposed to get snow showers tonight and tomorrow here. It is also getting colder with this snow as well. I used to say I wouldn't mind moving south where it is warm but this winter has been an exception as it is cold in the south too. So I guess I will sit right here and wait for spring.
Till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

All is quiet around here

It sure has been a quiet week around here. Rodger has been in Texas hog hunting this week and I have been home all week. I was thinking while he was gone I could get lots of things done around here and I guess I did get a few things accomplished, but nothing like I probably should have. I did fix supper for Jason a couple times this week and he made pizza for our supper tonight. He makes some good pizza. Now am thinking a nap is in order.
I did call Rodger cause he had said yesterday that they would be heading home sometime today. They were just north of Little Rock Arkansas this evening and had stopped for supper. He said they should be in Kentucky around 4 AM. Jason is picking him up tomorrow around noon. They did not have much success hog hunting due to the big weather front than moved in the area. But the rancher did give them 2 anyway. I am bettin they will all be glad to be home and get some rest and be warm for a change.
Other day I tole ya I did get the dirt in my seed trays to get the onion seed started. I had called Sheri and she gave me lots of good pointers, tips an tricks she has learned along the way. So I now have my onion seed in soil and officially started. I went down to check on the laying hens earlier today and had intended to get more potting mix from the greenhouse and get the leeks and celery started but dang it I was cold. I kinda wimped out and put that off till maybe tomorrow when it is not so cold. Both celery and leeks are slow to germinate and slow to grow so need to be started early. So thas the tentative plan for tomorrow. We shall see.
Till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

stella

Dang its been 3 days......

Goodness time flys as we get older. Its been 3 days since I have posted. Not that you missed anything tho. Nothing happening around the homestead right now. Nothing of any importance anyway.
On Sunday we finally got Rodger packed up an on his way for their hog hunting trip. He did call on Monday and they had safely arrived in Crockett Texas around 11 am. The rancher was coming to take them on a tour of the hunting area and they were gonna hunt last night I think. Supposedly wild hogs move around at night. Haven't heard from them today tho, so I have convinced myself they are resting in daytime and hunting at night. So maybe he will call later. The hogs wont eat em, the hogs wont eat em, the hogs wont eat em.................I keep telling myself. According to the weather channel there may have been some nasty weather passed thru their area today but should clear out tomorrow. We are posed to get wind and rain here. Well we are getting the rain now jus no wind yet. I just hope they have fun and a good hunt.
Back at home I was able to walk a lil bit better today and went out to see mom at the nursing home. She is still having a good deal of pain and they are giving her meds, she sees her doc on Friday and hopefully will get this problem taken care of.
While I was out I stopped by the store to pick up a 12 pk of Mt Dew for me and decided to tour the store and see what was available in the world out there. I went thru produce, nothing there that I needed, got better veggies canned at home, didn't need anything from the deli, we have meat at home. Walked thru the crackers and cookies, sure don't need anything there. I make better cookies and have the raw ingredients to do so. Then a quick pass thru the meat section. Oh my, how prices have gone up. Sure glad I got a variety of meat in the freezer too. Frozen foods section is nothing more than instant meals that I would not eat or veggies I already have at home. Canned foods, same thing. On past the dairy case, gosh, I need a cow. Butter is $4 a lb and cheese is ridiculous. I don't use a lot of cheese so its not a big problem till someone wants a cheese sandwich. I might use a gallon of milk per week an thas for coffee an cooking. Thru the flour, sugar aisle, didn't need any, for sure not at the prices local stores charge. And even cornmeal is pricey, but I got lots o that. Noodles I buy in bulk maybe once a year, same with macaroni and spaghetti then vacuum seal it at home for long term storage. But if this go really south I can make my own, I have flour an eggs and water. I left the store with my 12 pk addiction and some potato chips, an dang it those have doubled in price as of the past year. Reckon somebody else couldn't raise taters too.  I did glance at a few folks grocery carts in my trek thru the store and its sad to see what they are buying. Folks my age and older buying TV dinners, quick this, instant that, did the whole world go stupid and forget how to cook a simple meal. Geeeshh!!! So I smile to myself and walk on being so thankful for what we have.
After I got home I moved somethings around. Had some things in the kitchen that needed to be in the cellar, got out a jar of gumbo for my lunch tomorrow, checked on things in the summer kitchen, fed Luna and put out food for the cats. I got in my building looking for some seed flats to go get the soil to get my onion seeds started in. OK now I got the trays, I got the dirt in em, now am thinking they might need to be started in something a lil bit deeper so they can make good roots. Am thinkin I will call muh new fren Sheri and her hubby tomorrow and ask lots o questions bout onion seeds. See I tole ya I don't know how to do everything, yet. lol So till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

I reeealy need a hobby

I am thinking I am in bad need of a hobby this winter. I got up this morning when my cell phone rang with Josh calling. Josh is Jason's best buddy and like a step son to us. He had called to make sure we were all OK during this ice storm. He lives in a mid size town about an hour from us with his wife and lil boy. They were iced in and waiting on the road crews to clear the roads so they could get out to work. I think the guys had all wanted to deer hunt this weekend but that wont happen. A deer could hear ya coming a mile away on the crunchy ice. So for now they are all safe. So I set about to finish up the candy making to get a package ready to ship out to Rob and Amoy the first of the week. Got that done and sat down at the computer to check emails and such. Then I got started playing a stupid online game. Oh my, I have wasted a whole day on that thing. Not like I was going to do much anyway. But gees, I can see how people can get hooked on those things. I still have not picked up my knitting that I had intended to learn this winter. Nor the crocheting either. I think I need to put my time to better use going thru the seed catalog trying to figure out what kind of seeds we need to order this year. I usually do try to get my seed order in early in the winter so I can have time to plot and plan how much and where I want everything planted in the garden next spring. But its supposed to be cold and nasty all weekend so maybe I will get that done. The temps today were around 30, just below freezing so I have stayed in. The ice is still hanging around for now. We shall see what the weekend holds for us. Maybe I can do something exciting tomorrow to tell you about.
Till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

Git'n er done

I think we might be finally getting things done that we needed to git done before it turned winter on us. Last evening Rodger loaded up our 2- 100 lb propane cylinders to take to work with him to get em filled up. So he did that today and brought them back home, full of propane. One of them will be used for the summer kitchen and gas stove out there and the other one is being hooked to a gas heating stove we have here in the house for back up heat. We have a fireplace in one end of the house in the family room and does a great job of heating that end of the house. But if we lose power it is near impossible to heat the other end some 60 feet away. And that is where the master bedroom and bath are. It does get a lil too nippy in there if ya don't have heat. So the propane heater will be in the big living room near the middle of the house and nearer to the bedroom. Then if the power goes off for what ever reason we still have heat. Rodger has mentioned trying to find a small wood eating stove to set in the fireplace. That would provide much more heat with less wood. I think that may be a project for next year tho. Its a lil late to be trying to install a stove in the middle of winter. Besides we can get propane at wholesale prices as long as hubby works for the oil company.
Anyway the cold weather is still hanging around for now. We are posed to get more snow this weekend. I think the guys or at least Rodger will be going deer hunting again this weekend with Josh. It is another weekend of black powder season. If he gets another deer, I will HAVE to can it. No freezer room yet. But I want to make and can some Hungarian Goulash anyway. Last time I was at my friend Rosie's house she had made some and it was so very good. But then again she is a wonderful cook. I did get to chat with her today on the phone for a bit, well actually about 2 hours. Yeah we can always find things to talk about. A great friend and wonderful lady. Just a really good family.
Nothing really exciting happening here so till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

Thanksgiving is done for this year

We had our family Thanksgiving today as we usually do. And as always I fix too much food so we have leftovers for a few days. I don't mind really as it keeps me from having to cook for a couple days. I roasted a 20 lb turkey and most of that was eaten. Then had prolly 10 lb ham, well the butt off a country ham cooked in pineapple, coke and brown sugar. I will be eating ham sandwiches for several days and still freeze a lot. All the kids were here which is what its all about. We have to get up early tomorrow so I can take Rob and Amoy to catch their flight to Nevada. Then it will be time for me to hibernate for a couple weeks. Then the guys have black powder deer hunting and around Christmas we will butcher the hog. After that I am done for the year. No one will see me till spring. I really wont have any reason to go anywhere. I hope.
The weather has been pretty nice here this week, all be it cool. We are supposed to have rain starting on Tuesday this week. I don't like cold and rain combined. Sure makes the body hurt a lot. As if being on my feet cooking for deer hunters, standing butchering chickens and then doing Thanksgiving dinner didn't help. I think I need a message or a hot tub.
So till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella