Winter makes me lazy

I happen to be one of those people that has "bear" tendencies. When the weather is cold outside and all the harvest and preserving is done I like to just hibernate. I think hibernating takes on many forms for many people. Many people like to get out and play in the snow, I am not one of those. Some like to just stay inside and read and relax. Others take this time to do crafts and enjoy hobbies. For even others, life goes on as usual. I personally fit somewhere in all these categories. I do read some, make plans for spring and gardening, do some little projects that are put off when the weather is nice, eat and sleep a lot. This I think is one of the great rewards of homesteading. You stay very busy in spring, summer into fall then after all is done you have a few months to rest, plan and relax. I ideal life for me would be the pioneer life I think. The old ways of doing things. I was blessed enough to grow up on this farm. When I was younger, in spring dad would hitch the mules and go to the field and plow all day only coming in for lunch, which was always from stuff grown on the farm. Growing up we bought very little from the store. In evening he would come in to supper, wash up and at dark we went to bed. At daylight it all started over again. We worked hard all summer to raise and can and preserve enough food for us and for the livestock. We raised all the feed our animals ate. And looking back I don't remember ever having sick animals on the farm. We had hogs for meat, raised from breeding stock we kept. We had chickens for eggs and meat, again raised from our own birds. We had cattle, no more than about 12 at any one time. We had our own milk and made milk products to use. Some of these things that were produced on the farm were sold to neighbors for cash to do other things with. In my younger years the only true cash crop on the farm was tobacco. The cash from the tobacco crop along with a little cash from selling a few pigs and maybe some cattle paid all the bills and money to save. The only bill we had when I was growing up was the electric bill. We never had a vehicle or the expense that went with it. We never had homeowners insurance, you just used common sense and protected it from accidental fires. Health insurance was never heard of then. But we didn't need it, we never got sick and if we were ailing with something it was an old remedy that was used. I always wondered later in life why I wasn't allowed to do a lot of the stuff my friends did. Now I know, it was to keep me from getting injured and needing medical care. Insurance in my opinion has made people very careless in all aspects of life from homes to vehicles to their own health. We didn't have a phone or TV. After all if we wanted or needed to talk to someone, we would walk and visit. And as far as TV, after working all day on the farm the last thing you wanted to do was stay up late and watch TV. I have to agree some of the modern things we have now make life a little easier but they do come with a price. And that in itself is what has taken people off the homesteads and into the work force. We simply work a job to earn a wage to pay someone to do for us what we should be doing for ourselves. Looking back I think I had a good life growing up and didn't know it. Yes it is nice to adjust the thermostat year around to a comfortable setting but its not a necessity. Yes it is nice to get in the car and drive to where we want to be but at the cost of our health in the long run. We work ourselves silly paying for the car, insurance and fuel and get no exercise in the process. If you sit and think about things we all do on a daily basis it is easy to see why our health declines faster today with all these things than people did 100 years ago. OK I am all done rambling now. Till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

I am glad the lied

I am really glad the weather man lied this week. We only got about an inch or so of snow. You can still see the ground in many places. In winter you can see the river from the front porch. It has patches of ice on it with snow on top of the ice. Also it hasn't been as cold as was predicted and for me that is fine. I went out this morning to feed Luna and the cats. Luna came running back to the porch and I ask her why she was messing up the snow and she got a sheepish look like she had done a big no-no. She wanted to play with the cats in the snow but they wanted no part of being wallowed in the snow.
This afternoon when the sun was shining I went out and let the pullets out for a bit. They were all excited when I opened the door but when their feet hit the snow, they hopped right back in the building. It is a chore to keep the water from freezing in the water pan for the birds.
I think I have finally got all the bed linens washed and changed around. I get bored in the house and feel the need to just change colors of things once in a while. I could probably be more productive if I got busy and finished my seed order for the spring. I have a lot that I saved from last year and some left from the planting last year. I would sure love to build another strawberry bed so I can plant more berries. I think I need to get more raspberries too. I have some grape vines that are going to be 3 years old so they should produce pretty good this year. Although the blueberries that I planted are not doing any good. I think if I ever plant blueberries again I will just plant them on the hill in back of the house in the edge of the woods and mimic their natural habitat. I am sure they would have done better. You live and learn I guess when you live on a farm. So till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

A long day

It has been one of those days ya just don't want to get out of bed for around here. I had a doctors appointment this morning and a dentist appointment this afternoon. And my back just does not allow me to travel that many mile all at once anymore. I don't do well sitting in one position for long periods of time or standing or walking for that matter. But we made it home late this evening finally. We did have to make a few stops while we were out to pick up a few things that are not available here locally. We got a couple sheets of Styrofoam insulation to add to what is already around our water pump to make certain it don't freeze if the temps drop as low as they are predicting this weekend. I also picked up a couple heat bulbs so I can put one in the chicken house for the pullets so they will be warmer if it does get bitterly cold. Also this is our first season with the root cellar so we are monitoring the temperature in there. I would surely be in a pickle if all the jars of canned stuff froze because of negligence. We do need to pick up another couple (5 gallon) cans of kerosene to add to what we already have just in case of power failure. Then hopefully it wont get that cold. But we are a little better prepared if it does.
While we were out today I found a good price on clear plastic that I can use over the swing set frame for a little cold frame/green house this spring. As I will probably be at home for another couple weeks before I get out again I think it is a good time to get my seed order for spring sent out. I have been looking over seed catalogs for the past several days now and tomorrow I think I will finalize my order. Just looking through the catalogs at all the pretty flowers and veggies makes you think spring and warmer temperatures. Kind of a mind over matter thing. Maybe i wont notice it being so cold. Keep the home fires burning, till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

Got some, getting more

Snow that is. We have been getting little snow showers every late evening for the past week or so. The animals are all doing really well with the cold. For some reason the cats sleep on top of the tarp covering the patio furniture on the porch most days instead of in their little warm place I made for them out of the wind and weather. Of course Luna loves the snow. She wont sleep in her dog house at all. She prefers to be on the porch on a blanket. Maybe to be closer to us or something. The pullets are still laying fine in this cold weather. Only issue is having to give them water several times a day. We are supposed to get more snow this week. We really haven't had any real snow with big accumulations, just a light blanket at night to cover the ground. We are also forecast for temps in single digits this weekend which is a little colder than it normally gets here in Kentucky.
I don't get out anyway so why should I worry about the cold. I do have sympathy for one who do have to work out in the cold weather. I do worry about Rob and Amoy driving to work in Lexington and Jason being on the road in the semi in this weather. But I am certain they all keep warm clothes with them in case they should get stranded.
Hopefully this cold weather will destroy some of the pesky bugs that devour the gardens in summer. The cold would kill more of them if it got really cold before it snowed, the snow does insulate some and protect the larvae. We have some grass seed that needs to be sown on the hill in back of the house where the soil was disturbed when we built the root cellar. In this area, the old farmers would sow their grass seed on top of a snow so when the snow melted it carries the seed into the ground. Really the best time to sow in while it is snowing. That way the snow covers the seed and the birds don't eat em as fast as you sow them. Just things to do in winter time on the homestead. Till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

Too cold for man or beast

It is winter time for sure. Too cold to be outside doing anything. This is the third day in a row that I have been inside all day and not gotten out of my jammies. It is kinda nice but also gets a little boring too. You can only clean house so much and surf the Internet. I am not a TV person so that is out of the question. I have done some work on my cook book that i am putting on my computer. Just compiling recipes that I use for cooking and for canning. I have an old Kerr canning book that has some really good recipes in it. I think it is from the early 80's. It is choked full of good information.
We are still having some snow flurries like we have had every night for the past week or so. Nothing accumulates but you can see the flakes falling. It is bitterly cold out tonight too. Last time I looked the temp was about 18 and good thing we don't have wind, the wind chill would be unbearable. It weather like this that I don't mind the fact that I don't have any live stock to take care of or try to keep warm. The chickens are fine in their little building as it is mostly air tight. And they do have plenty of straw on the floor. It does get to be a problem keeping the water thawed for them. We usually just take fresh water out there twice a day to be sure.
The plans are finally drawn for my summer kitchen. I do now have a good idea of the building materials that I need so I will be getting those soon. It just might get built this winter and spring. So till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

Its cold!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is bitterly cold outside today. We have had a fire in the fireplace all day which helps keep the house toasty without the electric furnace running too much. Early today I had the task of going to the out building to the big freezer to get something to cook for dinner. I needed the last bag of cornmeal which incidentally was in the very bottom of a 20 cubic foot chest freezer. So in freezing temps I was out there digging thru frozen food for a bag of cornmeal. Not a pleasant task, but I got my last bag of meal out along with a venison roast to make a kettle of stew. I make my stew in a pressure cooker and it tastes like it has cooked all day and takes just a total of about 30 minutes to prepare. Here is the recipe:

30 minute all day stew

2 lb stew meat cubed
4 cups cubed potatoes
2 cups chopped onion
2 cups carrot chunks
1 cup celery cubed
oil
salt and pepper to taste
3 tablespoons beef base
cornstarch for thickening

Brown meat in oil in bottom of pressure cooker. Add vegetables, salt and pepper to taste along with the beef base and water to cover. Put on lid, place weighted dial on vent and heat to pressure for about 4 minutes. Let pressure go down, open cooker and thicken the gravy with a mixture of cornstarch and water to desired consistency. Serve with cornbread, crackers, or a hearty bread.


This stew is really good made with pork, beef, chicken, or venison. If veggies are in large chunks this same recipe can be cooked overnight or all day in a crock pot. But always always brown the meat first. A cheap hearty meal for the cold season.

Other than staying warm and eating hearty there has not been much happening on the farm today. We are still having a few snow flurries from time to time but nothing to write home about. Stay warm and safe. Till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

My winter garden

We have started getting seed catalogs in the mail already. Well really for a few weeks now. We are heading toward spring now so I am dreaming about what to plant. I am aiming toward most if not all open pollinated or heirloom varieties this year so I can save my own seed. Tomatoes are the big thing here. I have grown several different varieties of heirloom tomatoes in the past. But when I was growing up we always raised the Rutgers. They are a good all purpose tomato for juice and for canning. And they grow exceptionally well on our farm so I think that is what I am going back to this year. I will also grow some Amish Paste tomatoes for drying as well. We have the space to grow so much more than we have been in past. We have always bought pinto beans and other dried beans but I can grow them here so I am thinking I will plant a few varieties to dry as well. Ah dreams of summer and gardening. We are planning on getting fruit trees this spring too to get the orchard started. We got the area prepped last summer with grass sown. So it is ready for trees.
Tomorrow I am planning on sending someone to the lumber store to get shelving material to build more shelves in my root cellar. I filled all the other shelves that we had built and its getting kinda cluttered in there. Maybe we can get that done if its not too too cold outside. Just hope this time the weather man is wrong and its warmer than he said it would be.
Very soon I want to get my summer kitchen built too. I think we can maybe work on it on nicer days and get it done in time for spring. I read a really good idea today on the forum that I frequent for a temporary cold frame/ greenhouse for starting plants in early spring. Use an "A" shaped frame from a swing set and cover it over with clear plastic and anchor the plastic to the ground on 3 sides leaving one end so it can be easily opened to access the plants inside. This is very similar to what we did last spring only on a taller scale. And I would have more room to start more stuff. Yippee!!!!!!! But I always grow my best gardens in the middle of the winter in front of the fire. It never hurts to dream big now does it? Till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella