A day spent reading

I have spent most of today just reading stuff online. Well yeah I know ya cant believe most of what ya read online but some of the stuff I have been reading just confirmed my theories on some things. For one, I have been reading of the health benefits of stinging nettle. Who would a thunk it? A lil noxious stinging plant that is so loaded with vitamins and minerals that the infusion can contain the nutrients for a body for a whole day.
 Here ya go, read for yourself about stinging nettle .
And I do have a good deal of it dried too, which just adds to the fact that I will likely try it. With modern medicine as it is today, I think it would behoove us to have knowledge of some of the old remedies and know some things about natural ways to maintain our health. But it seems I start this kinda thinking every winter. Maybe its cause I am in the house with nothing better to do that read stuff that raises my curiosity. But the website I was reading from has tons of info on this herb and many other whole foods, how to naturally take care of your health. All on one cool site. Enjoy the read and I hope you can glean some healthy things from here.
We still have our cold temps this evening after night fall but today was kinda nice out. My thermometer was saying it was 40 degrees, but I think it lies more than the weather man. A lot of the snow melted but I think most of that was from the warm ground. Needless to say, I haven't been out there much today. Other than go to the freezer in the building to get something to fix for supper. We had venison stew with some "crunchy" not crusty french bread. Tomorrow it will be a nice big rotated chicken as Jason calls em. The last chickens I butchered we mostly left whole so I could roast them on the rotisserie in my toaster oven. I even have some cornbread dressing in the freezer from Thanksgiving that I will have with it. I might venture out to the cellar to see what else to fix with it. The fun part of the rotated chicken is gettin it all tied up so it will fit on the spit. I am sure if someone were watching me they would be in for a good laff or 3. I do have to say the birds look rather strange all tied up. Maybe I can take a pic to share with ya tomorrow.
So till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

OK shoveling snow is a waste of time

Sure didn't take long today to figure out that I was wasting my time shoveling snow off the deck. I put on my line wind breaker pants over my jammies and pulled on a sweat shirt, boots and gloves and my silly hat with the ear flaps and out I went. All I succeeded in doing was getting cold and making my joints hurt more. By time I got the snow and ice from last night off it had snowed more in 30 minutes to cover it over again. So I gave up on that and went to the summer kitchen to check on the water. We have a small electric heater out there set on low heat just to keep the pipes from freezing. I ran the water for a bit and it was fine. I have the remote sensor for the thermometer out there on the counter so I can sit in here and know how cold it gets out there. The thermometer was saying 55 degrees, so thas good. By supper time the temp was down to 44 and it is 16 outside right now. Our low for tonight is posed to be 12. Forecast to be that cold for a few days then back up to low 30's.
My late cabbage that I planted in mid September are now covered with snow. Not sure if it will kill them or not. We shall see when the sun comes out again. And they were just starting to make heads too. So note to self, next year plant late cabbage in mid august. I guess we all live and learn don't we. But normally we don't have this much cold and snow this early in December. I think we might have a white Christmas. Not much really happening here on the homestead in this weather. So till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

Its cold and I aint going out there

It is cold out side and we still have snow flurries. But the snow we got the other night is melting. The ground is still warm for this time of year I think. So naturally it is mud where the snow is gone. I did get a few pics today to let ya see some of the things I have been talking about.
First off is Luna and her new bed that she loves now. I figured by now she would have it dragged into the yard.

I'm sure she likes this better than the rug she chose before.
And here is what snow we had left when I finally got up this morning. OK so I was lazy and slept in.

We are still having those flurries as I type and the temps have dipped low enough that the thawed snow has turned to ice everywhere. So I may as well hibernate till later this week when it warms to above freezing. My hurty body don't need to get out and fall down and go boom.
Tonight for dinner I made some venison pot roast. I do it the quick way and it alas turns out nice and tender.
 So here are the instructions.

2 1/2 lb venison roast trimmed
1 cup celery chopped
1 cup onion chopped
1 teas salt
1/2 teas black pepper
1 quart whole tomatoes
1 small can tomato paste
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teas garlic

In pressure cooker place chopped onion and celery on bottom. Lay roast on top of onions. Mix remaining ingredients with 1 pint of water and pour over roast. Put on the lid and bring up to pressure for 25 to 30 minutes. After pressure drops remove the meat and use a stick blender to puree the sauce that is left. You may add some cornstarch to thicken as desired. Serve gravy over mashed taters and any side you like. A quick meal that is really good and tender.
Till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

Late winterizing

Some how time slipped away from us this fall and some things that needed to be done got left be the wayside. Things like putting insulation in the water pump house to keep it from freezing this winter. Not just at our house but at Jason's house too. So the guys got that done today. Jason spent some time under his house insulating some water lines to his washer as well. Now hopefully we wont have any frozen lines this winter. I had went to Jason's house to cut his hair and help him clean his new used refrigerator and stove. I hate cleaning ovens but sometimes it just has to be done. So now his appliances are all cleaned and in good shape for a while.
We got about 4 inches of snow last night and it has flurried most of the day today. At times there was sleet in the mix. Not pleasant going down your collar if you are outside tho. I guess I could have gotten out an taken some pics to share but you know me. Mind like a mouse trap, all set one minute, snapped the next. Maybe I can do that tomorrow.
When I got home I fixed spaghetti for supper and then got to work on a big pillow for Luna to sleep on here on the front porch. I had some old bed pillows that were beyond hope and used those to stuff a huge pillow case I made from an old throw that was at Jason's house. I sewed it on the sewing machine in the fashion of the envelope style pillow sham and slid 3 bed pillows in there. I put it out for Luna and she marched right up and laid down like she knew it was hers. I hope that will be a little easier on her than sleeping on the rug on the porch. She has a dog house but will not under no circumstances get in it. Now the trick will be keeping the big pillow dry when it rains and she comes in and lays on it. I will figure that out when the time comes.
So till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

Dont take long to get bored

Well one day of having little to do other than a couple loads of laundry and I am fidgety already. I get so used to going full throttle that when I get a break my mind is restless thinking that there is something that I should be doing. But this the quite the norm for me, I do it every winter since I had to stop working a paycheck job. I am sure if I had tried hard enough I could have found some thing to keep me busy, but by dang, I took it easy today. I did fix a nice supper/ Fried chicken, corn on the cob, green beans, mashed taters, mustard greens for me, biscuits and gravy and cooked some dried apples. OK I cheated, the taters where from tater flakes. All home grown food except the taters and biscuits. Its no wonder we don't like to eat out. The food just can not stack up to the worst of home cooked. After getting back to the farm after I had to quit work, raising ALL our own food, cooking from scratch, I think terrible things when I eat out. I sit at the table waiting on my order and wonder if the cook washed their hands, or if they sneezed on the food. Well you get the idea. I am certain nasty things happen in those restaurant kitchens that would gross out a maggot. Then I have to think how the food was grown, how it was cleaned, was it GMO? Not to mention all the preservatives in commercial foods these days. And I wont even get started on any meat cooked in a restaurant. Heaven knows how that animal died. Ya know, it was not many years ago people looked down on you if you didn't eat out a lot. They knew you were poor and couldn't afford it. Today I do think that has changed for the better. Now if you mention a home cooked meal most people envy you. I guess they finally came to realize how much better it is and better for ya. But if eating out made you poor, I have alas been happy to be piss poor as so to speak. Even now about the only time we eat out is when we have to go out of town to doc appointments and such. And to us it is just a treat and a day I don't have to be in the kitchen cooking.  One of my blog readers commented in an email to me about some vices that we both have, "all and all we eat healthy and feel like that leaves a little room to pick our poisons". We do eat home grown and home made but we do ingest some things that are not really good for ya. My weakness is Mt Dew. But it has some natural ingredients in it. Water is natural, right?
So till next time, try to eat home grown and home made, and blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

It is snowing, time to hibernate

It has been cold all day. I had a doc appointment this afternoon and then came straight home. The cold makes my joints hurt more so its best I avoid that if possible. My family doc is referring me to a Rheumatologist for further care. We think I may have arthritis in my joints that is causing the sore and stiffness not to mention the pain. I sure hope they have a solution because it sure limits my activities in life.
After I got home this afternoon, I make turkey noodle soup for supper. Sure was nice and warming after a day of being out in the cold. And I had turkey and stock left from Sunday dinner that I could not freeze. As you remember I don't have any freezer space. As I was cleaning up the dishes I looked out and it had started snowing. Not much on the ground but a light dusting. Just enough to make me want to hibernate. I do like staying in the house in winter when it snows. I might be in here till spring if we get a good bit of snow.
I got a text from Rob this evening and they have a lot of their stuff moved into their house. Yes they finally found a house to rent. I am so relieved. It is hard living in a hotel and eating out all the time. I am sure they are excited to be able to cook again. He said the temps there is mostly in the teens and lots of snow. He was used to our winters here in Kentucky, so I think that will take some getting used to. I feel better knowing they are in a place where they can do for themselves and be snug for the winter so far from home. I really am not looking forward to Christmas with my cubs so far from the den either. But he has a great job that he enjoys and his girlfriend there, and good opportunity for him to start a career that will provide well for him.
So till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

Slowing down a little

I have been taking it kinda easy today, not doing anything strenuous. That is unless you count washing windows, curtains, and cleaning floors. I have stayed in all day. It has been cold here and we had our first snow flurries this morning. Nothing stuck on the ground but it was pretty falling. I don't mind snow as long as it don't stick to the roads. We had a lot of rain for a few days prior so the river is up a good deal. It has the road blocked going out to town but we can go out the long way if need be. That's what the guys do when they go to work. But at least I have been in getting caught up on the house cleaning that has been let go for a few weeks. Hell I even cleaned windows. Now that is saying something for me.
We have spent all summer busy with the garden and canning and all the butchering we have done here. It is nice to have the freezers full. Especially with the state of our country and economy. We can all live as frugal as possible and still be able to put back extra food in case of an emergency. It don't have to be a BIG disaster, but even with lose of a job or sickness or unemployment we all need to have a well stocked pantry. A friend sent some reading info to me in an email today and I thought I would share the links with you so everyone can be informed and prepared. I don't consider myself a prepper or survivalist but I do like to be prepared to weather out the storms of life.

http://neithercorp.us/npress/?p=936

http://neithercorp.us/npress/?p=710

Both are informative and gives ya something to think about. I really  don't want to count on anyone to take care of me or my family except me. So on we go.
Till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella