The Colestead

No, I didn't fall off the face of the earth

2011-05-04T07:42:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, it's been months since my last post. Bad blogger!

Truly, I just didn't like the directions my posts where taking. It seemed like all I was doing was whining about the deployment. So, I decided to take a break. Turned out to be a long break, but hey, it's not like my little blog is "all that".

Handsome Hubby is home! I am so grateful the Lord protected him and brought him back safely.

Being the FRG Leader for hubby's unit, I helped plan a nice big "Welcome Home" for the company. When they stepped off of the plane they were surrounded by family and friends. The USO and Patriot Riders were there. The area was decked out in flags and yellow ribbons. It was the stuff TV shows were made of...

Alas, my husband wasn't on that plane.

When he called to let me know he wouldn't be flying in until the day after the rest of the unit, I was dissapointed. But hey, this is the military we're talking about here--things like this happen.

So when we finally got a call from my hubby with his flight information--which was right before he got on the plane. My sister-in-law got on the phone and started calling our friends and church family. This is what he came home to...

Keep in mind his plane came in at 11:30 at night and these people came to show thier support for my hubby. To each and everyone I send my heartfelt thanks. You made a good day even better.

So...after he got off the plane and walked down a looooong hall, in what seemed like slowed motion, we finally were able to do this...

And this...

and this...

But, the absolute best part was doing this...

Thanks all for now!

The Private Battles of a Military Wife

2010-06-08T08:42:00.000-07:00

It is a struggle for me to share what life is like for us right now. American needs to know, really know, what is sacrificed for American freedom so they can treasure it, as they should. On the other hand, no one wants to be pitied or become someone's "project". Many military wives find it easier just to keep to ourselves.

Today I found something that puts into words what I can not. I have yet to deal with the casualties that are mentioned but so many military wives do. This is not being posted to get pity. I don't want it. It is posted to educate so that civilians may attempt to understand.

From Patti's Diary

Memorial Day

2010-05-31T11:53:00.000-07:00

On this Memorial Day let us never forget that freedom is not free. It is paid for with the blood of the wounded and fallen, the sweat of those who still stand, and the tears of those they have left behind at home. -DC

Tough stuff ahead

2010-03-17T08:43:00.000-07:00

Handsome hubby was home on a short leave. So I took a break from almost everything, including this blog. It was nice to be together again and we made the most out of the time we had. I may post about it later. But, it is over. We have parted again. This time for the long haul. Hubby is now several states away in training. Then from there it is on to "the sandbox". Please keep him and us here at home in your prayers.

I know this all sounds a bit cryptic but OpSec must be taken into account. OpSec (Operational Security) means we do not discuss dates, times, locations, etc. Even small, seemingly unimportant, pieces of info can be dangerous in the wrong hands. After all, this blog is posted to the public and I have no idea who is reading it. Even though our Facebook posts are only read by people we have added to our friends list we have to be careful there too.

Here is a quote from a recent article on OpSec that was on the Christian Military Wives site:

"So, you've heard of OPSEC.... but - what in the world is it? Let's break it down. You know when your hubby is coming home from Iraq. That's such awesome news! You decide you want to share the great news with family and friends here on Christian Military Wives or other social sites like Facebook.

Did you know that our enemy can be lurking within? I know, that's a frightening thought! I don't like the sounds of that at all. Let me give you a little info on myself. I'm in my mid-thirties and have had no computer training at all, in my life... period. I do have enough "know how" to understand that I can create a fake Facebook page in less than 3 minutes. It's easy to quickly create a fake yahoo, gmail or hotmail account... sign up for Facebook using a fake name linked to a fake email account - bah-da-boo-bah-dah-bing... I'm on Facebook.

So, imagine an extremist or someone else with bad intentions...

They take their "fake" Facebook account and email account to join fan pages, websites, and other social outlets online to gather personal information about our military and their families. The "bad guy" then befriends you on a social network such as Facebook and wah-lah... sees the date not only your husband will be flying in on, but the whole company. This could be very, very bad.

So there it is in a nutshell. So without giving any other details I will simply ask that you keep our family in your prayers. Also, please pray daily for all of our troops and their families. Every day a service member is gone weighs heavily on the spouse and children they have left behind.

I am grateful for the love and support I have received from our family and friends. It is comforting that so many will be covering our family in prayer. There is no way for things to be as good now as they were when Handsome Hubby was home. But they will be much better because of the support I have. These friends and family bless me when they listen to me ramble, they don't push when I can't or don't want to talk, they help me with things around the house, watch my children, invite us over, and understand when I need my space and do not answer phone calls or emails. They overwhelm me with their kindness and generosity and I will never be able to thank them enough. The only way I can describe it is: Christ's love in action. That is not an understatement.

We are so fortunate to live in the greatest nation on the planet. God bless America and her troops!

Seedlings

2010-03-02T15:37:00.000-08:00

Remember my post about the heat mat I bought? Well I wish I had more. It really made a difference. I will be getting another one for my indoor planting next year. Safe outdoor planting is around the corner. My seedlings are just about ready. Actually, there have been no hard freezes in our area this winter. My good IRL friend Momma planted lettuce last November that lived. I am a bit green about her luck with that because now they are ready for harvest! If I had planted I just know a hard freeze would have killed the lot. Oh well, live and learn!

So, while I will have to wait for my harvest, I am off to a good start. Here are my seedlings:

In the front are 30 tomato seedlings. There are 2 rows of lettuce that I just set out. In the round pots are onions and sunflowers. I am going to try to let the sunflowers be the support for the pole beans. I know many do but this is a first for me. Beyond that are kale, spinach, chard, and chilies. I have planted a lot of kale. Most of it will be for animal feed.

These morning glories are supposed to grow up the wire fence to block the over-spray from the orange grove on the other side of the fence. If I plant these again I will plant the seeds in a larger pot with a bamboo pole at least 2 feet high, 3 would be better. They are growing vertically very quickly!

A close up of one of my onions. I will be planting more outside to see which does better.

Here are my little kale seedlings. My test batch grew wonderfully last year. I let 2 plants overwinter and they are already producing. The leaves are smaller but even small fresh greens are a treat to my chickens and goats.

Starting from seed costs much less than buying plants at the store. There is no way I could buy this many plants at $2 - $5 each.

My next plan for the garden is to block in at least 2 more beds. That is a lot of block but I should be able to get it soon. I also need some metal EMT and hardware cloth to get the chicken tractors built. I will need blocks and tractors to move forward with my garden. Confused? It will all be revealed in time. :)

Happy Gardening!

~Mother~

MiniMan's new 'do

2010-02-27T06:00:00.000-08:00

The day Handsome Hubby left he visited the barber. He decided it would be fun to take MiniMan with him. MiniMan has never been to the barber. We have always cut his hair at home. Hubby wanted matching flat tops (which I have never done before) so off they went.

After watching his Daddy in the chair and learning that a lollipop would be his reward, MiniMan sat still and let the barber work.

The finished result is so ~~cute~~ handsome. Unfortunately the camera batteries died before the barber was finished. We had family pictures taken later that day. Once they are ready I will post them here.

Guess I will be practicing cutting flat tops when MiniMan's hair grows out.

An afternoon at the lake

2010-02-25T06:00:00.000-08:00

The month before he left, Handsome Hubby and I kept our family calendar clear. We made no plans other than spending the days together with the children. This made the pre-deployment phase much less stressful than last time. We made lots of good memories and enjoyed each day.

One if these lazy Saturdays was spent at the lake fishing. First we slept in a bit then had a pancake breakfast at home. After that we packed up and headed out.

It was a beautiful day. We packed a lunch plus plenty of soda and chips. While not healthy soda and chips have become an absolute necessity for our fishing trips.

Handsome Hubby spent most of his time setting up poles, helping with bait, giving casting lessons, and untangling lines. I spent my time making lunch, handing out snacks, wiping faces, taking video/pictures, and watching this little guy...

His blog name is Bitty Boy. Isn't he just adorable? Yes, I know he is. :) He played away in his excer-saucer happily the whole time. Next time we go fishing he will be big enough for his own pole.

Yes, it was a very good day.

Deployment Chain

2010-02-24T06:00:00.000-08:00

A deployment chain is something I made to count off the days during Handsome Hubby's last deployment. It helps the little ones grasp the concept of time. It is hard to hear "Is Daddy coming home today?" everyday for weeks or months. It is even harder to tell that little one "No honey, not today." and see how it affects them.

Last time I made one link for each day. I put each month's worth of strips into an envelope. Then I punched a hole in the corner and strung them up. The children really liked cutting off the loop after prayers each evening. For me, it was depressing to see the month's chain disappear only to grow again with the new month. A few times a child though Daddy was coming home when it was only the end of the month.

I had not planned to do another chain but some of the children said they liked it. So,this time I made a link for each week. Each link has 7 circles for each day of the week. Here is a close up of one link.

At the end of each day the child who gets to say prayer first (they take turns) gets to punch out the circle for the day. By Saturday the link will be cut through and the link comes off. The chain is long but does not seem as overwhelming as it did last time. Here is a picture of some of the chain.

Our wall is complete with a picture of Handsome Hubby. The oil lamp was already there and bears no significance. Why did I only show part of the chain? OpSec! No giving out of movement dates. No, not even approximates. Yes it looks long but we can hack it. After all, we are a military family and we are proud to serve. :)

1 week down - lots to go

2010-02-22T11:57:00.001-08:00

So here we are 1 week into this deployment. We are all OK. Before I go any further, just a note to all my military wife friends who may be reading this: I asked my hubby not to read this blog. This is because I want to be able to write about what is going on here and if I am having problems that would only stress my man. My job as Mrs. SSgt. is Morale Relief and Support. I don't remember where I read that acronym but it rings true. So now I can write without wondering if my writings will worry him. He is free to read it all once he gets home but, knowing him, he probably won't.

This week was rough at the start but had a good finish. The rough start is no fun to write about so let's move on to the good finish part. Saturday I went to a local homeschooling seminar that I was asked to speak at. This was the first time I have spoken at anything like this. I had spent weeks preparing my talks but I was really nervous. My friend went with me, bless her! Right before we got out of the car she stopped me and prayed for me. That was a big help. Thanks K! The opening session was inspiring and once I got into my room and started my first presentation my nerves melted away. It felt good to be able to help and encourage other homeschooling moms. Dare I say I actually enjoyed giving those talks.

On top of all this K's husband was bravely at home with his 2 children plus all 7 of mine. I am so grateful to him for enabling his wife and me to attend the seminar. He even offered to watch my children again should I want an outing with his wife. Thanks so much P!

Sunday, being the Lord's day, was spent worshiping and fellow shipping with the saints. Our congregation was having a special meeting so after the morning service we had a potluck, singing, and a closing service. The singing was the hardest part for me. My Hubby is a wonderful song leader and he is often in charge of the singings. He will sit with our oldest son on his lap and guide his hand to keep the tempo of the songs as Daddy trains son to be a song leader. MiniMan, even at the age of 2, can keep the beat all by himself for a few of his favorite songs because of this teaching. I was really missing him during the singing.

After the last service the A family invited us over for pizza. It was good to spend the evening with them and MiniMan got some if his little boy energy burned up wrestling with Mr. A. It is good to know that there are a few Godly men in our circle of friends and family that can be good influences on our boys while Daddy is away.

So Monday is here and we have lots to do, as usual. Thanks for all of your prayers and keep them coming please. It helps to know our friends and family are praying for us. Have a good week!

Here it comes.....

2010-02-13T09:24:00.000-08:00

Handsome Hubby's deployment is just a few days away. So I will be taking a break from this blog, and probably Facebook, for a bit. My on-line shop will be closed until the 22nd. We are going to enjoy these last few days together, having fun and making good memories. After our Daddy leaves we will pout at home for a bit. Once we are done we will find our new "normal" and I will be back.

For all my family and IRL friends... Please don't be upset at me if I do not return call or messages for a while. It will be easier for us if we have some space. We will be back in touch eventually. :)

I'm seeking professional help

2010-02-08T08:30:00.000-08:00

...gardening help that is. There is a local organic garden that has a leasing program. My family has leased a 60 foot row there. For our fee we get the ground prepped, the seedlings (grown from non GMO seed on-site), a custom watering system, and a weekly gardening class to make sure I don't kill everything. I am splitting the cost, and the harvest, with another family. I am more interested in the classes than anything. In past years my attempts at gardening have been pretty sad. So my intent is to take what I learn there and do the same thing in my garden here on the Colestead. We are a family of 9 and it will take a LOT of food to achieve my goal of growing nearly all of the food we need.

In addition to the knowledge I expect to tie more heart-strings with my children as we work along side one another without any interruptions. It is my hope that this little "something new" will help with the deployment.

No pictures of the leased row yet, sorry. But I will be taking many pictures when we start classes next month. Since the lady who runs the organic farm told me she already had her seeds started I decided it was time to get busy. Here is my first planting:

The flat was then put on this:

This is my new seedling heat mat. Got mine for a mere $20. I would like to have a total of 4 but that is not possible right now. Some of my seedling broke ground in 3 days! Pics of the seedlings coming soon. By the way, if you want to learn more about gardening, I suggest you check out YouTube. I found many helpful gardening videos there.

Happy Spring!

Chicken Butchering 2009 #1

2010-02-05T09:14:00.000-08:00

This post is not for the faint of heart. It is the 1st of a mini series about our butchering process. If you are ~~offended~~ bothered by such things please don't read this or the other butchering posts. You have been forewarned.

Americans need to be more connected to their food, in my opinion. To me this means knowing where it comes from and how it is raised. People need to know that chicken is so much more than the plastic wrapped packages you see at the grocery store. It was an animal that was born, raised, and butchered to supply humans with food. What is put into the birds will end up in the end product that we eat. We do our best to give our animals a good life and a quick, humane death.

The Colestead is not certified organic. The process to become certified is very expensive and it is not worth the cost. However I do things as organically as I can. Some things like organic feed are out of my reach right now but I do not ever used medicated feed. I medically treat my animals naturally just like I treat my family. I keep a close eye on my birds therefore I am able to stay on top of any health issues. An unhealthy bird is not butchered.

OK, the details....

We purchase our chicks from Hoovers Hatchery. They had the best deal and I try to avoid the big hatcheries since a few of them have had big problems in the past. They arrived as day old chicks via USPS. Yes you read that right, they come in the mail. We know, in advance, what day the chicks will arrive. The post office calls as soon as they have our chirping box and we drive out to pick them up. Here they are:

The chick on the left is a Buff Orpingtion. They are our laying flock. The chick on the right is a Cornish Rock Cross. These are fast-growing meat birds. There are many that do not like this super breed and call them "franken-birds". They grow very big very fast. If you are not careful they will get grow so quickly that their legs cannot support them.

Here they are on butchering day. They are in a pen in our pole barn. Ideally they would be raised in chicken tractors over green grass. That is the plan for 2010. I will save the butchering picture for the next post. Until then.....

chicken pot pie anyone? :)

Keeping it real

2010-02-03T08:30:00.000-08:00

People who write blogs can sometimes be seen as "having it all together". OK, if you are reading this and really know me, you already know that is far from true. However, if you don't know me in real life (IRL) then it can be easy to think so. After all, if I take a pic inside my home, I make sure the background is clean, even if everything around it is a MESS.

Since spring is fast approaching gardening is on my mind. So here are a few "before" pics of my sad, sad garden

This is the north side of my garden. This bed is lined with scrap wood which is temporary. My family has been dumping grass clippings on this bed since last summer. Note the dead tomato plants on the end. These should have been hacked down and buried under the clippings last fall. Bad Mother! They would have been nicely composted by now. Oh well, they can go on the compost pile.

My garden is fairly large and mostly unfinished. That is one of my main goals for this year. I have a complete system in mind but that is another post.

This is the best bed I have right now. This bed is 15 feet by 4 feet and is lined with cinder block. This is the goal for all 10 beds I have planned. After watching several wooden bed frames fall apart after only 2 or 3 years Handsome Hubby and I decided blocks, while more expensive to start with, would be a better solution.

The plants you see in this pic were left on purpose. They are Russian Kale. These grew beautifully and have started producing again. I am pondering planting an entire bed of kale since the goats really like it. Growing some of our animal feed would save money. As long as the main stalk is left undisturbed it should keep producing, but I am not sure how much. It may be better to plant new kale each spring for a better yield. After harvesting (for our family) it was washed, chopped, and frozen. It kept there very nicely and made a good, healthy addition to soups and casseroles.

As you can tell in these pics I have a lot of work to do. Weeds abound around the beds but I have an army of chickens to help me with that. Properly penned chickens will dig up about anything to bare earth in just a few days. The creepy crawlies they eat make yummy eggs. Another weapon in my weed arsenal are my goats. The next pic shows just how effective they are.

Guess how far the goats can reach. Yep they can reach everywhere the weeds are gone. Makes me wish the pasture fence were closer to the wall. I may get a couple of cattle panels and pen up a goat or two between the fences. Goats need good, strong fences. There are the Houdini of the Colestead.

Lots of gardening to do!

Military Family

2010-02-01T22:04:00.000-08:00

For those who do not we are a military family. For a long time I hesitated to use that title. I don't really know why. Handsome Hubby was enlisted before we were married. I guess it is because my husband has always been in the reserves and it did not seem to apply to us as it does to those who have a service member who is on active duty (full time). My view changed in 2004 when my Handsome Hubby was deployed to Iraq.

This was taken right before he left.

When he came home he went on inactive status for a while. Then he went into the National Guard. After so many years in the Marine Corps it has been an adjustment! Now the title of Military Family seems to fit again as Handsome Hubby will be deploying to Afghanistan soon.

I was not going to write about this deployment. To be able to write about it without whining, complaining, or appearing to want pity seemed impossible. Yet as it draws closer I have changed my mind. Here's why: It seems many Americans are forgetting that we are at war. People are forgetting that each and everyday men and women in uniform are risking their lives for our country. Since we are a military family we have not forgotten this. Our troops and their families are prayed for every day. So I will write about this deployment and how it affects our family. I will write in order to remind people that many families, like ours, are military families that willingly sacrifice for our great nation.

The writing will be limited by Op Sec (Operational Security). My Handsome Hubby is big on that one and so am I because he has taught me to be. Some take it lightly; they mention where their loved one is stationed, what unit they are in, and even what they are doing. Not me. That can be both foolish and dangerous.

For now it is enough to say that the deployment is fast approaching and that we are enjoying each day as much as we can. I will keep writing about our animals, garden, herb business, and all rest. But I will now write about the military aspect too.

Yes, I am proud to claim the title of Military Family!

New Chickens

2010-01-28T16:00:00.000-08:00

Hello! This is NancyDrew. I am 11 and I am the second oldest child on the Colestead.

This post is about our new chickens that we got for the Colestead. We got 15 chickens from one of our friends. Here is a picture of Hope. She is our head chicken of the new group.

She picks on the other birds sometimes but she never makes them bleed. Well, that I've seen.
Here is a picture of Nancy.

Nancy is a Buff. Buffs are my favorite kind of chicken in the world.

This picture is of Speckles.

Speckles is an Americana. Americana's lay colored eggs like pink, green, and blue. Pinks are very rare. According the person we got her from she lays blue eggs.

This is a picture of Vanilla.

~~Vanilla is feisty but cute. We like her very much.~~
Vanilla died the very next day. She got out of the pen by squeezing through the crack in the gate. :(

This next picture is of Buttercup.

Buttercup is a cute and adorable chicken that is my second favorite.

Here is another picture.

And this is Missy, our cat, chilling out and getting to know the birds.

Here is a picture of me.

Thank you for reading this post.
NancyDrew

My new garden gizmo

2010-01-27T23:22:00.000-08:00

Shopping is not my thing. It is more of something that I must do but I can't say that I really enjoy it. Usually it just frustrates me. Stores are crowded. It takes up time I could be using to do something I actually want to do. But what frustrates me most is that if I am shopping to find something to fix a problem I have, I usually can not find what I need.

A problem I had during the summer involved these:

These hanging baskets were giving me fits! Everything I planted in them died from lack of water. Yes I watered them. Often. But summers are hot here and the water did not last. I even lined them with plastic bags to keep the water in. No luck. There are drip lines above them but they just dripped into the middle of the basket. No mister seemed to work. Throwing the baskets out was looking pretty good as I thought of planting in them again this spring. Then I found these...

These are misters that fit into my drip line but are wired so that I can wrap them around the basket chain and they will spray my basket evenly. At least, that is what they are supposed to do. The jury is still out on that. Marigold seeds were planted. It is still pretty cold so it may be a while until they grown. The temptation of those flowers I always see at WalMart may get the best of me. Those six packs of instant gratification just seem to jump into my cart. Does that make me a bad gardener or just a lazy one?

Signs of Spring

2010-01-26T15:08:00.000-08:00

Here on The Colestead it is still cold and our last frost date is still several weeks away. This is my third spring here. That means I still have a lot to learn. One thing I have learned is that, when it comes to gardening, timing is everything. I keep notes in an attempt to create a calendar for myself so that I remember what needs to be done and when. Alas, I often forget to look at my notes.

God, in his wisdom, has provided this sign that it is time to begin my spring prep.....

When I see these I know it is time to get busy.

There is a lot to do!

I would like to put my list in a sidebar a cross off each item as it is completed. If I only knew how....

Happy spring planning!

Time to jumpstart the garden

2010-01-22T18:06:00.000-08:00

A few days ago I was speaking to a lady I met last year. She owns an organic farm and a mutual friend told her that I may be able to supply her with hatching eggs. I gave her 4 or 5 eggs and she gave me a pumpkin and some lovely seeds. Now she is blessing me with hens that she does not have room for. I enjoy talking to her because she is willing to share her knowledge with me.

She sells rows at her organic farm for people to garden. She is a wealth of information. Sadly, my garden has been less than stellar. I am eager to learn from anyone willing to share their knowledge with me. During our phone conversation the subject of gardening came up. As she spoke I took notes. She mentioned that she already has tomato seedlings growing indoors that she started from seed. I was surprised since our projected last frost date is still a while away. She shared that she uses heat mats under her flats when she starts her seed indoors at this time of year. She encouraged me to look up 'seed germinating temperatures'. I did just that. I will be buying a couple of heat mats soon. Maybe you should look it up too.

If you are reading this, and do not need to look it up because you already know about this subject, please leave a comment and share what you know. I would be grateful.

Old Posts

2010-01-21T10:08:00.000-08:00

I am moving a few posts over from my old blog. To keep everything in order I will be back dating my posts to their original posting dates on my old blog.

If you are a reader of my old blog and have followed me over here I thank you. :)

Welcome!

2010-01-20T22:44:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the new Colestead blog! I have been wanting to move my blog for a while and am finally doing so. Hope you enjoy reading it.

We are a family of 9 living on an acre of God's creation that we call The Colestead. That is also the name of our herbal business that we started last year. Aside from raising children on The Colestead we raise dairy goats and chickens for eggs and meat. Our garden has not been as successful as we would like but I hope to rectify that this year.

I may move some old posts over but will not commit to moving all of them. I am not sure we are all that interesting to read about but for some reason I do enjoy telling a bit about our family.

May we never forget!

2009-09-11T13:45:00.000-07:00

May we NEVER forget!

These are the victims of the 9/11 attacks. Their families will never forget them and neither should we. Their lives were taken from them.

This is my husband. He has served in our military for 20 years including a tour in Iraq. By God's grace he came home. Many like him did not. Their families will never forget them and neither should we. Their lives were given.

Our military is still fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan and some wonder why. It is not hard to understand. We fight there so we do not have to fight here. We fight there so that this...

never happens again. May God bless America and her troops!

Goot: Garlic ointment we have used for years

2009-08-24T10:04:00.000-07:00

In our home, we use GOOT. It is just a name for garlic ointment. I have now idea why it is called Goot or who named it. Making Goot is easy and I have used it for years. Why not just make a garlic poultice. I used to do that until one day I left it on my chest too long and gave myself a nasty chemical burn. Ouch! The beauty of Goot is that the garlic is emulsified in the oils and therefore does not burn you. I have even used this on my newborns and have never seen a burn. Good stuff.

Here is how you make it: Gather 3 tablespoons of finely chopped garlic, 3 tablespoons of coconut oil and 3 tablespoons of olive oil. In addition to the anti-infective/anti-fungal/anti-parasite properties of the garlic, the coconut oil is also anti-microbial. I combine these using a stick blender. Stick blenders are easier to clean. Blend at slow speed, then at high for two minutes. Pour the mixture through a screen to remove chunks of garlic that the blender may have missed (I skip this step). Pour into a glass wide-mouthed jar and label and store in the refrigerator. After an hour in the refrigerator, it turns into a thick, soft paste. If you leave it out on a hot day it will separate. I just shake it well and put it back in the refrigerator.

Goot stays at full strength for only 2 weeks. I usually make it when needed. Make sure you lable the jar with the date you made it or you will forget. Goot is not bad for you after 2 weeks but it will not be as strong and therefore will not work as well.

This was written on the source site where I found the goot recipe:
I always take this with me when traveling -- especially camping! Insect bites and rashes literally disappear when GOOT is applied. Rubbed into the skin, GOOT transfers raw garlic oil directly into the blood stream. Apply to the feet of children or infants to fight infections. Rub on chest for chest colds, pneumonia or rub into nostrils for sinus infections. Applied to the nostrils will help clear congestion. Apply directly to sores inside the mouth. Rub on Athlete's foot or genital area for jock itch. Can be inserted as needed for yeast or other related infections. Place on cotton swab for ear infections. GOOT kills Candida, parasites, bad bacteria and virus by direct application. Systemic infections can be treated by absorption through the skin into the blood supply, traveling throughout the body.

Our new(ish) chicken coop

2009-06-26T10:11:00.000-07:00

I must apologize to my Handsome Hubby for taking so long to brag about the newest addition to the Colestead which he built. Better late than never, I guess. Here is the story:

After a lot of waiting and looking I finally found the material to build our chicken coop! We were passing Lowes and I had made a habit of driving through the parking lot looking for such a deal as I found that day. There it was; a complete kit for a cedar shed on clearance for $200! I had let a shed just like it slip through my fingers once before and had been looking for something like it for a long time. There is was! I hopped out of the car, dragging already tired children (plus 2 friends along for the day) with me and I practically RAN into the store to complete the purchase.

Once Handsome Hubby found the time the shed was up after a few days of work. It is lovely!

We attached the old run to it with plans to build a bigger run as time and money allow.

We are hoping to use a large chain link dog kennel. We need something secure as we have had 3 predator attacks this year. Two of those were stray dogs. People like to dump things "out in the country". Ugh.

All this years chicks were in here when this picture was taken. Since then the meat birds (white) were moved to a bigger pen. The egg layers (Buff Orpingtons) and Jellybean (the black one that is the children's pet) will stay in here. Once they are a bit bigger we will start letting them out for a few hours a day.

Building movable chicken pens is on my to do list. You know, that list that grows when I am sleeping? Double ugh! My plan is to build the pens so that they sit inside my garden beds. I will move the chickens on the beds as I need them turned over and fertilized. To make them predator proof will require they be made out of metal pipe and a mesh that it tighter (and more expensive) than chicken wire.

Pictures of the garden (such as it is) will be up soon. Thanks for reading!

Mother of 7 blessings from the Lord & Helpmeet to my Handsome Hubby who is my best blessing of all!

Garden update

2009-06-26T10:06:00.000-07:00

Here are some recent garden pics.

The beans are doing OK. Wish I had planted more. According to the Mother Earth News site I can still plant beans. I plan to plant them next week. A lot!

Here is my solution to our sprinkler problem. You see my garden was a yard and I need to control the water flow to control the weed and grass growth. So I dug down, removed the pop- up sprinkler and replaced it with a riser that I topped with a hose splitter. eventually I will buy soaker hoses but for now I am using old hoses with small holes drilled in them.

I got the hose from our local freecycle group. The end was mangled so I cut it cleanly and tied it off with a hose clamp. So when the sprinklers come on the water will go to my plants and the grass will die off. At least that is the plan.

A friend was thinning her strawberry bed and blessed as with several plants. This is 1 of 2 barrels. The plants are pouting now but they will perk up.

This is my herb barrel that is recovering from sprinklers that quit working long before I found out.

A gerber daisy given to me that I put in the garden just because.

One of the two kittens that we need to find homes for. Any takers?

Bye for now!

Mother of 7 blessings from the Lord & Helpmeet to my Handsome Hubby who is my best blessing of all

Disneyland

2009-05-27T10:19:00.000-07:00

Hello Readers. Do I have readers? I know I have a few and I must apologize to you. It has been a long time since I have posted. A lot has been going on and I have lots to blog about. I will not try to do it all in order. I'll just start with the pics I have and go from there.

Not too long ago we took a trip to Disneyland and California Adventure.

Money is tight for us right now, as it is for many, so you may be wondering how we could spend so much for something such as this. Well that is a bit of a story.

Back in 2007 we spent the day at the American Girl place. Almost 2 years earlier out oldest two girls told me they really wanted an American Girl doll. At $100 each I told them "no way" but after talking to Handsome Hubby we decided if they could save up the money they could not only buy the doll but spend the day and the AG Place. If you don't know about AG look it up. And yes, you can spend the WHOLE DAY at the AG Place.

Anyway, as we were leaving we were discussing how well the girls did saving their money and how they did not spend on silly little things since they were saving for something bigger.

So we decided right then that when each child saved up enough to buy their own ticket we would take a family trip to Disneyland. They saved their money, we saved some money, we took the trip.

To save money we slept in our trailer each night, packed our own food, and only purchase one meal each day in the parks. While they search all incoming bags they do allow food and drinks to be brought in.

We brought trail mix, crackers, cookies, bottled water, and packets of drink mix that are portioned for bottled water. The $20 -$25 I spent on these items would have cost triple inside the park!

It was a lot of work packing, driving the long distance, etc. I am glad we did!

Mother of 7 blessings from the Lord & Helpmeet to my Handsome Hubby who is my best blessing of all

Introducing Violet

2009-04-09T10:22:00.000-07:00

Introducing Violet!
She was born yesterday. Daisy, her mother, had been showing for a few weeks. Since I let my buck run with my doe I had only a rough idea of when she was bred. Contrary to what I have been told this does not make her milk taste funny. I digress......

We had friends over and as I was showing them my goats I notices Daisy had "bagged up" meaning to say her bag (utter) was full of milk. Daisy was not acting like she was in labor and had no mucus or any dripping but I knew it would be withing 24 hours. After my friends left we were outside until 3pm working in the garden. We went into the house to clean up. When we came out at 6pm Violet was born and completely dry. I can't believe I missed it...again. We have had 5 births on out place now and I have missed every one of them! Oh well, I am glad she is a doe and was born safely.

As you can see mama and baby are doing well. Violet is colored just like her daddy buy did not get his blue eyes. She has brown ones like her mama. Daisy id Nubian and Errigone (the daddy) and 3/4 Nubian and 1/4 Nigerian Dwarf.

So now, counting Violet, we have 4 does. Hopefully they will all be in milk next year, Lord willing.

Mother of 7 blessings from the Lord & Helpmeet to my Handsome Hubby who is my best blessing of all

Sad News

2009-04-08T13:32:00.000-07:00

This is where Clyde, our little pygmy goat, spent his last days. One minute he was fine the nest he was lying on the ground twitching. It looks like he got worms and showed no signs until it was too late. I am now looking up goat wormer recipes. A hard lesson learned.

quote of the day

2009-03-30T13:35:00.000-07:00

"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent." -- Thomas Jefferson

Right to Life funderaiser

2009-03-27T13:38:00.000-07:00

Our children recently participated in Right To Life fundraiser. Most towns have a Right To Life chapter. If this is a cause you support you may want to contact your local chapter to see how you can help.

Each of our four oldest children worked as a team to collected pledges from people to sponsor them for this walk. When the pledges were divided each of girl raised the $150 needed to get a free Right To Life t-shirt.

Here you see a some of the walkers.

They were glad to get the shirts but even more glad that the money they raised would go to fight against the abortion (murder) of the unborn.

After the 2.5 mile walk we enjoyed a small gathering put on by Right To Life to thank all of the walkers. The children enjoyed balloon sculptures, face painting, and climbing the rock wall. I enjoyed watching them. No rock wall climbing for me, thank you.

We all enjoyed the day and are looking forward to doing it again next year.

Mother of 7 blessings from the Lord & Helpmeet to my Handsome Hubby who is my best blessing of all