Unexpectedly, my husband lost his job last week. This causes all the usual panic and monetary considerations, and we certainly are no different. Fortunately, we started looking around and realized that we were not too badly off.
In January we chose to slaughter all of our pigs due to the nuisance they had become; the freezer still contains many, many pounds of pork. We have eggs … Continue reading the story "Now it’s for real"
Post Archives from the ‘Heritage Lifestyle’ Category
A Sad Happening
As often happens with folks who were not raised on farms, we find ourselves learning new things on a daily basis. This lesson revolves around our rabbits. While I had a number of different pets as a child, rabbits were not welcome in our household, so I have little knowledge and now just a year of experience with them. Compared to my knowledge of dogs, … Continue reading the story "A Sad Happening"
Spring Expectations
Some may remember that I was very interested, last spring, in incubating eggs and having my chicks arrive not through the mail but from our own hens. I bought an incubator (after failing to build one) and made several attempts to hatch my own. My success rate was never more than 30%.
Thankfully, one of my hens did a much better job, sat 9 eggs (not … Continue reading the story "Spring Expectations"
Back in the Groove
So, its been far too long since I sat down to write. A lot has happened since last summer... Sadly, not all of it was good and 2014 was a very personally challenging year for my family, my husband, and myself. Happily, we are moving forward.
While I try to get back in the habit of posting, I thought a short update was in order.
Too much … Continue reading the story "Back in the Groove"
a Moral consideration
May was a very busy month for me and June is proving to be equally so. My garden is doing very well and keeping me plenty busy, so no complaints there. Also, the animals keep us hopping, with the pigs needing new pasture, the rabbits having babies, continuing to incubate eggs, and even our cat now expecting. Finally, the kids are out of school and … Continue reading the story "a Moral consideration"
Riding
The other day at a child’s birthday party a friend offered rides on his motorcycle to some of us moms. Many of us realized that it had been a long while since we had been the cute young girls that the bad boy was taking on his bike, so we were all in!
A really enjoyable experience, all on its own, but I found myself seeing … Continue reading the story "Riding"
Spring critters
Things are greening, I've been planting, the windows are open, and there are more animal calls to be heard-it is definitively Spring.
My hatchling and the new additions
I could not let my one surviving chick from my first attempt at incubation grow up alone, so my youngest and I drove over to … Continue reading the story "Spring critters"
The Joy of Bread
I love fresh-from-the-oven bread! I think my brain is hard-wired to respond to that rich yeasty smell. The problem is I have never been good at baking bread for myself or my family.
Like many people I simply bought bagged bread from the grocery store, often regretting the lack of flavor and the terrible texture. For special dinners I would go to a bakery, drink in … Continue reading the story "The Joy of Bread"
Incubation
I feel an update is necessary on this issue; my first attempt at incubation did not go well.
We started the incubator with 21 eggs arbitrarily chosen (mostly by my almost 4 year old) from all of my hens. I had purchased a Styrofoam incubator from my local Tractor Supply, because the "plans" for the homemade model began to get complicated and were not getting implemented. … Continue reading the story "Incubation"
Is it time to expand?
Frugal February went off without a hitch. We ate up a bunch of stored stuff, finished some projects that were in a state of near completion, and began plans to meet more of the goals on our way to sustainable homesteading.
Some things were not as great. I had a massive failure of the garden seedlings I had started in January; nearly 50 plants lost in … Continue reading the story "Is it time to expand?"