Blue Ball Jars for Windowsill Decoration

I have a small collection of vintage canning jars and use have several in my kitchen windowsills.  In the late afternoon when the sun comes through the window they look so nice and they give the bare windowsill a little bling.

Ball quart and half gallon jars in kitchen windowsill.

Ball quart jars and my rooster night light on the kitchen windowsill.

A Contest in the Chicken Coop???

I think the chickens are having a contest to see who can lay the smallest egg.  Yesterday a leghorn (white egg layer) laid a very small egg.  Today one of the brown egg layers laid a small brown egg.  I had a good talk to them and told them to have a contest to see who could lay the largest egg not the smallest.  Tomorrow we'll see if they listen any better than my kids did when I asked them to do things.

Small white and brown egg.

Comparison of regular eggs and the small eggs.

Sign on the front of my chicken coop.

Canning Pork & Beans

After reading the post on a blog I follow (Hickory Holler Farm)  I decided I would give making my own pork & beans a try.

http://hickeryhollerfarm.blogspot.com/2012/11/canning-pork-and-beans.html

I used some different spices but basically followed her recipe.  You can add your own favorite spices but make sure you process it at 11 lbs of pressure for 75 minutes for pints and 90 minutes for quarts.  I am anxious to try these and also anxious to see how they turn out because the beans were not soaked or precooked.  I've saw on other blogs where they have canned beans with this method but have not tried it.  I used 4 lbs of pinto beans because that is what I had on hand and got 12 quarts.  I had some beef broth in the freezer I have been saving up and since there was some extra space in one of the canners I also canned 2 quarts of it.  When we have beef roast and there is some broth left after making gravy I put it in the freezer to use for other things.  I was glad to get the 3 containers out of the freezer, freezing it doesn't last as long as canning it.

After both canners were done I took a beautiful walk around the field out back.  It is December 3rd and 65 degrees out and very windy.  It is absolutely beautiful out, it feels more like March than December.

Each qt jar has 1 cup of beans, chopped onion, bacon and salt.

Divided the sauce among the jars.

Then filled with boiling water.

Both canners going which makes it sooooooo nice.

12 quarts of pork and beans, the 2 on the right are beef broth.

http://homesteadrevival.blogspot.com/2012/12/barn-hop-90.html

Weekend in Review

Friday was hand doctor day and am now brace free.  I start therapy tomorrow morning at 8; what the heck was I thinking when I made an 8 AM doctor appointment.  The thumb hurts some when I try to use it but use it as much as I can.  The doctor said she didn't think I was going to be one of those people who would take a long time to get back to normal.  I guess she saw that I am a on the go type of person and little keeps me down.

Brandon came Friday night and went home last night after supper.  Saturday we went down to shop at the Amish bakery/bulk food store and picked up 50 lbs of flour as I was almost out.  I also picked up some cheese and ham for Renee.  We then went over to the dairy and got a couple gallons of fresh milk.  One gallon Ron took to work this morning for someone and the other gallon I am going to skim the cream off the top and then freeze the cream and milk so I have it for cooking.   We do not drink milk and use it to cook with only.  I have never liked milk and Ron doesn't drink it.
Also Saturday I needed to get some fresh straw put in the chicken coop and saw on my favorite Craigslist that someone had 4 bales of it free. The place was only 10 minutes from our house so we went and picked it up, that saved $20.  With the straw was some stalks of corn and we had to take that too.  After unloading the straw and putting one bale in the coop and the other 3 in the storage shed Brandon took the corn stalks and built the chickens a chicken tee-pee.  He first removed the corn from the stocks and feed it to the chickens and took some home for his chickens.
Ron has started on the turkey coop, we need to get them in their own coop and run by this spring.  We will do a little at a time as I find free or really cheep items to use.  We already have the 6' high chicken wire (free), brand new and very heavy duty.  If we get close to the time we need the coop and run done and are short on materials I have some money put aside from the garage sale we had this fall and will use it.
Yesterday Brandon and I made brownies, he has been wanting to make some so we made the time to do it. I have brownie mix from scratch that I keep mixed up and stored in the spare fridge.  We made a pan and he wanted to make coffee brownies so he added some instant coffee packets that he brought from home and it is very good.  We also made a pan without coffee for Ron.  Now I need to look the recipe up and make some more mix as I am now out.  For those that also want the recipe it is here on the blog, just search using the keyword brownies.

Brandon's creation for the chickens.

One of the girls is climbing on the wall.

I think she is confused and wondering what the heck was some human doing in our run.

The turkeys and chickens checking out their tee-pee.  The were praying that they didn't have to share the tee-pee with some Indians and possibly be the guest of honor at their next meal.

Ron working on the turkey coop.

One of the walls started.  We had more boards to add to this wall but ran out of nails.  So far all the wood has been free.

Tree Limbs for Curtain Rods

I am not a fru fru person and don't have a huge amount of things decorating my house.  What I do have is northern outdoors themed items.  I have bears, moose and fish throughout the house and in the kitchen I have chickens.   For about 15 years every summer we went to Canada for a week of wonderful fishing.  For several years I brought home nice "walking sticks" that we found on the lakes where we fished.  Years ago while looking through a magazine or book I saw where someone used tree limbs for curtain rods.  So in our bedrooms we have tree limb curtain rods.  Ron made cut the holders and I painted them.   They are rustic looking rods that are heavy duty and I love the look.

Front bedroom window in my room.

Side window in my room.





http://homesteadrevival.blogspot.com/2012/12/barn-hop-90.html

Snow Shoes for Towel Holders

Yesterday I told you about going to Canada every summer for many years.  There were many islands on the lakes we fished and I liked to get out of the boat and explore.  On our trip in the summer of 1996 when I was on an island I saw some old snow shoes laying under some trees.  I picked them up and wanted to take them but Ron wouldn't let me.  On the last night before we left I was telling the owners of the camp about the snow shoes and they said that I should of taken them.  They were old broken ones that the native people of the area left there.   It was too late so I didn't get them.  The next summer we went to Alaska on vacation and then in 1998 we went back to Canada.  On the second or third day we were there we went past the island where 2 years before I saw the snow shoes.  I remember what the camp owner had said and asked Ron to pull up to the same spot and got out to see if they were still there and to my surprise they were right where I left them.  Of course I brought them back with me.  I can't remember how I came up with using them as towel holders/decorations but I did.

Old snow shoe towel holder.

Snow shoe towel holder.

http://homesteadrevival.blogspot.com/2012/12/barn-hop-90.html

Bread Baking Day

I haven't baked bread since July and figured it was about time I got back to doing it.  Mixed up a batch of no knead Artisan bread and mixed up a large batch of Amish white bread both were made using left over potatoes.  The Artisan bread will be put in the fridge and an amount taken out each time we want some.  It is good in the fridge for 10 days and makes about 4 loaves.
The white bread made 4 nice loaves and I will put 2 in the freezer for later.  Brandon is coming tomorrow for the weekend and he can go through a loaf in no time at all.  He is the world's pickiest eater and when he is here he either eats what we are having or find something else to eat.  He is 14 so he is able to cook something but he is also a lot lazy and won't do it himself so he for sure will be eating sandwiches with the fresh bread.
Sure wish that I had "smell-a-blog" so you could enjoy the wonderful smell, OMG it is like heaven in here.

No knead Artisan bread.

Bread made with left over potatoes.




http://homesteadrevival.blogspot.com/2012/12/barn-hop-90.html