Shade Tree Mechanic

J.R. found a go-kart for Clay at the scrapyard....minus a motor and several other very necessary components. :)  He took the motor and gas tank from a tiller, and the sprocket, gasket, chain and who knows what else from here-and-there.  All of these, along with Clay's paint job, have been a fun project for Clay to learn from.  

The most important message we're trying to send to him is that fun can be created without spending lots of money, and how rewarding it can be along the way. The money saved can be used to further someone else's happiness....it's a win-win situation.

Shade Tree Trainee

Blackberries!

"Why doesn't your bucket make the plunk-plunk sound like mine does, Clay?" 

"Because you're eating all of yours, Laura.  My bucket is filling up...."

We are in blackberry season and having a great time picking them down in the back pasture.

Fun On A Hot Summer Day

And they say everything is bigger in Texas.....check out this Arkansas waterslide!

Momma, Can I Help?

She spoke with her beautiful brown eyes
I smiled
Glad she's home with me
Glad I'm her mother
...........her teacher
.............her confidant
...............her passage to womanhood
All in a slow paced world

Carefully, three cups of milk
Maybe a tad too much
Almost a whole stick of butter
Scooped from the crock
Plenty of molasses
Now? Tell me when...now?
Oh, some got on my finger
Yes, you can
Since it's just for us
But don't do that
When company is coming



Flour
...wheat grains soaked overnight
............salt
.....................yeast
Quantified with new hands
Unsure
But thrilled beyond measure

Kneading
The fun part
Fun, now
Later, fulfilling
Her family around her
Life sustenance pliable in her hands
Kneading
Shaping loaves
Warm smells from her kitchen
All in a slow paced world









"Momma, do you have time to...? Oh, never mind, I know you do. We live in the country, and have all the time in the world."
Laura -- January 2010



Recipe for Laura's Bread

3 cups milk
1/3 cup molasses
3/4 stick butter

Heat this to 120* and pour into the dry ingredients



Mix these three in prep for the wet ingredients:

3 cups organic white flour
1 Tbs yeast
1 Tbs salt

Add 4 cups fresh ground wheat which has been soaked overnight. (I will do a post on the health benefits of soaked grains soon.) Either an electric grinder or hand grinder work very well. It's nice to have both for when the electric one wears out...like mine did recently.



When the mixture is just manageable,




Pour onto a floured table





Knead until pliable and smooth. Spray with olive oil and cover with a cloth for 40 minutes.



Divide into two loaf pans, (preferably stoneware since the aluminum carcinogens can leach into your bread) score three cuts into top of the bread to help it rise, spray with olive oil again, and let rise in a warm place for 10 minutes.

Cover loosely with foil. Bake on 350* for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake ten more minutes. Turn out loaves onto a wire cooling rack until completely cool. If covered too soon, the crust and inside will be too doughy. The bread needs to breathe. After cooling, cover with a bag to seal in the freshness...if you've managed to wait until the bread cools before eating it. :)

Chicken Day

Click HERE to see further Tom Sawyering. Boy, ain't white-washing this fence fun?!

Cream of Mushroom Substitute

In an effort to cook only whole foods for our family, I found this recipe to replace canned creamed soups.

Makes 6 Cups
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup flour
5 cups milk warmed
1 cup chicken or beef stock
season with salt/pepper


Warm the milk then stir the flour and broth into the warm milk.

1.5 C of white sauce = 1 small can of soup

Baby Chicks

The Riggs household has had several new additions this week. We welcomed 75 baby chicks Thursday morning. Fifty are fryers and there are 25 egg layers. Okay, all you who've been planning on visiting us....how does scheduling for slaughter day about 12 weeks from now sound? :)

She Strengtheneth Her Arms

I loved this post about the economics of the Proverbs 31 Woman. Here's an excerpt from Visionary Daughters

"Work — even paid work — is not something a biblical woman resorts to just when times get tough. Let’s go back to our Proverbs 31 woman. By all measures today, her situation was perfect — successful husband (v23), disposable income (v16) — even maidservants! (v15). Yet what do we see her doing from the darkness of the early morning through the night? Laboring. Producing. Earning. Increasing. Even in her comfortable circumstances, she embraced the privilege of productive work, the holy dignity in labor that the Lord first demonstrated Himself. Of all her virtues (generosity, kindness, wisdom, etc.), this chapter spotlights one virtue more than any other: her industry.


This used to be a mainstay of biblical economics. In times when women used to turn to their spindles and looms rather than to novels and soap operas, they didn’t have to feel financially helpless or useless.[2] Production, rather than consumption and entertainment, was their way of life, and thus their way of life was never in jeopardy. Nor were “real-world skills” something they kept stored away “to fall back on” — “just in case” they lost their life of luxury and ease — they were developing and using them every day."

Pastured Poultry (eggs)

We arrived at many of our farming ideas by reading Joel Salatin's books. One such inspiration was the pastured poultry. We have fryers and we also pasture our egg layers.

Barley moving the Egg-Mobile:





http://www.polyfacefarms.com provides information about the Salatin's farm and book references.

Our version of the inside of the Eggmobile:

Milking Time

Say Cheese!

I made mozzarella cheese and crusts with whey for our pizzas tonight. What a thrill!! J.R. is planning to make a cheese press so I can make hard cheese also. So far, I've made mozzarella and queso blanco which are soft cheeses and don't require the press. For those interested, one gallon of milk makes about one pound of cheese. I'm finding that we may need to invest in another cow to have enough to sell. Cupcake gives about three gallons per day, but with plain drinking milk,cheese, butter, sour cream, yogurt, and the myriad other uses, there most likely won't be enough left to sell.

Happy Birthday, J.R.!!

Homemade gifts are not only frugal, but beautiful memory makers for Daddy and for the giver as well!

Laura made J.R. a Bean Toss Game.

















Barley made him an egg incubator named Matilda, The Electric Hen.

Clay invented a tool hanger for J.R.'s workshop.

The Birthday Boy!

Eggs!

Our first two eggs from the egg-mobile!! :) We have gathered eggs from the chickens that are up here at the house, but you never know when or where they're going to be. These were in the little nesting boxes in the egg-mobile.....just real exciting for me.

Laundry Soap

This is a great link to step-by-step instructions for making laundry detergent. We are daily trying to get away from harmful chemicals. It's also a further step in trying to live frugally. Making it is supposed to be a quick and easy process. Let's hope so. :)

http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/04/09/making-your-own-laundry-detergent-a-detailed-visual-guide/

This link is for the powdered version: http://www.recipezaar.com/76779