Well, this made it better

I've been doing a lot of hand sewing lately.  I find it much more relaxing and fulfilling.  The Dr and I were going on a small road trip and I decided to bring some along with me.  Well, I was finding it hard to work on my sewing and keeping the thread, scissors, needles, and other parts together in the car where I could easily grab it.

I realized that I needed a tray, but it couldn't be any tray.  Then I remember a set of trays that I picked up at Goodwill. I got 2 of the smaller trays for $.99 each and the bigger one for $1.99.  I was already using the bigger one for office supplies so I grabbed one of the smaller ones, measure it and then grabbed the supplies that I needed...Yes, we had pizza for dinner.......

I decided to paint it a nice teal color and then I covered a piece of cardboard with pink flannel.   I was going to use felt, but then I found this piece in the remnant bin of W-mart and the two ladies near the fabric dept. didn't look like they wanted to cut fabric, so this had to do... 

I love how it turned out!!!  The pink is perfect.  Here it is in use on our way to visit our families.  It was prefect and just what I needed to keep everything organized and within reach. The only thing missing was a pin cushion.  That is next.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving with their families.  

R

The Life of Red, also known as Sir Loin

2 years ago The Dr asked me what I wanted for my birthday.  I said "A Steer!"  So, he went out and we got a bull and a pregnant cow with a steer calf.  We sold the other cattle this summer, but we kept Red.  Raising cow takes more than we were able to commit at this time in our lives.
The Dr still works all through the school year and we have 3 very active teenagers.  Plus we need the infrastructure. Plus it would be nice if we had hay equipment.  Maybe, in a few years we will do it again.  I do know that I would go with Dexters again.  They are a good size, mild mannered and don't eat a lot

So, 3 weeks ago, The Dr loaded Red up and we took him to a processor.  This week L and I picked him up and loaded him in the freezer.  It feels good to know that our beef was raised and processed humanely and was grass fed.  We don't spray our fields and didn't give him any growth hormones or antibiotics. I do miss seeing the cows on the hill and I hope we can get more soon.  But for now, we will enjoy the bounty that God has provided for us.

So much news!

So much has gone on since my last post.  The Dr has changed schools and so have the boys. This was not an easy decision but it was the best one for the family.  Things were changing and they didn't fit the mission that we had for our family.  God is good and provided a great school for the boys to attend and play sports and an awesome teaching opportunity for James. The girl is home and that has been the best thing for her.  Aaron is entering his Sr year and Zane is going into the 10th.  Last year when I started back homeschooling Lydia, I bumped her up a grade, so in essence, she skipped 7th grade. This year she is a freshman..

My canning kitchen is finished and I am about to test it's usefulness.  Lydia and I have about 100 lbs of tomatoes to get done.  After that we will work on beans.  I am hoping to turn the focus of this blog to more of the farm goings on, and less of my family.  My kids are growing, and I hope to respect their privacy and not post so much about them.

Hopefully over the next couple of posts/days I will be updating on all the things that have been happening on the farm. Today, Lydia and I are canning tomatoes.  She will be picking all of the tomatoes and peppers that are left in the garden and we will let the chicken loose and allow them to tear it apart.  Then we can head to the woods to gather leaves and lay it on top of the garden space and let it decompose until spring.

So, I leave you with my last post, that I made almost a year ago. This is what we will be doing today.


Have a wonderful day


R