Chicken Mushrooms - Yum!

Since we've moved onto the homestead, Bernie and I have spent a little time roaming around in the woods looking for wild mushrooms. Specifically morels and chicken mushrooms. We didn't have much luck finding either - until yesterday. And we weren't even searching for them. I went out to the coop to let the chickens into the run and a bright orange blob from the trunk of a dead oak caught my eye. Chicken mushrooms! Take a look:



I took this close up so you could see them, but the truth is the chicken mushrooms are all over that dead tree. I bet I gathered about 10 pounds worth. Then I cleaned them up, cut off the tougher pieces, cooked up about a pound of them, and froze the rest. For those of you that are foragers, I'll include how I cooked the chicken mushrooms.

First I should note that I made this using what I had on hand and what we like. The mushrooms tend to take on the taste of whatever they are cooked in, so you can add or subtract to match your taste. I used herbs from my garden and am just guessing at the amount, but if you grow and use your own herbs, you'll know how much to use. The texture is similar to chicken:

1 pound chicken mushrooms - cleaned and cut into medallion size pieces
3 fresh tomatoes - diced
1 clove garlic - minced
1/2 medium onion - diced
6 - 8 fresh basil leaves
1/2 tablespoon fresh oregano
1/2 teaspoon fresh marjoram
1/2 teaspoon fresh rosemary
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese - added at the end

Saute the onions and garlic in olive oil. Add remaining ingredients except cheese , stir well and bring to a boil. Cut down the heat and let it simmer on low heat for about 30 - 45 minutes, or until the liquid reaches a thick consistency. Put the whole thing in a baking dish and cover with mozzarella cheese. Bake for 10 minutes on 375 or until the cheese begins to bubble a little. Enjoy!

If you've never eaten chicken mushrooms and are interested in foraging for them, please be sure to do a little research on them. Although not many mushrooms resemble a chicken mushroom, it's always wise to be certain you know what you are looking for. If you have allergies to any type of mushrooms, you should definitely consider this before eating chicken mushrooms. It may be wise to try a very small amount the first time you eat them, just to be sure.

My father gave us an old wood stove and Bernie and I spent this morning cleaning it up with the angle grinder with a wire brush on it. Then we painted it black with some stove paint. It looks almost new! Our furnace is electric and it costs us a mint to keep this house heated in the winter. We have a fire place we use faithfully in the evenings, but we won't leave it burning when we go to bed or are not around to tend it, so we let the furnace kick in. After last winter and all the ridiculously high electric bills we paid, we've decided to heat exclusively with wood. We should have the wood stove installed shortly. It's on the list - and being as it's already September, it's moved up on the list considerably.

Last week we let the chickens free range for a couple of hours before bedtime each evening when the chicken hawks are less likely to come around. Monday through Thursday we sat outside with them. The did a pretty good job of getting into the coop by themselves when it started getting dark, so Friday and Saturday evening I let them in the yard by themselves. I opened all the windows so we could hear them, but that was silly because I ended up spending almost the entire time standing at the window so I could watch them and make sure they were OK. With the exception of a Black Spanish that insists on getting in trees to roost, everyone did very well. And I can assure you the bug population in our yard has decreased already. The chickens just love flying, pecking, scratching, and playing without the confines of the chicken run. I really love watching them. I wish I could let them free range all day, but it really is too dangerous around here for that. We have every chicken-loving-predator on the planet around here. I worry enough just letting them out for two hours in the evening.

My meal worm population is booming - which is a good thing because those chickens can put a serious hurtin' on meal worms.

Things are going well on the homestead. Bernie is busy taking care of things around here. I'm busy making sure Bernie knows what to take care of around here. The cats are busy watching the chickens out the window and sleeping in any chair I plan to sit in. And the chickens are busy not laying eggs and eating us out of house and home. Whew. Makes me tired just writing that.

Bee Free,
Penny

Independence Day on the Homestead

It is Independence Day on the Homestead. Today marks exactly one year ago that Bernie quit his job and we moved out to our homestead. I have to tell you, it was a very scary time for me. We had planned to pay off all debt before making that move, and the day we moved here we were not very close to meeting that goal. In the end, concern for our health and sanity sped our decision and, although it has been a little tight for us financially, we are both extremely happy we went ahead and did it.

You may have noticed I typically sign my post with "Bee Free". Certainly the "Bee" part of that comes from our venture into raising honey bees, something we began before ever moving to the homestead permanently. Although we ended up losing all six of our hives, getting those bees marked the beginning of homesteading to me. It was our first small step towards gaining a little self sufficiency. I miss those little bees something fierce and I am really looking forward to starting again with them in the spring.

The "Free" part of my sign off means exactly what you probably think it means. I suppose none of us is truly free. We all have laws or rules that govern our lives to one extent or another. But being free is really much more than that to me. To my way of thinking, being free has more to do with the freedom gained in self sufficiency and self reliance. Bernie and I have not achieved that type of freedom yet, but we are working towards it on a daily basis, one small step at a time. And, if you've been keeping up with current events, you know that depending on others to provide safe food, or anything else of that nature, isn't a very good bet right now.

To celebrate our Independence Day, we went out early this morning and began chipping wood with the wood chipper. Do we know how to celebrate on the homestead or what? We spent about four hours doing that and then I cleaned in the chicken coop and added a fresh layer of pine chips.

By the way, Duke really seems to have learned a little lesson from being forcibly carried around last week after his little temper tantrum. I was scraping poop off of roosts and hen boxes with a putty knife when he got so wound up last week. Today while I was scraping with the putty knife, Duke stood in the yard instead of at my feet clucking wildly like he did last week. And he didn't make a peep. Bernie was watching and said Duke danced around a little and was obviously annoyed at the sound and at me being in the coop making it, but Duke never entered the coop and he never uttered a sound. I finished up and strutted out like the true QUEEN OF THE COOP that I am.

After we finished up our chores for the day, we got cleaned up and opened a bottle of very nice wine a friend gave me a little while ago. We toasted our Independence Day and sipped our wine while nibbling cheese, salami, crackers, and slices of apples we picked from the apple tree at the edge of the back yard. What a nice way to celebrate the anniversary of our independence!

In closing, allow me to share with you the latest in Duke's evolving crow. I think it sounds like he's crowing the beginning to the music of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly:



Is that not just adorable?

I thought I was going to capture Bobby Lee's crow yesterday morning. He and Duke were both crowing up a storm around 10AM, so I grabbed the video camera and Bernie and I took off to catch it. But when we got out to the chicken run, we realized they were carrying on because a Black Spanish had escaped and was frantically trying to get back inside the run. Everyone was pretty worked up over the whole thing. I caught the Spanish and put her back in the coop and it seemed to calm everyone down - so much so that Bobby Lee didn't make a peep the rest of the day.

As we celebrate the anniversary of one year on the homestead, I would like to thank each of you for sharing this adventure with us. We are thankful for the friends we've made through this blog, the long lost friends that have found us through it, and the emails we've received because of it. We are truly blessed.

Bee Free,
Penny

Hot Time in Chicken Town

With the record breaking temperatures we've had around here lately, I've really been worried about the chicks getting hot in the coop. I tried putting a fan in one of the windows, but all that seemed to do was pull in piping hot air from outside and swirl it around a little. The coop temperature stayed near 100 degrees during the day. I finally decided to take a clean kitty litter box, fill it with pine chips, and pour cold water over it to moisten the chips and stick the whole thing on the floor of the coop to see if the chicks showed any interest. They loved it! They would wiggle their bodies into the chips and lay there with little smiles on their faces. Here's a picture of Lucy after her Wet Chip Spa treatment:



She was so pleased with herself that I didn't have the heart to tell her she looked like Phylis Diller. Look at Amelia checking out Lucy's wet and funky tail feathers. I'm pretty sure I heard her laughing. If you decide to try the wet chip box for your chickens, be sure to change it out every day. You don't even want to know what water, chips, and chicken poo smells like after about 24 hours......

We finally got the chicken yard completely finished. It now has a fence around it and a shrimp net over top of it. We also added chicken wire to the bottom of the coop so that they can't get under there and I don't have to spend countless hours retrieving ornery chickens from underneath of it.



Sunday afternoon we decided to open the chicken door and see if anyone wanted to come out into the new chicken yard. Several were intrigued with the idea, but for a good long while, we had no takers. This was about the extent of their curiosity:



After about an hour, we were just getting ready to close up and call it quits, when Big Roo Duke jumped down into the yard and starting eating ants like there was no tomorrow:



Encouraged that Duke was feeling adventurous, I was certain the others would soon be joining him and we'd have 23 chicks happily pecking and strutting about the chicken yard. I was certain, being flock animals, they would all stay together and not attempt to escape through the fence wire. At least this is what I had hoped and what I wanted the chickens to do. But chickens don't do what I want them to do. They have their own agenda, and it has precious little to do with mine. I live with cats, so you would think I'd be used to having my wishes ignored and expect it. But I didn't. And this is the part where everything went wrong.

In my excitement of seeing Duke happily eating ants in the yard, I decided to go inside and get a couple of adult beverages for Bernie and me to enjoy while watching our little balls of fluff. But when I left the chicken yard, Duke completely freaked out. He began running around emitting a high volume distress call. I didn't know this until Bernie told me upon my return - and I could hear Duke's screams and see him hiding underneath the steps. I squatted down to talk to Duke in a soothing voice and he bolted toward the fence and began throwing his body at the two inch spaces between the wires on the fence. Honestly, Duke is huge and there was no way I would have ever imagined he could possibly squish his fat body between those wires. But just as I reached for him, he sucked in his gut and jammed himself through the wires and popped out on the other side and headed for the woods. Just that fast.

Lordy. I don't think you need all the details to imagine how panicked I was - or how panicked Duke was. Bernie remained calm through the entire ordeal. He closed up the coop to keep the others inside as I tore around the woods trying to catch Duke. Duke may be fat, but he's short, and that worked in his favor while maneuvering through brambles and fallen trees and limbs. While I am short, it did not have the same effect for me. By the time I caught Duke my arms and legs were scratched and bleeding and I had as much of the Phylis Diller hair thing going on as little Lucy did, due to the branches that grabbed it as I plowed through the woods.

We returned Duke to the coop and I promptly informed everyone that one bad apple spoils the whole bunch and there would be no more outings for quite some time. As I left the coop, I saw several of the girls give Duke the High Five.

I ended up putting chicken wire over the coop door opening so I can open the door during the day to allow more air in the coop without allowing any chicks to go out in the yard. They are only three weeks old, so going outside unsupervised is not going to happen. Actually, thanks to Duke's shenanigans, going outside at all is not going to happen for a little while longer.

By the way, I put up several pictures on the Back to Basic Living website. At three weeks old, the chicks have entered their "teenage" years and, although still adorable, they are looking quite gangly. They are flying around the coop with great confidence, and can get up to roosts and windows with ease. They seem to enjoy using me as a launch pad and make quite a game of flying up to my shoulders or head and then dive bombing unsuspecting chicks on the ground.

We've been busy with other things on the homestead as well. The tomatoes are starting to form and other vegetable plants are blooming. Raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries are in here in abundance this year. Even Peachy is loaded down with a fair amount of fruit. Hopefully Mother Nature won't have any surprises for us and we'll be canning a lot in a few months. If you would be interested in learning about canning, drop me a note. If there is enough interest, I will put a page on the Back to Basic Living website dedicated to the basics of canning.

I know I've spent a lot of time talking chickens with you for the past few weeks. The addition of the chickens, along with the vegetable gardens and other activities, brings us closer to our homesteading goals of achieving more self reliance. Although it is still a few months away, we will soon be eating fresh eggs and the chickens will be free-ranging for a large portion of their meals.

So, here we are - homesteading with our chickens. And I'm sure you could homestead without chickens. I'm just not sure why you would want to.

Bee Free,
Penny

Smile and Say Cheese!

We made cheese today! Well, I guess it's more truthful to say we are in the process of making cheese. We decided to start off with a cheddar cheese, and the process takes a little while. Right now we have cheese that's being pressed with 20 pounds for 12 hours. Then we'll turn the cheese and press it another 12 hours. Then it will sit on the counter for three to five days until it develops a rind. Then we'll dip it in wax and cure it for a few months. And THEN we'll have cheese! Whew. After all that it better taste good. We may start a Gouda cheese this week and see how that turns out.

Bernie took care of an oak that got half blown over by a storm last year. It was huge and came up by the roots. It got hung up in a few trees and was perched precariously above the spot he intended to run our fence through. So he and the backhoe and a chainsaw took care of that little problem. Only it wasn't little - and he's been sawing and splitting wood from that monster all week. We'll have enough firewood from that puppy to keep us warm for a month or so.

The weather has turned cold, and I've spent very, very little time outside. I am just not a cold weather person. I force myself to walk outside at least once a day just to get some air and discourage Bernie from accusing me of being a complete and total hermit. But those trips usually involve me stepping off the porch, shivering, and then running back inside. Besides, I have lots to keep me busy inside this time of year. Like writing to you on this blog.

For those of you still wondering what to do with all that left-over Thanksgiving turkey, here's a quick, easy, and delicious recipe:

Turkey Tetrazzini

6 oz. spaghetti, cooked
1/4 c. butter
1/2 c. flour
2 2/3 c. chicken broth
1 c. cream
1/4 c. sherry (or wine)
1 tsp. salt
Pepper to taste
1/2 lb. mushrooms
1/2 c. chopped green peppers
1/2 c. chopped onion
1 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp. garlic
2 cups chopped, cooked turkey


In large pot, saute onion, green peppers, and garlic in butter. Add flour and whisk while slowly stirring in chicken broth. Add wine, cream, seasonings, cheese, turkey, and mushrooms. Place cooked spaghetti in bottom of baking dish and top with tetrazzini mixture. Bake at 325 degrees for 30 minutes.

If you don't have a lot of people to feed, or you're not into leftovers, you may want to cut the recipe in half.

It's supposed to rain all day tomorrow. I may not even get the chance to run outside and take a breath of fresh air. Maybe I'll take some pictures of our cheese for y'all to look at.

Bee Free,
Penny

The Skinny on Making Soap and Churning Butter

I've had several people contact me about how to make soap and about the butter churner I bought off of EBay. I've been answering each individually, but this morning there were two seperate emails with the same question, so I thought it might be a good idea to give some info here on those questions.

First - the butter churner. When I started looking for a butter churner, I had three things in mind: 1) I wanted a hand crank churner 2) I wanted a glass churner and 3) I wanted a Dazey Churner. I really had no particular reasons for this, other than I wanted glass so I could see what is happening when I churn,I wanted a Dazey because that's really the only old, glass churner I've really ever heard about, and I wanted a hand crank because you know, being all into getting self sufficient and everything, I didn't want it to depend on electricity. I paid $50 for it. Here's a picture:



She's a beauty and cranks out some really awesome butter. I highly recommend her. Only she's not for sale. But I highly recommend one of her siblings.

As for soap making, I never bought a book on the subject. I never even thought about making soap until I started reading about other people having fun making soap. I can't stand when people have fun without me, so I decided I needed to get in on it. I started looking all over the internet and finding out about making soap. Two excellent resources are the Soap Making forum on HomesteadingToday and Mullers Lane Farm. And, of course, I have a page up on the Back to Basic Living website with step by step instructions and a basic soap recipe for beginners.

I found the most difficult part of soap making was finding the lye needed. After ordering from several places, I found Ace Hardware had the best deal - I order it by the case.

If you have other questions about butter churning or soap making, please don't hesitate to ask. I'm no expert, but I can either answer your question, or point you to someone who can.

Speaking of soap, here are a couple of pictures of my Sinfully Decadant Chocolate soap with swirls:



Ah - just gorgeous! This next picture is the same batch, but I ran out of the chocoate swirl. I think it came out really pretty, but I wanted more chocolate swirl:



OK - time to go cook up a couple of nice steaks for supper. Bernie bought Live Free or Die Hard and we're going to watch it tonight while we eat. It's not Movie Saturday or anything, but we like to be spontaneous and adventurous on occasion. This is about as spontaneous and adventurous as it gets around here. Woo hoo!

Live Free,
Penny

Mmmmmmmmmm.... Butter........

We finally had some time to sit down and do some good ol' butter churning. We churned and churned, and then stopped and peaked. It looked the same. So we churned and churned some more, and then stopped and peaked. No visible changes. Hmmmm. We were starting to think we were churn challenged, when all of a sudden, the churner seized up. We had butter! Beautiful, yellow, deliciously delicious butter! Feast your eyes on this photo. Try not to drool all over your keyboard.



The next time we make it, I'll be sure to get pictures of the whole process and put them up on the website. Churning butter by hand is really not difficult. The whole process took us about 30 minutes. The butter that we ended up with was well worth it. The flavor is so much more vibrant than what we buy in the stores.

Many people have questioned why we are choosing to do things the old timey hard way on our homestead. I can not argue that it is more convenient and many times less expensive to buy most items at a store in town. But what I will tell you is that when you make it yourself you know what you are getting - whether it's food, soap, or anything else. And what you gain in convenience, you lose in quality in most cases. Not to mention the feeling of being self reliant.

Here's another one of my latest creations. It was born out of a flub up. I made a batch of cinnamon soap that I was not happy with. So I grated it up, and threw it in a nice batch of cinnabun fragranced CP soap I made. Look - it's a confetti soap!



And it smells wonderful!

Little by little, we are getting back to the basics of living. And it feels great. Life is so less complicated when you just focus on living day to day and enjoying each minute you have. We are probably busier now than we've ever been. And we are loving every second of it.

Life is tough. But living doesn't have to be.

Bee Free,
Penny

Things are Churning on the Homestead

I bought an old antique butter churner on EBay today. The chic I bought it from swears she's been using it and it's in good condition. She just wrote me and thanked me for my prompt payment and will be shipping it tomorrow. Soon I'll be a butter churning fool. We'll be eating fat laded, artery clogging, calorie packing, eye-rolling, pure unadulterated butter. Yum. I can't wait.

We went to the polls tonight and cast our votes. I was quite pleased to learn that our county offers either electronic or paper ballots. I'm all about paper ballots. I'm a computer programmer by profession, and no one knows better than I that a program is only as good as the programmer - and a lot of that depends on the kind of day the programmer is having. I don't always have a good programming day. Not to mention the vulnerability to computer hacking. Don't get me wrong - I love what computers offer us. But give me good ol ' pen and paper to cast my vote. Of course I had to feed my paper into a machine and a stinking computer read the vote, but at least I wrote my vote on paper,darnit. I stand proud. When we voted at 2:30 this afternoon over 500 people had written their votes on paper ballots. That's pretty darn impressive considering I don't think there are many more than 500 of us that are registered to vote at that fire hall.

We're getting ready to fence in our yard, get a couple of yard dogs, and start building the raised beds for our garden next spring. Pretty exciting stuff for me. A fence means more than just a garden - it also means I'll get my chickens and goats soon. And that means more food for us. It will bring us just a little closer to self sufficiency - and if you've read the news lately you can certainly appreciate our desire to be self sufficient. With US currency in true jeopardy, gas prices reaching astronomical prices, all manner of food being constantly recalled for contamination, well..... you get the idea.

So plant your garden and buy your butter churner today! Even if the world as we know it doesn't end tomorrow, you don't want to miss the fun and rewards of taking care of yourself.

Bee Free,
Penny

I'd Like to Think This Wasn't By Accident

Well, I cut my Coffee Soap today. Remember that I was convinced it was globbed instead of swirled? Well, guess what? It's swirled!!! Or maybe more like marbled - but none-the-less, it's not globbed. Look!





And even though it's made with coffee, I added cocoa for the swirl, and now it smells just like a brownie!

I'd like to think I knew what I was doing, but the truth is, I think I was just lucky. But that's pretty much how my life goes. I just plunge ahead and bumble along and some how things work out. I guess that's because I'm just too hopeful to imagine it ending any other way. Bernie and I are both like that.

I guess there's truth in the old saying "Ignorance is bliss". We are ignorant, and we are blissful. There are worse things to be.

Bee Free,
Penny

How a Coat Hanger, a Beer, and Bikers Saved My Life

This weekend Bernie and I took a little road trip to Hillsville, Virginia. The Virginia Bikers Association (VABA) sponsored Thunder On the Mountain and this was certainly an event worth making an effort to attend. I must say, VABA put on one of the most organized and enjoyable biker events we've had the privilege of attending - and we've attended a few. It occurred at the Lakeview RV Resort, which is a completely awesome place to spend a weekend.

Hillsville is about 250 miles from our homestead, and with the weatherman forecasting a beautiful weekend, we decided to ride down. So I hooked up the trailer to the trike and we loaded it with a weekend full of necessities - which involved a couple changes of clothes, toothbrushes, and a cooler full of libations. Bernie hopped on his bike, I fired up the Grape Ape (that's what my trike likes to be called) and we headed off to Hillsville.

As I mentioned, it was a great time. We saw lots of old friends and made a few new ones (Bo and Beth - you rock!). VABA put on an awesomely organized Poker Run - well, actually TWO Poker Runs. One was a long run and one was a short run. I chose the long run because it went through a tunnel and I thought that sounded like it would sound cool to roar through a tunnel with 50 other bikers. It did not disappoint me. Neither did the Grape Ape. She ran like a scalded dog. I was pretty proud of her.

When we got back to the campsite I parked her in the bike show. She's rather shameless and enjoys the attention. When it came to our turn to ride down the "runway" for all to see, Bo came running over to tell me something was wrong with the exhaust. I turned around in time to see him smack the tailpipe with his hand and say "Oh no". I asked "Can I ride her?" and he replied "She ought to be OK to go up and down the runway once". I had no clue what was wrong, but I knew my number was up to show off the trike, so I turned my attention to ground in front of me and took off. When we returned to our spot I hopped off and ran to the back of the trike, just in time to see the header come loose and droop to the ground. It was barely hanging on. All I could think of was "Lovely. I'm 250 miles from home and there ain't no way the Grape Ape is getting me there in this condition."

Did I mention we were at a biker event? Bikers are some of the most resourceful people you will ever meet. Within moments Bo assessed the situation and announced we needed some kind of wire or something to hold the header up off the ground and a clamp to try and close the huge crack in the tailpipe. Another biker ran off to get a coat hanger. My buddy Boil thought he could find a clamp. By the time Bernie ran down to check everything out, we had a plan. Bo took charge and wired the header up with the coat hanger. Boil and another biker donated a couple of clamps. But we still had a fairly large crack in the tailpipe and it was clear we needed something to cover it or I would be sucking air all the way home. Beth ran over to the trash can and came back with a beer can, which Bo cut the ends off of and then sliced down the middle to make a nice piece of medal that covered the crack just beautifully. Between the beer can, clamps, and some wire, we managed to get the crack covered pretty well. Well enough to get me all the way home anyway, even if we did sputter and pop when downshifting.

Homesteading is all about self reliance and self sufficiency. Not all bikers are homesteaders, but certainly as a group bikers are self reliant and self sufficient - or at the very least extremely clever.

I've always known that beer is a wonderful thing. And I've always been a little fond of the great service coat hangers have provided me. But tonight I am especially grateful for the both of them and for my biker family. While I really enjoyed Hillsville, I wasn't looking forward to spending the rest of my life there. I am eternally indebted to a coat hanger, a beer, and a bunch of bikers. And Bo and Beth - I owe y'all one.

Bee Free,
Penny

It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's....... A Bear!!!!

Well, after finding bear poop in the yard many times and seeing, first hand, the destruction they can cause to bird feeders, I guess it shouldn't be so surprising that we actually saw a bear in the yard this weekend.

But it was surprising. At least it was to me. My niece and great-niece came up for a visit and we were enjoying Saturday afternoon just visiting in the living room. Bernie was out greasing his backhoe and all felt very calm on the homestead. I glanced out the living room window just in time to see a big black butt walking past the window. My first thought was "Now what is that huge dog doing in this yard?" followed immediately by the thought "Wow - that's the biggest black dog I've ever seen" followed immediately by me screaming "Bear! There's a bear!". The three of us jumped to our feet. My niece ran to get her camera. My great niece ran to the window to get a better look. I ran to the front door and screamed "Bernie! Bear! Bernie! Bear!" frantically waving for him to get inside and look.

We all gathered at the window and I pointed and said "There he is - wait - where is he?" My eight year old great-niece looked at me and said "When you screamed for Bernie he took off running. That way. He ran fast and now he's gone." Doh!

After we all calmed down Bernie and I realized that the direction he was traveling was straight for the apiary. That worried us a bit. But we checked on the bees several times over the weekend and they were just fine. Probably the bear was just thirsty and headed for the creek for some water. I imagine his ears are still ringing from my shrill screaming to get Bernie inside.

Other than that the weekend was relatively calm. I did manage to render wax and I wrote about it on The Bee Buzz. I'll try to get pictures up of the whole process in the next week or so. My niece got a picture of the little fawns looking for food in the backyard and she seemed pretty happy about that. My great-niece seemed more interested in the rabbits that ran about when I took her for rides in the Trail Blazer.

All in all, we had a great weekend on the homestead. Great company with lots of laughs and plenty of hugs. And we saw a bear! I really hope he doesn't make visiting us a habit. He could ask his deer friends about the result of that. Bear season is at a good time of year......

Bee Free,
Penny

Dealing With Miss Penny 101: The Proper Way to React to a Home-made Gift

As I mentioned in my last post, I made some beeswax lip balm last weekend. I'll get some pictures up on the website soon. It turned out quite nicely, if I do say so myself. In fact, of the three people I've given some to so far, two of them reacted quite positively. One even suggested I could get rich selling it. Needless to say, THAT person will be receiving future home made gifts from me. Probably she'll be the proud recipient of some home-made soap, but that little jewel isn't quite cured enough to be a gift yet.

We've established how much I enjoy the whole obligatory gift giving notion, but there are times when I do feel obligated to give a gift - and even times when the spirit just moves me to do so. And because of this, I feel it only fair that I should tell you how I expect you will react when you are the blessed soul that recieves a home-made gift from me.

Gushing is completely acceptable. Proclaiming me The Queen of All Things Home-Made is not only acceptable, but somewhat expected. Doing these simple little things will insure that: 1) I will not hate you for all eternity and 2) you may well be the proud recipient of another slice of heaven made by my own hands.

The truth is, as much as I enjoy making home-made gifts, I do NOT enjoy giving to people who do not appreciate them. In all honesty, that kind of pisses me off. So, lie if you must - but certainly gush over your gift. You will not only receive future home-made gifts from me, but you will insure I will actually speak to you when we cross paths in the future.

You may think I am a little sensitive on this subject. You may be right. But I'm the one making this crap and I'm the one giving it away, so I get to make the rules. So gush away or be dropped from my gift list. And have a nice day.

Bee Free,
Penny

Rubba-Dub-Dub

We are having a great weekend on the homestead. It was raining when we arrived, which was a welcome respite from the dry weather we've been having. The grass is coming in quite nicely now.

This morning we worked on my trike and corrected a backfire issue is was having by replacing the #1 cylinder spark plug and wire. We tuned her up and she's running like a top now. Which is really good - because we're riding in support of Delegate Lingamfelter this week for the Dale City 4th of July parade.

Afterwards, I made a batch of home made soap. I've been reading up on this, and it's something that seemed a little intimidating, but I really wanted to do. If things were to get really bad, I'd like to think I could at least continue with basic hygiene. The ingredients are pretty easy to come by, with the possible exception of lye - and I found a recipe for making my own lye, if it comes down to that. At any rate, I spent an hour or so making soap, and I am pretty excited to see how it turn out. Check it out!

This afternoon we cooked out and grilled some great burgers and bratwurst. Then we walked down to check out the bees. On the way down we stopped by one of the little creeks and saw several of the girls getting a little drink of water. They were darn cute standing on the rocks so their feet didn't get wet. Wish I'd had my camera. They seem to be doing pretty well. Lots of activity around every hive. We'll get Bob W. from the Dept. of Agriculture to come out again in a couple of weeks so we can do another thorough hive inspection.

We also noticed on our walk to the hives that we have raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries ripening up. I had a few for dessert as we walked. Hopefully I'll be able to beat the birds and bears to them in the next couple of weeks and collect enough for a pie - or at the very least for a nice topping on my pancakes!

Oh - and for those of you who have asked, I do believe I reign triumphant over the mice! I haven't seen a sign of them in the house for several weeks now. Of course it helped that daddy helped me search out every conceivable point of entry for them while he was here and fill it with that expanding foam. And as a side note, I would mention that when you read "expanding" on that foam, it means EXPANDING. That stuff looks alien about 30 minutes after you spray it - and it ain't budging once it's in place. I speak from experience.

Bee Free,
Penny

Dear John

I hinted at this in my last post, but I am at a particularly low point right now. I won't go into details, but I'm sure you realize that the fact that we can not sell our home in town to homestead full time is at the top of my list of downers.

But I have a little secret upper. I have my Dear John. John is a fellow who happened up on the Back to Basic Living website and started emailing me. My dear John has become a good friend to me, even though we've never met. He has a homestead of his own that he dreams of eventually living on. He spends time there and he sends me pictures and updates on a regular basis. John also sends me advice and encouragement. He's a pretty smart fellow and he's studied up on self sufficiency and self reliance - and he's not shy about sharing it.

John makes me smile with his stories of being a yankee in the deep south. I love the story of a neighbor that repositioned a civil war cannon to point at John's home when he first moved in. John delivered several bushels of oranges from his personal orange grove before his neighbor finally pointed the cannon away from John's home.

John also shares little things - like using the solar powered outside lights to work as nightlights in your home. He's sent me plans on switching over to solar power and shared how to make certain you can get water from a well. He's commiserated on mice infestations and taken an interest in honey bees. He's even sent riddles for Bernie to answer. All in all, my Dear John has been a good friend - knowing when to agree that life sucks, and knowing when to encourage me to move on.

And so I would like to share my Dear John letter:

Dear John,

I wanted to take a moment to thank you for being a friend, to thank you for taking the time to entertain me, encourage me, and offer advice. I thank you for visiting my website and offering me your friendship. I wish you only the best with your homestead - and I sure hope you can convince your wife of it's virtues. Take care my friend. And know that I appreciate you.

Bee Free,
Penny