Soap Porn and Super Bowl Plans

I've really gotten into this larger soap mold I got for Christmas that makes the over sized bars. I took some pictures of the last two batches I made and thought you might like to see some more of my soap porn.

Here's the one that is scented with the Polo Sport Type for men fragrance that I named Tyler - it's getting a little more gray as it cures, but it's still looking rather beige. You can tell by the center though, it is getting a little grayer on the edges:



And here's one of my Raspberry Lilac - the picture doesn't show it very well, but the lilac portion is swirled with raspberry. The top portion is raspberry and it's topped with a sparkly lilac mica powder:



We had a nice relaxing weekend on the homestead. We just kind of tinkered around here and I don't even really remember that we did anything note worthy. It was just nice to be here.

Next weekend is Super Bowl Sunday and Bernie is very excited about the personal Super Bowl party I throw him each year. He's getting his menu together and the schedule of when each of the little snacks gets served. I'll spend all day cooking for him, but I don't mind. He's a pretty good husband. And I think it's been well established that I'm a darn good wife.

Bee Free,
Penny

Soaping Fool on the Homestead

Here's the soap I made yesterday and cut today for my favorite nephew-in-law, Troy:





What do ya think? I made another batch a few minutes ago for my very favorite great-nephew. I used a Curves for Men type fragrance oil. It's supposed to be gray, with black soap cubes throughout it. I used a new colorant, and right now it is looking very suspiciously beige. I'm not sure it's going to turn out as I planned at all. I'll know tomorrow when I cut it. I'm naming this one Tyler. The little snot better like it.

I worked today and Bernie headed out to our house in town to empty out the refrigerator and freezer. We probably should have thought to do that a few months ago. I know that thing was slap full, but he came home with just a small cooler full of food. I said "That's all?" and he said "Don't even ask." Apparently he had several trash bags for the dump - and he wasn't happy about it. Darnit.

Not sure what we're doing on the homestead this weekend, but I do know it will involve us BEING on the homestead. Even Bernie has decided he's not going anywhere. We're staying put and working around here. Yay! I love it when I bring Bernie around to my way of thinking.

Bee Free,
Penny

Finless and Fancy Free

I had my fin removed yesterday. The only painful part was the 50,000 times he stuck me with a needle to deaden my mouth. There was no way pain was going to sneak through all the Novocaine he shot in there. My entire head was numb by the time he got started. I won't give you all the gory details, but you can imagine just how pleasant it is to see items entering your mouth that look and sound like the tools your husband uses while working on a car engine. Finally, Dr. Specialist announced "There it is! I see your fin. I wish I could take a picture for you to put on your blog." I had a moment of absolute horror as I wondered if he had actually read my blog, but then decided he was just a little techno-savvy and being chatty. Otherwise I am certain he would have commented on my wonderful drawing. He sewed in six stitches and I was on my merry way.

So the fin is gone and other than a few minutes of discomfort as the Novocaine wore off, I'm really feeling just fine. So fine, in fact, that I actually made another batch of soap today. My niece called to inform me that she loves my soap, but her husband doesn't care for all the girly smells. So I decided to make a batch especially for him. I used my mold that makes over sized bars again - and this time I colored it black and stirred in white confetti soap. Then I used the blender to whip up a bit of the soap that I had removed before adding the black color and spread a layer of white topping on the black soap. I know how it's supposed to look, but I have no idea how it will actually turn out. I scented it with a fragrance oil that smells like Polo Sport for Men. I'll cut it tomorrow and if it turns out half way decent, I'll post a picture here. Since "Polo Sport for Men" is taken, I'm calling this one Troy because, well, it was inspired by Troy. I am so darn creative.

Lobby Day at our Capitol went really well and we spoke to as many representatives as we could pin down. We're writing the ones we missed and Bernie will be back down there a few more times this session. They may not vote the way we want them to, but certainly they won't vote before knowing how we feel about it.

Between shuttling me to the dentist and trying to keep up with things around here, Bernie's been chipping ice off the driveway. We have a fairly steep hill just before you get to the house that was covered in ice and getting a bit scary to maneuver. For my daily outing, I took the Trail Blazer down to check mail and was quite pleased with the job he did on the driveway. I don't mind excitement, but that driveway was getting just a little more exciting than I like. It's fine now and he finished it just in time for it to start snowing again. Hopefully it's just a flurry. But I don't trust Old Man Winter. You may remember we ended up with eight inches of snow after predicted flurries last year.

We're still plugging along on the homestead. The ground is too frozen to put in fence posts right now. Bernie still has some trees to deal with that fell during various storms this winter. We'll just add that to the never ending list of things that keep us busy and happy around here.

Bee Free,
Penny

Everyone's a Critic

I know y'all think I'm kidding, but I really do receive a lot of email pointing out any mistakes I make in my blogs or simply commenting on what a dufus I can be. In all honesty, I know that it is done in jest or with a sincere effort to be helpful, and being the good natured person I am, I take it how it was intended.

After my last post, my dear sister wrote to inform me I had made three spelling/grammar errors in my blog. No "Hey - great blog. Oh by the way you misspelled something" just "I found three errors in your blog". Thanks, sis. I fixed them.

And then here's the love letter My Dear John sent me:

"If that dentist isn't any better at drawing I don't think he'b b my first choice for removing a fin .

Either that U ain't much better at drawing then he is"

I love you too, My Dear John. (Note to sister - the spelling errors are his, not mine)

And speaking of being a critic, here's your chance to critique the latest soap I made. It's quite a bit different than any I've made before and it didn't turn out exactly as I had envisioned, but I think it's OK. I'd just love to hear what you have to say about it. It's honey scented with a chocolate center and chocolate shavings on top. I call it "Bee My Honey" - being as it's for Valentine's day and all.



Here's a close up of one with the heart in it:



These bars are larger than I usually make. They measure about 3 and 1/2 inches wide by 3 and 1/2 inches tall (not including the shavings). So what do y'all think? I was a little disappointed in the shavings. I cut them with a carrot peeler and I think they are a little too short and a little too thin.

We're heading to Richmond for Lobby Day weekend tomorrow. I'm sure I'll be fine when I get there, but I'm kind of dreading it right now. Going to Richmond means I have to leave our homestead for a few days. I don't like leaving our homestead. But I also don't like the legislature being in session and not being aware of where I stand on things that many of them tend to take lightly - my pesky little rights, for example. So we're heading to Richmond until Monday.

Until then, keep those emails coming! Let me know what you think of the soap. I'll answer when we return.

Bee Free,
Penny

PS - I do love to get your emails. There is also a comment feature to each blog entry if you are interested in sharing what you have to say with the blogosphere. (Note to sister - blogosphere does not show up in the dictionary)

Thank You Each for Your Sincere Concern

Prior to today, the most amount of email I've gotten in response to this blog concerned soap making and butter churning. But certainly the post yesterday on my fin has gotten the attention of many of you. I really appreciate all the concern and well wishes. I'll post a few of the comments I received below, so that you can see how much my blogger friends love me and are concerned for my well being:

1 - "I always knew you were special, but I had no idea you are half fish"
2 - "Sharks have fins toooooooo!"
3 - "Will you join the circus now?"

I could go on and on, but I think you get the picture. And speaking of pictures, I drew one to help explain my fin:



I swear to you, this is a very close duplicate of the picture the specialist actually drew for me. I am not lying. At any rate - that Homer Simpson looking thing is actually all the root openings at the top of my tooth. The fin is that thin line coming out of the top of one of those roots. Apparently it is almost microscopic, but for some reason Dr. Specialist is convinced he will see it when he slices my gum open and be able to remove it. I asked him if there is any chance he will cut a nerve and I will have facial paralysis the rest of my life. Do you know what he said to me? He said "There is always that risk, but it is very rare". VERY RARE??? That's exactly what he told me about having a freaking fin in the first place!!! Great.

So now you know all I know about my fin. And my fin and I are just fine for now. After next week, my fin will be nothing but a memory and I will be able to smile about it - that is if my face isn't paralyzed from the surgery.

It's been snowing here all day long. I would guess we have about 3 - 4 inches now. I took some pictures earlier - they appear kind of hazy because it was snowing like crazy when I took them. Oh - and they were taken out a window because, as you know, I don't do snow. I put them up on the website and will add more as the day progresses. Check them out!

OK, I've got to go start making some soap for Valentine's day. Just wanted to check in with y'all and express my appreciation for all the warm thoughts and wishes and concern for my fin. I can sure feel the love.

Bee Free,
Penny

And You Wonder Why I Never Leave the Homestead

I think we've well established that I'm pretty content to stay right here - safe and secure on our little homestead. I know that many of you have teased me about rarely leaving our little slice of heaven. I would go so far as to say a few of you have actually mocked me about that little fact. I can take it. But I offer you the following as a prime example of why I insist on being such a hermit.

I had a dentist appointment yesterday. Naturally, I can't have just a typical dental issue. I have to have a well-we-occasionally-see-this-but-it's-extremely-rare type of dental issue. Without all the painstakingly long details, suffice it to say I had a cracked tooth that required a root canal - that went bad after a year and a half because I was born with a freaking fin on my root. Yes, a FIN. And I drove 70 miles to see a specialist and learn about it. Until yesterday, I had never even heard of a fin. Apparently the specialist I went to had heard of a fin, but he assured me they are very rare. Most people have fins when they are born and they close up and heal during adolescence. Do I need to tell you how much comfort I did not take in knowing it is rare and that my mouth can't be normal? I couldn't care less if only one person or every other person on the planet has a fin that causes trouble. I have a fin and MY fin is causing me trouble. And as far as I'm concerned, that's really all that matters to me and all that should matter to my specialist. At any rate, he informed me of my fin and scheduled my surgery for next week. I should have stayed at home.

But I didn't stay at home. I drove 70 miles to see my dear specialist. When I left his office the sky was blue and the sun was beating down upon me. It was lovely. I felt God was shining his approval on me that we had discovered my fin and made plans to rectify what He kind of forgot to take care of when I was born. Life was wonderful. 12 miles later, I was in a total white out from a blizzard. Seriously, it was awful. So awful that about two miles later all traffic came to a dead stop on the interstate. I figured some one spun out on the slick road and we would get moving within minutes. After about 20 minutes, I shut the car off. After about an hour I turned it back on to warm up and listen to the news. It seems there was a twenty to twenty five car pile up just ahead of me. They had shut down the interstate. I shut the car off and cried for a few minutes. I called Bernie, who was totally sympathetic, and informed me he was busy starting a nice fire in the fire place. I hung up and cried for a few minutes more. I did take the time to recognize that there were at least 20 - 25 people having a worse day than I, and I said a quick prayer for each of them and their safety. And then I cried a little more.

Long story short (I know, I know - too late!) after just over two hours, traffic started to move. We were diverted to an exit ramp and then back on the entrance ramp. I could see an 18 wheeler perched precariously over the via duct and several cars scattered here and there. I am thankful that it appeared most were just banged up a bit. I really do pray everyone involved is OK.

I finally made it back to the homestead, where Bernie and a nice glowing fire awaited me. There really is a reason I don't like to leave here. Anytime I leave it seems people don't want to let me come back.

I made some nice Sea Salt Bars last weekend. Pure Coconut Oil, Shea Butter, and Sea Salt. Feast your eyes on these lovely puppies:



Now wouldn't you rather have me here on the Homestead cranking out bath stuff, that fighting traffic and discussing about fins with a dentist?

Bee Free,
Penny

Pass the Cheese Please and Share that Honey

Well, it's only been about a little over a month since we made cheddar cheese and although we are supposed to let it age about six months, we decided to cut it tonight and see how it is doing. It's pretty good! Very cheddary, but a bit soft still. Bernie thinks it would make a great spread, so I'm going to research that a bit.

It was such a nice, warm day today - in the 70's! Such a nice treat after weather that didn't get out of the 20's for a while. In keeping with my resolution to wander outside every day, I went with Bernie down to the cabin this afternoon to take care of some things. While we were there, we noticed a lot of activity around the hives our poor little bees used to occupy. Our hearts started pounding. Are those honey bees buzzing around those hives? We quickly gathered up our bee suits and went into the apiary to investigate. The hives were indeed full of honey bees - but they were simply robbing the left over honey. We noticed right away that there were a lot of fights happening on the porch of each, and that was the first clue that we had robbers. We opened each hive and while they were all full of bees, there was no brood and no queen. Just little hungry girls happy to find the bounty.

We left the hives out this winter hoping that they would get cleaned up, and I guess that's happening. The bees could be from a close by neighbor that raises them, or from one of our swarms that we never could locate. In any event, it was really nice seeing honey bees around those hives again and we are really looking forward to starting again in the spring. In the meantime, I'm happy to know the leftover honey is going to help out some other hungry little girls. They were so darn cute digging honey out of the combs I could have just kissed their little wings right off of them.

Tomorrow is my birthday. I do have to work tomorrow, but since I work from home, it won't be all that bad. And any day I don't have to leave the homestead is a good day. I'm not even going to the dump either - so don't even ask me, Bernie. Happy Birthday to me.

Bee Free,
Penny

Putting It All into Perspective for 2008

I woke up this morning very much aware that 2008 is upon us. As I drank my coffee and welcomed in the New Year, I could not help but reflect on the past year and all the changes that occurred in our lives in 2007. Naturally, the biggest and most welcome change was moving to our homestead.

I remember spending weekends here and yearning to live on our homestead full time. I also remember the day my dear husband announced he was ready to quit his job in the city and finally make our dream of living on our homestead a reality. I was terrified. Cutting our income in half and taking the plunge of realizing that dream was suddenly very scary to me. But we did it. And we've not regretted it or looked back.

When we spent weekends here, we would look out over the yard and envision fences, goat pens, chicken pens, outbuildings, and a huge vegetable garden. In my mind it seemed all we had to do was finally get here full time, and then *poof*, our little homestead would be transformed into land filled with all these things and I would be feeding goats and chickens, collecting eggs, milking goats, and gathering vegetables from our garden. We'd have buildings to park vehicles in and sheds that would house my gardening tools.

As I sit here on the first day of 2008 and look out the windows, I don't see any of those things. The *poof* didn't happen. It's been more like a *pfffffttt*. Bernie has about half the fence posts up and while we are planning where we'll locate buildings, pens, and gardens, they are all some distance in the future right now. It all takes time and labor and I somehow didn't really factor that into the equation. At least not as much of it as it really takes.

It's cold here and we are supposed to get some nasty winter weather. We've decided to start painting the inside of the house today - yet another project I envisioned being finished within the first week of moving out here. Naturally, I want to believe we can have the whole house painted by the end of the day. In reality, it will be weeks before this job is complete.

I'm really not dissappointed in the slow progress we are making. Every day brings us a little closer. I just want it all NOW! Certainly this has all been a lesson in patience. And patience has never really come naturally for me.

So in reality I guess I'd have to say that 2007 was the beginning of realizing our dream to homestead, and we have a lot of work ahead of us. I'm learning to be more realistic in setting goals and accomplishments. So stick around and I'll continue to step you through how we get there. As they say, Rome wasn't built in a day. I'm sure it took at least a week.....

Happy New Year!

Bee Free,
Penny

Merry Christmas - You Have a Mouse in Your House

I trust each of you had a very Merry Christmas, Hanukkah, or what ever holiday you celebrate this time of year. We celebrate Christmas on the homestead and we spent it with my family about 600 miles away from here. It was a wonderful time with family and we shared a lot of laughs and good times.

We got back to the homestead Wednesday night and found a note from our pet sitter that basically said "The cats were fine. Merry Christmas. You have a mouse in your house." Well, great. You may recall that we've done battle with mice in the past, but I was certain that after we sealed every nook and cranny that a mouse could possibly use to gain access inside, in addition to having the cats in the house now, that little issue was taken care of.

I called the pet sitter to get some mouse details. She said she was visiting and heard a noise in the bathroom, so she and Elvis went to investigate. When she pulled back the shower curtain, she saw the mouse. After chasing it around the bathroom trying to capture it in a plastic dixie cup, it ran past her into my office. Elvis, being the complete slug that he is, sat and watched the whole thing, and even moved out of it's way as the mouse ran past him. Priscilla hid in the bedroom. Worthless cats.

One of the first things I did when I learned of the mouse was check our beautiful cheese that we put up to age. No mouse meddling there. Whew. We've seen no sign of the mouse since we've been home, but we're on high alert. Anyone know of a Mouser 101 school I can ship these worthless cats off to?

I've been busy as a bee making soap. I hope to have a pretty good inventory when I go live with my website to sell it. Last night I made a heavenly smelling Raspberry Lilac. By the end of this weekend, I should have about eight different types of soap curing - something for everyone!

As 2007 winds down, we look forward to what 2008 will bring us here on the homestead. I hope it doesn't involve snow, ice, or mice.

Bee Free,
Penny

Our Christmas Trees

With no children in our house, the fact that we travel to my parent's at Christmas, and with two cats that are obsessed with anything that dangles, we no longer put up a Christmas Tree. But it seems Mother Nature provided us with several this year, complete with icicles:











The first couple of picture were taken just at daybreak. Very pretty and it's especially easy to appreciate because it's only on the higher branches, which means the ground is only wet. And we didn't get it as bad as they called for. I hope it stays that way.

It looks like we only lost one tree in the yard. If you look very closely in these pictures, you may be able to see a downed tree in these pictures. It's up at the tree line to the right of the big tree in the middle of the first picture - and to the left in the second picture. We haven't been down the driveway yet, so I'm not sure if there are any down across the road yet. The next couple of days will be interesting when the high winds get here. We typically lose a few trees when the ground is wet and then high winds come in.

This morning we'll enjoy the view of decorated trees that Mother Nature has provided. I sure hope she doesn't get angry and pummel us with a mess.

Bee Free,
Penny

The Run Down

I tried writing in this blog for the past two nights, and just couldn't seem to get my thoughts together or my heart into it. Well, there's nothing better than watching The Rock to get your old ticker humming again - and tonight we watched him in "The Run Down". Great movie. Lots of action, humor, character, and ...well... The Rock!!! Without tyring to get all movie critic on you, I'll just say this movie is basically about a man who does what he has to do to win back his freedom and persue his dreams, without compromising his character and integrity. But when it comes right down to it, a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. It's a great movie for a lot of different reasons. Did I mention The Rock stars in it? Wow.

Other than the trip to the dump, I think it's been three weeks since I left the homestead. Well, I finally took the plunge today and headed into town to get my hair colored. I also brought two dozen of my Smelly Jelly room fresheners in to the shop to sell them. And sell them they did. Before I even left, half were gone! Woo hoo! I made up another couple dozen when I got home for Bernie to take them this week.

Bernie hurt his back some how. I suspect it was either from that huge oak he grounded, chopped, and split - or from dragging around and hanging those mega huge deer Eddie gave us. At any rate, his feeble attempt to hide it last weekend did not escape me and I nagged him into taking it a little easier this week. He took care of a lot of things around the house that didn't involve him acting like Hercules and using his back, and I'm proud to report his back seems to be much better now. He informs me he'll be ready to tackle all the work outside next week. Which is good. He's happier when he's out and about - and that translates into me being happier. So it's a win/win situation.

I've been a soap making fool the past week. I made a batch of unscented bar soap for Bernie that I cleverly named "Nekkid Bernie". Hey - cut me some slack. What I lack for in clever labels, I make up for in wonderful soap. I also made a batch of "Macaroon" soap, which is a blend of chocolate and coconut fragrance oils. Tomorrow I'm making "Mango Papaya" soap - using shea butter and mango butter. I have a few others planned for this week and that means within about a month they should all be cured and I can finally put up a webpage with bath products. This Christmas season has kept me busy keeping the shops in stock, but I'm excited to get the webpage going so those of you that have asked to order it online can finally do that.

By the way - you do know the difference between "naked" and "nekkid" don't you? Naked is when you don't have any clothes on. Nekkid is when you don't have any clothes on, and you're up to no good.....

We're cold, but safe and happy on the homestead. There's a winter storm brewing and indications are that we may get iced in tonight. I ain't complaining.

Bee Free,
Penny

Count Down Until Christmas

Well, it's getting close to Christmas and that means it's time for our annual 600 mile holiday pilgrimage to my parent's home - and that means the time is getting short to get all the Christmas gifts together. I've outdone myself this year. I AM FINISHED! Really, I am. And this year each and every gift is home made. Every stinkin' one of them.

We've established just how much I enjoy the whole obligatory gift giving tradition, but since I've started giving home made gifts, I find it's a lot less hateful, and I even find myself in a good mood over it. At least with a home made gift, chances are slim I'll find it in my sister's garage, where she stages everything that is headed out to Good Will and where I've found many of my previous Christmas gifts to her. She may throw it away, but I'll never know about it.

I still have some home made butter to make for my mother, but I dont' want to do that until right before we go. I want it to be as fresh as possible. And don't worry - I didn't spoil the surprise by typing this on my blog. My mother is about the only person I know that doesn't read my blog. If that doesn't tell you how bad I suck at blogging, I don't know what does. My own mother. Geesh.

Hey, we finally waxed our cheddar cheese and put it up to age. Feast your eyes on this gorgeous hunk of red heaven:





We've been busy cutting up a couple of deer that a friend gave us. I don't know where he shot these deer, but they were freaking enormous! We got the largest backstrap we have ever seen out of the buck. That's gonna be some good eating.

My Dear John just had some surgery on his wrist yesterday, so he hasn't been able to email me today about how much I stink at blogging. I thought it might be a pleasant surprise for him to get two whole blog entries from me within just a couple of days of each other. Plus it might keep him busy for five minutes or so to give his poor wife a break.

That's it for now from the homestead. Oh - and by the way, I am keeping my vow to step outside at least once a day. It is, however, going on two weeks since I left this place or have gone any further than the mailbox. Bernie's making noise about forcing me to ride with him to the dump tomorrow. I think he worries people will think he must have killed me and buried me in the middle of this 65 acres. Not that he cares what people think - he just doesn't want them snooping around the property.

Bee Free,
Penny

Snow - Do I Really Have to be Included in This?

I think I've mentioned before that I'm not a cold weather person. I really just don't care for cold weather. Not only do I really dislike bundling up in clothing, cold weather is.... well... cold. Not a big fan of cold.

But it's cold on the homestead today. And it's snowing. Snow is really pretty if you are on the inside looking out. But I don't like actually being in the snow. Not only is it wet, it's.... well.... cold.

Everyone in this house handled this snowy day differently. Elvis handled it like this:




Priscilla handled it like this:




And Bernie handled it like this:



Bernie's always showing all of us up by gathering firewood and stuff.

And I handled it by taking pictures in the house and out the windows. The truth is, I did actually venture out. In keeping with my vow to make it outside at least one time a day during this winter, I decided to get all brave and stuff and wander down to the mailbox to check the mail.

Our mailbox is at the bottom of our driveway - which is about 1/4 of a mile. It's ordinarily a nice walk, so I decided I would bundle up and head on down there. All by myself. I was in a pretty good mood as I put on my snow boots. By the time I got them laced up, I was starting to get a little annoyed. The are bulky and cumbersome, and as I tried to put my snow suit on over top of the boots, my mood was deteriorating. By the time that ordeal was over, I was starting to sweat and get pretty irritated. I finally managed to cram my hands in my gloves and get the stinkin' top of them over my sleeves. As I put my hat on, it got hung up on my pony tail. I squished it on and loudly announced "Well THIS is fun!!" as I stormed out the door.

As I walked along in the winter wonderland, looking at beauty of our woods covered in a white blanket, and listening to snow gently hitting the tree limbs as it floated to the ground, I couldn't help but wonder why the hell I was outside in this mess! But in truth, my spirit lifted with each step and pretty soon I was skipping right along with a song in my heart. OK, maybe I wasn't skipping, and the song was likely me wheezing as I huffed it up the hilly drive, but still, I did get in a better mood.

Our mailman is unpredictable and unreliable on a good day, so I have no idea why I expected a snowy day like today would be any different. He had not shown up yet. I closed the mailbox and started back to the house. About halfway up the drive, I saw Bernie walking down towards me. He probably figured I was in such a foul weather mood that I would throw myself in front of the first car that passed down our desolate road and he came to check on me. We stood and watched the snow for a few minutes and then headed back to the house. I threw a snowball at him and ran in to the comfort of our fireplace. Which is where I plan to stay until all this snow melts.

Bernie did head out early this morning to do a little turkey hunting. But apparently the turkeys don't like snow either, and stayed holed up the whole time he was out there. He came in looking like the Abominable Snowman, but he looked happy, if not a little disappointed.

Hey - here's a picture of the cheese we're making. It's been sitting for about three days growing it's rind. In a day or so we'll dip it in wax and get it started curing. You can't really tell in this picture, but it weighs about two pounds:




That's a good looking cheese right there now!

We're safe and sound on our homestead and watching the snow from the windows right now. We have a nice fire going and are hunkered down for the evening. I can't wait until spring.

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

Thanksgiving Ramblings

Hope you each had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We sure did. Tex and Charlotte spent the day with us and we ate a huge meal. Afterwards the guys went out and shot their guns a while and Charlotte joined them to test out her new 9MM. I stayed in the house with my buddy Bobo, as he is terrified of loud noises. Bobo ate a fair amount too, and we spent a little time trying to figure out whose belly was bigger, his or mine. In the end, he won - but I assured him it looks good on him. He looked a little hurt, but I gave him another piece of turkey and he seemed to get over it pretty quick. I would LOVE to have a dog like Bobo. He's really smart, well mannered, and fun to be around - and most of all he seems to really like me.

I took a couple of days off work for Thanksgiving, so I have a gloriously long weekend. It's been wonderful. Bernie has been on a perpetual long weekend since he quit his job, but he works so hard around here I'm afraid he doesn't feel like he's on vacation. He does take a break from most of his outside work and spend time with me when I take vacation though. He's been working on getting all his guns cleaned while I putter around the house. Today I made a really nice batch of Sinfully Decadent Chocolate soap. Wow, it smells wonderful - almost as good as the home made chocolate cake I made for Thanksgiving. I may have to put a warning sign on it that it's not edible. I tried my hand at swirling it again, so we'll see how it turns out.

It's Friday night and we all know that means it's Pizza-Beer-and-a-Movie-Night here on the homestead. Yee Haw! Even the cats are excited - and they hate pizza, beer, and our taste in movies.

Bee 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

Homesteading is Fun - but not Always

Well, we went to check on our bee hives yesterday and were really devastated to learn we have now lost all of them. We're very sad, but determined to learn from it all and start again next year. You can read about it on The Bee Buzz.

As depressing as it was to learn we lost all our hives, one thing is certain on a homestead - life must go on. We have so much to do we really do not have time to focus on failures. We have to move ahead and continue to establish ourselves here.

Bernie started working on the fence for the cleared area where the house is. I am SO happy. As I mentioned in my previous post, a fence means we can have a garden and get goats and chickens - along with a couple of dogs to discourage wild life from getting too close to any of it. He amazed me with what all he's accomplished in the past couple of days. The posts for the upper part of the yard are all in place. He still needs to put in corner posts, but I am quite pleased that it's coming right along! Our ground is mostly rock, so I expected it would take him much longer. But Bernie is nothing if not tenacious about things like this. We'll have a fence before you know it!

Even after working on the fence all day, Bernie was more than willing to help me put together a little composter. When we lived in town, he built me a really nice composter out of boards and chicken wire. That thing was great! When we moved to the homestead he and Tex promised to make me a turnable composter out of a 55 gallon drum, and I know that one day they will. But with so many things to do around here, I figured my turnable composter is pretty low on the list, so I wanted to start a simple one to make due until they have time to build me another. I put a page up on the Back to Basic Living website, with step by step instructions on how we built it. Check it out!

I also started a batch of sour dough starter. There's nothing like home made sour dough. Making a starter is easy and requires little more than a water or milk and some flour. I've done this before, but it's been a while. I was inspired by TxCloverAngel on Homesteading Today. If you're interested, check out her post. She started hers with milk, and I started mine with water. I'll be interesting to see how it all turns out.

And if you've been wondering about that last batch of grape Prison Wine I started, well, it's going along GREAT! It's been bubbling and fermenting for over two weeks. I should be able to bottle it in another couple of weeks. Prison Wine really rocks! But you probably won't remember that after a glass or two......

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