American Blackout...

Hubby and I recently watched this movie and I must say, I found it quite informative and somewhat chilling. 

One of my greatest fears is social unrest.  I know that may sound silly to some but for me, this is a very REAL fear.  The thought of someone trying to bring harm to my family or me in order to get to my stash of food is a horrifying thought.  Due to the fact that we are an active duty family, hubby is gone for long periods of time, so I must be able to protect my family, property and myself...by myself.  Needless to say, this can bring a fear and a terror that can consume a person.

With that said I can not let fear or terror take over me, but I must soldier on (nice military reference huh?).  I must overcome my fear in order to protect my family and my property.    

As you all know, we are preppers.  I know that it is someone of a hush-hush subject for some preppers, but I believe that there is strength in numbers and that the more people that prepare, the better off we all are.  Some prepping is better then no prepping. 

Hopefully we will never have to see a cyber-attack, or an EMP, but if we do...are you prepared?  Are you ready to protect not only yourself  but your family and your property?  No one saw the mayhem that Katrina was going to bring, and look how that turned out.  Do you have any food put away for a 'rainy day?'  What about a job loss, are you prepared for something of that magnitude? 

These are all real things and they happen everyday...to everyday people, like you and me.  What have you done to prepare for the unforeseen?

Without further delay... 

National Geographic...American Blackout

Elderberrry syrup + sick lil' one = medicinal healing and a happy mama

Even though I love the holiday season, I don't love the holiday 'bugs' that seem to come with it.

The achy-ness (is that even spelled right?), fever, cough and runny nose is sometimes unbearable.  Thankfully the Lord, in all of His infinite wisdom, knew that we would need his help.

Enter in...Elderberry syrup...

 

 

 I absolutely love this stuff!  Not only does it taste yummy but low and behold, it works!  Who would of thought that elderberries cooked in raw/organic honey would have such powerful medicinal properties?  Only the good Lord himself, that's who. 

You can buy elderberries at Bulk Herb Store, Mountain Rose Herbs, along with Amazon (affiliate link)  and even iHerb.

There are just as many recipes on how to make your own elderberry syrup as there are places to buy herbs, so just punch elderberry syrup into your search engine and...BOOM!  As easy as 1, 2, 3!
 
The keiki didn't care too much for it in the beginning, but with some persistence from her mama, she takes it like a champ now!

I did use this while I was getting the keiki adjusted to the elderberry syrup...

I was pleased with it's results also.  But obviously I prefer the latter.

So there you have it...homeopathic/medicinal remedies do work, the keiki is living proof.  There is something about being able to make my own homemade herbal remedies for the health and welfare of my family that gives me peace of mind and confidence. 

So on that note...what have you given your family when they were under the weather?  Did you get the results you were hoping for?  Please share!

I hope this post finds you all doing well...I know that those of us here in the Midwest we have had some bitterly cold days here.  Hope it is warm and sunny where you are.

Peace and love to you all!

 

 

for the love of turkey broth...

since one of our goals for 2014 is to build up our food pantry I thought it only fitting to share with you all what I did with my our left over birds.

we had a houseful on Christmas day.  family and friends filled our home, along with laughter and the occasional nap :).  we bought two turkey's in hopes to have enough meat...thankfully we did. 

before I continue please know that thanks to Laura@heavenlyhomemakers and her awesome idea of cooking the turkey ahead of time, my whole day wasn't spent stressing over birds, but spent enjoying our company and our food.  anyhow, onto the blog post.

after deboning the birds, the bones and all the 'extras' were put in a HUGE roaster along with some water and a dash or two of ACV (apple cider vinegar) and set on low.  they cooked and cooked and cooked and after cooling and straining...viola!  turkey broth!

sweet right? 

 

 

aren't they beautiful?  I must admit that after the canning and cooling process I lined them up in order to take a picture for my blog and I found myself smiling and giggling.  some don't know the true joy of homemade canned turkey broth, but I do.  I had visions of soups, casseroles and whatever else I can put it in dancing through my head. 

 

after labeling/dating them all, I carefully put them downstairs in our basement/pantry, and there they sit, waiting to be used. 

 

 

 

what did you do with your bird and your leftovers?  

another mouth to feed

meet spade...our newest member of the family...

according to his previous owners, he is a chiweenie?  I honestly don't know about the breed or the mixed breed that he is, but what I do know is that he is stinkin' adorable.  he is 6 months and he is already adored by everyone in the family.  we are in the process of house training, which I am not a huge fan of, but oh well. 

how many of you had the pleasure (sarcasm) of house training?  any tips or tricks you recommend in hopes to make the process a little less 'messy' because if so, I would love to hear them.

peace and love to you all...

2014 is officially here!!!

so I am not too sure how any of you rang in the new year, but here on the farm, we had a wii bowling tournament, ate donuts and drank sparkling white grape juice out of Christmas colored plastic wine glasses.  we party hard around here wouldn't you say?  :)

2013 was a rough year for us.  it was a year filled with trials and tribulations, but we pulled through...together...stronger. 

we look forward to 2014.  we look forward to what it will bring along with all that we hope to get accomplished.  here are just a few of the things we hope to get done/learn in 2014...

1.    get the horse and donkey pole barn finished
2.    build a few more pens for the does
3.    grow a bigger garden
4.    start a medicinal garden
5.    learn to chop firewood (me)
6.    can more
7.    build up my food storage
8.    drink more herbal tea
9.    make our own laundry detergent
10.  make more of our food from scratch
11.  menu plan
12.  learn to make soap
13.  harvest our own brom
14.  get my thyroid disease under control
15.  rid negative people from our lives
16.  slow down
17.  simplify
18.  listen more and talk less
19.  blog more
20.  read more

...and the list goes on.

what are some of your resolutions/goals for 2014?  please share!

peace and love to you all

an answer to prayer, plus a little hard work...

So if you haven't been to my fb page then you might not be aware of this but we just had an answer to prayer the other day.

Hubby and I had been wanting to add to our flock of hens, but just didn't have the finances for it.  We were looking for hens that were already laying, but that weren't too old.  A very dear friend of mine, a fellow hippie farmer up the street knew of a lady wanting to get rid of her current flock due to their decrease in egg production.  With absolutely no hesitation I told her 'YES!'

For those of you who are unaware of this, this is very normal in chickens.  This process is called "molting" and it happens every winter.  The days get shorter and the temperatures get cooler and that is a sign to chickens that it is time to renew their feathers, by loosing the ones they currently have.  It is also very common that during the "molting season" that chickens quit laying eggs.  Some chickens quit completely until molting/winter is over, and some still produce, but very little.  This can be discouraging to a first time chicken owner, such as myself because I like fresh farm eggs and hate to loose them for any amount of time. 

If you notice in nature, all 'living' things need a break, even Mother Earth.  Plants, insects and animals all go through different types of 'changes.'  Whether it be a change in their coat, like with dogs, or dormant like many plants and trees, all of these 'changes' serve a purpose.  The same happens with chickens when they molt.  They get a much needed 'break,' and since I am not one to change the natural cycle of things, I just do what I can to help them during this time.  I up their protein in their diet and make sure they always have clean water, which I do regardless.  During spring and summer they free-range and eat all the bugs they can stuff in their beaks, when winter rolls around the 'bug' population drops, hence the protein in their natural diet drops significantly.  So by making a few 'tweeks,' like sprouted grains to their diet and allowing them to do what it is that they do, naturally, they will be back to their normal, egg-laying selves before we know it. 

So long story short, the 13 hens we just received, for free mind you will require some work, some TLC and some time, but with patience and perseverance I have no doubt that this answer to prayer will be just that...an answer to prayer.  These birds will provide us with protein packed, organic, free-range eggs that not only nourishes our bodies but the bodies of our friends and families. 

Wishing you all a wonderful day and last but not least...

Peace and love to you all!

i give tattler lids two thumbs up!

So I have been wanting to try Tattler Lids for my canning for a while now.  A week or so ago when I was in the local grocery store here in our little town I saw that they started carrying them.  Since I am a big fan of the wide mouth jars, and they had the Tattler Lids for the wide mouth jars, I didn't hesitate to grab a box of 12 ct for $5.99.  Not bad right?  For those of you not lucky enough to grab them up at that price, you can always find them here (affiliate link) too.

Fast forward to a couple weeks later when I finally got around to canning some homemade organic honey sweetened applesauce and viola, good to go!

There was no real "trick" to it other then making sure that the lids were on the jars correctly and that the rings weren't screwed on too tight.  I did have a few that didn't seal properly, but it was due to the lids not being centered on the jar correctly.  I didn't have to reseal them because applesauce doesn't last long in this house, so I just popped them in the fridge, needless to say...they are gone!

So long story short...I love them, I think they are great and most importantly...they are reusable, which makes this Hawaiian hippie farmer, very happy.

Peace and love to you all!