6 Months and 4 Hours 'Til a Hot Bath

November 1st marked 6 months of being on our farm!  It's been  wonderful and horrible, a dream come true and a nightmare!  Really, the good has outweighed the bad, by a long shot!  We have met lots Amish, have some very nice neighbors, we have found a great church where we feel very welcome.  We have acquired some of our farm livestock, milk cow and 40 chickens!  We have explored our new surroundings and have had several nice family drives!
Some things we haven't accomplished yet, self-suffiecentcy.  We are really lacking in that.  The "simple life" can be quite complicated!

For example, you want a hot bath.

1. You ask a boy to haul some wood to the basement.

2. You ask a boy to haul some wood to the basement.

3. You ask a different boy to haul wood to the basement.

4. You haul some wood to the basement yourself.

5. You start a fire in the boiler.

6. You fill the boiler with water from the spigot.

7. You restart the fire in the boiler adding more paper and kindling.

8.  You go upstairs and gather everyones pj's and towels.

9. You go downstairs and check the fire, add wood and test the water.

10. Repeat step 9 four more times in the next 3 hours.

11. Finally....the water is boiling hot!!

12. You start with the littlest people and give them baths 2 or 3 at a time!

13. Tell a boy to go get in the tub.

14. Tell another boy to go get in the tub.

15. Tell another boy to get in the tub.

16. Ask Kegan and Ileigh who wants to go next.

17. Wait patiently for Kegan and Ileigh to get done.

18. Get ready for your own bath.

19. Get the bucket and fill it at the boiler.

20. Carry 5 gallons of boiling hot water to the smallest, oldest bath tub ever made.  Pour it in and start the cold water running.

21.  Go back to the boiler for a second bucket................there is no more hot water!!!!!!

22. Go back to the bathtub and take a lukewarm bath in 3 inches of water:(

23. Vow to be the FIRST bath next time!!!!!!

Needless to say we don't bathe everyday!!  It is simpler, there is no hot water heater to break, no propane to pay for, or gas or electricity.  What I have found is, what you don't spend in cash you put out in hard work!!

I know it's been so long since I have posted.  Busy? Yes but no more than usual, just lots of stuff I am not at liberty to discuss at this point in time!  I hate it when people do that!  And here I am doing it, sorry!
I will try harder, honest!
Have  great day!

Quick Update!

Howdy all,
After a unintentional "blog break", I am back!!  I have several really good posts in the works!  We have been SO busy!  Company and summer ending and fall beginning, YEAH!!  The weather here is wonderful, I can't tell you how spectacular it is, dry but the temperatures are fabulous!  Thank you Lord, that everyday isn't a summer day!!


Up-coming posts:

Wild animals in our neck of the woods, (and I don't mean my 6 sons!)

Solar showers, (because even in the summer warm water feels good!)

Thrift store treasures, (turning an ok bargain into an amazing bargain!)

Old-Fashioned school, (using 150 yr old curriculum!)

Sewing for young ladies, (information on patterns, fabric and sewing for little girls!)

That's just a few in my line-up, if I had unending hours of spare time and lightening fast internet you might see all those posts before Christmas.  But, Hey, I'll do the best I can, have a wonderful day and enjoy Autumn!

PS
 NO calf yet, I think Trudy might be pregnant FOREVER!!!  She has really bagged up, her udder is HUGE and hard.  She has lots of goo, (sorry to Auntie Linda, and others who really didn't want to know about the cows goo;).  I'm hoping she'll go soon, I want MILK!!!!

"Cooking With Rohan"

Post has been fixed - NOW you can comment and make a 9 year old boy VERY happy!!    Thanks!!!



Hello, My name is Rohan and I LOVE to cook, I can cook lots of food by myself!  Today I thought I would show you how to cook sausage on our wood cookstove!

First wash your hands, this is very important!

After opening you sausage, you want to smash pieces into round patties.
At our house we need 20 patties so everyone can have two!

Getting the sausage ready can take some time, but it is an important step.

Now slowly brown your patties on the hot part of the wood stove,  it takes a while to cook sausage on a wood cookstove so start early, or your brother might get impatient!!

When you think they are done, be sure to check and make sure there is no pink!!

YUM, breakfast is ready!!

"Everybody needs a Trudy in Their Lives."

Octavian - almost 2!!

It's time to announce the winner of the "Guess the Cows Name" contest!!    

As you can tell from the title our new milk cows name is TRUDY!
Jen and Becki guessed correctly!  I couldn't choose just one of them so if you BOTH will email me I will send you the home baked treat of your choice!!

Why did I pick Trudy?  I'm sure your all dying to know!  Last winter when we still had electricity and a big screen tv the older children and Dane and I watched the TV series MONK on netflix.  We watched all 8 seasons in about 3 months!!  We enjoyed Monk and and I loved the name Trudy!  Not enough to name a daughter that but enough to give it to a cow!!  It was hard though not to name her Ruby...I LOVE that name, I think I might save it for a baby, maybe!  If she would have been more refined, more beautiful, less       Trudy-like I would have named her Ada, I love that name too!  So Trudy it is and we are finally getting along a bit better, although I think she loves me just for the grain I bring her!
Now we are waiting on pins and needles for a calf!  Soon, I'm told, no signs of imminent labor yet.

Thanks to everybody for participating and if you guessed Trudy,  please remember to email me!

Today Is Quins-Day!

 Hi,

I'm Quinlan, I am 14 years old and the 3rd oldest in our family.  I thought I would take a minute and do a guest post on our blog.  

Here on the farm there  are a lot of  "creatures"!!  Spiders, moles, snakes, birds, bugs, frogs, and many, many more!!  Here's some shots of just a few of the creepy crawly critters we've seen!

Here is a giant moth, at least as big as my hand!

Fuzzy Caterpillar!

The yuckiest,  ugliest, nastiest spider I have ever seen, huh Poppy?

The cutest, tiniest, snake I have ever seen!!  Ferran rescued this one from a spiders web!

Here is the first frog I found, he's so tiny, but dangerous, I didn't know it at the time but he secretes an irritating oil  behind his legs!  

Rohan caught this one, he was HUGE!!  He is what they call a bull-frog.  They make the loudest noises!

Hope everyone enjoyed this post on Quins-day, have a great day and enjoy all Gods creatures!(well except maybe the spiders!!):)
Quinlan

How Now Brown Cow

 UPDATE: The "What is the Cows Name Contest" will end midnight on Friday the 12th.  We will announce a winner soon after! (depending on cell phone signal:)
Have Fun!


She's here...........My very own, just what I always wanted, JERSEY MILK COW!!!!!!!!  She is about 5 years old and this is her 3rd pregnancy.  She is due to calve in about 2 weeks more or less!  I am having a ball with her!!  She is a bit people shy, anyone from the cow boards reading this, do you have any suggestions?
We got her home fairly easy.  Our Amish neighbors sons mounted their horses and our boys walked beside and we kinda "herded" her home.  She went right in her new stall and after a few days seems quite content.

I have had a few dairy cow names kicking around in my brain for about 7 years!  Names are very important to me, so getting her's just right was a challenge, but now she has one!!  There were a few names in the running:

RUBY

ADA

LUCY

TRUDY

LILY

IVY

JOSEY

DAISEY

Wanna have some fun?  Let's play  "Guess the NEW Cows Name!"  Those of you who correctly guess her name will have their names put in a hat we will pull out one, that lucky person will win their choice of Fresh Farm Baked Goodies!!! You can choose a loaf of wheat bread, cinnimon raisin bread or a batch of cookies!!  Sound good?

Ok, to enter you need to leave a comment with your guess, then you need to "follow" us, if you already follow then just let me know in your comment!  If you have a blog, please make a post about our name contest, linking back to our blog!  When you have completed all of that, comment and let me know!! For each comment you make it will increase your chances to win!!!!

Summer Daze

Octavian listening to the weather radio....Will there be rain?

Kegan and Rohan reading on a hot afternoon!

Ugly spider we found.....yuck!

Ellie the runaway is glad she's back!

Free museums are fun on hot summer days!!