Counting Blessings #239-261

 239) SNOW! :)
240) sun shining on snow, glittering like billions of icy diamonds
241) recovery and good health
242) Sunday rest
243) family and home
244) grandparents
245) seed catalogs
246) animals to care for that get me out of the house; I'm always glad I did!
247) making snow angels
248) the smell of fresh baked bread
249) wool yarn
250) sheep that grow wool
251) woodstoves
252) good books
253) aphghans
254) board games
255) children
256) hot cocoa
257) popcorn
258) butter
259) soup (I'm really NOT hungry :)
260) sweaters
261) Steger Mukluks

What's Going On

I am still alive, thankfully!  My family has spent this month surviving the influenza.  It was truly awful, and I'm glad it's over.
I have been busy making lots of stuff, most of which isn't quite ready for pictures yet.  Here's one though!



I've been crocheting mittens, among other things.

I wish I had time for a proper post right now, but instead, I'm going to link to my farm blog, so you can read about what's taking up some of my time right now.  I'm going to take the luxury or reading your blogs over a nice cup of coffee tomorrow, and hopefully even write a Counting Blessings post! :)

Baking Soda

HI everyone,

Oh, how I miss you all!  I've had so many things I've wanted to post about!  I really don't have time to be posting, but this was already written.  I had left a comment on another blog, and realized that it was a ready made post, at least sort of, at least better than nothing...

I make my own toothpaste and deodorant with baking soda. I also use it in the dish washer with a little borax when I run out of dish washer soap. I clean with a mixture of baking soda and borax, or straight baking soda.

Toothpaste: baking soda (as much or as little as you want your batch of toothpaste to be), a few drops of essential oils of your choice. I like peppermint (for fresh breath), tea tree, lavender and grapefruit (all excellent antibacterial agents), some stevia powder, and enough coconut oil to make it into a paste. To make a re-mineralizing toothpaste, add some liquid trace minerals and/or calcium and magnesium powder. I also add some natural salt with trace minerals in it.

Deodorant: As much baking soda as you want for the size batch you want to make, a few drops of tea tree or lavender oil, and any other essential oils you want to use for scent, and enough coconut oil to make a thick paste.

It is a wonderful thing to be able to open the cupboard and make some more deodorant or toothpaste when a family member runs out, and never to have to put those things on a grocery list! :) Every item it the deodorant and toothpaste is something that is it the baking cupboard or medicine chest already.

8-21-12 Harvest

This is today's harvest. The potatoes in the photo had to be harvested early because the cut worms left NOTHING above the soil. Thankfully we were able to harvest a few potatoes though. These are Kennebeck potatoes. We still have the Youkon Gold potatoes in the ground. They weren't hit as hard, so they should have some time to grow yet.

This is the first time we've grown potatoes, as hubby's opinion was we should grow things that cost more than potatoes. That has changed since we won't buy them at the regular grocery store any more. They're quite expensive at Whole Foods! So, anyway, I definitely have questions about potato growing. For one thing, I didn't think there were going to be ANY potatoes at all, since I never saw any flowers on the plants. I'd read in a gardening book that new potatoes were ready to dig when the flowers came on the plants? Also, when we were digging these, we ran across a few that were rotting, and in my daughter's words, "They smell like the pig pen. Is that why the pig pen stinks? It's all the potato peelings?" :) In other words, they stunk badly!! After a couple of those, dear daughter wasn't having nearly as much fun digging potatoes. She didn't want to accidentally touch another one of those! Were they rotting and stinky because the plants had died and we didn't get them dug soon enough? Someone please enlighten me!? Also, what happens to the "mother" potato? See, questions, always questions! :)