Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Sunshine

We have been outside today. A LOT. :-) It's amazing how content Nathan is when I'm doing simple things like pulling weeds. This morning did not start off well; then we went outside at lunchtime. And stayed there. For two hours. We ate lunch outside, pulled weeds, and Nathan drowned the seeds in my garden. So it was nearly ideal.
I've been on a sewing craze the last couple of weeks. I have a new-found love of sewing. It makes me feel good. When I finish something, I actually have something to show for what I've been doing during the day. However, I am having to "check-up." I have to remember that sitting outside with Nathan while he plays is more important that finishing a project. I have to remember that reading to him, playing with him, holding Noelle, and just spending time with them is my calling right now. :-) I know that. I just have to remember sometimes.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Books I am reading

A Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola
---So far I'm really enjoying this book. I'm skipping around to different chapters, reading little pieces here and there. The author gives some insight into how Charlotte Mason's methods look in a modern-day home, as opposed to a home that had a butler, cook, gardener, and nurse (okay, well, this home has all those things, too...just wrapped in a smaller package. - ha)

Honey for a Child's Heart by Gladys Hunt
---I am just now starting to read this book, although I checked it out at the library last week. So many books, so little time. The problem with this book, and several of the others on my list, is that it makes me want to read even more books. :-) Anyway, right now I'm just reading about "why" to read to your kiddos. I'm kind-of skimming since I'm just a wee bit sold on that already.

Home Education by Charlotte Mason
---I'm supposed to be reading sections of this book for a discussion blog, but the owner of the blog has been too busy to post lately. ;-) This book challenges me and reminds me of my goals.

Baby-led Weaning by ??? (I'm too lazy to go look.)
---A friend let me borrow this book, and it's rather interesting. Supposedly you can just let your baby eat whatever food you are eating. ??? I completely understand the concept of babies having a gag reflex so far forward in their mouths that it is almost impossible for them to choke (sitting up and with proper food items), but I can't bring myself to let Noelle "go" with certain foods. I did let her have a go at broccoli, but when Evan saw her chewing on the broccoli top, stem in hand, he couldn't bear it. ha Oh well, that is where the Munchkin feeder comes in handy. The main thing I've taken away from the book is to chill about feeding your baby. Give options, let them play and explore, and eating the food will come as the baby is ready and actually needs the food.

The Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie O'Martian
---I think I have never read the book before just because everyone else was reading it. I'm like that sometimes. However, I really like this book. I like having a bit of direction in ways to pray for my husband because sometimes I feel like I'm falling in a rut with my prayers for him. Also, having this book sitting with my Bible reminds me to really pray for him. :-)

A Wheel on the School by Meindert DeJong
---I'm reading this book aloud to Nathan. We both are enjoying the book. School children are trying to get storks to come to their town and set out to find a wheel to put on their school for the storks to nest in. As they search for a wheel, they learn quite a bit about the people and places around them.

Multiple gardening books
---Ugh. I just need one that tells me what to do, day by day. ha

Bible
---This is a great book. Haven't read it? Try it sometime. :-)

Monday, March 22, 2010

Whew!






Isn't it positively disgusting?!










The finished product.










My refried beans made with lard.











My crockpot with chicken bones/skin and veggie scraps ready to go.







From a 2-lb bag of pinto beans I got seven 2-cup bags of refried beans, plus a little extra which I put in the fridge for tomorrow's lunch. Nathan also ate two small bowlfuls.



I am TIRED! I think the hand-crank meat grinder got to me. ha :-) I put the deboned chicken in the fridge for tonight; I'll chop it up and put it in freezer bags tomorrow. Anyway, I'm pretty satisfied with what I got done. I also got the GAZILLION dishes done from this day of too many dishes, so I really feel good.
With the lard, next time I will not put more than 1/2 cup of water in the bottom of the pan with all the fat. It took forever to cook today. I think it turned out fine, but the cracklings weren't as "crackly" as I expected them to be. Maybe that had something to do with the extra water. I don't know.
Anyway, it's off to bed with me; the three loads of clean laundry in my living room will have to wait for tomorrow! :-)
Goodnight!

Still going...

Soooo, I think I put a bit too much water in. Maybe? It seems to be working fine now, but I think that the water just made the process take a LOT longer. I'm waiting on the "cracklings" to float to the top and look a little brown; hopefully that will happen soon. I am also making refried beans today, so I would like to have the lard for those. It's times like these when I wish I had someone who knew what they were doing to help me out! :-)

Rendering Lard

I'm making my own lard today. Seriously.
Hopefully I'll have some pictures or at least a story to tell in a while. Right now I'm taking a break because I just ground (in our manual meat-grinder) a little over eight pounds of pork fat. Between that and kneading my own bread, my arms should be like Popeye's soon. HA!! :-)

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Missing him

Tonight I am missing him. Random, I know. I love my little Noella-bella. I think I am enjoying her even more than I did Nathan at this age. I am so thankful for her and her little sweet self. Yet I miss the one who I never got to meet.
Grief is so random. Random, random, random. :-)
I am sitting here in this quiet house, as my Noelle sleeps and the others have gone to get us a movie to enjoy on this spring break week, and I stumbled upon a blog and remembered that sadness. I quickly got up from the computer and went to sweep my kitchen because I had a knot in my throat the size of a baseball and I did not want to cry (still don't). Is crying because something triggered a memory not real grief? Is it allowing emotion to overcome you? I don't know. Random.
They are home... ;-)

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Garden

I'm getting excited about the upcoming garden season! Yesterday I finished putting the bricks around my garden bed, and now I just need to fill it up with soil. I usually buy plants, but this year I got a great deal on organic seeds, so I'm going to try starting from seeds! ha Here are the types of seeds I ordered: cucumber, heirloom Brandywine tomatoes, bunch onions, crookneck squash, bell pepper, beans, and spinach.
Now I've just got to make sure Monty stays out of the garden. He can stick his skinny paws almost a foot into the kennel (my garden is in the kennel - ha). I will stake him out all summer if I have to. :-)
Well, that's all the updating I can do for now!
 

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