Eggs and a contest

The Ezine All Foods Natural is having another contest. From the newsletter;

Now we will start collecting recipes using coffee, preferably as flavoring. Send your words by the last day of February 2007 using this form or by email to the postmaster@all-foods-natural.com, and good luck! A copy of the book Fix it and Enjoy it is waiting for the best recipe. Finalists will feature in this newsletter and the web site. The winner will be notified by email, and we will request then the postal address to send the book. Have a look to what you can find in the book. {I think they meant the last day of March}

The chickens I received last summer have begun laying. What a relief! I've had to buy eggs this winter because I could only find eggs from one of my layers. I need to go and clean out the barn, and am fearful that I will find many o' rotten eggs hidden in there. That or something is eating them. I also need to clean out the nursery for the little ones that will be here in two weeks.

My geese should be laying soon. As much as I love baking with goose eggs, I think I will allow at least half of them to hatch out this year.

I need to go accessory shopping for my new donkey. ~glee!~

An update on family

My father came home last night. After a little over a month, he finally was able to come home. He is my old dad again, happy, joking and can't wait to get out on the land and do some work. He has been giving me a hard time about the donkey, all in good fun. And is waiting impatiently for the Golden Buff I ordered for him. And he has informed me that we will be trying out new plants in the garden. It's nice to have him back, not just physically.

I wanted to say something about VA's. With all the news talking about the horrible conditions at Walter Reed, I thought you might want to know about a few others. Before my father moved here he would go to the VA in Gainesville, Florida. I have yet to hear anything good about the place. I was told that they run the patience through like cattle. And if they were any good they would have caught what was wrong with my dad long before this.

The Va here in Wichita Kansas is Robert Dole's namesake. Now I might not agree with everything Bob Dole says or does, but I give him credit for caring deeply about what goes on with our Vets. That's why I was so happy to learn last night that he would be looking into the problems with the Nation's VA's.

When my uncle disappeared {government stole him, long story} Bob Dole took the time to help us find him.

The VA were my father was at, is clean, and well maintain for such an old building. They have volunteers, and a great staff. When my father first started seeing his new Doctor here, he was amazed how happy and attentive the nurses are. He mentioned that after every visit. His Doctor was the same. She was the one that ordered the chest x-ray, not on a whim or on a suspicion, just routine care. Something my father didn't received in Florida. If it hadn't been for this routine care, my father might be dead now.

Once in the VA's ICU, the staff was right on top of things. They are a touchy feely group. Squeezing hands and knees, touching the men's heads. Talking to them as adult's, and including them in everything. It was easy to see that the staff cared that most of these men were alone, and they did their best to make them feel cared for, emotionally. I have never seen this level of care in any hospital before.

Thank you Mr. Bob Dole, thank you to the staff of the Robert J Dole Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Thank you for taking such great care of my family, and all the vet's that come through those doors.

What did I do?

I was talking with Marina {author of Tales From a Texas Farm Wife} by the end of the conversation I had bought a donkey.

Image courtesy of Marina

She is a standard burro by the name of Sombrea. She's 15 years old and has a temper. Perfect! Now I have to figure out when I can get down there to pick her up. And in the mean time I need to find some donkey care manuals.

We have looked at buying a donkey before, we just couldn't afford to spend as much as most people wanted for them. I got Sombrea for an adoption fee of $200. And she might be pregnant.

And what is really cool about all this is now I have an excuse to meet my friend of 4 years for the first time.

You can read about my new donkey here, or read about all the troubles Marina had on Craigslist when she tried to get Sombrea adopted here.

Also could any one in the southern states use a couple of men to work for room and board. They are located outside Denver and want to move. They are loggers, but willing to work land. Let me know, and I will tell you more about these two men. Thank you.

Choose your homesteader's Adventure

Stephanie over on Stop the ride proclaims, Welcome to challenge week! The week we make something from scratch that we never have before. go check out what some of your fellow bloggers are making.

Now comes the point of our little story where you get to once again decide what new to me thing I will be making for next month's challenge week. Choose wisely.

potpourri of info

This week I will be working in the garden. March is our calmest, comfortable month. Swing season will begin next month, then we come into summer.

Now is the time we plant all our cool weather foods, like lettuce, onion and radishes. Our beds need to be tilled under and mulched. Pop bottles replaced in mole tunnels to keep the mice from eating the roots of our plants. {when the wind blows over the top of the empty bottles it makes a noise that the moles loathe, and they stay clear of the area. Leaving no access for the mice}

My strawberries have been greening up. Now that I know, I will be able to keep my hens away from the plants. This year I plan to have strawberries.

I was unable to get to the wattle fence. I have talked it over with my husband and we will be turning our willows into a living fence. Now to see if that will work. I still plan on the wattle fence, but not sure when that will happen.

We are also unable to make it to the Log home seminar. I will need to take a rain check on lunch for those of you that expressed interest.

Today I need to finish compacting my boys rooms and hopefully clean out the chicken coop.

Make it from Scratch

Cream cheese is listed under a cheese, so please, no bubble bursting today.

I thought I would try the simplest recipe for a cheese I could find. And since I use so much cream cheese, I thought that it would be best to start there. I looked around and made sure that I had everything I needed {unfortunately I was unable to score any raw milk} I added 1 cup buttermilk to 2 cups warm milk and did the unthinkable. I left it out on my counter for 24 hours. I did this to allow it to clabber. Clabber? Hey kids stop clabbering around! She made her way down the eerily quiet hallway, suddenly there was a clabber that startled her. Clabber, make curds. A cutesy word to potty train with? After allowing the milk to. . . clabber, I warmed it over hot water for 30 minutes, then poured it out into a cloth bag to allow it to drain. And left it alone for an hour before removing it and wrapping it in wax paper and placing it in the fridge.

If you can get over the clabber, it tastes just like the store bought cream cheese. And then there is the upside that I will not be listing this entry with the tag mistakes. Of course I went the simple route when it came to making cheese, but I am going to take baby steps on this one. Once I have conquered the soft cheeses I will move on to the semi-hard and then the hard.

I am however listing this with the tag frugal?. The cost of buttermilk and milk versus buying the same amount in pre-made cream cheese is cheaper.

And the winner of the homemade noodles is......Please e-mail me the address where you want this to be sent.

Who would like some homemade cream cheese? If you don't mind it sent in a Styrofoam box {I reused this from something I had ordered in the past} Please leave a reply here, include the words I want to enter. I will leave this open for one week.