A Homemakers Daughter

New Direction

2011-06-04T21:32:00.001-05:00

I've decided to journal more of the happenings on our farm so I've started a new blog. I will not be blogging here at A Homemakers Daughter any more but will leave it up for archive purposes. Thank you to those of you that have followed me and I hope to see you over at my new blog.

Come see what we're up to on our farm at Simply A Farm Girl.

Chicken Alfredo

2011-05-26T12:00:00.000-05:00

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken, thighs or breasts, cut into small pieces
4T butter
1 onion, chopped
1T minced garlic
1t salt
1/4t cayenne pepper
3T whole wheat flour (regular flour works too)
3 cups half & half
1 1/2 cups frozen peas, thawed
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
12 oz pasta of your choice, whole grain for a heathier choice

In a large frying pan or pot Saute chicken, onion, and garlic until the chicken is cooked and the onions are soft. Stir in salt, cayenne pepper, and flour until it is blended in. Slowly add the half & half until mixed in, add peas and parmesan cheese. Simmer and stir for 1 or 2 minutes until think, remove from heat.

Cook your pasta, drain and toss with the chicken alfredo and serve with a salad and some homemade dinner rolls.

Some People

2011-05-23T15:22:00.002-05:00

Some People just don’t get it. I’ve had the same people ask me multiple times if I’m going to college. And I keep giving them the same answer!

Some people can’t understand why I wouldn’t want to get out of my parents house. Why I wouldn’t be applying to colleges all over the nation. Some don’t even understand why I don’t have a job. (I did for a while but decided that’s not what God had planned for me. I’m working on setting up an Etsy shop but it’s a slow process)

Every year my church recognizes the high school (and college) graduates. This past Sunday was that day. They print a thing out in the bulletin that has where you graduated from, what college you’re going to go to, and what your future career plans are. This is what we came up with:

“High School: Homeschool

College plans after graduation: I don’t feel led by God to attend college.

Your future career plans: I don’t know exactly what the Lord has planned for me but I believe I’m where He wants me by staying home. My ultimate goal is the high calling of being a wife, homemaker, and mother. I plan to continue to learn how to manage a home, homeschool children and will watch for where the Lord wants to use me in other ways.”

I’m not saying that college is a bad thing. I’m saying that it’s not what God has planned for me.

Some people just don’t understand why I would want to stay home. Some people don’t understand WHAT I’m going to be doing at home. I’m not going to be sitting on the couch watching movies (although we do have family movie nights every so often)! I’ll be helping my family further their goals.

I love it here and I love the people here. They’re so much fun to be around. Why would I want to leave?

Spring!

2011-05-19T11:22:00.001-05:00

It's such a wonderful time on a farm - Spring. The garden is getting planted, the kids have dug their flip-flops out of the closet, the cows LOVE to go out on their picket lines and have fresh grass,
AND CALVES ARE BORN!

I can't believe I haven't told all you yet! Tuesday morning Mom came down to my room at 6ish and told me Maybel was having her calf. I got up and went out and about an hour and a half later at 7:30 the calf came out! I got pictures of the whole thing!!!! Some of the pictures aren't as good as the others. Some of them Mom took with the camera and the fuzzy ones I took with my Ipod.

It's a boy. Maybel is a Jersey and the bull (we used artificial insemination) was an Angus. So he's definitely a beef cow (technically he's not a cow but you know what I mean). We named him Stewart - Stew for short. Both Stew and Maybel are doing great. Dad had a bit of trouble last night trying to milk her. She did not like the Surge milker sitting next to her and was kicking. She was kicking everything. She kicked the milker, the gate behind her (she kicked that off it's hinges!), the milking stall. She kick the stall so hard that the part that swings open, so the cows can get into it, swung and hit Dad in the head. Thankfully Dad's alright.

The first night Dad had me bring Stew up by her head and hung the milker under her but last night he tried the longer hoses and put the milker on the ground next to him and Stew was not in her line of vision. So we might try hanging it under her again tonight. Maybe she just doesn't like it sitting in her line of vision and next to Dad.

Denim Jacket

2011-05-15T19:05:00.004-05:00

I had a denim jacket. I loved my denim jacket. It always gave my outfit an added flare of "farm" when I wore it.

We have a friend at church that air brushes! So we asked him if he would be willing to air brush a picture of our cow Porky on the back of my denim jacket. He agreed and for payment we will be barter things with him (example: eggs).

So I loved my denim jacket but now . . . . . I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my jacket!!! And it's MUCH more "farmish" now than it ever was. Here's why!

We e-mailed this picture to our friend
. . . . . .

. . . . . . . and he did this!!!!

He is very gifted at what he does. It looks JUST like her!!!!! This picture does his work no justice. It's much better in person. Don't you just love the words Farm describe me to a T.

Porkchop was our very first cow and we traveled from MN all the way to northern Missouri to get her (long story). BUT now that we found out that she is NOT pregnant she will be replaced this spring with our new heifer (Who is due to give birth ANY day now). In other words we're going to take Porky to the butcher =( She's been such an awesome cow that it will be hard. I think I'm more attached to her than any other animal that we've had on our farm. Even more so than our dog that got hit by a car a few years ago!!

So this way we will always remember our very first milk cow. She was very nice to us as we learned how to milk and how to halter train her among other firsts. She is and always be our best milk cow!!!!!!

Congratulations!!!

2011-05-14T11:58:00.001-05:00

Congratulations to Older Brother!!!!!!!!!!!! He is now officially done with his college education!!!!! Now on to find a job.

He majored in Aerospace Engineering. He did 2 years at a community college in his last 2 years of high school. Then he only had to do 3 years at the university. But a total of a 4 year degree.

We miss him VERY much up here at the farm but know that he is where God wants him to be. He is very gifted in Engineering and he LOVES air planes so he's right where he should be.

Congratulations Older Brother!!!! We are very proud of you!

Vacation

2011-05-09T11:12:00.000-05:00

We had a great time on our vacation. We went to the Baker Creek Planting Festival in Missouri! We also went to the Laura Ingalls Wilder museum. I had fun with that. I LOVE Laura Ingalls and I've read all her books at least 10 times each. Probably more times than that.

We stayed with Mom's friends. They had a wonderful guest house and we had a great time visiting with them. I LOVED to sit on their porch and watch all the humming birds - The bird were everywhere! It was really cool.

And here's some pictures of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum.

I got a picture of Laura's Butter Churn!!!!!!

This is me in front of the house that Laura's Daughter { Rose } built for Laura and Almanzo. But Laura didn't like the house so they moved back to the farm house. (pictured below)

The chimney that Almanzo built. Still standing tall and strait.

New Ipod!!!!

2011-05-05T16:11:00.001-05:00

I got an early Graduation gift!!! Dad and Mom bought me a new Ipod Touch. It's an awesome "toy"!!! I LOVE it. I got it because my old ipod died and my brother tried to fix it but couldn't. And I got it early because we were going on vacation. We're back now and it worked perfectly on our vacation.

I thought I would do a tutorial on something that helps people who have Internet on their phones and on ipods. It makes it much easier to navigate your blog. But someone already did! I'm not going to type it all out again if someone else did it. So go HERE and help all of us that use the Internet on our little screens.

More about our vacation later.

Starting

2011-04-22T08:00:00.001-05:00

I'm starting the next issue of my e-zine finally. Life got busy for a while. If you have something that you would like to contribute please do so. I welcome (almost) all submissions. Visit Maiden's At Home for more information.

I will publish this issue when I get enough submissions to fill it's pages.

Lazy Susan Cleaning

2011-04-21T09:46:00.000-05:00

How do you clean your Lazy Susan? I helped Mom clean ours yesterday and we figured out a very easy way to do so. Check it out:

Freedom Acres Farm: Spring Cleaning: "Along with Spring and getting a new mixer comes cleaning out things like the pantry and the lazy susan cupboard. All 3 of the adults that li..."

How do you clean yours?

Now on Facebook

2011-04-20T10:30:00.001-05:00

Okay - So I made a facebook page for my blog a while ago. I only have 4 followers. One of which is my dear Aunt. I then remembered that I never told all of my readers that I had created it!!!! So it's my fault. I'll take the blame. NOW I can't blame myself. If you want updates on your facebook then click on the gadget below!

Oriental Chicken

2011-04-16T08:15:00.000-05:00

2 T. Butter
2 T. Flour
1 Cup Chicken Broth
1 Cup Water (I combine these and just use 2 cups broth)
1 T. Soy Sauce
1/2 t. Garlic Powder
2 Cups Cooked Chicken
1/8 t. pepper
Chow Mein noodles

Melt butter in medium saucepan over low heat. Add flour and continue to stir until bubbly. Add broth slowly. Add soy sauce, garlic powder, chicken, and pepper. Simmer for 5 min.

Serve over rice, chow mein noodles or both!!!!

Back in Time

2011-04-11T17:08:00.003-05:00

The Littles and I traveled back in time today. We went to the Pioneer era. We were being held up in our fort out on the prairie! Surrounded by fierce Indians!!!!

Here are some pictures of our adventure.

Our guns sticking out the windows of our fort.

What's the password?

Is there anyone coming to help us?

Defend the Fort!!!!!

I GOT ONE!!!!!

I ended up getting shot =) The littles then had to nurse me back to health.

Award

2011-04-07T20:25:00.001-05:00

~Thank the person who gave you the award

~Tell seven things about yourself

~Award other bloggers whose blogs who inspire you!

~Contact the other bloggers, and let them know that they have received the award!

Thank you Kelsie-Anne! I feel honored to be awarded.

1. I would LOVE to live/work on a ranch someday.
2. Living out in the country on a homestead is so peaceful and I LOVE it.
3. I use to raise and sell Mini Rex rabbits but do not any more as I couldn't sell them very well (Everyone else sells them as well)
4. It's been a very long winter here in Minnesota and I'm ready to get my hands dirty in the garden as well as a great tan =)
5. I almost never leave the house without my cowgirl boots on. Unless I throw on my Flip-Flops.
6. My house is run off of Solar Power. We're not conected to the grid in ANY way.
7. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my Lord and Savior and can't wait till meet him face to face.

I would like to award:
Esther, Rebekah, and Brooke

Waiting? Or not?

2011-04-01T11:07:00.000-05:00

Miss Johanna at An Old Fashioned Girl wrote a beautiful story about waiting on God for your Prince Charming. A must read for all Stay-At-Home-Daughters. She has given me permission to re-post her story here on my blog.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Falling in Love {part one}....

The music had begun. The Dance was starting. And I lacked a partner.

Everywhere I looked, I saw giggling girls being swept away in the arms of handsome young men. Each looked like they were having so much fun. They looked like they were enjoying themselves. I heaved a lonely sigh.

My thoughts turned to a conversation that had taken place yesterday, while walking in the garden with one of my dearest friends -- "I am SO excited for tomorrow night, the dance! *sigh* Who do you plan on dancing with.... anyone in mind?" Lillian smirked as she said those last words. I turned to her, and said softly "Lillian, I actually don't... I mean.... well, no, I don't have anyone in mind. You know I have been saving my heart for my Prince, I am trying hard not to dwell on thoughts of young men, as I want to keep my heart pure." She looked at me, "So, you are just going to wait?" I nodded, "Yes, just wait."

The thoughts of yesterdays conversation were hard to think upon at the moment.... thus, I decided to turn my thoughts away from that scene, and resumed my survey of the ball room. As I looked around, I noticed a young man, also standing without a partner. As I looked into His face, I was startled, for I saw not only was He too, gazing upon me, but was at that moment, making His way through the crowd, towards me! I felt my heart start to race -- within seconds He was at my side. He reached out His hand, and asked in a kind whisper, "Would you accept Me for this dance?" I looked up, again, into His face, I placed my hand in His; gently, He took it, and led me to the dancing floor.

As we began to dance, once more, our eyes met, the music seemed to fade into the background -- along with everything, and everyone else. It was just me.... and Him. The One Who was now holding me, guiding me, looking down upon me. Every moment that passed, our gaze became more unbreakable. With every step we took together, I found that I was falling deeply in love with Him.

His eyes were so kind, so humble, so caring. He was so different from any of the other young man whom I had ever met.

But, as we continued dancing together, I began to understand why. I began to realize Who this young man was -- whom I had fallen so deeply in love with.

It was my Redeemer. My heavenly Prince. My Savior -- Jesus.

Tears began streaming down my cheeks, as I realized just how much He loved me too..... He had taken my hand, and led the way -- when I didn't even know His name. He saw that I was lonely, and needed Him. But, as I put my hands into His, and let Him guide me, my loneliness was shattered, I had found what my feminine desires had been longing for -- True Love.

He lifted His hand to my cheek, and gently wiped away the tears, and whispered "May I claim first place in your heart?"

Without pausing, I said "Yes."

"Will you trust me with it, until I say it is time to give it away?"

"Yes." -- I had faith that He would someday let the perfect young man cut in..... and even if that day never came, I didn't care. I was too in love with Jesus to care now. But I knew for sure that I wouldn't spend one more day just waiting, rather, I would use them to fall more in love with my Heavenly Father; So that one day, if a young man wishes to know me -- he will have to seek Jesus, in order to find Me.

*************

"A woman's heart should be so lost in God
that a man needs to seek Him in order to find her."
-- Author Unknown

*************

Mable Update

2011-03-28T15:42:00.000-05:00

Over the weekend we left Mable by herself in the barn so the other cows wouldn't bother her. Yesterday, after church, Dad {with his assistant ~ Me} took the cotton out of her holes. She had a bit of bleeding up at the top but that dried over night so Mom let her out of the barn and the other cows have been leaving her alone . . . . so far! She's still moving slow but if I were her I would be as well =) We can tell she's still not herself. With warmer weather on the way I hope she's feeling better by the end of the week.

The Winner's are....

2011-03-26T09:28:00.002-05:00

I had such fun doing this giveaway and can't wait to start designing for the winners. So without any more delays....

Congratulations To:
#2 Brooke {Prize package 1}
#6 Lilac Bud Girl {Prize package 2}!

I will be contacting both of you with instructions.

Poor Mable!

2011-03-25T16:05:00.004-05:00

We had a vet out this morning to get rid of Mable's horns. Dad had decided to band them but the vet said that she would be in a bit of pain off and on for 3 weeks while they fell off. So Mom called Dad and they talked it over a bit and decided to cut them off. The vet said she would have some pain today but then it would be over. Mom and I had her in the stall and at first she was on her front knees but we still had her tied up around her head. Then she fell over on her side in the middle of the second one.

We will never do that again. We will ALWAYS put the paste on them. Poor Mable. We've had to keep her away from the other cows because they kept wanting to clean her up.

She has "cotton" stuffed into the holes.

It's nasty. If you ever have cows DON'T LET THEM GROW HORNS!

This isn't a very good picture of Mable. She's young in this picture and you can't really see her horns.

Wedding Ideas!!!

2011-03-22T15:36:00.005-05:00

Oldest Brother is getting married in 2012!!!! It's been exciting to see what he and his Fiance are picking out for their wedding.

As they're planning their wedding it's fun to go look around at the online wedding sites and see what you like. I've been doing that! I'm going to plan my whole wedding sitting at my computer right now!!! But I do understand that I have to wait on God's timing to actually have the wedding. It's obvious that He doesn't want me married yet as He has not provided a husband yet. As I wait though it's fun to look at wedding things.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Graduation

2011-03-17T14:49:00.001-05:00

I'm in my last year of home education even though I'm not doing much academics this last year. We've set my open house for mid June. I wanted to share with you my invites that I designed! As well as some of my better grad pictures.

In order to keep my privacy I've distorted my name, the date of my open house, and my address. Just to let you know what's suppose to go in the swirls.

Yes I used the same elements that I used for my blog. I just like them so much.

Sick

2011-03-16T14:03:00.000-05:00

Everyone in the house is sick except me. I pray it stays that way =) They've been so sick since Saturday. We've been pumping in all the natural stuff we can find. Herbal teas, tinctures, elderberry syrup, etc.

I've been drinking Kefir smoothies. Kefir has all the vitamins and good stuff that you need to stay healthy so I hope I can stay ahead of it. I wash my hands so much I think if I washed them again they will get all wrinkly!

P.S. If no one else joins my giveaway soon I'm going to close it down and just give the 2 people that did enter the prizes. No use making them wait. =)

200th Post! & Giveaway

2011-03-13T19:38:00.001-05:00

This is my 200th post!!!! It's hard to believe I've posted that many posts but I did. So in honor of my 200th post - I'm having a giveaway! The prize will be very similar to my last giveaway but I'll be doing it myself this time. There will be two winners this time and both will receive the same (yet a little different) prize - a blog make-over.

The first place winner will receive: a background, a header (with your own photo's (if you want), and a grab button. If you want some of the fancier things that I have on my blog (like the images behind the titles and the accordion menu bar) you will also get those.

The second place winner will receive: a background, a header, and a grab button. No fancies because that will take longer to design. And I don't want to take value away from the first place prize.

You can look at some of my designing work HERE.

This giveaway will end March 25th (2 weeks). The winners will be announced the 26th, if all goes well.

How to enter (total of 4 entries):
Please make a separate comment for EACH entry. If you don't make an entry you don't get counted.

So if you don't tell me you follow me you won't get that entry.

1. Tell me you would like to be entered
2. Follow me
3. Place my blog button on your sidebar

4. Post about my giveaway on your blog, twitter, or facebook and leave me the link

Cheese Making

2011-03-12T17:57:00.001-06:00

We own a cow. Well, actually 3 cows (we only milk one right now). So we almost always have milk coming out our ears. What do we do with all this milk? A lot of it gets made into cheese.

I thought my mom had all the recipes for all the cheese we make on her blog but she doesn't. The only one she has is Mozzarella.

She has the book that we use in all of her cheese posts and I would also recommend that you buy it if you really want to get into cheese making.
Traditional Cheddar Cheese
Farmhouse Cheddar

Sorry I couldn't tell you how we do it! Maybe in the future I'll get around to posting how we do it.

Sorry

2011-03-10T19:08:00.000-06:00

I'm very sorry about not posting very often right now. There's not much to post about right now though.

I'm sewing a plaid flannel button up shirt with western yokes. I'm using Kwik Sew 3799. It's turning out great so far! I still have quite a bit to do though. I have the western yokes in and the collar almost done. I'm taking pictures of the whole process and not just the finished item so I will be posting a lot of pictures when I'm done.

We're going to be out of milk soon. We'll have to dry Porkchop {our mama cow} off mid April. But won't be without milk long. Mabel {our heifer} is due to freshen the end of May. And then Porkchop will calve early June. But it will hard on all of us to be without our fresh raw milk, cheese, and such for even a week.

I'm almost to my 200th post. I was wondering if you all would want me to do some sort of giveaway for that. If you do what would you want to win? I could custom make a blogger background, header, and button for you. Would you want to win that? Please comment and tell me.

I guess I should go do something so I can blog about it. =)

Warm

2011-03-09T14:21:00.000-06:00

Yesterday morning I went out to the barn to take care of my rabbits and this is what I saw.

Our poor Dakota. The cats are always taking advantage of her. She lets them do it to her though. If I was her I would have snapped at the cats by now. Put those cats in their place. LOL Looks warm I must say.

Allergies

2011-03-05T10:58:00.000-06:00

I'm the most "healthy" in my family. I don't wear contacts or glasses (everyone else in my family does except the littles). Dad, Older Brother, and Oldest Brother all have some sort of allergies. Either from golden rod or pollen or something else. Up until about 2 weeks ago I didn't have allergies. BUT we've found something that I'm allergic to. And it's the weirdest thing to be allergic to. I'm allergic to soap. Yes I just said SOAP!!!!

It all started about 2 years ago. We thought I had ring worm on my hand. Kinda gross I know but........ So in order to get rid of the fungus Mom said that I didn't have to do dishes (Yeah!) in order to dry the fungus out. So for about 6 months or so I didn't do ANY dishes unless I had to. And what we thought was ring worm did go away. At the end of those 6 months we switched to a dish soap (unintentionally) that was biodegradable, earth friendly, and had no chemicals. My hands were just fine for the next 6 months or so and then we bought some regular dish soap again at the grocery store. My hands flared up again. They were dry, swollen, red, itchy, and burning. It was not fun. I was out in the barn yard one day and my hands were hurting again and it came to me that we switched dish soap! I told Mom and we bought the "nice" stuff again. My hands got a whole lot better and stayed that way until about a week ago.

I had to go to the restroom at a store last Sunday (I try not to go in the public bathrooms because they are always nasty so I try to hold it until we get home but I couldn't wait last Sunday) and, naturally, I washed my hands after wards. My hands again got dry, swollen, red, itchy, and burning that afternoon. My hands are just NOW back to normal. A week later. I've never had problems any where else on my body because for more than 6 years we've made our own homemade bar soap (Recipe Here) that doesn't have all the nasty chemicals. So something in "store bought/public" soap is not good for me. All we can figure is that I'm allergic to something in the soap.

So "Miss Healthy" is allergic to something that everyone uses every day. Weird.

Backgrounds

2011-03-03T13:06:00.000-06:00

I'm happy to say that I've got quite a few new blogger backgrounds on my designing blog: Designs by Farm Girl

If you don't see something that you like . . . . there are more backgrounds on other blogs that I would recommend. They are listed in the Resource section.

Really Good Articles

2011-03-02T19:56:00.000-06:00

These are REALLY good articles. I wanted to share them with you. All of us SAHD's need this encouragement either now or will later. They are all by: Jasmine Baucham, who wrote Joyfully at Home. Great book, I would recommend this book to ALL SAHD's.

Home Girl

Accomplished Women

Advice for the newly joyfully at home

Aggressive Rooster?

2011-02-28T15:00:00.001-06:00

As you all probably know, I live on a farm. We currently have 4 roosters, 3 too many.... Dad's suppose to be dealing with them but it's been either too cold or we've had things going on the weekends. So in the mean time all 4 roosters have been having cock fights. That's fine and dandy when they do it with each other but then they started attacking me. I just so happened upon Homestead Revival on the Monday she started her Homestead Barn Hop. The first entry was on aggressive roosters. So if you live on a farm with aggressive roosters I would highly recommend this article at Healthy Homesteading. I have not had a rooster attack me since that day so I have not gotten the chance to try her methods out. But I have been treating the roosters just like a hen (like this article suggests) and they seem to know that I'm dominate over them and haven't had any problems . . . . . . . yet.

Laundry

2011-02-23T16:23:00.000-06:00

Have you ever thought about how you do laundry. Not the washing or drying part but the folding. What's the most efficient way to fold your laundry so you're not wasting time or energy? I thought I'd show ya today how I do it. And you made it fun for me today!! Today I had to fold everything from towels to pants.

First I fold the pants and shirts.

Then I do the towels . . . . .

. . . . . . and underwear. As I fold these I put all the socks into the empty . . . . .

. . . . . . basket that I emptied when I folded the shirts and pants.

Then I fold the socks.

This way I fold the bigger things that I have to lay on the table first then all the little things (e.g. towels, socks, underwear...) aren't in my way to do so. So how do you fold your laundry. Or haven't you every really though about it? This might seem like a really random post but it will get you thinking about how to do things more efficiently! Even folding the laundry can be efficient. And when your house is run off of solar power (like mine) you tend to think more about being efficient.

SNOW!

2011-02-22T13:31:00.000-06:00

Sunday night and ALL day Monday we got over 18 inches of snow! And after most of it had melted!!!!! Here's some pictures of just how much we got. Some of the pictures are kind of hard to see but you can click on them to make them bigger.

Some how this picture got rotated the wrong way =) This is a picture showing you that the snow really did melt! Our silly dog taking a nap after a long night protecting our farm.

In this picture it shows how deep the snow is next to our garbage can.

Out at the road. there by the pine tree it isn't to bad but that's because it was blowing around so much.

Drifts in front of our Van and Barn.

This one is kind of hard to explain. There was a HUGE drift in front of the rabbit cages. It went above my hips and I'm 5' 4"!!

Ooops. This picture got turned as well. Sorry! It's a path down to the chicken coop so the chickens could get to the barn.

Herb Facts: Peppermint

2011-02-20T09:30:00.003-06:00

I do not intend to replace any medical health practitioner. For serious medical conditions I encourage you to seek consultation from your physician.

Common Names
Peppermint , Yerba Buena
Botanical Name
Mentha piperita
Family
LAMIACEAE or LABIATAE Mint Family

Common Uses:Aches & Pains * Allergies/hay Fever * Anxiety/Panic * Aromatherapy * Bronchitis * Chronic Fatigue * Colds * Congestion/Chest & Sinus * Cough * Culinary * Deodorants/Perfumes * Heart Tonics/Cordials * IBS * IBS * Influenza * Insect Repellent * Migraine Headache * Nausea * Neuralgia * Sinusitis *

Properties: Antispasmodic* Astringent* Carminative* Cephalic* Cardic tonic Cordial* Emmenagogue* Expectorant* Hepatic* Nervine* Stimulant* Diaphoretic* Skin tonic* Vasoconstrictor* Vermifuge* Analgesic* Refrigerant* Adaptogens* Insect repellents* Breath* Febrifuge* Antifungal* Aromatic* Anodyne*

Parts Used:whole herb

Constituents:volatile oils (composed mainly of menthol, menthone, and menthylacetate, with smaller amounts of menthofuran, limonene, pulegone, cineole, bisabolene, isomenthol, neomenthol), flavonoids, phytol, tocopherols, carotenoids, betaine, choline, azulenes, rosma

Rabbit Update

2011-02-19T10:27:00.000-06:00

I've decided to update you on how my fiber/spinning/new rabbit is going!!! I'm happy to report that "Mittens" has settled quite nicely onto our farm. And is getting along quite nice with the other rabbits. Although the other rabbits are a bit jealous because Mittens gets brought inside every other day to be brushed while they have to stay outside =)

Hotshot

Dot

Rainbow (I didn't named him but the Children named him)

Mittens (The newest)

Here is how much fuzz I've gotten off of him so far. I'll get a lot more when he molts again and then I'll have fuzz coming out my ears! He had molted just before I got him so it will be a while before he molts again. It's not quite as much as I should have because I've played with some of it already. So this is from 3 weeks of brushing every other day.

It's such a pretty color already that I don't think I'm going to dye it! And I think I already know what I'm going to make when I get enough fuzz to make yarn. I want to make a pair of wool socks!!! They might be for me or I might make them for Mom. I haven't decided yet =)

Word Study on Content

2011-02-18T10:00:00.001-06:00

The 1828 Dictionary was used for all definitions.

CONTENT, n.
1. Rest or quietness of the mind in the present condition; satisfaction which holds the mind in peace, restraining complaint, opposition, or further desire, and often implying a moderate degree of happiness.

REST, v.i.
1. To cease from action or motion of any kind; to stop; a word applicable to any body or being, and to any kind of motion.
Matthew 11:28 - “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

QUI'ETNESS, n.
1. A state of rest; stillness.
2. Calm; tranquility; as the quietness of the ocean or atmosphere.
3. Freedom from agitation or emotion; calmness; coolness; as the quietness of the mind.
4. Freedom from disturbance, disorder or commotion; peace; tranquility; as the quietness of a city or state.
Isaiah 32:17 - The fruit of that righteousness will be peace; its effect will be quietness and confidence forever.

PEACE, n. [L. pax, paco, to appease.]
1. In a general sense, a state of quiet or tranquillity; freedom from disturbance or agitation; applicable to society, to individuals, or to the temper of the mind.
2 Thessalonians 3:16 - Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.

COMPLAINT, n.
1. Expression of grief, regret, pain, censure, or resentment; lamentation; murmuring; a finding fault.
Psalm 142:2 - I pour out before him my complaint; before him I tell my trouble.

OPPOSI'TION, n. [L. oppositio.]
1. Situation so as to front something else; a standing over against; as the opposition of two mountains or buildings.
Hebrews 12:3 - Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

HAP'PINESS, n. [from happy.] The agreeable sensations which spring from the enjoyment of good;

Funny "Littles"

2011-02-17T10:00:00.003-06:00

Oh how much fun I have with the "littles" Now on to explain this picture. Mom and Dad went to an auction this past Saturday and brought home lots of pots, pans, and bowls for the kitchen. Well Mr. Adorable decided to put this on his head!!!! We call it his World War 2 helmet!!!! Doesn't he look like a soldier in the war? It's made out of copper and will be used this summer when I have to shell peas into it.

Year 12 ~ Term 3

2011-02-16T10:00:00.006-06:00

This is what I've planned for my very last term of my official school years. This will be my 3rd term for my senior year. I will by no means quit learning but this is what I've planned for the last of my high school years. (Mom let me plan it)

Bible: Proverbs 22-31, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, 1 & 2 Peter

Word Studies: Serve, Content, Maiden

Hymn Studies: I am Jesus Little Lamb, Abide with Me, Lift High the Cross

Home Education (Learning about homeschooling):
Seasons of a Mother's Heart by Sally Clarkson,
A Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola

Citizenship:
Ourselves (online book)

Mom/Wife:
The Fruit of her Hands by Nancy Wilson,
Homemaking by J.R. Miller,
Praise Her in the Gates by Nancy Wilson

History:
Sage by Jerry Sage,
Selected to Live by Johanna-Ruth Dobshinre,
A Marine at Khe Sanh by John Corbett

Science: (Just for fun and not required)
The Atomosphere

Literature:
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Sleigh Ride!

2011-02-14T16:26:00.000-06:00

Here's some pictures from our sleigh ride on Sunday. Our Neighbor has a Carriage Club type thing and every winter he has a sleigh ride party. Well we've lived here 6 years almost 7 years and that's the first time we've been on one of his rigs. I'm not sure if the ones we rode were his but we got to ride on two different ones. We rode on the two on the bottom. It was a very fun afternoon and it was a beautiful day for a sleigh ride! 30ish degrees and hardly no wind!

Last Time!

2011-02-12T15:28:00.001-06:00

I think I've changed my blog design for the very last time. I like this one a lot and plan on keeping it a LONG time! Do you like it? I got the elements from Seachell Scrapz! Aren't they beautiful? Can you tell I like my new blog design? LOL

Please Note: There was a picture, showing what you could do with the kit, that was not very nice. I just chose to ignore it. Please also note that that particular picture is not in the kit at all. Thanks!

Guess What!

2011-02-11T16:46:00.002-06:00

I made the other sock!!! Aren't they pretty? They are very slippery as I made them out of acrylic yarn and not sock yarn but I have so much yarn that I decided not to buy sock yarn. I'll get use to the slipperyness or maybe I won't. I've almost wiped out more than once today =)

My Sock!

2011-02-10T14:16:00.000-06:00

I can't believe I finished my SOCK!!!!!!!! Mom says she's heard that sock knitting is very addictive and I would have to agree! I started the other sock but had to stop for dinner and before bedtime routine.

Here's a picture of my finished sock!

Yarn Along

2011-02-09T10:07:00.003-06:00

I'm going to join in today with Ginny! Every Wednesday she does a Yarn Along! Such a great idea.

I'm currently knitting a pair of lime green socks for myself. And I'm reading "Joyfully at Home" by Jasmine Buacham (Yes for the second time!)

Gardening 2011

2011-02-04T13:33:00.004-06:00

Mom and I sat down and looked through a seed catalog yesterday afternoon and then she and Dad ordered them up last night! We bought them through Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.

We got:
Bush Beans,
Lima Beans,
Broccoli,
Carrots (2 different kinds),
Cucumbers,
Lettuce,
Melons,
2 different kinds of Peas,
Hot Peppers,
2 kinds of Sweet Peppers,
Radishes,
Pumpkins (2 kinds),
Tomatoes,
Watermelon,
and Herbs (Dill, Lemon Balm, and Marsh Mallow)

For more information on what exactly we bought visit my Mom's blog.

I'll be out there in the garden weeding LOTS this year. Good thing I'll have my iPod to keep me company! Gotta love technology.

Birthday/Knitting

2011-02-02T13:26:00.008-06:00

Happy Birthday Miss Princess!!! I can't believe that 6 years ago I got the sister that I've been waiting for! I've always wanted a sister (even if she did come a little late *smiles*). She is such a blessing to us and always keeps us laughing.

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I've been knitting up a storm lately. Unfortunately I have NO pictures of what I have been knitting. Sorry!

1. I made 3 kitchen dishcloths for Mom - http://www.knittingknonsense.com/applecloth.html
2. a very cute pink sweater for Miss Princess's 18" doll that she is going to get for her birthday later today when Dad get's home from work. - http://www.abc-knitting-patterns.com/1062.html
3. I finished a voyageurs hat for Oldest Brother.
4. I started a winter hat for Miss Princess.

and I still haven't started the other projects that I wanted to do!!!! I need to prioritize though. Miss Princess needs a hat because the one she has doesn't fit her and Mom needed dishcloths. I don't really know why Oldest Brother got a hat. LOL He didn't really need it!!!! I guess I was just being nice.

I'm so grateful to our friend at church. Last summer she gave me 3 garbage bags FULL of yarn to use. I won't have to buy yarn for a while! I'll only have to buy yarn for special things like dishcloths because I didn't get any 100% cotton stuff. But I'm very grateful for all she's given me. Almost ALL of the yarn in the picture below was given to me by this very special lady at our church.

I've also been downloading scrapbooking Kits to make more backgrounds. So keep checking back for some new backgrounds!

A Godly Daughter

2011-01-30T21:44:00.003-06:00

I'm on a forum and this was posted in January of 2005. It says I can repost it so I'm going to share it with you all. It was encouraging to me and I want it to encourage you.
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A Godly Daughter by Bethany Joy Lindvall

I find it fascinating to dream about the ideal daughter. What does she look like? When I picture her face I see the expression of alertness, cheerfulness, and contentment mixed with meekness and love. Her dress is modest and simple, and she carries herself with gracefulness and politeness. With others she is amiable and thoughtful. She has learned discretion--knowing the right time to do the right thing. But what does she do inwardly that gives her this pleasant outward appearance?

As a priority she humbles herself daily before God, asking Him to continually teach her; to mold her into a part of the glorious bride He desires. She spends time in the Lord's presence, abiding with Him throughout the day while going about her various tasks. The Lord is everything to her; He is her Redeemer, her Master, her Peace, her Strength, and her Rest.

How does she view her parents? Not as if they were her assistants in helping her to somehow be all she can for herself, the society, or even the body of Christ. Rather, she sees herself as God's gift to them, to help them in their work for the Lord. She does everything she knows to please her father, knowing that someday the Lord can use that heart of willingness to faithfully serve her husband. She looks to her mother as a model and teacher in many areas: dress, chastity, servanthood, submissiveness, and practical skills. She hopes to be like her mother someday, should God bless her with a family. She learns about being a keeper at home by helping to keep the home. A godly daughter realizes her parents have so much more wisdom and experience, and she does not try to keep any secrets from them. She opens her heart to them, asking them to pray with her in the areas she struggles with.

To her brothers and sisters she is a pleasant and gentle sister, never using harsh words. She has given all of her "rights" to God and instead of becoming angry or irritated when her younger siblings test her authority she will "speak the truth in love." She submits willingly to her older siblings, making it a joy for them to lead. She prays for all her brothers and sisters daily. A loving sister gives attention to her siblings' interests, and cheerfully spends time with them working, reading, and playing together.

A godly daughter has given her heart to her father, trusting him with her desire to have a husband. She has purposed to save her whole heart for the one man the Lord is preparing her for. She learns to be "shamefaced"--to treat the young men she meets as brothers in the Lord, not as prospects. She learns to guard her emotions, and to give all her hopes for the future to the Lord, knowing He will fulfill any desires He has placed in her heart in His time. She learns to turn all of her love to the Lord, and to feed on His faithfulness.

Although this is my picture of what a "perfect daughter" looks like, I realize none of us can be perfect. Anyone who knows me well at all knows I do not live up to my ideal. But I can rest in the Lord realizing that He will complete the work He has begun in me.

My role is to cultivate this vision and continue to desire to become this godly daughter. I also want to avoid patterns in my life where I may undermine my ability to fulfill this dream. Let's take a look at a few things a young woman might do to work toward being a godly daughter living out this ideal.

Walk With the Lord

First of all, anyone, including young ladies, who want to walk a victorious life must be surrendered to the Lord. Being brought up in a Christian home, I tried to make myself believe I didn't have to make my own commitment to the Lord. I didn't want the experience of humbling myself and confessing sin. Now I really regret I waited so long. Living in a Christian home and implementing godly principles does not make one a child of God. When I was fourteen years old I finally did ask Jesus to be Lord of my life, and what wonderful new life He has given me. I praise Him for His mercy. Since I have become a child of God He has led me on an exciting journey of surrender to His will for my life.

Something that often puts a barrier between me and my walk with the Lord is my pride. I often want to do things my own way without help from other people. I want everyone to know that I am quite capable on my own, when what I really need to do is humble myself and acknowledge that I need assistance. Or sometimes when I see inconsistencies in our family I am driven by the fear of what other people think of us, instead of learning to seek praise from God, and not men. But it is so comforting to know that not only is He faithful to forgive, but He also gives grace for future victory!

The process of surrender is always painful, but the Lord wants to use it in softening my heart, not stiffening it. D. L. Moody had a quote written in his Bible: "Life is a grindstone: whether it grinds you down or polishes you up depends on what you are made of."

One of the most important lessons the Lord has taught me is to continually seek His face. I want to learn to increasingly be with Him where He is. I know that as strange as it may seem, He desires me and longs as much as I do for the day when we will meet face to face. As I realize this, it makes me want to love Him more. I know I have much more growing to do, and I can look forward to it with excitement, wondering what the Lord may teach me next.

Relationship With Family

Something I have recognized in my own life and seen in other girls' lives as well is that sometimes we haven't truly given our hearts to our parents. This is a very serious trap and many other problems arise as a result. We can see this in the daughter who is resistant to her parents' authority. Maybe they are seeing new light in the areas of their children's relationships with their peers and the daughter really wants to serve the Lord but is having a hard time submitting cheerfully. Does she care more about her friends' opinions or the world's perspective than what her parents believe is right? She needs to submit with an open heart, grateful for her parents' protection. She needs to find her identification with them, and think of herself as being on "their side."

Here is an example from my life: Sometimes our family can be... well, less than what I would call organized. There are some days when I would like to just get all my chores done in a systematic way so I can get on with "my project." Usually that project is a worthy investment and a beneficial way to spend "my time". But I have to realize that getting those "worthy projects" done is not my calling. I need to see how I can best help my parents. Many times there are not "outlined chores" for the day but I can certainly see what needs to be done. There are other times when I don't know exactly what jobs are the most important and my mom isn't available to ask. Maybe I just need to wait awhile, take the time to say some encouraging words to a brother, and not be in such a hurry to get the family duties out of the way so I can get on with "my agenda."

I used to try to plan my day. Okay, I'll get up at 6:00 am, spend 45 minutes in reading and prayer, go out and water the garden, and make breakfast. After breakfast and our family devotions are out of the way, I'll do my schoolwork and piano practicing and help with the laundry. After lunch I'll try to get a couple of letters written and then cut out a dress." It never failed something would happen (surprise!) to mess up my schedule. I was trying to redeem the time, but not for the right people. I have found it works so much better for me to just count myself a servant, help where I can, and fit into my parents' agenda. If I have a heart for my parents and realize I am God's gift to them, I can be more free and relaxed, knowing the Lord will bless a willing heart.

How does a godly daughter show her love for her brothers and sisters? For one thing, she realizes "loving" them does not simply mean caring enough about them that she would be sorry if anything happened to them. She must learn to see them as God sees them, and love them as He loves them. Instead of seeing them as a nuisance or interruption, they are the ones God has sovereignly placed in her life to teach her and shape her character. God also has her placed in her siblings' lives for a special reason. Only later will she know how much she influenced her siblings for better or worse. We all need to seek to spend time with our brothers and sisters and pray for them, giving attention to their interests and being available to help them with their projects.

Other Issues

Another thing Satan uses against godly daughters is a desire for a career. One of the most sorrowful things for me to see in godly homeschool families is when the daughters, instead of following their mothers' example and planning to stay at home and raise their own children, go off to college and get a degree so they can have a well-paying job. I know of young ladies who are truly serving the Lord at their job away from home, and I do not want to judge any young lady who is doing this, but it still makes me very sad. It may be appropriate for a girl to take a few courses at a local college to gain understanding in some area that will be helpful to her or her family in the future, if it is under her father's authorization. But I would challenge all of us to take a look at our aspirations and hopes for our life and to compare them to our mothers' goals. Are they the same? If not, why? In Titus 2 Paul told Timothy to have the older women teach the younger women to be "workers at home." Unless we know without a doubt the Lord has spoken to us and told us we are to be somewhere beside our home, we should consider that our call in life.

I know from personal experience that the enemy tries to thwart the Lord's will in our lives in our emotional purity. I am so grateful for a protective father who has laid down his life to protect his daughter's heart emotionally. But I have to do my part too. I have found great victory in being open with my dad, and telling him when I am struggling. I was talking to a younger girl recently who asked me, "When you were my age, did you struggle with keeping your heart pure?" I was able to tell her that as I have grown and had small victories along the way, it has been less difficult so fulfilling.

It is not my place to worry about if, how, and when the Lord will bring me a husband or who it will be. But sometimes I just get curious. Again, don't be afraid to share with your father (and mother) when you are struggling. They can pray for you with understanding, and keep you from situations where you may be under more temptation. Also we must always keep our eyes on Jesus, our real bridegroom. These verses have been very helpful and comforting to me: Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. (Ps.
73:25-26)

Someone said, "The world has yet to see what God can do with a fully surrendered man." Imagine what God could do with a fully surrendered young lady. He won't use them all alike. Some may be called to give up our lives as martyrs, some may never marry and just be a servant to their families and the body of Christ, while others will be given as helpers to godly husbands. You may think my picture of an ideal daughter looks like a bored girl, trodden under the monotonous daily duties. But she is not. She is joyful and happy because she knows she is pleasing the Lord, which is her primary goal. She is not bound by the world's mold that tells her to make herself an individual. She and is freed to work in a "behind the scenes" sort of way, ministering to her family in preparation to serve her husband and become "the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God." (1 Peter 3:4)

[At the time of this writing, Bethany Joy Lindvall was 18 years old. Permission is hereby given for individual non-commercial copying of this article.]

Copyright 1998 Jonathan Lindvall

New Addition

2011-01-22T21:53:00.002-06:00

We have a new addition to our farm. He's a French Angora rabbit. I named him "Mittens" because he's going to make yarn for mittens (among other things). He's about a year old and he's VERY fuzzy. The kids just love him. Mom ordered a drop spindle for me so I could learn to spin but it hasn't come in the mail yet. Isn't he cute?

"Mittens"

Fudge Browines

2011-01-20T08:34:00.005-06:00

1/2 C Butter
1 3/4 C Sugar
2 Eggs
2 t. Vanilla
1 1/3 C Pastry Flour
2/3 C Cocoa Powder
2 t. Baking Powder
Chocolate chips.

In a medium sauce pan melt butter and add sugar. Stir until the sugar dissolves or softens slightly. Remove from heat. (I kept making it in the sauce pan at this point but next time I'm going to dump this into our mixer and keep going.) Add eggs and vanilla and stir. Add remaining ingredients except the chocolate chips. put into a 9 inch baking pan (no need to grease). Sprinkle chocolate chips on top and bake at 350* for 15-20 minutes.

This recipe can be doubled and baked in a 11x15 pan.

The Past 3 Days

2011-01-19T21:01:00.010-06:00

The past three days have been busy!!!! Mom and I, with the help of Dad in the evening when he gets home from work, have been rearranging the WHOLE house!!!!!

I have also managed to redesign my Mom's website! Freedom Acres Farm And I'm in the process of redesigning mine! A friend of mine at my church gave me an older version of Dreamvweaver! And I've been having fun with that!

We've brought all the "littles" up from downstairs and I now have a room to myself. I didn't mind sharing a room with my little sister but Mom wanted the little children upstairs.

So here are some pictures of my "new" room. All clean, tidy, and rearranged! Now to keep it clean :-) (Captions are for the photo above.)

Looking into my room from the door.

This is my rubber stamping station.

This is my knitting corner.

My butterfly chair that I knit in. And my Hop Chest as my night stand.

My bed. Very comfy. Can you tell I like cows?

Dresser..... The coat is usually not there.

Closet .......

and Book shelf. then you turn and get the doorway again.

Thanks for letting me share my "new" room with you!

Photo Contest

2011-01-09T16:51:00.002-06:00

I know that I've posted this picture before on this blog but I would like to enter it in one more photo contest. The next photo contest that comes along, I promise not to use this picture!

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Favorite Fiction Books

2011-01-08T14:45:00.004-06:00

Here is a list of my favorite fiction books. We do own all of them and the "collection" is always being added to. I'm going to be looking out for these books at thrift stores and garage sales to place in my hope chest!

(* = Mom read it out loud at some time or another)

The Boxcar Children #1
by Gertrude Warner

The Call of the Wild
by Jack London

Eight Cousins
by Louisa May Alcott

*A Girl on the Limberlost
by Gene Stratton Porter

The Hay Meadow
by Gary Paulsen

Heidi
by Johanna Spyri

Last Stand at Papago Wells
by Louis L'Amour

Little Men
(sequel to Little Women)
by Louisa May Alcott

*A little Princess
by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Little Women
by Louisa May Alcott

Miracles on Maple Hill
by Virgina Eggertsen Sorensen

The Princess and the Goblin
by George McDonald

The Tanglewoods' Secrets
by Patricia St. John

*Treasures of the Snow
by Particia St. John

The Trumpet of the Swan
by E.B. White

*The Secret Garden
by Frances Hodgson Burnett

*Watership Down
by Richard Adams

The Wheel on the School
by Meindert Dejong

White Fang
by Jack London

Wild Trek
by Jock London

Knitting Projects

2011-01-04T10:43:00.005-06:00

I have some knitting projects that I want to do for my hope chest!

The first is an adorable baby sweater - http://www.berroco.com/exclusives/baby_athos/baby_athos.html

And the second project is a very cute pair of baby pants - http://alison.knitsmiths.us/pattern_baby_bell_bottoms.html

And I just finished another baby hat with the pattern that I shared with you a few days ago. That will also go in my hope chest. It's a very soft, pink yarn. I plan on making more of these in multiple colors. Colors for both girls and boys :-)

The Whole Picture

2010-12-29T17:28:00.003-06:00

I have a habit of trying to see the whole picture when I'm not suppose to. In the past month or two I've been reminded quite frequently that only God can see the whole picture. Some of the reminders have come in the form of a song. Go Fish has a song called "Parade"

Life rolls down the street right in front of me
Marchin' to a rhythm of it's own
Up, down, i feel like i'm livin' on a slide trombone
Watchin' it all with my heart parked in a tow-a-way zone
You never really know what's comin' up next
If you blink it'll pass by you
Right when you think you've seen it all--Surprise!

CHORUS
You see the whole parade
From the beginning to the end
You know the route that my life will take
You know exactly where I've been
'Cuz while I only see what's goin' by in front of me
You see the whole parade.

Left, Right
Look straight ahead everybody in step
Some days I'm a leader of band
Left turn
Should've gone right now here I am
Walkin' behind the horses with a shovel in hand.
Life is fine I'm holdin' the line
On an 80 foot Winnie the Pooh
Then the wind begins to blow--Watcha gonna do?

CHORUS
You see the whole parade
From the beginning to the end
You know the route that my life will take
You know exactly where I've been
I need to look to you
For the choices I will make
'Cuz while I only see what's going' by in front of me
You see the whole parade

Last Sunday our pastor shared a poem that talked about a weaver.

"My Life is but a weaving between my Lord and me,
I cannot choose the colors - He works steadily.

Of-times He weaves sorrow, and I in foolish pride,
Forget that He sees the upper and, the underside.

Not til the loom is silent, and the shuttles cease to fly,
Shall God unroll the canvas, and explain the reason why.

The dark threads are needful, in the skillful Weaver's hand,
As the threads of gold and silver, in the pattern He has planned."

I'm learning to totally trust God about my future. I'm a lot better than I use to be but still have a LONG way to go. I have to remember that God sees the whole picture, God sees the whole parade, and God sees the top and I see the bottom.

Reopened!

2010-12-28T15:21:00.002-06:00

I just wanted to tell my readers that I've reopened my website and will be working on that more so I'll be less active here on my blog. I've redesigned it and change quite a few things!

A Homemaker's Daughter

Hugs,
Hannah

Baby Hat (knit)

2010-12-26T19:49:00.005-06:00

I found this two years ago and when I went back there to look at the pictures again the site was gone!

I want to share the pattern with you but don't want to say it's mine so I will say a thank you to Bonnie Batten. She is the one who wrote the pattern.

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Spiral Preemie Cap
by Bonnie Batten

Hat is worked in the round on Double Pointed Needles (DPN)
Use size 8 DPN

Cast on 56 sts, divide onto 3 DPN's (18, 20, 18).
Rows 1-5:
Work in K2, P2 ribbing around

Rows 6-10:
P1, (K2,P2) around.

Rows 11-15:
(P2, K2) around.

Rows 16-20:
K1, (P2, K2) around.

Rows 21-23:
(K2, P2) around.

Row 24:
(K2 tog, P2 tog) around (28 sts)

rows 25 & 26:
(K1, P1) around.

At end of row 26, cut yarn leaving a long tail. Using a yarn needle, thread the yarn through the remaining stitches. Turn cap inside out pull yarn tight. Tie securely. Weave in all ends.

This cap can easily be made larger by increasing your cast on stitches by multiples of four. Continue spiral pattern around, then start at row 24 to do the decreases.

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The pattern is for a preemie but I've found that it stretches a lot and will fit on a normal baby's head. I use bamboo knitting needles and find that the stitches don't slip as easily as on metal ones. It's a pattern that knits up fast!!! I can knit one up in an hour or two if I don't get any interruptions.

Christmas Card For You

2010-12-23T13:59:00.000-06:00

I went to DaySpring and made an e-card for my readers.

Go HERE and here is the retrieval code: 8117912-0FAE7

Merry Christmas!!!
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Photo Fun

2010-12-22T10:00:00.001-06:00

I'm joining in the photo fun at Pastor's Girls Ponderings!!!!!!

Here is the picture I'm sharing.

This is baby Hank. Born June 3rd, 2010. He makes me so happy! He's so cute as well..... I love cows and baby ones are just so much better!!!!

Ugh!

2010-12-21T15:31:00.002-06:00

Ugh!!!! I feel terrible!!!! The whole family is sick (except for Oldest Brother and Older Brother)! We've had the achies (not a word but I just made it one) and head colds all last week and this week.

My ribs hurt from coughing so much, I can't breath my nose is stuffed up, and my eyes wont stay open. And I'm one of the more healthy ones!!! Mom has it worse!

I'm sorry for the lack of posts lately but we've been busy with Christmas plans/parties, the sickness and farm chores.

The Chickens don't like walking in the snow so most of them have been cooping in the barn instead of the coop. I have to transfer them every night so Dad has a chicken free milking stall to milk in when he gets home from work.

Where Has The Time Gone?

2010-12-20T12:06:00.004-06:00

As I type this it is snowing hard outside my window. We have a winter storm warning out for our county and are expected to get 4 - 8 inches of snow.

I was just wondering where this year has gone. It's already Dec 20th!!!!! I was looking back through my posts for this year and quite a bit has happened here this year.

I did quite a few sewing projects this year.
We got a new computer.
We started on our dairy adventure.
We had a good garden.
A calf was born (Hank).
We raised and butchered 23 meat chickens.
I've got another year of high school done (almost)
We captured and raised a caterpillar.
I started the "Maiden's At Home" Ezine.
Kitten's were born.
Enjoying the slow pace of farm life while working hard.
Among a lot of other little things.

The biggest thing that happened this year I think was the animal births. Part of every farm and my favorite part of farm life!

But the most important thing is yet to come this week.
Celebrating the Birth of my savior.
Merry Christmas everyone!!!!

One Year Older

2010-12-17T11:04:00.006-06:00

Today is my Birthday! I'm turning 18! I've had such a wonderful day already and we might go shopping later.

Oldest Brother (See Sidebar) came up to help Dad go get more wood in our neighbor's woods. Older Brother (See Sidebar) could not make it up today because he has college finals tomorrow and I've missed him :-(

As for gifts I'm glad to be alive today because of all the great gifts I got!!! (I had help opening them!) Mr. Adorable (See Sidebar) wanted to open them!

I got 2 CD's! Ones that I've been trying to save up for but something always comes up and they get pushed down the buy list. One is "Farther Along" by The West Girls and the other is "Growing Up Wild" by Jenny Mahan. I also got a new pair of jeans, a brown "puffer" vest, and a book (The Proverbs 31 Daughter by Amanda Adkins). I actually don't have the book yet as Mom can't find it. Yup! she lost it. It's here somewhere. I'll read it when we find it! LOL And my sweet brother and his girlfriend ordered a LONG jean skirt for me (It's not here yet)! I've wanted one for a long time.

And we're having Venison steaks and baked potatoes for lunch!!! One of my favorite meals.

Note: From now on I will be referring to my family as it is on my Sidebar :-)

1 Life Down

2010-12-12T19:22:00.003-06:00

Our kitty has already used on of it's 9 lives. It ended up spending the night in our garden with 6 foot fences and couldn't get out. It was below zero all night long with even lower wind chills plus 5-7 inches of snow blowing around. Dad went out to tend to the animals this VERY cold morning and down at the chicken coop (which is next to the garden) he could hear a kitty mewing. At first he thought it was in the coop but found it inside the garden.

Dad quickly brought her inside where Mom started to dry it off and get it warm in front of the wood stove but then had to give her to me because my little brother started to puke :-( He's had the stomach bug all day.

Polly (the kitten) stayed inside on my lap for about 2 hours and then Mom said it was time for her to go back outside. Everything was working on her. Her tail, legs, etc. The only thing not right yet was her ears. They were still swollen. She spent the rest of the day snuggling up with Stripe (Mama cat) and Pumpkin (sister kitty). And even Dakota (our dog) was laying next to her to help warm her for a time. Our dog is so funny. She is so sensitive about the other animals and even us people! One time we (the kids and I) were sledding and my little sister (6 years old) hurt herself and started crying. Dakota was there right away trying to help.

Helping

2010-12-06T15:25:00.003-06:00

As my birthday (in about two weeks) approaches I realize that I'm going to be 18!!!! It is definitely time for me to start REALLY helping around the house. I feel like such a sluff. I wander around the house until Mom tells me to do something. Time for that to stop.

Mom and I have come up with a system that will allow me to know what needs to be done for that week (without Mom having to tell me hourly)... we think. We actually haven't started the system yet. But we have an idea... that counts.... doesn't it? LOL

Mom will make a list of what needs to be done for that particular week. Mom had a list with what I should be doing daily but that didn't work. I don't like to be told what to do daily so I asked Mom if we could do it weekly and then I could pick what I want to do on the days that I want. That's how I do my school work and it works great! Mom tells me what I should get done for the week and I can pick when and on what day to do it.

This will hopefully free Mom up to do more important things. Yet it will keep me from feeling like a maid on a schedule. I will definitely tell you if it works!!!!

Spinning Wool?

2010-11-29T13:16:00.004-06:00

My parents and I have been talking about switching my rabbits with different rabbits. The breed that I have now (Mini Rex) is a GREAT breed but they don't do anything for us. That was a rule made when we moved from the city to the country - If we have an animal it has to do something for us or give us something. Cows (Milk and Beef), Chickens (eggs and meat), Dog (predator control), cats (mouse control), and then we have the rabbits. They don't give us anything or provide service for us.

Mom suggested getting a different breed that would give us something. Angoras are just the rabbit. I've spent the past week or so spending time on the computer researching Angora Rabbits.
Picture from Google!

I've also spent time researching how to take care of and spin their wool!

It all looks quite fascinating and I would LOVE to get into it all. Unfortunatly I don't have the funds right now :-) I'll have to baby sit for the neighbors a few more times!

Here are some of the Sites that I have been looking at in depth.
http://www.joyofhandspinning.com/angora.shtml

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONQW7LJ1ufI&feature=channel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BX-d5EmkE50&p=229E242A5739E127

Do you have Angora Rabbits? I'm so excited to be switching and can't wait until I have the finds to do so.

Thanksgiving ABC's

2010-11-25T14:24:00.004-06:00

Most of you will be sitting down to a wonderful dinner of turkey or ham, mashed potatoes (with the gravy), stuffing, cranberry sauce, dinner rolls, pies, and a few other things that I did not mention. Me? I get to have a wonderful dinner of Sloppy Joes..... because my oldest brother could not be here until tomorrow. I will have to wait another day. But I'm going to be thankful that I get a turkey dinner tomorrow with my WHOLE family, not one person missing.

I found this on another blog (Farmgirl Writes) that I follow and thought it was a cute idea.

The ABC's of Thanks.

A. Appetites
B. Brothers (all 4 of them!)
C. Cows! (Porkey, Mable, Hank)
D. Dakota (our dog)
E. Everything I couldn't mention here
F. Family, Friends and Farming
G. Games we can play with our families.
H. Homes
I. Ice and Snow
J. Jesus!!!!
K. Knitting so I can have something to do when Mom doesn't need me.
L. Laughing so we can express our joy.
M. Music to lighten a moment.
N. Nettle (an herb for natural healing)
O. Ovaries, I know that I'm a Woman and can have babies some day.
P. Parents
Q. Quilts to keep us warm
R. Rabbits (Hotshot, Dot, and Rainbow)
S. Sister (Who I love to share a room with)
T. Trains, so my father can have a job.
U. Unbelievable Mother who is always there for me.
V. Very Loving Father
W. Weather, a hobby of mine :-)
X. Can I skip this letter?
Y. You! I know I'm not the only SAHD out there
Z. Zoo's to see some of God's creation

Joyfully At Home

2010-11-24T15:50:00.003-06:00

A book that I ordered a few weeks ago came last week. It's called "Joyfully At Home" by: Jasmine Bauchman. I've finally finished it (we've had a busy week or two) and I gleaned a lot of encouragement from it. If you're at a point in your "stay-at-home journey" like I was, discouraged and feeling like a failure, then you NEED to get this book!!!! IT'S AWESOME!!!!

And when I get that way again I will be able to read this book again and get back on track. It's not just a one time read. It's a very encouraging book that I think every stay-at-home-daughter should read.

You can purchase this wonderful book at Vision Forum.

Meatloaf!

2010-11-20T13:00:00.004-06:00

Here is my family's favorite meatloaf recipe.

2 lbs ground beef (or Venison! My family uses 1 lbs beef and 1 lbs venison)
1 pkg lipton onion soup mix
1 egg
2/3 cup seasoned bread crumbs
milk (add enough to mix it well)
Mix well add salt and pepper, put in a loaf pan and add BBQ sauce on top. Bake at 350 for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Check and if it's still pink bake for another 15 minutes.

I'm sorry I don't have a picture of this one.

Skirt

2010-11-15T11:47:00.004-06:00

This will be a very weird photo, just to warn you.

My mother wanted to take a picture of her unusual daughter and her choice of clothing for that day. It's a skirt that I made and I paired it with a coral/pink button up 3/4 sleeve shirt, and my farm girl baseball cap. It looked really well with out my teni's, carhartt jacket, and bomber hat.

I wanted to show you the skirt. I made it from Butterick 5330 and it turned out great!!!! I LOVE IT!!!! I'm going to wear it with a brown sweater and my cowgirl boots for Christmas! I'll try to get a picture of that so I can show you how pretty it is.

Only a farm girl would let her mother take a picture of this!!!!

Recent Happenings

2010-11-13T10:31:00.010-06:00

Mr. Adorable was outside with Dad last evening and he told Dad "Look, God painted the sky". We started that with Mr. Thinker. I love the saying. God painted the sky. He is a fantastic artist!
I thought I would share with you some pictures of our Buff Orpingtons.
The top picture is of one of our 4 roosters. Below is one of our 19 hens.

And now our silly dog, Dakota. She is a Great Pyrenees/Border Collie mix and she will just walk out to the middle of the yard, flop down and sleep. It's quite funny!!! She stays up almost all night keeping our farm safe from predators and then sleeps during the day.
Our forecast for today is:
Today - Snow. The snow could be heavy at times. High near 35. Breezy, with a north northeast wind between 18 and 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total daytime snow accumulation of 6 to 10 inches possible.

Tonight- Snow. Low around 30. North northwest wind between 14 and 18 mph, with gusts as high as 29 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.

My Mom took this photo this morning at about 9 o'clock. There's even more snow now at 11 o'clock.
I love living in Minnesota. We have a picture similar to this one hanging in our living room. I just love it!!!!

Word Study on Joy

2010-11-11T22:31:00.003-06:00

The 1828 Dictionary was used for all definitions.

JOY, v.i. To rejoice; to be glad; to exult.
I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. 3 John 4 NKJV

REJOICE, v.t. rejois'. To make joyful; to gladden; to animate with lively pleasurable sensations; to exhilarate.
Rejoice in the Lord always. again I will say rejoice. Philippians 4:44 NKJV

GLAD, v.t. [The pret. and pp. gladed is not used. See Gladden.]To make glad; to affect with pleasure; to cheer; to gladden; to exhilarate.
Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will rest in hope. Psalm 16:9 NKJV

EXULT', v.i. egzult'. [L. exulto; ex and salto, salio, to leap.]Properly, to leap for joy; hence, to rejoice in triumph; to rejoice exceedingly, at success or victory; to be glad above measure; to triumph.
They rejoice in your name all day long; they exult in your righteousness. Psalm 89:16 NIV

Vicarious Punishment

2010-11-07T10:44:00.003-06:00

VICARIOUS PUNISHMENT

This is the term applied to such punishment as that which Christ bore when he suffered on the cross, the just for the unjust. You do not quite know what it means, do you? I think I hear you say, "Oh, we do not want to know what such long words mean."

But stop a moment, I have a story to tell.

It was a warm summer afternoon; a lazy breeze stole through the windows of a little district schoolhouse, lifting the curtains, and rustling the leaves of the copy-books that lay open on all the desks.

Thirty or forty scholars of all ages were bending over their writing, quiet and busy; the voice of the master, as he passed about among the writers, was the only sound.

Perhaps you might not have thought it possible, but I assure you, that this hot little schoolroom has its heroes and heroines as certainly as many another place which might have seemed far more pretending.

The bell rang for the writing to be laid by; and now came the last exercise of the day, the spelling, in which nearly all the school joined. At the head of the class was a delicate little girl, whose bright eyes and attentive air showed that she prized her place, and meant to keep it.

Presently a word which had passed all the lower end of the class, came to Eunice. The word was privilege. "P-r-i-v, priv—i, privi—l-e-g-e, lege, privilege," spelt Eunice. But the teacher, vexed with the mistakes of the other end of the class, misunderstood and passed it. The little girl looked amazed, the bright color came into her cheeks, and she listened eagerly to the next person, who spelt it again as she had done.

"Right," said the teacher; "take your place."

"I spelt it so," whispered Eunice partly to herself; the tears springing to her eyes as she passed down. But too timid to speak to the master, she remained in her place, determining soon to get up again. But her trials were not yet over.

Many expedients had been tried in the school to keep out that arch-enemy of all teachers—whispering. At length the following plan was adopted:—

The first whisperer was stood upon the floor in front of the teacher's desk. Here he acted as a monitor; as soon as he detected another whispering, he took his seat, and the next offender kept a sharp lookout to find some one to take his place; for, at the close of school, the scholar who had the whisperer's place was punished very severely.

This plan appeared to operate very well; every one dreaded to be found last on the floor; but, though it secured an orderly school, many of the parents and scholars doubted its justice.

The boy who was on the floor when Eunice lost her place, was an unruly, surly fellow, who had often before smarted for his faults; and as school drew near its close, he began to tremble. The instant Eunice's whispered complaint reached his ear, his face brightened up; he was safe now. And when the class was dismissed, he said, "Eunice whispered, sir."

Eunice rose, and in a trembling voice related what she had said; but the teacher saw no excuse in it, and she was called to take the place of the ungenerous boy who had told of her.

The books were put away, and the waiting school looked on in sorrow as Eunice left her seat to take the dreaded punishment. She was one of the best scholars; bright, faithful, sweet-tempered, and a general favorite.

Every one felt that it was unjust; and many angry glances were cast at the boy who was mean enough to get a little girl whipped. Overcome with shame and fear, she stood by the side of the desk crying bitterly, while the teacher was preparing to inflict the punishment.

At this moment a tall boy stepped out of his seat, and going to the desk, said:—

"Are you going to whip Eunice, sir?"

"Yes; I never break my rules!" the teacher answered.

"We will not see her whipped!" said the boy in an excited voice; "there is not a boy here but that one, who would see her whipped! Whip me, sir, and keep your rule, if you must, but don't touch this little girl!"

The master paused; the school looked on tearfully.

"Do you mean to say you will take her punishment?" asked the teacher.

"I do sir," was the bold reply.

The sobbing little girl was sent to her seat, and without flinching, her friend stood and received the punishment that was to have fallen upon her. The school was dismissed, and the boys paid him in admiration and praise for all he had suffered.

This was vicarious punishment,—one suffering from his own free will the punishment that was to have been borne by another.

You see, do you not, that this is just what He did who bore our sins in His own body upon the tree—the Saviour of men? What He suffered we cannot know in this life; but God laid on Him the iniquity of us all; and this He willingly bore to save us from death. With His stripes we are healed. How great the gratitude each of us owes such a Friend.

"Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all."

From A King's Daughter

Go, Go, Go

2010-11-04T19:54:00.002-05:00

Why is it that everyone these days wants to go, go, go? I would be happy to stay here on our farm all week and never go anywhere, except to church on Sundays. There is a very peaceful thing about just staying home and enjoying your family. Some of our neighbors, even out here in the country, just go, go, go and I can't seem to figure out why they would ever want to.

Busy is another idea I can't figure out. Don't get me wrong, we're busy here on our farm but it's a different busy. Family's now-a-days are running here and there dropping members off at different activities and they are busy all the time.

Things seem different here. Yes we are busy, yet we are all busy together doing the same thing. We enjoy each other's company and having an afternoon without someone is like missing that important ingredient in a recipe.

We are all busy getting the farm ready for winter right now. I can't wait for the snow to come so we can all go out and play/shovel together. In the spring we get the garden ready and fall is time for harvesting.

Living on a farm is definitely a family affair. I think our family is so successful because we all work together. We could not do the things we do without each other's help. I'm sorry to say that I don't always pull my own weight around here but it's something I'm working on.This blog is helping me see what is important to me and then (with God's help) change and improve.

I'm happy I live on a farm. Are you happy where you live?

Seeking Help

2010-11-01T10:50:00.003-05:00

I'm seeking help. I need some more submissions for my next issue of my e-zine.

Please feel free to submit anything you feel would benefit our readers.

Submission Ideas: Photo's (animals, nature, fashion), Recipes (with a picture of finished food), Crafts (tips, tricks, patterns,), Reviews (books, movies, patterns, songs, etc.), favorite bible verses, Articles (about almost anything) . . . and the list goes on.

I will always put a link to your blog or website in the e-zine under your submission.

If you do have something you would like to submit please do so at farmgirl@genesiswireless.us

Thanks for your help!

The Winner!

2010-10-30T13:40:00.002-05:00

I just spent 10 minuets writing your names on paper and had my Mom draw a name.

Drum roll please,

The Winner is........

Rebekah!

I will be e-mailing you with further instructions in a bit.
Congratulations!!!!!

Giveaway

2010-10-29T09:00:00.000-05:00

My giveaway ends tonight at 12:59. If you would like to be entered please visit my giveaway post.

http://ahomemakersdaughter.blogspot.com/2010/10/my-harvest-giveaway.html

Book Review: The Kings Daughter

2010-10-28T10:00:00.001-05:00

The Kings Daughter and Other Stories for Girls by J.E. White is a very useful character building book. I have read and reread many of the stories. With over 40 stories to choose from there is a story for almost every character trait.

My personal favorite is called Telling Mother (found below). You can find the entire book online for free HERE. Since it was written in 1910 the book is now in the public domain.

TELLING MOTHER

A group of young girls stood about the door of the schoolroom one afternoon, whispering together, when a little girl joined them, and asked what they were doing.

"I am telling the girls a secret, Kate, and we will let you know, if you will promise not to tell any one as long as you live," was the reply.

"I won't tell any one but my mother," replied Kate. "I tell her everything, for she is my best friend."

"No, not even your mother, no one in the world."

"Well, then I can't hear it; for what I can't tell mother, is not fit for me to know."

After speaking these words, Kate walked away slowly, and perhaps sadly, yet with a quiet conscience, while her companions went on with their secret conversation.

I am sure that if Kate continued to act on that principle, she became a virtuous, useful woman. No child of a Christian mother will be likely to take a sinful course, if Kate's reply is taken for a rule of conduct.

As soon as a boy listens to conversations at school or on the playground, which he would fear or blush to repeat to his mother, he is in the way of temptation, and no one can tell where he will stop. Many a man dying in disgrace, in prison, or on the scaffold, has looked back with bitter remorse to the time when he first listened to a sinful companion who came between him and a pious mother.

Girls, if you would be respected and honored in this life and form characters for heaven, make Kate's reply your rule:—

"What I cannot tell my mother is unfit for me to know." No other person can have as great an interest in your welfare and prosperity as a true, Christian mother.

Every girl should always remember that a Christian mother is her best earthly friend, from whom no secret should be kept.

What is a SAHD?

2010-10-27T16:34:00.003-05:00

Stay at home daughter, what exactly is that? Well, what is a stay at home wife/mom? She is one who cares for the physical and mental parts of the home. I would say a SAHD is that, only in training.

She cares for the physical home by keeping it clean, doing the laundry, dishes, and making meals. She makes sure it is somewhat organized and the house is set up in a practical way. This does NOT mean that it has to be clean enough for the president, or for Martha Stewart. We must remember that the houses we live in is just that, LIVED IN! Not just set up for a magazine photo shoot.

She also cares for the mental home. When I think of the mental home I think of the people in the home. Is someone in an unusual happy mood or in a crabby mood? Maybe they just need a hug, a little story time, a note in a lunch box, or a big long e-mail. Whatever the mood the other person is in, you can be the one to make it better or make it worse.

Goats or Sheep? What are you?

2010-10-25T16:41:00.003-05:00

I was reading in “The Power of Motherhood” by Nancy Campbell and came across a very interesting chapter. It was on goats and sheep. My first thought was what do goats and sheep have to do with motherhood? It has everything to do with motherhood.

Why do we call our children ‘kids’? Kid is a word for a baby goat. If your children are ‘kids’ then you must be a ‘goat mother’. Real goat mothers will leave their babies on a hill and then go off and look for food. Does that sound familiar? Lots of mother’s today will drop their ‘kids’ off at a day care and then go onto their careers that they have built. It is also said that goats are cowards and will give up easily.

Why not call our children ‘lambs’? A lamb is a baby sheep. Mother sheep are very protective and even though they themselves are scared they will protect their young. They always feed within ear shot of their lambs so they can come quickly if needed.

Read Matthew 25:31-46. This passage tells about how God will separate the goats from the sheep.

Do we really want to be calling our children ‘kids’? What does God call our children?
Gifts – Psalm 127:3 says “Sons are a heritage from the Lord, Children a reward from Him.”
Blessings
Rewards
Lambs

Just some thoughts about what God calls children versus what we humans refer to them as and what implications those titles have.

My Harvest Giveaway!

2010-10-20T16:23:00.005-05:00

I've been thinking lately about having another giveaway. I was on Chicken Scratch Designs the other day and decided to e-mail Amanda and see if she would be willing to sponsor a giveaway for me. I'm happy to say, she agreed to help me. This giveaway is to celebrate the harvest. As my neighbors set out to harvest their fields this weekend I was thinking about all the things my family got out of our garden this year. The prise for this wonderful giveaway will be a complete blog redesign for you.
Here's what that would look like:

Personalized Blog Header
Background Paper
Blog Button
Post Divider
Signature

You can have a look at her portfolio by clicking on her button below.

This giveaway will end on October 29th at 12:59pm. Winners will be announced October 30th.

How to enter (total of 5 entries):
(please make a separate comment for EACH entry.)
1. Tell me you would like to be entered
2. Follow me
3. Place my blog button on your sidebar
4. Place Chicken Scratch Designs button on your blog
5. Post about my giveaway on your blog, twitter, or facebook and leave me the link

Wind Generator Update!

2010-10-19T11:00:00.002-05:00

We finally had a day with enough wind to make the wind generator spin very fast!!! Mom posted a video of it spinning. Head on over to her blog for that post.

It's very exciting. Dad has a bit more work to do. It's not hooked up to anything so it's not making energy just spinning but we are one more step closer to having a totally working wind generator.

Hair Tutorial

2010-10-18T11:28:00.004-05:00

Here is something that I've wanted to do for a while. Learn how to put my hair up in a bun with only a pencil. I think it's a good thing to know so if you're out an about and don't have anything but a pen or a pencil you can still put your hair up.

I followed this YouTube (It's only 25 seconds long so even those of you with slow internet can watch it.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roL-8kqQXOw&feature=related

My hair is a bit shorter than the girl's in the video but I can still do it, only with one turn instead of two turns. Experiment with it!!! I also used my right hand with the pencil, she used her left and I think I turned my hair the other way around the pencil. Have fun with it!!!

New School Term

2010-10-16T11:00:00.000-05:00

I have started a new school term. I do 3 terms a year.

This term I'm focusing on World War 2.
Here is my book list:

Bible - 1 chapter a week. I'm still doing Proverbs.
Home Ed
Books Children Love by Elizabeth Wilson,
Seasons of a Mother's Heart by Sally Clarkson,
Citizenship
Ourselves by Charlotte Mason,
Mom/Wife
The Fruit of her Hands by Nancy Wilson,
Amish Peace by Suzanne Woods Fisher,
Literature
Wild Trek by Jim Kjelgaard,
History
Railroad to Freedom by Hildegard Hoyt Swift, (This is not a WW2 book but Mom never got a book about Harriet Tubman when I was doing the Civil War and she got this book recently so she decided to add it in as a fun book for me.)
Lily's Crossing by Patricia Reilly Giff,
Foster's War by Carolyn Reeder,
I Have Lived a Thousand Years by Livia Bitton-Jackson,
The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom,
Others
I also have one speech a week, A hymn Study, Word Study, and a time line to make entries (this is a 3 ring notebook with lined paper and each year has 3 lines).

I told you last term that Mom had changed the way I did my work. She had me do a lot of one book one day and another book another day but that didn't work for me so we are going back to the way I like it. I will be doing a little of each book each day. When I was doing a lot of one book a day about half way through the book I would blank out and I would only be reading the words and I was not concentrating on the story. It just works better for me to have a little bit at a time.

I have bible on Tuesdays,
I have Home Ed on Monday and Wednesday,
Also on Wednesday I have Citizenship,
On Tuesdays and Thursdays I have Mom/Wife,
On Monday and Thursday I do Literature,
and on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday I read History.
Tuesdays I read my speech, Wednesday I study my hymn, Thursday I work on my word study and my Time Line.
On Friday I share Picture Study and Nature Journal with my little sister, as well as get caught up on what I missed the other days.

That's my school life. I don't have Math or Science this last year. I get a lot done between 2:00 and 3:30 because that's nap time :-)

Not Much

2010-10-15T10:22:00.004-05:00

There's not a whole lot going on around here at this time. Mom and I prepared our herbs that we gathered from the garden this summer and put them in jars to use over the winter. Mom made a big long post if you would like to read about it.

We're getting ready for winter to come. It's only October 15th and the cows are already getting quite fuzzy as are my rabbits. They are just finishing up their fall shedding. Dad has to find a day to get some more fire wood. We are so blessed to have a neighbor who lets us get all of our fire wood from his land for free. It really cuts down on heating costs when a wood stove is our source of heat.

I'm excited for next week to come. My oldest brother is coming up on Tuesday and then staying until Sunday! He's up here for a hunting weekend. He has a few friends coming up that will stay for a night and then a another friend will come. My other brother (who is also older) is coming up to hunt on Friday. I will be joining them for a few days but will also be helping Mom feed the hungry hunters. I'm hoping that I get a pheasant this year. Last year I was too scared to shoot one :-)

Our meat birds are getting big and will be ready right on schedule. We will be butchering them on Thanksgiving weekend. Everyone will be home to help and our neighbor said we could borrow his plucker. Some good organic chicken for our freezer.

I've started another term of school. I will leave all those details for another post. Maybe tomorrow I'll get that post done.

Bliss Photo Challenge

2010-10-11T14:51:00.003-05:00

I've decided to try this photo challenge at Bliss. I have a picture of our baby chicks on the computer somewhere, just have to find it LOL As some of the other people are doing with this challenge I couldn't pick between all of our animals here on the farm.

Baby Chicks (about 2 weeks old)

Baby Hank (who is not a baby now). Picture taken a few hours after birth.

3 week old kitten.

Chocolate Chip Bars

2010-10-09T11:00:00.005-05:00

My oldest brother LOVES this recipe. I love making it the day before he comes up to the farm so he can have them :-)

Chocolate Chip Bars
2 cups brown sugar
2/3 cup shortening
2 cups flour
2 eggs
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. soda
2 tsp. vanilla
1 pkg - 6 oz. chocolate chips

Mix and put in a greased 9 X 13 inch cake pan. Bake at 350* for 30 minutes.

Very simple and very tasty!!!!

Kitten Update!

2010-10-08T15:28:00.003-05:00

The little kittens are growing fast and the kids and I were excited last week when they opened their eyes. Out of the 6, we lost 4 so we only have 2 now. Both girls. They are 3 weeks old and these pictures were taken only 20 minuets ago! Aren't they cute?? I think the kids named the orange one pumpkin :-)

Future Holds

2010-10-04T12:04:00.007-05:00

I wonder what my future holds.
I doesn't really matter because,
I know who holds my future.
~Hannah (me)

Freedom Acres Farm: Wind Generator Is Up!!

2010-10-01T14:07:00.002-05:00

We have gotten our wind generator up!!!! Head over to my Mom's blog to see pictures!!

Freedom Acres Farm: Wind Generator Is Up!!

I'm Not Cool

2010-09-30T12:05:00.002-05:00

This is a song by Scott Krippayne called "I'm Not Cool". I think it says what we all think. We might be different or wierd (to the worlds eyes) but our God LOVES us anyway!!!!

~*~*~
Some people tell me that I look kind of funny
My nose is red and the braces didn't work at all
They say the clothes I wear are all out of fashion
I don't fit in and should be shopping at a different mall
I studied classical piano when I could've been playing guitar
I used to drive an El Camino and I'm not even sure it's a car

(chorus)
I'm not cool but that's okay
My God loves me anyway
I'm not cool but that's all right
I'm still precious in His sight
I'm not cool but I don't care
How I'm supposed to do my hair
I'm not cool but that's okay
My God loves me anyway

It doesn't matter if I know all the lingo
He doesn’t mind if I'm not hanging with a certain crowd
Some people still believe in building image
But I am fine and that's a worry I can do without
I used to wish I was athletic but football was never my game
I met some friends in mathematics but no one can spell my last name

chorus

He says that I am one of a kind
And I don't have to try to be somebody else
He believes in me and says I'm free to be myself
I can be myself

chorus

New Purse

2010-09-29T14:17:00.003-05:00

I finished my purse last night and I turned out WONDERFUL! It's one of those purses where you just throw everything in and then dig to find it. Which is just fine for me because I don't carry important stuff in it. The most important thing is my wallet and the sits on top of all my other things.

Fall Blog Party

2010-09-27T16:48:00.003-05:00

I decided to join the blog party being hosted by Shannon at Below the Plateau! It has a few Etsy-sponsored giveaways with GREAT prizes!!!

Ring! Ring! You receive a phone call from a national sweepstakes organization saying that you have won a life-time supply of your favorite beverage!! What would that drink be?..

Raw milk from a Jersey cow!!!!

What is your theme song, that favorite song that absolutely matches you?

Sounds Like Life to ME by Darryl Worley

You are trapped on a deserted island. Your only supplies are the clothes you have on, and a box with five things in it. What are those five things?

#1 blanket/tarp

#2 hatchet

#3 matches

#4 Herbs

#5 Clean Water

Chocolate or Caramel?

Chocolate of course!!!
.
.

Vacation! If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?

Colonial Williamsburg
.

If forced to do one of the two, which would you do: sky diving or scuba diving? Why?

.
Scuba, I would want to see all that I learned in my Marine Biology course.

Favorite TV show, and why?

American Idol - Just to watch all the people who think they can sing but really can't!!!
.

Are you a coffee and donuts sorta lady, or a tea and scones type of gal?

.I'm more of a hot chocolate and s'mores kind of girl!!!
.

The time machine has finally been created, and you are the first to be able to use it! What era would you travel too?

Oh the pioneer era. I would have loved to meet Laura Ingall Wilder!!!!
.

What is the last movie you watched?

.
It was Easter Parade on channel 2 the other night.

Ding-dong!!! Your favorite actor/singer/celebrity is at your front door! Who would it be?

Penelope Ody Author of The Complete Medicinal Herbal.

What was your absolute favorite toy as a baby?

I'll have to ask my Mom. She says I loved my stacking rings. I guess I was simple back then!!! LOL
.

What types of blogs do you like best? (examples: DIY, cooking, journal, ect.)

I like the stay-at-home-daughter ones. They have all of the above. DIY, cooking journal, ect, EVERYTHING!!!!

What is your favorite Bible verse, your "life verse?"

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "Plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." ~Jeremiah 29:11

Napkin Folding?

2010-09-26T16:21:00.003-05:00

I was just looking through a sewing book and it had how to hem napkins and it showed a picture of different ways to fold them. I thought maybe that's a good thing for us daughters to know how to do. I googled "Napkin Folding" and came up with this site - Napkin Folding Guide

There are simple ones and elegant ones depending on how you want your table to look. There are ones that you can put silverware in and ones that can sit in a wine goblet (we only use our wine goblets at Thanksgiving time and there's never wine in them . . . only milk!!! LOL).

So the next time you want to spice up your kitchen table for a meal you could fold your napkins in a decorative way. Or if your Dad just called saying his boss is going to be over for dinner you have a way to surprise both your Dad and his boss!

More Sewing projects

2010-09-25T11:52:00.004-05:00

My grandmother has been staying with us for the past month and she has been sleeping in the sewing room so I haven't been able to get my skirts sewn. But that's okay because I love it when she comes here.

Yesterday was her last day here (sad face) and we went to a fabric store to pick out some fabric for me. I'm going to be making a purse!!!! The picture of the finished purse is the one in the book. LOL The book is "One-Yard Wonders: look how much you can make with just one yard of fabric" by Rebecca Yaker and Patricia Hoskins. the pattern is on Pg. 156 I can't wait to get it started!!! And then I still have the skirts that I want to do.

Giveaway at A Corner Pillar

2010-09-24T11:00:00.003-05:00

Lauren at A Corner Pillar is hosting a beautiful giveaway with 2 prizes!!!!

This is one of the beautiful prizes.

Click on the banner below to go enter!

Good Search

2010-09-19T08:00:00.003-05:00

Did you know that you can help non-profit organizations just by searching the web? Now you can!!!! At GoodSearch.com

I know it's important to help our non-profit charities any way we can. If you put "HSLDA" in the "Who do you goodsearch for" box then you will be able to help out Home School Legal Defence Association. I know that a lot of you homeschool and probably use this organization. Or search for your state Homeschool Organization. I know my state's organization is there.

You can also help by shopping online. A percentage of your total will be donated to your organization if you go to Good Search and then find the store that you are going to buy from. There are lots of stores to search from. Here is just a sample: Ebay, Amazon, Alibris, Abebooks, Lands End, L.L. Bean, Fabric.com, and MANY more.

What organization will you help? I would really like to know. Please comment and tell me.

KITTENS!!!!

2010-09-18T11:40:00.003-05:00

The kitten's were born last night!!!!!!!!!!!!! 6 of them. 4 just like the momma striped and 2 orange striped.

Spring?

2010-09-17T13:24:00.005-05:00

It feels like spring here on the farm.

My Mom and Brother went in together and bought 25 meat chicks. They will be butchered around Thanksgiving. They are Freedom Rangers. So we have them in a brooder out in the garage until they are old enough to go into the chicken tractor.

AND

Our cat is expecting. She herself is a small cat and she looks like she's going to have 20 kittens!!! The poor thing looks like a beached whale when she lays down. When I put both hands around her tummy I can almost always feel the babies moving inside of her :-) Pictures will come when she has them. Which should be soon.

New Feature to the E-zine

2010-09-13T17:17:00.003-05:00

I added a feature to the ezine. You can now have an e-mail sent to you when I publish another issue! So head on over to the e-zine page and sign up!

I'm still in need of submissions for the 3rd issue. And if you could, please spread the word about this e-zine. The only way it can encourage other girls is if they know about it. One of the reasons I started it. I can't seem to find very many free online magazines/e-zines.

Hugs,
Hannah

One Hour Dinner Rolls

2010-09-11T10:38:00.000-05:00

1C. Milk
1/2C. Water
1/4C. Butter

Melt together until temperature is 120 degrees (HAVE to do this or the yeast won't work). Butter does not have to be melted. Put this in your mixer.

Add to warm mixture
2 pkg. yeast (2 T.)
1 t. salt
3 T. sugar
3 1/2C. Flour

Mix well. Add 1/2 to 1 1/2 cup flour. Kneed until smooth and elastic.
Place in greased bowl.
Let rise 15 min.
Divide into 24 pieces.
Place on a greased cookie sheet (we use muffin/cup cake pans!!!)
Let rise 15 min.
Bake at 425* for 12 min or until done.

E-zine

2010-09-07T15:43:00.002-05:00

I have gotten enough submissions to publish the second e-zine!!!! I have to say that it looks much better than the first one. Can't wait for more submissions to come in so I can get going on the next one!!!! If you have a submission please send it to - farmgirl@genesiswireless.us

All submissions will be linked to your website/blog so it's a great way to get more traffic to your site!

Hope to get lots of submissions for the next issue!

Hugs,
Hannah

Which Books Are Truly Literature

2010-09-04T10:47:00.003-05:00

Notice that there's a rundown place nearby where you're introduced to people and they paint pictures for you. But the pictures aren't so intense and full of meaning that you can still see them even when you close your eyes, and the people you meet don't captivate you enough for you to imagine what they're doing and saying in your thoughts. There's as much difference between this place and the Kingdom of Literature, as there is between a scenic snapshot and the real place the picture is supposed to represent. It's an insipid waste of time to wander around in that outer region. Yet lots of people spend a large part of their lives there, and never once even get within sight of the beauties and joys of the real Kingdom of Literature.

Besides comparing the two places and the people in them, there's another way to tell the difference between Literature and the barren land on its borders. If Intellect wants to try this test, he'll need to let the Beauty Sense help him. Read the next two examples and see if you notice any difference in their 'flavor'. See if the first one gives you a sense of delight and joy in the very sound of its words, separate from the actual meaning they represent. Do the words sing to you?

'That time of year, you may see in me
That yellow leaves, either a few or none at all, hang
Upon the branches as they shake from the cold,
Like bare ruins of choir lofts where the sweet birds sang so recently.'

Now read the next passage:

'Household gods!
Happiness will only exist on earth
When men feel your sacred power, and love
Your peaceful joys.'

Do you notice that, although the second example is true, thoughtful, and expressed well, yet it lacks a certain charm in the words that makes the verse strike our hearts with living power? If you can't see any difference in them, maybe you will some day. The trick is to focus on the words themselves, and wait to feel their force and beauty. When words seem so perfectly suited that no other words can be substituted, and there are so few words that not even one can be removed without spoiling the meaning, and the words are so fresh and musical that they awaken a sense of joy within you, then you know - - you're reading real Literature, whether it's prose or poetry. A lot of wonderful literature can only be discerned by using this test.

Charlotte Mason's - Ourselves Vol. 4 Book 1 In Modern English

Just Some Fun

2010-09-02T10:00:00.002-05:00

I told you we went to our state fair a few days back. Mom (and Dad) bought me a farm girl sweatshirt that I've wanted for a long time. Here's what it looks like.

And here is a random photo of our Great Pyrenees/Border Collie dog named Dakota.