It is hard to believe that it has been so many years since I last posted on this blog.  So much has happened and changed, but so many things have stayed the same.  I have 2 kids that are grown and out of the house and two still at home.   I've had the itch to do something creative agsin, so here we go.

Sometimes the best things in life are some of the oldest.  Today has been a cold and rainy day and everyone is just feeling yucky, so I decided it was time to make some comfort food for supper.  And here in the south that's chicken and dumplings.  And as I was making my dough, I was thinking about this old dough board and rolling pin.  Just how many times they have been used and how many meals they have helped to prepare.

This old bread board was built into my cabinet by my grandfather when he built this old house. Underneath the board are two bins that were once used to hold flour and meal.  I now store ziplock bags, aluminum foil etc. in those. But, this old board and rolling pin have been making breads and pie crusts and biscuits for almost 100 years.  In a throw away society that we live in it's nice to be able to hold on to somethings.

So as I continued to make supper tonight in my old kitchen with all of my old pots and pans, I felt something.

I felt a since of comfort, like a part of my Pappaw was still here in the kitchen with me.  That how blessed I am to be warm and dry in my old kitchen surrounded by all of my old stuff.  Our belly's would soon be full, the animals have all been fed and the house is warm and we will enjoy an old southern comfort food.  Sometimes the oldies are the goodies,

Blessings to you all.
Tara

It's sweet corn time!

It is sweet corn time here at our house.  We had such high hopes to be able to sell sweet corn this year, but I guess the Good Lord had other intentions.  We didn't get the BT spray ordered in time and so it had worms in it of course, and I just don't feel right trying to sell it with worms in it. and we didn't get as good of a stand as we needed to supply us and be able to sell.

The way we put our corn up is the old fashion way of cream style corn.  It is a lot of work, but it is well worth it.   There is nothing like a skillet of corn in the middle of the winter to remind you of the summer.

This years corn field!  We plant a mix of G90 and Silver queen.  

This is the first pulling that we did.  The mix of G90 and Silver Queen gives you a mix of yellow and white cobs.

I cut my corn of the cob and scrape it.

This is the secret to cream corn.  I "milk" the cobs.  As you cut the corn off you put it in water and then ring the water out of them, what you get is a white milky looking substance.  You use that to add back into the corn when you place it on the stove to blanch it.  You have to add water anyway or you will scorch it.  And by doing this, you are adding the startchy water back and it will make for a much creamier corn.  And besides you don't won't to waste anything from these little cobs of gold!!

Finally it is blanching time!  I can not tell you how long this step takes, but it is a while.  Slow and steady so you don't scorch it.  When you begin to smell it and it turns a slightly different color then you know that it is blanched long enough,  

I think everyone in the south has their own way of doing corn and this is just my own little version.    It is one of our family favorites!

God bless ya,

Tara

Homestead Happenings this week~

Well we have been busy with the usual summer stuff this week, I have been busy canning beans and putting up squash and the likes.  The boys have been busy washing calves and of course going fishing.  We didn't make it anywhere Friday for the 4th, because unfortunately cows and gardens don't know when it is a holiday.  We also couldn't go off far, because our tires are wearing out and we ordered new ones, but they have not come in yet, so we had to stay close to home.  We decided on Saturday  to just go to a lake nearby and just grill some burgers and let the kids have fun for the day.  Even though it was not what we intended, it turned out to be a great day.

Cora likes her beans cooked or raw, and just look at those dirty knees!  Country girls need a little dirt on their knees!

Cora is cheesing for the camera!

Cora had a blast at the lake she just loved the sand. 

JC had been begging for days to go swimming and he was having a blast!

Even though he like to swim, he couldn't resist playing with Cora's sand toys!

We decided to do burgers for lunch and of course, the grill master had to take over!

 

Dad was down in his back so his job was just to chill out and watch the boats go flying by and wishing he had one!

Ready to go home for the day!  We had a great time!

What great blessings I had for the week!

God bless ya,

Tara

Homestead Happenings and birthday party!

It has been a long time since I have posted anything, seems like this blogging thing takes its turn with everyday life.  We have been busy with gathering produce and selling at farmers market.  I have been doing a lot of baking and taking it too.  We celebrated Cora Mae's 1st birthday this weekend.  I had to reschedule it I think around 4 or 5 times before we ever finally got to do it.  It turned out very sweet.  Just can't believe that her first year has come and gone.  She has been such a ray of sunshine for me.  She has had me on my toes for sure.

I decided I wanted to do something other than plain old balloons and streamers and really liked all the pictures of shabby chic type of party's and decided to go with theme.   Here are few pics of the day.

Joy comes in the morning.

For his anger endureth but a moment, in his favor is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.            
 Psalm 30:5

What does that mean to you, "joy comes in the morning" .  It means to me that the Lord has got everything under control.  Doesn't it always seem better the next morning what ever we are going through.  

I originally posted this a year or so ago and it is always a wonder that I am writing something for someone else, but it always comes back to me in the end.  Joy is something I need right now, Joy is not a fleeting feeling that is called happiness, joy comes from within.  I am learning that life is not easy and it is really not easy when you become a parent.  I am learning how to let go and let God have control over my children.  I dedicated them to Him when they were babies, but I never truly have let go of them.  I am in a season of learning to take it one morning at a time, and that the sun will come up at the end of the night and I am going to be able to turn my face into the warmth and bask in it.

Sin has a way of trying to creep in and still our joy, satan wants to rob us of every bit of it.  He wants us to wallow in shame and in the darkness, because when we are in the darkness there is not light and light truly comes from above.

I love the mornings, I love the quietness of it.  The freshness of the morning.  It seems like the Lord cleaned up over night and everything is bright and fresh. Its like a new start.  Every morning that we get to wake up is a blessing from the Lord.

Joy comes in the morning when we go to Him in prayer.  Prayer for our husbands and children.  For us to be better moms and wives and servants for Him. Don't forget to even pray for those little things in life.  God wants to hear about those too. He loves you and wants to hear from you.  Sometimes we get so busy with all the stuff and fluff around us we forget to go to Him.   This is not a me time but a Lord keep me in your will time.  A time for just the two of you to talk.

I encourage you moms and wives to get up a little early, get a cup of coffee or tea and take the word of God and go out side.  There is something about studying His word that time of the day that is special.  I feel closer to Him for sure.  I promise you it sets the tone for the whole day.

God Bless,
Tara 

Merry Christmas

Christmas time here has been a simple one this year.  This is the first year we have not had to go to a thousand places and it has been nice.  We had a simple Christmas here, just us and the kids.  We didn't do Santa this year and that seemed to have made the difference too.  JC told us he knew daddy ate the cookies and put out the presents so we decided to make things simple and just give each of the kidos just a couple of gifts.  I cooked some goodies and we had a really good supper.  The kids spent the day playing and just having a free day.  This time of year seems to bring on a roller coaster of emotions for me.  I miss family that could not be here and remember Christmas's of days past.  Sometimes I would give anything to just go back in time to see my pappaw again. This year has been kinda crazy for us.  The birth of a new baby can bring on so many emotions.  You are excited yet new worries arise.  We also have had a bunch of other crazy stuff go on that we have just had to hand over to the Good Lord.  I don't know why it has taken so many years to learn this but roots are important and so is having a home, a place to call your own and a place you can go to when the world seems to be after you.  We focused on those things this year more than anything.  We realized the blessings that we have and even though we didn't have the finances to have a big Christmas like we normally do we had a Christmas of simplicity, love, and blessings.

 Sweet Cora Mae's first Christmas!

 These reindeer are a hand me down from my mom and I love them.

 We made salt dough ornaments and they turned out great~

~ Look at those little toe prints~

 ~These are my toilet paper snow flakes, can't get much cheaper than these~

It's amazing what some glue, paint and glitter can do!

 The old wood stove has been cranking the last few weeks!

 Some of the goodies I made!

 This is my apple nut cake, it just would not be Christmas if we didn't have it.  This

is my pappaw's recipe.  I even still have the pan he used and that is what I use to make it.

 Sweet cheeks Cora Mae in her Christmas pj's!

 This is a tree skirt that I made.  I still have a few things I want to add, but I thought it turned out great. 

I made it out of felt scraps and of course some hot glue!

IN farm news everyone is doing well, we are just putting hay out and trying to keep everyone warm.  We did discover something that we have never seen before though.  Josh caught this years show heifers nursing on our Mary Moo Cow.  I could not believe it.  I kept wondering why the jersey was loosing weight and heifers were still holding onto some of their show fatness.  Josh said his heifer had milk all over her face and running out of her mouth.  I still can't believe it.   We had two bull calves born and they are doing well.  Now since Christmas is over, I am ready for the garden!LOL... I did not get to can alot of stuff this year and am looking forward to stocking the canning closet this year. 

God Bless,
Tara

Homestead happenings

It has been some kinda crazy the last couple of weeks,  Where shall I begin hummmm....lets see... Well JC and I both have gotten wonked in the head lately.  Josh's heifer he showed last year has never liked JC, even when she was little she would jump a foot off of the ground when he would walk in the barn, there were lots of times she just snorted at him and pawed the ground.  Well good ole Gum Drop had a calf this month, and one day JC went to the barn to help Josh with the fence. He  was no where near her and she charged him and threw him about 20 feet, Josh came running and kept her from getting him again.  I was in the house getting school stuff together and the next thing I heard was Josh calling for help and running to the house with JC in his arms and blood all over his face.  It scared this momma to death for sure.  We got the blood all cleaned up  and seen that he was going to be alright, but boy did it make my heart stop.   Joshua was up there when it happened, I am to scared to think of what might have happened if he hadn't been there.  It was the Good Lord that kept him from getting hurt any worse.  His mouth and round his eyes swelled for a few days, but he is all good now.  He has a good story to tell for sure.
Who needs to go to a rodeo when we can have one at home....  Then a few days later I was trying to check on something at the well and forgot that the panel around the well would spring back and lets just say my glasses went flying and I saw stars for a while.

Lets see what else, the next day we had another heifer calve and she wouldn't get rid of all the afterbirth and we had to deal with that.  I ended up giving her 3 rounds of antibiotics and two other kinds of hormonal shots to get her to shed it.  I hope it didn't affect her too bad, she has got to have many more babies to pay for herself.

Elizabeth's heifer, California Queen "Cali" .She had a beautiful little bull calf!

Ok, the day after that is the really big one!  We had to take a calf somewhere one day.  The kids and I got her up and in the barn and loaded with out any trouble at all, no yelling, cussing or trying to kill each other or the animal LOL... But I knew that ended up being to easy.  When we got where we were going we realized that she was NOT in the trailer, we realized that somehow the sliding door had come open and it had gotten out somewhere, we just didn't know where.  So we immediately turned around and went back the same way we came and did not see any sign of it.  I called the police and reported it, but still heard nothing for several days, After a few days my daughter and her boyfriend where going to eat out and they called and said they had found it.  It was in a near by little community that I had went right through that day.  It was grazing in some peoples yard.  We chased it for several hours until we lost it, it was late at night and the calf is black, so go figure.  Well it finally made its way down the road to a little farm that has  a few cows and it is still there.  We are still having a terrible time catching the thing.  My dear hubby is not going to forget this anytime soon, he said this was one of those things that he will make sure to remind me of when we get older, as if I could forget it.....

Little gal who is still roaming the countryside.

 These were just some of the bigger things that happened there were lots of little things that went along with those.  I hope and pray that I will not have another week like that for a long time if never!

The last couple of days has been pretty good though.  It hasn't be too terrible.  The kids dog died while we were gone to the state fair and they got a new puppy this week, Cora didn't quiet know what to think about it.

Boys and their beloved Cody  He will be missed!

 The new puppy is Gus, JC is already in love with him.  All little boys need to have a dog.  It just wouldn't be right not to have one around.  Besides I like to have one to let us know when someone drives up or there is a cow out or something.

Cora just didn't know what to think of him.

 ~Sleeping beauty~

This is what I came home to one day...... I left JC in charge of Cora while I went to the barn to give that heifer her shots and when I came back in this is what I found.  I could not resist taking the picture.  Gotta love um!

 We also made a trip to a local state park for a Civil War day weekend.  We enjoyed watching the battles, and taking tours of all the homes.  This particular home was of the local doctor and she was explaining to them how they treated the wounded and what types of medicines they used.  Thank the Good Lord for modern medicine is all I had to say!

 Good ole homemade wheat bread rising!

 Josh got a little buck, he was very proud, not the biggest in the world, but sure tasted good.  Josh feels mighty proud to be able to contribute food to the family.  Hunting is a wonderful thing for young boys to be involved in.  Josh has been hunting since he could walk.  

 It was a cold dreary morning and the best thing to do was snuggle up with little sister and watch a movie! 

Last but not least, fall on the farm.  Home sweet home!

God bless till next time,

Tara