I'm still breathing...sometimes deeply...

The homestead has been busy. Butchered more chickens, the two pigs(714 lbs), 11 turkeys, and two deer. I think we are done unless they get another deer. I had vacuum sealed meat until my freezers were protesting. Then I switched to canning jar after jar of turkey and venison and stock. Can I just say I LOVE canned chicken stock or rather MY canned chicken stock. YUM.
I am cyber schooling my 17yr old...not an easy task as it seems I am stupid and unable to understand the world today(that's what she says) Well, from what I see of the world today...it sucks. I would rather live in my old fashioned values of working for what we have, giving what we can, taking responsibility for our actions...Even if I home schooled all my kids, unless I sheltered them in a bubble, I couldn't keep them from the worlds influence. *sigh* but I TRY!

I thought i would post some pics as they are worth a thousand words...

My brother and I cutting down chicken

the makings of chicken stock

Applesauce making

green beans galore!

Sold all but one of my goats. I kept my Saanan for milk. That's an interesting story because I sold the goats because the cost of feed and I figured I would have a little extra cash for Christmas...then I ended up in the dentist office and there went the extra cash...I'm trying hard to be thankful I had the extra cash to pay for the dentist.

Made my own soft soap...peppermint scented. I was given a 5gallon bucket of grated lye soap from someone's grandparents house...how cool is that? Anyway, I took some fresh peppermint and steeped it in 6C. of water for about 30 min. then I strained it and added a few cups of the lye soap and stirred it on low heat until it melted. then i let it cool and added a couple teaspoons of peppermint essential oil and incorporated it into the soap. It was a bit thick, so i put some in the blender with a bit of water and thinned it down. Poured it into a bottle with a pump and kept the rest in a canning jar until i needed to refill the bottle. FUN!

most of our fall was spent at the football field. i find homesteading and sports are not very compatible...that was very time consuming and fast paced days.

This is the pork from our pig raising experience...5 boxes...plus two buckets of lard! That was a family project getting it all sealed and packed in the freezer. Hubby and i sat and made 216 sausage patties. we portioned someone bagged and two others sealed.

And this is why we live the way we do...for our kids. Charlie wrote us this note in church. I keep it in my purse so I can look at it when I would rather run away from home!
Hope you all are having a great fall and a wonderful holiday season!