I spy with my little eye...

....Something green in February~ONIONS~

Nice to see seedlings sprouting upon the window sills!

Last night was the first meal I cooked since my procedure.
I am not 100% but definitely better then I was pre-procedure.
Today was the first time in a while I did not have to lay down and did not take ANY meds.
Wooo hooo!
Nice to be back in the kitchen!
Many (not all) of the meals we cook come from the farm.
When we first started raising our own food each homegrown meal created a stir of excitement.
Now we often take it for granted.

We had pork chops from H1 who went to the butcher shop last week.
MM has processed some of our pigs in the past but with everything going on as of recently it was best to pay someone else to do it.

I also cooked up some mashed potatoes from the root cellar, we have enough left to bring us into summer I think.

For a vegetable I cooked up some Butternut squash. That stored nicely in cool storage...(Country Boy's closet) He was real impressed with me :/
Buttercup is my favorite but it was the worst for storage. Had I paid better attention and in the future I will Always eat those up first. Acorn squash & Spaghetti squash stored quite well but the Hubbard & Butternut by far stored the BEST! I am certain we will have enough until next years crop.

Home Sweet Home

I had to laugh when I saw this and grab my camera of course. FG was hugging Rona but her head was behind her.

We returned home yesterday after our looooong road trip. THANKS for all the well wishes! The procedure went very well now just waiting to see if it worked, time will tell!

So happy to be home!

I can see the light.....

It's been a long time coming! After getting a few opinions on what to do about my neck I have finally decided to have a procedure called a vertebroplasy. Basically the doctor will place a needle in my vertebrae and fill it will cement . I am praying this will relieve my symptoms! I am SO ready to get off this roller-coaster ride and have things back to normal again. Oh...the things we take for granted! This will be my final post before we go on a long road trip at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. I have yet to be nervous about the procedure just hopeful that all goes as planned. The kids are just plain old excited to be staying at a hotel that has not only a pool but a hot tub....lol. They too will be happy to have their Momma back....not the one that has to lay down every couple hours to relieve the pain because every medication out there seems to make her sick.

I will end this part of my post with a quote I read last night in Oprah's magazine. I thought it was perfect for my circumstance.

"I know for sure that in every challenging experience there's an opportunity to grow, enhance your life, or learn something invaluable about yourself. Every challenge can make you stronger if you allow it."~Oprah

Flower Girl was home sick all week with a fever. By Friday she was a little antsy so I taught her to sew by hand. It took her about 5 minutes and she was sewing better then I. It kept her busy for a while and she loved it. I have a few more projects lined up for her. Since I did not pay much attention to Home Ec I'd like to learn really sew again right along with her. I may ask my neighbor's sister to give us some mini lessons after I pull out my dusty old sewing machine. She has been mentoring me through crocheting. That has been an entertaining experience. I am on my second dishcloth, my first came out the shape of a triangle...lol. If all works out with my circumstance I have even considered homeschooling in the future. It is something I have always been interested in and FG recently asked if she could do it next year. Country Boy says he wants no part of it....lol. I am sure it would not take long before he changed his mind but maybe not. I believe it is important for the child to want to do it rather than be forced into it. I have time to reconsider but for now I am educating myself of the possibilities. A few questions for the homeschooling folks that follow my blog.... do you follow a curriculum, if so what one do you use? I am interested in a nature based curriculum, potentially one you could correspond with sending in papers to be graded and such. Any thoughts on this? Hoping to go to a conference in the next month or two before committing to this crazy endeavor.

Who Needs Toys...

...when you have fire?

....maple syrup

....and snow!

On one of the many snow days the kids had this winter I found them making maple candy "just like the pioneers did". They made it with both store bought syrup and maple syrup we had put up last year. I was the sampler and voted for the homemade. Homemade is ALWAYS best no matter what it is. LOVE that my kids have such great imaginations! Tapping season is just around the corner......can't wait!

The fire picture at the top of this post was from a recent ice fishing trip when our heater broke. Maine Man & the kids started a fire for warmth & cooking. MM was pretty proud of his quadruple hot dog roasting stick.

Honestly, I have nothing against TV, video games, and toys when used in moderation. My kids have a Wii they bought with their own hard earned cash. I actually love playing Just Dance when I'm able body ...not as of lately ;) On the other hand I am against video games that encourage violence. I think they desensitizes children.

I am even ok with the kids watching TV although if it was not for MM & the kids I would so NOT have cable TV. I do not watch much TV. Although I will admit this season I am watching Survivor as there is a local Mainer in the game. We also have a Survivor pool going at work and I potentially could win $180. I was assigned Stephanie, the chick that had the heels on last night, WTH? I hadn't watched Survivor since Flower Girl was in the womb, 8+ years ago. She was actually named after one of the contestants...lol. I do not agree with some of the shows that are broad casted but there is also many shows that can be educational. Country boy loves watching Myth Busters & Man vs. Wild. I'm often amazed by what he learns from the shows.

As for toys, early on I learned not to waste a whole lot of money on them because in all reality my kids just didn't play with them and they often end up in the bottom of a landfill or Goodwill.

Good Ole' Mother Nature is the best toy box of all!

Almost That Time of the Year!

Maine Man ordered broilers (Cornish Rocks) and a new flock of RI Reds. For any of you locals we may have some laying hens to sell and we will definitely have some broilers. We will keep about 25 each for ourselves. I am just waiting to hear back from one friend before I can promise out any of the layers. We will have more later in the season because Country Boy will be getting his incubator going in the next month or so. Let me know if your interested.

Winter Wonderland

It has been a long winter but the end is near....at least I'd like to think so. Yesterday planting season began. Maine Man started onions.
This is the first winter since living here that our heat source was 100% wood.
The last couple years we ran our furnace a bit. Not much, about 100 gallons in 09' and last year we probably used about 75 gallons of oil. It is a lot of work but well worth it! I am thankful for MM who endlessly works to keep us well stocked with firewood.

It will be nice to see the kids swimming in the pool once again.

My farmer friend made this well house for me last fall. Something I will forever cherish!

Trail out to the back forty. MM takes the kids out on the sled behind the snowmobile and this is the path he takes to gather firewood. I usually go out too but this winter I have been limited to what I can do until things get straightened around with my neck. Hoping that will be soon.

Really missing hanging clothes on the line. I have a few inside racks but they do not seem to hold a lot of laundry like this line.

MM will be putting a wood stove in this soon. Planting will follow.

For now we will dream of what Spring brings and hurry to get inside projects complete.

So we can enjoy our days more outdoors then in.

Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home.

~Edith Sitwell

Just Ducky

Warning: this picture has nothing to do with the post.

I like making some of my own cleaners mostly for financial reasons but I also feel that it allows for a little less plastic consumption. Nothing fancy, just quick & easy. In the past I have bought the plastic squirt bottles at the dollar store or from a local department store. Most recently I bought one at Sally's Beauty Supply. It did cost a more but the sprayer seems much more durable. The cleaners I like to have on hand: ammonia & water for as a window cleaner. Bleach & water for my counters and cutting board. A mixture of half rubbing alcohol/half H20/splash of vinegar, and a dash of essential oil (eucalyptus is my favorite) as an all-purpose cleaner. For quite some time I made my own laundry detergent. I have been lazy lately using store bought. I do however have supplies on hand and could easily throw a batch together if I run out so I don't have to make a special trip to the store. Would love to hear if you make your cleaners and how? I am interested in making my own wood floor cleaner, anyone have experience with this?

Too funny!

Since I have been at a loss for words lately I will share a funny post Nita at Trapper Creek posted. It is a letter her husband found in the wall of their old farmhouse. Nita's blog is one of the first blogs I followed when I started blogging 3 years ago. She is a hardcore homesteader with many passions, I have learned SO much from her!