Princess In Waiting Gets Hurt

My husband and I were sitting down chatting yesterday when Eldest Daughter carried Princess in Waiting into the house.  Eldest Daughter had been giving Princess a ride on the back of her bike when Princess's foot had gone into the wheel, catching and crushing the ankle!

Well Princess was crying and bleeding but Eldest Daughter thought it was just a sprain.   After taking control of the situation I started organizing the first aid detail by sending Husband up to get the first aid kit, IB Pro fen, and hydrogen peroxide while I evaluated the injury. We've been through minor first aid emergencies so often that its now second nature.  Having lived out in the country with 4 small kids and letting them explore you get used to injuries.  Looking at the ankle I saw that is was much worse than just a "Sprain" .  It was already purple and black and horribly swollen with two huge gashes. She was a little shocky and shaking all over. Thank the Lord that she was wearing long pants and socks or her leg would have been much worse! 


After I dosed her with pain killer (IB Pro fen also reduces swelling in injuries) I cleaned the wounds with hydro peroxide then applied antibiotic ointment and put a loose sterile bandage on it.  Then Husband and I decided that she better go to the rural hospital down the road for an X-ray just in case.  It just looked too bad to be only a sprain.

I asked Princess who she would like to take her in and she said tearfully "Daddy"!  So off they went.  The whole thing took about 20 minutes from her coming in to them leaving.  They were back home within an hour.  Our little hospital is never busy and on Sunday they are always dead.  I am so thankful we have one in our little town!  The doctor said she fractured the end of her tibia and has a very bad sprain.  Good thing we brought her in.  The nurse (a twenty year veteran) was impressed at our wound care and dressing and complimented Dan on taking such immediate action on preventing infection.  I once read that a little boy lost his leg because he got a cut and his parents didn't do anything more than wash it off.  Two days later he had a rampant staff infection and lost the whole leg.  An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!

Today little Princess is taking it easy and doing quiet time activities.  We have scheduled another appointment for an X-Ray on Friday.

The Cold Room - An Essential To Winter Food Storage

Back in the days of homesteading there were several ways to store food so that is would last you all winter.  Canning was an option but most homesteaders didn't have the money or the ability to bring breakable glass jars with them out to the west.  Pickling was good but it effected the flavor of food.  Salting and drying were also important but the change in flavor was also pronounced and the procedures were time consuming for a people already working dawn till late in the evening just to survive.

So many people used the root cellar or cold room to store produce from the garden and orchard and smoked meats.  This form of preservation extended the viability of fresh fruits and veggies with minimal effort.  Canning is great, but it takes lots of time, energy (fuel), and expensive equipment.

When we first looked at the house one of the things I loved about it was the huge basement.  It already had shelves for canned goods and room for much more.  But the problem with the basement is that it is very dry and warm, even in the dead of winter with the furnace off (we use our wood stove to heat the house).

Things like fresh apples and carrots need almost freezing temperatures with good humidity to keep in long storage.  So instead of using our basement I decided to try our enclosed back porch.  At one time it was just a back porch, but during some point the owners enclosed it.  I painted it the colors you see and intended to use it as a sewing room.  It stays very very cold in winter and is slightly humid.  We call it the dog room because that's where the dog has his food and water dish.  Really it is a multipurpose mud/coat room, dog room, cold storage room, and a place I keep all my baking supplies in winter.

I keep all my big baking items like flour, beans, fats, and sugars out here in the winter because my kitchen is so small and lacking in space.  In the summer this doesn't work because it heats the food up too much so these items either go back in the kitchen or down to the basement to stay cool.  Then into the space they exited I put items I use more often in summer like my canning supplies and pots.  The coffee containers hold dried apples, raisins, and other snacks.


This fall I bought close to 100 lbs of apples from a local farmer at 10 cents a pound for our winter use.  Much of them went to applesauce but I kept 3 boxes for fresh eating.  I bought Gala's for winter storage because they have a very good long storage life.  Some apples are just for immediate use, so if you buy them in bulk for winter use make sure they are renowned for good storage.  We go through 2 to 4 apples per day so buying them in bulk from the farmer is wise and saves a ton of money.

The experiment was simple.  I put the apples in cardboard boxes (they must have some ventilation to allow the natural gasses they produce to escape) closed the lids slightly and then put them under the white table.  they have done amazing and now we are at the end of January with one box left.  During an unseasonal freeze where temps went below zero I only lost a few to freezing in a box that was almost empty and the lid left open.  All the rest are in good condition and still are firm and crunchy.

The Wood Cook Stove you see is a Lang Junior and about 100 years old in perfect condition.  This spring we are going to hook it up in the living room.  I got it for a steal at a yard sale for $150.00!

As a note you cannot store apples and potatoes together even thought they have very similar storage needs.  This is because apples let off a gas that causes the potatoes to sprout.

Books For the Modern Homesteader

I thought I'd post some of the books I have found useful in my homesteading adventure.  For those who don't know it both my husband and I were raised in the city and had no experience with livestock, gardening, etc. at all before we made  the decision to start urban homesteading.  That's not to say we just jumped in feet first.  I had been reading on the subject for 3 years before we took the plunge.  Here are some books that I will always keep on my shelf.

Backyard Fruits and Berries by Diane E. Bilderback and Dorothy Hinshaw Patent

This is a great book on Fruit and Bramble propagation and care.  It covers varieties, planting, care, and pruning.  A definite must when it comes to your mini orchard or bramble patch.

Back To Basics -  Readers Digest

Very good book covering everything from building a log cabin to milking goats and cows. It also has large sections on traditional American skills like quilting, rag rugs, shoe making basket weaving etc.  It is similar to the Encyclopedia of Country Living which I also highly recommend.  in fact I would recommend the Encyclopedia over this book if you have to choose.  But this has some sections the other book doesn't.

Storey's Guide To Raising Chickens

Any of the Storey books are excellent on raising livestock.  This is very in depth on every aspect of chicken raising for meat or eggs.  I will say that the Encyclopedia has more info on broody hens though.

Keeping A Family Cow

This is a must read if you are even considering a milk animal.  It pretty much sold me on the benefits of a cow over goats.  I love goats and we had milk goats, but there is just no denying that a cow is better for a large family and for things like cream and butter.  It goes in depth on the costs vers. the benefits of the family cow.  What you need to raise one.  Feeding, birthing, and cow emergencies.  If you think a cow can't make sense I would say read this first and then make your decision.  Warning!  This book talks in depth about the dairy industry, you may never want to drink milk from the jug again!

I still am clinging to my dream of a jersey milk cow someday, and with prices shooting up and our family demands on milk, butter, and cheese only going to get worse I think we'll have to work it out.

The Encyclopedia of Country Living - Carla Emery

I know I have another post on this book, but I couldn't write a recommended book list without it.  Carla covers everything about homesteading.  Even down to giving birth at home and how to use a wood cook stove.  If you can't get any other book get this one.  It has more information than any book I've found and many things you will never see in some books.

Books are great but hands on experience is the only way to learn certain things.  Reading and studying can only get you so far when your dealing with living breathing creatures or plants.  So even though I think these books should be on every homesteaders bookshelf having a person of experience is perhaps the best teacher.  If you want chickens you should join 4-H chickens so that you can become friends with those who have priceless knowledge.  If you want to grow a big garden do the same thing.  If you want to can food contact the local extension office and they can refer you to those in the community who are master canners. 

To highlight my point on the need for establishing community for your skills I'll tell you a funny story.

When we first moved to Wyoming I immediately wanted to get chickens.  For years I had been reading and studying about how to raise them, the cost effectiveness of keeping them, etc.  So finally my dream came true when we moved out on 5 acres in the country.  We got a dozen hens from someone at our church.  They weren't the prettiest chickens you ever saw, kind of ragged and mixed bred.  But they were hardy (having survived Wyoming winters without a coop) and layed just fine. I loved watching them from the back fence busily scratching for grubs and worms out in our garden.

We had also recently joined 4-H for rabbits and chickens with my eldest daughter and were heartily welcomed into the group.  The group had amazing leaders that were fun and friendly to us newcomers. 

Well one day I went out to collect eggs and noticed that one of the chickens was behaving strangely.  She seemed uncomfortable and kept making this strange squeaking noise.  Alarmed I separated her from the flock.  This was during the height of the Asian bird flu scare and many of my family members had expressed their concern with me owning chickens on the off chance that the flu would reach my flock.

As she kept squeaking I finally called the leader of our rabbit/chicken club and told him the problem.  This mans name was Marvin and he was the kind of no nonsense man that you often see in farming.  He was a bit gruff but the kids loved him and he loved teaching the kids.  He had been raising rabbits chickens ducks and turkeys for more than 20 years and had a wealth of skills.

After listening to my story he bluntly said that he had seen chickens do that before and it was most likely due to my hen having eaten a mouse. Chickens cant tear things apart so when they get ahold of a mouse or snake they swallow it whole.  Well I almost couldn't believe it!  I just had a hard time envisioning the chicken eating a whole mouse.  I mean how could she get her beak open wide enough?

He told me not to worry, within a few days the mouse would be digested and the squeaking would go away.  He of course turned out to be right and the hen went on to live a long life, but it proves that the best reference you can possibly have is an experienced person.  Because I can tell you no chicken raising book I ever read had information on squeaking chickens!

A Lovely Blog

I just found this great blog called 

Life in the English Cotswolds

It is about life in the English countryside with beautiful pictures of ruins, castles, flowers, wildlife, and other vistas.  I have a secret desire to someday take a long vacation and go to Scotland and England so this blog helps satisfy my curiosity of what certain places look like.  The writer is also very good and has interesting things to say about the history of his pictures.

The thing that always strikes me about England is how manicured it is!  Even when looking at what they call "wild" it looks tame and somewhat civilized compared to the places we have lived in America like Wyoming.  Coming from the arid west I am used to huge expanses of nothing but deserts, mountains, and empty valleys.  The straight lines of ancient stones wall make it look, well, like people have been living there a very long time.

  But then again now that I'm thinking about it I have always lived in desert like areas so anything green growing was there because man was watering it.  When I look at the verdant English countryside perhaps I'm just seeing it as domesticated because I've lived too long in sparse and dry surroundings?

Being a garden and flower addict I find his posts about the many wild and domesticated flowers entertaining and his pictures of them are excellent.

http://lifeinthecotswolds.blogspot.com/search/label/tits

A Joke to Brighten Your Day

This one had me laughing out loud so I thought I'd pass it on.  I read it in Country Magazine, one of my favorite mags.

In a trial, a small town prosecuting attorney called his first witness, an elderly woman, to the stand.  As he approached her, he asked, "Mrs. Jones, do you know me?"

"Yes, Mr. Williams, I know you," she replied.  "I've known you since you were a boy and, frankly, you've been a big disappointment to me.  You lie, you manipulate people and talk about them behind their backs. You think your a big shot, but you haven't the brains to realize you'll never amount to anything more than a two-bit paper pusher."

The lawyer was stunned.  Not knowing what else to do, he pointed across the room and asked, "Mrs. Jones, do you know the defense attorney?"

"Yes, I do," she replied.  "I've know Mr. Bradley since he was a youngster too.  He's lazy and bigoted.  He can't build a normal relationship with anyone, and his law practice is one of the worst in the state."

The judge asked both attorneys to approach the bench.  In a very quiet voice he said,  "If either of you idiots asks her if she knows me, I'll send you both to the electric chair."

Pics From the Park

The other day we went and visited my mom in the "big" city and took the kids to the park.  They had a grand time on the big toys.  One toy in particular I loved to see them on.  It has been called Mr. Elephant by generations of kids. Its a very old slide shaped as a circus elephant.  My mom went down it as a child, I went down it, and all of my children went down it.  As a little girl I loved that slide because it was less scary than the huge ladder slides they used to have before the more fainthearted officials put the brakes on toys that could cause maiming.

Mr. Elephant

Captain Submarine with a eye patch.  Why?  Cause he's a pirate of course!

Don't you just want to take him home?

Eldest Daughter loves to climb the rock walls

We also watched as tame squirrels ate peanuts people leave them.  This squirrel let you come within petting distance and this one for some reason thought eating peanuts upside down is the only thing to do.

Viking boys first experience with geese.    He kept saying Peas Mama!  Meaning please mama.   when I asked him what he wanted he pointed to the geese.  So I asked him if he wanted me to get the geese and he said Uh Huh!  Shockingly I refused.  Geese can be very mean when you try to catch them!

Princess in Waiting

This park is my favorite because it is right next to the Columbia river and has beautiful views.   When I was pregnant with three of our children we would go for walks down there to escape the heat.

One of my favorite songs

I just love this song, they guy who wrote the soundtrack to The Last of the Mohicans is great. I also really like this movie.

The Chickens Are Coming!

I love January.  It's when I get all my gardening and other fun magazines.  I page through them fantasizing about all the things I would like to do or grow in the next year. This week I got my Murray McMurray Hatchery Magazine for 2011.  This is in my opinion the finest Chicken Hatchery in the United States. 

The first year we raised chickens I ordered 50 chicks from them and raised the most beautiful, healthy birds we have ever done.  Not one chick died and we won all blue ribbons and best of show at fair that year!

This last year I bought my chicks from a feed store that used a local hatchery.  They are ok, but many of the chicks turned out to be a mislabeled variety called The Red Star and not the Rhode Island Reds like we wanted.  Red stars are excellent layers but just not very pretty to look at.

So even though we don't have to we are going to order 25 chicks from the hatchery so we can get what we really want.  We always get the heritage (meaning old varieties) multipurpose birds.  Not only are they generally more attractive than the commercial layer, but they also dress out nice and plump when they stop laying. 

So far the list includes:

Black Australorps: lovely big coal black birds that are unique because they also have black eyes.  Excellent layers of big brown eggs and will lay deep into winter.  White skinned which I prefer.

Buff Orpingtons:  Golden big birds that are excellent layers and gentle.  Very pretty and white skinned.



Rhode Island Reds:  I'm not fond of red chickens because when they first feather out the other chicks tend to pick them.  However my son loves them for some reason and you can stop picking by using red lights in the brooder.  They are also one of the best layers of big brown eggs.



Barred Rocks:  Excellent layers and setters (if only we could have roosters!) and they lay well. Very pretty with the black and white barring.  Developed in the united states these are a true American chicken.

Eldest daughter and Princess in Waiting have yet to pick what they want so I can expect more varieties than these.  I wish we could do ducks just because they are so fun but I think we would be pushing the city a bit far.  Right now I am getting 7 eggs a day from my 9 chickens.  Pretty good with it being the dead of winter and unseasonably cold this year.

Current Reading

Just a quick post about a fascinating book I'm reading right now.

It's The Reagan Diaries



This is the diary that President Ronald Reagan kept during his presidency.  It's kind of boring in some ways, but fascinating in seeing the day to day life of an American president.  Also seeing President Reagan's deep daily faith in God is amazing.  A very good read and I wish we had someone like him for the next president.

A funny Picture

Here is Princess In Waiting with Smokey the cat and Samson the dog.  They were all in front of the wood stove keeping warm and the animals decided they needed a tummy rub!

The Breads A Hit

The new bread recipe I have tried is now a confirmed hit!  I is tender and light and great with meals, for sandwiches or as a snack with butter and honey.  Everyone in the family loves it and my Eldest Daughters best friend (who is over at our house every day) said that I make the best bread.  Awww Shucks!

Another thing I forgot to mention is that this bread would make a great stored food recipe.  It uses lots of oats, milk (you can use your dried milk in this), and butter (you could use cooking oil).  So you can make this a staple bread and use it to cycle your oats, cooking oil, and dry milk.

The unbaked batter

The Big Loaves are for sandwiches and toast or sliced for snacks with butter and honey with tea

The Mini Loaves are perfect sliced and served with butter and honey or jam for dinner.  I loaf is enough for everyone to have two slices

Remebering Summer In Pics

More snow today....sigh

I never thought I would get tired of snow and cold, but this is getting monotonous.  We live in the desert part of Washington state that few people know exist.  Most people think of Washington as the Evergreen State because they only go to the Seattle area.  But cross the mountains that is a giant rain shadow and you have 1/3 of the state in a "semi arid plateau".  This is where the mighty Columbia river joins forces with the Snake and Yakima rivers.  When left to itself this area is mostly sage, tumbleweeds and coyotes.  But with the miracle of irrigation this is one of the most productive farmlands in America.  We have vast orchards of apples, peaches, cherries, and plums. The melons of this area are famous In fact an apple and cherry orchard was right next door to where I grew up and we children often "harvested" cherries illegally.  Sorry Mr. Farmer! 

Vineyards now are as common as the orchards and some are turning out quite good wine so I hear.  Wheat, potatoes, onions, peas, alfalfa, and asparagus are also grown in great quantity.  We get tons of sun and few rainy days. Temperatures in the summer stay up in the 90's and snow in winter is a treat.

But this year we had our first white Thanksgiving in my memory and snow has been on the ground almost all winter.  We have had more days in the single digits than I can remember.  So much for Global Warming!

So to cheer up I have decided to put up some pictures I have taken of last summer.  Oh the days of sun and heat!

My volunteer Pansies

My plum jelly lit up by the sun

A tuckered out pig at fair

Am I the only one that thinks pigs are fascinating creatures?

An old Homestead out on the 'semi arid plateau"

Two New Recipes I Just Tried Out

For my first recipe I have to give you a bit of history.  I have been trying to bake all our bread, cakes, cookies, and rolls from scratch with varying levels of success for awhile now.  But the one thing I cannot seem to overcome is the sandwich bread.  My family loves PB & J sandwiches.  But using my favorite bread recipe bread sliced does not work out.  The bread dries too much and ends up falling apart at lunch time.

So now I am trying to find a quick bread recipe that will be good as a sandwich bread.  I think quick breads will give my family the spongy doe like texture they are used to and also stay moist enough to keep from falling apart.  Today I tried a Quick Oat Bread.  It called for quick oats which I never have so I halved the oats and used old fashioned rolled oats.

It worked out like a dream and was extremely tasty.  It had a good texture and nice oat flavor with a slight sweetness.  Even my certified picky eater Captain Submarine loved it so I'm going to try it in lunches tomorrow.  As a bonus quick breads are well, quick.  So baking them will be faster than a yeast bread.

Quick Oat Bread

Total Time: 1 hr 15 min

Cook Time: 1 hr

Oven Temp: 350

Ingredients

U.S.

Metric

Conversion chart

• 1 cup(s) milk
• 1 cup(s) quick-cooking oats, uncooked or 1/2 cup regular rolled oats
• 1 tablespoon(s) quick-cooking oats, uncooked
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 6 tablespoon(s) (3/4 stick) margarine or butter, melted
• 1/4 cup(s) light brown sugar, packed
• 2 cup(s) all-purpose flour
• 2 1/4 teaspoon(s) baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon(s) salt

---

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 8 1/2" by 4 1/2" or 9" by 5" loaf pan. In large bowl, combine milk and 1 cup oats; let stand 5 minutes.

2.  To oat mixture, add eggs, margarine or butter, and brown sugar; mix well, making sure there are no lumps of brown sugar. Stir in flour, baking powder, and salt just until blended.

3.  Spoon batter into loaf pan. Sprinkle top with remaining oats. Bake 55 to 60 minutes in 8 1/2" by 4 1/2" pan (bake 35 to 40 minutes in 9" by 5" pan) until toothpick inserted in center of loaf comes out clean. Cool bread in pan on wire rack 10 minutes; remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack.


My next recipe I found in a magazine that came in the mail.  Its called World's Best Chocolate Cake.  And with that title how can one resist?




It's called for sour cream but I had none so I substituted Ricotta Cheese.  I do that allot by the way :) 

Well it turned out incredibly good.  A rich chocolate that is also light and airy, which I didn't expect.  I frosted it with Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting from my Better Homes and Gardens red and white cookbook.

Cake:

1/2 cup butter
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate, broken up
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/4 cup sugar
1 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups sour cream or ricotta cheese
3 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract

heat oven to 350 and grease and flour three 9 inch round cake pans

In a microwave safe glass bowl melt butter and chocolate together until smooth, about 1 to 1 1/2 min.  Stirring halfway through.  Set aside.  Mix flour, sugar, coca, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a a large bowl until blended.

Add sour cream, eggs, 1 cup water, chocolate mixture and vanilla; beat 30 seconds on low speed, until dry ingredients are moistened.  Increase to medium: beat 2 minutes.  Pour into prepared pans.

Bake at 350 for 40 min. or until cake layers spring back when pressed. 

Cool and frost

Why I love Dogs

People who treat dogs like humans or call the dog a person drive me nuts.  Mainly because I feel that they are insulting the dog.  A dog is an animal not a person.  And as an animal they are very simple to understand.  A dog will never beat you up for the heck of it, they wont talk bad behind your back, they don't torture or molest children for pleasure.

They are loyal, courageous,  loving, and generally are eager to please their humans.  This of course for dogs that have a human that understands dog nature.  When you see dogs that are neurotic, aggressive, annoying, or dangerous it is almost invariably  because the human owner is trying to treat the dog like a child and not being what the dog needs.  Namely the Pack Leader.

I recently read a book called Ceasers Way which perfectly explains dog behavior and where most Americans go wrong on how to train a dog.  I have always used many of his training tips as a matter of common sense, but then again my father , who always owned and trained black lab hunting dogs, used and explained to us kids the importants of being the pack leader to the family dog.

Our most recent doggy friend Samson, is a golden retriever who we got from a lady for free.  He was already fixed, had all his shots, and was a beautiful dog.  The only problems he apparently had was that he was seriously overweight, and she couldn't walk him due to him pulling on the leash so hard.

Well I used Caesar's Way from the moment we got him and never had a problem with him pulling me, being aggressive or really doing anything bad.  He is an amazing dog (and now about 100 lbs lighter).  He loves our kids, and every kid on the block!  He never digs, chews, makes messes in the house or tries to kill our chickens.  Loving and sweet is his nature, but with the other lady he was unmanageable.

The thing I love most about dogs is that they are sometimes brave and loyal to the point of self sacrifice.  Where as many humans would simply walk away a dog will never abandon a human in need.  The simple nobility of that action is humbling.

Here is a story of a courageous dog and owner that saved a little girl from horrific consequences.  And it wasn't even the girls dog!  God truly blessed the human race with such a wonderful creature that is the dog.

www.huffingtonpost.com/tag/great-dane-saves-girl

I Wish We Had Another Reagan

Some good Music

This is such a good song.  I couldn't download it but it comes off the soundtrack for the kids movie (really!) Bolt.

Enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acOzVCdUSuo

Tim Hawkins - The Government Can

If we wern't laughing we'd be crying!