Holiday Rush

I have been trying to wean myself from the workplace. I say that and laugh because I create more work here at home then at work! I did craft shows for the first time ever this year. I still need to decide if I am going to be able to do this(aka make the same amount of money) with farming and raising puppies as my "job" or give in and go back to work as a nurse. I want to homeschool and be home. There is always an over load of things to do without walking out the door to a job. I still can't see a way to save extra and pay the hiccups like car repairs and birthday items on a one pay check household. So I am inventing new ways to double up and stress ones self out. Not the plan I was exactly going for.
    I have found a good market and many others continue to encourage me to do the crafting. I started with crochet and fleece hats. I am trying to move them though Facebook shares and my page. I wanted to share here some of the items I found I could do while giving spelling tests, reading aloud with littles, or watching a history show on tv.
   I find with the internet and youtube, others blogs, pinterest, and facebook you can learn a lot of new skills and ideas. I can usually figure out a design by seeing a picture. I rarely follow a pattern. I may pull out my yarn if I don't like what I am doing and start over. I want to master the things I do find the best and yet efficient ways to do things. I am thinking of being able to do this year round with dog sweaters, baby items, season craft items, and then the winter hats and mittens later in the year.
     I found I need to be as frugal on supplies too. Supplies are very expensive and people are looking for quality hand made items but not too expensive. The fleece has to be bought on sale or I cant even do the hats. Even my hubby got in on the sales. He found bright yellow yarn on clearance and picked it up knowing how I was whipping up minion hats. I even sold 5 at his job!
    Many financial advisors will tell you make your hobby a part time job. Well this has been a full time job this Christmas season. I have been up late at night finishing orders. I am currently a week from Christmas and have two baby bibs almost finished, two mittens (that are a thorn at the moment), three fleece hats, and two pillows that go on Tuesday before Christmas. I did 5 crocheted hats and two pillows last week so I haven't been slacking on getting orders and getting them out. I also have two comforters to do and pjs for my 8 kids at home before Christmas arrives!
      I also homeschooled during this time. We have done speed drills daily in math, Mad Libs for quick grammar, reading, science, and book reports. We also are watching Christmas videos, doing some Christmas devotions, crafts, baking cookies, and caroling, so I am not keeping up on housework and hope to recover what has been lost between Christmas and New Years. I would advise anyone wanting to be home to find a hobby and make it work for you.

 I did these last year for a woman my husband works with. She sold them for me in November and they all sold!

 I did these this year. My kids have no idea who these guys are because we have no cable TV. The hats and the pillow below sold pretty well this season. The picture is actually an unfinished panel to one of three I have sold in a week! 

 I made this for my step grandson. His mom likes owls so I thought it would be perfect.

 One of 30 hats I sold this year. Minions are popular and I can whip one up in an evening once the kids go to bed.

 My daughter's friend likes the Disgust character. It's a Christmas gift.

 Both are cows I made for littles at  Halloween.

 I made this chicken hat for a baby girl and she has already out grown!

 A slouch hat. I found the pattern tutorial on youtube. Her pattern was less slouchy than mine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysm3RnvCsdU

 Bootie for a new baby at our church

 Again these super popular hats helped me make the Christmas list easier

 These are not hard to make and never go out of style

 My favorite and only daughter modeling the bags I made. 

Processing Day for the Old Hens and Turkeys

Processing Day came and "it was windy" would be an understatement. We had 40 mph winds while processing outside on the deck and I felt the wind should have blown the feathers off the birds. The plucker my husband made worked great for the 18 old hens and a couple young roosters (who snuck into the pullet box of chicks this spring). We also had 3 turkeys that soon proved to be a challenge. They were over 20 lbs each, I think closer to 30 lbs and the plucker would not do it's job for these big guys. Hand plucking was now the name of the game. Once I got all the birds fully processed, the turkeys were halved and into the freezer.
   The chickens were another story. We left them from "Windy Wednesday" until Monday the following week in the fridge in freezer paper to avoid drying of the skin/meat. I found this idea at The Prairie Homestead  http://www.theprairiehomestead.com/. Jill is awesome with having a good readership and she often shares her own experience, good ideas, and tips for farming.
      I got my courage up a couple years ago and started using a pressure cooker on her advice through the blog. I found it easy and can confidently pressure can everything now! I will warn the new glass top stoves are not compatible for pressure canning. We have propane so I find it very easy to adjust temp quickly when canning.
     The reason the birds were left so long was to allow the bacteria in the meat to tenderize it, it really helps! Without this step the chicken becomes hard like rubber when it begins to cook in a stock pot especially the roosters. I took the chickens out of the fridge and placed as many as I could into the pressure canner with about a gallon of water. At 10 lbs of pressure (once the rocker is going) I gave it about an hour and the birds were so cooked!  I had to do about 4 separate batches but because there is no jars I could just take the rocker off and quick release the pressure So it moved along in a morning.

 You can see the meat was falling off the bones. I strained the water with cheese cloth and picked the meat from the bones.

 I then tossed the bones into a stock pot and filled to the top with water again. I cooked it a couple more hours on low after bringing to a boil for broth.

 This is chicken soup. I put in carrots, onions, homegrown celery from my neighbor, spices,chicken and 1/2 tsp canning salt. Total when finished I had 14 qts of soup. Perfect for when everyone including mama is too sick to cook.

 In the end I got 33 qts of broth plus the 14 qts of soup. I also canned 16 pints of chicken for sandwiches quick meals and salads. This was twenty old hens and roosters! When I did the broth it was only in 25 mins at 10lbs pressure in the canner. When I did soups and the whole meat they needed to be in the canner 1hour and 40 mins for qts a little less for pints.  I will say be careful to let the canner cool. Unlike a bath canner the pressure must come down and with glass jars it requires patience. I found about 30-40 minutes from shutting off the heat to the seals releasing to allow for the lid to be removed for the broth. This is why it took two days to can and clean up.

      I love grabbing a jar of broth to make my rice or start casseroles. For years I was afraid of pressure canning, but the time saved and amount that can be put away in the fraction of the time is so worth the leap into pressure cooking/canning.

Meal Planning

I decided to write this post as a friend posted on how little she spent o groceries and how little time she had spent on the shopping. My friend's facebook post quickly filled with comments and questions on how she did this bi weekly trip of groceries for 4 on less than $200. She began saying she meal planned. She is a stay at home mom who runs her family's hobby farm. They do their own meat and have eggs from chickens she keeps. She has sold eggs and helped off set the cost of the feed. She started by saying she meal plans. When she goes to the store she makes one trip. She knows what she is going to need for two weeks and sticks to her list.  I find I am on the same page.
      We live in WNY in the hills of the Finger Lakes and I try hard not to do loads of shopping trips. The closest grocery is 12 miles and is the most expensive. The next option is 23 mi and I have 3 stores to chose from. The third option is 34 mi and I have many options available to me in a small distance. The price of gas has gone way down since my twins were babies and gas was $4.08/ gallon! With a 15 passenger van and going from a family of seven to ten I really began to see how I needed to been organized and save every place I could. I started with meal planning and limiting my grocery trips. MONEY SAVED right off the bat! Who doesn't like extra money?
   First just because the plan is in place does not mean we actually eat what is on the menu that day. Sometimes I put the food in the crockpot and oops it didn't get turned on. or I turned it to high came back at dinner time and it was unplugged the whole time! So sometimes we switch up another nights meal so that we can eat quick and save the evening. I am writing this knowing what's for dinner until Saturday. I just couldn't find anything for the crockpot I thought would work yet. I have a craft sale on Saturday and so I will google some items I have in the freezer and come up with something. I often theme my meals to the day of the week. My kids can be a bit oh, it's soup night... or hurray it's pizza night! I do my meals like this. Monday is soup day. Tuesday is Mexican and Friday is Pizza. Other nights are a blend of quick, crockpot, or big homemade depending on our activities. On Mondays I make bread/rolls and a soup. Sometimes I will take left over bread and make croutons to add to the soup. I try to not do the same soup in a 2 month span.  We had Clam Chowder (a favorite), Minestrone, Sausage Kale, Broccoli, Potato Corn Chowder, Salmon Chowder, Taco Soup, Chicken Noodle and tonight was Vegtable Beef. I know next week is Clam Chowder because it is a holiday week and we do special meals up to Thanksgiving. Of course with Thanksgiving comes turkey. So I will plan turkey soup for the following Monday. So I only have to find what soups will go on which Monday. I can also plan to do soups that look interesting to try and plan it into the next month then when I go shopping I will get anything I don't have I need for the recipe. See how easy that is! Every Monday I know what we are doing!
   Now I am amazed when working moms say I don't have time to do this. I do work away from home doing nursing now and again. I prefer not to because I can easily fall behind in housework and keeping up with grading school work my kids do. Meal planning has saved my hide when I was working. I was able to chose meals that my older kids could finish and get to the table because I was not home to do it. (2014 I worked Thurs so we did pizza. I made crust ahead, the oldest did the prep and baking) On nights that we had 4H or another outside activity I planned the meal to suite our needs.
    AND I own 5-6 crockpots. Yes I have a large family but I also freezer meal plan. Without these crockpots I would never get the things I want put away for those quick meals. I find I can roast a few chickens in a couple crockpots and make a side for dinner. Now I can have chicken, vegatable, or rice done for a meal in a couple crockpots. Before dinner or after me or my daughter will pick the extra chicken meat, or scoop out the extra rice and put either in ziplock bags or freezer containers. With precooked meat I can always make a skillet casserole in a hurry with rice and a veggie in about 30 minutes. What mom wouldn't want that? A working mom can do this and I found it is easier than the all day cook and freeze meal planning on the one day I could do something fun.
     I always try to make three times what I need. Three times you say what are you thinking? Well I feed hungry men. My boys eat more then their father! They are out with me working the farm. My oldest does the large animal chores and all my kids do firewood. They get hungry. I always try to make most meals be the next days lunch. Even my hubby has the same lunch. I also like to put away extra rice meat cooked dry beans for a day when the oops the crockpot didn't get turned on! There is my three times. Now I don't do this every meal but a few times week and before long I have a bit of backup stash to even plan regular meals. I make dry beans in my crockpots. Some for diner. Some for lunch. Some for another night.  I don't throw away those menu plans come the next year I can come up with ideas for meals we haven't had or old favorites.
   When I shop I also buy in bulk. I rarely if every buy processed or pre-made meals. One reason is my kids have major food allergies. No soy and no food coloring. It makes for a whole food diet and that is not really a bad thing. I buy large amounts of beans, flour,oatmeal, sugar, rice, pasta and only veggies frozen in extra large bags. Not sauced or spiced. I don't buy box cereal, pasta with seasonings or sauces. I don't buy frozen meals or store bake goods or lunch meats. This type or buying drives up the bill. We also raise our own meat so that saves money. I find if I have to buy a meat because it ran out before the next animal was ready I buy bulk. I also add to meats with dry beans. You never really notice in Mexican meals or sloppy joes or casseroles. Bulk last. I find spending a little on containers or even picking up frosting containers at the grocery store helps me keep items without bugs and rodents coming and getting into them. Once you learn to cook with basic whole foods mixing and matching with spices you can plan so many meals with what you have on hand. Example Tues is Mexican. We love it. We don't have tacos every Tuesday. In the summer we do taco salads a lot because I gaden and we have loads of lettuce. We love burritos so that is most often what we have but I will make mexican lasagna with the burrito shells, tomorrow I thought we would try taco bread. It is taco filling in crescent bread dough. I always have ground beef, corn, dry beans, cumin, chili powder, onions and flour on hand for mexican meals. Think though take out the spices and what other meals can be made? I hope some of what I wrote will be useful or give you ideas that help you gain time in you everyday life.
 The first step is to start even if it is one week The relief of knowing what is for dinner, planning easier meals for late days and busy evenings. Crockpots help to start the night before so less stress the next morning or evening. You won't believe how much time you will gain to put to another area once this becomes habit!

     

Most of the year I am chasing littles and trying to beat the weather to garden, cut wood or hay, or keep animals out of the garden. Now is the time of the year things shift from working in the beauty of outdoors to the warmth of the wood stoves and hours of reading and learning for my brood. I used to work part time as a nurse out of our home but as the number of children increased the harder it was to balance. We were double blessed in 2011 with twins and going out of our home was almost impossible with 7 children 10 and under. I began to explore a number of ideas to earn money from home. We have always had animals and so the Goldens became the first "earning their keep". I also have started looking into showing others how to use goat and cow milk for cheeses and soap. I recently discovered my natural ability to cochet by eye. I find looking on pinterest I can mix and match ideas to design my "own" hats and it has begun to look promising. Here are my most recent "Jewels" as I have tagged them Jewels by Juliet.

 One of the twins modeling Anger

 Minions

 A Horse

Bull

 Chick

 Cow above, below other hats and a pumpkin

Pine Spring Farm is a family farm located in the Finger Lakes Region of Western New York. We are all about growing things, kids, animals, plants,and love. We have 110 acres of woods and pastures. Some we rent to a large local farmer and some we do things ourselves. We are a large family of 10 and own cows, horses, pigs, chickens, ducks, goats, rabbits, dogs, and cats that are often dropped and welcomed to the barns. We are a homeschooling family as well enjoying learning about how to do many of our interests. We garden, raise our own meat, process our own chickens, cut firewood, and do all of our activities together no matter how little or big we are. We raise Golden Retrievers and have puppies available about once a year. We also sell meat chickens and are starting to expand to pigs and beef in the coming years. The kids are involved heavily in 4H in our county. They show animals yearly at the county fair. When I am not busy out on the farm I love to craft. Often crocheting while giving spelling tests! I do craft sales in the fall when things begin to quiet down. I do sewing and crochet items and sell items at the local sales.We love the change of seasons as there is always something different to do. We are thankful for each and every family member to enjoy and every opportunity we have to learn and do something new together.

       Another growing puppy!

 TRIPLETS!

 Stand still please

 freshly washed for fair

 Pick ME!

 bedtime

 Bunnies from our first breeding.

 Another stray "Can we keep her?"

 the goofy picture

 Fiona

 Ivy

 Hemlock Fair Best of Breed!

showmanship

 Sweet face

 Proud Mama

 4H display

Master designer and his creation