Will the Real Mary Poppins Please Step Forward...

Yes, it is true.  I am the real Mary Poppins!  This was me at my grandparent's house and of course my brother was photo bombing my picture.  I had the umbrella, the dress and the hat.  My grandmother's pointy toe shoes were also often worn, although I apparently went the bare foot route on this particular day.  I would pretend for hours that I was indeed Mary Poppins.  It is these kinds of memories that bring me such joy!  All I needed to entertain myself was a closet full of my grandmother's clothes.  This is what inspires me to provide a lifestyle that is slower and more back to the basics with my family.  Living in the country provides opportunity for creativy and imagination to be set free.  The country is the ultimate playground!

A co-worker was telling me the other day they read a study that said children spend 50 percent less time outside than in the 1990's.  That is an alarming fact.  Since education is my career, I see the results of children not spending time outside playing with whatever they can find.  When it comes to writing, this generation of students does not have the imagination that we eighties students had.  Creativity and imagination are being lost.  No amount of technology can replace making a fort out of wood leftover from a construction site, making a dirt maze and home for your pet gerbil, or dressing up and pretending that you are someone else. 

You don't have to live on a farm to cultivate creativity and imagination.  You just need to encourage our younger generations to put down their devices and experience play the old fashioned way. 

Healthy New Year!

With the start of the New Year, many make resolutions. These resolutions could include spending more time with family, exercising more, or eating healthy. If you have resolved to eat more healthy foods this new year, try eating farm-fresh eggs!

We love having chickens, not just for the entertainment, but also for the nutritional value they and their eggs provide for us. 

Unlike when eating the eggs from a grocery store, we know exactly where our eggs are coming from. We know how old our eggs are. We know what our chickens are eating and how much time they are spending outside. Can you say the same thing of the eggs you buy at the store?

A New Year Full of Promise and Progress

Becoming self sufficient is a process and a journey.  I want to know where our food is coming from, and I would really like to get away from spending hundreds of dollars a week at the grocery store!  It is a fun challenge to become self sufficient and live a life that is back to the basics.  I am not an extremist though.  I still plan on using toilet paper and taking showers in whatever length they need to be for me to feel clean.  No sharing of the bathtub water here.  However, there are things that we can do that will help us live a healthier life style.  I just don't mean physical health either.  Our goal is that our family will be spiritually, physically and mentally healthy! 

2013 was a great year for us because we were able to realize our dream of owning a small farmette!  God has been good to us indeed.  We are looking forward to what 2014 will bring.  Our goal of becoming self sufficient still weighs heavy on my heart.  It helps to reflect on what has been accomplished in a year's time.  Although we are on our way to becoming self sufficient, we still have a long way to go.  This is what we accomplished in 2013:

• Purchased 10 acre farm
• Purchased laying hens (we are currently getting 2 dozen eggs a day)
• Put in a wood stove to heat our house (It is only heating part of the house)
• Planted apple trees
• Planted berry bushes
• Planted and harvested a small test garden
• Set up chicken coop and surrounding area
• Installed storm doors for the house to help with utilities
• Bought a new dishwasher and oven
• Began setup of outdoor kitchen

Goals for 2014

• Put in a much larger garden and can enough fruit and vegetables for a year
• Make our own cleaning supplies, including soap (Maybe to sell)
• Test products for future Farmer's Market booth
• Purchase more laying hens and hens for meat
• Expand and grown our chicken coop
• Set up the rainwater system
• Put in another wood burning stove or heater to eliminate need for gas
• Plant more apple trees
• Plant more berry bushes
• Make more homemade foods (get away from processed)
• Reduce our grocery bill significantly

We thank you, friends, for following us this past year, and we hope you continue to do so this coming year!

Family Traditions and Pinterest

For our family Christmas is about the birth of our Lord and Savior and spending time with family.  Over the years my husband and children and I have enjoyed many traditions.  Part of that tradition is reading from Luke in the Bible about the birth of Jesus.  Each year we go to a Christmas tree farm and cut down our own tree.  We always open one gift on Christmas Eve and we buy the crackers that contain really cheap gifts and paper crowns.  My daughter and I always have a Christmas movie marathon.  We love a mix of the old movies such as, "White Christmas," and new ones like, "Elf." 

We decided to start a new tradition this year.  My nieces and my daughter and I made Christmas yummies using mostly pinterest recipes.  With the exception of the fudge and the chai tea truffles, we consulted Pinterest.  All of the recipes turned out yummy and we had a great time!  I think it is important to have family traditions that can be passed down through the generations.  It is never too late to start a new tradition.  Please feel free to comment on family traditions that you enjoy.  We would love to hear from you.  Here are some pictures of our special day making new memories and starting a new tradition.    Happy New Year everyone!

 

 

 From left to right, Kaitlyn, Courtney, Alli and Me!

 

 

 We kept the computer near by so we could check and double check recipes.  We made peanut butter balls, peanut butter, chocolate rice krispies, chai tea truffles, fudge, cranberry bark (our own recipe made up of leftover ingredients) and a yummy almond cookie. 

 My daughter and niece getting ready to dip the chai tea truffles in almond bark.  We have found that almond bark holds up better than white chocolate when heated.  White chocolate can seize up and can be difficult to fix. 

 For lunch I made my version of a Chipolte bowl.  I make white rice and add cilantro.  I heat up a can of pinto beans and cook some chicken with fajita seasoning.  Then we add whatever toppings we want.  Usually the toppings consist of lettuce, rotel, sour cream and of course cheese.  It doesn't taste exactly like the real deal, but it is a close second and when you live out in the country you don't always have access to restaurants. 

 We made a really terrific Christmas punch recipe off of pinterest.  It was made up of cranberry juice, orange juice, pineapple juice and ginger ale.  It was delicious and refreshing because baking is hard work. 

Double Yolkers!

We have a hen that has been laying double yolk eggs for months.  The last few days she has been only laying every other day.  This is an unusual event.  My husband found articles with people getting 6 in a row and the odds of that are 1 in a trillion, yes that is a trillion, that could put the odds of finding a dozen double yolkers at 1 quadrillion.  The person that we sold a dozen of these eggs to, all 12 eggs were double yolkers.  He took this picture and emailed it to my husband.  I have trying to put at least one double yolker per dozen for those that are purchasing eggs from us.  This is just another reason for buying local  farm fresh, free range all natural eggs!

First Christmas at the Farm 2013

We are so excited to spend our first Christmas on Buttercup Farm!  It has made this Christmas special just being here.  As I type this I am smelling hickory wood being burned in our wood stove.  It is so cozy in our little farmhouse.  Cozy means challenging decorating.  I really had to pick and choose what decorations to use this year.  I am sure I will decorate totally different next year.  I mainly decorated the family and dining area.  I hope to exapand the decorating to other areas of the house next year.  On this post I am sharing some pictures of the Christmas decorating.  I hope you enjoy the tour. 

 I had to insert a picture of our sweet puppy sadie!  This is our first Christmas in 10 years without our beloved Jack Russell Lucy.  Having Sadie has softened that loss.  She is a sweetie and a cutie!

 My daughter and I made the burlap garland off of pinterest post.  It was more difficult than I thought it would be, but the result was worth it.  I did the top garland which is a little tighter.  Alli made the lower one.  I like her look better.  After we purchased the burlap garland (2 rolls) from T.J. Maxx, we went back a few days later and all the burlap was gone.  I wish I would have bought them out.  We didn't have enough to go around the entire tree.  We still love it though!  The burlap has musical notes on it. 

 This Christmas village is part mine and part my mother's.  I love the size of this village.  It fits perfectly on my buffet which is filled with our movies.  The village has a church, school, library and houses.  It is so beautiful it makes me want to live there. 

 I love snowmen.  I have collected them for years.  This is one of my favorite figures.  These snowmen look like they are having a blast as they sled down a hill. 

 This is not the best picture and is a little bit of a hodge podge, but I wanted to show off the giant ornaments that my husband accidentally bought me this year.  He bought some pallets at an auction and we found these gems in a box.  I have four giant bulbs.  I put three in this cermaic bowl that was given to me by a friend.  (She found it at a thrift shop)  I have one more on the fireplace mantel. 

 These little sheep were part of my mother's collection.  She left them out all year and so do I.  Next to them is a lovely birdhouse.  We do a Christmas exchange at our work every year as part of our Christmas party.  Everyone purchases a 5.00 gift and wraps it up.  Then we all take numbers and pick gifts or steal from others.  It is like a white elephant only we purchase nice gifts.  I purchased this bird house and stole it back because I loved it so much.  So, basically I stole my own gift back!  Fun!!

 I know decoraters all over the world are cringing because I have a recliner in my picture.  Well, we live like real people and comfort is important.  I love my recliner!  It may not be pretty, but it is comfy.  I love having the Christmas tree right next to me.  We actually had it in another area of living room, but my husband didn't like the lights shining in his face.  I however, love the lights.  I sit and stare at the tree and it makes me happy!  I see ornaments from the span of my life.  I have seen a lot of posts from friends and family with gorgeous Southern Living like trees.  Mine is definately not of that caliber, but I can't stand the thought of not putting meaningful ornaments on my tree. 

 Some might think my troll elves are ugly.  I beg to differ.  They are whimsical and fun!  Everyone should have a bit of whimsy in their live!  Another T.J. Maxx find.

 This was my mother's mouse and lantern.  I love this mouse.  I don't like the real ones, but this one is one of my favorite Christmas decorations. 

 My friend gave me this plate as a house warming present.  It fits my decor perfectly and says it all.  We do serve the Lord and thank Him everyday for His wonderful blessings!  The true meaning of Christmas for us is the birth of Christ.  Without Him we would be nothing!  Every Christmas we read the Christmas story from the Bible before we open up gifts.  It is important for us to instill in our children the true meaning of Christmas!

 Christmas Goose!

First Christmas on the Farm

We are really excited to have our first holidays on the farm.  Thanksgiving was fabulous.  We were a little pressed for space, but it was cozy and the time with family was precious.  The only thing that could have made it better would have been if my mother could have been here.  She passed away a little over a year ago.  Even though she wasn't here in person, I believe she was here in spirit.  One of the things that helps me feel close to family members that have passed is having things that they loved displayed in my home.  Hubby calls these things clutter; I call them memories.  I have a book case that my grandfather built, a large wooden carved white goose that my mother always displayed on her table, her collection of sheep, my grandmother's and great-grandmother's quilts, and I have my great-grandmother's dresser and my grandmother's dresser.  I even have my grandfather's lunch pail that he took to work every day! I am not a materialistic person, but I love these things because they were loved by those that I love!  As I decorated our cutie pie, smallish Christmas tree this year, I had to make a lot of decisions about what ornaments to use.  The ornaments below were a no-brainer for me.  My mother made the Mr. and Mrs. Claus ornaments, and we had them on our tree every year when I was growing up.  My tree would not be complete without them.  Our Christmas tree is a beautiful blend of past and present.  My daughter and I made a new memory this year by making the burlap garland.  I have seen a lot of my friends and family post their trees on facebook, and they are beautiful.  They could be in a magazine they are so perfect with all matching bows, ornaments and colors.  For me, though, it wouldn't be Christmas if I didn't have the lovely mix of eclectic ornaments from the many years of collecting!  From our family to yours, Merry Christmas and God bless you this holiday season!