an update on the siding~ along with too many pictures!

clearly I've waited far too long to give you an update about the siding! way too many pictures, i know! sorry about that... hope you'll bear with me!

everyone was gone to Creation, so Dave and i started this side of the house by ourselves. it was the hottest day we've had all summer, and of course we were working on the sunniest and hottest side of the house. it was miserable. and hot. good thing i have these pictures to remind me, since that was the only hot summer day we're apparently going to get. it's been in the 40's at night for the last week.

even baby B was helping!


and make sure you keep an eye on those ladders~ and that baby!






here's the picture of the house with the day lillies in the foreground. still a ways to go, but we're getting there!






the front is nearly done, and Dave is putting up the shutters as he goes. amazing what a difference they can make!



before we can go any higher with the siding, Dave and G need to finish with the house wrap. but before they can do that, the insulation board needs to go on. but even before that, the last 2 remaining upstairs windows need to be replaced. G helps by taking those 2 ancient windows out.

the last little bit on the front of the house actually takes the longest. it's too high for the scaffolding to reach, so Dave completes the siding from the 32' ladder. each piece requires, at the minimum, three trips up and down the ladder. he was bone tired at the end of those days!

the two new windows are in (totally completing that project) and the scaffolding is moved over. they're ready to roll!

G worked on the siding a bit by himself one day. we really appreciate all his help, and his great attitude. he's got a real aptitude for these house construction projects, and shows an interest in all the things that Dave is working on. G will certainly have a well-rounded resume when he's ready to launch!

now the front is done, all the shutters are up, and even both the lights are installed over the front door. what a difference coming over the bridge!

except... now our house doesn't look anything like the photo at the top of the blog page! i guess I'll have to work on replacing it- but that might have to wait until next spring after we've put on the porch.

why don't you come on out and join me?

somehow I've committed myself to teaching a quilting class at the local Ben Franklin. (think small town Wal-mart. really small town.

no, smaller than that, even!)

for my first class, I'll be walking my students through piecing this Thimbleberries quilt, Colorful Garden.

even though I've been sewing for almost 25 years, and quilting nearly as long, I'm more than a little nervous about being the instructor for this class.

anyway... if you're local, and interested in piecing this quilt for yourself or a loved one (Christmas is only 166 days away!) I'd love to have a familiar face in the crowd.

here's the particulars:

august 4, 11, 18, 25

5PM - 6:30PM

cost: $40

sign up at the register, and you'll receive your supply list. additionally you'll get 20% off the fabric and stuff that you buy for the class.

hope to see some of you there!

here ends our paid advertisement. we now return you to your sporadically scheduled blog.

Monroe Produce~ old fashioned country entrepreneurialism

with our abundance of potatoes, we decided that the time has come to get our produce stand up and running.

in hardly anytime at all, Dave built this sturdy and beautiful stand for me. and with no fear of outgrowing it this year, we will use it for (hopefully) many growing seasons to come.

G helped me dig poatoes last night- both red pontiac and yukon gold. i made little bags out of our abundance of feed sacks, and we put out nearly 30 pounds of potatoes.



the most exciting part? we've already sold 2 bags in just a few hours!

a preview of coming attractions:

it's been so busy around here, that even though there are several things I'd like to tell you about, (with pictures to accompany) I've not had the time to sit down and upload or type.

but when I've got a moment, here's what's coming:

* we celebrated a birthday

* and a graduation

* there's a new business venture afoot

* the siding is almost done

* a creative birthday present

and especially for my local readers:

* I'll be teaching a quilting class at the Ben Franklin if you'd like to come

well, i hope that you at least found what you were looking for...

every once in a while when i don't have anything to do, i like to look at the referrals tab on my site meter. that tells me how people were referred to my site, and what they actually typed into their search engine.

that can make for some pretty interesting reading, let me tell you!

here are a few interesting highlights that I've gathered from the last several months, in no particular order:

*renovating a colonial house
* wood master outdoor furnace
*butler's pantry mud room
*hanging drywall
*tin back splash

pretty boring stuff there. but we'll move on to the slightly more interesting inquiries:

*wringer washer (in French, no less!)
*design pig tractor
*jolly green giant
*groundhog ate my beans
*Holstein deer
*high tunnel tomatoes
*yellow paint obsession

but by far, the most popular hit i get is from my little story about Goldilocks and the Three Bears. i have to admit that's one of my favorite posts, so if you haven't' read it, go ahead and take the time to peruse it now. i think you'll enjoy it!

however, my three favorite hits are these:

* Mennonite farmhouse
*blissful Christian family
*woodchuck crock pot recipes

now, let me just say that we are a Christian family, but unfortunately we're not Mennonite. we are certainly happy, but i wouldn't go quite so far as to say blissful! we have our struggles just like everyone else. but i would also need to say that we've never struggled so much that we've found ourselves eating wood chuck. in a crock pot, no less!

i would never do that to my crock pot.

and there was great rejoicing in the land, accompanied by the sound of gentle humming...

for a long time the little rocking chair sat in the hallway, waiting to be fixed. it just needed a little glue and a small screw, but life was so busy that it was easy to always find other things to occupy the time.

until just yesterday, when the wonderful daddy fixed the rocker! the little girls were so happy, and quickly found their dolly to rock.

first one little girl, and then the other would sit on the little rocker and hum the little tune.

it was the same little tune that Jenni's momma sang to her, and the same little tune that Jennifer sang to all her babies.

now there can be many more happy years of little girls rocking their dolly, and humming the happy little tune. the little rocker will once again be a part of happy childhood memories.

Thursday's Livestock and Garden Report~ Week 14

the rain is endless~ and the slugs are multitudinous!

however, in between raindrops we were able to go out last night and harvest our first potatoes! we put the pot of water on to boil, and then Dave and i headed down to the LG to see how those potatoes were growing.

turns out, they're growing rather well under there!

we dug both Yukon gold and red Pontiac for dinner. ½ hour later, we were eating them with butter and fresh chives. country living at its best!


we've been reading Pastured Poultry Profit$ by Joel Salatin. their farm, Polyface, Inc. is located in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. Joel has seemingly perfected the technique of raising pastured poultry, among other things. so in the true spirit of entrepreneurial homesteading, we ordered an extra batch of 50 Cornish Cross meat birds. (Bringing this year's grand total to 150) hopefully we can continue to perfect our own chicken homesteading, and along the way sell some high quality meat at a fair price.

if you are homesteading and raising chickens too, we would highly recommend this book. it's totally practical as well as full of useful and specific information.

the pigs are quite happy, and growing quickly. we move them almost daily and they now know that when we pull along side their pig tractor with the tractor, they will get moved to a fresh spot with new greens and mud to root around in. they get all excited and run to the front of the cage, snuffling and rooting as soon as the cage gets pulled forward even an inch. it's usually just a matter of a few hours (or less) and they have the whole bottom of their cage all rooted up!

Dave took this picture last night~ and doesn't she look cute? kind of like Wilbur. maybe we could make a sign to hang on their cage that says "some pig".


in other, less happy news, i will need to officially concede defeat against the woodchucks and rabbits in the lower garden. they have eaten all the cabbages, cauliflower, broccoli, beans and sweet potatoes. note to self: next year just plant things like tomatoes, onions and tomatoes down there. with maybe a few pumpkins and squash thrown in for good measure.

also, we are learning some things about the high tunnel. next year, we'll plant only 3 rows as opposed to the 4 rows that are in there now. it's very crowded inside, and we may end up just pulling the plants as we harvest them. also, the plastic that we used to cover the tunnel weathered and broke down from the sun's UV rays much quicker that we expected. there are some holes and slits in the plastic before even one season is over!

Dave keeps reminding me that this is our growing year, meaning that we're still on our learning curve and gaining experience as we go. i have to remind myself of this frequently as well. (especially when the critters eat my plants!) my goal is to in the next few years be able to operate a CSA farm/homestead. while I'm still not very adept at explaining the concept or advantages of this, I'm looking forward to the satisfaction that all the hard work will bring- feeding my family, and other families, too, with fresh nearly-organic food that we've grown right here!

i bet you didn't know that tupperware made chicken, did you?

many, many moons ago when all my children were small, i was invited to a Tupperware party. given the fact that all my children were small, i jumped at the chance to get out of the house and interact with adults. with the potential for real and meaningful conversations. and no interruptions to wipe noses or other body parts...

since all the children were small (did i mention that already?) there was no money for things like marvelous plastic leftover containers, but i did come away from that party refreshed~ both with companionship and a wonderful recipe that I've managed to keep track of through a flood, 4 moves and 2 more children.

i still use this recipe, and wanted to share it with you. i use it mostly after we butcher chickens. when I've cut off the wings, leg quarters and breasts, I'm left with a chicken carcass that still has meat on it, but not very much.

what i do then is plop about a dozen carcasses in the pressure cooker. i cook them for about an hour and then bone them all. the last time we butchered, we did 30 chickens, and i got enough chicken to make 8 of these meals. pretty good, considering that many may have just thrown that all away! so without further ado, here is the recipe. (and since I'm such a good blogger, i even took a picture of the plastic freezer bag for you. in case you couldn't visualize it all by yourself!)

Tupperware Chicken

Chicken Mix:

6 lbs. chicken

¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped

½ lb. EACH onions, carrots and celery (about 2 cups chopped)

1½ t. dried basil

basically, condensing the complicated Tupperware instructions, you just cook all this until the veggies are tender. if your chicken is already cooked, like mine was, just throw that in at the end. the recipe says that this will make 6 of the main dish recipes, which will serve 4 people each. don't believe them for one second. you'll have to adjust for your own family. now put your family sized chicken mix in a freezer bag, and when you're ready to make it, you'll have 6 recipes to choose from:

Candied Chicken

chicken mix

3/4 cup maple syrup

1/3 cup ketchup

1/3 cup white vinegar

place chicken mix at bottom of skillet. (slightly thawed, i would think) mix remaining ingredients and pour over chicken. heat on stove until hot. serve over rice.

Orange Chicken Delight

chicken mix

1 can mandarin oranges, drained

¼ t. garlic powder

1/3 cup orange juice

1 T soy sauce

¼ t. dry mustard

1 T cornstarch

place chicken in bottom of baking dish. top with mandarin oranges. mix remaining ingredients, and pour over chicken mix. bake until hot. serve over rice.

Mexican Chicken

Chicken Marinara

Hearty Chicken Salad

Chicken with Dressing and Veggies

these two recipes are the ones that i use the most, but if you'd like to try some of the others, I'd be happy to share! just let me know, and I'll type them out in the comments section.

A day of rest!

last week the planets were all aligned perfectly, and since it was the third Friday after the second Sunday we went canoeing and kayaking.

we all had a great time in the susquehanna river.

we went exploring, taking the time to look at pretty rocks and disgusting bugs...

we crossed log bridges...

we played in the river...

and with each other.

we cooked hot dogs over an open grill

and enjoyed a meal together as a family once again.

we celebrated M's birthday with a smore cake and a match candle!

we brought presents along for M~ catch phrase...

curlers...

and skirt hangers...

it was a relaxing and refreshing day~ one that we all enjoyed very much!

let's just pretend it's Thursday, shall we?

I've been super busy, and haven't taken the time to post. so here's a giant update, compete with scads of pictures.

we had a big gardening day this week, and all the children were helping. baby B helped me pinch and harvest some of my basil. it looks like she's gathering some dirt clods as well! (as if we don't already have enough mud and dirt inside the house!)

N is aggressively whacking down the Japanese knotweed. we are slowly winning the battle, and pushing back this noxious weed further and further from the potatoes.

here G is working at further staking the fence i have for the cucumbers, beans, summer squash and winter squash. i also planted nasturtiums and marigold to help prevent bugs from eating these plants.

although at the rate we're going, bugs should be the least of our worries. i mentioned before that either bunnies or groundhogs ate off nearly all of the cabbages, broccoli and cauliflower. i have been spraying them diligently with the irish spring mixture, sometimes twice a day. many of the plants had been making a valiant come back. however, in spite of my best efforts, the animals seem to have found the row again and are systematically chewing off the plants once more. we seem to be approaching the time to admit defeat. (either that, or time to get out the .22!)

A found a toad in the garden, and she and B spent some time looking at it. B was contented to just look at the toad; she didn't want to hold it.

the potatoes are blooming! soon we'll have fresh potatoes for dinner. can't wait!

the buckwheat that G and i planted as a cover crop/green manure is doing well. it's about 6-8" tall, and growing quickly. I'd like to plant 2 cover crops of this before the fall frost. one advantage of the garden being in the bottom land down by the creek is that we don't get the frosts like everyone else. we have a slightly longer growing season since we are protected by the warmth of the creek.

all 3 girls helped weed. M is working on the carrots.

A and B are weeding along the landscape fabric in the cabbages...ect. row.

with every one's help, i feel that we're able to keep up with all the work that needs to be done. that's a good feeling, but I'm not sure how long it will last! right now, we're mostly just tending the garden; there is no harvesting or preserving to do.

here's the LG, photo taken from the other end.

the ducks have moved to a pen outside, and are in fact Dudley's neighbors. the ducks' feathers are starting to come in, and once they are fully feathered we'll consider letting them free range. right now they are happy with the fresh greens that i give them several times a day.

a few weeks ago, i decided that i would like a sheep. both as a pet for the girls, and as a green lawnmower to help keep some of the more hilly areas of the lawn trimmed. Dave and i spent several Monday afternoons at the livestock auction hoping to get a sheep.

unfortunately, they were either rams, too big, or sold in lots of 4 or more. so no sheep for the girls.

but we did come home with a guinea pig! for 50 cents! (that was my main reason for buying it. because it was so cheap. and nothing encourages a substantial commitment of time and money over the next 5-8 years like a cheap start-up cost!) talk about an impulse buy...

anyway... the GP has been dubbed Emma, and A and B both help take care of her.



moving right along...

the high tunnel tomatoes are getting ginormous! I've staked them 4 times already, and if i hadn't run out of stake height, I'd still be staking! hopefully we'll have tomatoes soon. one of the varieties that we planted in the high tunnel was early girl, so fresh tomatoes may soon be on the horizon.

the UG tomatoes are doing well, too, even though they're not nearly as tall. here is another endless job of staking...

and remember, these tomatoes were bought at the same time and were the same size. the only difference was when and where they were planted.

the Kentucky wonder pole beans are up, and so far so good. (last year the groundhog ate nearly all our beans!) i have the beans planted around the base of a tomato cage, since I'm obviously not going to be using the cages this year. with the help of a stake and zip ties, there are 2 tomato cages on top of each other. I'm pleased with this idea, and hope that it works as well as I'm imagining.


that's it for the *sort of* weekly livestock and garden report. there's been lots of rain, so sometimes it's a challenge to get out in the garden between raindrops. but since everything is growing so well, i can't complain.