::Small but Simple Living

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Since taking our little excursion before Thanksgiving.  I have fallen off the blogging track!  No reason really, though we have gotten a case of the crud over the holidays and been a little under the weather.  Other than that—I just haven’t had much to blog about.  I said I was going to try and keep from that—and write more often, eh well- brush myself off, get up and begin again.
I was looking through pictures of the trip. I wanted to share this old farmstead with you.  I was amazed at the preservation and the feel of the place.  It got me thinking about our move. What I want in a place.  Obviously—where ever we land is going to need some work.

This place though not for sale—it is historical after all.  The Parker- Hickman Farmstead or just google the name.  Lots of information on it.


Just for fun- I’m taking a look at it through a property buying venture point-of-view.   So looking at the above photo …

• First thing we’ll be needing.  Indoor plumbing!  That little bitty building to the left in this picture sets waaay back from the house--- and well, let’s just say, it’s not heated in the winter, and leave it at that!

• NEXT A FRONT PORCH- Since we’re looking to downsize We’ll probably have to build this-- I love a front porch for sittin’  -- it’s extra living space!  I use my front porch for rocking the babies, reading a book, drinking the coffee, crocheting the hand towels… all sorts of living is done on the front porch.  This one is complete with  HOMESTEAD HOOKS! (pictured below next to the screen door) and a “welcome, please come in”  sign! 

twig hooks

I always want my guests that come up to the porch to feel welcome!  AND… have a place to hang their jacket

*see those natural hooks?!

• BASICS::  Space/ Lighting/ Heating - A good sized living room.  With ample lighting.  This fireplace is nice for warmth, and the windows look like they might allow a little bit of breeze—but that little … HOODIS of a light just won’t do!  Maybe a couple of swags lamps …might brighten this room up a bit!  :)

While I do like quirky and vintage--  I would think a door knob, maybe glass would be pretty here and a little bit of white paint?  Though I have to appreciate the ingenuity of this knob and latch on this door leading up the stairs.



This picture was taken with a flash…because well, IT WAS DARK!   Like scary-movie dark.  Look at the treads on this stair case!  Very well worn.



The bedroom at the top of the stairs was one open room…and even darker.  I don’t think I got a good enough picture to show it.  But—I just pictured a room full of kids bouncing on the beds up there!  Like every night was a slumber party!

• CHARACTER- on my list of things in my next home —I don’t think I’d like a cookie cutter sort of house.

Onto the KITCHEN.

• MY NEW KITCHEN- Doesn’t have to be big. I have a good sized kitchen now, though it is an eat in kitchen, we still have ample room. This was probably an eat-in kitchen. I have never gotten accustomed to using a dishwasher.  So I DON’T NEED or want one of those. This house had a large summer kitchen.  Not ONE CUPBOARD or sink or drain-board. Imagine the possibilities! I would think the dishes might have been washed outside and the dishwater used to water the garden or tossed out into the yard.  ( I do that already too!)
• 

It had a large walk-in pantry for storing all sorts of food and rations for winter. Complete with a bench for sittin’  stored on the top shelf– I like sittin’.   :)

• The 1st floor BEDROOM:   If we had an 2 story house—I’d think I’d want a first floor bedroom--- unless of course, the view was spectacular from upstairs—honestly, I lean toward a single story home.  Can you tell?

There was a door leading out—I’d like that if there was a private patio on the other side!

 

and more Character!  ALL TYPES of paper glued to every surface, including the ceiling in this old farmstead. Most likely, insulation—but may as well be pretty too.



That’s the house!  In a nut shell.  That’s all I need…or want really.  Small and simple. 

Seeing how this family lived—so simply, calls to my simplistic ways so strongly.  Now If we can just find a piece of land… for not much money.  Maybe a tiny house!






I have all the other buildings to show you--- the granary, the chicken house, the smoke house and the two barns!  For us… a bit much.  But it’s nice to see and dream about simple times.

Stunning Nature and Lovely Bird Themed Wood Wall Hook

‘Til next time, Be Blessed!
           Patricia



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Trust in the LORD and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Delight yourself in the LORD; and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, and He will do it. ~ Psalm 37: 3-5

:: Found Our New Shed Pictures

I did some clean up on the computer over the weekend and Look!  I found my pictures of when the new shed was brought onto the property…in MAY!
It looks so great sitting here… though, this is NOT where I wanted it.



They brought it around the back and came up towards the house… I might have shown you these pictures, I think. The one on the right shows the skunk running across the back of the property while all this is happening!

:: Pallet Shed Residue--

We are still in the tearing down process of removing the pallet shed.(read here) I know you’d think it would be done and over with. Not with us. 
Our schedule with the kids everyday and regular household duties—just hasn’t permitted us long stretches of time to knock that shed OUT!
Once it’s done. The clean up around the old barn will begin; and hopefully things will start to shape up out there. Right now, the back yard—looks DISATEROUS!

“You Broody Chicken”

The wee little chicken she lost her mind
and she began to sit.

:: Other Than…::

JUST eating during an icy cold snap…I actually did do other things.

Like make sure the chickens had water to drink, instead of ICE in their bucket.
Layered more HAY in on top of the old stuff in the coop.  (click the link to read about the DEEP LITTER METHOD)

Inside the house--
I gave Buster a bath-
He got cold…

 
so I put this old sweater on him.  :)  I do not think he liked it.

I let him outside again today…and he went right outside and rolled around in something stinky!  Hmmmpph! He’s an ungrateful little pup. :/

The temps finally got up to about 47° by this afternoon…and I had 3 stir crazy Littles… we donned our jackets and caps and all went outside just to walk around the property and catch some fresh air…(no running, because of the cough two of them have).

I found what Buster had rolled around in way out back… (don’t worry I won’t show you a picture of it)
But I also found THIS!



See that dark green spot in the middle of that picture?
That is mashed down and crushed/bruised grass…



There are about 4 spots in this picture…  care to guess what that is from?
This is right outside my back door.
And it leads to this…



See these patches of obvious DISTURBED DIRT?  There be HOGS!!!
Yes! Those are Hog tracks and they are all over the back pasture. 

We've never in 18 years seen anything like this on our property.
Hogs are all over out here and it is pretty much open season on them.
T.H. wants to put one in the freezer so bad!  

I hope he gets a chance to do it. 

That would make his day…week, month YEAR!

Til next time, Be Blessed!



 
Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, [and] being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. ~ Philippians 2: 5-8

:: Wild Things::

Living in a rural setting... You come to see some wild things...
I haven't posted about life in the country lately; so I  thought I'd share a couple of WILD THINGS with you this week.

Labor day weekend we had a family reunion on T.H. side of the family. It was great seeing nieces and nephews and grand nieces and nephews... but what blew my mind was our daughters pet pig! 

YES!  we rode with her part of the way there... and when we got back to her house to pick up the car; this is what greeted us on the porch. His name... "Rabbit"

:: Happy Accidents-

I wanted to pop in and show you some of what I've been up to these past few days... 

Oh! and tell you I am so happy with my new arrangement with my dishes. :) 

I told you all about my plan to have my everyday dishes out in the open so I could enjoy them and USE THEM; along with my motive being ,in the end,  less dusting.  IT'S WORKING! 

I. LOVE. IT. 

:: Having another Gogh at Art

Do you ever just see something on line and say... "hey, I want one!"?  I know that could be dangerous. 

But, that's just what happened when I saw this chalk drawing at A Cultivated Nest ... I was feeling quite inspired!

So...naturally, I sent an email to Manuela...and she said, "Sure! use my picture."  Thanks Manuela for the use of your picture AND THE INSPIRATION. 

Seriously, I'd like a cow painting... 

But, hey... this will do! 

I took a picture of it...because well, it's a chalk board and next week there will probably be scribbles
or stick figure families
or flowers
or whatever else the Littles draw, while standing on a step stool... practicing writing their A-B-C's and 1-2-3's .

Also, it says, Eat More Chik'n... but you know how I love my chickens.

Corn-Flake


Right now I'm waiting to see who among them notices the drawing. Seriously, sometimes people The Honey, don't notice any changes for days!
Is it like that in your home?
Little changes that go unnoticed?



He is the rock; his work is perfect; for all his ways are judgement. He is a God of truth and without iniquity; upright and just is he. ~Deuteronomy 32:4 

::The Truth behind Vintage Dishes::

This is what I was working on today (Thursday, 29th August 20.13) when I got the text from my very pregnant daughter.

I started thinking a couple of weeks ago that I wanted to move my everyday dishes...
from behind the closed-door cupboard to this open shelf.  For a few good reasons really.

• My everyday dishes are vintage. Equals: fresh decor! 
• They are colorful... see above. 
• They match "Corn-flake" !!!  ...again good reason! 
• AND best of all!!! They won't need dusting---once I get them onto this shelf... these dishes won't need dusting except the top shelf (because I use them over and over they'll get washed before they get put back) 

But first a couple of things needed to happen. See the picture below? It is my cupboard a year ago.  

It is full of jams and jellies and pie fillings ...and a sloppy paint job.  :/

See this next picture?  With the lace trimmed pillow slip ---posing as a dresser scarf slash doily? 

It is a cupboard full of jams, jellies, and pie fillings with a sloppy AND INCOMPLETE paint job.

What needed to happen was: 

The act of dusting, which you can probably tell by now...I don't like doing; and the touch-up painting.  Check and Check. 

Then of course,

• leave paint brush to dry ---on top of open can of paint,  
• take trip to hospital---(an hour away!)
• hang-out for observation, 
• ride the elevator UP and DOWN with 4 year old, 
• watch shadow of disappointment settle onto daughter's face, (false alarm) 
• come home. 
• Put dishes on shelf
• Snap and Edit pictures... 

Do things like this happen at your house? Little projects...turn into 2 day projects? 

Do you have little things that you know aren't finished...but you take a  year to go back and 'touch up'?  

Now with the fresh white on the shelves and the sloppy green and yellow covered with white...all cut-in nicely; It just looks so much better...unless of course, you zoom out and look at the whole picture. 

It makes me wonder why I hadn't finished it already. 

As you can plainly see I'm not finished yet.  

Truth is, tomorrow is another day--- and LORD willing, I'll get it done then! :)

***edited to say:
Daughter is still very pregnant. Baby hasn't come yet. No distress. It was only a false alarm. We're just so anxious and the hospital is a long distance away. 

He is the rock, his work is perfect; for all his ways are judgement. He is a God of truth and without iniquity; just and right is he. ~Deuteronomy 32:4 

 

:: Frugal Fodder 25-- Fall Gardens and Water ::

With cooler than normal temps last week... I really got in the mood to garden again, after months of heat and grasshoppers.  I've been reading up on drought conditions around our state. One article I read talked about Texas farmers  planting a Fall crop of corn.  Those further south aren't going to because the water is just too scarce.

For us, living near the lake and getting the monthly reminders in our water bill keeps me more aware that water levels are low and capturing and using water wisely is important.
Our garden did NOT do well at all this year--due to 2 main factors, DROUGHT AND HOPPERS!

I ended up buying 3 big bags of "IFFY"Green beans at the grocer, that had been bagged up for $2 bucks a bag. We've eaten some already, they are delicious. I ended up with about 3 gallons...maybe 10 quarts or so. I brought them home snapped them, blanched them and froze them.

All the little  snips and bits went to the chickens.  For $6 bucks, I got quite a bit of green beans for T.H. and myself and the chickens got a little treat.

They loved it!

So because it (gardening) was not successful this year, I am going to try Fall Gardening again. Where we live...we average about 254 growing days a year. So I've read. I don't know for sure it that leaves out our MILD WINTERS or OUR EXTREME SUMMERS. Either way, we are making use of water, besides JUST washing the dishes( I use a dishpan NOT A DISHWASHER)

 I am taking my water out to the gardens, the rinse water goes on the plants, the soapy wash water...goes in a few places... around the foundation of the house (our ground cracks bad in the summer months) in the compost or on the grass and flowers. We try to have as little waste as possible.

This is what I've planted for the Fall so far:

• Collards,
• Kohlrabi,
• Green Beans,
• Sweet Peas,
• Wax Beans,
• Acorn Squash,
• CORN
• ... and Zinnias! 

A girl needs flowers. :)

You might also like to read: "Thinking about water Here"   and "Fall Garden Planted";
both of these articles are from 2 years ago. Our last Fall garden. Over all, they were successful! :)

Do you plant a fall garden where you live?
Have they been successful?

 

He is the rock, his work is perfect; for all his ways are judgement. A God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he. ~ Deuteronomy 32:4 

 

:: Ethel's Chicken Saddle Update ::

It's been about 2 1/2 weeks since Ethel donned her party dress and stepped out of the coop with her protective gear...new duds!  This is her yesterday at the watering hole. 

:: Frugal Fodder ~19~ Let's Talk Laundry ::

While out walking our property with the kids last Friday-- all along the back fence I was noticing how the trees are filling in with leaves and such. 

I had recently been researching Soap-nuts. 

Apparently this is something that can be used for sustainable lifestyles. 

We've known about these trees on our property for years. 

We've always called them China-berry Trees 

Only recently after reading many different Homesteading blogs  and this post @ LIVE READY NOW! have I discovered that what I think I have on our property is Soap-nut or Soap berry trees;  rightly called 

Western Soap-berry. Here in Texas.

There are several of these trees along the fence 

and a small stand of trees behind the barn,too.

My dad always said they were a 'trash' tree. 

Momma always warned us to 'NOT Eat them'

I remember when they bloomed that there was a sweet fragrance to them. 

They make a wonderful canopy and shade. In fact the Littles and I stood out there for quite sometime watching the cows. 

I went ahead and collected some of the soap nuts.

These trees are not blooming right now. It is said they will flower Spring or Summer 

with 'drupes'  coming after that. 

These that I collected were caught on branches; and dried already. 

Apparently the soap-nuts can be used to wash your laundry and shampoo your hair! 

I'm still researching but find this fascinating. 

Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a tree on your property that produces sustainable soap for your clothes?  What a savings that would be! I've been making homemade laundry soap for almost 6 years now...this would be a little bit easier, faster, and WAY! CHEAPER!

I've read that it takes the equivalent of about 5 soap berries in a linen or cotton pouch tossed into the washer and wash your laundry as usual. I understand that you have to remove the seeds from inside and let them dry. Like I said these have dried already and they have the seed inside. 

I'm not sure if they'll work; but I don't know why they wouldn't. 

The work best in HOT water to release the Saponin, which is basically the natural detergent inside the skin of the soapnut.

I'm interested if any of you have heard of this?

Have you tried it? 

Is it something you'd be interested in trying in your home? 

Or do you make your own laundry soap? 

Western Soap berry links. 

• Native Plant Projects
• Texas Beyond History
• Aggie Horticulture
• LIVE READY NOW!

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety upon Him; because He cares for you. ~1 Peter 5:6-7

 

:: Frost Bitten ...Now What? ::

So the week before last, I showed you pictures of things blooming in and around my yard. 

Then last week over night on Tuesday; we had a Spring freeze. 

I'm kind of feeling like a Sustainability FAILURE! 

I showed you one of my Wisteria bushes. 

Beautiful! 

This is what it looked like by mid afternoon; after the freeze. 

Brown and yucky. Still pretty fragrant over the next day or so... but definitely frost bitten. 

I don't think Wisteria is something for the diet...but still, I felt sorry to lose those blooms so early. 

This plant  brings the POLLINATORS and LOTS of them. So still... a loss. 

While it is brown and there were still some purple petals on the bush... it was still pretty even in it's frost bitten state. 

The other thing I showed you were my potatoes. 

They weren't huge yet...but the were just getting started good! 

See all the brown spots below? 

Yep. Frost bitten potatoes. 

We were going to EAT THOSE potatoes!!! 

This grape vine also was frost bitten. 

I didn't get a picture of the Corn. However, it did somehow survive. 

I hope to show you a picture of our corn later in the week. 

I still have a lot to learn about sustainability, homesteading...and prioritizing. 

Oh, and weather watching--apparently there is something to be said about the Old men at the Gas Station sitting around the diner, drinking coffee and talking about the weather. 

Other thing I noticed frost bitten were the tender new leaves on the fig tree! That is a hardy and well established tree, the larger leaves that had been there longer are still going strong. I expect the fig crop to do fine. Our new apple trees survived too. I attribute that to the good soaking the roots had previously gotten.

*Update...already! These pictures are a week old, so this morning after posting, working in the yard, I noticed almost every brown spot where there had been a potato plant...there is green! 

So will the potatoes send up more plants? The potatoes are coming back. 

 Do I need to till it under and start over?  Looks like NO. :)

Do you think the grapes will come back? Still not sure about the grapes.

I've got a little bit of research to do on these matters.
Any ideas and suggestions... GREATLY APPRECIATED.

Draw near unto God and He will draw near unto you. ~James 4:8