Thursday, December 1, 2016

Our Life in Pictures.....


Sometimes life seems to get away from me!  Each day is full of its own work and I often get caught up in the day to day operations of our family.  I spent the fall taking care of the garden and preserving the bounty.  As we've moved closer to winter, I've spent time buttoning up the shouse against the cold and making improvements to the driveway so that we can maneuver it when the snow has drifted, creating one big field of white.  I've rearranged furniture, creating a nook for Sir Knight's reloading bench so that he can reload any time he wants without moving all of the furniture in the living room. Master Hand Grenade butchered a hog for a neighbor, while Miss Serenity turned pork into pork sausage.  And so, life continues.....in pictures.
 
Fall Bounty!

Peeling pears given to us by our neighbor Patrice

Soaking the pears in lemon water so they don't brown

I hung the pears on our clothes horse in the kitchen to dry


Loooong after a couple of days of drying!


Dried pears in a jar

 
Tomatoes and peppers out of the garden

Princess Dragon Snack stringing peppers for drying

Beautiful!

Master Hand Grenade plying his craft


Miss Serenity grinding pork sausage

Miss Serenity and Sir Knight

Ready for the freezer

Pretzels

Boiling in water and baking soda

Sprinkled with salt



29 quarts of turkey stock, 2 quarts and 3 pints of meat

On the shelf

Make shift markers to keep people out of our ditch

New weather stripping for the front door

In the living room where the reloading bench used to be

The new reloading area in our bedroom


Our newly rearranged bedroom


Have a wonderful week meeting each new day as it comes and doing what needs to be done.


13 comments:

  1. Hi Enola. It's been a long time since I've posted a comment so I'm overdue. Thanks for sharing this article and your preparation for the winter months. You live the lifestyle I desire. I know it hasn't been easy for you. I've read the articles over the years...the heartaches, hard work, disappointments and cold nights.

    I'm 62 and have been saving up to purchase land in a rural part of Ohio to hopefully do what you have accomplished. Too bad I didn't start this 20 years ago when younger but better late than never. I appreciate your site which shares experiences (good and not-so-good) you and your family have been through. It is an inspiration to me and surely thousands of others. God Bless.

    M. Palumbo

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  2. Thank you for sharing.
    I really appreciate you opening up about your life, the good and the difficult. Your life is lovely and inviting. Two things I hope I have accomplished in my own life.
    Merry Christmas to you and your family!

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  3. I welcome reading your posts whenever you have the time. Thank-you for maintaining this blog in the midst of the busy times with your family.
    I especially enjoyed the picture of the new loading bench - you are a lady after my own heart in making your home work for you. Cheers, SJ in Vancouver BC

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  4. I enjoy your blog and pictures. I noticed that although you own a Bosch mixer, you used a Kitchen Aid to grind your pork sausage. I have the meat grinder attachment for our Bosch and it is amazing. We butcher deer, beef, and elk just about every year. We borrowed a Kitchen Aid with meat grinder attachment when we first moved here and it had to have a cool down period every few minutes and we had to run the meat through twice to get it ground finely and every bit of tendon or fat had to be stripped. Then my sister gave me her meat grinder from her Bosch (which is more than 20 years old) and we run the meat through once, and never have to worry about cooling down or making sure that the fat and tendons are completely stripped from the meat. It is a much better grinder/machine in my opinion. I don't know if you were aware of the attachments for your Bosch or not. But I would have to recommend them all.

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    1. Tricia, we just used our meat grinder attachment for our Bosch a few weeks ago. Wow! We were impressed! I did order an additional disk with larger holes for grinding chili meat. We had thought of buying a LEM brand. So glad I won't need to! Blessings! Regina in TX

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  5. Hey there, I've been following your blog for years. You and Patrice have inspired some big changes. Glad to see this post. Merry Christmas.

    A.jones

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  6. So proud to see the young man becoming a butcher.
    What an honorable profession.

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  7. I really miss your posts. :(

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  8. I know you are busy, but I REALLY miss your calm, Jesus-loving voice on these dark winter nights.

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  9. I don't know how else to reach you but have been concerned since you haven't written anything in such a long time. Miss your posts very much. Hope all is well with you and your family. Ramona

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  10. Have ya'll stoped blogging?

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  11. Is this now a dead blog? No posts for months makes it seem so.

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  12. Glad to have you back. any recipe on the Pretzels?

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