Our Homesteading Quest

You've Got To Be Kidding

I've been pretty excited lately. I finally got a grain mill! I've really been wanting to grind my own wheat for quite some time and now I can! Oh what an amazing machine it is! I also bought this wonderful book:

Yesterday I used a recipe in this book to make six loaves of bread. It was so easy and delicious! Last Christmas I recieved the other amazing little machine that made this possible, my mixer. I would not recommend you try making six loaves at once unless you have a mixer that you know can handle it, or superhuman strength to do it yourself. Of course, you don't have to make six loaves at once, and you don't even have to grind your own wheat to use this wonderful little cookbook. Although, it will give you a lot of information if you ever decided you might want to start. Including, the use of various mixers, mills, and other methods and how to chose the proper equipment based on your baking needs.

Lori tells you how to use any one of her "Master Recipes" to make anywhere from 1-6 (1 1/2 pound) loaves of bread. She also includes numerous other recipes that you can make with the same 1 1/2 pound ball of dough.

Because the baking went so well yesterday, I decided to use the same master recipe to make several other recipes today. I started off with a pizza for the kids. It was very yummy and gone within minutes. Followed quickly by dough stuffed with pepperoni and cheese and then rolled in Parmesan cheese "monkey bread". These were wonderful dipped in pizza sauce. With what would have been the third and fourth loaves, we made donuts. These were deep fried and then coated half with a plain glaze and the other half with a chocolate glaze. Needless to say, an absolute favorite! The fifth ball of dough was supposed to make pigs-in-a-blanket. However, they are still sitting in my oven.

I kept wondering why the pigs-in-a-blanket were taking so long so I put my hand in the oven. It wasn't very warm and I knew that wasn't a good sign. I then touched the baking sheet, and no, I didn't get burnt. GREAT! No more oven.

Along with a useless new whole wheat baking obsession, I now have 18 large pigs-in-a-blanket wasting away in the oven and a dozen unbaked hamburger buns sitting on the counter. This is definitely NOT good! However, I guess I should be thankful that this happened today instead of at Thanksgiving.

Maybe I can barter with the neighbors for, in addition to their pans, the use of their ovens too, lol.

(In case you didn't see this on Facebook or Twitter, this is what I had posted yesterday: I made 6 loaves of wheat bread tonight. Yummy! I had to barter with the neighbors the use of their pans for hot fresh bread in return, lol.)

Now if only the book could tell me how to fix my oven. Anyone have an oven they are no longer using?

Early Deer Season

Someone at work had a bow they were no longer using because they had purchased a new one, so they graciously offered it to Mark. He gladly accepted. He knew he would have to give bow hunting a try now. Mark took some vacation time from work last week so he could go hunting with his new bow. It was his first time ever to go bow hunting.

He saw a big buck opening day that was too far away to take a shot at. He watched all week, but never saw him again. What he did see was these two other deer every day. Finally, by Thursday (last week), he had decided that the younger, smaller two would have to do. He got the doe first and the buck three minutes later! Way to go Mark! 

 

We've had two delicious meals out of them already and a freezer full more to go! And deer season just started... 

Happy Birthday Marina

 Happy 2nd Birthday my beautiful, sweet, baby girl! I love you!!

Look What I Did

Last night I was trying to prepare for this morning's Dr.'s visit. I was feeling very frustrated at the lack of comfortable choices in my closet. I decided to go to my craft room and see what I could come up with. I have no patterns for maternity clothes, not that they make any that I'd like to actually try. I started digging through my clearance remnants that I've picked up over time at Joann's and came to a stretchy/cotton/knit? sort of fabric. I don't really know what it is made of, but it feels soft like butter and I paid less than $2.00 for it. I knew I couldn't go wrong. The fabric wasn't flat off the bolt like most. It was in a tube shape so I figured I could come up with something with no seams.

I pulled the fabric on up over my huge belly and then started pinning so that it would taper from the biggest part of my belly up towards my breasts. I topstitched where I had the pins. Next, I folded over the top edge of the fabric twice, pinned, and then topstitched all the way around the top, 1/4" from the top edge. Then, I cut off 5" from the bottom of the shirt and then took that 5" piece and tucked it down the front of my new top and pinned where I wanted the front straps. I topstitched those on over the stitching that was already there. Lastly, I had my lovely assistant, Stacey, pin the back straps in place and then I topstitched those in. When I was finished and all was well, I cut the only piece of discard material off the shirt and that was what was left after the back straps were sewn in.

Because of the type of material, I didn't have to hem anything! Not the bottom of the shirt or even the straps! I'm completely in love with my new shirt! It's so comfortable, and it actually covers all of me including my ever expansive abdomen. The only thing that would make it even better is if it was a color other than white. Which is why I stopped by Joann's on my way home from the Dr.'s and picked up the same fabric for $3.50 a yard, because I had a coupon, in red!

Oh, and excuse the horrible picture. My assistant, while good at pinning, can't take a decent picture of her mother to save her life.

Pumpkin Costume

I always seem to wait until the last minute to make my kids Halloween costumes. This year, I decided not to do that to myself and as it happens, our trip to Goodwill yesterday yielded a cute little Pottery Barn spider costume for Lil' Mark for only $2.99! The hat was missing, but who cares? I can easily make one of those. I made the mistake of showing my great find to the kids yesterday and of course, they all decided that they all needed a costume right away as well. Miles was VERY insistent that he needed a pumpkin costume and that I needed to make it now. I managed to hold him off until after church today, but that was as far as I was going to get. 

I searched, and searched, online hoping to come across a tutorial for making a pumpkin costume, but could find nothing that really interested me. I was going to have to face my fabric wasting fears and just wing it. Luckily, my craft room holds a decent stash of felt that I bought during one of Joann's huge fabric sales last year. So I pulled out the orange and black felt and in less than an hour...viola! A pumpkin costume! All for under $2.00.

WOW! I forgot how much I love working with felt!

  

It's about as basic as you can get, but as you can tell by the silly pose, he's very proud. Even though he's upset that I haven't made the stem hat to go with it yet.

I was going to do a tutorial on how to make this, but my camera battery was dead and only just now charged where I could even take a picture. I don't think one actually needs a tut though because it was just so darn easy:

Miles has a chest measurement of about 20" so I doubled the width of the felt to about 40". I also measured about where I wanted it to fall on him while still having easy access to go to the bathroom. Which, for him, was about 20". So I cut out a 40"x 20" piece of orange felt. I then sewed up the short 20" side. I was left with a 40" circle to which I folded over the top and bottom one inch each, and sewed all the way around each leaving an inch open to insert 1/2" elastic in both the top and bottom. I was worried that I would have to figure out a way to stuff it, but the felt is stiff enough that the elastic causes it to poof (is that a word?) out and stay that way! Yay! I love quick and simple. Because felt doesn't fray, I just cut oval holes where his arms needed to come out. Lil' Mark designed the face and the Stacey drew it on the black felt and cut it out. Again, because felt doesn't fray, I used my sewing machine and top stitched the facial features on to the costume and was done!  (I hope the instructions were clear, if you're so inclined to make such a basic Halloween costume. If they weren't, just let me know and I'll explain it better.)   

I do still have to make the hat, but then we will throw on a black, orange, or green sweatsuit, depending on what I find when I pull out their winter clothes, and be out the door! 

Best of Friends

We had company last month. I'd love to post pictures of the wonderful time we had, but Rhonda totally freaks out when I try to post pictures of her. That's ok, I'd rather post this one instead! So there! HA!  

 

This is four of my kids and two of hers. They all had such a great time. Look at how sweaty they are! They played so hard, and everyone got along great. They were like old friends, lol. 

We miss you guys! 

I've Created A Monster

I haven't had a chance to work on any of my projects today because I had to go to the discount/outlet fabric store to buy more tulle in a variety of different colors. You see, thinking that it would be a cool project for Halloween, I taught my oldest daughter (who's almost 18) how to make a tutu. However, she's decided that a tutu is her kind of fashion statement and that she wants to make them in all different colors. I guess that's what happens when you home school your children. They could care less about peer pressure or conforming. They are not afraid to be their own person or do their own thing. 

  

I must admit that I think it looks pretty cute too. Hubby thinks we've both gone crazy. 

While I was at the fabric store I picked up a couple of different fabrics for these as well:

 

Grocery totes! They are easy to make and very handy to have around. I LOVE this chicken fabric! It's one of my favorites. I had a lady almost tackle me in the store over this fabric...and I'm pregnant! I made this tote a couple of weeks ago in honor of Stacey's chicken, Lunch. The first chicken we've lost out of our flock. NO! She did NOT become lunch. She just died of old age I reckon. We will miss her and her eggs. Thankfully, we still have 10 others faithfully laying. I really do love my chickens!

Another Dress

I'm proud to announce that I have another project finished. I started this dress about this time last year. I had the top completed, the bottom cut out and ready to be gathered, and then (as usually happens with us crafters) it just got put away . It is a pull over dress for Marina. The top is knit fabric and the bottom is a cotton kitty fabric. It was the first time I had ever really sewn anything with knit and it was fairly easy! I used Children's Corner Pattern #268 Cece.  Of course, it doesn't really fit her as a dress anymore. It's more like a swing top with a 3/4'' sleeve. Oh well...

  

I'm still thinking that it might have something to do with not having a serger. I wonder what my darling hubby thinks?

Shirring

Gardening season (for us) is just about over. As a result, I find myself spending more and more time in my craft room. I've also taken a couple of classes lately. One was machine applique and the other was on shirring. I'm glad I now know how to do the machine applique, but for me the class on shirring was much more practical. Shirring is so easy! I can't believe I was in the dark for so long. My feelings are hurt.

Here's a top I made for Maddy during class. It is shirred at the top. It's very basic and was completed, from start to finish, in our short little two hour class. I was supposed to be making a skirt, but after I put it together I just couldn't see this fabric as a skirt. It had to be a top. What can I say? I'm such a rebel...

I'm not sure that I like the ribbon as ties for this top, but I was improvising. Besides, Maddy loves it! Other than cats, Pink Flamingos are one of her favorite animals.

Here is a dress that I made for Marina. It's the Pink Fig Pattern (Please, please! If you're going to your local fabric shop and asking for this pattern...say the name slowly. I was rather embarrased when I realized I had just asked for the Pink Fag Pattern.). Of course, it could just be the Pregnancy Induced Stupidity (That's a technical term from my doctor thankyouverymuch!). Unfortunately, it's not the first time I have said something rather regretful, while pregnant. NO smart comments at this point!

I digress... 

This is Marina in her Pink Fig Pattern #1 The Lily Top

  

It's shirred at the neck and sleeves. It's supposed to be shirred at the waist line too, but I didn't on this dress because it would hide all of the little sayings (again back to the rebel thing I think) This pattern is super cute and easy and also includes a sash and a kerchief. I didn't make them for Marina, for this dress, but I probably will when I make a dress for Maddy. I will be making a lot more dresses with this pattern. Now if only I had a serger.... It sure would make sewing these go even faster! 

Thankful Thursday! (or) Saved!

Little Mark got saved Thursday July 23rd, during VBS! He was baptized that Sunday during Family Night at our church. Because they were doing the skits from VBS week, the kids that were being baptized that day had to be baptized in a horse trough, lol. Mark said it was VERY cold!

I'm so proud of you Mark!

 

Praise God!