Soooo...What's Been Going On?

Good Afternoon all!  It's been another busy chapter in the WoodsFam's Life.  We've worked on cleaning up and clearing our yard, working with animals, organizing the house, and cleaning (s-l-o-w-l-y).

Our yard life is a work in progress, always.  We've managed to work on some of our bigger projects (our "hoard" pile) and a few smaller, like getting some animal areas bettered.  Kyleigh and Lucy have been working with the horses and we've seen a small (yay!) improvement in temperament and cooperation.  This goes FAR for us!  It's been hot, for the most part, and we've had a few storms.  Got some bigger hail last week, along with some damage to our trucks, camper and roof....yes, that darn roof again!  I will just never understand why the previous owner shingled when it would have been much, much better to put a metal roof on.  Seriously, the cost difference really isn't all that much but the benefits of metal are so many.

As for our house, I've been trying to stay in the air conditioning, mid 90s is pretty hot up here where I wear shorts and flip flops for 50*F days.  We I am trying to wrangle this place up a bit but I'm afraid the assistance is less than consistent, in direct contrast to the complaining.  Ugh.  But, I am pushing forward and hopeful we will get some sort of cooperation.  I admit, I tend to run out of steam between working and "nagging" the children.  I was able to steam clean my carpets, Thank You Lord!  It looks like I am gonna be saving up to buy another steam cleaner as renting one would pay for it within 6 months or so.  I think I managed to bring up a hefty amount of gross to the top of the carpet in addition to what hit the dump bucket.  I think I may need to steam once a week for awhile to get it under control...

I am still working on photos, I need to watermark before I post.  I should have several but they will be the last.  My camera got dropped and no longer works.  5 Years was a pretty good run, I guess.  So, maybe I'll save some more and cross my fingers for one of the "better" models.  Always something exciting.

What are your summer projects?  Share 'em here!

Have a Wonderful Afternoon.

~Ash

Homemade Coffee Creamer

Hello Monday

Today we are venturing into the kitchen again with some more DIY.  That's right, y'all, we are gonna make some Coffee Creamer!  I stumbled into this adventure by accident.  The other night I made some donut holes and had three different "flavors."  Powdered sugar, of course, chocolate and cinnamon sugar.  With the leftover mix I decided to try it in my coffee as a sweetener and it was pretty good.  It got me to thinking how much I like to flavor my coffee and creamer is ridiculously expensive, IMO.  I mean, who doesn't want to save money???  I also like to see what I can make with the ingredients I have available in the house. This is super simple and a wonderful way to use up the powdered milk I have left from bread making.  There's always so stinkin' much...

Gather Ingredients:

Dry Milk

White Sugar

Brown Sugar 

Powdered Sugar

Cinnamon

Cocoa

I then put everything in the blender (recipes follow), blend and voila, creamer.  It would be just as easy to put it in the container and shake, shake, shake...

Cinnamon Sugar:

1 Cup Dry Milk

1/4 Cup White Sugar

1/4 Cup Brown Sugar

1/4 :Powdered Sugar

1 TBLS Cinnamon

Mocha:

1 Cup Dry Milk

1/4 Cup Cocoa

1/2 Cup White Sugar

Now, these are the measurements I used and these are the first batches.  I will make these again but some changes will be made.  On the cinnamon sugar, I would use more brown sugar (for a caramel flavor) and less cinnamon.  For the mocha I think more cocoa would be better.  I have discovered the addition of extracts give me so many more variations.  I'm a huge amaretto fan so, of course, almond extract would be fantabulous.  The possibilities are endless.  I would most certainly make a bigger batch but I just wanted to fill these little jars for now.  Yes, I am going through a glassware/storage phase and I LOVE it!

So, I hope this gives you a start.  I would love to hear what other flavors/recipes you may have.  Please, feel free to share in the comments section.  I feel like I talk to myself most of the time, which I do in reality, but it would be great to get some feedback.  

Here's to a Great Week!

~Ash

Resolutions

Good Afternoon.

Today I will be revealing a little about my New Year's resolutions.  In the grand scheme of things I am hoping to change my lifestyle a bit (LOT).  Every day seems to remove a little more "city" from this girl and add a little more "country."  For those who aren't "schooled" in WoodsFam history, here is a quick background.  Brian and I married in 1997.  We have three children.  We have lived in four different states and one other country, thank you Air Force.  We've been Blessed to see so much of the world and we take things away from each place we live/visit.  We are Catholic, Catholics who have a hard time making it to mass.  No excuses, it's just how it's been lately.  I am a SAHM and have been since the birth of our first, Kyleigh.  We have learned to cherish our privacy.  We enjoy time with family and friends.  We are looking forward to Brian's retirement and the next stage of our lives...full time hobby farming.  We have been on this little nugget of land (20 acres) since May 2011

As for the first of resolutions I am working to maintain this blog on a regular basis to record our history.  To share with any and all who wish to read.  I appreciate you all and thank you for taking time out of your lives to read a little about mine.  It's also a way to keep family and friends up to date on our little world.  Our family and friends are spread out, really spread out.

I am looking to have a more "natural" lifestyle, resolution #2.  It can be called many things; homesteading, hobby farming, sustainable living, etc.  I am interested in all aspects.  I am especially interested in reducing our "footprint" and learning to rely on ourselves and our land.  I am not a "survivalist" nor do I see zombie attacks in my future.  I like the idea of having a well stocked pantry, a healthy garden, happy children and animals and much more.  I am interested in so many things.  I have so many ideas.  I have so got to start somewhere, babystepping like "Bob."  Since we are so far north I have focused on things I can do INSIDE the house.

Inside the house it's saving money and DIY plans.  I have been making my own laundry detergent for about four months now.  It is simple and it works for us.   I use a powdered "recipe" which I have thrown together after much reading, researching and questioning online.  It smells good and works even better.  I NEVER thought I would leave my Tide, I LOVED Tide.  I also stretch my liquid fabric softener.  I don't remember where I saw the idea, sorry, but you just soak a cloth (I use old socks), in the softener then wring out and let it air dry and it's good for a LOT of drying cycles.  I use vinegar for my softener in the washer as well but the store bought helps with the static we have in our winter home.  I am tweaking a dishwasher soap "recipe" but its not quite there yet.  We have well water which is extremely hard and leaves spots all over our dishes.  So far I can only use the Finish tablets and rinse aid.  I use baking soda to scrub my tub and sinks.  I use vinegar for cleaning and mopping.  I made my own liquid hand soap, another I need to work on as this one is a bit on the drying side for me.  No smell of onions or garlic are left after washing with this soap, Yay!

This week I have taken the plunge and started working on making bath soap, shampoo, conditioner and face cleanser.  There are so many ideas and "formulas" online so I am sorting out and just going with my gut.  Today was the first day I used the shampoo/conditioner.  I'm really hoping it works well because we have a lot of hair in this house and shampoo is getting ridiculously expensive.  ~Did I mention I am a tightwad?~  I'll report back on the results of the hair at a later date.

Also on the list is resolution #3, more healthful eating.  It's a goal of mine to grow as much as I can here on our land.  Vegetables, fruits, herbs, meats and more.  I have a small area of raised beds and I was able to get  a little bit of veggies this past summer.  I didn't take care of them as I should have, I accept the blame.  I am hoping to do a better job of it this year and expand in the years to come.  I would like fruit trees/bushes and maybe one day I'll even have grapes...we have a perfect area for them.  As for meats and such, we have poultry for now.  We don't eat our birds, we are gonna have to get over that but the kids won't quit naming them all!  We do use the eggs and I've realized just how much I've come to depend on the ladies.  The turkeys and the ducks are just pure entertainment for now.  Eventually we would like to get pigs, goats and a cow.  Oh, we do have bunnies but they are not for consumption.  ;-)  Nor is the horse...lol

With having all of the "food" items, I will need to learn to preserve everything.  I have canned before but I'm not great with it.  I will certainly need more schooling there.  Also, smoking meats would be useful.  I am the family jerky maker...hehehe  and with the fall animal harvesting we've done, I really need to figure out sausages and such for the venison.  Good Lord, I don't know how we'll get that out of the freezer!

So, there you have it.  It's the first installment of my resolutions for 2013.  I'm a work in progress just like the farm.  There is always something new to learn and I like learning.  Every day is a new opportunity for us...

Carpe Diem

~Ash

15 Years...Who'Da Thought?

Hello everyone.  It's Tuesday, the 4th of December, and only 4 days to go to the Woodsies 15 year anniversary!!!  Holy Smokes!  I know plenty of people who doubted, questioned, scoffed etc. and all I can say is, I am the luckiest, most blessed girl in the world!  I've got my Mr. Right and a wonderful family, awesome friends, amazing memories and so much more to look forward to.  Ain't life grand! :-)

So, on the farming end of things we are moving slowly.  The animals seem to be happy and healthy which is our priority, obviously. We are still keeping our eye out for a companion for Belle, she must get so lonely.  She does get time with us and the birds.  She seems to enjoy her time with the turkeys and ducks.  We also need to get a shelter up for her.  She goes in with the birds if it's really bad out.  Oh, and it looks like two of our "new" chicks are roosters.  That will make three with only four hens...I believe we're gonna need more hens...

 (Our sweet Cora is still missing.  I still find myself getting choked up when I see pictures of her.  She is such a goof.  I continue my prayers knowing each day the chances of seeing her again diminish substantially.  Three weeks is a long time.)  

Being winter, even if the Montana weather says differently, we are focusing our activities inside the home.  We've got quite the "laundry/honey do" lists and they seem to grow faster than a new puppy.  Cleaning the carpets is this week's priority, I've gotten quite a bit done so far.  As I'm always looking to save $$$, one can imagine my pause when facing the cost of steam cleaner cleaner.  It's outrageous and doesn't really work so good anyway.  Pet Lover's or Professional formulas, my fannie.  So, yesterday, I decided enough was enough.  I did a little researching online and decided to go with simple, inexpensive and readily available.  I used my homemade laundry detergent.  Yup, homemade laundry detergent, you read it right.  So far, so good.  I am also using my homemade stain remover on the tough spots.  Not sure how that will work out but the areas I did yesterday look good and, get this, NO PET SMELLS!!!  I detest spending my day laboring over the carpet steam cleaner only to smell the bouquet that can only be created by pets and heavily scented cleaners (cover ups).  I'm actually more than a little excited about it.  Cheap thrills, huh.

Well, I'm off to do some more steaming.  Hoping everyone is having a good day.

~Ash