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Saturday, January 19, 2013

Another Week On Leegacy Farm ~~Picture Review

This week on Leegacy Farm has been both productive and restful, and we continue to have my mom here recuperating with us.
The usual chores and fun activities of milking cows, feeding animals, making cheese and butter, preparing countless meals, visiting with friends, new friends and farm customers, and doing loads of laundry have been done, though the laundry has been a bit of a challenge with all the rain and ice we've had.
Speaking of rain and ice, Abi decided to make batches of apple butter since we still have some apples left and since we've been inside for many many days this week.
And who can bare having homemade apple butter without homemade bread?
Enjoying the warmth of the fire and reading some good-for-the-soul food.
Bethany spent some time rendering fat from one of our pigs.  She tried a crockpot method and was pleased.
She's removing some of  the cracklings.  Dad, if you were here we'd prepare some crackling cornbread for you.:)
We didn't have snow on the ground, but the ice on the trees looked very beautiful.
The fellas have repaired vehicles and changed the oil in our van and in grandmother's car.
The sun came out by the end of the week and temperatures warmed up a bit.  The younger set found a new playhouse across the pasture and in a hollowed out old tree.  They gave me a grand tour after lunch today, and it was so nice being out in the sunshine again.  My mom also enjoyed being out and we all walked a whole mile with her today.
Observing the distance below in the hollowed tree trunk.
Emily had the house smelling delightfully yummy as she made large batches of granola.  For those of you who have only younger children, I must encourage you by telling you how wonderful it is to have children who learned at your side when they were small and who grow up and make you so very thankful for the time you had to invest in their lives. Even though the training time can be more difficult than doing things yourself when they are little, you definitely reap the rewards of your labor later on.
Preparing to make soap with some of the goat's milk.
Cutting out fabric for a barn apron.  The sweetest ladies sent us so many boxes of fabric after the storm and now we are settled and can use it for various projects!  Abi decided on a barn apron since she has a bottle fed calve which she is feeding twice a day.
These children of mine are often seen without shoes and no matter the weather.  What can I say?  I'm not particularly fond of shoes myself.:)
Little Man enjoys slipping and sliding on the ice.
Mom's dog guards her bedside as she sleeps.  We moved the school table, chairs and bench out of the room and added a bed for Mom.  She's the little heap you see in the above picture.  She started out sleeping all day....
then she perked up and started walking circles around the interior of the house.  Before long we won't be able to keep up with her, Lord willing!
Bookwork
As I said before, we've been moving furniture around in preparation for having my mom with us.  We moved the school table made by our Tom into the dining room and the dining room table....you get the idea.  We've been moving lots of stuff.:)
The twinkle lights provide some glow when the sun isn't shining. Love twinkle lights.
The fellas have also been working to fill the woodshed, one has done some farm sitting this week, and three continue to do some off-the-farm work in addition to their regular on-the-farm work.
Thought I'd mention one of our leftover meals we frequently enjoy.  The above picture is of leftover cheese and sausage grits.  My daughters often place the leftover grits in a bread pan and refrigerate them until the next mornings breakfast time.  They slice them as one would slice a cake and then they fry them in a bit of oil.  They are delicious as is or dipped in your favorite condiment.
We always have a read-aloud going and this weeks book has been about earlier Americans who traveled to California by covered wagon. We had this book pre-storm and decided to order a used copy to replace the one we lost.  It was enjoyed many years ago by the older ones.
The fellas also attached our hand grinder to a piece of furniture in the kitchen.  This one is set up with the corn auger and will be used to grind our corn into cornmeal and grits and such.  Funny thing happened as Abi was ordering the auger.  She had been on the computer ordering, gave the computer to me and the phone rang.  It was a dear friend and neighbor from our former state.  He asked me what we were up to and whether or not I happened to be shopping.  I was shocked and wondered for a moment how he could possibly know, at that very moment, that I was indeed shopping online.  He is a computer guy. He then told me that they actually sell the auger and that he had just received the order on his computer.  Funny!  And that has been our week on Leegacy Farm.  Hope you and yours are well and warm.  Blessings,  Sherry

30 comments:

  1. Your home is always so warm and inviting in the pictures! Thank you for sharing pieces from your week

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  2. Jaclyn,

    Thank you! I just realized this evening that you have a blog, and I enjoyed a visit. What a handsome little son you have! God bless you.

    Sherry

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  3. Wow you guys are so busy! It looks like a very good busy though... I hope your mom gets well soon.

    Blessings,
    Amy Jo

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    1. Amy Jo,

      Your right! This season of life is busy for our family and we consider ourselves very blessed to be able to work together at home. I didn't realize when all my children were very young how it would be when many were older. It's very similar, I think, to having a small army to disperse. Like lots of little ants working together. And since we have so much to learn, I don't think we'll ever run out of projects.:)

      And thank you for mentioning my mom ~ she's doing extremely well and is in very good spirits.

      Blessings,

      Sherry

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  4. It's always a blessing to come here and see new pictures of your precious family. Thank for taking the time to share.

    By His Grace,
    Emily, for the Fitzsimmons

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    1. Emily,

      You're so welcome. And we must get you here for a visit. I'm so happy to hear of your newest blessing, and I hope you and yours are well.

      Blessings,

      Sherry

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  5. Visiting your blog is always like catching up with an old friend - thank you for sharing with us all ;)

    I'm wondering if you would mind sharing what model your hand grinder is? We are thinking about adding one to our farm kitchen this year and always like first hand recommendations! God Bless you all

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    1. Cary,

      I'm so glad you stopped by to visit our blog, and I thank you for your sweet sweet comment.

      We have the Country Living Grain Mill and we've been very pleased with it. We'd purchased one before the storm and were very pleased with how fine it ground the flour. It's very similar to baby powder and is at least as fine as that which we grind in our electric grinder. We did purchase the extra bar which makes grinding much much easier to accomplish. I believe it was around 25.00 extra, but I'm not exactly sure. And my friend Vicki has the very nice red one. I've also heard great things about that one, although I think it costs quite a bit more. Hope that helps!

      Blessings,

      Sherry

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  6. Sherry,
    I so enjoy seeing the pictures of your family. You have so many good helpers; what a blessing.

    I hope your mom is feeling better soon and her recovery is speedy. Let her know we're praying for her.

    One question. Who does your decorating? You house is so lovely and dreamy. I like to see all your decorations and twinkle lights, it has such a calmness to your home. Any decorating suggestions would be a blessing to me. :)
    By Grace
    Alone,
    Kim

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    1. Kim,

      Thank you! I do feel blessed in having so many good helpers and oh how I love 'em.:)

      How very sweet of you to pray for my Mom - I'll tell her of your prayers.

      As to the decorating...my children would say that I love to decorate and provide a cozy *nest*, but I'd say that it's definitely a group effort.

      Bless you Kim, and I thank you again for dropping by and leaving a comment.

      Sherry

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  7. Oh! Yummy! Our family loves homemade bread, with cow butter on that, and applebutter on top of that, and venison stew beside...I'll stop there!:) It's the taste of fall and winter. It's the best!

    -Grace

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    1. Absolutely! Yum!! The bread, butter, applebutter, and venison stew sound yummy together.:)

      Blessings,

      Sherry

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  8. Hi again Sherry, and thank you for the grain mill information - I will do more research on that one ;) Have a wonderful day!

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  9. Sherry,
    Thank you for sharing with us, this is a beautiful post and is a sweet blessing. The advice about taking the time to train our little ones is priceless, especially seeing the results in your family. I am so thankful your Mom is doing so well, Praise God. Your home is so lovely, the atmosphere and the decor. Thank you again Sherry. God's Blessings, Kim in Tennessee

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    1. Dear Kim,

      You are so welcome. And in regards to training, I've noticed that I sometimes have to remind myself that I still have young ones to train. It's so easy to call on those who are older and already capable, but I know I mustn't forget the training of the younger set.:) And what a privilege we Mothers have in being able to work with our children. Thank you again Kim for leaving a comment. Have a very blessed day.

      Blessings,

      Sherry

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  10. Sherry, I love reading about your life. You are so blessed and such an inspiration! So glad that your Mom is doing well. I think being surrounded in all that love has to help :)!!

    Blessings,

    Julia

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    1. Julia,

      You are so very sweet.:) And I thank you for thinking of my Mom.

      My family and I are praying for you and yours. May God richly bless you as you look to Him for comfort in the loss of your Dad. What a blessing your family must have been to him as you surrounded him with love.

      Bless you Julia,

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  11. Dear Sherrie,
    Reading about your family is always a blessing and so inspirational. I enjoy your photos so much. How special that your mom can be there with you all.

    God Bless you and your family,
    Tamara

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    1. Dear Tamara,

      Bless you! And I very much benefited from reading your inspiring posts, and I loved your sweater project.

      Have a blessed day.:)

      Sherry

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  12. Beautiful post as always! Will Emily share her granola recipe? :)

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    1. Dear Smith Family,

      Thank you! Yes, Emily's going to send you an email and include the granola recipe. And perhaps she can post it here on the blog.

      Have a blessed week!

      Sherry

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  13. Sherry ~

    Your homestead and the home activities are such a blessing to read about...an encouragement to put our hands to some of those very things. Although not neighbors by distance, your blog and posts help me glean without the hinderance of miles and encourage with each word. Blessings to your precious family and all you put your hands and hearts to do in the upcoming days.

    In Christ,

    Jarnette

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    1. Jarnette,

      Your comments always encourage me. Thank you! And I pray that you and yours will be blessed in all you do in the upcoming days.

      Thanks again.

      Sherry

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  14. Hi Sherri, just dropped in to say hi and say how happy I am to see your family all settled in your new home and doing life. I do come by now and then and to see how things are going. I havent been keeping up my blog....I need to..I can't find your page that has your bread recipe on it....would you mind emailing it to me. I wish we were neighbors!

    Blessings to you!
    Susan

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  15. I found it, I found it!!! I had to go waaaay back but I did find it. My big kids bought me a 14 cup Kitchenaid food processer for Christmas and now I can do bread dough recipes that call for more than 5 cups of flour.........My Kitchenaid stand mixer will only handle 5-6 cups of flour.
    I am still dreaming of a Bosch mixer (the kids didn't know)and maybe I will get it later this year. I try to add something new as needed each year. Last year I bought the new Nutimill Wheat grinder and I am happy with it but it does leave more course middlings than I like so I have to sift it....maybe I just haven't learned how to adjust it yet. I really hope your recipe will work for my altitude. I live in the mountains at about 7000 ft asl so sometimes my bread will rise too fast in the oven then fall....:o(
    I will be victorious, I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength!

    Blessings to you Sherry, send me a note sometime, I love to hear from you.

    Susan

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    1. Susan,

      So very very good to hear from you! And I'm sorry I'm late seeing your emails. I hope your bread turned out alright. We're not in a high altitude area, but the humidity and rain sometimes causes ours not to turn out right.

      So glad to hear you got a new mixer and that you now have a grinder! And I hope you and the children and your entire family are well.:)

      Blessings,

      Sherry

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  16. I just love catching up here ! What a lovely place to visit you have!! I was praying for you this morning & wondering how you were going. Will add your Mum to my prayers as well!
    Have a wonderful day
    Blessings
    Renata:)

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    1. Renata,

      So glad you stopped by to catch up, and I thank you for your continued prayers and those said for my *Mum*.:) She found out this week that she does have a staph infection. We'd appreciate your prayers for that and that she won't have to be re-hospitalized.

      Blessings,

      Sherry

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