Orange Scented Vinegar Cleaner

A few posts back,I talked about trying to jazz up my vinegar and water cleaner with some orange scent.

I filled some mason jars with orange peel,and then vinegar. I let them sit for a few weeks.

It was time to try it. Would it smell like oranges? Or would the vinegar scent prevail?

I took my jars down from the shelf:

I lined the strainer with cheesecloth. The first time I did it,I only doubled the cheesecloth and  had some sediment on the bottom of the bowl. I re strained it,tripling the cheesecloth,and it came out fine.

I use a 1:1 ratio-one cup of vinegar for one cup of water.

You can still smell the vinegar,but it does have  a mild orange citrus scent to it. So I would say it does work. Next time I will try it with lemons.

Have a fabulous day on this Fabulous Planet!!

Making A Pot Rack From A Wooden Ladder

The pot rack is finished! 

 We measured the space, picked the best end of the ladder,and sawed it off.  Since we have strapping that runs across our joists,we screwed the ceiling hooks into those (we used a stud finder and climbed up into the attic to make sure we were on the right path). To help him remember,Rick drew lines on the ceiling that were the width of the strapping.You can barely see the lines in the photo. We couldn't center it over the window because of our cabinet doors-we would like to still open them!

We bought two 24" lengths of chain,and four screw hooks to put in the ladder. Rick started the screw holes with a drill,and was careful not to split the wood. We bought large S hooks.They didn't quite fit over the ladder rungs,so Rick made them wider. 

Voila' !

Now I have a bit more space in my cabinet for storing things we don't use all the time. I can't wait for the kitchen closet to be built!

Have a fabulous day on this Fabulous Planet!

Homemade Butter

When I was young,my Dad was diagnosed with high cholesterol,so into the house came margarine and Egg Beaters. That's what I grew up with. When I moved out,I went back to eggs but stuck with margarine,at least,until a few years ago. The more I thought about it,the more I realized that all margarine consisted of,basically,was congealed oil. How that could be better than  butter, I couldn't fathom. Cream is natural from milk,and shaken cream makes butter. Margarine is a whole process which doesn't sound very appetizing to me ( Google it!).

At any rate,I have been wanting to try make my own butter for a while. Do I need whole cream straight from the cow? Can I use whipping cream from the store? I checked various websites and blogs,and it seemed there were many opinions on this subject. I finally said "I'm going for it,"and tried it out----only half an hour ago,to be precise!

Let me say this:making butter is very easy. If you can pour cream into a mixer bowl and turn the mixer on,and if you can squeeze buttermilk out of butter,you can make homemade butter.

Here is what I did:

I took My Precious (my Cuisinart) out from the cabinet. The poor thing hasn't seen too much action of late,so I was glad to get her going again. Brother B did the grocery shopping yesterday,and he picked up 2 pints of  Stonyfield Organic Heavy Whipping Cream,which was ultra pasteurized. 

I poured them right into the mixing bowl-I didn't wait until they were room temperature. I did nothing fancy to the mixing bowl. ( I had read somewhere that the bowl had to be chilled and the cream brought to room temperature). I put the whisk attachment on My Precious,and she was ready for action!

Oh,yes,this is a VERY IMPORTANT part-PUT THE SPLASH GUARD ON!! Trust me on this. I read warnings about splashing. I was expecting splatter. Splatter does not do it justice. You'll see!

I started on a lower speed for a couple of minutes. The cream became a bit frothy and started to thicken a tad.

I then put the speed on high and after a bit I started getting peaks-it was turning into whipped cream. Keep going........

It's thickening up nicely,isn't it? It's not butter yet,though. It's still too white. There's also no buttermilk separation yet.

Keep whipping. See how the color is turning to yellow?

It's looking more like butter,but it still needs a couple more minutes. Once the butter is done,the butter milk will separate from the butter,and it will SPLASH. I'm talking mixer tidal wave-no joke! I should've covered up the pouring hole  in the splash guard. The buttermilk made a mess. I can't imagine not having something over the bowl when the tidal wave occurs-seriously,use something...even if it's just plastic wrap. I had to jump back and quickly shut off the mixer because the buttermilk was flying everywhere.

Another sign it's done-the butter will clump onto your whisk attachment in one big ball. See all the buttermilk at the bottom of the bowl?

Since I don't use buttermilk,I had no need to keep it for anything. I did make a ball out of the butter and squeezed it until most of the buttermilk was gone. I ran the ball under cold water and squeezed the water out a few times until the water was clear. I admit,it's a bit of a pain. If you have butter paddles,or even just used a sturdy spatula and press the butter against the side of the bowl,that would probably be a bit easier. I tried the hand method to see how it would work . I also put some salt in the butter and kneaded it in. How much salt,or whether or not to add it is up to you and your taste.

This is a good time to bring out my antique butter dish that my Aunt Jeannette had. It makes for good storage in the fridge.

How can you not try homemade butter right away? I put some bread in the toaster and waited with buttered breath!!!

It looks like butter,it spreads like butter......

This gal needs butter spread end to end on bread. Rick always teases me about it. If you're going to butter bread,then I say,butter it,damn it!!  :)

Not only does it look like butter and spreads like butter...it tastes like butter! Yummy!! I scoffed down the toast after I took the photo.

You can, of course, make all kinds of homemade butter-apple butter,pumpkin butter,garlic butter,honey butter.....the world is full of homemade buttery goodness-right at your fingertips! 

Have a fabulous day on this Fabulous Planet!!!!

A New Chapter...And Yes,More Deck Photos (The Last...I Promise!)

Today is a Big Day,a New Chapter,if you will.

Zach starts High School. Sigh. My child is growing up and I am torn! On one hand,I don't want him to grow up. I want him to be the adorable little child he was,cuddly and cute. On the other,I am anxious to see him grow and become the amazing adult I know he will be.I just don't want it to happen too fast.

Last night there was an ice cream social for Freshman and their parents. The principal spoke about a new Wiki School program on line to help keep parents in the loop,and they are continuing another on line program (the name escapes me) in which we can see assignments,grades,teacher comments,etc. Today is Freshman Orientation,and they will be the only ones in school.Tomorrow,all high school students begin their classes. Zach was a bit nervous,which is natural. 

We,of course,had to give him a hard time as he got on the bus. As Audrey ( our great bus driver who loves Zach) pulled up,we started pointing at Zach and yelling,"Freshman! Freshman!" until he got on the bus. Audrey laughed hysterically. In the past when she pulled up on the first day of school,we have poured champagne,or jumped up and down cheering wildly. It's all in good fun,of course,and Zach is not embarrassed by it. If he was,he would not have any qualms about letting us know. Whatever we decide to do,it's never a surprise.He's always well informed! As the bus pulled away,he smiled and waved out the window.

And finally...yes,MORE deck photos. These are the last ones, I promise. Rick and I enjoyed a lovely breakfast of bacon,eggs,and pancakes the other morning on the deck.It was fabulous chatting with the background of birds and squirrels having their own conversations. Very relaxing!

You remember the old deck....

Lovely,wasn't it? Not the kind of place I wanted to relax on.

Here it is now,in all it's hard built glory.........

One of the nice things about the deck is we have a natural tree screen that blocks us from the road. You can see it (sort of) in the last photo. I took it from where I now sit-in the corner. The lattice work blocks me from my neighbors view,and with the trees blocking the road,it makes a nice cozy corner to curl up with a cup of coffee and a book ( or my Kindle,depending on what I want to read). Even just sitting and enjoying the birds on the feeders is fabulous. It also gives Zach a bit of privacy,because one of his bedroom windows is right outside the deck ( see the second photo) so when anyone is sitting outside they can no longer look right into his room.

Have a fabulous day on this fabulous Planet!!!

Deck Work!

Like I mentioned yesterday,we had some computer issues that have now been resolved. To be honest,the only thing I really missed was being able to blog....which probably sounds funny since I am don't tend to post every day...or every week (hanging head in shame). I am making an attempt to be more on the ball with it. I have lots of thoughts running through my brain that I am anxious to share with you,but for the next few days,we will play catch up.

The deck is...DONE. D-O-N-E ! It took almost a month,with the Menfolk and The Boy working in the heat and humidity,busting their butts,and it's finally completed.It was slow going,as our friend Glen is very meticulous.There were also days when they (especially Rick) just needed a break. Looking through these photos,I realized that I don't have a photo of it 100% finished...but I will take a photo today when the weather clears and post before and after shots. However, I do have some photos of work in progress. The guys did a fabulous job-and it only cost materials,some pocket money for our nephew,and two bottles of Skyy Vodka for our friend Glen,who looked at the photo I found on line and did all the planning for it. Talk about getting off easy (OK,getting off cheap!!) It's nice to have good friends...but of course,Brother B will be working up at Glen's camp helping him out,so it's a pretty good trade off.

Have a fabulous day on this fabulous Planet!

Well, looky here....steps that aren't supported by cinder blocks...an actual  cement landing and railings  to boot!

The pergola

The pergola/lattice area.Great for filtering the hot afternoon sun!

The other end of the little cozy area

I realize as I post this that the lattice wasn't up yet in this photo...but it gives you an idea of what it now looks like

Let's Play Catch Up

It has been very hot and humid again here in NH. So humid that it can get a bit hard to breathe outside so I have been working on my afghan after the outdoor chores were done in the semi cool mornings. Yesterday I finally finished it!!!

Last week,Rick and Zach were gone to Boy scout camp in Maine. Zach applied to be a Counselor In Training for next year. We are not sure when they will pick through the applicants. They had a great week,and lots of fun. I did miss them,and am glad they are back.

My cukes have started growing,and I have one little green pumpkin on the vine. The peas are doing great,as are the green beans. I had no luck with carrots or spinach. My summer squash and zucchini did nothing. I normally have tons of them,but this year,not one took.My lettuce has done well,and my tomatoes are nice and green. My corn ears look a bit small,but we have never had much luck with corn. We keep trying,however.We have begun getting strawberries for the second harvest.

The Little Girls and The Big Girls are all together,and though there was some indignation from the Older ones,the flock has melded together pretty well.

This past week,the menfolk have been working on building our new deck. Our friend Glen,who owns his own business remodeling,deck building,etc.,has been coming over to help out (and letting us use his air tools!) I found a picture  (this one to the left) of what I wanted and the deck will be pretty similar to it. I can't wait until I can sit on my new deck! It's been two years since I sat on the deck. It was bowed and just nasty-the old owners pretty much just slapped it together and it sank several inches. The new deck is seven inches higher,so one no longer has to to step down with a big old clunk!

Have a fabulous day wherever you are!!!!

Orange Slice Ornaments

Here is a repost from last year about how I made my orange slice ornaments:

One of the things that was new to me this year was making ornaments from orange slices. I will be doing this again next year.I love the way the look on the tree,they add a lovely primitive look. When a tree light is right behind a slice,it looks like stained glass. Unfortunately,I couldn't capture that on film.

If you would like to try this next year for your tree,here is how I did it. I used an oven.Never having used a food dehydrator before,I wasn't sure what temp or length of time I should use,so I didn't go that route.I didn't want to shrivel the slices,just dry them.However,it does take a good bit of time:5-6 hours,depending on how much juice you can get out of the slices before you put them in the oven. It's a good project for a day when you are doing other things in the house.

Preheat your oven to 170 degrees (this was the lowest temp my oven would allow).Cut oranges into 1/4" slices. Put the slices in between paper towels,and press down on each slice. I had to use several pieces of paper towel,and there was still a good bit of juice in the slices. Do what you can. I burned the paper towels in the wood stove,so there was no trash.

 When you feel the slices are as dry as they are going to get,place them on a baking sheet. As you can see in the photo below,I had two going at once. Leave the oven door ajar. Each hour,turn the slices over so they dry out evenly. When they are ready,you will be able to tell-they will be dry to the touch.

Once the oranges are dried,I cooled them down on a plate,then took ornament hooks and pushed the hooks through the slices,right below the white part of the rind.

Voila! Orange slice ornaments! They will have no scent,but once Christmas is over you can make a pretty potpourri with cinnamon sticks,whole cloves,and the orange slices.

Enjoy!

What To Do With All That Poo

Having chickens and turkeys,I am well aware of the benefits of composting their poo. After it's had enough time to sit,it is one of nature's most wonderful fertilizers. But that is not the poo I am talking about. I am talking about poo from the likes of these two:

.

Yes, I am referring to dog poo. We had been chucking it into the tree line to naturally decompose. But now that we are pushing back that tree line so we can push our compost area further back and reclaim the yard,we need a new strategy.

So Rick took an old rubber garbage barrel,drilled several holes in it,dug a hole several inches deep and placed the barrel in it. He then put the poo in the barrel.

On occasion,we will put lime in the barrel to help with the decomposing process. The lid will keep the smell nonexistent. It's still in the tree line,just not in the same area. Now the poo is in one spot,and not randomly chucked into the trees!

Making Up For Lost Time

Between the snow totals this past winter,and the rain that we have had over the last couple of months,our water table here has been full.We have had water in our basement for two months. The backyard is the worst that it has ever been-puddles just wouldn't go away,and one would sink about about 3"into the muddy yard. Needless to say,it  has hindered our outdoors plans. The two major ones were:
1)Building a wood shelter
2)Expanding the garden

The Boys got so frustrated that last week they started working in the rain as best as they could.

Now that we are finally getting warm,sunny weather,things are finally drying out. Our yard will finally get mowed this weekend (it is starting to resemble a field) and work has begun on filling the yard with dirt to build it back up and the wood shelter should be finished today.Rick's  brother Spencer is up for a few days to help Brother B build the shelter,and Rick has been using the tractor to fill the yard area.The new garden boxes will be built this weekend as well.

This morning we had a visitor:

This turkey hen had shown up in our neighbor's yard,then decided to check out ours. She enjoyed the bird seed that had fallen on the ground,looked over our compost area,and hung around for about an hour. Our caged Tom started gobbling like crazy,but she never paid him any mind. She didn't even go out back to investigate. Our dogs then noticed her out the French doors,started barking,and she wandered back into the neighbors' yard into the field,where  we lost sight of her.

Our driveway has finally dried out.In this photo you can see the pile of fill that we ordered. We wound up getting two truckloads from a local dealer. The ruts were really bad,but Rick put some fill in and smoothed it out a bit. It's not finished yet:

The main goal right now is to get the garden area situated so we can get going on that. The area had settled,making the water stagnant,so Rick has been filling and back dragging the area to build it up. We do have raised beds,but we still have to walk in that area,which was impossible. The chicken pen will get some fill as well. The girls were walking around in inches of mud for days.

The boys moved the beds we already had and saved the compost mix that was in them. We will mix the old with the new compost we are going to get. We are also going to mix in more vermiculite and peat moss.

A photo of where a big old puddle sat in our back yard and where the tractor got stuck. Lovely,isn't it???

A view of the skeleton of the wood shelter ( which we call a "pole barn",even though it isn't). The posts were cut down to size,and cemented into the ground. We have a green metal roof to put on it and fencing will go on either side. You can see we have lots of wood to stack under it when it's done!The shelter should be done today,but stacking will probably be done tomorrow.

Since I don't have much planting that I can do right now,I did plant my oregano and thyme plants in my herb box,as well as a couple of dill and basil seeds. Our strawberry plants are finally getting blossoms as well. The Boys are taking a lunch break right now and trying to get cool. Temps are in the 80's,quite a switch from the cold,drizzly weather we had last week. I will be glad when I can get my garden done,but I can take comfort knowing that I am not the only one!

Goodbye 2010...Hello 2011

It doesn't seem possible that we are already going to say goodbye to 2010 in just over 12 hours. So much has happened to us this year,and we have learned much.Not everything got accomplished,and some things that I personally was striving for (such as weight loss) fell to the wayside. However,the overall year was certainly more positive than negative. Here is a reflection on the year that was........

The biggest things that happened to us as a family was that Rick was finally medically retired from the military in April. It took three med boards and 5 years for this to happen. By November,he was 100% disabled through the VA,collecting his monthly pension and receiving Social Security Disability. In May,his knee problems were finally diagnosed by one of the best hospitals in the US,Dartmouth Hitchcock,which is also a training hospital for Dartmouth College,one of the Ivy League schools ( For those of you who are outside the US and may not know,Ivy League schools are schools that are the oldest in the nation,such as Harvard,Yale,Brown,Princeton).He was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Degenerative Arthritis,which was incurred from his days in Combat Airborne back in the 1980's,fighting what I call President Reagan's "secret little wars." Both knees were replaced with titanium.He spent three weeks in rehab,and has made  a quick recovery-his surgeon is very pleased. Those three things are most certainly the biggest things that have happened to us this year.

At the beginning of the year,we sat down and discussed what we wanted to do,why we wanted to do it,and how. For the first time,we started seeds indoors. That was a learning experience.Lights,grow trays,heating pads, timers....the one big thing I learned was that I should not take peppers off the heating pads once they sprout. Our basement is cool,and it stunted the growth of the peppers,but I put them back on heat and they did wind up growing.We learned about Square Foot Gardening,and made boxes,made a compost shifter,and shifted lots of compost. We bought a compost tumbler,and my sister gave us a compost bin. We put a small bucket in the kitchen for composting kitchen scraps (who knew that paper towels were compostable? I didn't!). Rick and I built our turkey cage and got Narragansett turkeys from one of our friends. We built a chicken house and got chickens. I discovered that chickens and turkeys love weeds pulled from the garden. We did our first canning this year,and though my veggie weight tally wasn't complete,I do know we grew 28lbs of cukes! We set up rain barrels from juice barrels that Brother Dale gave us. That helped keep the poultry watered since our dug well was low. We planted blueberries,blackberries strawberries,and raspberries. We started a kitchen garden-mint,rosemary,oregano,thyme,and basil (Rick and Brother B tell me I need to plant and dry more oregano next year).Our Concord Grapes took off last year and we bought a trellis,which is already too small-I think we will make an arbor this coming Spring. We got edible apples from out Jonathan apple tree this year! It was planted before Rick went to Iraq. We used our neighbors wood chips to make a walkway to the house and we also used them in between the raised beds. Our  other neighbor let us use a mix of their dirt and wood chips to extend our driveway.  We made our own maple syrup,as little as there was.I made lye soap,continued making laundry detergent,and attempted to make dish soap,but because I didn't like the results I went back to store bought,but went to Planet,and stopped using Ajax. I stopped buying Clorox wipes and started making my own cleaners-bleach and water for disinfectant and white vinegar and water for glass cleaner. I began making my own brown sugar ( sooooo much better than store bought!). I make our own bread and baked goods.I started teaching myself how to knit.

We made a few investments: a new (used) four wheel drive truck,an artesian well (which will never run dry),a new snow blower,and a new wood splitter. We purchased tree length wood,which should keep us in heat for a few years. Rick bought me a Cuisinart stand mixer,with  food processor and meat grinder attachments.

We took a lovely trip to Malone,NY,and got to explore the world of Almanzo Wilder,the husband of one of my all time (if not THE all time) favorite authors,Laura Ingalls Wilder. It was so much fun,and was really something to stroll among the grounds and in the house that I have read about so many times in Farmer Boy.

Personally,though I haven't succeeded at weight loss,or conquered my procrastination issues,I have done much soul searching this year. I feel as a person I have grown and have a more sense of self,though I still have much more growing to do. I am more comfortable in my own skin and in what I believe. I don't get into religion and politics on this site,because that has nothing to do with what we are trying to achieve here.However, these two issues have been some of what has been rolling around my head this last year. Suffice it to say I don't like extremism in religion or in politics,and I don't like it when people try to use fear or paranoia to try and gather followers or votes. Sadly,there is much of that out there right now. I think it's scary.

We have a list already in the works for this coming year:
-Double the size of the garden
-New metal roof on the house and garage
-New deck
-Weatherproof the mud room so we have a place we can keep coats,etc since we dont' have a coat closet.
-Remodel the bathroom
-Remodel the kitchen
-Paint the house and garage
-Clean out the attic
-New windows in the basement
-Make a cold frame with the old sliding glass doors
-Have a cold weather garden this year
-Maybe get goats!

I am sure the list will be added to,and though I know not all will get accomplished,that is what we would like to see happen.

Thank you all for following our lives here in our little cottage.I am very grateful that you all have followed us on our continuing journey.

From all of us here at The Little Yellow Farm to all of you throughout the world,have a wonderful New Years! I hope your joys are many,your sorrows few.

See you next year!!!!!  :)

Living Your Own Terms

This morning as I was reading through my favorite blogs, I came across one from Rhonda Jean at Down To Earth. She had received a couple of emails from readers concerned that they could not live as she does due to lack of land,etc. Rhonda stressed that no one should try to live as she and her husband do,that each of us should try to live as we see fit,with what we have.There is no right or wrong way to simplify our lives.

This is very true. Our life here at The Little Yellow Farm is different from other places.Like these folks who wrote to Rhonda, I too felt like we had to do specific things to be credible. Now I know that we only need to be credible to ourselves and what we want to accomplish. Our way of life started one step at a time,which led to a natural progression. At first,we wanted a garden. We built raised beds,and used compost from a pile of leaves and grass that have accumulated for seven years. We realized how wonderful compost is and are more actively composting,from the kitchen. We had a fairly dry summer,so we figured we should have rain barrels to help out. Rick's brother Dale gave us two blue juice barrels. We then wanted our own eggs,so we bought chickens,which led to getting turkeys. We are now considering goats. We only have .63 acres,so anything we do has to be well thought out and all things considered,especially since we want to expand our garden next year. From the goats we would want meat for food and dairy for cheese and soap.

I started making my own hand soap a few years ago,which led to laundry soap. I did try my hand at dish soap,but was not pleased with the results,so I started buying Planet,an earth friendly detergent and stopped buying Ajax. I use vinegar and water in place of Windex,and bleach and water in place of Clorox wipes. I make candles. I have started making breads and baked goods. I have begun teaching myself to knit,which I have found takes a good bit of practice! It's also very relaxing. We cut and burn wood.

Folks in my family have asked why we do what we do..."it's a lot of work,you could just buy this" or "do you do this to have something to do?" It is work,but it's more gratifying than working for someone else. We are doing for our family. Working side by side is wonderful,it's such a feeling of accomplishment and pride. It also brings us closer together. We are a team.

Being more self reliant is an individual thing. There's no right or wrong. What works for you may not work for your neighbor,and vice versa. It's all about living your own truth and living on your own terms.

Girl Time And The Finished Product

Today was a very nice day.My Dear Friend Michelle invited me over to watch "Eat,Pray,Love." She has read the book,but I have not as of yet. She made a lovely ham and cheese quiche,warmed fruit with curry,coffee cake,fresh grapes with a nice homemade punch that we put a little kick into with some Amaretto. Everything was delicious,and it was great spending time with her,enjoying good food and a wonderful movie. We ate at the kitchen island,then curled up in easy chairs with our second glass of punch to watch the rest the movie. It was the quintessential girl time.

After I came home, I finished putting everything back up on the walls in the dining room. The walls in the photos below may not seem like a big difference in color,but in person it is. The walls are so much warmer now.

This is how it looked before:

This is the finished product:

The cabinet all set up:

I have not place all my canning jars in the cabinet yet:

I have an old decorative mirror that goes on the rack on the bedroom door,but it needs a wing nut or some good glue to attach it,neither of which I have right now.

I am so pleased with the way this room came out. I love the color,I think it's very warm and inviting. There is such self satisfaction when one does a job and it comes out the way it is wanted,and it makes the home that much nicer and "homier."

Tonight we are going to Zachary's school to see the premiere of the movie he participated in,a remake of the Twilight Zone episode,"The Monsters Are On Maple Street." This was an after school enrichment program,in which the students rewrote and acted in the episode,which they called "The Monsters Are On School Street." We are anxious to see it!!