New Year Aspirations 2013

Every year I make a list of things that I would like to complete by the end of the year.  This helps me to keep motivated even though some of the things on my list do not get completed.

Last year’s aspirations were quite lengthy. I was able to accomplish some of the list but not all of it. 

This year, I am going to keep my aspirations simple and attainable.

Faith:

::Read the 1 Year Bible  

Health:

::Lose 25 lbs and be more mindful of my health

Personal:

::Read 24 books
::Learn about medicinal herbs
::Minimalize wardrobe and buy new (to me) clothes that flatter by body type (Dress Your Best )

Animals:

::Do not take in any more critters!

Garden:

::Learn how to save our own seeds
::Expand the garden to be able to preserve more
::Make a chicken garden to feed the chickens self-sufficiently throughout the year
::Grow herbs for medicinal purposes

Financial:

::Pay down (at least) $10,000 principal on the mortgage

What are your aspirations for 2013?

Repurposing Christmas Cards

I absolutely love the beautiful pictures and creativeness of Christmas cards.  Each year, I have a handful that I fall in love with and I hate to see them go when Christmas is over.  There are a few ways that I am now repurposing Christmas cards that I receive.

Postcards*

I write to our Compassion child regularly.  Sometimes, instead of writing her a message through their online site, I like to send a physical card.  If a Christmas card does not have writing on the front cover, I cut the card in half, write a little note for Anabel and put a postcard stamp on it to send it off.  This way, not only do I get to enjoy the postcard for some weeks, our Compassion child is able to enjoy it as well. 

**Please note that in order to use a postcard stamp, the card cannot be any larger than 4.25" x 6".

Frame It!

We keep our Christmas decorating to a minimum, but I like having a few things dispersed throughout the house.  Picture frames are available for $0.10-$0.50/each at flea markets and garage sales.  When I find one that I like, I snatch it up and display the holiday cards in the picture frame.  The great part is, on the “Happy Holidays” cards, I can leave them out until February before putting them away for the season (or taking them out and using as post cards for next year!)

Original Card

New Winter Decoration

 

Gift Tags

I found a website that shows how one person recycles their Christmas cards into gift tags for the next year!  What a great money-saving idea.



Source : A Spoon Full of Sugar Designs

 

Do you recycle the gift cards you receive each year?

Merry Christmas!

 

 

Todd and I wanted to wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas!

 

 

 

Intentionally Uncommitted

Everyone has 168 hours a week.  I don’t know about you, but out of those 168 hours, I work 42.5 hours, travel 10 hours and sleep at least 56 hours.  I am very particular about what I do with the remaining 59.5 hours of my week.

It seems like everyone we know is always busy:  they have social lives taking up much of their time and energy from Monday through Sunday.  Todd and I are quite the opposite.

Todd and I attempt to keep our calendars open as much as possible.  To be honest, we don’t even keep a calendar due to the lack appointments we keep.  Our lives are so laid back that all the dates I need to remember are kept in my head…many times no more than 2-3 weeks out.  Not having a social life means we have more time with one another.

Admittedly, I am the one in the relationship who is always trying to make friends with other couples to go out and do things with once in a while.  We schedule times and meetings with our friends every few months and for us, that is enough.  I love my friends and family, but we do not feel we need to “hang out” with them every week.  My favorite thing to do with friends and family is to have them over for a meal or go over to their house, sit and talk.  We have one set of friends who like to do some of the same things we do (and they are frugal too!), so we go on nature walks, get ice cream, play board games and have a good time chatting. 

Since we started dating, Todd has been made aware how important family dinners are to me.  Nearly every dinner we eat together is sitting at the dining room table together with nothing other than great meals and the two of us talking about our day and our plans.  By having a sit-down dinner every single night, it doesn’t leave much time for extracurricular activities during the week after work.  To be honest, I enjoy life more this way. 

We consciously have to keep in mind what is important to us (spending time with one another) and say “no” to those activities that would take away from the little time we do have together each week. 

 

Are you intentionally uncommitted with your time?
I would love to hear about why you have decided to live this way as well.

This post is linked up to Intentional Me.

Midgilist

It is a little known secret that at work, my nickname is Midge.  It is an inside joke because I had a vendor call me from another country and ask for “Midgin.”  Lucky for me, it was one of the sales reps that took the call and the nickname has stuck ever since. (Please note the sarcasm.)

My coworkers think I am absolutely crazy for all of the things we do in our family.  I have been told by a friend that he is creating a new term for people like me and it is called Midgilists.  What kind of person is a Midgilist?  Someone who goes above and beyond to find ways to do everyday tasks for little or no money.  He is pretty much telling me that I’m cheaper than cheap.

I asked him why he felt this way, and he fired back with about a dozen of the following things I have done over the years.  When I thought about it, I added to his list just to give you an idea what a Midgilist does:

• Raise chickens for eggs
• Raise chickens for meat
• Going no ‘poo
• Researching (and still considering) bamboo as a renewable heat source
• Research solar panels and windmills (and ways to make them ourselves for less!)
• Grow a garden
• Cut our own hair
• I touch up my roots using hydrogen peroxide (for pennies a month)
• Plant perennial fruits, vegetables and herbs
• Crochet some of my own sweaters
• Create a chicken garden to help cut the costs of chicken feed
• Breed mealworms as a food source for our chickens
• Harvest mealworm poop to fertilize the garden areas (a new infatuation of mine)
• Make homemade vanilla
• Brew our own beer/wine
• Can the overabundance of apples
• Make homemade jams
• Freeze vegetables to consume throughout the winter
• Make our own soap
• Convert our vehicle (Kia Rondo) into a mini-camper
• Do our own oil changes and car maintenance
• Home improvements using recycled materials
• Cancelling the satellite and installing an antenna instead (we get over 30 channels now, by the way!)
• Homemade laundry detergent (a new recipe for our HE )
• Homemade dishwasher detergent (another new recipe)

…and the list keeps going on and on.  Until I sat down and thought about all of these things, I completely forgot we do most of them!  We do these tasks on such a regular basis that it is second-nature to us and we don’t feel it is really out of the ordinary.

There are some people who are preppers and others are survivalists…but I’m a Midgilist and I’m OK with that.  I am proud to be thrifty and willing to put some elbow-grease into whatever we do to help save money and become self-sufficient.  There is much more we could do to improve on our Midgilism in the upcoming years.

Until then, may the Midgilists unite!

(I know there are a few of you out there. J)

This post is lined to the Farm Girl Blog Fest.

 

The Gift-Less Christmas 2012

I have read about people not giving gifts on Christmas but it never really happened in our family…until this year. 

I enjoy thinking about and purchasing gifts for people.  I am known to purchase a gift for Christmas on January 5^th and stash it away to give 11 ¾ months later.  This year has been quite the opposite.

I have a hard enough time wrapping my head around the fact that it is cold outside let alone that Christmas is right around the corner.  Originally, I had planned to do more gifts of experience with family, which we will still do; however, it will not be in the form of a gift for Christmas this year but something that we carry out throughout the year together.

I think it all started back in May when hubby and I went to Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon for our 5 year wedding anniversary. I was completely astonished by the amount of consumption that went on by vacationers and then again in October when I went to Disney with my mom, brother and niece.  These two trips really changed the way Todd and I look at consumerism.

According to the Merriman-Webster Dictionary, Consumerism is defined as:

 

the theory that an increasing consumpion of goods is economically desirable; also: a preoccupation with and an inclination toward the buying of consumer goods

We have been advising friends and family since June that we are not going to buy into the consumerism mentality of Christmas.  To date, we have done pretty well with it.  I will admit that we do have gifts for my two niece’s who are 4 and 6, but they are simple and practical (which is the only gift they ever get from Auntie M anyway). 

There are people who feel that we are doing this because we are cheap and don’t want to spend money; however, that couldn’t be further from the truth.  Yes, we are frugal, but I love nothing more than thinking about and giving gifts to others. We have decided that instead of giving once or twice a year, we will be giving to our family and friends throughout the entire year and committing to spending quality time together as the year progresses.  In my opinion (and that is only what this is,) I don’t feel Christmas is (or should be) about the gifts.

I want to leave a lasting memory on my friends and family of love, loyalty, laughter, experiences and collective time with one another.  These are the memories that last a lifetime. 

Frugal Babe wrote an article last year (and another just last week) entitled Christmas Our Way where she explains what they do for Christmas each year. 

What are your thoughts on a giftless Christmas?

Have you cut down on your gift-giving this year?  I would like to hear about it!

DISCLAIMER:  This is something my husband and I have discussed extensively over the past several months.  Each family is different and we do not oppose other’s beliefs in gift-giving.  As I always say, “To each his own.”  

Questions

I feel like I write about the same topics over and over again.  I would really like to connect with you, the reader of Sparing-Change.  Is there anything you have always wondered about our lifestyle or why we do some of the (crazy) things we do you would like answered?

I am open to answering any questions you may have here on the blog or personally through email.

Please feel free to contact me at any time at:  sparingchange (at) gmail.com or comment below.

Making A Few Extra Bucks

I am the worst sales person ever.  We couldn’t sell ice cream in the Sahara.  We pretty much give our stuff away at garage sales.  Over the past several weeks, we have had good success using Craigslist to sell some of our unwanted clutter and furniture. 

One item in particular was our old water softener and water filtration system that came with the house.  We struggled with this system and still couldn’t drink water from the tap after trying to get it to work properly for 3 years so we bought a whole new system that works great!  We were able to sell the name brand water softener and filtration system for $50 which is what we listed the sale price as on Craigslist.  The best part is that the gentleman who bought it acted like it was the “deal of the year” and we were happy to get rid of it without throwing it away!  The gentleman owns several rental properties that have these systems in them and will use it for parts.  Win-Win!

If you have anything you are looking to get out of your house before the holidays, I highly suggest listing it on Craigslist.  I haven’t had success with getting rid of books I’ve accumulated over the years so those will go to the library and some tchotchkes were given away for free. 

Do you use Craigslist often to sell your unwanted items?

Do you buy from Craigslist often?  

 

What I Learned While Butchering Chickens

The weekend before Thanksgiving Todd and I were butchering our 4 month old roosters.    The main reason we were butchering one of them was because it had been crowing for over a week and I didn’t want the neighbors to shut down “Operation Meat Birds” we’ve taken on this year.  We decided to butcher 3 of the chickens I was pretty confident were roosters because we didn’t want to take the chance of having another one start crowing in the next few weeks.  We butchered the 3 most mature roosters leaving one to breed with the hens in the spring.

The 3 Roosters We Butchered
The Black One Was the Crower

I wasn’t sure if we would be able to butcher the chickens ourselves, but we both did just fine.

I have posted these links before, but I will post them again to anyone who wants to learn how to process some of their own flock. 

Part 1
Part 2 

I will be completely up-front and honest with you: the worst part was the first 2 minutes.  The head came off within seconds but what the video above didn’t prepare us for was the flailing of the wings that took place for over a minute.  I stood there watching in horror wondering if we did something wrong.  I will also tell you I will never be the one to cut off the chicken’s head.

After the wings stopped flapping, the rest of the process was pretty straight forward.  Dunk the chicken into water at 140-160 degrees for about 30 seconds to loosen the feathers.  Cool the chicken off in cold water, and start taking the feathers off.  This takes about 10 minutes when doing it by hand.

After removing the feathers, it is time to take the esophagus out which takes no more than 5 minutes.  After the esophogus is the removal of the innards and to cut off the feet which takes about 5-10 minutes.

Overall, it took us about 3 hours to process 3 chickens; however, we stopped for lunch in-between and took several breaks.  I would say it would take 20-30 minutes from start to finish if you were on a roll.

Two of the 3 Processed Chickens
(The yellow is because we had the water too hot when de-feathering this chicken.)

The question I always ask when we are doing something like this is: Is it worth it?

I cannot honestly answer this question with a definitive yes or no.  To save money: probably not.  To eat organically and locally: definitely!  We have not yet cooked up any of the chicken, so I couldnt tell you if there is a difference in taste.

It takes time to process the chicken, but I am happy knowing the chickens had a great life of roaming the yard eating bugs and vegetable scraps in their short 4 months here on earth. 

We will definitely be doing this again in the future; however, we will try to plan the processing in warmer weather.

It really is eye-opening to see how an animal goes from roaming around the yard to prepared for dinner.  I would recommend it for anyone interested in learning about how food is processed as well as for those looking to eat more locally. 

This post has been linked up to:

    

 

Shutterfly

Please note: this post has affiliate links listed throughout.

I met a remarkable woman several months ago and we became instant friends.  While I was visiting one day, she told me about Shutterfly which is a free website that can be used to safely store precious photos.

Not only does Shutterfly store photos but they can also create a blog-like photo album (again, for free) to display photos for others to view.  I use this feature to display pictures to my friends and family that do not have a FaceBook account.

In the same visit, my friend showed me this extraordinary book that she made using Shutterfly of a trip she took with her daughter a few years before.  It was a hardback book and a beautiful way to document her trip with her oldest daughter. 

Back at the end of October, my mother and I went to Orlando, FL with my niece to see my brother who is attending school there.  I am a picture fanatic: I love to take pictures and I love to look at pictures.  Since owning a digital camera, I can tell you how many photos I have printed out: 0.  I love love love to take pictures and I have some pretty great ones I’ve taken over the years, but I have no physical reminder of the beautiful places we have visited or the beautiful reminders of our loved ones past and present. 

My mom said she wanted a disc of all the pictures I took from the trip.  After all, there were over 600 of them and we were only in Florida for 4 days!  I noticed on Shutterfly that they had the photo books at 40% off if I ordered before a certain date. I decided to try to make the photo book for my mom.

I didn’t know how difficult it would be to arrange the book, but I dove right in.  I was surprised at how many options there were to choose from to customize the photo book to my taste.  All in all, I made a 20 page hard-cover book from cover to cover within 2-3 hours.  The book I made for my mother as a memoir of our trip had over 200 photos in it and cost less than $35!  To me, the photos in the book and the memories we made on the trip are priceless.

 

The best part of the whole process was giving my mom the book.  I had to try to keep my project a secret for over a week until I could give it to her, and believe me, it was difficult.  I couldn’t wait to give it to her.  When she saw the front cover of the book, she thought she had to put the pictures in the book on her own.  I asked her to look inside and she squeeled with excitement as soon as she noticed our family photos were lining the pages.  I love that she loved the book that much.

In my opinion, the book turned out marvelous.  Todd and I arent ones to display photos around our home because we never have any pictures printed out from our digital camera; however,  I have decided to start making these books for around our home when Shutterfly has their sales going on.  

This week, Shutterfly is offering these books at a 50% discount!  I am looking forward to making a book or two of our 5 year wedding anniversary trip to Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon this week. 

If interested in this deal, please feel free to check them out.  These make awesome gifts, and not only does Shutterfly offer photo books, but they can also do photo magazines, mugs, mousepads, calendars…pretty much whatever your heart desires!

 

Use coupon code SAVE50 to get 50% off all hard cover photo books, calendars, stationary, and greeting cards from Shutterfly.com!

 

 

Disclosure: I was in no way influenced to write a positive review for Shutterfly.  I have used them to make a personalized item for a family member and look forward to using them to make my own personalized items for our home.  I am an affiliate of Shutterfly and receive a small commission on anything you may order.  In the future, I will be sharing when Shutterfly has great deals like this one so that you may benefit from them as well.

 

 

 

Keep Up With ‘em? I Don’t Even LIKE ‘em!

…the Joneses, that is.

While driving 5 hours round-trip to my grandmother’s house on Thanksgiving day, I thought a lot about the Joneses and how much I do not look up to them.  There are so many people who do. 

There are people in my life that desperately want to keep up with the Joneses.  It is always about appearances and who has what.  Even though they have a beautiful family and more posessions than they know what to do with, they always want more.  I’m sure you know a few people like this too.

It may be my stubborn nature or my resistence to being like everyone else, but I don’t look up to material possesions.  I was thinking aloud while we were on our road trip about what I look up to* and who I am striving to become. 

This is what my (ideal) Jones family would look like!

• A happy, healthy, hands-on family (spends quality time together)
• Does not care about the latest and greatest kchotchke (fashion, gadgets, toys, vehicles, vacations, etc.)
• Lives well below their means
• Has paid off their mortgage
• Has a cushion in the bank
• Has the freedom to do what they love as a career and not have to worry about how much they make doing it
• Want what they have (contentment)

I am fortunate enough to know a couple who meet most of the points above…and they are not Warren Buffet.   It is nice knowing them because it proves to me the possibility to accomplish these goals in life and getting rid of the rat-race.

 What does your “Jones Family” look like?

 *This is what I want in my life.  Everyone is different and if you don’t want the same things I do, I wouldnt hold it against you. 

Breeding Mealworms

Just in case anyone thought otherwise, this is proof that I have gone bonkers.  I am breeding mealworms as a renewable food source for our chickens.  I was surprised when I brought it up to my husband that he didn’t even bat an eye which means only one thing: he has realized that I have done lost my mind a long time ago.

So, how did I learn about breeding mealworms?  It was from a post that I received from Jane who has a website entitled Hedgecombers.   When she posted a comment on one of my posts, I took a look at her blog and noticed an article about breeding mealworms.  After doing some research, it seems to be a pretty simple thing to do. 

I set out to purchase mealworms and start our own mealworm breeding operation.  I ended up getting them from this seller on eBay and I am extremely pleased with the purchase.

Mealworms the Day We Got Them

So, you may be wondering what you have to do to breed mealworms.  I’ll tell you.

1.)    Buy mealworms

2.)    After several weeks (up to 2 months), the mealworms turn into pupas which is like a cacoon

 

3.)    Out of the pupa (1-2 weeks later) emerges a Darkling Beetle that live up to 3 months

4.)    The beetles mate and produce eggs

5.)    The eggs hatch into mealworms

6.)    The life cycle starts all over again

Is it really that simple?  YES!

Within 3 days of owning the mealworms, pupas started to form. Once they formed, I picked them out of the area with the mealworms and put them in their own area so that when the beetles hatch, they can get busy making some eggs!  Also, please know that the Darkling Beetles don’t fly, so there are no worries of having these things flying all over the house.

I am getting a little bit ahead of myself.  This is what is needed to breed mealworms:

• A warm place (for maximum breeding, you will want the temperature to be around 76 degrees)
• Plastic tubs (I am using old tupperware containers)
• A food source (bran cereal, oats or chicken feed) of 1-3 inches in the plastic tub
• A water source (a slice of an apple, carrot or potato)

Water Source for Mealworms

Many people on YouTube use sweater boxes to start their mealworms out in, but we keep our house pretty cold and there was no way there is any one spot in our house that is 76 degrees in December, January, February or March!  Instead, we put our egg incubator that we bought when we purchased too many fertilized chicken eggs for our broody hen to work (again).  The 1,000 mealworms we purchased fit in a small plastic container inside the egg incubator.  I am pretty confident we can keep up to 5,000 mealworms within this incubator comfortably. 

The mealworms will eat through the 1-3 inches of their food source (also known as a substrate) with time.  Once they do, all you have left is what looks like sand.  I will let you in on a little secret: this is mealworm poop.  Another inside secret is that this “sand” is great fertilizer for plants.

  

Costs Involved:

Incubator (we already had)
Plastic tubs (we already had)
1,000 mealworms ($18.99)
Large container of oats ($2.19)

Total invested in mealworms:  $21.18 (not including electricity use and slices of potatoes and carrots that we always have on hand)

The only reason I decided to breed the mealworms in the winter is so that I could get some experience and to build up our supply of mealworms for the chickens.  I do not plan on feeding the mealworms to the chickens until the next generation of mealworms hatch.  I have decided otherwise. Our "operation" is producing so well, even within just 2 weeks of owning the mealworms, that we will start supplementing the chicken's food with mealworms in the next month or so!  It takes anywhere from 3-4 months for the entire life-cycle to take place.  My goal is to breed enough mealworms to keep a nice supply available to the chickens through the colder months next year when they arent able to forage for their food as well as to sell them locally to help recoop the costs.  I also plan on selling the mealworm poop as fertilizer when there is enough to sell.

As you can see, with the life cycle being 3-4 months on mealworms, I can make an endless supply of treats/protein for my chickens while keeping the cost of commercial feed to a minimum.   

The mealworms have tripled in size over the past 2 weeks!

I admit I am creeped out by these things.  The noise they make while digging through the oats is an eerie sound because I know it is 1,000 mealworms!  Ick.  To me, it’s like a bad horror movie.  But I know that this is the best possible food for our hens and a replenishable one at that, so I think it’s worth it.  Maybe with time, I will be comfortable enough with them to pick them up with my own two hands. But for now, I will continue to use tweezers thankyouverymuch!

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Photo Credit

Today we are spending the day at my grandma’s house with family for a wonderful home cooked meal and great conversation.   

I love this time of year with what is remaining of the fall colors and a little bit of a chill in the air.  It is a reminder of all of the things I have to be thankful for in my life.

I am thankful for...

• My husband - who agrees to help me with all of the crazy ideas I come up with 
• My family - who has been there for me through everything
• Our homestead - though it's not picture perfect, it's ours
• Our animals - who make us laugh on a daily basis and provide free-entertainment without having to turn on the tube 

What are you thankful for today?

What are your plans for this beautiful day?
Whatever they are, I pray that you are safe and have a wonderful time.

Book Review: Eat That Frog! by Brian Tracy

I am a master procrastinator.  There is no denying it.  I have struggled with this trait for as long as I can remember.

Todd always jokes, “If you were a nation, you’d be procrasti-nation!”  I found this book on the library computer system from another branch and I knew I had to read it!

 

Photo Credit

 

When the book was available at my library to pick up, I immediately noticed how compact it was and I thought, “This is the perfect book for me!”  Why was it the perfect book?  Because for those of us who procrastinate (with some ADD tendencies), we get overwhelmed by large books and procrastinate on reading them!  Can you imagine?  Procrastinating on reading a book on how to train your mind to stop procratinating!

That being said, I dove right in.

I was interested from the very first page.

"If you are like most people today, you are overwhelmed with too much to do and too little time.  As you struggle to get caught up, new tasks and responsibilities just keep rolling in, like the waves of the ocean.  Because of this, you will never be able to do everything you have to do.  You will never be caught up.  You will always be behind in some of your tasks and responsibilities, and probably in many of them."

You may be wondering what frogs have to do with procrastination, but everything in the book revolves around these simple thought processes:

"Mark Twain once said taht if the first thingn you do each morning is to eat a live frog, you can go through the day with the satisfaction of knowing that that is probably the worst thing that is going to happen to you all day long. 

Your "frog" is your biggest, most important task, the one you are most likely to procrastinate on if you don't do something about it.  It is also the one task that can have the greatest positive impact ony our life and results at the moment."
 

 Rule 1:
If you have to eat two frogs, eat the ugliest one first.

Rule 2:
If you have to eat a live frog at all, it doesnt pay to sit and look at it for very long.

I will be honest that the first 40 pages of this book were the most motivating to me.  The rest o the book was more about what to do in business-type settings to get past the procrastination.  Though it is good to know, the quote about the frog and the rules above are what have been motivating me the most to "eat my frog" every day.

The book goes on the the following 21 steps about how one goes about accomplishing the thought processes above.

 

1. Set the Table
2. Plan Every Day in Advance
3. Apply the 80/20 Rule to Everything
4. Consider the Consequences
5. Practice Creative Procrastination
6. Use the ABCDE Method Continually
7. Focus on Key Result Areas
8. Apply the Law of Three
9. Prepare Thoroughly Before You Begin
10. Take It One Oil Barrel at a Time
11. Upgrade Your Key Skills
12. Leverage Your Special talents
13. Identify Your Key Constraints
14. Put the PRessure on Yourself
15. Maximize Your Pesronal Powers
16. Motivate Yourself into Action
17. Get Out of the Technological Time Sinks
18. Slice and Dice the Task
19. Create Large Chunks of Time
20. Develop a Sense of Urgency
21. Single Handle Every Task

This book is a must-read for anyone who is looking for motivation on ridding of their procrastination.  At less than 130 pages and a 3 hour read, I know it has changed my life and my tendency to procrastinate!  When I start my day, I know what “frog” I need to eat and try to get accomplished first thing because after that, the rest of the day should be smooth sailing. 

So, my question to you is, what is your frog?
I know for me, it is housework and getting organized. That is the main reason I got this book: to get motivated and take care of the tasks (or the frogs) that have been piling up on me for years. 

Ribbit! Ribbit!

 

Photo Credit

 

 

*Disclosure:  I was in no way compensated or influenced to write this review.  All opinions expressed are my own.

Giving to Others

On November 11^th, 2011, I was drawn to a little girl by the name of Anabel from Bolivia on Compassion International’s* website.  I cannot explain the draw I had to this (then) 3 year old’s profile, but I immediately texted Todd and asked if he would mind that we sponsor this child in Bolivia.  He agreed that we are blessed and should start passing our blessings along to others.

I signed up with Compassion International and wrote Anabel immediately using their online message forum where I could choose adorable stationary and attach 3 photos.  I attached a picture of Todd & me, a picture of Lana (our pup) and the cats.  I wrote her a brief letter and committed myself to write her often and keep her up to date with all that was going on in our life and on the homestead as well as to learn about her life.

I wrote consistently and attached many pictures for approximately 3 months before I got my first letter back.  It wasn’t much of a letter, but many hand-drawn pictures from sweet little Anabel who had turned 4 a month after we started to sponsor her.  And then the letters started arriving consistently.  It seems the more I write, the more Anabel writes.  Not all of the letters we get are from Anabel, but her mother and her tutor write to us as well to keep me updated on what is happening in her life.

"I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver."  ~Maya Angelou

Getting to know this precious 4 year old (soon to be 5!) has been a huge blessing to me over the past year.  My heart is attached to this little girl and I look forward to the day when Todd and I can make the trip to see her in the future.

 

Compassion's Gift Catalog

Even though we are consciously trying to give throughout the year to others, it is this time of year that I feel like my heart will explode with gratitude and contentment for everything we have been privelaged to have in this life: Our faith, freedom, health, one another, family and friends.

Giving does not have to be monetary.  I have noticed just by smiling at people on the street or while going through a drive-thru, it makes a difference!  I’ve had several people comment on how happy it makes them to see me smile.  And guess what?  They brighten my day too!  Most people will smile back or say hello.  I have had a few that look at me as if I had 3 heads but I didn’t let that ruin my day.  I said a little prayer for them and went along with my day.

There are so many things that can be done to serve others that require very little other than time and/or a few resources.  For instance, giving blood or donating plasma could save a life.

Another way I am giving (non-monetarily) is by growing my hair to give to Locks of Love.  I started to let it grow out this past summer so that by the spring I can get it lopped off and send it to Locks of Love to make a wig for a child in need of some hair.  The donation has to be at least 10 inches long and I will tell you that I have never had my hair this long before.  Those days when I am frustrated that it doesn’t ever seem to dry and I cannot style it to my liking, I think of the little girl out there who dreams of having any hair at all!   It is humbling to think that something most women complain about is something that others don’t have and want.

Lastly, please keep in mind the food pantries and City Mission are looking for canned goods and donations to help feed and clothe families in need right in our own back yard.

These are the little things we are doing to help give to others.  I pray that there will be many people blesssed this year by the giving of strangers they may never meet.

DISCLOSURE: I was in no way compensated for saying these things about Compassion International.  I love them as an organization and believe in what they are doing.  If you are interested in another great organization, I highly recommend Amazima as well.

 

Chicken Solarium

It is getting cold here in NorthEast Ohio, and I know that with time, that beautiful thing we call snow will be falling.  I was looking into ways to get the chickens outside to enjoy the sunshine durring those frigid cold months. The chicken coop we have for the chickens is perfect for roosting and sleeping 17 chickens, but not 24/7! I found a link showing someone's chicken solarium, and I started to think about what we could use to make one here on the homestead.

 

 

The great part about the solarium is that we had everything we needed on hand!  We replaced sliding glass doors at the front of our house several years ago with french doors, so we had a large, heavy pane of glass ready to be used as a solarium.  The best part is, the glass is so long, it can accommodate most of the chickens in the area!

We know which direction the snow drifts form, so we closed off one side of the solarium with bricks that we had lying around from other projects that have taken place around the homestead.  As you can see from this picture, the sun shines on this area pretty nicely between the hours of 10AM and 5PM. 

Now, when the snow begins to fall, we will have to shovel a pathway from the chicken coop to the solarium for the chickens to enjoy the warmth and sunshine… and get the stink blown off of their feathers!

 

The Great Debate: Butchering Chickens

 

It is quite humerous to me the opinions that people have about our purchase of fertilized chicken eggs.   I work with a majority of men and they loved hearing about the fertiliezd eggs that we got; however, opinions started flying as soon as I mentioned what we plan on doing with some of the chickens.    

Take Gentleman #1:  His wife is a vegan: He is not. Together, they adore animals and do not believe in animal cruelty (neither do I!).  Please note: this gentleman eats meat.

Gentleman #2: Just read a book about a plant-based diet entitled The China Study and converted his ways from a meat-loving carnivor to a (mainly) vegetarian diet.  He has had this new way of eating for two months with a couple of meatatarian slipups now and again.

Both gentlemen have been giving me a hard time about our plans to butcher some of our chickens.  Gentleman #1 argues that it is not humane to butcher a chicken.  While trying to defend myself about how slaughterhouses work with the meat he purchases from the grocery store, he rebuttled with an “ignorance is bliss” type of attitude.  I find this completely hypocritical.

Gentleman #2 gives me a hard time about eating meat in general, stating that it will be the death of me and that humans were not meant to eat meat.  Again, this is his opinion.  And as the saying goes, “Opinions are like…*”

 My opinion:

{I am not saying that my opinion is the proper opinion to have; however, it is something that my husband and I strongly believe is right for us.}  

We do not want a lot of chickens running around our yard and I will not tollerate several roo’s pecking each other to death.  Our current chicken area is over a quarter of an acre where the chickens can roam and eat bugs as they please.  I like knowing that our food source is able to run free and I dlike knowing what they are consuming.  There are no cages to keep them in or horomones fed to our chickens to bulk them up.  They are a la natural, and I feel that we give them a great life here on the homestead.  Did you know that chicken bought at the store is generally butchered between the ages of 35 days and 45 days old?  I remember what our chicks looked like at a month old, and they werent a fraction of the size of the chicken breasts that I purchased from the store.  Our chickens will not have to deal with being bulked up for slaughter, as we can patiently wait for our chickens to mature naturally before getting ready to butcher them.

3-4 week old chick

I know our chickens are happy.  They run up to me when I go into the back yard and will eat goodies (cracked corn or kitchen scraps) out of my hand.  I find them running around free-range at 6 in the morning and sometimes I see them roaming around at 9:00 at night when I take the puppy out to go potty before bed.  I feel that the environment we provide for our chickens is the best possible atmosphere for them to have to live out their happy, healthy lives!!

Please note: I am still not 100% sure we are able butcher the chickens ourselves, but we are not ruling it out.  We are researching methods of humanely butchering some of our flock.  I found this video of a way to humanely butcher a chicken.

These are three very different points of view on butchering chickens.  I am sure you have your own point of view on this topic and I would love to hear what you have to say about butchering chickens.  

 

 

*If you havent heard the saying, it is:

"Opinions are like a-holes. Everyone’s got one and  they all stink.”

Preparedness

{I wrote this post several weeks ago to be posted, not knowing that Hurricane Sandy would affect so many on the East Coast.  This is extremely link-heavy, but I found some really great resources out there that I wanted to share.}

 

One of my favorite blogs about a homesteading family is also very big on preparedness.  Kendra, the author of the blog, is also aShelf Reliance Consultant.  Shelf Reliance is a company that helps others to prepare for disasters and emergencies.  In a post written back in September, Kendra documented on how to build food storage on a budget.   Let me tell you, this post instilled a bit of fear in me because I know this is what I should be doing but I have always put it off thinking “this won’t happen to me.”  The truth of the matter is that it could happen to any one of us!   Ohio is not known for its tornadoes or natural disasters, but our little town was hit severely backin 1985 and the locals are still talking about it 27 years later!

Shelf Reliance has a tool on their website that helps to determine how much food a family would need in case of an emergency.  Of course, the food is all Shelf Reliance food.  I was curious to see how much it would cost hubby and me to eat for 6 months off of Shelf Reliance food.  The number was astonishing.

For a family of two, one eating 2400 calories a day and the other eating 1800 calories a day, Shelf Reliance estimated that we would need $4,301.18 in food!  I nearly fell out of my chair when I saw this number.  That is $716.86/month in food which is nearly triple our monthly grocery budget.

This got me to thinking about what we could do in our home to help prepare for a natural disaster on much less money, and this is what I’ve come up with:

·         Decide on either a non-motorized well pump or a rain catcher for water.   

·         Solar Panels with just enough power to use for emergency purposes only

·         Buy and store seeds to plant a large garden (these are good for 5+ years)

·         Continue to add perrenial fruits and vegetables to our homestead each year

·       Stock up shelves with canned goods (the shelf life on canned goods is typically 3 years: I would like to focus on stocking up on canned meats)

·         Buy rice in bulk and vaccuum seal into individual pouches

·         Stock up on dried beans

·         Stock up on the items that “last forever”

·         Increase our flock of chickens (for meat & eggs)

·         Master the chicken garden – a garden that will nourish the chickens without the need for commercial chicken feed

·         Learn how to butcher chickens

·         Make a root cellar

·         Consider getting a gun for hunting (something hubby thinks we should get – but I’m not sure how I feel about it)

 

Shelf Reliance has brownie mixes and baked goods as part of their 6 months survival kit; however, I don’t feel that these items are necessities. If there were ever an emergency, the last thing on my mind would be baking a fresh loaf of bread!  I would like to think that I’d try to survive with filling, nutritious food in my belly like rice, beans, eggs, fruits and vegetables.

I feel we could easily build our pantry to prepare for an emergency for well less than the $4,000 Shelf Reliance suggests it would cost in freeze dried foods and bulk grains.  I would say we could easily stock the pantry with 6 months of essentials for less than $1,000. 

Even though the foods I will be stocking in the pantry will not last 20+ years, we could easily rotate our stock after a year or two to make sure nothing goes bad.  This will help keep our grocery budget down in these months, and will ensure that nothing is wasted. 

The other items like the well pump and solar panels are much more expensive, but are things that we definitely need to look into anyways.  It doesn’t hurt to have a backup plan in case of extended loss of power. 

What are you doing to prepare for a natural disaster?