Boston Market $1 meal Deal

Not to be outdone by the Colonel, click here for this coupon and other great deals from Boston Market. :)

Fantasy vs Reality

The problem with life is that it really follows no rules. No matter how well you plan it is not obligated to conform. There is nothing that ever measures up to the fantasy. Today has been a rough day :(

Catching up

Lots of changes round these parts. Eva has been moved to the small barn and is in training. She has been haltered and is learning our touch and voice. She is not terribly excited about this, especially since Treva is only allowed to visit twice a day for morning and night feedings. Treva was initially quite upset about this arrangement however, she seems to be enjoying her new found freedom. The other cows were given an opportunity to move freely however Lot and Quinn decided to take a stroll and they were sent to the arena. Judd was given a reprieve, until he decided to "steal" my milk, lol. He really missed his mama and will have a chance to get to know Eva a bit better when winter comes, they will be penned together. Buttercup seems to have gotten past her mustang phase and has settled down rather nicely. Dh left the cows in the garden and when he went to round them up (they left said garden area as I told him they would and were on my front lawn), she went very easily back into the arena.

Lot will be off to the freezer next week, a little sooner than expected but we are hoping to at least sell half, we'll see. Looks like the pigs will be going to the freezer in mid-November as we need to lighten out load during winter while we try to get things going. The chickens have been cut off of their feed ration and are now 100% free range as we no longer have our Wichita sales to justify the feed expense. It has been quite an adjustment for them. Right now we are trying to ride out their severely low production due to this diet change.

We no longer make deliveries to Wichita as the transmission on our expedition is going out and we don't have $2500 to get it done. We will try to get the Focus out of the mud next week, we were able to contact the farmer and he said that he will help us while harvesting the milo. This is a big blessing as it will allow us to resume business and except for the expense of getting a new battery it will allow us to sell eggs and the white stuff (lol) again. So much is going on, keep us in your prayers, we are still out of propane and the cold weather has begun. We are paying bills as we can but . . . things could be a lot worse. We are thankful for all of God's blessings during this time and always. Thanks for checking in with us, I'll try to be more regular.

Oh, homeschooling is going well, the kids are really enjoying it. It is amazing how many resources there are available for those on a super tight budget. I highly recommend the core knowledge series, Iknowthat.com, brainpop.com, hoodamath.com as places to start. There is a ton of others. The local library is not really practical for public school kids but works out to be awesome for homeschoolers who are available during their limited opening hours. :)

PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO VOTE FOR OUR GIRL

We entered our toddler in the Gap photo contest, please take a moment to vote for our girl. Thanks.

A dream is lost

Tonight we called dh's grandparents in RI, he has never met them and we have been planning to do so this year. His aunt(he's not met her either) answered and gave us the unfortunate news that they have both passed away. We are heartbroken! :( This has been a dream of ours for sometime now, we have never been able to afford the trip. Please pray for the family, he has 2 aunts and an uncle that we will go visit soon. We were really thankful that his aunt is there, it was nice talking to her for the first time. We hope to keep in contact.

Awesome Cheesemaking info

I am desperately wanting to make different cheeses but have been held back by finances. Today I found an awesome site that shows how to make the starter cultures: Mesophilic Starter here is another Mesophillic starter and Themophilic Starter :) It's nice to know that the knowledge of how to make these from scratch has not been completely lost. I was beginning to wonder if Ma Ingles sent the kids to the store asking for Mesophilic starter, a mouthful even for me. I will be setting some milk out tonight to get the mesophilic culture process started. I will have to wait till I get goats to get fresh rennet so for now I will survive on Junket. Everything in time. I'm just excited that I will get to make some hard cheese :)