April 2nd 2016

It’s been some time since I posted. I’ve had several emails asking me about my blog and if I intend to abandon it for facebook. I do not. But, I have a limited amount of data and it takes less to post to FB than here because I have do business (selling my wares and such) on FB anyway. I made my FB public so that blog folk could read there but so many people don’t like FB, which I truly understand. So, I will try to do some catching up here and also try to be mindful and keep my blog up  :)

Things have been going mostly smoothly. I had a huge financial setback in January with the death of business partner. That may get worked out but it will be some time. It was a set back in several ways, the worst being that I counted on a portion of the money to go back into the business and was severely shorted all the way around.

A thing about such a simple, frugal life is that a very small thing is amplified ten times or more. This is great most of the time but when that small thing is bad, it can be devastating.

And so I pick myself up and start again……….

I’ve finally officially added tinctures to my wares. I’ve made them for private use for many years but last year I started selling them a bit and have now added them to my store. I had concerns but they’ve been a great success and I sell out faster than I can get tincture bottles. I’m basically out now and waiting on another shipment. Eventually I get up enough to buy a larger bulk but things are getting there.

Although I’m currently out of bottles, the tinctures I currently sell are …..

>Sleep Tincture
>Brain Tincture
> Thuja occidentalis
>Gland Cleanser Tincture (Rosemary Gladstar’s formula)
>Echinacea e
>Elderberry

>Wild Moon Tonic
>Hawthorn
>Valerian
>Bergamot
 

>Motherwort

>Pau d’Arco
 >Red Clover

> Elderflower

>Hyssop

>Hops

White Willow

I’ve gotten a couple of offers to put my goods in stores again but no one wants the babyfood jars. So, I’ve ordered tins for them and we’ll see how it goes. I’m just making my 3 best sellers now… Muscle Balm, Black Walnut Salve and Herbal Antibiotic Salve. I have perfected a special lip balm recipe I’m very proud and will start selling it when I can get the supplies I need to make larger batches. Each salve or balm has to have it’s own dedicated equipment so there’s never any cross contamination.

And my goods are now in the Farm, Fork & Fiddle in Gainesville, Mo.  www.FarmForkFiddle.com

I’ve also gotten better labels. I came up with using return address labels and writing in the individual item. They work great and I love that they still look organic and homemade.

As for homestead life…..

I’ve temporarily lost my laundry yard because one of my poor laundry trees is quite dead. It was dead when we moved here so it’s begun to decay and could fall at any moment. Poor thing. So we moved the lines over and they amount to half or less than I had. I’m getting used to them but we really need to get that tree down soon.

I’ve decided to sell out of Nigerian Dwarf goats. They’re wonderful little things but not working out as I had hoped and hard on the back. I’m going to stick with larger goats and go back to having them just for milk rather than trying to raise any for income. I’m keeping Poppy, beautiful full blooded Alpine. And her doeling Daisy, half Alpine and half LaMancha. They’ll give more than enough milk and bless us with kids once a year.

I still have Sage and Oak, my two Shetland sheep. Due to be sheared this Sunday. I was able to trade salves for a lovely handmade drop spindle and learned to use it. I already have a little ball of wonderfully primitive lumpy yarn  :)  I Love spinning with the spindle, it’s so much easier and controllable than the rock.

Two of the rescue cats found a home! Thank The Mother!! Hawk and Rider, the last two of the 5 kittens I took in a nursed after the big tornadoes in Arkansas a few years back. They went together to be barn cats and I think they’ll have a wonderful life there. I miss them a little, silly as it sounds, it’s hard to give them up no matter how much I didn’t want them in the first place. I always worry for them. But I think this will be the perfect home for these guys  :)

That leaves just Flea to find a home and then we’ll only have our own 7 cats!

Just put 3 doz eggs in the incubator last night. We usually have a hatch rate of 60 %, which I understand is actually very high for the little still air incubator type we have. Hopefully we’ll have at least that this time.

 -Learned-

spin with a drop spindle

-Harvest  –

This week's harvest and what I'll be doing with them. I'll also be drying a lot for later use....

*Red bud (flowers) jelly,
*Violets (flowers and leaves) jelly, medicinals, raw in salads & sandwiches. 
*Dandelion (flowers,leaves and roots) medicinals, raw in salads, fritters, jelly, wine, soups, tonics, tinctures....
*Red Cedar (tips and berries) medicinals, mead, cooking, wild yeast, fermenting, tinctures
*White and Red Clover (leaves) raw salads, white flowers for food, red for medicinals, tinctures, salves.... but not blooming yet.
*Dock (leaves) fresh eating for salads, on sandwiches, cooked, soups, stews. (root) can be eaten and used medicinally.
*Raspberry leaf medicinal, tea, tinctures,

*Plantain leaves for medicinals

*Thuja for medicinals

There's a lot more up and ready to harvest but take care harvesting from young plants. And take care to harvest ethically so there will always be plenty

-Barter –

Handmade drop spindle with removable weights

-Working On-

patch skirt

flat bottom bags

rag trivet or basket

spinning raw wool yarn

-Sunday Dinners-

Herbed chicken with our thyme and onion and a drizzle of olive oil and pepper. Twice baked potato/squash made with left over grilled squash, mashed with potato and heaped back into the potato skin, baked until lightly browned on top and a gravy spoon of chicken juice on top. Green beans canned last year with pepper and our onion and a touch of tumeric. Violet jelly from last year, for the chicken. Non gmo corn flour muffins, lightly sweet.

-Ostara Feast-

Grilled burgers on homemade buns with smoky cheese. Salad with violets, dandelions, clover, assorted greens with homemade ranch. Baked potatoes with freshly churned butter, chopped wild onions, sea salt and pepper. And baked beans with honey, mustard, onion, garlic, cayenne…

Nik and me Jan. 2016

Daisy, born Jan 2016

Poppy and Daisy

Bob

Anya and me  :)  Feb 2016