Almost 40 Uses For Lemons

Yesterday I shared Laura Ingalls Wilder's recipe for Real Homemade Lemonade. Today I'm going to share a list of some other uses for lemons. 

Why all of the lemony talk? Because tomorrow we're going to all gather round my comment box and Keep It Real (inspired by this post here). Please be sure to come back and join us! In the meantime take a look at my lemons, see which is your favorite, and then please cast your vote in the poll on my sidebar.

A week ago the world was seeing "green." This week I want to to look at just how "green" yellow can be by exploring the myriad of ways that you can replace many household cleaners, beauty supplies, etc... with the all-natural, economical,  multipurpose lemon.  There are a million different uses for lemons and just as many web sites listing those uses. Here is my compilation to add to those millions. 

Around The House

1.) Citrus Vinegar- Place the peels (white pulp removed) from your lemonade into a quart sized jar. Fill with vinegar and allow to sit for a couple weeks, occasionally shaking. Remove peels.   Use it to clean your oven. Spray onto soiled areas and allow to sit for 2 hours before wiping clean.  You can also dilute citrus vinegar in water to mop your floors for a more pleasant smelling alternative to mopping with just vinegar and water. (It also will act as a disinfectant!)

2.) Brighten your laundry by adding lemon juice, an all natural bleach alternative, to your wash. 

3.) Use on your laundry to remove rust and mildew stains.

4.) Freshen your air by slicing a lemon. Alternately, you could simmer it on the stove with (or without) some cloves. - Obviously not as frugal of choice as you are using electricity.

5.) Lemon juice works as an insect repellant, particularly for ants. Sprinkle some in your hot spots or wash your floors with the citrus vinegar from #1.  (I can't wait to try this! We get ants very bad and an exterminator costs a fortune!)

6.) Scale deposits? Substitute lemon juice for CLR or Lime Away. Soak the area for up to several hours and then wash away. 

7.) Clean your shower with lemon juice in the same manner as in #6. Difficult areas can be scrubbed with a paste made from the juice and either salt or baking soda. 

In The Kitchen

8.) Stop the oxidation process on fruits and vegetables by sprinkling with lemon juice. This works particularly well with apples, pears, and potatoes. 

9.) Remove stains from your countertop or cutting board by making a paste with baking soda or salt.

10.) After you make lemonade, throw the rinds down the garbage disposal and freshen it up.

11.)  Combine 1 T. lemon juice per 1 cup of milk  and allow to sit for 5 minutes. Use as a substitute for buttermilk.

12.) Remove offensive kitchen odors such as onion, garlic, or fish from your hands.

13.) Add a few teaspoons of lemon juice to the water when cooking rice. This should prevent sticking. 

14.) Clean your metal with a lemon juice/baking soda paste. 

15.) Keep a peel in with your brown sugar to keep the sugar soft.

16.) Place a lemon half in the refrigerator (or anywhere stinky) to remove odors.

17.)  Place small slices in the trays when you make ice cubes. 

18.) Old Fashioned Tips has some fantastic looking recipes for ice tea that I can't wait to try, many of which include lemons. 

Health & Beauty

19.) Detoxify your liver and gallbladder by adding lemon to your water.

20.) Gargle with lemon water to alleviate a sore throat.

21.) Works as a cough suppressant when you combine lemon juice and honey- take one tablespoon as needed.

22.) Soak yellow nails to stregthen and brighten, then dip in vinegar water to rinse.

23.) Topically apply  to soothe a poison ivy rash.

24.)  To stop bleeding and use as an antibacterial treatment, apply to minor cuts and scrapes.

25.) Mix with water to soothe a sunburn.  (I like this much better than the vinegar my husband uses! It's so difficult to sleep when you're smelling vinegar.)

26.) Aromatherapy- the smell of lemons is sure to lift your spirits.

27.) Use as an antiseptic. Lemons can kill mold, bacteria, and germs.

28.) Remove dead skin cells  by using the fruit acids in lemons to loosen the cells before washing your face. 

29.) Hairspray

30.) Kim C.  at Life in a Shoe has been using it as hair conditioner for the past several months. 

32.) Lemon juice works as a coagulant. To control nosebleeds, dab a bit of lemon juice inside of your nose.

33.) Boost your metabolism. The acid in lemons helps to burn up your food in your stomach.

34.) Cosmetics

35.) Stonewall Jackson used to eat lemons because he felt that they aided with his indigestion. Turns out he was onto something. Lemons prevent bacterial growth thereby inhibiting acids from forming. 

Science Projects

36.) Lemon battery

37.) Lemon fizz

38.) Charge you ipod with a lemon. 

39.) Invisible ink

I need a # 40! What do you use lemons for (besides lemonade)? Is there something that I omitted from this list that I should add?  Please share your sour tips with us!

40.) From Mrs. Querido, "you can also use lemon and baking soda to whiten your teeth! It's fun because the acid foams when it meets up with the baking soda. A DIY frugal teeth whitener :)"

Thanks to Mrs. Querido for this fantastic idea! I love that we pregnant or breastfeeding mothers now have a teeth whitening option that won't harm our babies. This is such a budget friendly idea.

But just because I have #40 doesn't mean that my search for lemon uses has ended.  If anyone else has more fantastic ideas like this one please share.

Works For Me Wednesday

Thrifty Thursday

Frugal Friday

Real Homemade Lemonade

We're starting off this week with all things lemon around here because on Thursday we're going to all gather round my comment box and Keep It Real. (inspired by this post here)  Please come back on Thursday and join us! In the meantime take a look at my lemons, see which is your favorite, and then cast your vote in the poll on my sidebar. 

It is unseasonably warm around here. It feels more like August than April, and so I am hoping to inspire you to drink your lemonade naturally this summer instead of using a powdered drink mix.  Reading through the ingredients of both options should easily show you which of the two is a more natural and frugal choice for your family. 

Their ingredients:

COUNTRY TIME - DRINK MIX - LEMONADE

Ingredients: SUGAR, FRUCTOSE, CITRIC ACID (PROVIDES TARTNESS), CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF NATURAL FLAVOR, ASCORBIC ACID (VITAMIN C), MALTODEXTRIN, SODIUM ACID PYROPHOSPHATE, SODIUM CITRATE (CONTROLS ACIDITY), MAGNESIUM OXIDE (PREVENTS CAKING), CALCIUM FUMARATE, SOY LECITHIN, ARTIFICIAL COLOR, YELLOW 5 LAKE,TOCOPHEROL (PRESERVES FRESHNESS). CONTAINS: SOY.

My Ingredients:

3 lemons, juiced

1 lime, juiced

1 c. sugar

1 c. water, boiling

water

This recipe is slightly modified (in other words, I added a lime) from a Laura Ingalls Wilder's recipe that I found in Laura Ingalls Wilder Country: The People and places in Laura Ingalls Wilder's life and books.

(When you're done reading the series to your children, do yourself a favor and see if you can get your hands on a copy of this book. It turns the tales into living history!)

Simply bring the water to a boil, add the sugar and continue boiling for a minute until the sugar is dissolved. Stir together the sugar water and juices from the lemons and lime in a pitcher and then fill with water. Refrigerate until cold or add ice to speed things along. Almost as easy as just add cold water, definitely more natural.  

Be sure to save your rinds from the lemon and lime then come back tomorrow to find out what you can do with them. 

Tammy's Recipes

Tasty Tuesday

Tempt My Tummy 

Blissfully Domestic

Food On Friday

Foodie Friday

Grocery Cart Recipe Swap

Un-Stuffed Peppers

While I'm Keeping It Real, I might as well confess that I am incapable of cooking one of my husband's favorite meals. For the life of me, I mess up Stuffed Peppers every time.  I don't believe that I have ever been able to get the rice to cook, despite basting numerous times. Supper is usually delayed by up to several hours.  

Fortunately, Bill thinks this tastes just the same as Stuffed Peppers because I can cook it! It's a foolproof Spanish Rice recipe my Dad came up with. I'm not certain where he got it originally, but if I know my Dad, he has tweaked it anyway.

It's a very affordable (costing us less that $3 per night to feed 6 of us), adaptable meal for one night, but we usually have enough leftover for a second meal and maybe even some for lunches.  

Un-Stuffed Peppers

1 pound ground beef (sometimes, I'll substitute venison)

1 large green pepper, cut into large chunks

1/4 of a large onion (or equivalent), diced

12 oz. tomato paste

1 1/2 c. rice, cooked

4-6 T. sugar (to taste)

salt and pepper (to taste)

water

Brown beef in your largest skillet, drain off the fat. Season with salt and pepper.

Add peppers, onions, and tomato paste. Add enough water to thin out the tomato paste to make it very soupy. Add sugar, season with salt and pepper.

Cook on low for about 20-25 minutes while the rice is cooking. (30 minutes long will be fine if you're cooking brown rice.)

Add the cooked rice and then taste adjust. Add enough water to make it soupy again and then cook for another 30-45 minutes or until it is cooked down. 

I love eating it with fresh, homemade, buttered bread. They go together wonderfully! I'll only prepare this meal on days when I'm baking Tammy's bread recipe. (Which by the way is the best bread recipe ever! I am positively addicted to it. Speaking of my Dad, I had him try a slice recently and he seemed very excited about it and wanted to the recipe. And Bill said that he'd never eat his sandwiches on it, but even he eats it now! I started out making 2 loaves a week, now I'm up to needing 5 or 6!) 

Tammy's Recipes

Tempt My Tummy 

Tasty Tuesdays

Frugal Fridays

Food on Fridays

Chick Day

It's Chick Day at our house! Our basement brooder is full of chicken dinners little baby birds chirping away. It's a positively sweet sound, I love it!

We have 25 broiler chickens and 2 turkeys that we are going to try our hand at raising this year. If all goes well, I imagine that our operation will grow next year. Anything that you read about our homestead is in the very early and experimental stages. As with my seedlings, I'm learning as I go.

This turkey still has his egg tooth.

We have also been given 7 turkey eggs to incubate in our homemade incubator. My cousin has a couple of beautiful Royal Palm Turkeys, so unless a wild turkey decided to visit their gal (which is possible) we hope to have a couple of heritage breed turkeys hatching in a few weeks. We candled for the first time yesterday. Turkey eggs are more difficult to candle because of the differences in the shell, so mostly we couldn't tell what was going on, but in one there was definite movement. Now remember I said this is a learning process for us, so if you knew that the chicks would move around in there don't laugh at me, but I didn't. It had never occurred to me before. I just hadn't thought about it I guess. I found this video which shows a chick moving inside the egg. You watch that, I'm going to go start shopping for a freezer chest!

Clippie Creations

A couple weeks ago, I mentioned that I make my daughter's hair accessories myself.  Not only is it economical compared to purchasing pre-made barrettes and clippies, but it is relatively simple once you learn the technique. I can make a whole seasons worth of coordinated barrettes during naps one afternoon. 

I have found Girly Things Bows the most helpful resource when learning this new craft. Their home page says, "Why pay for what should be free?" So they have complied tutorials from all over the web teaching you how to create your own bows, clippies, and barrettes. They also refer you to companies where you can purchase materials at some of the best prices that I have been able to find on the whole web. 

Once you've mastered your bow making, barrette creating skills, this could easily be turned into an entrepreneurial venture to supplement your husbands income. 

To get started, learn how to cover alligator clips.  Once you've done that you can hot glue some decorations on top such as buttons or the little felt crafts you can find at the checkout at the craft store.  

You could also get adventurous and add a tiny boutique bow. They're relatively simple once you get the hang of it. I learned how by reading step by step instructions. This video should make it even more simple to master.
Once you've learned the basics, you can really get creative. Not the creative type? Search the web for what color combinations and styles are in vogue and then imitate them when making your own hair accessories for your little girl. 

Here are a few that I have made (and have been able to find! ;D.)

She worketh willingly with her hands. 

She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant. 

Proverbs 31:13,24

WFMW

Flock Management

Be strong... and work: for I am with you, saith the LORD of hosts. 

I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing- I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me- Strong in the LORD, and in the power of his might- The joy of the LORD is your strength. 

Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Let your hands be strong, ye that hear in these days, these words by the mouth of the prophets- Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not- The LORD looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might. 

If God be for us, who can be against us?- Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not. 

Let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not- Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our LORD Jesus Christ. 

Hag.2:4; John 15:5- Phil.4:11- Eph. 6:10- Neh. 8:10; Zech.8:9- Isa. 35:3-4- Judg. 6:14; Rom. 8:31- 2Cor. 4:1; Gal. 6:9;- 1Cor. 15:57

Compiled in Daily Light from the Bible

Word Filled Wednesday

Seeking Seedling Advice

celery

This year we are experimenting with starting some of our vegetable garden seedlings ourselves as I mentioned previously. I have been tenderly nurturing my little seedlings and learning a lot. I thought that I would update our progress, share what worked, and most importantly, solicit advice.

I started them in wet paper towels inside of plastic bags so that I didn't waste my time on seeds that wouldn't germinate. Even though it took up more time, I'm glad that I was able to see what seeds weren't going to grow and replace them. It seemed that they preferred the paper towel not to be too wet. I encountered two problems with this method as a result of my inexperience. The first was that if you fail to notice the growth and don't transplant it quickly enough, the root will grow through the paper towel and you have to gently tear the towel to remove it, risking breaking the root. The second is determining which is the root and which is the shoot. I planted my onions upside down when I transplanted them. Oops! Fortunately, I realized my error quickly enough to correct it without any damage being done.

I went through my Jiffy Pots more quickly than I had anticipated, so I was glad to have the newspaper pot idea for a backup. I tried to follow the directions , but quickly decided that it would work better to use a half sheet instead of a full sheet, use as narrow a glass as I could find, and instead of folding into thirds lengthwise I did it in half. This gave me a narrow taller pot. Also when folding in the bottom, fold in the seam first so that it is on top when you look inside. I have yet to fill and use them. My next planting is next week, so I'm curious to see how they will respond to being watered. I'm hoping they don't fall apart sitting in water. I have also come across another idea today for cardboard roll pots at A Heart For Home. I'm going to start saving my rolls for this today!

Now remember I'm very new to this. I've never had my seedling escape the clutches of my children for this long! So forgive me if this is a silly question, but what color are my tomato seedling supposed to be? They are turning a greenish grey color which doesn't seem right. I'm assuming that if they were dying, they would be looking yellow. Right?

My second question is about my onions. The tallest ones are getting droopy. I keep "hilling" them up for support, but they're back down before long.

My seedlings are growing in the basement under florescent lights, being heated with our chicken brooder lamps (which will be removed on Tuesday which is Chick Day at our local farm store.) They are sitting on cookie trays which I fill with water to water them. I recently have

begun to mist them to try to strengthen them and give the leaves a drink. They get 14 hours of light a day on a timer.

Can anyone offer me any advice about these two issues? Am I doing something wrong? I'm so desperate for this to work for me this year, that I would greatly appreciate any advice. Maybe this is normal and in my ignorance I just don't know it, but it just doesn't seem right.

tomato

pepper

Here Comes The Airplane! Open Wide

The American Academy of Pediatrics and WHO recommends exclusively breastfeeding your infant to 6 months of age.  My little man turned 6 months old a few weeks ago and I wanted to share why I won't be introducing solids for a little while longer.  I am by no means saying that it's wrong to introduce them now or that it shouldn't be done any other way, I'm just saying what works for me.  

I introduced solids to my first 3 children at exactly six months to the day. I developed a very regimented schedule for adding new foods to their diets. I prepared pureed foods from organic fruits and vegetables. I even wore out several blenders pureeing  roasted meat. 

What a chore! This all took up untold hours of cooking and pureeing (not to mention freezer space) trying to prepare delicious and nutritious meals for my babies. It wasn't very frugal either considering that breastmilk is free. All to no avail, every bite was a struggle. They detested and rejected everything that I served.   I agonized over why my babies refused the food, how they must be starving. I read books and articles about how to get my babies to eat, but nothing worked save one thing. Time. Eventually, all of my children took to eating food... when they were old enough to have some texture added to the slime that I was making for them. (Honestly, would you eat it? I know a lot of people, myself being one of them, who refuse to eat certain foods simply because of the texture.)

Just before my youngest daughter was about to become the next victim to be tortured by a spoon for a few hours every day,  a conversation with my family doctor chiropractor led to her telling me that I didn't have to introduce solids at exactly six months. It's simply a guideline. She said that technically a babies digestive system is ready for solid foods at about the time that they cut their first teeth.  By introducing solids, they are more likely to experience digestive difficulties such as constipation or diarrhea or vomiting. (Even at 9 months old, Lydia would throw up- not spit up- sweet potatoes. Today, she'll eat them without any issues.) Looking at it from a Creation point of view that made a great deal of sense to me so I decided to do some research.  After all, if I didn't feed my babies solids, wouldn't they starve?  

When it came to feeding my babies, I seemed to forget everything that I knew about the reduction of nutrients that occurs in food through over processing them. Even making my own babyfood, I was still removing nutrients to get it cooked down enough to puree. I then froze the food, only to give it a quick thaw in the microwave which not only further reduces nutrients but also possibly changes the chemical composition of the food. For example an apple contains vitamins A & C, folate, iron, calcium, phosphorus, and potassium. A jar of organic baby applesauce simply contains potassium and vitamin C.  Besides, a good look at Ben, will show that starving he is not!

I read  here that "breast milk contains 37 known immune mechanisms, and probably many more that are still unknown. However, as soon as the baby is exposed to solid foods or anything other than breast milk - even one bottle of sugar water - 17 of these immune mechanisms are destroyed (by the E. coli bacteria that are introduced) and can never be restored," and  that "the younger the baby, the more likely it is that any foods other than human milk will cause food allergies. While solely breastfed, the baby is protected by components in mother's milk that prevent foreign proteins from entering the baby's system and causing an allergic reaction. Between 6 months and 12 months of age, the baby begins producing enough antibodies to prevent such allergic reactions. This benefit is especially important for a baby whose family has a history of allergies."

I also learned that while the composition of breastmilk does experience a decrease in nutrients as time goes on (which is why many encourage the introduction of mixing a babies diet with solids at six months), milk is a better delivery system for the absorption of the available nutrients. Of particular concern is zinc and iron, hence iron fortified cereals. An sourced article here outlines the true necessity of iron supplementation and explains that studies now show that iron reserves last up to 12 months of age. 

"The original iron stores of a full-term healthy baby, combined 

with the better-absorbed iron in breastmilk, are usually enough 

to keep baby's hemoglobin levels within the normal range 

well into the second six months."

You can read a great deal of well sourced additional information about why to delay solids here. 

So when will your baby be ready to eat like a big boy or girl? What I found out is that there is no magic date for introducing solid food. Learn YOUR baby. Watch your baby for when they are ready to begin eating. Signs that babies exhibit are they sit up without support, they show a keen interest at the supper table in food or rather at imitating your interest in food, they want to chew instead of using their tongue to push out what would be offered (this a reflex that goes away with maturity), and  a pincer grasp. When Ben reaches for a small toy, he will palm it. This doesn't count. Finally, they will also begin to demand more milk at their feedings. Visit this page at KellyMom to learn more about how to read your baby for their solid readiness, as well as information and links to studies, and  solid readiness myths.

As we read our parenting books and magazines, it is so difficult to remember that whenever we learn about the developmental milestones babies are supposed to reach,  these are simply guidelines. Your baby is an individual and his or her needs are different than my babies needs. 

Watch your baby for cues that they are ready to begin joining in at meal time and then enjoy opening up their sense to a whole new world.  Take your time and go slow.  For the first few months, try to think of food as a new toy for the baby instead of nutrition. (I don't mean play with their food necessarily, although many childcare experts recommend that. I mean that they learn through their senses. So the same way they are stimulated through touching, tasting, and smelling their toys, they will be stimulated by the new foods.) This is a time of experimentation. Baby is still receiving the majority of their nutrients from breastmilk the components of which Gerber (or you making your own) can never duplicate. Many of the benefits in breastmilk have never been reproduced and may be lost  once you begin supplementing with solid foods and milk is no longer their sole means of nutrition. 

Frugal Friday

Bowing Down

O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker. Psalm 95:6

WFW

Daddy's Favorite Cookies

Hannah wanted to make her Daddy's favorite cookies today all by herself, so with minimal assistance from me and a beaming grin, she was able to proudly present her Daddy with warm cookies when he got home from work this evening. 

This very simple recipe was slightly modified from Nestle's Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. 

2 1/4 c. flour

1 t. baking soda

1 t. salt

1 c. margarine, softened

3/4 c. granulated sugar

3/4 c. brown sugar

1 t. vanilla

2 eggs

1/3 c. cocoa powder

12 oz. chocolate chips

1 c. walnuts, chopped

Preheat the oven to 375. In a bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and the salt. 

In another bowl, cream the margarine, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla. 

Beat in eggs and cocoa. Once combined, gradually beat in the flour mixture. 

Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts. 

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto a baking sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes. 

Meanwhile:

Don't forget, Mom has a camera, so you'll probably get caught eating the dough. 

Ah, why not? That's what being a kid is all about. Have at it guys!

Looks like we forgot the apron!

(Let's play Where's Waldo? See Ben down in the corner sucking his fingers "disconsolately" like Mr. Jeremy Fisher? Either he was ready for us to be done or somehow he knew he was missing out on the good stuff.)

Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Enjoy!

Don't forget to go snag the e-book during the Virtual Great American Bake Sale

available April 13th!

Tammy's Recipes

Tempt My Tummy Tuesday

Tasty Tuesday

Founder's Wisdom

Patrick Henry in a letter to his daughter upon the event of her marriage wrote,

My Dear Daughter, 

You have just entered into the state which is replete with happiness or misery. The issue depends upon that prudent, amiable, uniform conduct which wisdom and virtue so strongly recommend on the one hand, or on that imprudence which a want of reflection or passion may prompt on the other. You are allied to a man of honor, of talents, and of an open, generous disposition. You have, therefore, in your power all the essential ingredients of that system of conduct which you ought invariably to pursue if you will now see clearly the path from which you will resolve never to deviate. Our conduct is often the result of whim or caprice-often such as will give us many a pang, unless we see beforehand what is always the most praiseworthy, and the most essential to happiness. The first maxim which you should impress upon your mind is never to control your husband, by opposition, by displeasure, or any other work of anger. A man of sense, of prudence, of warm feelings, cannot, and will not, bear an opposition of any kind which is attended with an angry look or expression. The current of his affection is suddenly stopped; his attachment is weakened, he begins to feel mortification the most pungent; he is belittled in his own eyes; and be assured that the wife who once excites those sentiments in the breast of a husband will never regain the high ground which she might and ought to have retained. When he marries her, if he be a good man, he expects from her smiles, not frowns; he expects to find her one who is not to control him-not to take from him the freedom of acting as his own judgment shall direct, but one who will place such confidence in him as to believe that his prudence is his best guide. Little things that in reality are mere trifles in themselves often produce bickering and even quarrels. Never permit them to be a subject of dispute; yield them with pleasure, with a smile of affection. Be assured, one difference outweighs them all a thousand, or ten thousand times. A difference with your husband ought to be considered as the greatest calamity-as one that is to be studiously guarded against; it is a demon which must never be permitted to enter a habitaion where all should be peace, unimpaired confidence, and heartfelt affection. Besides what can a woman gain by her opposition or her indifference? Nothing! But she loses everything; she loses her husband's respect for her virtures, she loses his love, and with that, all prospect of future happiness. She creates her own misery, and then utters idle and silly complaints, but utters them all in vain. The love of a husband can be retained only by the high opinion which he entertains his wife's goodness of heart, of her amiable disposition, of the sweetness of her temper, of her prudence, of her devotion to him. Let nothing upon any occasion ever lessen that opinion. On the contrary, it should augment every day; he should have much more reason to admire her for those excellent qualities which will cast lustre over a virtuous woman whose personal attractions are no more. Cultivate your mind by the perusal of books which instruct while they amuse. Do not devote much of your time to novels, history, geography...poetry, moral essays, biography, travels, sermons, and other well written religious productions will not fail to enlarge your understanding, to render you a more agreeable companion, and to exalt your virtue. Mutual politeness between the most intimate friends is essential to that harmony which should never be broken or interrupted. How important, then, it is between man and wife!... I will add that matrimonial happiness is not to be found in wealth, but in minds properly tempered and united to our respective situations. Competency is neccessary. All beyond that is ideal. In the management of your domestic concerns let prudence and wise economy prevail. Let neatness, order and judgment be seen in all your different departments. Unite liberality with a just frugality; always reserve something for the hand of charity; and never let your door be closed to the voice of suffering humanity". 

Sunday Stills-Animal Husbandry

Well this was a simple subject for us this week and one that Jared could really get passionate about. It also gives me a chance to introduce the food producers who reside on our property. 

                                                                                           Jared

These are our girls. It's almost their first birthday, and they have been faithfully stocking us with eggs since September saving us money on eggs,  adding extra nutrition to our diets because they free range, and entertaining us with their antics. We have 7 Buff Orpingtons and 3 Black Stars. We're down one girl who became ill right after she began laying. Unfortunately, she was our favorite too! Hannah used to carry her around like a baby doll. She had the sweetest temperament from the first day. She was our very first layer, but then she started laying shell-less eggs and then we found a clutch of 22 eggs in a field many of which had double or even triple yolks. We isolated her from the flock as she deteriorated, and then she died. Poor Hannah was beside herself. Oh yeah!, I almost forgot, we also had a Buff rooster. A very irritating chap we called Chanticleer. He was constantly causing a ruckus chasing the ladies around.  Then one day, he went after Lydia and sealed his doom. He was only ever here for our entertainment. Buffs are supposed to be docile and we planned to get rid of him if he ever went after our babies just once. If you're just here for the pictures, I'll stop boring you now and we'll move on. 

             Jared

                       Jared

Aren't those just the fuzziest bottoms? Almost makes me want to touch them. Almost.

These are our new arrivals. Not quite what I expected. Where's the cute little pale pink piglets that are all clean and adorable? You know like Wilbur.  Sorry Charlotte, you can spin all the webs you want, no chance of me getting to attached to these guys.  Although I do like the rust coloring on the littler one. One is a male and the other is a female. Actually that is their names for now. One and the other. Does anyone have any other suggestions? Please!  The name game is driving me nuts. (Nothing too cute though - we don't want to run the risk of anyone getting attached.) 

I have video of their homecoming. I've been searching high and low for the cord to download it to my computer and share it, but alas it's nowhere to be found so I ordered a new one. It was pretty interesting event to say the least. Suffice it to say, it brought the neighbors out. And they don't exactly live on top of us. Hopefully, I'll get it up later this week. 

Jared's action shot

  Jared

Jared took a picture of this fellow while we were out trying to get a landscape last week. He was not a fan of us being there. He started bawling and marched right on up to the fence. I think it freaked Jared out a bit. He snapped his shots and jumped right back into the van.