A Cozy Homestead Kitchen

When I got up today it was cold at the homestead. As I looked out the kitchen window I saw leaves & rain falling to the ground. I thought this would be a good day to do some baking. With the oven on it would warm the homestead kitchen & make it cozy. I have been wanting to try a recipe for a pumpkin roll. I have never made one before today. It was very simple. To think what I have been missing out on. The pumpkin all baked into a thin sponge like cake rolled & cooled. I mixed the filling & unrolled the cake to spread the filling on it & roll it back up. Of course I had to cut a piece & try it. It tasted so good. I mixed some bread dough & left it to raise. I decided to try rolls this time. I have never made these either. Rolls all placed on the baking sheets to raise & then bake to a golden color. They smelled so good baking in the oven. All this time the homestead kitchen was so nice & cozy warm. On to our diner. The kids are always hungry when they get off the bus after school. We had steaks & baked potatoes with a salad. We tryed the diner rolls smoothered in butter along with our meal. Everyone enjoyed our homemade healthy meal. The dishes were washed & put back in the plate rack. The kids are watching t.v. & I think I will do some catch up reading of all your wonderful blogs before I work on my little mice & do some reading. I finished the book The Joy Of Keeping A Root Cellar By Jennifer Megyesi. This book has so much information to share about preserving the harvest. I have been reading the book of Psalms in my Bible & verses in a book called Gods Promises for every need. I also started reading the book Rachels Garden. Another book about the Amish. The homestead is cooling off since the oven is no longer on. I believe it is time to start the electric fireplace for some extra warmth. The rain is pouring down outside & the sound of rain dancing on the tin roof is so soothing. This will be a good night to cuddle up early under the thick quilts & drift off to dream land.

Blessings Til Next Time!

Our Gift

Our gift made of wood. All stained.

Our gift made of wood before staining.

Weather has allowed time for staining the gift we received. It is made out of all wood. The door that was on it would not shut so the owner was kind enough to remove it & make us a new door. I am looking for a piece of rusty tin to put on the roof yet. Now I have a place to store the garden tools. There are two shelves inside. On the top shelf I have put plastic containers that hold bird food. I am so tickled about this outhouse garden shed. It is just the right size & can be moved if need be. I am still looking over the ads in our local papers for railroad ties that I can make garden boxes out of. So far I have not found any for free. Once in a while there are people who will give them away if you will remove them. The boys will remove them if we can find some. So I am not going to give up.

Blessings Til Next Time!

The New Fish Pond

The new fish pond is finally in. I am so glad. I pray we get to enjoy the fish pond for many years. I still would like a small waterfall but I think we will wait til spring to add it. I cant wait til spring so I can plant flowers around the pond & fill it with pond plants. This pond has to shelves in it. This will be so great for water lilies. Our little frog can sit on the lily pads and sing at the moon. It sure took a lot of digging to get the hole deep enough and large enough. Lucas sure got some larger muscles this summer. For the winter months we have cut some old PVC pipe & put it in the bottom of the pond for our little frog & fish to hide it. The weather has been pretty nice here so we have been sitting on the porch watching the fish swim & listening to the water. Sam has been filling inside the rocks with fine dirt that he has picked the rocks out of. Of course he has gotten a used but new to him PSP game for all his hard work. The fish seem to like their new water hole & that silly friendly frog likes to be talked to & sure likes to pose for photos. No camera in hand when I caught one of our furry kittens touching nose to nose with the little frog. I missed it. I wish the frog knew that the furry kitten more than likely finds him to be a tasty treat. The neighbors cat has been visiting the pond day & night both. I think he finds those fast swimming gold fish to be a tasty treat he may just have to have. I have been counting each day & so far the fish are all still where the belong. Sam & I are thinking we should put a bench in back of the pond so we can sit there next summer & enjoy the sights & sounds. I will love reading there to. I have started reading a new book called The Joy Of Keeping A Root Cellar. There are so many wonderful chapters about canning freezing drying smoking & preserving the harvest. So many pretty colorful photos to. I am reading & dreaming of my dream garden. Can you tell? I think I can here those veggies calling me now. What about?

Blessings Til Next Time!

Old Fish Pond Removed

Do you remember our fish pond in front of the homestead porch? Well you know we started to put in a new & even bigger fish pond at another location in the garden. We had many set backs on this project all during the summer. Finally the old fish pond was drained and removed. Yes we still have our little fish & frog. The green plants will have to be dug up & relocated to another flower bed in the garden. They must be saved. And so they were. The rocks were removed & saved for the even bigger & better fish pond very close by. We now have a stone step area in front of the porch leading out in to the homestead garden. This is much safer. A little more fine dirt is needed to level up the yard & some grass seed to sow. Be sure & visit again soon to see the new fish pond!

Blessings Til Next Time!

A Visit To My Ground

This weekend I went for a drive & visited my ground. I took some photos of the ground & the area around it. There are beautiful views to see. History tells that the three mountains seen in the second & fifth photos the mountain on the left there is a large rock area there. When the leaves are all fallen off the trees you can see the large rock area. Many years ago the indians used this rock area as a watch site & shot arrows from there. It is called the indian chair. People have hunted & found indian arrow heads in the lower lands over the years.

I was given some of the ground about 2o years ago by my Pap & Gram. My Gram passed May of 2003 my Pap passed March of 2009. Pap willed me more ground that surrounds the previous ground I was given. This was a surprise to me. I never expected to receive this amazing gift. I wish I could move the property to the area I live in now. At this time I am not sure what I will be doing with the 4.71 acre property in the future. For now I will continue to think on the matter.

Before leaving the area I continued down the road to the property where I grew up. My Pap & Grams house. I could only see the surrounding ground & the old house from the outside. It is being changed by the new owner. Pap & Gram are no longer there waiting for me to bring my family home for the holidays. Oh how I miss them so. The banging screen door & squeaking wood door I no longer open & enter in to the warm cozy home filled with the scent of holiday meals. No hugs & good byes til the next visit home. I can not bring myself to make the short drive to the little country church near the house to visit their graves. Another time I may just do it. But the happy memories of Pap & Gram & their home are in my mind & heart forever.

We were given the ok to continue putting in the fish pond. The boys have been working hard to finish putting it in and filling the new fish pond with water & the fish. It has been a long project. The old fish pond has been removed & Lucas is filling in the open hole tonight. Winter is coming fast & we are running out of time for good weather. Sam is warm inside tonight by the electric fireplace. Laken is busy helping with the laundry. I am taking photos to share later.

We received a wonderful gift this past weekend also. I will only tell you a bit about it. The gift is wood & will need staining. It will be put in the area I have dreamed of having a box garden. Can you guess what it is?

Blessings Til Next Time.

The Homestead Kitchen

As a homemaker I spend most of my time in the kitchen. Here I have surrounded my self with reminders of God. They are uplifting & feed my soul from day to day.

The beautiful nativity scene is out year round on top of the pie safe. So many years ago God sent his only Son to be born a babe in a stable. Jesus died on the cross for all of us. The price for all our sins was his death. All our sins were covered by his blood.

This one word has so much meaning. Something we all need in our lives. Peace.

I stitched the Lords Prayer on Muslin & framed it a few years ago.

This little sign was given to me by my MIL years ago. It belonged to her mother. I never had the chance to meet this woman but have heard over years how wonderful she was. I missed knowing a Godly woman who I know I would have really liked.

On top of the frig is this little block of wood that has the name of our Savior. The letters spell love to me. Jesus.

I stitched this saying on muslin & framed it to put in my candle shelf. It says so much to me.

The simple little wood box I found at the good will & filled with prayer requests. The kitchen seemed like the best place to keep it because I would see it every day & most all day long. It would help me to keep others in prayer as I cleaned & cooked.

These pies are just a few of the many things prepared in the kitchen as I take the time to pray for others & myself.

Some times life gets so busy & way to much for me to handle but as I look around the kitchen I am reminded I am not alone & always have God to care for me. It is up lifting for me & encouraging to have all these small & simple reminders.

At this time I have a prayer request that I would like you to join with me to lift up a young woman who's mother passed away on Monday. This young woman was very close to her mother & she is a mother of one toddler. It has been very hard for her planning the funeral on top of loosing her mother so suddenly & having to explain to her own child that his grandma has went to live with Jesus in heaven. My heart goes out to her family & her mothers family. I hate to see her in such pain. May God bless you for your caring prayers.

Blessings Til Next Time.

Tuesdays Display Chain "Peek-A-Boo"

This is where I hide my sewing machine when I am not using it. The top of the cabinet lifts up & I keep my thread inside.

Now you can see the sewing machine.

The stove board is a great place to display some goodies. I have been changing the display for the season.

Now you can see the stove. I call this my Cinderella stove. I hate to clean it. It takes so much polishing & I never get to go to the ball. LOL.

Just a simple wood box I picked up at a public sale & a prim dish cloth hides my toaster.

This toaster is just so ugly I have to hide it. The toaster is years old I have not found another toaster that will fit in the wood box. I wont give up the wood box so I search for a toaster.

Happy Tuesday to all!

Misi - http://1890gablehousemusings.blogspot.com
Robyn - http://primlish.blogspot.com