NO MORE PECTIN!!!!

Today I'll be posting along with a series that I found on The Modest Mom Blog.

It's based on a book that i don't have and haven't read, but with her explanation, I felt like it was worth following her series/challenge.

The main idea of "Frumps to Pumps" is just taking the time to take care of ourselves each day, at least enough to get dressed and fix our hair.

The Challenge is for the month of September (which started yesterday, y'all).

So for my second day of trying to spend  a few minutes taking care of myself, I got up, got dressed and started cleaning.

Then I saw that it was might rain and realized I needed to mow the grass in case it was storming by the time Scott got home to do it.

So I cut the grass, came inside, and was soak in sweat. 

*ew that's so gross*

So I cranked the AC down a few degrees and threw on the coolest ting I could find...which translates to gym shorts and Betty Boop PJ shirt.

I don't even care how goofy it looks. It's so comfy.

Oh, also, I didn't tell the story of how I learned to do this fancy complicated braid this morning and my hair wasall beautiful and flowing and fancy, then I had to take it all out so it wouldn't get tangled when I did yard work.

So I decided to find a quick and easy way to fix my hair....and I landed on asian eating utensils. 

huh.

So here's what happened:

It's a mess, but it's WAY better than my typical mess.

SO I'd say that's a win.

Just a quick update on everything....

...seed started look great. I have bean sprouts popping through the soil, beets about 2 inches tall and little barely visible green leaves peeking on everything else.

...I planted the end piece of a head of romaine lettuce a few days back and it's got new leaves about 4 inches tall!

...I'm going to the butcher shop tonight to get some beef fat, which I will then attempt to render into lard, which I will then attempt to cook with and also attempt to make lye soap with. More on the soon.

...rabbits are on hold for now because of traveling. I'm frustrated but I can deal.

...made a test batch of muscadine jelly from an online recipe. It didn't gel right, so we'll continue to experiment. I'm being defiant and refusing to use pectin so I'll share when I find the perfect recipe.

kbye.

Update on the Homestead

This morning I walked out to the laundry room ( yes, I said "out", as in, it's outside, separate from the house) and looked at our garden. Let me just tell y'all, it's a sad sad sight. There are weeds everywhere, most of it's a muddy mess and we have about 8 plants that are still alive.

But don't worry too much. I have plans to get more plants in the ground before the end of the season.

I planted some seeds in homemade starter cups (cardboard egg crates, potting soil and fertilizer) and planted a little of everything that I lost from the Great garden flood. 

We're on day 2 of those seeds and still nothing peeking through.

However, in other areas of our homesteading attempt, Scott and I have been fairly successful.
I've got a batch of coffee scrub soap curing in the kitchen, we've procured some rabbit cages and even got a friend's permission to tear down an old dog run and reuse the lumber to build us a little rabbit shelter. 

Ok, so let's be honest here for a quick second. We aren't even close to having a homestead. There wont be any food in the garden for at least another 4-6 weeks, we wont be able to get rabbits for another month because of traveling plans, and a single batch of soap doesn't do much for being self sufficient. Not to mention we've been an utter failure the past week. We were so sick we ate out at least 4 times maybe more. And boy was that a disaster. 

After being mostly gluten free for 3 weeks, Scott had a McDouble and a McChicken, then promptly had a McDump.

Sorry...was that a tad too much?

But I'm not letting it get me down too much. There are some things going our way. Our landlord has 20 year old muscadine and scuppernong vines in her front yard and we're going to take the girls to pick them and then make jelly. I can't wait to teach Maddy how to make/can jelly. Plus we'll have a delicious snack and FREE gifts to give people. Hope y'all like jelly:)

Also, we'll have rabbits ready by the first of the year, and what better time to start something than when you're starting a fresh new year? 

And the garden, well, it's a work in progress and a great teacher. Next year we'll do better. We have already learned so much...like:

~when Kim says to till the garden 4-6 times, don't tell her "I already went down 6 inches" because two weeks later you'll walk out to the garden and realize she was correct

~when Scott wants to put a fence up to keep the dog out...let him do it cause seedlings can't survive a 60 pound German Shepherd

~ if you have clover in the area you're tilling up for the garden, till up the first 6-8 inches, then shovel it all off and THROW THAT CRAP FAR FAR AWAY. clover has these little ball/bulb like roots and you pretty much can't kill them. Like the cockroach of the garden soil.

~ start your plants inside like the directions say, even if it gives the option to direct sow. why? Because you'll patiently wait a week to see your beautiful little sprouts come up in the garden, slave away keeping all the weeds pulled, meticulously groom and water the garden, fantasize about all the things you'll be able to preserve, drool on yourself about fresh meals to come, tell yourself you're awesome, inspire jealousy in all your friends, pull some more weeds, hoe like crazy, watch the garden for so long you swear you can see the plants growing, and in two weeks time you'll get 40 days of rain that will wash away all your hard work and drown your little precious beauties and you'll NEVER EVER WANT TO SEE ANOTHER NASTY FILTHY HATEFUL RAIN DROP AGAIN. 

So there you have it, my gardening advice:)