The Land

I think we found  it.  Well, we found something anyway.  Doing a search on the internet & using a real estate agent in the state we are interested in we found 32 acres for $29,000.00.  Sounds like a dream come true, I know, but seriously thinking, its going to take more than just my dreams to make this a reality.  The acreage is zoned for farm/ranch which is just up my alley (even though I was born & raised near the beach & have lived inland in for the past 30 years.  Barry says if this isn't it, there will be something else for us.

I want, so badly I can taste it, this land.  I want to be debt free.   I want a simple house thats warmed with love.  I want chickens & a dog.  I want a place to grow our own fruit trees & vegetables.  I want a warm home with a fireplace & a kitchen for canning.  I want a back porch, a pantry, a laundry room, a cellar.  I want generated power or solar energy.  I want a clothesline like my mom had.   I want to have something I can pass on to our children. I want a place our grandchildren can come & stay during summer vacation.   I want a place to look like home to everyone who comes to visit.

For now, I'll keep my vision.  I'll keep my desires in my prayers while keeping my mind & heart open to the Lords will.  I'll keep making my little apartment feel warm & cozy & keep crocheting, canning, grinding wheat & making bread.  I'll keep making soap & cleaning products. 

Until then, I'll keep believing Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." 
Nancy

Homemade Laundry Soap

Super cheap & super easy.  Initial cost $7.47.  Makes 7 batches @ $1.07 a batch (or 259 loads).  Each  batch makes 37 loads @ .03 cents a load.  Tide = .22 cents a load if you buy it on sale and use a $1.00 off coupon.

1 box 20 Mule Team Borax                               $4.99 (for 8 cups)
1 box Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda    $3.99 (for 7 cups)
1/3 bar of Fels Naptha or Zote laundry soap     $  .97 (for 1 bar)
1 gallon boiling water.

INSTRUCTIONS:
Bring 1 gallon of water to a boil then turn off the heat. 
Grate the entire bar of Fels Naptha or Zote.  Take out 1/3 for each batch.  Put the flakes in a pan. 
Pour enough of the boiling water over the flakes to cover then stir over a low heat to melt (this takes a very short time).  Add more water a little at a time until you have a real nice paste - like cream soup. 
When all the flakes are melted turn off your heat & add the rest of the hot water.
Pour into a bucket & let sit over night.  You will then have a gel.
Pour into your jars.  (I use mason jars).
Use to pre-treat by adding a teaspoon to a stain & rub in.  Then wash as usual.

One batch makes 37 loads (9-1/4 cups). 
Use 1/4 cup for each load of laundry.  (This will not discolor your clothes.)

Canning Season

     Isn't it always canning season when you buy fruit or vegetables during their season?  In August it was canning season for our homegrown tomatoes & zucchini.  In November it is canning season for our apples from Snow-Line.  This year we got 2 bushels of 2nds called "Culls".  Its taken 3 days to can about 48 lbs of apples.  From one bushel we canned 7 qts Apple Pie Filling, 5 qts Apple Syrup, 9 half-pints unsweetened Apple Sauce & Applebutter - 5 qts, 25 pints, 8 half-pints. 
   Sitting near our slider where it stays cool is another bushel box of 2nds that Barry & I will start peeling, corering & slicing in the next 2 hours.  We plan to finish this box today since we'll just can Apple Pie Filling, Applesauce & Applebutter (using the peels & cores -- nothing goes to waste at our house). 

     By tomorrow, we hope to can 25 lbs of carrots I got on sale for .15c a pound.