Halloween Night

So last night was Halloween night in a new place. I will tell you first off that is was the best Halloween we have ever had. You have to understand that we moved from Florida to Arizona because of several stresses we had going on. 2011 started out on a good note for us, but it also brought over the stress of the past year. Stress we could not seem to get away from. I will not go into all of the stresses that we had.

So back to our first Halloween in Golden Valley. On Friday night the girls school had a trick or treat inside the school. We were told about it from the girls a few days earlier and so thought that this would be cool. We had been to other TorT's at the girls school in Fl and they were always fun and really cool.

When the girls came home from school that afternoon they cleaned up and got into their costumes. Our oldest girl was a dead witch/cat, which I must say she pulled off very very well. Our youngest girl was a witch, such a cute little witch, but don't tell her that lol. Anyways we went to the school and as soon as we went into the doors there was a line. At first we were like okay. We over heard a lady telling her friend that they had the staff doing TorT in the hallways at their rooms. So we are thinking that you are going to go to a teachers room, go inside do or see something fun, umm I mean scary, get some candy and then get in line to go into the next room. That is what we have done before. So we were like okay cool. Is that what happen? No.

We got into line and stood and walked in the dark slowly and I mean slowly, walking in the hallways of the school, where every once in a while you would come up to the desk with a teacher or volunteer sitting there handing out candy. Really? Please, you have got to be kidding me! So we spent about an hour walking, more standing around then anything, just so our girls can get a piece of candy here and there. I do hope that this was the schools first time doing this, but I found out the next day it was not.

After we left the school we went out to eat. When we lived in Fl we went to Cracker Barrell every Friday for fish Friday. It is/was our tradition for many years. When we talked about making the move, we knew that some things were going to have to change and this might be one of them. So after about a month of not going to CB we got to go and it was really nice. I hate changing things that my family loves, things that we can count on to brings us together. I will fight tooth and nail to change this one, so I plan on doing something about it. Even the girls look forward to it even thought they do not eat fish lol.

On Saturday we stuck around the house. The girls went out with daddy for a bit to help him get things for the house, while I worked. Our oldest daughter got invited to a party/sleep over. This would be the first time that she would be going to a Halloween party with boys there. I promise you I did not get any sleep friday night or saturday night. So that evening my hubby took her over there and met the father of the girl throwing the party. We knew that we would both be working, job wise, on something since it was the end of the month so we invited my sisters 2 daughters over to spend the night with our youngest. Needest to say everything went well.

Sunday we got up and went to a swap meet after dropping off my sisters kids. I had to work in a few hours so we kind of had to hurry but things went well and we had fun.

On Monday the girls went to school and I started work. I had a meeting with my team before we could leave to go TorT so the girls got ready to go during this time. We had been told last week by the cable guy that the boys and girls club does a Halloween event at their place and it involves a local car club. We love old cars. We love car shows. LOL It was going to be win win. So we headed down that way and went searching for the entrance. As we were rounding the block we saw the line. We had gotten there about 30 minutes after it started up so we were like okay. As we were moving in line which was moving faster then the line at the school, we started to round another corner and saw it. The line must had been at least a half a mile to a mile long. So while standing in line my hubby walks down to see how long the line is and where the entrance is. He also wants to check out what is there and how it is moving after you finally get inside. He comes back and says that there are some nice cars, but once you get past the entrance it is the same as outside. We ask the girls what they want to do because it is their halloween and they say they want to try to find a community like we are use too.

So we leave there and head to Del Taco for dinner. They had a special going on that if the kids come in dressed up they ate for free. Can you say cool! So we had dinner and asked the lady at the front if she knew anywhere we could go. She said a church down the road always had an event each year. We headed down that way but when we got there the girls said they did not want to go in there. Not knowing the people and all. So we told them we would look around and maybe see something else. Well I am not quite sure how it got started but we ended up having a candy fight inside the truck. While my hubby was driving, me and the girls were throwing candy at each other, laughing so hard it hurt to breath. So we went from Kingman to Golden Valley which is about 30-40 minutes away from each other throwing candy and just having fun with each other. By the time we got home I could hardly talk and our youngest was passed out. I have to give kudos to my hubby for getting us home safe while candy was flying past him. I do not think we have ever had this much fun on Halloween.

Will I go to work today? No already released my shifts for today and will do non-talking work for at least today.

Happy Late Halloween everyone!!!

Day 4

The last day, finally.

We crossed into Arizona today. Just a bit ago. These last few hours to our girls are going to kill me. It has been so long since we have seen the girls, so long since we have hugged them. We have missed them so so much.

Right now we are about 6 hours away from them. We were hoping to get there before they got out of school to surprise them, but that will not happen. That is ok, the important part is that we are getting there to them.

For the rest of this month i am going to have to work my butt off at work. With working on the house and then the drive out here i have put my main job on the back burner. I had plan to do some work while on the road but i was using my phone to connect my laptop and the internet was just not there.

So a word of advise if you are traveling I-10 and want to access the internet, well your best bet is to find a restaurant like McDonald's with their free wifi while eating lunch.

Day 3

We are between Houston and San Antonio right now. We stopped last night at a Days Inn to get a good nights rest and a shower. We both feel much better now and not so sore as we have been. The goats also are doing better. We got them some fresh hay and they are eating away. Their eyes have also returned to normal.

We are looking for a Waffle House to have some breakfast but are not having any luck. I even did a search on my phone and could not find one. Not sure if they have taken over the west or not yet, but if not they will be missed as we love WH coffee.

We have seen signs for a place called Buc-ee's but was not sure if it was a store or restaurant. Well we finally took the exit for it hoping for breakfast. I should have took my camera inside. It was huge. It is a store with all kinds of gifts, you can get gas there, you can get groceries, and you can also get food to go. Like sandwiches, drinks, and coffee.

The part where i wish i had took my camera was because of the jerky. Now we have seen jerky before but nothing like this. There must have been hundreds of different types and sizes. I have never seen such big flat and curled pieces of jerky. Some pieces were bigger then my hand and at least as long as a normal size notebook. I mean wow!

In the end we left with some bad tasting coffee and heading closer to San Antonio in hopes of finding a Ihop or something.

Day 2

Right now we are in Mississippi. We have been taking turns driving since we left Fl yesterday except for about 2 hours where we stopped and ate. It has been slow going with the goats but they seem to be doing good. It looked like it was going to rain so we stopped at Lowe's and got a tarp to go over the top of their cages. We put lots of hay in the bottom and wood around the sides to keep most of the air off of them. Now with the tarp it seems to be working out good.

They settled down after about 10 minutes of being on the road, but at the first check on them yesterday I noticed Mark's eyes do not have the normal black square in the middle. They are not big and round, like how our eyes dilate to take in more light. So we checked out the other goats and their eyes are the same way. So that is something I plan to look up later.

It rained pretty good last night while still in Fl, but after it stopped we got out to look at the goats and they were dry and good.

Now to try do some work.

On the road again

Well we finally left Florida.

Well kinda we are still here but on out way out. The truck and boat are packed, the goats are in the back, and the house is closed up until a new renter moves in. It was hard to see my hubby get upset as we pulled away. He was always more attached to this house then me. It was never really home for me. I do hope we can get some good nice people to rent this house. Maybe some with kids and dogs.

Dream House Review

A BIT OF A SPOILER......


Last night my hubby and I went to see Dream House. We went there thinking that this was going to be a normal ghost movie or that the new people in the house were going to go crazy because of the old murdered family was going to haunt them to death.

Well it was not your normal ghost movie and we were both very happy with the movie. Even if I did cry a bit at the end. This movie was well worth the $19 it cost for our tickets. Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz, and Naomi Watts were all very good in this movie playing their parts equally. They never give the ending away and when you think you have it figured out, you turn out to be wrong. The best part is that you will be happy to be wrong.

What a great movie!

Also to my hubby, I only jumped once tonight. Thank you very much! LOL

Root Cellers

I came across this article a while back about root cellers. I thought it was neat since I was starting to read books about them as well. We will be leaving for Az soon and I am wondering if I can make one out there. Below is the article. Tell me what you think.

Produce Bound Underground

Root cellars, the ancient technology that enables the long term storage of your farm’s bounty.

By Rick Gush

You stroll out into the garden, picking ripe fruits and vegetables, knowing that come February you’ll still be enjoying their freshness. For those of us attracted to the romantic aspects of small-farm life, this is an appealing scenario.

Root cellars, the ancient technology that makes such scenes possible, are currently experiencing a rediscovery, but not merely because of the pleasures of eating self-grown food, but also because of the actual possibility of reducing expenses and providing for significant food storage in times of potential trouble.

History

Build Your Own Root Cellar Read more about one person's experience.

Native Australians were the first people to take advantage of the cooling and insulative properties of buried foodstuffs in the earth. Records indicate that over 40,000 years ago they grew large amounts of yams and developed the technique of burying their produce in order to preserve it for future use. In the process they also discovered the phenomenon of fermentation, and ever since, alcoholic beverages have been a large portion of those products stored in underground repositories.

Underground storage facilities from the Iron Age have been discovered, and the Etruscans commonly buried their immature wine, but the actual use of walk-in root cellars as a means to prolong the freshness of fruit and vegetable crops was probably an invention that occurred in 17th century England. It might seem surprising that the great civilizations of China and Egypt did not develop root cellars, but the Chinese were the masters of food preservation via salting, pickling and the additions of spices; the Egyptians, residents of an arid environment, were the masters at drying food. It took the right combination of cool winters and hungry Englishmen to finally invent the concept of root cellars.

Certainly the most notable practitioners of root-cellar arts were the early colonists that arrived in North America from the United Kingdom. The eastern halves of America and Canada contain thousands of old root cellars, and the small Newfoundland town of Elliston actually claims the title of “Root Cellar Capital of the World,” and boasts of over 135 root cellars, some dating back 200 years.

Temperature
The basis of all root cellars is their ability to keep food cool. They were, essentially, the first refrigerators. A well-insulated root cellar can keep the food inside 40 degrees cooler than the summertime temperatures outside. This coolness also has benefits during the winter, as maintaining food at a temperature just slightly above freezing has the effect of slowing deterioration and rot. Temperatures inside the home, even in basements, are noticeably warmer, so food stored inside the house has a tendency to spoil much more rapidly than food stored in a cooler root cellar. Temperatures above 45 degrees F cause toughness in most stored vegetables, and encourage undesirable sprouting and considerably more rapid spoilage.

The temperature in a root cellar is never uniform. The temperature near the ceiling is usually 10 degrees warmer than elsewhere in the cellar, so the ceiling area is therefore appropriate for placement of produce that tolerates warmer temperatures well, such as onions, garlic and shallots.

Storing Food
What can you plan on storing in your root cellar once you build it? Certainly, many of us probably have visions of root cellars in the 19th century, packed with bushels of apples and sacks full of potatoes. Today’s root cellars are really not much different, and potatoes and apples are two eminently storable farm products. But the problem with that pair is that they don’t really go well together. Apples have a tendency to emit ethylene gas, which causes problems for potatoes stored nearby, and will also make any exposed carrots or other root crops bitter. As a matter of fact, many fruits, including plums, pears and peaches, and some vegetables such as tomatoes, cabbage and Chinese cabbage, are also notorious ethylene producers.

Legalities There is much ambiguity about root cellars when it comes to building permits. Though not usually listed among typical projects, they are nonetheless usually required to have building permits. However, in some rural areas they are considered “agricultural sheds,” and therefore not subject to building-permit requirements. Any addition of utilities, such as electricity or water, is likely to change any building-department nonchalance and cause the local agency to insist upon permits and inspections. Renovating an already existing root cellar can usually be accomplished without a building permit, provided no extreme expansion is planned. Hiring a contractor to build a root cellar will certainly necessitate building permits and periodic inspections of the work. Digging a root cellar into the exposed soil in a basement may allow for an unobserved and therefore un-permitted construction, but such illegal additions to a house can become problematic when it undergoes inspections prior to being sold. For you and your family’s safety, always consult knowledgeable professionals for sound building advice.

So, what is a dedicated food saver to do? Luckily, there are ways around this problem. A good root cellar has a variety of shelves, some higher than others, and some closer to the air vents. Placing the ethylene producers up high and nearer the exit vents has a tendency to move harmful gases away from produce stored on the floor below. Many root crops are also regularly stored in boxes of loose soil or sawdust, further insulating them from their neighbors’ emissions. Some produce, like cabbages and onions, often emit odors that can taint the flavors of other vegetables, as well as fruits, so finding high, remote corners for these pungent items is a good idea too.

In addition to raw produce, root cellars are excellent locations for a number of other foodstuffs as well. The previously mentioned beverages, like wine, cider, and beer, all enjoy the cool, dark environment of a root cellar. Cured meats like ham, bacon and other smoked meats store very well in temperatures below 40 degrees F. Milk, cream, butter and cheese all appreciate the environment of root cellars. Grains and nuts store very well in root cellars, but require extra precautions against insects, and must be sealed tightly to be secure. Dried and canned foods also keep well, provided they are kept either in less humid cellars, or in separate, drier compartments.

Fresh vegetables and fruits last different lengths of time when stored in a root cellar, but potatoes probably last the longest among vegetables; apples among fruit. Other good keepers include cabbage, beets, kohlrabi, onions, sweet potatoes, winter squashes, pumpkins and turnips. Beans, nuts and dried peppers are very long keepers.

Humidity
After temperature, humidity is the next most important feature of a typical root cellar. It is a good idea to equip your root cellar with a humidity gauge called a hygrometer. Most fresh fruits and vegetables require high humidity to avoid shriveling. A typical underground root cellar will naturally maintain a high humidity if it has an earthen floor, but depending on your particular environment and intended cellar use, you may wish to adjust the humidity level up or down by your management practices. Coolness is generally a desirable characteristic regardless of what you’re storing, but if you are storing a lot of canned goods, nuts or dried fruit, humidity can be your enemy because dried fruit can easily rot and metal canning lids can rust in humid environments. Once you make a list of the products you would like to store, the value of a root cellar with one humid chamber and another dry chamber might become more evident.

Humidity can be increased with an exposed dirt floor, sprinkling water on gravel floors and packing vegetables in wet sawdust. Humidity can be lowered by using concrete floors, barrels of rock salt or by allowing for more ventilation entering from drier air outside.
One problem with high-humidity environments is that sometimes the air will condense as it cools, and that condensation can be a problem if it drips off the ceiling structures onto produce stored below. Avoid placing storage barrels below potential drips. Pre-treating the ceiling with disinfectants like chlorine can also slow the potential spread of dripping diseases.

Hot and Cold Places
Root cellars serve different purposes depending on their locations, and cellars in regions with excessively hot or cold temperatures are modified to suit their purpose. If winters are mild, as in Arizona or Florida, low temperatures can be difficult to obtain, no matter how deeply a root cellar is buried. But even in these warm areas, root cellars can help keep produce as cool as possible, and some builders are particularly inventive in designing methods whereby water dripping across burlap sacks cools the air near the root cellar’s intake vents. Other warm-weather residents content themselves, like the Egyptians, with storing nuts, grains and dried foodstufs in warmer, low-humidity cellars. Arizona is a particularly good environment for producing sun-dried fruits, and those products will keep for many months without preservatives if kept dry and a bit cooler than the normal environment.

In very cold areas, the purpose of a root cellar is generally to prevent the stored food from freezing. Toward this end, such cellars are usually constructed to be extra heavily insulated, and with vents that allow some sun-warmed air to be conducted inside. Large barrels of water inside the cellars can act as thermal buffers; some builders even go so far as to build covered manure pits because the slow decomposition gives off a bit of heat. Other people use the more modern solution of hanging a light bulb from the ceiling, taking care to shield any potatoes, onions or other root crops from the light.

Smoke summer-caught Fish One novel but excellent idea is to keep dried and smoked fish in a section of your root cellar. This technique is a great alternative to keeping those old trout from your camping trip in your freezer. Smoke the fish over your campfire—just put the cleaned fish on a rack where the campfire smoke wafts by for a few hours—and then store them later in your root cellar. Far tastier than thawed fish, smoked souvenirs of your vacation are a novel mid-winter treat.

Air Circulation
One of the key control features of a root cellar is the set of air vents that allow air to enter and exit the cellar. These vents not only allow a greater amount of temperature adjustment than available to a static space, but the air circulation can also be a valuable tool to deal with the ethylene gases and odors produced by a mixed assortment of fruits and vegetables.

The minimum arrangement is one inlet vent and one outlet vent, although there are a variety of situations in which multiple vents would be appropriate. In general, inlet vents should be placed low, and exit vents placed high. This is conducive to a nice, passive air flow through the root cellar.

The outsides of the vents should all be sealed where they enter the structure with packed cloth, expanding foam or tight rubber gaskets. The vents themselves should be equipped with closing and opening valves, and it is convenient to make these valves operable from outside the root cellar. Closing vents in freezing weather and during summer heat spells will help keep the temperature inside the cellar more uniform. Vent pipes that can be twisted depending on the season to catch cooler or warmer winds are also a good idea. In the spring and the fall, cooling can be encouraged by opening the vents and possibly even the door at night when the temperature outside is dropping below the current temperature in the cellar.

Inside the cellar, the arrangement of shelves should allow for generous distances between them. The shelves should also be kept a few inches away from the walls to encourage greater air circulation. Materials placed on the floor should be raised a few inches by small blocks or racks.

Pests and Diseases
Rodents are the single most common pest problem for food stored in root cellars. Installing metal wire mesh in common entry points, such as open vents, is a good idea, as is a frequent trapping program. Poison baits placed away from stored food are fairly effective, and even some of the battery-powered sonic repellers can do a good job.

The next most vexing problem for stored food is plain old rot. The saying that “one rotten apple will spoil the lot” is quite true in this situation, so care should be taken to remove any spoiling produce or other foodstuff. In general though the lower temperatures will combat the mold and bacteria problems that are common in warm, wet conditions.

If there are nuts or grains stored in the cellar, insects may become a problem, but still, it is not a good idea to use insecticides, as they may contaminate the stored foodstuffs. It is better to seal susceptible foods in tight containers.

Building a Root Cellar
There are a number of different basic root cellar designs.

Certainly the most classic is that which is dug into the side of a hill. But many modern root cellars are dug down into flat ground, and feature a set of stairs that lead down to the door. Read more about one design>

In very cold areas, there may also be a second door at ground level to further insulate the cellar. Modern survivalists have been particularly inventive about constructing root cellars, and have made enormous root cellars from sections of metal culvert (these serving also in some cases as potential underground shelters in which people could live for long periods of time). In other cases, simple root cellars constructed from barrels, pallets or packing crates serve the purpose of creating an underground storage area for a quantity of emergency food.

Regardless of the specific style, the basis of any root cellar is the insulative value of the soil into which the cellar is dug. With only as little as one foot of earth above it, a root cellar dug into flat ground can create a temperature of 20 degrees less than the summertime temperatures above. Several feet of soil, optimally at least three or four, will suffice in most cases, but one must have a full 10 feet of soil above and alongside to ensure the maximum possible insulation and temperature stability.

An obvious rule of construction is to keep the doorway and any exposed parts of the structure in the shade during the day. Building on the north side of a hill or digging in the shade of your home or other building is one mandatory design principle.

The next consideration should be to design a structure that does not suffer from leaks or drainage problems during times of rain. This may require sloped doors, creating drainage ditches outside or positioning the floor level above the base level of the surrounding terrain.

As mentioned previously, the most flexible root cellar design will include two chambers, one colder and more humid than the other. This complexity certainly makes construction doubly difficult, but will also double the variety of foodstuffs that can reasonably be preserved in the cellar. Making the drier section essentially the foyer that leads to the entrance of the innermost area is the usual method of dividing the two sections of a root cellar.
When planning the size of your cellar, general wisdom holds that an eight-foot by eight-foot area should provide plenty of storage space for the average family. Larger structures are certainly more luxurious, but also may be more difficult to insulate and maintain at an even temperature.

It is a good idea to use waterproofed wood in any construction, but be cautious of the chemicals in pressure-treated lumber. Treating wood with waterproofing materials can result in an environment in which stored food picks up the undesirable odors of the treated wood. If you can use bricks or concrete blocks for some parts of the construction, you may avoid some of those problems.

Remember to design and install a good ventilation system, and run a few smoke tests to make sure the intake and outflow vents create a siphon between them that moves air automatically through the cellar.

Finish your new root cellar with a thermometer and a humidity gauge, and from there observe and adjust until conditions produce the desired results.

About the Author: Rick Gush is a freelance writer and small farmer based in Italy.

Top

This article first appeared in the June/July 2003 issue of Hobby Farms magazine.

Thank Hobby Farms for this article it is great.

Working from home

I have been busy for a bit getting the house here in Florida ready to rent out. So as many of you know I work from home and have been with the same company for the last 3 years. I have also been looking for other things to do in my spare time on the computer to earn some change here and there. I will be posting a blog later with someones that I came across and that have worked for me. Hope everyone is having a good day.

an anodyne makes you feel good

A company rooted in American history refuses to wither away

Passing this along for the wonderful Beekman Boys.....

A company rooted in American history refuses to wither away

Brent Ridge and Josh Kilmer-Purcell are the owners of Beekman 1802. Take a peek at life on their farm at beekman1802.com

When we first bought Beekman 1802 Farm, the only heirloom vegetables we’d ever heard of were heirloom tomatoes. But a welcome-wagon meeting with one of our neighbors changed all of that. Half-a-mile down the road from us lived the owners of Landreth Seed Company, and we soon learned that every kind of vegetable seed carries with it a little bit of history.

Before long our vegetable garden was sprouting with over 100 different varieties of heirloom seeds – peas, beans, lettuce, carrots, cabbages, and nearly any other kind of vegetable you’ve ever tried. Or haven’t tried.

There’s no set definition of what makes a seed “heirloom.” Some claim it’s the age of origin. Others insist that that the seeds must have been passed down through generations of a family. But nearly all gardeners agree that to even be considered for heirloom status, seeds must be open-pollinated – not commercial hybrids or genetically modified variants.

Heirloom seeds carry the story of America with them. Many were brought to this country by immigrants who could not bring many belongings along on their cramped ocean crossings. Tiny seeds could be tucked in pockets, and carried the most potent memories of their homeland: the cuisine.

When our neighbor’s company, Landreth Seeds, was founded, all seeds were “heirloom.” It is the oldest seed house in America, and the fourth oldest corporation of any kind in the USA. Founded in 1784, Landreth has provided seeds for every U.S. President from George Washington to FDR (yes, Presidents used to grow things themselves). And as our country grew, so did Landreth. By the mid-19th century, Landreth was distributing a seed catalog to every single household in America.

When Barbara and Peter Melera purchased Landreth eight years ago, it was barely recognizable as the powerhouse it had once been. With hard work and dedication, they trekked around the country to garden shows and fairs. They rescued valuable dwindling seed stocks from the dusty corners of the neglected warehouse.

But like many companies, the recession has hit Landreth hard. Recently, we logged into our e-mail to find a disturbing message from our neighbors stating that if Landreth didn’t raise enough operating capital within 30 days, 2011 would be their last growing season. After 227 years of continuous operation, Landreth Seed Company would see its remaining assets harvested by lawyers and bankers.

“For 8 years, Landreth has tried, unsuccessfully, to raise equity capital from financial institutions, wealthy individuals, cashed-out entrepreneurs, foundations and agricultural corporations,” Barbara Melera says. In this age of factory farms and genetically modified produce, they haven’t had any luck.

While chefs and food enthusiasts have made the surprising and diverse flavors of heirloom vegetables popular, there still is not the wide-scale demand necessary for large farms to switch from cultivating cheaper, commercially hybridized varieties. Which is why it’s still virtually impossible to find a tomato that tastes like a tomato in your local supermarket.

However, like the great American company that Landreth is, it isn’t going to fade away without a fight.

“Its become obvious that the only way Landreth will get out of this dilemma is the old fashioned way,” Barbara Melera says. “We have to sell our way out. There are 84 million gardening households in this country. We need 1/84th or less than two percent of all the gardeners in America to purchase a catalog from us to make this goal.”

That’s one million catalogs. If they can sell that amount before September 30th, they’ll raise enough funds to stay in business.

The rush has started. Garden bloggers across the internet have been called to arms. The initial response has been heartening. Seed-lovers can’t bear to watch the oldest piece of American gardening history fade away. The first weekend after the Meleras' personal e-mail plea, Landreth’s website was swamped. They’ve since increased the bandwidth to handle the volume.

But a million catalogs is a lot of sell. “There is no question that meeting this goal will be a great challenge,” Barbara says. “There is also no question that only in America would it be possible to achieve.”

Editor's note: Our Managing Editor is a friend and neighbor of Brent Ridge and Josh Kilmer-Purcell and has appeared several time on their TV show "The Fabulous Beekman Boys."

The date

Well we have set a date to leave Florida. We will be leaving on the 26th of this month and finally completely heading to Arizona to start out new life out there. I can not wait. I miss our girls so much!

Our trailer will be leaving that weekend and we will be pulling our bass boat and will have our 4 goats with us.

We plan on stopping a few places here and there and in between.

Wish us luck!

Updates

I have taken a minute and updated the blogs that I like to follow and also add apart where I can list websites that I find useful. Let me know what you think. Do you have any to add?

Thanks

Lay of the Land

So my wonderful hubby gets me a drawing pad, some pencils, and some color pencils the other day. Now I have been drawing out our property, the house, and the fence that is currently up. I have ideas for where I want to put some flowers (this deciding what flowers), where I want to put some fruit trees, and other trees. But we also want an out door grill (not one you buy at home depot), a clay oven, and a place for my solar oven.

We have decided that we will remove the shed that is currently to the left of our house over to the right side and make it into the girls club house. We will be building my hubby a garage that will run east to west of the north side of the house.

We are also still trying to decided where to put the goats pen up.

So any and all ideas are welcome!

Using Baking Soda

Today I was catching up on one of my favorite blogs and came across some uses for baking soda. I love using baking soda and vinegar when cleaning around the house so I thought it was so cool when I saw this and all of the different ways it can be used.

So just click here to go to the blog....

Or you can look below at the list. I want to say thank you to Lindsey C @ The Housewifes Weekly Journal for posting these.

Health Uses
1. Use it as an antacid. (Hmm... I've got to try this in addition to my Star Anise tea)
2. Use it as underarm deodorant by applying it with a powder puff
3. Mix half a teaspoon with peroxide paste and use it as toothpaste. (This sounds like a great alternative to regular toothpaste that contains Sodium Laureth Sulfate)
4. Use it as a face and body scrub.
5. Add a cup to bathwater to soften your skin.
6. Relieve skin itch from insect bites and pain from sunburn.
7. Remove strong odors from your hands by rubbing them with baking soda and water. (Love it!)
8. Put two tablespoons in your baby’s bathwater to help relieve diaper rash.
9. Apply it on rashes, insect bites, and poison ivy irritations.
10. Take a baking soda bath to relieve skin irritations.
11. Heartburn? Take a teaspoon of baking soda mixed with one-half glass of water.
12. Freshen your mouth by gargling half a teaspoon of baking soda mixed water.
13. Relieve canker sore pain by using it as mouthwash.
14. Use it to relieve bee stings.
15. Use it to relieve windburn.
16. Apply it on jellyfish sting to draw out the venom.
17. Unblock stuffy nose by adding a teaspoon of baking soda to your vaporizer.


In the Home
18. Keep cut flowers fresh longer by adding a teaspoon to the water in the vase. (I guess Fabian will have to go buy me some flowers, to try this one!)
19. Put out small fires on rugs, upholstery, clothing, and wood. (Glad I haven't had to use this one!)
20. Put an open container of baking soda in the fridge to absorb the odors.
21. Sprinkle it on your ashtrays to reduce bad odor and prevent smoldering.
22. Sprinkle it on your slippers, boots, shoes, and socks to eliminate foul odor.
23. Turn baking soda into modeling clay by combining it with one and 1/4 cups of water and one cup of cornstarch.
24. After feeding your baby, wipe his shirt with a moist cloth sprinkled with baking soda to remove the odor.
25. Wipe your windshield with it to repel rain. (Great idea for Floridians)
26. Improve the smell of dishrags by soaking them in baking soda and water.
27. Suck it in with your vacuum cleaner to remove the odor.
28. Freshen the air by mixing baking soda with your favorite perfumed bath salts. Put the mixture in small sachet bags.
29. Restore stiff brushes by boiling them in a solution of 1/2 gallon of water, 1/4 cup of vinegar, and a cup of baking soda.
30. Put it under sinks and along basement windows to repel cockroaches and ants.
31. Scatter baking soda around flowerbeds to prevent rabbits from eating your veggies.
32. Sweeten your tomatoes by sprinkling baking soda on the soil around your tomato plants.
33. Sprinkle it onto your cat’s litter box to absorb the bad odor.
34. Sprinkle it on your pet’s comb or brush to deodorize their fur and skin.


In Cooking
35. Use it as a substitute for baking powder by mixing with it with cream of tartar or vinegar.
36. Wash fruits and vegetables with it. (This supposedly helps remove pesticides!)
37. When boiling a chicken, add a teaspoon of baking soda to the water. Feathers will come off easier, and the flesh will be clean and white.
38. Soak dried beans to a baking soda solution to make them more digestible.
39. Remove the distinctive taste of wild game by soaking it in a baking soda solution.
40. Make a sports drink by mixing it with boiled water, salt, and Kool-Aid. (I don't know about the Kool-Aid)
41. Remove the fishy smell from your fillets by soaking the raw fish in a baking soda solution for an hour inside the fridge.
42. Make fluffier omelets by adding half a teaspoon of baking soda for every three eggs used.
43. Reduce the acid content of your tomato-based recipes by sprinkling them with a pinch of baking soda. (Got to try this one)


Cleaning Purposes
44. Add a cup to the toilet, leave it for an hour, and then flush. It will clean the toilet and absorb the odor.
45. Use it to scrub sinks, showers, plastic and porcelain tubs
46. Spray it on walls, mirrors, and counter tops.
47. Add a spoonful to your dishwasher to make scrubbing dishes easier.
48. Remove grease from pots and pans.
49. Dry clean carpets and upholstered furniture by sprinkling baking soda over the fabric and gently brushing it. Leave it for an hour or overnight, then vacuum.
50. Boost your laundry detergent’s cleaning power by sprinkling a handful on dirty clothes.
51. Combine it with water to make a paste for polishing stainless steel and chrome.
52. Remove scratches and crayon marks from vinyl floors and walls.
53. Clean your shoes with it.
54. Clean garbage cans with it.
55. Use it to wash diapers.
56. Clean the fridge with it.
57. Soak brushes and combs in a baking soda solution.
58. Mix it with water to wash food and drink containers.
59. Put three tablespoons of baking soda to a quart of warm water, then use the mixture to wash marble-topped furniture.
60. Absorb it with a damp sponge, then clean Formica counter tops with the sponge.
61. Use it to get rid of stale odors from cooling containers and thermos bottles.
62. Run your coffee maker with a baking soda solution, then rinse.
63. Combine with hot water to clean baby bottles.
64. Sprinkle it on barbecue grills, then rinse it off.
65. Scatter it on your greasy garage floor, scrub the floor, and rinse.
66. Remove burned-on food from a pan by soaking it in a baking soda solution for 10 minutes before washing. (I tried this one the other day to remove burnt milk from the bottom of a pan. I boiled it with about 2 tsp baking soda and all the burnt mess floated to the top!)
67. Clean your ashtrays with a baking soda solution.
68. Keep your drains clean by putting four tablespoons of baking soda in them each week. Flush it down with hot water. (This works and is so much more environmentally friendly than chemical drain cleaners)
69. Clean your shower curtains by soaking them in baking soda and water.
70. Put it on a small brush to rub canvas handbags clean.
71. Use it to remove melted plastic bread wrapper from a toaster. Sprinkle baking soda on a damp rug, then use the rag to clean the toaster. (Does everyone do that?!)
72. Use it to clean your retainers and dentures.
73. Make a thick paste of baking soda and water, and used it to scrub enameled cast iron and stainless steel.
74. Mix four tablespoons of baking soda with a quart of warm water, and use it to clean the inside part of an oven.
75. Use it to unclog gas stoves.

Green Sites and Apps

So while the hunny and I have been working around the house here in Fl and packing and moving some more stuff into the trailer I have been looking on the web for more green sites. I love reading other peoples blogs so I have a lot of sites that I read daily on my google reader. I love my google reader and wish that I had app to easily bring it up on my nook, but until one is made I will keep going to the website. Anyways so if you come across any blogs about homesteading, sustainable living, or green living, be sure to drop me a line so I am enjoy them also. I plan on adding the blogs I read to my site here but think I am going to have to move the box that they go in since it is kind of small and I read a lot lol.

Now on to the sites and app's...
I will do the apps first as I have only come across a few that I really like and plus I only get the free ones.

The Treehugger app brings you news of green things, ways to go green and other people and places that are going green and how they are doing it.

The Go Green app gives you tip on how you can go green. Every time you close the app and open back up it gives you a new tip.

The Locavore app helps you eat in season and local to where you are. Based on your phone’s GPS location, Locavore will make searching for in-season, local food a breeze by pinpointing farms and farmers’ markets nearest you.

As for some of the sites that I love to read. Instead of listing them on here. I will be adding them to my page so that others can see as they are updated.

Thinking

Well we are still in Florida, but hopefully we will be leaving soon. We are thinking we might be able to get out of here around the middle of the week during Sept 4th-10th. It would be nice as we are missing our girls and ready to start on our new life.

I have been reading a bit here and there between moving boxes and stuff and working. We know that when we get out there and start working on our new home in Az we want to do it as green as possible. We know that we will not get to do everything right away as some ways of going green does cost green but what we can make happen in the beginning will happen and the other stuff will be put on a list to be work on each year.

I have also been thinking about my garden and how I want it. We talked to a few people at Home Depot and they said it would be cooling off soon. So I made the decision to plan the garden while we are working on the house and then start actually planting next spring. So doing a search on google it says that spring normally starts around early March like everywhere else in the USA but I have found some people that say it can start in February. So we will have to see how it goes and watch the weather so I know when to start my seeds indoors.

I know I would also like to have a solar oven and a clay oven so that is also things I am reading about. We will also be putting in a wind turbine and we already have the stuff to set to toilets up on low flow. I also believe we will be setting up a gray water system.

First thing first...getting out there....

Got here

Well we got to the Las Vegas airport on time this time with about an hour to spare so going to work for a bit and eat some lunch.

Next stop Houston Texas.

Try Again

So we missed our flight on Monday morning by 2 minutes. So here we go again lol. Tomorrow morning we will try again.

Wish us luck!

These 2 extra days here did give us a chance to work more on the house. My wonderful hubby changed out one of our toilet systems. We are going from a regular water system to a more eco friendly system. It is called the dual flush system. We are hoping to change this house around so that it is more eco friendly, but with that thought comes work and up front money.

Wish us luck again!

lol

Made It

So we left Florida on Sunday morning at around 10am est and arrived in Golden Valley Az on Tuesday at 11pm pst. It was a nice but long trip. Glad to be out of the car.

We will be out here in Az for the next 6 days, flying out on monday afternoon. Then we will be coming back in a few weeks for good.

As you can see by the posting date of this blog I am now writing this on Friday the 12th. So far we have gotten the water and electrical turned on. We have gotten Az drivers licenses and tags for our trucks. We also got us a post office box. The kids are in school now and have their supplies and doing good. The dogs are doing good and today we brought a new refrigerate. It will be delivered tomorrow. Just have to get the rest of the stuff out here.

We will be working on the house tomorrow and some on Sunday and then spending some time with our girls on Sunday before getting ready to fly out.

Rolling

So today we left Florida to start our first trip to Arizona. We will be making 2 trips, this first one with the dogs and kids. The kids start school on Thursday so we are taking them out there and my dad is going to watch them while we are finishing up the house.

So on this first trip we are taking my truck and his boat along with some other stuff for the house. We will be going from Fl to Ga to Al to Tn to Ak to Tx to Nm to Az. Around 2300 miles and we will see how many days. After staying out there for a few days we will fly back to Fl and then hopefully in about 2 weeks after that we will start our last trip out to Az.

We will see how it goes....

My mom

Tonight as we were moving more boxes into the trailer I got a phone call from my mom. My mom who lives 3 states away, 400 miles away, 7 hours away, and on top of all that lives alone. So my mom calls all upset. Someone has broken into her house. She came home and the front door was open.

After calling my bff (who lives near her) and having my hubby call my aunt and uncle ( who live about 20 minutes away) she calmed down. So the cops show up along with every once else and go over the house to see whats what. While I pace back and forth 400 miles away.

The whole time that I am wondering what is going on I am thinking here I am packing up to move even further away.

Can I really do this? Can I really move even further from my mom and my bff?

Guess it might be a little too late to ask that question now.

August 1st 2011

Well today is the first day of the new month and I am hoping that by the end of the week we will be leaving Fl and heading towards Az. We sat down and looked at a map yesterday. We have been looking and knew the general idea of which way we wanted to go, but we never said where we wanted to stop at. Well we decided yesterday that we would just drive until we wanted to stop by there was a few places that we did want to really stop.

So we are planning on going from home, to Columbus, Ga (for family and friends) then to Batesvilles, Ar ( Mark Martin fan!), then to Holbrook, Az (Painted Desert and Petrified Forest) and then last to our new home Golden Valley, Az.

Friday the 29th

Well my mom has left to go back home today. We have had breakfast and I am at the dentist with our oldest daughter. The hubby and other daughter is at home, hopefully moving things around to be put into the trailer. A friend of ours who has a fork lift is coming over today to help put the heavy stuff into the trailer. I am hoping that we can get a lot done in the trailer today. I really want to be leaving for Az by the end of next week. Lets see if we can make that happen.

Hollis Gardens

Yesterday we took my mom to Hollis Gardens. I love Hollis Gardens. It is so peaceful, so refreshing, and so beautiful. My mom has never been to there but has seen photos and loved it also. We had a picnic, let the kids play in the water park for a bit and then we went to walk around the garden. If you have never been, you should go. I promise you will find something you will like about it.

Of course when it was time to go. I did not want to leave. I did not want to say goodbye, but I did. Another thing I will miss about Central Florida.

Goodbye Hollis Gardens I will always remember you with loving thoughts and memories.

The next step

Well today we spend most of our morning at the vet's office getting the paperwork for our goats to be transported from Fl to Az. We went to St Charles Vet and must say that we take our goats and our dogs there and they are wonderful. If we could take our kids we would lol. Dr Parrott and her staff are simply wonderful, so kind and caring to our animals. We will miss them and their services.

As for the goats, we have 4 of them. 2 girls and 2 boys. Rocky, Mark, Abby, and Bunnyy. Yes Bunnyy with two y's lol. That is what my daughter named her. So we have there paperwork now and they are all healthy and good to go.

One more duck in a row....

Things to miss in FL

There of course are going to be things that we will miss in Florida. Of course some things are the simple things, grass, the beach, Hollis Gardens, and other stuff. But none of those things had come into my mind as of yet. Until last night. Last night we took out girls and my mom out the dinner at Downtown Disney, to the T-Rex restaurant and as we were waiting for our food, I began to look around and said I will miss this when we move.

We go to Downtown Disney a lot. We love to just walk around there and of course it is free. The kids play in the water park, we go window shopping in the stores. We get ice cream or/and eat fish and chips at Cooks. We love going into the T-Rex shop and the Jungle shop just to see all the animals hanging on the walls or from the ceiling. I took a few photos with my phone of the T-Rex restaurant, that I will be adding on here later.

I know that even thou I do not like the heat and humility in Florida and am so ready to move to Arizona were it is yes hot, but low humility, which means less sweating. I will miss Fl and things about Fl.

The First Post

I have been thinking about making the blog for a bit now. Well since we talked about moving from Central FL or Northwest AZ. Which has been all of 2 months now. But today we got the keys to our new house and so I thought it was time. I looked for other blogs around and in AZ to get a better handle on life out there. We have lived in FL for about 5 years now and before that it was Alabama (me) and England (my hubby). So we know that it is going to be a culture shock to say the least. We went to visit my dad out there last month for 2 weeks, and fell in love with the place. Needless to say after that visits things started falling into place. Our ducks got into a row, our stars alined, and we said okay this is scary. Our luck has never been like this. So something was telling us that now was the time to move. So we started planning.