Men at work

A  canal runs between us and the houses in the back.  When I first bought the house there was only a fence of hog wire and very over grown roses.  Since there is a high school and a middle school close by I had a feeling that the canal could become a major highway for the kids.  I was right.  We also have homeless in the area ( who doesn't) and one close neighbor had a fellow trying to set up camp in her back yard. Twice!
 I have had plans to put up a concrete block wall up for a number of years now.   Well now we have one.

Robert hired some lads to help him get the work completed.  At 73 he can't do it all anymore, even thought I have to remind him of that fact sometimes.  

In the back of the picture is the concrete canal. 

While he had the bobcat to dig the ditch for the footings he also had the utilities buried underground.  The house was built in 1956 with overhead utility lines which was a perfect highway for rodents.  When I say rodents I really mean rats.  Finely fixed their wagon!

So here it is.  Robert is the type of person that likes a bit of over the top decor so he designed and built the gate.  I was a bit skeptical at first, but I must say it looks pretty good.  

Hope

It's been a rough month for our family.  As I previously wrote, my farmer daughter and her husband were burned out by the Butte County fire.  They lost their home, barns, farm hand trailer, pump house and all of their mushroom cultivating equipment.  Also all personal belongs, and family heirlooms. ( My daughter was especially concerned about losing my grandmother's butter churn.)  They did manage to evacuate the majority of their farm animals, but couldn't load the pigs so had to be  left behind. They were devastated to say the least. 


They stayed with some friends that had  land for the animals until they were allowed back to their own property. Surprise! The pigs survived without harm. A large 5th wheel trailer has been purchased as a temporary home and even though they are now back on the farm, they have no water or electricity. So much devastation, where to start to pick up their lives?  It's been overwhelming for them. 

 Meet Hope, born prematurely right after they evacuated to safety.  She was so small she couldn't reach her mama's udder.  My daughter got her some goats milk, and a sweater, and bottle fed her every couple of hours.  Against all odds, she is thriving. She follows my daughter around and gives lots of snuggles. Hope is giving my daughter and son-in-law a sense of , well... HOPE.   Grow strong Hope.

Turkey Tail Farm

This is my daughter and son-in-law who are farmers/homesteaders in Butte County California.  Yes, that Butte County.  They have lost everything, home, belongings and animals, in the fires raging though the hills there.  This Momma is heart broken for them.  www.turkytailfarm.net.

Catching Up

Through the red door

I finally got around to painting the front door.  I had been wanting to paint it red for quite awhile, then last week the old hardware broke and it seemed like it was the ideal time to redo the whole door.  
Initially Robert had a little difficulty getting the strike plate in just the right spot and it caused the latch to stick.  The only way I could get the door open was by using both hands to push down on the thumb lever.  Thank goodness he fixed that problem.  

I drink or rather, I pour almond milk on my cereal and smoothies,  due to some lactose intolerance.  I love the taste  of almond milk over some of the other nut milks but what I didn't like was all the additives the manufacture add to it.  So I decided to make my own.  This way I know exactly what is in it.  I tried a couple of different recipes before settling on one.  I still use cows milk for yogurt and Robert's cereal. 
I also made a turmeric paste for golden milk.  I had a recipe that worked well for me in the past but I couldn't find it.  I found another one on the internet,  but it just didn't work, and tasted awful.  Back to searching. yard

Update on the front yard.  

We planted 7 fruit trees in the front yard, which has really changed the look of the front.  5 of them have multiple kinds of fruit or varieties of the same fruit.  One has 3 different apples, another 3 different cherries, another has peaches, nectarines and apricots all grafted on the same root stock.  Along with those there is a lime tree and a pomegranate tree.  

  The window planter boxes have been installed as well.  You can see the gazebo better from this angle.  The brick floor is yet to be installed, but it will most likely be the last anyway.  I haven't decided what to plant in the boxes yet.  I have always had  it in the back of my mind to put medicinal and/or dying plants in the front. 

Lastly Robert and I drove to Santa Rosa Ca, to attend the Heirloom Exposition, sponsored by Baker Creek Seeds.  Three days of vendors, activities, speakers, and panels, dealing with heirloom seeds and rare seeds.  We were only there one day but there was much to see.      And.......

I got to meet these wonderful folks. 

Homestead Homies

Doug and Stacy from You Tube,channel, Off Grid With Doug and Stacy. I have been enjoying their homesteading wisdom and experience for sometime now and was very excited to talk with them.  They were very generous with their time  and very kind people.  Head on over to their You Tube channel and check them out. 

This and That

I haven't posted anything due to a combination of busy and lazy.  I wanted to update y'all on the progress of the front yard but  it's been in a bit of a stall. My soul sister needed housing so Robert spent several weeks getting his motor home running and

appliances working, so she could live in it for the next couple of years.  It's about 30 years old and in need of lots of work.  It's now parked in it's semi-permanent  home in the hills providing a place for her. 

While he was working on that not much got done on the yard.  

I managed to make some strawberry jam.  I used Pomona's Pectin for the gelling agent.  It needs less sugar  than the other pectin.  The thought of 5-6 cups of sugar just didn't give me the warm cozy thoughts that I get with strawberries.  I love the taste of strawberries and even as a kid, putting sugar on strawberries was horrifying.  

 I have made and canned apple sauce before but this was my first time making jam and canning it.  I watched a couple of videos an consulted some books I have.  Turned out fine but after attending a UCD University Extension Master Canners demonstration, I see there are a few things I could change.

My grandmother used to do all of this as a farm wife, but my mother never learned and by the time I came along Gram just stopped doing it.  So I have to learn from others.  Thank goodness there is a renewed interest in canning and old food ways.

Robert has been painting the picket fence.  The silly man often works in the hottest part of the day.  

I keep telling him to go out earlier in the day. But you know how it is with old dogs and new tricks??

Lastly I wanted to share our garage sale finds.  We don't get to go treasure hunting too often but last weekend we found the opportunity to do so.  

Gave my old one to my daughter.

Bread book and pie book.

Old style blender, and bean pot.

We scored all this for $6.00!  Must shop more!!😉

Sorting through the Past

So much stuff to sort through.  My parents were married for nearly 60 years and accumulated lots of material goods during that time.  My mother was a collector as well and sorting through her collections has been time consuming. Boxes and boxes of pictures and lost of duplicates.  I have also found some treasures of times past that I'd like to share with you.  

My mothers parents passed sometime ago and left very little behind.  My grandmother didn't have much in her life as a farm wife of the depression and then WWII.  When she could, she would throw out anything old and purchase new.  So I was surprised to find these two lovely handmade aprons in my mother's chest.  I had never seen them before and I had been in her cedar chest many times in the past.  I 'm pretty sure she acquired them from my grandmother's estate.  

My  grandmother (later named G.G. by my children) knitted, crocheted, sewed, and embroidered.  She made my layette when I was born. With tiny delicate flowers embroidered on them.  Later , I remember she made a quilt for my brother and a crocheted bedspread for me.  It took her ten years to complete the bedspread.  

 I don't know when these aprons were made, but they look like a style from the 50's.  My plan is to wrap them up and label them for  future generations.  I need to order more archival supplies.

On the Road

I haven't posted anything in a while because my mother passed away.  I have been travelling to deal with her estate and memorial. The memorial for Robert's father was only a couple of days after my mom's.  We did a lot or travelling in the course of a week between two states.  Thank goodness my brother is the one dealing with the legalities of her estate, however I am the historian of the family so all photos, documents and other items pertaining to the lives of the family members were given over to me.  I'm now trying to sort through it all.  I'll be back soon.

What's Been Happening...

A lot of stuff happening here, just not on the homestead it's self.  Robert lost his dad suddenly and had to travel to deal with the estate.  Just about the same time my mother became very ill and was hospitalized.  I had to travel to the middle of the state in a different direction than Robert's trip.
In the same time frame, my oldest daughter was in labor over the course of 2 1/2  days and finally gave birth to a very healthy boy.  A lot of the time was spent on the phone communicating with everyone.
 The weather here has been off and on with rain.  Not a bad thing since California has been rather dry and the fears of another drought continue.  Oh and I started a new job at a local community college as an instructional aid for the health care skills lab.  See I told you stuff was happening.
In my down time I have been reorganizing and downsizing my sewing room.  Because it is the place where several different crafts are done, it tends to get crowded and  stuffed with supplies and projects in progress or projects in waiting.

As you can see it needs a bit more TLC.

From a cold hallway to a warm home

Hallway Before

Here's a view of the hall and the burgundy carpet.  We thought at first that we would refinish the original floors but in the end having newer engineered flooring just made more sense.  

Here is one of the reasons why we replaced the original floors.  I have no idea why it had this hole but the duct tape didn't do much to hide it.




Below is how the hallway looks today.  It feels much warmer with a bit of paint and new flooring.  I know the picture looks like it is cut off at the top, but that is in fact where the sky light opening starts.  The open door at the end of the hall is the sewing room.  Actually its where all kinds of crafty things happen.  Sewing is one activity but also, knitting, weaving, embroidery, cross stitch, basket making, and Robert does leather work.   

Hallway After

 Under the sky light I'm trying to grow some house plants.  Trying is the key word here.  I was never very good with indoor plants, but ever optimist.   The cabinet is an old fish tank stand that was found on the side of the road. I keep the watering can and plant food behind the doors. The top was gone but a bit of scrap wood fixed that.  
The two boxes came from my daughter who picked them up during her waitress days at a well known dinner house on the coast.

The boxes were a bit too deep for the plants, so Styrofoam wrapped in black plastic bags were placed in the bottom of each.  Then decorative smooth black rocks covers the plastic bags.  Besides the pots, the rocks were the most expensive part of the entire set up.  

The hallway  has a much more inviting and homey feel to it with the plants.  Eventually I would like to add some hanging plants as well.

Living Room

  To continue the tour of the house before and after take a look at the living room.  Someone had installed this purple/maroon carpet in the living room and down the hallway. One of the must haves for my future home was a fireplace. This fireplace had tile glued over the brick and lacked grout.  Some of the tiles were cracked as well. I later discovered that there were  cracks in the flue aswell, rendering it useless. 

                                                               

Bookcase and fireplace

   This is how it looks now.  The tile was removed and shaped stone was used over the brick and up the wall above the fireplace.  Matching stone slabs were laid for a hearth and a wood burning insert in the fire box.   A new liner for the flue fixed the crack problem.  The only part of the fireplace saved was the top of the mantel.  I have been thinking that I might replace that with a live edge mantel at some point.  And look at all the books!  Gives me a warm fuzzy feeling.

Someone enjoying the fireplace.

Home Sweet Home

When I moved to Sacramento I didn't believe I could afford to purchase a home, but with some searching and patience I found a fixer upper that was a short sale.  I'm going to share my journey to turn the house into a home with an emphasis on  becoming a bit more self reliant as I move toward retirement.

Before

After

As part of my plan toward self sufficiency, a new metal roof  and solar panels were installed.  The roof line on the right was extended to create a small porch.  The metal roof provided a clean surface to eventually collect rain water for the garden.  California is notorious for periodical droughts and collecting and storing rain is essential for gardens.   The solar panels have dramatically cut my summer cooling expenses.  I currently sell extra power to the local utility but future plans call for batteries to store that extra power for night time use.

Current 

Here is the current work in the front yard.  It is plumbed through out and has electrical laid in for Christmas decorations.  Robert (standing in the back ground) came up with the idea.  You can just see the 4 sided trellis in the middle that will have some type of vine growing up it.  We haven't settled on the plant yet. The front yard will be part of our food garden so most likely the trellis will have something eatable growing.  What you can't see in these pictures is the driveway was widened on the left in order to provide more room for us old fogies to get in and out of our cars. The fence will of course be painted and along the inside of  it roses planted.  I love the smell of roses and I hope the thorns will deter folks from climbing over the fence.