Making A Summer Kitchen/ GIRLS SPACE...

So... here on the farm, there are several out buildings and sheds and places to get out of the weather and do some type of work. My hubby claimed the garage, part of the attic, and the old house for himself. The kids are building a fort, the goats have a barn, and the chickens have their very own out building too. Good thing for me I claimed the ancient, rundown cellar and cellar house for myself! And ooooh, do I have plans for that space!!! I know this picture doesn't look like much, but I look at it and see a nice cool, well laid out SUMMER KITCHEN. If you look past the one corner that has a leak in the roof, and maybe squint just a little bit, its really not so bad. There is lots of room for a kitchen stove, all my canning and dehydrator supplies, a kitchen sink, prep table and a window air conditioner. It would be (((Heavenly))) to go out there and do my canning without all that heat and steam ever being in the main house. I have a canning stove stored, I have an old 1940s sink in the garage, an extra air conditioner. I can even hang a porch swing from the rafters for a comfy seat while I wait for the canner to cool. Underneath this room, is the old original cellar that goes with the old house. Right now its full of years worth of old junk from other people who have lived here. But thats OK, because now its getting cold outside and that means any snakes will be stiff... or at least lethargic enough not to bite me as I empty it out. Its an understatement to say its a mess. It is sooo beyond a mess its just crazy. My husband did pull a few things out for me this Summer, he has absolutely no fear of snakes (CRAZY man). So far, a few old dishes, old pop bottles, mason jars and....sigh..... a bunch of old tires. I need to borrow my daughters metal detector and go over the dirt floor for treasure... lol. Ya just never know!

old cellar1

old cellar1, a photo by linger.kathy on Flickr.

Our New Stove

Well, the days are getting chilly here and after much debating over brands and models, gadgets, air flows, fire box sizes, and other amenities, we've finally ordered the wood cook stove! There was really never any contest between the brands... I just fell in love with the Kitchen Queen immediately. Yes, I would have liked a flame view door, who doesn't like to look at all those toasty flames? But my practical nature wouldn't trade beauty for function. A new stove is a big investment these days, all that function doesn't come cheaply!  There were several options with this stove...two sizes, colors, water tanks and a coil, summer grate, warming oven.... what to choose? Well, we decided to forgo the mounted on back water reservoir,  the white enamel and the stainless coil.  We ordered the smaller 380 model, in black enamel, with a summer grate and the warming oven. Am I satisfied with those choices? I surely hope so!!!

There is a 3 week wait for delivery, we ordered on October the 14th, and we are anxiously awaiting the 4'th. Since I don't have it here yet to take pictures, I'm posting pics from their website. I love the fact that it will be here in time for me to fix Thanksgiving dinner on it, and Christmas too! Lets just pray I can get the hang of it quickly and not burn the turkey or serve it raw...lol! Nah... I think I can do this! Well, without further ado, here she is.... DUM DA DA DA DAAAA!!! THE KITCHEN QUEEN.

Going Walkabout...

The wind had a definite nip to it today but we went walkabout anyway. I think I was having some seasonal depression from lack of fresh air and sunlight! Left the dishes and laundry and all my cares behind me as I went out the door. Drug the whole  crew along with me for a walk through the back fields.

Wow, it has really grown up back there in the last weeks of Summer. There were clumps of grass 10-12 feet tall back there. Blackberry canes were rampant, it was an obstacle course walk. We should have no trouble getting a deer this year, the trails were well travelled and very numerous. The rain earlier this week took most of the remaining leaves off the trees, but there were still splashes of bright color here and there to marvel at.

I decided to pick up anything interesting that could be made into a basket arrangement and came home with some long canes of Rose Hips, some pinecones, some dried curly grass, and some wispy little branches to fill a basket with. Matt was content to gather pinecones, but Ethan decided to collect Rose Hips for tea along the way. He picked a little bag full, and then took a shortcut and beat us home... lazy thing!!! lol! I meant to look along the damp places to see if there was any mint left to pick but got distracted by a hundred things and forgot. I suppose if the weather permits, I'll go out tomorrow and find whats left of it.

***YAWN***  Well, here it is 1:30 in the morning and I'm still up, think I'd better give up for tonight or my poor goat will be mad at me tomorrow. She likes a regular schedule of milking!  Nite all.....

Oops! Forgot About My Blog!

LOL... Seriously, I'm never going to be one of those wonderful, organized bloggers who manages to update her blog on a daily basis. I always mean to... but somehow daily happenings (homeschooling,  milking the goat, pasteurizing, making cheese, cooking, mowing, chickens, working on the house, hunting mushrooms, crafting, using my herbs to make tinctures and salves etc..keeps me from it..  And now I'm about to forge ahead into the fascinating world of soap making. I'm tired just listing all that. At least I'm good about taking lots of pics as I go, even if I do forget to post them here until months later! I took some beautiful Fall pics of the boys, and some of the Grandkids as well. The leaves have been beautiful this week and when the sun filters down through the trees its very appealing to just go walk-about rather than work!

My oldest sister got to come for a week this month and we had such a good time all of us together and at ease. We didn't do much as far as running around, but we had lots of time to talk and catch up on news. We drank a lot of coffee, goofed off, cooked and ate A LOT of comfort food that week! We sat around the campfire in our yard and she got to see stars  that she can't see in Georgia.. the city lights there blot them all out. It was a wonderful time for us, we hadn't been together in at least 10 years. The week flew by and next time she comes we may twist her arm to stay at least 2 weeks... or 3..... or? Maybe the Summer!

Well, I'm finally drowsy, better sleep while I can. Matthew fell down the gravelled road today and is so scraped up that I'm having to give Ibuprofen every 6 hrs for the pain. He'll be up around 6 wanting Ibu. and some lidocaine on the worst of it. Putting up some new pics tomorrow. Have a great week!  

The Old Spring House

100_0014, a photo by linger.kathy on Flickr.

This is our old original spring that we still use for most of our water. The water is sooo cold even in the middle of summer. I look inside and visualize another woman years ago storing her fresh milk, butter and other perishables down in here. Love the old ways..... Our drinking water gets run thru a British Berkefeld filter just in case theres Crypto or other nasties in there now. I doubt it but you never know!