The Biggest Blessing...

Yesterday I blogged about our Christmas Blessings, but I wanted to share the biggest blessing in it's own post. This one reminded me of how precious my family is and taught me some lessons. Our biggest blessing was....drumroll please.....

Spending the night in a hotel - We were actually stuck on the highway during the Texas/Oklahoma Blizzard on Christmas Eve. There were some scary moments when we thought that we'd be spending a freezing night stuck in the snow on the highway. Through the hard work and generous spirit of my husband and many strangers, we were able to get ourselves and many others to a hotel to spend the night. HM was actually directing traffic at one point to get all of us between a snow plow and two trucks that were stuck and almost blocking the entire highway (see photo above). When we finally arrived, it had taken us 6 hours to drive what normally takes an hour. The hotel had purchased sandwich supplies knowing that no one would be able to get to a store or restaurant for food. I was so thankful to be warm and safe that night and learned some seriously valuable lessons.

#1. My car needs additional emergency supplies. While we had crackers, water, & blankets...I sure was wishing for a camping shovel (to dig us out of the snow) and additional food.

#2. I have never taken snow/ice driving seriously enough. I am usually optimistic and say, "Oh, it's just a little snow...we'll be able to make it!" From now on, I'll take winter driving much more seriously, to be sure!

What do you keep in your car for emergencies? How do you store it there and keep it out of the way?

Christmas Blessings....

I was so blessed this Christmas that I'm a bit embarrassed...so it took me awhile to come and tell you about it all. Homestead Man and I both have parents who spoil us and our children...yep...I said it....we're spoiled. Here's a list of my blessings that affect the OAH directly:

Roomba - My mom gave us this awesome robot that vacuums my floors everyday at 11:00am!! This has been a huge life changer for us because this means we CANNOT leave anything out in the floors in our common areas (as I've set the Roomba to stay in the living room, dining room, and kitchen).

Rain Barrel - My in-laws gave me a lovely rain barrel, which will be in place and collecting water when our spring rains come!! So excited about that!

Magazine Subscriptions - My brother & sister-in-law gave me subscriptions to two fantastic homesteading type magazines: Countryside & Small Stock Journal and Mary Jane's Farm. I love reading both of these & it will be awesome to have them regularly grace our coffee table!

Bike - Homestead Man and the girlies got me the cool retro cruiser bike that I've been drooling over for a year! It's got whitewall tires and no handbrakes...just the good ol' pedal brake. Love it!

Solar Lamps - My mom found two solar lamps at IKEA and gave them to my girlies. How great to know that we have those in the event of a power outage! Another cool note, for every lamp purchased, IKEA gives one away to a child without electricity. The note pointed out that those children cannot read or color after dark, so a simple solar lamp allows them several more hours of light for these activities. How fantastic to think of this each time we use our solar lamps.

More plum juice - Homestead Man's grandmother mentioned that she was about to throw out all of the plum juice in her freezer because she wasn't able to can anymore...she asked if I wanted it! Ummmmmm...YES!!! I think I have enough for three batches of jelly! Awesome!

Airstream Camper - Yeah...I saved that one for last!! We came across a deal on a 1980 31' Airstream Camper that we couldn't pass up. It has solar panels on top that allow the lights, radio, and water pump to all work without additional power. We need to do some repairs and replace the fridge, but other than that, it's in pretty good shape. New curtains and new flooring were put in in 2001, and it came with complete records and the original owner's manual. I'll be blogging some more about it as we get it cleaned up and do some of the repairs. When it starts to warm up, we'll park it out at Willow Run to allow us to spend some weekends out there working on our goals for the land and spending time with the animals.

Our cup runneth over...

More pickles today!! Squash pickles, cucumber pickles, and pickled okra.

When we got home from the land...we found FOUR eggs in the coop (one of which was a tiny egg), which means that Lucy has FINALLY come into production! I was beginning to think she'd never lay an egg. We were pretty ecstatic about that!

We also had an exciting development at the land (aside from me being bitten by red ants which stings like you wouldn't believe!). My dad came down to look at the place and he and Homestead Man started talking about barns...by the end of the day, dad had said he thought he had the materials just laying around his ranch and would be glad to see them put to good use and they'd drawn up plans!!! So, instead of saving up for several years to put a good barn out on the farm, it looks like we'll be able to build one out there this year, virtually for free!!

I am so thankful for the way blessings have been raining down on our household lately, and truly believe it is because of our new commitment to pay cash for purchases and pay off our debt. The Bible talks of how if we manage our money in a Godly way, He will return it to us in good measure, shaken down, and running over. That's exactly how He's blessed us lately!

Christmas Blessings on the Homestead...

I was gifted with many, many blessings for our homestead this Christmas! Here's a list:

Tons of canning jars from my husband's grandmother...she is no longer canning and wanted to pass them along. I can't tell you how much fun it will be to fill them with the garden's bounty this summer knowing that they were used countless times by NeeNee Davis. Priceless.

A pizza stone and pizza peel for my bread baking!!

A bamboo cutting board that is absolutely beautiful.

My dad wants to build the chicken coop for me! He's quite handy and also very thrifty. Dad plans to use mostly materials that are available on the farm, so that'll be an added bonus knowing that all the stuff was from our family place that once belonged to my grandparents. Those of you with family farms know that the tin on a family farm has been recycled several times...it is never thrown away. Aside from the value of recycling...I'm also a hopeless sentimentalist.

A clothes rack for air drying clothes indoors. This increases the humidity in your home in the winter (when heating tends to dry out the air) and cuts down on energy usage/costs.

Aside from all the goodies, I was blessed with time to spend with family and friends. We are really building some powerful friendships in our little hometown and it is such a gift from God to have good friends surrounding you. I am so thankful that our jobs allow us three weeks off at Christmas. That is a gift unto itself.

I'd love to hear about your best homestead blessings this Christmas! Please share!

As for our plans for coming days...I'm baking bread tonight and hope to cook up another batch of apple peel jelly in the next few days. I've got two gallons of apple cores/peels in the freezer that were left over from recent apple butter and applesauce canning. Oh, and I'll be cleaning house and cooking for a Bible Study party we're having at our house on New Year's Eve.