Happenings

The wind is roaring outside. Extreme weather is happening all across the US right now.

With warmer temperatures and melting snow, we are now into the dreaded mud season with more heavy spring snows on the way. What a mess. The bluebirds showed up on March 1st, 17 days earlier than last year. 

In the winter months that I am usually able to store extras in our antique propane and kerosene refrigerators without using any fuel. This was not the case this year. It has been unusually warm all winter even though this winter is supposed to be the coldest on record in the US. It has been colder in the southern states than here for the last couple of weeks. The weather seems inverted. This happens sometimes.

Last year, I froze our extra eggs from our hens, extra milk for yogurt and extra butter, and I am so glad that I did because the price of these items continues to rise. With temps reaching into the 60's the last couple days I just couldn't take a chance on losing these resources even though we are well below freezing at night. 

This was a little difficult since both of our freezers (refrigerator freezer and a small chest freezer) were almost completely full, praise God! After much finagling I managed to get everything put away in the order that it needed to be used.  I usually have more time. Well into April I would say, but not this year. 

Once I make tallow from the last 5-pound bag of beef fat that we purchased a few weeks ago and make some bone broth out of bones that I have been saving up, I will have more space in my freezer. I definitely want to get this done before it gets too warm outside. I avoid using the oven as much as possible during the warmer months to keep the house as cool as possible. 

The Sun Oven comes in handy when I am trying to keep the house cool.
It also reduces our energy consumption.

I cooked for the weekend throughout the week. I usually prepare extra meals for the freezer while I am cooking. This week, I am using freezer meals instead of cooking. I will probably bake bread later in the week and make a batch of tortillas. 

I made a batch of bierocks last week using my tortilla press
to press out the dough. This saved a lot of time and work.

Bierocks are one of Number One Husband's favorite meals. 

By the time Friday morning rolled around, my back was spent, and I was ready for the Sabbath to begin. I'm really glad that I did most of the housework on Thursday and all of the cooking throughout the week. All that I needed to do on Friday was dust.

It was so warm last week that I was able to hang the laundry on the clothesline without the clothes flash freezing. I washed extra loads of linens, so I could stow them away until next winter when they will be needed again. 

I started spring cleaning and organizing a couple of weeks ago. I started with my "study corner". What started out as a small stack of books spread onto the floor inside canvass storage cubes in the living room and overtook the top of the dresser in our bedroom. I just kept adding books to the pile if I found what I was looking for at a thrift store or online. I still can figure out how I can purchase a book (used, in excellent condition) for $4.51 and get free shipping.

I added this book recently. It is a very interesting cookbook. I spend a little time in the evenings reading and marking the recipes that I want to try. There are wonderful short stories about missionaries learning about food and hospitality around the world.

I organized my books, stored them properly on my bookshelf and reduced my study corner to just a nice small stack of books. Cleaning out my little corner is just the beginning. De-cluttering, organizing and being able to locate the items again is my goal for the entire house and barn. The barn itself is going to be a monumental task. The house is in good shape. We are in-between seasons, so we have extra gear on hand until we change into summer mode.

This is some of what I have been up to for the last week or so. I have many goals, but I am flexible when life gets in the way. Today is just too windy to have the doors open on the barn, so I am just tidying up the house a bit. I may start an inside project, but I am not in a rush. I hope you all have a blessed week.

Shalom,

Mrs. Smith