DITL - Ramblings - Shabbat Shalom

We had a snowstorm come through overnight the other evening. I needed to tend to some early morning chores outside before I even got dressed for the day. I hoped out of bed and put on my robe, boots, gloves and hat to attend to the chores. It sounds strange, but fleece pajamas are warmer than regular clothing. It was only six degrees, and the wind chill was well below zero. 

I needed to check on a sick chicken, clear the snow from the solar panels and the porch. I made quick work of it. The wind cut like a knife. It was brutal. Unfortunately, the hen did not make it, so I also needed to dispose of her body away from the house. 

Later that night, the coyotes found the dead hen and were so loud that they woke us up from a sound sleep. They were rejoicing over their find and fighting each other for a much-needed meal. The cycle of life can be brutal sometimes. 

After nearly a week of being absent from the ranch, I had a mess from unpacking. A plethora of paperwork from the hospital. I took my studies with me, but I wasn't able to read one chapter of my new Inductive Study Bible. However, it was comforting that it was there with us. 

We are starting to get back into a new rhythm. The keyword being "new". Life can change in an instant without any warning. It is fragile and should be treated as such. We are grateful to God for His mercy and grace. 

We had a friend come to share a Sabbath meal with us. We had pan seared Ahi tuna steaks with quinoa, broccoli, sweet potatoes and salad. We played the game Quarkle. It was a nice evening. Our friend is a great blessing to us. 

3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all

Philippians 1:3-4 NASB

Shabbat Shalom,

Mrs. Smith

 

Warmer Weather - Ramblings

Warmer weather brings with it the ability to grow food, ferment foods, and the desire for all types of fresh salads. I am always excited when the seasons change. Everything changes from the clothes we wear to the things we eat. I wore my Teva sandals on for the first time on Sunday along with a sweatshirt and leggings. This is a common sight up here in the mountains. 

I have always wanted a pair of the Original Universal Teva Sandals.
I found a brand-new never worn pair at the thrift store a couple
months ago, for $7. These sell for $55. 

Water Kefir  

Coleslaw, Black-eyed Pea Salad, Fresh Greens, Fermented Vegetables, Sliced Apple and Red Onion, and a Hamburger Patty with Smoked Cheddar Cheese.

Basil Micro-Greens 1st day uncovered.

2nd day 

3rd day

Unfortunately, the severe weather begins over the Rockies this time of the year and heads towards warmer temperatures. I can always tell when bad weather is going to happen for the lower elevations and for other states. It usually starts with the winds. 

The wind has really been blowing for at least two weeks or more and today is no exception. The difference in today's wind is that several large storm systems have been forming all around us. I can hear thunder occasionally over the sound of the wind. Be vigilant about severe weather. It has already been a deadly and destructive season and it is not over yet. 

New green, as we like to call it, is taking over the brown hues of winter.  

Stay safe,

Mrs. Smith 

Waiting for Spring...

We Live disconnected and far away from things of this world and we wouldn't have it any other way. I'm watching Out of Africa. It makes me yearn for new adventures.

When I ventured outside this morning, I was greeted by the icicles hanging off the eves of the house. 

We love our neighbors.

There are new adventures to be had once spring arrives.

It's in the winter months when we really get to experience the harsh reality of living off grid.

I wouldn't trade the brutality of winter for a bustling lifestyle. It is a sabbatical. A reset of sorts.

Until the spring melt, I will find adventure in the works of others.

Mrs. Smith

I Am A Practical Gal...

I received a couple of unusual gifts from Number One. Unusual for most women anyway. I know that flowers, chocolates and diamonds are the kinds of gifts most women desire, but I am a practical gal. Number One knows me so well and I am grateful for his thoughtfulness. 

One gallon of chipotle sauce in a cool glass jar. 

Natren makes the best yogurt starter and just like the chipotle sauce, a little goes a long way. This has to be shipped with dry ice packed in a special box. It is quite the endeavor to have it shipped. 

This also came with special made packaging. I love this stuff and I was almost out. The size difference tickled me. 

Shalom,

Mrs. Smith

There's Nothing New Under The Sun...

What has been is what will be,
what has been done is what will be done,
and there is nothing new
under the sun.  Ecclesiastes 1:9

I woke up around 1 Am this morning and could not get back to sleep. I tossed and turned until I actually braved the cold morning and got out of bed. I put on all my cold weather PJs over the PJs that I actually wore to bed, and I immediately turned up the heat, that never went off last night. 

I do not like sleepless nights. Number One was also awake for some reason. We conversed on and off until almost daylight. Our conversations were groggy at best. Even the dog was restless. 

It could have been the wind that triggered all this sleeplessness. It started blowing about the time we woke up and it is still blowing with 30 + mph gusts. It was also cold with wind chills nearing -40. We are sitting at 21* degrees right now and a wind chill around -18*. We have exceeded our high today by 3* degrees.

Sunrise this morning...

It was chilly on the wall. It was not that cold in the house. The bedroom is a lot warmer at night because of the double-sided fireplace, so we keep it cool when we sleep.

My mom sent me these wonderful boots as a gift for my birthday. Super warm. Thank you, momma! 

Things To Be Happy About In Pictures:

Can you see our new buck?

There he is.

Another day, another visit. He is impressive.

It snowed about four inches a few weeks ago. 

We haven't had any more snow accumulate on the ground this year.

This is all the snow that is left. 

Shabbat Shalom,

Mrs. Smith

It's Been A Busy Week And The Sabbath Is Upon Us...

The Kalimba is beautiful. More beautiful than this picture shows. I took this late last night in dim lighting. I will do a blog post about the Kalimba soon with beautiful pictures.

Do you ever feel rushed? I have felt this way for at least two weeks or more. I think it's because we have so much to do before Winter sets in. It was 11 degrees this morning. I'm sure that it was colder before the sun came up, but that was the first time I looked at the thermometer. 

I turned on my pot of tea from the day before and I checked the solar input and knew right away from the reading that I had better clear the panels, so I put on my snow boots and grabbed the broom. I cleared the snow from the solar panels that accumulated overnight. I also swept a spot for the dog to do her business and swept off the door mat. I looked over at the chickens to see if they had ventured out yet. They had not. They were not ready to be fed. Too cold. 

My tea was boiling away when I came back into the house. I poured it into my Yeti and added a bit of sugar. I sat down to start my morning studies while drinking my hot tea. I had just closed my last devotional when the news from the bedroom came, "The dog is up"... 

I took the dog outside. She was not happy that it was so cold and promptly wanted back under the covers after being outside for a nanosecond. I tried putting her in her own bed, but she wanted nothing to do with that business. She ended up back in our bed in the warm spot that she had just left moments before. 

It is still quiet in the house, so I picked up the new Kalimba and played Amazing Grace on it. I am learning how to play the Kalimba. It was a gift for Mr. Smith, but he isn't that into it, so I decided to keep it and learn to play it myself. It has a beautiful sound. Kind of a mixture of instruments. The harp, bells, chimes, piano, guitar and flute, maybe? In just a few days I have learned to play simple songs and even added my own spin by adding chords. Did I tell you that I don't read music? I mean I know the basics and even understand it, but I have only ever been able to sing and play instruments by ear.

Tummies will start rumbling soon. I think I will make oatmeal. Simple enough and it only takes about 12 minutes from start to finish. I took a couple of freezer meals out of the freezer last night to have over the weekend. Spaghetti with meatballs and black bean chili are on the menu. I also thawed out a couple of chicken breasts to make into something. We are completely out of bread. I need to bake some, but I think I will just bake cornbread and biscuits. We have tortillas too. 

My mind is firing on all cylinders now. Food, check! Let's see, the house needs cleaning before the Sabbath, we need to actually work to make money and things need to be shipped. Okay, I boiled everything down into simple tasks and it's time to get started. I know that sounds easy, but there are two of us with possibly two different ideas on what the day looks like. Make room for additional challenges and added goals, check!

We hung our Winter window coverings this week too. Goodbye constant wonderful views. I don't like having window treatments on the windows when it is so beautiful and private outside, but wintertime is brutal and it is necessary. The good thing is that they allow natural light to come in, so our plants can  thrive and so can we.

Things To Be Happy About:

Homemade biscuits with maple syrup and corned beef hash

Learning to play the Kalimba

The end of the week

Finding split chicken breast in the store, again.

Sunshine

Looking forward...

Looking back...

Bogs snow boots

Natural light

Quiet time

Flour sifters

Footstools

When the heat kicks on...

When the heat kicks off...

It is time for me to end this blog post for today...

Shabbat Shalom,

Mrs. Smith

Inflation...Ramblings...Damaged Shipment, Wrong Item Sent, And Egg Shortages...

I knew that we were in trouble when we received an unmarked box and a label that had been tapped to the box....

Unmarked box and re-taped label.

When we opened the box this is what we saw. This plastic bag was wet and the size of a small dresser. We knew that this was not the original packaging.

The cans were so wet the labels were destroyed. The cans in the best shape were all dented except for two.

The culprits were two cans that had been severely damaged and busted open from the box being dropped. The shipping company re-boxed the items and sent them anyway.

The store replaced the order immediately and it was packaged very well in two separate boxes. In the same order shipped separately, we also received the wrong item. They also quickly replaced it with the correct item. Kuddos for good customer service. 

I had to and I mean had to go into the store for the first time in a very very long time. I snapped some pictures that I found interesting.

They had three heads of lettuce that were so small. It's hard to see, but they weighed very little and you could tell they were not the best quality. I happened to look in the very back and they had two heads that looked like someone put them up on the ridge. They were perfect. I bought both even though this is the most I have ever paid for iceberg lettuce. I usually buy Romaine, but they were even more expensive and extremely small.

Wow, $7.48 for 8 Drumsticks?

$7.44 for a half gallon of ice cream... 

$11.36 for 3 Lbs. of chicken breasts. They did not have any other sizes or selections other than what you see in this picture. 

The eggs were in sad shape. All of the cartons on the far end were opened and broken. It was a mess. This was all the eggs they had. I think the first one were small eggs or something. The really expensive eggs were on the top shelf.

The majority of these were cracked.

I took these pictures nearly a month ago. The canned roast beef, that I love to make soup with, was up from $12.78 to $17.12. That is an increase of $4.36. That's a 33.9 % increase in a month. The lettuce was up by .30 cents a head. I did not price the eggs, since they did not really have any and they did not have the prices posted.

I have been seeing prices going up. For example, the spaghetti I buy has gone up 59.5%. That is a very large increase at one time. I have been trying to buy some, but they have been out and now I know why. It is usually a good indication that an item is going up in price if they are out for a substantial amount of time. This has been my experience anyway. They had it on sale for $1 off until the 5th, so I took advantage of the sale and placed an order. 

I am running out of ways to fight inflation and at these prices I am certain that we are beyond the definition of inflation, but I am fighting the good fight and will do my best to continue to share new ideas.

Blessings,

Mrs. Smith