Mother Earth News Fair

We were totally excited to head out to the Mother Earth News Fair in Somerset Pa.  We decided to camp at a local campground nearby the fair. We arrived at the campground Friday evening to find a nasty stench in the camper. As the evening progressed the smell became stronger and stronger. Danny thought it had something to do with  the grey water tank. So we started to check all the traps under the sinks, all the traps seem to be fine and there was no smell in the pipes. My super laid back hubby looks at me and says,"lets just go to bed, we will have to figure it out in the morning". 1:00 a.m. rolled around and I am still awake by this horrible sulfur smell, worrying that it will make the kids sick. I wake the hubby up to tell him I don't think we should be in the camper. I had no idea how he could sleep through the smell. He used to paint airplanes, I now truly believe the paint fumes has ruined his sense of smell. This odor smelled as if I had a stink bomb held up to my nose. He suggested we call hotels to see if they had any vacancies. No such luck!! Everyone was full. The campground was so super quiet and there were tenters all around us. We couldn't quietly pack up and leave, especially with a Diesel Cummins and neither of us wanted to miss the fair. So my SUPER BRILLIANT LAID BACK hubby suggested we open the windows and run the fan on the air condition unit for ventilation and stick it out until morning. It was below 50 degrees outside. I googled "our problem" and saw where it could be the batteries to the camper. Danny said, "Cant be, I checked them before we left". So I closed the computer, opened the windows and we crawled into bed with the kids to keep them warm. I dozed in and out of sleep, shivering, nose holes burning and the smell was stuck in the back of my throat. At 6 a.m. I woke up the hubby and begged him to just go check the batteries. Sure enough the batteries were super hot. No sooner did he remove the batteries from the camper the smell was completely gone!! This night will be marked down as the worst camper night EVER!! We were glad to have the problem fixed and was off to the fair!!!!

 The Fair was held at Seven Springs Resort. It was a beautiful place. They have skiing, zip lines, chair lift rides and much more, but we were there to learn more about self sufficiency.

 The fair had thousands of people soaking up knowledge on energy saving, heritage breeds, seed saving, cheese making, electric cars etc...

 Here Danny and Isaac were waiting for a workshop to start on winter salads.

 We were able to hear Joel Salatin from Polyface Farms speak. LOVE LOVE LOVE!

 Isaac was able to go into a butterfly tent and get up close and personal with one of natures finest. They had books and kits for sale.

 He was also able to take a kids workshop on composting.

 Tey was to young for the workshops, so he hung out with mom and played with the bag of toys we packed. Both boys were so quiet during the workshops I had to make sure I didn't switch them with someone Else's kids.

 Sunday morning we went back to the fair, refreshed from a GREAT night of sleep and took a class on home dairy and cheese making.

 Sunday evening on the way home we passed by several windmills.

Tey wants to wear Mommy's new t shirt

 I think the back was more appropriate!!

 Here Isaac is holding my SIGNED copy of Jenna Woginrich's book, Made From Scratch!! I am a huge Jenna Woginrich fan. I was able to meet her at a book signing at the fair. If you know me, you know I am not a shy person, but i was instantly shy when I met her...oh well. Who would have thought I could ever become speechless!!

 When we came home our Hereford cow Lily had missed us so much. When I went down to give her a treat she kept rubbing her massive head against my leg like a kitty cat. After I walked away she bellowed for 30 min straight..now thats true love!!

 

Oh How I Love My Chickens!!

Herbs and Peppers

The air had to much moisture this summer for me to air dry my herbs. Therefore I decided to use my oven. I baked them at 200 degrees until I felt they were dry. I sliced up my cayenne peppers, baked them and then ground them in my food processor.

I ground the peppers really fine and left some coarse for shaking on pizza. What a great smell in the kitchen!!

Fostering Gods Creatures Great and Small

I received a phone call from a friend that I had gotten to know through foster care. She had recently moved to the Carolina's and was selling her home up the road. She came back for a visit to check on her home and found two abandoned kittens in her shed. She was starting a new job in a couple days and couldn't care for them. So she called the biggest SUCKER she knew...ME! So here we are bottle feeding and taking care of these two adorable babies.

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.

Each little flower that opens,
Each little bird that sings,
He made their glowing colors,
He made their tiny wings.

The purple-headed mountain,
The river running by,
The sunset, and the morning,
That brightens up the sky;

The cold wind in the winter,
The pleasant summer sun,
The ripe fruits in the garden,
He made them every one.

He gave us eyes to see them,
And lips that we might tell,
How great is God Almighty,
Who has made all things well.

~Cecil Frances Alexander

 

Some things have to start with goodbye...

I guess it's gonna have to hurt,

I guess I'm gonna have to cry,
And let go of some things I've loved

To get to the other side,

I guess it's gonna break me down,
Like falling when you try to fly,

It's sad, but sometimes moving on with the rest of your life,

Starts with goodbye. ~ Carrie Underwood

Getting A Haircut!

 Here is my Jersey Wooley. These rabbits are a gentle and calm breed. They dont usually grow over 3 lbs. I use this little girls wool for spinning yarn. She was getting really hot on humid days, so i decided to harvest some of her wool.

 Poor little girl is probably thinking she needs to go to a salon to fix what i did. Dont fret!! It grows back pretty fast!!

Freezing Tomatoes

 We are getting a crazy amount of tomatoes off the vines this year. I decided to freeze the majority of them. So I found these directions on www.pickyourown.org this website has been very handy to me this summer. Freezing is simple, quick and alot less mess. When you thaw your tomatoes they are watery, but work great in sauces and stews. First we blanch the tomatoes to remove the skins.

 Of course we save all the skins for our compost pile!!

 I also squeeze some of the seeds out of the tomato before i put them in the freezer bags.

 Viola! All done!!

 We took the boys to the mountains the other weekend for a camping trip. We went with friends and the boys had a blast.

 

 There is nothing better than watching the boys make memories with people who are close to your heart.