News

  We had a custom order for floating shelves and mantle.   The shelves were created from white oak logs. The logs were milled with our sawmill and dried in the solar kiln.   After the hubby made the shelves, the project turned into a father-and-son adventure for installation. The teenager wasn't thrilled with the early morning start time.  After he woke up, he began to enjoy the work and learning experience.  The corners weren't perfect 90-degree angles. The floating shelves were designed roughly a half inch longer, so that the inside corner could be scribed onto the shelf prior to installation. ...

We have more chickens!  We decided to expand our flock and have plans on how to utilize these birds for compost generation and increased fertility of our land (more on that later). We ordered a group of our favorite breed of chickens, Barred Rock Plymouths.  We were a little concerned that they shipped from the hatchery on Saturday and spent the entire weekend in transit. Early Monday morning, I received a call from our local post office that our chicks were available. My daughter and I raced to the office at 7am to pick up our newest additions. They were...

We have been homeschooling for many years and I sometimes forget that what we do isn't the same for others. So, I decided to try adding a monthly homeschool recap to this blog to demonstrate one way (there are so many methods out there!) that homeschooling can work.  We use an eclectic method of homeschooling that leans very heavily towards the Charlotte Mason method of teaching. Without going into too much detail about this method, it can be described as very literature-heavy. We read and discuss A LOT of books. We don't spend a lot of time on workbooks, worksheets, etc.,...

 Homesteading is a journey. Some months you accomplish your goals by leaps and bounds. Other months, you fall back a few steps. The important part is to keep working hard to progress forward in your goals. It doesn't happen overnight. Many websites make it seem easy, but it isn't. It takes baby steps to get to the big projects. So, I'm starting this monthly homesteading update to share our progress and setbacks. I hope that you find them useful in your journey of homesteading.    January - I rendered lard. I found some pasture-raised, locally grown pork fat and wanted...

We have been homeschooling for many years and I sometimes forget that what we do isn't the same for others. So, I decided to try adding a monthly homeschool recap to this blog to demonstrate one way (there are so many methods out there!) that homeschooling can work.  We use an eclectic method of homeschooling that leans very heavily towards the Charlotte Mason method of teaching. Without going into too much detail about this method, it can be described as very literature-heavy. We read and discuss A LOT of books. We don't spend a lot of time on workbooks, worksheets, etc.,...