Britesea - Living the good life in rural Oregon

[Mini Horses]

I love cukes & onions sliced, swimming in vinegar some oil & black pepper. They are great for your diet, also. if the fruit is not extremely ripe (prob is right there at the farms) many can be wrapped in paper and into a box, store dark/cool place to eat fresh. My grandma used to slice apples, string them up on light cord and air dry...no hydrator machines.

Yrs ago I found that the best way I could freeze fresh corn was right in the husk. Just pulled brown tassles, trimmed ends to neaten up and put them into a large bag, then to freezer. When ready to use the taste fresh! Besides, quick to do! I love to can but haven't in a long time.

Reading your journal, I see your life took a similar to as mine did, mom with Altzhimers. What a dramatic change in life that gives you. Being an only child, well.......5 yrs and her needs recently became more than I could safely manage at home, so she had to be placed in an extended assisted living, with emphasis on the dementia issues, and all the other things that go with it. She was 90 in early summer.

I've enjoyed your journals and hope retirement happens for hubby! Thought I had retired a few yrs back but, not so. At this time I'm also paring down and using all SS I can to make it happen "again". However, I have a small farm, milk goats, chickens, mini horses, and 2 piglets (AGH) coming next week.
My garden plans look hopeful for getting back into that now.

It's great to hear from others who share the love and trials of a SS and frugal living style. Hey -- protein is your friend for that blood sugar. Keep at it!!!

 

[Britesea]

Thanks for your comments @Mini Horses ,and now I'm in a position to help one of my neighbors who is going through the same thing with her mother. Is your mother's home nearby so you can visit her? Mine was several hours away, but I kept visiting her as long as I saw her eyes brighten when I walked in. It didn't matter that she didn't remember whether I was her daughter or her mother, as long as she was happy to see me. When she finally was so far gone that she didn't even acknowledge there was a person there, well...

I wish we had a little more land. Half an acre is pretty tight quarters, and DH won''t let me raise rabbits because he claims we would need another building to protect them from the weather, and we really don't have the room for anything more without some serious re-designing. Maybe that will happen when he retires.

Today was pretty good, other than being rather tired and sore from riding in a car all day yesterday. A friend of mine wanted to go pick up some geese from Holderread's Waterfowl Farm, but didn't want to go alone. I rode along and navigated for her, then drove home after it started to get dark as she has more trouble with her night vision than I do. We didn't get home until about 9pm (12 hours, total driving time!) I just had enough energy to make a dinner of liver with onions and bacon, pickles, and fresh cantaloupe, and then I collapsed in bed.

So today, I managed to take care of the dishes that didn't get done yesterday, did some laundry, vacuum-sealed the mixed veggies I had in the dehydrator yesterday, cut up and froze the last of the cantaloupes, bottled a batch of kombucha and started a new batch, washed and oiled about 3 dozen eggs, hard boiled a dozen more and got a dozen started in the dehydrator. Got a Pork Loin roast into the oven with onions and apples (I didn't have any apple juice so I used a bottle of Hornsby's hard cider, lol).

And the guys put up a new security screen door. Millie tried to bust her way through it this afternoon, like she's been able to do with the old screen door, and it stood fast. YAY! So now she's sulking in front of the door. Tuesday I need to remember to call the vet and make an appointment for her to be spayed as she is finally done with her season.

I have another batch of pears ready for something; I'm thinking of making some Slow Cooker Vanilla Caramel Pear Butter. But not until tomorrow. I think I've done enough for today- it's supposed to be a day of rest after all.

 

[Mini Horses]

She moved to my home & lived here 5 yrs. 3 mos ago she needed to be placed in the assisted living/nursing type assisted living.

Sad. This is a horrid disease and I feel that it is like a lot of the other extremes in disease we're seeing today has been caused/exaggerated, in that our entire food system is/has been compromised with GMO, hormones, antibiotics, herbicides, etc.

I have managed to have my own farm/garden of some size for most of my adult life -- and that's a lot! Even rented garden space when I lived in a condo, then bought another farm. My farm has weeds instead of chemicals to kill them. Graze & mow.

Enjoy the area you have and continue to barter! These animals can be a real chore. I love them but, just saying....I'm not getting younger. Plan to continue as long as I can and will do some downsizing in next few yrs. Some days you just need to rest and it's OK!! Right now I'm still able to work 2 PT jobs and handle the farm. Life is good!! Only 70 and I bought myself a new tractor this summer. Fun.

 

[Denim Deb]

I love how you say, only 70. My dad is 86, and has just bought a hydraulic log splitter. He was tired of splitting them by hand or w/an electric log splitter. And, when he no longer needs it, I'll be getting it.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

WAIT, WAIT, WAIT!!!

Are you putting eggs in the dehydrator? Details please! I've heard that you could scramble 'em and then dehydrate, but I've never tried it. Is that what you're doing?

@Mini Horses - only 70 is awesome! What kind of tractor? We bought one last summer - it's a New Holland with 400 hours on it. Love, love, love it! Besides just being fun - my tractor is sexy, lol. Sorry, couldn't resist.

And you're right... Alzheimers, dementia and all the assorted horrors that go along with aging are just so unfair. Watching parents go through it is even more frightening when you think it could happen to you too. What a horrible reward for living a long life.

 

[Mini Horses]

A Branson...one of the compacts, with front loader & a detachable backhoe for the rear. With 27 old minis, tired of hand digging those graves! Mine are 18-32 y/olds--15 are 22+. Plus I have 15 acres & use the bushhog, grader blade, disc harrow, etc. as needed. I told my son I named it "Arnie" (after A. Schwartzenager) because it gives me a lot of muscle and NO BACKTALK. The loader lifts and holds fence sections fast & easy -- holds it while I nail/rewire, etc. , moves things I can't budge. What a help!! I'm good at the digging, too. Great for planting trees, removing stumps. It's red...I love it. One of my "wants" that was really a "need"

So, now Britesea, you see why I say sometimes a smaller property is a really good thing!!!! There are days that I think 3-4 acres is waaaay more than enough. You guys are doing great with the things you accomplish on your site. After all, SS living is about that and not how much land. Your skills at bartering and markets are certainly the way to go. Apples trees take less time from your life than livestock. No sitter when you get a couple days away either.

 

[Britesea]

Maybe someday, they will find a cure; better yet, a preventative for dementia.

@frustratedearthmother I beat the eggs and poured them into some of those trays for fruit leather; each one held about 4 eggs. Then I dried them at the highest heat setting in my Excalibur. Most of them were dry within 4 hours, but I had a couple of extra thick spots that took about 8 hours. When they were dry I pounded them to a sort of greasy coarse powder with my mortar and pestle. I've heard of people whizzing it to a powder in their blender or a coffee grinder, but I was nervous about the fact that the eggs might be dry, but they were still raw, and if there was any salmonella in there I didn't want to be inhaling it. I will be sealing them in a glass jar with my vacuum sealer- they should be good through the winter at least. 2 Tablespoons each of powder and water per egg, supposedly. I'll let you know how they taste when I make up some scrambled eggs. I will probably use my digital thermometer to make sure the insides get to 140F-- This is kind of a risky procedure since the temperature at which the eggs are dried is within the comfort zone for most bacteria.

DH gave me a break today and is making spaghetti sauce. I used the free time to get some Vanilla Caramel Pear Butter going in the crockpot, and then I used some of my frozen fruit and made another sorbet for dessert. I really should chop up and freeze the last watermelon too, but I'm feeling lazy now.

 

[Denim Deb]

I'm not familiar w/the Bransons. I may have to look into one if I ever get my own place. It sounds like a real work horse.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

@Britesea - I'd love to hear how the eggs work for you. DH is a good guy!


@Mini Horses - I'm jealous of that backhoe - for the same reason. I get tired of hand-digging graves...and I've got three mini's. They're not geriatric yet, but never hurts to be prepared.

 

[Mini Horses]

Vanilla Caramel Pear Butter -- gosh, how could ANYTHING with those first two flavors be bad?! You make me hungry...I wish we could share tasting the way we can ideas over the net. Hmmm.

Luv most anything with spaghetti sauce. Esp eggplant parm. Now that is a plant worth growing, for me! Fresh tomatoes, fresh goat cheese, noodles......we are talking lasagna! Dang. Next yr a garden for sure.