tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28342360661924810262024-03-12T17:50:57.617-07:00Knotty Oak HomesteadUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger285125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2834236066192481026.post-44368734737072295522015-03-06T11:12:00.001-08:002015-03-06T11:14:33.944-08:00Revamp & HaggisI'm going to be trying to revamp the ol' blog here. I'd like to focus on more homeschooling stuff mixed in with homesteading, recipes, and writing. Heck, I know there are a ton of blogs out there that cover those things, but it's nice to get my ideas out in the open too. I write a lot at my history blog as well, so things might be sporadic here, but I'm going to try to keep it going!
Right now Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2834236066192481026.post-90105099486411937892014-07-28T16:15:00.000-07:002014-07-28T16:15:12.251-07:00Chicken Harvest
Our roosters getting some fresh air and relaxation before the end...Farewell, Gussie, Kung Pao, & Hot Wings! We'll miss your lovely crowing!(though I don't think our neighbor will)
I really never felt this day would come, but it finally did! We had four roosters and only needed one. So, with the help of a lady down the road with a large flock of chickens herself, we killed and processed Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2834236066192481026.post-29232442704641171442014-07-17T07:24:00.001-07:002014-07-17T07:24:43.860-07:00It's Been Awhile...Oh, dear! It's been awhile hasn't it? I've taken a long break from my homesteading blog to nurture my history blog. Lately, though I've been wanting to post things about our homeschooling, gardening, and other such things. So I thought it might be nice to post here again now and then.
Some exciting homesteading updates - we finally got chickens! Out of 12 chicks we ended up with 4 roosters and 8Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2834236066192481026.post-53150847554925708072013-05-24T07:02:00.001-07:002013-05-24T07:05:35.442-07:00Get Into The Garden
I've had to trick myself into going into the garden. Last year, after moving into our new house in May, we rushed to get the garden plowed up and planted. And then I just let it do its thing. What I discovered, however, is that you can never just sit and let a garden "do its thing". If you do, without even realizing the weeds take over practically overnight, your tomato plants grow Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2834236066192481026.post-58498575867243879282013-03-11T09:16:00.002-07:002013-03-11T09:16:44.905-07:00Spring is HereSpring arrived on our little homestead a few weeks early! Well, ever since January, the stubborn spring flowers have been coming up. We even had violets spring up in the beginning of February! So, to say our winter has been on the mild side would be an understatement.
Here are some pictures of our early bloomers plus a couple cute birds visiting our bird feeder:
Sweet little guy!
White Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2834236066192481026.post-11941971118594915622013-03-04T17:22:00.002-08:002013-03-04T17:22:22.523-08:00An Owl Visitor
A beautiful barred owl
Look who came to visit us the other day! There were actually two in the trees, but we didn't see the other one until they both flew away. And then just a few nights ago I was loading my daughter up into our car. It was dark out and I heard 3-4 owls hooting loudly to each other in our trees. We hear them fairly often from a distance, but when they're in our Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2834236066192481026.post-6022610040900271702013-02-25T07:00:00.002-08:002013-02-25T07:01:25.167-08:00Dyeing MishapToday I was dyeing my daughter's white comfort blanket a nice shade of blue. I sewed a bunch of her baby burp rags together into a large blanket, and even though she's 3, she still loves snuggling with those burp rags! Well, I didn't want 8+ years of stains showing (I used them for my son as well who is now 6), so dyeing was the obvious solution.
I put on my rubber cleaning gloves and was Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2834236066192481026.post-68319165224076747062013-02-12T18:29:00.002-08:002013-02-12T18:29:55.211-08:00From Pallets to Chicken Coop
Our own homegrown eggs are so close!!!
My husband and I are preparing for the project I've been waiting for most of my life: building a chicken coop to house some chickens! We got this great idea from Mother Earth News for building a chicken coop out of wood pallets. You can usually get wood pallets for free and we're lucky in that our neighbor occasionally ends up with pallets in relation toUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2834236066192481026.post-17076017776499064752013-01-25T10:17:00.003-08:002013-01-25T10:17:47.944-08:00Homemade Brown SugarFor me, brown sugar is one of those things that I don't really think about until I need it in a recipe. Usually I have some on hand, but the last time I needed it - I was totally out! I had no time to go out to buy some and it was Sunday. We usually don't go shopping on Sunday. So I was stuck! What was I going to do? Thankfully, I remembered that I had stashed away a recipe on making your own Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2834236066192481026.post-7432088040900290292013-01-09T06:24:00.002-08:002013-01-09T06:24:49.606-08:00Colonial ProjectsRight now in homeschooling, my son and I are doing a unit on the colonists. So we started reading about the Jamestown settlement and now we're reading about the Mayflower. As a historian, I am very careful about what we read when it comes to history. History is a tricky thing because primary sources are often very biased, and reading secondary sources can be even worse! It is very difficult to Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2834236066192481026.post-48590177363018389432012-12-26T09:06:00.001-08:002012-12-26T09:08:35.171-08:00Snow CandyWe're into our second day of snow here in Maryland. A lot of it had melted by the end of yesterday; sadly our sledding tracks were mostly grass. But, today's snow storm has more than made up for it and we have plans in the works for an ultimate snow fort for bombarding people with snowballs who are sledding on the hill below. Mwahahahaha!
Our 2 year old daughter has been obsessed with eating Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2834236066192481026.post-26118431457623476462012-12-25T09:16:00.000-08:002012-12-25T09:27:47.410-08:00Say Goodbye to Wrapping PaperMerry Christmas! We just got our first snow last night - just in time for a beautiful White Christmas!
We're in the late morning Christmas lull after opening presents. Our daughter is down for her nap and our son is playing happily with a toy. I feel very blessed this Christmas! We tried to keep things simple this year. We only got our kids two good quality toys and one book each. I think it wasUnknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2834236066192481026.post-12260424449360038652012-12-13T19:14:00.000-08:002012-12-13T19:14:00.312-08:00BirdsWhew, it's been awhile! I don't even know if anyone reads this blog anymore... but anyway! I have been busy with homeschooling and taking care of the house, etc.
Right now we're learning about birds in science, and I thought it was the perfect opportunity to read together a childhood favorite book of mine The Trumpet of the Swan. I had forgotten how much information about swans was in there, so Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2834236066192481026.post-6710254490163176102012-11-24T11:42:00.001-08:002012-11-24T11:42:16.283-08:00Quilt
Remember my Autumn quilt?
Well, it's taken a back seat to my other sewing project - some Regency-era historical clothing. But, I did finally get all the layers put together and it is now in the official quilting hoop. I hope to get to it before winter starts, but it's looking doubtful.
Our garden has finally been put to sleep. I've piled leaves on it and hope they will act as multi-purpose Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2834236066192481026.post-78195778184413343852012-11-10T11:59:00.001-08:002012-11-24T11:31:09.560-08:00Spaghetti SoupI'm usually not a soup person, but with the cold turn in weather I have been craving something warm and soupy all the time. I'm sure it helps that our house is poorly insulated and is stinkin' cold. My husband's mom makes this spaghetti soup that his family really loves. I thought I'd give it a try with my own twist on it and came up with this:
Spaghetti Soup
1 large (28 oz. approx.) can of Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2834236066192481026.post-220139273099586062012-10-29T15:54:00.000-07:002012-10-29T15:54:14.964-07:00Autumny Foods & Halloween
I've been enjoying all the autumn foods! I made some Apple Cider Spiced Donuts and they turned out pretty tasty! I've got pureed pumpkin in the freezer just waiting to be made into a pie. As today is a little laid back (waiting out Hurricane Sandy), I did some online searches for Halloween food and found two I really liked:
Making All-Natural Halloween Popcorn Balls
Creepy (yet healthy!) Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2834236066192481026.post-60479611463840635772012-10-26T14:53:00.000-07:002012-10-26T15:00:21.689-07:00Hurricane Prep
We're preparing for the possible landfall of Hurricane Sandy. I thought I'd post a small list of things I've learned from past experiences when preparing for an emergency. It's by no means comprehensive, but I'll put some links for other sites that talk about preparing for a hurricane below.
These things apply for a storm that you know is coming and that you have advance warning that you canUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2834236066192481026.post-1775943519519592032012-10-17T17:25:00.004-07:002012-10-17T17:25:52.850-07:00Nearly Finished...The quilt top is nearly finished!
It's a little blurry, but it's the best shot I got from full view. I managed to have the same fabric touching in only 3 places. Not too bad! It was a harder job than I thought - the no touching thing.
I need to sew on two more rows to the side and then it will be just the perfect size for our queen-sized bed!
And the two fabrics I'm adding -The brown Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2834236066192481026.post-91496604418042020112012-10-09T06:44:00.000-07:002012-10-09T06:46:48.555-07:00Autumn Quilt ProgressI had some last minute fabric additions:
Leaf print, yellow funky geometric design, green leafy, and red with gold leaf print.Yummy!
I just felt I needed to add another gorgeous red, a yellow I had originally planned on using, but decided against, and now redecided to use, another deep green (I loved the texture!), and I saw that leaf print and fell in love. How could I not include a fabric Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2834236066192481026.post-33730119004470680202012-10-09T06:41:00.001-07:002012-10-09T06:41:19.003-07:00Watermelon Success!!
Yesssss!!!! And, boy, was it delicious!
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2834236066192481026.post-20768817506712913852012-09-25T04:06:00.003-07:002012-09-25T04:08:39.284-07:00Late Summer Harvest
My garden is slowly winding itself down. It's looking very weedy and overgrown (in case you were wondering if I weeded or not. haha!) I harvested our popcorn and got two more pumpkins! There's been a slow trickle of peppers and red zebra-stripe tomatoes. The most exciting thing was that I dug up the potato plant I planted from a sprouting red potato in the compost and we got 3 potatoes! I loveUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2834236066192481026.post-34581917502506030672012-09-18T07:12:00.002-07:002012-09-18T07:13:16.601-07:00Autumn QuiltWith the autumny feeling in the air what with the cooler temperatures, drippy clouds, and falling leaves blowing everywhere - already! - I am finally in the mood to get to work on my autumn quilt!
My actual design is based off Amy Butler's beautiful "Lotus Brick Path" quilt design:
I tweaked it a little because I wanted the blocks to be the size of an actual brick and I Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2834236066192481026.post-90297159678653077102012-09-18T06:22:00.004-07:002012-09-18T06:35:15.698-07:00Seven Day Challenge - Day 7
It's the final day! I think they're giving us a break after
yesterday's doozie. It's a day of service and I was actually planning on doing
this today anyway!
Our neighbor is
kindly letting us use his camper for when my husband's parents come to stay
tomorrow, and since he refused payment, I was going to make him a batch of
pecan sticky rolls - his favorite. I was also going to make another Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2834236066192481026.post-15909470851421976002012-09-18T06:10:00.003-07:002012-09-18T06:33:03.010-07:00Seven Day Challenge - Day 6
This one took me by surprise. I guess I kind of knew it was
possible, but the actuality was a bit of a shock. Unfortunately, I was not able
to participate, and I know this is one that we need the most work on. My
in-laws are coming into town in a couple days and I needed to buy food and
focus on getting ready. So, I had to break the rules and go shopping! :-(
We do have 72-hour kits, but theUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2834236066192481026.post-24530732124172610042012-09-16T14:40:00.001-07:002012-09-18T06:30:47.447-07:00Seven Day Challenge - Day 5
I told you it was coming! No power cooking day! Just this
morning I was heating up some homemade instant oatmeal in the microwave (how
lame, because I could just heat up water...) and thinking I bet today's the day
for powerless cooking. I must have a 6th sense for this or something, because I
was totally right. So, the oatmeal was a powerless cooking appropriate meal, I
just took a shortcut. :Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0