Cookin' with Wood...in Style!

Since our home has two wood burning stoves that we use all winter long to heat our home, we have often dabbled a little in cooking with wood. Now, thanks to our awesome Craigslist find we can do so in style!

When making something like a soup, stew, or stock that needs to simmer for a good part of the day, it has always seemed like such a waste of energy to also run the electric stove top, so we often utilize one of our wood stoves to get the job done.

We scored this beauty right around Christmas time and Mr. J plugged away at sandblasting and repainting the top and shining up the nickle trim throughout the winter. The enamel was in very nice shape, and it's rustic look fits our home perfectly, so all I did was give it a good cleaning.

Since it took us until March to get it in the house and all cleaned up, we only had the chance to use it a handful of times, but we have BIG plans for our new dual-purpose appliance next heating season.

Mr. J did bake a couple of loaves of bread on it this spring; one turned out perfectly, the other, not so much.
It will definitely take some practice for us to learn how to use it, especially the oven, but boy will it be a fun learning experience...

And at least we'll stay nice and warm while we're learning! 

Mrs. J :)

Wake Up Call

     Things have been so busy around here over the past six months that we could have easily posted about something new once a week, if not more so! The main problem has been that there are only so many hours in the day. We have at least a half a dozen posts started, and we will get around to posting them eventually, but right now we are just taking a deep breath and thanking God for all that he has blessed us with.
     We have a beautiful, healthy, happy family and a beautiful space on this Earth with which to enjoy them. Our lovely reproduction home is tucked neatly in the woods, yet we also have wonderful neighbors, and live close to our neighborhood schools, shopping centers, and many family members and dear friends.We have our own little slice of heaven back here on our Small Farm in the Woods. We really do.
     In all the hustle and bustle of life lately we may not have been as appreciative as we should have been for all that we have. Things can get pretty busy when you're trying to live off the land as much as possible and animal husbandry is not for the feint of heart. It is definitely more work to live a "simpler" life, that's for sure! And it is easy to get hung up on and overwhelmed by the concept of having to do it all. Future plans for our homestead, and to do lists have definitely been ruling our lives lately. Our fall/spring anthem "It's a very busy time of year" has been sung quite a bit lately, and I think that both Mr. J and I (with the greatest of intentions, of course,) had lost sight of the big picture.
     Even though we may not have had the time to notice that we were letting things get the best of us, it seems like our all knowing God was watching us and honed right in on the fact that we needed a wake-up call. Well, we got that wake-up call first thing this morning when Miss E came in to our bedroom to wake me up today. Mr. J was out in the barn milking the goats and I had been laying in bed awake for almost 30 minutes. I have this terrible habit of continually hitting the snooze button and "sleeping" for just a few more minutes before finally getting out of bed. It drives Mr. J nuts, so I can only get away with it when he's already up and out of the house.
     Anyway, Miss E quickly put an end to my antics when she awoke; she came right down to our room and was talking to me about catching a kitty to snuggle with when I saw her glance out the window of my room, frown, hesitate, and then point out the window and announce "fire, Mommy." The second I heard the word "fire" escape from her mouth, I was on my feet. I ran to the window, and upon discovering a small pile of burnt wood and orange flames where our coop full of 50 almost 4 week old meat birds were supposed to be, yelled out a not so nice phrase and bolted out the side door. I ran full speed, barefoot (and pant-less,) down our partially paved, partially gravel driveway yelling out Mr. J's name. He heard me from the barn and met me in the driveway. I quickly told him the meat bird coop had burned to the ground and was still burning. I cannot remember my exact words, but I basically told him it was all gone and that I needed him to put out what was left of the fire so it did not spread to the woods or our house. It was then that I noticed Miss E had followed right along with me in her stocking feet. While Mr. J went out back to take care of the fire, I scooped her up and brought her inside.

As soon as he awoke Mr. T had to see the fire for himself.

     We went to the window of my bedroom to watch Mr. J, and that's when it all hit me. I immediately started to pray and tremble. Miss E hugged me and started to tremble as well and that's when I realized that I needed to pull myself together. I had done such a good job up until then and this was my chance to either totally freak my child out or show her how strong I could be. I started saying the prayer I had already begun saying in my head out loud for her to hear as I hugged her close to me. I thanked God for her observation skills, my ability to react quickly, and asked him to help Mr. J successfully put the fire out as quickly as possible. I took a deep breath, squeezed my little girl tight, and kept praying out loud through my tears. Thank God everyone is okay. Thank God our house was spared. Thank God it was only our small, detached coop. Thank God it was not our barn and all of our other animals. Thank God it was not our main coop which is attached to our garage,  which is also attached to our house.  Thank God everyone is okay.

Thank God. 

Shaky voice and all, I wanted my child to hear how grateful I was for this wake-up call. If only everyone could be spared tragedy in their lives like us and have an (ultimately safe) wake-up call like this. 

Are we bummed that our 50 meat birds are gone? Absolutely. 

Is this going to put a kink on our Memorial Day Weekend plans? Yes. 

Is is a total bummer that is going to cost us quite a bit of money? Yes. 

Are we just a tad bit shaken up today at the thought of our poor baby meat birds being cooked to death not 50 feet away from where we slept? Absolutely!

But you know what? It could be so much worse and all of those things seem so trivial right now.

Thank God for this wake up call. 

It truly was a blessing in disguise.

Because of this blessing...

Our girls entertaining themselves this morning while waiting for me to pull myself together and fix them breakfast.

     I slowed down just a bit more than usual for a change. I picked wildflowers with Miss D and we made a pretty, fragrant centerpiece for our kitchen table. We went on the internet and used my flower books to help us identify the flowers we had picked and I showed her how to cut and arrange them in small glasses so they will last longer.We also hard boiled eggs, cleaned dandelion greens, and concocted a fresh dandelion green salad for lunch. One of her favorite things right now is to make salad dressings and "wonderful salads." She was beaming with pride at her creation and even ate some of the fixings separately-I think the idea of eating dandelion greens was a bit much for her! We also made and canned a 1/2 batch of dandelion jelly with the blossoms. While we were having our girl time, Mr. J took Mr. T to the Tractor Supply store with him and out to lunch for some guy time. And this evening we plan to have a Movie Night as usual, but instead of doing the dinner dishes through half of the movie, I planned ahead, prepped our dinner and did the dishes before we even got Miss E off of the bus so that I can actually sit and snuggle with my children without the guilt of knowing I left a messy kitchen behind. Before this morning's wake-up call I was laying in bed, looking ahead to the upcoming 3 day weekend as another chunk of time where I knew would not be able to get everything done, and now I have changed my entire approach. I may not get my entire perennial garden edged, weeded, and mulched. I may not get my entire house cleaned, or all of my online coursework completed. I may not get to attend every party we've been invited to, or be able to see everyone I hope to, but I can tell you for sure what I will do...

I will Thank God for every breath I take. 

I will Thank God for every giggle and smile I witness from my too-quickly growing little children, and I will Thank God for everyone in my life that really, truly matters. 

  

Thank you, God, for your ever so gentle wake up call.

 We obviously needed it.

Mrs. J :)