Making Yer Gut...

I spent some of this past winter thinking about my general state of health.  (Since my personality leans a bit to the hypochondriac side...not to mention the obsessive/compulsive side...I think about my health....A LOT.  Oh yes indeedy, I'm a really fun person to live with...just ask Charming.)  Anyhow, getting back to me thinking about my health.  During my "Winter of Contemplation" I realized that I'm not a fun person to be around without my daily dose of Vitamin D.  I've also realized that in order to get the most out of the Vitamin D, I also need to balance that with a small daily dose of Magnesium.  In fact, in my most recent issue of "Better Homes and Gardens", there was a small blurb on Page 130 that indicated that women should take 320 mg of magnesium per day if their doctor has suggested that they take a Vitamin D supplement.  

I have a theory that those of us with a sensitivity to gluten do not get the full measure of vitamins from the food we eat.  In my case, if I eat anything that contains gluten, you can bet that I'll be in the bathroom within twenty minutes...and it won't be to brush my teeth.  Since gluten makes me run for the bathroom at a frantic pace, I reason that the food doesn't get a chance to stay in my system long enough to deliver the vitamins.  Even though I now stay on a gluten-free diet, my body has been low on vitamins (probably all of the vitamins) for years.  Oddly enough, several of my siblings also have low Vitamin D levels.  I wish medical doctors would get a clue and start testing all of their patients for all of the main vitamins.  I believe that when the body is starved for nutrients, then all kinds of diseases begin to show up.  As I said, this is my theory...and I'm sticking to it!

In an effort to get and stay as healthy as possible, I started making my own yogurt, fermented vegetables, and kombucha back in December.  I would have never guessed that making these foods would be as easy as it is.  I drink kombucha and eat either yogurt or fermented vegetables on a daily basis and I really do believe that I feel better as a result.  In addition, I either take a quick walk, mow the yard, or work in my garden every day.  My gauge is that I've been able to work in my two gardens this year without nearly the amount of difficulty as last year.  My joints don't complain as much as last year and it doesn't take me days to recover from the work.  (I'm talking upper body work here as I was at somewhat of a disadvantage last year after my ankle surgery.)  All in all, I'm very happy with the progress I've made health-wise over the past year.  

On the chance that I drop dead tomorrow, at least I can say I'm doing all I can to give my body the chance to work as it was intended.  That's my "official" medical advice, please pay at the desk on your way out.

My fermented concoction of carrots, turnips, & apples. 

Sounds a bit strange, but actually quite tasty on a hot dog,

ham sandwich, or mixed in with tuna and eaten on crackers.

I make about a gallon of yogurt every couple of weeks.  Simply

heat fat-free milk (or your preferred level of fatted milk) to the proper

temperature, add yogurt culture (a few spoonfuls of yogurt from 

previous batch) and leave in a warm place for at least four hours,

maintaining a temperature of about 110 degrees and...boom...home-made

yogurt!

When I first started making yogurt, I'd put it in the oven or toaster oven

and try to maintain the temperature by turning the oven on and off, but

I found that it was much easier to make the yogurt at night, pour the cooled milk 

mixture into pint jars, lining a chest-type cooler with heavy towels, putting the 

jarred yogurt into the cooler and covering with more towels is the easiest

way to make yogurt.  Close the top on the cooler and come back in the morning

to yogurt that is as good as any you can buy in the grocery store...just sweeten 

and add fruit, nuts, or chocolate chips.  Yum!

For kombucha, I was able to buy a bottle ($2.59 from the grocery store)

and grew my own SCOBY...that's the weird-looking whitish scum-type

of stuff that you see in the jar on top of the liquid.  (I know, I was a bit

grossed out at first, but now it doesn't bother me at all.)

Here's a close-up of the SCOBY after it had been growing for

about four weeks.  (Charming said he was growing a bit concerned over

the state of my mental health as I hovered over the growing SCOBY for 

five minutes at a time, many times a day...for an entire month!  I'm

sure he's wondered many times what kind of kook he married.)

Now I have multiple batches brewing at any given time.  I stagger the

brew times so that I always have a steady supply of kombucha.

This is a batch that is on it's "2nd fermentation" where

I add fruit and let it sit for two days.  Almost any fruit can be 

used to flavor the fizzy drink.  Tastes similar to a sweetened

apple cider vinegar...but has a slight fizz to it.

On another note, I've found so many rocks in my garden that I 

decided to use them to practice my painting skills.  So I made these 

garden markers for each row of vegetables that I plant.  This is just

a sample. I also have cucumbers, cabbage, several types of tomatoes,

green beans, corn, and "Candy Roaster" squash.  (When life gives

you lemons, make lemonade...When your garden gives you

rocks, make garden markers.)

Emerging From Hibernation...

It's been a while since I've taken the time to blog, but with a touch of spring in the air I think it's time to get back into the swing of things.

The renovation on the "homestead" is just about complete.  The only things left to do are spot painting and a few electrical covers that need to be put in place.  We have been living in the house almost continuously during the winter.  The cold and unpredictable weather that we anticipated seem to be the norm here.  Although we didn't get a lot of measurable snow, it seemed that every time we turned around there was sleet and/or freezing rain coming down.  During these times we just stay inside and work on small inside projects.  We have Internet and television, so there are times when we just sit back, watch a movie, and enjoy the heat of the wood stove.  The electricity does go out frequently here, but that's to be expected when you live "out in the country" so we just hook up the generator to keep the refrigerator, freezer, and computers running.  During these times, the wood stove does double duty in that it keeps us warm and cozy as well as cooking a pot of stew or beans.  To sum it all up, we are really happy here on our little plot of land.  If all goes well with our health as we age, we should be able to be fairly self-sufficient on what we can raise on the property.

We went to a local festival a few weeks ago just to see the community in action.  The festival was one of the best I had ever attended.  It was spread out all over the county, which allows most of the community to get involved.  The crowd numbers were expected to be around 10,000, but because it was spread out over the whole county, the numbers we're oppressive (I don't do well in situations where there are wall-to-wall people...which is probably why we love living way out here). We had a wonderful time and got a chance to carry on conversations with members of the local community and were very impressed with the friendliness of the people.  We spoke with one of the local radio personalities and another lady even invited me to her house to see her business operation.  We also visited another neighbor and got a tour of their farm operation, which was very impressive.

One of the main things we do on clear and relatively warm (meaning above 40 degrees) is to cut wood, then we cut more wood, then we cut even more wood.  We only work an hour or so at a time, but it's amazing how much you can do in an hour's time.  To most people this would get old after a while, but we find that it's good exercise and keeps our home warm and cozy throughout the winter.  We try to keep our stockpile of wood big enough that we're at least one year ahead so that if one of us has a medical issue (like my ankle surgery last year) then we have enough wood to last through that time period.  The wind blows a lot here and nature tends to take down the trees that are old or weak, so it's almost a necessity that we heat with wood just to use up all the downed trees.  The fact that it saves a ton of money when we don't use the electric heat to keep warm is a huge bonus.

We've also been working on other projects, which I'll continue to share in upcoming posts.  All in all, we're having a great time, keeping busy, and living the good life!

Jax inspects the big tree that fell in our yard.

And he does his part to help with the fire wood.

He also performs quality control inspections on the wood that we split.

Charming built this nice wood bin to corral the wood and help to keep

 the area cleaner, which makes my life easier.  (I just love that guy!)

A cheery fire burning in the wood stove allows us to ignore the

 cold wind, sleet, and snow outside.

I made this cover for our generator out of dog food bags sewn together.

I crocheted a length of plastic baling twine into a "chain" to cinch the

bottom snugly to prevent the wind from blowing it off.  It's worked 

well so far.  (Nice of Purina to put dog food into bags that resemble

light-weight tarps.)\

Walker & Powder take turns watching out the window from their perch

on this footstool given to me by my sister Joyce.  (Perfect height to give

the "inside kitties" a view of the outside world.)  Sometimes they both

sit on the stool at the same time.

A favorite perch for my kitty cat, Powder.

I crocheted a bunting set for the newest baby in the family.

My nephew, Billy & his wife had a girl.  (Set 

includes the bunting, a headband, & a diaper "soaker".)

The curtains I made for my craft/guest room needed a little something

more, so I crocheted this valance to fill in the blank space between

the curtains.  

I took this picture in the dark to highlight the pattern.  I think

it lends a bit of country charm to the window.