The Blue Bucket Project

Ok, so that's not really a thing, I just came up with that name,  but what we do is very real. Several years ago we decided that we would need to conserve water whatever way we could. Living in a semi desert landscape in California, means that water is a commodity, especially at our home where we choose to homestead. Unless you've been living under a rock you will know that California is being hit by a serious drought. Drought isn't anything new to California, but this year drought seems to be the worst we've had  in a long while.  A few years ago after deliberating on ways to conserve water, one of us  (I don't even remember who it this point) suggested the "Blue Bucket Project"

It's a simple enough concept, we keep a 5 gallon bucket in each of the showers, to collect the water that would've been wasted during warm-up. Then we carry the buckets outside and water something. Trust me, at this house there's no short supply of  things that need to be watered.

One would ask, "Does it really make a difference? Is it really worth the trouble?" The answer in our book is, "yes"! If you figure at minimum there are three people every day taking a shower, it takes roughly a gallon and a half of water to warm up the shower. At the end of one week that's 31 1/2 gallons of water. At the end of the year it's 1,638 gallons of water that we're paying for that otherwise would've gone down the drain and been wasted.  And that's just for three people, imagine if you were a family of five or six! Consider starting your own Blue Bucket Project in your own home! 

Here Comes the Crops doo doo doo doo

When I was in high school the farthest thing from my mind were crops, gardens, livestock or bees. My how things have changed. All four of those topics are part of my every day conversations and our concern over honeybee colony collapse or HCC has had us considering putting a hive in our own backyard! WHO AM I? Just Kidding. Like all aspects of getting older, our ideas, concerns and values change (hopefully for the better).

We got a late start to our garden this year because we were in Hawaii during prime planting time. We had a fabulous time in Hawaii, but it set our crops back about 6 weeks. In June we are normally enjoying the first fruits of our labor. But this year with small plants and not a single bee to be found, we had some serious concerns that we'd have any crops at all. But alas, God must have provided the bees when we weren't outside because last night we finally started to see some fruits on our blooms.


                                                             Spaghetti Squash

 

Butternut Squash

 

Cucumber

                                                             and then the mystery plant

 

 

 

the mystery plant's fruit

The mystery plant is just that, a mystery! It came up completely on its own. It cropped up underneath the turkey coop and started to flourish without being watered by us. It's clearly in the squash family, based on the leaves and flowers of the plant, also it's sending off runners. My primary guess is pumpkin but I guess we'll know for sure in a few weeks!

So even though we are yet to see a single bee in our yard, they clearly are coming in undetected! So work away little bees!

 

 

Bant-attitude

Sometimes your chickens just give you attitude!

Have you ever really looked at a chicken? They look like they're in a bad mood most of the time! Not like dogs, who almost seem to smile at you. This little guy, and I do mean little (he fits nicely in the palm of your hand) has got some spunk! More than his sister, who wasn't interested in getting in the camera shot. If you pull his sister out and not him, he'll pace in front of the cage door and tweet at you until you pick him up. Then he'll proceed to thank you by pecking your hand. Not that it hurts, but still. Once you have him though, his demeanor changes and he really is quite sweet. This particular breed of chicken is a Bantam. They're marvelous little birds who absolutely love attention, which makes them marvelous for showmanship!  Cam is in the poultry project with our local 4H club. Last year, when we went to fair, we took one of our Australorp pullets for him to show. She was absolutely terrified of the small cage and the roosters crowing, that she spent most of the fair having a small panic attack and was unable to perform during showmanship. Because of this, Cameron borrowed a bantam from a friend and he was able to show her. Due to a bantams natural ease in the show ring, a friend of ours (our poultry leader), who loves Bantams, went ahead and bread a clutch. We were lucky to get two. Turns out we ended up with a female (who's camera shy) and this cockreal, who...well...has spunk! So every day, we get the "babies" out of their cage and handle them. In the next few weeks, we'll start working with Cam and the birds in showmanship skills. Unfortunately, after fair, we'll most likely have to re-home Mr.Spunk because we can't run the risk of him making babies with his sister.

-The Humble Homesteader

It's been a LOOOOONNNNNGGGGGGG time

So my Sister-In-Love started a blog recently, she is the Urban Dreamer. I absolutely love reading her posts and it reminded me that an oh so long time ago, I was a small time blogger. What happened? I surely didn't run out of things to say! HA! No I think I just let life get in the way. My last post was for my sons 6th birthday, he's now 10 and a half!

Four and a half years ago, I had just had a hysterectomy (I've had a complete recovery and feel pretty good most days). 

We still homeschool with Julian Charter School. Cameron is in the 5th grade. We started back in school in late May. We run Cameron on a year round program to keep his mind fresh. There are many benefits to our schedule including days off when we need them instead of when the school decides. It's a nice option seeing as Larry's schedule is totally dependent on current climate conditions. We had ended 4th grade early, so that we could take a nice long vacation in Hawaii! It was totally working through winter and spring breaks!

We still live in the same house, with no intentions of moving any time soon. We finally got things landscaped and decorated the way we like. Four years ago, we did a massive remodel to the inside of our home. . .  with the exception of the master bathroom, it's the last thing we need to do.

I no longer work as a photographer. I retired last May for medical reasons (that's a different post). My sister kept the business going in Southern California for the next nine months and took it with her when she moved to Port Orchard this spring. It's strange to no longer be a professional.  . . My entire adult life I worked as a professional photographer. I now dabble with side businesses (another post too) but nothing fills that void exactly.

I went ahead and went back through all of my previous blog posts, to see just how much has changed. WOW you can't really appreciate change until you look backward. Since my last blog we went from having a cute little garden, to a full on homestead (hence the blog name change). We now live off our land in a way I never imagined. We also joke that since animals outnumber us 10 to 1 we'd be the first to die in the event of an animal uprising.

So now where do I go from here? Now with things like Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest, I hope to connect my homestead lifestyle to the community in a way that will be helpful and hopefully inspiring to other potential homesteaders! If you like what I have to say, please share my blog, don't just judge old blog posts ;) Thanks for reading!

-The Humble Homesteader

Love at first sight

Six years ago today, I met the boy of my dreams. He literally was the boy of my dreams. Cameron Douglas Zay was born at 6:33 pm on Sunday February 22, 2004. After a nightmarish difficult pregnancy, he was delivered during a nightmarish difficult delivery, despite all medical understanding, alive and healthy. I had dreamt of being a mother. In my dreams I always had 4 kids, 3 boys and a girl. My reality was much different. After a tumor on my left ovary left my ovary damaged and my right ovary needing to be removed while I was pregnant with Cameron I suffered several early term miscarriages. We knew after lots of heartache that we would never have any additional children. And even though it was heartbreaking to know accept it, we were so blessed to have this one prefect little child to love. I sit here, way too early in the morning for my own good, just so thankful that my lil guy, who shouldn't have been, is now 6 years old!




To Cameron, you are the child I always wanted and struggled so hard to get here alive. You have been my greatest joy. I look at you everyday and am just so thankful that God trusted me enough to be your mother. I always feel inadequate and that I'm not doing it right. That there should be more . . . more to teach you, more to play more more more. I guess that's because I want everything for you. And although that is an unrealistic idea, I can't give you everything, I can give you the best that I have. I know I get frustrated and for that I'm sorry. It's the parents curse. I hope that you look back on your childhood with the fondest of memory’s. I hope that someday you look back at the things we did as a family and that you are so happy with the childhood you got. I hope that you continue to grow big and strong. I hope that you remain close to our family as you get older and love the feeling of a close family. I hope that you keep your faith. You have such a wonderful "childlike" faith, you really love God and you keep daddy and I accountable, in ways you can't even grasp. I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for you for your life!

Love Mommy

R-E-A-D

I had the idea to make Cameron a reading tool. I took all of his four letter vocabulary words and wrote them in a list. I created a grid system on a piece of paper so that only one letter was in each box going across. I then went through each word and each line and got rid of any additional letters so I wouldn't have duplicates in each stack. I then decided what letters would go in each stack to create the words I needed. I then started cutting my paper.

I used my Cricut to create perfect rectangles.



Using letter stickers I started making the actual letter stacks making sure not to get my stacks out of order.



Then using contact paper I "laminated" each of the rectangles so they would withstand being used.


Figuring the actual construction of the reader was almost as difficult as figuring out which letters to use and how. But I finally decided on a "tent" design. Using 12x12 heavy weight chipboard, I cut 4x12 strips.



I then took black card stock and covered the back and front of my chipboard pieces using Modge Podge.



While the Modge Podge was drying on the stand I used my Crop o'Dile Big Bite to punch holes into the top of my letter cards, measuring to make sure that they were even. I punched 2 holes per card.



I then laid out four of my letter rectangles across my stand so I could decide where the holes should be. I then punched the holes in the stand.


Using one inch Bind-It-All owire I cut 8 rings off. I then used my BIA to Bind all of the rectangles to the stand, making sure that the stand would stand up and the cards could be flipped.


Then using 2 lengths of ribbon I ran it through the eyes of 2 buttons.


I then punched a small hole in the rear stand base and fed the ribbon through, tying a knot. I then cut a slit using my Crop o' Dile just big enough to slip the button through so that when the button was up right it would not allow the button back through the whole. The length of ribbon was just big enough to create the "tent" that I was hoping for. Now Cameron can flip different letters to make TONS of vocab and sight words!




Also, you can push the buttons back through the holes and flip the rear cover around to protect the cards while it's not in use.

Pumpkin Palooza 2009

This is me, "If I can't make it, grow it or find it on clearance, I probably don't need it". I'm definitely up for new and challenging things. I also believe in preservation, whether this of the earth, our belongings, our food our clothes but especially our money. So In November I decided to try my hand at canning pumpkin. I have cooked down pumpkin before, but I froze it in the past. I wanted it to have a longer shelf life, enter canning. I have canned things like jalapenos and apples and apricots but with pumpkin, you have to pressure can (because of the risk of botulism), you can't just water bath can, which has been the only method I had known. So I hit the Internet and started researching. I found lots of tips and suggestions. I called my dad and asked to borrow his pressure caner and set out to find pumpkins. Well here's the thing, finding pumpkins the day after Halloween is HARD.

My first choice for pumpkins were "sugar baby's" or "pie pumpkins" these differ from jack o' lanterns because of their size. They are also more dense and sweater. You can eat any kind of pumpkin, but "pie pumpkins" are the best. Sometimes grocery stores will have a few of these on hand, but more often then not, these little guys are the ones that are usually painted.

I finally scored a couple of days into Nov and founds pumpkins, small jack o lanterns, on clearance at Fresh and Easy. I had scored some painted "pie pumpkins" at Staters and Walmart, and even though I was happy to have them, scrapping the paint off was kind of a pain.

So here is my pumpkin stash


I cut the pumpkins in half and de-seeded them. This particular guy is a "pie pumpkin". You can see that the wall of the pumpkin are thick and the seed cavity is shallow with not many seeds. You can also see that it's a bright/deep orange as opposed to a yellowish orange color. I scraped out the seeds using my ice cream scoop.


We have a relatively small kitchen, so I used two steamers on the stove top and a pan in microwave. The microwave is considerably faster, but I can't steam as much at once. You need to cook your pumpkin till fork tender, as shown in the second picture.



I was steaming it quicker then I could peel or slice it, so I was making a large pile of pumpkin on a tray. This also allowed the pumpkin enough time to cool before I handled it.


I took my chunks of steamed pumpkin and sliced it into slices. I was able to take each of these slices and remove the skin with just one slide of the pairing knife.


I then cut it into large chunks and placed in a bowl. I filled the bowl before I started filling jars.


I must have gotten tired, or messy and didn't pick up the camera again. So I don't have any pictures of the pumpkin in the jars. I used quart mason jars I filled each jar with the chunked pumpkin. I then filled each jar with water and a little canning salt. Then using a caning spatula I scraped the sides of the jars trying to release any air that could be in the jars. Once all the air was out of the jars, I placed on the flat lids then hand tightened the screw lids. 7 quart jars fit in the pressure caner at one time. They take about 2 hours per batch.


I ended up with 35 quarts of pumpkin!Everyone asked what I was going to do with so much pumpkin. We make a lot of things with pumpkin and well after seeing this news report, I might be able to make a little money next year!

Normales

My heritage is Norwegian and mutt. My dad's family has been here for quite some time. To my knowledge my maternal grandfathers family has been here for a long time too. But my maternal grandmother, was a first generation American. Her parents immigrated from Norway. I spent the first almost 9 years of my life living in San Diego, in Mira Mesa to be exact. Mira Mesa has a large Filipino population and of course being that close to the border, there is a large Mexican influence. I grew up getting to enjoy a VERY diverse menu! When we moved to Our small town, we lost the Filipino influence in our cuisine, but the Mexican influence became somewhat . . . stronger. Over the years one of my favorite Mexican foods has become Tamales. But they are not common, most people don't make them and if you buy them you can expect to pay at least $1 each. Always the economist, I decided that if I can grow and preserve my own food then surely I could make tamales! I will say this, of all the adventures in the kitchen that I've taken, this one worried me the most. Tamales are one of those things that are either SO good or SO bad. There really isn't middle ground. Being a Norwegian kid, I was a little anxious. So I did my homework (thank you bing search!) and found recipe's and tips.

I started by making my meat. I knew, in all reality this was going to take the longest amount of time. I took a large chuck roast and put it in my crock pot fully submerged. I left it on all day and let it cook till it was falling apart. I then made a red sauce. Let me tell you, the smartest thing I did during my tamale adventure was I tasted my red sauce before I added my meat. It was NOT good! So I threw away my red sauce (so much for the recipe on sauces I found). I started to think about flavors I like and went from there. I took a large can of green enchilada sauce, a medium white onion and two cans of diced green chili's. It smelled good so I added my meat. I let it slow cook on my stove top for about an hour or so. This allowed the flavors to really soak in! While my meat was slow cooking (again) I made my masa.

When I told people that I made tamales their first question was "difficult huh?" Me, "um, not so much. Way easier than canning 35 quart jars of pumpkin!" Their second question was "where did you get your masa from?" Me, "I made my own" them "what! Really?!" The answer was yes and of the whole process, I would say this was the easiest part. And again the part that had me the most worried. 85% of a tamale is it's masa, bad masa, bad tamale!

I started with 2 lbs of corn masa


I then added my spices. 1 Tbs Salt, 3 Tbs Chili powder, 1 Tbs Cumin, 3 Tbs onion Powder.



I blended the masa corn and the spices well before adding any liquid. I didn't want to have a "spice chunk" somewhere in my masa. I then added 2 cups of corn oil. I wanted to stay away from lard, because frankly, even though it gives it a good flavor it is SO bad for you!


I then added roughly 2 quarts of beef stock to my mix. I used the water I had cooked my roast in, draining off the fat. This added VERY good flavor. I mixed my masa to a peanut butter consistency. I had my corn husks soaking in water for about 2 hours to soften them up. When they were ready I spread my masa onto a husk, covering about 2/3 of the husk, leaving enough room for rolling.


I then filled the tamale with the seasoned roast


When I got the tamale rolled, making sure the meat was covered with masa I tied the end off using torn husks as ties.


I filled my steamer with the tamales till I ran out of meat (about 3.5 dozen)


And then steamed the tamales for 2 hours, checking the water level and adding water when needed. After the 2 hours, I pulled one tamale out of the steamer and left it on the counter for 5 minutes to set. I then unwrapped it to see if it was cooked. Success!



Since the first time I made tamales I have made two more batches. One additional batch with beef and the second with pork. When I ran out of pork I still had masa so I made about 20 or so tamales with cheese and green chili's. These were such a huge hit, they were gone within minutes!

Thankful Thursday

Wow, 2009 is literally almost over! It's 11:17 pm on Dec. 31. I have found myself alone for a change. Larry is working and Cameron ended up staying the night at my parents. I can't believe that 2009 is over. I keep trying to think of where the year went and even more, where the decade went! I was listening to the radio today and they were talking about the 20 things that became obsolete this last decade. And even though, it's obvious what we no longer use, it's still shocking to think that these once depend-upon-everyday items are gone, finished, obsolete. That future generations may never even know what those items were. They may never in their lives see one working. Things like Walkmans and VHS. Now I know that as all technology things come and go and there are things that in my life I never saw working. But I don't think to the degree that my generation has seen. Over the last decade, as a society, we have become two contradictory things at the same time. We have become a disposable nation and a "green" nation. Everyone is so concerned with being "green" but we live in a technological society which makes this "green" living impossible. Our computers are out of date before they are plugged in. A new camera is being released that is smaller but more powerful then the model before it. We used to have to use things like floppy disks to store extra computer information and now we have external hard drives that look like books, so they can be placed on a shelf and go unnoticed. At the same time actual books themselves, are being replaced by devices like the Kindle and the Sony digital reader. Our phones can now do everything that a decade ago wasn't even possible on a computer. And at the same time we have given way to text messaging and a new language developed just for that type of conversation. Social sites have made it possible for people to get reconnected or stay connected. And even though I think this is great and love that I can remain in contact with people I would have otherwise lost contact with, I wonder how many people use that as a sole method of communication?

So as 2009 wraps up and I contemplate the upcoming year and all the changes that will be coming my way, I'm thankful for many things.

First, I'm thankful for my family. I have been truly blessed in this department.

I'm thankful for Larry. He is my best friend and I don't use that term. He is the person I turn to to laugh, cry and complain. I'm thankful that during all of the hullabaloo of keeping up with this or that he has remained my constant companion in the drive to stay low-key.

I'm thankful for Cameron. As I look to this next month and finally get the surgery my body needs I know for a fact that it will FOREVER close the discussion of children. Even though that discussion has been had there will be no more what if's. Cameron will be my only child. And there are days that that makes me sad. He will never know what it's like to have a sibling. But at the same time, I'm so blessed that I at least have him! He is my little man. The person I spend the most time with. My greatest irritant and my greatest joy maker all at the same time! I am truly blessed to be his mama!

I'm thankful for my friends. God has blessed me with some truly amazing friends. They don't blame me for my craziness or my busyness. I'm thankful that they understand me and love me for who I am.

I am thankful for my simple ways. I'm thankful that I don't have a selfish heart. I'm thankful that I'm frugal and would rather "make it myself" than "buy it from someone else". I'm thankful that God has blessed me with enough talent and patience to learn knew things.

I am looking toward 2010 for so many reasons. But I'm thankful for the time I've had! The good and the bad, I wouldn't be who I am today without the experiences from my past. I do not look back at this last year or any other year previous and wish things had been different. I'm thankful for every laugh line. I'm thankful for every frown. I'm thankful for the good and the bad.

So Happy New year! I hope you have a blessed and prosperous year! I hope you are healthy and happy and most of all thankful!

The Christmas Carol

On Friday Dec 4th, we had the opportunity to see The Christmas Carol at The El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood. We were able to get these tickets through Cameron's charter school, Julian Charter, as a field trip. The movie was playing in 3D so we got some special glasses to sport! We learned that going to The El Capitan is an experience! They have performers out front before the show, a man playing the organ (with no sheet music) before the show, then a stage show with Mickey, Minnie and friends! When the movie started, I had almost forgot why we were there! It was a brilliant movie! Scared Cameron pretty good, but I sure enjoyed it.



Waiting for the show




The man playing the organ


Cameron was wondering why Mickey and Minnie and friends were at the theatre and not at Disneyland.. .

Thankful Thursday

I have many things to be thankful for! We have a very blessed life. But sometimes it's the little things that bring us great joy. This week, I got my hair cut. It was long over due. My hair is very thick and very heavy. I often get headaches and after a while there is just no style to it. I called up a good friend of mine, Sadie, and she was able to cut my hair. For some strange reason, I'm a freak when it comes to my hair. I don't nescessarily have a style, I don't dye it, I don't use products and I own a blow dryer but can probably count on one hand how many times I've used it. But my hair is my thing. And even though I do nothing with it, I'm always kind of nervous to cut it. In the past I have donated it to Locks Of Love. In fact I dontated 36 inches of hair in about 2 years! But I was ready for a actual style. My girl Sadie even talked me through scary terms like "serum" and "curling product" and even scarier "flat iron". I think that with my new found confidence I might actually be able to do something with my hair (if the opportunity presented itself) instead of just falling into my "I'll just braid it and put a hat on" routine. Here's hoping!