Manse Happenings

Made our first blueberry muffins from our OWN berries, they we're delicious. Those of you who had the cookbook I edited this is from my basic recipe.
Everything is growing including the babies.
One thing about having the chickens is they made me realize how many food stuffs I was throwing away, I have a gallon bucket to save scraps for them and I fill it twice a day, today I discovered a box of Wheat Thins that had gone stale, to the chickens they went! The girls really love watermelon rind, they will peck at it all day.

I don't know much about hydrangeas but I've concluded that I must have two varieties, anyone know what they are?

Food Budget

I have a confession, I LOVE potatoes! When we lived in PA we had potato fields everywhere and I was able to buy a 50# bag for $6 direct at the farm. I had endless recipes... German Potato Salad being the RevDr's favorite and potato pancakes being mine. I think we ate them everyday. It helped my budget, was a "real" food and so versatile. Then we moved to Florida...a 5lb. bag is 3.50 at the cheapest, they don't grow well around here and they are an expensive food to transport. Suddenly the meal plans I had used we're no longer cost efficient. Here people eat a whole lot more sweet potatoes, in PA you never see them unless it's at the holidays, here they are served in most restaurants and are much cheaper, people here also eat lots of rice and okra. Fish here is also fresh and often less expensive then ground beef. I'm in the process of having to relearn how to eat locally.

Born That Way?

Before I had children I was under the impression that when you had a baby they we're handed to you as a blank canvas, O how wrong I was! From birth each child has had a distinct personality. Last night Presbygirl was sick, she threw up in her bed sometime during the night, only I didn't discover this till morning as she has the personality not to make the slightest fuss, the Presbyboy on the other hand would wake me up screeching if he so much as sneezed. Needless to say Presbygirl is who does most of the hitting and Presbyboy does all of the "telling", he is very good about never hitting her back.
I have decided that when they are teenagers Presbygirl is the type to sneak out her window in the middle of the night but Presbyboy is the type to go tell on her. Prebybaby is going to be a social butterfly, she so badly wants to play with the other two but all she can do is roll, so she will roll over to where they are playing and babble along with them.

Thoughts on Retirement

Pretty soon I'll be 32, retirement seems years away but I know will be here sooner rather then later. One of the many lessons I learned with our time serving at a very much older congregation is how different people live out their last years. The decisions I make now I will one day have to live with the consequences. Do I want more children? When I'm, 40, 50 or 80 will I have wished I had more? What kind of home do I want to live in when we retire (my husband is 11 years older). Do I have a plan for in home care? Should I be saving for college or our own retirement? If I am a widow for 20 or more years what does that financially mean to me?
One thing I do think about is my retirement home I want to live in MY OWN HOME, if you think elder care is in a mess now just wait till "baby boomers" are in need of care. I recently read that the two fastest growing industries are at home elder care and tattoo removal...interesting...at least I don't need any tattoos removed.

A home on one floor, or at least with a bed and bath on the first floor, with doorways wide enough to get a wheel chair through and a shower stall able to have a sit down bench, 2 bedrooms one for me and one for a caregiver.A small amount of exterior maintenance and inexpensive.

Thursday

These Chickens are growing amazingly fast!
There are so many gardenias in the back garden, not sure if they are wild or we're just planted long ago.

I also got a few ripe blueberries tonight off of the bushes, a week from now my freezer should be full of them!

God's Beauty

"The Girls" are growing...and attracting snakes...

Guess What We Got?

Matthew and I went today and picked up 10, 5 week old chicks, Rhode Island Reds and a black mix of something. I opted for the ones a little older much less care but still fun!
I got a few more then I had planned because with a true free range chicken you should expect other animals will eat a few. So far we have named them Jessica, Bill Gates and Chuck...other names pending.

Battered Perch

I made battered perch for lunch mmm so good with homemade french fries...downside my house will smell like fish for the next 24 hours. The batter is only 1 cup flour, 1/4 teaspoon baking powder and 1/2 salt, dash hot sauce and 1 cup milk...you could use 1 cup beer if you wanted beer batter...or are say a Lutheran.

Manse Garden

Our new Manse is on 5 acres many of those are dense woods but there are also a lot of fruit/nut trees. I have always dreamed of having enough land to grow a lot of garden but figured being in the ministry that wouldn't happen till after retirement, well God answers the desires of our hearts. I also have a small barn, and while I don't really want a cow a few goats for milk and chickens would be very doable.
We have mature plants/trees including blueberries (about 15-20 bushes)Pecans, Fig,Grapes,Pear and Chinese Plum, also something with is either blackberry or raspberry and very overgrown... and I had to throw in our freshly baptized baby