Another Quick Update

I thought I would take a minute to post another quick update from the Baker Homestead :).   Things are still pretty hectic and for now it doesn't look like that is going to change. 

My daughter, Amanda, has been on bedrest for the last week or so and during that time she had an asthma attack that required a trip to the doctor for meds.  In addition to the asthma, Rachel woke up vomiting one morning.   Of course, since she was sleeping on the couch with me at the time it was a fairly rude awakening :). 

This grandmother has great admiration for all of the mothers of little ones out there.  My youngest is sixteen and I've forgotten how to function when getting up three or four times a night with little ones that can't (or won't) sleep.  Add middle of the night sickness and bedwetting to the mix and I'm about pooped :).  

After the bout of asthma and vomiting I thought we were doing good, but then on Saturday Ellen had an anaphylactic reaction to something that I cooked for supper.  We're still not 100% sure what caused the reaction, but are thinking it had to be either tomato or eggplant.  We made a trip to the E.R. for steroid shots and a prescription for steroids to be given at home. 

Sunday, for some reason, I was totally exhausted.  Not the normal kind of exhausted, just almost to the point of not being able to function exhausted.  I had to take a few minutes just to walk around a little and unwind.  I also took Ellen to Walmart with me while Rachel was napping.  I needed to pick up a prescription for her, since the pharmacy was closed by the time we left the E.R. on Saturday evening.  Just getting out of the house that few minutes seemed to really help my state of mind. 

Yesterday I carried Amanda back to the doctor for a checkup  and she has been released from bedrest, but still cannot do any lifting, bending, squatting, etc.  When we came out of the clinic the van would not start so we had to have someone come pick us up.  Thankfully my sons were able to replace the alternator on the van that evening and it's now back home and running good. 

After Amanda's doctor appointment we took Ellen to her doctor for a follow-up on Saturday's E.R. visit.  When we left the pediatric clinic we went straight to the hospital for blood work to be drawn for a RAST test on Ellen.  Hopefully we can find out what caused her reaction on Saturday.   We then went and picked up an Epi-pen for her.  Having that is making her Mom and me both feel much better.

My garden is starting to produce a little bit now.  So far we have enjoyed zucchini, eggplant, squash, peppers, strawberries, onions, and herbs that we have grown ourselves.   The grass has about overtaken things and since I don't really have time to worry about that I just wade through the grass and pick what's there. 

Well, I guess that's about all that's going on here.  Hope all of you are having a great summer.  I look forward to things slowing down a little so that I can catch up on what everyone else is doing through their blogs :)

Have a great week!

A Quick Update

The last few weeks have been busy and blogging (obviously) has been low on my list of priorities.  I'm thankful that we have had quite a few "at home" days recently, which has enabled me to get a few (much needed) things done around here.  As any of you that are trying to start (or maintain) a homestead know, there is ALWAYS quite a few things that need to be done :)

Anyway here's a quick update on life here at home.

My Dad is still not feeling well, but thankfully he will be seeing his cardiologist this Friday.  I am really praying that the doctor can figure out what is making him feel so bad and get my Dad back on the road to good health.

My daughter has been doing much better the past few weeks.  She still tires easily which is pretty normal when you're pregnant during a Mississippi summer.   Throw in two toddlers and it's amazing to me that she functions at all :).  

We have started getting  a few squash from the garden and have also been dehydrating some of our herbs.  It's beginning to look like that's about all we will be getting from our summer garden.  My tomatoes and cabbage did not do well.  (Actually, I do have ONE tomato plant that looks as if it will produce a few tomatoes). 

I have already been planning a fall garden and am sincerely hoping that we have better luck with that.  I guess I need to find a little more time to spend working in the garden, but lately time has been a precious commodity with many, many demands on it :)

I'm still milking daily, but for some reason the last three or four days the milk has been tasting "off".  I don't have a mastitis test kit, but I do have a strip cup.  The milk shows no flakes, the udder is not hot and feels totally normal.  The goat is eating well, is not pastured in a weedy area, has fresh hay and grass to eat and overall appears healthy.   I guess I will spending some time this week trying to figure out what the problem is with her.  Oh well, as I said before, there is always quite a few things to be done and that's just one more to put on the list. 

I did not make a menu plan for this week, simply because I haven't had time.  A precious man of God and very dear friend of ours went to be home with the Lord this weekend and I just haven't had the time to think much about menu plans.  I know that we will be eating leftovers from the weekend and will probably have a couple of nights that are simple soup and sandwich nights.  Outside of that, I have no plan.

Well, I guess it's time for me to get started with the laundry.  Ferrell is at church camp this week helping out as a counselor, so I'm trying to take up the slack.  That boy has NO idea how much he is missed :)

Have a good week!

Menu plan for week of June 19, 2011

It's time to get back on track with my menu planning.  Last week we had some very strange meals and combinations of meals, so I am determined to do better this week.  It should be fairly easy, because we don't have much that should be taking us away from home this week.  That always helps me to stay on track.   I'm also planning to keep things simple, it's WAY too hot to do any major cooking :)

Here's the plan.

Sunday -  Pork tenderloin (crockpot), mashed potatoes (crockpot), and green beans with gluten free bread

Monday - Southern Smoked Sausage Rice Pilaf and salad

Tuesday - Crockpot Meat loaf, dried black-eye peas (crockpot), squash, cornbread

Wednesday - Leftovers, Potato Soup, Sandwiches

Thursday - Mexican Night (tacos, burritos, mexican cheesecake, and whatever else I think of :)

Friday - Hamburgers and Potato Salad

Saturday - Homemade Pizza



Breakfast - cheese toast, smoothies, fruit, hot or cold cereal, eggs & toast

Lunch - Sandwiches, leftovers, potato soup, fruit, smoothies

Snacks - chips & salsa, fruit & cheese, cookies, smoothies


My garden is coming along nicely and I have quite a few green tomatoes on the vines.  I am so ready for a fresh homegrown tomato sandwich.    I also have a few peppers coming in.  My squash is loaded with blooms, but I'm really afraid the heat will kill them before we are actually able to harvest any.  I guess we'll see. 

I was able to stop by the local produce market last week and was thankful to get several pounds of yellow squash for a good price.  I've already got it dehydrated and in jars for the winter.  I also picked up a few fresh tomatoes that were much better than the ones I have been getting at the grocery store.   I enjoyed every BITE of those tomatoes too :)

I guess, since I do have several projects going that need my attention, it's time to stop my ramblings.  Hope all of you have a great Monday!

We Survived!

We survived!!!! Yay!  Just kidding.  Not kidding that we survived, just kidding in the sense that it wasn't as bad as that makes it sound.  I'm referring to the past week. 

This past week was very hectic with several doctors appointments with my Dad, my son Caleb and  my daughter Amanda either needing me to drive, be there for moral support, or babysitting.  I am honestly and truly glad this week is over, but having said that I am VERY thankful that it went as well as it did.  I'm not complaining, I promise, just very, very tired.

My Dad seems to be a good bit better than he was earlier in the week, but he is still very weak and experiencing quite a bit of dizziness.  I am supposed to take him to the Pulmonary doctor in Tupelo on Monday morning, but at this point I'm really not sure he is up to riding that far.  I guess we'll just have to see.

Caleb had his appointment on Wednesday and we still don't really know anything.  They did bloodwork and have him scheduled for a gastrointestinal endoscopy on Tuesday and on the 21st he is scheduled for a colonoscopy.  Hopefully we will know more then.  The doctor did say that he is pretty sure it's not cancer based on his initial evaluation, but he will know more after the tests are done, so we feel relieved about that.  Right now we're just working on managing his pain and other symptoms with diet.  We don't know what else to do at this point.

Amanda had her first doctor appointment Friday morning and so far everything is looking good.  They did a sonogram and the heartbeat appears strong.   Due to complications with her last pregnancy and the fact that Ellen was premature the doctor says that he will be monitoring her closely.  Apparently Amanda has problems with low amniotic fluid which can cause cord compression for the baby.  She dealt with it a little bit when pregnant with Rachel, but it was much worse with Ellen.  The doctor plans to do another sonogram next month and then we'll know more. 

I have really been glad for a totally uneventful, normal Saturday.  Ferrell and I have been working on mowing our yard and my parents yard, which is several acres all together.  I have also weeded my garden and planted some more lavendar and also another grape vine.

We were blessed with a wonderful visit from my Dad's sister and her husband this afternoon.  It was so good to see them and we really enjoyed their visit.

Well, I have yogurt making, laundry hanging and chicken cooking with another long week ahead so I guess I better go get busy.  Hope your weekend is great!

A Family Made Saturday

Saturday was a beautiful day here in Mississippi and my family and I took full advantage of that fact.  Rachel, Caleb, Ferrell, and I spent most of the afternoon working in the garden.  We added a few raised beds and added some things to the beds we already have.  In addition to that we tilled up a portion of our larger garden plot hoping to help the ground dry out a bit so that we can plant that area soon. 

Here's a few pictures that were snapped while we were working Saturday.

Caleb hard at work!

Ferrell planting blueberries.

Rachel helping me add some plants to our strawberry bed. 

Rachel, Ferrell and Caleb hard at work in the garden.  The playpen was so Ellen could enjoy the beautiful day too :)

Rosemary

The Peppermint is coming back nicely.

My lemon balm is also coming back nicely.    I enjoy the lemon balm so much that I planted
another one by my front porch.

One of our smaller beds that has spinach and lettuce.

We also have oregano, thyme, sage and bee balm that are coming back from previous years planting and my basil that I planted a couple of weeks ago is now up.  I have a few tomatoes planted, but I will definitely be planting more of those in a few weeks. 

We are working hard to somewhat change up the composition of our soil, because it is mostly clay and also low, which means when it rains it takes FOREVER for it to dry out enough to plant anything.  When we do plant I make my rows really, really high to help prevent my poor plants having to stand in water.   

When the ground actually does dry, then it feels like we're trying to work concrete.  We've been adding compost, manure, dried leaves, and just about anything else we can think of to help the soil become looser and also to build it up some and after a number of years we are FINALLY beginning to see a difference.  Nothing drastic, but at least I can tell that we aren't wasting our time.  

I enjoy working in the garden and am sooo excited to see all of my plants popping up everywhere and thankful to get a few more things added this year.  So, how did you spend your Saturday?