February 11, 2013

this is my Great Grandpa Berts financial diary pages for February 1913....

what they sold or earned for income:
48 1/2 lbs of butter = $16.51

86 dozen eggs = $21.92

52 bushel potatoes = $33.80

1 qt of milk = $.10

1 month salary  = $50.00

1 bushel onions = $.50

1 bushel apples = $.85

so $123.68 came in

what they purchased or paid:
groceries (not specific) = $6.69

  feed  = $9.25

baker = $1.35

papers = $4.15

sleigh repairs = $2.25

1,710 lbs coal = $4.24

Preacher Salary = $2.00

Dr. for Allen = $1.50

Lodge Dues = $2.00

Memorial Window = $3.35

Door Hangers = $4.75

Labor (E. Reimer???) = $1.00

Meat Barber = $1.15

so $43.68 went out

 

OK...Lots of oddities on this months entries.....let me know

if you can answer any of the questions for me....

 

* not sure what PAPERS was/is , but $4.15 is a lot of money                    

* sleigh repairs....very cool ....they lived in Pennsylvania                             

* my grandpa (Allen) was born in June so an 8 month Dr Checkup maybe?

   * Memorial Window.....(Cindy can you tell me if one of those windows in the

                                   church was partially purchased by Bert & Alice)

* Door Hangers...we have seen this before....not sure if it is advertisements.

* Meat Barber....you got me on this one...I googled it but nothing came up..

 

Thanks for your help....................Pleasant Dreams!!!

February 10, 2013

had a wonderful day at church today....take a

listen to Pastor Bob's preaching at www.h-hcc.org

we had our All Church Meeting right after the service

was over...kind of like a State of the Church review

of 2012 and looking forward to 2013...love my

church family.

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got home and saw a Pineapple amongst our fruit

bowl that needed to be cut up.....then the long pause

while Ross waits for me to say....I think I will make.........

 Pineapple Upside Down Cake....I realized that

I never made this recipe last year...so here yo go...

Pineapple Upside Down Cake :

1/4 cup butter

2/3 cup brown sugar (packed)

pineapple

maraschino cherries

melt the butter in a glass dish, add brown sugar....mix together....add the pineapple pieces on top...in whatever pattern you desire.....add cherries if you wish.....

used a yellow cake mix that I found in the cupboard...poured that on top and placed  it into the oven at 350 degrees for 50 minutes.....when done...tip upside down on your cake plate and let it cool...then remove the glass bakeware.....Perfect every time!!!!

Pleasant Dreams!!!

February 9, 2013

beautiful sunny day....the East Coast got hammered with

a huge snow storm...up to 3 feet of snow.....we were at

1 yes One degree this morning....crazy cold but the sun makes up

for anything.....  :)

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Ross made breakfast.....hash browns.....made with our potatoes...the last from

our potato box.....we planted them on April 10, 2012 and picked

them on October 12, 2012...we leave them in the basement cellar...the

rest will be used as our seed potatoes for this year.... 

bell peppers, garlic, bacon, onions and pepper to taste....

eggs from the coop and ham from the hog



gotta LOVE a real fresh from the farm hardy breakfast !!!

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any sunny day during the winter means outside projects.....

first job.....clean out the chicken coop....

this is a YUCKY YUCKY job...but all part of the chicken

mamas having a clean, healthy environment to live and lay in.

here is the back part of the coop with some of the old straw gone and

some of the nasty rolled up and ready to be removed....

and now with fresh straw back in.....

Reggie the Rooster giving his girls a pep talk....

the front part of the coop....the feeding area....

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second job.......filling up the wood rack on the

back porch....everything is so much easier when the sun

is shining and their is no wind.

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third job....making dinner...normally friday night is Pizza night,

maybe we will change it to saturday night for 2013....

tried a new dough recipe....

Italian Pizza Dough : yields 2 pizzas

5 cups flour

2 Tbsp sugar

2 Tbsp Italian seasoning

1 tsp salt

4 1/2 tsp yeast

mix all of these ingredients together......add 2 cups warm water and 6Tbsp of olive oil together and pour into the dry ingredients......mix until it is moistened...don't over mix it....let it rest 10 minutes.

sprinkle corn meal on your pizza stones....cut the dough into 2.....roll them to extend over the pizza stone...

add cheese into the extra dough before you roll into a crust...roll the dough docker

over it to create holes in the dough....bake at 375 for 5 minutes.....add all your

favorite toppings and cook for an additional 20 - 25 minutes...

 we have found our new Pizza Crust recipe...it tasted Amazing!!!

Pleasant Dreams!!!

February 4, 2013

we are still here.....just took some time away....we are back and ready

to experience some new things at the farm in 2013.

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the weather has been snowy for the last week....which is fine with us,

we will take all the precipitation we can get!!!!

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we are looking into BEE KEEPING.....will keep you posted

on how that goes.....we have wanted to do it for years....so

we will get started in 2013 and see where it takes us.

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the chicken mamas are doing GREAT....they were born in March

of 2012 so this is their first experience of cold and snow....we

are averaging 18 eggs a day....so we can't complain!!!

I have been logging in our INCOME and EXPENSES under

the Chicken Tab....if you want to see the entire process....

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Looking forward to the adventures that await us in 2013....

Thanks for being with us for the AMAZING ride!!!

Pleasant Dreams!!!

January 6, 2013

had a wonderful day at church today.....Pastor speaking on

sustaining your assignment... take a listen  www.h-hcc.org

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since we are continuing the blog.....I will post my Great Grandpa

Berts financial diary for January 1913....

what they sold or earned for income:
11 lbs of butter = $3.96

33 dozen eggs = $9.19

34 bushel potatoes = $21.40

1 qt of milk = $.25

83 1/4 lb chicken= $10.41

1 month salary  = $50.00

2 roosters = $1.50

119 lb calf = $10.11

so $106.82 came in

what they purchased or paid:
groceries (not specific) = $10.33

  feed  = $7.00

baker = $1.25

telephone dues = $3.00

hogs = $8.00

rubbers = $1.50

40 bushel oats = $16.00

high chair = $2.00

bookcase = $25.00

3 lbs butter = $1.08

so $75.16 went out



some cool things to consider on this diary entry....my grandpa Allen would

have been 6 months old by now....and so a high chair would have been

necessary.....to spend $25 on a bookcase....1/2 of a months salary...my

great grandpa obviously respected his books....the other odd things is that

they sold butter and bought butter this month...so either they were helping

someone out or needed to fulfill a contract that he had made.

LOVE history!!!

Pleasant Dreams!!!

January 1, 2013

H A P P Y    N E W   Y E A R

made a great breakfast this morning at 11am....so I guess

technically it was brunch......found this super easy yeast

biscuit recipe....one that you don't have to let it rise for an hour...

Basic Carolina Yeast Biscuits : from grouprecipes.com

2 1/4 tsp yeast

1/2 cup warm water

mix the yeast into the water and set aside

5 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 Tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 Tbsp sugar

3/4 cup shortening

2 cups buttermilk

mix everything together except for the buttermilk......then add in the yeast mixture and the buttermilk....mix it well and then turn onto a flour covered surface.....roll to your preferred height and cut out....place on a greased cookie sheet....spread butter on top......

bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes

we made sausage gravy as well...amazing breakfast....

enjoyed hanging out watching the parade and some football...

then back into the kitchen to use the Turkey up from this

past weekend....making crusts for Turkey Pot Pies...

all finished....Yummy!!!

Pleasant Dreams!!!

December 31, 2012

the final day of 2012.....what an AMAZING journey it has been.

I have thoroughly enjoyed doing the blog each day, and I do plan

on continuing it, just not every day.....we do have some exciting

new adventures planned at the farm this upcoming year...so we will

keep you posted!!!!

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filled up the bird feeders this morning, then turned to look

at a bird in a different tree and could not believe what I saw....

December 31st in Michigan...we should not

still have Robins here...no worms for them to eat....

not sure what this means about 2013 Spring.

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made another loaf of Dutch Oven Bread.....it came out

perfect....I love this recipe (August 17)....so very easy ....

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some more 2012 recaps.....

General Store Expenses

our goal was to keep our grocery bill to $1,912 for the entire

year, that came to roughly $160 a month....and we kept it under

that amount for 7 months.....the total that we spent in groceries for

2012 was $2,131.....that is about $177 a month, so not bad.....

if you look at the General Store TAB on the homepage of the blog,

there are a few months when we had a bunch of entertaining going

on at the farm, so additional grocery items had to be purchased.

Recipes

we made 119 recipes during this year...some came out great,

others were a flop....I love to bake...but I am not a cook....this

year has stretched me in that area and i am grateful.....I will

continue to add new recipes in 2013.

Chickens Income/Expenses

the White Rocks (meat chickens) cost us $220.50....here is the breakdown

that is $14.70 per chicken..... each chicken weighed approx 4.5 lbs

so that comes to $3.26 per lb

 

the Rhode Island Reds (laying hens) cost us from birth March 7

 to August 31, 2012 ....... $398 .....from then to now we have added

the expense of feed each month and have sold 210 dozen eggs..

so today we have it down from $398 to $336....it will take me most

of next year to break even....gotta love fresh eggs...so it is worth it!!!

 

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started this year with my brother Tim here at the farm....he was a

constant supporter of the Blog...so it is exciting to have him back

again to finish the year off together.....

 

now to my THANK YOU's before the ball drops..... 

to my husband Ross, you are an amazing man and it has been

a blast taking this year long adventure with you.

to Mom and brother Tim....I appreciate your daily

support, suggestions and love.

to our kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews and rest of the family....

Thanks for taking this journey with us....we appreciate your

flexibility about meals while hanging out and helping

out at the farm.

my Church family and Facebook friends....you guys Rock....

your comments kept me smiling and encouraged me to continue.

and most importantly...I thank Jesus, my Lord and Savior

for laying out each of these days this past year...some AMAZING

GOD moments have happened...no person could have laid the

path out so perfectly.....for us to meet the family we met in Pennsylvania....

for the excitement about the history of the Miller Family and then to have

these boxes of family treasures to connect the dots....to have NO FEAR in

the kitchen baking or cooking...to have every visitor to the farm make

something in the kitchen.....and hopefully to inspire someone to make

something from scratch, do some research into their family history

 and try to LIVE OFF THE LAND!!!!

Happy New Year!!!!!

Pleasant Dreams!!!