No Buy Feb 2023

Posted on January 24, 2023 by Just another day on the farm

What is No Buy Feb?

Its pretty simple.. Only buy what must be got (clearly you are going to need to buy your pet food) most peaple do allow themselves to buy basic food items but not all do.. and otherwise, anything that is a want/wish/would be nice is NO BUY..

I am stunned to realize that I did my first No Buy Month (feb) in 2011.. that means this is my 12th year for doing some version of this..

Anything that is a need, as in I need to X, then you can get it.. On average in a non-pandemic year you should be able to save at least a couple hundred dollars over the month.. its a way to put up a little extra, pay off those last of the Christmas bills and so on.

We have always allowed farm/or animals a pass on this as required, clearly if I need to spend money on my dog or a cat for health reasons, I am going to do so.

The big one this No Buy Feb is reno’s. Dear Hubby is taking the last two weeks of Feb off work so we can focus down hard on finishing some renos before spring and all that comes with it work wise.

A) I have not ordered and or bought all the required supplies, I have some things but not others, and even so, if you have ever done a reno, you know that there will be SOMETHING that you forgot on the list and will need to get more of or a different part or whatever.

So I am giving a Reno pass on No Buy Feb, if we have it, we use it, if we have to buy it, I will own it and put it on the spend side, not the save side.

So Here is my No Buy Feb Rules

No Personal wants!

This right there cuts out any chance of me doing a add on to a online order or asking for a few extra things on I am heading to town.. it also means no fab friday sale shopping third friday of this month.

Local Food programs is not allowed this year, I am going to give myself leeway only on salad greens/salad fixings if I truly run out of homegrown.  This is for health reason only and it will be limited tightly to just meet the daily requirements for both of us.

I am very VERY slowly healing and I can not allow a No Buy Feb challenge to set me back, so salad greens and fixings are allowed. Costs on these will be recorded.

No bulk buys allowed!

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When it comes to the farm, the same rules have applied for the past 10 years.. if the farm or the farm critters need it.. its allowed.. period..

Now comes the far more tricky part.. the above are standard rules and while they can be surprisingly harder to live by then you think.. a little buckle down and it happens pretty well..

How do I work in future needs/restocking/back orders?

I do get a few things in monthly on amazon which nets me 15% savings on them and I will pause them for one month for this.

This year, there will be no sales.. I think its going to be all about.. stock and back orders..

So here is my general rules in this regards.. If its been on my pick it up list for more then 3 months and its been not available and or on back order and shipment came in..

I am allowed to get it..

If I know I need it for something within THIS YEARS coming projects and I KNOW just! what it will be used for and when, then if its stock and I am not sure at how long that might remain.. then if I can find it this month,

That really narrows the window of what I can consider but keeps some flex and common sense in there..

Nitty-Gritty

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We have 6 chicken layers, they are on average giving us 3 eggs a day on no heat or extra lighting, we also have so far three duck hens out of 6 that are giving one to two eggs per week but that will increase as the daylight does.

We have a milking sheep so assume 6 to 8 liters per week available.

We have a indoor greenhouse but its not up and running properly at this time, As noted i was sick all of aug and into sept (including two hospital stays) then did a very slow recovery only to end up sick again first part of dec and back in again for a even longer hospital stay and am still in recovery at this time.

Asking hubby to take on the greenhouse with everything happening did not happen! So while we can start things now, its not like I am walking into No buy feb with a stocked and ready to go greenhouse

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Having said that, I am walking to it with a full fridge, a well stocked pantry, a well stocked cellar and stuffed to the gills freezers.

I am expecting to do a once a week post with one follow up, but you never know, I might do a meal or recipe as well, we will see.

So anyone want to join me in No Buy Feb, I am planning on doing the March Pantry Challenge so maybe one appeals more then the other?

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Wood Heat/Cooker Combo Stove

Posted on January 23, 2023 by Just another day on the farm

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This has been a project that started early 2022, I wanted a new combo wood stove, I figured out what we need for sqaure foot heating, I figured out what I had to have in regards to being able to cook and then I added a wish list. 

This awesome cookstove made in Quebec fit the bill and I went to buy it.. hahaha..

Like most things it was out of stock across canada and it had a hefty backorder numbers on it, to the point that they first refused to even let me order it, I finally asked if they could call and at least ask if I could not get on this pre -order when would I be allowed to pre-order on the next planned shipments, 

They had noted that they expected two shipments of pre-orders to go out in 2022. Once they spoke to the guys in montreal, they agreed to put me on the wait list but I would not know if I would get that one of the last ones on the first of the year shipment or be on the first of the list on the second of the year shipment.

I made it into the first an so this black beauty arrived on the farm early spring and part of it was installed and there is sat for months to be honest, I started pushing to get things sorted in the early fall but to get a booking date for the crew was proving difficult.

Thankfully all the cords of wood I had ordered arrived on time, so we are not lacking there at all!

I got a date and then I got covid and ended up in the hospital and so they cancelled not wanting to come to the house.. I finally got a new booking date in early dec, with the promise of a fire for christmas, and sure as shoot.. it was right in the middle of me being back in the hospital, I was still in and it was to be done but hubby was watch to find out if he was going to get it and so they didn’t want to risk the crew getting sick and cancelled on me again.

So I was so happy when late last week, they woke me up at a crazy early time with (Morning, we have a cancelled work day and the crew is waiting on the road for you to wake up and so on..)  It was one of those stumble around for a while but otherwise, get it sorted.  

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The crew got it finished and we were able to get the inspection the very next day! It is wonderful to know that we have the new stove ready to help heat the house in winter but just as important is that it can also be used to cook on reducing both propane and power use!

Do you have a wood stove? outdoor only? Heating only, combo unit that you can cook and heat with or do you have a big old proper woodstove with the oven and water heating and maybe even more?

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Blue Monday

Posted on January 16, 2023 by Just another day on the farm

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Today is the third Monday of Jan and that makes it the official “Blue Monday”  I am never sure I truly believe this made up day, they say its called the saddest day of the year over all. 

I disagree for many reasons, I think that everyone has their own much sadder days and we do not need to be told that a certain winter day to be given this name.  Do you find Blue Monday is in fact a hard day or time of the year for you?

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I think the important thing in winter is getting in natural sun whenever possible.  Open the curtains, clean that glass and let that winter light pour in! Each day I am gaining 3 more minutes of daylight and I enjoy every single one of them. I made a point of opening the heavy heat/cold blocking winter curtains and my house right now is flooded with light, the new wall with its window in the kitchen has been just amazing!

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I would like to say that I have been able to get outside because the truth is that is the best thing to do in winter, it does not matter if its sunshine or overcast, getting out there is the best choice possable. Walking the dogs, shoveling as needed, winter chores, or for those without farms, snowshoeing, winter skiing, winter hikes, winter horseback rides (the footing is great right now with the new snow falling and milder temps)

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I have had some sitting bird taking time and I have gotten out once in the past weeks for a forest drive with hubby. It was lovely to see the trees, I can not wait till I can spend more time outside. Have you been able to get out and get some winter fun time in? or are you enjoying winter chore time? 

Feeling Blue Monday? I hope you can get outside for a walk,  Can’t take a walk? I hope you get outside to sit in the sun and look at the birds or the trees or your yard and have a cuppa.  Not well enough to get outside, then open  your curtains and let the sun in!

Onwards we go and slowly at here on the homestead, the sun stays just a bit longer each day and for that I am grateful.

 

 

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Porcelain Doll Pumpkin Review

Posted on January 15, 2023 by Just another day on the farm

Per Johnny Seeds Company Credit for the photo above as well 

“add diversity to fall ornamental displays with the unique color of Porcelain Doll. The sweet flesh can be used for pies, soups, and other gourmet delights. Full vines bear blocky, deeply ribbed fruit averaging 16–24 lb” 

Now this is a one eye catching pumpkin and if you are growing it for the market of display, its a knock out on the wagon, that poppin pink color when its freshly picked, those lovely range of sizes and that awasome deep ribbing. I pick one up from a grower down the way along with a few others to try.

It was picked a little green, so I carefully cured it down and it did really well, it turned a bit more tan with some under tone greenish hue marbling as it cured and then stored for three months.

I was pleased at how well the skin cut, I have raised ones that need a hatch to get it cut open lol, honestly while the skin was nicely firm and not easy to cause any issue with storage, it cut very well.

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LOTS of hollow inner space and yet I was truly surprised at how few seeds I got and I took all the mature good ones (about 70 to 80 percent were good) out of such a massive pumpkin..

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The seeds are open pollinated in a huge pumpkin field of a big mix of 8 kinds so who knows what they will produce next year in terms of colors/textures and so on.. but it will all be big ones that should work well for fowl and or sheep fodder.

Farmgal tip, The seeds were washed and are on a lid with a ring set to dry, I put a 1/4th measuring cup on the back end, that way any extra water will run down, catch in the lower drip round and I just flipped the seeds every 4 to 6 hours as they dried down before going into a marked paper bag for starting and planting out next spring.

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It was time to cut it open and do a taste test..  I trimmed up one slice and baked it with a bit of oil in the oven, smelled wonderful, clearly drier flesh but nice texture, for lower fat, instead of butter could use a bit of broth to get it smoother and better mash to it. 

It was a utter fail! I did not like the taste of this pumpkin at all, Hubby did not like the taste of this pumpkin at all, even the 3 out of 4 dogs took it, tasted it and dropped it to the floor and then eat it on round two, Uther loved it, he loves everything lol.

You know who else loved it, the wintering fowl on the farm and the sheep though it delightful!

Live and learn.. Have you grown this? Did you like the taste of it? How was it for holding for winter use? 

 

 

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One Freezer Down

Posted on January 13, 2023 by Just another day on the farm

The big once a year beef order came in this week, which meant a rework of all the freezers, pulling older meat out, sorting, checking for freezer burn. Putting the new in sorted in types in fully newly emptied freezer, with the older going into the first use freezer in the kitchen pantry.

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So much sorting to be done but it needs to happen.. the chickens are going to be thrilled, thawing out some nice organs bags, some for the hounds the rest to be tossed in for the chickens to go wild on. They love their meat in winter in a big way.

The big surprise was the loss of our smallest freezer, you can look down the stairs and see the light on it, so it gets qoute “checked” regular but it turned out that didn’t matter, while it was cycling, cutting in and out, it was not working..

The good news.. it was only half full and it is our smallest size freezer..

The Bad News, it was my cheese fridge, to replace that cheese at todays store prices at least $500 to $600 at a bare min, plus what would be a $200 or so massive beef Brisket plus some really nice beef steaks, another couple hundred if bought at store prices. My guess is if we had to replace it at current store prices, we lost at least a thousand or more plus the freezer itself.

Its truly the wrong time of the year to have extra milk coming in to make cheese, so that will have to wait for spring, thankfully I have at least a few months which will need to be stretched till at least spring before I can start making and putting up more cheese.

I am just thankful that it was not holding my extra butter! Still what a waste, sadly nothing was able to be saved. Did you do a bulk buy direct from a local farmer this year or this fall? I grew my own chicken, duck, turkey, an lamb to go with what we already had in our freezers. I bought locally raised beef from just down the road from me (in farmer talk that means I can get to the farm within 15 min drive time).

This is our fourth year of buying our beef from them, I do miss having a calf/steet to a point on the farm in some ways, I like cows.. however I know that the beef I am buying has a much better life then even I could provide. I used to buy a half beef-Half Dairy calf from Farmer R and they were well started and I love raising up a calf. But I will admit that I know its better to be born and raised by momma. They have much larger pastures with great shelter belts of trees in each field.  Cows are herd animals and I know they are living their best cow/calf life. I did my best to give a good life to my calfs/steers and I did good.. but I know that the ones I buy now have even better in ways.

We raised two pigs in 2021 and we do have some pork still but not to much. I will have to decide if we are going to add a weaner or two in the spring or if we are going to buy half or whole from one of the local producers.

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Canada’s Plant Hardiness Site

Posted on January 8, 2023 by Just another day on the farm

Canadian Native Plant zoning

Very Useful information indeed. A big Thank you to the Canadian Government for this site..

Plant Hardiness Zone by Municipality

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This map puts my homestead firmly in the 5a zone which is both true and not.. like most folks I have area’s that are colder, more frost prone, higher wind and I have other area’s that are warmer microzones and I can grow and have produce one zone warmer. 

Still as a base starting point its a useful tool because as we often see in so many of the seed catalogs or the online versions that they just stop at the USA line and we are just this blank.  Its not often that you get not just the basic zone but can look up your town as well.

The seed catalogs are coming in now, I know they are arriving in mass to my mail box and I expect yours as well. The best selections will be had in the next 4 to 6 weeks of buying. I went thought a crazy amount of seed last year due to the weather, in some cases I replanted some rows 3 to 5 times. 

Today I finished my seed shopping, allowing me to get a overall 5% discount code and as I got in time for the deal, free shipping on my order. Check your catalogs when they arrive for their codes and use them to save some money! 

Even for me that is a lot of seed of some of my most common planted, add in this year that I want to try and beat the weeds by planting food producing plants in every single nook and then pull and harvest it as needed even if for fodder as the more desired plants grow and need more space.  

To say that I intend to overplant is a understatement and then some.  My indoor greenhouse and my outdoor greenhouses will be in full swing for early starts this year,  I do not expect to have much of a spring, I fully expect we will go from cool/cold spring to summer heat  YET AGAIN! and that means head starts for some things, insane mulching for others, and in ground seeding on some things with covers for others. 

If its going to be as hot I expect it will be at certain times this year, do consider looking hard at your yard and gardens and spot your half shade areas, these will be a very good thing when it comes to the heat and certain plants.  I know, I know, we all want full sun for so many of the gardens but I am telling you as the climate changes, we are going to find our half shade 60/40 is about perfect, lots of morning sun ideally with afternoon shade is going to be a much wanted garden spot!

Have fun with your seed catalogs, due check your zoning, it is moving, work on finding or making your microclimates and spot and plan to use your different shade zones in your yards. 

 

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Wacky Weather Thank Goodness for Native Pollinators

Posted on January 7, 2023 by Just another day on the farm

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We have had yet another melting record breaking highs and yet another freezing rain event plus some ice pellets and snow thrown in the mix.  Reports on the local gardener and farmer grape vine is that a number of trees started budding out. Mine did not.  Others reported a lot of branch breaking, while I had a lot of trouble with my bigger older trees, unlike so many others that have shared the news and also that I have seen while driving by, my heavy hand on pruning the past five years is proving itself to be very handy indeed.

While I did prune for fruiting ( I want the fruit) I also pruned at times that lost me fruit but pretty prepared the trees themselves for storms and weather events.  There is a younger farm that planted out heavy in fruit trees not far from me, very close in land, zoning same and so on.  They are very tradional in how they planted them out and how they pruned them.. They have often shaken their head when talking to me about my food forest/layered underlaying and have taken their time to point out to me that their trees are bigger, that they have produced more etc. I have agreed, their trees are bigger, they have started producing sooner and heavier then mine. 

On the flip side, when we both got hit by heavy early frosts, they lost whole sections of crops, where as my late season bloomers still produced, when the big storms have moved though with the high winds the damage has been so much worse in those straight rows and open mowed lines, and as I drove by today, it was the biggest trees that had the most limb damage in the past ice storms. Which makes sense, fast growth does not mean strong growth. 

Sadly these storms are also doing a number on the honey bees, I feel so bad for those that have honey producers, my goodness they have had a very rough go of it over the past five years.. So many years of losses across the whole country! I am beyond grateful for those that are still being successful and are helping produce queens for those that need replacement.  Buy local honey, Support your local Honey producer and remember honey is a amazing gift to give friend and family.  A pot of honey, some amazing tea and some homemade treats to go with is delight for all to receive!

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Having said that when it comes to climate change and being able to adapt, the native bees are clear winners in this regard here on the homestead. Yes it means that I have planted and support non-food producing spring feeder trees, but those same trees do have propose for me (willows need I say more there) plus they are massive on working with and feeding a host of natives in many ways.  To create spring, summer and fall feeding habitat does take effort and work, understanding their needs for breeding, coons or under ground nesting sites and or stems is important. Leave it messy is a very hard thing for many gardeners, add in the fact that now we need to really look at the leave it messy as a possible fire hazard depending on where you live.  

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Remember its not just the bees that act as pollinators, Ants do a pretty amazing job on a number of things! ok compared to bees they are in fact pretty poor pollinators unless its a plant that has evolved to work with the ants and then its on par.. on average they are only about 10 percent as good as a bee.. 

Here is the thing, 10 percent is not 0 by any means. if every ant that visits works its 10 percent, add that up over and its still pretty good.  What if its a overcast day or a super windy day where the bees are lean, at least when I check the ants are still out there getting the job done even if its a slower pace. 

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I have certain trees that the ants love, their favorite here is the cherries, o my gosh, the ants on the cherry trees in spring are crazy as is the tiny wee native bees, they seem swarm all the cherry trees and all the black choke cherry and pin cherry bushes and trees.  They also love anything in the rose family!

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Then come the moths and butterflies, different seasons and in some cases those troublemakers.. you will never see me excited to see cabbage moths, sigh.. those white moths are so pretty and so yet, dang those green babies are crazy eaters.  Now on the plus side if you can put in a early trap crop for them to lay on timed right, the wild birds will thank you massively for all those tasty fat baby’s to take back and fill their always hungry young. 

If you are a honey bee keeper, I wish you the best of luck in 2023, its going to be a hard year. If you are a native bee farmer like myself, I hope you have lots of coons in the fridge and even more in the wild, so that if the weather goes wonky in the spring, you can hold the coons (as I plan to do) till the weather is good for hatching in case you have a issue with the wild born in the early spring.  If you have not already done so, improve and increase the plan for your leaf cutter and squash bees populations. 

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May your yards, gardens and fruit bearing trees, bushes and canes be loaded with all kinds and sizes of pollinators! So that the fruit and veggies yields are bountiful!

 

 

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Ringing in a new year 2023

Posted on January 2, 2023 by Just another day on the farm

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Happy New Year! I expect that most of my regular readers point in fact stayed home and have a very quiet new years. 2023 is here.  There is something about a new year, its feels like opening a new blank book, it seems all fresh and new in some way. 

Of course we are dragging the past with us and the odds are good that when you put up your 2023 calendar that like me, you transferred a number of appointments into the first month or maybe even the first two months.  I promise you that our bills and must do’s all rolled over as well.

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Still it is the slow time if you live in the same zone as me, the winter has arrived and with it snow and storms. The outdoor time has been spent shoveling/snowblowing and snowshoes laying in paths for the hounds in their run area all done by Dear Hubby as I am still very much in recovery mode. My work is far more simple, pick a basket or a tub or a cupboard and try and finish cleaning, tidying it in one go without needing naps between lol.

Its the time of seed catalogs and thoughts turn to garden plans, what will we grow, how much do we need to put up, what do we need to do in the food forest, what do we need to do in the fruity boogaloo, after the big spring push to get the new layered hedgerows in “park” garden, what and where do we need to focus on next. 

I think the big project for the spring is do dig a pond in the “park” garden where the natural low slew area is. as well as while the equipment is here to do so, have them dig out and expand the big pasture pond in a big way.

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That pond is already used in a big way by the ducks and so much more.  Two Sides will be Blocked off with brush piles/limbs to prevent the horses/sheep from access from all directions and then the inner edges will be planted for bank stability and water quality, while the water access point will get a truck load of sand put in place. 

 

The park pond will be a bit different, it will be longer then wide, I have already edged that area with bushes that can handle and or like wetter feet at times, its naturally the same with the plants that are there and doing well. I will pull some for edge plants because they have already proven themselves to be productive there. 

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This will be a pond will be a collection point due to the natural slope of the land and will help hold the water there to do a slow feed out for a number of trees which will help their production for years to come, it will also be a way point and draw for so many kinds of local wildlife, it will not take my regular laying eastern red painted turtles long to find it and start using it, I plan on creating a dust bath spot with sand on one edge for the local wild birds, where on the other side, I will create a small but cleared clay area for the nature bees to use. 

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The most exciting part to me is that I plan to put in a built in photography blind with seating for wild life /bird photography. This will be a year round spot (well most likely not used in winter) but early spring to late fall for sure. 

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This will put a total of four small ponds on the farm, one in the food forest, one in the park garden, one in the small pasture and one in the big pasture. Do you have small ponds in your yard? Do you have small ponds on your homestead?  Is it natural or did you build it? How many do you have?

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Lots of Firewood and more

Posted on December 28, 2022 by Just another day on the farm

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If you live in N.A. then you are most likely aware that we have had some big storms..  We were given lots of notice that this massive slow moving storm was coming. When they started talking about the trough basicly being a level 3 hurricane winds. It was time to get prepped ahead an assume that we would be without power. Extra water pulled for livestock and house use, feed shifted and prepped, sheep had just been moved into their winter barn two weeks ago.  Hubby did the last of the wanted but not needed shopping for the holidays, laundry was full caught up and we hunkered down.

It was a good call, the storm came, the winds blew in the opposite direction then normal, this proved to a very big deal indeed, both in drifting formations of the heavy wet snow and also in how the 110 plus KM winds hit and pushed. 

We lost three massive trees(two of which you can see above that thankfully did not come down on the building) and we will need to take down the rest of one big one that split, half is down and half is still up but will have to come down. These are massive old Norway Maples, I will call it a massive blessing that we only lost one 12 by 1 inch board and some big chain link fencing panels, the rest will be taken down to get access to the other half of the one tree. 

One of the other massive ones was out by the Big Barn in the Big Pasture, and it appears to have taken out the old red shed.  We had already emptied and had started the pull down of that older building so nothing was damaged there, it will just mean that we have to deal with the tree before we can finished the pull down and rebuild, that shed has a lovely cement floor and deep below frost line cement root cellar, We will be building a new expanded shed over the floor. 

We have the equipment and horse power to do most of the tree, but I will have to hire out to get big cores cut and moved, some of the biggest will be made into slabs, which will be used in a number of ways up to an including making new benches for the different food forests, the larger limbs will go into a mix of firewood and garden structures, then next layer down a mix of firewood and garden edging, the next size down will go into a blend of garden projects, wood chips and some kindling, last but not least the rest will go into a bush pile

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We did lose power as expected and it was good, we used the shuttle chefs and just kept on. The snow kept coming and the winds kept blowing, drifts grew and after 48 hours working, the county pulled the snow plows for 12 hours even though many local roads were not in fact cleared yet. See local example of road down the way with a 5 foot drift over the road, where they needed to use their sled to do their farm chores.

Despite local warnings, despite OPP warnings to please stay home and off the roads, so many peaple still tried to keep their Christmas plans and so the local 417, 138 and more were full bumper to bumper as folks went off into ditches and flipped rigs and more. The Highways were closed, the 401 biggest highway was closed from Coburg to the Quebec border. 

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Our local county was one of two that declared a state of emergency and the area’s in towns accessable up and down the 417 highway were opened up into warming centers for strained peaple overnight and served breakfast.  Huge shout out to the local fire department, the local community that stepped up and helped hundreds stranded and in need of help. True showing of the Christmas spirit (even I personally think those that went out and were on the roads where as Red from that’s 70’s show loves to say.. Dumb-%ss

Very sadly the news is coming out that there have been deaths both here in our own country and also in the states in regards to both loss of vehicle controls and due to extreme weather. While I do not understand why they were out on the roads, I am truly sad that life’s where lost. 

Where you in the path of any of the recent storms? How did you do? Any damage on the farm?  I hope you had a safe holiday in whatever form it took.

 

Posted in Life moves on daily | 3 Comments

Giving the gift of food.

Posted on December 20, 2022 by Just another day on the farm

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Just like my feathered friends in the yard, I have focused on gifting food this year over gifting store bought stuff gifting.  I brought in 5 extra turkey pullets on my own order for the year and I raised them as the big gift for certain friends.   I knew that with the bird flu issues we had in 2022 across the whole country would effect the costs and availability to Christmas turkeys this year.

I just gifted out my first one last night and ” the joy and the I love that this gift was how long in the making, me five months lol) I am going to enjoy knowing that there will families gathering around the table that will be enjoy well raised healthy birds on their table.

Other meat gifts this year include Leg of Lamb, Duck, Chicken, and Grass Fed Beef and Farm Fresh Eggs.  

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While I am not doing any baking this year (I was planning on doing some but my health at this time will prevent me from doing so) but thankfully I can still offer up some jams, jellies and other canned goodies.  

I am only doing this with folks who I can trust to bring me back my jars! or in some cases, they just hand me empty jars of the same kind and size when I gift them. This works for me as well.  Jars are very costly these days and the new ones are not comparable to the good ones, I did point in fact buy a case or two of the smaller jam jar sizes of the cheaper walmart golden brand, just for gift giving.

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My  Thanksgiving, High Bush Cranberry Jelly is a huge favorite. As is my Elderberry or Black Chokeberry.  This year I also did a spiced pear jam that is delightful!

I did not “buy” anyone gifts this year, they either got Photography or Food gifts. As for hubby and myself, we have agreed to mainly a foodie christmas and new years, with each of us having a small budget for one gift gotten off the farm if desired.

Given I have just gotten out of the hospital and that I am under strict orders to hide myself away carefully at the farm during my recovery time and to not expose myself in this weaken state, we will not be having many if any guests. 

So how is your Christmas plans coming? Focused more on family then gifts? Focused more on really good meals and visiting? then big outings or holiday travel? Did you move to more homemade smaller gifts this year? Are you gifting anything from the homestead or small garden or your pantry?  

Do you think peaple are more open to homemade or handmade this year? 

 

 

Posted in Life moves on daily | 6 Comments