Mini Tornado

Lots of rough storms blowing through here in Florida the past two days, was glad to be off work and hunkered down at home. Yesterday, a mini tornado blew all the tomatoes off the plants and some siding off of the house, snapped a little tree clean off like a match stick, but the family, horses, dogs and kitties are all fine and that's all that really matters. Hope you have sunny skies where you are.

Today is my one day off, but since I worked the last three nights I was so tired and slept all day, so now I'm up at 4 in the afternoon and it's morning to me. Sadly I have but 4 precious hours of daylight left to make the most of. Such is the life of the night shift worker.

The weather here in Florida has been beautiful, Monday my kids and I went on a spur of the moment camping trip, we packed up and went to a local campground called Rainbow Springs, we had such a good time but could only stay one night, we are anxious to find time to make a few more treks out before the heat and humidity gets too bad.
The past few weeks here have warm but without the humidity that plagues us later in the year so we have been spending lots of time outside. My lovely daughter in law Casi has been bitten by the gardening bug, thank goodness someone else in my family sees the value in growing your own food.

Together we have begun to formulate a plan to begin building on the Urban Homestead idea here in our new home in the suburbs. So far we have planted two 4x6 raised beds with cucumbers,bush beans, bell peppers, yellow crookneck squash, zucchini and egg plant, our next project will be to fill a several half barrels salvaged from all my old farm with pepper and tomato plants.

I recently taught myself how to knit from a You tube video, it was much easier then I thought, however the price of yarn is outrageous so lately I have been thinking about Angora Rabbits for fiber which of course would mean I would have to learn to card and spin the fiber into yarn. Has anyone ever read the children's book "If you give a mouse a cookie"? I seem to keep going there.

What Are You Doing to Be Prepared?

I borrowed this image from google images, I wish I could say it was stuff I have on hand, while I have a few things I am not nearly as prepared as I hope to be. I live less than 30 miles from a major nuclear power plant, would having Iodine tablets on hand in case something happened at the power plant be smart? No one wants to act out of fear or panic but rather to be rational and logical and plan for things that really could happen and that you can protect yourself and your family from.

The events in Japan have certainly gotten me thinking about how prepared my family is for any unexpected disaster natural or man made. I have to admit that I don't believe there is much of anything that the people of Japan could have possibly done to prepare for what has happened there but what about the things that might happen that we can prepare for?




Emergency preparedness has been a goal of mine for years and years but one that I never quite feel I have even scratched the surface of. Sure I have plenty of canned and dry goods but if hard pressed to come up with fresh water my family could only manage for a day or two, and that is not counting fresh water for my animals. Some of the bloggers that I follow have truly made preparedness a priority and I am in awe of what they have accomplished.


I know that like anything in life it all depends on how much importance you place on the thought and how much of a priority it is made. So today I am considering where to start and what items need to be acquired first.

So my question to you is what are you doing or have you done to prepare for the unexpected?

All I can do is Pray

Today anything going in my world that I might want to write about seems so trivial in light of the terrifying news from across the ocean, I send out my prayers to all of those people impacted by this horrible event in Japan I know you all join me.

A note from the trenches.

Work Work and more work, for those of you who might be wondering where I have disappeared to, that word is my life in a nutshell. Sad but true. Have been working two jobs focusing on doing what I need to do to keep it all afloat right now while I have all my kids under on roof. It won't be like this forever. My Urban Homesteading adventures are few and far between, the kids and I planted some Romain lettuce on the back porch, those little green sprouts coming up are such a nice reminder that the cycle goes on. I am still making bread regularly and spouting seeds in the window sill, but that's about it. I am reading a book on home cheese making but the thought of making it from store bought milk saddens me. I can't wait for the day I have milking goats again.

This month my colt Rocky will be six months old and I will wean him from his mama, which promised to be a traumatic experience for all. I will post pictures of him soon. He kept the blue eyes which makes him pretty unusual looking.

Hope all of you are keeping warm and well this winter. I pop in and catch up on your blogs when I can.

A Healthy Kitchen Window Project-Sprouts

Home today trying to nurse a very nasty cold, my second one in only a short time uggg. I wanted to share these lentil sprouts I grew in a Jar in the kitchen window. I was itching to grow something that I could eat and since I am not ready for outdoor planting yet this was a quick and easy project. There are a bunches of videos on YouTube of people and their sprout projects and there are all kinds of jars and sprouting kits out there that people want you to buy but a mason jar with an open lid and a piece of clean window screen ( sold by the foot at the hardware store for pennies), worked just fine. I think the sprouts took longer then they should (about 5 days) because the house is not super warm. Although at around 70 degrees it is not cold either. All of the videos I watched said you should have sprouts in 3-4 days so I am not sure why mine were slow, but they did sprout and they taste fresh. These will be added to my salads and sandwiches this week and I have another jar in the window in progress. I am pretty sure just plain lentils from the supermarket will work just fine, I ordered these last year from a preparedness website, they came vacuum sealed in a Mylar type package but I don't believe they are any different, if anyone know the answer to that question please let me know.

Feeling good about the direction I am heading, one small project at a time.

Hope everyone is staying warm and safe through the rough winter weather, even here in Florida we are getting down in the very low 20s at night. Happy Monday!

Starting From Scratch

I have always believed that the idea of homesteading is simply a mindset, meaning that a person can homestead anywhere under any circumstances, in the city or the country by making simple changes on a daily basis, deciding what their priorities are and how best to utilize the resources they have available to accomplish what they want.

Given the big changes in my life over the last six months and my new living arrangements, I have decided that my new years resolution will be to put my money where my mouth is and over the course of the coming year completely start over and see how many actual changes I can make in my lifestyle towards my goal of simplifying and getting back to basics and living the homesteading mindset.

I am am going to make a new list of goals for the year, and work towards them, blog about what I learn including my successes, failures, heartbreaks and whatever else comes along the way.

An update on my bread making post, I will no longer buy bread from the grocery store, I have actually incorporated bread making into my life in a very practical way and am very pleased to say that my family has made the transition nicely using the bread on a daily basis. Often for me that is half the battle, I have to make changes that are actually practical or I am fighting a losing battle. So one change down, one hundred more to go.

Now to figure out where to start.......I'll keep you posted.

Making Bread the Easy Way

If you have never attempted bread making by hand because it seemed like too much work or even a bit intimidating as I did, you have got try this recipe. I have tried other methods but for me this proves to be the easiest method by far.Using the recipe from this Mother Earth News Article;http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/Artisan-Bread-In-Five-Minutes-A-Day.aspx
I have been making fresh hot bread every day, even on days that I work 12 hour shifts. It really is as easy as they claim.
I mixed up the large batch recipe ( which makes enough for 8 loaves) in a Rubbermaid type container I keep in the fridge and every day I pull out enough dough to make one loaf, shape it into a round ball and leave it in a either on the counter or in a bowl dusted with corn meal, wheat germ or just plain flour, cover it with a dish towel and let it rise for 40 minutes while I go about my day. To bake I don't use the pizza stone as they suggest, I preheat my oval ( you can use a round one too) dutch oven to 475 for about 15 minutes, shape my dough into a loaf shape, put about three slashes in the top of the loaf, sprinkle some wheat germ on top and cover. Then bake for 20 minutes, remove the lid and bake for 10 more. That's all there is to warm crusty goodness! I am so impressed I will be buying this book or the authors other book "Healthy bread in five minutes a day".
Before I baked the first batch I found a bunch of U-tube videos demonstrating the method and they all agreed that it was a success.

I don't have a picture to share today, my loaves disappear as fast as I can make them, but they are almost foolproof, they are so easy. Knowing this is something I am going to make a part of my lifestyle,I plan on buying my next batch of supplies from Sams club they have the best prices on yeast and flour in bulk, I think I figure about 30-40 cents a loaf. With some hot homemade soup on a cold day it does not get any better.

Have been in a writing slump, but have been following all of my favorite bloggers when I can.
Sending out my wishes for Happy Holidays to all of my online friends. Take time to breathe, and enjoy the precious moments when they come.

October 2010- Life these days.

I continue to be MIA when it comes to blogging. I guess because I always intended this blog to be about homesteading and even though I have not lost my passion for the subject, I regretfully have done nothing in my life lately that could even be slightly considered homesteading. About a week ago, I wet a bunch of little peat pots to fluff up and plant seeds in but they still have not one seed started. I found a lead on person who might teach me how to make the old fashioned wool hook rugs or felted rugs that I have always wanted to learn how to make but I have not called her. So I drag my feet about updating the blog, feeling like I have nothing of interest to contribute.

Fortunately for me you all are so inspiring, when I get online and read what all of my favorite bloggers are up to, it occurs to me that I really just want to see what is going on in their lives, the good the bad, the ups and downs I like hearing what is going on with my far away friends and I feel genuine concern, joy and frustration along with them in all that they encounter and are willing to share with me. I love hearing about the weather in other parts of the country or the other side of the world, I like seeing what people are cooking up in their kitchens, or what their kids are doing in school. I enjoy seeing their families their dogs, cats and other assorted menageries of animals. I love the similarities as well as the differences in all of our crazy lives.

Also, I am reminded that part of the reason I blog is purely for my own need to chronicle the journey that I am on. So very much in my life has turned upside down but in the midst of it all life still goes on and I am determined to remember to enjoy the journey not just focus on the destination. I know a year or two from now I will look back on what was happening now and appreciate those obstacles that seemed so insurmountable that turned out to really be stepping stones on the path to wherever life is taking me.

I have been spending most of my free time in academic mode. Because I went back to work in the ICU, I had several educational certifications to renew including ACLS (Advanced Cardiac Life Support) and have decided to pursue getting my CCRN certification (Critical Care). The test is very difficult and to prepare for it I am taking an online course through the Critical Care Nurses Association that requires a commitment of a lot of hours online and reading. So most of my time is spent trying to memorize things like which lead on the ECG machine reflects the electrical activity of each area of the heart. Oh so exciting! The whole process has gotten me more motivated to go back to school and finish my Masters in Nursing, I dropped out of the program I was in when my husband and I separated. Lately I have really begun to realize that at 47 I am no spring chicken anymore and I can't see myself doing the physical labor involved in bedside nursing for another 20 years. Having that degree would allow me to go into teaching which I have always wanted to do.

In my fantasy world of the future, I live in the mountains of New Mexico, I have a working homestead that is at least partially self sufficient, the chickens are back and clucking happily around the barn, I teach online classes from the comfort of my home office while the dogs sleep at my feet, and when I want to escape it all I ride off into the sunset on my trusty equine friends. Hey a girl can dream can't she??

Since the weather has cooled a bit here in Florida I have had the chance to do the thing I love most in the world, ride my horse. The new foal has not been weaned yet and probably has a few more months on his mama so she is not able to be ridden, but good old faithful Red my 25 year old Quarter Horse has proven once again that he has been worth his weight in gold. I have been getting out on him and exploring the great riding trails right near my new home and he takes on every new trail we find like an old pro. I have been warned over and over NOT to ride alone and I know I really shouldn't but if I waited around for someone to ride with I would never get to ride. So off we go and so far it has been nothing but the best way for me to escape it all.

One of these days I will proudly post a picture of the new veggie garden I have started or some other homestead related blog worthy topic, but until then I'm just taking it one day at a time and trying to appreciate the journey.

When Life Hands You Lemons...

I don't know why I have had such a hard time finding anything that I feel is worth writing about. There have been so many big changes in my life over the past two months and originally my intention in blogging was to chronicle my journey, I should be blogging about all of it. I think, that I have had a mental block about how to continue this blog when it has gone so far away from it's original intention.

My life has changed so dramatically, moving from the country with no nearby neighbors to living in a development with next door neighbors only yards away, from owning to renting and all that goes along with worrying about another persons property, to the loss of my precious livestock. Don't get me wrong I am not whining, I am grateful for all that I have and that my family and I are healthy and happy. However, I am grieving the loss of the dream for now.

I also have changed jobs again and have been settling into a new routine, at least this was definitely a change for the better. I found out I am not meant to be a home health nurse, I learned so much from the job and met so many great people but I am a hospital nurse this much I have learned. So I have taken a job at a hospital 9 miles from my new home in the ICU and am finding it a much better fit for me.

The challenge for me now is to figure out where to continue with my dream of some self sufficiency, maintaining the homesteading mentality in the middle of upheaval in my life.

There are tons of wonderful websites and blogs about urban homesteading and I have got to glean from them a path that is right for me. I need to just jump in somewhere and begin, whether it be planting a few seeds for a kitchen garden, making a batch of soap, candles, or learning a new skill of some kind. Wish me luck!!

In the spirit of re-focusing, think I will change the title of my blog to "Laura's Urban Homestead Adventures", what do you think?