Rocks and Weather

Hello again,

Ok I just had the urge to write, so I am writing while making tortillas and beef stew. Again, bear with me here.

Today we picked up a LOT of large, flat rocks for the smokehouse walls. I would have liked to have taken some pictures but of course I didn't think of that. I will try to remember tomorrow. But if you want to see some pictures of the smokehouse in progress, go to Dad's blog at michaelbunker.com and he has some pictures of it. It looks really neat, and I haven't really figured out what the plan is, but it looks great. Thanks to Mr. Plumley and Mr. Brailey for the help with that.

The weather has been OK, a little chilly but not as cold as it could be. It was 48 this morning and it got up to 57 this afternoon and it is beginning to drop again already.

The Ante blog is alive again! And they are celebrating 2 years on the land. Yay! Check it out! And I would like to link to my friend, Emily Shamburger if yall don't read her blog, you should. She lives in Coleman, Tx. She is very knowledgeable and there are many informative tips on her blog. She is A Garden Girl. Check that out, too!

I dont remember if I announced the Marcic's entering the community, but they're here. And the Pralls, Mehgan and Matthew, who are expecting a little Prall in July, I think. They were here during Ranchfest, too.

I will write more later, but now I have to serve some stew and tortillas.

Tracy Bunker

December Project Essay

Hello I am back with an essay I wrote this morning. I don't have the gift of writing, so bear with me here.

My Month without Chocolate:

Just kidding.....

The December Project- My Take on Things

Well, we are nearing the close of December and it went a bit fast. I can't believe it's almost over. I wouldn't mind if it was extended, as it might be.

I personally didn't miss town trips at all. I often go many weeks without leaving the Ranch. I am usually the cook and babysitter in my parent's absence. Many times Mom and Dad will go get the necessary shopping done and I stay here to keep things running. That gives me many lessons in patience and child training.

One of the things we learned was that we can't continue to run to town to get this and that. We are hoping to severely limit that habit altogether, even after the close of the year. We will be making any trips to town more efficient and worthwhile, with sufficient lists and planning. That will be more gas efficient and self sufficient.

The children and I have gone a whole December without seeing a single Christ-Mass tree. Can't say we miss that at all! And no “Merry Christmas” salutations to make us cringe. Yipee!

The phrase 'self sufficiency' has really taken on more meaning for me during this month. I guess I knew the gist of the word but it really means a lot more to me now. During about the middle of the month we ran out of butter. That goes fast in our family. So we were able to break into our canned butter. Now, in a ideal situation, the family milk cow would only be fresh (giving milk) a portion of the year ( if you only had one, but if you had two, you could rotate). During that time you would be canning butter and preserving cheese, so that you could have dairy products year round. But if you don't, you end up eating plastic butter from Wal-Mart while your cow is dry. The same with veggies from your garden. You should be preserving non stop during the garden time so that you can have stews and sides during the winter months. And say you go through a drought or late freeze or some kind of hard time, and your garden just doesn't do well, you would still have some backup until you can get your garden up and running. There is no reason why when the stores go down that it should effect our life at all.

The things that we ran out of pretty early were paper towels, napkins, trash bags and sugar. I don't think you can pressure can any of these items, but who knows? The lesson learned here was that it doesn't take 15 paper towels or napkins to wipe up a spilled coffee or milk. Mom has been cutting up old T-shirts for disposable wipes, and we have been keeping a all purpose towel and a dish drying towel on the porch. That was quickly remedied. The trash bags, well, that is still in the air. We are going without at the moment. After this will probably keep buying them until we can find some way to eradicate that problem too. Sugar: You can make sugar from mesquite pods, we heard, but that has not been tried yet. So we are cutting way back on the amount of sugar we use.

All in all, this month has given us time to pull back and think outside the box. I am grateful.

I might write more at the big finale, but who knows?

Tracy Bunker

Prep for the Sabbath and beware the Egg Nog.

Hello again from the Ranch.

Today is Friday, preparation of the Sabbath. Today is a mainly cleaning and polishing day. We do extra watering of the animals, so that we can avoid any unnecessary work on the Sabbath.

Mrs. Sifford brought over some Egg Nogg ( a big favorite of our family, especially me!). And I had about a half a glass, maybe less. It is so rich, I can only drink a little. But this time, it messed me up big time. I was in bed within 30 minuites with pretty intense nausea. And everybody else was fine and dandy. Odd, isn't it? I was out through supper and breakfast, and thanks to mom and the children for doing my chores while I was down.

Dad has been playing catch and Hot Box with the children a lot lately. They really enjoy playing with him. It is so fun to watch them.

It is supposed to be 18 degrees on Monday! Brrr, I am hibernating on Monday. It is only supposed to get up to 38 on Sunday, so I took a shower yesterday when it was 60. It is about 70 right now and the children are planning on taking showers today too, before this place goes Artic.

Well, I think I hear beds to be made and floors to be swept, if you'll excuse me.

Tracy Bunker

News from the Butcher Block

Hello from the Ranch!

I have been doing a lot of butchering this week, a lot of butchering, folks. We have done 9 pigs since the beginning of December and I did 6 chickens just this morning. I am so thankful to Dad for teaching me how to do this, because I am beginning realize the importance of it. Mom and I have also been doing a lot of canning. Ms. Irby, Mr. Woods, and Mr. Brailey have been helping with it as well, as some of the pork was theirs. This month has been educational for a lot of people (including me!) thus far.

I am planning on writing a bit about my experience during the December Project around the first of the month. I mean, I will try, but we all know how that can go. I will basically be posting about what I learned and how it was for me. If you have absolutely no idea what the December Project is, you should go read this post on Dad's blog.

You should also enjoy this Agrarian Marimba by Kelly Sustaire if you check it out here.

Speaking of Sustaires, there's a new one on the way! Mrs. Sustaire will be delivering, Lord Willing, sometime in January. This will be Ella Sustaire's new baby sister or brother! My profile pic is of me holding Ella. ( which I do a lot )

Well I better get going and ... can ... or ... butcher ... or something like that.

The Butcherin' Farmgirl

Tagged....again!

Hello

I was tagged to write 6-10 things that I do every day by Victoria. So here are the rules...


*Post the six to ten things that you do on a daily basis
*Link to the person who tagged you.
*Tag five other people
*Leave a comment on the blog of the person that tagged you letting them know that have posted this to your blog.


I might not tag people just because I don't have many people who will do it....Sorry!!

1. I feed my rabbits, fill their nestboxes with hay, and give them fresh water.

2. I feed and water Misty the Kitten.

3. I do breakfast, lunch and supper dishes.

4. I clean the porch and the deck.

5. I dress Sarah Grace.

6. I usually can something or prepare to can something.

7. I laugh with my dad and hug my mom.

8. I cook lunch or supper.

9. Ahh... this is hard.... um... I usually take mail to Jordan Irby and chat with her. But not everyday.

That's all I can do.

I will tag Jordan and Mrs. Ante.

Thanks, Victoria, that was fun!

Tracy Bunker