Posted on 12/30/2012 6:33:21 PM PST by teenyelliott
So, I'm sure at least one person here on FR has wondered what happened to me, maybe two of you. Before I really really stopped posting, many of us had discussed the possibility, and or the desire, to get out of the city to our own little homesteads and try to grow some food, for security, for peace of mind, for whatever reason.
Well, my family did it.
Two years ago we made the jump. We bought a place in the country, and have spent the past couple of years setting up our little homestead. We have a big garden, many chickens, some ducks, some guineas, some sheep, some goats, and a barn for all of them. A woodstove, a hand pump well, even a solar chicken coop.
Any of my old pals, and any new ones, come check us out! Would be pleased to hear from you, and share what we are learning.
Please ping any of my old buddies that you know of; I seem to have misplaced my old ping list!
One of the many items I am stockpiling is coffee filters. (And I don’t even drink coffee!)
Here are some interesting uses for coffee filters. And you can buy 1,000 at the Dollar Tree for almost nothing even the large ones.
1. Cover bowls or dishes when cooking in the microwave. Coffee filters make excellent covers.
2. Clean windows, mirrors, and chrome... Coffee filters are lint-free so they’ll leave windows sparkling.
3. Protect China by separating your good dishes with a coffee filter between each dish.
4. Filter broken cork from wine. If you break the cork when opening a wine bottle, filter the wine through a coffee filter.
5. Protect a cast-iron skillet... Place a coffee filter in the skillet to absorb moisture and prevent rust.
6. Apply shoe polish. Ball up a lint-free coffee filter.
7. Recycle frying oil. After frying, strain oil through a sieve lined with a coffee filter.
8. Weigh chopped foods. Place chopped ingredients in a coffee filter on a kitchen scale.
9. Hold tacos. Coffee filters make convenient wrappers for messy foods.
10. Stop the soil from leaking out of a plant pot. Line a plant pot with a coffee filter to prevent the soil from going through the drainage holes.
11. Prevent a Popsicle from dripping. Poke one or two holes as needed in a coffee filter..
12. Do you think we used expensive strips to wax eyebrows? Use strips of coffee filters..
13.. Put a few in a plate and put your fried bacon, French fries, chicken fingers, etc on them.. It soaks out all the grease.
14. Keep in the bathroom. They make great “razor nick fixers.”
15. As a sewing backing. Use a filter as an easy-to-tear backing for embroidering or appliquéing soft fabrics.
16... Put baking soda into a coffee filter and insert into shoes or a closet to absorb or prevent odors.
17. Use them to strain soup stock and to tie fresh herbs in to put in soups and stews.
18.. Use a coffee filter to prevent spilling when you add fluids to your car.
19.. Use them as a spoon rest while cooking and clean up small counter spills.
20. Can use to hold dry ingredients when baking or when cutting a piece of fruit or veggies... Saves on having extra bowls to wash.
21. Use them to wrap Christmas ornaments for storage.
22. Use them to remove fingernail polish when out of cotton balls.
23. Use them to sprout seeds.. Simply dampen the coffee filter, place seeds inside, fold it and place it into a plastic baggie until they sprout.
24. Use coffee filters as blotting paper for pressed flowers. Place the flowers between two coffee filters and put the coffee filters in phone book..
25... Use as a disposable “snack bowl” for popcorn, chips, etc.
Not my own personally compiled list, but I use coffee filters for many of the above uses.
Thanks for the ping. What a wonderful new thread in tribute to Granny. Sure do miss her wisdom she so willingly shared on her threads. Please keep me on the ping list.
I’ve been only lurking lately and hadn’t logged in till today. We bought some fainting goats a year ago and have 1 baby (last summer) so far. We also got 2 pygmy mix females. We lost both of them during deliveries, both had to have C-sections, but we did get 2 babies out of it. We had to bottle feed them for a couple of months, every 4 hours around the clock. They are my new “dogs”. LOL So cute and friendly.
Good to see you back, Marm. It’s been a long time.
Your goat adventures sound interesting, if not sad because of the loss of the mothers. Is that a frequent occurance with goats? (If so, I might change my plans on getting some and making goat cheese....)
Please thank you son for his service for me. Is he still in the Marines or did he get out?
I guess it’s becoming quite common for pygmy goats to have c-sections. As they breed them to be small, some have trouble delivering their kids. We didn’t realize this when we decided to get them. On the other hand, the fainting goat had no trouble. We are sticking with them for raising more goats and will probably just keep our other 2 as pets.
Our son is out now, just recently moved to MT. He’s been talking of moving there since he was a kid and finally got the opportunity after finding out massive layoffs were coming at his former job. We drove out to help him move - what beautiful country.
I knew when I started this thread that I would be pushed for time, with all my other farm sites as well as the real world work that needs to be done around here.
The good news: I will also now be blogging for Mother Earth News.
The bad news: I won't have much extra time at all.
I will try to keep popping over to post things, and it would be so great if a few of you would take the handles of this thread so it doesn't die.
I knew when I started this thread that I would be pushed for time, with all my other farm sites as well as the real world work that needs to be done around here.
The good news: I will also now be blogging for Mother Earth News.
The bad news: I won't have much extra time at all.
I will try to keep popping over to post things, and it would be so great if a few of you would take the handles of this thread so it doesn't die.
Can’t believe I missed this Bump!
So good to see how well ya’ll are doing, and to have you back here too.
Thank you Lord, for blessings without number:):)
Tatt
How We Transitioned From the City to the Country, and Why We Did So
Hate the name of that magazine with a passion, but it is an excellent resource that I use often...great article...well done. (It really does confuse people when they find a hard-core conservative working in the garden or tending to the bees...LOLOL!)
LOL still hanging in there.. Good to see so much of the old gang still here.
Granny kept us all motivated...
LOL still hanging in there.. Good to see so much of the old gang still here.
Granny kept us all motivated...
In a pinch, it would work, but maintenance would be higher and frustrations too.. (However, it sure beats a pit saw run by arm/back power)
I'll try to do better now... Granny would expect no less...
GREAT to see you back, DW!
yes, granny was always here, even when we all disappeared for a time or two. I was always motivated to come back and see how she was doing and what is new.
Hope you, Mrs. DW, and Christy are all doing well.
You would be amazed how many times over the years that I got accused of being a liberal here at FR because of my views on nature, herbs, etc.
Fill a bowl with water, and put the questionable egg in.
If it sinks, the egg is still good.
If it rises a bit, you'd better use it soon.
If it floats, it's too old.
And always, when it doubt, throw it out.
These eggs were older when we were testing them, the freshest eggs will be on their sides at the bottom.
One of the areas where conservatives and 'hippie' liberals overlap...here at FR; the weekly garden thread has over 500 participants.
My mom used to choose the eggs that stood up to boil, she said they were much easier to peel than fresh eggs.
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