Happy Fall Y'all!

 Well, it's fall on the farm and the chores have changed with the season and the lesser day light has us rising earlier and going to "roost" earlier too. In the early mornings before the sun has come up over the ridge and the air is still crisp and frosty, I go out to gather kindling from the woodshed, the smell of hickory wood smoke and the sounds of farm around me- wild turkeys gobbling in the woods and the horses neighing at me from the barn and pastures- I love this time of the morning.

Mama has kept busy these past months drawing and re-drawing the Homestead Blessings Coloring Book. Every page is hand sketched and is a work of homesteading art- each drawing reflecting our life on the homestead and many drawings are memories and have stories behind them. We are very excited about it being finished and available now, just in time for the holiday gift giving season.

You did a beautiful job, Mom!

Earlier this fall we spent some time on the back roads up on the ridge tops gathering wild muskadine and fox grapes.

We made quite a few jars of jelly from these gatherings.

Almost every day we make at least one or two handwoven homestead potholders.

These potholders sure are handy around the kitchen. We love using them!

The other day we went out to gather the purple cone flower to make our tonics and such...

We ended up capturing some gorgeous pictures of bees on the purple cone...

The newest member of the farm...

A beautiful 17month old registered Quarter Horse gelding...

who is a beautiful red dun and a sweet little guy

Hannah and I look forward to training him this winter

His name is Pistol.

Our neighbors beautiful cows

What a pretty Jersey girl!

Here's a parting shot from the homestead, the peaceful creek meandering along, the tire swing hanging on the sugar maple, brilliant autumn colors... simple homestead blessings!

Coming soon!!

The Homestead Blessings Coloring Book is one-of-kind with 40 pages of original art by Vicki West. It is our hope that this beautifully hand sketched coloring book will inspire and encourage children of all ages in family farming and homesteading life. So, grab your crayons and color pencils and join in the art of creating a homestead on your coloring page!

Available HERE the first part of november, just in time for your holiday shopping!

Happy Holidays!

Winter is here, in it's mild Tennessee manner. Today we even had a beautiful snow shower that stuck to the trees making it look very wintery out. We are keeping busy on the homestead, yesterday morning we mucked out the barn stalls where the horses and cow make their winter abode. It was quite a job, but we got it done just in time for a wonderful dinner and fellowship with some friends down the creek, over the ridge and through the woods.

It is our prayer that all of y'all had a wonderful year past and have a very blessed on to come!

               So many holiday cards from friends and family hang over the dinner table

Dinner settings

Off -grid winter lighting, puts out a warm, cozy glow

Holiday Homestead Pies

Tie on your apron and come join us in the kitchen as we mix up family holiday favorites with new and affordable ingredients from the homestead!

Pumpkin (Butternut) Pie

2 Cups butternut squash (prepared)

2 Eggs

1 1/2 Cup brown sugar

2 Tbs. vanilla

1 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

Preparing Butternut Squash

Cut butternuts in half lengthwise, scoop out seeds.  Place in baking dish, skin side down, and add 1/2" water.  Bake at 350 degrees until very soft, approximately 45-60 minutes (depending on size).

Mix all together and pour into a pre baked 9" pie shell.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until knife inserted in middle comes out clean.

Days of Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving greetings from our beautiful hills! There are so many things to be thankful for and we are truly blessed. Back at the end of October we were able to get our front pasture tilled under and planted with some pasture seed mix so, Lord willin', we will have new green pasture this spring! I know the horses will appreciate that. :)

We are also very grateful for getting our hoop house planted and covered before the frost got too hard. Now we have loads of beautiful greens, kale, swiss chard, lettuce, cabbage and broccoli- perfect for our fresh juices we love to make every morning.

This is one of the last basket of potatoes harvested from the garden. Yukon Gold, how delicious!

We were blessed to have a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration with some dear friends. The children made this very adorable corn husk doll family. Aren't they cute?

I even got to go riding for the first time in a long while. It was so wonderful.

After the holiday we got a load of Homestead Blessings Cookbook orders and spent one whole morning packing and shipping. We are so thankful for that and we had so much fun hearing from so many different folks around the world! What a blessing!

And last but not least, our first "snow' of the season. It only stuck on the frozen tree tops, but if you were looking up into the trees, you felt like you were in a Winter Wonderland. :)

"We've got a lot to be thankful for and Lord I want to thank You"!

                            Blessings from the Homestead,

                                                            Vicki

 

 

 

  Happy Independence Day, Ya'll!!!