Pumpkin Carving

We've been harvesting pumpkins around here since August, so we have racked up quite the count. I think in all, we were able to grow over 20 pumpkins this year! I kind of lost count a while back after we shared some with friends and family. Our pumpkin luck afforded us the luxury to simply grab a couple pumpkins off our front porch to carve earlier this week.

David chose one of the warty ones, and I chose one that looked easy to carve because my skills are lacking somewhat. I began carving out my classic design on my pumpkin when I noticed David was taking a much different direction with his.

A little crazy, right? He used one of our smaller butternut squash with the stem pointed out to act as the nose for the poor little guy in the big pumpkin's mouth. Then he had the idea to add some screws to the final product to complete the look.

Mine is very tame in comparison! Here they are side by side.

Did you carve pumpkins this year? I'd love to hear how yours turned out.

Happy Halloween!

~Tammy

PS - Don't forget to visit Daisy, Staci and Sue today for their posts in the Homemade Living series. Next week I will share my post along with Mary and Jackie. 

Here's To David

I have to take a break from regularly scheduled homesteading posts to brag on David a little.

On top of all the things he does for our homestead, in his day job he is a band teacher at a small rural school in our area and has done such amazing things with the marching band. They just finished their season last weekend and racked up over 20 trophies in their competitions this year! David made a deal with his kids that if they got 1st place at each competition, he would shave his beard. They came so close with getting 1st place in their first five competitions, but in the final one this past weekend they came in 2nd place. So the beard is safe...for now.

His school is basically the only one in his class size that puts on marching field shows at a competitive level. Most smaller schools who don't have football only participate in parade competitions. But David loves marching band so much that he challenges his kids to put on great shows every year, even though he doesn't have to. They could just do a couple of parade competitions, but David and the kids put in so much work starting early in the summer to get a fabulous show on the field. David pushes them to perform difficult music and complicated marching maneuvers, and somehow they pull it all off.

I see firsthand all the blood, sweat, and tears David puts into his job and I couldn't be more proud of him. We actually met in high school marching band ourselves, so band holds a special place in our hearts. Going to marching band competitions with him always makes me sentimental and I remember back when we were just beginning our relationship. I still get the same feeling I did back then when we cuddle together under a blanket on the bleachers now, waiting for the awards ceremony to begin. 13 years together and he still gives me butterflies.

Do you have a significant other you are incredibly proud of?

~Tammy

Feathered Friend Friday: Herbs For The Coop

Welcome to our "Feathered Friend Friday" series. Each Friday I write a post with interesting facts, photos, or funny stories about our chickens and guineas. If you need to catch up, you'll find all the Feathered Friend Friday posts here.   

Last weekend I gave the coop a good fall cleaning. I swept out the cobwebs, wiped everything down, sprinkled some diatomaceous earth on the coop floor and roosts, removed all the pine shavings and added several bags of fresh shavings on the coop floor. After reading Fresh Eggs Daily and learning about all the benefits of using herbs and flowers in your coop, I decided to cut some thyme, sage, lemon balm, and oregano for the floor of the coop as well.

In addition to making it smell wonderful in the coop, fresh herbs also have health benefits for your chickens and can repel bugs and rodents. Even if the chickens don't eat them, they will rub up against the herbs while scratching around in the shavings and release the scent and natural oils from the herbs - a sort of aromatherapy for chickens!

We also collected some herbs and flowers to dry out and use in the coop and nesting boxes over the winter when we don't have fresh herbs. Last night we got our first hard freeze, so I gathered even more herbs to dry for the chickens (and also for the humans of course).

Not only do herbs and flowers seem to make the chickens healthier and happier, I enjoy seeing some green and bright pops of color dotting the coop floor and nesting boxes. It just makes the chickens' home a happier one and I do like to spoil them whenever I can!

Do you use herbs in your chicken coop?

~Tammy

Shared with Backyard Farming Connection Hop 

Homemade Living: Failed Cake Turned Into Cake Pops

My brother recently had a birthday, and David and I made plans to hang out at his house to watch a movie and celebrate. I thought it would be nice to make him a cake to bring along, so I got to work on the cake I always make for birthdays (recipe here).

I've made this cake many times before with great success, but this time, something went horribly wrong. The cakes came out of the oven just fine, but when I went to frost the cake, it totally fell apart on me. As I tried to fix it, things only got worse.

Just in case you aren't grasping the colossal level of failure from my words, I thought I'd share the embarrassing photographic proof.



I mean really, what the heck is that?! (I finally figured out that my frosting was too thick so it wouldn't spread evenly.) I was feeling pretty defeated but didn't want to waste the cake. It still tasted really good, but it was clearly a big mess.

I remembered a while back one of my friends made some cake pops and she was telling me about the process. You start with a baked and cooled cake, then crumble it all up. Mix in enough frosting to make a "dough" out of the cake and form into balls, then dip into melted candy coating and let harden. I figured it was worth a shot to try and I had nothing to lose, so I made cake pops out of my failed cake.

Sorry about the scratches - we do have a kitten after all!

They didn't turn out perfect, but hey, I was proud of myself for thinking outside the box and trying to salvage my epic cake fail. Next time I'll just make my frosting a little thinner!

Have you ever managed to save a baking fail?

~Tammy

This week in the Homemade Living series, I am joined by Mary and Jackie in posting about how we incorporate homemade items into our lives. Next week Daisy, Staci, and Sue will be up. If you have some free time, please check out the other posts in this weekly series!