The Big White Farmhouse | intentional living, little by little

December 19, 2022

No.715: Homemaking Notes on a Monday // Vol.39

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One more post before the big day. We’re hitting Christmas prep crunch time!

The weather outside is //

As I look outside my window // A polar vortex is on the way for the days surrounding Christmas – is it the same where you live? I have some work to do before the coldest days roll in: topping up the chicken coop shavings, some extra straw for the pigs and stacking logs for the fireplace. (And pulling out my wool sweaters too!) Let’s do this, winter!

As I look around the house // Advent/Christmas is such a special time of year. I have the majority of my decorations up and have loved puttering around, moving things this way and that. I also did my annual walk around the property for evergreen trimmings. So fun.

Leaning // into gratitude in a big way. 2022 has had its share of hard things, but as I look around at my home and my family and my animals, I’m feeling triumphant: By the grace of God, we did it! We persevered! We have so much to be thankful for and I want to focus on that intentional practice in the new year.

On this week’s to-do list //
– finish wrapping gifts
– finalize outfits for Christmas Mass
– put up stockings on the mantel
– make pretzel bites
– decorate gingerbread men (we missed our Gaudete Sunday tradition because my husband was away on business)
– see if I can fit in a quick trip to Home Depot (a Christmas break DIY is in the works!)

Currently reading //

Fiction: True Crime Story by Joseph Knox
Nonfiction: We Have Been Harmonized: Life in China’s Surveillance State by Kai Strittmatter & Operation Paperclip: The Secret Intelligence Program that Brought Nazi Scientists to America by Annie Jacobsen
Religious: Come, Lord Jesus: Meditations on the Art of Waiting by Mother Mary Francis P.C.C.

On the menu this week //

Monday: chili and cornbread
Tuesday: chicken quarters and mashed potatoes
Wednesday: chicken tortilla soup
Thursday: Refrigerator Cleanout Night
Friday: Mexican tostadas

Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas! xo

December 13, 2022

No.714: Simple December Days

Then there is the overflow of his poverty. Again we ask, “How little can he have?” Even a poor baby does have some kind of a crib, is in some kind of a home. But he? How poor can he be? How little can he have? How much can he do without?…And how acquisitive we can be! Perhaps not of things, although we are certainly not immune from that, but how acquisitive can we be of the way things must be arranged, the time that decisions must be made, the way this must be done. And our Lord is saying to us in his overflow, “How little can you have? How much can you do without?” On the spiritual level, the level on my interior acquisitiveness, my interior concupiscence, how much can I do without? It is when we reduce our holdings to their absolute minimum, to relate to his overflow, that we are the happiest. When I have to have my way, and I have to have this done right now, and this has got to be figured out right now, and this has got to be arranged – this is not when we are happy. We know that, yet we forget it very easily…How little could he have? Just some straw, a little swaddling, a Mother, and the angels singing. – Come Lord Jesus: Meditations on the Art of Waiting, p.94-95

December 7, 2022

No.713: The Wednesday Five #31

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Happy Wednesday!

A QUOTE

The Church is saying to us again and again, “Now is the acceptable time” (2 Cor 6:2). This Advent will never come again…We recall the classic words of the poet: “The tender grace of a day that is gone will never come back to me.” The graces of this day will never come again. The opportunities for being loving and humble and generous and self-forgetful in this day will never come again. That is a large thought, and we should fill our minds with large thoughts in this season. – Come Lord Jesus, page 65

I’m reading my favorite Advent devotional again this year. There are so many little nuggets of wisdom and I reflect on something new each time.

TABS OPEN IN MY BROWSER RIGHT NOW

this new-to-us option for the cookie tins
this post about an old-fashioned heating source (I want one!)
this vintage radio program that would be fun to listen to with the kids
a cool website to help use up random leftovers

A BEAUTIFUL PIECE OF ART

“The Day Before Christmas” by Carl Larsson (found here)
How cute is that sweetie pie on the left?!

A POEM FOR THE SEASON

In Memoriam A. H. H. OBIIT MDCCCXXXIII: 106
by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light:
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Ring out the grief that saps the mind
For those that here we see no more;
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.

Ring out a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party strife;
Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.

Ring out the want, the care, the sin,
The faithless coldness of the times;
Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes
But ring the fuller minstrel in.

Ring out false pride in place and blood,
The civic slander and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.

Ring out old shapes of foul disease;
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.

Ring in the valiant man and free,
The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be.

WHAT WE DID FOR SAINT NICHOLAS DAY THIS YEAR

The kids put out their shoes last night in anticipation of a gift from Saint Nicholas and he didn’t disappoint! Along with the obligatory gold chocolate coins, they always receive something to enjoy together. (One year, they found a few Christmas movies, another year was playing card themed, etc.) 2022 will go down in history as the year Mom and Dad chose completely random things! I picked a board game called LineUp and my husband chose a Battle Jousting Challenge Set.

December 5, 2022

No.712: What We’ve Learned After Two Years of Raising Meat Chickens

Please forgive this NOT seasonally appropriate homestead post – I’ve had it in my draft folder for months and want to get it published before year’s end!

This was the second year of raising meat chickens and we have learned so much. In year one, we raised two batches: 50 in the first batch and 100 in the second. This year in 2022, we raised two batches of 150 each. We raise a heritage breed meat chicken called the Freedom Ranger. They take a little longer to grow compared to the popular Cornish Cross, but we feel the extra time is worth it! This variety produces tender, succulent meat with high levels of omega-3 fats. SO delicious.

Below are four things we’ve learned along the way:

1. The startup costs can be expensive.

One of the hardest parts of homesteading has been starting from nothing. It took quite a bit of money to get going. From constructing the tractors to buying feed to acquiring all of the supplies for processing, it felt like cash was flying out of our wallets. I’m sure it’s possible to find many of the items secondhand or frugally, but we weren’t that lucky.

2. Our first tractors were way too heavy.

Our first year, we mimicked a Joel Salatin design, but made one fatal design flaw: we used 2x4s throughout! It was insanely heavy and required four of us to move it each morning. For year two, we knew we wanted something different. We went with two of what is technically an enclosed chicken run. We added wood “skis” on the bottom for added stability and a rope for moving. It’s not perfect and we have some improvement ideas for 2023, but we’re getting closer!

3. The everyday raising is super easy.

We moved the tractors each morning to fresh pasture and filled waterers and feeders at the same time. On super hot days, we’d go in a few times to make sure there was enough water, but other than that, the day-to-day raising was very hands off.

4. Processing is a gratitude-filled experience.

It’s hard to describe the feeling on processing day. It’s almost a spiritual experience. These animals have been in our care for eleven weeks and we worked hard to create the best possible life for them. They had plentiful food and drink, warm sunshine and fresh pasture. And in the end, they provide us with food to feed our family. I’m always filled with deep, deep gratitude.

Some Of Our Favorite Things for Raising Meat Chickens

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One note: We started collecting our supplies back in 2021 and unfortunately, the prices of most items below have exploded in price since then. An even bigger hurdle for the beginner homesteader. #thanksinflation