Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Gobble Gobble Goes The Wife


The Common question those like to ask is, "what did you do during your weekend?" Well I bet you never got "I went to a turkey course" before. Well, that happened...



About Two weeks prior the husband caught me as I was half asleep, not paying attention to ask me if I wanted to go to a Turkey Course with him. In my sleep filled eyes I said yes... without asking.. That was issue No. 1. 

A few days went by and it was brought up again and he told me he was excited to to do the course together... As he was explaining what this coarse would involve I stopped him abruptly as I said "What the heck did I sign up for". 

He pulled the "Honey it's bonding time". So I continued to get engaged with the idea of going to spend eight hours on a beautiful Saturday to learn about from beginning to end of safe turkey hunting to preparing and the sport of  hunting.

Saturday Morning rolled around, as I woke up to my husband poking me with a goose honker I lifted my head from the pillow at 7:30am on a Saturday and told him no coffee, no breakfast then there is no Turkey Class.. So needless to say I got breakfast in bed.. YUM! As I was sitting in bed waking up with coffee and pancakes I noticed from the side of my eye a pile of Camouflage sitting at the end of the bed, I should have thought twice about why there were so much camo staring at me, but it was too early.

As I got ready, the husband thought it was okay for him to try and dress me.. HEAD TO TOE CAMO - This wife doesn't do Camo. So I was dressed comfortably while he was in everything camo, even his boxers were camo.. I shook my head and we headed out the door. He told me it was to hide from the turkeys..serious..we weren't going hunting.. but we had to be hidden.
Image result for turkey hunting


So, the husband was right, 90% of the class was in camo and work boots.. As the course went on, it was very interesting. The Pictures in the power point did become a little graphic for me but as the coarse went one I began to think, who in their right friggin mind would want to be covered head to toe blending in the woods, face painted sitting against a tree.. I'm sorry, Who wants to be sitting there with the possibility of getting shot by another hunter.. however that was the point of the coarse not to get hurt. Seriously thought, not this girl!

I have to ask, have you ever tried to call for a turkey? Did you know how many different callers you can get? I will always be haunted by the sound of turkey calls for the next few months as that's all I heard for a few hours straight. Maybe even longer as we have multiple turkeys around our property on a daily basis.

Did I mention, the husband one best turkey call in the novice division of the class.. now he thinks he is a turkey calling master. I haven't stopped hearing about it, even the poor cats are confused about these strange sounds.. I guess we will be counting down until the end of turkey season, the end of May can't come soon enough.


For those who are turkey hunting, please be safe and happy hunting.

Until Next time, Gobble Gobble.



Homestead Wife
xx



Thursday, April 20, 2017

Pinching Those Pennies

Hello Readers,

Have you ever been tight on money, or need to put that favourtie treat back on the shelf because "you don't need it"? We now ask that a whole lot less! Let me tell you how! 

With being a one family income, this is great for us, we only purchase what we know we will use and if I have a coupon that makes the product free or under $0.75 I will purchase it and donate it.

I was raised by a single mom and we always had to be careful about our spending, at the time couponing wasn't a big thing. After the famous TLC Show "Extreme Couponing" everyone tried to coupon, but never stuck to it. 

Couponing can be hard work if you don't know what you're doing.. That was me years ago.

It's not always easy to get started, especially when my husband didn't know about couponing and wondered why I would get mad when he purchased something that I had a coupon for... I am that CRAZY coupon lady.

 

Here are my secrets on how I safe a minimum of $50.00 in coupons alone!

1. Pick your poison . Binder, envelope, ziplock bags? NO a Thirty One pouch with dividers (you can get them at Walmart too). 

2. Invest Properly. Forget Scissors, get a paper cutter - Your hands will thank you.

3. Pick your army. So many sites, so little time - you only need three websites. Get ready to bookmark these on your computer.

1. www.coupons.com (You need a printer) one visit to this site and you can save upwards of $400.00

2. www.save.ca ( You can choose to have these mailed or print on the spot)

3. www.smartcanucks.ca (great for samples, flyers, coupons and upcoming sales)

This is where you have to do the hard work - read those flyers! Almost every store will price check, this is great especially since Canada Couponing is much different then our friends in the States.

I like to go to Walmart, so I bring my flyers with pre marked products at other stores that I have coupons for* , that is key.

So with that you have a product that is reduced then a coupon. The products that you can "make money" on are items such as BBQ Sauce, Tomato Sauce, Pasta and Paper Products. 


Have any questions, please let me know and Happy Couponing!


Homestead Wife
xx


Sunday, April 16, 2017

Eggs In One Basket

This was our first year hosting Easter - this year was very special for my husbands family. 

This marks one year after huge health scares for my father in law, with both my sister in laws away we pulled off the greatest surprise the Easter bunny has ever seen. After not feeling well and trying to find energy and having a husband on crutches (that story is for another time), I hosting our first Easter Dinner and had my sister in laws and their boyfriends travel up north and jump out of the closet when the In-laws arrived.

Since there were no kids at our dinner I had to step it up a notch to have the Easter spirit shine. When I think of Easter, I think of the big Easter Egg Hunt, the kind you wake up early for, where you NEED to beat your siblings and get only the best chocolates and goodies laying around. So this was a must - 52 stuffed eggs, one acre, four baskets and 8 adult I hosted "The Adult Only Hunt".

You must be thinking, whats the big deal? Well these eggs weren't just stuffed with your iconic Easter egg chocolates.. No these eggs were filled with Wine bottles, tequila, Whiskey, Lotto Tickets, Nail Polish, Scratch cards and of course a few solid Chocolate Bunnies. 


Watching the family run around the property trying to get the best eggs, was like no other Easter - seeing my mother in law running around the yard telling the "kids" that she's going to win was amazing. (Did I mention we have a very competitive family?)

The Easter celebrations didn't stop there. With Easter Bevi's for all (recipe is below), Adult Easter Baskets filled with homemade maple syrup and lavender soap, adult colouring books, chocolates, spring flower seeds and soil filled in a Terracotta pot topped with a bow. We finished the evening with the largest turkey the husband could find... ( two loafs of bread later to stuff it).




Easter Bevi

I served these in mason jars with the rim rolled in white sugar and a Peeps Bunny on the side.


In a large Container mix the following

4 cups of Watermelon Juice
3 cups of Orange Juice
1 Bottle of Champagne
1 TBSP of Cherry juice in each mason jar (drop in last)

Serve over ice and enjoy!



I hope everyone had a fantastic Easter and made memories that will not be forgotten but will be topped next year.


For now, it's time for a snooze and maybe some left over turkey for dinner.



Homestead Housewife 
xx

Monday, April 10, 2017

Sap To Syrup

A Waffle is like a Pancake with a Syrup Trap, and we love our Maple Syrup.

With the luxury of having over a hundred trees on our property, the husband had a great idea to try and make our own Maple Syrup. At first I was dreading this idea - If you knew my husband and I we always get these "crazy" ideas and do not like to be bored.

 26 trees tapped, three weeks later and a lot of boiling we have syrup! Ontario Grade Dark Fresh Maple Syrup.

Have you ever wondered why "real" maple syrup cost so much compared to Aunt Jemima's? Well let me tell you, for every 10 gallons of raw sap you get about one quart or so of syrup and you have to hope and pray your tree's start flowing and the weather is on your side for it. Each batch took a total of 8-10 hours of boil time in both the evaporator that we made and then the stove top that we used outside (DO NOT TRY TO BOIL IT DOWN INSIDE YOUR HOUSE).

With our first year making our own maple syrup, we will sure to be doing it again next year. However, next year we won't start two weeks late into the season...

This year our syrup batch was over 8 litres, that is a lot of syrup for a family of two, so we have been using them as gifts - another way to save a little money.  

If you are looking to give the maple syrup making a try, be sure you have the proper maple trees and do your research. Side Note: Don't let your husband use your favourite Hudson Bay Company oven mitts you got as a wedding present.. RIP my beautiful oven mitts. So if anyone wants to trade replacement mitts for 250ml of Maple Syrup please let me know!

Well, time for endless meals of Pancakes and Waffles... Until next time when I am in a Maple Syrup High.




Homestead Wife
xx