For the Birds ❄ Christmas Treat

Ingredients: 

2 cups beef fat

6 tablespoons birdseed

4 tablespoons dried cranberries 

One morning, after I had had barbecue short ribs in the slow-cooker the previous evening, I took the pot out of the refrigerator to whip up a treat for the birdies. ;) 

All that good fat rises to the top up the broth and solidifies in the cold, so it's easy to scoop off and put to good use. 

It actually looks really appealing... like soft soap. 

 

To make it easier to use, you'll want to put the fat into the microwave for about 30 seconds, just until it's softened and a little liquid has pooled on the bottom like here....

( The kitchen smelled like barbecue while I did this, and the two spoiled kittens we have running around the house thought I was making something for them. They planted themselves in front of the microwave and mewed their little noses off. )

Now mash it all together with a fork...

We had a bag of premixed seed for wild birds such as sunflower seeds, cracked corn, and white millet. You can select whichever seed your bird-feeder frequenters tend to prefer.

I threw in some dried cranberries, too. It's Christmas... I can share...

~~Mix it all up~~

Line a baking sheet with wax paper and select your cookie cutters.

Carefully distribute your mix, and use a toothpick to guide the "batter" into all of those little nooks and corners to get the full shape in your finished product. 

 Now you can either slip it into the freezer, or set them outside to chill. 

I thought I would be clever and put a toothpick in each one so that when they were hard I could slip a ribbon through them to be hung up. That didn't work for me. 

The holes were too small and the toothpicks were too firmly stuck inside for me to remove them without breaking the hardened suet. 

I didn't want them to thaw any, either, or they could get ruined. So I ended up breaking them off and just tying ribbon around the middle of each. So the molds with pointy little edges like those leaves are the best to use. 

   

The giant rose bush is where all of those little finches and sparrows hide out on these wintry days. So that's where this suet gets hung.  

The Lord even cares for the sparrows.

So I say that Merry Christmas is for the birds, as well as us. :) 

Herbs & Jars ♥

It has just been a fun, mad dash to harvest and dry herbs around here before they begin to go to seed. I've been researching in the middle of projects and cluttering my bedroom floor with crispy leaves and scrapbook paper. Kind of a rushed way to learn things about each herb, but there will be time. For now, I have simply been looking for the right methods for each plant to be dried. They all take different lengths of time and some need special attention before they're ready... 

About a week ago, I rigged up this little line from the rung of a ladder to the spindle of a chair in one corner. Pinned in experimental clumps were lemon balm, cinnamon basil, globe basil, sage, chives, parsley, catnip, and oregano- respectively. I knew those mini clothes pins I picked up at Hobby Lobby would come in handy. 

My room is the coldest in the winter, and the hottest in the summer. It's ideal for hanging herbs, and with the window open or the fan going, the air-flow is great. 

Lemon balm has been decidedly the fastest drying of all. It has been ready within three days, followed closely by catnip, actually. The slowest is definitely parsley along with oregano. 

Time to prepare some containers for these herbs once they are dried! This is the fun part. :D

Before

After

Yesterday, while the milk tank washed, I ran up to the weedy side-hill by the barn and collected wild yarrow flowers to add to this mix of drying vegetation. Just in time, too. We got quite a rain storm! I intend to do a lot of looking into of its use as a fever reducer.

And the day before, I picked a swathe of spearmint. It's been growing wild along the creek banks both at the barn and by the pond ever since I can remember. I sort of associate the scent with frogs now, due to my childhood romps through the mud with siblings on amphibian-catching adventures. 

The spearmint was dry within two days. 

At present, I've moved dill, sage, lemon balm, catnip, spearmint, and some basil to their individual jars. 

The aroma in my room was really strange. Plants that were half way between living and dead, strong odors and sweet scents all blended together (plus remember the frog-related smell)... it was a different atmosphere. XD

Sage came out so nicely. It's a different look from most of the other leaves...

Globe basil can probably be allowed to grow a bit bigger before I pick more. Its size certainly doesn't lessen its strong smell, though! 

I had an eager little helper. ;)

While processing the catnip, I had my cat Emily mosey on over. She inhaled my fingers with deep interest and affection. :P

And lastly, cinnamon basil. Very pretty purple flowers... the odd thing about it is that it tastes like anise. I've been calling it my licorice basil.

 Ahhh... everything is coming together.
On the subject of gardening, the snapdragons in the barn garden are so glorious, and new color shades and combinations develop each year. My favorite summer-autumn flower. ^_^

I asked God to bless the garden as the dirt was worked, the seeds panted, and the weeds pulled. Throughout the obstacles of torrential rain storms that should have washed the seeds away, thieving bunnies, and swarming slugs, it truly has survived all odds. Everything prospers and I am so happy.
And look! I attempted rosemary twice, both times with failure. And now a tiny sprig has appeared nowhere near where I planted it. Mysterious ways. ;)

 Thank You, Father. 

Homemade Deodorant

Well, I wanted a deodorant that was dry and aluminum-free. 

I've always juggled between Arm & Hammer (which contained aluminum) and Tom's (which was wet, and I didn't care for so much). But I figured out this recipe, and had great results. 

Ingredients:

1/4 cup baking soda

1/4 cup corn starch

4 tablespoons coconut oil

10 drops lemongrass essential oil

(Or another scent!)

Mix well in a bowl, making sure to crush all lumps out of the corn starch and baking soda. The result of this recipe will fill two deodorant containers, so you'll need to have a couple of empty ones on hand, or else you can store it in a container and apply by other means. For best results, store in a cool place or a refrigerator. As in the toothpaste, coconut oil softens quickly in warm conditions. 

When I first found the guideline recipe online, it called for 6 tablespoons of coconut oil... but as I was adding it, I stopped at 4, because 6 was promising to make it soupy. I stored it in the fridge while my family went to church, and when I came back it was perfect. Now it's been in my warm room for a few hours and is at a very soft consistency, but not runny.  So I say 4 tablespoons is ideal, or even less if you prefer. 

And guess what? It smells great and works just as well as the Arm & Hammer I preferred did. But now I know it's safe. :D

Strength in Weakness

But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 

-II Corinthians 12:9

When you really think about this, it can change your entire perspective.
It's one of those things I always go back to and have to remind myself of, and then Joe talked about it in his message on Sunday- not for the first time.

We are human.
When I say that, I do not mean we are just human, I mean we are human, and that is a pretty amazing thing to be. We were created in the image of God and given completely free will. And we are given the choice, multiple times everyday, to do our own will, or to do His, our Father's.
We are given the choice to handle things our way, or His.
We are given the choice to depend on our own strength, or on His.

So many times when we get into scrapes, we try to stay strong. We'll brace ourselves against whatever we're fighting, clench our fists, close our eyes, and just keep plunging onward, blind and deaf to all outside voices, including that of Wisdom. Eventually, our hearts will either break under this pressure, or become completely hardened. Neither is good.

Sometimes we don't take that action during trials, though. Sometimes we beg God to give us strength. This is a step in the right direction, but it is only a one-sided view... what if we don't see what God sees? Maybe we think we need one thing, and God knows we need another...

What if we didn't ask God to give us strength?

What if we asked God to make us weak?


He must become greater; I must become less.

-John 3:30


For Him to increase, I must decrease. We've all heard that said, but have we ever stopped to ponder it? What if we sometimes we aren't supposed to be rocks, bound in iron chains of our stubborn will to stand? There is only one Rock, and we could be standing on Him.
It's okay to be weak.

Perhaps our prayer should be, rather than, "Lord give me strength,"

..."Lord, make me weak in myself, let everything in this fight that is of me and not of You be ground up and discarded so that there is room for You to be the rock here, to guide me to do things Your way. Whether I fight or remain peaceful in this situation, let it be Your Spirit that deciphers within me which of those options is appropriate. Let the actions I take be Your actions, the words I speak be Your words, and the outcome be all to Your glory. Use this trial to mold me more and to guide me closer into being the person You have designed me to be. Help me to step out of the way and let You be the strength here."

We should rejoice at being weak in ourselves, because it means that our GOD IS SO MUCH STRONGER and He is holding us, and we are in the safest place we could possibly be. 

And in the end, it doesn't even come down to words, but to the state of your heart. Only recognize that it is He who wins battles, not us. We are fighting fights not with God as our little helper when we feel we're about to fall, but with God as our Leader and our Armor.

Sometimes, when we let Him take over, He doesn't even lead us into those raging wars we expected Him to help us with, but instead leads us beside those still waters, and restores our souls.

Homemade Toothpaste

Around Christmas time last year, I followed a really straightforward recipe I found online for homemade toothpaste. My mother liked it, and I liked it, but most of the younger ones didn't. I guess I'd gotten used to brushing with straight baking soda, so the strong presence of that ingredient didn't bother me so much.

That said, this toothpaste may not be as pleasant as a store-bought tube, but it is so much healthier, simpler, and does a good job of freshening your mouth right up... plus whitening! Fluoride free, chemical free, and made with the common ingredients in your kitchen.

You'll Need:

8 tablespoons baking soda
8 tablespoons coconut oil
3 packets Stevia
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract

And that's it- mix it up!

Since the texture of coconut oil changes with the temperature of its storage area, your toothpaste may change consistency as well. It won't become liquid like the oil itself, but it will be very soft if kept in the bathroom while someone's bath water is fogging up everything. Likewise it will be hard when cold. Keep it at the temperature that best suits you, and reserve a spoon for application to a toothbrush. (Don't be like a certain woman I know and just stick your toothbrush in... then no one else wants to use it!! XD )

Of course I had to run out in the rain and pick some actual peppermint leaves to make this look all artsy... wouldn't it be nice to someday be able to make my own essential oils? 

Happy brushing. :)