My Musings

Things are changing!

We have temporarily closed the showroom....As we are in the worst part of remodeling.   However, we are still selling supplements and personal care products.  You can still pick them up, we can deliver them if you are nearby, or we can ship them.  Just call either the store or house phone or email me.

 No baked goods are available at this time. 

It is flu season again.  We have Monolaurin and Acidophilus available to help with the flu bugs.  I have a stack of research papers about all the benefits of taking Acidophilus.  I feel that it is the key to good health and there is historic and scientific data to prove it.

I just received a shipment from the Tate’s company.  They make the best lip balm and conditioning lotion for dry skin.  I was also impressed with the new odorless shampoo.  My hair has been falling out and I was really worried about it.  I tried a couple of different things, but nothing really helped.   After just a couple of times using the new shampoo my hair loss has drastically decreased. This shampoo is especially important for anyone with allergies, it is great for even multiple chemical sensitivity people.   It is less allergic than the baby shampoos that we tried. We love it!

 News from the homestead.

It is nice to wrap things up for the season.  I still have a couple of pumpkins to work up.  We were late in planting the greenhouse with greens; they are just now getting started. I planted heirloom spinach, Black Tuscan (Cabbage) Kale, Red Russian Kale and good old Swiss Chard.   I transplanted a few Walking Egyptian Onions and some cutting celery into the greenhouse too.  I would like to have a perennial patch of the onions started in there.   I did notice a few last beets left in the back of the herb bed.  I will harvest them soon and that should be it until spring.   Joe helped Sarah re-straw all the animal’s beds.  The goats are “oh so helpful” when you try to work on anything with them in the pen.  They are right in the middle of it.

 GMO FOODS

These two websites have interesting information about Genetically Engineered foods.  I was doing a paper for Botany class about GMO corn when I found them.  I have hardcopies of several of the studies that are cited if anyone wants to read them.  The web articles do not get into the details like the actual studies do.  Many of the studies have to be accessed through a college computer system.  After you read them you can see why you would want to avoid eating these types of foods.

http://responsibletechnology.org/

http://www.timos.com/timos/green/NoGMO/irtArticle.cfm?itemID=265

 We wish you all a Merry Christmas. 

The Manards

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I hope you have been coping with the heat, I am so glad that it has been cooler the last couple of days. It has been making working outside miserable.  It should be really nice tomorrow.

Tomorrow, Saturday, August the 6^th, we will host a Farmer’s Market.  One farmer will be bringing tomatoes, okra, eggplant, and potatoes.  It is a great opportunity to pick up some wonderful products. 

We will also have a new shipment of farm fresh eggs in the morning.

Sarah baked gluten-free chocolate petit fours and they are fantastic.  She will also have cinnamon rolls and breads Saturday IN THE AFTERNOON, after 1 pm.  It takes a while to make them. It sells out fast, so if you would like something specific be sure to pre-order. Just think….fresh bread….right out of the  oven….

We have a sale on supplements.  At least 10% off all supplements- Saturday only.  Some supplements are drastically reduced.

Sarah has been making the neatest woven rugs.  She has several available right now.

News from the Homestead

We did get the first flush of green beans canned. We had nice zucchini and potatoes so far.  The eternal fight with the weeds is on.  It is the time to plant fall garden so we are trying to get that done and finish the new living quarters.  Sarah’s young turkeys are cute, one rides on her shoulder like a parrot.  Kevin just called and he found that some of the plumbing stuff that he used was “green”, apparently recycled tires and such-he was excited about that.  He has been busy repairing storm damage for his customers.  We have had some extreme weather, esp. the hail.  Every single cabbage plant out there has hail holes in part of the leaves.

My Research Paper.

I have been studying about the effects of probiotics, not just in a “supplement talk” way, which can be valuable, but through the sources of the microbiology researchers.  The new information is amazing, especially with regards to autoimmune disease.   Dr. Fasano is one person I have been trying to keep up with.  He is at the University of Maryland.  One part of his research has been how the lining of the gut can allow large proteins or macromolecules to pass through and interact with the immune system creating many possible bad effects-it is a long list that includes Type 1 Diabetes, Celiac Disease, Rheumatoid Arthritis, etc.  This is the new research area for the cause of autoimmune disease.  Certain probiotics reverse the gut’s open passageways, this keeps the macromolecules away from the immune system along the gut.  I have many studies supporting this work.  I will try and share a bit each time.

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It has been a hectic spring.  March-April-May have just flown by with us working on the house and gardens.  The house is about 90% finished.  We are starting the classes we have been talking about.  The first one is:

Basic Sewing. Only $15.00 a person-materials Included.

Basic Sewing. Only $15.00 a person-materials Included.

Groundbreaking information about Chronic disease.  Over the past few weeks I have been working on a research paper.  I was astounded at the new information that has just come out about autoimmune disease (esp. Celiac’s), probiotics and gut permeability.   There is new proof about what causes diseases like Type 1 Diabetes, Celiac, and many other autoimmune diseases. Much of the new research centers around zonulin production in the gut. It has absolutely changed the way I view disease and how we manage our health.  I am open to sharing the information. I thought maybe a Saturday afternoon would be a good time for people to get together.  Contact me if you are interested.  I am thinking about Saturday June the 11^th.

We have been gardening every spare minute.  I still have a few things to put in, like the peppers, cucumbers and flowers.  Letting the dogs guard the gardens from the rabbits has helped with the pea and bean damage.  We had a run-in with a huge opossum last night. Whew!  Those things are creepy.   We have been enjoying the asparagus, lettuce and spinach.  Wilted lettuce is one of my favorite foods. We received our baby turkeys last Thursday, they are so cute.  

Joe graduated with his MBA this month, his bachelors is in Physics.  Sarah finished her finals ending her first year in college, she is double majoring in pre-med and english.  My brother, who had been in Afganistan in the Sangin Valley (Marines), made it safely back to the states and will be starting college soon. He was part of the DarkHorse Battalion 3/5.  They did some awesome work over there.  My nephew was honored for his service in the Air Force recently, he and his fiancée are both still deployed.

 I will be thinking about all that they have done, especially this weekend.  I am deeply grateful.  I am proud of all of them.

I went back to school myself because I want to finish my degree in Biology. When I went to college many years ago it was for nursing. It is been so interesting.  I love doing research and I know Kevin is sick of hearing me talk about zonulin. Such groundbreaking information coming out. 

I hope you all enjoy your Memorial Day weekend and think about all of those who have given their lives for our freedom.  I know I will.  Blessings...

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Sarah and I have been busy filling orders and creating delicious treats.  She has made beautiful butter heart shaped cookies, cute love bug cookies, dark chocolate squares, milk chocolate truffles, almond coated truffles and chocolate dipped cheesecake bites.  People are picking up their floral arrangements and their cards.  Pretty exciting stuff. 

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We are busy getting ready for Valentine's Day.  We will have gourmet hand dipped chocolates, chocolate dipped strawberries, floral arrangements, cards and beautiful heart shaped butter cookies.  We will also have extended hours and be open on Valentine's Day 10-6.  

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   I hope everyone is alright after this crazy blizzard.  Kevin has been out shoveling and using the tractor as much as possible.  The old AC45 cannot handle this amount of snow.  I heard we received about 20".   The wind was what made it so deadly. I am so grateful that we did not loose our electric.
   I was surprised when I checked the date of the last blog.  That's what I get for being on facebook.  It seemed like I was blogging, apparently it was just facebooking.
So to update.  We had a large Thanksgiving meal with several friends and family.  We cooked a mountain of food and we all enjoyed ourselves.  It took a while to recover and then it was time for Christmas cookies, etc.   Joey brought his girlfriend down for both events and we all enjoyed ourselves.  We had a quiet Christmas.  Of course this is all overshadowed with the construction going on in the back of the store.  We are still working on the living quarters.  It takes forever, but Kevin is doing a great job.
We are hoping we will be done and can start classes in the spring, using the large kitchen and dining room as a classroom.  
It is just about time to start plants in the greenhouse.  In other years I have started some things in January.  This year my main planting date with be Feb.16th.  I am so looking forward to gardening.  I hope this year is going to be better than the last few.  I was hoping the weather would moderate out somewhat, a moderate weather theme is not looking promising at the moment.   I am going to try and blog on a more regular basis.  Blessings, Krista
 

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 Where in the world are all of these possums coming from??  We have had  6 trying to get to the chickens in the past few weeks and there have been many killed on the highway. Yuck!  Kevin found a huge one eating eggs in the chicken hoop.  Sophia was not happy about it either.
Kevin has started building living quarters onto the back of the store.  I have not been able to help much because of my asthma.  I was doing great, even starting to Zumba, when someone combined beans close to the house.  Wow, did I get sick.  Thought a couple of times I would have to go to the ER. I took Monolaurin and Pneumotrate every 5-6 hours and have been able to slowly come out of the pneumonitis that followed the original attack.  I have too much to do to be down.  Kevin and I were talking about how the bean dust has changed over the years.  I am not sure if it is a new mold or the genetically engineered factor.  Many people have been complaining about their reactions to that specific dust also.  Interesting. The only good thing about being sick is that I got to watch a bunch of star trek episodes.
Kevin had a booth at Arygle lake and then again at the Barry Apple festival.  He enjoyed visiting with everyone.
Sarah and Joe have been swamped with homework.
We have had a terrific fall garden.  Lots of zucchini, greens, green onions, herbs, potatoes and now green beans.  I need to start making soups and freezing servings up.
Catch me on facebook, we have a daily conversations going.  Esp. about what people are cooking.   blessings, Krista

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I am glad that the hot nasty summer is finally over. My garden has been literally beaten to death by the torrential rains.  I do not know how many times the entire driveway and front yard were completely under water.(before this year it had only very rarely flooded the front yard).  You know it is pretty bad when the cabbage try to bolt and zucchini do not want to set on.   So, we planted a late fall garden and seeded the winter greenhouse with greens:swiss chard, 2 kales, 3 spinachs, parsley and cabbage.
I still want to put out more lettuce and some turnips. Maybe some sugar beets for the goats.

I have been busy getting Sarah ready for college.  When you homeschool you do not buy "school clothes", you just buy your children clothes when they need them.  This was the first time we had to make sure she was completely set all at once. I am glad a friend of ours told us about TJMax.  We were able to get great looking skirts and tops.  Then there was the car to worry about and the million things the college wants you to do.  Everytime I think "this is it, this will be the last letter or transcript, etc"  It never is the last one. sigh.  Sarah is hyper-organized and so that helped, but, she is also very intense about me meeting all of her deadlines.  I have been enjoying her descriptions of her day. For her freshman experience class, she ended up with 15 football players and 2 girls. That has been a new experience for her.

We will be starting to build living quarters on the back of the store soon.  It will also allow for a kitchen classroom space. I am so excited about streamlining this whole process.  Starting this business has been a tough learning experience.  Many tears and triumphs have went into this...  esp. with this rough economy.   Our old trailer has served us well, but, it is time for something more suitable.   In addition to the back rooms we will be putting in a "professional exam room" up front.  For the use of professions to see clients.  We are looking at a chiropractor, a massage therapist, and someone to do pedicures.  

Soon my brother, my nephew and his fiancee will all be in the mid east.  My brother will be in Afganistan.  Our prayers will be with all of them.  I am proud of them, but, heartsick at the same time.
Kevin has been working with the community youth group here in town.  It is a joint effort between the 2 churches and is doing very well.  Last meeting we had 38 kids and 12 adults.  Kevin was cooking like crazy over that fire to get everyone fed. The next meeting is this Sunday and will include a practical skill and a bible lesson.

I will be posting about the building so we get started.  Will try and put pics on too.

Love and blessings to you all.

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 Finally got to the point of writing.  Let me catch up...we worked hard getting ready for Trade Days on May 22, 2010.  The weather was cold and rainy and buffalo gnatty.  The Friday before it was pouring rain until the afternoon.  We were very concerned.  Then the sun came out and for that Saturday we had the first nice day in a long time. Both kids graduated that day too.  I made 2 historical dresses (mine 1850 and Sarahs 1795-1825) and 4 curtains that week before.  Plus everything had to be cleaned up and we were trying to get our gardens in.  Our church had a fish fry Saturday night and then a graduation ceremony the next morning on Sunday. I don't remember anything for a couple of days.  We were all wiped out.  I think we did have a touch of a flu that was going around.  We enjoyed Trade Days and I want to thank the Mississippi Thespians, Reg Ankrom , the Adams County Historical Society and Iris Nelson for helping to commemorate the Stone's Prairie Riot.  It was so interesting and exciting to get to learn about and participate in such an important historical event.

Sarah has been steadily working on chocolates and we have 2 new ones to offer: handmade caramel dipped in chocolate and mint and dark chocolate.  The confections has been selling well.  We have devoted customers just for the chocolate.


My gardens look good and we have been eating vegetables freely again. I can see Sarah's hair is thicker and has more shine. Interesting how such a small thing can make such a big difference.  The rain every other day is making it hard to keep the weeds down.   Plus, it is just down right hot.   We have to work early or late to be able to stand it outside.  Need to get our corn in.

We are starting homesteading classes.  I am waiting on Kevin to finish the kitchen in the back of the store so that we can hold classes out there.  Every morning there is a long list of things to do.  The joys of summer.   Blessings, Krista

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Greeting Everyone,

How exciting to get the new website up and running.  It is great to have a new blog to work on.  All of my old entries are on the "old blog" page. It did leave out all of the pictures.  That is alright .  I will put them in somewhere else.

We have been separating our time between gardens, college activities, Trade Days preparation and working on the new website.  Longsuffering Joey Calvey had to put up with a lot from me.  He is gifted in computers and obviously I am not.  I know he felt like strangling me several times, however, he did restrain himself and we got this all lined out.  I hated to bother him, I know he is really busy. 

The cheesecake bites have been selling like crazy and we need to just replenish all of the chocolate confection items.  They sell out fast. 

I hope you enjoy the pictures.  They are all my family current and past.  It is amazing that you can miss people who you never actually knew.

I will be putting together a facebook page for the store, hopefully tomorrow.  I will be glad to get all of this computer stuff settled down.  Blessings, krista

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