Tips and Advice on all things Homestead related

Having a horse when you're the daughter of missionaries and when you live on the mission base requires a lot of creativity and determination. When I got my first horse, it was with the understanding that I would have to care for, feed, pay for feed, etc, all on my own. When I owned my first horse Nathaniel, we still lived on the mission base and I had plenty of areas to tether him to graze and I was able to babysit for all the younger kids that lived on the base since all the ones my age had gone off to boarding school. I was able to make a little extra money doing that to be able to buy him bags of horse feed whenever he needed it. However, when I was about 17 my parents decided to move to a house in town and God provided for us a house and also land. My dad always joked that we got a 10 star hotel because that's what it was before we purchased it, the 10 star meaning thats how many you could see through the roof. That wasn't really the case but it was a pretty simple and

The first year of owning my first horse Nathaniel and getting my Great Dane, Mandy, was a year of learning a lot. Lots about horses, life, adventures and exploration. Mandy was a half grown pup at the time of this story. Every day I'd ride the horse, groom, clean, feed and enjoy the adventures of horse ownership as a teenager. Our mission base was located right by the Madeira River, a tributary of the Amazon. There was a road that went alongside the river which went all the way from the town to another small river community lots of kilometers down river. I had up to that point mostly only been on that road in the direction of town. So now that I had my own transportaion my curiosity about other locations was arroused and I frequently went exploring on roads and trails that few of the adults ever knew about. One fine day I decided to turn right and ride the road down river from the base. Few cars passes us and we were enjoying the scenery. We came upon an interesting trail which b

Living on a farm and having chickens means sometimes we get overrun with fresh eggs. My family really enjoys a good quiche and this recipe is super fast and easy to throw together for a quick dinner. I like to cook in cast iron so I'll start this recipe by pulling out the good cast iron skillet that is well seasoned, 9 or 10 inch pan. You can use bacon, sausage, hamburger, or really whatever kind of meat you enjoy, or no meat at all. I usually saute the meat up in the pan I'm going to use to cook my quiche. Let it sit there while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. If you're making a veggie quiche you can saute onions, peppers, zucchini, mushroom or whatever veggie suits your fancy. Next get 4 to 6 fresh eggs. I use 6 because it makes a heartier quiche with more leftovers or sometimes no leftovers. Whisk them up in a large mixing bowl. Add about a half a teaspoon or so of salt, pepper to taste, garlic powder or chopped garlic, about a half of a finely chopped onion.

 My whole life I was crazy about horses, dreamed about them, talked about them in every sentence and every 5th word out of my mouth, begged for one, planned how to get one, read every book and magazine about horses that I could get my hands on, plastered my wall with horse pictures..... you get the idea....  When I was about 11 my parents finally got tired of my horse obsession and told me that if I could get permission from the mission base director and if I could earn the money to buy and keep the horse then they would let me have one. Challenge accepted. We came to the States on furlough right before I turned 12 and left right after I turned 13 which was very convenient for my horse savings fund as I only requested money for those birthdays and saved every penny. I also worked as hard as a 12 year old girl could, mowing lawns, babysitting, starting a dog walking business, washing cars. Every dime went into my envelope with the words "Horse Savings" written on the front. By

This story is about a very memorable time at the largest rodeo in Brazil.  During the time of this story I was working with Cowboys with a Mission in another state even farther south, where it actually gets really cold in the winter. Every weekend we would go to the rodeos and bull ridings in the small towns in the interior parts of the state. Our team was small, less than a dozen of us,  but we loved the people we ministered to and the two or three rodeo circuits we followed. If you don't understand about rodeos, a rodeo circuit, at least in Brazil, is generally put on by the same group of people, the same stock contractors, the same competitors, just different towns each weekend. They compete throughout the year and then generally hold some sort of finals competition where the points accumulate and there's a grand winner.  We would travel each weekend with these rodeo people and host Bible studies for them, pray with them before each rodeo, help them in any way needed behind

I wanted to remember the special things about some of the favorite horses who came through my life during my time in the Amazon so I decided to write some of their stories, hopefully in the order in which they came into my life. First off was Nathaniel. He was the first of many horses I have owned, purchased with very hard earned money. I was given permission as an 11 year old to start saving up and earning money for a horse. I pocketed every penny, worked every job I could possibly find and didn't even buy candy or gum. I wanted a horse so bad. A week after m 14th birthday my dad took me to look at a broken down, retired cart horse with saddle sore on his back and it was love at first sight. He taught me so much about horses and horse ownership. I wanted to name him Napoleon after the grey cart horse in The Black Stallion but decided Nathaniel was a better name since it means 'gift from God".  I rode him, took care of him and loved him until we went on furlough when I w