The Midwife

We had the consultation with Lori Link, CNM.(certified nurse midwife) on Monday night--to see if everyone felt comfortable about "working" together on Baby Hilburn's home birth.


Lori has delivered for 4 of my friends (approximately 17 babies total between those friends!) and countless other women in the Springfield area (including Amish & Mennonite communities).  I've known I wanted to use her for my own babies for 7-8 years.  I was just afraid that she'd be retired by the time I got around to getting pregnant!


It was a great visit.  Aaron & I really like her & feel comfortable trusting her with this birth.  We're going to do our own preparations (Bradley method, etc.) but are glad to have someone so capable & knowledgeable on the other end. ;-)


Lori explained what she will and will not do: no twins, no breech, and a few other things that put our minds at ease. 


We look forward to meeting with her April 16th to do preliminary blood work, medical histories & to hear the baby's heartbeat!!

Think Positive!!!

It took longer than we thought it would, but we finally did it!  We can't wait to start this new chapter of our lives and see what else God has in store for us.  He has been faithful.

Just When You Thought it Couldn't Get Any Wierder, there's Kombucha

I've been making this nectar of the god's for about a year now. It's such a great alternative to soda, and I enjoy being able to drink more than just water.

It's a fermented organic tea. It was brought to us by the Russians, who have been making it for centuries. It contains less alcohol than NyQuil. Since it's naturally fermented, it's ALIIIIIIVE!! with good bacteria (which all of our American intestines could really use...to help with digestion, and such).

Ingredients: white sugar (which changes chemically during the fermentation), organic black tea, Kombucha "mushroom" & 1/2 cup Kombucha tea from a previous batch.





Bring water to a boil on stovetop, stir in sugar and tea. Let it completely cool (approx. 8 hours).


After tea has cooled, pour some reserved, already-made Kombucha tea in the bottom of your fermenting/brewing container.





Pour in your cooled tea. Now place your SCOBY ("mushroom") on top! Gotta love that slimey-ness!


Make a criss-cross with tape on the top of the jar. Place a towel over this tape. I then secure it with a large rubber-band. You want the brew to be able to breath, so mold won't develop. The tape keeps your towel from falling in your brew, and your towel keeps bugs and other contaminents out of your brew.


Place the fermenting/brewing containers in a warm place. I put mine on top of my freezer (same place I rise my bread, too). It stays nice & warm up there, even in a trailer without central heat in winter. In the winter, it takes 7-8 days. In the summer, it takes a whopping 4 days (it gets HOT in the house while we're at work)!!

After the proper time, you're ready to bottle! If you're using the Continuous Brewing Method (which is what I'm using now), you just skim off the top or pour out the spout how much you want to drink and simply pour back that same amount of fresh sweet tea (http://westonaprice.org/food-features/1742-continuous-brewing-kombucha).

Remove the mushroom, reserve 1/4 cup fermented brew for your next batch, stir & pour into clean bottles. It's almost time for buch!

Drink & enjoy!!

This Little Piggy Went to the Freezer

Last Saturday, our friend & neighbor, Craig Biggers decided it was time to butcher one of his 2 Red Wattle pigs, "Beans" ("Pork" needs to get a little fatter, so he's safe for now).

Since Aaron and I would eventually like to have 1-2 pigs of our own, we asked if we could help.
Craig graciously let us tag along and help out in anyway we knew possible...which was limited.

The following pictures are for those interested in seeing all that goes into getting a small-farm hog onto your plates...BEWARE!!!!! THESE ARE GRAPHIC, so stop now if you have a weak stomach (on the right side of the screen, click on "Christmas 2010" to skip ahead)!

To everyone else, enjoy!

When H.W. was a little boy in Arkansas, his family would get up very early on hog-killing days. He'd be very hungry after a few hours, so his mother would let him have the "melt" out of the hog. I'm not sure what this is: I think it was right next to the stomach?

So, reliving his youth, H.W. cooked it over an open fire. It tasted kind of like bologna...after a generous sprinkling of salt!

Cutting the skin into cubes in order to render the lard. Heating the cubes separates the fat from the skin. The skin that's left over is called "cracklins" and can be put into cornbread batter to make "Cracklin Cornbread." The cracklins can also be reheated in the oven to make pork rinds--probably much better than you can buy at the gas station...and with no other preservatives besides salt!

My camera battery died, so I didn't get pictures of us grinding the lesser cuts into breakfast sausage.

**It was a fun & educational day, utilizing the old self-sufficient skills that have kept humans alive for centuries!