Prairie Oak Homestead

 Our own "monorail" cat lol  My Daisey Mae :)  One of the raised bed gardens..Toms, peppers, cukes and squash  Popcorn, onions, and broccoli  Beans, beets, carrots, and lettuce  Medicinal herb garden  Ginormous rose bush :)  View from our back deck  Another view  My love :) Follow @titus2baker

Our dryer died two nights ago. I hadn't noticed it stopped running before it was supposed to and when I went to turn it back on, it wouldn't. My husband did some research yesterday and replaced a part. Seems to be working ok now. :)  I was encouraging to him the whole time. In the past, I would fret and hover. He has a bit of a "Tim the Tool man" reputation here at home. He wasn't shown how to fix much of anything because he and his dad didn't have a relationship until the end of his dad's life which ended when he was 50. We are thinking about getting a new washer now. We are just not sure which ones are good (top loaders, front loaders) etc. Still trying to figure that one out. :) We have errands to run today, doc appt, store, etc and I am not feeling too wonderful for it all. Didn't sleep much last night and I'm feeling weak today. I hope I can finish out this day successfully. I will do what I can.  I am thankful for my Mr. Fix It and I hop...

Saturday was our last market day for our business. It was a great day there, the best we had all year. Nice way to end the market. We are selling the business as of November 7th. We had 3 people approach us about selling, which made me proud of my products. :) We chose the first person who had interest in buying. She will be using my recipes, but not our name. :) Sooo, Wiseley Used Herbs will live on in someone else's life and my former customers will have a place to purchase the products they have come to love. I still have two shows to do before we sell. I will be glad to be able to focus my strength and energy on my home. I miss it. Being a Keeper at Home is very important to me. Not having the strength and good health to do both my business and things at home was discouraging, but I know my heart lies at home. Anyone that knows me, knows that. :)  I am praying that when I start treatment next month, it will do the trick and I will be able to get back to what I love with more...

"Home is the true wife’s kingdom. There, first of all places, she must be strong and beautiful. She may touch life outside in many ways, if she can do it without slighting the duties that are hers within her own doors. But if any calls for her service must be declined, they should not be the duties of her home. These are hers, and no other one’s. Very largely does the wife hold in her hands, as a sacred trust, the happiness and the highest good of the hearts that nestle there. The best husband—the truest, the noblest, the gentlest, the richest-hearted—cannot make his home happy if his wife be not, in every reasonable sense, a helpmate to him. In the last analysis, home happiness depends on the wife. Her spirit gives the home its atmosphere. Her hands fashion its beauty. Her heart makes its love. And the end is so worthy, so noble, so divine, that no woman who has been called to be a wife, and has listened to the call, should consider any price too great to pay, to b...

"A true home is one of the most sacred of places. It is a sanctuary into which men flee from the world’s perils and alarms. It is a resting-place to which at close of day the weary retire to gather new strength for the battle and toils of tomorrow. It is the place where love learns its lessons, where life is schooled into discipline and strength, where character is molded. Few things we can do in this world are so well worth doing as the making of a beautiful and happy home. He who does this builds a sanctuary for God and opens a fountain of blessing for men. Far more than we know, do the strength and beauty of our lives depend upon the home in which we dwell. He who goes forth in the morning from a happy, loving, prayerful home, into the world’s strife, temptation, struggle, and duty, is strong--inspired for noble and victorious living. The children who are brought up in a true home go out trained and equipped for life’s battles and tasks, carrying in their hear...

Is your house built on sand or on the solid Rock? " The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock . " Matthew 7:25 Many of you know that we have had a large storm in our lives recently...Through that, we have been able to see what we built our "house" on and how strong our foundation was. We have built our house on the solid Rock. Although it has been whipped by fierce winds, it still stands. Our foundation is strong, but we did see where there may have been some cracks in it. So we reinforce that foundation. Our "house" suffered surface damage, shingles lost, siding ripped, and some broken windows. BUT our foundation was stable and there was no deep damage. Jesus can repair ANY damage that is caused in a storm. He is a master Carpenter. :) He can repair it to where it was better than it was before. We just need to give up our hammer and nails a...

No, not with the Jones'. :) With your housework.....Ugh. If you don't keep up with the work, it adds up and the task can become monumental. Here are a few tips to stay on track...so as not to feel like this... Get a schedule for cleaning...www.flylady.net is a good place to get tips for this. Pick a couple days a week to vacuum. Make a menu for a week or two and then take ONE day a week to go to the grocery store. That way you have more time at home to get things done. Recruit helpers...even small children can help in the chores. Give them a chore chart with little rewards like stickers or dollar store "bucks" that they can redeem. (Need to take my own advice here. It's easier for me to just do it all, but it wears me out so) Keep up with the dishes. I found saving them til after dinner and doing them once a day helps me not to be so weak. After I had help doing kitchen chores one night...I found that the following day when I woke up there were none to ...

Good morning all! It's a bit dreary here in central Illinois, but oh how the leaves look so pretty against that blue/grey sky! I have a goal today to get things organized as much as possible. There just seems to be a little bit of stuff everywhere that's not in it's proper place. I should have the whole day to do it. I'm gonna try real hard! :) Our son has somehow gotten into the habit of leaving his socks and stuff EVERYWHERE in the house. Granted our house is fairly modest in size so it seems like it's overtaking every room. :) I hope to give him a lesson on keeping his socks picked up today. ;) This picture is kinda how my son is while I'm cleaning. Oblivious...LOL Hopefully I can make him more aware that his help is very much appreciated. So, not really a whole lot going on today. Just tidying up the house as it's getting ready to be shut up for a long, hard winter. I like it to be really clean before that happens. :) Hope you all have a bless...

John Bull, Cleaning Housewives Dusting Polishing Products Magazine, UK, 1953 I've been working on cleaning the inside of the house really good for winter. I like to deep clean around this time of year and maintain in throughout the fall. Sometime during the winter, I will deep clean again. The woodstove puts out a lot of dust. :) I like to clean the windows, too. Living in the country, I like to see what the Lord created. LOL. Not raindrop marks, etc. Housewife Cleaning Glass Window Slats The next task is going to be cleaning the office. Ugh. I'm terrible at organizing! Ah! John Bull, Messy Rooms Housewives Cleaning Products Magazine, UK, 1959 I'd better get busy! LOL One thing at a time, right? I don't want to exacerbate my Myasthenia Gravis any more than it already is. It may take me a while, but I'll get it done. :)

You may remember the window I broke a while back with a wood chip from the lawnmower. Well, we finally got a new window to put in and some friends came to help us put it in. My husband is off to the right side and you can't really see him. lol. (From left to right--Bob, Thad, Hunter, Ryan) After they took out the old window. There he is in the long sleeved grey shirt. :) Handsome, eh? lol What great helpers! It's finally in! The windows on this one open. I kinda like that. We now can get a breeze from the dining room to the kitchen. :) Now we have to do the finishing touches like trim and such. But it went in with no major catastrophes and we're happy about that! Glad to have friends to help. :) God has blessed us with good friends.