Larsen Poultry Ranch - homesteading journey

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

We picked 2 wash pans of elderberries yesterday. I’m going to dehydrate them. I still have elderberries in the freezer from last year, taking up valuable space! I’ll use them up first.

The YouTube gal I have been watching recommends frozen veggies as one of the first things to try, because they usually turn out well. Maybe you can dehydrate the frozen elderberries?

 

[Jesusfreak101]

For the leg cramps ask your ob about ultra mins supplement my midwife has me on them. They tend to help me. I got them off amazon i think.

 

[Baymule]

The YouTube gal I have been watching recommends frozen veggies as one of the first things to try, because they usually turn out well. Maybe you can dehydrate the frozen elderberries?

Frozen vegetables cells burst, when thawed, the cells release the juice. So, no I don’t think that will work. It would be neat to make fruit roll ups with pear purée and elderberry juice. Yummy! Lol

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

Frozen vegetables cells burst, when thawed, the cells release the juice. So, no I don’t think that will work. It would be neat to make fruit roll ups with pear purée and elderberry juice. Yummy! Lol

Fruit leather or fruit powder!

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

A tip for anyone about to work with grout: make sure you have a sponge!! And really consider using a bag to pipe the grout into the lines similar to icing a cake. SO much faster and less messy than troweling it in.

Hubby started putting the grout in last night and didn't have a sponge, was trying to make do with a damp rag. The grout is darker than the hearthstones, so he was worried it was going to stain the hearthstones. We finally broke down and sacrificed one of my kitchen sponges and it worked much better. He started the grout by troweling it in, and made a huge mess. I forced him to try a bag to pipe it into the gaps and he was much happier with the result. We also had to resolve how to get the grout to stay in the gap between the stones at the edges where there was nothing underneath. My solution was duct tape! Worked quite well actually and hubby thinks I'm clever. Double win!

In progress:

Cleaning up the lines:

This morning:

 

[farmerjan]

You are very resourceful... the "bagging it in" like with frosting was brilliant....and the duct tape....

 

[Bruce]

Bagging does work well with larger grout lines. For smaller ones you use a grout float. It is basically a fairly firm rubber pad with a handle on the back. Drag the grout in diagonally to the lines. The wet sponge (and LARGE bucket of water) is used to get the grout off the tile. Do this diagonally as well.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

Hubby put some sort of sealant on it, it changed the look a little darker. I like it. Cat seems to like the hearthstones. Brother is over now, they are going to try to move the stove onto the hearthstones without damaging anything or themselves. We shall see what happens.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

Woohoo!! Stove is up top!

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

It's almost like we know wth we are doing.