We 're pleased to share with y'all the new book we've been working on...

"Bella the Blue Cowdog"
Written by Cecilia West and Beautifully illustrated by Joseph Freeman

Enjoyed by children of all ages!

"Bella the Blue Cowdog" is written in a fun and rhythmic poem about a little girl and her cow dog, Bella.

Inspired by our blue heelers on the farm here at Homestead Blessings.

It's coming soon, so keep a lookout all you cowboys and cowgirls,
and happy trails to you till we meet again!

Well, it's fall on the farm and the chores have changed with the season and the lesser day light has us rising earlier and going to "roost" earlier too. In the early mornings before the sun has come up over the ridge and the air is still crisp and frosty, I go out to gather kindling from the woodshed, the smell of hickory wood smoke and the sounds of farm around me- wild turkeys gobbling in the woods and the horses neighing at me from the barn and pastures- I love this time of the morning.

Mama has kept busy these past months drawing and re-drawing the Homestead Blessings Coloring Book.Every page is hand sketched and is a work of homesteading art- each drawing reflecting our life on the homestead and many drawings are memories and have stories behind them. We are very excited about it being finished and available now, just in time for the holiday gift giving season.

You did a beautiful job, Mom!

Earlier this fall we spent some time on the back roads up on the ridge tops gathering wild muskadine and fox grapes.

We made quite a few jars of jelly from these gatherings.

Almost every day we make at least one or two handwoven homestead potholders.

These potholders sure are handy around the kitchen. We love using them!

The other day we went out to gather the purple cone flower to make our tonics and such...

We ended up capturing some gorgeous pictures of bees on the purple cone...

The newest member of the farm...

A beautiful 17month old registered Quarter Horse gelding...

who is a beautiful red dun and a sweet little guy

Hannah and I look forward to training him this winter

His name is Pistol.

Our neighbors beautiful cows

What a pretty Jersey girl!

Here's a parting shot from the homestead, the peaceful creek meandering along, the tire swing hanging on the sugar maple, brilliant autumn colors... simple homestead blessings!

Howdy Friends and welcome to Homestead Blessings!
   We have updated and re-created a new look to our blog and hope you all will enjoy taking a browse through and find something new to look at! 
Life has settled into late spring, early summer rhythm, the early garden is prolific with produce and the later crops are coming along nicely. With all the rain we've been having it seems like things are growing over night! The heat has finally hit us though with temperatures in the 90's and humidity rising every day. But there is still a nice breeze through the valley and it brings with it the sweet, sweet aroma of blackberry blossoms, honeysuckle and wild roses. Canning season is just barely around the bend with crops like snow peas, new potatoes, cabbage, and strawberries being harvested now. We've been canning dried black beans and pinto beans that we've had in storage for a couple of years. They have turned out beautifully and we're excited about being able to just open a jar for bean soup instead of soaking and boiling for days. We've got a lot of projects looming ahead of us these next couple of weeks, building an outdoor shower, breaking in the filly, more plowing, and planting field corn and purple hull peas- just to name a few. So with that I'm gunna sign off and go check the canner on the woodstove… Y'all have a blessed day!

The two newest members of our farm, "Quick" and "Quack"

Planting cucumbers

The lovely bluebird couple who lives in the cherry tree

Part of the spring garden, it has grown about a foot since this picture was taken!

Hilling up the potatoes

Planting tomatoes. We have 130 in the ground so far!

Getting ready to cultivate with Shenandoah

Building a drag for plowed ground from an old pallet

Hammering on the "dirt guard"

The drag in use. Hannah is standing on it as Shenandoah pulls.

Our horses in the pasture {of buttercups}

Our pretty little filly

She is the cutest thing, we love her!

We are still trying to settle on a name for her

There's a pretty girl!

Tonto, the handsome horse.

Taking a bike ride on a Sunday afternoon

The elusive cowgirl

Laundry day was hectic, we had an overloaded clothesline so...

we used the barbed wire for the denim. It works great!

The Tennessee state flower

Beautiful bluebells.

Thanksgiving greetings from our beautiful hills! There are so many things to be thankful for and we are truly blessed. Back at the end of October we were able to get our front pasture tilled under and planted with some pasture seed mix so, Lord willin', we will have new green pasture this spring! I know the horses will appreciate that. :)

We are also very grateful for getting our hoop house planted and covered before the frost got too hard. Now we have loads of beautiful greens, kale, swiss chard, lettuce, cabbage and broccoli- perfect for our fresh juices we love to make every morning

This is one of the last basket of potatoes harvested from the garden. Yukon Gold, how delicious!

We were blessed to have a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration with some dear friends. The children made this very adorable corn husk doll family. Aren't they cute?

I even got to go riding for the first time in a long while. It was so wonderful.

After the holiday we got a load of Homestead Blessings Cookbook orders and spent one whole morning packing and shipping. We are so thankful for that and we had so much fun hearing from so many different folks around the world! What a blessing!

And last but not least, our first "snow' of the season. It only stuck on the frozen tree tops, but if you were looking up into the trees, you felt like you were in a Winter Wonderland. :)
"We've got a lot to be thankful for and Lord I want to thank You"!

                            Blessings from the Homestead,
                                                            Vicki

Beautiful Morning Glory

The last of the Zinnias

The corn patch under the Martin houses, praying for a good yield this fall!

Our garden is filled with butterflies

This morning we went to pick apples in one of our small orchards

Some on the trees, some on the ground

The start of a good pickin'

Some were pretty high in the trees and a little hard to reach. 
We hope to start pickin' on the hill top orchard this coming week.

Giving our new work horse a sweet snack. Notice her beautiful bluish eye? 
We call her Shenandoah, because it means "clear eyed daughter of the stars". She actually has two blue eyes!
We are very excited about getting a new horse, a new "homestead blessing"!