This episode, coming out just on the backside of Mother's Day weekend, focuses a lot on the qualities and facts about being a mom. From being extraordinary multitaskers, to shaping brain development in their children to economic powerhouses and emotional anchors, moms are amazing! Mom's really are the glue that holds families together. They are a driver of success, they are a model of emotional resilience and they all too often sacrifice silently. Finally, in many cases, mom's help to shape the traditions and the expectations that end up becoming the legacies within families.

We mentioned a couple of items today on the show and if you are interested in them, consider clicking on our Amazon Affiliate links to order yours today:

Gardening gloves

https://amzn.to/4j5t98D

Ground cloth

https://amzn.to/4j1d0Rx

Today we look at how having a homestead can be a drain on a lot of your time. There is so much to do and you are always learning new things about the growing and making things. However, we need to make sure we are still taking time to nurture ourselves and our spousal relationships. So, we look at how to create micro-dates with each other along with shared tasks and creating an environment of mutual support.

Also in today's show, we discuss some homemade dishwahser tabs and some of the bottles we use to make tinctures and other medicial products.

Dishwasher tab recipe:

1 cup baking soda

1/4 cup citric acid

https://amzn.to/44oFYar

1 tablespoon Dawn dish soap

Mix together in a bowl, once combined, press into a silicone mold

https://amzn.to/4d5c11o

or icecube tray (I prefer the silicone since they are easier to pop out). Let dry overnight. The dropper bottles used for tinctures: https://amzn.to/431Z9oa

"We may earn a commission from these links, however, you as the consumer will not be charged more."

Thank you for listening!

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On this week's episode, hosts Alan and Susan open witih a response to a question from a listerner on suggestions for nutritious snacks while on-the-go. Susan then recounts a crazy toe injury that had her doing her best John McClane from Die Hard. The main topic of the show centers around a recent activity that Susan and Alan did, which they call a brain dump. Susasn decribed a sense of anxiety over having so many things on her mind and she was worried she would forget something. She suggested the two of them get it all down on a shared document. The two close with detailing the amount of physical labor inherent in bringing a homestead to life and, in some ways, it beats anything a gym membership would cost. Ultimately, the simple act of going outside and interacting with nature, at any level, is going to boost your mental well-being and your overall mood.

Here is the link to the energy bite recipe:

https://sjdhealthandfitness.com/2016/02/05/no-bake-energy-bites/

And here is our Amazon link (once again) to the goat milking machine we use:

https://amzn.to/42qjjry

"We may earn a commission from these links, however, you as the consumer will not be charged more."

Thank you for listening!

This week we are so excited to open with making cheese for the first time. It turned out so well, we are both looking forward to making more. We also just finished the Easter weekend and took a moment to reflect on the meaning and how it relates to the circle of life. We then spent a lot of time discussing the division of labor we have for not just our homestead, but also our home. It's important to be honest with each other and share in the tasks needed to keep a happy home. We then close the show with a dicussion of our youngest daughter getting ready to move back home and our expectation that she is working on a plan toward an independent future.

Here is the link we discussed for our raised beds:

https://amzn.to/3Rs8Mac

"We may earn a commission from these links, however, you as the consumer will not be charged more."

Thank you for listening!

Don't forget you can find us on X, Facebook and Instagram as well! If you enjoy the show, please take a moment to rate, review and share! Thank you!

Today we open with our latest adventure in homesteading -- milking our goats. We also spend time discussing how one of our daughter's and her husband really needed our help to save for a house. While we initially thought we would be sharing our home for six months, it quickly turned into 16 months, but we were happy to do what we could to make their dream of home ownershp become a reality. Part of our show is sharing our own experiences and what we've learned along the way. Ironically, when they first moved in, Susan and Lex engaged in an exercise to chart out all the things they would want to have if we really did have a large family compound one day. We say "ironic" because just as we were about to record, Susan was looking for some Post-It notes and stumbled across those old hand-written plans. So, we spend some time looking at that wish list to see how much we have already accomplished. This leads to our final segment where we each share our lists of the top five things we didn't expect when we started down the road of becoming homesteaders.

Here are the links of some of the items we used for milking our goats:

milk machine

https://amzn.to/42qjjry

funnel filter

https://amzn.to/3RMWLfw

disinfectant teat wipes

https://amzn.to/4j4gEed

teat dip cup

https://amzn.to/4ja5SDh

cleanser for equipment

https://amzn.to/42uKLnR

"We may earn a commission from these links, however, you as the consumer will not be charged more."

Don't forget you can find us on X, Facebook and Instagram as well! If you enjoy the show, please take a moment to rate, review and share! Thank you!

Hosts Alan and Susan have been gone from the show for a little over a year. They never intended for it to be that long. Today's show helps explain where they have been and what's been happening?

The Low

Today's show starts with the topic of the passing of Susan's father. Ken Ulrich spent the summer of 2021 with them, which was the last time they recorded. It's been a whirlwind of emotions and activities. Susan, as you'll hear, just wasn't able to bring herself to talk about it or record new episodes. However, after completing over 80 miles on the Appalachian Trail and being able to spread some of her parents ashes on the date of her father's birthday, she was ready to get back to recording.

The Highs

After going through the death of Susan's dad and the emotions that went along with it, Alan and Susan recap the relationship with "The Boy." They now can call him their future son-in-law! On top of that, their oldest daughter is also engaged to be married. The whirlwind continues, but on a much more positive note. Christmas is approaching, so Alan and Susan recount their last Christmas and some of the activities they did Christmas Eve.

They wrap up the show recapping their summer nostalgic beach vacation with their girls. The two older brought their significant others, while the youngest brought three friends. Alan and Susan discuss about how nice it is to have true friendships with their adult children. They count their blessings, knowing their kids like to spend time with them. Alan and Susan both admit what a special feeling it is to be able to stay so close with their children even after they are starting their own lives.

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In this episode, hosts Alan and Susan give some advice to our younger selves. The old saying is youth is wasted on the young. By the time you've lived long enough to figure things out, your energy is faded. But, Alan and Susan have learned, you can always make changes in your life, no matter how far along you are. Many times it's fear or worry that prevents us from succeeding or trying new things. Sometimes it's regret or a sense of not measuring up to where you think you should be in life. We seem to be wired for negativity and to harbor emotional baggage. So, looking back at their lives and some of the lessons they've learned, Alan and Susan share their advice to the younger version of themselves.

Where to find us

If you enjoy the show, please take a moment to like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram and Twitter. You can also learn more about us and the show by visiting our website. Finally, take a moment to rate, review and share. Thank you so much for listening.