Author: Shannon

I am wife to Stewart, mama of six, homeschooler, messy cook, and avid fermenter. This is where I tell our story... of building a sustainable off-grid homestead... of raising this growing family of ours... of the beauty and the hard and the joy in all of it.

Lard-Rendering in Photos

One of those lovely old-fashioned skills every respectable pioneer woman ought to know is how to render animal fat. Lard from pigs or tallow from cattle was a prized possession for those who lived off of the land. It is the cooking fat of choice for many reasons and can also be used for lighting….

A Blustery Day

I do love a cold day – the going "out in it" and the cozying back up. When those kind of days come along, when the wind tears through you and the cold sneaks in under the door, I try my very best to savor them. Because those days don’t come along very often here…