Author: kristen

The Roncek Family

Hello friends and family!! We pray you are happy, healthy and doing well. We’re doing fine in good ol’ South Carolina and our year has been busy and fun! All kiddos are doing well in school. Jason stays busy with his “honey do list” and Kristen is always playing a chauffeur for the kids and all their activities.

We want each of you to know we’re thankful you are a part of our lives, though we may not be the best at keeping in touch or keeping those “we have to get together” dates, please know you are always in our thoughts and hearts!

Hope y’all have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! May God’s blessings come to you in a thousand-fold.

Brayks

Brayklee, our official teenager… played Rec Volleyball at the local YMCA, made the High School Volleyball B-team- Go #2, crocheted a ton and went to quite a few markets selling her creations- Thank you to those who support her! She’s kept up with her grades and continues to be on the A honor roll. She was even invited to join the Beta Club! She’s been trying out track conditioning at the highschool, but doesn’t think she’s a fan of all that running- volleyball has her heart! She worked a “real” job at the local corn maze this October and has started “saving for a house”, tehe 😉

 JRae

Our Sweet Rae of Sunshine… She also rocked the volleyball court this year and played for the YMCA. The girls were on the same team and it was nice to watch them play together. For her birthday we got her a Lionhead bunny that she named “Clover”. Her reaction was the sweetest and will forever be a favorite memory. Jason built her an awesome bunny hutch out of an old changing table. She spoils Clover daily along with helping Kristen with the chickens and the bouquet of other animals (Dandy, Prim, Daisy, Flower, and Magnolia). She too is keeping up with the A honor roll status and enjoying her first year in middle school.

Jax

Oh Jaxy boy… This year he played flag football, basketball, and a bunch of Fortnite ha! He did really great at football, seemed to really enjoy it. Made quite a few touchdowns and a bunch of new friends. He’s a great “Jaxy” on the spot when we need help, but in March when helping Kristen pick up the yard he fell and broke his arm-not the adventure I think he was looking for and definitely not what Kristen and Jason wanted! This year in school Jax started getting actual letter grades and he got the A/B honor roll on his first report card!

Our top 5 events

1. Jason and Kristen celebrated 15 yrs together, 13 of those married.
2. Jason turned the big 4-0, Kristen surprised him in San Deigo while he was out there for work.
3. Renovated the horse stables into a 3 stall Chicken Coop and 2 food/storage units-Got chicken babies- Kristen never knew how much she needed to become the crazy chicken lady- it’s so EGG-citing. A few of our faves are: Blue, Sweet Baby Rae, Peppa and Spendor (who we originally thought was Splenda).
4. Jason built a bunny hutch, a chicken brooder, foldable chicken roosts and checked off lots of other jobs around the property- Thank you goober!!
5. Traveled to Botany Bay- Edisto, SC, San Deigo, Seattle, Virginia, Hawaii and Georgia for vacay/work, but either way a memory was made from the trip this year.

Y’all I just loved this side dish so much I had to share!! Let me know what you think if you try it!

2 pounds yellow squash sliced ¼ inch thick (about 5 medium sized squash even better when their fresh from your garden 😉 )
¼ cup butter- (I did switch this up a little and used bacon grease to cook with but the 3 table spoons I used with the crackers)
½ cup diced onion
½ teaspoon garlic powder
¾ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ cup sour cream
1 large egg beaten
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup butter crackers finely crushed ( about 25 crackers )

Instructions
In a large pan set over medium heat, melt 1 Tablespoon of butter. Add the ½ cup of onion to the pan and sauté for 7 – 8 minutes, or until soft and translucent.
Add the 2 lbs of sliced squash to the pan and cook for 10 – 12 min, or until the squash is soft. Stir frequently to prevent browning and to promote moisture release.
Place a towel in a colander so your squash doesn’t slip through the holes, and place the cooked squash and onions on top of the towel to drain. Drain for at least 5 min, pressing any extra moisture out.
Stir together the drained squash and onion, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, ¾ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon ground black pepper, ½ cup sour cream, 1 beaten egg, 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, and ¼ cup of the shredded parmesan. You’ll use the rest of the parmesan in the next step.
Melt remaining 3 Tablespoons of butter. Stir melted butter and remaining ¼ cup parmesan cheese into crushed crackers.
Scrape the squash mixture into a 1.5 qt baking dish (8×8 square or similar)
Sprinkle the butter and cracker mixture evenly over the top of the dish.
Bake at 350 F for 25 min.

It really is haha- y’all know how I originally wanted ISA Browns and White Leghorns??? Wellllll even though I already bought the Easter Eggers (EE) I went ahead and put an order in for 5 ISA Browns and 5 White Leghorns, but guess what…. minimum order is 15, so I “had” to add 5 more to the bunch and I went with 5 Rhode Island Reds. I have heard good things about this breed and Mrs. Beth went with that breed so I thought why not. They won’t be hatched until the end of May early June so we have a little while to get use to chicks. HOWEVER…… today my sister brought me 4 Silkies her friend asked if we wanted them- I looked up the breed and omg how could I pass up these little strange looking but cute little goobers ??? Some have “hats”!! So we now have 14 chicks! There is a dilemma though… We’re not sure all of them are pullets (hens) Cool thing though is they’re the same age as my current chicks so they’ll fit right in. I moved the brooder into the run this week; the cabin was starting to umm get a little stinky.

We came up with a few names but its so hard to tell some of the EEs apart though. So far we have for the EEs: Honey (my favorite but she has cross beak), Rick (Jax’s), Buttercup, Goldie Hen (Jason’s), Pearl (JayceeRae’s) Sonic (Braykee’s) and for the Silkies we have: Splenda, Elsa, Jennifer (the lady who gave them to us) and Snowball.

MARCH 16th was the day this gal became a “Crazy Chicken Lady”

So we gutted 3 of the 5 horse stalls and converted them into a chicken run! (Thank you hubby for helping make my vision come a reality) We joke around because the contractor called it the Chick Hilton-tehe- It’s perfect! I’m so happy how it turned out, of course there were a few minor hiccups we needed to address but overall the ctr did really well and we were ready for chickens… so I thought……But now the ordering part… I wanted to get a few ISA Browns and White Leghorns. ISA Browns because they are heavy egg layers and White Leghorns because they lay white eggs and Brayklee is weird and only wanted to eat white eggs lol EVERYONE was out of stock- the local hatchery wouldn’t have any until MAY/JUNE!!! those who know me know I can not wait that long for anything haha so I looked online to find a few places to find out they too were on backorder. Super bummed so I was like well let’s see what TSC has in stock… Easter Eggers won the vote – so about 3 weeks later on March 16th I get a phone call from the Post office saying they arrived and were ready for pick up- Best Day Ever!!! I picked up 10 of the loudest, cutest, most tiniest little baby chicks and the adventure began! More to come…

Wowwee… Gardening is harder than you think!! I think I started too soon this year, we had a cold front in March that completely killed my cucumbers, killed off my squash and zucchini, but they came back. Overall, I had about 10 valuable cucumbers, still getting plenty zucchini, only about 6 yellow squash, and a good many onions. Brussels, carrots, broccoli eh not so great I think they are more cooler veggies to grow- so next time I wont be planting those. During the fall I planted okra that flourished, bush beans gave me enough to put back about 5lbs worth, my tomatoes decided it was time they wanted to do their thing lol- a bunch have popped up and I’ve been able to pick a few red ones and still have a ton of little green ones . My lettuce both times (during the spring and fall) has done great. I love going out to pick a fresh salad. Below are some pictures of my garden babies. I can’t wait to continue to learn and get better at this gardening thing!

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

This past weekend the girls had one of their biggest market events to date! Each of them did such a great job! I am so proud of them. Brayklee sold her marvelous creations like her take on an Elf on the Shelf, Christmas themed Bumble Bees, Jelly Fish, “It’s Corn”, and my favorite her crochet flowers! JayceeRae out did herself on the many different styles of Bracelets , necklaces and rings!! She had team spirit colors, Fall and Christmas, pearls and smileys, multi colored – you name it! Each were so beautiful, she created a light purple and pearl one for me that I adore.

It started out as a family affair, Jason and Jax came to help set up the tent and get us squared away, literally lol- get it the square tent tehe- It was freezing so Jason also made sure the Mr. Buddy propane heater was working correctly and i stayed warm! Afterwards, him and Jax went home to watch Saturday College Football- Go Gators!!

The girls had been making things since September and combined made almost $600!! Isn’t hat incredible!!! Amazing I tell ya! It was so fun watching them, they were over the moon and so excited for each and every sale. Brayklee every time someone new popped in would say: ” Hi, everything on the outer tables I made and my sister did the items in the middle” ….every time 😉 AdOrAbLe!! I cannot wait to see how the creativity thrives and what they become! #Proudmama

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Clifford Bodie Filyaw, 57, of Charleston, South Carolina, passed away Sunday June 26, 2022.

He was born October 27, 1964, in Charleston, SC. Son of Olin Oscar Filyaw and Violet Oates Filyaw.

He is survived by his mother, Violet Oates Filyaw and children, Clifford Bodie Filyaw Jr. (Killaney Filyaw), their four children Tye, Destinee, Kyle, Kayleigh of Charleston, SC, Austen Leigh Filyaw (Charlotte Filyaw) of Charleston, SC; his brother Olin Oscar Filyaw Jr. (Monica N. Filyaw) of Brambleton, VA; his sister Rhonda M. Bell (Karl T. Bell), of Moncks Corner, SC; and his loving fiancé April Welsh and her family (Waynesboro, VA).

He is preceded in death by his father, Olin Oscar Filyaw of Charleston, SC.

While living in Charleston, Cliff began working for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW 776), where he remained for almost 15 years. His family was his greatest joy. He loved getting in his “wind therapy” anytime he could; also known as his motorcycle rides. He enjoyed spending time with his grandchildren and would do anything to make them laugh. His dog June bug, was his best bud and he took her around everywhere. Cliff and his fiancé April were planning their wedding for August of 2022 and loved watching movies and eating popcorn.

The Graveside Services will be held July 3, 2022 from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm at Carolina Memorial Gardens, 7113 Rivers Ave., North Charleston, SC 29406. Arrangements are being handled by Carolina Memorial Funerals & Cremation.

Uncle Bodie will be missed terribly, this was very unexpected and heartbreaking. He was a loving and kind uncle, would do absolutely anything for his family and was very proud of us.

Like I promised- More about our garden! I say ” Mama’s Garden, but this has really been a joint effort in getting setup! Jason for Christmas fixed up the garden area for me!! First we cleaned out all the weeds- boy was that a chore!! There were some weeds taller than us! Then we laid rock (Granite pea gravel from Kennedy’s Yard Material down the street). They did a great job with laying the black material down to protect against unwanted weed growth, there were also a few spots we needed more rock that they filled after we cleaned up the Crepe Myrtles (or should we say Crepe Murders we committed- lesson learned LOL! Wish us luck they grow back the right way) He also bought a glider and a picnic table as part of this amazing gift! I was so excited getting those in there, so many fun things went through my head- picnic lunches, garden tables, sitting in the garden to just enjoy the out doors- can’t wait!-

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

So now the part where we decided to do the metal raised bed style- We found these amazing raised garden beds from Vego Garden; a company known for their modular metal garden bed systems. Y’all know I love the color green so I went with the Olive beds, but they had a few color choices. Jason surprised me with five of them!! He chose four of the 17″ tall 9 in 1s and one of the 17″ tall round beds- with four beds we built two 6.5×3.5 ft beds (32cu sqft) and two 8x2ft beds (22cu sqft).

They talk about a method of building the raised beds called the Hügelkultur Method. It’s a horticultural technique where a mound constructed from decaying wood debris and other compostable biomass plant materials is later (or immediately) planted as a raised bed; it is suggested the technique helps to improve soil fertility, water retention, and soil warming, thus benefiting plants grown on or near such mounds Pretty neat huh! Can you imagine how much dirt you would need to fill all those beds!? Speaking of dirt- We originally thought 14 2cuft bags would be what we needed, but we only used 9! We bought the dirt we went to Walmart; which wouldn’t have been my first choice, but it was calling for rain and I didn’t want the compost to get rained on and just fall straight to the bottom. With this being our first go round using the Hügelkultur Method I’m not sure what to expect. The compost we bought from a local farm about 15 mins away, we thought we were going to have a buttload left over but it was just the right amount to fill the beds 10% and add some to our compost bin! It wasn’t as smelly as I would have thought knowing it was horse poo, guess that’s what happens when it goes through the composting process. It was a blend of horse manure, pine shavings and whatever else they put in it.

I bought seeds from Botanical Interests, a small family owned business in Colorado. I will start planting them within the next two weeks. I just hope I can keep the kitties out the beds long enough until I can get some lemon balm/ lemon grass, or something else to deter them! Besides the seeds, I have pepper plants, onions, potatoes and rosemary to transfer. Wish me luck!! I’ll update after I plant to let you know how it went.

•