First Fishing Trip of 2017

Yup, we're still here!  I know it's likely that no one will read this, but our family is still here and well.  We walked out to our pond for our first try at fishing this year and I got some great pictures that I wanted to share with anyone that might still visit this blog.  We now have six children.  Did I ever even post that we had a sixth child?!?  Anyhow, Samuel is 12, Sarah is 10, Andrew is 8, David is 5, Anna is 3, and Abigail is 1.

It was a windy day for a fishing trip, but the children didn't care.  We started off with a quick and simple picnic lunch.  We had to keep holding our plates down because the wind would gust and try to blow our plates away!

Then a couple boys kept an eye on some tadpoles while the rest of us finished eating.

I love this picture.  Andrew looks like a peaceful country boy.

Andrew and David can act like the best of friends sometimes and bicker like they're the worst enemies at other times.  They enjoyed fishing together today though.

You can see the house in the distance, so it's not too far of a walk to get to our pond.

Samuel caught one fish.

Andrew was the winning fisherman.  He caught three fish today.

Today's little fishing trip got us to thinking about another project we'd like to tackle on our homestead.  It would be so nice to have a big picnic table (or two tables) under a covered pavilion like they have at parks.  We'd also like to put in one of those charcoal grills like parks have as well.  We'd love to have other families over to fish with us and a shady place to sit would be nice.  It would be extra handy to have a place for a playpen to sit in the shade in case another baby were to come along too!  The project list never ends!

A Beautiful Sight To See

It makes my heart happy to see a clothesline filled to the brim with four loads of laundry on a beautiful JANUARY day!

A Cold, Winter Walk Around the Property

Yesterday Shawn took Sam, Sarah, and Andrew on a walk around the property.  The property is certainly much prettier in Spring, Summer, and Fall, but there's still a calm quietness that's to be appreciated in the Winter months.

They started walking on the trails that Shawn had mowed back in the Fall.  Shawn took this picture before either he or any of the children had stepped foot on the trail.  All of those tracks are made by various animals.

Then they made their way out to the pond, which is still frozen.

This is the spring that we call the "Deep Spring."  Despite everything else being frozen, the Deep Spring still has water flowing out of it.

Then they went out to the back pasture that we call The Forbidden Meadow.  This used to be all grown up, but Shawn was able to mow everything down with his new (to us) tractor recently.

If anyone has kept up with the blog from long ago, they might remember a post I made about The Toilet Tree.  Here's yet another picture of the tree the children have named, The Toilet Tree.  (In case you don't remember, The Toilet Tree got its name because my children like to sit in the circular part of the tree and pretend that it's a toilet.)  Back then the Toilet Tree had no water in the creek below it, but now the creek is very full and very frozen.

This is the other spring on our property.  We call it The Mule Pond.  While our pond is frozen, our two springs are very much not frozen, and also very full.  I love the color of the water in our springs.

Lady the dog went with them on their walk.  She found a deer's leg bone to chew on.  She's a happy farm dog and a great companion to the children.  She's also an awesome mole-catcher!

Here are the children in front of the stream that forms from the runoff of The Mule Pond spring.

When they came back around the back side of the property Shawn had to take a picture of his new (to us) tractor.  We've lived on this farm for four years without a tractor.  This old 8N tractor is turning out to be really handy around here.  My Dad took it fixed it up as Shawn's Christmas present.  Dad got everything running in tip-top shape and also found many attachments for Shawn to use with it.

The children are standing in the carry-all implement that my Dad found for Shawn's tractor.

The children with Shawn's farm truck.

So, after their journey around the property, they all came back inside and I had some hot chocolate chip cookies ready for them.  I hope the children remember these times when they're grown and can pass the stories down to their own children.

The Children's Bike Building

Shawn has been working really hard on this for a little while.  He's not one to let a project sit unfinished, but the snow and ice delayed him getting it done as fast as he wanted.  We were originally going to purchase one of the pre-built storage buildings that would just be delivered to our property, but after figuring up the costs we realized that Shawn could build one for half the cost.  So, that's what he did.

 He began by framing a 10' x 10' floor, elevating and leveling it with concrete blocks.

 Next came the frame of the walls.

 The walls were held in place by 5-year-old Andrew while Shawn nailed them down.  He said in a few years he'll have Andrew in charge of construction and Shawn can hold the boards for him.

 The roof is 8 1/2 feet high at the front and 6 1/2 feet high in the rear.

 The walls and roof are made from sheets of OSB (a type of strong plywood) and sheets of metal were used on top instead of roofing shingles for durability and longevity.  (You can see here that the children are already anxious to move things in!)

During the snow and the cold, Shawn installed the doors and did some finish work.  A ramp will be added and the wood treated with a waterproof stain once the weather improves.

Now my job starts.  I need to sort through all the bubbles, sidewalk chalk, balls, trucks, outdoor games, and ride-on toys to see how everything should be best organized.  Shawn's relieved that now the shop can actually be used as a shop!

Oh, and this was his project last month, an implement shed that he built behind the barn.  He's been busy despite the cold!

A Winter-time Week On Our Homestead - Sunday

This morning started off slow.  We woke up around 7:30.  I nursed Anna while the children did their morning jobs.  Shawn started some coffee.  Andrew let out the chickens.

We didn't go to church this morning.  Earlier we had gotten a phone call saying that they were going to cancel the potluck and afternoon service due to the weather and because the church's parking lot is still covered in ice.  Since they were only going to have morning service (and the fact that our congregation is 1-1/2 hours away one-way) we chose to stay home today.

So I made a nice big breakfast of pancakes.

Fluffy Pancakes (triple batch = approximately 35 pancakes)

3 cups milk

6 Tbsp. white vinegar =  approximately 1/3 cup white vinegar

3 cups organic, unbleached, all-purpose flour

6 Tbsp. sucanat =  approximately 1/3 cup sucanat

3 tsp. baking powder = 2 tsp. cream of tartar and 1 tsp. baking soda

1-1/2 tsp. baking soda

1-1/2 tsp. salt

3 eggs

1/3 cup coconut oil, melted

1.     Combine milk with vinegar in a medium bowl and set aside for 5 minutes to “sour.”

2.     Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a small mixing bowl.

3.     Whisk eggs and coconut oil into soured milk.  (drizzle oil while whisking to keep oil from hardening)

4.     Pour the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and whisk until lumps are gone.

**Do not overstir.  Leave mixture bubbly to keep it extra fluffy**

5.     Heat griddle to 375 degrees.  Allow batter to rest while griddle is preheating.

6.    Pour ¼ cup of batter onto griddle and cook until bubbles appear on the surface.  Flip and cook until browned on the other side.

Of course I made some changes, but the original recipe came from here:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Fluffy-Pancakes-2/Detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=fluffy%20pancakes&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page

If you ask Sarah, she'll tell you that her favorite food in all the world is..pancakes.  She was extra-happy this morning.

After our big breakfast the children went outside with Shawn.  He wanted to continue working on the bike building.  I stayed inside and started some laundry.  I needed to wash a load of clothes and diapers today.  Then I did some research on when to prune roses.  I was planning to prune my roses today, but I found out that I'm better off to wait another month or so.  I also researched companion planting in the garden.  I want to maximize our garden space as well as plant things that will provide some protection from pests like squash bugs and aphids.  After that research I made a few changes to our 2014 Master Garden Map.

Anna has been crawling for a week now.  She is really enjoying being mobile.  We're having to get in the new habit of keeping bathroom doors closed now.  Somehow she knows exactly where we don't want her to be, so crawling into the bathroom is right where she wants to go.  She's just cute no matter what she does.

While David was napping this afternoon Shawn took the oldest three children on a walk through the property and I stayed inside with Anna and baked some chocolate chip cookies.  Shawn and the children came back with a whole bunch of neat pictures from their walk.  I told Shawn that I would just do a totally separate post about their walk since they had so many nice pictures.  I'll try to upload those tomorrow.

In other exciting news...Shawn finished the children's bike building today!  He even moved most of the children's toys into the building.  That will be a separate post also.

The boys got haircuts this evening and everyone got a bath.  Then I started on supper while the children watched a VeggieTales video.  I had some leftover mashed potatoes, so those turned into Shepherd's Pie for supper tonight..with chocolate chip cookies for dessert.

Wild, hairy boys

Clean-cut, handsome young men

The evening ended with a family Bible time.  Shawn's reading to us out of Matthew.  Tonight we read about Jesus sending demons into a heard of swine.  The children had plenty of questions about that!

So, now the children are in bed.  I'm ready for my quiet time.  See you tomorrow!

A Winter-time Week On Our Homestead - Saturday

So, I've decided I feel like blogging again!  I decided that I would like to start off by simply documenting the next seven days here on the blog.  I'll be taking pictures and sharing the normal things that we do on an average day.  I don't even know if anyone visits the blog anymore so, in the end, the only people that may see this are our family and Grandma Colette!  I think this is something that she and Papa Mac will enjoy.

So today was Saturday.  We got up around 7:30 this morning.  I nursed Anna while the children did their morning jobs.  Andrew went and let out the chickens for us.  Shawn got a phone call from a friend this morning, so he spent a bit of time on the phone catching up with him.

I cooked up a big, late breakfast of homemade biscuits and sausage gravy with some scrambled eggs.  It was yummy good.  After breakfast the children went outside to play in what's left of the snow.

Despite the snow outside I still wanted to go ahead and get some seeds started.  Eventually Spring will come and we have high hopes for a decent garden this year.  Shawn rounded up all the supplies for me and then he went outside to work on the new bike building.  

(On a side note..Some nice "Homestead Homeschooling" was able to occur today when Shawn was getting the supplies collected for me to do the seeds.  We keep the potting soil out in the root cellar.  When he started scooping it out of the bag and into a bucket he discovered a frog had buried itself in the soil.  It was alive, but slow-moving considering the cold temperature.  So, we were able to talk to the children about why the frog had buried itself in the potting soil for the winter and why cold-blooded animals move slower when it's cold.  Then, after Shawn dug a little hole in the compost pile for the frog, we were able to talk to the children about why compost piles steam in the wintertime.)

This building is supposed to house all of the children's outside toys.  All of the bicycles, Tonka trucks, wagons, and balls are overtaking Shawn's shop.  Shawn has just about completed the building.  He was working on the doors today.  He told me not to post a picture of the building under construction because he wants me to give it a post of its own.  He'll probably have it completed later this week so I'll be able to share those pictures then.

I checked on the chickens and then came inside to work on the seeds.

We've started seeds for cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and then some culinary and medicinal herbs.  We have jugs of water on the bottom rack so that our "Great Tower of Seeds" isn't accidentally toppled over by wild children.

When Shawn brought in the mail this afternoon I was excited to receive some of the seeds that I had ordered and my replacement filters for my grain mill.  The replacement filters only cost $1 each, but then I had to pay $8 in shipping to get them here!

By around 4:30 Shawn was tired of working out in the cold so he put things away for the day.  He refilled food and water for the animals and even managed to get the chickens put to bed a little early tonight.  The hens gave us 13 eggs today.  I'm glad to see the number steadily increasing.

Tonight's supper was "Clean Out Momma's Fridge."  I had a lot of leftovers filling up the refrigerator so we ate it up tonight.  We had a variety of chili, Spanish rice, and roast chicken with peas and green beans.  After supper we had the children do their nighttime jobs and put on pajamas.  Shawn got the kitchen cleaned up while I took a shower.  Then Shawn popped some popcorn for us and we all sat down to watch a WWII documentary that we recently purchased.  

And now the children are in bed.  The house is quiet and it's time for Shawn and I to relax!

We Have Produced Food!!!! Woo Hoo!

This is the first year that Shawn and I have put forth serious effort to gardening.  The past few years have involved us starting off with some excited attempts only to give up when the weeds overwhelm us.  This year we heavily mulched the garden using the Back To Eden method.  We've added mass quantities of wood chips and grass clippings and now weed maintenance is actually do-able!

I'm excited to say that we're actually harvesting and using food that we're producing in our garden.  Today our lunch-time soup includes peas, carrots, and turnips from our own garden.  After supper tonight we're having a fruit salad that contains our own blueberries and blackberries.  Tomorrow night's supper will include beets and cauliflower that we've raised.  It's an awesome feeling to serve food to my family that was produced on our own land.  It really does make all the sweat, sunburn, and bug bites worth it!

Here's a view from the back corner of the garden.  Since we're still on the GAPS diet, none of that corn is for our family to eat.  All of that corn has been planted as winter chicken food.

Here are the arbors at the back of our garden.  Starting from the left there is an arbor of pickling cucumbers, a second arbor of pickling cucumbers that was planted a couple weeks later, and then the last three arbors include two different varieties of pole green beans.  We have watermelon plants growing in the middle of all the arbors so that "empty" space is utilized.

There's also more watermelon planted just to the right of the arbors in the back corner of the garden.  We're growing two different varieties of watermelon this year..a traditional red watermelon, but also one that's yellow inside.

We ended up with more tomato plants than we had planned for so Shawn put up this spur-of-the-moment fence for tomatoes to grow on next to the corn.  You can't see it because it's still too small, but on the other side of the tomato fence we actually have a row of cotton growing.  That's one of our experiments this year.

The front of the garden is where most of our tomatoes are growing.  The rows in front of the tomatoes that look empty actually have some small sunflowers growing in them.  We're planning on using the sunflowers as winter feed for our chickens and rabbits.  However, we're really having a battle with birds trying to eat our sunflowers.  We've already planted twice and each time only a fraction have reached a decent size because of the birds getting to them.  Behind the tomatoes you can see Shawn's tire potatoes still growing well.  So far, we're really pleased with the experiment of growing potatoes in tires.

Here you can see more of the near-empty rows of sunflowers.  To the left of that is our garlic that's starting to brown and then our onions that are growing along nicely.  Between the garlic/onion boxes and the arbors are where our pepper seedlings are planted.

Here is the other back-corner of the garden where we have cauliflower, cabbage, spinach, and turnips growing.  You can see a little glimpse of our blueberry bushes in the corner of the picture.  The raised beds in the back that look empty actually have brussels sprouts seeds planted in them.  The little raised bed in the very back corner has three eggplants growing in it.  You can also see our three compost piles in the back of the photo.  We have a big volunteer squash plant that has popped up there.  I'm anxious to see what exactly it's going to produce.

Here's the front of the garden.  Here we're growing four arbors of peas.  Under each of the arbors we have planted cantaloupe.  The two raised beds contain carrots with space left over for me to continually plant more every few weeks.  You can also see our blueberries better in this photo.

Here's our small patch of beets located at the back of the garden behind the rabbit shed.

Finally, here are our two arbors of squash at the front of the garden.  The first arbor with the larger squash is made up of volunteer plants that came up in our carrot raised bed.  We transplanted them here so I'm not really certain what they're going to produce.  The arbor with smaller plants contain yellow crookneck squash and some scallop squash.  We've placed the boards on the ground near the squash to make it easier to kill squash bugs that come around.

So, at this point in our 2012 garden, I am very pleased with the Back To Eden method.  It has taken a lot of time this year to get everything mulched, but that time investment is already paying off with fewer weeds.  Lord willing, next year ought to be even easier.

If you'd like to watch the Back To Eden film, you can view it for free here:
http://backtoedenfilm.com/#movie

We're Officially Top Bar Hive Beekeepers!

We received our bees today and Shawn got both hives up and going without a single sting..yay!

I admit that I was a little intimidated by them.  However, Shawn drove two hours to pick up the packages of bees.  When he put them in his vehicle he noticed that there were some bees riding along on the outside of the packages.  So, he got to drive home two hours with some bees flying around inside the vehicle with them.  When he stopped at Dairy Queen to eat he even had a guy in the booth behind him say, "Hey did you know you've got a bee on your shirt?"  So, by the time he got home he wasn't quite as intimidated by them as I was.

Sam, Sarah, and I went out to watch Shawn install the bees into their new homes.

Here he is getting the queen's cage ready to hang inside the top bar hive

Pouring the package of bees into the top bar hive

The package still had some bees in it so he set it on the ground in front of the hive's entrance and then closed it up by affixing the roof to the hive.  The bees inside the package made their way into the hive by themselves and Shawn retrieved the empty package as the sun went down.

Finishing up with the second hive and putting the bars back in place

It was so much easier and faster than I expected it to be.  When Shawn went down to retrieve the empty packages later this evening he didn't even bother to wear the protective veil or gloves.  The bees really are gentle.

So, our next goal is to keep the bees alive.  We plan on giving them some supplemental food for a week or so, but then they'll be on their own.  I'll try to keep updating on our bee-adventure.