welcome

December!!!
I'm so exited to say that most of our Christmas shopping for the kiddos is DONE!!!! Yyyyaaahhhoooooo! I'm so glad. In case you didn't get that. haha Oh I can't wait for the UPS or FEDEX guy to bring the presents!! Love that!! I usually bound out the door to greet them! Crazy farm girl!

We've got a cold snap going on this week, and let me tell you for those of you who don't milk critters in freezing temps, by hand...you don't know what your missing!! ha! You know your hands are cold (even with milking gloves) on when you put your hands on your cow and she sucks in a breath and looks at you with those large doe like brown eyes. I apologized to her. I felt bad. Or when the milk freezes to the pail as you milk her out. Or you bury your face into her warm body so you can be warm and not having your lungs burn from the cold. I actually like the smell of the cows. I know I'm weird, but I'm ok with that!
I've got some other farm stuff going on, but I'll save for another post. Tease!  Still can't do pics. I might have to move :(
Have a great day all! I gotta go lug water for the critters. Everything is frozen!

faq's-maple syrup part 2

Now for the good stuff! If you missed yesterday and have questions about the sap end of it, scroll on down and read the post I did yesterday.

How does sap become maple syrup? It boils down for hours to get the water content out of it and leave the sugar content. In that process it turns brown. We boil the sap in the saperator until it reaches the temperature of  about 216 degrees. At that point there is about 2.5 gallons of maple syrup in the finishing off pan. We draw it off and as we draw it off we add sap from the boiling pan into the finishing off pan and when the temperature drops we know to stop the flow and bring the pan into the house. From there we check to see if we are floating any bricks. Bricks? Yes. We use a tall stainless steel test cup and a hydrometer and when the syrup is at 216 degrees and the right consistency it will float 60 bricks. That is when it's ready. If it's not floating 60 bricks I continue to boil it down until it is at the 60. When it is all done and ready to be bottled... I make sure the bottles are washed, the lids are hot and the screw covers are ready. As well as the "sock" to strain it through to keep any more tree dirt out of the finished product and make it look nice! My husband comes in to hold the sock and I dump in the maple syrup. Once strained it's bottled and covered to seal. Last year I had a video I put up of some of the process of sugaring. Not this year.

Are there any other tools you can use? Yes. It is called a refractomerter. Sounds painful I think. You take some of your syrup and put a little drop on the end slide and look up to the light. It will tell you the sugar density of your syrup. Kinda fun. We have used it before.

Are there different colors of maple syrup? Yup. For Maine it's graded from Fancy Grade A Light Amber, Grade A Medium Amber, Grade A Dark Amber, and Grade B in color. You can buy a kit every season and grade it. We never have. In the early part of the season it's lightest, then as the season goes on it gets darker.

Does it taste different due to the color? Yes. Each one has a slightly different flavor.

How do you bottle it? We usually use mason jars. But we have used the plastic jugs in quart size before.

Does the size of the bottle change the color? Yes. The thicker the glass the darker it looks. That's why lots of producers use the fancy bottles to show the beautiful color.

Does the type of year you have effect the price? Yes. Some producers go up. Most times it's around $50-$60 a gallon.

Do you sell it? Yes.

That is all I can think of for now.

As you can see there is a lot of work to be done from start to finish. This has been a really bad year like I said yesterday. Our taps are being pulled this afternoon and everything washed and put to bed for the year. If you have any questions feel free to ask or email me at oursweetlandfarm@gmail.com
I will do my best to answer any and all questions you have.
Have a great day all!

faq's-maple sap part 1

 I get asked about maple syrup/sap. I figured I would answer a few questions here about the sap end of it, then do a maple syrup one tomorrow. Just to leave you in suspense!

How many gallons of sap to maple syrup? It's a 40-1 ratio.

How much maple syrup do you get a year? Well first it depends on how many taps we put out. This year we put out 50. So we should get about 12.5 gallons of maple syrup. And the other huge factor is the weather.

So what about the weather? It needs to freeze at night, below 32, and be above freezing during the day. 40 is nice.

How long does the season last? Well usually about 4 weeks or so. Some start in early- mid Feb and go until sometime in March.

How do you know when the trees are done? Well, the sap can do a few things. It can be cloudy looking. Or the sap turns a pee colored yellow.  Oh gross I know! But it's true.

How do you clean the sap? Believe it or not the sap can have tree dirt in it, as well as twigs and bugs. So we run it through a filter before it goes into the saperator. Then once it is all done and ready to be put into jars we run it through a sock type of filter.  That way there is little to none of the tree dirt/sediment in the bottom of the jars.

How do you know if the sap you have has spoiled? It's feels slimy, and looks kinda like soap, gets bubbly.  Really. Oh and it can stink too.

What about this year? It really was a bad year all around. We had on open winter (not a lot of snow). And the temperature was just not right. It would be really cold during the night, and then the day it wouldn't warm up enough. Or it would be too warm.

How long does it take to boil it down? A long time! haha. We have a commercial saperator that will boil about 10 gallons an hour. So that is pretty sweet! Our homemade one we used the first years would do about 5. So we've doubled our production!

How long have you been doing this? About 8 years. We have really come a long way in our production and quality of maple syrup we make now. We are pleased with everything we have learned over the years and thankful.

Does the whole family pile in the car and drive up and down the road everyday it runs, lug pails to and fro, then drive back home and empty it all out into big barrels to boil down? Why yes we do. It a family affair ya know!

That is all the questions I can think of for the sap end of it. Let me know if you have any and I'll be glad to answer. I'll post one about the maple syrup part tomorrow time provided!
Have a great night all!

time change

Good grief this time change has done something to my brain. I mean really it's kicked my butt. Normally it does anyways. I love the spring ahead time change. I love that it's now not dark until around 7! Ahhhh, that is so nice!! I don't even mind loosing that hour of sleep. I usually take a nap on that Sunday after noon after church to make up for it!! ;-0!! This week has been crazy. I didn't get that nap on Sunday. Something happened on Monday, but I don't remember what. Tuesday DaLaney had a sewing lesson in the afternoon. My SIL, a friend, and I  had a class Tuesday night. We had school this week I'm sure! Wednesday came. It was cold and ended up snowing. I collected sap while Matthew was boiling it down. It didn't run and we didn't get much. I hope it ran today. We haven't been eating supper until 6-6:30. Last night we didn't even sit down until 6:45. Matthew and I looked at each other in disbelief. Where did the day go? The days have been flying by in a blurrrrrr. On Sunday morning when Matthew went out to milk he woke up Maggie. She was still sleeping! She was probably wondering why he was out so early! Kinda funny. We had Maggie AI'd the other day, but she bled out this afternoon. That stinks. No calf for the year 2012. This morning I went to town. Delivered some eggs to the store, did some grocery shopping, then had a few things I needed to get for myself. Boy what a treat I got out of the house with no kiddos! Let me tell you about that trip to town. I had to get gas. Well I had cash so I had to prepay. No biggie. I go pay, then once back out by the car I get in and put my seat belt on and start  the car, pop it in drive. Oops. I forgot to put the gas IN the car. So I get out and pump it. I drive to the store. I get my cell, purse and get out. I hit the lock button on the door and slam it. Darn it all! I locked the keys IN the car! I fumbled through my purse to find the spare key. Not there. Great. I laughed at myself at this point. I found a key and managed to get the door unlocked. Although it didn't want to. I grab the keys, re-lock the door and go shopping. Talk about your "blonde" moments! haha   Managed to drop a few things while I was shopping too. Thankfully nothing broke. I've dropped and broken bottles of juice, hate when I do that. I always feel bad watching the person cleaning up my mess. I feel like I should be doing it. Back in the car I gulped down a muffin and a flavored water. Had them both gone before I left the parking lot. I was hungry. I didn't eat before I left home. I like the blueberry muffins at the store. They have baked on sugar crystals on top! Yummy! Probably filled with bad for you stuff, but once in a while it's OK. Once all the shopping was done I get home. Breath. All the stuff unloaded, and I have yet to finish taking care of it. Not that I got tons of food, I've been busy. Done some laundry, and made 3 pounds of mozzarella cheese to sell. Then I remember my boy has Cub Scouts. Get him all ready and Matthew gets him and takes him there. He calls me and says "it's Thursday." "OHHHHHH! Whoops, guess he missed it by a day." Scouts is on Wednesday. Now he's at the mill helping daddy work for the rest of the day!
Oh well. This week is almost over! Thankfully! Maybe next week will be better. Who knows what's in store for me tomorrow!~
Have a great afternoon all! I gotta finish taking care of my groceries, and make supper!

winter stuff

We got hit with a snow storm all day yesterday. Got about a foot of snow.  Haven't had much of any snow this winter. Last year it seemed like every other day we were cleaning up snow, lots of snow. It's been nice this year to have a break from all that white stuff. So this morning we had to dig ourselves out! I milked while My Man plowed. I decided not to lug water out until there was a path for me to walk in! The kiddos were excited to have enough snow to make some tall snowbanks to make snow forts and slide down. I see a visit to my parents soon to get some sledding and snow boarding done. They have an awesome hill! Although it's supposed to rain all day tomorrow. Gonna make a mess. So we shall see.
This has been a very busy week for us. Sunday we went to my in laws, Monday we went to my BIL and SIL for supper. Matthew helped with the addition they are putting on their house while I got to visit! Tuesday was my in laws anniversary and FIL birthday, had a family party, Wednesday was the day that wouldn't end for me. Started around 7 am, although my body thinks it's time for the time change and my eyes popped open around 6ish. I didn't get up, and I didn't sleep either. Hate when that happens. Then I did all the chores while my husband went to get hay. We can't store all of it here because we don't have a place to keep it. He wanted to get extra with the storms there were supposed to come (and did). One of the kiddos had a Dr's appointment, did some more shopping, got home, cleaned up the mess from the morning I didn't have time to do before I left. The girls were a huge help with the house work. They helped me the rest of the afternoon cleaning. My boy was off working with Daddy for the day. Started supper, had to stop, go pick up my boy at Cub Scouts, back at home, finished supper, went and did chores because Matthew wasn't going to be home in time, then had company over for supper. Fell into bed around 10:30 that night. Days like that don't happen very often:-) Thursday it snowed all day. The wind was terrible, and I wished the animals would feed, water and milk themselves. But since they don't we did the work together! I was glad for an early night too. We were home in the evening together and we had a game night of it. All warm and toasty in the house while the snow and wind whirled around outside. I have no idea what tonight will bring! But I did just realize I forgot to put supper in the slow cooker and will not be done even if I did try! Drat! Guess I better go and think of something else to eat tonight!!
A few pics of this morning! Never mind the date on there. Just noticed it's wrong, guess I should change that!

Me milking.

My Man on the tractor! Love watching him! 

My boy waiting for the snow bank to get bigger!!

Happy Friday all!

not related

I needed a break from my current project. Knitting a baby blanket for a friend. The baby shower is tomorrow, and I don't know if I'll get it done or not, due to my complete lack of planning. My eyes are bleary from knitting and I keep messing up the pattern. So annoying. So I figured I'd take a break and blog and read a few posts while I'm at it. Should be nice if I can keep it straight!

The pattern is called "tile". Simple enough. I like how it looks.

Yesterday was kinda cool. The weather was nice, but really moist. Then as the day went on and the temperature dropped the trees were covered with a frost of snow.

It was not a very sunny day as you can see by the gloominess of the pictures. The sun only came out from behind the the clouds when it was setting.

Today was a chocolate kinda day. I was tired and cranky, so I made some homemade chocolate brownies. That made me feel better.

Have a great evening.

just so you know

Alright, so I again changed the look of the blog. It's winter now, and "it's snowing to beat the band" as my husband likes to say. Although not much has come down, yet. I think the back ground is nice with the snow and the trees. The white text of the letters was too hard to read, so I made them blue, and a little larger. Hope it still works out. I get bored with the look, and have yet to figure out what I want for my own picture on the top of the blog, so... I know just rambling on there.

Can't see it snowing in the picture, but it's just a blah kinda day. The sky says it all!

I know ya'll will be excited to to know this!;) Maggie finally showed signs of being in heat this month! We haven't seen any of that since she had Dandie. Not really sure why, or if we were just so into having a heifer and making sure she grew strong and healthy we didn't notice, or having a calf on her for almost 12 weeks, and us milking what is left out after Dandie is done, took it away. Anyways, I was milking one night and noticed and told Matthew, he called the AI Tech, but she bled out the next am. Missed it, but we wrote on the calender to keep an eye out for it around the 21st of this month! So I will let you know if we get her AI'd! Dandie's daddy is named Stone. Not sure who we will use this time. Will have to wait and see who the AI Tech has available when he/she comes. We are starting the (and by we I really mean Matthew) building of Dandie's stanchion so we can wean her. Oh boy that's not gonna be fun. I'll let you know how it goes... Gonna hear lots of bellowing, but it's time. She has had a great start to her life being right with mama from the start. We figured Maggie could do a better job taking care of her washing, eating and loving on her then we could. Granted us humans love on her lots, and make sure they are cleaned out and have food and water, but you get the drift. Dandie is a great little heifer. She moos at us if we don't stop in and say hi to her. She loves to chase the chickens around her pasture, I think she just wants to play, but the chickens run for their lives! Kinda funny. She will play with me when I'm out cleaning her stall, and rub her head on my thigh, and jump around, so I squat down and jump around with her and rub her head. I really like her, as do the rest of us, in case you hadn't noticed!
 Well I have to run, we are having supper at my in laws tonight, it's my MIL's birthday, and I need to start cooking and finish up...eerr start with the rest of my daily chores! And maybe dig out the kiddos ski pants...
Have a great day all!

winter clean up

Yesterday was 50 degrees! Not very seasonal for us. Usually a lot colder then that! I'll take it though! We got a Christmas snow storm and got a inch or two, then we got heavy rain and away went the snow! Along with some wind! Yikes! We got some wind. Then the nice day, it cooled off quick in the evening though down to about 9 degrees. I was able to get the horses stall cleaned out. There was some frozen poo in there and I was able to get it all cleaned out. I know if I had been on the ball and not procrastinated and just cleaned it out I never would have had that problem. But I didn't want to go outside and do it, and I was busy cooking stuff for Christmas, yeah that's it!! Farm life is slower. Just daily chores and lugging water. Don't get me wrong that all takes time too! I'm glad for the change of pace in farming right now. A nice break from the faster pace of spring, summer and fall!
Today I started cleaning up my house and trying to "catch" up on some of the house work that I get behind on during home school. We have a wood stove and it's very easy to get behind on the dusting. Everything gets a nice coat of "fire dust" on it in no time. I had the kiddos help with "winter cleaning" instead of "spring cleaning." Actually I have 4 seasonal cleaning sprees. Plus all the regular stuff. Then you add all the Christmas stuff... things just need a good clean up. Tomorrow all the Christmas stuff will be exiting the house after the kiddos get back from their eye doctor appointment. I like to put the tree up, but once Christmas is over I like it out! We've left it up a little longer for Little Matt's sake. He was hoping his Christmas gift would arrive and he could have it under the tree, but it hasn't come yet. I checked and the company said the estimated arrival date would be Jan 3. Not leaving the tree up that long.
I'm looking forward to the new year that is coming up in just a few days! We have had a good year overall and am thankful for that! Next year will prove to be interesting with our land situation hanging in the balance, but I'm sure something good will come out of all this!
As for bringing in the new year we don't have any big plans. Never do really. How about you? Any plans?

not for the faint of heart...

Oy!! This all happened yesterday...
 I'm tired. My day began at 7:20 when I dragged my carcass out of bed to go milk the cow and didn't end until 9:30ish when exhausted I fell into bed.
I beat Matthew out to the cow barn this morning! He did the other chores while I milked. Then we went to collect sap, seemed like it took all day. It really didn't. Matthew helped one of his brothers move his skidder that had been in the "shop" getting a gas leak fixed. I came home and washed out more buckets to put the sap in, the buckets were over flowing! When Matthew got home we had some lunch, then finished collecting. The kiddos were super good too. While we were collecting I saw an empty beer can (we find lots as we collect and the snow melts) on the side of the road, and thought I'd go get it and make .05cents, well that was my first mistake. As I leaned over I realized I need to take one more step, can you see it coming? Stupid me I did and fell to my waist in the snow covered ditch! Both feet landed on the ground, in the water, as I let out a little screech of surprise! I'm glad I had on my rubber calf high boots. The water was up to my ankles, and snow to my waist. Matthew was laughing as were the kiddos! He came over and took a picture with the cell phone laughing the whole time, as I tried to climb out, but to no use. I held out my hands as Matthew grabbed them and hauled me out of the ditch. I could see the humor in it as well and I laughed at myself and demanded to see the picture that he sent to one of his brothers so he could laugh too! Oh well. It was kinda funny and I can laugh at myself. Oh and if your wondering if I got the beer can I did. Was it worth getting snow down my boots, dirt and wet all over my lower half? The jury is still out! After we got the last of the sap we came home and  I changed. Then we went to the mill so Matthew could get some things done over there, I took Little Matt to Cub Scouts and DaLaney had a sewing lesson at Mie Mie's. The little two stayed with Daddy and I went shopping. I had limited time to shop and was in a hurry. Late afternoon is NOT the time to go grocery shopping if your in a hurry, or if your hungry. Thankfully I had a shopping list and did well not to buy snack food. I had to be back by 4:30 to get Little Matt, DaLaney and the others do evening chores. For all the running around I had been doing and falling in a ditch I bought myself a Dove milk chocolate bar and an iced tea. They were gone in no time flat. I was hungry and very thirsty. By the time we got home it was 5 and Matthew went out and did chores as I looked through the fridge for something to eat. We had leftovers. Nothing to get real excited about, but after a busy day running and literally not being home all day I was not in the mood to cook. If I hadn't found anything in the fridge we would have had PB J's!
 So I guess farm life, sap collecting is not for the faint of heart. It's hard work. My arms were sore and my back hurt after falling in the ditch. But today I find myself anxiously waiting to start it all over again and wondering what today will bring in the day and life of a family farm! I'm praying for a great farming year for SweetLand Farm, starting with the sapping season, and ending in the fall with the fall harvesting of our garden, and possibly planting some more winter wheat!

random thoughts below...

The other day Matthew went and helped some Amish cut some ice for there ice boxes! He was gone all day too. Hard work, but with lots of able bodied men it got done. What an awesome covenant they have and how they help one another! All the ice they cut went to one family. How cool is this!!?? I have to admit I like my fridge though!

cut and getting ready to load it

loading

the ice cutter

I made homemade devil dogs the other day! They came out really good if I do say so myself!! Along with others I blessed with the treat. Took a long time to make them with lots of butter and milk, actually I think they used butter milk. I decided that cooking sounded like more fun then cleaning! Pioneer Woman Devil Dogs if you want the recipe! They really were good! I've been cooking a lot this week and not blogging. Here are the pictures of my devil dogs.

The cake, homemade of course...was really good...

Oh my the frosting! Rick, creamy, wonderful...

I cut the cake in half, and filled them, they would have been really thick, and wouldn't have gotten as many, and I wanted to share the love...

Mouth watering... delish!

Got a family get together tonight, so I gotta run and get things ready and clean up the kitchen! I made St. Patrick's Day Delight and Tuxedo Brownies! Yummy! I'll take a picture and show you later!!
Have a great weekend all!!

lemons...

Yea, this is fresh squeezed lemonade!! Oh it was so good! But it was gone way too soon...

These were on sale at the store the other day when I went shopping. I had 2 kiddos with me and they really wanted to bring some home. So we did!

I just so happen to love fresh squeezed lemonade and had one at a fair with my sister years ago. Oh it was so hot, and it was towards the end of a busy, happy day of food, and rides for the kiddos, and I decided that fresh squeezed lemonade sounded good, and I was thirsty so I bought one. As did my sister, and well, it's now a weakness for me, and if I dare go out on a limb, hers too!! It's kinda addicting! Can't go back to frozen concentrate! Yucky! It was expensive, as is all fair food, but worth every penny. I really wanted to get about 6 more too! The kiddos wanted more, but I declined to buy them each one. Now when they (lemons) are on sale I buy some and we enjoy it! Oh thank goodness for Florida lemons!! Or California, where ever they come from. When it's five below and winter in Maine I don't care about local lemons, not that your gonna grow lemons in Maine. I wanted one, so I made one, and can't wait to have about 6 more! And sometimes when you have a craving, you just have a craving! The oranges were really good with breakfast this morning and I still have a few left over for tomorrow. The kiddos were excited to have something fresh too eat, they love oranges.
Anyways, we paid off the saperator the other day!! We took out the loan in October and we paid if off with our tax return the other day!! Woo hoooo!! We are very pleased to have it paid for too, now if it would warm up so we could start boiling that would be great!! We have another cold snap coming through this week. Wind chills make it below zero!
DaLaney is spending two nights at Matthew's parents house. That is the plan anyways. She was very excited too. She gets to play with her cousin that is the same age as her as well. And she gets a sewing lesson with Mie Mie. She has been asking for a while, so I talked with my mother in law, and she said she was more then happy to teach her, I had already  decided I was not going to teach her how to sew, her grandmother has the stuff, time and patience to teach her!  I do not. And I can't really sew anyways, unless someone is right there telling me what to do next! Not the best way to try to teach someone!! Better to let someone else do it. I'm totally fine with that! Besides it will give her some time alone with one of her grandmothers, and the confidence to try something new, with someone besides me!
Well we have company coming over for supper tonight, and I need to get busy cooking it, or we won't have anything to eat!! And I have no idea what to make! This could be interesting! haha

for nana...

My Mom came over for a visit late this morning into the afternoon. The kiddos were over the moon excited to see her too. They were quite literally hanging all over her. Truth be told I don't think she minded. I think with all our confinement and lack of company due to the epidemic we have, they really miss people. I know I do :(    I really haven't been anywhere. I did get to the store by myself last week but it was just to the local store and they charge an arm and a leg for everything, and don't have that great of a selection. But I can still blog and feel like I have contact with the outside world!! hahaha

Nana is in there somewhere! Having a Nana pile!!

This morning when the man went out to clean the cow stall he let her out, she went out then she turned right back around and came back in! She wanted nothing to do with being outside! It was nice and sunny, but the wind, oh that confounded wind! She's not stupid!
The kittens were MIA all day yesterday and I was sad, as were the kiddos.They are my boys and great mousers! We got some snow, just a little dusting and there were not tracks in the snow, and I had been out looking for them, and there was no sign of then anywhere. I did chores last night because Matthew was late in helping to build that beautiful barn yesterday, and he asked me about them. Then thankfully around 6:30 he went back out to get some firewood and he came back in and smiled and said they were back!! He got some milk and went out to give it to them! We all ended up going out to pet them and let them know we were glad to have them back. Yea we give the kittens milk every morning and night. They still drink a little bit too.

My boys. They are huge! They like to sleep in Maggie's hay!

my morning...

"Wwaaaaa... Mommy!!!"
My sleepy eyes popped open. "What?"
"I have a chicken pox in my mouth... wwaaaaa..."
"Come see Mommy"
Child cries down the hall way to come see me. Climbs up on the bed and I hug them. Daddy grabs a flashlight to investigate the mouth. No Chicken pox. Relief. Child calmly gets down and heads for the bathroom. Close my eyes...
"Mommy..." sobs... a different child thumping down the hall...
"What?" My eyes pop back open, a little more awake then a minute ago.
"My eyes hurt."
Mommy and Daddy look at the eyes, chicken pox very close to their eyes.
"Get some toilet paper..." Daddy
"Um, how about a wash cloth..." Mommy
"A wash cloth with some cool water and gently wipe your eyes. Careful not to rub."
"OK." Child heads to the bathroom to wash eyes...
Mommy and Daddy relax. Thump... more sobs... third child enters the room...
"I just itch all over, and my face is so uncomfortable. " some small sobs exit the mouth of the child...
Mommy, "I know and they are getting better, and I'll get up and put some baking soda on them to help." Hugs. Child leaves the room to the bathroom. One comes back and climbs on the bed to snuggle with Mommy, and flops on my head and arm  and rubs my hand and whispers "I love you Mommy." "I love you too" I whisper back, and smile.
Husband "three down one to go..."
Mommy laughs, and looks at the clock, almost afraid... 6:50 am...
 The other two come back in the room and climb on the bed. No one feeling awake or wanting to rush out of bed...
Then the last child appears peeking around the door. Mommy holds out her arms and child leaps into them, and hugs me tight. "I just love you Mommy."  "I love you too." Child runs to the other side of the bed and hugs Daddy, then heads for the bathroom...
All the children leave to get dressed and we get up...

What did you expect room service and a jacuzzi???

LOL!!!

full moon...

I'm feeling a little crazy today. Chicken pox, cabin fever, and a full moon!! Uuuugggghhhhh....
 It was another nice day today, and I just had to snap a picture of the moon. I thought it looked really nice this evening, all black sky and a big fat full moon!
 I have to admit the kiddos are feeling a bit better today too. Lots of baking soda paste and calamine lotion and a baking soda bath tonight!
Well, the man and I are gonna watch a movie together, so good night and enjoy that full moon!!!!

beautiful...

The eves were dripping, the snow was melting, the dead, mud covered lawn was starting to peek out from under all the snow and ice, the clouds were the happy fluffy ones and the sky was a most beautiful shade of blue! The hens were out scratching and happily clucking at the grass bits they found hoping to find a bug. The sun was out in full force warming me all over, reminding me that I will be saved from this long, cold, snowy winter to enjoy the beauty of the warmer months! I can't wait to smell the dirt! It was 45 degrees here today! Oh glory! I opened up the doors to air out the house too, then I went out and cleaned the horses stalls this afternoon wearing of course, my calf high rubber boots, signature jeans ( I love my jeans, I spend a lot of money for them, but they are so worth every penny! You know ladies the type of jeans you love, that fit every curve just right, and make the man look twice!!) and my very favorite, well worn, maroonish colored sweater, with a t-shirt under it! Oh it was delightful! Only bad thing is, the man took the camera with him today. Horrors! He needs his own camera! Time Out laid down in the sun and took a long nap all sprawled out! Two kiddos were sleeping, a much needed nap, and two of them wandered outside with me. They kept bugging me to get out their rubber boots, but I declined. The stalls cleaned well and I got it done quickly! Then soon all four kiddos were outside. Just a side bar here, why when the kiddos are sick the house seems to be even more of a disaster zone? It's not like they are getting things out, today they laid around on the couch and we watched movies. Some didn't get dressed until late this afternoon. Chicken pox are taking a toll today on two. I did get some cleaning done, and some laundry of course! I just took some bread out of the oven and oh it smells wonderful! I love the scent of fresh baked bread! I might go and cut off the crust and slap some butter on it and totally spoil my supper!!! But first...
I snapped some pictures before it got too dark. Can't see how beautiful it was today, but I wanted to share anyways!!

Bare ground, and sheep poop! Yea that is dead grass, but it's bare ground!

Time Out and Abby, my girls were not impressed they really wanted food, not to be blinded with the camera!

Laural, one of my handsome boys I couldn't find Hardy

Laural again, he was posing for the camera.

Minty, she just wanted to eat or was tired of being blinded by the flash! Or maybe this is her better side!

Love this picture of Daisy, covered in hay. Can't wait to have her shone and spin her wool!

Yes, she thinks she's beautiful. I don't think she's a bad looking hen,  kinda pretty don't  you think?

I made these the other day and just had to show them off! I love blueberry muffins. I have to admit I was inspired by the Kelly's Adventures in Kentucky when I saw their pictures of blueberries!! They were delsih!

Sunset tonight across the street. Would be better without the power lines.  I like sunsets better in the summer!

Check out that moon! Came out kinda bleary, but still looks good to me! Thats looking out back!

Guess this hen is a little more shy then the other one!  But she's still good looking! 

chicken pops...

Been a while so it seems since my last post. I really haven't even been on the computer at all. I haven't been swamped with things to do, other then my normal things of life to do, like laundry... Actually the kiddos have not been feeling well. Fevers, belly aches, not eating much, laying around on the couch, not really into anything. I know why too. They were exposed to the chicken pox, or as Rachel calls them the chicken pops! One of my sisters kids got the pox and passed it on... Yea, you read that right. We willingly let them be exposed too. Had an old fashioned chicken pox party, and well now two of the kiddos have the pox. Came down with the spots today. So two down and two to go! And yes we are hoping the other two will get them. Sounds bad, but they will not be getting the shot. So now I'm afraid that the kiddos are home bound until the pox are over! That means I am too, but the good side of that is I would be anyways because it's sooooo close to being sap season that we will be running with that! The kiddos can help and not be around people and sit in the car if they want while we collect. We use buckets and collect everyday. Sometimes twice a day depending on the day! We are chomping at the bit to get going too. So soon I will have pictures to share with our sapping season!!! Can't wait either we are all out of maple syrup and I had to actually buy some! Horrors!! Didn't like to do that, but we love to eat it with pancakes, waffles, and my favorite french toast! Matthew likes to put some in his milk and have maple milk, the kiddos do too, me eh it's OK. I'd rather have chocolate milk!
The weekend with my nephew went well. He's a good kid and he and Little Matt are best buddies. The doughnuts and waffles were a huge hit with him, he ate lots of them, and I sent some home with him! He was really hoping he could have some doughnuts and waffles while he was at my house, we tend to have those a lot!  And he may be getting the pox too. We'll see... I think his mother wants him to have them!! hahaha sorry sis, but it's better this way!!!
All the family parties we went to were fun, it's nice to visit with the families, and let the kiddos play with all their cousins. They sure do have lots of them!
The man and I finally got to have our date out! No not on the 14th, it's way over rated in our opinion! We had a wonderful evening with just the two of us. And I didn't have to cook supper, or do the dishes!!  The kiddos were with his parents. I love it when he "dates" me!! Yea we still date! It's important to us that we continue to date or pursue each other!
So until next time, hopefully with some pictures of us tapping trees, if we can get through the snow we have to trudge though!!

play time!!!

Well the chickens are ordered and then I ordered more! Just two more though so now we'll have 20 new hens coming!
Yesterday when my sister came over to drop her son off she helped fix my computer problem with pictures. Apparently when you download a new program to your computer you also have to install it! Well somehow I managed to download the same program 3 times and not install it! She also got my computer and printer to talk and now I can print things off! Love that! Told you I was very computer savvy! Anyways it's fixed and now I can share pictures again! Very happy about that, and only managed to give my sister a mild stoke with my lack of computer knowledge! So thanks Sis!
I have been up since 7ish and have been cooking all morning. Just to share all what I have made this morning into the afternoon, waffles, doughnuts they took forever, bread, peanut butter brownies, and now a chicken is in the oven! One reason is one of my nephews came over for the weekend and he was really hoping to have waffles and doughnuts for breakfast. I usually don't make both, but figured since he was very excited about it, I'd make both!! Then we have a family supper tonight and I bring dessert, the bread I needed for lunch, and the chicken needs to cook for a meal some other night, then tomorrow we have another family get together! Matthew had some errands to run so he's off.  Kind of a busy weekend!   Keeps me on my toes though!

Currently all the kiddos, except Rachel are outside. She spent the night at her grandmothers with her cousin that is the same age as her last night and she needed a nap before tonight, she fell right to sleep too! I think the rest of the kiddos are either jumping off the deck, playing Daniel Boone or Davy Crockett or all three! The deck in not that high, and with all the snow we have it's even lower. Earlier they were sliding down our large snow banks! I got some cute pictures of them too!

Pulling each other up the hill...

taking turns... the cow is wondering what they are doing!

almost there...

having fun, boys? Yes!

through the snow we go...

Oh it seems like we are always cleaning up a snow mess this winter! We have had sooooooo much snow! I  can't guarantee I won't complain about it.
 I did the chores yesterday morning so Matthew could dig us out, again! I sat and milked the cow as my son chattered away and then he asked me a question. It took me by surprise. He simply asked "what DO you like about winter Mommy?" I know I'm not shy about saying I don't like winter, and the kids know it. But they still invite me to play with them in the snow banks and I love to do that! Then my surprise came again as I found myself answering him. It just rolled out of my mouth as I milked. The truth. I told him that I told him I liked that fact that it was a time of rest. And by rest I meant that the gardens were done growing, so we don't have to weed, pick, weed, pick weed, can it, and the field work was done. And we could feed our animals, and ourselves with all that we had done during the warmer months. No longer did I have to mow the lawn (Little Matt mowed some this year too). That the meat chickens are in the freezer. I told him that the gardens and fields die and comes back to life in the spring. That everything has a life cycle and God is in control of it. That if you stop and think about it, it's truly amazing how it works. The ground rests and so do we, the ground grows and produces and we work to tend it. I said even in Florida where it's usually much warmer there, then here, the gardens need a rest. I don't know anything about gardening in warmer climates, but all the vegetables, fruit, and fields need a rest time there too. All the seasons have their greatness, even winter! He smiled and we chatted a little more. Then he picked up Hardy and put him close to me and I squirted milk in his mouth and he licked his lips quickly to keep up with the flow of milk at him. I laughed so hard I had to stop milking! It was so funny I wished I had the camera. I guess I'm gonna have to make it a permanent part of my body. When I figure out that feat I'll share! The other cat growls and hisses at you if you do that to him. The weather is supposed to be warmer in the coming weeks and it is so tempting to start tapping trees, but I'm afraid if we do when the snow melts we'll need a ladder to get the sap buckets down! There is so much snow!

 My sister came to visit me yesterday. If you haven't guessed I have two older sisters. For fear of my life I won't mention our ages, but we are all relatively close in age. hehe! I'm glad we live in the same state too. Different towns in different directions, but we get along well, and have a good time when we get together! I had a wonderful visit and we cooked supper together too. She started some wonderful cinnamon rolls that sit overnight and you finish in the morning. Oh were they good! My husband said that they tasted a lot like the ones I usually make, but lighter and not so heavy! WOW! What a complement. I was pleased that he liked them, and they came out well. The kiddos thought they were good too. They thought I could make them again!  I have a very discriminating family when it comes to food. They tell me when it's gross and they tell me when it's good. I don't mind as long as they are nice about it. I can handle it. I like the honesty. I'll show you some pictures. Look at 'em if you dare!!

Seems like I'm talking a lot about us and cooking and not a lot about farming, but I guess that's what happens in the winter. Soon I'll be talking about all the farming and canning I'll be doing and you'll wonder when do they eat or where has she gone with no posts!? I'll take pictures for sure. If I can I'll try to post tomorrow some farming pictures!  Ah farm life. Only one I really know, and the only one I really want!

Roll out the dough real thin, add lots of melted homemade butter, organic cane juice (sugar),  and cinnamon, roll up tight...

Cut into 1 inch rolls and put in a buttered pan to rise... then bake about 20 minutes...

baked to golden perfection. Then drizzle on some glaze and devour while still warm! I helped myself to two, as did Little Matt! That's a 9*13 pan full of them!

The kiddos stopped playing to get their picture taken! That is the top of the chicken coop in the back there. Just to show how BIG the snow banks are! What a beautiful day!

How many people have a snow plow truck come and plow their driveway??!! 

That's right folks! A snow plow! We have so much snow that the plow truck can't move the snow any farther! And with more snow coming on Saturday...  The man who plows out neighbors driveway asked a friend who drives a snow plow truck if he could swing over and move some snow!  He did, as you can see! How many people have that happen??!! The kiddos couldn't wait to abandon their school work and get outside to watch! How exciting! A little red neck? Maybe, but oh well!

just 'cause it's snowing out...

and I need some happy pictures that are not winter, and I don't have a lot of time to blog right now and am feeling grumpy about it snowing!  Enjoy...

Pretty flowers

Oh my word what's wrong with her???!!!! I think she's going to sommersault!  I laughed so hard when I saw Time Out doing this. Took lots of pictures until I had this one!

 She's trying to eat some grass, but her neck is not long enough! I love this picture. This paddock is attached to their barn, so no there i not grass in it. When we move we'll have to replant some grass. They get turned out when were home in the "grass paddocks" around the house.

This is the day she was born. Oh I was the proudest woman on earth that day.  I got my filly!

This is Bullseye. We lost him. Sad day that was. And no there is not green snot coming out of his nose, that is a piece of bailing twine we used to grab him, until we got a halter for him. He's a few days old here. 

Have a great day from the very snowy state of Maine!

welcome february!!!

Welcome February!!

 I am so glad that January is gone! But it looks like February is going to be coming in like a lion. Yup more snow today and tomorrow! Ugh! Could get a foot of snow! I sound excited with all the exclamation marks, but I'm really not, but might as well be, it's coming weather I want it or not. So I'll dig out my ski pants after the clean up and play more king of the hill with the kiddos!! And make some "red neck" s'mores, (TY FTCF for the idea) and drink some hot coco! So with that I dug out some older pictures that I felt like sharing and they don't contain snow!! Green grass and sunshine!! From July of '09. And a little more about us and our life on the farm! The kiddos are so little too :-( They grow too fast. So brief and fleeting is their childhood. And since I have lots of laundry sitting on my bed and more in the dryer I think I'll sit down and blog instead! I'll fold clothes later!

So sit back and enjoy the sun, beautiful blue sky, and green grass that is sure to come... sometime this year!

My girl is so in love with these two ponies! She sat out with them for hours! 

Takin a snooze in the sun. They seem content. And they were.

Who are these two ponies? Well not ours. Abby woke me up one morning running around her pasture and neighing her head off. I could hear her running in and out of her stall. I peeked out the window and saw these two horses (I thought they were horses, until I got up close to then). It was probably 6amish. I went back into the bedroom and teasingly asked Matthew if he had gotten me some new horses. He just gave me a blank stare and said. No. He's not a morning person, at all. I said that there were 2 horses that are not ours and not the neighbors horses. That got him up, and I headed out the door, with him coming behind me. I have old halters and went right up the them. They were very friendly and welcomed my petting them. I slipped halters on them and  put them in the grass pasture we had set up for Abby. We called everyone we knew that had horses and no one knew where they had come from. In turn they called everyone they could think of in the area that had horses. We found horse tracks all over the place up and down the road. We gave them water and they drank it down. By then the kiddos are up and very excited to see them. We burst their bubbles when we said they are not ours and probably would not be keeping them. The thought of someone just dumping them on our lawn entered our thoughts too. It's happened. We have horses, so why not two more? We had lots of what we call "rubber neck's" coming by our place to see our new additions they had heard about. We live on a back country road, and know just about everyone who drives by. We got phone calls from nosy people who wanted to know about them too. I didn't answer the phone to answer their questions. If someone had called me and said they were missing some ponies I would have answered, and let them describe them to me and prove they were theirs. Call me crazy, but that's what I would have done. We had them for two days, and they stayed right in that pasture. When we heard that we were getting some heavy rain for days on end, we called a friend who has a much bigger barn and lots of other horses to see if she would take them, because we had no place to get them out of the weather. She came and got them. That was a chore loading them on her trailer. Clearly they didn't travel much in trailers, or ever. Got more rope burn then anything. At one point I thought they were going to take Abby's fence down! The kiddos were so sad. We still hadn't found the owners at that point, and didn't know if we had just been gifted two ponies... what were we to do with them? They were not trained either, Matthew tried to ride the bay, and he just spun around so fast he fell off. He tried again, and it was obvious that he wasn't broke to ride! He was laughing though, and he didn't get hurt. Well, thankfully later that day we found the owners. They live probably 8 or so miles from us. The owners had been on vacation and had just gotten home, and when they went to feed their beloved ponies and found they were gone, they started making phone calls. So all ended well there, except the kiddos broken hearts. But we went over the the ponies house and they saw they were happy and well loved along with lots of other animals.
And two random pictures!

I just thought this was funny. I found these two eggs in the nesting boxes. Same age chickens, but one is clearly farther along in her egg laying production then the other!

For my boy. He loves John Deere.

Now I must go and fold the laundry, so at some point I can go to bed tonight and not have tons of laundry on my bed! And there is always another meal to get going too!