Friday Night

Friday night pizza, is there anything better?? Pizza, popcorn and scary movies. Friday night camp out in the living room. As far as the dogs are concerned, it's nothing short of Shangrila!

I learned to make pizza early in the married years from my mother-in-law. Through the years, tweaked recipes and pure trial and error I have a combination that wins every time. I like having flavor in the dough, eat the center, dip the crust!

My recipe for pizza and movie night!

Pizza Dough
2 pkg dry yeast (just shy of 2 tbl if you use bulk yeast)
2/3 c warm water
2 tea sugar2
c cold water
3 tbl corn oil (or oil of your choice if you like)
2 tbl sugar
1/2 tea BOTH garlic and onion salt
2 tbl dry oregano (more or less to taste) OR italian seasoning, my preference is the Tuscan Style Costco sells.
6 1/2-7 c flour

Toppings of your choice, and lots of cheese! Generally I use 1.5 lbs shredded Mozz cheese per full size cookie sheet pizza.

Method:
*note* I use the kitchen aid and get to skip the bowl and spoon. :)
Sprinkle yeasst over warm water and stir in the sugar.
Let stand about 5 minutes or until very bubbly.
Combine the remaining ingredients with about half the flour, beating to a smooth batterbeat in the yeast mixture and then with a sturdy spoon, work remaining flour.
Turn out onto a floured surface and knead until it feels elastic, stretchy.
Not too stiff, not stick and gooey, it will be a bit tacky to the touch.
Place in a large plastic food bag or oiled bowl and let rise until doubled, cover so the dough doesn' t dry out.
When doubled, punch down and shape it to fit two 15" round pizza pans that have been oiled and dusted with cornmeal (I just use cookie sheets)
Add the sauce and toppings
Bake at 450 for about 20-25 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.

You can freeze the dough if you like, just freeze before the rising process.

Pizza Sauce
1 (8oz) can tomato sauce,( usually I take a can of diced tomatoes, drain and puree in the blender with the herbs)
1 tbl Italian seasoning
Mix together and let chill in fridge for about 3 hours or more. If you want to short cut the spices, I've used Costco's Tuscan Style Italian Seasoning most of the time and it turns out great.

"Please??!!"

Following removal from the oven, allow the cheese to set just a bit to make the cutting easier, start the movie night!

Depending on the genre for the night, this may also include a blanket large enough for everyone to duck under...only to peek out again.

Big floor pillows, blanket piles, sleeping bags are a must! Don't worry, the canines will always manage to find a place to squeeze into and drift off into a blissful slumber....

Update

You know, growing up I would hear the adults talk about how quickly the years went by. As a child, I thought they were nuts, perhaps it was the memory loss they kept talking about as well. In any case, the years dragged on as I made my way through school. Years dragged on as I spent years carrying children, pregnancy is a sure way to make a year go by slowly. Diaper changes, late night feedings, it seems that somehow these things add hours to the day, even when you feel like you could use a few more.

At some point, maybe the retirement of the diaper bag, the years started to speed up...to somewhere around the speed of light. There's nothing worse than something that actually marks this change in velocity. Blogs that you post to...well they do that. I'm looking at my last entry, almost a year ago, and I'm left wondering just HOW did all that time go by.

Summation Update:

Life (aside from breezing by so quickly) has a way of changing. Sometimes when you least expect it, in directions you may not have thought possible or probable. So life has gone here. In these last few months, farming has changed it's face here. Last spring I sold Amy, her steer will soon go off to the butcher to fill our freezer and the many assorted animals have decreased.

This spring brought the passing of Dougall the Duck. At the age of 5, we were expecting it, but it's sad none the less.

The sheep are still wandering around in the pastures, the old gray mare, some loaner horses to mow the pastures. No garden this year, no canning that I can foresee unless it's chili or stew. Some of the steer will find it's way into jars, you just can't beat that flavor it gets from sitting sealed in it's juices for a couple of months!!

There are reasons, but one of them being that I've battled varying decrees of depression for almost 2 decades. Last winter, I finally saw (yes it's possible to not see what's in front of your face) and started getting it managed. In the process, downsizing was not just practical, but necessary. Everything was downsized, I went on a clutter purge that rivaled any other in my life. That is still continuing, but the initial burst was...impressive.

So what is new? Starting back to school, looking for a job (HA! do NOT get me started on that one), regaining health, strength and stamina. Living healthy, being healthy. How is that different from a farm life? Isn't that about as healthy as you can get? Sure. It's also amazingly demanding and the more people it supports, the more important it is that everyone carries a share. When you barely have the energy to get your own chores done, it's hard to be a drivign force for the rest.

Fiber. My life still includes fiber!! I can't imagine livign without it. Mr. Methuselah is still head shed out there, he's even bossing around the steer. Seriously? One little sheep, one large steer...not exactly the outcome one would expect. I would love to pasture some woolies. For the time being, I need to track down a person that can decoat my woolies on a regular basis, so the flock stays where it's at for the moment.

My Etsy shop is up and running! That felt great. The grand state of Washington saw fit to close some loop holes when it came to online selling. Oooof course they did. In any case, it's there, it's open and there are things for sale. Sweet!!!

I know some of you, my readers, enjoyed the farm life insights. To experience, through my experiences. Part of me wishes that could continue, maybe it's held in the future, there's no way to know.

There are different experiences to come! I learned a lot through that experience and it effects how I see so many things in the modern world! It's made me a smarter shopper, a more eager cook, above all, it's brought a deep appreciation for some of the convenience I find in life now. Like....sleeping in. Yeah, you heard me...sleeping in is one of those little sweet things in life.

Football games without the hustle, grumpy cow and so on. Less stress.

I do miss the morning milking. When the world is quiet and nature is just waking up. For all the discomfort, winter morning milkings were probably my favorite! Ice forms very quickly in all those tiny crevices in your hands when it's 10 degrees outside, no parlor heater is going to ease that. The burning stops after a while, then there's just the rhythms of the barn and if you're very lucky, the light sound of snow falling. I think for me, that will always be the epitome of quiet solitude.

(Now of course, for the insertion of reality, this is about the time when the cow decides she's really unhappy with you for some reason, poops and smacks you upside the head with a warm gloopy tail!....end special moment)

Now, I have my spinning wheel. A couple of very lazy cats who will supervise when they see the need. My daughters are learning to spin, much easier now that there are two wheels. (story to come).

So what is life now? Life is life with a twist. ;) That's part of farming too. Sometimes things come down the road out of nowhere, you just gotta roll with it all.

Socks and Yarn, Yarn and Socks!

So how's the marathon posting?? It's amazing how much one can accomplish when there are no distractions. Does this mean I'll be better about blogging on a regular basis? I make no promises, that's a sure way to entice life into going utterly upside down.

The garden didn't go well this year, so what I've been putting up has been what I can get in bulk. Apples are on the list this week, but it's given me more time to indulge in other things.

Like socks.

No, I don't spend my afternoons lolling around in large piles of socks......it does paint an interesting picture though, doesn't it?

I'm talking about the knitting of socks. Currently there is a box on the other side of the country, it's waiting for some wool that I sent over a couple of weeks ago. There are some very nice people (okay, I'm paying them to do it) that are going to turn said wool into fluffy roving. However, that means I need to keep myself occupied until my box comes back. In other words, I need to find ways to not pester the nice people at the wool mill.

This could take an additional outlay of monies. In fact, it did! For the first time, I indulged in sock yarn. (do you know how hard it is to justify buying yarn when you can spin it?!)

Disclaimer

To make this clear. I'm slightly obsessive about knitting socks, when I sit down to do it. They can be fairly addictive in the best of circumstances! Usually fine until I get half way through the leg, then it's just a ways to the heel, of course once the heel is finished may as well turn it. Then it doesn't take that long to work the gusset, that would be a good stopping point...yes? Once the gusset is finished, however, you're just about finished with the foot. After all, the foot is half stockinette and it goes very quickly. Well since you're just about finished with the foot, may as well just put a fork in it and work that toe really quickly. Since sock A is finished, you really should at least work the cuff of sock B, this will help prevent second sock syndrome. Before you know it, it's been a couple of days laundry is starting to morph into a new life form and the family has decided that self-sufficiency really isn't all it's cracked up to be. So, while I'm usually pretty good about working socks into life instead of the other way round....there are those days and those patterns.

Off I went to websites. Online is my only option for this since I have become a yarn snob. I wouldn't say this is a bad thing, I know for a fact I would get in more trouble if I were able to walk around a store.

First stop, Paradise Fibers. They're "local" for me (local has become a relative term) and I like that they support many of the fiber people in the area. A hot cup of coffee, slippers and dinner in the crock pot ('cause I've learned sometimes it just doesn't pay to fight it). One of my reasons for looking at sock yarns, is superwash wool.

Huh?

Oh, let me enlighten you. Machine washable.

Yes, wool that you can wash, cold water please, in the machine and it's not going to shrink down to super midget size!

*Pausing for the sunbeams and heavenly choir scene*

(No, I've stopped worrying about my mental state, it's easier to just sit back, relax and go with it)

Okay, back to my mouse clicking fun and coffee. I'm downsizing my standard sock needle size again and have decided to play with size 1's. For those of you unfamiliar with knitting needles, these are perhaps a micron larger than shaved toothpicks. That's a possible exaggeration of sorts and it probably doesn't help that my current set is only 4" long. Never fear! I have another set coming in another box (here today maybe?) that is longer, that box also contains Sock Innovations....I'm digressing slightly, just slightly.

That means that I'm opening up options with yarn. Oh the joy! Now, remember I have that box waaaay over in Michigan. Right? So, straight up wool, well I've got that covered. Why not play with something new? Can we say.....silk? Of course we can, in fact, lets! Yes, silk content would be wonderful.

An hour ambles by without much notice. Shhh....I'm doing my best to drown the monitor in drool. It would give Justin a reason to buy a larger monitor, I do my best to be an accommodating spouse you know. I've played at Paradise, KnitPicks and a couple others. The result of my daytime clicking?

Sqee!!!!!!

What?! It doesn't make you do that? Pfft. Okay, so here's the run down and what's happening so far.

From Paradise Fibers:

Jojoland Melody Superwash in Blues and reds & Red, Green and More. Straight up and down superwash wool.

Here's the Red, Green and More working up in the Pomatomus pattern.

Yarn: Definitely a yarn for size 1s. Varigated over all, but the strands are also varigated. Soft, fine, just a pleasure to knit with IMO.

Pattern: Knit on the recommendation of a friend. Love it! This is not a pattern to work when life is distractive. However, it's texture rich and hypnotic.

KnitPicks:

Imagination Hand Painted - Lullaby color way, 50% Merino, 25% superfine Alpaca, 25%Nylon.

This is the Imgainiation Hand Painted, working up Froot loop for a KAL (knit a-long) on Homesteading.

Stroll Tonal - Kindling and Foliage - 75% Superwash Merino and 25% Nylon.

Stroll - Merlot Heathers - 75% Superwash Merino, 25% Nylon.

Gloss - fingering weight - Parsley (on clearance) and Jade - 70% Merino, 30% Silk

That is the result of my foray into the online sock yarn world. While there's not much silk in that box, the Superwash is going to help make life a little simpler.

Shameless KnitPicks people just sent out another magazine and I have spied a couple of color ways that I would really, really like to play with. Fortunately, the holidays approach. I don't need to keep it all, it's the playing and watching how it works up that I really enjoy. The Jojoland yarns...well those will stay in my sock collection.

Amongst all the sock play, I went to retrieve the leavings of the mailman one fine fall afternoon and found a package. It was squooshy, with a familiar hand on the front and a llama. (I knew she'd find a way to send me her llama!) Children swarmed, packages always cause this reaction and knowing from whence it came they were eager to see.

The pattern is Jeeves. The yarn Sensations Bamboo & Ewe, Turquoise Multi.

This is a woman who can knit socks! They fit like a dream and have been keeping my toes toasty in this new fall chill we've had. Such a wonderful, out-of-the-blue surprise!!

There's my latest fiber fix. Now if I could just learn to read while I knit! There are those out there, who can do this. I'm not one of them. Yes, I've tried, no it wasn't pretty.

Off to play with Pomatomus!

(I think it might be a good idea to back off the coffee just a smidge as well.)

Are words necessary?

Nope...I think the tongue says it all.

Catching up

The days are turning crisp, apple harvest is coming in and it's time to start bedding the farm down for the winter. Justin had vacation the end of August which helped this process immensely!

The tractor was sweet talked into running. The pastures mowed into submission. The weather was just beautiful! Ah! We also found most of the irrigation heads again! This....is a good thing.

"Heeeeellllppppp!"

Bossy here, thinks the tractor is going to eat her. Not really, but it's a fun game to play! Personally I think it looks painful the way her udder flops around while she's frolicking, but she sure does have a grand time. This was also the day we discovered that she's NOT bred. Made a mental note that the full moon heat cycles are the ones to aim for.

Fall is in the air

With Fall comes fair time! I love fair, it's the most crazy, hectic, "which way did he go, George?" time of the year. This year, however, it was not meant to be. Wednesday is the night that life begins for fair. It's the night that animals and exhibits arrive. On this night I had 4 children draped, curled or huddled on the various seating areas with glassy eyes, moaning voices and high fevers with no sign of breaking.

The inanimate entries were taken down, the living and their respective humans stayed home.

We did make it down Saturday to walk the grounds, see the results, etc. Lars did score a Sumatra cockerel for next year. Very pretty boy at that.....and he knows it.

So here they are, the entries requiring nothing but viewing.

Leif's Pelican.

Youth, non-kit division. It's a space troop transport ship. He's already working on his design for next year.

My entry, hand spun, hand knit division. Not the best display, but the sweater is super warm and comfy! This is yarn that I worked with earlier this summer from Huck.

These were my mom's entries. Grand Champion, can't beat that! No...really....you can't. The beads on that necklace are paper beads that I played with earlier this summer as well. I'm glad she worked them. They turned out the most interesting color combination, but it had me baffled as to what to do with it!

Next year's plans are in the works. It's good!

Invisible Children

As I was dashing through my first caffeine hit this morning, the pieces finally fell into place. For years now, the clues have been there all along and yet somehow I failed to see. Perhaps because it's difficult to believe that which we cannot see. The only evidence of existence is subtle (or sometimes as subtle as an atom bomb) change. I can't really say why this dawning is so slow in coming, only that it is come.

I have two other children. The only information that I have of them is their names and the change that they create. From the information and clues that have been left, I believe that they are twins (one of each). Their ages, place of birth, etc are all unknown. So without further ado, I will introduce them to you.

Nautmi and Idano.

My other 5 have been fully aware of them for some years now, I can't say why no one really clarified this point to me.

"Who left the lego mine field in the hallway?"

"Idano."

"Who left the peanut butter mess on the counter?"

"Nautmi."

"How did that sweater and hanger get 20 ft up that tree?"

"Nautmi."

"Why is it up there?"

"Idano."

(Now I'm not sure why Idano wanted that sweater and hanger up in the tree like that, or how Nautmi got it there or looking for all the world like it belonged there, but I would really appreciate an explanation....took me forever to undo their work!)

I also realized, I really can't be too hard on them for causing such mischief and mayhem in the house. No birthday cakes, no Christmas presents. I'd raise a little cane too if I were them! They're highly intelligent, of that I'm sure. It takes quite a feat of engineering to get a wad of wet toilet paper that probably weighs a 1/2 lb to defy gravity and stick to the bathroom ceiling like that! You'd need just the right force and momentum. Too much and it splatters, not enough and it will simply fall to the ground again.

The one that neither Justin nor I have been able to figure out was how they managed to get the Winnie The Pooh figure THAT far down into the toilet S. It took all our strength and cunning to get it out again. You really need to admire feats like that.

They play well with the other children, have good appetites, good hygiene practices and really are the quietest of the bunch, albeit a little messy. So all in all, we proceed as normal. It does feel good to have this settled though.

(Don't worry, I've been concerned as well about my sanity for some time now. ;)

Do you think the hubby and children would think I've completely lost if I asked them to tell Nautmi or Idano to come see me so we could discuss their misbehavior?)

Animal Cornucopia

We're getting fairly varied (say that 10 times fast) these days in the animal department. The farm cycle is running very well, now it's down to fine tuning for optimum performance. I hadn't really thought of all the critters that come around that aren't part of your standard idea of a farm, until this morning that is.

This winter brought a little mouse to the barn. Why do I mention the mouse? Well because for about a week, he'd pop his head out of the hole and get a milk squirt or two...thus Milk Mouse. Do I really know if it's the same mouse, have no idea....but it's Milk Mouse and probably always will be. I hadn't seen MM for some time and figured Fluffy had, had herself a nice milk raised mouse for dinner. Come this morning...MM shows up, gets a couple drops of milk and is off running back to it's hole. There's a nice smile in the morning (I realize it's a rodent, but I like mice, not rats, mice...and not in the house, I realize I'm being picky). Milking finds it's rhythm, Amy starts dozing, calf is snarfing for any missed bits of grain. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a bird staring at me. I peek under the boards and there's a couple of birds scratching around to see what there is to see. MM comes out to see what's afoot and starts doing the same. So there I sit, with a barn full of critters, wild and domestic, on a warm, sunny morning...just enjoying the show.

You have to love moments like that.

Natural Beauty

I have an affinity for naturally colored wool and fiber. While adding color and the dyeing process is very enjoyable, the natural colors have a beauty all their own. If I wanted to analyze this, I can probably trace this back to the fact that my first fleece was a Jacob. On a recent rabbit excursion, some wool (sans sheep) managed to jump in the Suburban and come home with me! One woman willing to travel, one woman with a generous spirit and enough cargo space to accommodate has started my Private Reserve.

That ostentatious title is how I'm tricking my brain into being okay with not giving it all away. So, shhh, so far it's working. Aside from the color, there's a nice new range of breeds I haven't spun before. This will in turn help me decide which direction to go with animals....should I choose to accept the mission (hmmmm...what do you think?)

Back to the wool that followed me home. 100% fun.

I can't be certain, but I'm pretty sure this is from a sheep named Jill. This was an introduction to spinning in the grease.

Igor

Shetland

It's a family tradition to have issues with chocolate....so I'll blame it on genetics. He's next on the play list...I think.

Huck

Montadale cross/Jacob

I'm biased, I'll admit it. It's a first love thing.

I spent almost 2 weeks basking in the heathery pleasure of this wool. My free time was dedicated to it.

Carded (there was a wool explosion in the kitchen while I accomplished this) and turned into roving.

All spun up! This just tickles me. There's the color for one, but it's bulky weight. I spun fat yarn that isn't going to take a lifetime to work up into a sweater. It came out pure sproing and squoosh.

May Day!

Bad, bad me for not keeping up with the blog. In playing the catch up game, I'm splitting it up into a couple of entries.

May Day!

I can't believe it's here already! Spring has arrived in all it's green and color. Garden beds are ready for planting when the time comes. Amy is back out on pasture and the steer is weaned.

Recap start:

I was able to get some gifts knitted this year with some of the handspun I've done. These two scarves are a pattern called Column of Leaves, the top was for Great-grandma Weigel, the next for my mom.

Christmas also started off a tad early, 5 am to be exact, due to a vocal little puppy. Jager is a red Golden Retriever....who retrieves very well, whether you want him to or not.

After a fun and food filled Christmas Day.

Seamus was less than pleased for a time, but figured out we don't love him any less...even if he has a stinky ear.

Amy decided to play ping pong with her abomasum again and we ended up having to tack it down surgically. She's now giving 4-5 gallons of milk a day, we're happy, pig is happy, chickens are happy...calf is unhappy that he was cut off.

January also brought the rebirth of the green Suburban and a conga line of trips to the car doctor. You know you've been spending too much time there when they start giving you price breaks out of sympathy. It's a place best left unexplored if at all possible.

It also brought Lars's birthday and mine. His last pre-teen year, I'm going to ignore the ever present shadow camped out under his nose...for one more year.

He's having a great year, has a teacher that likes to play Big Band during study times in class. Sweet!

March brought the death of my dryer. It had a good run, but did not go out quietly...it sounded possessed. So we have a pretty new dryer, that has no idea of the endless toil it's been sold into.

I'm being sent to retrieve caffine, so it's a good time to wrap this up for now!

Last of the births for a while

Amy calved this morning! One little bull calf. So her record to date is bulls-3, heifers-0. Lars was the lucky one to bring the news, she'd calved just before he dropped the morning feed. Dang he's cute, he's also destined for the freezer. He's been out exploring, trying to romp and keeping Mama busy....I guess somethings never really change. Amy's proving to be a good mom, with the way she kept those two steers groomed we weren't too worried about it, but you never know. So, here we go! My year is starting a month early, whether I'm ready or not. I was sitting the other day thinking it's kind of like being excited about someone dumping a pile of paperwork in front of you and going crazy with anticipation. Another reason that I question my sanity on a regular basis. Yep, I do it every Spring with the garden....oh yay! Can't wait to get it all planted so that I can stand over a steaming canner while it's 105 out with no a/c and firmly convinced that winter can't get here soon enough.

.....................................yeeeaahhh...................

This morning was filled with the flurry of our first calf, I'm not sure where the afternoon flew off to, probably somewhere less chaotic. So this evening was catching up on the Christmas baking (I learned a few years ago not to start this too soon). My first couple of batches of gingerbread disappeared mysteriously within 2 days. Amazing, there must be a gingerbread vortex somewhere in the kitchen. So I was off to get dinner in front of the masses and bake. I still have "one" batch left, but I now have 100+ gingerbread men sitting on my counter. Yes, I counted, I'm also keeping track of the how many have been authorized to report to duty. Phase 1 is almost complete, but I ran out of steam. Phases 2-4 will begin tomorrow and continue on through the afternoon. That should have me well placed for the end of the week, provided I can fend them all back for a couple of days.

How time flies

I do think about getting posts to the blog, really. Life keeps getting in the way, pesky life.

So what's new around the farm? Cold. It's cold. We've warmed up last night to a balmy 6 for the day's low, I think it got up to 24 yesterday afternoon. There's a slight dusting of snow, so I'm enjoying that....of course more would be nice (hopefully the powers that be are listening). Yes, I know that winter hasn't even officially arrived, but Christmas falls just a mere 4 days after said "official" date and I do love a white Christmas. Besides, if I'm going to become a living icicle it would be nice to have Cousin Snow to hang out with.

All the animals have been heat lamped, tucked in deep straw, tank heatered all the fun of the wintertime that comes with living here. The young rabbits are now all weaned, moms are getting a winter break. I have fingers crossed for baby Angoras this next week. Amy is bagging up, so there will be a calf soon.

Christmas decorations have been up for some time, still a few to finish but all will be in place for the holiday. I finished a couple of outside projects this last week, so now it's time to settle into the house and start baking. Oh yum!

Justin has been in New Mexico for the last couple of weeks for training, will be nice to have him home soon.

There's the news, time to stoke the fire and get the day in full gear. Maybe today I can foil the pigs so there's no out of pen romping...maybe...

Sickness and such

It's got to be flu if Leif sleeps all day and I lay there not operating knitting needles. I dislike sick, but it does give me time to be crafty....I abhor sick if all I can do is lay there. None the less that's pretty much how I spent my time, that and checking Leif's fever. I do wonder though, if you're running a fever, can you reliably check someone else for a fever?

*If you're wondering where the thermometer is, cause that would make sense, join the club. It beeps you see and said above sick child gains endless amusement from making it beep while healthy and feverless....which of course means an issue arises when he is sick and with fever.*

Luckily, Justin was able to take that first day off and part of the second to oversee the household. Of course he'd had a run with some kind of creeping crud the week before. Although his was more of a hit you over the head and drop you to your knees kind of crud, didn't really creep up on him at all.

Now I'm just waiting for the rest of them to fall. It's going to happen, it's just a matter of when and this season is like some kind of sick and twisted pick a path for illness. There all manner of sickness, all of which I'd rather avoid but they seem to be very vigorous.

Rabbit trail: I loved those Pick-a-path books when I was a kid! They were fantastic, since you could read the same book and have a different story line each time. Can't find them, I've looked. I would love to get some for the kids though.

Well the beef and goats are in the freezer. No more Boyos for the moment. A word to the wise, be careful about what you use to call the bovines in with. If feels odd to have to call "Hey Boyo" to a cow.

Very tasty. The kids really enjoyed the goat, wasn't sure about that one. There's pepperoni cooking at the butcher now, so we'll have 25lbs of goat-a-roni soon as well.

I have more yarn spun up, playing with dyeing, some I'm liking more than others. Life threw a curve so I haven't gotten my shop up and running as soon as I'd have liked but I'll get there. I'm also trying to knit up socks and holiday stuff....oh the life of the insane.

Still haven't butchered the chickens, you have to admire my procrastination technique on this one though. I'm fairly sure I've out done myself with this one. I'll be canning them, now that's going to be great to have my own home-canned "dump and cook" in the pantry! Beef is on the list as well, figure I'll just settle in and pick a week to can meat...at which time I'll butcher the chickens...makes sense.....right? I could in theory stretch this out another few weeks since it would make sense to butcher when there's rabbit to can as well. Yes I've thought of that, no I probably won't do that.

Well....I'm not planning on it at the moment.

Easing up

As it always seems to happen, life looks like it's going to ease up a little. I have (most days) stopped trying to understand how this works, but one day I look around and it's calm again. Now this could be the calm before the storm, probably since Halloween is on Saturday. Talk about chaos:
(5 kids+candy+knowledge of community bowl coming)vortex sugar consumption=H.
The math is pretty basic, the outcome never varies, the day after is always ugly.

I do love the equation though! Today the kids and I spent the afternoon putting up "The Webs". These were a request by Leif and his excitement and enthusiasm made it so much fun. The thought did run through my mind that store bought cobwebs are much whiter than the homegrown variety. It also occured to me that I was putting up cobwebs...on purpose...when I already had plenty to begin with! Mine aren't as pretty, I admit. The younger three then spent the evening drawing spiders (mostly black widows) for the webs.
Okay, you might ask me how much I'm loving it on Sunday. For right now, it's wonderful. Yes it's time for me to break out the "You could climb Mt. Everest in your underwear and this" coat, layering my fleece pj bottoms under my jeans, I have that nagging knowledge rattling around that very soon my nosehair will start to freeze when I go outside (I hate that by the way). From November to March I'm not like an onion, I am an onion.
My layers have layers.
If I'm not layered, I'm stuffed between the woodstove and the wall (this area is now referred to as "Mom's spot" by the kids). So why should I be looking forward to it so much?? Like today, the house smells of pumpkin spice muffins, a ham bone simmering away to make soup and woodsmoke. Snow.
Soon, I'm going to have a day where I can sit and watch the snow fall. To go outside and hear a muffled world. A full moon over crystalized snow is one of my favorite things to see. It makes not being able to bend my knee past a 35 degree angle and knowing Congress can come to a decision faster than I can get dressed in the morning, for 4 months worthwhile....for 3 months at least (that last month I'm ready for Spring to show up).
I guess I should get started on those thrummed hats!...and the socks....and scarves....or I should get started spinning so I can get all those things made.

Update

"This is...hey, hey! Jim Neville from Belmont"
Yes, I'm quoting lines from The Black Stallion, do you have any idea how many times I've seen it lately? This is pay back, I just know it. When you add how many times I tortured my mom with this movie growing up plus what I'm watching now, I probably hold the world record for single movie viewing. I do still love this movie, but could do without the daily viewings. There are movies I'd rather not add to the "Thanks! but oh isn't that sad, I have chickens that need decapitation and eviceration....maybe another time." The Black Stallion movies should not be added to this list.

Butchering time! Steers and goats had dates with the knackers. This makes three animal types I've watched and still stand firm that I'd rather pay them to do it than fumble through it myself. Sure, I'd do it if I had to, but I don't so I won't. Besides, you can't beat driving across the road and picking up neat little bundles, freezer ready.
The rabbits are growing nicely, oh are they cute little buggers. They're eyes should be opening over the next few days, they are getting fur, and their ears aren't plastered to their heads anymore. Yes, they're still going into stew.
I just took a canning meat and seafood workstop, that's got me thinking of all kinds of canned goodness when the meat comes back from the butchers, the rabbits and chickens. While I was there, I had the lid checked for the canner as well. Go figure, may not look it, but it's still spot on. She even tested it twice. The needle doesn't sit in the zero anymore (this is one of Justin's Grandma's canners), but tested true each time.
I had to sign a release for before she did it, can you believe that?? Right, I'm going to sue the WSU if we all die from food poisening or botchilism. It does make me wonder if I can hold Revereware responsible for all those failed dinners over the years. Yes, I'm joking, yes it's a pet peeve.

The flue has descended upon our house. To date, Justin has had it the worst (probably the flu that no one wants to admit is here). He took 3 days off, considering it's a 4 day work week, that's amazing for him-who-does-not-take-sick-leave. It's settled in his chest, but I have something in my snake oils cupboard for that. Malina has had a head and chest, far different from what her dad had. I'm fighting something, not sure which, hit me last night out of nowhere. Doing better today, but still feeling sluggish. Figure I'd rather fight it than get it, watching my hubby over the last week has kept me firmly planted on the couch not willing to chance it. The rest of the kids are all doing just fine. I'm not sure what the hibernation time is, but I figure if anyone is going to catch the mutant strain from their dad it will show this week sometime.

There's what's new with us for now!

New Addition

So can you figure it out? Radar believes (I think as most cats do from their very narcissistict view of life) that I've provided him with a very nice cat domain.

"While I appriciate your efforts, I know there's still liver in the fridge."

There you have it, a loom. Yay! I can start weaving now!! I've always wanted to have a stab at this and I'm loving it. Like spinning, it's very relaxing. This is a single heddle and from what I've been (trying) to read on the net, just what I want to start with. Going up from here, there are charts. Hmmm. I'm sure it's easy once you get started but right now it's making about as much sense as immitation cheese food.

Rabbit trail: Really, go check it out at the grocery store. You have cheese, cheese food (imitation of cheese) and then you'll find immitation cheese food. So it's an immitation of an immitation, which makes me wonder just what is it made from? If cheese is made from milk, cheese food has some milk product it in somewhere and some other unknown product....it begs to wonder what the immitation is an immitation of? Talk about a brain bender, better than chickens and eggs.

For now the loom is living in the living room (good place to live). I was feeling like a troll when it was in the basement, much easier to interact with everyone when I'm where they are.


This is what's on there currently, well one of what's on there. They're scarves, a bit wide, but will be great doubled over. Hopefully (flu and cold bugs floating around the house) I'll have these finished today, the one in the pic is finished, working on #2 right now. Then of course, it's on to warping it for the next project. ;)

First Farm babies!

I guess it's not too surprising that the rabbits win this prize, but our first farm babies are 2 litters of New Zealand/Californian cross. All are doing well at the moment. Stats:
Olga: 8 with one death, 7 live
Hildegard: 8 live
So the rabbitry has grown from over night! Amazing how that works. These are both first litters for the does. All the babies are good sized, moms made great nests. Yay! Yes, we've officially gone from having rabbits to a rabbitry.
Rabbitry. I find that word mesmorizing for some reason. It sounds so very British in my head. The i, t, r and y just kind of roll into eachother, isn't that right old boy...hmmm?! ah, quite right, quite right. It's such a good thing that my internal dialog stays internal, for the most part.
I'm very excited! First births on the farm, it's a milestone. This is going to be a year of firsts for us, those big firsts. First "big" meat animals going off to butcher. They're supposed to be big, but I think a Dexter (no not the cartoon character, the bovine breed) jumped a fence somewhere. First breedings and births. It's going from starting up to operating and replenishing the livestock, feels good to have hit this stage.

When they're older, I'll get some pictures of the litters up.

Overcast and rain

Fall has definately arrived here in the valley. Ask me in the mornings as I'm rolling out of bed sans fire and I'll tell you it's Winter. Yesterday afternoon the skies clouded over and the rain came, there's been some form of moisture descending ever since. I've noticed that I don't mind this kind weather when it's not a constant for months out of the year. Actually, today was a good day to sit and knit during the afternoon...so I did! Justin's second sock (considering he's got two feet this is really necessary) is almost finished.
Tomorrow I need to gear up the great laundry battle again, I'm starting to win. I can start to pack away the summer things and get out the heavy winter items (more laundry, egads!). We've hit mid October, it's time to start decorating for Fall!
I can't believe it's already mid October! Where did this year go anyway? You know, I try to follow my Great-Grandma's advice and live a day at a time, but I'd really like to ask her if they're supposed to go by this fast or not. I always think of her this time of year. Maybe it's the baking, the memories of a fluffy white head drifting around the kitchen and the smells that wafted out of that room when she was in it and her whisptles. She never did learn to whistle, although she did love it.
"When I was a girl, it wasn't lady like to whistle. That was something boys did, even after it was acceptable, I just couldn't get the hang of it."
In almost a century, she never did learn how whistle but she did whisple with style! You'll find that somewhere between a whisper, hum and a whistle. Sometimes, you could hear the song in it and recognize it. I can still hear that sound. It's funny but I've caught Lars whispling on occassion, caught myself doing it a time or two.

Rainy days are good for so many things! Of course as with all else in life, moderation aides appriciation.

Just Chillin'

We had a bit of a name issue, so Chong became Jeebs (reference Men In Black).

Yesterday was musical rabbit for the kids. It was wet and dark out, good day to just chill with a bunny.

Bruce and Jeebs (I don't think either of them moved much for 30 minutes)

Lars and Jeebs
Jeebs parked out here for almost an hour, had a nice little nest going.

Fall on the farm

It's definately fall here on the farm! Justin turned off the irrigation last weekend, the PUD calls it off this Thursday. While frost has been calling a visit over night, we had a low in the teens the other night, yeah that was just a bit chilly to say the least.
The steers will go off to the butcher this week, the cow will go into the small pen for the winter and we'll move the horses over for easy keeping this winter. The goats will be going to the freezer and the goat project put on hold for a year or two.
The angoras have furred out nicely! It's time to start keeping them groomed, although Cheech made a Great Escape attempt the other day. They're look less like chop jobs and more like fluffy bunnies again.
We've been burning fires the last few days, the stove pulling it's duty well. Getting into the hallway is getting to be a grand adventure some nights! Between Daisy the hound with no undercoat, the cats who are willing to call a truce to sprawl and Seamus who fits himself into the mix on the cold nights, it's a jumble of bodies. One misstep causes a feline-canine chain reaction that while vastly entertaining, is not something you want to find yourself in the middle of. I have my place in the mix, right between the stove and wall.
I love Fall. It's a wonderful time of year, everything winds down to a close. It's a time of year to take stock, make notes, close the books and start gearing up for holiday baking. The earth seems to slip into it with ease each year. It's not a season to hit you upside the head without warning. The lighting is warm, even if the weather is cold. It's the time of year when coffee and hot chocolate taste the best. They aren't defenses against the cold as much as they are accompaniments.

Well there are the updates, for now at least. I have a good 6 loaves at least rising next to the stove so it's about time to get them into the oven. Then I think it's time for some popcorn, yum!