Thursday, June 27, 2013

Wednesday

It was a very cool day here yesterday. It only reached a high of 10 degrees. You needed a heavy sweater to do anything outdoors. But amazingly it did not stop the flies from being out biting.

I got a little bit of clean up done in the house, but I am no where near finished. I like to leave the house clean when we go away so we come back to a clean home.

Mom had a terrible day yesterday and I spent most of it there. The girls and Justin heated up the leftovers in the fridge for their lunch.

I got back to the house around 2, and I was pretty tired, and not to mention sore. I did a lot of  wiper sniping Tuesday night and I find our weed eater very heavy. My arm is still sore. But I managed to get the yard looking pretty good if I say so my self.
I went and payed down for a hour, and then ran to pick up my Dad.

We had a kinda different supper. Very greasy. But a treat.
Cherry chicken balls, onion rings, and egg rolls. ( Which was the last of them in the freezer) the kiddies ate up the rhurbarb roll that was left in the pan as well.

Jill and I took the four wheeler and went back to the fields where the potatoes are planted.we planted another very long row of corn, and beets, and turnips, before the flies chased us out. On our way home we stopped along the brook to see if there were any jack n pulpits. We found just one, we are a little late as I found a couple that had died off. Jill took it to my Mom as she loves them.

I picked a bouquet of wild flowers for the kitchen table of daisys, buttercups, and theses little sweet honey tasting purple flowers. They looked pretty. ( I am not sure if the picture I took with my ipad will work on my blog, but I'll post it and let me know)




Hubby took apart a few round bales of hay and put them through the square baler to make me some square bales for Cinnie Belle as she is in a stall by her self now and does not get to eat from the round bales like the rest. I was out of square bales.
We were just finishing up and Justin was just putting the last of them into the barn for me when Hubby's cousin pulled in with a truck load for me. To funny. We all laughed and work to unload these as well and put them with the rest. He had been over the night before and heard me say that I was on my last bale. So he suprized me with a load. I thanked him and sent him off with a rhurbarb roll.

I did not get a chance to get into town to do some shopping as of yet. Another reason for the different supper. If I can get away today and if Mom is not that bad then we should be able to run for the things we need.

We added a little more water to the pool again yesterday and there is over a foot now.

I managed to cut up another 12 cups of rhurbarb at Moms and cooked it before heading off to bed last night.


We are expecting a lot of rain over the next few days, well it is raining now and it started about a hour ago. So I have been trying to plan a little family road trip for Saturday. If it is raining we will not have to much fun at the trailer. I was thinking we still could go up there Friday night and sleep there. Then Saturday morning take off early and go over to Edmudston and go to the farmers market, the mall, and have a picnic lunch( in the rain) and what ever else we might find to do. Then before heading back to the trailer for the night have a family supper at Boston Pizza over there. BUT....that is if Mom is alright Friday afternoon. If not we will just stay put and head up next weekend.

Well I'm off to fix breakfast foe the kiddies before heading to Moms have a great day everyone.





Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Weather, school, gardening, as a little bit of camping

My title just about sums up the last week around here, in no particular order.

Thursday I drove Justin into town to get his marks. He got all his credits and will be entering grade 10 in the Fall. We are super excited for him, after such a hard year to get use to.

Friday was a super busy day ! I had to attend a awards ceremony for Jill, as she was receiving a award for overall growth. She did a super job, and we are so proud of her. Straight A's as usual for her report card. Next is grade 5. The last year of elementary school. :(

here is Jill receiving here award. she is in Blue.


Here is Jill with her teacher after getting her award.



Jayne had also received a award at her ceremonies but I had not known about this and did not beget to go. ( oh the joys of middle school, no communication from that school)
She received a plaque for copper. It was for having done her work and going to her 2 to 3 activities. Good job Jayne! Jayne also had a well done report card. Next is grade 7 for her.



I picked the girls up at 1130 as it was a half day for the last day of school. I took them to the take out for lunch, picked up my Dad at work, hurried home to drop them off with their lunches and one for Justin as well. Then I hurried back to town with my Dad to go to the hospital to bring Mom home as she was getting discharged once again. The Doctor thinks she will be more comfy at home for now.
She will go back to have another ct scan done in about 5 weeks.

We got Mom home and settled in and the girls and I were suppose to go to the trailer for the weekend, but it began to rain a bit and then a thunder shower, so we decided to stay home and get all the house, and yard work done and head up in the morning.
We left around 9 and it was hot, what a beautiful weekend. 33 degrees all weekend. The girls spent their time in the water, and I read and worked bait on my cross stitch. We came home Sunday afternoon and it was a very hot drive home.

the outhouses at the play park. i think they look beautiful.


 The girls enjoying the play park.

A amazing full moon coming up over the mountain Saturday night.

Hubby stayed home with Justin for the weekend and they got a whole pile of work done. ( makes me feel like maybe I'm in the road when I am here, maybe I should leave more often :) )

They got the potato fields all in, the pumpkin patch planted. The back yard in front of the kitchen garden cleaned and a cute little flower bed made for me. The back hoe fixed, and the little garage pull down door put on our new meat room. Good job guys!

Sunday evening it was very hot, we decided to work on the pool and pool deck. A section had to be replaced on the deck. All of us pitched in and worked on it. We had a BBQ of t bones teams, and potatoes in foil with a Caesar salad. It hit the spot after all that work. We worked on the pool draining it and cleaning it until 10 the flies were terrible.

Monday I started back to my old ritual again. Looking after Mom, don't get me wrong i love my Mother and I obey her wishes of not wanting a stranger to come in to look after her, but I can only do so much. I find it hard now that my children are home and I don't have anytime to get my own work done here at home. I am trying to let her know that in a very soft way. We all need outside help.

It was a very hot, and muggy day with the temp. Reaching 39 degrees with the humidity. To hot to do anything. We had chicken breasts coked in BBQ sauce in the slow cooker so it would not heat up the house. We had rice and toss salad with it. Yum! After super I tried to cut the lawns but was only able to cut the part that I could use the ride on mower, I tried the pull one but only lasted about 10 minutes. To hot!

We finished up cleaning out he pool,and started to run a bit of water in it last night.

It was another hot night to sleep, and when I got up this morning with Hubby I was very tired. After sending him off to work with his lunching decided to go back to bed for a little while. I awoke a short time later to the sound of rain. It is still raining out and there is a little breeze this morning. I am happy for that.

I guess the cloths I put out on the line last night will just take a little longer to dry. :)

Today between looking after my Mother, I am going to try to do up some more  rhurbarb as it has just been to hot to can in the house. Or to turn on the oven to make some more deserts.

Tonight we are having BBQ pork chops,baked potatoes, and Caesar salad.

Tomorrow I would like to try to run into town and do a grocery order as my pantry and fridge are getting low.

We are planing on going away camping this weekend as a family, as it is the long weekend here. They always have fun activities at the campground for the children and we are hoping the rain does not put a damper on our weekend.

Well I'm off to milk Cinnie belle before heading to my Moms  have a great day everyone!


Wednesday, June 19, 2013

It's Rhurbarb Time On The Farm

Our season has finally arrived .....



It's rhurbarb time!

Today I made a rhurbarb roll for desert







. Well I tried to make it to desert, but Justin got to it first, then Jill came home from school starving of course, and well..... The rest is history... This is what was left at desert time....


Rhurbarb Roll

Mix together
2cups flour
2 tsp. powder
1tsp. Salt
1/2 cup shortening
Add1/2 cup milk,and mix together. Roll out with rolling pin. Spread with butter on top of dough. Add 2cups finely chopped rhurbarb and 3/4 cups of white sugar, and 3 tsp. flour. Roll like jelly roll, and cut into 1/2 " pieces place in 9x 13 pan

Combine 1 cup of brown sugar and 1/2 cups of water in a pot and bring to a boil. Pour over roll, bake 45 mins at 350'



I took out a bag of strawberries out of the freezer and whipped up a strawberry rhurbarb pie.

Tonight I am starting to do up my bags for the freezer, and then I will begin our stewed rhurbarb preservers. Next week I will get a few batches of muffins made and a couple of new recipes I have found this year. One being rhurbarb dumplings from my blogging friend Donna over at Merry Heart Crafts. ( thanks Donna for sharing this with me)

If you have a favorite rhurbarb recipe you would love to share, I would love to have it to try.


Have a great day and enjoy your rhurbarb!

Monday, June 17, 2013

Catch Up Time

It has been very busy around here the last week.  We were on pins and needles waiting for my Mom to have her biopsy done to see what was going on. Monday went into Tuesday and then they decided on Wednesday morning.

Well after sitting with her all Wednesday morning they finally got things in motion and she went.

Ok let's back up for a minute..... Wednesday morning was a early  one. It is the morning that Jayne left to go on her year end trip 12 hours away to Ottawa Ontario. She was leaving for 5 days and it has been very hectic, around here trying to get her ready.

She did get off and running but not before a mix up with the tour bus company and left 2 hours late.
We hooked up the cell phone so she could text me and call me. I received all kinds of texts and pictures of her trip on the way there.

From beautiful parks, to farms, to funny pictures from drinking to many slushies.


After getting lost in both Montreal, and Ottawa they finally arrived safe.
She had a fantastic week, of museums, parks, water parks, malls, parliament and water locks.
She arrived Sunday evening at 8 back home safe and sound, tired and excited.....


Back to moms Wednesday well things did not go to good. After the biopsy they were unable to stop the bleeding.

I had to leave and take Jillian to her end of year play at school. "Clowns"
This was a amazing play, and I have learned never to underestimate the talents of young children....

It finished at 8 and we picked up my Dad at the hospital on the way home. We just arrived back home and pulled up the lane and my cell phone rang. It was the nurse wanting us to come back as they had to call in the doctor, and surgeon. The surgeon was finally able to get the bleeding stopped but, they had a long talk with us. It seems that my Mothers gallbladder is full of tumours, and she is unable to have her gallbladder removed like a normal person as her heart could not undergo the operation. The tumours  look to be on the liver and pancreas as well. This was all seen through the ct scan but we will need to wait a couple of weeks for the proof from the biopsy. We have not told my mother anything yet.as we do not want to upset her. She is in a lot of pain now, and we are trying to make her as comfortable as possible. The Doctors do not usually say to much before they have proof but they seen it all and they are so big. My Mother would not be a candidate for chemo, she could travel 2 hours and try but they do not think the doctors there would do it. As she is to weak.
So we pray, and keep praying for now.........

Friday I went with Jill on her end of year trip to the Acadian Village. It is a village set up from the 1800's. it was about a hour school bus ride there and the weather was beautiful. They lived back then in such a peaceful way. I really do think I was born in the Wrong century.

Friday evening was so warm and beautiful that we decided to escape to the trailer for the night. They guys have been wanting to take the boat out on the lake. BUT..... Of course before we arrived it began to rain and it rained all night. But one good thing is that I Finally had a good nights sleep.
Jayne missed the trailer and we missed having her there. I promised the girls we would go back this weekend if all goes well.

We came home Saturday afternoon and worked till dark on planting the garden. We managed but got eaten alive from all the flies.

Sunday morning I was up early as I could here the wind. I made Jill and Justin breakfast and put a pork roast smothered in marmalade in the oven on low and then headed outdoors to work in my flower beds, and finished up my garden. I moved all the veggies out of the green house and info the ground. The kitchen garden is finally done,along with the herb garden. I cleaned out the chicken coop, moved the geese out of the barn pen, went to the neighbour farmers barn to pick up 6 more egg layer he had for me. I mowed the lawns, and moved the meat kings out to the front coop.

We came in washed up and made supper. After supper cleaned up and went to go get Jayne.

We all were in bed before 10.



Saturday, June 8, 2013

Guess What? It's Raining Again....

Yes sure another weekend of rain... This is enough. Do you hear me up there, you can stop it now. We will let you know when we need rain again....

It has been another terrible week weather wise. The days we did not have rain it was damp, and the gardens ate so wet that we still are unable to plant.

I need a favor from all my blogging friends. I need you to pray for my Mother.

Wednesday afternoon my Mother had to be admitted into the hospital again. She had a very sore side and began vomiting. After running some tests they thought it might be appendicitis attack. But after having a CT scan done it is showing that she has a very inflamed liver, pancreas, and gulbladder. This is not good because it looks like there is tumours on them. They will know more this coming week with more tests and biopces. For now she is getting pain meds to help her and all we can do is pray.

On a happier note....

I went with Jill yesterday on her grade 4 ducks unlimited nature observation at the nature reserve. It was filled morning of 50 children and 4 teachers. We had a lovely morning. No rain, and the bugs were not to bad. They learned about the different marshes and what lives in them.
They seen all kinds of birds, and learned about migration, nesting, and the food chain.

Hubby went to the trailer for the night with his 2 friends to fish. They are only suppose to come home  this evening but I expect them home before luch as it is pouring out, and we are expecting a lot of rain today.

I had to call about my Internet again and they had to send out another tech last evening to change my modem again.... This time he put the newest one on the market and we are hoping it works better then the last.

I did not get to sleep in this morning as Justin had to go work over the road spreading gravel but with all the rain I thought he would have cancelled but he came and got him anyway. He more then likely had another job indoors to get Justin to go do instead.

So I'm taking a little me time right now enjoying my coffee and catching up with all my blogging. The girls are still asleep and Franchasa and I are enjoying the sound of the rain on the roof. Waiting for pioneer woman to come on.
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Wonderful Wednesday Ideas

Well after missing last weeks post, i'm back with yet another. i'm excited to share my favorite Goat Cheese recipe with all of you. I hope you get the chance sometime to make it. I use it in eggs, casseroles, and pizzas.i got this recipe a few years back from a blogging friend.

I hope you all enjoy it!

Goat Cheese 
1 gallon of goat milk
1/4 cup of Apple Cider Vinegar

Pour your milk into a large stock pot and with a wooden spoon stir frequently until you reach 175*
Once you reach this temperature add your vinegar and turn your heat off. This will begin the process of curdling your milk and making all those incredible cheese curds appear.
I let my pot set for about 15 minutes and then begin dipping the curds out and putting them into a lined colander.
Once you have dipped out all your curds you are going to start straining out all your whey.
You will have quite a lot of whey so have a nice sized bowl under your colander.
After another 15 minutes or so, tie up your bag, remove your colander and hang your curds above the bowl so you can drain more whey.
Once it stops dripping so much you can remove the cheese.
You can add seasonings or herbs or leave it, as is.

The leftover whey is perfect for mixing with some feed or some stale bread and giving to your chickens, a GREAT source of protein for them.
Or, you can use the whey and some buttermilk to make up some ricotta cheese.

Monday, June 3, 2013

Monday Menu

With all the rain we are having, along comes thunder storms. Friday afternoon before we left our power had blinked a few times leaving us with no Internet. When we got back home it had still not come back on. Sunday we were finally able to get a hold of our provider and they got me to try a few different things. No luck so they were sending out a technician this afternoon to see what the problem was. (I wrote my post yesterday from my phone which I have Internet on.
They just left and I was not sure how long it was going to take so I changed my menu around a bit for the week. I stead of beef stew today we are having chicken nuggets,homemade fries, and coleslaw.

Monday....
B... Homemade waffles with warn blueberry syrup
L... Ham,cheese,and crackers, fruit salad, and cake
S... Homemade fries, chicken nuggets,coleslaw
Desert... Popsicles


Tuesday...
B...eggs,bacon,toast
L...subs, fruit,chocolate chip cookies
S...beef stew with doughboys, homemade bread
Desert... Butterscotch pie( I have so many eggs right now)

Wednesday...
B...french toast with syrup, and bacon
L... Homemade soup crackers, roll, pudding, fruit
S... BBQ pork chops, baked potatoes, veggies
Desert oatmeal cookies with fudge frosting

Thursday ...
B... Ham and cheese quiche, toast
L... Hot lunch buy day!
S...chicken in BBQ sauce, pork fried rice, honey garlic noodles
Desert... Left over sweets.

Friday....
B.... Scrambled eggs, ham and toast
L... Flakes of ham sandwiches with left over soup, fruit salad, brownie.
S... Take out!

I pray all my blogging friends are not anywhere near the terrible tornadoes that have hitting the States.
Have a wonderful day.

Sunday, June 2, 2013

It's Been A Little While.....

Well I missed my "Wonderful Wednesday Idea" post, and I promise to be back next Wednesday with another great idea. I kinda like, no I really do like sharing these ideas with my blogging friends.

Thursday it rained again.... We made cheese after super with Cinnie's milk that I had in the fridge. It turned out great and I made a lasagna with it before going to bed, and left it out for the night to cool. In the morning we froze it for a later meal.

Friday it turned very muggy and hit a high of 33 degrees with the humidity. After spending all morning with my Mother and making her lunch and giving it to her, I headed into town. Jayne was ready to be picked up from school at 2. I just made it to her. We left there and went to the general store to buy a Rubbermaid tub to pack our clean cloths in to go to the trailer. The big one 68 L was on sale for $5.50. We left there and headed over to Jill's school for 2:55 to get her. We ran back to the general store to pick up groceries, as we did not have time to before getting Jill. ( I once was late for Jill and she was so upset I vowed I'd never be late again) we got our needs o go away with and headed to the take out and then then for home. Hubby had pulled in before us and we hurried to load the canoe rack on the truck, the skinoe, and the BBQ( hubby found in someone's garbage that was like new, except for the broken cover. Which he fixed)
We packed the cooler, or ice chest as my american friends call it. ( which I love, and am trying to remember to call it that all the time)
I loaded and pack the new Rubbermaid tub of our cloths. And a few garbage bags of other stuff for the trailer. Then.....
It began to rain once again.....
And it rained and it rained.......
We left for the trailer in the rain, while we ate our take out driving.....
It rained all the way.....
It rained while we set everything up, and unpacked. It rained all evening, and then around 930 it stopped. We had a lovely campfire  the guys went fishing, then when they came back we had roasted marshmellows and went to bed around 11.
Saturday morning, it was windy when we first got up, but then it stopped and got nice. We had breakfast of cheese sausages, and cereal, coffee, and juice. ( there is nothing like coffee made in a enamel coffee pot on a campfire! )

The rain came again and we went down to the lake to see Hubby put the new boat into the water. But it was to ruff so he decided not too. We were all really wet by the time we got back to the trailer and decided to clean up, do the dishes, and then pack up and head back home. We were coming home Saturday anyway as Hubby had to work Sunday. Justin went for one last fish before we had to go and got 3 really nice trout.

We got home after lunch and seem a really big moose coming home. It misted all the way. We received a phone call that our meat birds were in and ready for pick up. We left right right away and went to get them and make a feed run as well.
We hooked up a heat lamp even though they are already 3 weeks old. The weather is so damp.

We had BBQ hamburgers and fries for super last night, and cleaned up the house and laundry.

This morning I had a lovely break, I feel so spoiled. Hubby made me coffee before leaving for work, and brought it into the room for me. Justin got up and Jill and him made there breakfast together, of eggs and toast. Jayne got p and made grill cheeses and made one for me and brought it into the room as well. Justin brought me another cup of coffee too. WOW! I really am blessed.

Have a wonderful day. I am going to get up and get outdoors while it is not raining, and do the barn work. Take care