tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89238027450713482792024-03-12T20:01:57.028-07:00Family Farm LivingJessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360415141509202065noreply@blogger.comBlogger355125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8923802745071348279.post-17550387994711066142014-05-14T05:46:00.001-07:002014-05-15T05:21:37.170-07:00Blogging World I'm Still HereWow.......what a long time since I last blogged. Where do I begin......<br>
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(Excuse me while I jump from topic to topic)<br>
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Let's start with Easter.<br>
We had a lovely quite Easter this year. My parents came for Brunch, and we had so much food. Besides the lovely ham, there was potato scallop,rolls, salads,sausages,bacon, eggs, hot cross buns, hash browns, and pickles......<br>
The girls got new Bunny's from the Easter bunny. Easter was a nice weather wise day for a Easter egg hunt in the snow. The girls had a lots of fun.<br>
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Mom is doing good. She has not had to go back into the hospital for awhile and we hope that this continues.<br>
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Now for some sad news..... Spring has not been good for a few animals here on the farm.<br>
Molly our old Saint Bernard dog had to be put down, her hide corners gave out and she could not get up. She lived a very good life of around 18 years which was a lot longer then we ever expected her too.<br>
Our little toggenburg goat Frappy, that we brought home on March break, that lived in our house, died. She was doing great and moved to the barn and eventually Cinnie became her mom too.<br>
But however we noticed she was not growing very fast. Her adopted brother was so much bigger then her, but again we did not think much of it and she was eating and drinking lots, and was very active.<br>
Until one Saturday morning a few weeks back. She could barly walk. She calapsed at my feet and I brought her in the house sat her next to the fire place and tried to give her a couple of shots of things to bring her back. Within moments she was gone. Hubby thinks there was to much inbreeding going on at the farm we got her from. ( I guess we I'll never know)<br>
Then just last week Jill's baby new bunny got her head caught in under the fence somehow and hung her self. My heart broke for her.<br>
Hubby went the next day and got her a new bunny but not a baby. (I sure hope nothing else happens)<br>
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Ok, let's get back to some better news again....<div>We brought our new travel trailer home a couple weeks ago. It is so much bigger then our old one with the pop out. </div><div>I was very sad to see our old one go, we have had some many good memories in there. Jillian was really upset to see it go. But our new trailer is newer, bigger, and every works.</div><div>The only disadvantage is that it is not a fifth wheel. It is a bumper pull, which is harder to pull to the campground. ( but we will manage)</div><div>Hubby also bought a new truck. He has been working on old trucks for years, and finally got a great super deal on a truck so he finally made up his mind and bought it. I am very happy for him, he works so hard for his money and never gets to buy himself anything. </div><div>Our provincal park, that we keep our trailer at for the summer, usually opens from May 15th- till Sept.1</div><div>But due to Mother natures winter activity, we are behind a good to weeks. The park is only opening on the 30th, and will remain open a additional 2 weeks. I am happy about this as it would be sooooo cold yet. I am so excited to go and can't wait. Our friends are joining us with their trailer this summer for the season as well. </div><div><br></div><div>As for Weather....well it has been a different kind of winter and Spring. Our spring has only Sprung the last couple of weeks, and we still have had gotten snow up to Monday. </div><div>The yard is finally getting green. The geese are out eating any little bit of green they can. This is our long weekend, and the weather is suppose to be great. We hope to get our yard work done, fish pond cleaned out,patio furntiure put out, porch chairs on the front porch, and of course BarBQue. Our temps are suppose to range between 20 to25 all weekend.</div><div><br></div><div>I moved my chicks I had in the house out to the brand new chicken coop hubby has built for me. They are all doing so well. </div><div>I am super excited about having new birds this year after, looking so hard for speciality birds. </div><div>I have not moved my laying hens out of the barn yet, but will this weekend as well.</div><div><br></div><div>Well I think that's about raps up what's been going on around here. I hope to be back again soon with more news,and hopefully some pics. </div><div>Take care</div><div><br></div><div>
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<br></div>Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360415141509202065noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8923802745071348279.post-87640268826571595762014-03-26T04:53:00.001-07:002014-03-26T04:53:14.276-07:00Crazy Weather No Sign Of SpringAll it seems to do is snow. The temps have been still so cold. -25 to -30 degrees in the mornings and a high of only - 15 during the day.<br />
As for snow, it has been stormed at least twice a week having only children happy ( to have no school)<br />
Today is another.....<br />
We are expecting the the storm of the year today. Lots of snow with some places in our province getting as much as 50 + cms and 110 km winds. WOW<br />
We are expecting for our area, about 20.+ cms with 80 to 100 km winds.<br />
There is so much prepping to do when a storm like this comes our way. We spent last evening getting the barn ready, and making sure there is lots of staples in the house and dry firewood. We have the tub filled with water and 5 gallons buckets of water on hand.<br />
The gas cans are full for the generator, and the tractor has lots of fuel. So I can say we are prepared.<br />
Hubby and my Dad headed off to work this morning but I am sure they will back home early afternoon once the storm is underway.<br />
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Enough talk about the weather....<br />
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Let's talk barn babies.....<br />
On Sunday morning Cinnie our toggenburg milking goat had her baby. We first thought it was a girl , but she was still very wet when hubby took a look. We called her Clover. BUT...... To our surprise Clover was a boy.....with a closer better look... I'm disappointed :( but he is still cute....<br />
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Our incubator has been producing as well. Lots of little chicks day after day. The girls are having fun with them, and enjoying naming then all.<br />
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Little Frappy our toggenburg doe kid is still in the house. We are taking her out to the barn to meet with her new family a little every day. Cinnie is still giving her a hard time but we are hoping she will finally take to her. It has been so cold that we couldn't send her out yet.<br />
Yep...you know your a real farmer, when you have farm animals living in your dining room.<br />
Phoebe is doing really well with her calves, and she is giving us plenty of milk.<br />
I have made butter, and whipped cream so far with the lovely cream I'm getting.mmmmm.....<br />
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In gardening news....<br />
We have started our veggies in the house on my livingroom window sills. There is so much snow in front of and around the green house, and it has been so cold that I decided to try to start them in the house this year. I have both green,and red bell peppers started, brocolli,cauliflower,kale, oregano,basil, sage,and thyme.<br />
I need to do a few others next week along with the tomatoes,and melons<br />
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Mom spent last week in the hospital she was dehydrated once again and needed a little IV boost.<br />
She is back home again and feeling better.<br />
I was able to get a little break and get some housework done throughout the day.<br />
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Well time to restock the fires, and get breakfast on. Potato patties, eggs, ham, and biscuits.<br />
I also need to get a roast of pork into the slow cooker for pulled pork for supper. I am making pulled pork sandwiches with creamy potato and ham soup for supper. ( we had a ham on Sunday night for supper, and have been picking off of it since for sandwiches for the lunch boxes. But I will take the rest today and chop it in the soup and through the bone in for extra flavor.<br />
Warm and comforting on a storm day :)<br />
Have a wonderful day and stay safe and warm.<br />
I hope to get some pictures posted up soon as well.Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360415141509202065noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8923802745071348279.post-35086223228800999602014-03-12T08:20:00.001-07:002014-03-12T08:20:26.592-07:00Here We Go AaginOld man winter is going to gift us with yet another major snow storm again tonight. We are under a blizzard warning with 40+ cms of snow on its way and high winds.<br />
We worked last evening after Hubby got home from work to make sure everything got picked up and the shovels are out. The silage is covered up for the cow.<br />
It is suppose to start last into the day today.<br />
I guess this will be our annual St. Patricks day storm. ( it always seem never to miss us every year.)<br />
Well the kiddies will be happy to have a snow day.<br />
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It is not hard to see all the signs for bad weather ahead. Jill's cat Buttons has been going crazy around the house. Running all through the house. Last night he managed to tip over Jill's Beta fish tank AGAIN..... But this time it was at 2 o clock in the morning, and water everywhere. She got up and saved her fish. But she was not a happy little girl.<br />
After school today she is going to have to move the tank to the corner in of her room, where the cat can not get.<br />
Then I came in after the bus went this morning and Buttons and Franny had got up on the Kitchen table and knocked off my fruit bowl, and tore off the table cloth. What has got into these animals..... The weather....it also has warmed up out doors and it is so nice out....so calm....the calm before the storm....<br />
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Last Thurday we went on a day trip to the big city to go to Costco. We stocked up on our staples, and went to a few more stores before heading back home.<br />
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We stopped along the way home and picked up a baby month old goat. I was wanting another Toggenburg doe kid, and I finally got the chance to get one. With Cinnie getting ready to pop any day now I should be able to slip this one in with her too. ( well I'm hoping anyway)<br />
But for the time being she is staying in the house. ( yep you read that right, I have a baby goat living in the dining room)<br />
She is getting all the milk she needs from Phoebe. I milk Phoebe then I was diluting it at first because I thought it might be a little rich for her. She had done well never getting the runs from the milk. She is now getting the raw milk not diluted. She is also getting a little bit of grain and water.<br />
Over the weekend I am hoping to try and move her into the barn, with a heat lamp, and maybe a sweater, and lots of straw, if Cinnie dose not go by then.<br />
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The calves are doing well, as is Phoebe. She is a great Mom, and dose not mind to be milked at all.<br />
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Jayne ended up with Gastro over the weekend, but was feeling better Monday for school.<br />
Justin called me Monday morning from school and he had it..... So he has been home all week with it now.<br />
Mom ended up with it too, on Sunday she is still not feeling to good and only taking it slow.I sure hope the rest of us don't get it.<br />
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The freezers are sure going down quick now. I went out to the building that has our big deep freezers in it on Saturday, I brought in a couple of weeks worth of meat to put in the smaller freezer in our back porch. I did a check to see how much more meat we have and there is enough for about 6 to 8 weeks worth.<br />
The veggies are going down quick too.<br />
We had fried chicken for Supper Sunday night from one of our meat birds. It was really good with mashed potatoes and gravy.<br />
Monday night we had a pork roast in the slow cooker with apple sauce. We served it with salad and baked potatoes.<br />
Last night we had shepreds pie with biscuits.<br />
Tonight we are having boneless steak in the oven in gravy with pork fried rice from the pork that was left over on Monday night. I also made rolls this morning.<br />
I am debating on taking out a small turkey to have tomorrow night. ( I have this thing with cooking a turkey when it storms.... Seems like the right thing todo.)<br />
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Well I better head back over to Moms to see if I can get her to eat a little. Take care and stay warm.Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360415141509202065noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8923802745071348279.post-43874646462468527242014-03-03T09:49:00.002-08:002014-03-03T09:49:44.658-08:00The Good And The BadToday is my only boys 16th birthday. I can't believe it.... It was just like yesterday I was rocking him to sleep.<br />
We are having lasagna and garlic bread for supper with my parents and Birthday cake of course.<br />
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Now for the bad.....<br />
Yesterday we were out doing up the barn work before getting ready to go to the next town to visit with friends. We seen that Phoebe was leaking milk, and was in labour. We moved her in cancelled our trip and got ready for a new calf.<br />
Well after a very long night and nothing we called for the vet. Poor Phoebe aborted.<br />
HB headed to the big dairy farm on the next road and got a bob calf to put in her.<br />
It was her first and they will be more :(<br />
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<br />Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360415141509202065noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8923802745071348279.post-35533370912856172852014-02-27T08:55:00.001-08:002014-02-27T08:55:25.680-08:00Update and a few picturesGood day Ladies. Again it sure has been to long since my last post.<br />
So I will try and bring you all upto date.<br />
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We had a few huge snowstorms.<br />
But we were are all warm,safe,and cozy indoors.<br />
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We had a lovely gathering for our annual pork chop fry.<br />
Great food and even better company.<br />
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HB and Jill went to buy 4 piglets for the upcoming seasons. While they were there Jill found 2 new baby chicks to bring home for her and Jayne.<br />
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Sochi ( a black one) that Jayne has named after the Olympics of course. Jill named hers Fufu.<br />
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BUT..... This morning when I got back from driving my Dad to work. I came into the house and found the Rubbermaid tub at the door, and the headlamp on the floor,and the cover still snapped on the top. BUT... Sochi was missing. The cat was under the table and Frannie met meat the door. I looked everywhere no chick. No feathers. No reason..... I am totally lost. I don't know where it could have ended up. If Frannie or the cat got it then there would be at least 1 feather. But nothing. </div>
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I am so sad for Jayne.</div>
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The girls went to their friends Birthday over the weekend. She turned 13 along with Jayne. Funny I remember so well when her Mom and I turned 13. We were good friends as well.</div>
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Last night Jerry and the girls began to incubate some eggs. I can't believe it is that time of year again. </div>
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I am so done with Winter. I can not wait to start up for Spring. The signs are coming. Our Canadian coffee "Tim Hortons" has there annual roll up the rim to win" ( which is a sure spring is close sign)hehe!</div>
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Next week is March break here for the Kiddies. They are sure excited. </div>
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Next Monday is my only boys 16th Birthday....... I can not believe it.</div>
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Next Thursday we are planning a day trip to the big city to go shopping. Costco here we come. My pantry selves are getting low. </div>
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I have bought some new seedling trays to put on my window ledges in the living room. I have ordered all kinds of seeds and are excited for some heirlom seeds this year. </div>
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Babies are on their way shortly in the barn. Cinnie the goat has a nice bag, as long with Phoebe the Jersey. They both are bagging up nicely. </div>
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Back to piglets. HB got a great deal when he went to buy one so he ended up with all 4. Besides the one we bought a couple months back and left at the farmer over the roads barn as he wanted to keep the little ones all together till they got bigger. Yep 4+1=5..... That's a whole lot of pork.....</div>
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My Mom is still the same. Good days and Bad.....Dad is doing well. </div>
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My new fridge is working great. Better then the other. </div>
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It is still soooo cold here. It has been down to -30 this week. And it is not suppose to warm up over the weekend either. </div>
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So I will keep the fires stocked.</div>
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My dear friend (who has the daughter with the Birthday) has just lost her Grammie this week. She was very close to her and I feel so for the family. </div>
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I will go to the wake on Friday evening and funeral on Saturday morning.</div>
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Well that's about it for now. Hope I can keep up to my posts this time. Take care and stay warm.</div>
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Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360415141509202065noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8923802745071348279.post-19339924001440612162014-02-12T05:51:00.000-08:002014-02-13T05:21:02.022-08:00Upcoming StormWell I'm on the mend after a couple of long druggy days. Feeling better this morning. Still a sore nose ( a little like Rudolph's )<br>
The kiddies are doing well. Hubby is also feeling much better.<br>Tuesday I got all the turkey stock I made put away. Another 20 cups. (Yeah!)<div>I made a wonderful turkey and noodles soup. I think that helped me get better quicker.</div><div>We had a turkey pot pie for supper Tuesday night with the left over turkey and the lunch boxes got yet another day of turkey sandwiches. Not to mention a little bag for the freezer for turkey fried rice a little later on. Amazing what a wonderful menu you can get from a turkey. Love those weeks :)</div><div><br></div><div>Yesterday was yet another cold bitter morning of -30 then as the day got later like 3ish it warmed up in the sun and it was not as cold to do my second barn run.</div><div><br></div><div>We had a lovely steak dinner, with beef fried Mac and baked potatoes. </div><div><br></div><div>Today is going to be a busy one. We have a major snow storm on its way for tonight and tomorrow. </div><div>We had a lot of snow at the beginning of winter. It was early this year, but have not had much since, it has been terribly bitter cold, thus keeping the snow that we got earlier. ( don't get me wrong we have had little snow storms but nothing that slowed us down here in northern New Brunswick)</div><div>But we are expecting 35 to 45 cms of snow between tonight and tomorrow. 90 km winds tomorrow and frezzing ice pellets as well. </div><div>The kiddies are super excited as they have not had very much in the means of snow days this winter. The girls are not however happy that it is going to fall on Valentines Day. As they have made and prepared for there friends and classmates wonderful gifts. :(</div><div>But they can have it on Tuesday instead. ( as Monday is a teacher meeting day and the kiddies have no School)</div><div>Super Long Weekend!!!! :)</div><div><br></div><div>I am hoping that the city will also close tomorrow then I will not have to get out on those roads to drive my Dad to work.</div><div><br></div><div>So I need to run into town today for a feed run, to pick up a few groceries for my Parents before the storm. I am picking the girls up as Jayne's volleyball try outs are cancelled for tonight. We need to pick up a few items also for Saturday, as we are have our hosting our annual pork chop fry here at the house. It was such a wonderful evening last year that we decided to do it again. </div><div>We are expecting 14 adults and 5 children.</div><div>I have a few items that I need for my table setting. </div><div><br></div><div>Well that's all for today, I try and check back in tomorrow to let you all know how the storm is going, if I have Internet and power. </div><div>Take care and Happy Valentines Day :)</div><div><br></div><div><br></div>Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360415141509202065noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8923802745071348279.post-40416209170231804682014-02-10T05:57:00.000-08:002014-02-10T05:57:29.828-08:00Monday AgainI hope you all had a wonderful weekend. I was sure happy to see it come. Last week was a long week with Jillian and Jerry both sick, and then me putting my back out, and Mom not feeling the best.<br />
Jillian recovered well, and Jerry is doing better. ( can't sit still for very long) tipical man.....<br />
Mom had the nurse in on Saturday and she wanted to try a new kind of dressing for her backside.<br />
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Saturday I was feeling better so the girls and I worked on cleaning out the spare area upstairs. We are getting ready to expend Jill's room. A very very long overdue project she has been waiting for.<br />
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Jill also cleaned out her drawers and we went through all of our cloths and made up bags for the Salvation Army.<br />
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Saturday night Hubby made fries and chicken tenders for supper. Justin took out some speghetti sauce out of the freezer for Lasagna and Jerry took a turkey out as well.<br />
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I went to bed early as my back was acting up again for doing to much Saturday.<br />
Sunday morning Jayne was up early as she was volenteering at the local arena for skate for the heart. ( it is heart and stroke month here) <br />
Jerry drove her for 9 and she was working till 5.Jill and Frannie went with him to take her.<br />
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I felt better so Sunday morning I got to work in the kitchen. I cleaned up and got busy making the potato dressing for the turkey and then when Jill came back she helped me and made up the lasagna for Monday nights supper. We let it cool before putting it into the fridge.<br />
We got the turkey stuffed and into the oven, cut up the veggies and put on the stove for later, and made up cranberries.<br />
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We picked Jayne up and had a lovely supper. I began sneezing after supper and my nose ran, and yep you guessed it. I was up all night with a terrible cold......<br />
Soup, honey,Kleenex, and homemade vapor rub for me.....<br />
:(<br />
Not a great way to start the week.<br />
Take care and I hope you all are well.Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360415141509202065noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8923802745071348279.post-51711188275928714262014-02-06T15:26:00.000-08:002014-02-06T15:26:22.860-08:00Mid WeekYesterday both Hb and Jill were home sick.<br />
I put a big pot of beef stew on with loads of broth so they could sip on some, and also I find the dough boys absorb a lot.<br />
It was a early night, and everyone got a good nights sleep. We all had a good morning. Homemade waffles, HB went to work, and all the kiddies went to school.<br />
It was a very cold morning. -27 and it did not warm up to much.<br />
Around 8 ish my back began to ache. By 10 I could barly move. It was not a pleasant day for the rest of the day for me. Mom was very sleepy today so I did not stay to long inbetween meals so both she could rest, and I could come home and rest my back a little before going back.<br />
I made a penne casserole with a green salad for supper.<br />
I had a very hot bath and slipped into my PJ's and relaxed a bit on the couch before the kiddies got home.<br />
They set the table for supper, and HB did the barn work for me. Justin filled the wood boxes,and the girls cleaned up after supper and cleaned the kitchen.<br />
Did I mention that I love my family.<br />
I sure hope I feel better tomorrow. The last time I put my back out it took awhile. Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday and my Dad will be off for the weekend.<br />
Well I'm going to go lay down and see if the pain will settle a bit. Take care and I wish you all a great weekend.Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360415141509202065noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8923802745071348279.post-62464264672512175412014-02-04T17:16:00.000-08:002014-02-04T17:17:37.852-08:00Oh My! Where To BeginWell it sure has been way to long since my last blog post. Life sure gets busy is all I can say.<br>
It has been a terrible cold month and we have plenty of snow on the ground.<br>
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The freezers are getting dug into and the wood sheds are as well. The pantry shelves are going down, and the root cellar is not as full anymore.<br>
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The children all have had a terrible cold, along with HB. It seems to linger on and getting rid of it has become a challenge. Thank goodness I have not had any symptoms.<br>
Poor HB ended up with pneumonia.<br>
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Mom is still the same no change. Dad is hanging on, I wish I could do more but I need to home in the evenings with my own family.<br>
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The barn family are all doing well, for these cold conditions. No more frozen water lines so far. I am hoping those days are behind us now.<br>
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I moved Cinnie my Toggenburg goat to the front pen with Wolly our old sheep. They both should be bred and due this month. I have been heavily grainy them, and if they have there young during the night when no one is around then I will have no worries about it happening outdoors or the babies wondering out into the cold.<br>
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I moved the geese into the old pig pen at the back of the barn. I had to make a move a little early as they were destroying my barn with "crap" the alleyways, my square bale hay mound and my goat milking stand. WHAT A MESS! I just could not take it any longer. I hope they decide to get comfy and lay.<br>
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My lay hens are back to laying full time again. This makes me very happy. We were only getting 2,to ,4 to sometimes none a day.<br>
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As for my fridge dilemma well after a month with it breaking down every 4 days the company we bought it from finally gave in and gave us a new one of a different brand. We ended up with a LG.<br>
And so far so good.<br>
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The biggest thing that has gone on around here in the last month was the disappearance of Jill's Cat "Buttons" He was a huge black cat that stayed out doors over night sleeping in the barn and coming into the house to eat in the mornings, going out frequently throughout the day to use the washroom as we did not keep kitty litter in the house. He would come to the window in the dining room when he was ready to come back and meow. Well a month ago he disappeared. Three days led to a week and a week led to two. The weather was at a dead cold of -40 with the wind chill most days and HB spotted him about a mile down the road crossing it. He stopped yelled for him and he was gone in a flash. Then that was it no Buttons again. Then after a month and a very sad little girl who spent weeks after school walking the trails around and up to the sawmill shaking the bag of kitty food, calling his name it happened.<br>
HB went to see the farmer over the road who has our next piglet. To see when he wanted it to come home. They were standing in the barn talking and Buttons ran past HB. He was shocked the farmer said that he came about 2 days ago and is pretty scared. HB tried to catch him but no luck. He came home got Jill up and they went back down. Within 10 mins they were back with Buttons. He came right to her.<br>
She was so happy she cried.<br>
Buttons is doing great except for losing a bit of weight, and a couple Scratches on his face. It looks like the pads of his paws must have froze but he is back to norm now.<br>
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He had a dry shampoo bath because he stunk of barn BAD! Now he smells like a blueberry muffin.<br>
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A happy ending to a very sad month. We are making a appointment for him to get checked and to get fixed and they have put out a kitty litter and Jill says he is not allowed back outdoors. So I guess we have a house cat. As long as he stays off my kitchen countertops.<br>
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Well it's time for me to hit the sack. Jill and Justin told me they would like french toast for breakfast so I need to go take out a baguette out of the freezer for morning. Good night and I hope you all are well.<br>
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<br>Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360415141509202065noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8923802745071348279.post-7242657061553381172014-01-06T05:05:00.001-08:002014-01-06T05:05:43.221-08:00Weekend NewsGood Monday Morning. I hope you all had a wonderful enjoyable weekend.<br />
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Friday night I took to Jill to her Birthday party and had a lovely time. It was soooooo cold when we came home. The poor jeep sounded so rough all the way home.<br />
We went to bed soon after getting home, as we were both tired.<br />
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Saturday morning was another freezing cold morning. I got up and had coffee with Hubby and put a crock of beans on, then went to help with the barn work. Thank goodness no more water line problems<br />
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I had to make a batch of laundry soap as I was just about out. I finished my morning by doing laundry.<br />
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I made pizza dough to rise to go with supper, and Jill helped me make a skillet corn bread. Hubby and Justin shoveled off the snow on the sawmill and shingle mill roofs. Hubby's cousin came over and helped them with some more fire wood after that.<br />
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We made a huge all dressed pizza to go with the beans,and cornbread and he stayed for supper. It was really good. .<br />
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Sunday I put on a roast of pork on early in the slow cooker with a bottle of apple jelly. Justin left early with his grandfather to go to there camp to shovel off the camp roof. They got back around lunch. We had a Sunday brunch of scrambled eggs,bacon,sausages,has browns,and toast.<br />
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I washed all the floors, and filled the wood boxes. We left both fires go out in the house for the afternoon so we could clean the ashes. I never thought of that while washing the floors,and after we took the ashes out the dust goes everywhere. Oh no! Now my floors are dirty again :(<br />
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We had a our supper and retired into the living room for the evening to watch TV. We all love Alaska The Last Frontier. Next week will start back Heartland again.<br />
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As I was sitting on the couch my lower back began to hurt. It got really bad and I had to go lay down. I'm not sure what happened.<br />
It has hurt all night and it still is. I don't remember doing anything different. I hope I'm not putting back out like before. But this time it is even lower.<br />
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Tonight we are having pork ribs ( yes pork again) my family loves pork. I have a little of the roast left and will put into my pork fried rice to go with the ribs, and make beef fried macorroni to go with it too, as well as garlic bread.<br />
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It is going to be a messing day here weather wise. The temps have sure warmed up. It is only -11 here this morning and it is suppose to get +4 here today with 10cm of snow, then freezing rain or ice pellets( is there really a difference ) then changing to rain. That will make everything including the roads very slippery.<br />
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It will be a early evening tonight as the Kiddies head back to school tomorrow from Christmas break. I am sad to see them go back as always. But like I have said before I also like routine. I will have to come up with a good supper for tomorrow night as with it being there first day back they will be starving when they get home.<br />
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Well I better go get my ribs on to boil before going to Moms.Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360415141509202065noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8923802745071348279.post-21795718581670120862014-01-03T05:09:00.000-08:002014-01-03T05:09:25.668-08:00It's Still Freezing...Just as the title says....it is still freezing out.... -34 was the high yesterday and it went to -40 throughout the night. And we are expecting 2 more days of this weather.<br />
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The firewood is getting hit hard. Thank goodness we had extra, and Hubby had cut and brought out some more. He spilt it up small and Justin made 3 piles on the front porch. It is green and froze but when there is a good fire on we fill the stoves and it burns great. We also pile it in under the steps behind the stove and it drys in no time.<br />
So our little home stays very warm and cozy.<br />
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Hubby had a terrible time yesterday trying to my jeep running but finally after supper it went. He had to come back home from work at 1 yesterday as the water in the barn froze again..... But he did some modifications ( which we call Jerry rigged) as his name is Jerry. Hehe! And he got it going much better now. After -40 last night it is still running.<br />
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I walked to my Moms yesterday and when I was coming back home over the hill. It looked so cute to see all the chimneys puffing smoke out. 2 from the house,1 from Hubby's garage, and a little ones from my old chicken coop, which is now Justin garage. It looked like a little village down in the valley.<br />
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As for my fridge. Well they called and said that they were not replacing the fridge now, because the part will be in today and the repair will be out to fix it. Very upsetting on my end!!! Last item item I buy from that store.....<br />
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Jill has a Birthday party later this afternoon at a good friend of ours home. We both ate looking forward to going.<br />
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I have gathered up all my new seed catalogs and am going to sit by the fire with my cup of tea tonight and browse and start to get my orders ready for the 2014 growing season even though it still is months away. Something about that just warms me up.<br />
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Well I better get out to my Moms for the day and I wish you all a warm wonderful weekend.<br />
<br />Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360415141509202065noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8923802745071348279.post-44495500267149899932014-01-02T04:20:00.001-08:002014-01-02T04:20:06.402-08:00Burrrrr!Happy New Year to all of you.Our New Year is starting off very cold.<div>Yesterday is stayed -30 as a high for the day and it's -38 when we awoke this morning.</div><div>And I am sure you know what comes with freezing temps that cold....... Freezing water lines in the barn..... ( no fun) </div><div>Hubby got up every 2 hours to put wood in stoves,and at 4 we got up. He went out to the barn to check and our water lines had froze. It is a big job to pull them out and get them going again. Then he went to start his truck to warm up to go to work and it did not want to go. My jeep was the same. So it took him awhile to get them going. Oh the joys of cold weather.....</div><div>It is suppose to stay upon us until the weekend and then warm up. There is a snow storm coming our way for Monday. </div><div>We had a terrible thing happen to us over the Christmas break. On Boxing Day our brand new 20 day old fridge stopped working and everything I had in the freezer defrosted and the fridge got warm. I called the store that we bought it from the next morning when they reopened and they told me because it was a Samsung that I had to deal right with the company. After a few hours I was able to get in touch with the repair man in my area and he came to see it. He did get it going again but said he needed to order a new part and was not sure if it would stay working until then. Well it didn't on New Year's Eve it stopped again. This time Hubby called the store. He was not happy and he did not want our 20 day old fridge fixed. He wanted a new fridge. He had a rough time with them, but they agreed and are suppose to deliver on today. In the meantime we brought our old one back in turned it on and away it went. ( can't beat the old ones) at least you an work on the old ones.....</div><div>So ladies I guess I better get a move on, I still have a few boxes of christmas decor to put away in the dining room, and more to put into boxes before heading to Moms for the day. Take care and stay warm:)</div><div><br></div>Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360415141509202065noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8923802745071348279.post-68903583004523214052014-01-01T11:34:00.001-08:002014-01-01T11:34:21.160-08:00Holiday FoodI hope all my blogging friends had a wonderful Christmas surrounded by family,friends and great food. We sure did.<br />
We had a semi quite Christmas. I tryed posting before Christmas a blogging post of our Christmas preps but with the crazy weather we had power,Internet were very hard to come by.<br />
Then before I knew it, it was Christmas.<br />
So I'm back and I thought I would share a little of our family traditions of Christmas food.<br />
The last couple of weeks leading up to christmas we were very busy little elves in the Kitchen.<br />
The girls made up there traditional gingerbread house. (But this year we had a box kit)unfountuantly I just did not have the time with Mom to get ours done from scratch. But the girls were just as happy with doing the kit.<br />
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Jill found a recipe that totally caught her eye out of the new Pioneer Womans cookbook. Marshmellow pops.<br />
They turned out great and tasted just as good I must add.<br />
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I made our donuts,and we have been enjoying them with breakfasts. Yum!<br />
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I made chicken pot pies(it is what we call our meat pies)<br />
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The girls and I also made Christmas belly buttons. A nice little citrus refreshing cookie after all that sweetness.<br />
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We made Christmas fudge. Mmmmmmm,!<br />
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Then I made egg rolls.<br />
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And Jaynes pizza rolls too.......and Justin's cinnamon rolls......<br />
The freezers were filling quickly.<br />
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Besides food I attended Jill's Christmas concert.<br />
It is the last Elementry school concerts for me. :(<br />
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Christmas Eve we had another.....yes another....snow storm.....<br />
We headed out on the terrible roads to my in laws. It took so long to get there and we did not stay very long.<br />
Christmas morning we had to do our barn work, and clean snow before we could have our brunch, and open gifts. My parents came but my Mom was not well enough to stay and I took them back home for a few hours. My inlaws came and the children really enjoyed themselves.<br />
We all received wonderful gifts. ( ill share a little about those in a later post)<br />
Boxing Day we had our turkey supper and my parents came. We had a lovely meal.<br />
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We used all the turkey up by having turkey spring rolls.turkey supper paninis.Hubby took turkey sandwiches to work with him.<br />
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I made turkey soup. I even through in the left over peas and carrots at the end for added flavor.<br />
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I made a pot of turkey stock,and got 19 cups out of it.<br />
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I froze 4 cups of turkey for turkey casserole a little later on.<br />
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We used some of the leftover cranberry sauce for dipping sauce for the turkey spring rolls, and the rest Jill and I made muffins. We made blueberry cranberry muffins.<br />
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I guess our holidays were mostly around good food.<br />
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What was your highlight of Christmas?<br />
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<br />Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360415141509202065noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8923802745071348279.post-59086473122106483022013-12-09T07:12:00.001-08:002013-12-09T07:12:20.535-08:00A Continuation To A Busy WeekI am apologizing for my last post. I sent it out last week and only realized last night that it was still siting in my drafts. ( yes I guess I have to much on my plate some weeks) :)<br />
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These next few weeks are going to be full busy ones. So I wanted to pop in and let you all know what has been going on around here.<br />
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Lets start with the weather. It snowed everyday last week, except Friday where the temps climbed and we had a full day of rain. Then by supper time the temps dropped and it turned to freezing rain.<br />
Saturday was a cold day. I slept in till 830 Yeah!!! I stayed indoors all day and cleaned the house.I put a Roast of pork smothered in marmalade into the over on low for the day.then we turned them into pork sandwiches on crusty rolls smothered in butter and toasted in the oven.we had homemade fries with them.mmmmm.<br />
Justin helped me put up some garlands until he got a call to go to work for the farmer over the road. Then our new fridge came just before supper. I love it and am super excited with all the room. Unfourtally there were a couple of little damages inside on a self and a drawer, but the service guy will be coming out to the house to change them in the next few days.<br />
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Here it is......<br />
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Sunday morning Hubby and I were up early. -18 degrees outdoors. We got the fires stocked up and the fans running, so it did not take long for the house to warm up. I had my morning coffee,watched my pioneer woman, and started on Sunday brunch. We had a lovely brunch of ham, sausages,fried eggs, and biscuits. Mmmmmm.<br />
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Hubby cleaned out the hot water heater room, and reoragainzed it and made much more room in there. It is where I store our toilet paper,paper towels,garbage bags, paint, cleanning supplies, homemade laundry soap in buckets, extra toiletries,and light bulbs. yep I sure can store alot in there, besides having our water tank and hot water heater. You should have seen all the jusk he through out of there.I cleaned a bit more in the house and got all the laundry caught up.<br />
I put a beef stew on to cook on the wood stove for the day and made doughboys to go on top. Talk about yummy! After a cold day.<br />
I filled the slow cooker with oatmeal to cook over night.<br />
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I brought some meat in for the week into our new freezer on the fridge. Meatballs and rice with beef mac are on tonight's menu.<br />
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In between looking after Mom today, I am trying to clean out my cupboards under my island. I think I have a whole lot of junk that can be thrown out and space can be used for my stock and canning pots.<br />
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We are under a snow storm warning for tonight and tomorrow morning.<br />
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<br />Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360415141509202065noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8923802745071348279.post-18087853349373614982013-12-08T16:49:00.000-08:002013-12-08T16:49:37.909-08:00A Busy WeekWow December already.....<br />
It sure is coming fast. Time has flown here these past couple of weeks. Blogging has been put on the back burner, and I feel sad about that.<br />
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Our trip away was great. We had a warm beautiful day.We never stopped all day, and were able to stock up on a lot of good buys. I think the best part was just getting away with my family.<br />
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Mother Nature sure has been undecided on weather here in our part of the country. After nice warm temps, it switched over to freezing cold, with a whole lot of wind. We already have had to snow storms, and I think the snow on the ground is here to stay now.<br />
It pretty much snows everyday now.<br />
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The girls enjoyed the first storm of the season last weekend.<br />
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My parents are pretty much the same, Mom has good days and others are not as good.<br />
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Justin spent the weekend working for the farmer over the road, and his evenings tearing apart my Summer chicken coop which was a 8x12' mini barn. He is going to transform it into a small garage to work in.<br />
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My chickens are now all moved into the chicken coop inside the barn. The guys promise me they are going to build me a brand new more efficient chicken coop in the spring. I would like it to be round. We will wait and see how that turns out.<br />
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Hubby is still working full time, and spending the evening in his garage doing bodywork on company Trucks for the mine.<br />
Both Justin and Hubby are also filling a extra shed with extra firewood every moment they get.<br />
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Jillian received student of the month last Friday. We were super excited for her.<br />
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Jayne has been so busy with a heavy work load of essays to get in before Christmas. Our printer went on the bum, and it put her back a couple of days. I was able to take a run into the next town and get a new one with the great warranty I had. ( $10 well spent)<br />
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The girls worked on the tree and finished it up Sunday afternoon.<br />
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I was able last week to get a night with Hubby and we got our bathroom painted. I still have a lot more i would like to do in there to make it more country looking, but time is a hard thing to manage these days.<br />
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We bought a new fridge with our Canadian Black Friday sales. It is super huge just what I was looking for. It will be delivered on Saturday and I will post pics of it when I get it.<br />
I am really happy about it, as I so needed a bigger fridge. Best of all it was a great deal :)<br />
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As for our farm family. We have added to new heifer calves to our home. Phoebe has friends like her now.<br />
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On a sad note out old Shetland pony passed away Saturday morning. She was close to 30. She has had the heaves for years, and that was the reason we ended up getting her, as she could no longer live in the barn at another farm. We keep our horses out doors with a shelter and they do fine. Muffin lasted 8 years here with us.<br />
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Hubby and his friend moved the horses to there winter pen on Sunday afternoon. They divided up the pen with the other animals and after a long cold afternoon they all came in to sit and enjoy a yummy turkey dinner with all the trimmings.<br />
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Monday it snowed again, Tuesday was mild with rain, and this morniing we awoke to yet another snowstorm....<br />
yes I would say it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas.Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360415141509202065noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8923802745071348279.post-78563139822512164492013-11-21T15:50:00.001-08:002013-11-21T15:50:30.863-08:00A Happy EndingWell it has been a long few days here on our homestead.<br />
Jill got her IPod back safe and sound, and she has found out lesson learned as well. As did I.<br />
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Mom is still having a lot of confusion, but is a bit better.<br />
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I attended both Jaynes and Jill's parent teacher interviews and they both did very well. They are just where they need to be. I was how ever late for Jill's meeting as Jaynes ran late, and I had to pick up my Dad from work, and hurry all the way home to pick up Jill. But she does however have a great teacher and he was very understanding.<br />
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I put on a big old pot of hamburger soup into the slow cooker this morning, and thank goodness, Justin and Jill had something to eat when they got off the bus, Jayne ate when she got home. I was really late getting home with Jill, as we stopped to fill the jeep upwith gas for the morning, and we had coupons and the gas attendent had a lot of trouble to punch them in. We were there for 20 minutes. HB had just sat down from work to eat when I got home, so we ate together.<br />
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I tided up a little and got my little carry on bag packed for the morning.<br />
HB went to talk to our neighbour down the road to let him know we would be away for the day.<br />
I am super excited to get away with my family.<br />
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I love going to stock up for Winter at Costco. Do you ever get there and if so what are your favorite things to stock up on?Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360415141509202065noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8923802745071348279.post-980385980022366472013-11-20T05:16:00.001-08:002013-11-20T05:16:19.097-08:00Mid Week AlreadyI think we have had all four seasons in the last few days. We had freezing temps up to -15, then it warmed up to 10 degrees and we had plenty of fog, wind and rain. Yesterday afternoon it began to snow and it snowed right till I went to bed. We were awake most of the night as the wind blew so hard.<br />
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Jayne had a wonderful 13th Birthday. We had a lovely Roast chicken supper with all the trimmings.<br />
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I made from Jayne's request a desert pizza birthday cake.<br />
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Just what she ordered<br />
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Here are a few pictures from Saturday night<br />
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Jaynes birthday supper was super delish. She had nachos, Jill and I had fish &chips.<br />
Jill did not want cake just ice cream.<br />
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The girls<br />
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We had our very own box seats. Ours even had a couch in it.<br />
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Jillian also got her report card on Monday and it was straight A's as usual. Way to go Jill!<br />
Justin and Jayne only get there's later at different times.<br />
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Tuesday was one of those days that I wished I could have just went back to bed and let it go by.<br />
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It started off with a cool morning, with having to get the fires going. The kiddies got up to maple sausages, and pancakes.<br />
Jayne got up not feeling good,and she did not touch her breakfast. She had a sore belly and sore head. After taking something for it she decided to go to school and at least try as she has so much work at school going on right now that she would fall behind staying home.<br />
It was also nurse day for my Mom. She called late as we now have a new nurse. This put me behind:(<br />
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Mom was not having a good day, she was very week, hallucinations, and a low sugar:( but the nurse also decided there was not to much they could do and decided only to come every second week now....again :(<br />
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I was only able to come home later then I usually do and I came home to no power. The power did come back on after a couple of hours, but no phone. It is still out and the phone company is not sure why and what is wrong<br />
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Then I allow the kids to bring there iPods to school with them as long as they keep them in there book bags. It is a long bus ride and they find reading on the bus makes them motion sickness.<br />
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Well poor Jill had hers in her book bag and a little boy in her class took it out of her front pouch of her book bag while it was on her back. She did not know until she got on her bus. She thought he was just punching on Her back.<br />
She cried all evening.<br />
I had to go into town this morning and take Jill to school so I could let the teacher know what had happened. they are going to look into it. <br />
Jayne came home feeling better. Thank goodness. Hubby came home from work a little early, and Justin went to set some more snares.<br />
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We had chicken fried rice, boneless pork chops in cream of mushroom soup, and coleslaw.<br />
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I did up after supper a 5 gallon pale of beautiful ripe tomatoes that were grown in a greenhouse and given to me from a friend of ours that supply produce to the local grocery stores. He dropped them off Sunday and I have ben putting them off. What a lovely treat.<br />
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The kiddies have Friday off for teachers meeting and were are planning a family day to the big city three hours away. Hubby is taking the day off, and my Dad has it off as well to look after my Mom. I am looking so forward to just getting away with my family.<br />
We want to get a little Christmas shopping done, go to the big craft sale, go to John Derre, Costco, and the big Mall. And yes even Wal Mart. :)<br />
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Tonight's supper is fried steak, and cheese scalloped potatoes.<br />
I so hope Jill comes home Happy.<br />
well off to Moms for the day.<br />
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<br />Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360415141509202065noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8923802745071348279.post-85868053588772834262013-11-17T12:37:00.001-08:002013-11-17T12:37:42.201-08:00Sunday StuffOur weather has finally warmed up a bit, making it much easier to get outdoor jobs done.<br />
Yesterday we celebrated Jaynes Birthday with her friend. Jayne,Jillian and myself went out to supper at the restaurant in town with Jaynes best friend and her Mom who is a good friend of mine. After a wonderful meal we had a little cake and then headed over to the Civic centre,which is where our ice Rick is located to watch a hockey game. Jayne received box seat tickets for her Birthday from my Dad who got them from work. The girls had a wonderful night.<br />
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Today I was up early watched a few of my cooking shows with my cup of coffee. The girls slept in. So the house stayed nice and quite. The guys had went to bring home the rest of the round hay bales that were still in the fields. I then got a great brunch made up of ham, bacon,sausages,eggs,and mini cheese biscuits.<br />
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I spent most of the afternoon outdoors it was very damp and foggy but a lot warmer then it has been.<br />
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I made up sweet and sour meatballs and a lovely homemade Mac and cheese casserole for supper and it smells so good in here at the moment with them cooking in the oven.<br />
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Tonight is our family TV night with our Heartland show, and then Alaska the last frontier. I made up some special treats of spring rolls for this.<br />
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Tomorrow is Jaynes 13th Birthday. I can not believe she is going to be a teenager.<br />
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I smell supper ready and Jill is trying to set the table around me, so I better go.<br />
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I wish you all a good evening.<br />
<br />Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360415141509202065noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8923802745071348279.post-88819268247506823502013-11-13T09:51:00.000-08:002013-11-13T16:23:20.711-08:00Cold WeatherThere was only one word to describe this morning. Burrrrr!<br>
We awoke to -15 with our wind chill. We kept both fires going all night. I got up and took the dogs out and almost froze with the wind.<div>It sure felt good to come back indoors and have a cup of coffee next to the fire. </div><div><br></div><div>The farm animals water bowls are freezing so I am going to have to haul out the heaters. We will need to move the Chickens over to their winter residence in the barn over the weekend too.</div><div>It seems winter is coming faster then I thought.</div><div><br></div><div>Mom is doing about the same. Tomorrow she has a eye treatment at the hospital, and I will pick my Dad up at 1 from work and we will take her for 2. After they are settled into the hospital I will run over to pick Jill up from School and see if we can get her hair cut. Her bangs are in her eyes and I am not sure if I can cut her hair straight. Better to get someone else to do it. :)</div><div><br></div><div>We had our first thick pork chops with the bone in for supper tonight from this years pork. They were delish. I marinaded them in crushed pineapple for the day and fried them up in the cast iron fry pan with butter and oil. We had fanned baked potatoes and rice with them. </div><div><br></div><div>Tonight we tryed a new donut recipe. We found our sugar donuts that we made last year for Christmas got hard after the next day. So I was on the lookout for a light and fluffy recipe. I found one on the Internet with grand reviews. They called to rise the dough. The girls and I made a batch and so far not to bad. </div><div>If anyone has a great donut recipe, I would love to her about it. </div><div><br></div><div>Being Canadian we had our Thanksgiving a few weeks back. We had a turkey then, but I'm still craving turkey. I don't think I can wait till Christmas before having another. I am planning on Monday for Jaynes Birthday. ( great reason right?)</div><div> </div><div>Well that's all for tonight Ladies. Time for this chicky to hit the sack. </div><div><br></div><div>Goodnight and keep warm.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div>Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360415141509202065noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8923802745071348279.post-5745087802870418112013-11-12T08:47:00.000-08:002013-11-12T08:47:06.714-08:00More Picture UpdateThe snow has finally hit beginning Sunday night, we awoke on Monday morning to a white blanket.<br />
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Last week we had meatloaf for supper, and the next day I made these delicious meatloaf sandwiches. These I can say are far by the best meatloaf sandwiches I have ever made.<br />
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Backing up a bit here is our Halloween evening of trick or treating with friends.<br />
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Jerry celebrated his 40th Birthday on the 5th along side with Jillian our youngest who turned 10.<br />
I had a surprise supper for HB 2 Saturdays ago at a local resturant. Besides me having no voice we had a wonderful evening out.<br />
Tuesday we had a roast chicken birthday supper and I made a farm cake for the 2 Farmers.<br />
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I even put a few raisins for poop. :)<br />
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On Sunday Jillian had her Birthday party with her friends at the local pool in town.<br />
everyone had a great time.<br />
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November is a big Birthday month in our household. Tomorrow is my Dads Birthday and Jayne is next Monday.<br />
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Everyone is doing good a the moment here in our Family. Phoebe is back home and I am pretty sure that everyone is bred now. Spring Babies will be coming just around the corner. Hard to believe.<br />
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Christmas music has been filling our home and we have started the cooking and baking menu dates already. I am slowly hauling out holiday decor and putting away the fall decor.<br />
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i have so many ideas of crafts to do with the girls in the next few weeks, and some special ones i am wanting to make for Christmas gifts.<br />
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I hope you are all doing well as well.<br />
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<br />Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360415141509202065noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8923802745071348279.post-51710138984941101762013-11-09T17:04:00.000-08:002013-11-09T17:04:21.219-08:00Baking powder???I have always used just plain baking powder. I guess it is wht you call single acting.<br />
The other day I went into the next town to the local coop store there. They always have great items marked down in the front of the store in shopping carts. I can find at least one great deal. Well that day I hit a good one. I got lots of candy decorating sprinkles in a variety of Christmas colors for 50cents a pack, a few packs of icing, and a large can of double acting baking powder for $1.00<br />
BUT......<br />
I'm not sure what it is. Can you substitute double acting for single?<br />
Does anyone else know? Has anyone ever used the double acting before?<br />
I wonder if I use the same amount?<br />
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I figure I should try and make something with it and see if it turns out :)Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360415141509202065noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8923802745071348279.post-85749083009650209062013-10-29T17:42:00.001-07:002013-10-29T17:42:09.493-07:00Baby It's Cold OutsideThe weather has sure taken a bitten cold turn. We have even had a couple of days where we have seen snow flurries in the air.<br />
Fires are now needed to stay on all day, and warmer coats are needed to go outdoors. The girls are wearing there mittens to the bus in the morning as well.<br />
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My Mom has been very weak lately and she has good days and bad ones. She spends a lot more time in bed now and I try to keep her as comfortable as I can.<br />
My Dad landed up back in the hospital on Wednesday and they kept him as his gull bladder needed to come out. So I spent 6 days at my moms till yesterday when he finally got out after they missed a stone and then he took a reaction to the meds. Let me tell you it sure felt good to sleep in my own bed last night. I am really feeling it trying to run 2 households. My family was feeling it as well. But I thank God everyday for the understanding family I have.<br />
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Friday night was Jaynes Halloween school dance. She had a wonderful time.<br />
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Saturday night Jill had a Halloween party at her friends house ( they happen to be twins) she too a wonderful time.<br />
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HB has been working steading as he had lost a day with a terrible head cold. He has a jeep in the garage he is working on for a guy in the evenings and when ever he gets a moment, besides working at the mine.<br />
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He was also able to get our beef done and put into the cooler on Thursday.<br />
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Sunday he brought Phoebe home from the farm over the road, we are sure hoping she is now bred.<br />
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Tonight we butchered one quarter of our beef. It was so cold out in the meat room. There was frost on the ground already when we came in the house for the night.<br />
Tomorrow night we will get the rest done and the ground beef grounded as well. We started to late tonight.<br />
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It is suppose to go down to -10 tonight, it is already -5 out there. Burrrr. So with the fires crackling away, and the heavy quilts on the beds we are toasty and it is time for me to go to bed. My back is sore tonight and I am feeling it now. Goodnight dear friends.<br />
<br />Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360415141509202065noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8923802745071348279.post-8073078322949301342013-10-28T04:52:00.002-07:002013-10-28T04:52:33.274-07:00Fall Picture UpdateI sure wish I was more computer literate when it comes to my blog. I take a lot of my pictures with my iPhone, and or my IPad. I have tried to download my pics from my iPad,or iPhone while I'm writing my posts and they never show up.so I always need to send my pics to my email and open and download them on our laptop. This sometimes makes me very very slow or late posting. I am sorry for this. So I sent all my updated fall pics to my laptop and finally.....<br />
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So without further ado......<br />
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The girls made a wonderful salsa<br />
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We finally got our pumpkin pies made.....<br />
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I am using up all the fall apples by making up apple crisps<br />
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I times my recipe by 4 and make 4 crisps at a time, as I get my foil trays in 4 packs.<br />
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The wood shed got underway thanks to Justin<br />
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I have switched to making my daily soups on our wood stove now.<br />
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hope you enjoyJessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360415141509202065noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8923802745071348279.post-14466713341136190042013-10-16T10:16:00.001-07:002013-10-19T17:47:28.510-07:00More FallFall is sure here. The mornings are cold and frosty. Fires are needed and by 1:00 it is nice and warm out. By 4:00 you can feel the differance in the air. By 7:00 the fires are needed again.<br>
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Fire wood is under way. The small wood shed is now full, and I cleaned the big one out and Justin has been busy spilting and piling.<br>
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Just when we thought tomatoes were done, we had more ripen in the house that left us with enough to make salsa. The girls did all the cutting up and they learned to make salsa.<br>
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It turned out great.<br>
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We got a little fall decorating done around the house.<br>
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I'm having trouble again with downloading my pictures on here. I wish I knew more about this stuff. But as soon as I get it figured out ill post them.<div>
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I spent the ending of the week cutting up pumpkin, cooking it, making pie crusts, and making pumpkin pie. They turned out good.<br>
I ended up cooking my pumpkin in a roaster with a little water.<br>
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I also cooked some on the stove as well.<br>
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I really like the way the pumpkin turned out in the oven.<br>
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I purée it in the food processer and froze what I did not make into pies.<br>
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I was pretty tired after getting it all done. But those pies are sure worth all the work.<br>
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Thursday morning I got a pot of turkey soup on the wood stove to simmer away for the day. I got the kitchen cleaned up and then went ahead and got bread on to rise. Then I cleaned the kitchen again.We had chicken parmigiana Thursday night for supper with garlic bread, it was a hit the whole family loved it.<br>
<br>Friday it rained, and I felt terrible all day. I was very tired. My Dad had to go back to the hospital again as his stomach was so sore on Thursday. I thought he was going to take the day off Friday and get some rest,but nope, he went to work and I looked after my Mom.</div><div>I think all the stress was finally getting to me by Friday. I made garlic fingers and sweet potato fries for supper and relaxed on the couch before going to bed early.</div><div><br></div><div>Today I felt better. I took it slow this morning, I slept in and then had coffee on the couch and watched my cooking shows. The kids made there on breakfast, and Hubby went to the woods.</div><div><br></div><div>After I felt myself again, I did up all the baby carrots that were left in the garden. These were all the tiny ones. I left some out for our supper. I made sausages for lunch for the family. </div><div><br></div><div>Then after getting all the barn work done we headed back to the gardens in the woods to dig our potatoes. Justin and Jill came to help us, while Jayne stayed home and made a boiled dinner for supper. </div><div>We only got one out of the two gardens done. We have over 300 pounds already :)</div><div>If it dose not rain tomorrow we will dig the rest. If not it will be next week. </div><div><br></div><div>Jaynes barn cat Aleena had 2 more kittens this afternoon as well in the hay mound. I am sure the girls will be out naming them first thing in the morning. </div><div><br></div><div>We have a bear hanging around the yard a little to close. Justin seen him Friday and Hubby seen the prints this morning by the pumpkin patch. Then when we went back to the woods on the ATV we saw more tracks over Hubby's Backhoe tracks from when he went to cut wood this morning. </div><div><br></div><div>Tomorrow morning we will have our usual Sunday morning brunch, then after all the house and barn work gets done I will do up another pumpkin. </div><div><br></div><div>Hubby has to finish working on a body job on a jeep that he is doing in his spare time for a guy. </div><div><br></div><div>Well time for this old girl to hit the sack. Take care my dear friends and happy blogging.</div>Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360415141509202065noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8923802745071348279.post-69357726864187253792013-10-15T05:39:00.001-07:002013-10-15T05:39:33.623-07:00A Little Late Catch UpIt has been way way to long since my last blogging post, and I so apologize for that. I kinda got swallowed up by Fall preparations around the farm, and having both parents not well.<br />
But I'm back, and wanting to bring you all up to date on what I was so busy with.<br />
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So I'm going to back up a week ago or a little more and start. Lets start in the kitchen.<br />
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I finally got the last of the cucumbers used up and finished off with another batch of Celery Relish.we have had some heavy frosts the last few nights.<br />
If any would like the recipe let me know.<br />
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I got 2 batches more of apple jelly made. I only get a crop of apples every second year here so I have been trying to make enough apple items for two years.<br />
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If you would like my apple jelly recipe again I will certinally share it.<br />
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I also tried out Donna's Apple pie filling Recipe over at Merry Heart Crafts. Thank you Donna it turned out lovely.<br />
I highly recommend it for you go to pie filling. :)<br />
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We picked tomatoes, and more tomatoes, and filled our baskets with ripe ones. It seemed like it took forever this year for them to ripen, but once they started.<br />
We also had way to many cherry tomatoes. I planted to many and my mouth is all broken out from eating so many. But they are so good.<br />
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I bottled 18 quarts for the winter,and made Ketchup in the slow cooker with the rest. We ended up with 16 pint jars of ketchup.<br />
Then a neighbour dropped by and gave us more tomatoes. I did up another 11 quarts of sauce. They also brought me 6 more heads of cauliflower so we did 4 up and blanched and froze them. We are still eating the rest with our own.<br />
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I have my windows sills in my home filled with green ones waiting for them to ripen.<br />
I should be making a batch of chow with the green ones,but just have not had the time as of yet.<br />
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We got the corn all picked and I have been storing the bags in the cooler to preserve it longer. The girls helped me and we were able to do up some cream corn. I also blanched and froze some on the cob for winter eating. There is still a half bag and we have been enjoying a lot of corn on the cob with our suppers.<br />
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As for our pork.....<br />
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2 Thursday evenings ago we cut up the first one. It went well and after babysitting a cooler for the week I was happy it was done. Well most of the week that is.Then our weather changed back to rain and cold about mid week and the cooler worked perfect.<br />
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2 Friday evenings ago we butchered our second one,and hung it in the cooler. We grounded up all the pork that was left from the first pig,and put it back into the fridge for Saturday to make Sausages.<br />
Saturday afternoon we made our first batch of sausages with my husbands cousin that had came to help out. We were only able to get medium casings for the sausages as we were completely out and I was having trouble finding them as our normal rep was out of province. But they worked. We usually always made our maple ones in the breakfast size and our honey garlic in the large size. But this year is a it different. No worries they still taste wonderful.<br />
This year we were able to try a new flavour.. Donair ...... They are wonderful and I bet they would be even better wrapped in a pita, added with shredded lettuce, a little tomato, onion, and topped with Donair sauce. Can't wait to try this out.<br />
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Tuesday evening we cut up our bigger more fattier pig. It went well as well.<br />
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Here you can start to see a little of what the meat room, and cooler looks like<br />
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long ways to go yet, but it sure beats where we were before. We have not had enough time yet to get the counters built so we had to use a table for now to wrap the meat.<br />
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Jill loved to help wrap the meat.<br />
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Wednesday morning we had our annual family breakfast at Jill's school. It was family week and every year they host the most wonderful continental breakfast of pancakes,cereal,toast, muffins,fruit, cheeses,tea,coffee,and juices.<br />
After sitting eating and chatting I said my goodbyes to Jill and Jayne and I headed over to her school to drop her off. Then it was off to Moms for my routine day.<br />
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The kiddies had the remainder of the week off for teachers meetings, and with it being Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada, they will not have to go back until Tuesday.<br />
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We had a very easy chicken burger and fry supper, as I had a meeting for Jill's grade 5 end of year trip at 630 which went well.<br />
I got back home around 740 and Hubby has just finished grounding up the pork for the sausages. We all got involved and got more made.<br />
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Another job done. It feels great to have all the pork done up in the freezer. Along with all those Sausages.<br />
I am not sure if we will need a deer this year for our sausages. We have a little time to think about it. We still have our beef left to do.<br />
Partridge season has started here as well back on the 1st, and we have not had time as of yet to go hunting.Justin has gotten one so far. I was hoping over the long weekend we will get a chance to start. I have been craving a bouillon, but this was not the case as Friday after noon my Dad ended up in the hospital with very high blood pressure and a gull bladder attack. So I spent Friday, Saturday, and Sunday running back and forth to the hospital and looking after my Mom. Thank goodness I have such a understanding family. No pumpkin pie got made, no pie crust got done, and no apple pie. But my family says that we have all this week to get them done and we will eat pumpkin pie all next weekend. I love my Family.<br />
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Dad is feeling a bit better. he still wants to go back to work tomorrow.We had a wonderful brunch with my family this morning.<br />
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We worked on our wood shed filling it today and cooked a turkey for Supper. It will certinally be a Thanksgiving to remember that's for sure. </div>
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Take care and Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian Friends.<br />
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Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360415141509202065noreply@blogger.com2