I want one or two or perhaps three. LOL

Please visit this link on Olde English Babydoll Southdown sheep.  OMG, what cuties they are!  If you click on the link above, go to the right side of the page and click on meet the flock, and then videos, you can see them in action.

We stopped in Spokane this last weekend and saw some, as there is a breeder out there I found online.  They are so cute.  This will definitely be a new addition sometime.  They will be used for mowing the lawn and for their fleece, as I am knitting again and it would be great to have my own supply of wool.

Still no eggs from the chickens yet, but really should be anytime.  And, still no goat kids yet, though the the girls are definitely getting wider.  HAHAHA  That's Phoebe staring at the camera and Rachel's chubby belly below.  I think Rachel will kid first, as she has been the biggest of all and her udder feels full.  We felt the kids move in Rachel and Monica tonight, but Phoebe is still skittish, so it's hard to get her stand still.  We'll keep you informed as to when the kids arrive.  Can't wait!!!

Can't tell you how nice it was to come home Sunday night and have no turkey poop on the back deck!!! Wow, so nice.

Rob moved the chickens today, as there was not as much snow (though we did get an extra 2 inches this morning, then it cleared off and was sunny and it mostly melted, go figure), and the chickens went crazy for the new grass.  We had not moved them during all the snow for the past couple of days.

I found some great recipes and new blog if anyone is interested.  Definitely going to try the ketchup, mayonnaise, and the marmalade.  Really like this blog site, as she lives here in Seattle, so gardening tips are a little more closer to home regarding weather and planting and such.  Also, a great grinder for the corn we will be growing for cornmeal; this was recommended by the NW Edibles blog above.  Not expensive, but does the job well, they say.

All five of the starts containers have sprouted, now to keep them growing and get a little sturdier before transplanting them this next month.  I just received the red mangel beets to use as feed for the chickens and pigs this next year.  I can plant some now and in the summer for a fall harvest, too.

Am going to be checking on the peach tree, raspberries and strawberries tomorrow and see how they held up under the straw and snow.  Hopefully no damage done.

Have a super evening!

Turkey Tractor

Well it is partially done.  Just need to put the covered area in and the turkeys will be contained.  No more pooping on the back deck!!!  OMG!!  No more digging up the newly planted strawberries!!!  Anyway, in the turkey book I have, turkeys are supposed to mate between March and May, so will keep you posted on that.  The toms have been displaying (feathers all fluffed up and strutting) and they are stomping, which is when they stomp one foot with their wing feathers down, which according to the book, means they are signaling they are ready to mate.  However, haven't seen much interest by either of the hens, (isn't that always the case, girls!  hahahahahaha)

This is one of our toms in full display mode.  They are really very cool looking and look much larger when all their feathers are puffed up.

Finally finished reading Everything I Want to Do is Illegal by Joel Salatin.  Hmmm, really makes me kinda of question anything the government puts out as to being true or not.  Very interesting reading.  Now I am onto The Permaculture Way by Graham Bell and Salad Bar Beef by Joel Salatin.  I really like the idea of permaculture as it enriches and builds the soil and at the end, you grow things in it.  Another idea I have with the turkey tractor is to leave it in one place and do the deep mulch system where you just keep adding more bedding on top of the old for about 8 months to a year and by then, it has composted itself and you can either add the compost to the garden or make a new raised bed right there where the tractor was!  Picture to come soon of the turkey tractor when completed.

All of the seedlings in this container have sprouted!!!  YAY!  From the front to the back they are Tom Thumb lettuce, Forellenschluss lettuce, 3 kinds of broccoli, Wautoma cucumbers for pickles, and lemon cucumbers in the back.  I am so proud of myself!  haha  Will be starting 5 new containers this next week with more veggies in them.  The other 4 containers already started all have some sprouts in them, but this was the only with everything up so far.  Even the tomatoes and peppers have started to sprout!

This would be the pregnant Rachel.  She and Monica and Phoebe are all getting pretty large.  Still not sure on the due date, but perhaps within the next couple of weeks.

Hopefully the snow has not frozen the new strawberry starts and the raspberry canes I planted or the peach tree.  They were all mulched with straw and I have not dug through the snow to see, will just wait until it thaws.

Hockey this weekend with 3 games against Spokane for Liam.  Should be great.  Hopefully, there will be time to visit the sheep farm right outside Spokane and see the Olde English Baby Doll Southdown sheep.  Am thinking of perhaps for mowing lawn, fleece and just because.  :)

Snow

The snow is gorgeous!!!  Very white and crisp looking.  Liam made a snowman and was very proud of it!  Some melted yesterday, but then it snowed again last night, so it's all pretty again.  Little flurries this morning.  Had to break through frozen water for all the animals so they could get to it.  Gave the chickens more straw to nest with to stay warm.  Pig was out rooting still, so the ground is not too hard.

I did finish the hat and it turned out fabulous.  Yay.  Now to get it done in different colors perhaps for gifts.  Hmmm, who should I make these for??? :)

Anyway, animals are all doing great, and I had more veggie starts sprout overnight  YAAAAYYYY!  We got 5 more trays to plant starts, so will be getting those done today and tomorrow.  I am going to be planting some red mangels (page 30 on the right side in about the middle of the page) for chicken and pig feed through the winter.  They are supposed to be equal in nutritive value to grain and you can hang them on a nail and let the chickens peck at them until they are gone, then hang another one.  Awesome, way less $$$ than chicken feed, though they are eating less as we move the chicken tractor each day, well except for today, because I am not moving the tractor through the snow, so that will have to wait until tomorrow.

Have a super day!!!

OMG!!

Okay, so I know I blogged already today, but just had to again.  I obviously think it is spring, even though the weather does not, as I am in full spring cleaning mode.  I ordered some castile soap off Amazon, added some white vinegar and water.  Best cleaner ever!!!!  Now I just need to get some spray bottles so I can label and keep handy.  I got the ideas for cleaners out of a book on sustainable living from the library.  Aren't libraries the best?!

So I brought the vegetable starts inside to water and keep an eye on them, as it was harder to do so when they were out in the goat shed.  As Kara and I were inspecting them today to see if they needed watering, voila!

New starts for broccoli, cauliflower, and lettuce.  Others to follow I am sure.  Just wanted to say YAY!! Even with all the snow and colder weather, something is thinking spring along with me.  haha

Again, enjoy the snow! :)

Spring?

Okay, so I guess I will have to wait a little longer for spring to actually be here.  It is pretty.  I think we have about 3 inches or so.  No school today, so the kids are happy.  All the animals are in their houses, other than Gus, who is roaming around in the snow and the turkeys.  Well, the turkeys don't really have their own home yet, so that's probably why.

I found this yesterday, and perhaps we will use this as a model for the turkey house, only longer and taller.

Also, Kasara sent me a link yesterday, Whole Foods Wholeness, very interesting indeed.  What the H, E, double toothpicks are people thinking?  Really!  Seriously!  On that note, I believe we will be saving our seed from the garden this year, then I know its organic and I won't have to purchase any new, so it would save money also.  Two for one.  Gotta like that.

Enjoy the snow out there!

Good Tuesday Morning!

AM
So it hailed/snowed here last night.  Nice layer of crunchy whiteness on the grass, deck, and skylight.  Just sitting here at the mac and having my coffee this morning.  I switched to a percolator for coffee from a French press and an electric kettle.  I am trying to save some electricity, so returned the kettle and got the stainless steel percolator.  I always felt like the French press did not make enough coffee for myself and Rob in the morning, and if Nik or Kara wanted any, then I had to make another batch.  The percolator can double as being used for just heating water also, so it takes the place of two items.  And, the percolator is a 14-cup size, so makes plenty.  Yay!

Just finishing up filling out the softball forms for Kara to play softball at the high school this year.  She is very excited.

PM
Got started on the turkey house today.  Rob is still thinking on how to finish it.  Want to make it sturdy enough, but not so heavy it can't be moved.  Will let you see the finished outcome when it's done.

Not much else new here today!  Enjoy the sun (it's out here now!!)

T

More Plants!

Rob just finished planting the Frost peach tree I got at Costco of all places.  $11 for a 6 foot tall tree.  We probably won't get anything this year, but they are supposed to be great for our zone (as stated by Sunset Magazine, so it should be true) and be very prolific in their production capacity.  YAAAAAAYYYYY!  I might even go get another one.  lol

I finished planting the raspberry canes I got and also the strawberry starts.  I covered them with straw to keep them from freezing, as it has been so cold lately.










Rob let Pig and Marty and the whole farm out onto the front lawn today to eat the grass clippings, as Liam had been running the riding lawnmower and cutting the grass.  Pig is so funny, with his flopping ears and all.  All have been put back in their respective places now and Rob is working on the turkey home.  We have decided to put it by the goat/pig pasture to be able to use some fencing already there for the backside.  I really want to make sure they can't get into the garden as I am starting to plant things now.

I just finished reading Holy Shit, Managing Manure to Save Mankind, by Gene Logsdon.  Very informative and very funny in some parts.  Never realized how interesting (or not) manure is.  Am now reading Everything I Want To Do Is Illegal by Joel Salatin.  Also very informative about how government wants to regulate everything and makes it very hard for local, smaller farms to sell their items without having to spend buku bucks for all the licenses, permits and things they really wouldn't need as they are on a much smaller scale.  

I tried and tried on this knitting pattern for a slouchy fit hat to make, but just could not get it right, so have started another pattern that I think is going to be Fabulous! (said like Billy Crystal doing Fernando Lamas on SNL  hahahah).

Later!

I'm A Dork

Okay, so for a while now I have been trying to figure out how to rearrange my silverware drawer so that the silverware goes sideways in the drawer, so when the drawer closes, it doesn't slide to the back of the drawer.  I have been looking everywhere for a drawer organizer that goes in the drawer side to side, not front to back with no luck.

I was cleaning out my kitchen drawers and cupboards today (it is almost spring so the spring cleaning bug in me has totally come out, haha) and cleaned out a narrow drawer that had an organizer in it.  As I was washing the organizer, I thought, hey wait a sec.  This could go in the drawer sideways and then I just need to find another one the same length to go in the drawer behind it.  I finished washing it, placed it in the drawer and filled it with silverware.  I had taken out the old organizer that had the silverware initially and was washing it, thinking I would be cutting some of it to fit in the drawer behind the narrower one I had just put in the silverware drawer.  Picture the light bulb going off over my head, my very (sorry) blond head at the moment.  Ummm hmmmm perhaps I could just turn the organizer in the drawer to fit.

That would be the lightbulb moment.  Duh,  I mean really, why did it take me that long to figure out the drawer was square and I could turn the organizer?  Wow, that was probably my finest dorky moment.  

T

Finally!

Yay, I finally got some of the seeds started.  I purchased some plastic containers with the lids and some soil and got 5 containers started with different lettuces, spinach, all my herbs, cucumbers, all the pepper plants, all the tomato plants, cauliflower and broccoli.  Rob made a shelf in the goat shed with the clear roof so they should sprout quickly, I hope.  I got all but 12 packets of the seeds that I ordered.  They are on backorder and hopefully should arrive sometime soon.

We got all the chickens except Dumbledore banded with colored zip ties today.  Snow White 7D is in the front here with blue and yellow bands.

And here are Rachel (left) and Phoebe (right) bellies from above.  Getting more pregnant all the time.  Yay!!

Aylia sent me the link to a cool website today Farm To Market.  They have some neat gardening supplies and things.  I like the paper cup maker to use for starting seeds.

Also, there was an article in Sunset Magazine that my mom and Aylia showed me.  Here is her blog, The Zero Waste Home.  I think it was January or perhaps February issue of Sunset from 2011.  Very interesting.  She takes her own containers to the store in the bulk section and fills them up.  QFC does not have a bulk section and that is where we do most of our shopping, so that wouldn't work for me.  But by having the garden this year and raising our own meat (pork, chicken and turkey, possibly beef next year, milk and sheep also) we would cut down on the container issue and use less gas also.  I do use reusable grocery bags that I take in with me each time.  And I reuse the plastic bags you get from the store as poop bags, so I am trying.  We do recycle a lot, and only go to the dump twice a year to the cost of maybe $60 for the year.  The recycling place on the island does not take a lot of different plastics, however, so I need to be choosy on what packaging to purchase.

Happy Valentines day to all.  Rob and I decided our valentines gift to each other was the pig.  And, he had the day off so we got to spend it together planting seeds and banding the chickens and turkeys.  I am so ready for a nap.

Yucky, yucky rain.  The backyard is really like soup.  Perhaps we need to put a pond further up the back end of our property that could fill and then run drain lines to the garden, the goat sheds and the pig shed for water.  That would be cool.  Also, we have a couple of rain barrels we need to put spouts in and get under the downspouts to catch water for the garden and animals, that would be less saturation on the ground also.

I got started on another hat, knitting.  Kasara gave me a very cool bag with lots and lots of needles, all different sizes and types in it, so I don't have to keep asking her if I can borrow them.  hahaha.  It's awesome!!!  Now I can keep all the needles and pattern books in one spot and all the yarn in another.

Am thinking about turning off the electricity for one day a week or month in our house, just to unwind and not have so many distractions.  (And to see what difference that makes on the electricity bill.  I don't think it is bad now, but would be interested to see just how much we are actually using in a day or 18 to 24 hours or so.)  I am thinking it would have to be on a Saturday, because during the week, working at home, I would need to power my laptop for work and the battery only lasts 2 hours so that wouldn't work for me.  Sunday there might need to be some last minute homework to get done, so I think Saturday might be best.  Or if that does not work, perhaps two evenings a week we shut off the power and just use the hurricane lamps that I have and play board games, card games, read books, talk, knit or just veg out.  Haven't talk to the family about this yet, but will bring it up soon.

Talk to you later!!  Have a great one.

New Addition to the Shelley Homestead

So we got a wiener pig last night.  He is a Duroc/Landrace cross.  He will be for meat so we are not naming him.  He is Pig.  He slept in Marty's old crate right next to Marty's house outside.  I let him out this morning and had to feed them separately because Marty cannot have regular pig food.  Marty is definitely the dominant one right now, he was putting Pig in his place.  However, about 10 minutes later,  they were side by side wandering the place and rooting for goodstuff.  

Pig did not eat much last night or this morning, as I still think he is a little nervous being in a new place and all and not with his other piglets.  He snorts and grinds his teeth just like Marty, but I have to say is quieter than Marty is.  

Finally, I got my large order of seeds in, though some are still backordered, and today got seed starter/potting soil mix and the plastic containers with the clear lids for starting them in.  Did not get the side of the house done as yesterday was spent driving to Everson up by the Canadian border to get Pig.  Didn't get it done today either, as Liam had a game in Kirkland at noon (which they won 6 to 5 and Liam had an awesome breakaway goal), and then practice in Shoreline from 4 to 6:30, so was gone the whole day.

The rest of the animals are doing fine.  We are still trying to figure out how to house the turkeys so they don't make a mess on the back porch.  

In my previous blog I misnamed the book I was reading.  It is titled Honeybee; Lessons from an Accidental Beekeeper.  It is a great book and I do believe Aylia and I will need to take a class or attend a meeting on beekeeping, as I think we could really use our own bees for pollination and for the honey.  I know there are quite a few bee clubs in the area.

Also, finally got the zipties in multiple colors to use on the chickens and turkeys so we know who is who.  

Later! :)

Jenna's Blog

I watched this You Tube clip of Joel Salatin speaking on Jenna's blog, which is fun to read.  Liked the message it gave.  Her wool looked cool also, if you read down the next blog.  This would be fun to do.

We might be going to look at a wiener pig tomorrow to raise for meat, and to keep Mr. Marty company.

Picked up herb seeds today, as they were 40% off, yeah!!!  Can't beat that.  I got marjoram, thyme, sage, oregano and Greek oregano, dill, 2 different kinds of basil and mint.  I am thinking of using this design for the herb garden, right out the back door.  I saw this in Hobby Farms January/February issue.  They had lots of neat ideas.  We have a lot of paving stones that we are not using anymore that I made and they would be perfect I think.  Will let you know how it goes.

T

Chickens in the Garden

We let the chickens in the garden fence to scratch in all the compost and they have been doing a great job.  I just finished reading All New Square Foot Gardening.  Very interesting book and will definitely incorporate the ideas into the garden this year.  At least we started out correctly, with 4 feet wide beds, like they say.

Saturday I am cleaning up the end of the house, as that is where I want to plant the tomatoes, peppers and anything that needs a little more warmth.  I know during the summer that side of the house gets nice and warm as it is on the south side.  Means I will need to move a little more poop, but really whats a little more poop?  HAHA

Rob pruned all the fruit trees today, so hopefully they will grow out and not up.  The cherry tree out front was soooooo tall.  I'd like to get them shaped more like umbrellas so it is easier to pick also.  Will still need to fight the deer and birds for the fruit however.

I am now reading The Accidental Beekeeper.  Sounds fairly interesting (I'm only on page 15).  Aylia mentioned she was interested in this, so perhaps we will need to take a class or attend a meeting or something along those lines.  I do like to make things with honey versus sugar and we could definitely use the bees for pollination, so hmmmm. (or rather bzzzzzz bzzzzzzz)

Aylia and I are taking a cheese making class through North Seattle Community College on March 5.  Can't wait.  We will be making soft cheese.  The next class would be hard cheese, so if this first one goes good, then perhaps we will take the next one.

Nice and sunny, but cold, here today.  Just nice to have the sun out.  Brightens my whole day.  Mr. Marty has been lounging in the sun all day, laying on his side, soaking it up.

I read the book The Long Emergency a little while ago and then came across this article Wikileaks Have Saudis Overstated How Much Oil is Left?  Very interesting.  Kinda reinforced what the book talked about.  Makes ya think about driving less, being more green and being more local with your purchases and life.

Have a super day and enjoy the sun!!

T

Kids

Busy, busy weekend.  Liam had 3 hockey games, won all 3, 9-0, 11-0 and 7-0.  I believe he scored 3 or 4 times and had a couple assists also.

After the last game on Sunday, we went to his coaches house for the Super Bowl party!  Had fun, what a beautiful house they have and a gorgeous view of the water.

It's been really windy today.  I had to make sure I held onto the top of the chicken tractor as I fed them this morning, because the last time it was windy and I did not, the wind took it over backwards and Rob had to replace the hinges and screws.  Still no eggs, darn it.

The turkeys really need to be put in their own place.  I came home today to turkey poop, runny turkey poop, dark green runny turkey poop, (you get the picture yet?) right in front the sliding door.  Really?!  Seriously?!  There is no place else to poop on our 5 acres other than our back deck RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE SLIDING DOOR???!!!  Okay, Rob and I will have to get together on this one.  According to the turkey book we have, this spring they should be ready to mate.  The toms are displaying like crazy and doing this stomping thing with their feet, which the book says means then are getting ready to mate. So hopefully by March or April something will happen and then we will have eggs and possibly new little turkeys running around.  HAHA

As I was feeding the goats this morning, I laid my hand on Rachel's side, a little underneath her belly just to see if I could feel anything moving or anything "kid like".  I did feel a little kick.  I left my hand there just to make sure I wasn't imaging things, but nope, a little kick again.  YEAH!!!  Still not sure on the dates, but very cool to actually feeling the kick.  I didn't get a chance to feel anything on Monica or Phoebe cuz they were squished up next to Rachel, so perhaps tomorrow morning.

Mr. Martypants is doing fine and dandy out in his little Marty "party house".  (I just thought of that one, haha.)  He's moved around the straw and made a nice little spot where he sleeps.  He and Gus get along okay, they have butted heads a few times, Gus wanted to eat his food and Marty put him in his place.  And, Gus puts Marty in his place when he gets into the goat house and Gus doesn't want him there.

That's all for now.  TTYL!

Too funny

Okay, so I heard some noise out back of the house.  Didn't think much about it, as I was vacuuming at the time.  Then I saw something out of the corner of my eye.  OMG!  Really?!  Obviously the hen turkeys wanted to see what was cooking in the kitchen.  This is the skylight in the kitchen ceiling.  They were both looking down to see what we were up to.  Sooooooo funny.

I finished The Town that Food Saved and am now starting Urban Homestead by Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen.  Also, next in line are Homegrown Whole Grains, Carrots Love Tomatoes, and Edible Estate, Attack on the Front Lawn.  Then it will be on to more Joel Salatin books.

I made venison marinated in beer and Worcestershire sauce, then lightly breaded with flour, garlic and onion.  Was very yummy, we had it with pasta with butter and basil, and green beans.

Now off to watch a movie, not sure which one.  I am so excited for the gardening class tomorrow.  Can hardly wait!

T

Pinot Noir Time

So I made 3 batches of dinner rolls to put in the freezer for easy use later on.  Will have to track how long they last.

We had stir fry for dinner, grass fed beef cut into thin strips and sauteed with olive oil and teriyaki sauce.  Then sauteed red and yellow peppers with leeks, garlic, olive oil, and baby bok choy.  Put it all over rice.  Should have taken a picture, cuz it was AWESOME!!!

So the garden is all cleaned up.  Weeded and mulched the beds and replaced the boards that need to be replaced, except for one long one that we don't have a replacement for, so that will have to wait.  We started to put straw in between the beds to keep the weeds/grass down so no mowing will be needed.  Rob has put a fence around the garden.  Still needs a gate/door, but it looks good, don't cha think?

  I am so excited to get going on this.  Can't hardly wait for spring to get here.

I am just finishing the book The Town that Food Saved.  Very interesting and entertaining.  The guy writing it is a hoot.  I have about 10 other's checked out right now, need to get going on reading those for sure.

Rob is off to softball open gym with Kara tonight.  She is excited to play this year.  Her foot seems to be doing very well other than the frozen chicken dropping incident.

Still no eggs.  Keep asking them every morning, they just don't seem to answer.  Or perhaps they don't understand me, but then I don't really understand chicken either.  I haven't heard Dumbledore try to crow again, either.  Hmmm, not sure what is going on.

We are still waiting for kids to be born.  I believe we were way off on the days so now its anyone's guess, which is not really a good thing, but they are supposed to have easy births so will keep you updated.  Phoebe, Rachel and Monica are doing well, just getting a little fatter each day.

Gus got into something today that he was chewing on that cut his mouth.  His tongue and lips and mouth were all bloody, not dripping or anything, but was red when he baaaahhhhd.  Will have to keep an eye on that, but I am sure he just got a little aggressive with the tree bark and the tree "barked" a little hard!!!  (I crack myself up sometimes.)

I have decided to go to Home Depot and get some colored zip ties for the chickens and for the turkeys, cuz they are pretty much full size, will leave a little bit of growing room so they are not so tight.  That way we can tell the chickens apart and tell which tom turkey is doing his job.  haha  I have seen the zip ties there in bright colors, and have read online that many people use them, so will give it a go.

I am taking a gardening class Saturday morning at Skagit Farmers in Stanwood on Year-round Sustainable Gardening.  Am very excited for this.  I missed the last one on edible landscaping cuz I thought it started at noon and it started at 11.

I also contacted a lady in Spokane today who raises and sells the Olde English Babydoll Southdowns that I am interested in getting for mowing lawn, manure fertilizer, wool for knitting and possibly meat. She got back to me, as we are going to be in Spokane the end of this month and said yep, she would be around so to give her a call.  If we have time, I am going to try to get to her place to ask a whole bunch of questions and see the sheep.

Okay, I think that's it for now.  Off to finish my wine and book, so I can start another book.  haha.

Another Day

The pita bread came out wonderful, nice and tasty!!  Was very easy to do also.  Love my bread machine!

Just finished frying 2 eggs and sliding them into a pita with cheddar cheese!  Yum, yum, yum!

Fed all the animals and swept out poop for the compost pile.  

Am thinking about switching from a French press for coffee to a percolator to use on the stove.  Less electricity used would be nice and less things on the counter.

Today I am making dinner rolls.  Did not get them done yesterday, ran out of time.  Did the big Costco run yesterday.  I packed everything in the Mini and went to get Liam from hockey, and he was like "What?  Where do I put my bag?"  There was room, but I can sure fit things in the Mini.  I had to take it in for routine maintenance and got new brakes, air conditioning flush and some others, all for free as I have an extended maintenance plan that we bought.  The brakes alone there are $700 and this is the second set, so well worth it.  I got a loaner for 2 days, it was a 2011 Cooper S.  What fun to drive.  Had more bells and whistles on it than mine does.  However, I am really glad I did not get a Cooper S as it has the turbo and I would have gotten lots of tickets.  It was very fun to enter on the freeway, though, and blow by everyone.

Well, back to the homestead chores for me now.  Have a good one!  Later!

Just Rambling

Just finished watching FRESH part 1 on YouTube.  Rob and I finished watching all 8 episodes last night.  Some of the clips I had seen before, but some were new.  Down the road, this is what I would like to do, but I know it will take some time to get there.  I would love to go see Joel Salatin's place!!

Cold again this morning, says 30 on the computer according to Weatherbug.  Little bit of frost on the ground.

I turned in a resume at Blackbird Bakery Cafe yesterday to Ed, who promptly emailed me last night about working there.  I hope with my need for a flexible schedule that it will work out.  He said they do catering events also and have a couple lined up in February, so I've got my fingers crossed.

I figured out another great use for the toilet paper and paper towel rolls, starting the fire in the wood stove.  Haha.  We are out of saved newspapers, as we only get one newspaper on Wednesday from Stanwood/Camano News, so I was emptying my bin of saved rolls the other day and thought, hmm.  It worked like a charm.  So, I believe I will continue to save them even after I get all the seeds started.

I just purchased Put Em Up from Amazon.  It has sooooo many great canning recipes.  I can't wait to try some.  I will be making dinner rolls today as we have gone through the last bag in the freezer and these are so great to have and take out when needed.

I also want to try to make pita bread, but the thicker kind, not the thin, drier kind.  Will be trying this  pita bread recipe today.  I like the review where the lady said she used them as mini pizza dough.  Will have to try that with the kids.

Ok, off to feed the animals!  Have a super duper day!

Goodbye Joey

Well, we sold Joey to someone who needs a companion for his other goat.  A little sad to see him go, but that's how it goes.  Have a great life Joey!!  (Gus and the girls are doing fine.)

It ended up being sunny and pretty here today, but still cold, says 45, but feels cooler and I believe it is supposed to freeze again tonight.  Nothing like what I hear they are getting back east.  Whew!  I like snow, but there is a limit.  I guess if you were set up for it and had all emergency supplies in place you could make it work.

I just picked up some books from the library to help lay out the garden plan.  I am interested in trying to get the most possible yield from the 12 beds that we have.  I ordered some plants that stay in the same place for a couple of years, like asparagus and artichokes, so might put those elsewhere.  I have a book on complimentary plants and would like to try to incorporate that into the garden plan this year also.  Rick is going to be giving me some of the raspberry starts from the plants we used to have and I gave him some starts before, so will have raspberries this summer hopefully.

I also got a couple books from the library on edible landscaping, so am excited to read these.  The book I am just finishing now is "The Town That Food Saved".  Very interesting.

I am still thinking about sheep and definitely want to get a milk cow in the next year or so, if possible.

Off to work in the yard now.  Later!

Brr it's cold out there

28 degrees F this morning.  Little chilly, but have a nice fire going in the wood stove.  Speaking of which, I saw a really cool wood stove at Cold Antler Farm blog called the Vermont Bun Baker .  Kinda spendy, but a really cool idea.

Also, a new website for you to check out for interesting reading and reviews of books, farmbrarian.  Found some great books I now have on my hold list at the library.

We actually had our first batch of compost finished in the composter we got this last year.  YAY!!!  It is one that you turn every so often, and Rob and I just emptied out our first completed batch.   It is on the cleaned and resurrected garden beds.  I am trying to decide where to plant raspberries, corn and wheat.  I want to put the corn and wheat where I can rotate crops with them each year to put back into the soil what they take out.

No eggs yet, but hopefully any day soon, the chickens, who are now 17 weeks old, will start to pop them out.  I am making bread again this morning and yogurt also.  Always something to do.  I am also going to be making cauliflower soup from the Fit for Life book I have had forever.  There are some really great recipes in there.

Rob got the fence up around the garden, now to just put the gate on it.  He is deciding whether or not to make the fence a little higher just to make it harder for the deer to get in.

Enjoy your day!