Git it

Most of us expect dogs to be protectors of homes and families, and playmates to our children, now Puck goes over and above. He's taken on the role of mouser. Cold weather is creeping in, and a mouse must have come into our house yesterday for warmth and our elderly cat Charlie is no longer up to the task. Puck stalked it for hours. He was sniffing under the fridge and then he would go stand outside the kitchen door to wait for it to come out. He just caught it, killed it and brought it to us to put into the garbage. Protecting our kitchen from dirty little varmints. Good dog. Stay vigilant! Use your OCD powers for good, not evil. He did not sleep much last night. He kept having to leave his bed in my room to run into the kitchen to see if any mice had come in.



He was pretty proud of his kill, I should have taken a photo of him with it. But the disgusting factor of a mouse was too much for me. I face a lot of gross things, but the sight of a little mouse sends me jumping onto furniture. Next time. This is the second time he's caught a mouse. Last winter, Bella woke me up at 3:30 to go out. As we walked by the kitchen, a mouse scurried across the floor and Puck raced in and pounced on it, stunning it. He kept pawing it until it was dead. But that was more of a fluke, what impressed me this time is that he stalked the mouse for a long time before catching it.

With him patrolling the house and Wicket patrolling the garage and breezeway by night and barn by day, I'm hopeful we won't have any mice inside this winter.

"Relatively healthy peanut-free snack"

That was the request from Kira's teacher for their Halloween Party the next day. I wanted to come up with something both adorable and creepy, both delicious and nutritious, but my creativity was all used up trying to take care of 6 kids and our homestead while Matt has been working out of town. I briefly thought of making a fruit tray. I needed a comfort food with a reference to pumpkins and since one of the mom's from Campbell's hockey team recently dubbed me the Cookie Queen, I felt pressure to bake cookies. Maybe subconsciously I was trying to practice a recipe on the schoolkids before I presented it to the hockey parents. So I found and modified this recipe. I thought the cookies turned out wonderfully, soft and mildly flavoured. But I wasn't sure what the school kids would make of them. I think it worked, since 3 teachers sent me requests asking for the recipe. Here it is for the rest of you to try:

"Relatively healthy peanut-free snack" PUMPKIN COOKIES

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine softened
1 cup mashed pumpkin (After our dinner was finished, I cut a pie pumpkin in half, took out the shells and roasted it in the oven at 325 for 1 hour. If you don't want to do that, you can use canned pumpkin.)
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Glaze:
2 cups icing sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Grease baking sheets.
COMBINE flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in medium bowl. Beat sugar and butter in large mixer bowl until well blended. Beat in pumpkin, egg and vanilla extract until smooth. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto prepared baking sheets.
BAKE for 15 to 18 minutes or until edges are firm. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.
COMBINE glaze ingredients in small bowl until smooth. Drizzle over cooled cookies.

Barnyard rebellion

We have been goat owners for about 14 months now. We have learned a lot, but we thought all of the stories we had heard about goats being trouble were just "romanticized" versions of life on a farm. Penny would just stand there watching us, and the girls were just playful little balls of fur, no trouble.

For the past couple of months, certain young hens have been flying the coop and invading goat territory. It started because they liked the sweet goat feed that would sometimes spill on the ground when the piggies, er I mean goats, were stuffing their faces. At first the goat girls would give them a little headbutt from time to time and the hens would all go back to their yard. Lately it has been getting worse and some days all 14 of our new hens would be in there (and even Sandy, the pesky little cockerel). None of the old hens were doing it though.

Well on Saturday the tables were turned. I looked up from the kitchen sink to see Daisy standing in the middle of the chicken yard. When I got outside I saw that Lily was there too. I'm trying not to anthropomorphize too much, but it felt like the goats were saying, "Lets see how you like us stealing your food and pooping in your yard!" I did a quick fence repair by hammering a few extra staples into the shared fence and attaching a piece of wood to the bottom to prevent them from going under. The next day, it was worse, all 3 goats were in there, even meek and mild old Penny. Damon thinks she only went in to scold her daughters.


Notice in the photo there are only 2 goats in the yard, that's when we figured out that a 100 lb goat squeezed into the chicken coop itself and were stealing grain. I brought my camera, but dropped it in the coop, losing all the batteries in the straw on the floor. By this time both girls were in the coop. I hung the feeder from the ceiling to keep it away from them while I tried to jam one stubborn and horned goat head through the 1 foot square door. While I was trying to shove her chubby body out, the other one opened up the can that we store the chicken feed in. Goats are so much smarter and stronger than chickens! Finally I managed to get them out of the coop and Damon got them through the fence.

Matt repaired their fence with many more staples and released them again. As soon as he let them out of their stall into their yard again, the first thing they did was tested his repair job. So far it's still holding.

As for the hens, there is one in the goat yard today. I hate to do it, but I may need to clip some wings around here.

Gobbled up

I just had to toot my own horn and mention that the turkey was AWESOME! It cooked faster than we had planned so I was worried that it was dried out, but it was still moist enough and probably the best tasting turkey I've had. He weighed about 25 lbs. Here's what we did with him.

Sunday - Roasted Turkey dinner with Moist Bread Stuffing, Gravy, Mashed Potatoes, Steamed Baby Carrots, Roasted Squash, and Cranberries. Dessert was a choice of Pumpkin Pie with Whipped cream, or Apple Pie with Vanilla Ice Cream. Served 18.
Monday - Pumpkin Pie for Breakfast! For lunch, Cold Turkey sandwiches with Mayo, Salt and Pepper. Served 10. Made 4 litres of Turkey Stock with the carcass.
Tuesday - Open-faced Turkey Sandwiches with Hot Gravy, re-fried Mashed potatoes, and green peas. Served 8
Wednesday - Crockpot Turkey Stew with Dumplings. Served 8
Thursday - Lunch, leftover turkey stew with Dumplings. Served 3.

Now it's all gone. I have one more saved in my freezer, the rest have been traded or sold to pay for the cost of raising turkeys.

There's a word for that...

After watching the turkeys in the yard, I think Ed should add a few more verses...


There's a word for that
What does it start with?
A word for that
I'd sound so smart if I only knew
The word for that
Perhaps you do?


snood [snuːd]
n
1. (Clothing & Fashion) a pouchlike hat, often of net, loosely holding a woman's hair at the back
2. (Clothing & Fashion) a headband, esp one formerly worn by young unmarried women in Scotland
3. (Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Veterinary Science) Vet science a long fleshy appendage that hangs over the upper beak of turkeys
vb
(Clothing & Fashion) (tr) to hold (the hair) in a snood
[Old English snōd; of obscure origin]

Okay, use it in a sentence.




Within a few minutes a Turkey Tom transforms his snood from a nubby pink bit to a disgustingly dangly thing.

From the orchard

A nest is tightly wedged among the ripe apples

Based on the cherry pits inside, I am guessing that it belonged to one of the robins.

Gotta go, gotta go, gotta go to MEXICO!

SO COOL! It's a boy! Those black oval-shaped things on the lower wings are his "boy parts". They were both boys. We released them into the garden and Kira, Hanna and Griffin danced and sang, "Gotta go, gotta go, gotta go to Mexico!"

Waiting for wings!

Princess Flower

And Tiny

Do you see the changes from last week's photos? The pattern of monarch wings can be seen through the coccoon. It can't be too much longer...

Update on the girl's project

Today's the day. Last night we noticed that Princess Flower was on the lid of the bucket, Tiny was still busy eating. But throughout the day Tiny followed suit and attached himself to the ventilation screen on the lid.

Here's a close up of the tiny hairlike fibres that Tiny is attaching to the screen.
Now he's into position.

Time elapsed. Okay, really it is Princess Flower's coccoon (with Tiny getting ready in the background).

The Cat is out of the Bag, er the Barn.

Introducing the newest resident of our homestead....WICKET.


Wicket is a 1 year old neutered male long-haired black cat. He is very affectionate, but I've been told he's a stealth hunter too. He is our city-turned-country version of a barncat. He lived with a young family in the city, but he loves being outside. His second owner decided that her home was too close to a busy road and he refused to stay in her house.

We picked him up a week and a half ago. Today was his first day outside and he has been wonderful all day. Every time one of us goes outside, he comes running over to rub against our legs. He even rubs against the dogs legs. And a few of the young pullets have hopped out of their yard and are running loose and he hasn't shown any signs of hunting them. He is still afraid of the goats, but he is getting used to the turkeys.

He's still settling in, but so far things are going great.

Update on the girl's project

One week later, the caterpillars have definitely grown!

Something the girlies are doing right now...

The is our second experience of hatching a monarch butterfly. The first time we hatched "Queenie" and released her the day we got home from Wawa. We have grown milkweed in our front garden to attract butterflies there (there are millions of milkweed plants growing out back). We collected 2 leaves with tiny white eggs and within a few days these little caterpillars emerged. The girls feed "Princess Flower" and "Tiny" fresh milkweed leaves every day.

The night before we left for Wawa, I watched a beautiful movie called "Four Wings and a Prayer" about the life of Monarch Butterflies. We thought it was kind of cool to be witnessing "Queenie" and her transformation, but after seeing this movie, the experience took on even more meaning.

Stay tuned for updates...

In the neighbourhood

While we were away on vacation, Patrick's friend's grandfather left a message on our machine. He told us that he had a new foal and he wanted to know if the kids wanted to come and see him. Redundant question. So we called him back and after lunch we got in the car and headed over (He lives 2 roads over from us). These are Haflingers that are trained to pull wagons. G uses them in parades, and gives rides either for free or he sometimes does it as a fundraiser for charities. Earlier in the summer, G was nice enough to take us out in a wagon pulled by 2 of his other haflingers.

The girls picked weed flowers and put them in the colt's halter.


Griffin had no fear. After looking at the mare and colt, we went to the cattle barn, where G has retired dairy cows on one side and beef cattle on the other side. Griffin tried to climb in with them. He had his hand outreached to them to pet them and he was so disappointed when they backed away from him. G grabbed a dairy cow and brought her close enough for him to pet and he was happy.

Summer cooking

Roadside

On the road to Steep Hill Falls in Wawa, we saw this young bear.

He continued to eat for a few minues.

Finally he decided to head for the trees.

Oatmeal Apple Crisp

I am here at the cottage. When we come up here, we usually bring lots of early apples from our trees. We give some away to people we know, the kids eat a bunch of them on the drive down, but inevitably we end up with extra apples that start to go bad by the second week here. I use a few different recipes for Apple Crisp, and tonight I used the following version and it was scrumptious. Good comfort food on a foggy day.

I don't have a copy of it at home, so I thought I would post it here so I don't ever lose it again. I can always search for it.

Oatmeal Apple Crisp
Serves 8 (I make a double recipe as we have usually have 10 or more to feed)

Topping
1 cup Oatmeal
1/3 cup flour
3/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup melted butter or margarine

Apple Mixture
5 peeled and sliced large cooking apples
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C).
Topping: In bowl, combine oatmeal, flour, brown sugar, and salt. Stir in melted butter until crumbly. Set aside.

Apple Mixture: Place apples, in greased 9 inch (2L) square pan (When I double it, I use a 9X13 casserole). Sprinkle lemon juice and brown sugar.

Sprinkle crumb mixture evenly over apples.

Bake 30-40 minutes or until apples are tender and topping is golden brown.

Tonight I made this before we started cooking dinner. I turned off the oven and left the dish in the oven while we made and ate dinner. We served each piece with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Yummy.

Like bumps on a log

I love this photo. We are on vacation in Wawa. The kids are having a great time.

View out there

Just outside the patio door.

Farewell Brownie

I'm very sorry for what happened to you. I feel partially responsible, but I really thought that giving you to the neighbour was the best thing for you. I was worried about a coyote getting you in my yard, I really didn't expect that the neighbour's chickens would do that to you. If I knew they were capable of that I would have let you stay here. I'm still not sure how we will tell Kira. She loved you very much and she didn't want to let you go to the neighbours, I convinced her that it was the best thing for you. We will do everything we can to take care of Sandy for you.

New favourite expression

Griffin has recently started making this face when something displeases him. Sometimes he even crosses his arms in front of him. He's turning into such a toddler. I just want to scoop him up and hug him when I see him do it.

Enthusiasm

The Graduate

As the rest of North Eastern North America was feeling vibrations from an earthquake, we watched Kira "graduate" from kindergarten.

Behind the wheel

The lad loves the camera (shhhh, don't tell him that the car he was handed down is PINK!)

mmmmfudgsiclesmmmm

Our FIFA World Cake

Recently, Campbell finally had the soccer party he wanted. His birthday was in April, but because he wanted an outdoor party we postponed it until June in hopes of having a better chance of good weather. April was splendid, June was cold and wet, who knew? Even though it rained, they played on!

Around the backyard

New Connection!

Wireless High Speed has finally found its way to us. We did have to install a big tripod and extension just to get it.

It feels strange to be able to blog again, post photos again, chat again, etc. I'm not sure what to do first.

Tough Nut

In the midst of our flood damage and impending Christmas. Matt drove Damon to one of his hockey practices. I had given them a grocery list of things to pick up on the way home. Matt forgot the list on the front seat of his jeep, so he sent Damon out to get it. As he was closing the jeep door, he must have been leaning on the doorframe with his hand and got his thumb caught in the door. OUCH!

He went into the store to give Matt the list. By the time they got home, his thumb was purple. But he still had movement, so we thought that it must just be a bad bruise. We put a bandadge on, he took some Advil and went to bed. The next morning Damon woke up and his thumb had swelled so much that he could not move it anymore. He was in pain and so I gave him some Advil. The other 2 boys got on the bus and then we waited for the carpenters to arrive to install the subfloors in the lower level. Once they arrived, we left them here while we went to the emergency department.

When we arrived with the 3 little ones in tow, the triage nurse was quite rude. She asked me who the patient was, and she said that she didn't want me bringing the little ones into the triage room and that Damon would be fine by himself. Without giving me any time to respond that while he may look 16, he is only 11, she closed the door on me. An 11 year old may be able to tell her what happened to his thumb, but he is not able to tell her about drug allergies, medical history, etc.! As I waited, my discontent grew. When she sent Damon back out to wait with me, she seemed apologetic. Maybe it was her trying to make up for her mistake, but we were called in very soon after. Damon did indeed have a broken thumb. It was an open and complete fracture, so he was given antibiotics and his thumb was wrapped in a splint. The doctor said that he would need to keep that on for a few days, and that he probably wouldn't be able to play hockey for about 2 weeks. She said that after a few days it would be self limiting.

Damon had a game that night in a city 1 1/2 hours away. So I emailed his coaches to tell them the bad news. He went to the game to support his team. The next day he went to school. On the third day, he woke up, ran up the stairs with his thumb unwrapped, saying, "I can play hockey now." We thought he was being optimistic, and expected that once he had a hockey stick in his hand it would feel differently. Now if it was a broken leg or arm, my response would have been different, but being a thumb, I wasn't too worried about re-injury. I emailed the coaches, telling them that he would like to play if that is okay, but to be prepared for him to stop playing if it caused pain. They said that would be great if he wanted to try.

He did. He played the entire game, and he played well!


Damon is so tough, it is sometimes confusing for me when I try to help him when he is sick or injured, because I always have to wonder if things are worse then he lets on. For example when he was having difficulty waking up in the mornings, and he was complaining about fatigue at night. I threatened him that if he was going to give me such a hard time about waking up for school, I was going to take him to the doctor's office. He gave me a hard time, so I took him one afternoon. The doctor sent him for bloodwork which revealed that he has low iron levels. The doctor feels that it just because the tremendous growth he has had in the past year has used up his reserves and he advised me to make extra efforts to give him foods that are high in iron. He isn't a fan of spinach or liver, but Damon was very happy that his very favourite food, cereal, is fortified with iron. He is delighted that he can now eat as much as he wants. He has been feeling a little bit better since we've made those extra efforts.

I don't understand why his tough resiliency leaves me with a sense of pride and awe.