Happy Birthday Hanna!

My sweet baby girl turned 4 today.


Hanna is growing up much too fast. For such a long time she seemed like the baby. Even after Griffin was born, she just seemed much more needy than him. I even worried that she might not be ready for school this past September. Even though she could write her own name, she wasn't toilet trained and couldn't put on her own shoes. That seemed to change overnight and suddenly she's an independent little girl. She is shy, but very bright and artistic girl. She loves to dance and draw and lately she has been a bit obsessed with letters and reading. She brought home her school photo a few days ago and immediately named every child in the photo and told me each of their first initials. "That's Karissa, and it is with a 'K' not a 'C'. And Bradley, he's got a 'B' and 'R' together, like 'br'."

Every year we ask the kids what they want to eat for their birthdays and they get to choose whether we eat at a restaurant or at home. Hanna was very specific this year. She wanted homemade macaroni with ketchup and a cake. And the cake was to be a chocolate cake in the shape of a heart with white icing and a rainbow on it. While she was out picking out a present with Grandpa, I iced the cake, with 3 very willing icing assistants.

She is going to have a friends' party another day, but she is having a hard time understanding that day is not the day of her birthday.

Kira could not stay out of the photos! She wanted to model one of Hanna's costumes.


I hope all your wishes come true!

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.