Wet noodles, possibilities abound, but next to impossible to push up a hill.  Long time no blog, we've been spending much of our time attending special meetings with our church, while we've found the ministry timely and motivating, and Grace has been having a wonderful time playing the ever social butterfly, we are played out.  This, coupled with the two kids and puppy each waking us at some point through the night, has rendered us mildly train wrecked and in dire need of a full 8 hours. Our families equilibrium is slightly off kilter thereby voiding the invaluable parental adage of "pick your battles" and amplifying the potential for all out combat.  Grace's compliance has been replaced by outright defiance mixed with a healthy dose of insolence, evoking a myriad of consequential threats of lost privileges for her disobedience, and earning her the title of Wet Noodle.  Everybody is off to bed early with a prayer for patience and uninterrupted sleep, truth be told, poor Grace isn't the only Wet Noodle among us and obviously it is not her fault that she is so exhausted.

Max, our very intuitive puppy has taken notice of the fact that our farm already has a dog, but is without a rooster, and has assumed the, self professed, important roll of alarm clock.  Promptly at 6:30am a small squeak can be heard from his kennel and, if this produces no response from our bedrooms, will amplify into something to rival the Tom Cats in Springtime until a response is issued.  This, of course, is not typically the response his smiling, waggly self is expecting, but not to be downtrodden, he continues his orchestral performance until at least one of us gets up for the day with him.  He has been an excellent sleeper until just lately, however after 4 nights of repeat performances, and many attempts at distracting him, tonight is his final chance to avoid becoming the "Barn Dog" he was intended for upon joining our family in the first place.

The animals continue to endure the nasty weather, but not without disdain for being confined to the barns, and yet they refuse to go out when the opportunity is offered to them.  It seems they too are a tad off kilter and the threat of an "Animal Farm" style revolution of sorts may possibly be on the horizon.  The truth is, they have the option of coming and going in the barns, but with the stormy weather they seem happiest being miserable on the inside looking out.


RECIPE:

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Tomorrow Grace and I plan to do a bit of baking and this is one of our favourite Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes which we will likely be making.  Immediately after baking I put them in the freezer to eliminate my temptations, that way Jamie and the kids can thaw them as they like and they stay fresh for a very long time.

1 cup Butter
3/4 cup Brown Sugar
3/4 cup White Sugar
2 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla
2 1/4 cup Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1 1/2 cups Milk Chocolate Chips

Cream the sugars and butter then mix remaining ingredients.  Drop from spoon onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes until lightly browned and they return to their shape when lightly dented with finger. 

Grace has evolved into our friendly household Toilet paper Nazi.  Each trip to the bathroom produces a lengthy conversation as to the "cushioniness", or lack there of, of the brand we are using and the benefits of employing a brand with the highest level of "absorbency" (Grace's new favourite word).  She has taken to squeezing and poking each roll in the holder and then choosing the softest one (in her opinion) available, which is subject to debate considering each roll that she checks is from the same package.  Grace continues in her fascination with the No No Hair Remover from Radiance, or "Radiancey" as she calls it.  Today she asked me to help her order one as she just found a red bump on her arm and the No No is guaranteed to reduce this cosmetic dilemma, and as she so aptly informed me, "it is used in 50 different countries so it's gotta be good".

THE BUNKHOUSE (POPPA B.'S DIGS)

Wayne or Poppa B. as we call him, has been visiting with us since yesterday, so last evening we had him and Jamie's parents in for supper and later another family friend arrived for a visit.  Our visitor now lives in our area, but grew up almost 2 hours away, where Wayne is from and they are close to ages, so our evening was full of reminiscent stories of days past.  Lots of stories of how they both travelled "West" to work in logging camps and all the antics they got into.  Of course there are always the "One up ya" stories where with each new story the tale gets "just a bit" bigger or better then the other guys, so there was lots of entertainment.

EVER FEEL LIKE YOU'RE BEING WATCHED??

BULLY CHILLIN' WITH THE GIRLS

THREE OF A KIND??

I'm twitchy these days.  Spring seems to be sprung, or is at least moving in the general direction of sprung, and I often find myself, nose pressed to the window, wishing through shades of breathy fog, to be on the outside.  It starts with a lazy, somewhat wistful notion, and gradually manifests itself into something of an obsessive, eyes bulging, vein popping, hysterical, claustrophobic, twitch.  Nanny Walk came to my rescue today and kept Bethany while Grace and I headed out to the barn with Jamie and Poppa B. 

Now, Poppa B. is the kind of guy that can get stuff done, if nothing else, he is the kind of guy that motivates people to get things done.  It's been a couple of years since we've had our Clydesdale mare "Tilly" hitched and we've been making plans all winter to start getting her going again, with the time off and the anticipation of starting all over again, we've been putting it off all winter.  No more, Poppa B. arrived yesterday with a wonderful little homemade sleigh (complete with a "Welcome to The Community of Cavendish" sign on the front..........I wonder where it came from??) for us to use that would be much more friendly for Tilly to start back to work in, then our big wood sleigh.  So, with Grace and I standing in the barnyard with great anticipation for a big dramatic rodeo event, Tilly was hitched to the new sleigh.  As Wayne stood at her head and Jamie climbed up with reins in hand, I held my breath and said a little prayer as Tilly leaned in, and gently walked away as though she'd been hitched daily for the past 2 years.  Grace and I spent the afternoon bumbling around the farm with Tilly in the sleigh, I couldn't help but be a little proud of her and can't wait to go again soon.

GETTING READY FOR THE RODEO

AND HERE IT IS!!  WHAT A GOOD GIRL

TIME FOR A BREATHER

JAMIE, GRACE AND I (THE BEAR ON GRACE'S HEAD IS HER FAVOURITE HAT, SHE LOVES TO SAY TO  PEOPLE, WHEN THEY TELL HER "NICE BEAR", "DON'T WORRY, IT'S JUST A HAT"

After we brought Tilly back to the barn, Grace wanted to take Hiccup out for a bit, so we fitted him to his fancy new harness, which gave him all the appeal of a sausage exploding from it's casing (apparently our winter feed quality is fine) and did some ground driving, in preparation to hitch him eventually.  Then Grace, after having a couple of falls from Hiccup previously, suggested that she take "baby steps" and ride him.  So with Hiccup geared up in saddle and bridle, and Grace geared up with courage and her "Brain Bucket" (as she calls it) on her head, we set out in small circles in the barnyard.  Hiccup was his ever pleasant and accommodating self, seeming to enjoy the extra attention and a job to do, until our puppy Max tested the electric fence with his tail.  As he shot into the field at mock speed, it looked like Mr. Hiccup would make it through the scene with all his nerves in tact, but apparently he was shocked dumb by the frantic screaming blur rampaging across the pasture, because it took him a full second or so before he reacted with one giant leap in surprise.  This only mildly unseated Grace and while she hung on like a pro as I brought Hiccup to a stop, I looked up into very watery eyes as she insisted she was getting off.  After encouraging her to stay put for a moment while we patted Hiccup and I explained to her what had happened, we talked about these baby steps we are taking as we train Hiccup, and how they are to make her and him braver.  Still quite frazzled she insisted that she was getting off "because he bucked and that's what he did at her first horse show and she fell off".  I asked her again what happened at the show, to which she reminded me that Hiccup bucked, then I asked her what happened next and she answered that she had fallen off.  Next I asked her what happened just now and she told me that Hiccup bucked, and when I asked her where she was at right now, her frown turned upside down and with a huge grin of realisation she told me she was still on Hiccup.  She then decided the baby steps must be working and that she would ride for a bit longer, which all thankfully went great and she couldn't have been more pleased to tell everyone of her adventure.

After a couple of days to ponder the woods situation, Jamie attacked it with a new zeal this afternoon and packed a better road in with the mild weather, he even pulled out some good trees to ad to the pile of lumbar for our house.

BEDDING THE CATTLE BEFORE HEADING TO THE WOODS

THE LAST OF NEXT YEARS FIREWOOD READY TO HAUL HOME

Our evening wrapped up with the wood stove nearly forcing us all into a coma as we sipped tea and chatted with Poppa B. while both girls vied for his undivided attention, until they were forced into their beds for the night.  Bethany, our wonderful little sleeper has decided the last few nights to see if she can scream loud enough that we will come and rescue her from her crib, so after about 5 minutes of hair raising protest she dove headlong into dreamland.  With Grace finding more creative ways to stall the whole nuisance of bedtime such as an arm that wouldn't stop itching so she needed skin cream, her throat was dry and she needed water and in one final effort her 50 teddy bears she'd packed into her bed were taking up too much room and she "just couldn't get comfy".

RECIPE:

Homemade White Bread

Yesterday was bread making day at our house, I typically make enough to do us about a month and freeze it, thought I'd share our recipe.  This can easily be cut in half to make 5 loaves, but the following recipe will make between 8 and 10 loaves depending on the humidity, the air, it's mood, migration patterns......well, it can vary.

6 TBSP Active Dry Yeast
3 cups warm water
Place yeast in warm water and sprinkle with a small amount of sugar to keep the yeast from floating, allow to soak and activate while mixing the dry ingredients.

20 cups white flour (I try to use unbleached)
1 TBSP Salt
2/3 cup White Sugar
1/3 cup oil

Once dry ingredients are mixed pull to one side of the bowl and add the yeast/water mixture with an additional 7 cups of warm water, mix until combined, you may find you need an extra cup or two of water if dough is dry.  Once incorporated and a big sticky glob, begin adding flour and kneading dough until it forms a ball.  Turn out onto floured surface and continue kneading and adding flour until dough is elastic (appx 10-15 minutes of kneading).  Place back in cleaned and greased bowl and allow to raise until double in bulk (appx 1/2 hr - 45 minutes), punch down, raise again until double (appx 20 minutes to 1/2 hr), punch down (this is Grace's favourite part) then cut into balls and place two in each greased bread pan.  Allow to raise until double (appx 1/2 hr or so) and place in preheated 350 degree oven.  Cook until light and golden (40-45 minutes) Brush with butter while hot if you like.

CLEAN UP CREW!

A GOOD NIGHT SNUGGLE WITH POPPA B.

"You're never exactly going to be Twiggy Mag", words spoken by one of my most cherished, and missed, friends, a vivacious lady with a quick and hilariously sarcastic, often cynical, sense of humour, my Grammy.  While the statement may have been irritatingly accurate, I have been at war with the proverbial bulge for as long as I can remember.  As is often the way in our human species, my earliest complaints were unnecessary and I now find myself praying to be the target of a random act of liposuction, to reset me to the size I was, when I thought I was fat.    Weight loss, for me, is a mindset, a sort of Calorie Busting Mojo that proved itself elusive in my earlier attempts, it was far easier to assume a "trying is the first step to failing" attitude and leave well enough alone.  When Grace was about a year old I found myself at my heaviest weight, perturbed every morning with choosing which tent (in my mind) I'd wear for the day, I was embarrassed by what I'd allowed myself to become and felt as though I'd lost my "it" factor.  So, after a couple of "Poor Me" days I got up and began a wheezy, creaky and winded journey to shed 100 pounds. About 1.5yrs ago  I had 70 pounds of the journey completed, when we received the wonderful news that Bethany was on her way.  Now, we'd been planning another baby and were thrilled overall by the news, but babies are hard on the figure, and I still had a ways to go before I could rival with Twiggy. Of course we couldn't be more pleased to have Bethany in our family, she is the biggest little person I know and seemingly overflows with the love she has to share.  However, all these months later, my weight gain fears affirmed, I find myself once again searching for my Mojo.  I've had a few false starts already and I realise it was a lack of the right attitude holding me back,  I'm finally finding my motivation once again and creaking back into motion.  We all have our ideals and while Twiggy status doesn't actually interest me, I feel that it is a courtesy of sorts to take care of the body God has blessed me with.  So with recycled courage, and my "ideal" stamped somewhere in the miles I have to pass over, I'm hitting the pavement once again.

TRYING OUT MAX'S NEW DIGS

The farm is rolling along as usual, we've had no more coyote scares, although I am sure they are ever present.  At any random time the cattle will all lift their heads in unison and stare wide eyed at the woods below there field, as though they can see something that we can't.  We are planning on running the rest of the herd through this weekend for worming and what not, this requires some strategic planning and usually creates an impromptu adventure for Jamie and I (and likely the cows too).  Jamie has been trying to work in the woods and cut enough lumber for our house, but the snow has officially become deep enough that the tractors are getting stuck. After a  very time consuming tow out, complete with broken tow chains and what seemed like hours spent digging and towing, he came home and cried Uncle, and our house building project is beginning to appear farther away then we'd hoped, but we are warm, dry and cosy in our little home.  

PLAYING IN THE SUN

The horses are wintering well, all fat and snug in their winter Jammies, Jamie and Hiccup, Grace's pony, however have developed a sort of Cat and Mouse relationship.  Ponies seem to be in a constant internal battle of good and evil, and Hiccup's struggle as of late is typically won by the least desirable side.  Each morning as Jamie is putting them out, he follows the mares like the true gentleman his "good side" truly is, then, at precisely the right time, his "evil side" steamrolls the good and carries Hiccup away on a merry adventure to everywhere but in the field.  This is often just in exuberant circles of bucking and kicking up his heels (and according to Jamie, sticking out his tongue and giggling), just out of Jamie's reach.  This causes the mares to run frantically in the pasture which in turn only encourages the egotistical Devil Pony to continue on his rampage.  It usually ends by Hiccup being left to his antics while Jamie allows the smoke to clear, and at some point in the morning, he is able to cajole the pony into the field, from which he will excitedly return to the barn for his oats and a rest so he can repeat the process the next morning.




MAX TRYING HIS HAND AT HERDING



ABORT MISSION!

The kids, like Hiccup are in a constant internal struggle of good and, well, not so good.  Grace swings like a pendulum from being the, self proclaimed, "best big sister in the world", to every little sister's arch enemy.  One minute she is offering to teach Bethany, or Bef, as she calls her, how to play her piano, the next she is yellingg at her for taking over when she doesn't even know how to play (as though Bethany's 4yr old teacher that is madly mashing the keys is a higher achieved pianist).  Often Grace will, in a spontaneous outburst of will to be a "great big sister" share her stuffed animals with her little sister, and moments later snatch it back, which inevitably causes screeching from her little sister, which of course, causes a reaction from me.  Then, in an attempts to amend the situation Grace will dive headlong in the other direction and the next time I look Bethany is all but drowning in a colourful sea of miscellaneous wildlife.  Beth has learned how to unplug the computer mouse and I am convinced, she lurks in the shadows for some unsuspecting computer user to happen by so she can stealthily trip over their feet and roll in under the desk to unplug it.  If the said Computer User happens to be Grace playing her games, this invariably renders a screech for someone to remove "Bef, cause she's 'noyin' me", which invariably renders a screech from Bef cause I'm 'noyin' her by removing her.  I am then left to wonder what raising teens will be like.

There is something to be said about the persona one develops upon donning a pair of chic Green Rubber Boots and a pair of gargantuan coveralls that would rival even the trendiest of Moo Moos.  Something to be said about what one experiences (or at least what runs through ones mind) while traipsing around after, and cajoling, animals often ten times the size of the average human.  Animals possessing all the social graces of a stampeding Rhino, through slippery, slimy pens of every hue of Camo a Cow can possibly produce. What exactly can be said is a matter of relativity I suppose, and one where a persons mental stability may be scrutinised by any passing onlooker. For Jamie and I, the experience characterises time well spent together, doing the work we enjoy.  Oh sure, we both entertain, and humour ourselves by believing, the romanticised notions of doing our part in feeding the world, however the satisfying, and somewhat selfish ,spin off,  is the enjoyment we share in seeing sleek, fat, happy and healthy cattle in our pastures, and is validation that all the long hours and expended energy has paid off.  Being one of the blessed few able to hang on by working both on and off of the farm, in lean times with the BSE crisis, we are finally seeing a revival in the cattle industry, and while it's not exactly booming, it makes us hopeful that the lifestyle we so enjoy is also a viable one for our family.

JAMIE GETTING READY TO WORM A YOUNG BULL

ALL READY TO GO BACK WITH HIS BUDDIES

Yesterday Jamie and I did herd health on a pen of 18 yearling feeder cattle.  This involves everything from inoculating and worming the calves to castrating young bulls, and of the 18 that we run through, 14 were bulls, so it took a bit of extra time.  We have shifted our practises in the last few years from a more invasive method of castration, one that tended to set our calves back for a while, to one less stressful for everyone involved.  The result then being that the calves are up playing and eating as soon as the procedure is done.  We have also been breeding our cows to produce polled offspring, so unlike years ago when nearly every animal had to be dehorned, we only had 2 in the pen that had to be done. Again, this reduces stress on our calves which improves their rate of weight gain, and is more ideal for their well being over all.  Happy, relaxed cows = happy and uninjured farmers. 

Today has been a "catch up the housework day", although my rate of productivity has yet to be determined.  I've spent much of it humouring Grace with quick bouts of entertainment due to her unending declarations of how booooorrrreeddd she is.  I finally decided to call in back-up by inviting her cousins down for some sledding on our lane, after I tried to distract her from building a Space Travel Machine in our living room by doing the Hand Jive.  She only got frusterated by my diversion and informed me that my "moves are very 'noyin'" and then yelled at me to get her some tape.

A PAUSE TO CONTEMPLATE THE MAKINGS OF A SPACE TRAVEL MACHINE

This evening we've made plans to take the girls to the park for some sledding and skating. It's a special event for us because Jamie is able to take time off and join in the fun, and as Grace excitedly informed him earlier, he will likely scream like a girl.



RECIPE:

Hodgpodge

This is one of my favourite chowders, especially in the winter, and as the name indicates, it is a mixture of whatever you have on hand and is a great leftover for the next day.  Here is my staple variation.

10-12 Breakfast Sausage Links sliced small OR 1/2 lb bacon and 3 chicken breasts chopped
1/4 Cup chopped Onion
3 Celery Stalks
5-6 medium Potatoes
4-5 medium Carrots grated
3 cups of frozen Corn
2 cups of frozen Peas
3 cups Chicken/Beef or Vegetable Stock
1-1 1/2 litres of Milk
Salt and Pepper to taste

Start by lightly browning the proteins and Onion and Celery together in a large soup pot, when browned and veggies are transparent, deglaze the pot with stock and add in diced potatoes, continue cooking until fork tender, then add the milk and remaining veggies, let simmer along until all veggies are soft.  Add Salt and Pepper to taste, then using a potato masher begin mashing the soup, this will break up the potatoes and thicken the soup.  Now, here is a step I find necessary when using Sausages in the soup, after the soup is done, turn off the heat and let sit for 15-20 minutes or until the fats rise to the top, then skim.  I continue skimming until little to no grease rises to the surface.

HAVE FAITH, SPRING IS COMMING!

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Road trip!  Yesterday was road trip day, they can be few and far between for us, but we love to hit the road whenever the opportunity comes up and because Jamie needed to look at a loader for one of our tractors and to pick up some parts, and the girls needed a few new clothes, we made it a family affair and struck out on a loose trail for Charlottetown, about 1.5 hours away.  Before we can leave the farm there is always the usual run of chores to be done, so first Jamie set out to do the condensed version while I got the girls ready for the day.  This typically involves all the preparation and packing that an average person might require for a  two week vacation to Hawaii.  So after both girls were run through the bath and endured all the Medieval style torture involved in having their hair done, we packed up extra clothes (because kids will get dirty in even the most sterile environment), diapers, wipes, formula, Jammies (so they could be all ready for bed when we get home), snow clothes (just in case we happen to stop at someone Else's farm), videos to entertain Grace on the trip and, after a quick frozen pizza for lunch, we hit the road.

Our first stop for tractor parts landed us about 20 minutes off the highway (which wound up being 30 because we took a shortcut) only to find the guy that knew we were coming, decided not to be home.  Then we stopped to look at the loader which was worth appx. 1/4 of the asking price and continued onto to Town.  Jamie dropped us girls off at a store while he continued his quest for parts, the goal there being that I would start the my own quest for the girl's clothes and possibly find some Throw Pillows for the couch, as our prehistoric pillows disintegrated awhile back.  After mixing a bottle for Bethany, and making two trips to find a bathroom, we had some success in the search for clothes and turned our attention to the pillows. Pillows which proved themselves elusive due to the fact that I was looking for cheap old "Throw" pillows and all this store had was their distant, and more costly cousin, cleverly disguising themselves as Throw Pillows but really named "Pillows of Gold That Will Make Your Couch Look Like A Bejewelled Throne So Keep Your Oily Fingers Off Them".  The very name "Throw" Pillow denotes something inexpensive, it will be "thrown" onto our couch and picked up a hundred times a day after being "thrown" on the floor.  It will be drug around by kids and puppy, and drooled on by the same, and a few others.  OK, so this is not something that I shop for often and quite frankly had no clue that the two I picked in the clearance bin for $6.99 a piece, and then put back to find something cheaper (and a better match for our living room), was really a steal.  The Girls and I walked to the next store while we waited for Jamie, a home decorating store, I was sure I would find what I was looking for.  Heading straight to their clearance bins I found beautiful, and matching pillows of all shapes, sizes and designs and quickly wished I'd bought the $6.99 ones as I looked at the discounted price tags of $49.99 on my perfect pillow. Our couch remains naked and will for a while yet.

Our next search was for a Beanbag Chair.  After a marathon Goose Chase for tractor parts which lead Jamie over half of Charlottetown, but finally yielded what he was looking for, he picked the rather bedraggled girls and I up and we continued on.  Now, a farmer doesn't get to socialise off the farm very often, so when he does and if by chance he meets another farmer, whom also doesn't "get out much", it can yield an unlimited amount of time standing in the unusual places for a visit.  Needless to say there were several acquaintances out that Jamie recognised, which then produced (for me and the girls) marathon waits in both the Men's Underwear section at Wal Mart and at the Gas Pumps on the way home.

Grace has wanted a Beanbag Chair for sometime and we've looked at many, last night we finally found what we were looking for and made the purchase.  Beanbag Chairs, a seemingly genius invention that can bring nothing but endless hours of entertaining and comfortable sitting convenience.  As we would later find out, while this may be somewhat accurate, it seems as though the plastic bag that the beans come in should in fact be made of titanium, because when even the tiniest rip occurs, oh say, in the car's trunk as a not so hypothetical example, it creates a blizzard of tiny Styrofoam balls that spread like feathers and continue doing so from the trunk, down the hill, and all over the entry floor. These said balls, being Styrofoam, and having spent who knows how long in a plastic bag are also so electrically charged that, like swarming bees, attach themselves by the thousands to anything they can stick to. This immediately rendered a "May as well laugh as cry" response from both me and Jamie as we struggled to wipe ourselves clear of the sticky mess.

And so our evening in the city came to an end amongst a throng of happy texters, with their twitchy fingers  chatting away to the characters inside their various communication devices, blissfully unaware of our family's passing as we narrowly escaped collisions with the oblivious and frenzied typists.  We made our way to the MacDonald's Fun House where Grace met who she affectionately named "Mean Girl" and also who, when Grace socially introduced herself, stuck out her tongue and spit at her, which immediately caused Grace to ask whom her mother was so she could report the incident.  She spent the rest of her time trying to win Mean Girl over and when she got any response that could be deciphered as favourable from the little girl, she rejoiced by yelling from the top of the playground "Hey, Guys, Mean Girl smiled at me!", or Hey, Guys, Mean Girl is being nice and stopped spitting at me!"

TIGHT QUARTERS  FOR A SNUGGLE

Valentines day, Love Day, Heart Day.  It started out with a special surprise, Jamie and I woke up, rolled over to face each other, and happily realised that this was the first conscious encounter we'd had with each other since the previous evening, there by denoting that Bethany had not gotten us up through the night for the first time in a couple of months.  Normally a great little sleeper, she is currently bringing in all 4 of her eye teeth at once and seems to require a bit extra moral support. 

So as we relished the unfamiliar feeling of being fully conscious upon getting out of bed, we continued on the mornings rituals of coffee, Jamie sitting with his bible and coffee and then on to breakfast with coffee.  Until Grace, clad in Jammies and fuzzy braids came shooting out of her cave with a bag of Valentines that she'd painstakingly made with love for as many people as she could think of, and jumped on me (well more into me like a Freightliner) with a hug and a "Happy Valentines Day!"  VALENTINES DAY!!   I momentarily went dear in the headlights, valentines day, Grace has been counting sleeps for weeks, preparing lists of who would get her valentines, asking what kind of treats I would make for the special day, and I forgot all about it.  Quickly regaining both my feet and composure I did the expected "oooohs" and "awwwws" over my beautiful card and when she asked me what I got her I told her that because of the storm I'd decided to take her to the store to pick out her own special treat.  Then, Jamie and I somewhat sheepishly wished each other a Happy Valentines day and as is our custom on this world renowned day of love, apologised for the lack gifts for one another.  Then Jamie left for the morning chores with one more apology that he hadn't gotten anywhere to get me flowers.

MY BEAUTIFUL VALENTINES FLOWERS

After a somewhat productive morning of housework, the girls and I set out for our Valentines day shopping.  Grace has had her eye on a Webkin for ages now and I always meet her request with a "not today" so, of course, this being the first thing she picked, and I, still feeling a bit guilty, I immediately jumped on the opportunity to be "the best Mom and in the world" and told her to pick one out.  Next onto the cards where she lovingly took 2 seconds and picked Jamie out a snazzy Singing Spiderman Card then asked which one I was going to get him.  I gulped back a snicker and launched into the spirit of things just to find the only cards that were left were those sappy ones that make an ordinary person feel a bit nauseated just before heaving it into the trash.  Here is where I really must interject with the fact that Jamie and I have an incredibly happy marriage and mean the world to one another, but the thing is, we're possibly not what one might call, conventional.  Certainly not sappy.  I told Grace that I thought I could draw him a more appropriate card but she insisted, so I took the least sappy card I could find.  Which incidentaly crossed the somewhat fuzzy, gray line between "the sappy card no one wants to read' and the card that quite possibly "no one should read" and gave thanks for the fact that Grace didn't insist I read it to her.  Then we picked him out some body soap and a new toothbrush and stuffed it all in a gift bag with our cards, we later added to this a Kit Kat bar, which is his favourite and had been in our cupboard for the last 2 weeks.  Our next stop was the grocery store, still feeling the spirit of the day, I decided to surprise Jamie with a nice Scallop Stir Fry for supper.  As we were checking out Grace came over to me carrying a beautiful bouquet of flowers, dropped down on one knee by front cash and asks me to be her Valentine.  After thanking her for being so thoughtful and helping her to her feet with a hug, I told her to go put back the expensive flowers.  Then feeling horribly guilty upon seeing her little face fall I was quickly saved by the 5.99 Grab and Go Bouquets and told her I would love it if she picked me out one from there, to which she said, "great, now I can tell Daddy "I" got them for you!"

OUR OLD DAIRY BARN (NOW A FEEDER BARN)

Coyotes have been making there presence known around the farm for the past couple of weeks and we are now seeing tracks right in our front yard.  The animals around the farm go through spurts of anxiety and we can't help but assume that the coyotes are somewhere that the cattle are aware of and we aren't.  Even little Max is nervous to go outside at night, so we know something must be up (or he is too lazy to leave the doorstep to relieve himself, either way it's win win for him as he just does it on the deck and runs straight back into the house)  At about 3:30 a.m he needed to go out and then refused when I opened the door for him, so I shoved him out with second thoughts that I may have just created a late night snack for whatever might be out there. Max did his usual nighttime peeing on the deck routine and then must have decided he had more business to attend to as he trotted over to the steps, started down, then stopped and stared up the hill and started making a strange squeaky noise, (much like his toy poodle does when he tries to disembowel it) and shaking, just sat on the top step with his front feet on the next one down, staring.  In the end he ran back to the door and scratched frantically until I got it opened and let him in.

Jamie has been doing an engine job on one of our old tractors and so his last couple of days have been spent in our little workshop with the wood stove going, tearing this tractor apart.  After the -20 weather the last couple of days our water lines to the livestock froze and then busted so much of his day today was spent scooping out water and plumbing.  Our snow accumulation doesn't nearly compare to last winters so things are much easier to get done, but after this last snowfall it has definitely made the going a bit tougher and put a stop to the woods work for now.  Jamie was getting stuck today just in our yard trying to get the tractor back up the hill after feeding the cattle.

ENJOYING THE SUN

BULLY HEADING FOR THE SPRING FOR WATER

MY PARENTS DAIRY COW YSABELL (SHE IS STAYING WITH US FOR THE WINTER)

PICNICING IN THE SUN



 Today the weather was perfect, the kind of day that you step outside take a deep breath and give thanks for the world and all it's splendour.  It was also the kind of day that I couldn't help but wonder if Mother Nature may possibly be Menopausal as the temperature was reading +5 here after a frigid -22 yesterday morning.  In any event the animals were thrilled to be released from their lock down as both the cattle and horses have been in the barns out of the weather for the last few days.  Grace and her three cousins spent the afternoon and evening out building snow forts and sledding and I even got to "go walk about" while the girls were handy to hear if Bethany should wake up from her nap.  When I got back to the house they were in the yard digging snow forts and I took a minute to appreciate the quiet, serene beauty of our little place, when it was suddenly ripped apart by blood curdling screams from out in the yard.  I ran out onto the deck to see one of the girls come around the house and to my relieve looked fine, assuming that they were playing some sort of game that only the occasionally sardonic mind of a preteen might understand, I started to turn back.  Then I saw Grace following behind, crying huge retching sobs and spitting mouthfuls of blood into the snow.  I held her until she began trying to tell me what was wrong but all that came out was "my yips", "my yips".  Apparently her poor cousin Courtney had been shovelling steps up our hill into their new fort when Grace's face got in the way, she was hit square in the mouth by the end of the shovel handle.  Assuming by the blood that she must have lost teeth I got her to rinse out her mouth and upon inspection thankfully only found a tiny cut above her gum.  It'll be sore no doubt but no serious damage done, amazing though how such a tiny cut can produce so much blood.  Once the bleeding stopped and calm returned, Grace spent the rest of the evening making Courtney, who felt terrible as it was, trek back and forth between the fort and the house, to get her water to rinse out her mouth.  We wrapped up the evening with Seven Layer Dinner, Multigrain Biscuits (which I am currently a bit obsessive about), homemade Pumpkin Pie and the girls played a game of Sardines while I cleaned up.

HOT CHOCOLATE IN THE SNOW FORTS

PIXEL ENJOYING A SUNNY NAP

TILLY, HICCUP AND FUSE COMING TO SAY HELLO

FUSE

HICCUP, GRACE'S PONY (RISING 4YR OLD) AND FUSE (RISING 3YR OLD) THE TWO YOUNGEST OF OUR HORSEY FAMILY

Hello Cabin Fever.  For the last hour Max has been laying sort of curled up like a pretzel, very cautiously stalking his tail, and ever so stealthily when his tail least expects it, he pounces and then tries to rip it off.  Grace has been compulsively eating everything that crosses her mind and every time she calls me you would swear our Donkey Pablo has moved indoors, the traditional "Mom" comes out "Mooouuuuhhhmmm" and then is followed by either "I'm bored", "I'm hungry", or if I sound agitated when answering her "I love you".  Miss Bethany is her congenial self, offering kisses to any foot that passes her way on the floor, and trying to share Max's Rawhide, which he doesn't mind so much as we do.  All of this of course is strung together by the usual random acts of boredom, manic personality changes and sudden bursts of energy which generally produce unfavourable consequences.  Then there is Miss Beth and her partner in crime, Max who wait patiently to see the baby gate open into the hallway and then trip anyone in the way as they dive into the depths of Grace's room, better known as "The Cave", eating whatever they can possibly stog in before someone scoops them both up.  Grace informed us this morning that she feels like she is living with Aliens, when I asked her why she thought this she shrugs and says "because Bethany looks like one".

ALIEN BABY HELPING HER BIG SISTER MAKE BISCUITS

THREE MUSKETEERS

Farm updates are, to us, seemingly dull these days.  There is no major projects or excitement right now, just the usual humdrum of activity and typical necessities getting done, which in itself requires considerable effort when the weather is like this.  Our generally agreeable tractors take hours of heating and charging to get running, sliding doors are iced over and need to be pried and chipped open, the strings on the straw and silage bales are frozen into the bales and have to be ripped out by bare hands, water lines to the livestock are frozen and the lists go on.  It's days like this that I would like to be able to help out more in the barns, and thankful that I am not. 

LET ME OUT OF HERE!!!!!



CAME ACROSS THIS PIC TODAY, A NICE REMINDER THAT SUNNY DAYS ARE AHEAD! 


So friends, a short update to sum up our current status before I return to refereeing.  Grace just yelled for me to find her some sort of blindfold to put on Max, and I just looked over my shoulder to find that she, at some point, was rummaging in the fridge and left the door open, now all I can see is what appears to be two tiny baby feet sticking out from above the crisper.

PLAYING WITH THE CAMERA

GRACE PAINTING SOME MAGNETS SHE MADE TODAY

STANDING ALONE!

Last night we had a major catstrophe, the internet shut down!  Like caged animals we were disconnected from the outside world, and then the phone rang and reminded me that there is still a world outside of cyber existance.  Today is -20 and windy, apparently -32 with the windchill which equals Brrrrrrrr.   Our house however is appx +28.5 with the woodstove and so we are all quite cozy.  Thankfully Mother Nature seems to be over her Dysantry of the other night but is now having some sort of temper tantrum.  The snow accumulation has added to the bumper at the bottom of Grace's Sliding Speedway which, if nothing else makes me slightly less paranoid about the possibility of a rerun performance of our sledding adventures from the other day.  We avoided becomming Shack Wacky by renting a couple of classic Disney cartoons and creating Grace's long awaited evening at the spa with an Aloe Vera Mud Mask to clean and tighten pores and cucumber slices over the eyes to reduce puffiness and lines and brighten her look overall .  After careful application and a nano-second of sitting with the gooey mess on her face she decided that it was quite disgusting and had me rinse it off, only to repeat the process today.  She is now the most relaxed, young looking, most vibrant and refreshed 4yr old around.

A RELAXING SPA EXPERIENCE

RELAXED AND READT TO TAKE ON THE WORLD

All of our livestock have been in the barns out of the weather, they seem less concerned by the storm then we are and do not seem nearly as happy to be in as we are to have them there.  This morning our puppy Max was dancing at the door to go out, when I opened the door to reveal a 2 foot snowdrift packed up against it he took once look and bolted back to his kennel.  When I forced him out into the cold he more or less stood in the doorway and aimed, not going any further then absalutely necessary.

SNOW DOG

It seems as though Max may well of been the only one of us effected by Cabin Fever, typically well behaved, quiet and docile, he had "one of those days".  The kind of day when he just couldn't stay out of trouble.  We had Jamie's family over for Roast Chicken dinner with all the fixings and as it turned out, we were a whiskers length away from just having "the fixings", I turned from my fervent Gravy stirring just in time to see Max with both front paws on the counter jaws poised and ready to take out his roasted pray.  After time out in his kennel he proved his repentance by steeling whatever snacks he could from Bethany (who quite willingly shares with him) and then demolished Grace's foam football.





HELPING MOMMY COOK SUPPER

HELPING DADDY EAT SUPPER

RECIPE:
Homemade Sausage Stuffing

This recipe is a family favourite with our Roast Chicken Dinners, however I tend to be a "little bit of this and a little bit of that" kind of cook, so I'll try to post amounts but I find a good deal of it is personal taste.

6 Breakfast Sausages (Decased, Crumbled and Cooked)
1 Loaf of Bread (I typically use a full loaf of Homemade White Bread, but whatever is on had works, yesterday I had leftover Whole Wheat Keisar and Sub Buns which worked great) Butter and Cube bread then bake until golden brown and crunchy.
2 medium potatos cooked
1/4 cup White Onion
3-4 tbsp Summer Savory
2-3 tbsp Vegetable Seasoning
1-2tsp Thyme
1tsp Garlic Powder
1/4 cup Butter Melted
1-1 1/2 cups Chicken Stock (or water)

Mix all ingredients except Chicken Stock, add chicken stock in portions until desired moisture is achieved, I typically use 1 1/4 cups for regular White Bread.  I don't bother stuffing my chicken (I add other seasoning to the chicken while cooking it.) so after mixing my stuffing I put it in the oven to brown up before serving, appx 10-15 minutes at 350 degrees.

SMOOCHES







SUNDAY MORNING JAM SESSION

READY TO GREET THE DAY