Bushel And A Peck: HOMEMADE FUN

A peaceful bonfire on the beach with family and friends created a means for anticipation throughout Saturday afternoon, planned at the spur of the moment, an impromptu party of sorts, which in my opinion always renders the most memorable of affairs. Our evening started with a lovely BBQ at Jamie's brother's home where we revelled in Astronomically High Caloric Bliss until our arteries cried Uncle, then sat in amicable agony until the kids rousted us out and to the beach for the bonfire, which would be fuelled by some of the clean wood just removed from Jamie's youngest brother's home during renovations. We cozied up on the sand, forming a lazy semi circle with our lawn chairs and blankets around what looked more like a Tee Pee then a fire pit, and shared in a combination of ardent laughter and critical mirth at the expense of those whom had forgotten the torch to light the fire, and at the fact that in no way would this much material generate a "small" bonfire.

OUR SMALL BONFIRE

Finally, after shivering for sometime, somebody produced a torch and we watched our small bonfire roar up before us and blend with the stars. Our friendly heckling quickly turned to awe and congratulations on the impressive inferno and we prepared to make the traditional Fireside Smores. The sheer capacity of our bonfire, however, presented it's own set of obstacles, particularly the intense heat and blinding light it put out disabling anyone with a hankering for a smore to get within 30 feet of it. We quickly descovered that when baking in such a large oven one requires equally substantial equipment, a roasting rack large enough to roast a buffet of smores, appeared in our group, and a large wooden door was brought from the truck to act as a shield from the heat. A genius idea that enabled our chef, Uncle David, to run the handle of the rack through the doorknob hole and roast our smores unscathed.

SMORES!!!!

MUCH TO HOT TO COOK SMORES

MUCH BETTER!

As we enjoyed our smores around the elaborate fire our attention was quickly riveted to the sky as we were treated to our own private light show, complements of a family friend whom gifted us some small fireworks from his store. We sat in warmth and enjoyed the fellowship of family and friends, as our bellies ached from the amount of food we consumed and the laughs that we shared, and while I wished that Jamie had been able to join us (of course beautiful spring evenings inevitably bring long spring hours on the land), the concept of the impromptu party again came to mind and it occurred to me that this was no exception.

SOME OF THE CREW

GRACE WAITING FOR HER TREAT

ALL PARTIED OUT ON AUNT JOY'S KNEE

Grace, for reasons only known to her and the friends that started it with her, has been going around pretending to be pregnant by using her large rubber balls to create her Mommy Tummy. Needless to say I was a bit shocked to see her prancing around with her pretend belly protruding under an over stretched shirt, and to hear her proclaim "Oh No! I'm having a baby....FAST!" This has been a game her and her friends have been playing the last few times they visited, and has created a lot of laughs, and shirts that may never fit them again. Particularly shocking however, was to see Grace emerge from her room last evening with not one ball, but two balls under her shirt, to create a silhouette that would make even Dolly Parden look twice. Momentarily taken aback by this out of character game she seemed to be developing, I decided to play it light and asked her about her new busty appearance, to which she looked at me horror stricken, and visibly embarrassed, then haughtily informed me "that's not what these are! I'm having twins!"

Jamie has finished up his off the farm work, and is now preparing the land for our own crops. We decided in light of the inclining market this year to give growing Soy Beans a whirl, this will be the first time in several years that they've been planted on our farm. Apart from this, we will have a small amount of barley planted to act as feed and will provide us with some straw, and of course our hay crops. I am also waiting patiently for our garden patch to be ready so we can plant our veggies.

The calves are still holding their own, we are seeing a bit of sickness in the ones outside, but they do not seem quite as effected as the ones that were sick in the barn, basic care seems to be all they require at this point. The little guy that was so sick in the barn, for some reason or other has lost most of his hair, we are unsure what the cause of this could be, but between some folks we've chatted with and our vet, we speculate that it could be either a reaction to some medications he was given, or from the high fever that he had. We have decided to hold him back from the herd and keep him in until the weather really warms up as he gets cold very easily, his health has essentially returned to normal and he is now capering around the pen like calves his age should. Our hope is to get him out ASAP so he can enjoy some sunshine, however it is not easy to let he and his Momma in and out depending on the weather so we want to be sure that he can stay warm and healthy once on pasture, no doubt he will receive some sideways glances from his fellow Herd Mates as he shows no sign of regrowing his coat.

OUR HAIRLESS FRIEND

RECIPE:

HOMEMADE ICE TEA

This is a summer staple in our home, I make it into a 1 gallon pickle jar and keep it sealed in the fridge to serve as a refreshing drink whenever needed.

6 Tea Bags
3 cups Water
2-3 cups White Sugar
5 fresh Lemons

Bring Tea to a boil, allow to simmer on the stove for 1/2 to 1 hour then poor into 1 gallon jar and squeeze Tea Bags to drain into the jar as well. Squeeze the juice from 4 Lemons and add to the jar, then add the sugar as desired (I typically use about 2 cups, but you may have a differing preference). Add enough water to fill the jar, then drop in the slices from 1 peeled Lemon, place the cover on and leave in the fridge to chill. We have also made this carbonated by adding clear pop for extra flavour.