Showing off the current born lambs and a number of the still expecting ewe’s..
Happy Valentine’s Day
Happy Valentine’s Day.by dear hubby..
It was fifteen years and three days ago that I first met the woman I’m fortunate to call my wife, my Farmgal. Appropriately enough, the first three weeks of our courtship was exclusively via e-mail, and even after we started talking on the phone, we flipped notes, letters and essays to each other up to several times a day. There’s a three-inch binder full of the hard-copies in our bookshelf.
Over time, I got involved in online role-playing and started doing some writing in support of the games. Farmgal sometimes read these things, thought they were generally well done, and asked if I wanted to take up writing on a more serious basis. I waffled on this; wasn’t sure I had the time, wasn’t sure I had the skill, wasn’t sure I had the self-confidence. I certainly didn’t do any more serious writing.
Until five years ago, that is, when she finally had enough and, in her words, “kicked my ass”. She told me she thought I could write well, that I could be published. But I had to get it together and actually do it. If time was an issue, she’d help me find some each day. If skills were lacking, she’d help me finding learning opportunities. Naturally, she was happy to read and comment upon anything I produced.
So I started writing actual stories. Posted them on a couple of discussion boards and got some generally positive feedback. But I wasn’t submittng anything for publication.
Hence, two years ago, the application of another boot to my butt. A friend let Farmgal know of a writer’s workshop taking place on a Saturday, and she encouraged me to go. Committed to taking care of all the farm stuff I wouldn’t be doing if I went. It was an informative workshop, and one that led me to my current critiquing group, too.
The following summer, we caught wind of the Masked Mosaic anthology and the notion of Lonesome Charlie the reluctant supervillain came along. I started writing the story, got bogged down. Farmgal asked me how I was doing with it, offered suggestions, read the drafts, and generally poked and prodded me until I’d finished the thing – tacking on her family name, Johnstone, to the character’s name and the story title in the process.
Man, she was so happy when when the story got picked up for the anthology – and beaming when we had the book launch at the Comic Shoppe last February. She helped me keep calm-ish before the reading, took video of me doing my reading, and then arranged a delightful get-together with some of the other contributors and fellow local writers afterward.
She even pushed me to start the blog, recognizing that it’d be an opportunity to share my thoughts, to advertise my work, and to interact with you folks – fellow readers and writers.
It’s pretty fair to say I wouldn’t be an author, let alone a published one, without Farmgal – so here’s to you, my dear, with my humblest appreciation for that kick to my ass five years ago and all the support since then!
And if you, the reader, are also lucky enough to have a supportive spouse, partner, or special friend in your life, encouraging you in whatever endeavours you undertake, then here’s to them, too. Happy Valentine’s Day!
Posted in Life moves on daily
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Its a snow day!
Those expecting ewes are carrying wide loads these days.. its amazing how much they can waddle around before the time comes..
Its snowed and snowed and snowed, and we need more hay kay?
Glenda says, you be fussy, just chew cud till she does the next feeding, I am come on Sam, we get fresh hay three times a day.. I think Farmgal lied the other day when she said something about spring coming though..
Posted in Life moves on daily
3 Comments
Have a cuppa tea with me..
Thanks for stopping by, some of you I have seen in the past little while, and others, well its been a bit since I heard from you..
Come on in, those roads were wild to get here.. can you believe it? another six plus inches of fresh snow coming down, and they say more is on the way.. Its been a wild winter, lots of cold, lots of snow.. could be good for the land and gardens, as long as we don’t lose to many things from the overwintering.
Used to be paths all over the place, but not anymore, the snow has filled them all in.. Why yes, you are right the horses are pretty in the snow..
How is Brandy, she is still a bit lame but can already see such a improvement since her trim and treatments have started.. but I don’t think she will be ready by spring for my planned horse trip.. Think I am going to take sam, it should be a lot of fun, its a girls only weekend and we are heading out to a horse camp ground in the hills, we are getting a little cabin with its own corral for the horses.
Come in, come in.. just knock the snow off and grab a pair of the wool slippers, there are all sizes from adults to kids of the wall, dogs back, get back, quiet, Quiet!.. GET down.. go lay down, please don’t pet them till they settle and sit nicely.. I mean it.. Git! Go lay down!
The smell, well that’s the Apricot Almond Buns baking for our treat with our tea, its my mom’s recipes, can’t make it quite right anymore because I don’t like to use corn syrup but its still pretty close, and its darn yummy.
Ah, thanks, I love my teapots, figured it would be nice to have bright and cheerful one, afterall , I don’t get much company on the farm, yes, those are peppers that are starting, o, that’s great that you have started yours already, no, I haven’t tried the baggy method myself, I have heard good things about it.. do let me know how it works out for you..
Ah, that’s better, the hounds have settled, are you sure you are ok that the kitty is in your lap.. ok, I will let you make that choice 🙂 she will stay the whole time you know..
So tell me.. how are you today?
Posted in Life moves on daily
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Horse’s at Liberty …
This is one of those new words I have learned over the past year, at Liberty.. its a funny word to me.. I love the video’s I have seen of it, I like the dance between the horse and the person, having said that, I have no desire to see that in my field..
Well, sort of, you see the heart of liberty rings a bell of truth with me, and yet the “art” of liberty rings a alarm bell..
Now this is just how I view it, and as most folks know, thoughts and views are based on how we each see things..
The heart of Liberty rings true to me because I don’t believe in making a horse do something without asking, without teaching, without giving them a choice.. It rings true to me because when I teach, I like to teach to the point of liberty..
Today was a perfect example, most of the time, I call the horse’s and they come to me and I put their leads on and they come out and go to the grooming/tack area, but you see you need to mix things up so today I went out to them, its awesome to call your horse but you should also be able to walk up and catch your horse (this move was at liberty) they choose to stay where they were at and let me walk up directly to them..
I moved them by voice to the spot off the trail I wanted (brandy did what I wanted without issue the first time) Sam took three times, as he is still very unsure about how to do things by voice and body only.. he wants to have that touch.. but he is willing and he wanted to be part of the process.
They were groomed, they had their feet picked, they had their massages, they had their eyes cleaned, they had their teeth checked, they were asked to lower their heads down, all at liberty.. this means that at the one point that brandy said no, she was allowed to walk off, and I just waited till she circled back, engaged again, allowed me to line her back up and continue with my grooming/feet work..
She could have taken off, she could have said, NO I won’t work with you, but that’s the thing one of the things that makes me have concerns about the “art” of liberty, why would a bonded well treated horse not want to be with you..
Now, part of the heart of liberty is that you can ask your horse to leave, this was done as well, I would move between the two horses a couple times, (well four to be on the point, I groomed, picked a foot, snuggled, and then “drove off” the horse I was working with, asked the other who had to wait to come in, repeat till all four feet are done.
Miss Brandy had to be spoke to sharply twice, not because she was moving in but because she was putting samwell on edge by lowering her head, and pinning her ears, Sam needs to know that when I send Brandy out, she is respecting my choice to be with sam, and that she no longer has herd control over sam when I am in the picture.. after the verbal correction, she relaxed and stood just as she should.
Now here is where I have a issue with the “art” of liberty as I see it, that is the speed, the turns, the rearing, I saw a ladies working some her horses and it was all about the dance, loved it, but I have seen so many video’s where they are doing things that I consider pushing the bounds of safety in some cases over and over.
I respect that they are working one horse at a time, and I do that as well but I think that to me the heart of liberty should be about being able to work with any horse in your pasture if you want to do so..
I want calmness, control and safety in my liberty, I want a willing working horse, I touched on that earlier in the post.. you see when I am teaching something new, I teach each part, I work it together, then I work it from beginning to the point that I feel they understand it, then we have a period of success, then we work it at liberty, if they truly understand what I have been teaching them, they should be able to do it either totally free in the pasture or by nothing but voice or leg pressure..
That’s when I know they truly understand.. that’s that point of meld.. and its beautiful..
I am interested in exploring this more but I can’t see myself paying to go to clinics or paying for a program, rather I would spend time with my horse’s.. because at the “heart ” of it, like all really worth while things in life, that is what is needed most.. time together.
Date Cake Recipe
one cup of dried dates, cut up into pieces, one cup boiling water poured over them, allowed to soak for at least twenty min or until cool, 1/4th fat of your choice, half cup honey or 3/4th cup sugar, two large eggs, 1 and half cups flour, 1/2 tsp salt, one tbsp. baking powder, 9 by 9 square pan, about 35 min at 350, start checking till knife comes out clean in middle.
This is a one bowl cake, cut dates while you boil the water, pour over allow to cool, add sweeter, eggs ad fat, beat together, then add flour, salt and baking powder, light mix together, don’t over mix, pour into pan and baked, serve as is, or with a dollop of whipped cream.
The Great Goose Challange -Results
Baked Goose Breast with Fruit Compote on the side
Goose Breast Stirfry on a bed of creamy mashed spuds.
Goose Pot Pie Recipe.
Goose Stuffed Ravioli, using up the last bits..
The goose was weighted at 6 pounds, and from it, I got a total of 14 adults size meals made with it, plus bone broth/jelly. Not bad at all, the finer points, we enjoyed every single meal with it. It needed to age, from thaw point, we aged a min of three days and up to five days before cooking time, I was never in a hurry to cook it or I was in a big hurry, no middle ground, it was either cooked slow and long or hot and fast. Both gave awesome results, I cooked the legs/thighs with very little water to get a lot of flavour and to be able to deglaze the pan for use in the pot pie.
The downside of this bird was simple.. WAY way! to lean.. a bird this size should have a good covering of fat, and this one didn’t, you needed to add fat or moisture in either the way it was cooked or as a covering to it to create the right mouth feel with it.
The best point was that it was a delightful flavour, goose yes, but not wild gamey goose at all.. As a stuff it and roast it, I have my doubts that you would be able to do it with much success, it just does not have enough fat to make it a good quality roaster, treated like a older bird in how it was cooked, however it was a delight to use in the different dishes.
Posted in Food Production and Recipes, Life moves on daily
Tagged the great goose challange
4 Comments
Flowers.. yup, I said it.. pretty sweet flowers..
I Know, Shocking… ME talking about flowers.. I do herbs and they flower, I do garden plants and they flower, I have wild area’s and they have all kinds of native flowers and I am good with it.. I grow some things that are flowers because you can eat them, like my Lily’s or my violets.
But flowers for the sake of pretty.. o now that is just not really done on the farm.. other then Marigolds, I am Marigold crazy, I love them, all shapes, sizes, colors and patterns, they are without a doubt “my flower”
If someone said, what is your second favorite, it would have to be pansy, such pretty little things, they are not heavy and sturdy like my marigolds, a good wind can mess with these pretties but I still tend to find a bit of room for them, even if its only for six plants..
Someone wrote in an said that a full round bale covered in flowers would be a sight behold, I agree with her, adding flowers to the straw bale hugelculture bed is a good idea.. the question for me is, how do I make them be more then a pretty face..
O yes, If I am going to have flowers in there, they must earn their keep.. I am thinking I will mix up the whole bed with flowers and garden plants, and focus on companion planting, drawing the bee’s to the area and helping keep the non-wanted bugs out..
The big issue there is that it must be annuals or at least treated like annuals, as I don’t believe anything can overwinter in the bales, sitting up as high off the ground as they do.
The first thing is to figure out what I am growing in the bales
I am leaning towards bush beans on top, with stagger side plantings of bushy cucumbers to partly run down the sides, and then planted pretty flowers on the front of the main bale, with a flower on each corner of the top for a bright splash of color, with one larger planting of a hanging type plant in the middle of the two cucumber plants..
I am thinking a mix of orange and white with green on the flower of the bale you see from the driveway, with bright orange/white marigolds on the corners and a orange/cream nasturtium called Strawberry cream, these dark, soft orange and creams will offset to the dark greens of the beans and the cucumber plants. Both the marigolds and the nasturtiums are good choices to as bug helping plants and it should be a very pretty effect to look at our my window 🙂
What do you think, will it be worth the work to see if I can make it happen?
The sun is warm..
Yup, you heard me right, despite the cold temps, despite the snow, despite the drifts that are so huge and solid that even the horse’s walk over the beaten path.. the sun, the sun its got promise, it started last week, the bright sun poured in though the big living room windows, and I turned off the main floor heater, and the whole house was warmed by the sun!
I watch the critters, they know it too.. no more hiding in the barn, no more hiding out of the wind on the side of the little barn, nope, they come out in the morning, and for the rest of the day, they hang out by the feeder, resting, sleeping on the bedding that is spilled like a green carpet around the ring feeder, they lay low to the ground, chewing cud, resting with closed eyes and a softness, and if you walk up and say hello, you get happy smiles, and when you put your hand on their coats, its so warm from the sun, you just want to snuggle in and get a warm horse or sheep scented hug..
There is dirt under my fingernails, not my dirt, my dirt is frozen solid at this time, hidden still by snow/ice, even my first to melt out spots are still a good solid two to three feet under its winter blanket.. but soon, soon shovels will come out, and that snow will be removed from the bed, and the early early spring cold frame will cover it up, and in a mear two or three weeks, tough little greens will be put out in trays an started..
But for now, its bought dirt, taken by the cupful out of a big bag, and containers are filled, seeds are sown, water is done and up to the top of my older fridge, this is the perfect place, they fit under the cupboard so no cats can get to it, the warmth from the back of the fridge, its my own personal starter area..
This is a old salad keeper gotten from a farm sale in a one dollar box, it didn’t have the lid but it did have the little green bottom, which allows me to put a bit of rock under it, it on top and gives the box the ability to drain properly.
This box is one of those that will grow me dark green harvested as a baby spinach, if I wanted to grow them for transplanting, they would be in their own cups/trays/plugs.
I will need to start my leeks next week, but they will need a very different set up..
Are you starting some early indoor greens, are you starting any of your transplants? I can start a few very early because they will be hardened and moved to the greenhouse very early in the season..
Speaking of greenhouses.. there is news coming on that front.. I have a area that you could make a walk in pop up greenhouse with pretty ease and I am thinking of trying it, it would be a put up and take down one..
Planning for Pasture Repairs
Two summers ago we had a drought that did a number on my pastures and then last year, we had a ok year in terms of weather but I was over stocked, I had allowed my sheep flock to get to big, I had added in a horse and the milk cow was no longer a calf/yearling but instead was a full sized grazer/with calf at side..
It was to much for my pastures.. I feed hay all year around, but sheep being sheep, they will eat every single scrap of pasture before they will turn to hay.. to say overgrazed is being kind.
That means that between the two years, my pastures have been put back in a big way.. We are coming into spring in much better shape, my sheep flock is down to nine ewes, and one yearling ram, what will be one yearling calf (but only for part of the season), and two horses, plus the pigs, and geese..
The first thing we need to do is a bit of inside fence repairs so that I can close off different pastures, the small pasture is going to be the horse grazing pasture only, no sheep allowed, other then for a odd short grazing if needed..
The pigs are going to have the corner pasture this year, I want them to turn it, and beat the crap out of it, they will have a small pond to dig and play in, If they do it faster then I expect, then I will move them over to the barn paddock and rake, flatten and re-seed out the corner pasture.
The big pasture, well I had dreams of splitting it off into at least two pastures but the truth is, now that I have the horses, I need that space to be able to do proper ring work with them, to have that full open space to do my training, to do my horse agility..
The front corner pasture currently part of the big pasture, however is getting fenced off with a gate and its going to be re-seeded and done..
All the pastures need a light feeding of compost, and a good heavy frost seeding.. The area that we call no man’s zone is going to be electric fenced off and will be the pigs first turn out zone, I want them to dig and flip and mix to their hearts desire, then I am going to plant that area into a three sisters this year.
this year the poo piles that are horse and cow patties, that are picked up are going to a different place for composting, I am going to drop them down on top of a brush pile creating a adhock hugelcutlure that is just being used to fill a swale in a area that I don’t want it to be..
Then the rest of the compost/bedding etc from the barns is going to be used to start leveling area’s in the big pasture to work towards smoother riding, after I get my new hugelcutlure beds finished for the year.
How are your pastures? Sitting pretty? Doing well? Need work? Needs lots of work? What do you have planned for this year?
Just another Day on the Farm 
