A day like any other A son arrives home to mother A folded flag on his lead-lined urn Come from the Gulf, where the oil fields burn
A patriot lost to Red machinations A hero lost in the great clash of nations The chaplain’s eulogy is generic and brief It does not allay the mother’s profound grief
He signed up as a mechanic Amidst Democracy’s great panic He went to war in the gunnery room Of an air cruiser bearing nuclear doom
When Jetpack troopers assaulted Kirkuk High overhead, his air cruiser shook Dodging air to air rockets and Soviet flak He kept the guns firing to support the attack
Boarded by the enemy over dusty Helmand He wielded hammer and wrench in grim hand to hand Fought them till they could stomach no more Piling up their broke bodies at the gunnery room door
The captain learned of his valor and what he had done Arranged for promotion, gave him control of a gun So in the clear blue skies over gutted Tabriz He swatted Red fighters as if they were fleas
But south of Tehran, the atomics started to fly And caught in a blastwave did his air cruiser die Months later, ground troops secured its skeletal wreck And collected his ashes from the gunnery deck
Gone from the living, gone from the fight He among thousands came home on one flight So the Air Corps could return him back to his mother To put on a shelf, next to his brother.
Last time one of the big 30 yard bins arrived on the farm was for the big change over and house update, out went the old oil tank and furnace, all the duck work and so much more, a change over for the deck the old one taken off and new one built in its place.
With the last of combining two households together from my mothers storage unit, including a number of totes that were shifted as keep/go thought/check every paper so we could close her storage unit in town and with Miss R moving in, who was sharing a apartment space with sisters. Along with a older shed that came down first roof wise and now more so in the storms needing to be finished torn down and cement floor and so on cleaned up so that we can build a new shed over the base its certainly time for a clean and gentle purge.
What is a gentle purge, well that’s when you go though each room, with two boxes, the donate box and the to the bin box vs the deep clean, sort and put back.. The doctor has spoken, my last lung test showed a drop of 22 percent and let me tell you i feel it, i feel it big time and on so many levels. While we deal with the medical issues and their side effects, sorting and giving the house a DEEP clean is a very good idea, so is doing the sheds, croft barn and so on
While i have sat with mask on, my job is to go though the boxes, sorting keep, donate, has checked by someone else and or bin it. We has a flood in the basement this spring during the crazy rain storms and we moved and lifted and ran fans and so on.. but knew that things would need to be checked and such enough there was more to be thrown out, it was dry yes but water damaged.
We have the bin for a month if we need it but i have hired full time help for a week plus what we can do ourselves. Even if it proves to not help my lungs and or overall health, i think just for my peace of mind to head into winter with a full sorted, deep cleaned huggle household is going to be a very good thing
There are going to be some happy ladies at the local second hand stores when they go book shopping, i used to read a lot of Vampire related books and my taste has changed and so i let them go to the donate boxes.
Farmgal Tip of the Day, If you can and know you are going to be donating, Do it four to six weeks before Christmas so that thrifting gifts can find them for this years gifting.
30 Day Challenge – Day 17 of Writing a blog post .
There is truly something special about handwritten letters, when we type out our writings, it becomes about our voice in how we write and just like with auto tune, so many now use writing tools to correct their writings that even that “voice” is becoming less and less.
My Grandmother and I wrote letters and sent little care packages and gifts to each other when i moved north first to yellowknife NWT an then to Iqaluit, Nunavut. While i did stop in when i could, the truth is for those years letters and regular phone calls were how we kept in touch. I kept all the letters, cards, and photos she sent me over that time frame.
This one caught my eye today when i opened the card and saw that i had never taken the money out of the card with the letter that it came in.. Hard to believe that grandpa would have needed to have gone to that bank some time in 1987 and that those three dollar bills are all wrapped up and i can’t help but wonder! how many of those 66 Canadian dollar bills spread out among all the grandchildren are still in our homes, tucked into drawers and books, and photo albums, did any of them get a letter of the little story to go with theirs?
I will pass them on with the letter and the story into my mothers side of the family and down into the generations that were born and have only seen and held a Loonie aka one Canadian dollar coin.
Do you have hand written letters from your grandmother? Do you have paper one dollar or or two dollar Canadian dollar bills tucked away? If you are one of my cousin’s reading this, do you have your gifted one dollar bill or bills?
Nov 1st – headed into town to take the truck in for routine fall oil change and checks, all good no extra spending required – Essential
As i was at Canadian tire, the sales were good and the signs everywhere, i made sure to use the direct doors into the service area and put my mental blinders on LOL. I had thought i would need to leave it there longer and so i had Miss R come behind me to give me a ride back to the farm with a plan for Dear Hubby to bring me back.. But as it turns out they were fast on the turn around and said, just wait.. so wait we did.. With no coffee, or nothing.. I did give a thank you cash bill gift to Miss R as a thank you, I consider this good manners to kick a little something towards gas or a coffee etc
Nov 2nd – Today as Pantry stock up day based on cycle sales at a store that is a bit of a further drive then we normally go to, i went with a clear list of what was to be gotten with only three blank spots for sales unknown to me at the store. I did very well indeed, getting everything on my list and stocking up on a goodly number of things including a butter sale. I did fill my three wild card spots but only with pantry staples and only with on sale items. A costly grocery run yes, however it meet my No buy rules nicely!
Nov 3rd – a cold Sunday on the farm, everyone was home today so we have a lovely farm style brunch, Dear hubby dug the last of the potato’s (we had been digging as needed for over the past three plus months now) and Miss R was working on the hauling up of jars and clearing them out in the pit trench. I should be able to say that nothing was spent but its not true. Tribal Spirit drums put up their moose and deer scrap bags. These only go on sale rarely and they are $20 a bag, they are not “scrapes” so much as off cuts and the price point on the bags are amazing. While i could say that we didn’t “need” this sale we were going to buy moose and deer hide and i could have bought at full price, maybe at sale price or i could buy on the rare, sells out so fast blink and they are gone and take a gamble on color and so on.
So lets take a vote! Yes or No on the leather quote “scrap” bags in both colored and natural moose hide and natural/smoked colors in Deer hide for small winter projects and Christmas gifts
Nov 4th- No spend
Nov 5th- Motel spending due to needing to be close to the hospital for the next morning, so as far as i am concerned, while we certainly do not do a hotel room monthly or routine etc, its a approved spend
Nov 6th- The Hospital Parking Lot fees again fall into the approved spending, however the time and money spent at Tom’s Bakery as i waited for a number of hours while Dear Hubby was in the Hospital, was not approved spending. I did limit myself to reasonable portions and did not buy anything to take home with me. If you ever get the chance to stop by, they have VERY good coffee and their soup and bun for lunch was quite good, the sourdough bun was delightful!
Nov 7th- The gate came in, we have had access to the dog runs from the side door closed off to the main farm yard for a five plus years now and it has worked well for us. However with Miss R having moved in, it was time to do a rebuild and finally add in a gate to that area so she can have access to come in and out of the door which leads much more directly to her room. So the gate was ordered last week and came in to the local hardware store, the gate and the required hardware was all gotten on this day.
How has your first week been, i know a few folks here and on Facebook said they are also going to do their own version of a no spend November. Did you find it easy this week, did you struggle a bit?
In the past days and weeks, months now boy, have i been burning daylight! I have been forced to slow down, way way down and there is really no way to see the end. My body has decided i am going to take this rest regardless of what my mind and my spirit wants.
Its been brutal to cancel plans, to have to face the possibility of needing to change my coming one year, three year and five year longer terms plans. Its not just me facing some health issues, Dear hubby is as well.
Each time we think we get a handle on things, each time we think we are staple, something new hits us and then its rounds of more testing, waiting, more testing, maybe answers and then more choices and changes feel like they are forced on us
Dear Hubby’s numbers are rock solid for his Diabetes and yet the disease itself marches onward, I am following all the requests and rules and more and yet my last lung test showed very poorly indeed, dropping my capacity by 22 percent and that is leading to a host of other issues.
They adjust meds and order you to rest, to recover, to listen to your body, to not push yourself, to eat right and drink your water and sleep, don’t stress, can you work less, can you sleep more, can you lose weight for me and for Dear Hubby Don’t lose any more weight and can you please work out and gain muscle mass back!
I feel a fire in me, its deep and its banked and i am doing my best to make sure it does not come out and burn those around me. My mind is working and i am left sitting with a body that is limiting and a mind that is a force of its own.
As folks tell me, you will feel better soon, are you sick again, i am sure you will feel better after a sleep, maybe just try harder, i can feel the walls going up, i am sharing less an less, sharing details and hard truths with less and less people.
Last year i would have shared details on the medical tests that took place this week.. This year, i talked in person with less folks then i can count on my hand and shared nothing. I will wait for results to be known and then we will see..
Finding myself smiling more and nodding my head as i say things like.. it will take time but thank you for your kind words.. and i mean it, i am grateful for those that care enough to ask and offer
I am just tired and so its easier to be quiet in certain ways and just get on with it, and that applies for a lot of the outside pressures lately as well. I know things are in flux, things are changing, i see what is happening and coming.
Keep steady, Keep Quiet and Pace it.. one thing at a time, one list at a time, stay flexible, stay fluid, and just keep getting the next step done and the next and the next and the next and the next!
I may be burning daylight, i may be burning with some low simmering belly fire but its going to find its way out in so many small quiet ways that will have ripple effects..
This forced rest is leading me to focus on what really matters to me and is this something that i can give my time and effort.
If you are dealing with short or long term health issues and working on dealing and adjusting your world, just know you are not alone! If you are narrowing your focus, know you are not alone. If you are finding yourself quiet right now, know you are not alone.. Allow yourself that time to reflect, learn and refocus.
I think the reason it is the most popular is because there are not as many recipes for Heart as there are for the basic cuts of meat that are turned into stew!
Wait, don’t like dumplings, then add some Baking Powder Biscuits on the side! O they do work perfect with a good fall styled Venison Stew.
Struggle in find a good way to use and serve Venison, find it a bit strong in flavor? Here is a loaded slow cook Venison Stew recipe for you! The thing that most folks that are new to wild game is they try and cook it like you would store beef but it is so very lean and compared to those tender cuts, it can be quite firm and or chewy.
I have made this recipe or a version of it a number of times for guest, its a great way way to introduce folks to a venison that the meat is going to be small bite size and fall apart tender! Low and Slow folks, Low and Slow!
For everyone with tags be it you have started or will be in the stands soon enough, good hunting and may your freezers and many bellies be filled for the winter coming!
Currents grow well here on the farm in all the colors and types, however in the spring of 2024 there was a early spring with not a single frost which meant that its been a amazing fruit year!
In all the years here on the farm i have never seen such a heavy flowering and fruiting crop on my current bushes, we had to prop up and or remove some due to weight. The Black Current bushes were productive to the extreme and while we used fresh fruit to make juice and Shrubs
We were still able to put four 8 cup tubs away for future use into the freezers. With the shorter days, adding in dark black/purple fruits are a very good thing.
8 cups of cleaned Black Currents
Water to just cover them, cook med heat till skin is popping, mash and simmer low for ten more minutes, put them though a food mill or fine mesh strainer to get all the juice and as much pulp as you can leaving behind the seeds/skins
dry the skin and seeds to grind for use in baking or teas blends or feed them cooled to your chickens
Simmer this down by 50 percent, measure and do 1 to 1 parts honey or sugar, simmer down to your desired thickness of syrup, i like mine at standard pancake syrup thickness. If you want to do small jars, you can follow standard water bath processing and process them for 15 minutes an they will be shelf stable.
In my case i just put into a clean dry jar and put the lid and ring on and allowed to cool to room temp and then placed in the fridge, we will be using it up over the next month or so
With the cooler days, i will be adding in a tbsp of this into my daily morning routine to give a little boost but what i am most looking forward to is making a good old pot of oatmeal and serving it up with a bit of cream and swirl of black current syrup.
30 Day Challenge – Day 12 of my getting back into the habit of blogging daily!
Wow, its hard to believe that i started this blog 14 years ago, time has flown by in many ways and yet in some time feels like it has stood still. I started the blog living here on the farm with livestock and gardens and so on. We have less livestock, more gardens, more fruit trees and food forests.
They say that to plant a seed is to have faith in tomorrow, i say to write a blog that each time you hit Publish feels very much the same, you are putting your thoughts, ideas, hopes and more out into the big wide web. Its to have faith that someone will read what you wrote, that it will sing for them, that it will share knowledge, that it was inspire someone to try that recipe, to grow that plant, to try composting for the first time, to admire the photography.
3,589 posts have been written to date! Over 15 thousand comments by my readers! Over a Million Views and counting.
Despite me posting less over the past few years, Readers continued to find and read the blog! I am honored that 50,000 plus folks were finding the information they were looking for.
Life is challenging and ever changing but home, land, food, purr pots and hounds, we are feeling our age these days and yet have many years to go yet.
A special tip the hat to my regulars! Thank you for sticking around..
It was both a odd year and a outstanding year when it came to growing potato’s on the farm in 2024.
Due to the crazy amount of rain we were getting the garden was to wet to work and or plant potato’s in, so we bedded it down and planted the potato’s into deep pack bedding, we had done this as trails before on wet years and knew that it would work.
So the plants grew and they grew and they grew, never have we seen such massive lush loaded with flower plants, and then we started harvesting as needed starting in aug when it would be little ones with a few medium and anytime we needed potato’s on the menu, in the soup, in the stew, and so on, someone would head out with a bowl and dig one or if needed two plants up.
On Nov 2nd when the potato’s came in they were for the first time quite cold to the touch and so that means that despite all the mulch cover and so on, the ground is starting to get colder itself, it was time to dig and so all remaining plants were pulled and out came the last of the potato bounty, in total 3 five gallon buckets worth, plus the ones that didn’t make the grade, nibbled on by rodents of some kind, heavily split just a few and some that despite being lovely and three times worth of hilling up, rose to high and are to green for me to use safely.
I would love to do a hold back on some of the green ones to keep as seed but we have some scab issues on them as well so i won’t be doing that at all, plus while i have had very few hollow hearts yet, i have found a few which also effects storage power.
The russets were the clear powerhouse growers this year, with reds coming in behind them nicely, and the purples were sad little producers, they were fingerlings and so small for sure but it was more then that, they just didn’t give the yields that they should have.
Overall the potato were one of the best calorie dense producers in the garden in 2024. I look forward to them going into storage and into many hearty fall meals.
How was your potato harvest for this year? Lots of fresh eating? Lots in the potato bin for storage?
30 challenge – Day 12 of my 30 days of blogging challenge to get back into the habit of writing and sharing!
O what a waste! If you have been following my blog for a good while you know that i can a lot! and that i love to try new recipes. You know that one good garden years i can and will can up to two or even three years worth of staples.
That when i am about to get a new full beef or pork in, that i clear my freezers by canning the older meats up and putting the fresh in the freezers and that on average we move though and that i can around 1000 to 1500 jars a year.
Covid did a number on my deep canning pantry, and in more then one way, we had health issues start up five years ago that meant that many things regularly used where to sugar heavy, other things were tried as why nots that did not turn out and i never make anything in a batch that is less then four to six jars so if we had one jar and did not like it, the other four or five jars have been sitting there.
Add in good garden years and amazing sales at the local food co-op and we have a working pantry of around 400 to 600 jars that are actively being used and refilled and so on.. and we have by a rough count, around a thousand jars that need to be sorted, shifted, and thrown out.. Some of it is fodder worthy, example the quart jars of carrots, turnips and beets are all still good with solid seals and if i had a pig that was feeding, it would be easy enough to go though it but i have a small flock of laying hens that had a set amount of “scraps” in their diet vs layer
I have had it! With me on the knowledge, planning and paying out some cold hard cash in work hours (trust me, she is earning it) Miss R has starting the work of a full cellar sort, clear out and fresh start.
What to do with all the things coming out of the jars, its getting trenched, long lines of semi-shallow trenches are being dug with lines of four to six inches of the empty jars and then covered by a foot or more of soil are being dug into the pasture and yes it will settle lower and will need to be touched up with infill in the spring to level it but it will give this one last purpose in the terms of feeding the soil and the plants that grow in the pasture.
Today we start the work, i am guessing that it will be four to five hundred of the oldest jars done, I started off with a mass purge of the 10 years plus and then we will work our thought the next lot of 500 plus and see where that gets us.
This trenching and sorting needs to be done before the ground freezes and then as a family unit we will figure out what will go back into the jars that will be much more closely followed and rotated.
While i am well aware that this is on the extreme end in terms of the number of jars, I will point out that its all sizes of jars, from little wee 4oz to lots of 8oz and hundreds and hundreds of pints along with a reasonable amount of quart jars.
How do you deal with jars of food that you worked hard to grow, buy and then process that didn’t turn out! Do you figure out on the first jar, nope, not for us and then toss all the other jars and clean them up, i think if i didn’t have around 2000 jars, i would have been a bit more.. hey i need to empty that jar so i can use it again. However i brought in pallet of pints in the early days just before the lockdowns, some friends and i brought in a number of pallets of jars and so it was so easy to reach for a new case as needed and then it happened.
Hubby said, hey, there is no more room in the cellar, but we have a ton of room in the shelves in the basement and i went sure.. and so for the past three plus years the newly canned has gone to the basement and asked for in the basement.. which means that rarely on some thing i still asked for the cellar but less and less and less..
And here we are.. in purge and clean mode..
and before anyone asks, yes i was still canning like we would have lots of company and no we did not have company, yes i was still canning like hubby would need to use three pints of things per work day off the farm, pint of soup or stew or chili, pint of fruit and then me using a pint or quart of x or y..
Did you build to deep a pantry? Did something change that meant you didn’t have access to ways to use things, example pigs. Have you ever needed to do a canning purge? Keeping the jars of course.
30 day challenge for blogging and writing daily – Day 11
I am sorry to have this rant, I might not even post this.. I most likely will and I am sure I will lose a reader or two.. but I have to write this.. If you live in an apartment or a tiny condo in the city, you can be many things.. You can be […]
Ok, its just going on record that we are going to be “in just in time mode” on most things this year. Let me give a example.. we have pulled at least a hundred or two wild parsnips but then we needed to focus on this or that.. and suddenly this week, we are like.. […]
Just another Day on the Farm 