World Soil Day Dec 5th 2018

Posted on December 5, 2018 by Just another day on the farm

Today is officially World Soil Day! Its only the fourth such day, I find that amazing that it was only in 2014 that we as a collective around the world decided that soil was important enough that it needed its own UN program, countries to sign on during the paris accord and to get it own “day”

I find this both amusing and SAD, I can assure you that soil has been important for thousands of years.. and that we as humans have been able to grasp that for as long as we have been connected to our food growing systems.

That of course is the very issue right there! While most 3rd world countries are still far more connected directly to their food supply.. most of us in first world countries that is sadly not the case.

Even those that buy directly from farms in CSA baskets, or those that shop at the local farmers market, or those that buy organic good food boxes are all still missing this critical piece of the puzzle..

Soil is life.. and life in many ways is soil *1

Most people understand the loss of top soil, they can grasp this easily enough, drive by an empty turned farmers field when the wind is blowing and you can SEE the top soil moving.

Look at water movement and you can see the top soil being moved, shifted and washed away.  Peaple sweep their sideways or other hard surfaces and they understand that the soil they are sweeping is top soil.

What is harder for people to grasp is that soil can die.  It’s such a strange thing to say but soil can in fact die, it can be poisoned, it can be soured, it can be salted and it can be reduced to inorganic matter. *2

All of them mean the same thing, it means that time in space it is in effect died to the point that it does not produce even on a micro level in a way that supports life.

I hope that you take a moment to really think about that.. in war at one time in history, they would salt the ground to prevent them from being able to grow crops as they knew that without live active soil.. they could destroy the people who lived in that area.

We treat soil today very poorly indeed.  So this step up that countries are signing on and starting to understand that it’s not just the cash crops that have value but point in fact the soil and its health matter as well.

Of course it appears to have taken the science proven on the fact that done properly that soil can be a carbon capture in regards to helping deal with climate change before they were willing to make this change.

Just writing that statement makes me want to shake my head and fist to the sky and moan..

Sadly I must admit that not all soil can be saved quickly, not all soil’s can just be fixed in our lifetimes but at least we can all take comfort in the fact that the odds are that time will be able to do what we can not.. soil will live on long after we have crossed over.

So lets flip this around a bit shall we.. While nature will when given a chance create new top soil. If you want it to happen a lot faster.. it’s on us!

You know that we can in fact grow soil, that we can in fact make soil come alive again, that we are taking compost that is thriving and teeming with life and move it over to restart poorly treated soil.

A friend of mine and I were talking one day about something to do with soil/adding compost and we talked about grabbing shovels of good soil to intermix into the new bed to give it a boost to its start.

So how do we go about fixing our soil? Well that is a lot more in-depth knowledge needed then this post is going to go into but it has got me thinking.. I am starting a whole new area in my yard and I will be doing a lot of different things to make that area ready.

Without seeing this world soil day and then doing a bit of reading on it, I would have done it without even thinking about share those needed but “plain” steps.  This day and writing this post has made me decide that I should in fact share it in far more detail.

I am not sure how many single posts/video’s it will lead to overall. I will figure out a way to create a collector post that brings them back all together.

*1 Yes, I am aware that you can grow using hydroponic processes.

*2  While “dirt” is made up of many things, not all of it is living or organic which is why I wanted to point out that we can in fact have mass while not having life.

I am not sure what I want to ask as my question on todays post, so lets just go simple, have you heard of world soil day? What does it mean to you?

 

 

Posted in Garden | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

Farmgal’s Christmas Journal December 2018

Posted on December 4, 2018 by Just another day on the farm

Thank you for the feedback dear readers, I heard you loud and clear. Folks are liking my little day to day journal. While the days posted will flex, I am aiming for two a week posting of the journal updates, so on average every 3 to 4 days.

So there might be double posting on the same day at times. 🙂

Dec 1st

How did that happen, one more month till the end of the year! wow.. time just flying by.

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas, well outside at least, Saturday, we had friends over for the day, they arrived mid morning and we were doing chores after 8 quite late, but we had planned for that and give out extra on the morning chore time. I went to the only butcher that I will buy from and got a smoked pork hock.. we are going to be making a hearty dish indeed and pressure canning up loads of extras

Dec 2nd

Ah, it was a freezing rain day, a hunker down, sleep in with warm fur critters and then a slow stretch up in the morning, it was a bacon, eggs and fresh pastry brunch with eggnog on the side..

Bittersweet memory filled my facebook feed. I miss my Brandy Girl, I know it was the right thing to help her cross over.

She took such good care of my hubby! I have so many good times with my girl before her pain changed her..

We headed to town as we had made a deal for a load of canning jars.. boxes and boxes and more boxes were loaded into the car. We also went to the fish store and came home with more plants and fish for the tank.. Blue Bruce seems to like the company.

There is one “bully” fish in the new ones, I will give it a chance to settle but its on limited time, I do not allow meanness in the sheep flock or the chickens or mean rabbits and I will not allow a mean one in my tank either.

Got Paris a new little winter coat for when she goes out.. she looks right smart in her pink camo.. she is a wee farm girl now!

Dec 3rd

The alarm went off an the day started and then hubby came back to bed and went nope, staying home today to work from home, that changed my days plans, I went from now music up loud, Bread making day to quiet writing day.

It was a cold wet, snowy day with a bitter winds that cut though you, just nasty for everyone, so of course it was a great day to have a new litter of rabbit kits.. momma had pulled a massive nest of fluffy fur and her bigger sleep box was filled with fresh hay, a no look feel only check allowed my fingers to feel a pile of warm kits with full bellies. Looks like pudge should be a good mom, she was bred with brownie.

I have been on the hunt for my present, I am getting a new camera, I love my phone its awesome, and I have a gone thought many smaller farm digital camera over the years and expect that will still happen.

However this is a meet in the middle between the crazy amazing non digital high-end that my dad gifted me years ago that take outstanding photos and my small point and shoot. I want to challenge myself in 2019 to take more photos, on the farm, on my trips and really push myself in regards to at least some of my food photos.

Hubby told me I could match him for his present but I was able to find what I wanted for a lot less and I god I got it at 38% off and free shipping of course. I read and watched a number of overviews and it would appear this is used by lots of bloggers and folks that make YouTube video’s. I want to show you more of the farm in video.. one of the big selling is that this camera will work in very low lighting, so I am hoping to get a lamb being born or a chick hatching or bees in flowers.

I am very excited at the zoom on this camera and also on its ability to be moved to a wide angle for overview photos.. it will be fun to learn how to work it, I have never had this brand before. I am normally a Nikon girl, but they just didn’t have what I wanted at the price point and they were just not going on sale!

 

 

 

 

Posted in farm journel | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Why you should keeping a Garden Journal

Posted on December 4, 2018 by Just another day on the farm

Why you should keep a garden journal from year to year.  Its so important to your garden and your knowledge on what you planted, what you got in return.

Now if you want to go with a fancy app that lets you plan your garden by slotting in this or that, and getting updates on when you should be changing your plantings! Go for it.. I have had ladies sit down with me and whip out the I=pad and show me their pretty gardens to be.

If you want to google free garden planter and lots of garden/homestead blogs will pop up for you and offer you a free one if you join their mailing list and more!

If you want to head to amazon, you can find garden journals for sale, they will have the most amazing detailed pages that you just fill out, if you want that structure, its there for you!

I am going to make a different recommendation..

Get a journal, cheap is fine as long as it’s a hard covered and ideally has a built in page holder. It should not be to big, the hard cover should not be so thick that you can not get a pen to clip on it.

When you work your soil, write it down.. slip in notes on weather, write down what seeds you used (if you have a stapler, just clip the package to the page) if you used it all.. this works great for when you use new kinds. Write down issues with it.  Do as many pages for as many plots as you need, make a single page for one thing.

The second thing you ideally need for your farm journal is your camera, if you have one, be it on your phone or be it a digital one.. snap photos every two weeks, weekly is even better and once a month is min.

So remember to grab your garden book and your camera for your coming garden season of 2019. Its going to be a fun year in the gardens. We are going to have weather challenges that will push us but if you feed the soil, if you are willing to learn how to work with some of these challenges, if you are willing to try new plants and adjust your meals plans..

2019 could be our best year yet in on the land!

Posted in Garden | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

November No Buy Finish up.

Posted on December 3, 2018 by Just another day on the farm

Nov 28th

It was a busy day here on the farm, the morning was spent doing the normal weds things, I did some banking, I did some cleaning and so forth. This lovely photo came up on the Facebook memory’s. It was a reminder once again that winter has arrived very early this year. Normally we do not even have snow on the ground yet.. just cold crispy foggy mornings.

The afternoon was taken up going to get our eyes checked and new glasses picked out, it had been two years since we had done so. Both of us needed new glasses, which in truth we both knew and were proven right. Thankfully a large portion of the cost is covered by work insurance but of course you must pay upfront and then wait for the money to come back to you!

And with this we finished! the second saving challenge for our belt-tightening for Nov! I was able to save enough that the percent of both the test and glasses and the taxes which are not covered were saved and paid out in full!

We also picked up a secret Santa for seniors living in retirement homes in our local community. The folks said that most of the people where picking to buy for the ladies so we picked an elderly gentleman to gift to. He asked for a warm quilt for his twin bed, so I thought I would be smart and go to the local store, pick it out, get it into its big open Christmas gift bag with tissue and right back to them.. nope.. only two twin’s at the store and both flowers and very much for ladies.

Nov 29th

It was a horse related morning, I was up bright and early to get things ready for the farrier to arrive. Got a message that he was running late so the horse’s got some extra hay and stand nicely at your post tied training. Then they got their feet done. They are both heading into winter in good weight but not heavy, and their feet are looking good. I am happy as its always hard when we have our “wet” time. I struggle to not have their feet soften to much when we are in mud season. They do have dry area’s in the barn of course but they are both very much, we will stand out here in the weather then go in unless they have to.

Got the news on the truck and its not good.. the truck is done.. it can be a parts truck or a bush truck but its off the road.. sigh!

The afternoon was spent doing a working consult over the phone with a couple folks and a great visit with a friend as well.. the rest of the day was just normal farm stuff!

Nov 30th

 

I love my photos of my grandfather in his garden!  This was their backyard after they moved to town and grandpa had retired.. I have many fond memories of visiting with him in the raspberry patch. I think almost all of us Grandchildren do 🙂

I was excited to get my first seed order in the mail today! It was loaded with lots of steady as you go seeds and a number of new ones to me that had been carefully picked to work out some of the climate issues we have been having over the past couple years and I expect will become the norm.. more on things that will be done coming in future posts.

I got my chore’s done and then a dear friend came, she arrived with a still warm lovely baked treat and we have a girl day visit/lunch and it was so nice to get to see her.

We had company for Saturday as well both for lunch and supper.. it was nice to see them

I have to admit that it was lovely to get to go shopping for grocery’s on Saturday morning for my company. I added in some fresh items for the planned dishes.

The month was a success in the sense of saving money on not shopping for groceries, not doing little extras that all add up quickly to a larger amount then most of us expect.

However it was not a true no spend month, I did some sale shopping. I call it a success even if I didn’t get really hard-nosed about it.

I do have a question for you folks. I have had great readership on my posts that have tracked my little daily reports.. is this something folks would like to see me continue.. between once or twice a week, share the farm journal?

 

 

Posted in No Buy November | Tagged , , | 17 Comments

How to make Potato Starter

Posted on November 29, 2018 by Just another day on the farm

How to make a Raw Potato Bread Starter for sour dough bread.

Raw Potato Starter out of my favorite Bread Book

1 cup of warm water
1 cup of all-purpose Flour
1 tsp each of salt an Sugar
1 med potato, peeled and grated

In a 2 cup measure, mix together the water, flour, salt and sugar, add in the grated potato

Put in Jar with room to expand, I used a glass bowl, cover with cheese cloth and let it go in a warm place for 24 hours, then stir and cover with a plate lid, they said it would take 2 to 3 days to become light and foamy and have that sour smell..

for me it was two days.. Pour the fermented starter into a glass jar with lid and store in fridge, let it ripen until you have a clear liquid collects on the top of the mixture, again this only took 48 hours for mine to do so, perhaps because I made it with homegrown spud, perhaps it takes longer with store-bought?

Sourdough Potato Bread Recipe

Sponge
1 cup of raw Potato Starter
1 cup of flour
1/4 cup of sugar
1/2 tsp of ground ginger
1 cup water
1 cup of cold leftover mash potatoes. or half a cup of instant mashed flakes

Make this the night before and let it sit, it will be ready in the morning.. it should have a yeasty, slightly sour smell and look just a bit puffy

Dough
1/2 cup hot water
1/3 cup of Dry milk or buttermilk powder
3 to 4 cups flour
1/4 cup oil
1 tsp of salt

Make like normal, Rise twice, bake at 375 for 45 min, make sure you allow the bread to cool before slicing, it’s a wonderful sandwich or toast bread.

Posted in Food Production and Recipes | 4 Comments

How to Keep your Chickens Laying in Winter!

Posted on November 28, 2018 by Just another day on the farm

How keep a a steady supply of winter eggs on the homestead?

I have gotten a few questions from local newer folks that are asking, how do I get my hens to keep or start laying eggs. This is a slight rework of a post I put up before.  It covers all the big main points for you..

Most folks talk about Light and how it effects laying and it does, and its important for sure.. Darker hens have more trouble with this then lighter hens typically, they need even more light. If you have a dark colored Chicken breed at least one more hour to your planned timing.

All chickens if left to natural lighting and the shorter daylight hours that come with winter in Canada are going to slow down and in some cases stop laying eggs.

Yes, you read that right.. STOP LAYING eggs..  and if you are on a true natural cycle, you will just let them do that, they provide a glut of eggs in the spring, lay though the summer and slow down in fall and then they will after the age of two or three move from taking a 2 to 4 week slow down to a 4 to 6 week stop and break all together, my oldest hen on the farm is coming 8, she earns her way not by the eggs she lays but because she is one of the best sitters and hatchers and momma hens on the farm.

So what can you do about it?

Light: Yup, just like everyone else, I am going to say if you want your girls to lay thought the winter, you need to add light, but do not be afraid to think outside the box.. some folks are very successful at moving their hens to their unheated greenhouses during the winter, this helps you get every light bit you can, and keeps the heating (if you choose to heat) to a min and has the added bonus of them both cleaning and adding to the soil.  but I recommend that if you can, take your chicken light needs to solar

We have a solar powered light that collects during the day (when the birds have light) turns on in the evening as it gets dark and runs for about 4 to 5 hours on a winter charge, this is the best of three worlds, I use what natural light there is at all times

The light turns on by itself as it gets dark and the extra hours means that my birds get at least 12 hours of light even in the dark of winter and third, I am still on the same solar powered lights for the chickens and the big barn coming on 7 years, given that I got them on sale for 29..  that’s at power cost of 4 dollars per year to power a building.. if I was doing that at my local power costs.. it would be a lot more.

Protein:  that simple word that is just not so simple in real life.. you can go buy layer feed, it will have lots of protein in it.. mostly from GMO soybeans but its there.. or if you have a few chickens, you can pay though the nose for organic.. good for you if you can do so.. but most of us are on a budget.

So we are using a basic grain feed that is going to be a mix between 9 to 13 percent protein, it will get your birds though the winter but it will not be great that’s for sure..  and those lower protein will effect your layers.

So you can do a number of tricks, you can grow fodder, if you have a small flock, its quick and easy enough to do and it will increase the basic amounts to the need levels, you can hard boil and chop back a egg into the feed to increase the protein count, if you are doing small critter butchering on the farm in the winter ,like rabbits, you can give the leftover bits to the chickens and they will pick them clean, you can grow meal worms or red wiggers and once a week toss a handful to them, crickets are another choice I know that someone grows for her birds, I personally do fodder, meat scrapes and meal worms.  In a total pinch, I know folks that just toss them a handful of the dried cat food to give them that boost.

Age:  this is a great trick and when done correctly it works like a charm, keep the ages of your flock moving, if you have spring hatched hens that are young pullets that are coming into laying in the fall, early winter, they will start and as long as you meet their feed and protein needs they will continue to lay all winter, but be aware that they will take a spring break and first adult molt. but if you have older hens, they will have done a fall moult, a winter slow down and they will cover for your young girls in the spring..

One more reason to love ducks : LOL, no really, ducks are so good in so many ways, when the hens hit that hard winter slow down.. no I will not lay for you if they are older, the duck hens are out in crazy cold but sunny temps and she will start laying weeks before the chicken will stop looking out at the snow and giving you the eye, that says, make it stop and put another layer of fresh hay out there if you think, I am going to even think about going out of my hen house.

Farm Gal Tip of the Day – Give your girls hay once or twice a week, just a touch will do, they will use it like bedding but not before they find every bit of seed head, and good stuff in it. It will give you a bit of color in your winter eggs a well..

Do you not just love how eggs change all year long in color and texture a bit.. from pullet to spring, to summer to winter eggs, good cooks know that they are not the same 🙂

 

I have 5 new 2018 born pullets of coming up to layer age this winter

Did you raise up new chicks this year, are you heading into winter with a young flock that will lay for you, or are you heading into winter with a older flock of hens that are going to slow down a lot. If so do consider putting up some extra eggs while you have them for both eating and baking..

Beat a dozen eggs together till lighter in color, add a tsp of sugar for ones that you want to bake with a tsp (or half a tsp but please do add some) salt and beat it in and then pour into ice cube trays, freeze them hard then pop out, one cube is one egg, double bag them into ziplock freezer bags (it must be double bagged) and it will keep for three months with ease. Just take as many cubes out that you want, put them in a covered bowl in the fridge and thaw them and use.

For regular storage of eggs, just remember if you washed it, fridge, or freezer storage as above, but if you its a clean egg with natural bloom on, you can store it at cooler room temp for weeks (and per my tests, more like months) without much issue.

Question from a reader: what about if the eggs get frozen?  if you bring them in a solid state, you can thaw them in the fridge for a bit and then scramble them to be feed to your hounds, purrpots or back to the chickens once cooled down. What you can’t do is, let them thaw and then hold them for use, because once frozen, they are cracked in the shell, but you can not waste them.

When dealing with older eggs..

I highly recommend these two tests that go together..

a) float your eggs if you are suddenly using a bunch of them, or if you found a clutch in summer, that has a unknown age into a bowl or pot of water, if they sink, fresh, if they half float, older but still good typically, and if they float, they are bad..

2) always follow my grandmothers advice, never crack a egg into a dish, always crack each egg one at a time into a bowl and check it 🙂

 

 

Posted in Chickens, Critters | Tagged , , , , , , | 16 Comments

No Buy November -Week 4a

Posted on November 27, 2018 by Just another day on the farm

Nov 24th

Saturday, o Saturday.. you were a strange day, woke up to a very cold rain and I started puttering..

Follow ups from the last post, the puppy has someone ahead of me in the reserve list and they got her.. so no new puppy for me.  I did get my cookbooks and I did get hubby’s big present all of them on a truly good sale price.

Got up and got ready to go to town..  There was a part of me that so didn’t want to go to town because I KNEW it would be hard to not spend extra.

I needed to get to the bank so that was the first stop, hubby said Canadian Tire was next, we got the required weather striping as we had run out and still had one window to do, then we got the last two bags of seed starting soil they had ( I am very low and I have some more things to plant up)

We headed to the pet store next for skunk off that can be used on the couch ( I can’t use my homemade mix that goes on the dogs on fabric)  and new filters needed for the fish tank however they had a black Friday sale at 50 percent off on the cleaner we get.. so we got 2 bottles to stock up, one bottle lasts about two months give or take. At what worked out for 2 for 1 pricing I could not walk away from that deal.

I was a bit weepy and sad to be honest..

A dear friend of mine passed away last year and I am coming up to the last time I visited with her.. I miss her, she was a bright light, truly one of the best people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. She found my blog though the local garden group and we became friends over the years.

I know that it was her time and that she was at peace with it, but its a year later and I am still not.. I still feel like I have not been able to truly say goodbye in the way I wanted..  Karen you were amazing! I miss your voice in my world..

The rest of Saturday was overtaken with the fact that we can not get the truck to start and it looks like I will have to get it towed to town to get fixed.. I was able to get a appointment late in the coming week.

Nov 25th

Sunday arrived for me at 4:36 am

I was awake and there was no getting around it, I just got up with the hounds and the kitten and we closed the doors and let hubby sleep in. I had some quiet moments, did some reading and writing. Did some housework and planned the day out.

We moved the desk/combo that was still in the nook in the kitchen from when my mom was living here and moved them upstairs and moved down a lovely cupboard into that space, it will allow me even more storage room in the kitchen.  Up and down the stairs where done a number of times.

We decided to do some extra cleaning, hubby worked downstairs and I worked on the living room and dining room on the main floor, redid the whole room to a point, cleaning as I went so that we can get the Christmas tree and trimming up and working in the room.

I am going though the work but I am not feeling it yet, other then wanting to listen to the music.. I am on a major Bonny M kick.. that CD is on repeat at the moment!

And the hits just keep on coming.. I almost do not want to write this..  in fact I do NOT want to write this but I have made a commitment to the blog that I try and show both sides to the farm, the good and the sad.

River kitten is no longer with us. It was very sad indeed but its confirmed. I have to admit when they go missing its SO hard because you never truly know what happened. May you rest in peace little girl! Way to young.

We also lost one of our red hens! Last night we locked up the sheep flock early as we could here the coy-wolf pack howling and hunting just down at the creek, way! WAY to close to the farm!

Got a number of baking things done.. but finished the night with hot fresh chocolate chip cookies. I was so ready for this day to end to tell the truth!

Nov 26th 

I woke up late to the alarm clock going off but I had a hard time sleeping last night so I needed that sleep that I did get before the alarm went off..

Facebook memories showed up with my lovely old boy Zander (now passed) and it showed that two years ago, DH, I and my boy went for a snow filled walk in the bush.. he was such a sweetheart of a dog.. while it sound hard, he was even more snuggly then marie is!

The hens were busy over the weekend, the older females are done moulting and the younger hens are in full lay and I have 5 little hens that will come on laying late winter. It seems strange to have so many eggs coming in given the weather but I am grateful for the bounty!

Sofie is healing well from her surgery and after asking and ASKING if she can please go out. I have done my best to keep her in the house, she has taken to stealing leeloo’s toys and “killing” the colorful mice.

Got the window trims repainted, it should have been done earlier but its above 0 and the house is warm.. its melting at the moment but its going to cool down though the day and the snow is coming, it starts this afternoon and we are to get another 4 to 8 inches of it over the next 48 hours.  We already have hear to stay snow on the ground and this will just add to it..

I am just going to have deal with the fact that winter is here a full six weeks earlier then normal! I have some writing to do for a friend and being snowed in, will help me get my fingers moving!

We have company coming this weekend, I am looking forward to it but I also would like to have the house a bit more “in the spirit” by the time they arrive. It will be nice to have a longer visit as we have always only done a dinner type visit for the past years in the city. Its the first time they are coming to the farm 🙂

You know I have learned something doing these daily updates in this format that’s interesting to me..  The “to do”  “recipe” and “farm” “garden” posts do not reflect what is happening in the daily life..

I mean over the couple days I have been working though things mentally in memory of my friend, the lost of River and so forth but the main posts.. they carry on, they touch back and forth but there are times they really don’t..

Its both real

Its both truth

its just a different snapshot of that truth.

Nov 27th

Up bright and early to our lovely snow day! We got a couple inches of heavy wet snow and it will just keep on snowing for all day today and all night.

Hubbies Christmas present arrived on the farm yesterday, I hope that the weather will clear up enough at some point in the next week that he can try it out in our lovely dark sky’s. I will see if I can get a few pictures of the first use.

I am trying to figure out if I should plow out the driveway today or just wait and do it tomorrow after the snow is to stop, up in the air on that one, but I will be shoveling off the walkways and deck etc.

The rest of the books and curtains are out for delivery and so I am looking forward to getting the living room curtain up later today and I am super excited about the books I got for my library. I have big plans for them and how they relate to the blog in 2019.

Got the tow truck booked to pick up the truck and haul it in to figure out what is wrong and get it fixed.

The chives, beets and more salad greens are up in the indoor grow area, the bloody docks are doing well as is the tomato plant. A certain kitten got into a violet and three big leaves had been knocked off the plant.. BAD KITTEN!

Its starting to get to be a challenge to plan meals because pretty much everything needs to be planned ahead or you can have eggs.. we have lots and lots of fresh eggs.

Last night I was craving Flapjacks with lots of butter and maple syrup.. so good! Thick fat fluffy flapjacks.. 

I am honestly surprised at how many cans of milk I have done though this week, I really! look forward to when we have fresh milk on the farm again!

Now onward for the day and I will finish today in the next post..

 

 

 

 

Posted in No Buy November | 11 Comments

Baseball Bats for Christmas -Book Review

Posted on November 26, 2018 by Just another day on the farm

I bought BaseBall Bats for Christmas when I lived in Iqaluit, Nunavut Canada many years ago and with Christmas coming and thoughts of putting up the Christmas tree came this story to my mind.

I remember how excited the kids would get at sealift time because it meant wood, the wood on pallets in Iqaluit is very valuable and has many uses. I heard of this story and book at my first Christmas party in town and went in search for it 🙂

I decided that I wanted to share it with all my readers. Its a delightful child’s book at a glimpse into a different time and world. It won a number of awards over the years. They say its good for ages 4 to 8 but in truth its a wonderful Christmas story that can be read at that time of the year without getting old. The pages are colorful and the drawings are stunning.

The truth is I think is one of the nicest “Canadian” Christmas stories that I own to be read at this time of the year.  I gave this book to my nieces many years ago

Life in the high Arctic is beautifully captured in this classic picture book by award-winning Inuit author Michael Kusugak. The year is 1955 and Arvaarluk and his friends watch as Rocky Parsons lands his plane on the ice in Repulse Bay, a tiny community “smack dab on the Arctic Circle.”

Having never seen trees before, the children try to guess what the six green spindly things are that Rocky delivers. One of the boys has a brilliant idea: why not use them as baseball bats?

Full of vibrant, richly-colored illustrations, this story gives young readers ages 5 to 8 a glimpse into a time, place, and culture that may be new to them. The Arctic way of life is realistically portrayed by the author, whose narrative voice resonates with the lilt of his native language.

So if you are looking for a interesting children’s book to gift or a great story book to join your Christmas evening reading for the whole family.. May I recommend this book to you!

It gets a solid 5 out of 5

It also comes in both official Canadian languages. English and French

I would like to point out that I bought this book with my own money, I do not get anything for the links proved.. this is my own freely given review 🙂

Posted in Book Reviews | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Skunked! How to remove the smell from your dogs!?

Posted on November 25, 2018 by Just another day on the farm


The house has a whiff of skunk..  I have company coming next weekend and so I have a week LOL to try to air out/clean the house.

On Friday Night the hounds headed out the door to do evening chores with Dear Hubby and Dezbot headed for towards the outdoor rabbit hutch’s and someone was waiting for her.. Marie was following closely behind

Dezbot took the hardest part of the hit, getting some on her head, neck and flank (I am guessing she swerved), I think Marie just caught a bit of extra from the air more so then a hit.

There first bath was a hard scrub of a mix of Blue Dawn Dish soap/Baking soda. I use a cup of baking soda and about 2 tsp or so of the original (that is important) basic blue dawn in a pitcher mixed and dissolved and then after the dog is well wetted, poured in sections on the dog and well worked in.. Allow it to sit at least 2 to 3 minutes.

They will help stripe the skunk oils from the coat and greatly reduce the smell you will be dealing with.

They need a solid good rinse, you do not want that baking soda left on them 🙂 Once you have water running clear with no soap left, then mix regular a jug of 50/50 percent vinegar /warm water.  I made up about 10 cups per dog and then slowly pour and rub this warm mix over the dog, please be careful to not get this mix in their eyes/mouth

It give it a little rub in, around 30 to 60 seconds will get it done.. then give them a fast rinse with warm water and done. The vinegar rinse is important for a few reason’s, if any baking soda got left it will help cut it, it will help get the last of the soap out, it will change the ph of the coat and it will help cut the scent.

Dry the coat with old towels and wash them right away, I recommend crating your dog afterwards (if its crate trained) or limiting its ability to run around the house 🙂

If they got it in the other parts of the house. that’s a lot more tricky, I had to head to town and get a skunk order removed that was safe to use on my couch as I do not want to use the mix above on it.

There are many recipes on the net and I am sure many of them do work as well. I just wanted to share what I have found works well for us and its made with common pantry things.

Very low cost but effective.

What is your favorite way to deal with this? Got a funny story about the time your dog got skunked?

 

Posted in Critters | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

No buy November Part 3 A

Posted on November 24, 2018 by Just another day on the farm

Nov 20th

Tuesday was a good morning wake up and lots of energy and it was a baking day. Fresh Bread loaf, Black Pepper and Cheese Buns and Blueberry crisp (which hubby devoured)

The rest of the day was spent on a putter stuff, I got the rest of the prepped pots planted with seeds, I worked on the house a bit, and shoveled again..  I took up a few more tiles.

I read though one of the cookbooks I am to review and tried to find a recipe or two to try.. I could not find a single thing I wanted to make.. It’s beyond basic.. I will try to read it again later this week and see if I can find something in it that will catch my eye. good thing this one was a second-hand buy  I think I will send it back to the church basement when I am done with it or re-gift it.

Miss S had to be locked up tonight after supper to get ready to go for her spay.

Nov 21st

Up early, to early but we had the chores and getting ready to hit the roads early as we needed to get Miss S to the vets for the first appointment of the day.  It had snowed all day Tuesday lightly and then it just kept on going over the night, As I had done the deck I can honestly say that we had an extra 4 an half inches of snow arrive in 24 hours.

Leeloo is missing her momma so she is very interactive with both us and with the other purrpots, She was hunting Patrick, he is a very good boy with her but no one puts up with her nonsense in the same way as her mother does. She has some big! paws to fill to get as fluffy and as sweet as Patrick is 🙂

We needed new wiper blades and winter windshield washer, I also got a gallon of paint for a room in the house. All those three count as approved buys as they are house/farm/vehicle/critter needs.

However I must own up that I did buy an interesting plant that was a clear.. NO

I own it, I bought it.. I had never seen one before and I might not have been able to find it again if I had not gotten one when I did. I will put it in the over spend a list to the end of the month.

I did already have the pot and soil for the transplanting so that was all still in the rules 🙂

We almost got stuck driving out of the driveway in the early morning, Ok, we did get a bit stuck to be honest, I had to get out and push! So we knew that we had to clear the driveway.

My mom had gotten Dear Hubby a snow blower for his birthday early in the year. It was the day it came out of storage and got its first run.. It worked like a charm, it was fast, it was user-friendly, it was lovely.. It took a three-hour job and turned it into a 30 minute job on the big long lane and front walk. (I am still shoveling the deck, steps and so forth). I look forward to trying it out myself on the next snow fall.

The wind was blowing cold and hard, it was very interesting to see the new pattern that are showing themselves in drifting and so forth with the new open yard and the missing tree’s.

For Nov, the deeper cold has arrived, it’s going down into the -20’s tonight with clear sky’s and a big old moon hanging in the sky.. it’s just going to be colder.  It’s strange to look up and think, it would be warmer if it was overcast..  Still a good check on our cold preps before the truly deep cold hits.

Nov 22nd

What a cock-up of a morning..  first its cold out there at -26.. layers and the big winter boots.. the truck didn’t start, time was spent with the charger, and the jumping cables and finally it was called..

Instead of hubby taking the truck to where he catches the bus, and I have the car for the day, I had to drive him and I will need to pick him up. It was not the way that either of us wanted to start the day!

Still to tell the truth the drive was lovely, the roads were cleared and dry, the snow and spruce always lifts my spirits. Got home and ran the hounds, even the farm dogs went brrr and were fast on their bathroom and came dancing up with shaking paws being lifted up and down. No one is quite ready for this this cold yet.  I will leave them in while I do more shoveling and snow removal this morning.

 

I watched the lights come on for the grow area and smiled at the site of all these little wee sprouts lifting their heads and I puttered on a few other plants while sipping a fresh hot tea.. I took in the beauty of these cheerful flowers..

We have often had issues with the one sink area getting froze up and needing help on a thaw and I have to admit that I went in and turned on the taps expecting a issue despite the fact that we had done the repair work on this and watched in delight as both hot and cold poured out..  NICE! hopefully this will still be the case when its in the -40’s.

LeeLoo is nine weeks old today and that ever changing eye color on her is so interesting to me?! She is in grow mode for sure and is starting to get that “longggggg” look that all pre-teen kittens get, I am a touch sad to see her losing that “wee baby” pudge they all have on milk belly.

The house feels like its getting a way from me, I get one thing done and two more crop up.. so I hope to get a bit more order in things today. I have thawed out a big bag of raspberries to make a another crisp as the first one was gone in two days and I didn’t have that much of it. I also pulled grated zucchini to make a nice loaf with it.

Got the shoveling done and then had a rest.. good thing I set the alarm because I dozed off and then was up and got ready and headed out to the vets to get Miss Sofie. She was very happy to see me and ready to come home.

Her surgery area looks great post 24 hours after her spay and she is chowing down on food/having a drink. I know its a long time between the time we take it away and before they get home to eat but its the best for their system before and after they go under.

However there was one interesting thing.. She appears to be really like to “hold” on her number two.. now I knew she didn’t use the litterbox before I took her in and I did tell them that..  I was warned to keep a eye on it if I could as its possible that she could be a delayed girl in that way and it can be a “possible” issue as she gets older. I am honestly not sure how to keep a eye on it for a cat that does it busy outside.. I think once she heals better, I will start giving her belly a feel and try and learn.. empty, normal and “full”

Its so pretty outside, the sun is shining hard which is lovely in the house, its warm in the sun beams but its a total flip the moment you step outside 🙂

Nov 23rd

Stumbled across a available pup that I am looking at, just need some more info from breeder.. and we will see..

I had not really planned on adding another hound for a two more years.. and I really wanted to add a male and this is a wee girl.. hubby just laughed and said red heads all round then dear!

Up way to early as hubby said someone parked just down the road, turns out they broke down and needed a tow but by then  I was up and going.

Its Black Friday sale and I have my list and checking it twice.. its a short list and we will see, I am REALLY hoping two massive cookbooks will finally go on sale at least 40% off, I have been drooling over them but at 60 plus a book, that is all I have done.

Hubby did his research and add one single thing to the wish list, he has wanted one for years ever since his last one broke. I truly hope it goes on sale. He has been working so hard doing his job plus covering and acting at level above him plus the farm while I have been sick with the flu. I figure some of his many! hours of overtime pay can go to this.

The day moved on smoothly, made a lovely BBQ Beef with mashed and green beans, got my seed potato’s order done.. more on its own post later.

Then the quiet Friday evening went sideways… hubby went out to do chores and sudden appears with the hounds and went.. we have a problem, the smell hit me like a rolling gag..

Baths, and cleaning, eyes burning, can not the smell off my hands perfectly..  o my, o my..

That’s all folks ! A great way to start the weekend..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in No Buy November | 9 Comments