Little found, A little bit don’t where I am…

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

Half your life you struggle
Half your life you fly
Half your life makin’ trouble
Half your life makin’ it right
One day I’m the exception
Most days I’m just like most
Some days I’m headed in the right direction
And some days I ain’t even close
I’m a little bit steady but still little bit rollin’ stone
I’m a little bit heaven but still a little bit flesh-and-bone
Little found, little don’t-know-where-I-am
I’m a little bit holy water but still a little bit burning man
Burning man yeah
I always loved the highway
I just don’t run it as fast
I still go wherever the wind blows me
But I always find my way back
I still don’t get it right sometimes
I just don’t get it as wrong
I still go a little bit crazy sometimes
Yeah, but now I don’t stay near as long
I’m a little bit steady but still little bit rollin’ stone
I’m a little bit heaven but still a little bit flesh-and-bone
Little found, little don’t-know-where-I-am
I’m a little bit holy water but still a little bit burning man
Burning man
Still just a burn, burn, burning man
Just a burning man, uh
Maybe I’ll go to the desert
Find myself in the Joshua Tree
If we pass in the night then just hand me a light
And tell me you burned just like me
I’m a little bit steady but still little bit rollin’ stone
I’m a little bit heaven but still a little bit flesh-and-bone
Little found, little don’t-know-where-I-am
I’m a little bit holy water but still a little bit burning man
Burning man
Still just a burn, burn, burning man
Just a burning man
Uh uh
Burning man

This song speaks to me in so many ways!

I am very excited to announce that thanks to a dear friend who is going to come farm sit for us. Dear Hubby and I for the first time in 19 years and what will be 15 years on the farm are planning both a off-farm holiday TOGETHER which we are declaring our belated honeymoon..

We will being going on our Honeymoon on the year of our 20 years anniversary.

We have so many things up in the air yet but we know it will be after the gardens are in and in the late spring/early summer 2019. We know that we want to go some place that we have never been before!  We are planning on staying in Canada

So much excitement in the figuring and planning, so much to do to get ready for our big “Road Trip 2019”

We are maybe thinking east coast nova scotia, have you been? if so where must you go? we are more nature, trails, water, fossils, old mines, geological type things then we are city, fine dining or museums.

 

 

 

Posted in Road Trips | 17 Comments

Easy to make Puff Wheat Sqaures

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

Puff Wheat Square are so easy to make.

  • 8 cups of Puffed Wheat
  • 1/2 cup of butter
  • 1 cup of brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup of corn syrup or honey
  • 1/4th cup of coco powder
  • 1/2 tsp of salt

Measure out your puff wheat into a bowl, butter grease a 9 by 12 cake pan or if you want really high puff’s a 9 by 9 pan (Grease it well).

In a pot, add your butter, corn syrup ( I used my own homemade kind so I know its non-gmo) or add your honey, sugar, salt and coco powder at medium heat. Mix it with a whisk as it melts down and bring it to a simmering boil..

Pour it over your puffed wheat and mix it though with a wooden spoon.. pour it into your pan, use a little bit of butter on your finger to push off the last bits into the pan.. butter up your hands and with care (its hot folks) push it down and flatten into the pan.. if you are worried butter up your spoon and you can do the same thing.. it just takes a bit longer and more butter that way, where you feel more with your (clean washed hands) to do it that way.

You need to compress the mixture so that it can “set” in the pan and will be cut into squares for yummy snacking.. its sweet, its a touch salty, its crunchy.. Its a old school treat from my childhood.

 

Posted in Baking | Tagged | 12 Comments

Friday Rambles around the kitchen table.

Posted on November 2, 2018 by Just another day on the farm

The Kettle just whistled and the coffee is on.. come on in and sit down..

How are you? How is your world? I really do mean that.. I hope my readers who like the Friday rambles posts will share interesting things about their area, their lives. I loved! how interactive and chat folks have been on the last two of these posts. So if you think should I write a comment, if you are willing please do.

One of the things that has been big news this week has been how little the red cross is helping the local folks that have been hurt by the tornado’s in the Ottawa area. I expect that this type of thing happens ALL THE TIME and because it’s not local and because it’s not in a first world with fast ability to use social media to share the information on that we just do not hear about it.

So the red cross was one of the first to arrive to help(or so they said) and they quickly raised 1.3 million  in donations..  Want to guess how much of that money was given out by four weeks mark!

I can only imagine the shock of the first four weeks of losing your home, losing your community, in some cases losing your home, your workplace, your school, your church and in many cases your vehicles! Poof.. gone.. the stress of cloths to wear, right down to even shoes to put on your little ones feet..

So let’s go back shall we..  1.3 MILLION and they had given out 3000 dollars in the first four weeks.. those that they did help got 600 if they are a family of 3 and under and 800 if they are four or more..  That’s a flat amount.. you could be a family of 12 and you still only count as a family of 4..

That’s not even 1 percent..  So the news got diggy and the red cross got ants in their pants.. I have been listening to the women who is “their voice” she will NEVER answer a direct question.. she is the queen of dance..

Her favorite line..  I can not say how much has been given out as that can change hourly..

HAHA.. WOW!!! what a bunch of Bull $#^#   you trying to tell me that in today’s world that you don’t know to the last penny what has been spent.. I can log online right now to my bank and it will tell me up to the date what I have in my checking, my savings and on down the line.

You trying to tell me that the red cross is so far behind in their own banking that they do not know what they have and what they have spent!?

So here is what they have said to date.. they have earmarked for the Ottawa tornado victims 720,000 of that 1.3 million.. what I have not gotten an answer on, is the rest for the Quebec side of effected folks. Or are they really saying they need close to 500,000 for admin/personal.. cause.. what? if that is the case.. wow!

Because of the pressure placed on them locally, they have decided this week that they will give more folks the ability to claim that 600 and 800 for this month..  Let me explain the issue with this! They were going to do this anyway!

It’s a new month, they clearly said at the beginning that they would have to fill out their paperwork and continue to report monthly and then they would get their 600 and 800 per month.. So while they are up there in the news going.. WE ARE GIVING MORE money out..

Of course you are.. its a new month..

I did not donate to the red cross, I saw what they did when it came to the Fort Mac fires and how poorly they dealt with so many things..

They said they are looking at the long-term needs and that it must be a slow release of things so they can help for years to come.. I am not sure on that.. most of the folks do have insurance.. its my understanding 5 do not have anything (but will be covered on the province to a point) and that the rest all had private that will cover x amount.

So where does that leave us when we want to help? We do not want to get took by some fly by the night scammers and yet, clearly we do need to look smaller if we want a faster response

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/tornado-relief-red-cross-west-carleton-disaster-relief-1.4880618

The response of the Canadian Red Cross appears to contrast starkly with that of West Carleton Disaster Relief, a volunteer organization that sprung up in the days following the tornado and which says it’s already delivered $500 cash payments to 137 families in the Dunrobin area.

Len Russell, the group’s secretary, said the money was delivered within about two and a half weeks, to help people meet basic needs without red tape.

Many were left with nothing and faced long waits for insurance payments, he said.

Russell was very critical of the response of the Canadian Red Cross, saying the short-term assistance has fallen far short of what was provided to residents affected by flooding last year in nearby Constance Bay.

“The reaction of people is, ‘I needed you in the first week,'” Russell said.
“We don’t need you three years from now, and yet you’re going to hold on to this money for years.'”

In addition to the $500 payments to families, Russell said the group has been helping to cover the cost of re-connecting utilities and leasing shipping containers for farmers who need storage after buildings were destroyed.

A volunteer board approves new programs as they’re needed.

While I can not find it in the news to back me up, I know that this group above also released more funds yesterday to all effected family’s and I love that they got sea cans for farmers and are paying those re-connecting costs, which can cost your hundreds for each one.. I just did a power reconnect that needs to be signed off and its not cheap at all.

I listened to the folks effected by the floods talking that a year later many of them are still waiting for insurance, waiting for repairs, waiting to even start building their homes again. I do understand that these thing do take time, I am not trying to say.. snap your fingers and its done..

What I am saying is that they say Donate.. and we will help them, we know what needs to be done.. well I am not so sure about that anymore..

I was thinking about the fact that there have been so many floods, so many fires, so many hurricanes this year.. I feel like this must be happening to thousands, tens of thousands of family’s right now all across Canada, N.A and across the world..

So I ask, If there has been an issue in your neck of the woods, do you find those that are to be helping are doing a good job? Do you find that local groups are stepping up to fill the gaps that the bigger ones are leaving?  Do you donate to Red Cross? Would something like this make you rethink it? Do you donate cash to anyone? or do you prefer to give time, items?

Posted in At the kitchen table | Tagged , | 15 Comments

Local Seed Cleaning Event

Posted on November 1, 2018 by Just another day on the farm

For my local garden folk! Do you want to learn more about how to save your seed? Want to learn how to make screens to sort your seed? Check out this workshop!

So you’ve saved your own seeds, now what? At this workshop, attendees will get an overview of cleaning dried seeds with screens, fans, and even a special homemade open source seed cleaner. This workshop will cover threshing, winnowing, screening, labelling, storing your seeds. Whether your small or large gardener this workshop will give you the techniques you need to get your seed clean for next year.

Attendees will be able to bring their plant material, or the material they wish to donate to the Ottawa Seed Library. During the workshop attendees will also learn about the Ottawa Seed Library, and how they can contribute and participate in 2019 season.

Where: Just Food Farm – 2391 Pépin Court
When: Sunday, November 18, 2018, 1:00 – 3:00 pm
RSVP: Seeds@Justfood.ca
Cost: $5.00 or pay-what-you-can

Participants can get to farm by car or bus # 94. Parking is also available behind the big red barn.

Posted in gardens, seed saving | Leave a comment

Seed Sales for November

Posted on November 1, 2018 by Just another day on the farm

I am excited to announce that these Seed Sales from Mary’s Seeds.

Mary’s Seeds currently offer’s over 500 varieties of Heirloom, open-pollinated, non-gmo & non-hybrid seeds. Mary has signed the Safe Seed pledge.

This is a An affiliate link and if you choose to use it and you buy something, I will get a small percent of the sale.   

I have never done a affiliate program before so I hope this goes smoothly. I have had different folks over the years talk to me about it. While I will continue to support Canadian seed producers a lot of my readers are in states and I have been asked a number of times each year who I would recommend to buy seeds from in the states.  I am pleased to be able to have a answer to give now.


This seed sale runs from Nov 1st to Nov 14ths and my promo code is leeloo

The sale is 10% off all order of 15 dollars or more and it can be used on all Sale items! as well as all regular items.

One of the things I like about Mary’s seeds is that she has outstanding deals on her 99 cent seed packages.  They cover a large amount of basic’s for your garden at a lower cost. There are also some great seed kits on sale already and take a extra 10% off.

Its a great way to save if you would like to give seeds to your favorite gardener as Christmas gifts.

 

 

Posted in Seeds | Tagged , | Leave a comment

November No Buy : Reader Poll

Posted on October 31, 2018 by Just another day on the farm

Hello Folks,

First up on Nov No Buy Week old is a poll for my readers?! I have never done a poll on the blog before but I have lots of first planned for the blog and my life in 2019. So I asked hubby and he said.. why don’t you poll your readers and let them decide.

I have a scene card that is linked to my one bank account that gives me “points” that can be redeemed for movie tickets. The new movie about Freddie is coming out Nov 1st and a few of my girlfriend are planning a movie night out to go watch it at some point in the next two weeks.  I will admit to wanting to go.

Going to the movies is a straight up NO in regards to spending money on No Buy Nov!

However being a somewhat clever girl I said.. what about points.. I have already earned them, they are just sitting there? if I go to the movie and do not buy any goodies or go out before or after with the girls, I think I can use them..

So I will give it over to you my dear readers.. vote in the poll and I will follow the outcome.. The poll votes will count for the first 72’s of voting.

I might be reaching on this one.. lol..

 

Posted in No Buy November | 17 Comments

Happy Halloween 2018

Posted on October 31, 2018 by Just another day on the farm

Grumpy Winter Black Cat.. what a great pout for Halloween 🙂

I love Halloween but here on the farm. Its just another day and a quiet one at that. We do not get folks to come around in the country, everyone from the country packs up the kids and heads to the local community centers that host parties.  You can drop of gifts, chocolate and such at the center to be shared out.

Its not the same as folks coming up the driveway and asking the little ones about their dressing up, or asking them to sing a song or tell a joke.. I put out my pumpkin and lights for the first couple years here on the farm and never got a single child..

Now sadly, I do not even put out the pumpkin anymore.. but if I was going to do it I would be putting out one of the teal ones and giving out little toys and gifts. I did that often before it was even part of the program now.

Do you have the teal pumpkin program in your area. Teal Pumpkin houses are houses that will be giving out small toys, gifts or other idea’s for the little ones that are safe for everyone to have. I have so many friends now that have little ones with allergies, and I don’t mean, little sniffle allergies, I mean their little ones carry Ep-pens with them all the time to be on the safe side.. On the flip side I also have a good amount of mom’s friends that work so hard to keep food die colors, over load of sugar and processed food out of their home and their children diets.  Sometimes this is not just due to a food choice, it really does effect their little ones when they eat these types of things.

I want all the little kiddo’s to feel they can get dressed up, get out there and have a GREAT! time. I want those that want Candy to get their treats and I want those that can’t have candy to pick out a cool toy or item or to tell the truth I normally always let them do both 🙂

I know that some folks have said..  my kids would be so sad if they didn’t get the candy and I say, you didn’t put your thinking cap on enough.. What little girl does not want to get to pick out a new hair clip with bling or a tiny nail polish bottle or maybe she would prefer to grab a funky pencil topper.  Hit the dollar store and take ten minutes and think like a kid of different ages.. a fun straw! or maybe a cute travel size bottle sparkle glue or colored eggs of slime..

Trust me, we used to give little toys/gift when we lived in the artic and we had kids lined up the steps and out the driveway waiting to get to the door to see what they could pick, we had different bowls for different ages.  We would give the kids a choice.. total of two to pick.. and they could pick two candy, two toys/little gifts or one of each.. I would say that 100 percent left with at least one toy and about 50 percent took the second toy over the candy.  I liked giving them a choice 🙂

What was your favorite treat as a kid when it came to the candy, I am giving away my age now on this one LOL I loved color popcorn balls.. I liked making them, I liked giving them, I liked getting them..

These days you can’t even consider giving away a homemade treat, without assuming that it will be thrown away by the parent for “safety”  I also adored Puff wheat squares…

I look forward to hearing your favorite treat and what you find in your neck of the woods.. its is a homestead thing that we don’t get kids in the country or is it just where I live now? If you have little ones, do you take them to town? for the parties..

I hope everyone local stays safe in this cold wet night..

 

Posted in At the kitchen table | 8 Comments

No Buy November “The lead up”

Posted on October 30, 2018 by Just another day on the farm

Oct 25

It’s a lovely mild day out there today but the wind is bitter, I have been watching load after load of corn go by, the local farmers are running from dawn to dusk. I wonder when they will get to the corn around my own little plot of land.  Worked on getting a Christmas present ready (Flame color changing Pine cones).

I also trimmed and got the Canadian Bacon weighted and prepped and into the fridge for later use.  Made the High Bush Cranberries into juice and pulp today.

Needed to figure out how to make a new recipe using the pulp left over from the High Bush Cranberries.

the chickens will be very happy when they get the seeds.  Did a rice wash on my hair today, I always love how my hair feels afterwards.

Spending-0

Oct 26th

Up early this morning, lots of canning and processing to do today. Processed Elderberry Juice, Made the High Bush Cranberry Pancake Syrup.  Baked off three large deer roasts that will be used in other dishes. Made Bone Broth. Pressure canned 10 pints jars of Sausage meats (half honey garlic/half Italian) and 8 pints of Venison stew.  Cold today -8

Hubby left me a note that said: check your camera and this cute photo was waiting for me 🙂 I love how sweet my farm dogs are with “their cats” The rest of the day will be spent on clean up, house work and regular farm chores, we are having company arrive tomorrow.  Heading in to town tonight to get my last shopping done before we hit the no buy November in full swing.

Nope hubby ended up with enough overtime that he did not get home till quite late, so he stopped at the store to get a few things for the gathering happening tomorrow and a few things for the house

Spending -40

Oct 27th

Its a relaxing day with company coming, Cooking, Canning and a few drinks with a movie to round out the night.  Lets back that up just a touch LOL. The first few hours of the day were spent working around the house, including getting things cooking till the first of the company Miss L arrived around 10am.. we had a great visit and a lovely lunch, we got a bit of outside work done, but then the electric screwdriver quit. So not near as much as we wanted and I will need to get a new one. Our second set of company pulled in around 3pm but she was staying the night, so we had my birthday cake (Pineapple fluff with cherry topping), coffee and presents.

Then Miss L headed home to beat the dark and the coming snow. Miss D stayed over so after a lovely supper of roast pork onions and carrots with mashed and gravy, we got a bit of canning done, I got the High Bush Cranberry Jelly made and the Elderberry Syrup canned up.. At that point we took a break and had a few evening drinks and watched a movie. It was a delightful day other than the equipment breaking.

Cost -0

Oct 28th

Woke up to snow.. it had started late the night before.. still snowing!

Good thing I stuffed the outside rabbit boxes with fresh hay yesterday as extra bedding, they will be all snug in the colder temps in their inner houses. So Miss D gave me a hair cut this morning before she left (saving me at least 40 or more at the hair dressers) and my hair is around 5 inches or so shorter, but still long enough to get in short or high ponytail

 

I added in a new color to go with the new hair cut 🙂 I like it, very natural looking to me

We need to head to town at a later point today and get my shopping list done while I have the car to do it.. but I think that is an afternoon thing, we will see.  Ended up going while it still snowed in the hopes that it will stop snowing this afternoon.. We will see.

Shopping was busy but we did stick to our list. We needed to get a new electric Screwdriver, which as a direct replacement full price with Tax is pretty much $200. So you can understand why I got really excited when I found an amazing sale on a kit that included extras and the driver I needed on sale for 60 plus tax.. WHOOOT!..  We got two of them!

I got two for one with the all the extra’s in the kit which would be worth another 150 at least if bought by themselves. That means we have three charger, four batteries and we will both have a driver for when we are working on bigger projects and or different spaces. Given it had to be replaced, this was outstanding Sale!

Then we did a bit of Christmas shopping, some farm critter shopping, some cat food and such. Finally we got to the grocery shop, I only got one case of 12 of a canned ham (different version of spam really) for the pantry and the rest was pantry replacement or top ups. I had 50 per week for regular shopping, and I came in just a dollar over.

So I can honestly say that I am coming into No buy Feb without spending more than normal or feeling like I have “added” anything extra to cover etc..

If the snow keeps up this heavy, we will work in the house for the afternoon, really only heading out for chores, it feels like a bundle up with a hot drink and just watch the snow fall day..  Alas there is work that still must be done.

Ah, shoot.. something came in the quiet of the storm and killed one our geese in their outdoor pen, so that means the two left got moved to an inside pen and no more free ranging ducks/chickens until we can figure out what came. once they get a free meal, they will be back..

Oct 29th

Well, its Monday and its -4 today and the morning was fogged in and the afternoon is grey overcast and its lightly raining out there. Damp and cool all day long.

As is normal on Monday its bread making day, I am planning  toast or sandwich loaves’ and one Herb bread that will be more for soups/stews, I will need to bake-off muffins for breakfast and then make a batch of cookies for work lunches.

The oven light burned out since yesterday, I flipped the switch and nothing.. so no warming in the oven this way, so back to the old boiling water trick. Just fill your kettle nice and full and then make yourself a cuppa and pour a quart of boiling water into a jar and carefully with oven mitts place it in the oven next to your proofing bowl.. the heat will spread and warm the oven and the bread will rise.. reuse the water in the dogs bowl or to water plants or into the sink for dishes etc

The bread is super soft and moist today, its lovely but the weather as always does effect it the end result. I just realized that I am out of mozza cheese, I have cheddar and parm and of course I can make cheese but I don’t have a milking animals so that means I will have to make it with dried milk if I want to do so..  as I have already spent my regular funds on the lead up.. I guess I am heading into nov with no mozza in the house..  Given I am planning on pizza for supper this could be interesting!

Oct 30th

Cold, damp and raining for the day.. one still must do chores.. time to start get out the pompom and scarfs.


Hubby got up at his normal time before 5 am and decided that he is affected by his cold enough not safe to drive with a spinning head and after meds crawled back into bed for more rest. otherwise its a putter day. Going to keep it quiet while my guy has a sick day

Time to get out the elderberry syrup to give a helping hand to his immune system and of course I will need to make him hot soup..

So I am posting this run up today as tomorrow the 31st is already booked in as a double post day. I will include it on next weeks week post up, which should be running on weds if I keep to the plan..

So for those that made it to the end.. I have a question for you, what do you want me to talk about in no buy November? Got a question for me? Want me to expand on certain subjects? Want lots of photos in the weekly update?

 

 

Posted in At the kitchen table, No Buy November | 9 Comments

How to make Pumpkin Jam

Posted on October 30, 2018 by Just another day on the farm

This is an old fashioned recipe that uses weights in its measurements for the pumpkin/sugar amounts, use your kitchen scale. The pumpkin is weight after its cleaned, prepped and ready to use.

Pumpkin Jam Recipe

5 pounds of pumpkin
4 pounds of sugar
3 lemons sliced thin and finely diced
1 orange sliced thin and finely diced
1 tsp of salt

Peel and cut pumpkin into pieces about 1/4th thick and finely dice or put them in a food processor and chop them finely, place in bowl with the sugar and allow to sit overnight

Remove the pumpkin pieces and bring the liquid to a boil, add the pumpkin, the lemons the orange and salt, cook very slowly on a low heat until thick to your desire, bottle and process for 15 minutes in a hot water bath process.

This is just a yummy, yummy pumpkin marmalade like jam, yes its sweet and has a different flavour.  can be used as a cake filling, or as a tart filling with a dollop of whip cream. Make an outstanding glaze mixed with icing sugar an a touch milk over a pumpkin loaf.

 

Posted in jam | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Happy National Cat Day

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

Our Current Purr Pride of farm cats send a big old hello to all of you 🙂

Sunny Cat is now our old man, approx. age 8 or older now.. unknown age so its just a best guess. He is a total lover but a amazing hunter here on the farm.

Henry is one of our new boys, he is seven and taking his time settling in, he is a ghost in the yard but always loving an sweet when he does appear. We currently have him in the little barn, very good hunter!

Patrick is three this year and a amazing boy, he is a crazy love bug cuddle follow you everywhere boy.. he is a momma’s boy! He is so-so on his hunting.. more of a .. well I guess I should kinda guy

Faith is full litter sister to Patrick, she is so quirt but she is gentle and always watching.. she really likes to be up high, on the hay, in the rafters up in a tree, sitting on the roof.. crazy hunter, she does them all..

then come Sofie.. unknown age.. but around 3, this girl is one of the best hunters..

River is a year old now and she is a quiet shadow cat here, a altered female, She is shy but always around..

Need to try for a update photo of her, she is a large female cat, never seen her hunt, never see her much.. she hangs around but watching.. her favorite spots are under the spruce trees

Leeloo is coming six weeks of age this week.. she is the baby of the farm..

Our maybe new guy.. Mac

Posted in Critters | 11 Comments