"The City and Timbits of Other News"

Yesterday we headed out to the nearest big city for our oldest son J's eye specialist appointment. Our appointment was a 10:45 and we got there at 10:35 (early for once). We sat in the waiting room until 12:30 when we got to see his doctor. His doctor is a wonderful person and we like her very much. We only wish they could get it together a bit better:) This not being our 1st time we knew that we'd have to wait. So we come prepared with a novel for me and a bunch of "Graze" mags for Papa. They have toys and books and chairs for the kids so they are entertained. When we finally got in the room Dr. V greeted J and then turned to Papa and I, I was nursing Baby R and Papa held both E and L on his lap, with a stream of praise for the behavior of our children in the waiting room. She told us that every one of her patients that had come in (there was at least 6) while we were there had very good things to say about our kids. Some of them even told her that they wished their children/grandchildren were as well behaved as our 4. I think she realized that she was embarrassing us when neither of us said anything and Papa's face got all red. I'm sure mine did as well. I did manage to smile and say thank you before she thought us daft. J did really well with the eye testing and we learned some great news. His eyes are, with his glasses, now 20/20 vision. His lazy eye is responding very well to the glasses and she said she could get it to turn out but it took a bit of confusing it. With his vision she said that there is a very good chance, now that we've found the right prescription, of him not having to wear glasses once his eyes mature. Usually just before teenagedom. We like our eye doctor as she always checks all the kids while we are there. So while her nurse was checking L and E's eyes with this neat little card with some kind of pic on it (neither Papa or I could see the pic but both L and E could), Dr. V was busy talking to J. I overheard some of it but not all of it. I told Papa about it later and we both smiled about it. Dr.V always asks J what he wants to be when he grows up. J never really has an answer (sometimes he'll say he wants to be a Papa) and this time he must not have either. So Dr. V was putting the idea in his head to become a eye doctor. Tricky lady!! :) :) I know they are few and far between here and I know that people who grow up in the area are more likely to stay in the area and if they will get a needed profession all the better.


We always take the kids out for a special meal after J's appointments. To thank them for being good and because we are all hungry and thirsty after waiting so long. So we go to our favorite "swordfish" place. And we always make the appointments for Tuesday because it's all you can eat fish and chips on Tuesday. So Papa and I have fish and chips and the kids get to pick from the really cool kids menu. Their kids menu is pictures on a place mat in rows of main dishes, sides, drinks and dessert. They boys always get 'worms and dirt' for dessert which sounds nasty but really is great. It's chocolate pudding with Oreo crumbs and whipped cream on top, but the best part is the candy worms that stick out here and there. The 1st time we got it L refused to eat it. YUCK. Was all he'd say. Papa had to convince him that it was good and take the worms out so he could see that they were candy. Now he inhales it like a beast. The best thing about the 'swordfish place' as the kids call it, is that we only go a few times a year which keeps it special and a huge treat.

We had a few hours to spare so we went shopping. Mostly looking for Christmas gifts and seeing what caught the kids eyes. We've done a bit of Christmas shopping but we are not nearly done. Yesterday I did find Christmas shirts for the boys, on sale 30% off, and a CARS ornament for L for his stocking. Papa and I have decided that we are going to get a babysitter in a week or 2 and leave J, L, and E at home while we go Christmas shopping. Baby R is still nursing so we will take her with us. We want to go all day and hopefully get done!! We are also going to go out to our favorite fancy place to eat. Yum. We normally go for our anniversary dinner but we were out of town this year so we missed it.

Our surprise kittens are getting tamer everyday. They moved from the shop to the chicken barn to the milking area/trailer area where they seem to be staying. They come out every morning and evening for the 1st squirts of milk and are getting a bit rolly. The other day one came and sat right behind Bindy's front feet as I was milking. It sat there and stared at me. We've decided to let them make the 1st move, so I just kept on milking. They are really cute and we often see them playing on the porch or in the milking area. I've tried taking pic's but they move so fast that they are all blurry.


E is now two years old and the day after her birthday I told her no more diapers. So far she is doing very well. I did this same thing with J and L and they both did very well. That is not their 1st learning experience with the toilet. In fact they all start sitting when they are about a year old or whenever I can start to catch them going regularly. We also do "dry training" which is simply teaching them that dry is good... wet is not. I put underwear on them and then praise them and give them a chocolate chip or treat if I find them dry. It takes no time at all and I have a small child running up to me yelling "DRY DRY" while checking their bums for dampness. I always recheck as they are still learning and then they get their treat. This took E all of 2 days about a month ago, as the boys learned really fast that they will get a treat if they are dry as well. In those two days I heard "E are you dry??" Then "SHE'S DRY MOMMA" about 200 times a day. LOL. Then everyone gets a treat. Even momma 'cause I'm dry too don't you know!! LOL. She's on day 6 and the last two days she's only gone thru 2 pairs of underwear. (she wears one pair most of the day then the other pair the rest of the day.) Yesterday in the city she wore pull ups or 'travel underwear' as we call them and she stayed dry until after their nap on the way home. If you ask her if she has to go she will tell you 'yeahas' or 'no tanks' in her little girly girl voice.

Commercial transport Mechanics apprenticeship!!

WAHOOO. Papa started his apprenticeship today!! Commercial transport Mechanics apprenticeship!! And it's just 10 minutes from our house. I'm still in shock. A good shock, but still shocked. He's been looking into in for quite some time and his old boss knew about it and they had planed for him to leave when the fall work with the cat was done. Well last week they were still working and there were not sure for how long. Friday night Papa came home and said 'that's it'. Saturday we went and told the new guys he could start Monday. Then we had to run to 'the city' to get him a few tools he needed and a cart to put them on. Got the cart loaded up and ready to go Sunday and this morning he went to work. For something we've been looking forward to for months it all happened rather FAST!! He'll be working from 8am to 6pm. Which will be new for us as we've only had regular hours once before in the 9 years we've been married and never while we've had kids. We'll also have evenings. With his other job he'd go to bed at 8 to get up at 3:30, or 4am and only get home about 6, or 7pm. It sounds like there will be some Saturdays but only 5 days a week. So if he works Saturday then he'll have another day off mid week. He also has a tool allowance which I'm sure will come in handy.

Birthday Girl

E on her 2nd Birthday. She loved the hat and wore it most of the evening.

Tea Party and Kid Stuff.

E got a tea set for her birthday from Grandma F. It's a hit!! Today we pulled out the little table and J washed it off. Then L got the dishes and set it. I got them some crackers and some chocolate chips, made a small pot of hot chocolate and filled the 'creamer' with milk and they had 'tea'. We practiced our manners some but mostly they just had fun. J poured and L passed out crackers. They all love it. When they were finished. E cleaned up the napkins, L put the dishes in the sink and J washed them. J made the comment at the sink that he felt 30 years old.(He actually said 30 years old. He knows Papa is 31) " This must be what its like to be a Papa." Then he went on and on about what he's going to do with his kids when he's a Papa.
Today while washing up after a meal L commented that God didn't want him to play at the table. I had to chuckle at that one. It's not so much that God doesn't want him to play at the table but that God wants him to obey his parents. And his parents don't want him playing at the table. He understands that because later he told me that God didn't want him throwing fits either. From the mouths of babes. It's amazing how they pick up stuff that it takes adults years to figure out.

Birthday Party.

E's birthday party was a hit for all involved. Everyone had a great time and enjoyed the cake and homemade ice cream. The kids favorite food was the juice. Which was a cranberry/grape mix with 7up added. Though J did have 3 cupcakes and a piece of cake. I'll try and post some pic's soon. E loved all her gifts but the one that is so far most loved is her stroller for her baby. She runs around pushing her baby holding on the the string with her balloon. A close second is the little people house (which makes all kinds of noise) and the dishes and food set. The boys really like the dishes and food. Baby R really liked the wrapping paper which she tried to eat and the ice cream. Which she'd never had before except a tiny finger full. We had a small group, and our kids had great fun with Cousin M. M is 9 months older then E and 9 months younger then L. So she fits in perfectly. :) J and L are already planning for their birthday parties.

Working as a Team.

I want my children to think of each other as team-mates not competition. So I'm doing team training. Starting them young. But I want teamwork to become automatic not 'if I got too'. So far it seems to be working. The boys often help E take her shoes and jacket off. J also helps L figure out if his shoes are on the wrong feet. They bring me jars from the pantry and containers full of flour or sugar or whatever, J taking them down and passing them to L or E who then brings it to me. I use it and pass it back to E or L and they in turn bring it back to J who puts it away. So today I sent the boys out to get the eggs. L was suppose to carry a bit of chicken feed in a bucket and J was to take the bucket for the eggs. They both carry foam swords. Ready to do battle to get the eggs:) They can both climb over electric netting so one stands on it and lets the other over. Then L feeds them his 'treat' and J gets the eggs out of the dog carrier we are using as a nest box and hands them to L who puts them in the bucket. They take turns swiping, with their foam swords, at the curious turkey who likes L a bit too much. L being just the right height to see eye to eye with the turkey. Eggs gathered they grab their buckets and climb back over the fence, swords in hand. My brave boys :)

Keeping Busy.

Friends of ours just got back from a 3 month guiding job and so we have been catching up; having them for supper, having a girls night out with a bunch of friends, and visiting. It's nice to have them back and soon we will start our card nights up again. That will be lots of fun this winter as we get out less and less when the weather turns nasty.


The weather is still warmer then normal, I do believe, but the wind is hard and cold and feels like it's trying to, and sometimes seems too, go right through you. We've still have been outside though as it's only going to get worse. The kids bundle up in jackets with hoods and mittens. Their little noses turning bright red after a few minutes outdoors.


J is big into riding his bike these days and when we walk to the mail box he gets to ride along. He 'practices' going up and down the driveway. His little red bike teetering and tottering on his training wheels. He has shown almost no interest in biking until now so we are encouraging him to keep on biking. He also enjoys helping me and today we bought a pumpkin for the purpose of making Papa pumpkin pie. It was J's idea and a good one. I figure we'll have some fun doing it and we'll all enjoy the pie so why not.


L is pretending a lot these days. Not so much truck driving going on at our house this last 2 weeks or so. He pretends to be a tiger or a wolf or a horse or whatever suits him just then. He also enjoys getting a rise out of his older brother and is very good at it. It is something we are working on. He also has a great love for books and will sit and read for almost a hour at a time. He has started 'reading' to E and they both enjoy it. Baby R and L seem to have a special relationship and he can make her smile anytime. All she has to do is see him and she's grinning.
We are also getting ready for a birthday as E turns 2 tomorrow. She is quite excited and today we went to the dollar store to pick out her cups, plates, napkins, and she really liked some hats with smiley faces so we got them too. I like it that they have a part of the planning. It is their birthday after all. That having been said I picked what would go on her cake:) She's a bit too young to have a clue what she wants. So we are doing hearts. We mixed and baked the cake and 12 cupcakes this afternoon. And with them I also baked a small molded heart cake that I plan on icing and putting on top of the big cake. I also have jelly beans and skittles to make hearts on the top. I looked everywhere for heart candies but it's not the season and there where NONE to be found. I also got some tiny heart molds ( I was thinking butter molds) filled them with pink icing and froze them. Tomorrow I'll pop them out and put them on the cake as well. The cupcakes are the kids favorite and we'll put heart sprinkles and probably candies on them as well. I got the gifts wrapped today, one from us and one from great Granny and Bruce and E's eyes bulged when she saw them. Now I just have to find the one from A. Ruth and we'll be good to go:) Grandma and Grandpa G's card arrived on Friday. We are only have a small gathering. Grandma and Grandpa F and one A and U and Cousin to help us celebrate. Oh and the neighbor lady is coming as well.


Baby R is still trying to get her 1st tooth. Just about everyone we meet comments on her big gummy smile. She beams her sunshine all around her most of the time. She has a green bruise on her forehead where she fell into the couch. It's one of many I'm sure she'll get as she loves to stand upright and moves her little feet up and down. Walking in place. Much too soon for my liking. L walked at 9 months and it was terrible. He walked but he didn't really steer or think. He walked over toys and into walls, falling on his head a lot. Baby R has no balance right now and I'm hoping it takes her awhile to find it, and therefore a while to walk.


We are still doing firewood. I try to do a little bit during the day with the wheelbarrow. I don't always make it. We also are preparing to possibly put the roof on over the trailer this fall. And we got a truss up on the roof, with me on the pulleys and Papa on the roof, and Papa got all his figuring done. We want to put 3 more up before we get the local crane truck out to do the rest of the 36 so that we can have a base to lean them on when they get up there. Hopefully he can put the strapping up on the roof as well. Then we'll have a workday or two and call out the troops and get it done. It will be really nice to have it done. But neither of us are holding our breath.
And what with making bread, butter, cheese and meals, doing laundry, (using the dryer in the house now too keep the heat in, besides my laundry line went down so the 'wall of wood' could go up.) cleaning and chores I seem to keep busy, never mind the playing with, washing, reading too, nursing Baby R, and misc other things with the kids. Papa is still running the cat and working about 1 1/2 hours from home but still coming home for nights. Which is really nice. This is probably his last week of work on the cat. He may work some next week but it is all very much up in the air. After the cat work is done this fall Papa is changing jobs and will be working 10 minutes from home as a apprentice mechanic. WAHOOOO. We are looking forward to this change in lifestyle and I'll keep you posted on how he likes it and how it changes our lives.


The calves Billy and Bobby are doing great at Millers place and Bindy has forgotten them totally though I hear the calves bawled for over a week. The bull will be going home this weekend and we are looking forward to the calf next summer. It will be nice not to have to worry about him. The bull has actually been really well behaved except for 2 times when he put his head down and started swinging it at Papa. He also crow hopped at Papa a bit while swinging his head. Papa said it was because the bull wanted his hay and Papa was fixing the electric wire around it. Still I'll be happy to see the back of him. Next year we will probably try and AI her as we just found out our neighbor does this and then we can breed her to a Jersey and pray for a heifer :)


I actually managed to move the chickens with out all of them getting out now that the pigs are out of electric netting and in to a 2 strand fence. We moved the pigs on Saturday and they sure do love that new ground. We'll move them again soon as they have this piece half tilled. It's amazing what 6 mid sized pigs can do in just a few days. We got them July 20Th so they are late pigs but growing nicely.

Well it's time for bed. The family all long since tucked in and the fire done. Hope you all have a wonderful day and God Bless you and Keep you. Night all.

Not a farming week.

What a week. Some weeks are great farming weeks. Others are great family weeks, and yet others are great cleaning weeks. Some weeks are nothing great weeks and others are everything great weeks. Great meaning that this is what happens. This week is not a farming week. It may be a cleaning week but I'd really rather not. LOL. But it seems everything is going crazy with the critters. And it's only the middle of the week. I moved the chickens a few days ago. Got the electric netting all figured out around some trees and opened it up to move and BOOM. Every blasted laying hen we have except 1 was OUT. I swear they heard the fence rustle and ran for the hole. Good thing there are only about 25. Our 1 and only turkey actually did stay in. Anyway I put the pen where I wanted it and went to go find some chickens. Sure enough they'd all run right to their barn. They seem to miss their barn come fall and can't wait to leave it come spring. So I got as many as I could in there and closed the door and proceeded to CATCH everyone, including our rooster, and haul them across the yard to the new pen. I didn't get them all, but had to go out after milking and got a few more. It was a bright night so they could see me, so I couldn't get them all. There are at least 5 still out. At least I have not found chicken poop on the porch...yet. Tomorrow the kids and I will have to go on a egg hunt. One fun thing about having hens out.


Then today I had the kids outside for a bit and when it was time to come in I got them all in then looked out the window and what do I see... My cow and the bull BOTH out, munching on the lawn. Not 20 feet from where the kids had just been. I set the kids down to lunch and ran outside to get them in. They had pushed over a board by the stanchion and hopped out. So I adjusted some fences so they had to go back in and got me a big stick and in they went. So I put some pallets in front of the hole and a board and went back in to put the kids to bed. (They had soup for lunch, which they drink out of a big bowl with a straw each, so it takes no time at all) Then I had just sat down with my own soup and a hear a weird noise. Look out the window and here is Bindy back in the yard. This time I had to catch her and drag her around the layer pen, then thru a small hallway between the house and the firewood wall (I was amazed she fit, and that she would go. Both of her sides were rubbing on the 'walls'), though the milking area and back in the pen. Then while I was re fixing the hole she tried it again so I couldn't go get stuff to fix the hole. But I fixed her. Tied the pallets to the fence and put our ladder, which was nearby, across the top. With the large wheelbarrow full of wood (also nearby) holding the ladder and one side of the pallet up. The only bad part about this was that the wheelbarrow had been empty so I had to refill it from the stack. It looks like crap but it works. :):) Tomorrow I'll have to go find some long nails and a 2x6 and fix it up right and proper. By the time I got back inside my soup was cold, nap time half over and I was cranky from the whole mess. Thankfully though the soup and the rest of nap time did wonders for my mood and I'd pretty much forgotten the whole mess by the time Papa got home from work. One nice thing about it was that I actually touched the Bull and he didn't even mind. I sort of pet him over the fence after I put them in the 1st time. He almost let me, then I think he remembered I was a HUMAN. ACK. Chickens, cattle, lets hope it's not the pigs tomorrow. I hate chasing pigs. (Actually I have a great way of chasing pigs. :) I use our pellet gun. It stings just enough that they all turn when one gets hit. Well this is the best way to get them out of places you'd rather not go.. like under the floor or in the garden or when they try and head for the road. I had this problem a month or more ago. My fence was shorting out on a rebar pole and I couldn't find it. Turned out it was on a part of the fence I didn't know was hot. Anyway our 6 pigs got out 6 times in less then 4 hours. I learned I'm a pretty good shot!! Now the fence is nice and hot and the last time we moved them they wouldn't even cross the fence line with the fence down. :)

Converstation stoppers.

LOL. Yesterday while waiting to get in for Baby R's immunizations a lady who was in the waiting room started asking me about my kids. Are they all yours? Are there twins?? ( I guess that somehow makes it more understandable then just having 4 children in 5 years) Two boys then a girl and then a boy?? I was nursing Baby R so I explained. No 2 boys and then 2 girls. She was nice and polite. Curious mostly I think. Then she asked me the question we get constantly. From everyone, strangers in the stores, people walking their dogs, family, friends. Everyone. She asked me if we were done now. Now I'm not sure why people ask. Probably they are just curious, maybe a bit nosy, some of them are down right horrified with the # we have now and just speak before thinking. Those last ones really get on my nerves, I'd rather have my 4 well behaved children then their 1 or 2 spoiled rotten little brats. I often get asked how I do it with 4 gasp gasp active children. As they try to hold their child in their arms or even keep them in the same room/area as they are. Often with the child screaming and fighting or just plain taking off. I just smile at them and look at my 4 holding hands or standing quietly waiting for me. And tell them, not what I do because they really don't want to know. I know. I have told them and they have all kinds of reasons why that couldn't possibly work for their precious wonderful expressive child. "They are just expressing themselves..." I've heard it while buying groceries, while in the library, while at the park, while in a church. No one was listening anyway so I stopped saying it. Now I just tell them that we practice at home. We practice being good, we practice sitting quietly, we practice listening. We practice, practice, practice. This seems to be something people can understand. Of course there is more to it then that. But the people who ask us if we are done having kids are normally just curious.. they aren't looking for answers but to fulfill their curiosity. With these people I just smile, look them right in the eyes and say. "My husband would like 12 children." Now sometimes they gap like fish out of water, a few smile and say go for it, most gap like fish. Now depending on the person I often add... "but I told him we'd take them one at a time." Because that question is often the next, "Well... what about you??" I wonder if they really think I would have married Papa knowing that he wanted 12 children if I did not also want a large family. I just keep smiling and keep practicing!!!

Immunizations!!

Yesterday Baby R got her 6 month shots. I know we started a bit late but I kinda like it better that way. She was really good and didn't even cry for the 1st one. The 2ND one hurt though. Well I imagine they both hurt. All my kids act differently after their shots. J used to want to eat/nurse constantly, L screamed... then again he did a lot of that anyway. E got a fever but was still mostly happy and Baby R seems to barely notice. Which is fine with me. Papa told me last night that last time it took a few days and then she got cranky for a day or two. Must not have been that bad as I cannot recall it. She did really well yesterday afternoon and last night she slept 8pm to 6:30am. Which is nice. :) Really nice. :) What is also very nice is that now we are done with immunizations until she is a year old!!

Supper tonight: cottage cheese perogies, gravy and bacon, and corn. YUMMM

We had a great supper tonight. I finally was able to make homemade cottage cheese properly this afternoon so I drained it out and added salt and pepper and threw it in the fridge for supper prep. When Papa got home from work we decided to make wareneke. This is a german perogie dish that we eat with cream gravy, sausage (we are out so we did bacon), with or with out jam. Tonight we had corn as well. Very yummy. But it takes a bit of work to make it all from scratch. This is the 1st time I've been able to make a cottage cheese that tastes, feels and looks like cottage cheese. I do make a great simple white cheese, but the taste is different.
The Cottage cheese.
Remember this is a 1st for me so if it doesn't work the 1st time for you.. Try and try again. Here is what I did. I took a whole gallon of milk, cream and all, and set it by the woodstove. It's quite warm there and it separated in about 2 days. We had a fire the whole time. (getting colder here. This morning was -4C) When it separates's, it splits in to 3 different colors. Yellow on top, mine was hard like cheese so I wonder how warm it really got. Whey in the middle, sort of greeny yellow. And white on the bottom. This is called sour milk and if you want it faster put your fresh milk in the old container without washing it. Or so they tell me:) Then you take this whole thing and dump it into a pot big enough to hold 2 times what you put in it. Then you boil roughly the same amount of water as you have sour milk. Pour the boiling water into the sour milk and stir. The whey separates from the cheese and you have cottage cheese. I poured mine thru a strainer with a clean dishcloth in it and squeezed it dry. Then I stirred it up into nice little chunks, use your fingers if you want, then added a bit of salt and pepper. You can take the cream off your milk and then make cottage cheese then re-add the cream to make a moister cottage cheese. I like mine dry (I've never made it before but I've eaten it lots:) so I don't do this.
The Cottage cheese perogies or Glums Wareneki.
Ok take your homemade cottage cheese (mine made 3 cups) and add
3 egg yolks
pinch of salt
dash of pepper
Mix this all together til its sticky.
Then get a larger bowl and mix.
1 cup of milk
3 egg whites
1 tsp of salt.
Then add enough flour to get a workable dough. Roll out your dough to about 1/4 of a inch thick. Now it is the hardest part. Put a large or small, depending on how big you want your perogie, spoon full of the cottage cheese mix about 2 inches away from the edge of the dough. Bring the edge of the dough up and cover the C.C mixture. Use your fingers to seal the edges of the half circle perogie you just made. Sometimes the dough will not stick and then you need to dip your fingers in water and dampen the edges of the perogie. This takes practice so keep at it. Then take a small plate or bowl and using the edge of the plate cut around the perogie. When done all your dough you can re-roll it or just be done. Today it worked perfectly and I rolled it out once and used all my CC mixture. While you are perfecting this art you should have a large pot of water boiling. Slip your perogies into the boiling water a few at a time and let them cook until they are done. They have a built in timer... they float when they are done.
The Gravy.
I rarely eat gravy. This meal is one of the only times I eat it. Normally I totally don't see the point. But with cottage cheese perogies you have to have gravy. Today we made gravy with bacon drippings. We fried up the bacon and then took the bacon out of the pan and then poured off the fat (I keep this in a container in the fridge for bun making) leaving about 1/2 a cup in the pan. We use cast iron frying pans and you have to be careful that you do not burn yourself. Then you take about 3 tablespoons (I rarely measure but that's about right) and while your fat is hot (and you could use anything, butter, sausage drippings, oil) grab a whisk and sprinkle in the flour into the hot fat while you stir madly. This works best if you have more fat then less. It'll go all brown and bubbly and when it is all brown and bubbly and there are no chunks (any chunks you leave will be chunks in your gravy.) left add about 2 cups of cream, or milk if you must. Keep stirring. This stuff thickens pretty fast but will boil over pretty fast as well. Add salt and pepper and keep on stirring until you get it as thick as you like.
The Meal!!
Thank the God that made you for the wonderful thing you are going to eat and for the blessing of food on the table. Then dish yourself up some perogies, pour gravy over them, drip a bit of raspberry or strawberry jam over the top and eat!! If you are like Papa and cannot mix your sweet and savories; skip the jam and eat it with just gravy. Papa just cannot fathom why we would ever wreck the meal by putting jam on top. I can't imagine it without it. I've tried it without it.. and it's just not the same.
Papa figured out that, with the milk we drank at the table, this meal took about 2 gallons of milk with the cream. What a way to live!! Everything in this meal then except the corn (canned and a treat after weeks of other veg's) and the flour, salt, pepper, sugar,pectin, we made, or grew on our 5 acres. The bacon/fat was from last years pigs, the milk/cream/cottage cheese from the cow, the jam from our raspberry patch. God has blessed us more richly then we deserve. What a wonderful God we serve.

The RAT!!

The other day when Papa and I took the calves to some friends house for the winter we moved a bag of chicken feed. That's when it started. Today it ended. Under the mini bag of feed was a pallet. Under the pallet... Yup you guessed it. A pack rat. I shudder just thinking about it. It had a nest under the pallet and when we moved the pallet it went under the house. So Papa says no big deal we'll just starve the cats for a few days. They'll get him. That was Tuesday last week. The 30th of Sept. Skip to Friday. I open the cupboard under the sink in the kitchen. There is a 3 gallon bucket of soap stuff and on the top of the bucket is a rat poop. Just one. Papa didn't even believe me until I made him come look. So he set up the mouse trap. It can't be THAT big... Right?? Sunday morning Papa was in the bathroom early in the morning, the one beside the kitchen. And he comes out and calmly tells me that the rat has found the pipe line between the kitchen and bathroom. He heard the rat in there while he was on the toliet. Now I understand instantly the smell I've been smelling for the last few days. Rat's stink. They reek of pee. REEEEEEKKK. And here I thought I just really needed to clean my bathroom. With 2 little boys in the house this is a constant job. So nothing happens. It's Sunday we go to home church. Check the trap. Nothing. Don't hear anything. Nothing. Monday comes along and the trap is flipped upsidedown. No Rat. BIG RAT. Papa says it's time to get a bigger trap. Yesterday, Tuesday, we pop into town and while we are there we get a rat trap. A BIG one. Haha now we'll get him. Well we work outside all afternoon. Come in worn out, eat some quick soup, get the kids to bed and Papa gets ready for work. Papa hits the sack early as he's got to get up at 4am. After he's in bed I sneak in to ask about the trap. Leave it out I'll do it in the morning. He says. Where is it?? I ask. (I'm one of those people who trap their own fingers and never do get the thing set up right or I'd have done it myself.) In the Travelall. Well then half a nights not much better then no night. It'll keep til tomorrow. OH BOY. In reflection I should have gone and gotten it and MADE him set it up. A dead rat I can live with for a day til he comes home to clean it up. A live rat in my KITCHEN at 8:45am is a great way to wreck a day.. never mind your nerves.

I was on the computer writing a friend a note.. And I heard the kitchen cupboard door open and shut. That's weird as all the kids where still in bed!! I glance over and there is a THING on the floor in the kitchen. It had managed to push the door open and find it's way into my kitchen. MINE. Though I must say it looked pretty surprised. The door had shut after it so it couldn't even leave. It was trapped. Now before we go on I have a confession. I HATE MICE, RATS and anything that scurries. Snakes included. I'm shuddering just thinking about it. And I come by it naturally. Out of 5 siblings and 2 parents only one of us does not HATE these things and that is my Dad. Dad is at work. Papa is at work. My neighbor is gone all week. My other neighbor is on vacation. BUT I have a Brother in Law who lives just down the road. But 1st maybe I can get it back in the cupboard. So I go get the broom so that I can open the door from a ways away. I have 3 children sleeping in one room behind me and my baby sleeping in the room in the front. That leaves the enterance addition, kitchen, living area and bathroom. So I really don't want to chase it anywhere. So I go to open the door with the handle of the broom, the rat panics. I panic. The rat climbs into my dishwasher...loaded with clean dishes. GROSSS. I get the door open and chase the rat out of the dishwasher trying to get it back under the cupboard. 1st mistake. I should have closed the dishwasher door and just turned it on. Drowned rat. Didn't even cross my mind. I was thinking 'clean dishes get it out of the dishes.' and 'Gross rat on my dishes.' It goes out of the dishwasher but knocks the door shut in the process. OK. Open the door agian.. rat runs into the dishwasher. 'Shudder'. Chase the rat back out of the dishwasher while holding the door open. No go. The rat cannot find it's way out of the kitchen. OK. Time to call the calvery. KOREY!!! So I called my brother in law. He's home. He's coming. Turn around... just in time to see the rat run to the bedroom. MY BEDROOM. MY BABY IS IN THAT BEDROOM. Take a deep breath. While I was chaseing the rat around the kitchen it jumped up on the sides of the cupboards trying to get on the counter. So I knew this thing could jump. Baby R sleeps in a playpen with a bassenet. So I gingerly opened the bedroom door and grabbed her. LOL. I didn't see the rat. I suspect it was already hiding in the closet. She was awake and happy and fine. By this time it was about 9:30 and the kids where up. So I left the rat to itself and went and got the kids up and dressed and ready to run if needed. About half way thru my dressing the kids Korey shows up. YAHOO Help has arrived. Korey had Papa's hockey stick. We talk for a minute and Korey goes out to get the trap. Baits it with a bit of apple and puts it in the bedroom. We are both hoping the little bugger is starving and will come out and get himself killed. We wait around a bit and don't see anything. Our house is small so we have serious clutter in the closets. We figure he's in the closet. The closet is FULL of stuff. Korey grabs the playpen and puts it on our bed. There now we can see. Nothing. We push the trap farther in the closet. Nothing. We are both super nervous. Turns out Korey hates mice/rat's as much as I do. We decide to leave him for a bit and see what happens. So we close the doors up and stuff towels under them. We don't want him in the rest of the house. We are both praying for that trap to snap. Nothing. I get the kids too the table and mix up some yogurt and jam for breakfast. Cut up the rest of the apple and feed that to the kids. They are excited. Nothing from the bedroom. We make small talk and give nervy glances towards the door. E bangs her heels on the bench and I jump. Nothing. 20 minutes later we decide he's not hungry. We've got to go in there and GET HIM. We open the door and look at the trap. Nothing. We move some more stuff and take the closet doors off. Still nothing. Korey is sweating and shaking and I'm moving in twiches around trying to work off some serious nerves. Nothing. Korey gets his nerve up and starts to pull stuff out of the closet. Nothing. He shines a big flashlight around. Nothing. He's checked out half the closet. I mention that I really hope we get the rat and not have to wonder where it went. Korey stops. "Oh we'll find it alright. If we weren't both terrified of them we probably wouldn't but we will." Right I forgot about Murphy. He is out there. Korey keeps on moving stuff. He moves Papa's amp and jerks back. Both of us are almost to the kitchen before we even realized we moved. Korey is swearing. He really hates rats. But now we know the rat IS in there. When Korey took the amp out, well half out, the rat was sitting there looking at him over the amp. Now he's behind Papa's store of instraments, banjo, fiddle, mandolin. Three cases. A few books around the cases. Trapped. Now what? Now we have to kill him. Rats are horrible creatures. They smell and make a mess. They fight when cornered. They pee on things. They bite.

We think for a bit. Korey tells me if I ever have another rat; don't call him. He's only half kidding. Korey still has the hockey stick. I get a sharp knife. And the duct tape. Korey tapes the knife to the stick. This will work. The rat is sitting right there between the two smallest cases. Korey is just going to stab him with the knife. We wait. He just can't. I don't blame him at all. This is a bad idea. What if it doesn't die? What if we if injure it? What if it, like Korey said, comes out an runs over his foot. That would be terrible. That would be the worst. Korey askes if we have a pellet gun. We have a BB gun. Korey takes it outside and shoots it. Too wimpy. Won't kill a rat. Korey is thinking hard. The rat tries to get out. We yell at it. STAY PUT RAT. We are both shaking. We are wimps... but we really hate rats. Korey has a great idea. ERIC!! Eric can help. Eric has the day off. Eric is not so scared of rats. Eric is Koreys little brother. And Eric can bring a pellet gun. He calls. He weedles. Eric will come!! And Eric can bring a pellet gun. Wahoo. The rat will die. But Eric doesn't know where we live. He's going to call back and Korey will guide him. He calls back a minute later. There is no ammo for the pellet gun. Korey shakes his head. HE has a pellet gun. Why the heck didn't he think to go get his. He gives me the flashlight we are using to keep the rat in the closet. You guard the rat until I get back he tells me. OK I can do this. The kids are in their bedroom, playing nicely. Korey lives 5 minutes away. It's a long 10 minutes. I guard the rat. It tries to get away. I yell at it and it stays put. Korey drives up. But he leaves his car at the end of the driveway so Eric can see it. He has his pellet gun. He loads and shoots a few times. I think this is a good idea. We don't want to miss. The rat moves. I yell somemore. I hate rats. Korey comes in a we find a shot. He shoots!! We find ourselves almost to the kitchen again. We go back. The rat is not dead. We can hear it and see it move. Korey pokes it with the knife/stick/spear. It moves. Korey shoots agian. Head shot. Eric is here. It moves again. I can see it breathing. Korey shoots it again. These rats are tough. Eric comes in and we all take another look. Eric is not as scared of rats. He moves a book. The rat moves again. I'm holding the flashlight and Korey has the pellet gun. I shine. Korey shoots!!! WAP!! Blood flies. The rat is dead. Korey and I back up. Eric gets some gloves on and he takes the rat outside. It's a good sized rat. Korey and I think it's huge. Eric is not as impressed. He's seen bigger. We take pictures. The Rat is dead. We all take a deep breath. I hope to never have to do that again. I ask Korey. "If I ever have another rat can I call you??" He laughs "Sure if you ever have other rat." All is well that ends well.

Thank you ever so much Korey and Eric for running to my rescue. This would happen on a day Papa is at work. Just my luck. You guys are awesome. I owe you one!!

And now I must go. The bedroom is in shambles and I have a ton of laundry to do. Who knows what that rat touched. Hopefully it was a he rat and not a she rat.... one rat is quite enough.

Fall Projects and Misc Fun.

We had a great weekend. We went to our nearest 'big city' and got J his new glasses and some perscription swimming goggles. Of course we had to go try them out!! So we grabbed kids and headed to our favorite pool. Everybody had a great time. J could finally see in the pool and had a blast. He stared around a lot just looking at things and got a real kick out of the guy that was jumping off the diving boards.J also learned how to hold his breath and stick his head underwater then look around. A huge milestone for him. Little miss E and I had a blast in the kid pool. She would stand on my hands and then I would lift her way up in the air then DROP her suddenly into the water. Catching her just at the last minute. She loved it. (I tried this with J and L but J is scared of heights and would really rather NOT but L managed to get about 1/2 way up, giggling away.) She also loves 'jumping' off the side. Except she can't jump. So she walks off. J, L, and E got to go down the waterslide with Papa which is also a treat. Baby R has this round floaty thing that she sits in and she floated around contently the entire time. L really likes the hottub. And that makes me wonder if he is often too cold in the other part of the pool as he is very much his fathers son when it comes to being cold all the time. I got out of there without having to nurse Baby R in the pool area. That's a first for her. I normally nurse her once sitting in a quiet spot, if I can find one, or by the hottub.


Papa has a few days off again this week. Pretty normal around here for fall. Comes in very handy with all the fall chores and cleanup that always needs doing. We started the 'wall of firewood' yesterday which is great and hopefully we'll get more of it done today. The wall is stacked wood between the poles of our addition all the way down the 70 feet of trailer. One area between poles lasts us about a month. There are about 6 months worth of wood when we are done, as we have to leave some open areas for walking and getting the cow thru. We got 2 pretty much full yesterday. One of nice burning stuff (Dry pine and black spruce) and one of poorer burning stuff, poplar. The poplar is mostly from our clearing project this spring. So its cut into the right size and the side split down the middle with the chain saw to let the moisture out. This works well to season them and we have already burnt some and it actually isn't too bad. Good for warmer days. We have a LOT of this poplar, enough for several more years. All stacked up between trees in the back. So we are just moving it in. The pine and blackspruce are standing dead from the front 2 acres and Papa is cutting them down as we go. We have a little International pickup bed trailer that we pull behind our family rig, a 1972 International Travelall. We take this around and stack the trailer full before driving back to the house to unload. It took Papa and I about an hour yesterday to load, Papa mostly cut while I loaded, and unload (stack) the trailer full.


We had a big wind storm Saturday and now most of the leaves are down on the ground. We have often used leaves as bedding in the chicken barn for the winter. If we can get the lawn mower working we want to do it again this year. Our poor lawn mower has not been used all year. Between the cow, calves and chickens every blade is consumed. Hopefully Papa will have some time to fiddle with it. But then again it's suppose to snow... tomorrow or the next day. Need to get those hoses and toys put up. The snow normally does not stay until after the last day of October. Hopefully it will wait a while to stick so we can be ready. The year E was born, 2 years ago, we got 2 feet on the 27th. And it never did go away. The power went out for 3 days but we were toasty and warm with our wood stove and propane range. It pays to be prepared. Anyway the Baby needs nursing and I'd better get going on my day. Have a great one!!

A word about the Breadmaker.

We love homemade bread. In fact we very rarely buy bread of any kind. Very rarely. I enjoy making bread and buns for my family. But I like to do it FAST. We eat an amazing amount of buns around here. Papa takes bags and bags of them to work and I have to work very hard to keep up with his intake. LOL. He eats them all day long. They make up about 1/2 of his lunch and breakfast for work. Needless to say I bake a lot. A lot of buns anyway. Sometimes I get tired of buns and make bread for a while but it's all the same recipe. I just shape it differently or add more whole wheat flour. The way I do it is very simple. I let my breadmachine do all the work. Well most of the work. I spend very little time on it. I put my breadmaker on dough you see and just put everything in the breadmachine bucket and push a button. Then 2 hours later when the lid of my machine is lifting from the risen bread dough I grab it. Shape it and let it rise in a nice warm spot. Beside the wood stove, in the sunshine or on the working dryer. Then when it's more then double it's size I turn the oven on and bake it. One batch makes 4 small loaves or 24 buns or 2 loaves and 12 buns. My recipe is very simple.
2 cups warm water
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp yeast
2 tsps salt
& about 1/2 cup butter, bacon fat or oil, depending on the day.
Then I let that sit for a few minutes while my yeast works, butter melts. When it's nice and puffy I add flour. Mostly I do 3 cups of white flour and 3 cups of whole wheat flour. Unless I'm making bread (2 white, 4 whole wheat) or hotdog/hamburger buns (4 white, 2 whole wheat). If I make cin. rolls with the dough I add more sugar. But I rarely add eggs, you could if you like, because I find that it moulds faster if I do. Not that there is much left to mould after Papa gets ahold of them. I bake the buns for about 15 minutes at 350F and the bread about 30 minutes. Cin. Rolls just until they brown nicely. About 20 minutes and then ice them while they are still a bit warm. We often make frybread on days that I've got a batch going. Fry bread is easy and my kids love it. Just take a ball of your risen in the breadmaker dough and pull gently at the sides until it is fairly flat. Then fry it in butter on a medium hot pan (if your using cast iron like I am watch it doesn't get too hot as it can very quickly) until it's browned on both sides. We eat these with jam and cheese and some times sausage. My sister in law introduced these to me years ago and for a while it almost became a staple in our diet.

Momma's Maids.

I love my maids. They work hard. They wash dishes, make bread, cook supper and keep our clothes nice and clean! One makes butter, another dry's fruit, yet another keeps the kids entertained while I milk the cow. Some days they all work together and other days none of them work. They all work hard to keep us tidy, well fed and looking nice. There was a time I would have had to pay them but these days it's a one shot deal. They eat very little and I rarely have to supervise them. I find them at yard sales or Walmart, 5 came with the trailer we live in. Live in Maids. Very cool. Some days I try and see if I can get them all working at once. They are quiet and normally well behaved. Every once and a while one quits or breaks down and we have to replace it. They never sleep and work even when I'm asleep. They are the only way I can keep up around the house. I love my maids. Just think there was a time when we did not have washers and dryers. Dishwashers and toasters. Breadmakers and electric butter churns. Stoves and fridges. Freezers and dehyrators. Mircowaves and computers. Furnaces and fans. Hot water tanks and electric fences. I'm very thankful for my wonderful maids. And I bet you are thankful for yours:) If your not you should be!!

Yogurt; How to make it the easy way.

I have a couple of hot/cold packs for a zippered pan traveling kit. Comes in very handy for housechurch potlucks. Anyway. I also have a small cooler. And the other day when I wanted to make yogurt agian I realized that the hot pack in the bottom of the cooler would keep them the perfect temp to make yogurt. And it does. I heat my hot pack in the mircowave for 4 minutes. While this is heating I take 4 quart jars and put about a tablespoon of yogurt starter (I buy yogurt that says 'live cultures' on it and use it as my starter) in the jars. Then fill with fresh milk that has not been cooled. Ididn't even have to stir it this way as the milk pouring in stirs it. Then I put the hot pack in the bottom of the cooler (heat rises), put my 4 quart jars of whole milk on top. I do put plastic wrap on the top of the jars. Then I pack towels in around and above the jars and close the lid. The next morning I take my cold pack which I keep in the freezer and I put it on top of the jars. That will cool the jars off enough that they will set. The nice thing about the cold pack (which I have to admit I did not think of. It was Papa) is that you don't have to move the jars at all which gives you a better consistancy of yogurt. Then I took the jars out that night, should have probably done it in the afternoon as the cold pack was barely cool, and put them in the fridge. YUMMMM. We add homemade jam to taste or strain it overnight to get a thicker greek style yogurt and then add jam or syrup to taste and dip fruit or what have you in it. Very good.

Bringing home the Bull

and other fall prep work.
Papa had two days off this week and we made our 'To do' list and went at it. The potatoes got dug up and are drying on the trampoline, the calves went visiting for the winter at a friends house, pretty much all the winter fencing is done, the feeding area is figured and fenced, both the pigs and chickens got moved to new areas (the chickens are cleaning up after the cow). And we brought home the neighbors bull. He's a beaut!! A smaller red bull that may have been Bobbies papa last year. Looking forward to seeing what the will calf look like. I'm kinda hoping for a heifer as we would love to raise our next milk cow from the ground up. The neighbor had him penned when we got there and it was no big deal to get him into our borrowed horse trailer and drive the 5 minutes to our house. But I'm a bit scared/leery of bulls and of course I was the one who had to keep Bindy close to the unloading spot so that our borrowed bull wouldn't head for the hills thinking he was all alone. Oh joy. We had strung up a two strand electric fence so we just pushed the insulators down and backed in the trailer over it. When the bull came out I was suppose to stay in there until he saw Bindy and she saw him. Which made me very nervous. Then I was suppose to hop out and run turn the fence on. Well for all my fears it happened just the way it was suppose to. Bindy took one look at him and rushed him. Which was fine because he was rushing her. They met in the middle and I was already over the fence, pushing up insulators then bolting for the fencer. Papa ran to move the trailer forward and push the insulators back up. Then we stood there and grinned at each other for a moment. LOL. Then we loaded up the calves that we had locked away in the milking area and headed out again. Well no. We stood there and watched the bull, whom so far we are calling Buddy, and made sure he was going to stay put. He does know electric fence a bit and he was very leery of it and is behaving himself nicely. He is people shy so he and I stay away from each other. Which suits us both just fine.


We have started to milk Bindy 2x a day, starting this weekend. Sunday Papa milked almost 8 gallons. I still can hardly believe it. Hopefully Papa will no longer be in camp so we can each milk once a day. Now with the calves gone I will have no backup milkers. This morning I got about 3 gallons. Which is more or less what we thought she would do. My hands must be getting stronger as I only had to stretch them out 3 times this morning. I enjoy having the extra milk as now I can make soft cheeses and yogurt when ever I want. I made yogurt Sunday night and finally found a great way to make it without a lot of hassle. We had yogurt and Basberry Jam this morning. Yum. Basberry, raspberry/blackberry jam is wonderful and I think the new favorite. Even Baby R had some and loved it. Thanks Grandma Griggs!! It's amazing we go thru about a quart per breakfast. The older kids drink it straight from their new cups: spiderman and princess that they got from M's birthday party. J wanted the princess one but E, being a girl got 1st dibs. We are giving any extra milk to the pigs and they love it. They are growing like crazy on milk and whole wheat. They also get garden/house leftovers and weeds. Lucky piggies. This morning I milked straight into a pig bucket as both fridges are full. This afternoon I'll have to go out and empty some jars and feed them as well.


The only big thing left on the list is firewood and that is more of a haul from here and there to bring to the house as we did a lot of that this sping when we cleared two acres. We do want to cut some more dead stuff, pine and spruce, down from the front 2 acres for a better burning wood but that won't take long and will hopefully get done in the next few weekends. Oh and we have to get hay but that we're going to do on Sundays when we housechurch at Millers. We'll just pull our little trailer with us, get loaded up, and unload it during the week. We only need 6 bales and we are at Millers every couple of weekends so it should work. Besides I have a feeling we'll be there more then just Sundays when B&B return:) 15 days to B&B. :):):)