Tag Archives: gardening

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Summer highs and some are lows

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The last few days have been like a roller coaster. We’ve had beautiful weather, completed a video session, hatched out some chicks and then the mood changes to somber all due to things beyond our control. We lost a baby goat to a freak accident and then last night the Owls returned. One of our young pullets was his prey and even though she was in a sheltered place the owl managed to get her. Tonight I sit on owl watch. All the critters are tucked away in pens and I’m armed with enough noise makers to make him lose his hearing for days. Time to make it look like Fourth of July!!! 

Let’s move on as I am getting side tracked once again. Back to the chicks. What began as a science experiment for the kids has turned into a brooder full of chicks. We had been doing some studying (yes even though it’s summer) and the kids were wanting to do an experiment they found online where you hatch a chick out of its egg. We acquired a 12 volt incubator and decided to first try hatching eggs the traditional way. Not wanting it to be boring we used eggs that were 1-14 days old. To our surprise the eggs all hatched except 1! The only difference we have seen so far is the older eggs have had 1 chick to weak to go beyond pipping and it died in its shell. The rest hatched and are doing very well!  We will be doing our science experiment at a later date and I will keep you all informed of its progress and results.Our videos are now up and running and can be seen on YouTube. Here’s the link and our channel is Off Grid Alaska. Please join us in our everyday life and future videos will have how to’s and tips to living the off grid life. If there’s anything your interested in seeing please leave a comment here, on our Facebook page Offgrid Alaska or in the comments section of you tube. We want these videos to be for you and to share with others why we love this crazy, hectic and yet peaceful life.


The production company we are working with is amazing!!!! Stagvid Media can be found here Stagvid Media. What great guys they are to work with and they are so multifaceted in their abilities! No matter your needs from a small shoot to a major advertising campaign these gentleman can take your vision and bring it to life. If your at a loss as to which direction to go they can help build your campaign from the ground up. I am so blessed to call them my friends and creative partners on our video series.

The greenhouses have become mini jungles and I’m pleased at the progress we are making. Soon it will be canning and pickling time-my favorite thing to do! I love putting food up and knowing that it was produced right here. My kids like taking part as do dear hubby and Papa Fred so it’s a time of work, learning (for the kids) and memory making.I’ll bet you all were thinking I had suddenly become graceful as I haven’t posted any “oops” moments lately. Well, never fear-I’m still a clutz!  You would think that pouring water from a large barrel to a five gallon bucket would be boring. Ha! You were wrong! While transferring water for most is a simple task, for me it involves lots of assistants. Turkeys and chickens are always present but now I have that silly drake who hears the sound of water pouring and thinks it’s bath time. While using both hands to lift the barrel and one foot to attempt to keep the chickens and turkeys at bay because they think there might be some magical treat suddenly appear I forgot about the duck. Now Ritz (or Einstein as Caleb calls him) decides flying onto my head then diving for the bucket looks like a great idea I’m dodging various fowl and thinking how appropriate the word foul is at the moment-somehow my foot catches the bale of the bucket. While still holding the barrel which is now pouring down the front of me, kicking at birds and attempting to dislodge the bale from my foot I end up on my backside with the barrel across the yard and the bucket on my head. To add insult to injury I have an irate duck on my chest quacking out something that sounds a lot like a foghorn on acid. Yep folks Grace has left the building! Thank goodness it was warm out as if of had icicles in some pretty strange places. 


Well it’s back to owl duty but I’ll share some random pics and pray your in your happy place. God Bless

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Catching up-Again!

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It’s been awhile since I have posted and I apologize but truly I have been busy!

Spent a week in North Pole with my dear sissy which was a lot of fun but odd for me to be away from  my kids for so long. I can say having the freedom to not “Mom” reminded me of how much I cherish my family. Sissy and I did have fun being two  girls with no one to answer to. If we wanted hot fudge sundaes we ate them!  I did get to go see Santa’s village, hug a moose and get groped by a polar bear!The return trip was eventful. Murphy’s Law says if your in a no cell service area you will need cell service and I did! I broke down in a construction area and sat by the side of the road almost 6 hours until the tow truck arrived. It was not boring though by any means! The construction workers were so thoughtful and kept the coffee flowing and treats abounded. I finally had to tell them to stop or I would need a second tow truck to haul me out of there. My sissy is a magician with a phone. She managed to find someone in the town I was towed to who could get to the dodge dealership before they closed for the weekend, get my part AND had a garage and tools available so I could fix my truck. 20 minutes after the tow truck dropped me off I had the injector line changed and was scrubbing the diesel off my hands. I paid the guys for the part and the use of the garage and tools and was once again happily on my way.

Upon arriving home I was greeted by all of my 2 and 4 legged kids with much gusto. 10 minutes home and my dear goat who must of been crossing her legs for a week began to beller. She then presented me with twin buckling kids. Timing is everything! 2 days later another girl gave me twin doelings. 6 more girls-or maybe it’s 7? To go and kidding season will be done.

Did I mention that the night before my 12 hour drive I butchered half a moose? Several days prior friends of ours recieved a call from the troopers that there was an injured moose dispatched near them, they asked for dear hubbies help in retrieving it and offered to share. Hubby came home with the back end of a very large cow. I skinned and washed it then seared it to kill any bacteria on it and hubby and I hung it up. After wrapping in burlap and wetting it down (evaporation cools very quickly) we hung it to age. The weather was warm but we had a few rain showers that came through and then the wind would blow and it kept the meat at 40 degrees even though it was 60 outside. Close to 200 pounds of meat to feed the family and the steaks are so awesome. I worried that I had rushed the butchering but the meat is very tender so no worries. Busy busy busy summer! Planting the greenhouses is keeping me really busy. With not having soil available I must create my own. Plenty of sand, clay, moss and fertilizer from the critters all hauled to the planter boxes, mixed together and ta da! Soil! It sounds easy until you haul it all by hand-over a ton so far and still more to do but the rewards will be great when we are eating fresh salads, tomatoes and various pickles produced by our own hands.

Well I think we are caught up now so I’ll wish you a blessed day and get mine started. As is my norm I’ll leave you with random pics of life in the Alaska Bush-God Bless you all!

train going by while i waited on side of road for tow truck
tractor boat launch at Anchor Point Beach
modeling new coat from auntie
​​What does a turkey chick look like when it’s hatching?

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Alaska comes Alive at 3 a.m.

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Awoke this morning to daylight and roosters crowing……at 3 a.m. Now officially the sun doesn’t rise until around 4:30 but when it’s light enough outside to see clearly it’s morning. It was a very short night after a very long day so I am getting a vision here…..wait…..yes I can see a nap in my future!  As I sit here waiting for the stove to heat up enough to perk my coffee so I can begin my day I wonder what trouble I can get into thinking without being fueled by caffeine. 

I spent the day switching hosting companies for my website and I have come to the conclusion that all computers are evil and hosting companies are only on earth to expedite making us all crazy. Perhaps I am being a bit dramatic but I discovered a new level of frustration today. I would much rather be out playing in the dirt than sitting in front of a computer-ALL day!

The weather has been incredible! Sunny, warm and breezy enough to keep the bugs away. Not that we have seen many mosquitoes this year but the no see ums are horrible. The kids have hijacked hubby’s wood shed deck and put a picnic table on it so they can eat outside and enjoy the fresh air. 

 Hubby got the head gasket on our 4 wheeler replaced so it’s up and running and we acquired a couple more wheelers that weren’t running and he has 1 of those going with a lot of help from our friend Dan. We are so blessed to have such great friends and neighbors in our lives! 

 I painted another beehive the other day as I’m getting prepared to split a hive. I had found a box of paint cans at the dump and inside it was a can of msha purple. Well as you can see from the picture msha purple looks more like woo hoo pink! Oh well at least the bees will be able to see it. I just hope they aren’t too embarrassed to call it home. I can just imagine the little bee conversations now. A couple of bees meet on a pollen run and one says to the other “hey are you from that hippy hive across the pasture”? Yes like I said its early and my caffeine level is very low. 

 My little chicks and one remaining turkey poult that Robin hatched out for me are doing incredibly well. I felt horrible that I lost 3 poults and a chick after she and Dan put so much work into hatching them but it’s just the way it is with chicks and I am so happy with the ones I have. One little black one has 6 toes on each foot! How cool is that! We have named it lucky.  

    I’m about to officially be over run with chicks though as my order for 100 meat birds and 20 turkeys will be arriving today. These will not only feed our family well but will also provide an income as we will sell dressed birds later in the summer and turkeys in the fall. With all the craziness in the lower states with bird viruses I’m so glad we are able to grow our own.

A couple of days ago Dear Hubby was taking our friend Kimberly back to her place after spending a couple days with us when he discovered a gentleman buried to his axles on the trail. After a brief conversation it was discovered that he had purchased the property directly south of us-sight unseen. A local realtor had assured him there was a cabin there that needed a little work and it was but a short ride on an ATV by trail to get there. After pressuring the man to close on the deal before viewing the property the deal was done and he not only is stuck with a property he cannot use (he isn’t physically capable) he also paid about 40k more than the place is worth. Very sad situation so I urge you all to never get in that type of situation-ever!

It’s been very busy around here with gardening and critters. Dear hubby has built some planter boxes for potatoes (yes I have around 100 planted so far) and my strawberries. I also got a few more cabbages in along with broccoli and cauliflower. My experimental corn is coming up as are my carrots, kale and squash. Praying for a bountiful harvest as I have many friends who can also use fresh produce. 

   My hubby is so wonderful. Some fellow homesteaders north of us (that I’ve never really met except on Facebook) had a breakdown on their ATV and needed a part welded. He went out and used one of their neighbors welder to fix it. I sent along Stitch-remember the chick with the severed neck I stitched up? We are getting too many roosters so I will be thinning them out by sending them to canner camp but could not bring myself to butcher him. He is a beautiful and sweet rooster so he will make a nice addition to their farm-I’m sure he’s crowing about now. 

The kids are enjoying summer and finding many things to keep them busy. Cami loves building things and has been cutting toy rifles out of wood, Caleb is always “mining” for gold-I think he has found 1 large rock and a whole lot of mud but no gold yet and Cati has kept busy cooking new things and being a milk maid. For 10 years old that girl can milk goats! The best part of all is my children are happy.  

        

I did take time to take a walk and get a few pics of the forest around us. It comes alive at this time but there’s even beauty in the trees that have died. 

                 Well the coffee is done and I must start on chores soon-moving chicks to make room for the others that dear hubby will be getting from the post office soon. Have a blessed day all and I have one request…..Please pray that I can get the website up without much more frustration and that I don’t use the computer for target practice. Thanks All!

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Random ramblings

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Seems like I have so much to say but nothing fits in a category but still I feel the need to share with all this crazy life  I love.

The long days are back with it being light out until after 11p.m. and that is a good thing as there is so much work to do. There are gardens to be put in, another greenhouse to build and always more animal pens to construct.  Today was a day of overcast and drizzle. Not conducive to doing much of anything yet we stayed busy all day. The pigs are about halfway through tilling my next garden area and I must admit I am anxious to get to planting. My friend Robin sent out a bunch of seed potatoes that I want to get started. Some are heirloom that have been planted here in Alaska for many decades. I still have one more raspberry patch to plant but did get my rhubarb in and hopefully planting it in 3 different areas will ensure that it will survive. Here’s a pic of my kitchen garden area with the greenhouse from Dan and Robin. I love the gate dear hubby built. 

 My “wild” heritage breed turkeys were not informed they are supposed to be wild. Guess they never got the memo because they seem to think that stalking and peeping is what they are required to do. Seriously! They have to be following one of us around at all times and if we are in the cabin they are stretching their necks to peek through the window! 

   It will soon be weaning time for the little goats. They are eating hay, grass, grain, pellets and cat food (no I don’t feed them cat food they steal from the cats). The momma goats are pushing them away more and more so it’s a sign it is time.  

 Papa Fred is back out here again thanks to Dan bringing him out. The next step will be surgery as he isn’t healing correctly and we really need to find a way to get a side by side as the doc informed him he will no longer be able to ride a wheeler. Say a prayer for us if you would, I know God will provide but I believe he likes it when many are praying in agreement.

Here’s a pic of Dan with 2 of the kids. They kept trying to crawl into his lap. 

 Looking forward to getting the goats weaned and having enough milk to use my separator to get cream. Was just thinking how yummy strawberries and fresh cream will taste. Folks the separator I have is top quality yet half the price of others I’ve seen. There’s always a special going on so please go check out the website. http://www.slavicbeauty.net/cream-separators/separators 

Still loving my new boots! For those of you who haven’t seen my other posts I recieved a pair of Altai tactical boots to put through the test of our terrain. I cannot find anything I don’t like about them. Now I realize when reviewing a product you are supposed to point out what you like and what you don’t like but honestly I love these boots. My feet stay dry, they give support to my ankles over uneven terrain, they are light weight and just flexible enough to be comfortable when climbing. If there is one thing I have learned this past year is not all boots are created equal. Yes quality costs but when I was going through a pair of uncomfortable boots a month due to holes being ripped in them from the timber that we go through I am sold on these. Check them out for yourself! They have a cool contest going right now too where you can win a free pair of boots! http://www.altaigear.com/ 

 I am very excited for the latter part of the week to get here. My friends Tracy and Ken are coming to visit!!!!! Was such a nice surprise when they told me but now I really can’t sleep. I’ll be sure to post pics as they will love it here I’m sure. 

Oh almost forgot to share this-my friend Kimberly is now the owner of a piece of raw land she will be building her homestead on. Ladies if you want to do it then go for it! She is living her dream and you can too! Just look at her smiling face! 

 Once again I will leave you all with random pics of the farm. Keep the faith all, keep praying and know HE is always with you.

   
       

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Yes I wear combat boots!

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Oh happy day! My boots arrived from Altai boots and I absolutely love them! I have to admit when I felt the box (it was very light) I had some doubts about the durability but let me just say that those doubts are gone! First of all I have to point out that we live in a very wet area where the terrain changes from muck and mud to timber and I have to traverse all in my daily routine. Not once did I slip and not once did I do the flamingo stand-you know where one boot gets sucked into the mud and you try pulling it out only to come up with a sock covered foot and the boot stays in the mud. Yes many times I’ve had to attempt to stand on one foot while retrieving a boot from the muck!  No more!!!!!  I might add they are pretty stylish too-for combat boots! I can’t wait to see how they feel tomorrow after the grueling tests I put them through today.  

   www.altaigear.com

We had a new arrival today. Our last nanny kidded until we start the next round in June. Another beautiful little doeling who dear hubby named Doris. 

 Everything is growing!!!! Last year I tried an experiment where I took potatoes that were beginning to grow eyes and not being one to waste I peeled them for a meal then planted the eyes. A few months later we were digging potatoes. This year I repeated the process and currently have about 40 plants coming up and that was 3 days ago!  I now have about 200 different plants growing in the greenhouses and outside with more to plant soon. We’re waiting on the piggies to finish tilling the next garden area. Soon my cold crops will fill one half of the fenced area and another greenhouse in the other.  

   The moose are really out now and we’ve begun keeping our eyes out a little closer oh and so are the Bears! My goodness I was a bit to close for comfort the other evening when I realized the grunting I was hearing was a huge brownie! I swear when he stood up he looked 12 foot tall! He truly was a big one though as his pads are as wide as my foot is long! 

 I buried my wheeler for the first time of the season and as it was getting late I called dear hubby and told him I was heading the rest of the way in on foot. He ended up going to retrieve the wheeler with the kids and I went to town. Had a wonderful time at my friend Maura’s and to be honest I enjoyed the girl time. The next morning I met Dear Hubby and 2 of the kids on the trail so the kids could go into town for some down time with their friends. Maura and I went to do a load of laundry (which is still in the truck) and get a few groceries. I had been on a search for Rosemary seeds but could not find any so bought one plant that I gingerly carried home. It was a fun day for sure but am still tired from hiking in with a full load. 

The kids went in today to their first shooting sports get together. Caleb did awesome but the girls still haven’t developed enough upper body strength and have decided they would rather watch for awhile and maybe try again at a later date. Caleb hit 10 out of 25 clay pigeons which for his first time skeet shooting was pretty darned good!

Our pig Charlotte is getting close to her farrowing time so tomorrow I will begin working on redoing the old goat pen. She’s going to be irritated that her buddies are not with her to use as pillows but she will love the not having to share her food!

Tonight I was feeling ambitious and made my Jalepeno popper chicken for supper so I’ll leave you all with the recipe if you would like to try it-my family including the kids love it!

Good night and I pray your all feeling as blessed as I am.

Jalepeno popper chicken 4 servings

2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts sliced in half then pounded thin

2 jalapeños split and seeded

4 tbsp cream cheese

4 thick slices bacon stretched

4 tsp Jalepeno jelly

Fill each Jalepeno half with 1 tbsp cream cheese and set aside. Lay chicken breast down place cheese filled Jalepeno on then roll up. Wrap bacon snugly place cream cheese side up in shallow baking pan. Repeat with remaking breasts. Bake in 350 degree oven 30 min remove and top with 1 tsp jelly each return to oven for 5-10 min. Or until jelly has melted. Let cool 5 minutes before serving.  These can be cooled and sliced as an appetizer too! 

 

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It’s the Bees Knees! 

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What a busy time here on Two Moose. We hived bees today and will be splitting them at a later date but am impressed that one of my 10 year old twins begged to help! She was quite the trooper and did very well even with thousands of bees flying around her. I felt good today as I only got stung twice instead of the 6 times like last year! 

   Hubby has been busy with Caleb building fence panels for my cool crops that I will plant outdoors and the girls and I are planting the “Kitchen Greenhouse” with herbs, salad mix lettuce and radishes. In a month we will have fresh veggies!!!! Kids are as excited as I am as they love vegetables of all kinds. 

   My turkeys are laying regular now and I do wish one would go broody as it would be quite handy to have them doing the work.  

 The sap is still running and I’m trying to stay caught up but it’s a job with everything else going on. We have a couple gallons of syrup now but will wait until the run is completed before I package it.

Papa Fred is nursing his broke wrist and getting antsy to get started on his cabin. He feels closed in here  as he’s a long time bachelor but I keep telling him be patient it’s only temporary.

Everything is turning green now and the days are long. It stays light until 10:30 and soon we will be light at midnight. I love this time of year! 

 Hope your all enjoying spring as much as I am. May you be blessed with a happy heart.

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Long days have returned!!!!

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well it’s 10:30 pm and starting to get dark. I love Alaska in the spring! The days are longer,fiddlehead are starting to come up, the sap running and everything is turning green.

I’ve always loved springtime. It’s Gods promise fulfilled of new life. Everywhere you look there is something fresh and new. From the sprigs of grass poking through the soil that was just a couple of weeks ago frozen ground, to the new animal babies hopping and jumping around. Spring to me is a time of renewal. When the doors and windows get flung open to allow the ocean breeze to push the staleness of winter out and usher in the energizing scents of salty ocean air mixed with the aroma of the spruce trees, grasses and even the faint scent of manure that will fertilize the gardens. Yes I love spring!

The kids sure enjoyed the day today. It was 52 degrees out and the ran and played for hours. Sometimes you just have to skip school work and allow their imaginations to let go and be free.  There were hunts for moose taking place in the front yard with stick guns at the ready. After the game was processed, a feed sack “hide” was then made into “leather” knapsacks to carry their bounty back to home. Of course no good homesteader would be happy with just red meat so they caught their fish but a bear got it so they decided bear was next on the list. Then they had to defend the farm from some invisible force to which I’m not privy to as I am but a poor helpless civilian who needed protecting. Oh to have the imaginations of children. To find happiness with a stick and the freedom to be anywhere in your mind you choose but for this momma I am happy they chose home as their exotic place.  

 Mike returned home today and our wonderful friend Dan brought Papa Fred out. Papa Fred is indeed sporting a broken wrist so for now his cabin building must be put on hold. He will mend quickly if he just gives it time to heal. On a good note the doc told him he is as healthy as someone half his age. 

My dear hubby is so awesome. He spent yesterday running papa Fred to the VA and digging raspberries for me. He then spent the night with Dan and Robin and what a time they had. Viewing pictures, telling stories and enjoying good company. It’s so nice having great neighbors.  Robin is currently incubating turkey eggs for me. She calls them her kids and watches over them like they were gold. I do pray they hatch. More so for her than myself as I don’t want to see her disappointed. I thank God daily for putting such loving people in our lives.

As I mentioned before Mike dug raspberry plants and stopped to share them with my lady friends out on the road. Mary gave him a sack of rhubarb for me to split and plant which I was very excited to get but then gave him 2 huge pots for me! I can now cook 30 gallons of sap at a time! Yes we are truly blessed! 

 Today Mike disassembled the green house Robin gave me and then he and Dan loaded it on the trailer Dan pulls behind their side by side. The load was a bit much for these terrible trails and the trailer rolled. I was worried sick but soon he came pulling in the yard with a lighter load but no damage to his trailer or person so I said a quick prayer of thanks before getting steam rolled by 3 kids and a dog rushing out to greet him. Speaking of the dog-Missy was upset when she realized Dan did not have Robin yesterday when he came out and today she was just plain mad! She rushed out, seen no sign of Robin and did her grumbling/growl thing she does then went and pouted. Funny how dogs get attached to people.  

 Sunshine is in the forecast for the next week or so and that is good news! Much to be done and with the longer days we should get a lot accomplished. Tomorrow I will be busy planting rhubarb and raspberries-you can bet I will have visions of canning dancing through my head!

   
 Well that’s about all I have to report as not much excitement but enough to remind us we are very much alive. I’ll leave you all with a prayer of Thanks and a hope that the sunshine warms your face tomorrow.

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Playing in the dirt

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Finally!!!! Yes I got to play in the dirt yesterday. I guess you can never out grow or outrun that desire once you’ve experienced the feel of it between your fingers and inhaled the earthy sweet aroma. Gardening to me is really just an excuse to play in the dirt and now I have people encouraging me to do it!

Yesterday we recieved more care packages from Cathy up in North Pole and Steve from down south. Both included seed packets that I hope I can turn into a vegetable garden. Gardening has always been an important part of my life (I can’t seem to stay out of the dirt ever) but I have come to realize that there are many issues to deal with that are unique to Alaska. First off the soil is so rich in peat moss and so acidic most plants dislike it immensely-except for potatoes, tomatoes and cucumbers that seem to love it. The second issue is it is too wet in many areas so one must get creative. I had planned to try straw bale gardening but breakup came to quickly so that will have to come another year. The mini greenhouse is complete and so far I have filled 146 pots with soil to get my plants started. I did go out at 11 last night to see if it froze because the temps dropped to 26 and ice on the outside of the plastic but inside was toasty!  Yay! Today I plant!

While the seedlings get there start we will construct the main greenhouse and the plan is to have it then a fenced in area on each side for cold crops and yes I must at least attempt to grow my sweet corn. Anyone who knows me knows that before Alaska I had huge crops of sweet corn every year-I will again even if it means building more greenhouses! I carried 5 pounds of my heirloom seed here that I harvested from our 2013 crop and have done a germination test its sprouting about 95 percent so I’m going to give it a try!

Poor bubbles was in misery yesterday, with twins to feed you would think she would be sucked dry but that isn’t the case. The twins are thriving and she still looks like a jersey her bag is so big and full. I milked part of her out yesterday and got a quart-no where close to emptying her so beginning today she will get milked twice a day. From the looks of her milk she will be a high butterfat content so more cream in our future! I have a separator now and will be putting it to use frequently. With 3 more goats left to kid we won’t have a shortage of milk!

Made 2 more pounds of cheese yesterday and it’s in the press. Going to make cream cheese today or perhaps tomorrow. Cati has been wanting to bake a cheesecake and we finally are producing enough cream and eggs to do it! What a great way to celebrate yet another small victory in our lives.

There are still some who question our sanity. Living out where roads don’t exist, water must be hauled from the spring or creek and everything we cook or heat must be done with wood but each day I see my children growing in knowledge, discovering new things, using the gifts God gave them to tackle problems or designing ways to do things that improves our lives I realize we truly are doing what is best for them. They have knowledge of survival and reasoning way beyond their years. 

No posting in a muddy month would be complete without a bit on my latest gymnastic moves in the mud so I won’t  keep you in suspense any longer. Those who have followed my blog know when God was giving out gracefulness he missed me. I can take a simple 10 yard walk and turn it into something that would rival any Olympic floor event! While walking back to the cabin to retrieve more supplies for potting I tripped over a chicken-yes it is possible. Not wanting to squash the poor thing I attempted to hop onto my other foot that snagged in some unseen cranberry bush that I swear deliberately wrapped itself around the toe of my rubber boot. Trying to extricate my self from it while remaining upright ( yeah like that was gonna happen) I somehow twisted, turned, half leapt and finally landed in the opposite direction on my backside-in the mud-with Henny the bossy chicken between my legs ranting in chicken talk and I’m sure she wasn’t using polite words but who can blame her? I’d be upset too if a giant almost fell on me! Of course my goats heard the commotion and never want to miss out on anything so they had to make a scene running over bleating to the world (as if Henny hadn’t already made enough noise) and while Ginger, Snap and Princess Longhorn were showing genuine concern by nudging, nosing and licking me I swear Bandit and Bella were smirking and laughing! Thank heavens Jack the rooster heard the commotion and with a few flaps of his wings and much squawking dispersed the crowd enough that I could right myself.

Yes homesteading life holds many dangers but if I do encounter a bear it will probably be laughing so hard at my ungraceful moves it won’t have time to eat me!

I’ll leave you with a few random pictures of life on the farm and continued prayers that you have a life blessed by the Father.