Tag Archives: Goats

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Sharing The Dream

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I must apologize for not updating sooner but it has been a busy week both on and off Two Moose Farm.  I had the pleasure of showing a wonderful couple around the area as they search for the perfect place to build their Alaska dream.  Ken and Tracy Baxter have now put an offer in on a beautiful piece of almost raw land to which they hope to fulfill their dreams of Homesteading Alaska.I wish I could find a beaver for the pond as Tracy is beaver crazy!  She wants a beaver in her back yard.   IMG_4386

I enjoyed the 2 days out and it is so refreshing to see others who see the beauty in all things Alaska.  Tracy was so excited to see all of the eagles, moose and sandhill cranes she would squeal with delight at each one we passed it reminded me of myself when I first arrived.  Finding joy in such simple things is truly a blessing.

Things are still moving along and its been a nice spring so far.  The water levels are dropping and I keep praying it will continue to do so.  I am behind as usual in my work but Alaska is pretty forgiving and I believe I can catch up.  The greenhouses are looking more “green” every day but I still have to get the big house up and my cool crops planted out doors.  The piggies have done a wonderful job of rototilling now to smooth it down and get them back to their own area.  Soon we will be able to let them roam free again but not just yet as Charlotte is nearing her farrowing time.

Our last goat kidded a few days ago and little Doris is doing well except her momma keeps losing her.  Bandit the momma gets so wrapped up in her browsing the green things that are springing up she wanders away as little Doris sleeps and then when its time to return home no Doris.  Twice we have had to look for the little thing and let me tell you its no easy feat finding a baby goat on 80 acres of timber and tall grass.  For the near future little Doris will be staying home while her momma goes out but she doesn’t seem to mind hanging out in the cabin.Do

The turkeys are refusing to be wild.  I know that sounds odd but they have become annoying!  I have discovered the true meaning of “peeping Tom”.  They want to follow us around and if we go indoors the literally stretch out their necks to peek inside!  The hens though I am not minding as they are delivering eggs…….Literally!  They come to get attention and have begun laying in the doorway.  I know one of these days we will forget and step on an egg but seriously is that not the coolest thing! IMG_4253 Had to share this video with you of one of the hens who came waltzing into the cabin to beg.  Definitely thinks she owns the place!

The kids are looking forward to Saturday as they will get to see their friends and Caleb will have another meeting with his shooting sports club.  He has discovered a passion for skeet shooting and I am glad that he will have a hobby that will teach him the importance of gun safety, the ability to fend for himself if the need arises and the camaraderie of having others in his circle of friends who have much knowledge to share.  Life is about constantly learning and books are wonderful instruments but life skills are just as important.

We did have a bit of sadness this week when Cami’s cat had kittens.  Not sure if it was her or one of the other cats that killed all but 2 of them but we did try unsuccessfully to save them.  It is never easy to lose an animal regardless of the type and am hoping that this is an isolated incident.

Finally finished planting the last raspberry patch today.  The others are growing new leaves and the rhubarb is 6 inches tall already! Our strawberries are growing rapidly too so hoping for a nice crop of fruit this year and rhubarb next year.

Dear hubby had to take Papa Fred to the orthopedic surgeon yesterday and what an adventure they had.  Papa cannot operate the wheeler so Caleb was his chauffeur.  All was going well until one wheel hit a deep hole and papa slid off the back of the wheeler into the swamp.It was a soft moss landing so no injuries but he did say the water was quite cold.  Poor Caleb was so heartbroken and worried but Papa assured him it was not is fault and all was well.  Caleb is growing up to be such a handsome, loving and kind young man who I am very proud of.

Mothers Day was much like every other day for us.  The guys had gone in to town overnight and it was just us girls.  We did our normal chores, split wood for our fires and then began cleaning up the brush that was laying around in the yard.  After 2 days the yard looks amazing and now I can begin planning the fence that I keep telling myself will keep the critters out-that’s never going to happen but a gal has to dream!  It will be nice to have a yard though that we can enjoy instead of the mud we experienced last year.

Well folks its now after midnight and the sun has finally set. Once again God has painted a beautiful scene for me to enjoy and I want to share it with you.  I hope wherever you are you are feeling as blessed as I am. 

      

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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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Sprinter time! 

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Well it is supposed to be springtime in Alaska, it’s not 40 below like the old song says but it’s not exactly sunshine and roses either!  I have decided since it’s not quite winter yet not quite spring we need yet one more season and we will call it Sprinter! Sprinter will be that in between time that anything goes!  Here is what Sprinter looks like it’s snowing and 34 degrees out. 

       

The sap run has been interrupted by the cooler weather so it’s going to slow down completion of that project. Here is what birch sap looks like before it’s been cooked down to reduce then after when it is syrup 

   

The process is very simple but time consuming. The pint jar is what remains of almost 15 gallons of sap. 

Oh here comes the sun again! This weather is quite fickle. Last week we had torrential rains and hopefully it will begin drying up. 

Dear hubby is hauling lumber from the sawmill today on his back as it is too wet to do otherwise and we are hoping it dries out soon because we will be needing some supplies from town.the wheeler is out of commission again and has us stumped as to where the racket is coming from. Always something isn’t it!

Babies everywhere now as we have the 5 new ones, one goat left to kid and the cycle begins again in 2 months. We are getting quite a bit of milk now so hoping that I can figure out what is going wrong with my cheese. Never had this problem before so it is a mystery. Going to try my old granny stand by recipe and see what happens. I’ll let you know!

   

        

Well sun is out and I have raspberries that need planting and more seeds to pot so I’ll bid you farewell for now and pray  your day is blessed with busy hands and a happy heart.

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Birch trees, baby goats and 3 seasons in a day.

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you can definitely tell by our crazy weather that it’s Alaska! In the last 48 hours we have experience over 2.5 inches of rain followed by 3 inches of snow.  The sun did come out yesterday afternoon and that coupled with the wind melted the snow very quickly. It is now 2:00 a.m. 38 degrees and snowing once again! 

         

The Birch trees finally began running yesterday. Not full out running but a slow trickle so the race is now on! We will have 10 days or so of a routine that consists of gathering then slowly cooking the sap down for syrup. Yes this is a 24 hour a day job as the sap that is gathered must be cooked down and bottled to make room for more. 

 

We are still waiting for the last goat to kid but Bandit doesn’t appear to be in any hurry. The big question is how many will she have? So far this year we have had 3 single births and 2 sets of twins from 5 does. We will keep the doelings (so far there are 4) and the bucklings will most likely become wethers and find new homes.  

      Sorry for the bad pics but snow rain and overly friendly goats wanting attention doesn’t make ideal photo sessions!

The names of our new kids are quite varied. Each one is named randomly and the big white boy pictured above is Olaf. Named after the movie Frozen my kids so desperately want to see. Hoping to make that happen soon!

Well time to stoke the fire and stir the syrup. I’ll leave you for now but pray blessings of plenty upon you all!

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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. 

                   

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Insomnia again!

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was very tired after the big day yesterday and then the arrival of the new goat kids last night so thought I’d call it an early night. Crawled into bed at 11 pm and slept like a baby until 12:40. Eyes wide open and here I sit at 2:45 posting because sleep eludes me. I guess I will catch you all up on the past few days.

My youngest son Caleb turned 12 on Saturday. We planned a get together with friends for Sunday and met for ice skating and pizza afterwards. It was a great day until we came home in the rain through the mud and we’re all soaking wet! Regardless it was fun seeing friends and having the kids get some time to play with their friends. My oldest son Corbin even joined us for a couple of hours!

               

I was late getting chores done so as I hurried up to get the milking done the kids and hubby fed and watered all the other critters. As you all know we have goats that are kidding and no idea of due dates so I make my final checks each night around 9. Nothing really happening so I went back in and around 10 Mike had Caleb shut off the generator. He suddenly starts hollering for his dad and tells him “I think there’s a bear cub screaming for its momma out here” dear hubby chuckles and yells in to me-“Mom, better check your goats I think your herd just grew” upon closer inspection Bubbles who less than an hour before was playing and being silly had just given birth to twins. Mind you it was still raining and she was in the girls’ pen not in the kidding barn so with a bit of team work we moved her and the two babies, through the rain and into the warm barn. 

   

The smaller dark kid is a doeling we named Illiamna and will call her Illy and the larger light is a buckling we have named Junior. All are doing well and Bubbles will spend a few days with the kids before we separate her from them during the day.

The busy time is on us with the break up in full swing. Another week of these warm temps and it will be walking the 3.5 miles to the road as the wheelers won’t be able to navigate through the muck. I am anxiously awaiting seeds a friend gifted me from Denali seeds. They are supposed to be acclimated to our climate and growing season. Thank you again Cathy for yet another thoughtful and useful gift.

Chickens are laying now and it’s like a treasure every time we get an egg. My kids dislike store eggs so are very excited. I’m excited that the weather has warmed up and my friend Robin is incubating some Americauna eggs for me. Green eggs in my future-how cool is that!

Well our battery alarms just went off so it’s time to say goodbye before I lose the last of my charge. Praying your all blessed with happiness and peace. 

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Let it snow-No! make it go make it go!

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I guess I have been spoiled all winter by the lack of true winter weather. Now that spring fever has hit full force it becomes bitterly cold and now I see white flakes falling from the sky. Make it stop!!!!!! No really, I’m done, bring on spring in the form of sunshine, skip the rain, mud and all things that could possibly hinder my progress and just let me have sunny days and green grass…..please! 

The latest cold snap has little frost bitten ears on my goat baby, a chicken with frozen toes now residing in the cabin and we lost several baby rabbits who got out of their snuggly nest and froze. Oh how I hate to see little ones suffer. 

As I sit pouring over garden plans and day dreaming of green grass I must remind myself it will be here entirely too fast and will leave even sooner but I just can’t help myself. I do this every year and after all these years it hasn’t gotten any easier.

The cold has increased the workload immensely with constant thawing of water dishes, bottles and bowls for all the critters and I have lost feeling in the tips of several fingers now due to frostbite. It will return, it always does but somehow whining about it makes me feel a tad bit better-you know misery truly does love company! On a good note the weather man says we have warmer days ahead so I’m holding him to it! 

I am on high alert now as it is typical for momma animals to pick the worst weather to have babies in so night checks will continue indefinitely which translates to a lot of sleepless nights for me. I really am not complaining about this though as I love seeing new life enter this beautiful world and it does bring me joy.

Still waiting on parts for our 4 wheeler. It seems to take forever sometimes but once again I am getting impatient.

Not much else happening in our neck of the woods so I will bid you all a good night and pray health, happiness and dreams of Flowers blooming, chest high hay and fields of grain dancing in the breeze. God Bless you all.

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Wild Critters dine and dash

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Living in the wild one must expect losses from wildlife looking for a fast meal, right?  WRONG.  Now to get this through the wild critters heads may take a bit of encouraging or is it discouraging?   Either way the latest task is to get my chickens off the menu of a weasel or mink or whatever the nasty little creature is that has been raiding my-MY henhouse!  The nerve!

This all began a few days ago when I found 2 of my pullets dead and blamed my sweet little (well not so little hen for pecking them).  As some of you may recall I also had a chick with a severe injury to the neck that required stitching the skin back in place but more on that in a bit.  I really did believe that it was the hen so I removed her and the rooster to other living quarters and thought the problem was resolved as nothing happened to any of the sweet young birds over the course of the next 2 hours.  Our friends Robin and Dan came out and we were discussing life on the farm and Robin pointed out that now is the time the wild critters will be looking to feed on my not so wild critters.  Oh the possibility is there I thought but noooooo not MY precious and cute chickens.  That night something DID strike again this time getting 6 of them!  Mad as an old wet hen I drug the carcasses out one by one and examined them and sure enough some wily creature had sucked the blood right out of them!  This means war!   So doing what any rational person would do I immediately apologized to my hen Henny for accusing her of such an awful thing and called Robin.  After teasing her about her wild critters getting my not so wild critters (those who know me will understand I deal with anything tragic by way of humor) she became as mad as I was and said we’re gonna trap that little sucker-or something along those lines and said I will call my son, get some traps and Dan and I will come out this afternoon!   Now you have to understand Robin is a spitfire of a woman all 5 foot 2 or so and a big gust of wind would blow her away but she has gumption.  She is as crazy as I am about the outdoors and is very well versed in everything Alaska.  I am so fortunate to have her as my friend and mentor.  Robin and Dan arrive and I am up to my elbows in cheese-yep more of that story to follow but lets not get sidetracked.  They have traps, bait and more importantly the knowledge we are lacking to catch the beast or beasts that dared trespass and dine on my fowl.  After getting Mike educated on the ins and outs of trapping they joined us for coffee and Robin brought us some blueberries and strawberries she had picked and froze last summer and some canned salmon I have already earmarked for salmon patties on Friday.  Robin came in and immediately got acquainted with my little chick Stitch so named because it took 6 stitches to put the poor thing back together.IMG_3404 IMG_3401

After 6 tiny stitches he or she (not sure which) is as good as new and is making itself quite at home in the cabin. I do believe it thinks it may be a dog as it follows us around and insists on being the center of attention.

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Well, Robin and Stitch found mutual friends in each other and stitch even sang to her. Yes the silly chick coos and sings-not Robin!  It was Stitch singing!

This week has been one of those weeks.  Our 4 wheeler blew the water pump and we are looking for parts, the chicken ordeal rattled me and it seems as if I am constantly moving yet getting nowhere. It is times like this I reflect upon a quote from Mother Theresa which goes something like this “I know God will not give me anymore than I can handle. I just wish he didn’t trust me so much”. This too shall pass but I am thankful during these times for my faith to carry me through.

It is the time of year that I everything is moving forward and I of course with an already overloaded schedule have to begin my crafting.  In the last 2 weeks I have made soap, Instant cocoa mix with goats milk powder, Lip Balm and with the goats producing milk it is cheese making time once again.  Yay!!! I do love making cheese but since I use old recipes and do things the old ways it is very time consuming.

Goats milk, Coconut oil and Honey Soap
Goats milk, Coconut oil and Honey Soap

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Soap Curing
Soap Curing

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Lip Balm made with Organic Coconut oil, Beeswax and Grapeseed oil
Lip Balm made with Organic Coconut oil, Beeswax and Grapeseed oil

The soap must cure for another 3-4 weeks and then it will be available for purchase.

All of our products are  made with natural ingredients and we use organic materials whenever possible.

If interested in soap, lip balm or goat milk hot cocoa mix message me for more details.

I will leave you all this evening with pics of my goat milk cheddar fresh from the press it is almost perfect except my new oak pressing plates I burnished to seal and it left a couple of charcoal colored spots on the wheels but that shouldn’t effect the taste.  to finish  drying, then waxing and finally the aging.    I will let you know how it tastes in 2 months after it has aged properly.

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Cheddar Cheese
Cheddar Cheese

l pray you are all safe, warm and blessed beyond measure.

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Busy days at Two Moose farm

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It’s been quite hectic here at Two Moose as of late. New pens to build as babies being born, new inventions to build and use and the crafting time has begun.
We completed the weaning shed and pen (much to the dismay of little Racer and Etta who would have prefered staying with their momma. You will see in the video what Racer thought of penning him in!

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The Turkey Tractor is complete also and the turkeys have found it quite to their liking.  My daughter thought it would be great fun to play different calls to them and see what they would do.

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Of course no one can be left out on the farm and roosters especially as they have to be in the limelight ALL the time as you can tell from prior videos the voice their opinions frequently.

The goats are our biggest source of entertainment here at Two Moose.  They never cease to amaze me with their antics. Here is Bella who was ready to be milked. When I refused to acknowledge her as it was still hours away from milking time she proceeded to crawl into the feed pan and begin bleating very loudly at me.

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The test tap I did on a Birch tree last week is finally showing signs of the approaching run.  There are a few drops of sap making a show but not enough to tap the other trees yet but soon.  My soap I created last week is aging nicely and although unscented has a beautiful clean scent about it.  I will be putting the website online shortly and the soap along with leather crafts, hot cocoa mix made from powdered goats milk and many other items will be available for sale for those of you wanting a little taste of Alaska I will have the Birch syrup available as soon s the run is complete.

Life here is about constantly moving forward and work is a big part of our lives but there is also time for learning and fun.  The children have been working on school work but their best education I believe is seeing how providing for the animals is returned by what the animals provide for us.  Cati has become quite proficient at milking and loves the goats as much as I do, Caleb is all about the rabbits.  He enjoys feeding them and can tell you which rabbit is due to have babies.  He also is a great hand at splitting firewood.  Cami is our little get it done girl who makes sure every creature has adequate bedding and with her sister Cati they are the ones who monitor the pens for cleanliness.  I still have to assist but am proud they love the animals as much as I do.

We did take a trip to the beach the other day where the kids enjoyed playing with a friend from town and they also gathered a bunch of coal for our cookstove.  Simple things mean a lot to us and a couple hours of beach time gave everyone a break from the daily routine.

Its getting close to chore time again so I must go but will try to post a bit more frequently.  I will leave you with a picture of my favorite view and a prayer God blesses you with health and happiness.

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