Over the Weekend....

We spent Thanksgiving weekend downstate at My Mom and Dad's house...the driving both ways was fine fortunately!  Turkey and all the fixings (including the stuffing- my favorite) were great.  The beer selection is always so much broader down there too so we took advantage of some new microbrews as a treat.  Will and my Mother typically do the "black friday" shopping the next day...me?  I sleep!  Someone has to stay with the kids!  So THIS year- the stores opened at midnight.  This means they had to leave at 11:00 to "scope the place out" first.  What?!  The next group of stores they were to visit didn't open until 3:00 and 4:00am so I totally expected Will to come stumbling in.  I woke up at 3:30am to shut off the light that was left on while I was, ahem, reading and still no Will.  The kids were up by 6:30....no Will.  They came home around 8:00!  Will immediately sat down on the couch and fell asleep.  I was having a hard time getting the kids to be quiet (hard when they have been unconscious for 10 hours) so the kids and I went to the Davisburg Candle Factory.  The candle factory has been there for years and years...I remember going there in elementary school and they have a really cool automated system for dipping candles involving rollerskate parts.  We did some Christmas shopping there while waiting for Daddy and Grandma to wake up.  That is all the shopping I did!- oh I did go to the beer store again....that doesn't count though for holiday shopping.

We left Saturday afternoon to go home and were met with a calamity....the cat, Ginger, had knocked over the cage containing Duncan's mice...I had shut the door to their room but evidently it didn't latch..  What mice??  Well, for Duncan's birthday we took him to the pet store to pick out a HAMSTER.  We didn't come home with a hamster, but two very cute mice.  One was such a runt I was sure it was going to die but he really wanted the tee-tiny one.  Long story short- the cage was knocked over, food, shavings and mice turds everywhere!  The small straw ball they sleep in was found in the hallway where Ginger evidently rolled it.  No mice anywhere that we could see, but no scraps of mice lying around either.  I checked the litter box to see if there was any evidence there, nope (I'm a biologist, remember- I do these things for a living).  Saturday night I put out a tiny bit of peanut butter on small saucers in a couple of spots to see if there might be some evidence they were still around.

Sunday morning I opened the closet in the hall where the ball was parked in front of and I heard squeaking!  Someone had been into the peanut butter too.  I "excitedly" gathered up some mouse catching paraphenalia and went into the bedroom to get the mouse cage in case I got lucky.  Whaaaat???  There is a mouse IN the cage!  One of them evidently made her way back home.  I don't even want to know how she got in there because she can probably get back out again.  However, the tiny spotted one is still on the loose in the closet.  I put the small sleeping ball in there in hopes that she would climb in (because she really liked sleeping in that ball) but no luck....I suppose the cat trauma associated with the ball was too much.  I put the mouse in the cage into the closet hoping that would lure her out...still not there this morning though more peanut butter is gone.  I'm not looking forward to ripping that closet apart to look for this tiny mouse...

Harbour Grace

I mentioned in an earlier post that our two year old Newfoundland had a torn ACL in her right hind leg, and Annette asked if I had a picture of her.....

Turns out I don't have a more recent photo of her, but this is one of her puppy pictures.  She was about 8 weeks old in this photo.  She followed CeCe, our older Newfoundland, around like she was her Mother and poor CeCe just let her do anything to her, including hanging by her teeth from CeCe's lip!  It is hard to believe that such a small wee bundle of fuzz can turn into a hundred pound dog.

November Cider

I don't think we've EVER made cider in November before.  Late September, yes- when the hornets are getting into the buckets, mid-October when the weather is perfect, and late October when the wind is biting and howling and snow is flying...but November?  Unheard of.

In fact, this year most of the apples dropped off the trees early.  They hit the ground and the deer ate them (which deer do-they feel it is their fundamental job in life).

So, if we were going to do cider this year it would have been in mid-October.  But, since there were no apples our friends with whom we normally press cider didn't do it this year.

Confused?  Well.  We have two Wolf River apple trees that did manage to retain their apples.  They are HUGE apples which I love for making pies (because I really dislike peeling apples).  Will went out and picked ALL of the apples off the trees and stored them in the garage. Nine boxes.  We made apples pies one weekend...ten of them.  That didn't make a dent in one of the boxes.  The sheep were happy in the knowledge that they were indeed going to be having a feast.

One day last week Dorothy came by and we traded milk for eggs.  We pawned off half a box of apples on her.  She asked why we had so many in our garage and we told her that our cider making party fell through for lack of apples on our friends part.  Dorothy said "you can borrow our press!" and she and Wendell dropped it off a couple of days later.  I love having such good friends...

The cool thing about Dorothy's press is it has TWO press buckets!  You can be grinding apples at the same time as pressing them.  It goes FAST!

We ground and pressed and strained ten and a half gallons of cider last weekend.  It tasted pretty good even only with one type of apple.  We generally like to use as many as we can, but beggars cannot be choosers, and in this case it certainly didn't matter.

Dorothy got a couple of gallons of cider and an apple pie as repayment...but it is hard to put a price on and repay such a noble and good thing to do on a lovely, warm, November day.  We drank a gallon and put the rest in the freezer to pull out as treats around the holidays and all winter long.

And the woolies?  Well, they got the pomace.  Which they said wasn't nearly as nice as apples but it will do.

Bigwig Taffy

 Bigwig Taffy is such a handsome buck. He has a very broad nose which is very kissable. He loves to be held and snuggled, though he doesn't appreciate plucking much. I put a cardboard box in his cage and he now prefers to eat in comfort instead of sitting on the chilly wire.

Pumpkin Feeding Frenzy

It's that time of year again...the annual pumpkin feast!  Large sized pumpkins were marked down to $1.25 so Will played "putting the pumpkin" into the pen (kinda like the Putting the stone competition at Scottish Highland Games) where they smashed into pieces and were gobbled up by the waiting woolies.  Pumpkin seeds are reputed to have anthelmentic properties be bad for worms.

 Cameo buries her face right into the seeds.

 Twizzler wouldn't look at me at all...

 Deja nibbles oh so daintily on her half.

 Wee Zanzibar is overdue for a sheep suit change!  She is finally catching up with the other two yearlings in size.  Her fleece is scrumptious under there.

 Fancy says she's getting chubby because she is hogging the pumpkins.

 Beltane in the foreground hasn't burst out of his suit, even though it needs to be changed.  He ripped it rubbing on a fence post.  He will have to be put into a size E this weekend. Gaia in the background will probably stay in her D for now and I'll take out the gussets I put into her suit.

 "Hey Beltane, are you sharing?  My seeds are all gone!"

"Sorry Gaia, a growing boy needs all the goodies he can get!"

Barn Interior

 Looking from one set of double doors to the next.  The doors and walls on the left are the lean-to which is primarily for hay storage.

Closer look at the Lean-to doors.  The tarp is there to keep nosy llamas out of the hay!

This shot shows the working space for the humans...taken from the animal side.  You can see some hay peeking through the hay loft entrance.

On either side of the working space are these lovely hay ricks that my Mom built for us.  You can drop a bale of hay down into the work space and shake the flakes out right over the wall.  Very handy!  We all appreciate the help Mom!!

Looking into the human space you can see where all the "stuff" is kept.  I built those little wall shelves on either side of the door for storage space.  There will be a couple of cast iron hooks mounted up on the beam for us to hang the lead ropes and whatnot...haven't gotten to this level of organization yet!

See the support beam next to the shelf?  It is taken from a section of a hop-hornbeam trunk.  It had all these wierd little nubbies growing on it that looked a bit like shelf fungus.  There are four of them in the barn and they add a nice bit of character.  The collar ties (?) on the exterior walls are gracefully curved pieces of pine that were donated to the barn project by Christopher and Kathleen; leftover from when they built their post and beam house. The wood forming the stall walls is American beech- our friends the Olsons donated some of their stash to our barn project.  I think of all our dear friends and family who helped us whenever I go into the barn.

A three stack of English Angoras went into the barn...Peanut is the white bun on top, Buffy the bun in the middle, and Miss Mocha on the bottom.  Neither of them would deign to look at me with the camera in hand.  So far it hasn't been too drafty in their for them but I'm going to monitor it and move them into the house if need be.  Those double doors swing into the animal space so we humans can get in and the animals (besides the bunnies) stay out!

Tea and Chunk like eating in the barn.  I thought the hay ricks would keep more hay in but they still manage to spread it out on the ground.

 A view into the southwest corner of the barn.  Pikachu says if I take a step closer she's bolting!

 Of course, though her Mother Llilith looks warily on, Igraine the Brave is always eager to be of assistance.

Halloween Beasties

Beasts of another sort are the subject of this post...

 This Samhain / Halloween the Curtis Community Ladies Aid sponsered a "trunk or treat" at the community building.  For those not familiar with the concept, cars line up with their bum end facing out and open their trunks/tailgates with their offerings and the wee beasties come by with their trick-or-treating pails begging for treats (or tricks).

 Lila was a vampire.  She designed the bat headpiece and I made it for her.

 Sam decided to wear a costume that my Mom bought last year the day after Halloween for cheap.  They had fun playing with them all year and it was great to not have to buy or make another one this year!  It has been way to busy....

Duncan decided he would wear the Dragon costume.  We watched "How to Train Your Dragon" recently and he received the DSI game for his birthday (thank you Aunt Bonnie) so he's had dragons on his mind lately....I think this might be a "Night Fear"...maybe not dark enough though.  I believe this costume came from Aunt Mary's house...is that right?  Did you make this costume Aunt Mary for the wee Krister?

On another note, Will took Grace (the two year old Newfie) back to the vet to have her leg x-rayed.  She had been limping for a bit and we went at the beginning of August to have her checked. She was given some pain meds/anti-inflammatories and we were to bring her back for the xrays when we got back from vacation.  Well.  She has a torn ACL on her right hind knee.  The vet recommends surgery downstate at veterinarian surgeons office- $2500.00.  Gulp.  I hope one of my kids decides to go to vet school (on a scholarship!).  That's a lot of egg money.

I brought him home....

I did it.  Two weeks ago when I was downstate visiting my Mom I brought home the five month old English Angora buck I had been admiring from afar.

 These photos are pre-grooming...he had a few mats around his mouth that needed to be dealt with but otherwise his coat is in great condition.

 I couldn't get him to look at me to get a good face picture...he just wanted to get down and run!

He is a BIG sweetheart!  If you turn him on his back he will just lay there and I could groom his tummy without holding him.  He goes to sleep in your arms laying on his back....I love him already!  The big problem is....I haven't come up with a name for him yet!

The past few days have been BIZARRE to say the least...we've been  under the weather influence of what is called a "Great Lakes Typhoon".  Massive wind gusts of up to 70mph- all those beech trees with beech bark disease are snappping everywhere...you just have to step outside and hear them popping.  We've been without power for two days.  All those candles that Dave and Sabra gave us when they moved have been put to good use!  Will and the kids went to the Big Manistique Lake for water...lake water for flushing and many jugs filled up at the flowing well for drinking and cooking. 

One rabbit hutch flipped over onto its roof (Lavender Brown was in it but is okay and was moved to the massive eight hole hutch), and the portable sheep shelters have blown over so the sheep have been granted access to the barn....they prefer to stay outside but at least I know they can get into shelter if they want to.  The llamas stand defiantly into the wind daring it to blow them over...

People Post

For those of you more interested in the People on this farm  (strange though you are) here are a couple of photos.

This one was taken by Sam- Will has been captured in some very goofy poses this year but that never seems to phase him when he starts mugging at the camera.... (I actually like this one a lot!)

For example....when sister Mary gets out her camera, just look what happens!

I took this one last week...couldn't find him anywhere and then I walked into the living room....

He SAID he was trying to fix the damper.  I think he may have been trying to escape.

Yesterday there was a puppet show that the fourth and fifth graders put on at the Erickson Center.  Our friend Ruthette worked with the kids for ten sessions and each child made their own puppet and the class culminated in a performance last evening.  Lila's puppet is Autumn- she is the blonde on the far left in the photo.

Will had control of the camera for the evening...until the batteries died that is- neither of us thought to pack any extras either.  So, we didn't get any performance shots but he took a slew of photos prior to the show beginning.  The one below is of us getting ready to leave the house, and since I'm getting to choose them I picked the one that shows off the wee Wren in all her glory.  She is starting to look so grown up....

We still have the boys...honest...the proof is in the mess around the fireplace!  

Wool Roving from Zeilenger's!

Last week I headed downstate for a meeting in St.Clair and I just happened to be passing Zeilenger's wool Company.  I had several bags of washed wool in the basement and decided it was time to have someone else process it since there was no way I could work through all of that with my drum carder.  All of the wool is Shetland.  White front center is Nala, going clockwise, the silvery black is Elle, Deja and Petrucio, The dark oatmeal is Cameo, the pale grey is Fancy Pants combined with 20 percent angora (from Blackberry, Mocha and Spice), and the brown is Liz and a bit of Beltane.

I've been spinning the Fancy and Angora roving....it is wicked soft.  The Cameo/Oatmeal colored roving is a dream too.  I have a bunch of it and will be putting some up on my Etsy site soon.