Sap, sewing and the soup kitchen

The sap is running.  We're getting measurable amounts now and we can start boiling it down tomorrow.  We are also under a winter storm warning until Wednesday morning.  My children threaten to cry when they hear the weather report, but then so does my mother.  Spring will come.  It always does.

I'm also going to start shearing as soon as the snow lets up.  I still have mohair from the last shearing to card and spin.  I'm carding up a bunch of white right now and dyeing it blue.  I told dd2 that I would ply it and knit her a mohair sweater.  This might be done by Christmas.

I have a dress cut out to sew and a purse in the works.  I'm in a crafting mood, to be sure.

Today its off to town to get ds's stitches out.  He had 14 in his leg.  Then groceries, then to work at the soup kitchen.  Home and then sap collecting.  I'm not trying to sound busy.  I really don't feel that way right now.  I'm feeling totally blessed.

Praying that the Lord makes opportunities for you and I to minister to others today and shine forth His glory.

From Glory Farm

Fargo Flood 2009

Have you been keeping up on the flooding along the Red River here in Minnesota and North Dakota?  We received an e-mail on Tuesday asking us to come and help sandbagging and making dikes.  We lefrt Wednesday morning and got back today at noon.  What an awesome experience.  Hard work, I'm sore all over, but the girls want to go back again tomorrow. The people were so kind and so thankful.  These people are doing a wonderful job, all pulling together and getting things done. Just regular citizens volunteering time, money, equipment. There are people out there right now from all over the U.S.  We helped to make 500,000 sandbags yesterday!  More help is needed.  They're not giving up the fight.  The predictied cresting level was 41 feet when we left there this morning and now they're saying maybe 42.  People are being evacuated. 

It makes you stop and remember who is in charge.  We tend to get lulled into a false sense of security.  The government will take care of it, technology will take care of it, we'll all be fine, but truth is there is only One that you can count on.  This flood is a good reminder of that. 

If you'd like to help, call 701-476-4000.  They will tell you where the volunteers are needed most and what you can do.  Log on to www.kfgo.com for updates and continual information.

Please keep everyone involved in your prayers.  Thank you.

Muscovy Ducks

We (I) decided on Muscovy ducks this year.  We were given two hens and two drakes by some friends of ours.  After reading, the Muscovy sounds like the perfect duck.  They are known for their ability to make a noticable difference in the amount of flies and mosquitoes.  This was the big selling point for me.  We fight with flies every summer.  The drakes can get 10-12 pounds.  Our drakes are much larger than our hens.  The hens are also good setters.  They are quite prolific as our friends can attest to.  They are up to somewhere between 30 and 40 Muscoveys.  I guess they are also very good tasting without all of the fat of most ducks.  I don't plan on butchering, but still, it's good to know.  They don't have to have water to play in, but I'll get them some when it warms up, anyways.  My son read that they are roosting ducks, so I shouldn't be surprised to see them sleeping in the trees.  I go out to the barn looking for duck eggs, now.  So far, I haven't found any.  Let you know when they start to set.

From Glory Farm

Fat Cat Patterns

I need to make some new potholders for my kitchen and wanted something quilted.  Looking around on the internet I found a site- www.fatcatpatterns.com  .  This site has some very cute applique patterns.  I found some chickens to make for my mom, a llama for my friend, and sheep for me.  I also wanted to make a messenger bag for my daughter as part of her graduation present and found a nice one at- http://pinoyinoz.blogspot.com/2008/07/tutorial-messenger-bag-with-zip-top.html   I hope that link works.  I also found a really cute gingham handbag pattern at- http://kayray.org/crafts/red_tutorial/  

Can you tell I've been spending way too much time on the internet and not enough time actually doing these projects?  I'm off to sew an apron.

Have a wonderful evening.

What to do with a frozen chicken?

We had a storm blow in last Tuesday.  It went from 34 above zero to a windchill of -30 in a day.  Went out to do chores in this cold  and hunkered down under the flatbed truck was one of our laying hens.  She must have been looking for shelter when the storm hit and thought it looked like a good place to try.  Not!  The ground was still thawed when she plopped her hiney down there and quickly froze up, as she found out when she tried to move.  Taking the blowdryer to her iced in hind end, I thawed the ice and slowly plucked her feathers out of the ground.  She did end up losing a couple, but she didn't squawk.  She soon realized that the machine making all of the noise was also making all of the heat and she just stood there like a primadonna at a beauty salon enjoying every moment.  I finally told her she was done and hauled her back to the coop.

We're going to start tapping maples tomorrow or Saturday.  I'll post pictures.  It's something you have probably all looked at before, but it's a new venture for us.  My grandfather used to do it, but I don't remember it.

Bring glory to God this day.

From Glory Farm

Wanted to let you know about another contest

 

I found this on http://www.homesteadblogger.com/TwoLittleBlessings/129078 .

Go to http://www.homemaking911.com/2009/03/02/homemaking-911-march-madness-giveaway/#usermessage3a .  She's offering a bunch of wonderful prizes. 

Anyone tapping maples?

I thihk...shhhh..just in case I say this too loud,  I think spring may be around the corner.  Quiet, I don't want to scare it away.  Temps getting above freezing by the end of this week.  Sap running in the maples?  This is the first year we're going to try tapping a couple of trees.  Small scale to start, but if we do well, more next year, Lord willing.  Our pastor makes the best maple syrup.  I usually get stuck buying my maple syrup at the grocery.  It's so expensive that I 've been making homemade syrup instead.  Not as healthy, but not as bad as the corn syrup based ones at the grocery.  We've run out of blueberries and rasberries for our pancakes.  I also love the buttermilk syrup recipe that I got from soneone on this blog. 

Today, it's to the dump we go.  I guess they don't call it a dump anymore.  It's a transfer station.  I really don't like making this run, but it saves us a lot of money.  The garbage man charges $1 a bag for taking it away.  I can load up the back of the pick up for $5.  And I only have to go about 4 times a year.

We have no babies yet.  No calves, lambs or kids.  I'm going to move the Angora does to their own pen today.  They have been giving the other does a hard time and I don't want them to cause a miscarriage.  We keep the horns on the Angoras so they can be pretty hard on the milk does.

Hope to have something more interesting to write about next time. 

Go with God and God go with you.