Wanna go on a Walk-About?

The sun is shining today and the temp is a balmy 40.  Would you like to take a walk about and I'll show you a bit of the place.
Get your rubber boots on because once we're out the back door, this is the walkway-

Look to your right, no, don't pet her she'll knock you over.  That's Jenny our Newfie. She loves people, but she doesn't realize how large she is.

It takes awhile, but the clothes will dry.  In this weather, about two days, as long as Jenny doesn't pull them off of the line.

That's part of my garden showing!  Yea!  I knew it was under there somewhere.

My son is only 14, but he has already invested in this fine machine for his mode of transportation when he gets his license.

Watch your step.  The south side of the shop is in dire need of some clean up.

Let's head out to the cow pasture.  That's Molly, she's about ready to drop her calf.  She's the one milk cow that we have.

That's the bull there.

We have mostly Red Angus cows.  They all look so much alike, that I can't tell them apart.

Here are Cutie and Sweetie.

And of course, my Sadie.  She loves the camera.  Close ups are all she ever lets me do.  As I back up, she moves forward.  Just pet her and she'll love you.

Let's head to the barn.  Those chickens will move when you open the door.

The ducks are just inside the door.  They love the sunshine.

Over in that pen is Bear, my Angora buck. 

You can give him a scratch under his chin.  He's a good boy.

I think all of his does have gone outside to play in the snow.

Come look in this pen.  This is my daughter's new bull calf.  She named him Kevin.

Well that's a bit of our place.  Oops, I forgot to take you over to the rabbit yard, we'll have to do that next time you come.  Maybe we'll have green grass and a garden in then.  Thanks for stopping by.

From Glory Farm

Maple Syrup

Yesterday we started tapping the trees.  We only do a dozen or so, just enough to put up syrup for a few months.  I found some pictures of  our "operation" from a couple of years ago and thought I'd post them.
 One of our taps-

Cooking it over the fire.

When it boils down to about a gallon, we bring it in and finish it on the stove.

Then we strain it and bottle it.  
Pretty simple, really.  Unfortunately, we usually only get enough to last us through the summer.  We eat alot of pancakes. 
Today I hope to finish tapping the trees and bringing the first of the sap home.
We are also having a birthday party tonight so the day promises to be full.
Count your blessings, God is good.

Tallow Candles

I've been wanting to try making these to see if they really work.  We have a lot more tallow than wax at our place, as we raise beef cattle and my bees died out last year.  So...
We made a wick from cotton string, boric acid and sea salt.

Those white things are boric acid that isn't dissolved yet.
Then I rendered the tallow.

After drying the wick, we braided it as tight as we could.

Then we tried making a hand dipped candle.  I only rendered enough tallow for about two candles.  We dipped and dipped and it seemed to take forever.  So, being the patient person I am, decided not to make a hand dipped candle.  I have since learned that it does take time and you're better off doing a large batch at one time.
We ended up making a jar candle.

Looks rather primitive, but it worked.

We put some rain scented fragrance oil in the tallow to help it smell more "pleasing".  I'm happy with the way it turned out.  It burns well, the oil doesn't put the flame out, it doesn't have much of a scent.  So now we know-tallow works for candles.

Tennessee in a Whirlwind

Our daughter has found a college she likes...unfortunately it's 1200 miles away in Tennessee.  We took a trip down there last week to take a look.  The campus is beautiful, the weather is mild, the university is Christ centered, and they have a good pre-med program, which is what she wants.  Plus--she gets a full scholarship.  What's not to like?  Oh yeah, she's 1200 miles away! 

Still it was a nice trip, and I may be making it more often....
We made it down and back in five days, which is why I call it a whirlwind.

This is our girl in front of the science building.

A picture of the Eternal Flame..(which had just been relit :)  )

Anyone know what kind of tree this is?  We don't have it up here.

A picture from up in the mountains.  It was cloudy and gray, but still beautiful.

It's good to be home...