News from Up North

Christmas is over, but the blessings remain.  The children are still home, the tree is still up, and the love of Christ is still very real.

All four of the kids were here during Christmas and are hanging around for my daughter's wedding on New Year's Day.  Yep, she's getting married to a wonderful man.  If she let's me, I'll share some photos of the bride and groom.

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So, what did you get for Christmas??  I am so totally spoiled this year.  I have a pair of Steger Mukluks from my children, a gift certificate for a Shetland ewe (to be picked up next week) from great friends and a promise from my honey that I can buy an essential oil distiller when he goes back to work. (That will be another post.)  So now I have nothing left on my wish list-oh yeah, a new pair of Carharts would be nice....

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Our weather has changed and it's now an acceptable winter temp out there.  Those 30-40 degrees above zero were just too strange.  I got to pick the ice out of the donkey's nostrils this morning.  That's normal.

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That's the end of another edition of News from Up North.  Be blessed.

A Lard Press!!

So what do you do with a lard press?  Our local on line auction company had one up for sale.  It sounded like something I really needed.  :)
I looked it up and found that it does some really cool things.

Yes, it presses lard.  It also has a sausage stuffer that you can use to make sausage.  It can be used as a fruit press for pressing apples for apple cider!! And....someone suggested trying to use it for a cheese press.  I've wanted an apple press and a cheese press for a long time.  I paid too much for this contraption, but I'm going to get my money out of it.

The Cranberry Experience

This post should have been written over a month ago, but better late than never?

Reading my profile info it states that we try new things.  So in keeping with that, I tried harvesting tame cranberries.  Much different than picking the wild ones.

There's a cranberry farm just 50 miles from here and I had the opportunity to help harvest in exchange for fresh cranberries.  I felt like I was in an Ocean Spray commercial.  Standing in water with hip waders and a rake, guiding the little guys to the suction hose which took them to the top of a semi trailer and poured them in.

I was paid with almost 20 gallons of cranberries.  What a blessing!  The sink was full, the pots were full, juicers full, you get the picture.  I canned cranberry sauce, whole cranberries, cranberry juice, cranberry syrup, and cranberry jelly.  I froze cranberries and I dehydrated cranberries.

I don't think that I'll harvest cranberries again, but I'm thankful for the experience and thankful for my good friend who talked me into it.

Blessings from Glory Farm.

Chores by Moonlight

The moon over the clothesline.

The weather outside is balmy.  The thermometer reads 16 degrees, but it is truly a gorgeous night out there.  There are moon shadows.  The moon is waxing or waning or whatever it does, not full, but the light is so bright that I didn't need a flashlight to do chores tonight. 

My day was full and so chores were put on the back burner until after dark, which happens early these days.

These pictures are dark, my camera-not so good.  Walking by the excavator it looked like the arm was out to grab me.

I had to walk by the growling grill in the machine shed.

The cows are dark silhouettes against the moonlight.  I wish I could capture what I see and not what my camera sees.

Oh well, you get the idea.  It's a beautiful night and a walk with my honey would be great.
Good night and God bless.