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.

Things are up in the air

 Winter is here, but today we have a respite from the cold.  The thermometer says 36 degrees and there's not a bit of wind.  We've been getting the homestead buckled up for winter.  Today I'm cleaning out the extra boards and siding from in front of my barn. The turkeys and chickens are butchered and in the freezer. I picked up a breeding pair of Royal Palms.

Aren't they beautiful birds?


 I finished siding my barn today and patching up the sheep shed. We've had timberwolves around at night and I don't want them in with my sheep!




 My husband took advantage of the gorgeous weather to finish siding the north side of the house. Here's a picture of how he elevated his homemade scaffolding. Don't call OSHA, please

                                                                                                     

My coffee break is over and I want to get outside before we lose the sun. Hope your day is glorious. From Glory Farm

Always Learning

The internet is a great tool for living frugally and sustainably. I'm learning new things, practical things, all the time. And so I share. There are some of you who already know so much more than I do, please bear with me.

Foraging-It means free food. Can't beat that. I have hops, ginger,cranberries, lamb's quarters (wild quinoa), wild amaranth, etc., to harvest this time of year. I went to harvest the amaranth seeds and found that they were already blown to the wind.

Wild Amaranth 

 So I harvested the seed from the lamb's quarters. These I'll use in breads.

Lamb's Quarters seeds 

I winnowed them, washed them and roasted them. I didn't end up with a lot, but it's a cool project.During the process I came upon a series of videos on Youtube called Joe and Zach Survival. You can find information on making curly dock flour, clover flour, spruce honey, and a whole mess of really cool things.

Another new project was making homemade Macaroni and Cheese mix. I found a great recipe on Food Storage Made Easy. It makes six mixes and you just buy a big box of elbow macaroni.

 Macaroni and Cheese Mix
 heaping 1 cup instant dry milk
 heaping 1/2 cup cornstarch
 2 cups cheese powder
 Mix well and store in an airtight container. To make macaroni and cheese: 2 cups cooked noodles heaping 1/2 cup macaroni and cheese mix 3/4 cup water 1 tablespoon butter. Mix until blended.**

 **Last new idea was more like a realization. Everytime that I make stir fry, I make too much rice. It either goes out to the dog or the chickens after a week in the refrigerator. Then I realized I could just dehydrate it and have minute rice on those evenings when everything is so busy. These types of things make me happy. Now if I could just learn how to put paragraph breaks in my blog....I think I just figured it out.  Happy again.

That's all for now, catch ya later.

Morning Update

They predicted frost last night and they were right. I went out to check on my tender plants and here's what I found. This is a tomato plant that wasn't covered.

It didn't make it. So I pulled back the tarps on the rest of the tomatoes and this is what I found. They made it!

My main garden is in an area that is more prone to frost, so when I pulled back the tarp on the pumpkins, this is what I found.

You win some, you lose some. I still had frost in the front yard at 9:30 this morning.

I don't think I've shown you my new chickens. Well, I've had them for about four months. They're cream brabanters,

which took me two years to finally find. Here's a couple of pictures of my turkeys. I'm saving the breeding pair, the rest will be butchered in a month and a half. They're Red Bourbons. I think I'd like to try Royal Palms next.

Yep, there are ducks in there, too. I picked up two sheep this week. They're both wethers and very affectionate. They're for fiber and for company for my Angora goat. They were raised in a petting zoo, so you can imagine how affectionate. I cannot think of names for these two. I've asked friends and family and no one has been able to come up with names. Here's a couple, not very good, pictures of them.

That's the update from our place. Enjoy this wonderful fall weather. Have a blessed day. Glory Farm

Sept. 10

It's definitely nasty out there. Rain and wind and cold. Weather man says that we could have frost this week. So, I'm trying to find enough covers to keep my garden for just a little while longer. The pumpkins are turning orange and the tomatoes are turning red. Today it's off to the dentist and then a road trip to pick up a couple of sheep. Not sure of the breed, but the price is right, free. I really don't like shearing sheep, takes me way too long to do one. My honey doesn't like it either, but he's a lot faster than I am. I really do like the fiber to mix with my mohair and angora. I'll get pictures and post of the new members of the farm. Be a blessing. Glory Farm