Thursday, May 15, 2008
Wow, I havent updated in a long time
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So much happening, and yet, so little really. We've been busy with gardens, animals and life. But we're about to get busier still. We now have two goats. Mia, our Oh-so-sweet Nigerian Dwarf goat that we milk for a mere cup of milk a day, but we're freezing it to use for cheese later..LOL and (heavy sigh) a free Pygmy goat that we got from someone on freecycle. and should NOT have. She's nice, not wild or anything, friendly enough, but she does NOT like Mia and because she has horns, she headbutts everything :( including Mia. She is going to a new home with a friend of ours who needs a goat for brush clearing. Her name is Betty boop, but we've just called her BB, cos I cant bear to call a goat Betty. We seem to have lost a few chicken recently, no idea how, but we had 24 chicks and last night we could only count 21 out there. We did see a few really big birds circling in the air day before yesterday, wondering if chicken hawks have been visiting us :( Now, on to the FUN updates :) We've already eaten some romaine lettuce from the garden, and everything else is up, including the watermelon and cantaloupe. Todays project is weeding in the garden. If we hit it as a team, we can get it done quickly, the key is making sure the children understand which are weeds and which are plants. AND..... We're getting a very pregnant Jersey cow to add to our family. She doesnt have a name yet, so we're thinking on that, but she is due within the next month, and we'll have a birth and a calf around here! And then, LOTS of milk! probably 4-5 gallons a day. Cheese, butter, yogurt, and all the milk the kids want to drink! I'll be sure to post pictures after she's home with us. We have bunnies too, they were suppose to be bred and expecting, but we never saw any babies so we rebred them and we'll check in a few days for 'marbles' in the mama bunny and see if we're expecting yet. I guess thats about it right now. I need to do some baking, and we're anxiously awaiting our wheat order from Walton feed. |
Monday, April 21, 2008
Cinnamon rolls
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I had a request :) for my cinnamon roll recipe so I'll post it here. I have made this recipe for around 10 yrs now. Its from a State Fair of Oklahoma cookbook and the recipe is called "Madge's magnificent cinnamon rolls". I've made them for county fairs in Kansas and bread baking competitions. I've made the dough, rolled it out, put the filling in and put it in a bread pan to make cinnamon bread too. That is yummy with a cream cheese frosting type spread on it. :D The dough recipe is: 1/2 cup warm water 2 pkgs yeast or a bit more than a tablespoon (one pkg is 2 1/4 tsp) 1 1/2 cups warm milk 1/2 cup shortening (I use crisco butter flavor) 2 eggs 2 tsp salt 1/2 cup sugar 7 cups of flour or until dough cleans the sides of the mixer bowl. I dont measure things exactly, and I kinda just dump it all in, though im sure there is some reason why the recipe says to put the yeast and water in first and then add the other ingredients.. :D anyway, it works for me. Let dough rise once, then punch down, roll out and spread with a stick of butter, cinnamon and about 2/3 cup brown sugar. You can add nuts if you like them. some of my family likes nuts, some dont, so I sometimes put nuts down half and not on the other. Roll up dough and cut into 1" slices and lay in greased pan. Let rise, then bake at 350* for 35 minutes or so, or until golden brown. While rolls are baking I make a glaze with 1/2 bag powdered sugar (maybe 2 cups or 3?) lemon juice and enough milk to make a drizzle-able type glaze. While the rolls are still warm from the oven I drizzle on the glaze so it runs down into the swirls and makes them yummy and gooey!  I've won ribbons from contests and many many accolades from dh's coworkers over the years. When he worked in taxes, during tax season, on Saturday work days, I often made these for him to take to work....til it almost got to be expected that I would. LOL the recipe makes around 2 dozen, though you can make them really really big if you like and just make a dozen, or you can make them much smaller and make three dozen for a potluck bkfast type thing. |
Friday, April 18, 2008
Jam and bread for ....
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I've been so busy this week I haven't even taken time to blog about any of it. I don't even really remember the first part of the week after the blur of the last couple of days. Wednesdays are always busy here. The children have classes at church from 3:30-5 and then then teens have class in the evening. While the younger kids were at Cubby Bears, Honeybees, and All Stars, I went to Wal-mart... ALONE!!! Oh sweet joy! I was going to get foil pans for making cinnamon rolls that I needed to bake the following day for dh to take to work. While I was there I noticed they had strawberries for $4.88 for 4 lbs! thats cheap in these parts, so I bought 16 lbs of strawberries, some sugar and some pectin and new lids for my canning jars. I'd never made Strawberry jam before, though I have made Kiwi jelly and apple sauce before.... so, Wednesday night I made 15 pints of jam. I'm still not sure why I did that??? Just an impulse thing, but we're all so glad I did. In fact, dh took 12 to work with him and only brought home 3 of them. So yesterday I bought more strawberries and made more! Thursdays baking was 5 loaves of wheat bread (that flopped), 5 loaves of white bread, 4 loaves of french bread, two dozen cinnamon rolls... and then I was out of flour. I got more flour last night, then today I made 5 loaves of wheat bread that turned out great and 4 dozen more cinnamon rolls. We do have a couple of loaves of bread left, but tonight I used some french bread to make french toast and it was a huge hit! A great way to use up leftover homemade bread that doesnt keep soft and usable as long as the preservative filled store bought stuff. I am kinda tired right now, of baking, but my kids are really bummed that they had to smell cinnamon rolls cooking for two days now and didnt get any to eat, so I might make more for my family tomorrow. For now Im off to Wal-mart to buy some pull ups for my sweet 4 yr old who peed in MY bed last night! I wasnt going to buy anymore, but I decided that my dislike for wet feet (he slept at the foot of my bed) outweighs my dislike for buying pullups. I will say this, I am sooo loving all the counter space in my new kitchen! Room to spread out, bake and cook and can and .... without feeling too crowded.. VERY NICE! |
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Of rain and cows and bread...
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I am sitting in this chair in my feeble attempt to avoid the inevitable. I need to go out to milk the cow, but, its muddy out there. VERY muddy! I could never do justice explaining just how muddy it is, so I'll post a picture in a bit. Suffice it to say, dh told me 'no ducks, we dont have a pond' Well, NOW we do :D so should I run out and buy some ducks before the pond goes away? They're on SALE this week at Orshelns! Everybody loves a sale, right? So, back to this cow thing. I put off going out to put up the calf last night because... well... because procrastinating is one of my specialties! It was raining, I had to pick the kids up from youth, the excuse list is long, but in the end, I was out there at 8:30 last night, in the dark and rain trying to wade through puddles in 'croc' type shoes with holes in them looking for that calf that didnt come with her mama when I called. I could see her eyes reflecting in the flashlight beam, and it looked like she might have gotten in behind the fence that is there to protect our blackberry bushes... SIGH. So, I trudged off through the pasture in crocs, looking ahead to the calf and down at the ground alternately because the only thing worse than a puddle in crocs is a PILE in crocs. definitely!  Finally she started coming towards me, and in nothing flat she was RUNNING in my direction. EEEK! Shes just a baby, but she's big and she'd hurt me if she ran into me. She stopped about 5 ft short. So, we turned to go to the stall to pen her up and with every squishy step I can hear them following me. Pretty soon, Spring started to do a bit of a side step thing that made me a wee bit nervous. I was afraid I was going to be kicked or trampled. I thankfully had taken a bamboo stick out with me for protection from the oogieman, so I gave her a light smack on the rear end and she settled back down. Near as I can tell, the cows just really do NOT like a flashlight in the pitch black of night. I will definitely be sure to put the baby up before dark from now on.So, back in to the warm house I came, and found a towel to dry off. I caught a few giggles from kids as I walked in, I must have been a silly soaking wet sight. Sleep was restless as I had a 4 yr old who laid sideways on my bed and put his feet in my neck of all places! and then we were joined by the 3 yr old also. I got up early to start on baking. We posted, or rather dh did, the things that I like to make and do a fairly decent job at, on our webpage (link in the right hand column) and I had orders this week for wheat bread, french bread, cinnamon pecan rolls and fresh eggs. I have 5 loaves of wheat bread in the oven rising, dough for four loaves of french bread in a bowl for the first rise and Im going out now to milk the cow, right after I hit 'post'. When I return to the house, I'll strain the milk, form the french bread loaves, start on cinnamon roll dough and then take the wheat bread out of the oven. I have my work cut out for me today :) I'll be back to post pictures later. Have a great day ya'll! |
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
10 things I say every day..
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I saw this on another blog, sorry, Im not good about posting links :P but here are the ten things I say every day: (in no particular order) 1. I love you 2. Get off the counter 3. Would someone please switch out the laundry 4. no, you may not play on the computer right now 5. No you cant have any candy 5b. NO YOU CANT have any candy. 6. Is your schoolwork done? 6b. is your school work done? 6c. is your school work done? 7. Kelly, did you check on the chicks? 8. stop aggravating your sister/brother! 9. HELLO????!!!!!! 10. Goodnight, I love you too! |
Monday, April 7, 2008
The morning milk report
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Just checking in real quick to post the morning milk report for Monday, April 7th. Yesterdays milk poured in to the gallon jar, and todays milk filling the smaller jar....bottom picture is two days worth of milk. Hoping to continue to up production as I milk her out more often :D   |
Sunday, April 6, 2008
WOW.. what a busy weekend!
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We got so much done this weekend. I am very tired and sore, but this mornings milking was a FULL jar!!! it took us all week last week to fill that jar, I used it all yesterday in some pudding I made, and this morning I filled it to the top again! HAPPY HAPPY DAY!!!! Today was a busy day, I got up early, everyone else still sleeping, and milked the cow... came back in, fed kids breakfast, cleaned up, the guys were going to go fishing, so they got poles ready. We went to the lake nearby, a small, hidden lake that not everyone knows about..... I dropped the kids off with my dad and dh and my mom and I went to Orshlens for a salt lick for the cow, some fish hooks, seeds and some sevin powder for the flies on Springs back. Went by the lake to take hooks, but they werent fishing anymore, so we all came home. Planted Cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, dill, beets, lettuce, more onions, more potatoes and 9 tomato plants (4 celebrity, 2 better boy, 3 big boy) still need to plant shallots, garlic, blue potatoes, corn, beans, okra, spinach, cucumbers, watermelon and cantaloupe... my big garden.. 30x50 ft is full now, and sugar peas are sprouting, so we tilled up another bed next to it, 15x50 for corn, beans, potatoes, okra, spinach and then dh is going to make me one more that is about 8x 45, for watermelon and cantaloupe and pumpkins. They found wild sand plum growing at the lake and pulled some up. No shovel needed... LONG tap roots, the root is half as long as the tree is tall! and they are blooming already. Dh planted those. yesterday he planted one peach, three pear, three apple and two blueberry bushes.. all from Lowes and all already flowering.... Yesterday I planted a rose bush in the circle drive as a memorial to the baby that would have been due today. I hope that it grows big and beautiful and gives us many sweet flowers! The smaller trees we got from the forestry service are just seedlings, though the lilac, choke cherry and currant are all budded out already and growing. We have much to water and thankfully we have well water for the plants and animals  Our household water bill went down by 5000 gallons for our first full month of the new front load washer!!! and one bottle of laundry soap lasted us more than a month! |
Friday, April 4, 2008
Really struggling today...
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If you've ever read very far back on my blog, you'll see that last August we were quite surprised to learn that we were expecting a new little one. Our surprise and joy turned to sorrow mid month when we found out that it was an ectopic pregnancy and we spent the night in the hospital on our 12 yr old daughters birthday to get a methotrexate shot to dissolve the pregnancy. It was a horribly painful experience and I thought and almost wished, that I was dying at one point. I guess I just really assumed that we'd be blessed again before the due date of that precious little one arrived, but that day is Sunday, and we have no new blessing to announce. My heart is broken...Im sad and confused and feeling a little alone. I muttered at the cow today when she knocked me down because I'd rather be in the house nursing a new baby than out there milking a cow... though please dont get me wrong, I LOVE my cows and I am so grateful to have them! I guess Im just trying to make some sort of sense out of it all in my head and I don't understand what the purpose of that loss was.... I've not seen yet how God will use that event in my life to further His kingdom or to build something in me. Where is the 'good' that is worked out in all things? Anyway, if you've read this far, I do appreciate your prayers... for healing, for comfort and even for a new blessing if God would allow it. Thanks  |
Friday, April 4, 2008
Todays milking picture...
We've almost got a full jar... never mind that its a jelly jar and not a gallon size pickle jar as I'd hoped :) |
Thursday, April 3, 2008
A bit more success!!
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This mornings milking was much more successful!!! here is the picture of our milk jar before todays milking... two days worth in the jar..ROFL  This is the same jar after adding todays milk supply!!! WOOHOO!!! more than half a cup more! HA!  Thanks pljammie...I'll try to rig up a stanchion of sorts and see if that helps tomorrow. |
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
The milking saga continues...
Okay... I couldnt get her into the stall today, but I did get the lead |
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Happy NO fools day!
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No FOOLS in our house today... Psalm 14:1 says "the fool has said in his heart 'there is no God'" well, here in our house, we all believe in God! But, in light of the day, we're having a fools day dinner... Fauxberry pie for dinner and Spaghetti and meatballs for dessert Spaghetti and meatballs...  cupcake base, with spaghetti made of piped frosting...topped with strawberry ice cream topping or strawberry preserves and the meatballs are cocoa crispy marshmallow treats rolled into meatball size balls. Cute, huh? |
Monday, March 31, 2008
Milking a cow
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Okay, I never even tried to say this would be an easy thing... Sure, its not HARD really, but it is work. A few notes: 1. Do make stall more narrow, cows will move around 2. DONT bring three children with you to stand around chattering 3. DO watch for the rear leg! and I guess I should put on that list, DONT expect a large amount of milk on your first try! this is the product of my work... milking a cow in a much too big stall where she was able to turn around in circles and move to the far side of the stall. I think a stanchion sounds like a wonderful thing... and now, the picture!  Anybody wanna guess how much butter you can get from a tablespoon of milk... ROFL Oh well, it was fun trying, and tomorrow is a new day! |
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Horses and cows and pigs O' my
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Today was another busy day. We hate to work so hard on the Lords day, but there is so much to do and we have only so many days when Daddy is home to do the work. I try to do what I can, but fences and other things like that I'm just not able to do without him. Anyway, there were a couple of places that needed work on the fence. The cows don't mind and wouldn't have been a problem, but we'd like to not have to have Bella on a chain all the time. So, fences fixed. WOW, it was a harder job with the cows back there. They're so friendly that they come up and visit with you while you're working. If you don't pay attention to them, they will head butt you to get your attention! Cute, right.... well, okay, yeah, it is, but it does slow down the progress when you keep stopping to pet cows. Anyway, as we relaxed by the bonfire pit in the back we were surprised by a friend from church, on horseback no less. Steve rode over on his show horse Missy and then let all of the kids ride on her around the yard a little. They all thought it was wonderful, and now everyone is talking about summer camp... HORSE camp! Its a bible camp, but with horsemanship as the theme.         |
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Cow pictures...
I'll add a few here, but you can see more at DARBY GATES FARMS.   For size reference.. Andrew is 4 yrs old.. almost 5, and this is him next to the calf, Autumn.  |
Saturday, March 29, 2008
In the morning light...
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Life is just beautiful this morning.... We walked to the end of the porch to see how our cows made it through their first night in the new pasture... The minute the saw us they ran full tilt toward the gate for food, bellowing all the way! They are so sweet and we are all in love with them! I just love scratching their heads and feeding them treats. (being careful not to over do it on the treats) I could just stand out there all day long watching them and petting them :) are you suppose to love cows this much? Our friend, Steve, heard the girls say "ohhhh they're so adorable" and he just laughed. He said "you haven't spent enough time around cows then, if you think that!" But we do, we all love them and everyone wants to be out there with them. I love hearing them mooing at each other. Last night I was at the gate and Daddy was up near the house and yelled "hey dear" ... When I hollered back at him, both cows starting mooing so much I couldnt hear what he had to say.. LOL. They just wanted to be in on the conversation. Anyway... besides the cows, we got 150 seedlings from the Kansas Forestry dept yesterday, so our job is laid out for us today... TREE PLANTING!!!! (with a little cow watching mixed in for fun) I need to get back out there and be a help before he catches me on the computer again..  |
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Til the cows come home
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Well, its been a little while since I last updated here. We've been busier now that the weather is slowly becoming more agreeable. Currently, A1 has a horrid rash on much of his body and itches something fierce...but usually worst at night (when Im trying to sleep...ahem... LOL). We go back to the doctor again today. First thought was poison oak or ivy...but doesnt seem to be that now, and it just keeps spreading, even with antibiotics, creams, prednisone, zyrtec and benedryl. poor little buddy! We got word yesterday that our girlies (cows) can come home anytime we'd like to go 'adopt' them. WOOHOO! We're finishing up last minute details and arranging for a friend with truck and trailer to go out with the hubbster to get them. Of course, this weekend being Easter and all, I guess we're hoping for one evening next week? Not sure yet. As Easter approaches, I hope you will all take the time to stop and think about what it means. Yes, we do egg hunts, and my girls love to dress up for church, and we enjoy a good meal with family, but lets not miss the most important thing. Without Easter, the Christmas story is just another story. EASTER brings it all together and proves that Jesus IS who He said He is!!!! He made a way for us, where before there was no way! The death of Christ in movies, videos and plays is often hard to watch and can be somewhat graphic... but its OUR death He died... He certainly didnt deserve to die in such a horrible way. He offered Himself for our sake and then, He rose again! Easter is a Miracle!!! That miracle happens daily in the lives and hearts of those who accept what Jesus did for them and allow Him into their hearts! I hope you've done that, or will think hard about doing that this Easter season. Just one more little note. Our sweet S1... sang a special in church a few wks ago and did a great job. They will be putting a link to it on our church website soon.... you can find it here. BIBLE CHRISTIAN CHURCH |
Monday, March 3, 2008
That beautiful brown dirt....
Thank you Lord, we had beautiful weather all weekend for getting stuff done in the yard. the path in the yard..not quite done, I'll add a 'finished' picture later and wont it look nice once there is some green stuff growing around it?Because of the septic replacement situation before we moved in, 3/4 of an acre of our yard is mud and deep dark brown mud at that. Its been a real mess up til now. We got the driveway graveled last week, and a load of sand too. Saturday my dad and my sweetie got out there and put landscape timbers in a path out to the barn/shop/animals and filled it all in with sand so that we have a non muddy pathway to the animals. (four of the kids on the gate at the farm we went to visit)  They built the kids a sandbox to use the remainder of the sand in, and then on Saturday evening we went to visit some folks nearby who have a type of cow we're pretty interested in..... Dexters.  Saturay evening we grilled steaks and enjoyed a bonfire around our firepit out back. Its so nice that you can see every star in the night sky out here at night. No lights to interfere, just midnight black sky and millions of stars. On friday night we had a bonfire too, just us and the kids, and we all happened to be looking in just the right direction to see a shooting star :) So, we played hookey from church because dad was here and we wanted to make the most of our time with him. We dont see them as often as *I* would like, and we were all glad to give up Sunday to be with him. We trimmed some hedges, plowed under the garden area and rototilled in some leaves too. I think we are going to need a load of sand to mix in to the garden spot though. The dirt out there is pretty heavy and clay like and we need better drainage. We've got lots of leaves in the yard to rake up, so we'll get as much of them into the garden, and then mix some sand in and roto till it one more time with all of that, before we start planting. I think we ended up with somewhere around a 20ft x 40 ft garden spot for this first year. Last night, after dark the winds changed and in 5 minutes time we went from 64 degrees to 43 degrees and winds blowing fairly constant at 40mph. YUCK! The rain started after that and it was cold, blowing and rainy all night, but no snow yet. They are predicting it, but I hope they are wrong. So we're back to the work week....school, laundry, chores and I need to get on that weekly menu, I cant stand not knowing what Im cooking for dinner in advance. Have a great week everyone! |
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Chicks are coming...
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We ordered 25 cochin pullets this morning from our favorite hatchery www.ideal-poultry.com and have already gotten notice that they'll be here on March 7th. Here is a picture of our handsome cochin rooster... and one of him with his girls too..   |
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
The simple pleasures of life...
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Kids really know best when it comes to simple pleasures, dont they? Here are a few of my kids enjoying life at its best (okay, a few degrees warmer...say, 40? and it would have been 'best')  what could be better than a whole load of sand???? I'll tell you what simple pleasure is to us grown up folks... a new gravel driveway!!!!!  NO MORE MUD!!!! its a beautiful thing |