photo of the day

Clean Up: spruce grove perimeter, south side

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It was such a beautiful day today – we hit 8C today – I couldn’t resist!  I started working on the spruce grove perimeter again.  With the manual labour, the cooler temperatures are just perfect.

Rather than start were I left off last time, I started near the outhouse and garage.  I want to be able to go into the area with my wheelbarrow and tools from here, rather than having to go all the way around where I’d already cleared.  Also, there was a pile of junk at the corner of the garage I wanted to clear out.

It turned out to be a much bigger job than I expected!

In fact, I’ll be splitting this up into three posts to cover it all – including when I had to stop and get one of my daughters to help me get out a trapped kitten!

Continue reading →

Home Made Chicken Stock

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The following is a “use watcha got” recipe to use up the carcasses of your cooked chicken (or turkey).  This stock is cooked down to be more concentrated, and should result in a rather firm, gel-like consistency when cool.

Decide ahead of time how you will store your stock, and prepare in advance as needed.  I used pint sized canning jars and sterilized the canning funnel, jars, lids and rings during the last hour or so of cooking.  You could also pour the stock into ice cube trays for freezing, or use freezer bags.

You will also need a colander and bowl large enough to hold your stock, plus a sieve and cheesecloth for straining.  Having a giant measuring cup is also very handy to stain into, making it easier to pour the stock into jars.

Ingredients:

bones and skin from roasted chickens (or turkey)
pan drippings
onion and/or leeks
garlic cloves
vegetables such as carrots, celery (including leaves), celeriac, parsnips
herbs such as rosemary, thyme, savory, sage, bay leaves, ginger, parsley or dill
peppercorns
salt; optional
cold water
optional additions: lemon or orange zest, a splash of apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar

homemade.chicken.stockNote: Quantities will depend on how many carcasses you are using.   For 3 carcasses, I used 1 large onion, a whole head of garlic, 4 carrots, and whatever herbs I had handy in my cupboard.

Seasonings will also depend on how the chickens were seasoned when cooked.  When I roasted ours, I first rubbed them with lemon juice and put the lemon pieces, with some bay leaves, into the cavities.  I also rubbed lemon salt, paprika, pepper and oil into the skin.  Because of this, I was able to be light on the salt and pepper when making the stock.  What salt I did use was lemon salt.

  1. Place your chicken bones and skin into a large stock pot.  Scrape pan drippings in (cooled pan drippings may be gelled, which is awesome).
  2. Add onions, cut into large pieces (skin can be left on, if you wish), or leeks cut into 2 inch or so chunks.
  3. Crush garlic cloves with the side of a large knife (skins can be left on, but I like to remove them) and add to the pot.
    Note: If you don’t have fresh onions or garlic, dried can be used.
  4. Vegetables do not need to be peeled.  Just scrub them, and remove the root ends.  Chop them into about 2 inch pieces, then add to the pot.
  5. Add fresh or dried herbs and other seasonings of your choice.
  6. Add peppercorns (or ground pepper, if that’s what you have) and salt.  If you’re not sure about the salt, leave it for later, after tasting.
  7. Add enough cold water to cover everything by about 1 or 2 inches.
  8. Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer.  Do not stir, as that will make your stock cloudy.
  9. Simmer for about 3-4 hours.
  10. Place a colander over a large bowl.  Carefully pour everything in the stock pot, into the colander.  Gently lift out the colander, allowing to drain, and set aside.  Colander contents can be discarded.
  11. Wash the stock pot out and place back on the stove.  Pour the stock, through a sieve, back into the stock pot.
  12. Taste for seasonings.  Adjust as desired.
  13. Bring the stock to a boil.  Reduce heat and continue to simmer the stock down until reduced by 1/3rd.
  14. Line a sieve with several layers of cheesecloth and place over a bowl or large measuring cup.
  15. Gently ladle the stock into the lined sieve.
  16. Fill prepared containers with strained stock (in batches, if need be) and seal.
  17. Refrigerate or freeze, as desired.

 

Using the carcasses of 3 chickens, I was able to fill 11 pint sized canning jars (all the ones I had available), plus have 3 cups of stock left over.

The second cooking down of the stock concentrates it a bit; if you wanted to, you could continue to cook it down more, for an even more concentrated stock.  Keep this in mind when you use it, as you may need to water it down a bit.

Enjoy!

The Re-Farmer

I wish I could say this was a surprise

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Just over a week ago, we discovered that someone had put glue into the lock on our main gate.

The last time this happened, my daughter and I went through our back gate, which isn’t normally used, to get out.  Then we had to get bolt cutters and a new lock for the main gate.  This was before we rebuilt the back gate, so at the time, the lock and chain where the only things holding the remains of a barbed wire gate up.  It was basically enough to keep the cows from getting onto the road, the first time they broke through by the barn and into our outer yard. Continue reading →

He’s back!

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One of the dad cats showed up again this morning, cooperatively posing for me outside our living room window, so I could get some photos! :-)

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Dad cat is looking a little rough around the edges!

While he seems to be coming around more regularly, yesterday I saw – and heard! – him being driven away by Rolando Moon.  Who can be just as mean to the other cats, too, we’ve noticed!

I think we are slowly but surely getting The Outsider used to us, faster than the other kittens!  Yesterday, my younger daughter was using a stick to play with him (her?), and even managed to pet him briefly.

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I played with her a bit, too, and she was willing to come close to my feet, but then seemed to realize how close she was and would run off a bit.  Then come back again, to play with the end of the stick.

While all the kittens and their moms seem to have accepted him as one of their own, he and Doom Guy are getting to be quite the pair!  I wasn’t able to get any good photos, but they snuggle up in the sun room, regularly.  Earlier today, while taking something out of the freezer, I looked out the window to the swing bench.  Much to my surprise, there were no kittens on it.  Then I found the two of them.  They were on the old dresser I use to hold the tools, snuggled up and looking out the window.  That space is normally covered with bags of cat food, but we’re on the last bag right now, so it’s available.

I think, from now through the winter, we’re going to have to start buying 4 big bags of cat food a month, instead of the 3 we did last year.  We could get away with 2 in the summer, so I would have an extra bag left over from month to month, but this month we’ve already gone through 3 and are into the 4th – though some of that was due to the cats dumping the bucket onto the floor and eating it all night!

Cat kibble in bulk.  Bird seed.  Deer feed.

Not quite what we were expecting to be doing, when we first moved out here!

Hard to believe, in just a few days, it’ll be a year since my husband and younger daughter flew out.

It’s been quite a year!

The Re-farmer

 

 

Double-sided

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Most of the kittens are pretty easy to describe.  We’ve got the tuxedo, Doom Guy.  The grey tabby, Corvo.  Two orange tabbies, Jim and Bob.

Then there are the calicos.  Or are they torties?  Or something else entirely?

It doesn’t help that one of them is double-sided.

Here is Rosencrantz (or Guildenstern), side A.

20181021.kitten,sideA This is side B.  20181021.kitten,sideB

It’s like two different cats!  When I see her (him?) from this side, I sometimes mistake her for Corvo, until I see the bits of orange.

Today has turned out to be remarkably warm – 13C!  Well above the predicted high.

Time to go outside and enjoy it. :-D

The Re-Farmer

Warm

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While checking around the yard, to see if any other branches came down during the gusts of high winds we had yesterday, I came to the remains of our straw bale.

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Beep Beep and her boy, taking advantage of something warmer than the ground! :-D

Smart kitties.

The Re-Farmer

Not sure how to fix this…

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While out and about this morning, the kittens were out in full force.  Including Doom Guy, who can’t seem to figure out that, if he wants me to pick him up, he has to be in FRONT of me, not behind…

20181019.climbing

I’m going to have little puncture marks, all up the back of my legs, thanks to him. :-D

Yesterday, I was able to clean up the platform to the clothes line.  The line itself needs a bit of maintenance before we can use it.  A bit more, if we want to set up three lines again, instead of the one that’s left now.

20181019.platform

Whoever rebuilt this platform did a good job of it.

The original platform doubled as a dog house.  On the side, where the mock orange is growing now, there was an opening, and we kept it filled with straw for the dogs.  I even remember being able to crawl into it, myself, for some canine snuggles!

The cats can squeeze under the stairs.  At least, the smaller ones, can.  I don’t think Rolando Moon could fit through there.  Nor the skunk.

Of the stuff that was on the platform, I’ve only kept the bin, as a potential shelter for the cats in the winter, and a piece of eaves trough that I am wanting to re-purpose, but doens’t fit anywhere else right now.

I noticed, however, that there is stuff underneath, so I used my phone’s camera to see what it is.

20181019.platform.under

???

Why is any of that, there?

Who thought it was a good idea to shove it under there?

The only way for any of this to be there is by pushing it through the opening under the step.

How am I supposed to clean that up?

The Re-Farmer

Productive

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What a gorgeous day we had today!  We actually hit 19C!

I don’t expect we’ll hit above 10C again, for the rest of the year.  It’d be nice, but I’m not going to count on it!

Which meant a final run around the yard.  I took out the string of lights that wasn’t working, then hauled away a few more loads of pruned and cleaned up branches from the spruce grove; what hasn’t been cleaned up are in piles that can stay the winter.  Mostly, I wanted access to the larger, less noisy, wheelbarrow!  The straw around the old dog house I prepped for the cats to use over the winter had settled, so I added three more wheelbarrows of straw around the outside.  I also finally cleaned up the platform for the clothes line.  Some of what was on there went to the junk pile – we won’t be able to get that hauled away this year, unfortunately.  There was a plastic bin under the bench seat on the platform that had some plant pots in it, sitting in half frozen rain water.  The pots went into the shelf we’ve left by the sun room – that thing has been too handy to haul away.  The bin itself was put back under the bench, but on its side, so it won’t collect water.  Bricks that had been lying around went inside it, to ensure it doesn’t get blown away.  One more little shelter from the weather for the cats, though they also go under the platform itself.

The tools and equipment have been put way, but into the sun room, not the garden shed.  That shed will need to be hauled away with the junk, after we clear it out of whatever is not broken in there.  I’ve put the garden hoses in there, but I hope to replace those next summer.

It looks like getting the trees done will have to wait until the spring, after all.  The pump for our well has been making some strange noises when it first turns on, but I’ve never been able to get to it to record it, before the noise stops.  We’ve been listening for it, as it doesn’t happen every time the pump turns on, and it seems to make the noise only after the pump has not had to turn on for several hours.  So, mostly, when the first shower of the day is started.  Before contacting the plumber I emailed my older brother about it.  From the description, he says it sounds like the foot valve is letting water slowly leak down.  If it has long enough time to leak, when it turns on again, it will make the grumbling noises we’ve been hearing, as it tries to prime itself.

If that’s what it is, it’s a job for the plumber, because fixing it would require taking the pipe out of the manhole outside.

I’ve asked the girls to let me know before the first one of them showers tomorrow morning, so I can go downstairs and start recording when the water is started, and hopefully catch the pump making the noise when it turns on.  Then I can call the plumber, play it for him, and it will give him an idea of what it is.

This is one of those things we can’t take a chance on.  If the pump goes, we have no water.  Better to have it fixed now, before winter gets here!  I’m just hoping we can pay for that, and still be able to get me to a dentist. :-(

Renting a wood chipper this fall is also out the window.

*sigh*

20181018.lights.fixedOnce it was dark enough, I went out to check the lights again.  One string shorter, but all are working!

I’m really happy with how the whole fence line is looking.  After I took the broken string of lights down, I took the time to cut away the small underbrush I’d left behind, since I was focusing on getting the fence itself clear of the big stuff.  There was enough of it to be in the way while walking back and forth, with the lights.

That done, I spent some time walking around, just enjoying the warm and peaceful night in the yard.  Gosh, it is so nice!  I really missed this, when living in the city.  You can actually see the stars, and it’s so quiet.  Even when being chased down and having my calves tackled by a Doom Guy. :-D

I played around with the “pro” settings on my phone to try and get some photos.  Here’s one of them.

20181018.night.yard

You can actually see a star next to that moon!  I’ve resized the image, and some of the detail is lost. The lights on the bottom right are the solar lights I’ve got on each side of the vehicle gate into the yard, and you can see the moon reflecting on the metal roof of the garage.

Anyhow.  As for as outside the house goes, we’re ready for winter.

It’s been a good and productive day!

The Re-Farmer

Birdwatching…

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Heading over to my crochet corner, I noticed something odd on the bird feeder.

At first, I thought it was Butterscotch.

Then it looked at me.

2018-10-16.kitten1

Why, hello, Rosencrantz…

or Guildenstern.

All the birds were on the ground while she was up there, and she was VERY interested in watching them.

2018-10-16.kitten2

Guildenstern (or Rosencrantz) wasn’t quite sure what to make of me.  Normally, she runs off as soon as any of us comes near.  Which means this is probably the best look at her I’ve ever gotten!

2018-10-16.kitten3

Of course, as soon as she was on the ground, all the birds were on the feeder. :-D

Such a pretty kitty!

The Re-Farmer