Off the to-do list

So this has been a productive day!  Most of my to-do list for outside is now complete.  The last thing is to do a dump run, which will be taken care of soon.

Beep Beep made things a little more difficult. :-D  As I was getting my supplies out of the sun room, I paused to respond to a message on my phone.

Beep Beep climbed me like a tree!

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She did it again, while I was working in the garage, too.

What a girl! LOL

The first thing on my list was to use some metal rods I found while cleaning up at the garage recently, to set up markers at our driveway.

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I don’t know how well they will hold out over the winter.  We shall see.  The main thing is, once the ditches are filled with snow, we’ll be able to see the outer extremes of the driveway.  One of them has some reflective tape on it.  I’ll have to remember to pick up more.  There are a few places where we want to add reflective tape.

Once that was done, I reclaimed our wheelbarrow from the junk pile; an old, cracked rain barrel is now being used to hold things like broke glass and other small things that we didn’t want to just throw on the pile.  Then I took the plastic I’d used to put water in an old bathtub for the cows to cover the whole thing (and added the bathtub to the pile, too).  I tossed some stuff to weigh down the plastic, but I rather doubt it will stay.  We shall see.

The next thing I wanted to do was cover the post pounder.  First, however, I wanted to try pumping up the tires, to see if I could move it.  In order to access the compressor, however, I had to finish cleaning up and putting away stuff we had to clear so we could rescue Doom Guy.

Beep Beep “helped” by jumping up onto the counter, then onto me!

I found a little hand broom and swept off the counter, then had to figure out how to put the shelves, back, without a second person.  In the end, I took the drawers out of the top one, to lighten it.

This is why it was so heavy.

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The one drawer with the long bolts probably weighed about 15 pounds, all on its own… and it got stuck.  I managed to get it out, though, which made moving that shelf easy enough.

Then I went to clean off the second shelf before trying to remove the drawers.

I don’t know how I failed to notice this, when we first took it off.  Probably because we were too distracted by the need to free Doom Guy from behind the counter.

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Yeah.  That’s shedded snake skin.

With this shelf, I wasn’t able to take any of the drawers out, but it was light enough I could just pick it up and put it on top of the other one.

Then I set up the compressor which, thankfully, has a hose long enough to reach both tires on the post pounder.

The first one, much to my surprise, pumped up rather well, and seems to be holding air.

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Cool!  Now, if the other one would hold air, it might be possible to move the post pounder into a shed or something.

What a hoot.

It pumped up, all right, but as soon as I turned the air off, it quickly deflated.  I could even feel a breeze on my hand!

From this.

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A big ole crack in the tire!

Ah, well.  It was worth a shot.

I had noticed a tarp in the side of the garage my mother’s car is stored in and was happy to confirm it was big enough to cover the whole thing.

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I don’t know what was used to fasten the old tarp – if anything – but I’m hoping that this one will stay.  Between the bale twin at the top (which is what had been tied around the folded up tarp, and the zip ties, it’s pretty secure.  I just wish I didn’t have to poke little holes into the tarp to thread the zip ties through.

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It should hold for a while, though.  It would take some pretty major winds to tear it off, at this point.

That done, I moved the toilet “art”.  I decided to leave it near the outhouse for now.  I think I really will put dirt in it and plant flowers next year.  Just for a joke!

Then I took the oil drum that was along the garage and set it up as a temporary burn barrel.

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Here it is, next to the remains of the old one.  It’s not in very good shape, but until we can chisel off the top of the other barrel we found by a collapsing log building, it will do.  I didn’t have to make drainage holes in the bottom.  It already had holes.

And now it’s time to move on to the other things on the to-do list. :-)

The Re-Farmer

Feline Followers

Any time we are out and about in the yard, it’s not unusual for us to have at least one or two cats following us around.

Since Doom Guy has discovered he likes humans, he tends to get underfoot – literally – fairly regularly.

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These days, my morning check around the yard has gotten more extensive, since I’m now looking for more than just downed branches.  This morning, while walking on the far side of the big garden, I had Butterscotch, Rolando Moon and Beep Beep following me.  then Doom Guy caught up and joined his aunty in trying to trip me up! :-D

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Rolando Moon tends to keep her distance, though if I stop walking, she might come over for a quick pet.  Usually, she just tags along and meows at me.

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With Butterscotch and Rolando Moon around, Beep Beep kept her distance, too.  Usually, she is underfoot and trying to get me to pick her up.  Not today!

What was adorable was the other kittens.  I could see them making their way through the tall grass in the big garden area, following at a distance.  Bob, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, from what I could see through the grass.  Possibly Jim, too.

The kittens didn’t continue following me was I checked the fence line though the spruce grove.  Just the adult cats came along.

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Poor Butterscotch!  She was underfoot for the most part, but when I paused for a bit, Rolando Moon came over Rolando is the cat that is the most aggressive towards the other cats, though it usually is just a bit of hissing and the odd batting of the paw.  This morning, however, she actually went at Butterscotch!  Butterscotch ran off further into the spruces, but Beep Beep was there.  Beep Beep then attacked Butterscotch – only to have Rolando Moon attack Beep Beep, as if she were protecting Butterscotch!

So weird!

The Re-Farmer

Plans? What are those?

The hard part about making plans is, they get disrupted so quickly! :-D  Even scheduled appointments and the like often get changed at the last minute.  Even the medical appointment we had for my husband this morning was one that had been rescheduled twice before – and that turned out unusual. Continue reading

A difficult post

I admit to substantial hesitation before writing this post.  But since I’ve already posted about the vandalism to our locks, I suppose it doesn’t make much difference.  Plus, this blog was intended to be about all of the things we are discovering and dealing with as we take care of the farm for my mother, and… well, this is part of it.

This is the latest vandalism we have found.

Continue reading

You WILL pay attention to me, says the cat

Walking around the yard in the mornings, it’s not usual for me to have a cat or two, following me along.  This morning was no exception.

Butterscotch, however, was much more demanding of attention than usual!  Especially when I stopped to try and get some photos.

I did manage to get a couple photos of lichen on some trees that were worth posting.

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I just love those textures.

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Even when I was a kid, I was fascinated by the look of lichen!

When I started walking around, Butterscotch was her usual self.  Dashing around my feet, trying to trip me, then running ahead.

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When I paused for a few moments, she started rolling in the dirt, being thoroughly entertaining.

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The Outsider followed along for a bit, though when he got close to Butterscotch, she started to hiss and bat at him.

Even Rosencrantz or Guildenstern started to follow along, though he hid behind a crab apple tree, when I tried to get a picture.

As I continued along between the spruce grove and the apple trees by the garden, Butterscotch got more insistent.

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Yeah. She started climbing the back of my leg, too.

I ended up picking her up and carrying her for a while.

Her little feet were damp and cold.  Maybe that’s why she wanted up?

While I stopped to get photos of tree bark, this happened.

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That is a very trusting cat.  If I so much as leaned backwards, down she would have went!

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Look at her twisting and turning!

Look at that expression on her face. :-D

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Then she decided to eat the bottom of my zipper.

Silly kitty!

The Re-Farmer

Blog-versary

1.year.starburstWow.

Well, here it is.

One year ago today, I made the very first post on this blog.

At this point, my husband and younger daughter had already been at the farm for over a week.  My older daughter and I were purging and packing like crazy until we could join them.

What a year it’s been!

Thank you to those who felt this little window into our lives was worth visiting, following and commenting on!

The Re-Farmer

The dangers of kitties!

From when the kittens tried to kill my husband. !!!

Nutty Seedy Brittle

I decided to try something new tonight; making a brittle.  While I’ve certainly had brittle before, I’ve never made it until now.

When I started looking up recipes, I thought I might not be able to, since they all included corn syrup.  This is something I don’t normally have in the pantry.  However, I did find some without corn syrup, so it worked out in the end.

Before I share the photos and recipe, here are some important notes.

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First, make sure you premeasure all your ingredients, first.  Once the sugar starts to caramelize, you will have to work quickly, so have them all ready and on hand.

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Second, make sure you have a baking sheet or pan oiled/buttered and ready before you start.  If it’s not well oiled first, it will be next to impossible to get the brittle off once it hardens.

It would also be preferable to use a heavy bottomed saucepan, if you have one, for even heating, as sugar can burn easily.

And finally, have a trivet or pot holder near the pan.  When the sugar caramelizes, you will need to work quickly to remove it from the heat and add the final ingredients, so make sure to have a safe place where you can put your hot pot, stir things in, then immediately pour it onto your prepared pan.

For this brittle, I used a mix of pecan pieces and roasted, salted sunflower seeds, because that’s what I had on hand.  Since the sunflower seeds and butter were both salted, I was lighter on the added salt.  I also used kosher salt; being a coarse salt, there’s a bit less in the measuring spoon than when using table salt.  If I were using table salt, I would reduce the amount by about half, unless I were using unsalted butter and none of the nuts/seeds were salted.

Nutty Seedy Brittle Ingredients (makes about 2 – 2 1/2 cups)

1 1/2 cups nuts and seeds (peanuts, almonds, walnuts, pecans, macadamia nuts, cashews, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, etc.)
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup water
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp baking soda

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1. Combine sugar, water and salt into a saucepan over medium/medium-high heat.

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2. Bring the syrup mixture to a gentle boil, then set timer for 10 minutes.

3 . Continue to boil, stirring occasionally, watching for the colour to change.

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This is after 10 minutes. 

4. Continue to boil until the colour changes from clear to a light amber colour.  This may take another 10 minutes, depending on your stove.

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5. As soon as the colour changes (or the temperature reaches 300F on a candy thermometer), remove from heat.

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6. Quickly add the butter, vanilla and baking soda, while stirring constantly.  The mixture will foam up.  Continue stirring until the foam subsides and the mixture begins to look glossy.

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7. Quickly stir in the nuts and seeds, then pour the mixture onto the prepared pan.

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8. Flatten the mixture, as needed, and allow to cool for about 20 minutes, or until brittle.

That’s it!

It’s a simple recipe, using some pretty basic ingredients.  It’s just a bit finicky on technique.  Well worth it!

Enjoy!

The Re-Farmer

Changed plans

pain.scaleAh, life.  The things you throw at us.

While, thankfully, my husband did not injure himself when the kittens tried to kill him, and he ended up falling, it did not leave him entirely unscathed.  As time went on, it became clear he did pull some muscles (I guess that should count as an injury?), and now he’s in even more pain than usual. Continue reading