Mucking, Minerals, Maintenance & Muffins

I have accepted that I am more of a manure person than a market person.  After the excitement of yesterday's holiday market (and an overload of socialization for this farm girl) , I was more than happy to have a quiet day on the farm and get caught up on some chores.

Our market set up.

Ian waiting to give sample honey sticks to potential customers.

We began today by mucking out our three barns.  I am well past the stage of pregnancy where I can do any actual mucking myself (I can hardly bend over to put on my farm boots, let alone scoop any poop) so Ian and Liam took the reins.  They did a stellar job of giving everyone a clean, dry place to sleep tonight. 

The goats' sleep spot.

Seamus, on the other hand, was a bit of a disaster.  His contribution to the morning chores was tipping over a full grain bin, spilling chicken food pellets all over the back yard.  For whatever reason, these pellets are extremely enticing to both the goats and the dogs but eating them makes them very, very ill.  It took me half an hour on my hands and knees to scoop most of the pellets up off the icy snow.   I was not impressed with Seamus, to say the least.

Besides damage control, my other contribution to this morning's farm chores was prophylactic.  I filled up all of the animals' mineral and salt bins.  They all get free access minerals to supplement whatever is lacking in their feed and it was time for a top up.

In addition to mucking the barns (nothing says "I love you" like scooping manure when you'd rather be doing just about anything else), Ian also fixed the coop door to the chicken run.  The door spontaneously fell off its hinges earlier this week and now it is back to being securely fastened. Happy wife equals happy life?  Or in this case, safe chickens equals happy pregnant farm girl who does not have the energy right now to deal with randomly exploding chicken coop doors.

While Ian and Liam were at swim class this afternoon, Seamus and I puttered around the kitchen.  After much debate about what to make, we decided on pumpkin cranberry muffins.  They turned out delicious, as good as MacDonald's apparently (high praise to be compared to a fast food joint, huh?).

After getting the boys to bed, I will help Ian bottle a batch of his home brew (a Belgian-style sour beer made with cherries) and we may even have enough energy left to watch a movie together.

 It has been another busy but productive day on Gael Glen Farm.

A Veggie Treasure Hunt

Hunting for vegetables in our covered box gardens is one of our new favourite activities on the farm.  We start by waiting for a warmish day and clearing the snow off of the garden covers.

Then we pull back the plastic and dig around to see what we can find.  This week's haul included: lettuce greens, swiss chard, parsley and lots of carrots.

I was able to whip these up into a pretty fine supper.

Tabbouleh.

Roasted carrots and sauteed chard.

With a side of venison steak, of course.

Straight from our December garden to our hungry tummies - it does not get much fresher, or more sustainable, than this!  

The Meticulous Sprinkler and Trusty Taste Tester

I spent the morning frequenting the physician and pharmacy again.  Apparently a second round of antibiotics is in my future.  One day I will feel better...one day...

Meanwhile, Grandma and Seamus donned their (imaginary) elf hats and did some of the Christmas baking that is on my to-do list but that I just have not felt up to doing.  Shortbread cookies were on their baking agenda this morning.  As it turns out, Ian and I have different decoration preferences for our holiday shortbread - who knew?!  At Grandma's suggestion, Seamus, who is learning the art of compromise, offered to split the dough and decorate each half differently to suit both of us.  What a sweetie.

Seamus and Grandma measured meticulously.

Mixed.

Seamus displayed intense focus when it came time to sprinkle.

Ready for the oven.

Our trusty taste tester.

Grandma and Seamus' cookies passed everyone's taste test with flying colours.  Luckily they were transferred quickly to the freezer or else there might not have been any left for Christmas!

Seamus and the Glue Gun

Seamus and I put on our crafting hats to prepare for this weekend's upcoming Holiday Market at the Covered Bridge Brewing Company.  We checked our inventory and decorated some honey jars. 

Seamus finally got to use the glue gun (supervised, of course) - this was a dream come true for him.  He has been obsessed with green painters' tape (it is even on his Christmas list) until last week when he realized that there is an even cooler tool to stick stuff to other stuff - a hot glue gun.

Now, we are all stocked and ready to go.  Grandma has agreed to watch the boys for the afternoon so Ian and I can man our table together.  This will be much more fun than doing it alone and much less exhausting than trying to do it while chasing two kids around a market during nap time.  I am excited for our first ever market experience.  Hopefully we can sell some of our honey - it is local, raw and delicious!  And the jars are beautifully decorated, if I do say so myself.

Hope to see you on Saturday so we can wish you "Happy Holidays" in person.

Covered Bridge Brewing Company's Holiday Market
Saturday December 8, 2018 noon - 4:00 pm
6-119 Iber Road Stittsville, ON K2S 1E7

A Sudden Departure

In the monotony that has been the last three weeks of being laid up with the most persistent cold ever, today was significant as we said an unexpected goodbye to our neighbour Gyongyi Suller, whom we called Ginger.  

For the better part of a decade Ginger has been our most reliable chicken sitter.  She always made herself available any time we asked for her help if we needed to be away from the farm.  I will remember Ginger as being a most generous and considerate person.  The only time that we approached her for help during a time that she was planning to be away herself, she offered to rearrange her plans in order to make herself available for us.   I was unprepared to lose Ginger.  I will miss her encouraging words and support.  I cherished knowing that she was just around the corner (and always in my corner) if I ever needed her.

I have come to a strange realization about what my boys would call the "trickiness" of death.  We all know people who consistently seem to be on death's doorstep, yet they keep on living as old or sick as they are.  Meanwhile, there are people who spend time and energy caring for these older or sicker others and it is these seemingly healthy individuals who I have seen pass away without any warning at all.  It is like they simply disappear into the afterlife leaving the rest of us behind to figure out how to keep going without them.  I find it all difficult to comprehend.

At the funeral today, Ginger's son described her as the heart and soul of her family.  I empathize with those whom she left behind.  Managing the grief that goes along with losing someone so fundamental to the fabric of one's family is a difficult thing.

Ginger, may you rest in peace.  You will be missed.

Rev Up, Crash & Burn

Liam, Seamus and I were up very early this morning.  Our desire to sleep until 6:30 am seems to have evaporated when "sleep" began to mean laying propped up in bed unable to breathe.  Luckily with last night's snow there was lots for us to do once it got light out.  

After waking Daddy (who for whatever reason is not nearly as sick as the rest of us and is having no problems sleeping), we headed outside to do some shovelling.  I was also hoping that the cooler air might help clear out our sinuses.  

The boys and Daddy shovelled the pathways, gates, steps and deck.  I worked on clearing the snow off of my covered box gardens.  I had an extra burst of energy after putting on my dad's blue snow suit and finding that it fit very comfortably over my stomach.  It is so much easier to do chores when you are dressed comfortably.

On the garden front, I am happy to report that my greens are fresh and crisp under their plastic covers.  During the next nice day, when I am feeling better, we are going to be rolling in fresh greens, kale and carrots.

Unfortunately, it seems that the excitement of our morning shovelling did me in.  Seamus and I found ourselves at the doctor's office mid-morning being told that the throbbing pain in my sinuses, teeth and jaw and the pressure in my ears means that I will likely not be getting better without antibiotics.

And so, for the next ten days, I have a date with a giant horse-sized pill at lunch time in hopes of one day soon being able to breathe again.  Seamus was just happy that they let him out of the doctor's office without giving him a shot and he still got a sticker!

This afternoon involved me laying in bed miserably next to my humidifier while Seamus watched YouTube videos.  The boys almost never get IPad so that is saying something.  Not my finest hour.

Soup for Sick People

On days like today I am grateful for our hard work in the garden throughout the spring, summer and fall.  It took me less than 15 minutes to put together a hearty beef noodle soup from the contents of our freezer/pantry.  The soup had onions, garlic, ginger, brussels sprouts, celery, carrots, zucchini, beef chunks, beef broth and rice noodles.  Most of these ingredients were from our garden.  It was a super simple lunch that beats canned soup any day.  What more can you ask for when you refuse to take off your pyjamas or leave the house?