Tabbouleh on a Windy Day

Inspired in part by Corinne's blog post and in part by the wonderful mild weather we are having, Seamus and I are channelling springtime today.

We began by hanging the laundry outside for the first time in 2018.  Hanging laundry is my favourite domestic task.  I see it as an excuse to stand in the sunshine and commune with nature.  Both boys also enjoy this chore.  Liam hung the laundry by himself all last summer and Seamus is quickly learning to follow suit.

It was a bit windy for sheets today but the allure of a bed with outside smell was just too hard to resist.

Next, we cooked up a batch of Tabbouleh for lunch.  We followed Corrine's recipe from her blog Browned Butter and Pink Peppercorns with some minor changes.  We used both couscous and quinoa.  We also used grape instead of cherry tomatoes, lemon juice instead of fresh lemons, and we crushed the garlic instead of mincing it (who has the patience to mince anything?!).

Seamus loved both making this salad and eating it.  Following his first bite he explained, "It's sour!" but this was right after he licked the tablespoon we used to measure the lemon juice and declared that "Yummy!", so it is all relative.

My verdict is that it was fresh and delicious.  It was well balanced with all the flavours melding nicely.  Next time I will use more mint.  I found this flavour understated given that I especially like the taste of mint in salads.  This is definitely a keeper recipe for summer when we have flat leaf parsley, mint, and cherry tomatoes growing in the garden.  Thanks Corinne!

The Vet's Verdict: A Rotting Dog, a Dirty Goat & a Bloodshot Sheep

After my visit to the barn this morning to put medicine in Violet's eye, I decided it was time to call in reinforcements. Her eye was still very cloudy but had started to bulge and a nasty red patch was developing along the rim. It was looking worse, not better. What the heck Polysporin?!

Luckily our vet, Dr. Clarke, was able to come by the farm this afternoon and he had lots to say about the various health "issues" of our farmyard family members.

I asked him to look at Emily's teeth.  Her mouth is super smelly and her teeth look terrible in comparison to Charlotte's pearly whites.  Dr. Clarke agreed that it is time to take drastic measures regarding Emily's mouth.  We have booked her in for a dental cleaning next week.  Emily will be put to sleep, her teeth cleaned, and a few likely extracted.  This is going to cost a fortune.

I was also concerned about Mellie's scabby tummy.  I wondered if she has some sort of infection.  Dr. Clarke ruled that Mellie is just a dirty goat, though he diplomatically called it “bad coat hygiene”.  He suggested that we give her a bath (I can just imagine how a goat bath is going to go) and brush the scabs out of her fur.  This should be interesting.

Alice’s wool loss was as much a mystery to Dr. Clarke as it is to me. He checked her for lice and keds and found none. He also said that she is not likely scratching off her wool because she still has lots on her sides, just her back and bum are bare. Her body is in good condition, though, so he was not worried about her unusual wool loss even though we cannot figure out what is triggering it.

Last, but not least, the reason for the visit - Violet's sore eye.  It turns out that Violet’s eye is healing, which is actually why it looks so bad. Counter-intuitive.  Dr. Clarke explained that tears are the eye’s first line of defence. When tears are not sufficient to repair the damage, the eye then grows new blood vessels to supply it with what it needs to complete the repair work. This blood vessel growth is the angry red area I noticed this morning. The vet confirmed that Violet does indeed have an ulcer on her eye due to injury (the bulge) and lots of swelling (the grey cloudy part), but her eye is also showing signs that it is growing a network of blood vessels in order to repair the damage.  Despite looking really bad, Violet's eye is not infected and is actually doing what it needs to do in order to heal.  I am so relieved.

Since Dr. Clarke was here I also had him give everyone their annual vaccinations, drop off heart worm medication for the dogs, and check the ewes and doelings for possible pregnancies (he could not feel anything in anyone yet).   Getting our annual vet visit out of the way is one more thing to check off my farm to-do list for spring.  Besides, healthy animals means a happy farmer.

Spring Fever

We all have a bit of spring fever here on Gael Glen Farm.  The ducks have begun trying to mate each other.  They are all female.  This minor obstacle does not stop them from trying.

 Seamus is now refusing to wear his winter boots and is instead proudly sporting his aquamarine rain boots.  For my part, I bought a tiny daffodil plant and am eagerly awaiting each blossom thinking that soon my daffodils outside might start to grow.

Martha and Mellie also have a spring in their step.  Many springs actually.  I captured some of their morning shenanigans in this video.  (The strange narration is Seamus trying to lock the gate to the chicken run with a bungie cord.)

The goats (and all our animals, really) can get pretty ridiculous as they wait for spring to arrive but they are oh so lovable.

Goat hug!

Do Over

It drives me crazy when I find something that I think I should be able to do well but, in fact, can't.  It is a personality trait that I have long since accepted.  I am reasonable about it.  For example, I don't think I should be able to climb Mount Everest.  I almost dropped dead when Ian made me climb a glacier in New Zealand (and that was ten years ago!), so the thought of not being able to climb Everest does not bother me in the least.

Us halfway up the glacier in New Zealand in 2008.
I am masking my exhaustion.  I wanted to die.

Yet, my inability to reliably make good pastry does bother me.  I know that makes me a bit nuts (I accept this) but so be it.

After yesterday's failed pastry attempt, today I gave it another go.  I measured the flour and shortening very precisely, switched from pastry flour to all purpose flour, and put ice cubes in the water.  Happily, my pastry turned out much better.  Flaky and not crumbly or tough, though Ian said it did not have enough salt (feedback my Dad will appreciate).

Practice might make perfect, but it also leaves us with a heck of a lot of butter tarts.

Seamus and I plan to take a walk tomorrow to drop some off to our unsuspecting neighbours.  We will likely save at least one more for Liam though.  He seems to really like them.

He actually licked his plate clean.

Ice and Tarts

After venturing into the icy death trap that is our backyard for morning chores, Seamus and I decided to stay inside.

My path to the barn.

Ice cleats required.

To pass the time, we made a batch of GG's butter tarts using my freshly churned butter and the eggs I  perilously collected from the coop this morning.

I aced the filling this time.

However, my pastry turned out very crumbly.  Too much shortening I expect.

The tarts looked great in the pan but were very hard to remove intact.

I suppose like my bread making skills, my pastry making skills are a work in progress.  However, I did discover that an empty corn syrup bottle is an excellent way to keep a toddler occupied while trying to bake.

Seamus busy trying to get the last drop of corn syrup out of the bottle. 

Violet's Sore Eye

I read somewhere that duct tape is a man's (person's?) best friend.  While this may be true, I am convinced that Polysporin is a farmer's best friend.  It treats so many things, like when the sheep injure their eyeball.  While I am not entirely sure how this happens, I assume it is mundane things like accidentally poking themselves in the eye with a tree branch or a piece of hay from the feeder.  When this happens, their eye ball (which is normally clear) becomes white and foggy.  It has happened two or three times to Alice and today I noticed that Violet's eye is looking sore.

Violet's foggy eye.

The treatment recommended by our vet is to use Polysporin.  It has worked miracles for Alice in the past so today my task was to catch Violet and smear cream in her eye ball.  Very pleasant as you can imagine.  Actually, the first time is never so difficult because the sheep is unsuspecting.  Today I caught Violet by surprise, flipped her on her back, and she even kept still for a photo before I applied the cream.  I promise you that tomorrow's treatment will not be so effortless.

Violet after treatment.
After being let go, she does not seem bothered about being manhandled.
She even came over so I could pet her nose.

A Great Big Timber

The two huge poplar trees in our barnyard had their day and it was not recently.

We have two hypotheses for the cause of their demise.  We think it was either the drought of the Summer of 2016 or else, nitrogen overload from the donkey/sheep manure pile near their base.  Either way, these enormous trees have been dead for a few years now.  As they have started to decompose, the trees have begun dropping their branches from the top.   Given their location right next to the barn, I have been increasingly worried that a badly timed falling branch will knock Charlie unconscious during the next wind storm.

The trees are huge, so we had to call in professionals to cut them down.  Ian captured the tree cutters at work in the video below, complete with a chain saw soundtrack.

And the deed is done.  No more poplars in the donkey paddock.

Our farm's landscape looks a littler more bare but at least Charlie and the sheep will be safe on windy days.

A Date with the Laundry Tub

As you know, we have goats.  They look like goats, act like goats, and smell like goats.  We also have dogs.  They look like dogs, act like dogs, and smell like goats.  It is noticeable.  It is pungent.  It is a problem.  Especially when they jump on the chesterfield to sleep on the throw pillows or crawl into bed with us and try to snuggle under the blankets.  Just ew.

This morning Seamus and I decided that enough was enough; something had to be done.  Our solution: Charlotte and Emily were given a date with the laundry tub.

Soapy and grumpy.

Loving it.

Mama's best helper.

 Lots of soap, water, and giggles later, we had two sopping wet schnauzers that smelled like flowers instead of stink bombs.  Neither dog was particularly pleased about being towel dried: "Why can't we just shake?"

Charlotte: "Seriously?!"

Emily: "This bath stinks!"

Charlotte was so exhausted by the bath that she immediately went for a nap.

Emily, on the other hand, performed her usual post-bath ritual.  I recorded it for your viewing pleasure.

Next, some eye brow, beard, and nail trimming...

Helping Mama sweep up.

Ian the animal manicurist makes another appearance.

I am happy to report that Charlotte and Emily now pass the sniff test - they no longer smell like goats.  Victory!  Until the next time they go outside.  Small victory?

Charlotte: "There better be a treat after all this....like now.
Not another picture, a treat!  Treat?  Now?"

Emily: "I am still so grumpy but I know you love me anyway."

Fed, in Bed, and Asleep

There is nothing like breakfast for supper on days when your kids are fussy and just need to be fed and put to bed.  Luckily our chickens have been laying lots of eggs.  I am not sure whether it is the competitive spirit of the Farm Olympics, or more likely the increase in daylight, but I have been feeling like an egg washing machine lately.  I wonder if you can buy an actual egg washing machine?  I will have to google that...

In addition to washing eggs, today I whipped up some homemade butter.  The fresh buttermilk is perfect for making omelettes.

So, dinner tonight was ham with a buttermilk omelette.  So easy, minimal dishes, and kid friendly.  A winner all around.

The days where the kids are fed, in bed, and asleep by 6:20pm simply cannot be beat.

The Gael Glen Farm Olympics

It seems that Auntie Sarah's enthusiasm for the Olympics has permeated life here on Gael Glen Farm. Since her visit, the farm animals have been busy creating and competing in several unique athletic events.

The Coop Chase

The Balance Pail

The hen is waiting for her turn to compete.

The Egg Laying Competition

It is a full house!

Abbott, in his booth atop the manure pile, has been our fair and consistent judge.  Throughout the day I have heard him baaing out scores and declaring the winners of the various events.

Judge Abbott

As usual, Charlotte wants nothing to do with any of this barnyard nonsense.  She has taken up residence in front of the fire and has snoozed right though the Gael Glen Farm Olympics.

She will have to catch the highlight reel tomorrow!