All the Halloween Things

Well, we did it.  It took a little more effort than usual but we managed to make Halloween, Covid Edition, special and memorable for our boys.

We had a mostly quiet and relaxing day.  Ian went hunting, Liam spent some time with Grandma, Alistair napped, Seamus watched some TV, and I mucked out the barns.  When we all reconvened for lunch, the boys decorated the yard with the Halloween treats we had prepared yesterday.  They had lots of fun hiding the treats in plain sight since we would be doing our "hunt" after dark.

Next was costume time.  Liam disguised himself as a "Clown-a-gator", Seamus was Sensei Seamus the Karate Kid, and, of course, we cannot forget the adorable Ali-Horse.

We roasted and snacked on pumpkin seeds.

We baked and decorated Halloween cupcakes.  Ali devoured his instead of decorating it.

We lit our Jack O' Lanterns.

Daddy organized an indoor Halloween-themed Scavenger Hunt which had the boys running up and down the stairs at least a dozen times.  The clues ended at the mailbox where there were three special Halloween letters waiting for the boys.  They were thrilled!

After supper and cupcakes, Alistair and the farm animals hit the hay.  The big boys then donned head lamps and, under the full moon, they "trick or treated" in the backyard.  

Seamus: "This is the best day of my life!"

After they collected and consumed heaps of candy, Liam (completely unprompted): "Thank you for making this day so special for us." And with that, both boys went straight to bed - no fuss.

It was a team effort but we pulled it off.  It was indeed a Halloween to remember.

They Wore Me Out

My energy was completely tapped out by 4:30 pm.  What a busy day!

The first of our spring time chicks laid an egg today.  Liam and Seamus were thrilled to find the mini egg while doing morning chores.

The boys worked hard in school - thank goodness.  It turns out that Jack O' Lantern carving is an excellent motivator.

We also prepped treats for tomorrow's backyard Halloween hunt.

In the midst of all this, Seamus lost his second tooth!  He was so happy that he noticed it this time and did not swallow it.  Now he has an excellent gap.

We tidied, did laundry, made meals, etc.  I meant to harvest my Chinese cabbage for kimchi making but when I got around to it, the cabbage leaves were already frozen.  Oh well, I took this as Mother Nature's way of telling me to leave this chore for another day.

It does not happen often, but every once and a while, I figure that it is okay to feed the kids breakfast for supper and have them all bathed and asleep by 6 pm.  It might not make me the world's greatest mother but at least I have preserved my sanity for another day.  

Another upside is that this freed up Ian and I for an adults only dinner of venison tenderloin with our boiled potatoes, steamed swiss chard and a tossed salad from our autumn garden (which is now frozen solid).  Our pseudo date night meal got two thumbs up from both of us.  Oh, did I mention the quiet?  A quiet meal is a treat indeed.

Ian and I also had a chance to bond over beer tasting for the MOB and Beau's Oktoberfest Home Brew Competition.   We sampled a few good beers and mostly agreed on their ranking.

Now it is cold outside, the Tooth Fairy has visited, and I am ready for bed.  I have a feeling that tomorrow will be another busy day of Halloween festivities here on Gael Glen Farm.  I need to rest up!

Probably Fine But Potentially Slime

We finally gave in and harvested the rest of our swiss chard crop.  Technically, swiss chard can survive until -10 degrees C but with Friday night's forecast of -9, we decided not to chance our gorgeous chard crop turning into a slimy mess.  The bags of steamed chard will be frozen and added to curries.

In addition to preserving the last of our chard, Liam and I finished feeding our mushroom patch.  After topping the woody compost with a layer of fallen leaves and a few bags of fresh hard wood shavings, we finished it all off with a nice layer of fresh straw.  Our friendly fungi is now well fed and the mushroom patch is ready for winter.

Our final farm activity of the day was rendering the leaf lard from the pigs.  This is the top quality lard that is used in baking.  Ian took the reins on the rendering and using the slow cooker had it done within an hour.

Three jobs well done and a productive day even though school work could have gone better.  The boys are pumped for Halloween and their focus on anything not spooky leaves something to be desired.  They are chomping at the bit to carve their pumpkins into Jack O' Lanterns tomorrow and bake up their Halloween cupcakes.  Somehow subtraction, counting by groups, learning their letters, and discussing methods of animal communication are subpar competition for the upcoming fright night.  Go figure.  

At least Alistair has learned to say "Boo!" followed by "Ahhh!" which we have turned into a learning tool for Seamus who is struggling to remember the soft "a" sound.  We now chant: "The ghost says: "Boo!" and A says "Ahhh!""  Done and done.  Who says I can't use Halloween to further my own agenda?  Mama picks trick, definitely trick.  I don't even want to think about the chaos that will follow the boys getting into the Halloween treats.  Maybe they will accept bags of delicious steamed swiss chard instead?  Fat chance.

A Blue Bird Sky Makes the Day A-Okay

The kitchen garden during morning chores.

Pecky Becky was not the least bit upset with this morning's surprise snowfall.  He was too busy being as floofy as ever and strutting around in circles to keep himself warm.

The goats, on the other hand, were not impressed with the change in weather and let me know.  Martha and Mellie cut right back on milk production in protest.  Hopefully they get back on track or I might have to cut back on treat provision.  Just saying.

What do you mean "come out"?
There's weird stuff on the ground.
It's lava.

The boys spent a large chunk of time today outside shovelling the grass and doing their utmost to make a snowman, though their efforts were hindered by the rapidly melting snow.  They finally admitted defeat and accepted a bike ride as a consolation activity.  

We bundled Alistair up really good since he was stuck sitting in the stroller.  He seemed very comfortable though and was happy to roll along on our adventure sporting his fancy Spider-man footwear.

After spending school time this morning learning about manners and kindness in their geography/history class, Liam and Seamus were thrilled to find an extra special Carp Rock called a "kindness stone" on the forest trail.

We may have been divided on the snowy weather but once the blue bird sky made its appearance, all felt right in the world and we agreed that it really was a very good day.

An inverted and filtered photo from our walk.

Here's Seamus with the right-side-up version.

Tan, Brown or Black

Not much is new on the farm on this chilly October Tuesday. We mailed a parcel of farm goodies to a friend, stocked up on kiddie books at the library, folded a few loads of laundry, and baked a loaf of bread. I suppose that everyone needs a quiet day now and then.

This loaf needed about five more minutes
in the oven to brown up but look at that ear!
Thankfully Ian pulled it out of the oven when the timer
went off because if it had had to wait for me
(who was outside milking the goats)
it would have surely been more black than tan.

Churning Out the Slaw

Our humans thought that today's weather was pretty icky but the gardens and farm animals did not seem too bothered by the flurries and cold rain.  

Our autumn garden is producing so much cabbage, broccoli, lettuce and arugula that we are having trouble keeping up in the eating department.

This morning before the snow started, we harvested five huge heads of cabbage.  The plan was to make and freeze some coleslaw (which we did) but three cabbages in I decided that we had enough slaw for the storage containers I had available.  Now I have two gorgeous cabbages left in the fridge needing to be eaten.  Send recipes!

We also finally managed to cut up and cook the last of our unripened squash.  We have a bunch steamed for soup or curry tomorrow and I roasted up with rest with some salt, pepper and thyme for a side with dinner.

Dinner was lemon chicken pasta with wilted arugula from the garden.  

It was a hit!  Our farm raised chicken is so tender and delicious!

After a busy day indoors, I am back to thinking about the garden and what we can use next.  Tomorrow's harvest will be a huge head of broccoli and a big bunch of parsley - I am thinking salads for lunch...

Autumn Soap Sale

Gael Glen Farm's new autumn line of goat milk soap is cured and ready for sale.  

Check out our Goat Milk Soap Shop for the new bars such as: apple cinnamon, lilac honey oat, beetroot bacon, and many more.  Bars are $8 each or three for $20.  Mix and match.

Hand washing is cool!  Hand washing using local artisan soap made with Martha and Mellie's fresh milk is even cooler.  Send us a message and place your order today.

Mushroom Patch Mulch

It was a quiet Saturday on Gael Glen Farm.  

While Ian headed out to the range to sight his gun in preparation for the opening of deer season, I made up more sugar syrup to feed the bees.  Their appetites are slowing down and the weather is set to grow colder, so this will likely be our last feeding of the year.  The hives all look strong and healthy.  Each hive is full of bees with attentive guards at both entrances and good food and pollen stores.  I have high hopes for all five hives to successfully overwinter this year.

Once Ian returned home, we headed over to the neighbours' to pick up a load of wood chips for our mushroom patch.  The chips were pretty decomposed (a combination of mulch and compost) so, mixed with the fallen leaves, they should do a good job as a first layer of fungi food.  I will add some fresh hardwood shavings on top and then top everything off with a generous layer of straw.

It was burgers for dinner and with no or very short naps today it was early bedtimes for all the kiddos.  I am looking forward to getting more yard work done tomorrow before the first flurries come our way next week.