It's a Retrospective Christmas in Merrickville

Celebrating "Christmas in Merrickville" is one of my favourite annual holiday traditions.  We have been going for four years now.  

Very excited to get going! (2019)

We start the day off with a Santa Claus parade down the main street.  

Waiting for the parade to start. (2019)

So excited for Santa (2018)!

Seamus and his daddy (2019).

Seamus and his daddy (2016).

We have lunch hosted by the Merrickville fire fighters in the community hall. 

(2019)

(2016)

Then it's visits with Santa!

(2019)

(2018)

(2017)

Alistair's first photo with Santa (2018).
Hint: He's in my belly!

Ali's second photo with Santa (2019).

Then it is back to main street for hot chocolate and roasting wieners and marshmallows.  

(2019)

Alistair is an unimpressed reindeer (2019).

Liam roasting wieners (2019).

Liam (2018)

Liam (2016)

We round out the day with the petting zoo (the same one where Charlie was born) and sometimes make it for a ride on the two horse open sleigh.

Seamus petting the giant bunny (2017).

It is good fun and by the end of the day both the grown ups and kiddos are exhausted from a happy day in the fresh air.

Alistair is done (2019).
He did not even make the petting zoo.

Liam was out for the count all the way home (2019).

It is days like this that make everything worth it.

Birthday Soaping

Before having kids I would have never expected to voluntarily choose a birthday dinner of chicken fingers and french fries. 

But faced with the prospect of getting three very tired children down to bed by myself on a Friday night after a long week, I opted for the path of least resistance (and, full disclosure, a little bribery).

After fetching the big boys from the school bus, I proposed that we throw Mama a "birthday party" with, you guessed it, their favourite dinner.  But first they had to pull Alistair around in the sled while Mama put the animals to bed.  It worked!

After dinner, I proposed a second bribe - if the big boys bathed themselves, brushed their hair and teeth, and put their jammies on while I nursed Alistair to sleep in the next room then they could have double the bedtime stories.  Whoa Nellie!  Four books each; it was a night time read-a-thon!

Bring on the points for Super Mama of the Year!  I had all the farm animals and human children fed, clean and in bed asleep by 6:44 pm.  All by myself.

At this point, a normal person would curl up with a good book but I could not resist the lure of several hours of free time - this does not happen often.  So, I pulled out my soaping stuff and made a heck of a mess in the kitchen.

I made a dandelion-infused soap with sunflower fragrance and poppy seeds.  It ended up looking amazing and was incredibly fun to make.

I really hope it turns out.  I cannot wait to cut the loaf into bars.  Happy Birthday to me!

Reaping Radishes

The very last item remaining in our gardens are a few rows of radishes that I sowed very late in the fall.  Today I decided to dig them up to add to my venison stew.

This was easier said than done.  The radishes and soil surrounding them were very, very frozen.  With considerable effort, I managed to chip enough out for my stew.  Radishes are an excellent substitute for potatoes in stew.

They might have been a pain to dig out but my frozen hands were worth it in the end.  With a few dried spices, lots of vegetables and generous chunks of venison, the radishes and their greens went from frozen solid to melt in your mouth delicious!

This was a winner in my books!

Strawberry Patch Solidarity

It was a busy day here on Gael Glen Farm with the big boys home from school due a walkout by the Ontario Secondary School Teacher’s Federation (OSSTF). In between occupying them with a trip to the public library, decorating a gingerbread house, a special lunch date at McDonald's and a very long play in the restaurant's playroom, I did manage to put my strawberry patch to bed for the winter.

All my strawberry plants are now tucked in safely until springtime under a comfy bed of straw. 

 In my current vocation as a farm girl, I have zero influence over the policy direction that our provincial government is taking with regard to education.  However, for what it is worth, I have the utmost respect for educators who have made it their life's work to shape our children into kind and compassionate human beings.  Who better to provide insight regarding the potential implications of the government's policy directives than those who are responsible for implementing them on the ground?  

I stand in solidarity with the high school teachers, educational assistants, early childhood educators, and school support staff represented by the OSSTF even if it is in a strawberry patch instead of on a picket line.

Reindeer Express

Santa's little helpers have been getting busy preparing for the coming holiday season.

 
Our "Santa" here on Gael Glen Farm might be a bit on the young side but he checks all the right boxes:

He was dressed all in fur from his head to his foot - check!

His eyes, how they twinkled! his dimples, how merry! His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry - check!

He had a broad face and a little round belly, that shook, when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly - check!

He was chubby and plump - a right jolly old elf - check!

Liam and Seamus were more than happy to adopt the role of reindeer, though we had to have a talk about how "more rapid than eagles" might be a bit fast for "Ali Claus" this year and that maybe as his coursers they could come slow and steady instead. Liam-deer and Seamus-deer were very obliging and away they all flew like the down of a thistle.

Our Christmas role play was sadly interrupted by the school bus. As my reindeer drove out of sight, I heard them exclaim “Happy Christmas to all, and to all a...boy, are we hungry!”

With that, Ali Claus and I put gift delivery practice on hold to focus on more immediate matters like making food for the famished "reindeer" when they arrive home from school.

We started with Earl Grey Currant bread for breakfast tomorrow,

followed up with a loaf of regular crusty bread and finished off with pizza dough for supper.

We also tossed together some rhubarb red currant muffins for school lunches.

In addition, we did the outside chores, pasteurised milk, watered our house plants, did a bunch of dishes, tackled folding a mountain of clean laundry, and brewed a new batch of kombucha.

By the end of it all, boy was I hungry! Good thing we had delicious homemade pizza in the works - one topped with mozzarella and slivers of deer steak and the other with apple butter and sharp cheddar. The homemade crust was fluffy and delicious.

I can guarantee that there were no hungry reindeer left at bedtime - everyone was nestled all snug in their beds with tummies filled up, bodies tuckered out and brains settled for a long winter’s nap.

Aphid Assault

The indoor beet green experiment is no longer.  My beets were under siege by a relentless onslaught of aphids.  I love cheap, homegrown greens as much as the next person, but trying to keep one step ahead of the aphids was simply a losing battle and not worth the effort.  Bye, bye beet greens.  You and your parasitic foes made the chickens a delicious early winter snack.

My chard seems to be unappealing to the aphids.  However, now that I have eliminated their preferred food source maybe any remaining bugs might be somewhat less picky about their future accommodations.  Beggars can't be choosers? - let's hope not or the chard will also be on its way to poultry paradise.  I will check back at the next watering and see how things are faring.

I Heart Soap

With the big boys off for a sleepover at Grandma's and Alistair spending some quality time with his Papa, I had a few hours free after chores this morning to get my soap on!

I am still trying to master the "feather swirl" technique.  It is really difficult.  On my first try my soap base was too thick resulting in what Ian has dubbed "moustache" soap. 

Today on my second try, my base soap was too thin and the layers of coloured soap that I tried to pour gently on top of the white soap just sunk to the bottom.  Sigh. 

I have no idea what the heck this soap is going to look like when cut but I can guarantee that it will not be what I intended (a delicate feather shape).  Also, I used "blueberry" for colour and got this... Maybe they meant "cranberry"?  It does not look very "blue" to me.  Double sigh.

Regardless of what the pattern will look like, I at least have a loaf made.  I will now let it set for 24 to 48 hours, remove it from the mold, slice the bars and then comes the fun part - I am going to top each bar with soap frosting!  I adore frosting cupcakes so I have high hopes that I can pull off fancy frosted soap bars.  I might add some fragrance to the icing too since the bars are unscented.  I will wait to see if the colour changes though before I know whether to select "honeysuckle" or "mulberry" as the flavour.

I also made a batch of fancy bar soap this morning using grapefruit zest and poppy seeds. 

In contrast to the Blueberry Feather loaf (I use this name very loosely) above, my Grapefruit Poppy Seed soap bars turned out exactly as expected.  I added some "heart"work on the top of each bar to add some extra pizzazz.  These bars have a fresh and invigorating grapefruit scent - very exciting.  I must remember to increase my go to recipe by 1/3 when making bars (as opposed to loaf) so I have enough soap to fill the whole silicone mold.

Oh, the trials and tribulations of soap making.  Some successes too!  I am looking forward to experimenting with soap icing in the next few days.  I also discovered today that you can make soap marshmallows and soap meringues!  Who knew soaping could be so exciting?!  All the fun, zero calories and a lifetime supply of gentle cleansing - especially if it takes me many more tries to get this feather technique down - I am not giving up!