Married...Unmarried...and married again!

Hello there!

When our daughter Nicole was 4 or 5 she was absolutely convinced that if Derek or I took off our wedding rings, we were thus UNMARRIED.  Oh the fun we used to have at her expense...

Now, TRUE STORY...

Last week while Derek and I were cleaning horse hooves, tossing hay bales and just generally taking care of evening chores he stopped abruptly having noticed his wedding ring was no longer on his finger.  He happened to be standing in one of the horse stalls with Tye at the time so it was logical that that was where we began our search.

Though in the stall for a very short time while we brushed and groomed, Tye had already urinated a nice sized puddle so looking through the dirt and straw was not going to be "cut and dry"  ;)

With parent interviews at the high school on the agenda that evening, we decided to wait until the next morning and I would retrace Derek's steps from the paddocks to the hay loft in full daylight.

The next morning I studied the ground between the gates and the barn.  I poked through the hay loft going slowly with my fingers; checked the open bale on the main level and then with trowel and fingers took to digging through the stall that Derek had been in the evening before when he had noticed his ring was missing.

It was a stinky, dirty job... and I was not successful.  Deciding to call it quits for a bit and return with fresh eyes, I gave the barn a quick sweep and thought I saw a flash of gold.  I once again dug through the clean hay but didn't find anything.

The missing ring really ate away at Derek so with Canadian Tire money and a competitors advertisement he set out to get a good metal detector at a good deal.  And of course he did.

So a beautiful Saturday morning was spent on hands and knees in the barn with a beeping machine and us digging right where we already had.  After 20 minutes or so I stepped out to stretch my legs and thought, "Heck, I'll peek through that hay again"... and within a few moments I had the missing wedding ring in hand.  Ofcourse, right?  In the clean sweet smelling hay where I had already looked.

Finding this treasure opened up time for the little Schnicks to "treasure hunt"... they found many interesting bits and bobs but unfortunately no "treasure".

 And wouldn't you know it, when the neighbour stopped in for eggs, he mentioned he had lost a ring in his pond a year and because the pond is so low right now he had thought about finding someone with a metal detector to give him a hand...


... finding the neighbour's ring made the purchase a bit easier to swallow for me.  :)

So there you have it from MRS. "once again married" Schnick
xox
Jeanette

Cider Party

Happy Sunday!

Late last school year our girls got to know a few friends on their school bus a little better and in turn, us grown ups formed friendships as well.. isn't it wonderful when that happens?  These people are quirky fun and soooo friendly so when they invited us to what I called a "modern day barn raising party" we were in!

Their property has one large apple tree that was just packed with beautiful red fruit... so packed that they decided it was too big of a job and too many apples for just one family.

So call in the reinforcements!

Thankfully we had a beautiful sunny 20 degree celsius October afternoon and many many hands!  The yard was full of frolicking kids, working adults and grandparents with trays of food!

I hadn't met many of these folks before and as a somewhat socially anxious person, making conversation while quartering and coring apples was perfect.  I do so much better visiting while my hands are busy.  :)

 Our friends had purchased a manual cider press earlier this fall... so after the apples were quartered and cored, they were mashed in a bucket and then put into the press...

As youtube had been the only experience with apple pressing that anyone had had prior to this, it was an experiment as we all became familiar with what we were supposed to be doing!  lol  We did find success eventually!

 In the end we all enjoyed some delicious home pressed cider and left with tummies full of good food, hearts full of good company and a few more apples for the freezer.  ;)

Jeanette

Happy Fall Y'all!

Okay, so Autumn doesn't officially begin until tomorrow according to the calendar, but the apples have been ready for picking for about a week now, so I'm welcoming in Fall a day early with a whole lotta Apple talk...

... and not the iPhone 7.  ;)

There are many apple trees around our property and our neighbour's.  We spent a glorious Sunday afternoon out picking apples together, laughing as the grasshoppers jumped on Sammy's legs and Krista found the tiniest "baby apples".  Erin is now just about taller than me, so she's a blessing for picking those way up high apples!

Our collection of apples were a nice mix of sweet and tart... some of the things we made from them?  

Classic apple pie of course... about ten of these, and a large ziplock freezer bag of apple pie filling in the freezer!

Apple cider vinegar from the peels.  These are mixed with honey and water and left to ferment... That recipe can be found here.

I also made a few jars of this apple pie jelly using the juices boiled off from the skins and cores in place of the store bought apple juice in the recipe.  It turned out very nice - we had some on vanilla ice cream; it was like pie a la mode, but upside down and backwards.

The smaller apples were cut and boiled with cloves, cinnamon, water and a little bit of sugar to make apple cider.

And lastly, tasty apple fritters!  I doubled this recipe and prepared the diced apples in a syrup of white and brown sugars, cinnamon and nutmeg (much like apple pie filling) before adding them into the batter.  Very, very tasty.

 And that my friends is just one week and one and a half bushel baskets!  And let me be the first to wish you a

Happy Fall Y'all!

Jeanette

Connect with me on Pinterest to see more yummy apple recipes!





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Girls' bedroom re-vamping

Happy Sunday!

The mornings are cooler and the leaves are beginning to turn colours... my favourite time of year.   Changing colours was the theme for our labour day long weekend here around the homestead.

We LOVE our forever home, however, just about every room in our home is a shade of neutral light yellow.  After a year in their new rooms, our ladies were ready to swap colours for those more their styles... and let me tell you, there are fewer ways to appreciate your childrens' individual personalities than to go paint shopping with them!

Daddy came home from work on the Friday of the weekend and off we went to the home depot!  :)  What's with all the wood in our cart?  Keep reading!

We completely left the colour choice in their hands.. because after all, walls can always be re-painted later, right?

Nicole went with grey (turquoise accents), Erin went with light pink with gold and white accents and the littles... "dynamic magenta" - the real name on the paint chip.  There's those personalities SHINING through!

There were some drywall repairs to be done first.  Knicks in walls and the spot in the ceiling where Derek had recently removed a leaking sky light.  If one of the girls wanted to try their hand at drywall repair, we welcomed their help... even when it meant a whole lot more sanding than was really necessary. :)

The wood we purchased during our visit to the Home Depot was the makings of a loft bed for Erin.  She has so many collections and memorabilia that her room fills up quite quickly.  A loft bed would give her some extra living space - space for a desk, comfy chair and bookcase!

Derek had found the plans online and felt confident about the sturdiness of this bed.... that put my worries to rest.  :)  Erin was involved in every step of the bed construction!

Smiles all around!

The bed was made of "knotty" not "naughty" pine.  ;)  Sanded and spray painted.  We also refinished and painted the futon to replace Nicole's twin bed to give her room a more "teen'/"young adult" feeling.

With the completion of her bed, we were able to swap dressers, the two twin beds and desks between the girls' rooms to give everyone what they wished for.

 I was so hoping to post real after photos, but as soon as the paint was dry, the girls MOVED back in... its not a pretty picture at this time.  :)

Jeanette

Luigi the Tom Cat Pencil Case...

Happy first week of school Y'all!

We were all only semi-excited to return to school this week.  As much as I love Autumn, there is a pleasure in the slow, relaxing days of summer.

I am not a mom that starts the back to school shopping in late July when all the stores are teeming with academia supplies... no, we wait until later in August, get in and get out with only what we are sure are the basic supplies and wait to make our detailed list until after we meet the teacher.

This year, everyone found a pencil case that made them happy... except for Sammy... Sammy who is everything cats these days, especially her beloved TomCat, Luigi.

Feeling the itch to crochet but not able to pull myself into any project too heavy in the plus forty celsius temperatures, I figured a crocheted Luigi pencil case might satisfy both she and I.

And I'll just snooze here on the deck sofa while you work.  :)

Again, I should write up a pattern for what I have done, but basically I worked up two grey circles in single crochet for the ends of the case.  I embellished one with ears, nose, eyes and whiskers to look like Mr. Handsome above before working a stripey rectangle in single crochet for the body.  A closed ended zipper was sewn into place to make my rectangle into a tube and the circles were sewn to the ends to close it all up.

Luigi's tail was a stripey tube stuffed and sewn to the zipper pull.  :)  I thought it added a little charm to him.

Sammy went off to her first day of grade three with an extra little bounce in her step and Luigi went back to his place on his couch.

Thanks for stopping by,
Jeanette

Yummy yummy Marinara sauce!

Good evening my friends,

It was another busy weekend for us - lots of lovely visitors and all those little jobs that wait so patiently for you... (read: mowing the lawn...urgh) However, the tomatoes were screaming to be picked and so thankfully, I had a go-to recipe that would allow the tomatoes to be used without having me chained to the stove!

I found this delicious recipe for marinara sauce on Pinterest!  You can find the full recipe here on the Yummymummykitchen blog.  :)

What I love most about this sauce is there is no added sugar, I can spice it up to our liking by adding a little or a little more of the red pepper flakes.... and the recipe calls for wine, which is lovely because when cooking with wine, its always nice to have a little glass!

Okay, this time around I had  A LOT of tomatoes.. romas, giants and cherry tomatoes.  They all got added in.  It took me about 20 minutes to chop, saute and cook off the wine and then voila, the sauce gets to simmer on low on the stove and I get to return outdoors and to the lawn cutting!

I would pop in, check that I wasn't burning the house down and stir the sauce every 40 minutes or so...  the kitchen smelled sooo good!

After pureeing the sauce I decided to jar it up using the regular hot water bath canning method and at the end of it I had six and a half pints of delicious marinara sauce in the pantry.

Cracking one of these open in the middle of winter will be like a little taste of summer.

Jeanette

Don't be discouraged...

Good morning!

Its Saturday; we've been up since before the sun but its a wonderful day.  :)

Our goal of a simple, self sufficient life has been a roller coaster.  I have a new appreciation for what the pioneering Canadians went through a century and a half ago.... growing a life that is healthy, fulfilling and puts food in your tummy is HARD work.  And not just physically!

Our second summer here - though the first summer with plants in the ground - has been a tough one.  We have seen two months of drought conditions... dry hard earth that has challenged even the hardiest of plants not to mention how rough it has been on animals' hooves and feet.

We also have had our share of pests!  From picking off cabbage loopers early on to finding our poor tomatoes crawling with ugly HORNWORMS!  Acckk!  Leaning away from insecticides, we tried home remedies... but in the end plain old hand picking was what worked.

Our chickens ate these uglies only AFTER I drowned the worms!

At times, I just didn't want to walk through the veggie patch.

But then you know what?  I looked around and counted my blessings.  Our hard work was paying off.  I harvested tons of carrots!  The freezer is full, bunches were given away and I replanted a second bed of these beauties!

Beans and peas were abundant - harvested once and replanted!

I have a pantry FULL of crispy pickles in all kinds of flavours.

And this week's harvest had us eating broccoli and  cauliflower with cheese AND homemade marinara sauce on fresh pasta.

Tomatoes, peppers and onions!

Though I had been feeling pretty low, the last few nights of rain has brightened my outlook and  I can  see we're not out for the count just yet!  These small triumphs put enough fuel in the tank to keep going and show our girls that we can do this.  :)


Jeanette

Horse Run-in shed

Hi there!

Last month we completed one of our remaining tasks on the year one to do list.  A horse run in shed.  A lot of friends have asked "what is a run-in"?  A run in is exactly as it sounds.  A small shelter that horses (or other animals) can run into, should inclement weather hit.

With wide open paddocks on our homestead, we knew we either needed to convert part of the barn to a run in with fencing so that the horses could come in should they need to OR we needed to purchase or construct a free standing shelter.

After much researching and planning, Derek concluded TWO things.  One - there are very few plans/instructions for a build your own run in shed; and Two - we could totally plan and build our own.  And that is exactly what we did.

Measurements were calculated and plans were drawn before Derek spent a weekend in the workshop cutting boards and beams and assembling the frame.  I got the glamorous job of putting together the roof trusses.

Again.. love me some power tools.  ;)

Next the frame was moved into place in the paddock and assembled and the outside of the run-in was covered with 2 inch barn board.

We opted for a corrugated steel roof.. in green to match the other buildings.  :)  My trusses are holding!  Yay!  And with a busy family of six, these projects sometimes have to happen by moonlight.

The last step was the wooden battens, and metal corner covers.

Pretty cozy! Now, a few days after completion we had a massive thunderstorm and guess where the ponies were?!

Standing head to rump side by side in the middle of the field.  Ugh.  Ah well... at least I felt better.

Plans are being organized and written up to be shared online with anyone else looking to build a run in shed of their own.

Thanks for stopping by!
Jeanette

FIVE on the farm!

How is it August already??  According to the calendar we are halfway through summer vacation; boy its going fast.

I had still been hoping that our girls would use this blog as well - especially to keep up writing but it hasn't happened and although Krista has a lot to share, she lacks the ability to sit and type it all out on her own.  So I'm helping her out.  Last weekend Krista and her friends celebrated her turning FIVE with a "down on the farm" themed party!

Here is where I really wished I had delegated photo taking to someone because I had loads of prep work and then activity leading to do and I didn't get a lot of photos.  :(

As the guests arrived they were invited to do any number of activities while waiting for the others to arrive.  They could choose from:

The Pig Pen where we had the guinea pigs out in their cages and a picnic table with craft supplies to make a paper plate mask of their favourite farm animals or colour a picture of a horse!

The Bunny Bounce - our trampoline.  :)

Pony rides - I had found the idea of placing saddles on straw bales on Pinterest but decided I needed heads for the full effect.  In four days I crocheted up a "Tye" pony head and a "Cricket" pony head and mounted them on wooden poles.  And now after the party we are using them as hobby horses!  :) I didn't have a pattern and should have written down what I did - basically a large crocheted sock, stuffed and embellished!

Once everyone had arrived and had had a chance to play, we took a tour of the barnyard.  Kittens, ducks, chickens, ponies and Jessie the lamb all got tons of cuddles and treats!

A farmer's lunch was served on the back deck.  The tables were covered with red plaid tablecloths with burlap accents.  Here's where I really wish I had taken pictures.  We had a veggie patch vegetable tray with veggies from our garden, a fruit orchard tray, tractor wheel treats (two bite brownies, cinnamon rolls and cookies) and straw bales (rice krispie treats).

I fashioned "the watering hole" from a kid friendly lemonade jug with spigot and there was an array of tea sandwiches and pinwheels.  The most popular seemed to be the cream cheese and gherkin pinwheels and the ham and cheese rolls.  :)

After lunch we had sack races with some of the empty feed sacks I had collected, a blindfold duck catching game that we played using the small kiddie pool and a chicken egg hatch game where we had to cluck like chickens and pop prized filled balloons using our bottoms.  :)  My favourite!

Happy Birthday was sung while Krista blew out five candles on ice cream cake!

I had spent the previous couple of weeks begging, borrowing and stealing berry baskets from friends and neighbours to make up the favours.  Each basket held crayons, bubbles, candy, a note pad and the rubber ducky that each guest caught during the duck pond game.

It was a successful party and a wonderful birthday!  Happy Birthday to our little chicken.  xo

Jeanette

Summer Mornings like this. {{WORDless Wednesday, July 27, 2016}}

Quiet... slow mornings... playing, exploring... surrounded by fur and fleece.

Making memories in their pajamas.  :)

Jeanette