Gettin' Close, I Think

Well, we got the cows over to the new homestead

our neighbor used his truck to help us get them over there

the cows were a bit bewildered by the change in scenery...

but, from what I understand...

they gave no trouble getting up on the truck and doing what they needed to

that's pretty good considering they never had that experience before

I think the secret is taming them from a young age and keeping them that way

less apt to become frightened and be more cooperative

and because the area is more lush than our current location...

Ms. Ruthie Moo Moo's milk is richer

and yeah, when I went to take this photo of my husband milking Ms. Ruthie...

junior bull side stepped from his post and got into the picture

I was happy to see this...

The Fence going up

this ought to keep both our chickens and dogs inside our cottage compound area

you are seeing a lot of bush in there right now...

but, as soon as we get our goats in there after the gates are put up...

they will do the hard job (easy for them) and mow that all down

we will just let them free range in there until we see the dirt ground...

then take them on up to their own pasture grounds

yep, still working on the cottage

soon, soon, it will be completed

the kitchen and den side are completed...

and so, some of the guys walked in with the kitchen furniture

about a half mile walk over the river and through the woods

I gotta hand it to them...

they are strong men

even my hard working husband took something in...

the screen door to the kitchen back door

and while it is a "plain jane" door...

I do have some ideas to spiff it up with

we counted the cost of having a local man make the door...

versus buying an imported one

imported doors cost more than the locally made one...

even while having to put the hardware on ourselves

so, of course, we had our kitchen carpenter make one

so much better to give the job to the local people

and yes, while the painting has been accomplished...

the blue tape on the windows still need to be taken off

and there, you can see some of the kitchen hardware

the one on the far left is for my outdoor kitchen

and yes, we get to do the painting on this furniture

we will not have regular cabinets on the wall

I will talk about that later

so much for that March move in date that is long past

ah yes, so close and yet, so far away

I brought the dogs with me a couple of times to get acquainted with the new homestead

it seems to help settle pets in sooner...

and more comfortably if they are familiar with their new home

they did enjoy the spring creek water

in the meantime at the old homestead...

we harvested a big bowl of coffee beans and got to work cracking the shells open

I used the side of a light weight hammer and gently mashed them open

and there below, you can see the pulp that covers the actual coffee bean

once all the beans are out of their shells...

they are fermented for about a day or two and the pulp washed away in water

I put them on a tray and set them in the sun until they are good and dried...

and the hulls pop open so that the skin can be taken off

then they can be stored until roasted for the grinding into coffee powder

roasting the coffee beans in the pan takes some time and patience...

ideally, they should be a dark brown to almost black

it took about 45 minutes to get there as done in this photo

and it must be stirred almost constantly to keep them from burning

it shouldn't take that long and I'm pretty sure the heat wasn't high enough

next time, I will try the oven method and see how well that works

because I like pretzels and because I must be gluten free...

I made some home-made gluten free rod pretzels...

which turned out good enough to keep the recipe

only I misplaced the recipe and can't find it

bummers

we have so many citrus of all kinds on our trees...

they are falling to the ground

we have grapefruit, mandarins, tangerines, oranges, limes and lemons

we sell some and eat as many as we can...

but, the trees are still loaded

mandarins, anyone?

this used to be where our cocoa beans were drying...

but, this sweet hen decided it was a good enough place...

for laying her eggs

not so sure sitting on cocoa beans is so very comfortable

she obviously doesn't mind because she keeps going back to the same spot

an egg is an egg is an egg

better than traipsing through the bush looking for eggs laid by renegade hens

after this last photo, I took up the cocoa and put a towel down for her

she nestled it into a nice little cushy pile

Except the Lord build the house,

they labour in vain that build it:

except the Lord keep the city,

the watchman waketh but in vain.

Psalm 127:1

May your day or night be kept by the Lord's grace.

Homestead Busy

Life on the homestead just keeps going and keeping us busy
our doe, Snowflake is still eeking out some milk...
but, she is slowing down in her production

it's about time to give her a date with the buck, Phillip

Snowflake thinks it's fun giving ear nibbles while being milked

about a quart was what she gave this time

but, still good and sweet

now, Queenie, is another story

she is an ornery goat

and hates to be milked

she sits on her hind legs whenever someone reaches for her udders

after we tried to make her stand for it...

it's decided she is good for breeding and nothing else

the stinker

neither does she like to share her bucket of grain treat

if someone else comes around it...

Queenie will pick it up and move it away

yep, and we didn't teach her that

ah well, she keeps it fun for us

a wee update on the cottage over at yonder new homestead

we have decided the look of natural wood floors will be nice

it will just get a few coatings of varnish

this photo shows the den from the kitchen area

it is a 10 by 25 ft area

the atrium which connects this part to the bedroom and bath part...

will serve as our living room

the far left window is where the kitchen sink will go

the painting is still going on

and this photo below is the kitchen area with it's back door at the end

that will access the herb garden I will be putting at the back of the cottage

the vegetable gardens will be further back

the spring creek runs about 50 feet from the kitchen door

the photo below shows the back of the cottage with the kitchen door on the left

the concrete slab beside the door will be the laundry area

the covered part to the right is a "mudroom" of sorts

an outside sink beside the laundry will help us to clean up before stepping inside

it's always a good idea to have a clean up area when living on a homestead

For by grace are you saved through faith;

and that not of yourselves:

it is the gift of God:

not of works, lest any man should boast.

For we are His workmanship,

created in Christ Jesus unto good works,

which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 2:8-10

May your day or night find grace in the Lord.

Safe and Secure

The other morning, I went to the coop and took down one of my hens from the roost

she had been sick for the last 3 days with something I could not figure out

she was a layer hen and we bought her at one of the agriculture stores in town

first time and last time I would do that

(I'll post on the whys of that another time)

these hens are not bred to last very long

I much prefer the local "mut" chickens that run around free

I have not had any local chicken get sick on me...

and they are hardy and smart

we keep chickens mainly for eggs...

and one of my local hens that we've had for a few years now...

still lays eggs

this little hen did not respond to medication...

but she wanted to be with her close-knit siblings...

so I let her sleep one more time in the coop with them

when I went into the coop to check on her the next morning...

she was trying to support herself on the roost with one wing on the post

I took her gently in my arms and cradled her

I wanted her to feel safe and secure, knowing she was dying

within two minutes, she peacefully and quietly passed away

she was buried down the hill below the cottage

and I got to thinking about how safe and secure the child of God is

in a world full of sorrows and wickedness...

how beautiful it is to know that I am safely cradled in the arms of my Saviour

The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed

and bring me safely into His heavenly kingdom.

To Him be the glory forever and ever.

Amen.

2 Timothy 4:18

Re-potting Future Food

Sometimes, I do believe there is more fun in container gardening...
and this past week I got busy with re-potting some seedlings that outgrew their pots

because we have dense soil here...

I usually add sand to the dirt that will be used for the re-potting

this will give the seedling roots looser soil for growing

and with the good composting the chickens have been doing in their coop...

there is wonderfully rich soil ready to give plenty nutrients to my young plants

I take the shovel and turn over the newer grass cuttings to get the soil underneath...

from older cuttings and chicken manure that turned into food for the last 3 months... 

and has been waiting for just this job of rejuvenating my seedlings

with the composted chicken coop manure, sand and dense volcanic soil...

my re-potted plants should be quite happy to grow into future food for the new farm

this little soursop seedling below (minus the weeds) should start smiling in it's new pot

two seedlings are sharing this pot below and need to be taken out carefully

once I have them out, the two soursop plants are divided and the weeds pulled out

and that is a pretty bushy weed that was taking over the soursop pot

sometimes, the ants like to make their homes in the soil of my potted plants...

and that usually happens if I put the pot directly on the ground

those ants can do some real damage to the plant roots that way

so, I put a few rocks on the ground...

then, put the pot on top of the rocks

I don't know why, but, it has worked quite well for me

the ants don't go live in my pots and that makes me smile

the plant below is a new ginger root growing for the new farm...

and it sure needed some nice loose soil to grow the rhizomes properly

this ginger will go into a much bigger pot once we get it moved to my new herb garden 

and I would say my newly re-potted soursop definitely look better already

of course, because soursop trees grow very large and tall...

these will be replanted into the ground in the next few months

in the back of the cottage...

I have a black barrel that catches rain water from the gutter above it

this is the water I use to wet my container plants with

the vine you see behind the barrel is a black pepper (aka peppercorn) vine

it is about 3 years old and was a lot bigger until I had to cut it back...

because it had gotten to the point where it was more like a jungle anymore

I am still waiting for it to fruit

we will take a few cuttings from it for the new farm

in the past, I would found a frog and a lizard in my water barrel...

and because I don't like for creatures to unnecessarily meet with drowning...

I put the screen on top and used clothespins to hold it down

so far, it does a good job with keeping out the little creatures

after I did my garden duties...

I had to take a peek at Ms. Ruthie Moo Moo

she is such a lovely, gentle cow who gives us milk I so enjoy...

it's a wonder we ever did without her before she came into our lives

the Lord has been gracious to bless us with her

and of course, she does love her treats

she's never passed up on one of her favorites, bananas

she highly deserves them

come on over, Ms. Moo Moo

I've brought bananas just for you

I planted, Apollos watered,

but God gave the growth.

So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything,

but only God who gives the growth.

1 Corinthians 3:6,7

Amen

May your day or night grow in God's grace.