Home on the Hill

I like snowplowing. I don't know if it's a guy thing - the equipment part, or the almost meditative quality of the task. It's more productive than meditating via T.V. My skidsteer is still undergoing some maintenance so I've been using Brother Tom's modern cat.  All in all by the time I get the machine back to Tom's it's a four hour job.  I probably have to do it at least ten or twelve times a winter. Tom's machine has more power than my old girl and I can actually plow our driveway, a kilometer of it, while going uphill. Plowing the place makes it easier to get around. Getting the paths clear to the various outbuildings makes getting to the animals and plants a whole lot easier. And of course without plowing it is pretty hard to get to town. I can sometimes get out without plowing when the snow is over two feet high, but unable to get back up. I don't have chains for the truck I am using now, and while studded winter tires will get me pretty...

I love popcorn.  I have a bunch of boxes of #10 cans filled with popcorn.  I have a hot air popcorn machine but it is a real pain picking up the kernels that end up flying everywhere.  Ah, when the student is ready the teacher will appear. Here's a method I picked up from Wendy at her Surviving the Suburbs Blog: Now she used a wood stove which I can do out in the green house or Barn but I tried it on our electric range and it worked perfectly.  All popped, no oil, no mess and the sieve didn't even get hot. If you're in the mood for some hot air popcorn with no fuss or muss give it a try!

We're starting to go into a bit of a cold snap.  Yesterday when I was bidding the Barn animals good morning I was admiring the frost painting on Boose's window. Now don't worry she's plenty warm.  That's a folded up electric blanket that she sleeps on. It keeps her butt warm and toasty.  It's good to have her in the Barn.  Haven't seen a spec of mouse crap around since she declared it her territory.  Despite lot's of feed scattered around the place. We got a couple of more loads of wood yesterday while the sun was shining. And our nose hairs weren't frozen. This was a bug killed pine that was very branchy.  When I cut it down it lay eight feet off the ground on the branches and that took some cutting to bring it safely down to the ground.  We had to cut the tree into half so that Jo-Ann could skid them out to the path side to facilitate cutting them up.  The stump is always the heaviest part of the tree and I was dragging parts of my...

That's the kind we occasionally get.  Thankfully.  The local post office phoned us and wanted to know if we were expecting a package - that smelled.  Jo-Ann's Auntie Roberta had turned us on to Oka Cheese last year so our hopes were up.  We assuaged their fears that it was a dead animal and assured them we would be in to take the odiferous package away.  There was no hiding the smell when we picked up the package. Delightful.  Home for tea, some delicious Auntie Roberta, world famous, hand made crunchy biscotti. With a ration of Oka.  It's got to last.  At least until it's gone.  It is just nothing we can get in a local store.  I found one at the Coast but it was a pale remembrance of the real thing.  How can something smell so odiferous and yet taste so good.  It's a cheese thing I suppose.  The only other example I can think of is Durian Fruit - smells like baby poop, tastes like honey.  Don'...

I took the day off.  Sort of.  No falling trees - just the usual chores.  Sometimes it just catches up with me.  The doggies have been pulling a disappearing act the last little while and while they do return it sure takes them a while after I stand on the porch and call them.  I decided today to follow their tracks as we had about an inch of fresh snow last night and it would make tracking them pretty easy.  I grabbed my camel back, with its little supply of emergency goodies, decided I didn't need the snow shoes, and started tracking.  Should have taken the shoes. Just as I started down the driveway following their tracks Xena showed up and was  happy to show me where she had been and where Cleo still was. It was like they were very excited to show me where they had been playing.  -With the rabbits down in the Christmas Tree field and just over our West fence line.  So we ended up going for a bit of a slog up our West fence line tr...

That would be a pickup truck full of meat trimmings.  It's all destined for Doggie Food.  As a matter of fact right now we have a large pot of stew simmering away on the stove.  With the additions of some green beans and carrots it's starting to smell pretty good.  No salt or spices - just good old grass fed blue beef - with a few chunks of moose meat thrown in just because they love it.  And you can't beat the price. After   a lot of research into various dog food brands and the pet food industry in general, we discovered that it is healthier and cheaper for us to buy a cow and grind it up for dog food than it is to buy dog food.  A way cheaper.  And healthier.  And that is weird.  Do some research on what is found in Animal food - it will make you shudder.  I guess, technically, chicken feet and feathers are "Chicken Parts", slather some lard on it and dogs will eat it.  Why?  They have too.  A lot of it is just ju...