Field Trip: Carroll County Farm Museum

For our field trip this week, we went to the Carroll County Farm Museum and Park.  They did not have most of the animals in residence for the winter. We were a little sad about that, but the entry was free since it is the off-season for their activities. 

The house was set-up like a prosperous farmer's residence, but our guide told us that it had served as the Carroll County Alms house for about 70 years. People who did not have anywhere else to go could live at the alms house and pay their way by doing farm chores.  They had as many as 60 patrons living in the dormitory at one time. I guessed, but our guide did not know for sure, that the largest numbers of patrons were probably from the years during the Great Depression. 

They had each of the rooms in the men's dormitory set-up as historical exhibits. One was an old time veterinarians office circa 1890. 

They had an interesting exhibit about a crop that they used to grow locally, which I'd never heard of -- wormseed oil.  At first I thought it must be the same as artemesia (wormwood), but Google confirmed that it is not. It is a different weed like plant that was widely cultivated and pressed into a useful oil.  When they figured out how to produce an artificial chemical version of wormseed oil, the natural oil producers could not compete and stopped growing it. 

I always love seeing the kitchens in old fashioned houses.  This farmhouse kitchen had a mix of older and then more recent amenities.  

There was a playground shaped like a tractor that baby A especially LOVED. It was a cool day, but the sun made it great weather for playing outside. 

 

Farm Fresh: New Chicks and a Sad Turkey

Our friendliest and favorite mama hen made a hidden nest in a box in the barn loft and is hatching a new batch of chicks. I discovered her up there when the eggs had been incubating for over a week.  I reduced the number of eggs to only 8 so that she could keep them all warm. 

Yesterday, we noticed that one chick had hatched and I decided to move her and the box into the basement for easier access and observation.  When all the eggs have hatched we will move her and the babies into one of our portable chicken coops. 

I spent most of my garden time this week spreading manure and mulch. The chickens happily helped spread it around while looking for tasty bugs. 

Hubby helped me hang up the glass in my new apothecary cupboard. 

It took a lot of time and effort to get them stenciled the way that I wanted, but I am pleased with how it turned out. 

Stenciling the glass will help protect the herbs from exposure to sunlight. 

In sad news, our turkey Rosie reached 6 months of age and stopped being able to walk.  His legs just would not support his weight any more.  He is a commercial breed, so we knew that it might happen, but hoped that he might last awhile longer since he was a runt. 

I watched for 2 days to see whether or not he might get back up. Finally, I set up my processing station and sent him on to his happy hunting ground.  We have appreciated the many meals that he provided so far. I also just happened to be using the bones to make a big pot of bone broth when I found out that our neighbor/friend who is suffering from an intestinal cancer needed some nourishment. He is on a high protein diet, mostly only able to eat things like broth. I was happy to share the bounty that Rosie blessed us with.  There is no comparison for the nourishment coming from a pasture raised homestead turkey and what you can buy at the store. 

Valentine's Day 2023

I made some extra special rosehip, calendula, coconut waffles for Valentine's day this year.  Everyone seemed to really like them.

We had a mostly traditional Valentine's morning here. The kids painted their valentines boxes the night before. They helped baby A make is box. And then they printed out or made paper cards for each other. 

 I bought some V-day candies at the store and added those to the boxes after they all went to bed. 

I love how unique each box is!

 

Lunar New Year 2023

We are studying Asia this semester for history and January was focused on China. It was perfect timing to make a big deal of the Lunar New Year celebration. 

The kids helped me make a big batch of dumplings from scratch.

We also gave the kids "luck" or "lucky money".  My Vietnamese friend said that it does not need to be a lot of money. The luck carried by the money is more important than the amount. You keep it in your wallet so that you will receive a lot more money during the new year.  It is good to have it be an unusual denomination of money, so that you know it is the "lucky" money. 

We learned all about the Chinese zodiak and ancient China in January. Now we are reading about Chairman Mao, the cultural revolution, and modern day China. 

Here is the cute book where we found the dumpling soup recipe:

January Silliness

Baby A loves to build forts and play imaginative games with the big kids.  They are so good to play with him. 

Our usual snack to share or anytime, all day. at home: popcorn.  The kids especially like it with ranch seasoning.

We brought this bowl of popcorn to a park playdate. Mostly the big kids rode on the bike trails and baby A played on the playground. 

Brother M decided to buy some "store frosting and cake mix" for his birthday dessert. He and big sister A made this cake. 

Baby A looking cute while product testing one of my three trial batches of honey ginger jam. 

Instead of going to the temple this week we filled a different need.  The bishop called us last minute to fill in for a 5 hour shift at the Bishop's Storehouse, more than an hour away. Big sister A and Brother M got a first hand look at how orders are filled.  They filled carts with food, restocked shelves, and sorted produce. They kept us busy all day. 

When I restocked our non-dairy milk supply this week...  I did not realise that they would make excellent building blocks. 

 

A Forbidden Forest Birthday Experience

We have been trying, for several years now, to do "experiences" together instead of buying more stuff for birthdays and Christmas.  Big Sister A and Brother M used their birthday experience funds to buy this Harry Potter Experience for us.  

It was cold!  We dressed warmly, but I wished that I had made everyone wear their snow clothes. 

We followed the trail through the forest and were impressed with all the lighting and special effects.

I wished that we had had a Harry Potter movie marathon before hand because there was a lot that I did not remember. 

There was a super scary spider spot. A place to cast your patronus with a magic wand. 

Hubby and I enjoyed a smooch under the mistletoe tree. 

There were a couple of little villages where (very expensive) snacks could be purchased.  We enjoyed cups of butterbeer, bangers, and chips. 

The kids all battled with their magic wands. 

Miss L was excited to see a unicorn in the forest.  Centaurs. And the Dementors tried to get us. 

Overall, the special effects were fabulous.  I just wished that a big dinner had been part of the experience because I was cold and hungry.